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

I’m glad the Oden thing got wrapped up right away. Still felt like it was drawn out too long, purely by virtue of coinciding with a break, but I think the answer was about as good as could have been hoped for. Having Hyori heal the Scabbards first as a red herring was actually a pretty smart move in hindsight, making everyone believe the fake Oden had to be in cahoots with her. I had my money on Onimaru mainly based on that, but I was actually starting to enjoy the potential of it being a ghost/spirits thing by the end. But instead we get the return of Kanjuro in what has to be the cruelest possible way for the Scabbards. Hopefully he gets a more fulfilling end this time. And where did Hyori go after playing medic?

While brave and shocking, I definitely don’t believe Ashura was killed in his sacrifice. He’ll probably find the strength to stand up for one more attack, probably to help with the final Orochi-head-severing. There was a time I might have believed some or all of the Scabbards could potentially meet bittersweet ends during the battle, but that ship sailed when they escaped the roof with their lives. Maybe we’ll see another limb go before it’s all over, but that’s as much as I’m expecting.

Orochi’s back too, shocking no one. If his plan works and the whole interior of Onigashima goes up in flames, how sick is the island going to look flying through the air with fire coming out of its eyes and mouth? I assume it’s going to take a group Scabbard effort to fell him, with one samurai taking out each head. Are they all going to get a chapter to their name before it happens though? Between them and the Strawhats, and supporting cast members like Hyo and Tama (kinda) also getting name chapters, maybe this battle has more juice left in it than I gave it credit for.

Oda once again hints at Momo getting a Kaido-size transformation. I feel like he can have a role to play in the battle without such a huge and sudden boost, but we’ll see how it’s handled when we get there.

Kaido’s hybrid form is definitely a bit of a letdown. I don’t think that’s totally on the design of it – it’s the standard and expected arms, legs, tail and cowling model used for most hybrids already – but the presentation. Look at him; he’s just kinda standing there awkwardly. I can understand flat posing on regular Kaido, with his brick shithouse body and tree trunk arms. That version can only be so flexible before it starts to get uncanny. But the hybrid model is thinner in the limbs, giving them a greater range of movement. It would have been so much easier to draw him coiled to strike, or brandishing his weapon, or visibly reveling in the thrill of battle, but Oda’s just left him with the most neutral body language possible. Maybe it wouldn’t stand out so much if he wasn’t right next to Big Mom, who’s looking a hell of a lot more like you expect a One Piece villain to. Her manic energy and raised weapons are a stark point of contrast to the dull lizard man. The anime doesn’t have to touch her for you to see the flames dancing in her hair and the lighting strobing around her fist. It’s all drawn so energetically that your mind fills that stuff in on its own. Now that’s a villain with some character!

Kaido has been a weird mixed bag of a character/villain for the Wano arc. Only a few weeks ago I was praising the battles against his dragon form as some of the most artistically impressive action in the series to date, but now I’m complaining he’s underwhelming. I could tell you a lot of his personality traits – he’s a messy, emotional drunk, he’s suicidal and wants a glorious death, even if he has to start a war to get it but despite this and being borderline invincible he shows clear trauma over being seriously wounded in the past, he beats and imprisons his child but is seemingly willing to respect it when that child decides they want to be a son instead of a daughter – but he rarely feels like he actually has a personality when he’s onscreen. On paper, the contradictions in his feelings about battle and death and treatment of Yamato should make for a compelling character, but in practice he ends up this grim, stony-faced monolith. Why introduce fun drunk Kaido if the first hit of every battle “sobers him up” and prevents him from interacting with anyone in that state?

At least he’s connected to enough interesting lore for a possible flashback to be a Wano highlight regardless of how he does in the present.

Anyway, decent chapter even if it feels odd to suddenly set up more stuff right when it felt like we might start building toward conclusions instead. It’s a shame to have a Kaido reveal fall short of expectations after spending eight years building up this battle, but these things stand out mainly because Oda usually does them so well. We seemingly have a decent chunk of Onigashima left to go, so there’s plenty of time to put the new form to good use or even reveal another, more visually interesting one.