Elated with his new power, Blackbeard proclaims that he'll sink Marineford to the bottom of the sea. A shadow falls over him and Sengoku, in his Buddha form, crashes down from above and blasts the entire Blackbeard crew with an energy wave. He says that while the fortress can simply be rebuilt, this is Marineford, the bastion of the Navy and a symbol of justice for the world. An upstart like Blackbeard shouldn't even think of trying something like sinking it. Blackbeard challenges him to protect it. Inspired by Sengoku's speech, the marines begin to rally themselves together again to renew their assault on the pirates.
Meanwhile Ivankov orders Jimbei to hurry and flee while he stalls Akainu. Akainu manages to take out Inazuma with a single blow, and Ivankov retaliated with his Laser Chiryoken (Laser Surgery Fist) attack, which slices through rubble but only melts his nails against Akainu's lava. The New Kama king starts up another attack, Shibo Kyuinken (Liposuction Fist), but this time not even his heavy makeup can save him from the Admiral and he goes down too. As this goes on, Coby and Helmeppo watch the marines press on their attack, wondering if this is really necessary. Coby, suddenly, starts to hear their voices calling for stronger pushes in his head.
Jimbei finally reaches the edge of the bay and declares that once he reaches the water he'll be able to escape with Luffy. However, once he jumps off the battlement he discovers that the sea's frozen, courtesy of Aokiji. With nowhere to go, Akainu catches up to him in mid-air and blast through the Fishman with his lava, also knocking Luffy's straw hat to the ice.
Eyecatches: Luffy and Robin
Jimbei crashes down to the ice, managing to shield Luffy from impact with the group. However, his chest is heavily burned, and Jimbei weakly apologizes for allowing him further injury. Akinu says that if it weren't for him getting in the way he'd be able to finish Luffy off with a single hit. Jimbei roars his defiance, but isn't in any condition himself to do anything. Right when Akainu goes in to deal the fatal blow, a blade of sand slices through him. Crocodile blows Jimbei and Luffy away with a sandstorm and admonishes him for being a lousy guardian, and to not let Akainu have his way anymore.
Above them, Buggy is still bemoaning his misfortunes when Jimbei slams into him. Buggy starts to wonder how the two got this state when he finds a giant lava fist heading his way and bolt, somehow managing to carry the unconscious Luffy and Jimbei along with him. Akainu finds himself confronted by Whitebeard's division commanders, who swear to protect Luffy and see him off to the new era.
As the many battles rage on overhead, a submarine slips through the battlefield underwater. Its captain orders it to surface, and a yellow submarine emblazoned with the word "DEATH" breaches the surface to the surprise of those above. The captain steps out on deck and orders Buggy to bring Straw Hat to him. Buggy demands to know who this newcomer is, and the man says that while Luffy and him will be enemies one day, but he shouldn't die here. Trafalgar Law says that he'll take Luffy away from here, for he's a doctor.
Whew, only three episodes left to go.
Big reveal for this episode, like so many others, comes at the end with the appearance of Law. One can make the joke that now that Ace is dead, Oda has to keep the fangirls interested somehow, but in seriousness this development certainly speaks to Mihawk's earlier words that Luffy's ability to gain allies, willing or no (like tsundere Crocodile), is what is to make him feared. And hey, the guy rides around in a submarine, how cool is that? And it's yellow too! That's like, the awesomest thing ever! Quit hogging all the cool, man.
Other comments: I did like the filler with Ivankov fighting Akainu, and got a good chuckle out of his plastic-surgery-themed attacks. I've heard that Sengoku's energy wave attack may be based on those "force" attacks that you see in cheesy kung-fu movies. Good show hitting all of the Blackbeard Pirates (save for Wolf. Man, having him being a forced spectator and not contributing anything almost made me forget about him) at once, but where the heck was that earlier in the battle?!
The way Luffy's burns were drawn was an obvious little easter egg for those keeping up with the manga currently, and the commanders' little moment, while not making up for how useless they've been in this arc, was moderately cool. Anyway, this time, for real, we're almost done with this arc, so please hold on for just a little longer.
