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

Volume 101 continuing a whole lot more endpages than normal and being a chapter short of estimates means we’re actually now at the ninth chapter of volume 102, which definitely puts the progress of the current battles in a different light. That makes me think this is actually the end for Queen, although Oda may wait until after King falls to confirm it, but that should happen in the next chapter or two.

I enjoy seeing Momo find a third option and using Kaido’s flames to move the island instead of totally making his own. I actually speculated that he could save the island by hijacking Kaido’s clouds back in March, and now look where we are.

Some will be disappointed that Oda backed down from Sanji’s attack on Osome, but it was kinda always the most likely outcome. While the end result is Sanji choosing to be okay with his weaknesses as a human being, just having him be confronted by them and having to give up the choice to change is enough for me, especially following the sequence where he calls to Robin for help. Just having to go through that process makes a huge difference to Sanji’s characterisation in my eyes and I’m happy to see it done after souring on guy pretty hard after Ennies Lobby.

Queen copying the Vinsmoke tech is pretty neat actually. It gives Sanji the chance to confront and overcome his father’s weapons that the plotting of Whole Cake Island never afforded. Queen’s Sparking Valkyrie feels a little different from Ichiji’s though. From the way they trailed behind him, I didn’t think the lights in his eyes were part of the actual attack, it seemed more like it was coming from his gauntlets, but Queen has it all coming out the eyes. I wonder if his version will get the same cool iridescent colouring as the original in the digital colour manga… And there is a question as to whether we’ll be seeing Queen’s Poison Pink, perhaps as a last ditch final move, but between the mummy bullets and the ice oni virus, I think Queen’s skill with chemical weapons is more than cemented, and it’s not like Sanji ever needed to overcome Reiju like he did his other siblings.

I wonder if Oda will talk about the more stealthy sound effect used for Sanji disappearing in chapter 1031 now that he’s established that it’s all just faster than sight movement. Was he just trying extra hard to be quiet with that move? And on the topic of stealth effects, I do really like how he drew Queens oxymoronical invisible appearance. We’ve seen that transparency effect before, but not usually for so long and with such extreme expressions.

There’s only so much you can say when the chapter’s two pages shorter than usual and almost entirely action, but I did enjoy this one. Onigashima’s been pretty good for Sanji’s characterisation overall and the weird powers and visuals made the Queen fight a highlight. Though it’s foolish to try to predict Oda with any kind of confidence, I’d bet on the next chapter being Zoro vs King and the last one of this volume, ending with narration boxes that confirm both the executives are defeated, forming a bookend with Jack and Perospero’s simultaneous defeat in the opening chapter. I didn’t expect these battles to end before Fukurokuju and Orochi went down, but this chapter had too much of a finishing move vibe to ignore. But the remaining conflicts shouldn’t last too far into volume 103 – which at this stage I’m hoping could be the end of the Onigashima battle.