Oh wow, it’s happening! And to be completely honest, until Oda started setting up that Borsalino was going straight to where Luffy is in the last chapter, this rematch wasn’t something I’d really seen coming or expected. Sure, Borsalino was instrumental in the crew’s crushing defeat at Sabaody, but even that was overshadowed in the same saga by Sakazuki’s slaying of Ace. In my mind, that put him at the top of the Marines as the boss for Luffy to fight, with the three admirals under him the opponents for Zoro, Sanji and I guess Jinbei. Luffy getting a taster against a single admiral first, like his fight with Blueno before Cipher Pol, or Katakuri before stepping up to the Emperors for real, just hadn’t crossed my mind the same way.

Which is crazy in hindsight, because this chapter goes so far out of its way to impress on the reader how much of an impact that loss had on the Strawhats, and how long coming a shot at redemption has been. Even looking back over Marineford, even though it’s Sakazuki who strikes the final blow to Luffy’s spirit and scars his chest, Borsalino is a much more consistent thorn in the young captain’s side as he tries to cross the battlefield, repeatedly kicking him back and sabotaging his efforts with long-range laser shots. Oda must have known even then that he wanted these two to collide again eventually, and he wanted it to be cathartic when they got there.

But that’s for later. Starting out we have a beautifully cheesy colour spread. Just last chapter we had Luffy and Bonney talking about getting pizzas for the road as they left the island, so I guess Oda’s had a craving lately.

I’m so happy to see as much of the Marine invasion of the island as we do. It’s subtle in black and white, but you can see the flash of light from Borsalino’s attack on Sentomaru from the end of last chapter illuminating the island from the centre, shadowing the tops of the clouds, signalling the wider attack. The spread of the Weaponised Sea Beasts attacking the fleet is gorgeous and chaotic in every way you could want from a vingette of a battle. The lion best with tubes and cables complementing its mane and the visor showing onomatopoeia for its actions is a standout design in a classic Oda way. We technically did see it already, when the crew first met Lilith in chapter 1062, but I didn’t appreciate it enough then.

I don’t feel a strong emotional attachment to Borsalino and Sentomaru’s fight. It’s nice that Sentomaru gets a better chance to show his stuff than the earlier encounter with Lucci allowed. It’s interesting to know that a backstory being summarised in an SBS doesn’t necessarily exclude it from being shown in the story as well (and maybe the SBS’s accidental spoiler on this relationship gives us a hint of how many things Oda holds in his mind at once, insure if he’ll get to put them in the story for real or not. But yeah, as sad as it is on paper for Borsalino to have to take out Sentomaru after training him and knowing him since he was a kid, it takes a little more interaction than just affectionately calling him ‘old man’ to tug at my jaded heartstrings. And speaking of who’s emotionally impacted here, it’s interesting that only Vegapunk Stella has tears to shed for Sentomaru. Obviously the others would have access to the memories of Sentomaru’s upbringing, but I guess the sentimentality didn’t come with them.

Gotta agree with Saturn that it’s a shame to lose the Weaponised Sea Beasts. And I don’t think he and I would agree on much.

There has to be some commentary later on how Lucci ended up uncuffed long enough to pull a move like he does. Even if it’s just something dumb like the crew’s idiots assumed that fighting side by side meant forging some kind of bond. Well, it’s good on Lucci to have been so patient about choosing the moment when his enemies were most distracted to have the best chance of success.

I’m not sure how much of a fight to expect from Lucci and Zoro, but it is technically a loss from back in the day that there was never personal payback for, just like Luffy and Borsalino. Maybe they should’ve brought Kalifa along too, so Sanji can also show how far he’s… what? He hasn’t worked on the shortcomings that lost that fight for him at all? Alright, yeah, let’s just forget that one.

And with that, the fights are on. The vice admirals are going to be invading the mainland unimpeded, but despite their convenient numbers and likable designs I doubt they’re going to make it to the Labophase quick enough to get full, dedicated fights. Maybe a few panels worth of skirmishes while Luffy finishes up with Borsalino and the final preparations to launch are made. Well, however it plays out, just having the significance of Luffy and Borsalino’s rematch sink in fully this week has combined with the live action release to give me a burst of One Piece energy! It’s a great time to be a fan, break week or not.