442: Ace's Convoy Moves - The Defenses of the Lowest Level, Level 6!
Luffy, Ivankov, and Inazuma continue their mad dash down the stairwell to Level 6. A group of guards mobilize to block their way, but Luffy knocks them out of the way with Pistol. One of the guards activates a trap that shoots lances out of the walls, but Ivankov demolishes them with Death Wink and strikes a pose. Inazuma reminds him that they need to hurry, so Ivankov grabs one of the fallen guards and slings him over his shoulder and continues onward. They soon reach the staircase's end and arrive in Level 6, Eternal Hell. Here, the prison cells are haphazardly stacked on top of each other, and the air is deathly quiet. None of the other prisoners say a word to nor heckly the three fugitives nor even acknowledge their existence.
Luffy shouts out for Ace, creating an incredible racket. Ivankov asks the guard he captured where Ace is being held, but he refuses to answer him. So Ivankov puts him down and uses his powers to turn him into a woman. Unlike the prince from before, the guard is actually overjoyed at this transformation, and she gladly points the three in the right direction. When Luffy reaches the cell, however, only Jimbei is inside. Inazuma comments that they must be too late. Jimbei, meanwhile, recognizes Luffy by his straw hat, and is shocked that he had managed to get through the upper levels of the prison. Upon confirming this, he urges the group to pursue Ace, as he's just been taken up the elevator.
When the three dash back to the elevator, however, the crank mechanism is locked, and when Luffy attempts to climb up the shaft chain, it's collapsed. They run back to the stairwell, but iron bars drop down, sealing it off. Gas then starts spewing into the room through the sealed-off stairs, forcing the three to retreat out of fear of poison. Luffy tries charging in, but as soon as he inhales he's out like a light, enabling Inazuma to identify the gas as a sleeping agent. In the prison control room, Hannyabal confirms that Level 6 is now completely sealed, and pops a party popper in celebration of he job position being safe. His ambitions, however, are clearly transmitted through the room's telesnail. Up above, Magellan hangs his telesnail up with a "Hmph" and turns to Ace, telling him that, unfortunately for him, Luffy showed up just after they had left, leaving Ace gaping in surprise.
Eyecatches: Chopper and Zoro
Magellan comments that it's very fortunate that they just moved Ace, since now Luffy can occupy his cell. At this, Ace suddenly fights back, despite being cuffed, kicking the jailers away and even managing to steal one of their tridents. Magellan quickly puts an end to his insurrection by snapping the weapon in two with his fingers and pinning Ace to the floor. Magellan tells him to stop resisting and that Luffy, as a pirate, is also a sinner. He himself wonders how Luffy could have possibly survive all of the poisons from their fight.
Meanwhile, Buggy and Mr. 3 have finally made it back up to Level 3, and are elated, as well as exhausted, since it's much harder going up than down. But they don't have long to rest as their old friend the Sphinx soon comes across them.
Down below in Level 6, Inazuma elects to do something about their situation. His hands turn into long scissor blades, and he runs back and forth along the corridor, effortlessly slicing up the stone floor as if it were paper, before throwing the strips up and blocking out the flowing gas. Inazuma explains to some of the surprised prisoners that Inazuma has eaten the Snip Snip Fruit. Luffy then wakes up and berates Inazuma (whom he's dubbed "Crab") that he's now blocked their only exit.
Ivankov says that at this point, there's not really much that they can do. Ace is being handed over to the Marines as they speak, which Luffy's Vivre Card confirms. Ivankov says that he'll do everything he can to help Luffy escape the prison, but after that, things are out of his hands and into Whitebeard's. Luffy retorts with that he's going to go to Marineford as well. Ivankov yells at him for being stupid and reckless. Does he realize just how powerful Whitebeard is? That all of the Vice Admirals, Admirals, and Warlords will be there? He almost died fighting Magellan, what hope does he have against the entire esembled might of the Marines? Luffy responds to this by simply saying that if he can't save Ace, then he'd regret it forever. This sends Ivankov reeling, and realizes that Luffy's aura is the exact same one of Dragon's!
Inazuma, however, points out that they can't even leave this level. After he says this, a dry, staccatto laugh echoes through the silent air. One of the prisoners in a nearby cell offers to bore a hole in the ceiling for them if they set him free. As he steps forward into view, Luffy recoils in surprise as he recognizes him. It's none other than Sir Crocodile! "It's been a while...Straw Hat."
This episode almost covered a full chapter, just left off a few pages at the end. Shame, since I would've liked to see the team fully formed at the episode's end, but ending with Crocodile's reintroduction was a nice cliffhanger.
Art was pretty good mostly. Animation wasn't the best we've seen from this team (Inazuma demonstrating his powers was less than impressive) but it held up pretty well. At first I thought the flashabcks at the end were ripped straight from Movie 8, though upon watching the HD version they clearly aren't, though they still look rushed and low quality, just like the movie did. The direction was pretty good however. First we had the little situation with the guard being turned into a woman and loving it; definitely more amusing than Ivankov simply beating him up like in the manga. Then there was Ace's little revolt that was implied to have happened in the manga, but we only saw the aftermath. Good use of music from Movie 9 at the end, and the Dragon overlay was a nice touch, though Luffy and Dragon don't really look alike at all. Luffy's words about "regretting it forever" makes me wonder just how Luffy would deal with such a crushing failure and loss in the long term, especially since right now the rest of the Straw Hats are Kuma-knows-where. Certainly an interesting prospect considering the recent manga chapters.
Looks like next episode will cover more than one chapter. Interested in seeing how the anime handles the next batch of Impel Down.
