Captain M Entertainment

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.

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

This is a hell of chapter with some big hype behind it. Everyone here mainly for the fights is eating well. I had a great time reading it, but there were two little things that didn’t sit spectacularly with me. But I wanna get some miscellaneous thoughts out of the way first.

I enjoyed Law saying outright he’d consider the plan a failure if anyone died. This has always been his character, but as recently as this arc he still trying to project this edgy persona saying anyone who got captured should be prepared for torture and death (before running off to sacrifice himself for the first people who got captured).

Big Mom and Prometheus cutting Zeus off confirms more than ever that he’s going to make it back to Nami and probably be a permanent part of her arsenal.

I don’t think Kid and Killer taking on Big Mom is the final matchup for her. It doesn’t feel climactic. It doesn’t feel personal. Kid’s had his skirmishes in Big Mom’s terrirory, sure, but that doesn’t feel like enough. There’ll be something else here, I’m sure of it. Maybe the currently-opponentless Sanji will show up and get a chance to ask her what she ddi with his family. Or after their individual matchups, the Strawhats come in to challenge her as a group, proving they’re still in the ballpark of what Luffy can take on.

Zoro brings out the long-neglected fan favourite Asura, wounds Kaido and is all-but confirmed to have Conqueror’s Haki. It’s an amazing showcase for a character who’s had some great moments but hasn’t really been challenged since the timeskip. Prior to this, I could have gone either way on the theories about him having the haki, so I appreciate that Zoro seems to feel the same way. Being the lucky one in a million with the special haki is immeterial to him and his goals. He’d be shooting for the top one way or the other.

As good as the last sequence is, it’s where I have some misgivings about the chapter. Is it just me, or would the moment where Luffy stands up again have worked much better if we’d had the panels showing Luffy was unconscious in the last chapter, directly after Ragnaraku? Without seeing how much damage he actually took at the time, I didn’t feel all that much tension about Luffy’s status and whether or not he’d be up again this chapter. Even accounting for haki, enduring big hits and bouncing back is Luffy’s whole deal. If Oda wants me to think Luffy’s in trouble after an attack, he’s gotta sell it a tiny bit more. Even just that one whited-out-eyes panel is enough to send the message, but not if it comes up this late.

If we’d had it last week, not only do we get to spend a whole week speculating on when or how he’ll get back up, or if he’ll need medical intervention to get a second wind, but having Luffy be definitively down before it starts would make the operation to remove Big Mom feel all the more critical. Luffy having been down for a week would make Zoro and Law’s last stand feel even more desperate. We feel more satisfied when Luffy finally does get up because we’ve had to wait all that much longer for it.

But maybe I’m overthinking things. I haven’t done a proper reread of Onigashima since it started so I’m only taking about the week to week pacing. It’ll probably feel better on the volume reread, as is often the case. When you’re doing these things a chapter at a time, it’s easy to loose track of the forest among the trees.

And the other point of contention here is the Conqueror’s Haki revelation. I think CoC worked better when it mostly was just a fodder filter and a way for top level fighters to dickmeasure about their ambitions before they smack each other around. Sure, it’s always had a physical component – Shanks’ haki warped and broke the Moby Dick’s deck; Luffy and Katakuri’s combined use cracked the floor and shattered pillars in the Mirroworld; and Usopp’s lie about his haki causing earthquakes was broadly deemed believable – but this is the first time we’ve seen it used directly for offence.

I think they way the powerup is portrayed muddies the water a lot with Luffy’s last powerup – the haki projection and injection he learned from Hyogoro. We know Luffy picked that up because we saw him destroy the collars, blow up the tree before the raid and do substantial harm to Kaido with his regular attacks, but the dialogue here feels like the move only truly clicks when you add offensive CoC to the mix as well. Even though we know they’re two different things, Oda hasn’t made it distinct enough where CoA ends and CoC begins, or if Luffy’s using just CoC instead of both at once, or any other way it might be, which makes the initial advanced armament powerup feel a little cheaper. And it feels like the highest level techniques are only for the one in a million with the special haki (plus training to be one of the “handful of the very strongest” on top of that). We’ve yet to see anyone without CoC do the clash-without-touching thing.

It’s definitely always been a little bit of a thing that Luffy was born special (CoC, Voice of All Things, Will of the D, liniage of the Navy’s hero and the Revolutionary), and that’s not inherently a bad thing, but it has so rarely felt like those factors are so much of a leg up over any other pirate trying to get by on guts alone.

There’s definitely more we have to learn about all of this, and a few quick remarks in the middle of combat aren’t the best way to learn about a new skill, so I’m going to reserve my final judgement on it until we get some post-battle or SBS elaboration. We don’t know how much of an edge CoC gives over reaching advanced CoA the hard way. We also don’t know if there’s a secret interaction between CoC and CoO as well, which would at least make things feel better thought out than a straight last-minute offensive boost. But for now, it’s not sitting quite right with me.

And that’s the chapter. The final panel is a great callback to a highlight from earlier in the arc and should definitely be remembered as the moment there was no longer any possible doubt about the raid succeeding and Kaido going down, at least from a narrative standpoint. But as climactic as all this feels, there’s no way this is the final stage of the fight. Even though we’ve had the traditional small fakeout defeat for Luffy and a come from behind with a new technique. There’s too much still happening down below to wrap up the main event. The pendulum has to swing back Kaido’s way at least one more time. Which means there’s probably a more substantial near-death moment for some more new skills (probably a new Gear form implementing the new haki) for Luffy at some point in the future, but probably after another status update from the characters fighting inside.

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

Cute, classic-feeling colour spread with the whole crew together. Presumably, from the architecture, the trees and the very Japanese statues, this one’s taking place in Ringo. I feel like it’s fairly rare to be able to suscribe a colour spread theme to a specifc known location like this, but I can’t be bothered running the numbers to see if that’s true. Love the outfits for this one especially. Robin’s leather jacket and jeans combo is great, the horns on Brook’s hood are amazing, and Franky’s “CYBORG HENTAI” speaks for itself.

Not sure about using the Japanese Naraku as the title for this one. I can see the reference to the Buddhist Naraka, but it’s not the most intuitive thing in the world to research. The wikipedia page for Naraku is only the sixth result in google, and even that’s a disambiguation page. How many people, particularly among the casual readers, are actually going to pick this one up at all? I get that we’re in the One Piece version of Japan, but I think at least shifting it to the better-known Buddhist name would have made the reference more accessible.

The spread of Orochi losing all his heads to a combo attack from the Scabbards is something I expected his arc to end on, and certainly not what I thought would happen this soon. As of this chapter we’re only seven heads down out of eight, so there’s obviously more to come, but now I’ve got no clue what Oda’s endgame for both him and the Scabbards is.

The scabbards also depart into the burning part of the castle fairly casually, and we can see the Beasts Pirates fighting the fire, so it’s hard to say how much of a factor that’s going to be going forward. Interesting that we’re getting another Scabbard set up for a solo fight as well. There can’t possibly be enough opponents left for all of them to have one, right?

Combo attacks and tag-in-tag-out fighting are what I’m living for in the rooftop clash, so this was a great chapter. I do think, however, that Kaido and Big Mom’s combo attack suffers a little bit of poor conveyance. It’s hard to say how much of what made the attack so impossible to dodge was speed and how much as size. It seems like it’s Law’s teleportation that saves them in the end, but given that it’s essentially instant, speed shouldn’t be an issue, right? I could accept that it takes him a moment to spread a room further than the radius of the attack, but we don’t see him setting that up. I usually don’t complain about “talking is a free action” as a shonen trope, but it’s definitely had an impact on my attempt to visualise the action here.

It’s also hard to tell what kind of attack is actually being used. Is it a flying slash-style air pressure shockwave? Haki? A miscellaneous energy thing, generated in the same way Luffy and others make fire with no better explanation? The similar attack used by Dorry and Broggy on Little Garden seemed like just air, but Big Mom’s version on Tottoland got an interesting purple filter in the colour manga. Unlike the anime, the colour manga doesn’t usually add that kind of flourish on its own, so I consider it worth taking note of. Oda uses the kind of screentones he would for a bright light in this chapter, even though he didn’t in Big Mom’s Tottoland version.

What I do think is cool is how easily Kaido matches Big Mom’s move. She was raised in Elbaf, so it makes sense for her to use giant fighting styles, but where did Kaido learn it? From her while they were in Rocks? On his own journey to the giants’ homeland? Through his apparent ancient giant heritage? He also references the Norse Raknarok in his later attack, and we all know the giants are the Viking-inspired people of One Piece. There’s so much we don’t know about this man!

Luffy goes right back on the offensive, and Kaido… dodges? That’s interesting. It not new information that the three captains are capable of harming Kaido, we learned that in the opening chapters of this fight. What this really tells us is that the damage being done is starting to add up. At the end of the last chapter, captains were talking like they’d been landing a lot of hits offscreen but couldn’t tell if they were dealing lasting damage. Which means Kaido’s been straight up taking the hits and acting like they’re nothing, but if he’s dodging now, he’s starting to feel like he can’t afford to keep doing that! So before the inevitable complaints of the fight ending too quickly and too easily for the alliance, here’s our first clue that the boss’s health pool is draining.

I almost feel compelled to wonder from this point how much of Kaido’s reputation as an invincible creature, only damagable with super advanced techniques, is an intentionally cultivated image, created by no-selling big hits whether or not they actually do damage. I’m not denying that his scales are tough, but at the same time his fall from Balloon Terminal rattled his insides enough to cause a nasty headache, so who knows when and if he was taking chip damage from things like Luffy’s original Gear Four salvo.

I said last week that I thought Kaido’s hybrid form being underwhelming was largely a presentation issue, and this chapter has absolutely proved me right. I love the way he moves in his skirmish with Luffy here. His musceleman body coils and twists like the dragon form, and the tail whipping around behind him has a great effect on the apparent speed of his movements. The unhinged jaw for the mini blast breath has a great, truly demonic look as well. This is the Oda-style motion and posing I was hoping to see!

The play to remove Big Mom from the fight is definitely going to go down as a highlight. It’s a great sequence that shows the strengths of the fighters and the weaknesses of the enemy perfectly. It’s something for anyone who thinks One Piece fights have become powerlevel spam following the introduction of haki. Our boys aren’t just fighting hard, they’re fighting smart, and you love to see it. (Although, even if Law can’t teleport Big Mom or Kaido around, this maybe raises the question of why he hasn’t been moving her homies away from her more often, or taking the club out of Kaido’s hand.) Zeus in a box all but confirms his return to Nami’s hands. When Big Mom first took him back it became questionable if Oda was going to let him stay part of her arsenal long-term, but I don’t think there’s any more doubt. Zoro confirms himself for Smash. It’s meant to be a game character only zone, but he got a little lost. Killer’s bit with Napoleon looks a little ridiculous. We couldn’t have the sword fighting on its own or something to let the guy look a little cooler? Kid takes a hell of a hit, and Big Mom goes flying.

She seems to think there’s only sea underneath, which doesn’t track with what we saw of Mount Fuji a couple of chapters ago. Maybe she was paying too close attention to the battle to be on top of the island’s location, or maybe this is jut going to be another thing like the Noah falling on Fishman Island where it’s as close to its target as it needs to be in any given chapter.

Hard to say where Big Mom’s plot goes from here. If there’s really just sea below, I can see that being it for her in Wano. I’d be very surprised to see her left without a clear defeat to menace another arc. Hitting the surface could result in another O-Lin episode. Or she could just not fall at all. She made a flying carpet homie for Pudding, so who knows what she could do with her kimono with some quick thinking and a fragment of soul.

I hope we don’t cut away from the rooftop too quickly next week. I want to see Kaido’s reaction to Big Mom’s fall, and what Oda can do with him in this new form in a focussed five on one. This is great. I’m living for my weekly One Piece fix lately.

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

I’m glad the Oden thing got wrapped up right away. Still felt like it was drawn out too long, purely by virtue of coinciding with a break, but I think the answer was about as good as could have been hoped for. Having Hyori heal the Scabbards first as a red herring was actually a pretty smart move in hindsight, making everyone believe the fake Oden had to be in cahoots with her. I had my money on Onimaru mainly based on that, but I was actually starting to enjoy the potential of it being a ghost/spirits thing by the end. But instead we get the return of Kanjuro in what has to be the cruelest possible way for the Scabbards. Hopefully he gets a more fulfilling end this time. And where did Hyori go after playing medic?

While brave and shocking, I definitely don’t believe Ashura was killed in his sacrifice. He’ll probably find the strength to stand up for one more attack, probably to help with the final Orochi-head-severing. There was a time I might have believed some or all of the Scabbards could potentially meet bittersweet ends during the battle, but that ship sailed when they escaped the roof with their lives. Maybe we’ll see another limb go before it’s all over, but that’s as much as I’m expecting.

Orochi’s back too, shocking no one. If his plan works and the whole interior of Onigashima goes up in flames, how sick is the island going to look flying through the air with fire coming out of its eyes and mouth? I assume it’s going to take a group Scabbard effort to fell him, with one samurai taking out each head. Are they all going to get a chapter to their name before it happens though? Between them and the Strawhats, and supporting cast members like Hyo and Tama (kinda) also getting name chapters, maybe this battle has more juice left in it than I gave it credit for.

Oda once again hints at Momo getting a Kaido-size transformation. I feel like he can have a role to play in the battle without such a huge and sudden boost, but we’ll see how it’s handled when we get there.

Kaido’s hybrid form is definitely a bit of a letdown. I don’t think that’s totally on the design of it – it’s the standard and expected arms, legs, tail and cowling model used for most hybrids already – but the presentation. Look at him; he’s just kinda standing there awkwardly. I can understand flat posing on regular Kaido, with his brick shithouse body and tree trunk arms. That version can only be so flexible before it starts to get uncanny. But the hybrid model is thinner in the limbs, giving them a greater range of movement. It would have been so much easier to draw him coiled to strike, or brandishing his weapon, or visibly reveling in the thrill of battle, but Oda’s just left him with the most neutral body language possible. Maybe it wouldn’t stand out so much if he wasn’t right next to Big Mom, who’s looking a hell of a lot more like you expect a One Piece villain to. Her manic energy and raised weapons are a stark point of contrast to the dull lizard man. The anime doesn’t have to touch her for you to see the flames dancing in her hair and the lighting strobing around her fist. It’s all drawn so energetically that your mind fills that stuff in on its own. Now that’s a villain with some character!

Kaido has been a weird mixed bag of a character/villain for the Wano arc. Only a few weeks ago I was praising the battles against his dragon form as some of the most artistically impressive action in the series to date, but now I’m complaining he’s underwhelming. I could tell you a lot of his personality traits – he’s a messy, emotional drunk, he’s suicidal and wants a glorious death, even if he has to start a war to get it but despite this and being borderline invincible he shows clear trauma over being seriously wounded in the past, he beats and imprisons his child but is seemingly willing to respect it when that child decides they want to be a son instead of a daughter – but he rarely feels like he actually has a personality when he’s onscreen. On paper, the contradictions in his feelings about battle and death and treatment of Yamato should make for a compelling character, but in practice he ends up this grim, stony-faced monolith. Why introduce fun drunk Kaido if the first hit of every battle “sobers him up” and prevents him from interacting with anyone in that state?

At least he’s connected to enough interesting lore for a possible flashback to be a Wano highlight regardless of how he does in the present.

Anyway, decent chapter even if it feels odd to suddenly set up more stuff right when it felt like we might start building toward conclusions instead. It’s a shame to have a Kaido reveal fall short of expectations after spending eight years building up this battle, but these things stand out mainly because Oda usually does them so well. We seemingly have a decent chunk of Onigashima left to go, so there’s plenty of time to put the new form to good use or even reveal another, more visually interesting one.

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

This chapter feels like half of a really good chapter and half of a really meh one. Chopper’s big moment and the talk about Punk Hazard and the artificial fruit were great, but the opening pages feel like they’re going around in circles, building up the threats of the ice oni and the yakuza taking each other out again and again even though that was made perfectly clear at the end of the last chapter. Queen’s big evil speech in that section is definitely necessary to emphasise why the Waiters and Pleasures swapped side, but I can’t help feeling it could have been done in half as many pages. And then there’s the stuff at the end…

Since we’ve seen battles raging in basically every indoor area of Onigashima at this point, it’s hard to say what percentage of the surviving Beasts Pirates were on the Performance Floor for Queen’s speech and the ice oni debacle, but considering it seems to be the main battlefield, I’d say the losses are significant. It’s interesting how Kaido and his executives keep talking about betrayal to the Straw Hats and their allies, but recent chapters have had their underlings turn on them one after the other. Oda’s obviously building this up as a theme, but a full analysis of that kind of thing is best left until the arc is done and we’ve seen how far he takes it.

Chopper getting to save the day is well-deserved. He’s been a very backgroundy mascot character for a long time, but here he gets to make a stand for his beliefs, show off visually with his personalised mushroom cloud and reaffirm how necessary his two years of training were. No one’s going to be underestimating this little raccoon ever again. And, of course, he gets to land a blow on one of the big name enemies, which is a first. I doubt Queen is down for good, so hopefully we get to see a little bit more of a Monster Point battle in the future. And hey, Monster Point really lives up to its name. Maybe I should have known after he was withstanding the kind of Big Mom hits that sent Jinbei and Luffy flying away back during the Tottoland escape, but still, what strength!

The talk of Momo’s fruit being a failure obviously sets it up to be the exact opposite of that, and probably in a way that will save the day, but what exactly would that mean? Momo’s fruit doesn’t have the jank that Smiles do, he just seems to be unable to control the transformation. Will something change to make it act like the real thing? Will he gain control over his changes? Become a full-size dragon like Kaido?

But the really interesting part is that Kaido’s Bloodline Elements specifically were used to create Momo’s fruit. While we knew all the way back in Punk Hazard that Bloodline Elements were a factor in artificial devil fruit creation, we didn’t know how direct that was. And this has implications! Firstly, devil fruits alter the user genetically on such a level that the fruit can be recreated from their blood. Good to know. Think about how Big Mom got her fruit from eating Mother Carmel. Does eating a fruit make a person on some level become the fruit for that to work? What about Blackbeard’s ability to use his gravity to remove a fruit entirely – not just block the ability to activate powers like seastone or hit a true body despite transformations like haki, but remove even one-time transformations like Luffy’s. What exactly is his power pulling on to make that work? And what does it mean for his ability to steal powers and use multiple powers? What about how people can’t eat two devil fruits at once? Suppose the human genome can withstand one devil fruit mutation (which is essentially what they are, apparently), but a second alteration changes your genetics too far beyond humanity to continue functioning. Look at Judge using Bloodline Elements to give his kids superpowers, or how Vegapunk was able to replicate Kizaru’s lasers. How much of that do you think came from copying devil fruit genetics? The implications!

Better still, if you subscribe to the genetic chimera theory for Blackbeard, this is a strong point of evidence in its favour. We’ve been given all the in-universe setup and terminology we need to say “he has an odd body with more than one kind of Bloodline Elements, and each fruit he eats affects a different set.” Obviously this doesn’t change much about the actual theory, but it saves finding a way to insert the wikipeadia entry for genetic chimeraism into the manga by giving the characters the ability to say it in their own words.

Now to be fair, making devil fruits genetic mutations does feel like it stops one step short of midichlorians, but I think it still works with what we know so far.

Oh, and while we’re on the topic of Punk Hazard, wonder what else Vegapunk tried to do with those Kaido Bloodline Elements, hmmm?

That head shape, the horns, the nostril shape, the round spots separating the hide from the underbelly…

And even more on the topic, how much does a zoan fruit make the user’s genetics similar to the animal the fruit is based on? Could that have something to do with why all the Smiles ended up being zoan types? That easy access to Bloodline Elements that match those of the fruits being made?

And you know, the island did have a suspicious amount of spare animal legs lying around for Law to use to make centaurs out of Caesar’s paralysed staff…

I reckon Punk Hazard is going to go off on a reread. It’s going to have that Skypiea thing where it’s kind of unappreciated in its time by casual readers but the further we go the more apparent its importance becomes.

And after that absolutely fascinating bit of lore, we get to the final two pages. There is no doubt in my mind that Oden is dead. Onimaru and Kanjuro are the most obvious suspects, though the motives remain murky in either case. And because of how impossible it is, the whole scene feels pretty cheap as cliffhangers go. And what a place to end for a break week. The subreddit is going to be intolerable until the next chapter hits.

Oh, and finally, this means Momo, using the dragon powers that came from Kaido’s Bloodline Elements, would have at least a passing genetic similarity to Kaido. Could this play into the climax of the arc in some way? Most would agree Momo doesn’t have the size or strength to lift Onigashima on his own, but suppose he could hijack and redirect Kaido’s flame clouds, given that he’s essentially using a cloned version of the same power. Could we end up with a battle of wills to move the island where it needs to be, or at least buy time, while Luffy and co fight the final stage of their battle?

AND FINALLY, how we still don’t know much about Kaido’s resemblance to the legendary Ancient Giant race and how much of a factor that is in the experiments done on him. Remember that Punk Hazard was once used for efforts to create artificial giants, and how it had that one room full of frozen giant corpses?

Let’s look at the Numbers, who we know originated on Punk Hazard, and are a bit too monstrous to just be giants, but a bit too human to be dragons. Suppose they were early efforts, the results of inexperienced geneticists being unable to separate Kaido’s ancient giant heritage from the dragon mutation from his fruit. Juki even has a little bit of that elongated head shape that was so familiar between Kaido and the guard dragon. It all fits together just a bit too well.

And I know most of what I’ve highlighted here isn’t new or original theory, but I’m just excited that Oda’s confirmed a major connecting thread and locked in the in-story terminology for it.

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

A full villains colour spread isn’t something we’ve had in a looooong time. You might even be able to say it’s unprecedented. The Warlords spread for chapter 532 wasn’t technically all villains, and the Baroque Works one all the way back in chapter 160 still managed to sneak in Luffy and Eyelashes. The other ones that have featured villains (Arlong’s crew for chapter 82 and Cipher Pol for chapter 377) also had the Strawhats lined up against them. Part of me is worried the choice to do a big colour piece of the villains here means they won’t get the cover for volume 99, but we’ll see how we go.

The overhead shot in the first page after the spread actually shows that the bridge that ran across the middle in the establishing shots of the Performance Floor was knocked down. We still don’t know by who and at what point in the battle, but it’s nice that Oda actually acknowledged it. That said, it’s kinda one step forward two steps back for Onigahima’s interior layout, as what we see of the lower half of the Performance floor doesn’t really seem to match the map. Look at the map oriented with the birds eye view here:

There should be another structure next to the bathhouse that isn’t drawn at all, even when we see that area from below as Yamato and Perospero approach it later in the chapter. Oda hasn’t even left any room for it to fit.

And speaking of those two, Yamato’s group is seen ascending toward the Performance Floor early in the chapter, then disappear. They don’t pass through Marco’s fight or Hyo’s rampage, which should have been in their path, but they’re also not there anymore when Perospero catches up to the same place near the end of the chapter. Did they take a detour around the main battleground? Or were they picked up by a certain individual with a quick movement speed, high-tech stealth gear and the ability to fly while carrying several grown adults? I think that’s gonna be my guess on Sanji’s choice.

Outside, Carrot and Wanda have fallen, which is a damn shame. I hope Carrot’s able to pick herself up and get at least some catharsis and closure before all’s said and done. I really enjoyed her presence as a supporting member of the Tottoland cast so it stings that she’s been sidelined so hard through Wano. There was a time she even had crewmate potential, but I think that dream is dead at this point.

I like that we got a glimpse of buff Hyogoro in a background shot last chapter, without any of the context to set up how he got like that. It’s those kinds of little details that can only be fully understood on the reread that make this series worth revisiting as much as I do. And it turns out Hyo was a beast back in the day. I figured he’d be no slouch, having enough skill to train Luffy, but wow! He seems to have singlehandedly tied off the Oniwabanshu and Mimawarugimi plot threads in the battle, though Fukurojiku remains at large, presumably doing something nefarious.

Queen shows up in an unexpected place, down near the end of the upper level of the Performance Floor. Last we saw him, he was up on the castle balcony. He couldn’t have got to where he is without going past Chopper’s group, so either he doesn’t see the antivirus plan as a threat, or he just considers Marco (or moving in Yamato’s direction) the higher priority. I also really appreciate that when we see it, his gun still shows the damage Zoro caused to it. Does that thing still work as a sawn-off?

Marco seems to be taking a leaf out of Hawks’ book (from My Hero Academia) using all those feathers the way he does. No complaints here, Hawks is one of my Hero Aca favourites.

For spacing reference, King is last seen being dunked into the bathhouse, which is the same location Usopp and Nami were originally fighting Page One and Ulti a while back. Queen is kicked from the roof of the bathouse into the side of the closest building on the upper level. Then Marco descends to near the stairs leading out to be seen by Perospero.

The chapter ends on a pretty tense note for old Hyo, but there’s no doubt in my mind Chopper’s going to come through with the antidote at the last moment.

I really enjoyed this one overall. We’ve got heroes falling and running out of stamina rapidly, potentially leaving some of the heaviest hitters on the island (who all seem to be in better shape) free to wreak havoc among the rank and file. And with the Sulon-empowering moon out of sight and the Flower Capital dangerously close, this feels like it could be the start of the battle’s darkest hour. I’m on the edge of my seat.

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

I’ve said more than enough about Sanji’s current direction already, and I can’t be bothered going over it all again. Bottom line is I just really don’t vibe with what Oda’s been doing with him. I’m sure for people who are on board with his New World depiction the moment where he can’t even turn on his haki for fear of hurting Black Maria’s (brass knuckle-equipped) hand is a hilarious new extreme for his chivalry, but on my end it feels like an eyeroll-inducing new low after seeing the same character at least be able to meet Kalifa and Big Mom’s attacks with his kicks for the sake of self-defence in the past.

But I can forgive it this time. For two reasons.

a) Even though he probably should have done so sooner, choosing to call for help and rely on his crew instead of just flaming out like he did against Kalifa does show some actual growth both from that moment and from his self-sacrifice attempts in Tottoland.

and b) it set up the Robin and Brook tag team fight I’ve been missing all my life.

Oh, and one more bit of credit I have to give the Sanji/Black Maria scene is that it’s drawn and framed really well. I love how Oda uses the webs in foreground layers to break up the panels.

This battle is something that’s long overdue for Robin and she comes in with such style. She’s been one of my favourite members of the crew since Ennies Lobby but it feels like she’s given the spotlight so infrequently. Brook was the MVP in the last arc so I wasn’t expecting anything as big for him here, but hell, I’ll take him coming along for the battle. He’s another underrated fave, so it really just comes together perfectly.

Black Maria choosing to fight topless (well, naked, I guess, it’s not like the spider half’s wearing pants) is an interesting choice from Oda. She’s still got her hair up, which is gonna make it hard enough to Godiva it in manga form, let alone what they’ll have to do to keep it from going outside the anime’s age rating when it all has to actually be in motion. I don’t get why she needed to strip to fight in the first place though. Was she hiding that weapon in her kimono?

And speaking of, if I had to guess the flow of the fight, the fire on that thing is going to make it hard for Robin to handle no matter how big she makes her arms. Lucky she’s got Brook there to chill it out first.

In other areas of the battle, we can see Marco getting pushed to the lower level of the dome by King, back toward the entrance. I’ve seen a few people incorrectly place them at the base of the castle, but you can see the ledge, the stairs and the upper level bridges and buildings between them and the castle.

Yamato explains the spying animals. I don’t know if Marys was the right choice for their name. At first I thought it might have been intended as “Merries,” making the unit possibly an offshoot of the Pleasures. Stephen goes into the Japanese version and decision making on Twitter here, and I would have preferred even the most basic attempt at a pun. As it is, Marys sounds almost like it could reference a bunch of things (Black Maria’s name and a play on Queen Mary, assuming a certain Lead Performer created them, being among the suggestions in the Twitter thread), none of which are even close to the mark. Even something as simple as Walls-have Eyes (thinking along the lines of Wonder Egg Priority‘s Seeno Evils) would at least not lead people in so many wrong directions.

It doesn’t look like Momonosuke actually got in Yamato’s shirt in the escape panel, which begs the question of where he is. While we know Momo has to at least speak to Kaido before the battle is over, Yamato’s narrative endgame isn’t quite as clear. Opponents worthy of a 1v1 are quickly running out, with Sanji seemingly being set up to fight Jack for his redemption. If they go left they’re tracking to get involved in King and Marco’s battle. If they go right, it’s Wanda and Carrot’s fight with Perospero. I think both of those matchups are fine without having to throw Yamato into the mix. Queen feels unaccounted for at this point, but he’s on the opposite end of the island and I can’t see Yamato taking Momo across the heart of the battlefield just to set that up.

I’m still not quite sure where we are in terms of the end of volume 99 and the start of volume 100. It’s almost a shame we can’t justify wrapping volume 99 with chapter 1003, because literally everything else feels anticlimactic by comparison. I think if I had to pick one, the mystery figure from 1004 feels a lot more like the kind of cliffhanger Oda would end a book with than the fight setup here. 12 chapters remains an outside chance, but it’s never safe to bet on that.

I think we’re going to spend a little while in this phase of focusing on the crew 1v1s before we get back to the rooftop, so I’m looking forward to seeing which fight gets the spotlight in the next chapter. Maybe Carrot and Wanda, given how long it’s been since we checked in with them. I’m also pretty keen for the digital volume 98 and colour volume 93 coming out on Wednesday. They feel so close and yet so far away, but they make this a good week for One Piece stuff.