Marineford Arc Starts in the Anime

There should be a link to the first episode of One Piece anime Marineford arc if you have not seen it yet. If you haven't i suggest you go watch it first then return here for the review.
watch it here
Episode 459

Well this is the first use of the new opening thirteen for One Piece and i must say it does set a much darker mood both in the animation and the song. The opening is fine with me, but for those who only watch the anime and do not read the manga it will surely spoil you on some of the characters powers which until now have been a mystery. It does not seem to show many scene spoilers however so it should still allow for the tension to build naturally as it did in the manga.

This is just the prelude to the war and not much happens until the end. Its used mostly to build tension for the arrival of Whitebeard and the upcoming war, by showing different perspectives from people all over the One Piece world. Also it introduces us to some of the marine/warlord players and we saw all the big names are here. This shows how much this war is concerning the marines because all three of the admirals are present together as well as all the Warlords who remain loyal to the world government. As well it would seem the marines have gathered all their strong members from across the world to come here. The narrator informs us that there are well over one hundred thousand troops here at this time.  And that is mainly to stop one man Whitebeard. How badass must he be that he requires such an immense number of troops to be stopped. This entire episode is pretty much just used to setup the appearance of Whitebeard and let the watcher know just how fearsome he is to the world.

We also get introduced to Luffy who has finally arrived at the Gates of Justice, but how will he and his ragtag group be able to get through it? As this is pondered we get Ace being placed on the execution platform. And there is some big news which Sengoku is about to reveal to the world to justify the reason they must execute Ace at any cost. We find out that Ace's mother Rouge was able somehow to keep him in her womb for twenty months to hide him from the Marines, because he is the son of no other than Gol D. Roger. Ace is shocked to find out that they know of this and the all of Marineford is shocked into silence at this news. At this point if you don't read the manga that is we finally learn Ace and Luffy are not blood relations. It is also revealed that Roger asked Garp to look after Ace for him because he felt the sins of the father should not be placed upon the child. I myself agree with this sentiment, but of course the Marines fear of an heir to the Roger bloodline act as he must be extinguished at any cost. That is where this episode ends on the revelation of Ace's true father.

This episode was both amazing and lackluster at the same time, because it was just a setup . Although when we get the payoff in the next few episodes I expect it to become very interesting and entertaining. My only concern is how much filler will be placed in this arc . Although if they go the smart route and just extend certain fight scenes and such it will do justice to the arc as a whole, but if they go off on some weird tangent then i worry it will hurt it . We will just have to wait and see for ourselves. I have been looking forward to this and I hope all those who watch the anime will enjoy it.

Closing notes do you guys think it will be a good arc to see animated or will it just be lackluster. let me know your thoughts. And stay tuned for more anime reviews as we enter what will hopefully be a superb arc for the anime.