Oda threw me a little bit by holding the shot on the Imu fight for longer than I expected, letting the heroes have just a bit more time with the upper hand, but we’re finally shifting into the disadvantage state into crew fights cutaway phase of the traditional structure.

Loki switching to hybrid mode is one of a few good teases in this chapter. That’s something to look forward to whenever we cut back to this. Luffy running out of steam and losing his form is pretty expected, but the dialogue around it is strange. Luffy says his ‘heartbeat is coming back’ as if the Nika rhythm is something other than just an irregular beat. I feel like ‘my heartbeat is going back to normal’ would be a more naturally flowing sentiment, unless Luffy feels that the Nika beat is something else or is coming from somewhere else. Injuries ‘coming back’ is also an odd way to put it when we could very obviously see them still being there through the last two chapters. It’s not like he just imagined them away, he was definitely powering through. Finally, the ‘hmm?’ in the last panel also bears putting a pin in. It’s a bit of distance to cover, but maybe it has to do with Usopp’s plan that gets established in the next scene. Did Usopp run down to him, or shoot a package of food?

And on that note, good to know that Oda has more in store for Usopp. Very happy it’s not just a speech. And we’re set up to learn whatever vital thing Gunko is going to know for the arc’s finale.

And speaking of setup, if Biblo’s been around for centuries already, you just know his grandpa was around for some important stuff. I don’t have any good speculation beyond the obvious for the letter and the tool – a poneglyph and maybe something with haki knotted into it like Emet had maybe. But the use of that is obvious, what do we need Gunko for if Chopper and Robin are about to return with such an easy solution?

Dory and Broggy rallying to save the kids is a decent use for the supporting cast at this late stage. Gives Oda a chance to reiterate directly the arc’s take on pacifism vs violence. I like the sentiment that the real cause of a fight isn’t going to be in the physical idea of who’s strong and who’s weak, and I’m looking forward to seeing what middleground they find in the pacifism vs violence debate for the kids by the end.

While I still don’t feel much of a threat from the situation, I actually quite like Zoro and Sommers’ scene. The visual of the thorn trap manifesting around Zoro in such a complex tangle while he stands nonchalant in the middle is cool as hell. And we get another great visual when he bursts out of them faster than the eye can see. The actual how of using Haki is fairly vague, so it’s interesting to watch Zoro struggle with knack of manifesting Conqueror’s as a coating. Luffy seemed to know figure out the new use the moment he realised Kaido and Big Mom were doing it, but for Zoro the technique doesn’t click. Is it mindset? Is it intent? Is there some kind of spiritual muscle memory that keeps changing tack to Armament the moment he goes for a coating? This, we will obviously never know. But having to approach his power in a different way, even in such an abstract sense, does show us why Oda chose this unthreatening opponent for him.

I don’t think Oda is going to break too far from tradition at this late stage, give or take the ultimate end of not quite actually beating Imu. So that means probably some time with Sanji next chapter to get all of these auxiliary conflicts to where they need to be to rapidly resolve. I’m still on the train that we can reach a critical moment (maybe not the end of the arc but the climax of the battle) on 1200. A lot can happen in 7 chapters!