 Hello and welcome to the Grand Line Review, your source for everything one piece. Today we have a review of episode 877, The Parting Time, Pudding's Last Wish. And right out of the gate I have to say that this episode was simply beautiful and very, very well handled. The attention to subtlety and feeling is very unlike the anime and very much welcomed. I mean I knew we were in for something special when after the superpowers opening we were launched straight into the title screen, no recap, no music, just a very quiet and somber canvas to build upon. And I like that a lot because the chaos of Whole Cake Island is over and this is very much a point of reflection. To take note of the cost of getting to where we are as well as providing a firm resolve for the future. And a big part of everything to do with that for me was the Soul Pocus song. Now I've been a pretty big fan of how the anime has handled musical interludes in Whole Cake Island, it might be because I work in musical theatre and opera, but music has such incredible power to tell stories and Soul Pocus is quite possibly my favourite song of the entire arc. It has a really grand operatic nature about it which is absolutely perfect because for the most part the themes of this episode are tragedy and hope. Which just so happened to be the two most focused on themes in opera. And bits of Soul Pocus play throughout all of that really heightening the emotion, particularly in scenes like the end battle where all of the factions left in Totland are still taking on the Big Mom Pirates whilst bracing for Big Mom herself to attack. And while it's really tragic to see all of these protagonists just left behind in Whole Cake Island to deal with whatever, there is also a fierce sense of triumph in Soul Pocus, which is especially potent at this point. It plays while Big Mom is riding in to the rescue and it really does hit hard that Whole Cake Island was an overwhelming defeat for our protagonists. In the end, Big Mom was the hero of the day and this song is here to celebrate that in a wonderfully twisted way, which is why my favourite lyric is the very end one being It's the Queen's Song. It's just such a strong ending that at the point where I was watching it I was expecting to see the two big continued credits pop up, having completely forgotten about the one final ray of hope delivered to us in the entire episode. And speaking of, the simultaneous scene of Sanji and Zeph preparing the same dish was also done really well and it was so very important to nail because Sanji's pride as a chef was really what was on test for this entire lengthy climax. You'll have a lot of people who complain because Sanji didn't get a quote unquote decent fight during the Sark, but it is this moment that should really hammer home that it was never about that. Fighting is entirely secondary to Sanji and his number one priority is being a chef. So the climax of the arc was him feeding a hungry person and it was glorious. Sanji was also involved in some other well-crafted moments as well during the episode, the first of which was his little heart to heart with carrot lamenting Pedro's death. The atmosphere was just perfectly somber as it took place during the initial opening with just the sound of the calm waves and a tiny bit of musical assistance from soul focus for the key emotional moment. And there was some other great work done with the scene of pudding looking through the memory she took from Sanji. In fact, that was actually probably my favorite part of the episode and I say that as a very anti-putting person. I really tend to despise whenever she appears because of her whole split personality. I don't know, I just don't find it funny or endearing in any way. But when this happened in the manga, I genuinely felt for her and the anime is no different. Not only that, but this is one of those very rare situations of the anime showing flashbacks that aren't just filler. This whole sequence in the manga featured a whopping amount of short flashbacky portions, which the anime pretty much followed frame by frame and it was wonderfully effective. Although the best part was definitely when the silent film began playing. I was very curious about how this was going to be handled after seeing it in the manga and it just works so damn well, set to the minimalist chimes of soul focus. But not only that, but the animation within the film has a very magical quality about it. Everything has a nice soft glow and the colors are slightly elevated to a more heavenly palette, all of which only increases the tragedy of pudding as we see her bursting into tears afterwards. And as if this episode wasn't full of enough touching moments, we are finally treated to Kartakuri and Brulee's little discussion that really just rounds out his entire character. Beautifully handled, 10 out of 10, honestly not much more to say about it, except that young Paris Barrow is a bit creepy. And there was an interesting moment though where Kartakuri showed a flash of conqueror's haki as a child, which was pretty cool. The noticeable emission was not present in the manga, although given how absolutely demonic he looked, it certainly was a nice opportunity to insert it. So yeah, overall this episode was just fantastic. I would go so far as to say that it was constructed far better than even the Snake Man episode, which was the entire thing that made me start reviewing the anime, although they're very different beasts. While the Snake Man episode succeeded in action, this episode delivered on an emotional front that I honestly didn't think the modern day anime was capable of. So once again, huge props to Toei for pulling that off. I mean, I do wish that this quality had been consistent throughout all of Holkake Island, or Zoo, or Dressrosa, or Pankazza, or Fishman Island, or Marineford, or almost any episode from the last decade or so. There is just so much potential with the series as an animated medium, which was once again put on full display here. One part glorious and one part kind of taunting us. Oh and speaking of taunting, if you're an anime only watcher, I really hope you didn't watch the preview for the next episode because it contains a massive spoiler. But then again, the episode title is going to contain that massive spoiler as well, so there's really no escaping it. You'll know what's going to happen before it happens, and sadly that's how it was in the manga as well. But big, big stuff coming next week, which I cannot wait for. But that pretty much does it for episode 800 and 77. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produced in general, then please do consider donating to the Grand Line Review Patreon because the support of all of your amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. Also do check out my Teespring store if you're interested in shirts, hoodies, and other miscellaneous items, with the proceeds going directly to support the channel as well. And if you'd like to join the fun at any time, then please do head over to my Discord server, where a wide array of shenanigan retakes place on a daily basis. And finally, please do comment with your thoughts on the episode. This has been the Grand Line Review, and I'll see you next time.