This text was originally written for Arlong Park forums’ discussion thread.

While I’m enjoying the current plot threads, I think the last few chapters have suffered from the Dressrosa era pacing problems I thought Oda had moved past. What I mean is it would probably have been better to do the bathhouse set piece in one dedicated chapter and the jailbreak in a dedicated chapter instead of doing two chapters with half of each. The pacing, in hindsight, isn’t really that slow, but because each of the scenes we’re cutting between only has time to take a single baby step, it feels a lot slower than it is. Volume readers are likely to have a better time with this part of the story.

The prison scene had some good laughs this week. Luffy’s response to the cuffs coming off was perfect, and yes, I’m among the people assuming he’ll just rubberneck his way out of the Battle Royal collar. Still no Kawamatsu reveal makes me sad, but at least Raizo is still fun to watch. Hyogoro’s a good guy, asking to let Luffy fight alone. I like the old guy. Wonder if there’s something special about him, or if Kawamatsu just thinks he should live because he’s influential in the underworld.

The most interesting bit of trivia from the bathhouse this week is that the Koizuki tattoo is specifically a waning crescent. Over in the timeline thread, where the phases of the moon and their consistency were a topic of debate, there was some question as to whether the crescents Oda drew (they were all pointing the same way) were meant to be waxing or waning (since the phases are already too fast, so why couldn’t they go the other way as well). A new, maximum power happiness punch was not a call back I was expecting, but I’ll certainly take it. I’m not sold on the need for fanservice, but come on, I’m not made of stone. I enjoyed that Nami had the good sense to make fun of Sanji’s outfit, and I’m curious to see where him being recognised as Germa goes. I wonder if the rest of the Vinsmoke clan are in the brig of the Queen Mama Chanter right now?

Not much worth saying about Zoro’s little scene yet. Good to know we’re finally building towards the lore that’s been on the cards for the better part of a decade. Anyone think we’ll get a retelling of Monsters with the Ryuma history, or will Oda let the original one-shot remain the canon version. The weapon collector has a fantastic character design.

We’re about halfway through volume 93 now, which means its a good time for all this buildup to start turning into payoff. Looking forward to next week.