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

Hooray, we’re back! And then off for another week. It hurts, but I’d rather Oda keep himself safe. It seems other manga are going to be more consistent than One Piece. I wonder if it’s because of Oda’s age and previous health scares (I don’t know the actual average age of Jump authors to be fair, but it seems like a young man’s game), or if the editors are just enforcing it to protect the goose that lays the golden eggs.

First up this week, Pound turns up alive, in a development that should shock no one. Like, besides it being a One Piece thing, catching a spear to the back of the head and shaking it off is one of the first things we ever saw him do.

Dude’s got a thick skull!

The first few pages were honestly a little recap-y, but once the chapter got going it really got going. The return of the Black Rhino and the Brachio Tank is extremely exciting. I’d almost forgotten about these things, let lone had any hope of them being used in a battle. That’s the General Franky locked in for the big fight, and that’s extremely exciting. It shows Oda setting up even the less-fighty members of the crew to go all out in the coming battle.

I loved every part of the crew interactions in this chapter, especially being able to see Jinbei fit right in with the established dynamics. He’s a genuinely really fun addition to the party. I hope we get to see more of Robin and Jinbei together in the future. It’s good to see two members of the crew being able to get along in a less bombastic way.

I’ll be shocked if the silhouette watching them isn’t Yamoto. There’s not a lot of other characters it’d make sense to have there.

I’m still having fun with the Tobi Roppo as well. Ulti’s complete lack of respect is really entertaining, especially since we have previously seen Kadio waste underlings on a drunken whim. This girl’s fearless! The amount of tension between the Tobi Roppo and the Lead Performers makes for an interesting crew feel that I’m interested to see play out. Kaido runs a seemingly genuine meritocracy. His men follow him not because he inspires them but because he gives them the means to advance through their strength. It’s no wonder his strategy of breaking and assimilating challengers through the prison camps as been successful. You have to wonder how many of them “broke” with a plan to work their way up the ranks and challenge the big boss a second time. They stay loyal because they think the best second chance is inside the organisation, not outside of it. It’ll be interesting to see how this group reacts when Kaido finally does fall. It brings to mind this quote from the most recent One Piece Magazine: “What makes Roger’s pirate crew strong and united despite their small number is their confidence in the leader.” Luffy obviously takes after this kind of leadership, and we’re being positioned to see the two styles go head to head in the coming volumes.

Finally, after the thematic and philosophic clash between Luffy and Kaido has been set up, we go onto the personal stakes. It’s been easy to forget about Luffy’s connection to Tama and her struggles despite most of act one being a mini arc setting all that up, just because it’s been so long since they had a proper interaction. I think she’ll stick in the mind a little better on the reread, but it was a good choice to use the food at this banquet here to invoke her again. I’ve seen comments from people thinking Luffy hasn’t built enough of an emotional investment in Wano for them to care about him fighting for it. Well here it is. The big reminder is coming up, probably next chapter.

I don’t think this is the thing that exposes the infiltration though. There’s almost half of volume 97 to go yet, and the real start of the fighting feels like an end-of-book development.