Episode 1086 of One Piece resets the board and updates the score before the next adventure in all the right ways.
I live for these episodes. There is a cynical viewpoint of course - every arc does the same setup. Big battle, big feast, set sail, update bounties. It's all a bit routine at this point, and a more jaded view might see it as padding. In its most reductive form, these bounty-update episodes are an act of bookkeeping, a dry adding of 0s and commas to imaginary values.
I think most of the fandom has come to love these episodes precisely because of their regularity. No matter how zany or how massive One Piece gets, every arc has the same conclusion in this wanted poster ritual. The bounties are updated and we get a sense of how the World Government views the Straw Hats' latest escapades. This reminds us that not only are these events happening to the one particular island on which they were set, but they also have an impact on the wider world. Luffy and co's actions have ripple effects - even in the realm of figures and tally marks on distant shores. Piracy is no quiet matter in this setting.
It also acts as a way to re-center the audience with the crew, particularly after a long arc. It's been many moons since the entire Straw Hat crew has been in the same place and it's nice to see them back on the Thousand Sunny just being with one another. This gives rise to all the delightful character moments that we treasure so dearly: Chopper and Usopp being distraught for different reasons, Robin being radiant and giving out cotton candy, and Sanji and Zoro squabbling: this is the good stuff. Jinbei getting his first real Straw Hat-branded wanted poster is a series first, and it's an exciting moment at that.
Plus we get all the hilarious Cross Guild stuff. Oh, Buggy. Buggy Buggy Buggy. You just can't stop failing upward, can you? God's silliest clown (just like me tbh). Crocodile and Mihawk make for the perfect antithesis to Buggy's abject failure, and he pairs nicely with their glum serious strength. Even if Cross Guild is just occasional joke fodder, I'll be happy, but I hope they get lots of attention going forward for all our sakes.
Rating:
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