One Piece delivered another phenomenal episode with episode #1130, and it left plenty to be excited about for episode #1131 and beyond. The anime continues to deliver on Kuma’s backstory at every turn, and after how great episode #1130 was, the entire arc will surely go down as one of the anime’s best.

One Piece episode #1130 continued where One Piece episode #1129 left off, with a young Ivankov getting Kuma and other slaves to work with him to take down the Local-Hunting Competition. To that end, another slave, Ginny, got pirates all around the world to come to God Valley to fight over the prizes for the competition, and soon enough, everything Kuma and his new friends did kickstarted One Piece’s historic God Valley Incident. It was another big episode for both lore and character moments, and as things stand, there’s bound to be even more in store for the anime.

What Time One Piece Episode 1131 Releases

One Piece Episode 1131's Release Schedule

As with previous episodes, the One Piece anime 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 Piece episode #1131 should premiere on Crunchyroll on Sunday, June 1 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 Episodes 1129 Review: One Piece Kicks Off Its Saddest Story On An Amazing Note

One Piece Episode 1129 In Review

There was plenty of hype surrounding the anime’s take on Kuma’s backstory, and so far, it’s off to a great start. The story is as wonderfully tragic as it was in the manga, and with the gorgeous animation and direction accompanying it all at every turn, One Piece episode #1129 is the perfect beginning to Kuma’s backstory both visually and narratively. Tasuku Shimaya, famous for directing the beginning of Gear 5 Luffy and Kaido’s fight, came back for episode #1129, and there was no better director for the job.

The biggest point of praise for episode #1129, of course, comes from Nobuhiko Okamoto’s performance as young Kuma. Okamoto is best known for voicing loud and aggressive characters like Genya in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and Bakugo in My Hero Academia, so Kuma is a noted departure from his usual work, but sure enough, Nobuhiko Okamoto has done a phenomenal job of conveying the sadness and emotional depth of Kuma’s childhood self. There won’t be much of Okamoto’s performance, but One Piece made the perfect call to cast him, and that was made even clearer in episode #1130.

What Happened In One Piece Episode 1130?

Produced By Toei Animation; Directed By Eri Hyun

In One Piece episode #1130, “A History Erased! God Valley of Despair”, the Celestial Dragons’ Local-Hunting Competition was fully underway, and Ivankov revealed that even if they survived for three weeks, they wouldn’t be spared like the Celestial Dragons promised. To that end, Ivankov’s fellow slave, Ginny, leaked that God Valley housed two powerful Devil Fruits and a mysterious treasure stolen from the Rocks Pirates, as well; soon enough, the Rocks Pirates, Roger Pirates, and Garp all started fighting across God Valley, and the chaotic fighting between Roger, Garp, and Rocks would eventually be known as the God Valley Incident.

As God Valley fell into chaos, Kuma and Ivankov found the Devil Fruits, the Paw-Paw Fruit and the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon, and planned to use their powers to save as many slaves as possible. Unfortunately, Big Mom found them and took the Fish-Fish Fruit, but Kuma got away and ate the Paw-Paw Fruit. At that moment, Kuma ran into Saint Saturn, who told him that he didn’t deserve to live due to being a Buccaneer, but Kuma fought back against Saturn’s words and said he would spend his life saving as many people as possible, just like Nika.

Following a cut to black, Kuma was revealed to have saved over 500 people with the Paw-Paw Fruit, and he and Ginny made a home together while Ivankov left to see the world. For a while, Kuma and Ginny simply indulged in the mundanity of their freedom, but one night, Ginny started crying as it finally settled in that she was free again. Kuma, in turn, cried as he realized his new life with Ginny gave him back what he had with his parents, and the episode ended with Kuma and Ginny remarking on how happy they were.

One Piece’s Anime Breaks Another Big Character Theory

Another One Piece Theory Is Officially Dead

One Piece episode #1130 was the first big showing of the Rocks Pirates in the anime, and with it came the end of another big theory. When the corresponding manga chapter came out and revealed that Gloriosa was in the Rocks Pirates, a popular theory became that Gloriosa had a relationship with Kaido and was Yamato’s mother, as she ed the Rocks Pirates after falling in love with someone. However, the anime established that Gloriosa had orange hair in her youth, and since Yamato has white hair, One Piece episode #1130 officially kills the theory that Gloriosa is Yamato’s mother.

One Piece Continues To Perfectly Execute Its Most Emotional Story

Why One Piece Episode 1130 Was So Great

One Piece is only two episodes into Kuma’s backstory, and it continues to be great. Not only was the God Valley Incident made out to be an amazing spectacle, even with how little was shown, but Kuma’s tragedy continues to be great, both because of how far the story is going and for how cathartic it was for him to finally get a brief reprieve through regaining his freedom and becoming friends with Ginny. One Piece episode #1130 was another great episode, both visually and narratively, and it’s a perfect sign of how great this arc is set to be.

Everything great about episode #1130, of course, comes from the episode’s director, Eri Hyun. While Hyun doesn’t have much experience with One Piece and anime, as a whole, their previous episodes, especially episode #1116, were great for the creative ways the most emotional moments were conveyed, and sure enough, One Piece episode #1130’s creative direction did a perfect job of highlighting the emotional beats of the episode. There was plenty to love about One Piece episode #1130, and hopefully, episode #1131 will be even better.

Be sure to watch One Piece episode #1131 when it releases on Sunday, June 1.