One Piece has entered a major turning point in the Egghead Island arc, and it’s sure to make episode #1109 an exciting one to watch upon its eventual release. Details on episode #1109 are currently sparse, including the title, but after everything that happened in episode #1108, it’s all but assured to be another good one.

While not bad, One Piece episode #1108 was largely passable entertainment. The Egghead Island arc has continued the anime’s increase in overall quality that’s been in place since the Wano arc, but unfortunately, One Piece episode #1108 felt like a return to some of the worst the One Piece anime has to offer.

It’s likely just an outlier as opposed to a prelude to a major decline in quality, but getting an episode like that is still disappointing, nonetheless.

What Time One Piece Episode #1109 Releases

As with previous episodes, One Piece streams new episodes weekly on both Crunchyroll and Netflix, which can be accessed through their apps, websites, or third-party websites such as Amazon Prime for Crunchyroll. While episode #1109 normally would have aired on Saturday, June 15, the anime will air a recap special centered around the Four Emperors both old and new. As such, assuming no further delays, One Piece episode #1109 should be released on Saturday, June 22 at 7:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST), 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST), and 3:00 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

What Happened In One Piece Episode #1108?

Produced by Toei Animation; Directed by Atsuo Yamai

In One Piece episode #1108, “Incomprehensible! The Seraphim’s Rebellion!”, Lilith tried to order S-Snake to stand down, but she showed no signs of listening to her, meaning that someone of equal or higher rank to Vegapunk and the Satellites was controlling the Seraphim. From there, S-Snake destroyed the bridge everyone was standing on, but they managed to land safely on the ground below thanks to their DOM shoes.

Elsewhere on the island, the missing Cipher Pol agents Lucci talked about earlier were revealed to have been imprisoned and held deep within the Labophase, and even more surprisingly, Vegapunk, who should have been with Bonney, was also being held prisoner. As Vegapunk spoke of how bad things were going, Sentomaru ordered the other scientists to evacuate immediately, the episode even directly comparing the Marines’ plans for Egghead to what the Buster Call on Ohara.

While all of that was happening, following S-Snake’s assault, S-Bear and S-Hawk started fighting Luffy and Zoro, with S-Hawk being revealed to have a copy of Mr. 1’s Dice-Dice Fruit. Understanding how dangerous the situation was for everyone, Lucci and Kaku proposed a truce and asked Luffy and Zoro to free them so they could help deal with the Seraphim. Luffy and Zoro were physically disgusted by the idea of working with Lucci and Kaku, but Luffy eventually complied, reasoning that even if they tried to betray them, all Luffy had to do was beat them up again.

One Piece Highlights How Far One of Its Biggest Villains Has Fallen

One major takeaway from One Piece episode #1108 is that it highlights how Lucci is no longer a serious threat. Lucci was one of the strongest opponents Luffy ever fought, but not only did Luffy defeat him again with Gear 5, but now Luffy can brush off a potential betrayal from Lucci because Luffy is completely confident that he can easily defeat Lucci again if they fought. Lucci is far stronger than he was in his first appearance, but unfortunately, episode #1108 further exemplifies just how irrelevant that is with how strong Luffy and everyone else have become, in tandem.

One Piece Episode #1108 Sees an Unfortunate, But Understandable, Drop in Quality

As previously discussed, One Piece episode #1108 was far below the anime’s typical standards of the past few years. While the art and animation were never outright bad, there was a notable stiffness to everything more often than not, and worse still was the aggressive amount of padding through flashbacks and dragging scenes out with very little noteworthy content. One Piece episode #1108 felt like the kind of episode that made the anime so divisive before the Wano arc, and seeing that after so many months of the anime being better with its direction is nothing but disappointing.

Fortunately, episode #1108 is likely just an outlier as opposed to a sign of a further decline in quality. In the past, the One Piece anime has followed recap specials with multiple episodes of incredible animation, and assuming that’s the case here, that would mean that One Piece episode #1108’s drop in quality is because Toei Animation is diverting animators and resources for much bigger episodes airing sometime in the future. It’s still frustrating to see episode #1108 be so lackluster, but with any luck, One Piece episode #1109 and beyond will be a return to form, and more.

Be sure to watch One Piece episode #1109 when it releases on Saturday, June 22.