Okay, it’s another dialogue-light fighting chapter. These can be tough to get through on the weekly read when there’s too many of them in a row. But for now, the spectacle of the giant battle retains its novelty. I think it would have been cool to see a little more background and environment during the fight to really emphasise the scale this clash it taking place at, especially after Imu transforms. These guys are meant to be big even by giant standards! Show them towering over the school, or heads peeking out of the branches in the long distance shots.

I’m getting increasingly curious about the devil face in Imu’s black flame. It has the same look as the ghost that fled the Reversi’d giants, not to mention the demonic houses back at the village. The way it fuses to Imu’s halberd to change its form brings to mind Devil Fruits, DF weapons and the physical changes taken on under Domi Reversi. Is it a companion or servant spirit of some kind to Imu? Is it actually destroying itself and being replaced with another for the explosive attacks? Is Omen or Nemesis meant to be this thing’s name? Maybe Loki’s use of Ragnir (love its face in the lightning panel) is meant to be a mirror to Imu has his weaponised spirit. I think of everything we’re shown about Imu’s fighting style this week, this is the thing to keep an eye on.

Imu’s claim that the gigantification power is latent in all things certainly is interesting. No wonder the World Government was so eager to run scientific gigantification experiments. How much of Vegapunk’s Devil Fruit research was meant to unlock the kinds of things Imu’s Dominion unlocks without the big boss having to reveal himself?

The obsession with Mihawk comparisons on social media over the Nemesis attack though, that feels overblown. Yeah, there’s a momentary similarity to the unnamed plunging attack Mihawk did at Marineford, but look closer at the action playing out. Imu actually isn’t plunging, he’s landed on Loki, aims his weapon down and summons the blade into him like a piledriver. Imu’s crossguard is proportionately smaller and has different shaped ends to Mihawk’s. The only reason he seems to match the extremely long hilt of Mihawk’s Yoru is because the sword parts are manifesting from the end of a polearm. I’m not saying we’ll never ever find out anything about Mihawk’s heritage, but if we do, it won’t be because of this.

In true final boss fashion, Imu is all about power. But it’s a unique angle that he focuses on giving power rather than taking it or gathering it for himself. He gives a person too much power too fast and it corrupts them, a strangely fast-paced and literal interpretation of the old adages on the topic. He tricks people into subjugating themselves for power. And then this new Omen power weaponises envy of the power of others in some way. Maybe that’s why this demon thing can block Loki’s attacks so effectively and power up the Knights, it feeds on the envy one might have of a stronger opponent and raises their level to match it. And Imu figures that through at least one of these three methods, he should be able to claim dominion over anyone. I feel like we’re edging closer to explaining what makes a person vulnerable to Reversi, but not all the way there yet. Could a person too close to their peak not have enough left to gain to be corrupted by a sudden influx? That’s my shot in the dark from the info we have.

The difference between a god and a devil is a cool theme for this fight. Both Loki and Imu have godlike and demonic qualities. Imu’s horns and tail contrast the seraphim-like wings and biblically accurate ring of eyes. His title as the god of the world government vs all devilish wheeling and dealing. Loki, a self-declared sun god cursed and cast out as a demon by his people. Which one will live up to which role?

It’s a very vague panel, but is that Imu and Joyboy getting along? Having some lively debate about systems of governance? Veeeeery interesting. Looking back to the mural, I wonder if they worked together to overthrow some great enslaving evil in the First World, then fell out over what to do with the planet after and ended up clashing at the end of the Second World. (Or at the very least they carry on the ideologies of the heroes of the First World and might have been intended to work together as those figures did.)

Of all the ways Oda has prevented Luffy from turning up too early to a final battle, struggling to finish a meal is certainly one of them. It’s weird to see the guy so intimidated by a figure he hasn’t even met yet.

Loki quite firmly has the upper hand at the end of the chapter, but I don’t expect it to last. Emphasis is placed on Imu making his hand gestures before Loki launches his final attack, which makes it hard to tell how much damage Imu took directly. He also didn’t do nearly as much damage to the tree as I would have expected. Which, while we’re here, is kind of an ongoing sticking point with this arc. So much emphasis was placed early on on how dangerous fire was to Elbaph and how quick it could spread, especially with the aid of a lightning strike, but all the fires we’ve seen so far have been slow to spread even if they took a decent few chapters to put out. Loki’s been told off for starting fires with his attacks, but it’s been treated as a gag rather than a real danger. Is this going to turn into a real threat for the final stage of the arc, or has it been discarded?

For the next chapter, I think we’ll start to see a turnaround from Imu that will eventually pave the way to Luffy’s entrance. As for what happens after that, it’s really anyone’s guess. We’re still less than halfway through volume 116, and it wouldn’t shock me if Oda was slating most of 117 to be Elbaph chapters as well. See, chapter 1200 is on the horizon and likely to be either the last chapter of v117 or the first of v118, and it seems like an Oda-y thing to make that into something big regarding the crew’s next destination. So while we’re at the climax, there’s certainly room for the momentum to swing a couple more times before it all ends.