Episode 727

"A Massive Counterattack! Doflamingo's Awakening!" is the 727th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Zoro, Kin'emon, and Kanjuro head off to stop the Birdcage as Luffy continues battling Doflamingo. However, the Shichibukai reveals that his Devil Fruit has awakened, and he overwhelms Luffy by turning the surrounding area into string. Meanwhile, the people on Dressrosa continue running from the Birdcage, but start losing hope. However, Riku Doldo III galvanizes them by revealing that only Doflamingo remained standing and that Luffy would free them.

Long Summary
Luffy's Gear 4 punch sends Doflamingo flying through several buildings, and the citizens below stare in awe, deciding to cheer Luffy on despite not knowing who he is. On the Flower Field, Cavendish watches Luffy's new form in astonishment, but Law says that Luffy is overusing his Haki, confusing Cavendish. On the palace rooftop, Jesus Burgess searches for Luffy and sees him bouncing through the town. Koala, who hides behind a pile of rubble, remembers Burgess from the Corrida Colosseum and wonders what he wants with Luffy. Meanwhile, Viola, Hack, and Usopp have reached the Corrida Colosseum, and Viola contacts Riku Doldo III. Doldo asks if Doflamingo was the only one left standing, which Viola confirms.

In the streets below, Zoro runs toward the Birdcage when he is confronted by Kin'emon and Kanjuro. The samurai reveal that he is going in the wrong direction and tell him to get on Kanjuro's sparrow, which is struggling to carry the two samurai. Zoro gets on, causing the sparrow to strain extremely hard in order to start flying again. Meanwhile, the Birdcage reaches the SMILE Factory, and Franky sees this and tells the dwarves inside to evacuate the destroyed facility. As they exit the factory, they realize that the Birdcage is not cutting it up, which Franky realizes is because of it being made of Seastone. Zoro and the samurai then arrive, and Franky tells them that the center of town is the other way. However, Zoro reveals his intention to stop the Birdcage, leaving the dwarves in awe. As the three swordsmen fly away, Franky thinks about their plan and gets an idea.

Meanwhile, Luffy hovers in midair and looks at Doflamingo, who is still lying on the ground and pondering Luffy's Gear 4 capabilities. Luffy decides to finish Doflamingo off now in order to avoid overusing Gear 4, and Doflamingo gets up and remarks that it must take a lot for Luffy to maintain that form. Luffy retracts both fists into his forearms to unleash a powerful attack, but Doflamingo suddenly blocks it by creating two waves of string from the ground. Luffy is shocked by Doflamingo's sudden move, and the Shichibukai reveals that his Devil Fruit has awakened, allowing him to turn his surroundings into string. Doflamingo turns more and more buildings into string and presses his attack on Luffy, who comments that this makes Doflamingo's fruit no longer look like a Paramecia, and is unable to overcome the constant barrages of string.

The citizens of Dressrosa continue running from the Birdcage, but those who are unable to run properly find the cage catching up to them, and a mother has lost her son. People are trapped under rubble, and medics continue wheeling people out of a hospital, begging the running citizens to help to no avail. One man decides to sit on the ground, giving up hope that they would be saved. Suddenly, Doldo broadcasts himself to the entire island. He reminds them that the shrinking Birdcage was not a dream, saying that they had been under a cage ever since Doflamingo had taken over ten years ago. However, every member of the Donquixote Pirates except Doflamingo himself had been taken down, and Luffy was currently fighting Doflamingo. Doldo tells the citizens that their nightmare would soon end, and urges them to keep running from the Birdcage no matter their condition, as there was still hope. This galvanizes the people, and the handicapped begin running again despite their ailments. Citizens, Marines, and pirates alike start helping free people from rubble and carting off the hospitalized people, knowing they would be saved as Luffy continues his battle with Doflamingo.

Anime Notes

 * The anime adds the following scenes:
 * When Law stated that Luffy was overusing his Haki, Cavendish's reaction was shown.
 * When Viola informed her father that Doflamingo is the only foe remaining, the reaction of Tank Lepanto and the citizens near King Riku is shown.
 * Zoro going in the wrong direction and had to be picked up by Kin'emon and Kanjuro.
 * Inhel asked Franky why the factory wasn't getting sliced apart by the Birdcage. In the manga, Franky noted this to himself.
 * A man pushing down the woman who was looking for her son while running for his life.
 * After King Riku's speech, the anime shows scenes of a marine and a pirate helping a handicapped man and Dressrossa citizens helping people at a hospital as well as a man trapped under rubble.
 * Luffy once again constantly hovers in the air despite Gear 4 requiring him to be in constant motion.
 * When the boy with the Kuma shirt reunites with his mother, Issho is not seen near them like in the manga.
 * The anime explicitly shows Doflamingo turning his surroundings into string through physical contact. In the manga this was shown albeit slightly cut off by the panel's structure, and again though the shot is from behind Doflamingo.
 * The anime also shows that Doflamingo needs to maintain physical contact with an area in order to turn it into string by having the ground he is walking on briefly turn into string before returning to normal, something the manga did not explicitly mention or display.