Captain M Entertainment

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!

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

This chapter marks the first possible end point for volume 93, and the last pages do give us a hell of a revelation/cliffhanger to go out on, but it’s never safe to call these things until we’ve seen the hypothetical 12th chapter. Just due to how short a lot of the chapters in this one have been (a 15 page one and a 13 page one, and nether of the colour spread chapters got all the way to 19 pages), I’d really like to see at least 11 chapters for that extra bit of content, especially considering volume 92 had similar things going on with its chapter lengths.

I really like the colour spread. It feels very much like one from the series first few years with the sheer amount of slightly irreverent but otherwise surprisingly good English hiding everywhere. And that super wide grin on Nami is an expression I don’t think she usually gets, but I like it. My only issue is Brook’s phrase being “Panty Heaven.” That’s the thing that would stop me from displaying this one as a poster, which is too bad.

It seems a few things happened off screen between the last chapter and this one. The start of the wildfire is easy to swallow – we haven’t seen Kuri in a while and it allows the plot to jump back there in medias res – but I feel there should have been a little more of a hint about Yasu’s arrest last week. He was safe and busy in Ebisu last we saw him, and it’s not clear how much time is meant to have passed. Just like one panel of a guard or someone trying to get his attention before the cutaway last week I think would have helped the reveal for this one. I do like the local politics of Wano though. This whole thing with Orochi, Kyoshiro and Fukurokuju approaching control of the population and management of the government’s perception from different angles while clashing with each other’s personalities is a great dynamic, perhaps stemming from Oda’s much-discussed enjoyment of Game of Thrones.

Short scene in the prison with no breakout action just yet (you just know it’s going to be a big freaking deal when it gets started, but the anticipation is killing me) but the overeating joke was decently fun. What I really like is the change in Hyo from the previous day. Look at him, he’s really ready to go. Can’t wait to see what he’s able to do now his passion has been reignited.

I can’t imagine Oda plans to burn a whole lot of screen time on the Kuri plot going forward, so the wildfire, as mentioned above is a good way to jump back in at the point that gets it speeding towards a conclusion. The question is, how? Perhaps the fire will get out of control and threaten a town (a little hard to believe considering how much of a wasteland Kuri is near the populated areas) and Kin and Ashura will be forced to work together with that fire cutting technique that hasn’t come up since Punk Hazard to contain it. Does Oda think we’ve all forgotten about that one? And on the Kuri scene, I liked that Oda chose to be more subtle than stating outright that Kin and Dogstorm framed Ashura. You have to actually piece it together a little from reactions to the fire and hearing what was stolen. Wano so far has been complicated, with such a detailed power structure for the government and its balance of power with Kaido’s crew, the yakuza and Cipher Pol, factions within factions, and some actual political maneuvering instead of just outright battles. This arc plays like a big fantasy epic all of its own. Combine that with all the unfamiliar Japanese names and I’m not shocked at how many comments have shown up from people finding it hard to follow. Personally though, there’s nothing I love more than a story that’s able to keep a lot of balls in the air at once, and I can’t wait to see how it resolves.

Then we get some good old fashioned Brook humour and Zoro apparently having had a very good night  (which, in classic Zoro form, he slept all the way through). Interesting that even after apparently getting an offscreen recap, Book says Hyori is “as beautiful as the Oiran” as though they’re two separate people. Is that weird wording from Oda? Weird wording from Stephen? Two panels later she’s talking openly about her life as the Oiran, so Brook has to know they’re the same. And then on the next page, Brook is still explaining that the Oiran Komurasaki is “the most beautiful woman in all of Wano” to Komurasaki herself when he mentions the funeral. Dude I think she knows! Is the joke that Brook just doesn’t get it?

It’s a real credit to Oda’s art that Toko can manage to grin and look so distressed at the same time. It’s an excellently detailed expression.

Cutting back to the capital, it looks like things are going to get crazy at the funeral/execution. We have Robin, Usopp, Franky, Sanji, Nami, Kanjuro and Shinobu in the crowd, most of them being targets of the government, especially the three who infiltrated the palace and Sanji with his yakuza issues. We have Zoro, Brook, Hyori and Toko en-route, one of which is supposed to be dead, one of which is wanted for treason and finally one wanted for murder and graverobbing, plus Brook pretending to be a ghost. And then there’s Law on his way to break his guys out from the same prison the procession is heading towards. This scene is an absolute powder keg of a thing, and that’s before we factor in the Kozuki loyalists already arrested who might take advantage of the breakout and Ysuie’s last words, which could have any affect on the crowd or on the attitude of Orochi and his underlings. The only thing I’m surprised not to see is any named or noteworthy bad guys guarding the prison or the procession. That’s the last factor before things can really go off.

This is probably the biggest and best of the current run of build-up chapters. There was strong forward momentum for the plot and some great developments, plus all kinds of future hype. Just like Oda to set things up like that then leave us hanging for a week!

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

This was yet another build-up chapter, but it was a far more effective one than the last few weeks. Lots of new stuff came up to consider.

First up, I loved Usopp and Nami having some time to just chill. I think their friendship is one of the more underrated among the crew so getting this little bit of uninterrupted dialogue for the two of them was a joy.

Bingoh Bungoh and Bongoh resolves the last remaining question about Komurasaki/Hyori. She’s absolved of all apparent wrongdoing. There’s not turning back from this. I suppose it was inevitable, but I was slightly hoping for a more flawed female character. Meh. It’s been handled well for what it is.

Yasu’s scene was deeply suspicious. Hard to say what the old man is hiding at this point, but there’s definitely something going on there. I don’t quite buy Kanjruo and Shinobu not even questioning how he knows so much, just because he acts familiar. It’s a bit odd to say the least. Not sure how the fact that he “sold” his daughter gels with his otherwise saintly depiction this week. Was there no less suss way to say she went off to work, or is there a cultural thing I’m missing here? And while we’re at it, the renewed emphasis on Shinobu throwing blame for the leaks around raised by eyebrow. Goes hand in hand with the way she “accidentally” alerted the guards when she and Nami were sneaking around earlier. She’s rising on my list of possible traitors. The only issue is the earlier implication that the traitor was on Zou and had a Vivre Card that Jack was using. Unless there’s more than one…

Training continues in the prison mine. Giving Wanonians a different name for Haki was a nice worldbuilding detail, even knowing that Haki is a Japanese word to begin with. Not much to say about Luffy’s training, and we might have guessed Hyo knew Roger from the way he recognised Rayleigh’s name before. Luffy blasting the night guards with Conqueror’s Haki was a fun moment though.

I didn’t expect Caribou becoming a major player, but here we are. Raizo using his swamp ability to hide in the mine is really clever, I have to admit. How does he breathe in there though? Luffy’s forgiveness mixed with Caribou’s suspicion was hilarious and prettymuch fully sold me Caribou coming along for the ride.

The final pages of the chapter really emphasise the importance of the prison break and how it’s likely going to turn the tides as all the samurai from the main plan get arrested. Big Mom arrives at last, begging the question of how it’s all going down. I think Luffy has to fight her. She won’t be at full strength due to memory loss, hunger, and possibly going on a hunger pang rampage, just to keep her pride as an Emperor intact while being used as a mid-boss, but Luffy has to master this new Haki by punching through previously unbreakable defences at least once. It’s the proof of concept for the Kaido fight.

Really hoping we go straight into her prison invasion next week!

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

This time I kinda like Jaimini’s interpretation of the chapter title more than the official one, but it sounds like that was a hard one to adapt, and Jaimini’s pun doesn’t feel quite like it would fit with Viz’s usual style.

Hyori got a lot more likable, if a little less interesting through the chapter (come on Oda, let a woman besides Hancock be heroic but also still not a nice person), but her scenes provided good explanations for the lingering questions the reveal left hanging. Why she revealed herself to Zoro, how she lived and why she didn’t go to the future are all satisfactorily explained. All we need now is how she escaped the capital and what Kyoshiro’s alignment truly is. What I did really like was Zoro’s characterisation through the scene. He’s got the right amount of coolness and competence while also making it obvious why he’s not the captain despite these traits.

I liked how the prisoners in that short scene are mostly background characters from earlier in the arc. Good sense of continuity. I bet they’ll all be named in an SBS or a Vivre Card later on. I want to learn more about the bonsai-head dude. Where I think this is going now is that Act Two of Wano will build towards two simultaneous prison breaks for its climax, although that’s probably only going to be just getting started (if it goes that far) by the time Volume 93 ends.

Back to Luffy’s prison and another Kawamatsu tease. I liked the idea of him being an otter mink more than the kappa theory it looks like we’re getting. Could there be a happy medium? Feels unlikely, but I can hope. I really enjoyed Luffy’s use of future sight during the action bit, and picking up Hyo like Yoda at the end. The new Haki lore is surprising. I’d been certain things like the art seeming to depict the admirals’ barrier and the elephant bouncing off Rayleigh’s hand were just quirks of Haki’s visual depiction not being fully pinned down yet, but I’m totally wrong, it was all lore! And we get apparent confirmation for the theory that Zoro awakened his Haki in Alabasta. I wonder if comment will ever be passed on Luffy finding the real Galdino via “instincts” or the idea he might have used a little subconscious Haki to back up the thin layer of blood he used to fight Crocodile that final time. Even if nothing is ever confirmed directly, having this one instance acknowledged speaks volumes for them.

Luffy infers that better Haki could be the way to penetrate Kaido’s scales, indicating his invulnerability has something to do with his devil fruit powers (sorry, I need a bit more evidence before I’ll consider the could be his base form), which is a little odd, since it seemed logical that the things making Kaido and Linlin invincible were the same. As much as I generally dislike training arcs, I think it’s good Oda decided to use a mentor character this time around rather than having Luffy learn by fighting an initially impossible matchup twice in a row. Hopefully Linlin’s imminent arrival will keep the training session from going on too long.

Another decent lore/transition chapter, but I’m looking forward to the action ramping up soon.

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

I really like the cover pages with Crocodile. First the one where he’s sheltering the dog from the rain, and now this cute number with the birds (and what a creative use of his powers). I hope there’s more of this in the future.

It really is a shame the official release couldn’t include the map, even in the blog section of the site. It’s not only a useful resource, and not only a good way to pad out an otherwise short chapter, the labels there are the only thing that make the Komurasaki/Hyori connection obvious. I have a feeling it or something similar to it will make it in the back of volume 93 just like the Alabasta and Enies Lobby maps did before it, so it’s not like it’ll never be seen. And on the topic of Komurasaki and Hiyori. I just… jeez Oda. This is exactly why you need to diversify your female characters. You undermined the whole damn reveal because a different outfit and hairstyle were enough to make people wonder if she was a different character. It’s not just an aesthetic issue anymore, it’s literally in the way of the storytelling. Hopefully we’ll start to see at least a little improvement after this whole thing.

The traitor plot is definitely building up to a reveal soon. I agree with the posters saying that Kyoshiro finding the note is a red herring. If he figured it out and was fully loyal to the shogun, Komurasaki would actually be dead. The possibility of Law’s people talking is also a red herring. Because this plot goes back to Zou, it almost definitely has to be a mink, but I don’t think we have enough information to say which one yet. Of course, Law’s people were also at Zou, but I think the story will have more weight if its someone actually part of the dukedom. At least there’s one Jump author remembering to advance his traitor subplot anyway (cough Horikoshi cough).

On the Zoro bits, I can understand how people looking at the spoilers were confused about his sudden collapse, but I’m willing to accept all the poison he’s been eating as an explanation (even if he is the guy who ate razor blades back on Punk Hazard). I do hope there’s a decent explanation for Gyukimaru’s mercy after everything else he did though. I also hope for it because I’m a fan of his look in general. Zoro being with Komurasaki and O-Toko made for some great character interactions. Toko stealing Usopp’s toad oil is a hilarious touch. Komurasaki is acting pretty different here to how she did before. Probably one of these personas is fake, and I hope it’s the nice one because I think the idea of a femme fatale trying to act cute for Zoro and seduce him while him remains totally oblivious really funny. It’d be a great parallel to how Sanji got suckered by Pudding and was totally unaware of her genuine bad side.

And that’s it. What a short chapter. Volume 93 will either have to go to 12 chapters (assuming all the remainder are full length) or pack in the extra pages to reach the usual minimum. To be honest, for the sake of better installments and more full-feeling and regular volumes (I’m praying the extra time needed to make the page count doesn’t make for another three-volume year right now), I’d have taken the break a week earlier if it meant the chapters on either side of it stayed at the normal length.