Captain M Entertainment

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

This was a great chapter that got a lot out of the way really quick. We’re nearly at the end of volume 94 here, with the next chapter likely being the last one, so it’s going to be interesting to see what Oda does to top Big Mom vs Kaido as an end-of-volume cliffhanger.

Poor Law can’t catch a break even in the colour spreads, but too bad for him, I reall like this one. Every part of it seems to be in motion. Nothing’s just sitting still. It’s a piece with so much energy in it, which makes it a joy to look at.

We have to be near the end of an act here with the status quo changing so dramatically in both Oden and the Capital. However, I hope that a solution is found for the imprisoned samurai before the act switches over. We don’t need another whole act of building up to prison breaks. Even if the answer is just “these guys have their own plan that they’ll execute on the night of the battle. And I wonder what new roles the crew is going to pick up now they’re effectively barred from the Capital. Franky’s role is pretty obvious, but who knows for the rest. (and speaking of Franky’s role, the panel with all the decrepit ships is my favourite of the week. It’s so damn detailed).

The Law situation is an odd one. It’s hard to imagine what his plan is aside from trading his own life for his crew’s. If we knew more about Hawkins’ ability to predict the actions of people (as opposed to broad things like survival odds) we might be able to make a better guess based on his actions, but it’s all still a bit vague. When his crew puts him before the plan, is that something Law expects, or are they about to get in the way? There’s just not enough info right now!

Robin and Tama’s moment is a cute one. I like the interpretation that Robin feels a kinship with the girl, having become a government target at a similar age.

Kaido and Big Mom’s meeting was great to finally see after all this build up. We get another little hint at Rox, which we’ll hopefully learn more of in the future. It’s an interesting relationship the two have, where he orders her freed but a fight starts right away. Will they stop at talk after doing the obligatory conqueror’s haki dick measuring contest? Will an outside factor such as news of Luffy’s breakout or the arrival of Big Mom’s crew interrupt things? Or will we just cut away and come back to this later (that’s my bet)?

So yeah, great chapter, rough time for a magazine break, but I expect the next one to be a volume and perhaps an act finisher, so things can only get bigger and better.

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

Chiffon wanting to find Lola is a pretty logical for her as a character, but Lola was last seen heading the opposite way down the Grand Line, right? Going past Water Seven? So yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work out and the real plot of this cover story will jump us in the coming weeks (and then immediately be interrupted by another Stampede colour spread for the movie’s release).

Kid rebuilding his arm is one of my favourite panels of recent weeks from a purely artistic standpoint. There’s so much goddamn detail I love it.

The Momo spread sets the stage for the young man taking the throne at the end of the arc pretty well, but to be honest King Riku got the same panel 20 volumes ago and I liked his version better. It’s a little disappointing that after all the teasing Kawamatsu can’t stick around any longer. I hope he transitions into Zoro’s plot thread quickly.

The flashback sequence was a good and incredibly necessary one. It’s realistic to show the weight of the last 20 years bearing down on the country, and how some absolutely would lose faith because of that. I think it puts the end of Zou into perspective as well: after 20 years of that kind of pressure and uncertainty, when proof that the prophecy would come true did appear its no wonder they were willing to hold to the last man to defend it.

The official explanation for Sunachi is surprisingly clever. I doubt it actually lines up with the Japanese version the same way, but it’s great that it could be made to run so smoothly in English.

I’m looking forward to the lines about why it took 20 years to be used as theory fodder. We’re being set up to believe Toki specifically chose this time period for a reason. Could she see the future? Or does she know something about a weakness of kaido or Orochi that only comes up however many years?

I think I saw some people upset Zoro got to take out so many ninjas all by his lonesome. Well, that’s what they get for jumping him together like that. This is Japanese territory – the Inverse Ninja Law is in full effect!

Aaand Law is the captive. Right when everyone was expecting it to be a weaker Straw Hat, Oda was like “ha, you think I’d give Law a break from his suffering?”

My current pet theory about Drake acting strange is that the camouflage tech in Sanji’s raid suit is also capable of illusions and he’s used that to go undercover as Drake. Doing that Mr Prince thing for the first time in a long time.

Fun chapter overall, hard to say what could be focussed on next week with so many different subplots thrown up in the air on it. I’m hoping for more Law though.

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

I was surprised to see another Udon chapter at first, but it all made sense by the end. It’s felt a little slow week by week, but I think the volume reread will show this was just the right place to end it. Wano has emphasised the need to recruit help from the locals and make the people a part of their own rebellion, and it wouldn’t have been right to let Luffy’s prison break end without putting that factor in the limelight.

But first, that colour spread is a gorgeous piece of work as always. Chopper without his hat is a mildly cursed image, but Zoro holding the ring and “chopper on board” more than make up for it.

I’m glad the final chapter title isn’t “zombie” like the first spoilers suggested, given that it was already chapter 84. And prettymuch chapter 445. We don’t need another zombie chapter title. That said, what’s the connection between mummification and infections for Japan? The pokemon ability Mummy also works that way, so this clearly isn’t just an Oda creation, but none of the western lore/mythology around mummies that I know works the same way.

Luffy’s big speech is a fantastic character moment that plays well into his growing maturity over the course of the New World. He’s really showing that legendary “king’s disposition” here, and I think it’s worth noting that he’s doing it intentionally and knowingly. This isn’t just a case of ‘Luffy rushes in and people follow him because he’s bold and charismatic but he doesn’t care if they follow or not because he’s doing the thing either way,’ it’s Luffy very genuinely taking a stand against the prisoners’ lifestyle and choosing to bring them to his side. It’s also an interesting point of comparison to his “I’m not a hero” speech from Fishman Island. Luffy’s morality is still framed as relative (ie he’s doing the right thing by his personal friend Tama, not he’s doing the right thing because it’s the right thing) but he’s taken a personal stake in the lives of the prisoners in a way he hadn’t quite done before.

The end of Babanuki was hilariously unexpected. I don’t think he’s actually dead; he’ll crawl away and show up with his head and the elephant’s wrapped in bandages later, but it’s a great note to end his role here on. “Whut” was also a great translation choice for that one panel. Gets the tone juuust right.

And while we’re here, the Boichi cover chapter was pretty sweet. That dude has a great talent for texture work and fun expressions. The nitpick I have with his work, both here and in what I read of Dr Stone, it that his panels often run off every edge of the page, even into the spine. I’m of a mind that that shouldn’t be happening unless it’s specifically a spread page. It’s the kind of thing that has no impact when you read one page at a time online, but isn’t great in a physical book or in official readers that show spreads. But also it hardly ruins the experience, and Boichi’s particular brand of exaggeration is a great fit for a One Piece chapter. Can’t wait to see who else they get on board for this project!

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

A little bit of a slow chapter, mostly building up to the “pose as a team” shot at the end rather than taking any huge strides forward, but it was a lot of fun regardless. I was sure we’d cut away from the prison this week, but what the hell do I know?

The use of the other prisoners here is interesting. It emphasises the point Oda’s made before about Luffy not necessarily being a hero. He’s come into Wano and he’s starting shit all for his own agenda, not caring at all about whether the locals want their lives to be catapulted from “kinda unpleasant” to “certain death fighting unfathomable odds.” For better or worse, the people around Luffy tend to get dragged into what he’s doing. Also I like that what is essentially just a mob of anonymous nobodies are given something of a collective personality/will to share rather than just being set dressing. The people of Dressrosa were also their own grouped character, but their characterisation was more frustrating than anything for most of that arc.

Kawamatsu is finally here, and I’m not disappointed one bit. Surprised, maybe, that he’s an actual kappa rather than an aquatic mink species that could be mistaken for one (otter or platypus would have been great), but I’m interested to see how kappas fit into the series’ racial lore. (And was it just me, or did the panel where he’s preparing the fishbones in his mouth before the reveal make them look like whiskers, perhaps as one last tease for mink theories?) The gag where he unleashes 13 years of vomit on his captors was great as well.

And then we get to that great group shot and the big talking point of the chapter. Kiku. Christ, that’s brought out some toxicity. Our spoiler threat here didn’t look great, but the One Piece reddit (and its mods’ response) are a hot garbage fire. Like, just awful. I was happy to see the number of the people in the comments here actually talking back against all the ignorant shit the trolls were spouting The majority of y’all are good types.

An interesting part of that debate, now that the official translation is out, is that the “yes” in Kiku’s response to being asked if she was a man is something entirely added by the scanlators. In the raws and in the official translation she goes straight to “I’m a woman at heart,” without any tacit acknowledgement of prying gender questions, which is extremely telling of how Oda intended for us to read her. Can’t discuss that on Reddit though, because the mods want to treat it like a “lets hear both sides” kind of thing despite the objective right and wrong of the issue. At least this new info has her wiki page changed to neutral pronouns after being locked with male ones a couple days ago. It is infuriating to me that every inch of queer representation and every respectful concession has to be fought for. Frustrating beyond reason that the people controlling the discussion on such important fan resources as the wiki and the reddit are choosing to take a step back and act like the trolls and advocates are somehow equal, and refusing to take a hand in guiding fans who are less educated in LGBTect issues down the right path.

I’ve been trying to keep my contributions to the official release threads instead of the scan ones lately, so I’ve been holding that in over the weekend.

The most common stance I see on Oda’s queer representation is that he doesn’t do particularly well, but to be honest I think the man is due more credit than he gets. In the context of Japan’s more conservative society and queer representation in the shonen genre, I think he comes out ahead of the pack. Thinking on other shonens I’ve read, the characters who would canonically fall under the queer umbrella (as understood from my very western perspective) are few and far between, and it’s generally one, if you’re really lucky two, per series. Counting something like a dozen named okama, Luffy’s asexuality and now Kiku, not to mention ambiguous characters who crossdress but don’t specifically follow the okama’s genderfluid ideology, like Izo, Oda comes out far ahead in the numbers game. He does fall into some traps with depiction: a lot of the one-note minor okama fall into a gross “predatory gay” stereotype (and have names like Splash and Splatter, ugh) and characters like Sanji and Daz being upset by them is played off as funny instead of gross. It would be wrong to discuss queer representation in One Piece without at least acknowledging those issues. But compare and contrast something like One Punch Man, and its Puri Puri Prisoner. He falls into all the same traps, but its worse there because he’s the only canonically queer character the series has. He’s all ONE has to say about the queer community. One Piece gives us a number of queer characters, many of them bombastic and exaggerated, as is the style of the series, but they do show a few varying perspectives on what it means to be queer, especially with the introduction of Kiku as a more subdued take. These characters have roles beyond being a token character or a joke in the wider lore, and most of them are unambiguously heroic to boot. Aligning most of the okama with the Revolutionary Army in opposition to the fascist, authoritarian World Government strikes me as incredibly fitting, whether it was intended to read that way or not. There’s also, and this is a subjective impression so your mileage may vary, the way Oda’s queer characters don’t scan as being any way malicious. The man clearly has a liking for Japan’s drag scene and wants to work that into his art. I don’t feel like I’m being invited to laugh at these characters just for being queer. They’re funny, certainly, but they’re funny because they’re all such large, colourful personalities, same as basically everyone else in the cast. Characters like the aforementioned Puri Puri Prisoner, I certainly don’t get the same vibe from. We laugh at him in what feels like a meaner way.

In conclusion, Oda’s handling of queer characters is far from perfect, but he’s included more of them than basically anyone else writing for his demographic and despite the issues his writing has, it scans as sincere and non-malicious, and I think credit needs to be given for that, as well as acknowledging the flaws.

(other good shonen queer representation that comes immediately to mind include Hero Academia’s Magne and Tiger, D.Gray Man’s Kanda and Soul Eater’s Crona, for anyone curious)

I got a little ranty in a couple of spots there, but these things felt important to air. Thanks to anyone who made it through the whole thing.

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

I gotta say, I really love stories that reach this point we’re currently at, where there’s so many balls in the air the story becomes impossible to predict just by virtue of there being so many different characters and factions that could step into the action. (Not to mention wildcard factors like Big Mom’s memory returning!) I was strapping in for at least a full chapter of Luffy and Big Mom, but instead the prison guards rally and interrupt and cart her off to see Kaido. A meeting between those two was something I think everyone was anticipating, but I don’t think anyone saw factors colliding to set it up so suddenly.

Luffy also doesn’t seem to have fully conquered his fear of Big Mom yet, though its hard to tell if he’s actually trying to get away or just dodging because he knows now he’s not ready to stand up to a direct hit. What could the implications of this be if she comes back with Soul Pocus?

I liked the new haki lore. The new technique of using it of channeling it into something or someone else to destroy rather than protect is, as others have noted, strikingly similar to Lucci’s Six King Pistol, which supports my headcanon that CP9 were all using at least a little haki when they fought the Strawhats. I’d love to see the Six Powers confirmed as at the very least as gateway training for haki. I know the Vivre Card databook specifies that the Cipher Pol guys learned during the timeskip but like, c’mooon. It makes too much sense. Also, if destructive haki can be imbued into another person, does that mean protective haki could be as well? Could Luffy put his arms around the crew and protect them all with his own haki? Could be the start of some really interesting combo techniques between the haki using and non-haki using members of the crew.

Grandpa Hyo seemingly dying then jumping away from the next attack is one my favourite gags in a while, and his neck stretching as Luffy pulls him out of the wall on the previous page is pretty great as well.

Y’all mark my words, the dude in the iron-works who reacts to the guards talking about the Smail disappearing is gonna be important. One of the old Yakuza bosses maybe? I think he’ll be the face of the prisoners after Luffy rallies them into an army.

Queen is back on his feet rather quickly, and it’s something I like seeing in contrast to this idea so much of the fanbase (especially over on Reddit) seems to have about how wins and losses are absolute and quantifiable and a measure of a character’s worth. These days its rare for a fight to turn into an all-out slugfest that leaves at least one person totally unable to stand at the end of it. The story has become too complex, with too many factors, different objectives and logistical concerns, and the combatants too strong, for that to happen often. We get smaller clashes that buy ground in a larger set piece or where one fighter gets knocked down just long enough for the other to move on with their own objective. It makes sense; there’s a lot more at stake now than giving an absolute beatdown to one guy for the sake of pride. It plays into the understanding that One Piece has adopted the heart and soul of a high fantasy epic within its shonen exterior – the macro-level conflict has come to the forefront, and it’s the war that’s important more than the battles. Maybe we could have spent a whole chapter or two on Big Mom and Queen fighting to establish completely where the strength difference is to 0.5 of a standard powerlevel and count off on our fingers how many attacks it takes for Queen to stay down permanently, but that kind of thing just isn’t really important anymore to the kind of story One Piece has become.

What’s with the bit with Momo and Tama and the gate closing? Am I reading it right that they decided to go in before they were sealed out?

I’m sure there’s embittered comments somewhere about Queen’s negligence taking so many of his top guys to transport Big Mom before Luffy was dealt with (love that his boars all wear the same goggles though) but I think it makes sense from his perspective. Even with how far Luffy’s come, Big Mom is by far the worse threat, and it would be a far, far worse choice to take any chances whatsoever with her captivity. Also, his use of seastone begs the question of why Tottoland doesn’t keep some on hand to at least slow her during hunger pang attacks. Is it because they don’t think they could approach with it without having their souls taken?

Final pace is a classic Luffy moment. I love it. The talk of Udon being his echoes earlier talk that the whole area was cut off from the rest of Wano. I’d thought that meant just the prison though. Is there nothing else in this province except the mines? Regardless, Luffy’s right that things won’t be quite as exciting without Big Mom or Queen to fight, so I’d say it’s pretty likely we’ll be cutting away, either to the capitol or to Big Mom’s arrival at Onigashima, next week, with the bulk of Luffy’s prison revolution being offscreen.

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

Man, volume 94 is going to be nonstop action, isn’t it? I imagine it’ll be remembered as one of the best if it keeps up this kind of pacing.

With the last chapter, I was wondering how Oda would untangle the knot of characters and situations set up for the prison, but it turns out he plan was to just cut the knot, with Big Mom as the knife. Seeing Queen be swung around by his dinosaur neck was incredible.

I think the most interesting thing this week is the conclusion of a subtle little character arc for Luffy. Every since the escape from Whole Cake Chateau (specifically the point in the battle where she shrugged off a Gear Four attack), Luffy’s been acting a way we’re really not used to for him. He’s legitimately frightened of Big Mom. He doesn’t want to fight her, despite everything he said about “not leaving foes for later” when he fought Fujitora at Dressrosa. I think the last time Luffy was properly scared of an enemy like this was during the Marineford saga, either for Ace’s life or for his crew’s, when Kuma came after them. No other enemy has had him flip so suddenly into retreat mode, even the ones like Crocodile who beat him several times before he conquered them. Whether he developed this instinct because of the ease with which she deflected his attacks, the lives of his allies needed to escape her or the sheer amount of firepower she mustered against the crew, Big Mom has done one thing few other villains could: she changed Luffy’s behaviour.

Character development, both positive and negative, tends to be understated and slow-burning in One Piece, but it’s certainly not nonexistent. Let’s talk about Luffy’s character arcs in the New World. The first one, I think, starts on Fishman Island when he promises to “protect everything.” This isn’t something Luffy needs to grow from, necessarily, but it’s an assertion that needs to be challenged and then tempered to be more realistic. This happens on Dressrosa, and I wish it had been brought more to the forefront that it was happening. As it’s been written it’s more of a vague, slow, background development, and a personal through-line for the protagonist could really have unified Dressrosa’s generally chaotic lack of focus. Essentially, Doflamingo, manipulator, physical and mental puppetmaster, has the perfect toolset to make protecting everyone and everything impossible. There’s no keeping the Birdcage from destroying Dressrosa (though thanks to the teamwork of Luffy’s allies its people are saved), Law was nearly outright murdered with no way for Luffy to intervene, and Bellamy, well Luffy had to put Bellamy down himself, even though they’d become friends just hours before. Protecting everything was really thrown out the window there, and I wish we’d been shown more of the turmoil Luffy felt over that instead of just the broad “you hurt my friends, Mingo!!” rage we got. Regardless, Luffy grows from this experience and demonstrates a more realistic kind of resolve through the Tottoland Saga, accepting the sacrifices of Pedro, Pekoms and Jinbe instead of throwing everything away to not leave a man behind. He’s far more willing to go for the better net result instead of making it all or nothing, which is a sharp contrast to his attitude at the start of the New World.

The second arc, as established, begins with the Fujitora fight, and is, as with the last one, challenged in the very next major saga. Luffy comes up against a foe he can’t defeat now, in the most literal way possible, and is forced to retreat. I don’t think he’s truly compromised on his decision not to back down from foes perceived to be above his level just yet, as he flung himself right at Kaido and is training to do the same thing again. I think he sees Big Mom as a lone exception to his declaration. We can see from the way Luffy reacts to her storming into the prison he’s strongly associated her with the desperation and losses of Tottoland and still sees her as something totally unbeatable, that can only be run away from, even though he’s just been training to face her apparent equal, Kaido.

And here, at the end of this current chapter, Hyo gives Luffy the push he needs to get back on track and face her, despite the pain she’s caused. Luffy’s expressions on the last page of the chapter are fantastic though and through, as he goes from retreat mode, to fighting down those instincts, to that perfect mix of determination and concern in the last panel when he fully commits to the fight. We’ve talked about great facial acting in Wano already, but it’s not at all limited to the locals showing laughter and sadness at once. This is going to be a milestone fight for Luffy, however it plays out, and I cannot wait to see what happens.

(not really sure how advanced haki is meant to have gotten the collars off any more than raw strength or regular haki could have though; kinda hoping we get a proper explanation next week, as nice as the Rayleigh callback was)

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

Interesting that the official app presents the Stampede poster upright. I figured it would be shown horizontally, as a colour spread, like the ones for chapters 817 and 843. The difference is of course just one page in the official page count, but it’d be good know for sure. Wonder if anyone in a position to see the physical magazine would be able to confirm?

This week the action gets more chaotic as Orochi’s ninja squad steps in. I enjoyed every page, but pure action doesn’t leave much to comment on. We get more of Zoro begging the readers to ask questions about Kyoshiro and more build up of the idea of a Strawhat being captured and interrogated. As the two prison break scenes reach their conclusions, I would expect one or both of those plot threads to start taking the lion’s share of screen time in the later chapters of volume 94.

There are fights I don’t mind cutting away from and only seeing the key moments of, but this new confrontation between Hawkins and Law isn’t one of them. Both characters’ sets of powers lend themselves to creative action, and I can’t wait to see what solution Law finds for the hostage situation. Hawkins is also proving to work a lot better as a villain that I might have expected prior to Wano.

Oh, and my boy Bepo had better be alright! I always enjoyed him as a character, but I’ve been reading His Dark Materials over the last couple weeks and polar bears have climbed a few rungs in my heart as a result.

The Sanji/Zoro moment was great. Exactly what I wanted from them being back together. A thought that occurs for a final thing between them this arc is that each could topple a dinosaur devil fruit user and then compete over whose is bigger, just like their Little Garden dinosaur hunt. I think it might even have been an allosaurus that Sanji beat back then as well. Foreshadowing for years! Where’s the triceratops fruit?

Looks like the Ashura plot thread has been more or less wrapped up, with only the important plot infodump to go. This has been a bit of an odd subplot. It’s so in the background that I’m surprised every time it shows up. It could be good anime filler fodder I suppose. They could make more clear who set fire to the mountain, since different translations seems to have different ideas about that.

And then we have Linlin. That first spread is fantastic – it does a great job of making her look huge and threatening despite how inherently ridiculous she is. That’s always been one of One Piece’s strengths, but it’s still worth commenting on. Queen transforms and looks pretty good. He’s got that same sense of size and same level of silliness in his design, but despite being an actual dinosaur, he doesn’t manage to look quite as threatening as Big Mom did three pages earlier.

I really have no idea at this point how this set piece is going to play out. Luffy trapped in the arena, Kid and Killer in the water, Queen and Big Mom clashing in the middle. Kawamatsu. Caribou and Raizo somewhere. I have no idea how all that comes together and I love it.

This is another great chapter that keeps a strong bit of momentum and two exciting action sequences going. Gonna be a long two weeks waiting for the next installment.

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

This was definitely the chapter I’ve been waiting for. After all these weeks, build-up becomes action, and it doesn’t fail to impress. I’m sure there are some out there who are disappointed there wasn’t more onscreen clashing between Sanji and Drake and Zoro and Kyoshiro, but I’ve come to really like the more set-piece driven battles of recent years. It lends the action a great sense of speed and chaos, cut between smaller exchanges and skirmishes within a hoard of opponents, something that action purely centred around one on one fights can struggle to do without tanking the pacing. I’m not saying there should be no one on ones, but I’m all in favour of saving them til they really count going forward. Things like this and the fight at the wedding on Whole Cake are more than enough to cover me in the meantime.

Also Franky and the rest jumping in once things began to heat up was great. I love having the crew (mostly) together again.

Kyoshiro’s line, “I am the Shogun’s dog,” feels like another moment of suspiciously performative loyalty to me. I don’t know if I fully believe he’s Denjiro yet (though Artur has put forward some excellent points for that theory recently) but I’m sure this is one of the moments we’ll look back to when his real deal becomes apparent.

Killer as Kamazo is a really interesting move and not at all what I expected from him. I wouldn’t have said at the time that Kamazo’s demeanor matched the brief glimpses of Killer we’d seen previously, but I guess there’s some debate left about how much Smiles affect a character’s personality beyond simply warping their face into one expression. Not to mention the stress that would have come from Killer either having his spirit broken like what they’re trying to do to Luffy and Kid, or having to go undercover. Regardless, Kid’s concern for his friend is really touching considering what a scumbag we already know him to be. I wonder how far it extends to the rest of his crew, whose names I now remember thanks to the Vivre Cards, and hopefully Oda does too. Heat and Wire, where are you?

And on the topic of Killer, I saw it suggested on Reddit that his laugh could be intended as a reference to Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer, which is a pretty spot on observation even if it is a coincidence. If I was editing the English version I’d drop the w from Stephen’s interpretation of the sound and make sure the reference stays. Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far!

And in line with the uptick of action in the capitol, the final pages finally move the prison plot thread into its final countdown. Kid and Killer’s lifespans are now limited to their lung capacities (which are probably massive because this is One Piece, but they’ll definitely still drown eventually) and Big Mom is at the gates. Having her create the big sound effect that goes with Luffy’s final line the way Oda’s beloved _Doom!!_s normally would is a fun touch. (speaking of sound effects though, anyone else noticed the scenes in the prison have reverted back to doom instead of beng? Is it just because it’s mostly non-Wanonian characters in those bits?

I’m eagerly looking forward to next week. I believe it’s confirmed we’re getting a colour spread, and I’m putting my bet in that it’ll be the clean version of Oda’s Stampede poster which was revealed last night.

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

The hype ending panel could make this the twelfth and final chapter of volume 93 (especially possible because it has a four month gap after the last volume instead of the usual three) but the heavy exposition throughout leads me to think this is the start of volume 94.

The flashback at the start doesn’t tell us much we don’t already know, but the shot of the young Akazaya Nine is interesting. Kin has changed so much. I wonder what colour his hair used to be. And yeah, what is with the person in Kiku’s position being a Izo lookalike? Izo didn’t get an age laid out in his Vivre Card (not one that’s been translated anyway) so it’s hard to confirm or deconfirm if it could be him. The eyes look the wrong shape compared to Oda’s previous art of young Izo, to my mind.

Orochi is being a right prick this week, a complete and utter bastard, and I love it. We all thought he would be a Spandam, and he kinda is, but he actually has some power of his own to back it up with. It does make you wonder what Oda’s going to do to make Kaido feel like a genuine end boss though. I imagine he’ll have to start that soon, if it’s to work. (Or maybe Kaido won’t have any more villain build-up than the hype of overwhelming physical strength he’s already had, and he’ll get his depth through a tragic backstory instead).

What I don’t like is the Usopp/Nami/Franky group saying they “didn’t make it in time.” They were in Ebisu town when the execution was announced. Right outside the capital. Zoro beats them there despite starting in the next province over. It’s a nitpick, sure, but I don’t think it’s unfair to pick nits in series that have become known for their attention to detail, you know? It’s not a dealbreaker, but I’m not a huge fan of it.

Getting the full rundown on Smiles, however, was pretty great. So many little hints and details across so many chapters built up to this. It’s a moment of narrative payoff that only a large-scale story with a talented author could stick the landing for. And god is it vindicating to look back to Zou, for example, and see the Pleasures, true to this explanation, keeping their grins all through the battle, even when getting hurt. Not a single mistake was made, but I don’t remember anyone from the time picking it out as odd or making any theories off it. It was so subtle, but it was there all along. These are the kinds of moments that make the massive commitment I’ve made to One Piece feel worthwhile.

I’m certain I’m not the only one to think that Toko rubbing toad oil on Yasu’s wounds could lead to another of Usopp’s lies coming true. I hope that’s not the case. That was a death to brutal and important to easily undo. The panel of him smiling, even in death, makes me feel positive he’ll stay down though.

And then the cavalry arrives. There’s a moment that’ll be remembered until the end of the series. I can’t wait to see Zoro and Sanji interacting again after all these years. They sound effects suggest this moment will have its own theme music and everything!

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

Wow, what a chapter this turned out to be. I think we can safely call this the finale of volume 93, then?

It has to be acknowledged at this point that Oda’s attitude towards death has shifted. I don’t see any satisfying way for Yasu to still be alive, and while he is a meaningful figure dying a meaningful death, it’s obvious a whole different thing to the likes of Whitebeard and Ace. This definitely doesn’t mean its all over for Vergo, Monet, Pedro, Pound, Pekoms and Absalom, but it does improve the chances that a few of them could stay down and never been seen again. But despite being so surprise, Yasu’s death is a hard hitting tragedy. Not only that, it’s freaking brutal. He doesn’t get to stay hanging on his crucifix like the martyr he is, he falls and crumples into a broken, mundane heap on the ground. Maybe talk about Oda’s love of Game of Thrones is getting overdone, but the comparison has to be made to last week’s episode, which also featured an execution in which the corpse was left callously to plummet. It’s pretty full-on stuff. And worse, reading from a met perspective, we know Yasu’s sacrifice hasn’t even brought our heroes close to winning the war – only a step away from losing it. As Greg has been mentioning in his thread, the crew still seems too strong for this to be the darkest hour of Wano. Despite Yasu’s sacrifice, things are going to get as bad as this again and then worse before its all over. Will it take another life to turn things around then?

My favourite part of the Oden flashback at the start of the chapter is the backgrounds. Look at how lush and scenic Hakumai is compared to the wastelands we’ve seen so far in Wano. This was a beautiful place before Kaido and Orochi polluted it. Hopefully we get to see it restored to at least a little of its former glory before the crew moves on. In fact, the art was great all the way through the chapter. Those scenic shots of the view from the crucifix are amazing, and the crowd shots are spectacularly detailed. Once again the mix of a forced smile and genuine anguish on Toko’s face is brilliant, but the random Ebisu locals in the crowd don’t look quite as good.

I also really like that the story is playing with the social politics of Wano, showing how even the people outside the plan are being made to gradually lose faith in their leader. I’m sure that will be key to victory later on, maybe moreso than the dedicated rebels being recruited actively, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. Very curious to see where the Smile thing goes as well. Those things were first mentioned around when, Sabaody? More than a decade of build-up, a red herring with Dressrosa, to make us think that was the end of their significance, and now they’re finally coming fully into play? Colour me excited!

The one big complaint of the week is travel times. Zoro’s group makes it to the capitol how exactly? That shack they were in must have been right on the boarder of Ringo, and even then it’s a stretch. And how long has Chopper’s group been travelling to the prison for, comparatively? You could say I’m nitpicking, but if Oda didn’t want me keeping track of where people were he shouldn’t have drawn a map, damn it!