One Piecereturned from its break to deliver a truly phenomenal episode in episode #1137, and it left plenty to be excited about for episode #1138 and beyond. Even with Kuma’s flashback over, the anime isn’t done with his story, and there’s already plenty of great material to be gained from that.

InOne Pieceepisode #1137, the story finally returned to the present, where Saint Saturn was preparing to kill Bonney while everyone else was powerless to help her. The situation seemed hopeless, but salvation came in a form no one expected, and it led to one of the anime’s most cathartic moments in years and a perfect setup for episode #1138 and beyond.

Bonney crying after learning Kuma’s backstory

What Time One Piece Episode 1138 Releases

One Piece Episode 1138’s Release Schedule

As with previous episodes, theOne Pieceanime streams new episodes weekly on Crunchyroll and Netflix, which can be accessed through their apps, websites, or third-party websites like Amazon Prime. Assuming there are no delays,One Pieceepisode #1138 should premiere on Crunchyroll on Sunday, August 3 at 8:45 AM Pacific Standard Time (PST), 11:45 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST), and 4:45 PM British Summer Time (BST), with the same episode debuting a week later on Netflix, as well.

One Piece Episode 1136 Review: A Perfect Ending To An Emotional Masterpiece

One Piece Episode 1136 In Review

The anime’s take on Kuma’s backstory was great from day one, andOne Pieceepisode #1136was a perfect ending to it. Not only was episode #1136 absolutely gorgeous, but the actual visuals were incredibly creative in how they told the story, with the final montage of Kuma’s life especially standing out for how much extra life was added to it compared to the manga.

In terms of writing, while episode #1136 mostly served to clean up the last few bits of Kuma’s backstory, Kuma’s final moments all did a great job of emphasizing how he always strove to do good, no matter how much hardship he had to go through. The entire arc served to make Kuma one ofOne Piece’s most tragic figures, and overall, it more than succeeded.

Bonney in episode 1137

Ever since the manga, Kuma’s backstory has been heralded as one of the most emotional stories in all ofOne Piece, and overall, it’s safe to say that theOne Pieceanime madeKuma’s flashback arceven better than the manga. Kuma’s backstory embodies everything that’s great aboutOne Piece, and there’s no telling when there will be another story quite like it.

What Happened In One Piece Episode 1137?

Produced By Toei Animation; Directed By Wataru Matsumi

One Pieceepisode #1137, “I’m Sorry, Dad - Bonney’s Tears and Kuma’s Fist”, opened with a flashback to Bonney confronting Vegapunk after viewing Kuma’s memories. Bonney apologized to Vegapunk for blaming him for Kuma’s transformation, and the two finally buried the hatchet as Vegapunk gave Bonney a necklace Kuma bought for her birthday.

Back in the present, Bonney was still being apprehended by Saint Saturn, and everyone else was paralyzed by Saturn’s mysterious abilities and left unable to help. Despite that, someone, possibly Kizaru, gave Luffy a mountain of food so he could regain his strength, and Saturn told some nearby Marines to restrain Luffy before that could happen.

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Bonney, furious over everything Saturn did to Kuma, tried to attack him by making herself like Nika, but the attack barely phased him. Saturn explained that while the Age-Age Fruit lets Bonney turn into possible future variants of herself, it loses power if she doesn’t believe in that future, meaning Bonney has subconsciously started losing faith in Nika.

Even worse, Saturn revealed that he was the one who gave Bonney the Age-Age Fruit; Saturn experimented on Ginny while she was a sex slave, which led to Bonney gaining the power of the Age-Age Fruit and both her and Ginny contracting Sapphire Scales. Vegapunk tried to call Saturn out on his actions, but he showed no remorse as he likened people to insects.

At that point, Bonney had given up all hope and was ready to die, but as Saturn was about to kill her, Kuma appeared and protected her. Saturn didn’t understand how that was possible when he had activated Kuma’s self-destruct switch days ago, but regardless,One Pieceepisode #1137 ended with Kuma landing a powerful punch on Saturn that sent him flying.

One Piece Delivers A Perfect Epilogue To Its Most Emotional Story

What Made One Piece Episode 1137 So Good

One Pieceepisode #1136 set the bar for episodes incredibly high, but episode #1137 more than delivered. Series director Wataru Matsumi personally directed episode #1137, and while it wasn’t as chaotic as Luffy vs. Lucci orLuffy vs. Kizaru, it was still an episode filled with creative and all-around gorgeous animation, especially with the final scene.

Naturally, the story was what helped tie it all together. After spending months on the emotional rollercoaster that was Kuma’s backstory,One Piecedelivered the ultimate catharsis by finally having Kuma and Bonney reuniteand having Kuma punch Saturn for everything he’s done to him, all of which was made as incredible to watch as possible.

One Piecedelivered the ultimate catharsis by finally having Kuma and Bonney reunite and having Kuma punch Saturn for everything he’s done to him.

What made it even better was how much of an improvement it was over the manga.TheOne Pieceanimeis infamous for typically only adapting one chapter per episode, but they broke that rule for episode #1137 to end on Kuma’s punch instead of the setup for it, and that led to a far more satisfying conclusion than what could have happened otherwise.

The anime’s handling of Kuma’s backstory was nothing short of a masterpiece, and fortunately,One Pieceepisode #1137 was the perfect follow-up both visually and narratively. The Egghead arc will be completely different going forward, but hopefully,One Pieceepisode #1138 and beyond will still have this incredible level of quality to them at every turn.

Be sure to watchOne Pieceepisode #1138 when it releases on Sunday, August 3.