Captain M Entertainment

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

It took a while to get to the crew fights for this arc, and a lot of people were worried after Nami’s clash with Ulti underperformed, but I think it’s safe to say after these past three chapters that it was overall worth the wait. Jinbe, Franky and now Robin’s rights have been delightful, each one making the most of a small amount of screentime, showing off all kinds of interesting and creative powers.

I don’t have much to say on the topic of Yamato’s fruit. I’m not familiar enough with the different mythologies involved to theorise or speculate better than people who’ve already talked about it. It really speaks to his strength to go head to head with Kaido like this for so long. I’ll be interested to see the colours and animation on the breath attack when the anime gets that far, to see how they distinguish it from the fire moves we’ve seen before. Hell, will the wreath of fire on his shoulders also be a different colour?

The hard cut to the illusion move is a strange one. It never gets explained how Black Maria managed this – is it her fruit or something inherent to her, like the illusions sometimes seen alongside Brook’s music? How did she know to make figures from Robin’s past, or is the illusion more hallucinatory in nature, and Robin filled in the gaps herself? It’s also the second time a fake revival has been used in this battle, but at least this one wasn’t an end-of-chapter cliffhanger. Foreshadowing for visions of the dead at the end of the festival in the Capital, perhaps?

Oh well, I still enjoyed Robin’s to-the-point handling of it and the bonding moment with Brook it created.

Tenjo Kudari finally becoming a named character means my Where’s Wally guide is out of date already. Thanks a lot, Oda.

I’m looking forward to the seedy SBS question that asks where Black Maria found the time to cover her chest in the middle of a fight. Snapping a bra on would be one thing, but wrapping it up like that had to have taken some time. Maybe she used her webs.

The choreography of this fight is really fun, with both Robin and Black Maria ending up hanging from the roof with the floor burning. It gives the battle a unique verticality, especially with one of them upside down. And what’s with Robin’s arm in the panel where she first throws out the spider net? It looks like it splits into a bunch of smaller arms instead of having the extra limbs spawn on top of existing skin. Could this be a new application of her power?

Breaking Brook off on his own at this late stage is an interesting choice, especially with no noteworthy opponent for him to take instead. I did like him using his ability to leave his body offensively. Hope the leftover underlings are enough for him to show more new skills, because he definitely deserves that chance.

Robin’s defence of Sanji was a nice show of Strawhat comradery, but that still doesn’t mean I’m happy with Sanji’s performance in that scene or the overall direction of his character. People are making a big deal over the possible translations of the wings line but I can’t see any way they could have captured every nuance of the Japanese version without being extremely awkward. Plus, there’s a much, much funnier translation debate happening in with My Hero Academia this week that’s a lot more fun to focus on.

The giant Robin in the final page of the scene is amazingly cool though, and I can’t wait to see what she does with it in the next chapter.

Absolutely zero shocks in Luffy’s scenes as Momo reveals the obvious way he and Shinobu survived their fall and Luffy demands flight, as has been expected for a long time. A necessary step to have on screen, but it can’t help feeling very obvious. Caribou’s presence is an odd one in the final pages. I have no idea what relevance he could possibly have to what comes next.

The crew battle portion of the arc is developing really well after a slightly rough start. I assume we’re getting the end of Robin and Brook’s battles next week, leaving about half the volume for the rest of the fights. I still think there’s good odds of Oda trying to wrap up at the very least everything except King and Queen’s fights in volume 101 and use most volume 102 to rush toward the conclusion of the battle. It’s rough knowing there’s another break so close after the next chapter but the story feels like it’s got enough momentum at this point that it won’t affect the reading experience too much. Sometimes these periods with break after break have a bad way of lining themselves up in the already long-feeling musical chairs and running around sections of their arcs and dragging them down hard.

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

We’re about halfway through volume 101 now and Oda definitely seems to be using this book to wrap up the crew battles and leave only the final round against Kaido for 102. The end is close. And man, people complain about fights being so much offscreen and only getting one chapter, but there were a lot of back and forth action beats in this one chapter alone. I don’t feel shortchanged on Franky and Sasaki at all.

The colour spread this week is overshadowed by the absolutely magical Where’s Wally crossover (hey has anyone got the full size digital rip of that yet?), but that doesn’t mean it’s got nothing to offer. The scenario recalls the final part of the escape from Impel Down, but in a much more fun and lighthearted way. I really like Jinbe’s kimono and I adore Franky’s hair. Definitely a win for Oda.

Apparently the scan version used Triceracopter instead of Heliceratops for the title, and to be honest I don’t know which one I prefer. They both sound hilarious.

I think I said in the last discussion thread that I wanted the claw in Queen’s hair to be used in battle, and Oda has opened this chapter with exactly what I asked for. I’ve gone off Sanji as a character in recent years, but I’m looking forward to getting back to this fight.

Luffy’s alive again down on the sea, ready to track down Momo and make his way back up. The narration namedrops the submarine being the Polar Tang. I know that came up in an SBS, but is this the first time it’s been mentioned in an actual chapter?

There’s not much to say about Sasaki’s design and powers that isn’t just a babbled stream of praise for Oda’s creativity and humour. This is possibly the most fun use of a Zoan type since Kaku. The spinning frill absolutely slayed me, and the backwards accelleration gag is gold. It really is just a fun piece of work. Show me the paleontologist who could prove this isn’t what dinosaurs actually did. Where’s the fossil record? I liked how hard the General Franky was pushed during the fight. It can take serious damage that disables limbs and weapons in a way Oda isn’t often willing to do in the human fights. Franky being forced to eject and fight on his own at the end was the right move, making it clear it’s Franky very much has his own power, he’s not just relying o the robot to fight for him. I wonder if it’ll get an upgrade or a redesign when he repairs it?

Kaido’s hybrid form is looking good here. The hunched forward pose with the fail whipping around behind him shows it off a lot better than its reveal. I’m not sure what to say about Yamato’s new form because I’m not sure what it’s meant to represent. Feels like it could be any number mythical things it could be just from what I know, and there’s plenty I don’t. It’s definitely cool looking, but without knowing what it’s meant to be, how do you judge whether it achieved that? Hopefully we’re not left hanging too long. It’s not like Oda to leave contentious details about Yamato up for debate for long periods of time, right? Right…?

So that’s chapter 1019. None of the big plot hints of the past two, but it was classic One Piece fun the whole time. It’s hard to say where we’re going after this. Oda might want to spread the Strawhat climaxes out by doing any number of the other fights waiting to conclude (and even start). Let’s look at what we’ve got to go…

Brook and Robin vs Black Maria
Sanji vs Queen
Drake vs Apoo
Killer vs Hawkins
Dog vs Jack
Cat vs Perospero
Raizo vs Fukurokuju
Marco vs King
Law and Kid vs Big Mom

Plus a moment for Zoro now that he’s healed and the chopping of Orochi’s last head (which I assume Denjiro will take). And probably some kind of conclusion for Kaido and Yamato’s fight.

That’s 14 conflicts to wrap up (assuming Usopp isn’t going to get a moment to himself too) but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll all get their own full chapter. I could see things like the presumed defeats of Marco and Yamato being used as a stinger in someone else’s chapter, and Oda could definitely double up some of the Scabbard fights in half a chapter each as well. There’s definite potential to wrap up everything except Sanji, Zoro and the clash against Big Mom (and of course the final Kaido clash) in the five chapters left of this volume. But we’ll see where Oda takes it.

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

This was another really impressive chapter that did a lot to move the story forward. The end of the battle is getting closer. Which fight will be the next one to conclude?

The cover
I don’t usually comment on the regular cover pages, but this one is too cute not to. The sibling dynamic! The plushes representing the rest of the crew! It really is a joy to look at.

The Gifter rampage
I’m surprised we’re still spending so much time on Nami, Usopp and Tama with the Gifters turned. It makes sense that the Beasts Pirates would go for Tama, hoping her power will be disabled if she falls, but I didn’t expect it to be so much onscreen. But the scene earns its keep with two things near the end. There’s the confirmation of Zeus as a sidekick and friend to Nami and perhaps more interestingly, we’ve got Usopp’s comment on her new power. Does he feel like he’s falling behind again? I’ve been saying since Page One got downed than Usopp needs something else to do this arc. What’s Oda going to throw at the group so he can show off some new tricks?

Good to see Daifugo going more stuff too. I always really liked his design.

Cipher Pol
Battle updates are always welcome, and this one shows how close to the end we’re getting. It’s cool that so many of the mook pirates are choosing to follow the Gifters in turning on Kaido. We’ve established already that the lower ranks of the crew aren’t treated well, and we know that the structure is a ruthless meritocracy with loyalty only to those more powerful than yourself. And at around 30,000 men, there’s no chance of the executives having one on one time with the underlings. It tracks perfectly that so many underlings would follow their Headliner squad leader over the larger crew, and that they would go with the tide of battle when it turned.

The fish catches the cat
Jinbe’s first big onscreen solo fight doesn’t disappoint. It’s a shame he didn’t get a chance to do this kind of showing off at Whole Cake Island, given how late he’s joined the crew, but at least we’ve got it now. Jinbe’s got a bulky frame and moves that rely on throws and big, slow punches made with wide, low stances. Though we see that he can move fast when he needs to, he’s ultimately a tank built to absorb hits and respond in kind. He’s also got a brutal kind of efficiency to him, breaking hands and stomping on tails, that’s refreshing to see. I went into this fight thinking he’s going to be too lead-footed to give me the kind of dynamic, zippy fights I enjoy most, but the no-sell to reply structure had good tension and payoff, and the ruthless moves near the end were extremely satisfying, so mark me down as looking forward to future Jinbe fights.

It’s also cool seeing a Strawhat do the full-body haki thing. I don’t know if I would have expected it to be Jinbe who did it, but good on him being the one.

Finally, the big volley of finger pistols near the end is a great counterpoint to one of the big misconceptions that comes up around haki: that it’s a straight-up power dickmeasure, and the one with weaker haki is completely overwhelmed by the one with stronger haki. See how it plays out here: Jinbe defends with full-body armament while Who’s Who attacks with his own armament. These atacks do real harm to Jinbe, visibly and obviously drawing blood, but eventually Who’s Who’s fingers are broken by Jinbe’s hardness. Neither one’s haki beat out or nullified the others. Jinbe’s haki was at the same time not strong enough to completey stop Who’s Who’s attack and at the same time strong enough to wear down Who’s Who’s armoured fingers. Despite Jinbe coming out as the much stronger party, the haki clash was not winner takes all.

Hopefully people remember that for future fights and debates about strength.

Who’s Who’s heated moment
It’s not like Oda’s shied away from themes of prejudice in this series, but I was not expecting Who’s Who to go mask-off (so to speak) at Jinbe all of a sudden. What’s interesting is that Jinbe, by all accounts one of the world’s most prominent fishman figures, responds like he doesn’t hear this kind of thing all that much anymore. He’s old enough to have heard it and look weary about it, but he talks like society is a bit past casual racism in this day and age. What can we infer from that?

Well maybe Who’s Who is just a bit of a dickhead as an individual. Maybe after spending the better part of a decade in prison, he hasn’t really been able to keep up with social progress. Perhaps it speaks to the kind of culture maintained in the offices of Cipher Pol and other government operatives.

The last option would be consistent with how Oda has commented on social issues in the past. Fishman Island attacks issues of prejudice from a structural angle, pointing out how attitudes towards different people are passed down between generations. 200 years ago, the lawmakers of the World Goverment considered fishmen and merfolk no different from ocean fauna. The law has edged forward, but the Celestial Dragons are insulated from society to the point they don’t even want to breathe the same air as commonfolk; what kind of attitudes have been festering in the upper ranks of the government without any real contact with the world to counter them?

And while the laws have progressed over the years, the status quo has changed little. The fishman are no longer openly discriminated against, but they still lack the right to emigrate from the sea floor, a location every pirate entering the New World is funneled through, and which is right below a slavery hotspot, possibly the worst place for them to live. Consider how in the real world many minority groups are less likely to have slurs thrown at them in the street than their parents and grandparents’ generations, but remain trapped by a lack of class mobility, leaving them in the same poor, opportunity-less socioeconomic area as their forebears. All the while, inherited wealth and better opportunities off the starting block keep oligarch class ahead of everyone else in the race. The structural elements outlive the overt bigotry. No wonder it’s a sensitive topic for Jinbe.

And then there’s the big reveal, the Sun God Nika. A messianic figure for slaves that the World Government is apparently trying to keep the stories of from spreading. A man who would bring freedom and laughter to the oppressed peoples of the world. The implications to the developing lore of Joyboy and the Dawn are immediate and obvious. It also gets me thinking about the battle of God Valley, in which Roger allegedly defended the Celestial Dragons’ slaves from Rocks. Even if it was before Laugh Tale, did Roger know about Nika the same way he knows about Joyboy? Then what’s his motive, and what is that of Rocks? Different interpretations of the Nika story, or was Rocks perhaps planning to slaughter the slaves to remove the conditions for Nika’s appearance?

Whatever the case, this was another extremely satisfying chapter. With the amount of breaks we’re due the next few weeks, hopefully all of the next lot give us this much to think about. I’d tip the Black Maria fight to be the next one put in-focus and wrapped up, given that it’s a floor below Jinbe and we’ve already seen the effects of the battle being felt on the lower floor. It’d be an easy transition, if Oda chooses to take it. And there seems to finally be the WT100 colour spread to look forward to! I was one chapter short in my guess for it last week.

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

I thought this was a really eventful chapter, right when 1016 got me thinking the pace would slow again. The climax of this battle is close, and Oda seems to be stepping on the gas with battle updates and hybrid reveals.

Tama’s order
Seeing Tama pass out at the start of the chapter had me worried, but I think it was necessary to justify the cutaway of the Gifters making the one on one fights hard for the good guys. I do kinda wish that information had been spread out a little better over previous chapters instead of phoned in at the last minute, but it still barely manages to emphasise the Gifter flip as a necessary step toward the ultimate victory. Interestingly, all the Gifters we see go right to fodder control rather than lashing out at the officers or influencing the one on ones in the other direction. Is it because the numbers game still strongly favours the Beasts Pirates, or did they pick up a bit of respect for a fair fight now that they’re on our side?

Oh, and we see Shinobu and Momo during this sequence. Where’d they land? Looks like a wooden floor or deck of some kind in the background.

On the Performance Floor
Queen’s hybrid form is peak Oda design. There’s so much going on with it in the best possible way. The grabby hand coming out of the ponytail is an inspired decision, and it had better actually be used in the fight.

Oda’s pushing the connection between Queen and Judge again, but I’m not sure what he means to actually do with it. Presumably MADS is the same unit Judge was in with Vegapunk, which should have big reveal potential, but I don’t see Vegapunk being a Wano thing. I expect to be teased and nothing more.

Mini-Chopper is not the side effect I was hoping for, but I’m sure it’ll make for a few really profitable plushies. Zoro is very in character right now, acting like he needs the drug even though the enemies around him are being pretty comfortably handled. We all know he’ll have to fight King eventually, but Zoro wants to be contributing to the battle as much as possible, even if its just helping with the fodder. The setup does feel a little like it’s ham-fistedly trying to set up a new “nothing happened” moment, but I’m reserving judgement on the repetition until I see how Oda chooses to play the new version.

Jinbe and Who’s Who
I’m really happy we’re spending some time showing Jinbe’s battle. He’s got some catching up to do in terms of screentime, relative to the rest of the crew. The Fishman Karate shockwaves being able to deflect flying slash type attacks is a cool, logical interaction. These are things we like to know.

I would have bet on the Impel Down escapee angle (and I was kinda right; I don’t think Jinbe was a Warlord until after Luffy ate the fruit, so the prison has to be where they saw each other), but I really like Who’s Who being a former Cipher Pol agent. Bringing the Six Powers back on a major opponent is fun continuity and should make for good action in the rest of this fight. The original Cipher Pol fights were some of the series’ best action to date, to my mind, so more of this is always welcome. I liked seeing the actual manga draw the connection between the Six Powers and Haki. Many of us had speculated it for a while, and the Vivre Cards for the CP9 members all but made it clear, but this feels like the final nail in the coffin for the naysayers.

Who’s Who has a pretty fun hybrid look as well, but he’s definitely overshadowed by the ridiculousness of Queen.

Going against the grain, I think the Gun Gun reveal is exciting and I hope we get some more follow-up on it. I don’t think it’s actually going to be anything world-shaking, but given how mysterious Shanks is, any info we get about what he is and has been up to is good info.

The events of the Reverie raised some questions about Shanks’s alligences, but from this we can be fairly sure that if he is working with the government in any way, it’s a more recent development. We can say with some confidence that he wasn’t working with the Five Elders back when he inspired Luffy and gave him the hat, given that it was apparently taken from an “enemy ship.” Which may or may not soothe your “Shanks groomed luffy to be the chosen one” conspiracy theories. Does Who’s Who’s treatment by the government imply a higher importance to the fruit? Well a squad was also sent to arrest CP9 after their big failure at Enies Lobby, so it’s reasonable to think that’s just what happens when you fail the government. You can’t just let black ops guys like that walk with all the secrets they know, so if you get kicked out of Cipher Pol you get arrested. I’m still a big fan of the theory that the Gum Gum and Dark Dark Fruits are easily mistaken for each other and both Cipher Pol and Shanks went after the wrong fruit after hearing a report of it being in East Blue.

But we’ll see. There’s a lot of directions Oda could take something like this and we’re not operating on a ton of info. I’ve got a lot of thoughts about the negative ways some people have reacted to this development despite how little we know about it, but I think I’ll make them a separate post for that to keep this one from getting too overwhelmingly long.

Apart from a slightly soft 1016, the last few chapters have been really, really strong. Oda’s doing really well, and I hope he can keep this kind of pace up to the end of the battle. Oh, and looking ahead, if the break schedule goes the way it usually does and I haven’t forgotten any Japanese public holidays, we could be getting chapter 2020 exactly on the series’ 24th anniversary. Sounds like a perfect place for that long-awaited WT100 colour spread!

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

This chapter steps on the brakes a little compared to the last two. It figures we couldn’t keep up that kind of pacing forever, but it still obviously feels like a step back. On the other hand, the official end of a main one on one fight is a big signal that the end is close for Wano, and there’ll probably be more big leaps forward like it in the coming weeks.

Also hey, I made a few good guesses last week.

I was off the mark on Nami not being able to summon Zeus in cloud form, and I don’t think anyone expected the shapeshifting aspect, but otherwise, the talk of being reborn and not being able to leave voluntarily sure sound like a new Homie’s been made out of the tact to me.

I also said “why [isn’t Tama] doing what Momo does and grabbing a Mary?”

Which turns out to be exactly what she does. Nice!

I’ve also been on team Ulti gets back up for weeks now, but that one isn’t worth patting myself on the back over.
The opening scene with Toko and Hitetsu is very sweet, but it also has two interesting details. The first is the clear skies over the capital, showing the full moon. Could we be in for a Sulong second wind in the final stages of Onigashima’s journey? Second is the bonfire built big enough to be visible from the heavans. I will be shocked if there isn’t a big moment where someone spots its light from the flying island a few chapters from now. Or if we don’t have Luffy and Momo using it as a beacon to get to the capitol on their return flight or something like that.

CP0’s battle updates are always welcome. Remember that there are only around 500 Gifters, so Tama’s broadcast isn’t going to flip a massive number of combatants. I think it’s more likely we’re going to see exactly how many normal soldiers a Gifter can be worth instead.

I’m surprised Bao Huang is so sure Momo and Shinobu are dead. Maybe I need to reread the fine details of what Shinobu was up to for 20 years, but she’s a known quantity to the Beasts Pirates, right? They know she can do this, don’t they?

I had no fear for either of them when they fell last week because aside from the plot armour angle, jumping off the island was a really logical and safe thing for Shinobu to do with her skillset.

I like the attention to detail in Ulti’s cloak consistently having a big visible hole where Big Mom’s attack went out the back. A lesser author might have forgotten to do more than just burning her top and skirt to show a tasteful amount of midriff and thigh, but Oda’s not just a perv.

I also enjoy Zues amping up Nami’s physical capabilities a level. Like, you couldn’t even say the extending trick shown off on Zou has been underutilised because that would imply it’s been utilised at all. Zeus could save it from being written off as wasted potential if Oda keeps using him like this. He legitimately brings a lot to the table as a powerup, including being a whole other character to interact with, and I’m glad she’d got him.

His rejection of the new name is a great gag, and I like him helping Nami with the targeting. It makes sense that electricity would arc to its target, right?

And that’s about where my praise for Nami VS Ulti ends. It’s definitely on the weaker end of both Nami and the series’ major clashes. I don’t even know if so much of the early stage being offscreen is the issue, like so many others have said. A few more pages of Nami getting physically overwhelmed before she made her big Luffy declaration two dozen chapters ago wouldn’t have changed the issues the later stage of the fight has.

Ulti could almost be seen as one of those Resident Evil enemies that shrugs off you attacks and pursues you while you try to solve puzzles and do other stuff, and at the end of the game you finally get access to a souped up rail gun or rocket launcher and get your revenge for the trouble they gave you. Nami is mostly focused on avoiding Ulti and solving the Gifter issue for the whole fight and is rewarded with the extra firepower she needs at the end. But unfortunately, what makes for a satisfying turnaround in a game doesn’t land the same way in a manga.

This chapter alone, the scene with the finishing blow, works fine in isolation. But trying to take all the Nami/Ulti scenes up to this point and visualise them as a full sequence, it just doesn’t work. The dialogue implies that the main cause of Ulti’s defeat was the two big blasts from Big Mom and Nami, rather than the culmination of all the hits she’s taken so far (and there’ve been a lot of them). There’s very little sense of give and take in the fight, no push and pull, no calls and responses in the choreography. None of that good stuff that makes a compelling fight. But because Nami was always running and staying one step ahead instead of being backed into a corner, there isn’t enough of a desperate atmosphere to make an turnabout from the underdog work either.

Whatever the reason, it just feels like there’s something missing from this fight, necessary though it was for it to happen. And Ulti’s still a highlight of Kaido’s crew, despite the slightly anticlimactic end.

I’m hoping for a better showing from the rest of the crew’s fights. Most of the Strawhats are standing their ground instead of running from their opponents anyway, so there’s more to build a fight out of with those anyway.
Does Bao Huang confirm that Page One is down for good as well? I guess no round two for Usopp, which is a shame. Page One staying down probably says something about something. Maybe its just his lower endurance or taking more hits from Usopp and Nami compared to Ulti. Maybe it’s the power of Big Mom’s CoC coating against an opponent who can’t respond in kind.

But there has to be something more for Usopp. Catching Bao Huang isn’t big enough to be his scene for the arc, and it isn’t presented like the climax of his story here.

It feels odd not to show Tama actually giving her order and the immediate results of it, especially with the chapter named after her. Is it not there because the chapter’s only 15 pages, or is the chapter 15 pages because Oda couldn’t fit what he wanted to do in just two more?

I like that we get a bit more of Kaido’s dragon form. It always makes for such good looking panels. We also have the clearest signpost yet that Yamato is leaving Wano with the crew. I don’t know if I’m totally on board with him in the main cast yet, but I’ve made my peace with it seeming inevitable, and we’ll cross that bridge after it’s fully confirmed I guess.

We’ve known for a while that Wano is special in the grand scheme of things. Something about the country is vital to Joyboy’s will and the much-alluded to Dawn. It’s been implied it was open to the world in the past. It may even have been an active trade partner to other ancient nations, if there’s anything to be read into about its reputation as a “country of gold” and the large amounts of gold found in Shandia without them any obvious mines or smelting ability. Kaido saying he chose Wano because it’s special somehow is just a reminder of the kinds of potentially huge revelations waiting in the aftermath of the battle.

It was a short chapter, which is always a shame before a break, but the end of a major fight always gives a decent bit to reflect on. See you all in a couple of weeks for maybe another fight conclusion, if Oda wants to use volume 101 to push Onigashima into its endgame.

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

Man, Oda’s really been knocking it out of the park the past few chapters. They’ve all felt like they have so much going on at once. There have certainly been parts of Onigashima where it felt like the plot was moving forward in inches every week, but lately we’ve been making substantial steps in every chapter.

Still no WT100 colour spread though? I’m starting to think it’s being saved for this year’s anniversary (is it 24 we’re up to?), which I guess makes since since polls are usually an anniversary thing anyway.

Briscola still fighting the samurai after getting his dumpling shows something that makes sense but hadn’t been properly illustrated before: the Gifters are very definitely still enemies until Tama tells them not to be, hence the importance of getting her to the balcony to give the order. People in these discussions have been acting like the Gifter fights were over the moment she showed up, but they’re not over yet.

Although, the chapter does raise the question of why she isn’t doing what Momo does and grabbing a Mary. How does her power work over radio waves or magic devil fruit comms?

We’re moving back into familiar territory with Sanji’s arrival on the Performance Floor. He’s fighting Queen. Chopper is flagged to fix Zoro up enough to likely face King, who’s been conspicuously offscreen for a few weeks now. Maybe he tag teams it with Marco. I’m sure some will be disappointed that Oda’s going back to the old formula after teasing Chopper stepping up to an enemy executive and Zoro being taken out surprisingly early by the end boss. It doesn’t seem like there’s going to be a lot of big surprises left in how characters match up and who takes out who. But to my mind, the most important thing is that the clashes are interesting, no matter how predictable the matchups.

While Sanji’s entrance was great, I don’t think his move and its effects were super well communicated. Queen’s neck spinning around to block the arrows makes sense. But I don’t how he managed to go from that to swinging low enough to take out Perspero (without cleaning up any of the samurai surrounding him) and end up with his whole body flipping over the air. It feels like there’s a panel missing that should show Sanji redirecting the dinosaur into the candyman. This could have been a bigger moment if it read more clearly.

Oda really wants me thinking there are dead Scabbards in this arc. Christ, the flashback and the silhouette are a brutal combo.

The voice Momo heard being Luffy’s is not something I think anyone was expecting. Is this a sign that people with the Voice of All Things are almost telepathic to each other, even unconscious? But then, Law’s crew talk about hearing Luffy’s voice through the water, and Kaido sensed Luffy’s animosity toward him even when Luffy was passed out, and I don’t think either of them have the VOAT. This one definitely begs some more explanation.

The rallying spread is great. This likely being the opening of volume 101, it may be setting the tone for the next ten chapters as the battle pushes toward its conclusion.

And Momo falls from Onigashima. It had to happen one way or the other, but using Shinobu’s powers to make it happen was smart. He’s flying Luffy back to the island on his back. It is foreseen and inevitable.

I really like the visual of Luffy upside down in the depths, silhouetted by the submarine’s light. It’s a simple, small panel, but it’s definitely memorable. I think it’ll come out really well in the colour volume sometime in the future.

Zues surviving in the Clima Tact is something a lot of people guessed. As with the Sanji and Zoro matchups, I think this flags something a few people have been hoping Oda would avoid: Ulti’s revival and final attack on Nami and Usopp. Nami’s got the “stronger lightning” she said she’d need to take the dinosaur out now, there’s no way in hell Oda isn’t giving her the chance to use it.

I hope Kid and Law’s tag team Big Mom fight gets enough screentime. Oda could definitely have fun playing them off each other.

Another small thing: I love seeing the hole Big Mom made in the side of the dome and I especially love that you can see the inside of the castle, including the gap between floors when you look closely at it. The attention to detail makes this series.

Yamato and Kaido have me excited for next week. Kaido’s still pretty lackluster in the personality department, so a spat with a family member could go a long way to fleshing him out in a way that his emtionally disconnected clobberings of everyone else didn’t. Similarly, Yamato absolutely needs more screentime to justify the marketing push to have him as a crew candidate. Interactions with current Strawhats and a place in the crew dynamics are the most important thing, but some more backstory told through one on one time with a major villain should also help.

The path to the end of Onigashima is looking pretty clear at this point. Final matchups are all but locked in, only pending Zoro’s setup with King, and key moments like Momo’s flight and Luffy’s return have been prepared. We could even start seeing the longer-running fights move toward conclusions in the next few chapters. The only variable that really feels like left to me is exactly how to stop Onigashima from falling on the capital. Surely it’s something to do with Momo and the flame clouds, but just having him be suddenly be able to lift the island like Kaido feels like too much of a leap in strength.

Oh, and I loved Oda’s comment, totally forgot he was playing Pokemon Go. Hope he got his Gibles. I didn’t have great shiny luck myself, but I got a lot of 3-star ones. I doubt I’ll find many battle-related problems that can stand up to seven high-IV Garchomp being chucked at them.

Pumped for next week, as always.

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

Here, it is, the (extremely probable) end of volume 100. And what a note to end on. Due to the surprise element of the raid, their enemies underestimating them and just because they’re far stronger than some fans gave them credit for, the alliance has had a strong showing in the early stages of the battle, but the Beasts Pirates are outlasting them, remaining standing as the heroes are run ragged. We’re definitely coming up on the darkest hour of this battle, where it briefly seems all is lost. The only question is how many more will fall before Luffy finds his way back.

But Luffy’s return is going to take some big justification. I didn’t expect him to be shown hitting the water and going beneath the waves so explicitly. That definitely rules out a lot of possibilities. I feel like Luffy riding on dragon Momo’s back still has to happen before we’re done, but he can’t just swoop down and pick him up now. Hm…

Kaido even knowing Joyboy’s name is a big deal. Did he learn it from Rocks, perhaps, or is it just his own research into Poneglyphs in pursuit of the One Piece, or from ancient stuff he’s found in Wano? I’m very much looking forward to the follow-up from this line.

Some people have taken this to indicate Joyboy is a title rather than a name, but I still think it could just mean Luffy picking up his will and acting in the same role as the original. Much in the same way Oden isn’t a title, but that hasn’t stopped Yamato.

The official release going with he/him pronouns for Yamato is pretty nice. I wonder if this is one of those things where Stephen pulled out his big red phone to Shueisha, or if it was just a judgement call.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Momo’s learning the same stuff Kaido was talking about from Oden’s journal right now. Given that the end of the chapter brings them together, it could make for a very interesting discussion, if Momo can get over his fear and anger enough to actually talk about it. I won’t blame him if he can’t though.

Zunesha feels like a good bet for the voice he’s hearing. The old elephant has to have a role to play in all of this, and that’s who it was the last time Momo had trouble with voices. It could be in a good position to save Luffy and catch or deflect Onigashima if commanded right, which would give Oda the power to wrap up a lot of plot threads in one move. But wouldn’t Momo recognise Vunesha’s voice from last time?

My first thought was actually that it might be a Koby-style CoO awakening with the screams of battle pouring in, but the way he asks who the voice is like it’s addressing him directly seemingly rules this out.

I absolutely love Chopper developing a longer-lasting Monster Point and being able to go head to head with Queen. Back in Punk Hazard, Chopper was upset Luffy went as hard against his body as he did against the giant kracken, but Luffy’s got a pretty good read of threat levels. Let’s also not forget that Chopper used this form to defend against Big Mom breifly during the Tottoland escape. His mascot status sees him underestimated a lot, but no Straw Hat is any kind of a slouch in battle, and we’ll do well to remember that.

This also goes to prove that with the focus on casts of local characters in the New World arcs, the Strawhats are likely developing their skills offscreen and in the background. Info on limits and restrictions learned back at Fishman Island might not be reliable anymore. This could be important to remember as we get deeper into the crewmate fights in the later stage of the battle.

I’ve seen a theory that the risks of going beyond the limit of the new Monster Point will result in an even more monstrous form that runs out of control like the last one. It think that’d be super cool. Just some extra post-use downtime feels more likely, but I’d love a new monster to be what happens.

Obviously no one even thinks of surrender during the announcement spread, which is exactly as expected but still a great page to see.

And then we head into the last stretch of the chapter. Oda’s almost got me believing that Scabbards will die in the raid. It’s been flagged often enough, but it’s usually not his style. The possibility that one of the casualties will be Kiku really does sting. Kanjuro’s end is well and truly cathartic though. He feels well and truly down, even if the others pull through in typical Oda fashion.

I’ll admit, on my first reading I thought Kiku had found herself unable to bring the sword down on Kanjuro again. Given how transparent the Oden disguise is now, I thought he was just speaking as himself to her. But Kanjuro was recruited after Kiku and Izo. It’s absolutely Oden asking if Kiku could really cut him down, and that’s why she hesitates. Maybe Kanjuro isn’t such a ham after all. The goal of the actor’s performance is to inspire real emotions even though the audience knows it’s all fake, and Kiku was tragically encapsulated by the show.

I’m in two minds about Kin’emon’s fate. He’s definitely not outright dead – he’d get a chance to go through some last words either way – but it looks pretty bad for him. I’ll be shocked if he does any more fighting, anyway. Hell, I could even be convinced that the much-theorised tragedy and act break are coming up if things continue like this, even though we know it doesn’t have to happen.

This was a fantastic chapter. So eventful, and every major scene felt like it was a big step forward for the plot. We’re in for a great few weeks if Oda can keep this kind of momentum up.

It’s a real disappointment that Jump walked back plans of an Onigashima battle map. So here’s my version:

As before, character’s marked “last seen” are likely to have moved on from that location by the next time we see them. For example, the Scabbards and a few others are on the move, the yakuza bosses and Mink medics were last in the building that Chopper slams Queen through at the start of his scene, and Drake and Apoo used to be where Chopper and Queen are now, so they’ll probably all be reshuffled, maybe just by one floor of the castle or to the other side of the Performance Floor, or maybe a little further depending on how long before their next appearance.

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

I was anticipating some big developments for the looming end of the hudredth volume, and I sure got them.

At a glance, this chapter seems to pull a 180 on everything we thought was being built up for Nami, with Ulti down and a permanent Zeus powerup off the table. But I’m not so certain the change in plan is gonna stick.

First up, Ulti. It wouldn’t be Onigashima without characters seemingly taken out in sudden, unsatisfying ways jumping back up and getting back in the fight. Even characters who fall in dramatic, protracted and narratively appropriate ways aren’t immune to sudden revivals.

And sure, the lightning laser to the gut looks bad, but this is One Piece. Ulti wouldn’t even be the first Emperor’s executive to get back up from a hit like that. Oven took a hit from Ichiji that seemed at least as bad, and was up and clashing with Aladdin five minutes later.

And then there’s Zeus. Beyond the cop out explanation of homies just being really fucking weird, having Nami’s baton go into Hera’s mouth as Zeus was swallowed gives Oda several ways to justify his return, from the black balls powering him up enough tor eturn, to him hiding inside the baton.

So yeah, until Oda starts building up something else for Nami to do, I’m taking this chapter as misdirection and assuming that taking down Ulti with Zeus is still on the table.

Outside of all that, the character interactions this week were all really fun. From the Strawhats and Big Mom to the homies among themselves, it was all great. I wonder what the people who had a harsh initial reaction to “mother mode” when it first came up thought when she threatened to kill Tama. Even in the chapter it came up, the full context made it clear it wasn’t a personality override, but this really sells that Big Mom is as capricious as ever.

The Hera reveal is the weakest part of the chapter. Her design incredibly flat and plain compared to the other homies and Oda’s usual design standards. She just doesn’t pop out of the page at all. I think she could have used an accessory like Zeus’s little hat to add flair, or have her hair or some other part of her body in permanent dark stormcloud mode to bring a bit more contrast to the design.

Oda appears to be flagging a Kid and Law teamup against Big Mom as her final battle. We know Kid has old beef with her, but Law actually skipped the side trip into Big Mom’s territory. He was the first one to get a hit on her up on the rooftop though. I think this’ll work well long-term though. I can see Kid and Law bickering over who’s more responsible for toppling the Emperor while Luffy gets ahead as the last man standing against Kaido.

And speaking of Luffy and Kaido… I’ve been saying for weeks, even before the CoC development, that with so much of the larger battle left unresolved we were overdue for the tide of the battle to flow back Kaido’s way. I sure did get that. Wasn’t expecting Luffy to be literally blasted off the island though. Interesting seeing how hard Kaido is taking the mistake of not removing his head, and Luffy not living up to his expectations. It echoes the mood swings he gets when he’s drunk. More moments like this are what Kaido needs if he wants to stand any chance in the fanbase’s collective consciousness against the series more memorable villains.

So what happens to Luffy now? It’s anyone’s guess whether Onigashima is over land or sea. Six chapters ago we were certain it was overland and close to the capital. Three chapters ago it was over the sea, with no sign of the coast when Big Mom fell. The only safe bet now is that the environment under the island will be whatever the plot needs it to be.

Of all the available options for getting back in the fight, I think a rescue by Momo is the most likely. He can sense Luffy’s location. He’s currently not doing anything but taking cover. He needs to do something flight related to conquer his fear of heights. He needs a reason to go where Kaido is and confront him again. It would be cool foreshadowing that basically the first thing Momo did after being introduced on Punk Hazard was fly Luffy back into battle after he was dumped in a pit by the main villain. There’s too much setup for this not to happen.

Which is not to say he’ll definitely catch Luffy before he hits the ground/sea. That would probably stretch travel times too much, and if there was someone else to catch him, it could give Luffy some time to recover. Big Mom’s ship, Law’s sub and even the conspicuously absent Zunesha could make good landing sites if over water, and there’s Hitetsu and Caribou going strangely unseen in the war if over land.

This was a hell of a place for a break, especially knowing the next chapter is likely the volume-ender, but it’s definitely keeping me hooked. Hopefully we at least get the volume 99 cover to tide us over on break week.

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

This was a fun chapter, even if it felt like a little bit of a transitional one. We’re in the home stretch of volume 100 after this, so I’m expecting to see some real amping up in the next two chapters.

Kiku and Izo’s scene was sweet. I’m glad Oda found an chance to let them talk about Izo’s departure. Kiku’s Mony Python Black Knight-style determination is also really impressive.

The Scabbards are splitting up further, which still feels like an odd choice. There can’t be nearly enough roles for them all to have something to do. Cat fighting Perospero makes enough sense, but I think it would be best if Carrot gets to finish the job, especially with Bariete implying that blind anger kept her from reaching her full potential when they last fought. Kiku and Kanjuro, yeah sure, and it wouldn’t shock me if Kinemon gets involved there too. But what are Kawamatsu and Izo going to do on the Performance Floor? I can’t really see them being the endgame opponents for Queen and King, and Tama’s only a few minutes from being totally in control of the fodder war down there. Where is Oda going to find opponents for all these samurai?

And where the heck is Denjiro? Perhaps he went back for Orochi, having worked with him for long enough to know Orochi has another head left, and not wanting to let that take Raizo by surprise.

I just can’t get my head around what could be a better endgame for these characters as a group than their desperate but ill-fated clash with Kaido. Let alone how to top that for each of them individually. Oda, you madman, where are you trying to take this?

Yamato worrying about Luffy in an echo of Kaido’s introduction narration makes me worried that Kaido has some trick or secret skill we don’t know about yet. Something he only brings up when it’s just him and the last enemy standing. Like I’ve been saying, it’s too soon for Luffy’s upper hand to be as definitive as it seemed. We’re overdue for the pendulum to swing back to Kaido, and not it seems Yamato could arrive at the roof just in time to witness it happen.

Luffy and Yamato fighting as a tag team would be pretty cool, I have to admit. It wouldn’t get them all of the way there, but I think it could be a strong point for their crewmate candidacy, if it’s played right.

Sanji and Zoro’s bit is a clear highlight. There’s not much I can say that hasn’t already been said. It’s just really funny, a great homage to a classic, and a strong reminder of the comradarie hidden beneath their usual bickering. Law and Zoro falling onto Sanji’s shoulders in the flashback section was great as well.

PageOne’s looking too twitchy to be out for good. Usopp’s still going to have his chance.

I loved Nami’s attempts to manipulate Big Mom and Ulti against each other. That heart over her head when she turns to Ulti is a noteworthy inclusion 

I wonder if having a literal kick the dog (and slap the child) moment will have an impact on Ulti’s popularity. I think it makes a fun contrast going from her loud, bratty attitude to this kind of cruel reminder of why she’s a villain. You don’t get to the upper ranks of Kaido’s hyper-competitive crew by playing nice.

I’m glad Nami’s finally standing and fighting at the end. Nami gets angry a lot, but it’s usually a loving, mock kind of anger. And as such, it’s usually expressed through exaggerated face-faults. The last panel of this chapter isn’t that. None of her usual sharp-toothed caricatures, we get an actual scowl out of her. That kind of raw fury is not an expression we get out of Nami often. The blood and dirt on her face, from a battle far more hands-on and bloody than she’s usually allowed, only emphasises the effect and I love it.

I really hope the ending of this fight makes good on the setup. I definitely agree with the sentiment that Oda doesn’t handle his female characters and their fights spectacularly, but Nami VS Ulti is looking so much more like what I’d want to see.

All that said, the last spread definitely feels cramped. This is the first chapter in about nine months to drop to 15 pages, and the two page loss feels immediately apparent. May it be the last shortened chapter we have to deal with for a long time.

Next week: possibly an Usopp setup to follow the Nami one, now that running is off the table. And who knows what else with Big Mom there and definitely not the ally some expected her to be, Zeus, Law and Kid coming, and everyone else basically scattering to all corners of the map. We’re just two chapters from the probable end of a milestone volume, so keep your eyes open for big things.

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

When I heard there would be poll results with this chapter I expected the usual top whatever colour spread to go with it, but it’s not the full results yet, and it’s just a normal spread. Franky’s Mr Whippy hair is a blessed detail. The giant Nami in the background could be worth paying attention to. Oda doesn’t often play with scale to that degree in the spreads. Remember the title of chapter 410? Is Oda hinting at some kind of embiggening in Nami’s future?

I wouldn’t bet on it. Theories based on colour spread symbolism are usually tinfoil-level.

I’ve got no idea what the plan is for Big Mom at this point and that’s probably the way Oda wants it. She works well in the wild card role. Not just in her big flip at the end of the chapter, but her ability to just make a new weapon out of any part of the environment after being disarmed makes her fighting style as unpredictable as her loyalty.

Luffy and Kaido are back at it. Kaido notices Luffy enjoying the battle and seems to feel the same way as he circles the outskirts of having a personality.

It’s been interesting seeing the back and forth over whether Kaido should be talking about laughing or smiling with Luffy, and learning how the Japanese wording could be translated either way. Laughing has the obvious Laugh Tale reference, but I’m not going to be as quick as some to call out smiling as an incorrect translation either. Consider not just the idea of the D as a pictogram for a grinning mouth, but also the symbolism of smiles throughout the arc of the fruits of the same name, and how the people who ate them can’t stop smiling (and laughing) even in times of distress. Maybe time will tell which was the better choice in this case, but for now you can make a strong argument either way.

But I don’t think we’ll be coming back to this for a while. This is too good a segway to the inside of the castle to waste.

Killer and Hawkins is not a matchup I expected, but I’m glad to see Hawkins again. He’s been feeling fairly forgotten for most of this battle. Maybe he’s been lurking in the shadows, only engaging groups of fodder the cards tell him he can 100% take out, and that’s why he hasn’t confronted another named character before now. His disrespect for Killer is crazy though. Hawkins thinks he has a 92% chance of killing anyone who was part of the rooftop brawl? Someone who actually took Kaido (against whom Hawkins was certain he’d lose) head on and dealt damage? He doesn’t look that badly hurt, man!

I’m sure Hawkins is no one to trifle with either, but considering where Killer’s just been, it should at least be more of a 50/50 shot. Anything less feels like Hawkins deluding himself. But hey, most real world fortune telling is just looking for the things you want to see in abstract symbols, why shouldn’t Hawkins operate the same way?

New voodoo man form looks sick though.

The confirmation that Tama’s power only works on Smiles is nice to have. It was assumed anyway, but it’s always good to know for sure. I’m curious to see what order she plans to give the Gifters, if there’s a specifc plan, or if she’s just going to tell them to turn on their former crew and go wild. Usopp and nami are both great in this sequence.

Big Mom looks huge when she appears in the castle. I know she’s bigger than a normal person, but I forget sometimes how much of a monolith she is, even accounting for Oda’s tendency to play with scale for drama. It is a great shot though. Really emphasises her as a threat. And then, unexpectedly, the O-Lin plot with Tama comes full circle. I’m glad it happened this way and not with a new bout of amnesia. Looking back over the spoiler thread, and even this one, seems like people got pretty worked up over the “mother mode” thing, but the actual context doesn’t back up the outrage. I get the fear, especially for the early spoiler readers – in a shonen, where changing forms is key, and with Big Mom, who’s had two distinct personalities this arc already, there’s some pretty clear connotations to saying she switched to a different mode. But what the chapter actually shows is that she just generally likes kids and acts nice to them, without that totally overtaking her normal reasoning or anything. I could say Nami sometime switches into big sis mode around kids and it would mean the exact same thing.

I’m not the first to say it, but Big Mom turning on a dime because being fed goes above everything else in her moral compass made me think of Luffy. They’re a lot more alike than either of them would ever admit. And wonder if that (or the fact that they’re both indebted to Tama for the same reason) is going to come up again before the arc is done. Maybe, if she actually does remain standing the whole way, it could be how the post-Kaido ceasefire is negotiated.

And I do think a real fight with her is still on the cards. There was a point in this arc when it would have seemed reasonable to play Big Mom and Kaido against each other, resulting in an uneasy truce with Big Mom, but now? The Gifters have turned, Kaido’s officers are being kept busy by the alliance’s heavy hitters and Luffy is going toe to club with the big man himself. We don’t need more help right now. Big Mom is a wildcard. Relying on her to keep doing what she just did to PageOne would be a huge mistake. (As would assuming PageOne will stay down for long without it being Usopp’s doing.) There’s every chance she’ll sort out her issues with Kaido with one blow, like Luffy taking a swing at Bege for hurting his friends but still allying with him after. And what’s going to happen when she learns X Drake, now on the alliance’s side, destroyed Tama’s first home?

But speaking of what Big Mom did to PageOne… I don’t want to get back into the debate about the new haki tech, but Big Mom using offensive CoC here is another point against its first impression. Why only now, and not, say, when she blocked Luffy at the tea party or attacked Kid on the roof? Is it just because we know what it is now and Oda wants to show it again. He got away with a lot by making haki and other powers invisible until explained to the main cast, but there’s not a lot of ways to visually justify the idea that Big Mom and others have actually been casually using this skill that sets them apart the whole time. We’ll see where Oda takes it from here though.

And finally, I’m not one to go super hard on predictions, but the setup for the next chapter feels pretty obvious. We’re back inside the dome, potentially back to the emerging pattern of chapters named after Straw Hats. Nami was next in order, if I recall correctly. She’s here. Ulti’s here. Zeus is going to where Big Mom is, not knowing he’s been replaced. I can connect the dots. Look forward to seeing you all there for whatever way Oda chooses to completely subvert all the setup he’s done for the hypothetical Cat Burgular chapter.