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

I think it’s safe to say from the shifting focus here that we’re back to the start of a new volume. Some people definitely won’t like the change of pace, especially on the weekly read, but it was almost definitely a necessary step to wrap up the billion subplots of this battle, and hey, the art is pretty nice throughout.

Let’s not be too quick to assume the mysterious figures in the cover story are Blackbeard’s men making their move. He’s still going to be at his home base for another week from when the cover story is taking place. The Reverie hasn’t happened yet, and an invasion of Big Mom’s territory by Blackbeard would definitely have made the news at some point during that arc. More likely it’s some combination of a Germa counterattack, Pudding’s play to help Sanji’s family, or Pekoms (and a mysterious other party left over from the battle) stepping in.

Hopefully Luffy’s declaration puts the idea of possession to rest, even Zunesha insists it hears Joyboy.

I really enjoy the action here with Luffy and Kaido’s attacks both totally reshaping each other’s body as they fight. It’s somehow ridiculous and brutal all at the same time. The smoke from the fires down below only just now starting to billow up feels like something of a lost opportunity. Imagine the rooftop atmosphere with billowing smoke and clouds of embers whipping past during the dramatic pauses. Still, doing it now makes for a surprisingly smooth segue to the rest of the chapter.

I keep saying this, but Onigashima is one of the series’ best locations and being able to slowly track its deterioration and destruction toward the conflagration we see cutting back to the castle has been a joy. I can really emphasise with Chopper’s panic over the size of the fire and feeling helpless not knowing where his friends are or if they can get out. We’ve seen how much time and fighting it took the alliance just to get a relative hold over the terriroty of the castle with its complex, multi-floored layout – there’s no chance at all for an evacuation effort. And when we do get interior shots for the characters trapped in there, the foregrounds are cluttered with flaming debris, the backgrounds showing pieces of the ceiling still falling, the flames closing in claustrophobicly from every side. The place is literally coming down around them and they’re trapped. It’s a very real feeling disaster scenario.

Brook being mistaken for a really gnarly burn victim is hilarious though. A fantastic gag in the middle of an tense set piece, as One Piece is meant to be.

And it’s a really clever solution to combine Zunesha’s showers, Raizo’s scrolls and Jinbe’s water manipulation. That’s thinking outside the box! I’m sure some are disappointed that Nami and Zeus were dismissed as an option so quickly, but I think it makes sense. Maybe a supercharged Zeus could fill the roof of the dome, but the castle is the main source of the danger, and it goes all the way to the ceiling. We’ve never seen Zeus get amorphous enough to fill in every room of the top floor of a building that big or generate enough rain to put the whole thing out, so I think it’s fair to write him off for the task. And I love that the Jinbe solution gives the impression in paces of the water crashing down between panels. It’s a really fun bit of art.

Oda, of course, doesn’t care about the idea that that much water moving that fast would probably be just as deadly as the flames, and neither should anyone else. What I am wondering about, however, is what the water means for Orochi, currently burning to death. I guess the slimy bastard is getting another lucky break, only to be caught and finished off by the still-absent Denjiro at the last minute. In fact, it might be the safest bet for next chapter’s focal point.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a tad frustrating that the final pages bring us back basically to the mid point of chapter 1027 – Luffy and Kaido’s fight entering an apparent final phase while Yamato and Momo realise they have to use Momo’s flame clouds to save the island from falling. Twenty chapters of wrapping up subplots and secondary fights while Luffy and Kaido push and pull and Momo flip flops on how best to help. There have been plenty of fun, memorable scenes within that time, but god damn this arc is long.

The final page is a real banger though. Definitely good to show some elements of the fanbase that Gear Five can look decently menacing as well as just fun. And I think the contact with the lightning proves that Luffy is still the same kind of rubber he was before, even with all the new powers. Can’t wait to see what he does with that bolt.

This is the kind of chapter that is the exact reason I started staying out of spoiler discussions. You see a summary of it and ask ‘why would we cut away to something so irrelevant in the middle of the climax of Luffy and Kaido’s big fight, sounds like a shit chapter.’ But in context, it’s actually one of Oda’s stronger cutaways. Kaido poses a problem to Luffy – while they slug it out, his friends and allies will burn to death down below. The danger to his friends and allies should be a devastating threat to Luffy, possibly even the distraction that would cost him the fight, but Luffy gets a strong charcter moment in announcing his faith in his crew, and Oda immediately proves him right by showing how his well-chosen friends and allies handle the situation themselves. It’s a well-structured chapter that makes a whole arc problem into a Luffy vs Kaido problem just in time for the solution to serve both sides of the story. You can’t find that sort of heart and soul in a summary, particularly not the super early partial ones. Execution is everything, but so many people seem to want to make their minds up as quickly as possible.