ワンピース エルバフ編

The past meets the present. Love the fact that Robin cut her hair to when she first met Saul and that Saul reenacted how they first met 🥹 I enjoyed the opening to the episode showing off Robin’s early life of running and was well done in black and white. We’ve seen Robin’s past before but really like how well the animation and the direction they took it in this episode. The end of the episode including Robin moments **with her friends** was a nice touch for this moment. I was already crying but this got me more 😭

Just in case anyone forgot, Sakazuki was responsible for blowing up the ship carrying all of Ohara’s non-scholar refugees to prevent the smallest chance that an Ohara scholar might have been trying to escape on that ship. Aokiji / Kuzan was horrified when he saw it, and it was one of the main reasons he let Robin escape, and why he refused to serve under Sakazuki in the Marines. Funnily enough, when the refugee ship was destroyed, even Spandine looked horrified by what Sakazuki did (anime only). But Spandine clearly used the situation to his advantage by blaming Robin for the ship’s destruction to raise her notoriety.

This storybeat speaks to a very human experience with adulthood. You may meet people that you click well with, you may love them and adore them and want to spend the rest of your life with them. But there are a select few people in your life who knew what you were like when you were young. They can look at you, no matter how old you get, and still see the child you used to be. I'm so happy for Robin to have Saul in her life that can still see that in her. I also think that's why it's quite intentional that Robin looks a lot more youthful in this episode. We're sort of seeing her how Saul sees her.

0/10 adult Robin didn't do the dereshihi laugh........ Lol joking superb episode, the contrast between the opening with the present her being happy as a child which btw i didn;t even realize her current outfit is same color as her child dress too. i love Robin she is my favorite straw-hat and one of my favorite anime girls so this episode was freaking treat That insert song at end with all the scenes of Robin in past arcs in current animation was lovely as well the actual reunion was wonderful Saul being alive does not diminsih Robin's tragedy at all. She still lost her home, mom and friends and had to go on run for 22 years while the whole world unjustly hated her

We see what horrors Robin went through as an EIGHT YEAR OLD child since Spandam’s father, Spandine, claimed that she destroyed Navy ships and burned down Ohara, so everybody treated her as a monster. She spent her childhood running and not being able to trust anyone and those who “welcomed” her like Crocodile simply used her… until the one and only Monkey D. Luffy, AKA Straw Hat Luffy, AKA the Fifth Emperor, AKA Joyboy, AKA Nika, AKA The Sun God, AKA The Next King of the Pirates, the greatest and most badass fictional concept to ever become a conceivable human thought welcomed her into the crew and fought tooth and nail to get her back from Enies Lobby. He even declared war against the World Government. Well all of that trouble was 22 years ago, and we’re in the now in the Western Village of the Sun World of Elbaph. Before they eat and celebrate though, Robin and the crew go to reunite with Saul. Luffy wants to pay respects for him taking care of her, and Robin intentionally wears the same outfit that she wore when they first met with the same haircut that she had. They’re riding on this thing called a Svarr that uses the buoyancy of the clouds to ride on them. In other words, THEY FLOAT ON THE AIR ITSELF). One of the giants mentions how Saul has collapsed, but Robin isn’t worried because she knows it’s Saul’s way of recalling their first time meeting (because he collapsed at sea then as well). As she’s walking up, we see the callback to when she was a kid and finally, the two meet. Instead of dwelling on the past, Robin wants to focus on the now and Saul praises her for staying alive for the past 22 years despite all the trouble she’s had. We see a revamped collage of screenshots calling back to some of Robin’s great moments with the crew from the moment she joined and everything in between. One of them called back to the Davy Back fights against Foxy and I went back to figure out the exact episode and found out that it was Episode 212. In the background we see most of the crew crying at this moment, but we know that Luffy and Zoro aren’t like that, as well as Jimbei. MAN, I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE ONE PIECE!

It was uncontrollable, I couldn’t stop bawling. Got to a point where it was a full body sob toward the latter half. I knew it was coming, yet it still hit so damn unexpectedly hard. Robin has been done dirty too many times, really deserved this moment of catharsis. Seared into my memory. One of the best written characters in the entire series imo. Her backstory is just as tragic as Kuma’s and Saul really is her father figure. Protect Nico Robin at all costs! It is moments like these that really make me think this show is the goat despite all its flaws.

Amongst other things, I loved the flashback in the beginning. The white middle transition, the graininess in some parts, robin's watery eyes, and the visuals for her past selves going by. I have barely watched any of the anime (manga reader slowly working through watching East Blue), so I'm not sure what is new or not. Also, Sanji is ridiculous in this episode, especially at 8:45, where he's jumping in the bottom right. Also, any reason the eyecatchers weren't in this episode?