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

This week we continue out post-battle wind-down with the necessary crowning of the shogun and conclusion of Momo’s decade-long character arc from the scared and starving child who ate a devil fruit accidentally in an attempt to steal food on Punk Hazard to a grown man (at least in appearance) offering abundant food and water to an entire nation. He’s still not my favourite ever One Piece character, but it’s hard not to feel proud of the kid making inroads on the titanic legacy Oda set him up for.

The Scabbards seem to be mostly alright despite the battle damage some of them took, but I don’t think I’ve found Ashura Doji anywhere in the chapter, strangely enough. Denjiro and Hiyori ended their bit of the battle near where he fell, and we’ve established that she has some first aid talent, so they should have been able to fix him up… as long as he was still alive. I’m not holding my breath for a casualty, but the absence sure does stand out.

Yamato is still introducing himself as Kaido’s son, and later Kozuki Oden, even with the battle over and the need for an Oden extinguished. I’m seeing a lot of people very excited about his declaration that he’ll join the crew, but I think Jinbe has the right of it: it’s not settled until Luffy says so, and Luffy has not said so. Robin reacting with a heart in her dialogue is pretty unusual. Not unheard of, but I definitely wouldn’t have expected it from her here. Personally, I’m not huge on the idea of Yamato joining longterm yet. There’s just something kinda lacking here. At the very least, I want the scene where Luffy demands Yamato be his own man before things are settled.

Introducing a new character to the crew’s dynamic at 25 years in is a huge deal. Even Jinbe needed to spend multiple arcs as a supporting character/honourary crewmate cementing himself in the group before he got to officially and permanently join up. I don’t care how big his tits are or how well it fits anyone’s powerscaling mentality to have another fighter that could stand up to Kaido on board, or any of the other reasons people are for him, there simply hasn’t been enough screentime to justify him sticking around full time.

I definitely feel like I’m in the minority on this one, but the bottom line will be Luffy’s reaction when he gets up.

Tama’s scenes were surprisingly cute here. I wonder if Oda got any messages from people concerned about the morality of her brainwashing that he wanted to respond to. Nice of Speed to choose to stay, though I hope she’ll have the chance to think it over between doses of dango. I doubt it’ll convince any of the people who claim that Tama is doing a slavery and actually evil, but I think it works as a way to tie off the loose end.

Also Tama says the turn of the lunar cycle is the time limit for her power, and Usopp confirms that to be a month. Interesting, given that the time between the Whole Cake Island and Wano full moons is a little over two weeks. While Oda uses real world months and dates in the SBS, I don’t think they’ve been used in-universe (aside from the Baroque Works day of the week code names) so it could be that the One Piece world has a different perception of a month based on their faster lunar callendar. (or I just care about the phases of the moon more than Oda does, which is completely reasonable)

Remember the theory that Tama was a secret Kurozumi descendant? Her flashback here seems to put that one to rest. It was never particularly strong evidence-wise, but I liked what it might have added to Wano’s themes. Oh well. But the mystery of Hitetsu’s identity deepens…

Adult Momo looks really damn good. Not sure where he got such a stylish kimono in his size at such short notice, but he’s certainly pulling it off. And hey, is it just me, or do the spirals and flames at the bottom look incredibly similar to the way Oda drew the fire under Oden’s execution pot? I think it’s important that the narration reminds us that he’s still only eight years of age, and that he’s not gotten strength for free from the ripening process. There’s something bittersweet in a boy so young needing in so many ways to be a great man, carrying so much duty on his shoulders. That could be a whole story of its own, but the narrator also makes it clear to us that one way or the other, he’ll manage to pull it off. The future of the Wano shogunate is secure.

The final page feels like a great place to break away from this scene and either show what’s happening in the outside world or jump forward to Luffy’s awakening and the crew’s celebration feast. I’m almost certain it’s the right time, but after all the emphasis that’s been placed on the dawn – Toki’s prophecy, Oden’s fall and Kaido and Orochi’s rise starting out with a sunset, the day following the Fire Festival marking a return to the life of slavery – it would be odd to end this sequence without the sun rising. Oda might be saving it for something later, but without it I’m not getting my hopes up too high.