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

Can we call the manga officially bi-weekly now? I’m welcome to anything that keeps Oda and his staff safe and healthy, but it really does hurt a bit. One Piece is comfort reading and its constant stream of new content is one of the things that’s made it owrk so well in that role for me over the years.

Anyway, the action is getting started sooner than expected. I wonder how Oda plans to pay off on the set up of the Tobi Roppo and their challenge against the Lead Performers, formalising the Big Mom/Kaido alliance and Kaido’s big announcement if the festival is getting interrupted so soon. Are we gonna see Kaido just casually giving his speech while Luffy runs wild in the space below? I might have been inclined to say this skirmish was a false start of some kind, but Luffy and Zoro being recognised and Kid joining the fray says to me that Oda’s committing to a big fight now. I thought that would be saved for the end of the volume, so it’s hard to say where we are in the story structurally.

One thing I really loved in this chapter was all the background character designs. So many unique Gifters! I wonder if they’ll all get named in an SBS or a Vivre Card. If Big Mom gets 80ish named crewmates why shouldn’t Kaido have the same?

I noticed Zoro is using Enma for the first time in his tower slicing scene. I guess he got a handle on it pretty quickly, given that there’s no visual haki-draining effect like when he first tested it. There’s not even a thought bubble about the sword being hard to control like when he tested his new blades at Whiskey Peak. Or he didn’t actually use it yet and it was just out for dramatic effect in that early stage. He appears to have sheathed it again and swapped in Wado Ichimonji by the time he and Luffy ditch their disguises.

I usually don’t really go into line by line translation issues in a big chapter thoughts post, but the exchange between Luffy and Zoro that goes “but this isn’t a war!” “I know! But they haven’t figured us out yet!” is really uncharacteristically awkward for Stephen’s translation. I think I’m reading the meaning as “we can’t do this yet, it’s not the real battle” “I know, we’re still disguised,” but the wording of it really just doesn’t work for me. I might be alone in that, phrases sounding right and getting the right vibe for a single specific line is a super subjective thing, after all.

Queen not just welcoming the the Tobi Roppo’s challenge but actively planning to eliminate one of them is an interesting detail. It’s another thing that makes it odd to start heating up the action so soon. When the war gets underway the Beasts Pirates will likely be forced to present a united front, and I don’t know what will happen with this kind of intrigue after that.

Cool to see one of the Numbers in the back when Luffy and Zoro are fighting. Does that mean they’ll be de-silhouetted and move into the spotlight sooner rather than later?

Apoo shows that Oda hasn’t forgotten one of the core things that makes Devil Fruits so interesting to begin with – creativity is more important than raw power. It’s a shame some of the readers haven’t been able to keep the same thing in mind, just looking at the responses to this bit.

I’m in two minds about the disguises being ditched so soon. On one hand, Luffy’s captain coat is a treat and I’m happy to see it again. On the other, Zoro’s back in his default New World outfit from all the way back on Fishman Island. It’s not a bad look, but the merch and advertising has so oversaturated prettymuch all those outfits to the point that it’s just underwhelming each time they show up. I’d rather it have been his ronin outfit.

And finally, I don’t consider Kid the most compelling character at this point, but I still absolutely love his screentime because the amount of detail on his mecha arms is mindblowing. If a fight is what we’re getting, I’m glad he’s gonna be part of it.

Wow, that ended up being more than I expected to have to say about a chapter that’s mostly action. It’s gonna be a long couple of weeks before the next one, but I’m expecting big things from it.