Third Shift Musings - One Piece Episode #15

Luffy and Captain Kuro finally fight!

The episode begins with Captain Kuro knocked the eff out! Luffy punched the hell out of him in the last episode and Kuro went down for the count. Everyone is still in shock until the Usopp Pirates show up, beating an unconscious Kuro for good measure. Usopp tells the kids to get the hell out in case Kuro wakes up seeking revenge. Of course, the little guys wanna fight and say they’re staying put. Unfortunately, Kuro wakes up before the kids can make a run for it. They freak out but Kuro walks right by them to kick the crap out of an already injured Usopp. Kuro then speaks directly to Luffy, asking him if he has Devil Fruit powers. Luffy confirms, and Kuro’s men freak out even more (these dudes are useless). Kuro tells Jango to handle Kaya while he goes after Luffy.

Jango starts walking towards Kaya, but Zoro puts out his sword and tells Jango not so fast, homie. Jango calls for Butchie, who’s still on Super Saiyan time. Butchie flies up on the sky, coming down to crush Zoro where he stands. Zoro gets out of the way just in time, cuz Butchie basically tears up the cliff with his landing. Kuro watches all of this with disdain (ngl he is pretty damn cool). Zoro waits for the dust to settle but before he can regroup, Butchie reaches for him and smashes Zoro into the rock wall. He blocks Butchie’s claws with one of his swords, but that also means Jango can reach Kaya without any interference. Usopp sees this and yells for Kaya. Listen, I know she’s supposed to be an innocent, but girl, GET UP! Usopp is too hurt to do anything but watch. So he does the one thing he didn’t want to do: he calls for the Usopp Pirates.

The kids are still there and wait for their orders. He tells them to protect Kaya by taking her away from the fray. They’re scared but take their job seriously. They grab her and they all run for the hills. Jango attempts to stop them but Usopp uses his slingshot to distract him. It works until Kuro tells Jango to go after Kaya and the boys. Jango reluctantly leaves. Kuro tells Usopp that it’s no use, that Jango will catch Kaya and do what needs to be done.

While Kuro is doing all this talking, Luffy is walking up the slope. We all know what that means and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for Kuro. Meanwhile, Zoro tells Butchie that he told him not to get in his way. Zoro kicks Butchie in the face, sending him flying. The picture fades to black, and two white cuts appear. Zoro slices Butchie in the chest with two of his swords! The picture fades to black again, and two more cuts appear. Zoro slices Butchie again and the big man comes tumbling down. Before Butchie hits the ground, Zoro throws his three swords up in the air, and then all fall neatly back into their scabbards.

Usopp wants to know how Kuro can be so cold towards Kaya after working for her for three whole years. Kuro basically tells him that she’s a means to an end, nothing more. Luffy yells to Usopp and tells him to find Kaya. He and Zoro will handle Kuro and his pirates. YEAH THEY WILL!! Usopp finds the strength to get up even though he is in massive pain. He refuses to let Kuro finish his plan. Unfortunately, the pain is too much and he falls back down. Kuro laughs and tells Usopp to stay down cuz he’s no match for him. Usopp tells Kuro he won’t let him lay a finger on his village! The pirates see Usopp crying and start laughing. Big mistake, cuz Luffy takes a piece of the cliff and brings it down on some of the pirates, crushing them. HE IS PISSED!

He asks the remaining pirates what’s so funny. Being the punks that they are, they just shake in their boots. Zoro grabs Usopp and tells Luffy he’s gonna help him save Kaya and the boys. Luffy says bet and to hurry. As they’re walking past Kuro, he asks them who gave them permission to leave. EXCUSE ME?! Before Zoro or Usopp can respond, Luffy stretches his fist towards Kuro, who barely dodges another punch. Zoro uses the distraction to get out of dodge. Luffy uses his fist as a boomerang, pulling himself towards Kuro so he can kick him in the face. But Kuro is fast and tries to use his claws. Luffy uses his feet again and pushes them toward Kuro’s dumb face. But he disappears, probably using one of his techniques.

Luffy snaps himself back, giving Kuro the chance to ask Luffy why he’s all in this business in the first place. Luffy says it’s because he doesn’t want a particular man to die. Kuro tells Luffy he’ll die for someone else, which we all know is a damn lie. Luffy ain’t dying! And that’s exactly what he tells Kuro. And the two fight!

But what the fuck is this????? Kuro is too fast! He dodges all of Luffy’s punches and kicks, and then does the unthinkable. He punches Luffy in the face and makes him bleed!!! Again, EXCUSE ME?! Not my boy!! Kuro’s pirates are impressed by their boss and begin to cheer. But Kuro doesn’t want to be Captain Kuro anymore. He’s tired of the pirate’s life, which is why he came up with the plan in the first place. And we get a flashback of when he decided to give up the pirate’s life.

We see Kuro and Jango hiding from the navy, who is attacking their shop. Kuro tells Jango that he’s sick of all of it, and wants to give it all up. Kuro tells goes to the deck and tells his men to lower a small boat for him. He gets in and heads to the navy boat. Shortly after, the cannon fire stops and the pirates dock their ship near the navy’s ship. When they board, they see a massacre. Kuro has murdered all but one of the soldiers! But Jango uses one of the pirates and hypnotizes him to become Captain Kuro. He also hypnotizes the remaining soldier to say he was the one who stopped Kuro and to have him EXECUTED!! They set that random pirate up to die!!

Back to present day, Kuro tells Luffy that once his plan is complete, he will have peace and money. But Luffy thinks his story is a cop out. Because being a pirate take guts and ambition. Kuro’s plan is BS and Luffy lets him know. Kuro comes at Luffy but he grabs the same boulder he used to drop on the pirates. Luffy blocks Kuro’s blow, causing his claws to become trapped. Luffy then takes the boulder and smashes Kuro’s face in. He then tells Kuro, with a crazed look on his face, “My ambition is much greater than yours!”

Will Luffy finally end Captain Kuro once and for all? Will Jango catch up to Kaya and the boys? And will Nami get her hands on the treasure? Stay tuned for next week’s episode.