Big moment for Sanji here, building on the momentum from the last chapter. This chapter on the whole feels similarly structured to what chapter 1194 was for Zoro, but doesn’t feel quite as content-thin as that one did. Zoro is tough, cool guy who only needed one last nudge to make the technique click, but Sanji is coming from behind and has a lot more to fill his pages with. And before we get into it, I do have to mention how cute the cover is. Great stuff, props to the reader who suggested it.

I feel like I didn’t fully register before the significance of Longinus being a laser weapon. This isn’t the ambiguous, possibly arcane explosions that Sommers’ sword is sending out, this attack is drawn in the incredibly specific way of something with a technological bent. It’s an interesting combination, these weapons with the look, feel and names of things that follow our understanding of ‘ancient,’ but needing to be combined with Vegapunk’s assertion that the kingdoms of way back when had more advanced technology than the current world. Though how it works, with no obvious mechanical bits appearing when both the spearhead and the shaft break, is anyone’s guess. And on that, the weapon breaks and repairs itself multiple times throughout the chapter. Is that an Omen modification, or is it built into the power of the ancient weapon?

Sanji’s depiction in the first half of the chapter is great: this anger that lingers even after the last installment’s realisation causing his eyebrow to curl. He gets one good hit off using it, then affirms his ownership over his body and destiny, directly rejecting Germa and returning his eyebrow to normal. What a fun visual the uncurling makes. That is actually going to be a treat in the anime.

Also love that out of all the quotes to go with for Ivankov’s cut-in panel, it’s just a “Hee-haw!”

I’m sure page space is a factor, but the absences of Gin, Kuroobi and Wanze from Sanji’s lineup of former battles do feel like they’re worth noting. Maybe Wanze was a throwaway miniboss, but if we’re talking displays of survivability, Gin and Kuroobi gave Sanji some of his toughest early-story endurance tests. They definitely hurt him far worse than Wadatsumi.

I’ve been known to nitpick about Shonen fight tropes but goddammit I’m only human. I’m not immune to the old launch-someone-far-away-then-teleport-ahead-of-them-and-dunk-them-into-the-ground routine. It’s a sequence with undeniable hype behind it. And here it’s paired with the spectacular visual gag of Killingham’s neck getting more and more stretched and broken with every hit.

The Omen Panzer Killingham pulls out of the final stage here is a hell of a look, even if it must be an absolute pain to draw. The cravat still going over the front is the touch of One Piece silliness you’d expect to take the edge off an all-black suit of armour like this, and the need to integrate the bubble helmet also helps tone down the seriousness just a smidge. We can also see in this sequence that even when Conqueror’s Haki is involved, things are rarely all or nothing. A little can slow regeneration but not stop it. Technique and output do matter, though I’m sure the online powerscaling crowd will treat it like someone who has it should be untouchable to someone without.

It’s a little weird that “shattering bullets” is the benchmark Sanji chooses to measure his strength. You guys haven’t had to worry about bullets in years. When Sanji and Zoro swooped in to save Toko from Orochi in Wano it was pretty strongly inferred that Sanji was the one who stopped the bullets, and he was practically barefoot for that! But I guess they are hitting the ground seemingly whole, so maybe you he really just wasn’t at shattering level yet. All that said, I think it’s a great step for Sanji to finally own the role he’s been playing. I don’t mean that can’t or shouldn’t compete with Zoro, but he’s always been at his strongest making clutch moves behind the scenes, from the Mr Prince shenanigans to playing around with the Gates of Justice controls. No shame in being a defensive player!

Great sense of motion and impact in the final page’s big panel. I’m wondering, since I’ve had colours on my mind a lot lately, if there’ll be another transformation to Sanji’s flames to go with the Conqueror’s upgrade. Diable was a normal orange. Ifrit turned it up to an even hotter blue. Could the Conqueror’s variant take on maybe an arcane purple to really emphasise it being on the final stage? But then, blue is Sanji’s associated colour according to Oda, so it would be a logic place to keep him. Maybe we wait and see if a new name is given to this version in a later chapter to be sure.

Anyway, this fight is feeling very ready to wrap up. I’d be surprised and probably critical if Oda tries to get more than another chapter out of Sanji or Zoro now. Good time to kick Elbaph into its final-final-final climax at last.