#also robin: the pineapple guy. luffy immediately: oh! i know him

[beaulesbian]

love when luffy is actually trying hard to remember someone just from hearing their name, especially when he only met/heard about them once

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 997 - Initial Thoughts

Well okay then! May not have arrived early but Chapter 1000 is getting closer and closer Though that also means Xmas is getting closer and I have a lot of stuff to buy... For now though, let’s get through Chapter 997

Spoilers for the Chapter, Please Also Support the Official Release

A Sanji cover page is cool, the Zen life is not for this Simp XD I wonder what the Shirt Pun is though ‘4 Bear Mire’ or ‘4 Kuma Mire’ or ‘Yon Kuma Mire’ - jp translator says Mamire means ‘Covered’ and Yon Ku could be Yonko...

And it transitions to the story itself as Sanji’s simp radar sets off, seeing the shadows of a man undressing a lady

Through all that stuff about the translations maybe hinting at Ivankov and it turned out to be the original thought I had. Occam’s Razor and all that

Sanji jumps in to White Knight and falls into Black Maria’s trap, spider webs do imply that she may have a Jorugumo DF but damn Sanji got hit hard by these no-names

At the very least he is confident he could bust out if he got violent, it’s just that matter of if

Because Black Maria is there in her giant glory flirting with Sanji, noting that she doesn’t want her stage to be a battleground. I think those figures behind her with the smoke covering their faces are a bit unnerving too

And then Sanji goes from serious to simp again. NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE A SIMP SANJI!

And of course the irony that he tagged with Luffy to stop Luffy from getting distracted and ended up getting distracted himself

To more SMILE Atrocities and Mizeka definitely had a rough hand, but I kinda like Poker’s design. This one is telling though since through them we learn that Kid is now officially ahead of Luffy in the tower climb

But alas poor Poker, you will never get to fight when the chips are down, because the samurai made a ladder for Luffy through a hole XD It got a smirk out of me but I wonder if that hole is the same as the one Hatcha made last chapter

Few things can make Zoro stop in his tracks though, and what fell from the dome flipped a switch in him

Sir, SIR! Roronoa ‘Get Shit Done’ Zoro right here, Shishi Sonson-ing Apoo right under Drake’s nose, grabbing the antibody as well all in a fell swoop. You love to see it!

And then back to Soft Zoro putting all trust in Chopper’s doctoring by giving him the antibody

Because our little reindeer boy has already figured out how to stop Queen’s magnum opus. Of course Fire would be key to it, but by promising to make an antibody for everyone via the Hippocratic Oath

But before Queen can strike Zoro is back to his Take No Prisoners Anger, the tirade on this man to tell Kaido’s No.2 Guy that he’s come here to get a slice out of his boss and have Queen shook

Oh Oda, you little troll you, he sees our Zoro having Conqueror’s Theory, dangles it then makes it clear it’s something else

We see what set Zoro off though, Kiku’s arm and yeah that’ll do it. Not only from a standpoint that Zoro has gratitude for Kiku helping them out before even knowing they were with Kin’emon but also as a Warrior and an Ally it’s pissing him off that his allies are getting hurt while he’s stuck down here

Funny Zoro notes he’d like to fly up there because a Pineapple has just flown in. We need all them Straw Hats to reach the dome somehow and Marco could fly Zoro, Robin and Brook up while Chopper helps the Ice oni below for a bit

The quakes are being felt by all areas the crew is on though, Law’s crew being cut off from Law’s small party does make it worrisome for me while it’s also surprising that they didn’t show Law’s reaction at all. Only Black Maria bemused by Kaido’s impatience

Yamato sees it to know though, it’s the clouds dragons produce

Kaido, the crazy motherfucker now having defeated all the Scabbards, is using clouds to LIFT ALL OF ONIGASHIMA, which he plans to drop on the Flower Capital!

I mean, WHAT!? Forgetting for a moment that Big Mom should be there unless Kaido has left the Dome, W H A T!? I did not expect Kaido to levitate an island to drop onto the capital, not many will even survive that! It also puts more stress now because the moment Kaido reaches landfall you will have to deal with ‘how do we stop this island from falling?

I don’t think Law can Shambles it, Momo is nowhere near skilled enough to use his clouds (yet maybe?), Robin will likely not have the strength to hold it even with several giant hands, I don’t think there’s enough metal in the world for Kid to hold it. Big Momo could hold it with a gigantic Zeus but would the weight be too much?

So the only alternative is to beat Kaido before he makes landfall, which is looking nigh impossible thanks to Oda’s storytelling. I will say though, given what we left off on last week it’s a little disappointing to see Sanji so easily played again. I guess there is still chance for redemption but the early thoughts are that Sanji completely took his eye off the ball and let another part of his body do the thinking. Considering how few allies there would be on this floor, crashing through blind on a dude undressing a woman in the midst of a raid against one of the most deadliest pirate crews today was such a daft move, especially given how strongly Sanji started. Queen seems to be immediately intimidated by Zoro though, which is weird given his billion bounty but I guess it’s not too much given that a 150 berry Chopper outwitted his strongest virus while being infected by it.

King was shown for a panel doing nothing too, gotta wonder, we haven’t seen Hawkins or Who’s Who in a while as well...and the absence of Law, Carrot/Wanda/Peros and BM’s reactions were missed. But at least this kinda means that there will be no other outside interference, good or bad, unless they can fly. It does make you wonder if Tama’s 3-minute plan is still active too. I wonder if it reaches the Flower Capital (which I’m guessing it will) how the reactions would be, I mean Orochi is dead and if Kaido does fall too then there’s no hiding from it

Gotta tip our hats to Zoro though, he had been quiet for quite a while in this raid but now we’re getting some Zoro stuff we wanted (minus the hopes of his ancestry connecting to Wano and all)

But Sadly a Break until 998 One positive though is this: if Oda intends to finish 1000 by 2020 then he can only do it on one day The Christmas Day Chapter 1000 Train is in the Station!

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with RogersBase

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the inaugural article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My first guest in this series is RogersBase, a Nintendo Brand Ambassador. For my chat with him, he chose the Zou arc, in which Luffy and his crew head to an ancient civilization that sits upon the back of a giant elephant.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Zou arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Zou arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: In one sentence, could you sell me on Zou?

  RogersBase: Okay, here we go — Mystery, romance, and a little bit of the Mammoth Boyz. I think that’s the perfect way to describe the best story arc in the post time skip era of One Piece.

  The best? Really?

  Yeah, by far. For me, at least. 

  Yeah, I feel like post time skip has been a certainly interesting array of storylines. I think my personal favorite is Whole Cake. So much of the back half of it as soon as the wedding goes awry is great, and the entire Katakuri fight is a masterpiece. 

  I think Whole Cake is a totally reasonable answer, and I think you probably like it for the same reasons that I like Zou: the characterization and the drama that isn’t centered around the characters saving a kingdom. The kingdom of Zou has already been destroyed. There’s no saving it at this point. The only thing they want to save is Raizo. So you don’t have to deal with the villain hierarchies and families of say Dressrosa or Wano. And the nice thing about it is that since it’s a shorter, condensed story arc, it really hammers home the motivations of the characters and gives us this terrifying villain that’s not even present for most of the arc.

    I really like Jack. He only appears in a flashback for the most part and he’s a scourge of the kingdom. And then he comes back, only to be hit by that elephant. And that’s one of those things at the beginning of the arc, when I saw this massive thing, I thought “Aw, man. I wanna see what that elephant can do. I hope it hits something” and then IT DOES. I flipped out. It was so satisfying. Did you know that Zou would be your favorite when you finished it?

  Yeah, I think I did. All the arcs up to that point had really high highs, but some of it just didn’t land with me. So to have Oda move away from these long story arcs that end in big one on one fights and go to this shorter, mystery-focused arc: What’s going on with these minks? What’s atop this elephant? Is Raizo still alive? What is The Voice of All Things? What connection does Luffy have to these giant creatures? And with so many great designs and characters, too, with the Minks. It’s really fascinating, and you have bits and pieces that lead up to it, but there’s so much here. 

  I feel like the Minks might be Oda’s purest expression of side characters because he’s playing with all of these animal figures that are both interesting to look at and emotionally evocative. It’s him flexing his muscles as a character artist. And the landscape of Zou as well - It’s beautiful to behold. 

    Especially when you think about the amount of content that’s there in a short amount of chapters or episodes. There’s so much that’s told about the overall world, the Road Poneglyphs, the relationship between the Minks and the Kozuki Family, the Beast Pirates, so much gets touched upon that will expand in later story arcs. There’s beautiful, immediate payoff there and later. 

  It has such a comparatively goofy start, too. They’re climbing this giant elephant on the back of a cartoon dragon that Robin thinks is adorable. And I’m glad she gets a little bit of focus here because, with the Poneglyphs, Zou is a really big set-up arc for Robin. So her role in One Piece’s endgame has exponentially increased. 

  Also, the focus on characterization. In earlier, post timeskip arcs, you have these epic clashes that take down kingdoms, but here you get a cute moment with Robin. It’s so refreshing to see her in a natural element where she’s comfortable.

    What did you think of the Mink tribe’s living situation? The giant white whale tree and the treehouses and all. Do you have any favorite parts of Oda’s worldbuilding here? Not just as a story designer, but as someone who crafts actual places where races and species can live.

  It’s cool to see the animals he chooses for the Minks, and how he constructs the power structure and who controls the land at what time, with the dog during the day and the cat at night. The big pineapple trees and the ruins that you see in the Jack flashback, he created a full-blown, believable civilization. It’s always a pleasure to see Oda working in jungle vegetation-type areas. He really excels in this in Skypiea and in his color spreads. So it seems like Zou is something that he’s wanted to do for a while. And how much effort he puts into it is why you feel so attached to the Minks at the end.

  That’s really cool. There are a ton of anime side character animals, like Kakashi’s pet dogs and the little animals that hang out with Goku and pals, but Oda really lets loose here with a whole species. And as you said, we should’ve kinda seen it coming with all the work he’s done with anthropomorphic animals. But then, you have the big Jack flashback. And the stereotype of the One Piece flashback is “Oh boy, it’s ‘bout to get sad.” But Zou’s feels like an epic piece of mythology, and Jack is just this being of pure cruelty without any kind of sad backstory. How did you feel about it? Did it surpass your expectations?

    Oh, absolutely! To see a character as violent and ruthless as Jack was something needed, I think. He’s an overall threat, not goofy. And his Devil Fruit is fascinating, as you finally see the return of the Prehistoric Zoan type fruit after you last saw it with Drake turning into an Allosaurus. So it’s cool to not only see that Jack can turn into a Woolly Mammoth, but it’s a Woolly Mammoth fighting on top of a giant elephant. And with the way he gets teased leading up to his appearance in the flashback, I remember thinking “How cool would it be if there was a Woolly Mammoth fruit!” and sure enough, there it is! Jack feels like a fulfillment of the promise of the New World — It’s not going to be a cakewalk. Your opponents will be devastating and Jack is so determined, coming because he knows Raizo’s there and then coming back because he STILL KNOWS Raizo is there. He’s like “You can tell me all you want that he’s not here, but I know, and I will crucify you and cut off your limbs. I don’t know why you’re trying to defend this one ninja, but I know he’s here.”

  Zou is kind of a double feature. We have Raizo and the Minks and the lore, but we also have the stuff that leads to Whole Cake with Sanj and Capone. Now, I see Sanji’s whole arc here sometimes referred to as Robin 2.0, because it’s a lot like Enies Lobby on the surface. Guy gets taken by the bad guys and is like “Don’t follow me because they’ll kill you, etc.” That’s always felt a little hollow to me because Sanji is not Robin and they don’t have the same motivation.

  No, absolutely. And I’m glad you mentioned it because it’s phenomenal how well Zou has aged. They manage to give these characterization moments to Robin and Sanji and the crew while introducing all this stuff and managing to make us care about all of it. There are people that are like “I can’t wait for Carrot to officially join the crew,” and it all stems from this story arc. 

    In terms of characters that get done so well that even though their time with you is brief, they still stick with you for a long time, I think a good example is Pedro. He joins everyone and he’s this stoic, mentor figure, a character type that usually doesn't fare so well when it comes to surviving anime series intact. And obviously, RIP Pedro. But it’s a testament to what you’re talking about because he just joins the crew and you’re like “Yeah, sure. Gimme fifty more chapters of him.”

  He’s got this cool eye patch, he has a beef with Big Mom, he knows about the world. And he’s the one who’s sort of the most hesitant to trust the Straw Hats at first after the disaster with Jack and all. But by the ending, he knows that the Straw Hats are the guys that he’s been waiting for. This is the crew that will bring upon that new dawn. And we haven’t even talked about Pekoms yet! He has those ties to Big Mom and to Bepo and to Zou and to Pedro and to Capone, who shoots him. 

  What do you think of the Poneglyph system? It’s both indicative of the Straw Hat endgame, but it isn’t like this magic map. What do you think of it as kind of a quest marker?

  It’s great because you learn that there are a definite few that mean something and that they’re all being held at various places that are run by Emperors. So trying to find them gives you an actual reason to fight these Emperors of the Sea and heading into their territories. They don’t really need to be fighting Kaido in the grand scheme of things, but the Poneglyphs add to the direction of the series. 

  ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite character?

  Trafalgar D. Water Law.

  Favorite Straw Hat?

  I go back and forth between three, but Sanji.

  Favorite villain?

  Doflamingo.

  If you could live on any One Piece island, where would you call home?

  Dressrosa without Doflamingo would actually be pretty nice.

  Favorite One Piece fight?

  Luffy vs Lucci.

  One Piece moment that made you sob the most?

  “Raizo is safe!” I was so overwhelmed with emotion, seeing the resolve of the Minks.

  One Piece moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  Sabo getting the Flare-Flare Fruit in Dressrosa.

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Official One Piece Columnist for Shueisha and Toei Greg Warner about his favorite One Piece arc: Arlong Park!!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery