#anyway the one piece allows you to revive someone and luffy uses it on ace tada happy end

[aurabirds]

(very quick sketch) Deep in my recurring Ace breakdown phase again 😮‍💨

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1088)

Ahh! It's the pre-timeskip designs!!! They all have rosy cheeks and look so adorable! This was done in commemoration of the new show so it features characters who'll be in the first season. I'm not completely sure who's right at the top but it looks to me like Axe-Hand Morgans. Anyways, we'll talk about the show when it comes out, there's no way I'm not marathoning it. I am sooo curious. But on to this weeks chapter, catch it below the cut!

This chapter hammered in two ideas. One of connection and one of how we are so much more than ourselves in the way that we carry on in people we know. Those two ideas come together beautifully in the theme of inherited will.

Oda and One Piece by extension, has never suffered disconnected fools. More than anything I'm talking people like Crocodile, who's organization was so disconnected that most didn't even know his name. He even tried to do the same with Cross Guild before Buggy thankfully changed their ways. But think about it, in Alabasta, the person who has been known to make meaningful connections with every single thing he's come across so far takes on someone who goes to inhuman lengths to keep everyone at arm's length, and he beats him. Time and time again, Oda has showed how Luffy's connections are the reason he's gotten so far, with Mihawk even calling it his strength. Like in Arlong Park where they had to bring his head above water or even as recently as Wano where the Polar Tang(RIP, gone but not forgotten) and her crew saved him. One Piece drives home the importance of connections at every step.

One Piece is so weirdly, beautifully and intrinsically linked to death. The idea that people die. That we are ephemeral. That we are flesh and blood and that one day we will face death. But we are so much more than that. As my favourite little green war criminal once said, "Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter."

One Piece shows a lot of needless death. Power run rampant, egos not allowing people to back down. Hell, one of the most impactful deaths, Ace's, was from his inability to let go. It was avoidable and tragic. And yet, we see the impacts deaths can have. The impacts we can have beyond ourselves. Beyond this vessel of flesh and blood. We see moments later how Whitebeard changes the course of history itself with his death. We see how Roger created the great pirate age. It's this beautiful idea of passing parts of ourselves down through others. This idea that we are so much more than just us.

It all comes together in with these two ideas, of connection and of people living on in others, that the theme of inherited will shines through. It's this idea that when we make connections, when we reach out, we can find something other than ourselves to live for. And to die for. That through this great exploration of friendship and comradery, we find people that will carry us with them.

And Oda demonstrates that heartbreakingly so with Garp. This idea that we pass ourselves on. For the longest time, Garp couldn't find anyone to pass his will on to. He couldn't connect. People carried him with them. Like Ace and Luffy and just as we recently saw, Kuzan. But no one was willing to take on his will. A will that had gotten so corrupted from years of isolation and loneliness. A will that is revived just from passing it down. In a sense it's inherited, something passed down after death, but in a more visceral way, it's a baton pass. Because you have to be able to hand it down to someone. And someone has to be able to accept it. And for the longest time, there was no one who was going to accept it.

Until Koby.

Pathetic cabin boy Koby. Koby who wouldn't even dare to dream. Koby who had such little self esteem for himself that he took Alvida's abuse without question or complaint.

Koby, who through meeting Luffy, matures and grows into his own person. A person capable of making connections just like Luffy. With princesses he saves or his fellow marines or (as we'll get to later) his best friend, or as we've just seen, the man who taught him everything. Koby is the person who reaches out, and Garp, who's affected so many people around him, is finally able to pass on his will.

With what I wanted to say about Inherited Will mostly out of the way, let's take a closer look at the chapter, cause there's a lot of small things that don't fully fit in that theme that I wanted to point out. But first, a sidenote. Inherited Will as a central theme is just such a great idea as a storyteller that I can't get over it. It's fucking primordial. Ancient. From as long has life has lived, Inherited Will has existed. Even through the cycle of nature itself. And this transcended flesh when artists and authours and astronomers and philosophers came into being. We still carry on the legacy of looking up at the at the same stars they looked up at, of grappling with the same words and numbers and ideas they did, and of traveling the same land they did, all in the hopes of discovering something new. Of finding something to make a connection with. It's such a beautiful idea that I can't help but romanticize it.

Going back to the idea that people die for a cause. For reasons that will become apparent later, this brief stint on Hachinosu reminded me so much of Thriller Bark. More than anything, that moment where the Straw Hats face down the sun as their bodies burn away.

This absolute insistence that Luffy would win. This moment is such a great encapsulation of the themes of Inherited Will, especially in the context of One Piece because they are waiting for the Dawn to come. And with the multiple references to Dawn through Romance Dawn and Luffy being the sun through Nika, it gives such a clear visual metaphor for what the idea of inherited will is. It's waiting for the Dawn to come through this long dark night while knowing that you might not live to see it. And it's with this knowledge that he won't make it out that Garp asks the impossible of his students and has absolute faith they'll pull it off.

Going into the chapter itself though, we see how Blackbeard captured Koby. What I love so much is how far Koby's self esteem has come. He knows his worth so well now. I went back to Luffy's first meeting with Koby and I found this:

I also found something else rather interesting but we'll get to that later.

Last chapter when we left Garp, he had such a grim expression on his face and we greet him now with a smile on his face. The D clan face their deaths with a smile on their faces and in an effort to live up to his name, we see Garp, who we realize by the end of the chapter has accepted his death, with a smile on his face. But it's not really that he's a D that he's laughing. It's that he's finally found the people he can pass his legacy off to. It's why he has such faith in them. It's the only way they inherit his will. It's such a ridiculous amount of confidence that I can't help but laugh.

I love Helmeppo's relationship with Koby so much. I adore Helmeppo. I have a soft spot for losers, cowards and weaklings and the way Oda writes them is just *chef's kiss*. He's both the Ussop and Zoro to Koby's Luffy. They both came from similarly abusive places and they've had each other's back for so long. And he was also the only one that knew about Koby's Battleship Bags training. And he's also the one who grabs him after he eviscerates Pizzaro's hand.

They have such a beautiful relationship that we only get a glimpse of. They're brothers, they're best friends, and they understand each other the best.

Both here and at the end we get a glimpse of Kuzan making these faces. Faces of regret and sadness and concern. With this, he seals an in with the Blackbeard Pirates but I can't help but think that this went way more off the rails than Kuzan intended it. I think he wanted Garp to get away. Kuzan has always been a constant presence in the One Piece world. He was an overpowered fruit, one that basically negates the weakness to water. He's been there from Ohara to Long Ring Long Land to the Marineford War to his presence being felt on Punk Hazard. And that's what he's been. A presence. He's always felt untouchable and here we get this first glimpse of humanity. Of weakness. Of vulnerability. Of being something more than aloof and cool. Just like Koby, Kuzan's got a bigger part to play. (P.S. He would be my candidate for future Strawhat)

This was so fucking badass. And it wasn't even the coolest thing in the chapter!!! Oda, please slow down. His new laser eyes really are over powered. But the whole way this page is structured, you can feel the speed. From Garp zooming his way up to Pizzaro's face to the island shaking impact of his punch. And not just that, can we take a moment to discuss how amazing the panelling in this chapter was. To the cascading dialogue seen in the Kuzan panel to this:

Where he develops this quick cutting reaction shot-esque line of panels that perfectly gets across the rising action, Oda just perfectly nails the pacing and adrenaline in this chapter, especially right before delivering earth shattering impacts.

But before we get to that, don't think I forgot about this. "I'll live up to his expectations". This had me bawling. It's such a perfect summation of this chapter. They're living up to his expectations. The first ones to do so. It also drives home that connection Garp and his students have. He must've feared he'd die alone, with every student and friend eventually abandoning him. But even for someone as complex as Garp, he still goes with people around him. People who he can finally trust. It's a relief and why he's so okay with his death.

And then this! Oda ties together Garp's wayward student and the idea of the battleship bags with such a wonderfully explosive bow. I know it's only in the span of a few chapters but how well these ideas fit together makes me feral. And the fact that Koby has been doing it in secret, where Garp couldn't understand his progress like he could when Kuzan matched his punches, makes the connection so much sweeter between Koby and Garp. Because this means Garp trusted Koby without knowing exactly how strong he was. And this also drives home the point that this passing of wills snuck up on Garp. While he was grooming Koby to be his replacement I do think Garp had that sense of hesitation he had with Kuzan and Ace and Luffy and Dragon. He kept them at arms length before this instance showed him how much their connection had snuck up on him.

Okay so now we get to this. Is Garp dead? I think so. Kuzan's expression coupled with the worst pirates in the world surrounding him as well as he's laughing, something D's are known to do before their deaths. And his laugh. I was trying to figure out who it reminded me of and I finally figured it out. Roger. When "He Laughed". Because although there are tears in his eyes, I don't think their from anything but happiness. I think this is the happiest Garp has been for a while. He achieved this clarity when he decided he was going to die. And now, as he faces death, he's achieved the one thing he's spent so long chasing. He'd accepted that he couldn't change the navy a long time ago. Possibly when he took Ace in. And this is the first time he's realizing that his dream might be realized. And all because of those that inherited his will. I love Garp. And I'm happy for him. It's such a great end for such a interesting and complex character.

And I do think it's the end. At least for his spirit and soul. His personality. Because now is when my tinfoil hat comes out. Because that Ice around him reminds me of something. That's right, we go back to Thriller Bark.

And the fact that Gecko Moriah is on the island as well. Is it too much of a leap to assume that Garp's corpse could be used as one of Blackbeard's weapons? I only wonder who's shadow could be put into his corpse. My personal guess would be Kuzan after he betrays Blackbeard.

And oh yeah, I'm not taking off that tin foil hat just yet. In searching for the panels where Luffy meets Koby, I came across this.

This is right before Luffy meets Koby. Somewhere along the way, he gets stuck in the barrel and Alvida's crew picks him up. But a whirlpool... Does this remind you of a certain player that's popped up recently? That's right.

The man with the burn scar that rides a black ship and has the last road poneglyph. Who everything seems to be converging on. If this indeed is related then it cuts Jaguar D. Saul out of the equation and only leaves Dragon and Scopper Gaban as the likely candidates.

Okay, that was everything I had, I am all out of steam now. Sorry, if that was a little rambly. I'll make it up to you by leaving you with one of my favourite panels that I found while looking for Koby's first encounter with Luffy.

You did buddy.