© Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation
Episode 7 puts a lot more key players into place to get the arc revved up.
The disparate elements are really coming together now. The two big players here are Madam Sharley and Hody Jones. Dealing with the latter first, we get the first sight of our antagonist for the Straw Hats in this arc. Things have always been interesting with the Fish-Men, even as far back as Arlong Park. I mean, it’s not a terribly complicated world – slavery and oppression are unequivocally evil, and the treatment of the Fish-Men rates as one of the clearest examples of the World Government’s deep rot. But the audience was first introduced to the Fish-Men via Arlong and his gang and given how he treated Nami he was an easy villain to root against in those early chapters. Hody Jones clearly draws on the same visual cues as Arlong, being a shark man in similar attire. He’s certainly willing to use powerful energy steroids to grow even stronger and cause havoc, but as we know there is a root cause this time that adds a new dimension to the events at Fish-Man Island. No major plans have been revealed as of yet, but the tension is starting to ramp up. The water isn’t boiling quite yet, but bubbles begin to appear.
Similarly, Madam Sharley provides ominous warnings and fear. This is the classic role of a character with any fortune-telling or precognitive abilities – they get some murky vision that portends awful events and ramps up the tension for the audience as we wonder whether it will or won’t come to pass. The unique element that Madam Sharley brings to the table is that she is a giant shark mermaid lady, which is something few other fictional soothsayers have (checkmate, Oracle at Delphi).
Of course, this week is full of more Straw Hat shenanigans. The segments with Camie, Pappag, and the crew are all delightfully funny. Just silly goofballs robbing a talking starfish of all his worldly wares, you know typical stuff. I will never tire of the goofball antics.
