One Piece: Episode 95

I’m Oda-sensei’s humble servant. I’m addicted to One Piece and there’s no known cure for this. Hah! As if I’d want to be cured of this addiction.

Ace definitely ranks as one of the coolest characters in OP, and mind you, we’ve met great characters in this series. The camaraderie of Ace and his brother Luffy is quite remarkable. They care about one another yet there’s no sappiness between them. They admire each others skills yet there’s no unhealthy sibling rivalry. Luffy admits he constantly loses to Ace in terms of strength ever since he was a kid but he bears no grudge at all. And Ace does not carry any arrogant I’m-better-than-thou attitude. I would like to meet their parents and congratulate them for raising such sons. Well, except they did become pirates…

If I were excited before with the Arabasta arc, I’m more psyched because of Ace’s temporary inclusion to the small Straw Hat crew. I was quite surprised with the turn of events in the anime since Ace originally did not join the gang in the manga. Usually, I’d be bothered with the deviation but hey, we’re talking about Ace here. Another episode with him on board equates to interesting events.

Regarding the fight between Smoker and Ace, wouldn’t it be logical to say that fire would beat smoke? I’m not sure why they keep on insisting that the match is a stalemate. Or am I just over-thinking it?

With only few clues and speculation, Smoker deduced that Vivi and Luffy’s group are heading for Crocodile’s lair. He regards Luffy as a criminal because he is a pirate but he seem to intuitively tell that he’s not the typical havoc-loving fiend. His pride as a marine may be a little bit bruised when Luffy escaped Loguetown but I think that for some reason he is drawn to this kid. Also, for such a perceptive character, Smoker not catching the relationship between Ace and Luffy is a mystery.

Hmmm…I’m looking forward to the Straw Hat crew’s journey to Yuba. Hopefully, Ace’s stay with them will last for at least a couple more episode.