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

I really am surprised the Orochi cliffhanger last week didn’t lead directly into a resolution of his arc, but instead we’re getting Lunarian lore, Shimotsuki lore and sword lore, so I can hardly complain. Well, I can a little. Despite the awesome developments and some really great panels, and contrary to popular opinion, I don’t think the actual action of this chapter flowed as well as it could have. Something in the choreography just didn’t click for me this week.

Oda’s obviously making a mystery out of King’s powers. Does he heal with fire like Marco or turn into it like Sabo? Or is his body simply impenetrable and he sparks when struck like Mr 5? It’s all very vague and I think it’s strange how it overlaps with so many Devil Fruits. And then, “jackpot” implies there’s some luck involved in what effect occurs and when. So what’s the deal?

Queen offers some actual information on King’s race and their importance. How interesting that they lived on the Redline and were revered as gods while the current rulers of that continent style themselves as the descendants of gods. Interesting too that the current nobility call themselves “dragons” now that we know the previous deity-apparents could fly and use fire as a weapon. The question then becomes if the Celestial Dragons really did descend from the Lunarians, breeding out the fire and wings over the generations, or if they usurped them violently and took their divine status for themselves. I’d bet on the latter. It’s hard to imagine a species so adaptable goes extinct without a little outside help.

The panel of Zoro cutting through King is spectacular, but unfortunately the action choreography starts to stumble soon after. King uses his Imperial Deep Pride Stake again still without explaining what’s being shot – a stretching attack like Luffy’s? An air-slash type projectile? – which makes the flow of the battle really hard to visualise. He said it’s just a pterodactyl thing, not a Lunarian one, so there’s no need to keep it an mystery the same way. And then Zoro calling it a beam only muddies the water further. But the sequence over the next couple of pages where Zoro loses his swords is where I really take issue.

So Zoro drops all three of his swords when hit, and King’s attack also damages a huge chunk of the island, building up a threat of either Zoro or his treasured swords falling off the side. Seemingly confirming this, Zoro leaps through the debris to save Kitetsu and King says he’s “killing himself” to save the sword. But instead of pressing his advantage and edgeguarding, King quickly circles around and kicks Zoro back toward the safe ground at the centre of the island, into the side of the skull dome. The framing initially suggests Zoro jumped off the island to chase his swords, but he can’t have fallen that far if he can be thrown in a straight line to the wall like that. It feels weird to me that Kitetsu was so precariously flying among the rubble but Wado Ichimonji is just conveniently planted in the ground near where Zoro lands, with Enma not too much further off. I think this sequence really needed a better lead-in panel showing the trajectories of the three swords so we have a better idea of the positioning and stakes ahead of time. But even with that, it feels out of character for King, who previously tried to end the fight quickly by dumping Zoro off the island, to go out of his way to send Zoro flying in the most advantagous direction the disarmed swordsman could have asked for. None of this is helped by King snapping rapidly between human and dinosaur forms between panels, increasing the feeling that we’re missing beats and that each moment is disjointed from the one before it.

And it’s a shame this sequence trips over its feet the way it does because we don’t usually see opponents make a dedicated attempt to separate Zoro from his swords in the middle of a fight. King tried it once with his strange mechanical blade on the Live Floor, but he doesn’t have any follow through now he’s in a spot to literally drop them off the island. And the fact that weapon theft isn’t just a gimmick, that he could still hold his own whether Zoro is armed or not, would have made him all the more unique. It can’t help feeling like a little bit of a missed opportunity.

Finally, King smashes Zoro through the floor and we end up in a basement space that’s probably the same sub-Live Floor level Yamato and Momo used to escape from Right Brain Castle after downing Hacha. Good continuity that it exists to be used at all, but I’m a little disappointed it wasn’t on Yamato’s mental cross section of the castle in chapter 1030 if it was going to come up again so soon.

I really hope to be able to look back on this fight favourably after it’s done. Maybe the rough-feeling choreography will read better after King’s explained his Lunarian and pterdoactyl powers in detail. Maybe we’ll learn a bit more about him to justify him saving Zoro from falling off the side for Kitetsu. Hopefully it’s just a blip in an otherwise robust showdown with enough good on either side to forget this one weak point. But right now the action is being carried by all the interesting exposition that’s happening alongside it. Well, that and some great impact panels, even if the steps between them don’t fully make sense.

The sword lore flashback was genuinely interesting though. The talk of philosophy behind blades, how they’re tools made for murder, feels kinda brutal, almost edgy by One Piece standards, but it makes sense. Where spears, bows and even some guns find dual use in hunting, and axes and many blunt weapons echo craftsmen’s tools, hunting swords are all but unheard of (and even when they do exist, are mostly used to deliver the coup de grace to an already-wounded quarry). Even in the near-deathless world of One Piece, swords are made almost exclusively for people to kill other people with. Putting that in words lends a gravitas to holding the weapon. And the idea of holding a sword and feeling it wanting to fulfill that purpose is a genuinely unnerving thought.

The flashback ties together a few scattered SBS details in a more concrete form, presumably both as a recap and for the magazine/anime only readers. Shimotsuki village. Kozaburo. Kuina’s heritage. (Still nothing about Zoro’s own liniage though.) I think it’s news that Kozaburo was a pirate before founding the village though. And he was apparently good enough at it to be wanted by the Navy. I think the timeline on that one would put him before Roger’s day. I wonder if we’ll hear talk of a legendary samurai crew in history books or flashbacks at some point in the future. Something to keep an eye out for.

I did also enjoy the little flashbacks for Kitetsu and Wado Ichimonji during the chapter. It’s great attention to detail that Zoro doesn’t just have three generic swords, he has swords with names and history and specific moments in the story tied to them that get remembered. The attention to detail is what makes One Piece.

Zoro confirms what was hinted on the roof and unleashes his king’s haki. I don’t think I have any feelings on it that I wouldn’t have gone through in any one of the many moments of foreshadowing, but it’s a really cool moment when he reveals it. What I find interesting is that the smoke that usually comes off Enma is coming off all three blades now. I had kinda figured it was Enma’s thing since no one else’s haki has ever produced quite the same effect. I don’t think it’ll be anything particularly meaningful, no one in a million special techniques, but it’s just interesting how unique the effect is.

And I really did like the final line, whether you take it to refer to just Luffy or him and Kuina both, it’s a sweet note to add to Zoro’s journey up to this point. Despite my complaining that the lost sword sequence wasn’t executed quite right, this chapter can’t help feeling like a celebration of Zoro and his role as Luffy’s right hand. Now that he’s found his feet with Enma, the rest of the King fight should click smoothly into place, and my expectations are high. But I don’t think it’s coming next week. There’s Orochi and Queen at least to wrap up first. I’m gonna be on the edge of my seat to a return to this fight the whole time though.