#anyways finally got my bb hancock

[sibeal]

if the end times means this kind of stunning lighting, then perhaps... actually, no

[purplehairedwonder]

Chapter 1064: Take to the Seas

RED ALERT! The Law vs. Blackbeard fight isn’t being off-screened! RED ALERT!

The cover story confirmed what just about everyone theorized last chapter: Kuzan was one of the intruders at Chocolat Town and kidnapped Pudding.

Of course, Van Augur’s presence here indicates this happened during Wano since he’s at the fight with Law -- and Pudding is being held captive on the ship. So, where’s Kuzan now? The Hearts have their hands full with the group of Blackbeard Pirates who’ve already shown themselves; the last thing they need is a former admiral to show up. (Not to mention the other missing BB Pirates like Shiryu and Lafitte.)

Of course, Kuzan is also likely undercover (perhaps for SWORD? Considering Drake is also apparently MIA, I wonder if we’ll get some payoff there, especially with Drake being the one to set Law free in Wano.)

It’s definitely surprising to see a cover story so directly tie into present events, my goodness.

Anyway, speaking of Law and the Hearts...

So much going on here! The Heart Pirate with the mask gets a name (Hakugan, or snow goose), Shachi and Penguin head for the water, and Law immediately jumps in with awakened attacks when they were his last resort against Big Mom. My boy is getting more and more powerful.

And the Hearts get to show out, too! Suck it, haters.

I love the idea that the Hearts are most dangerous in the water; it fits so well with using a submarine and their sea animal names. (Plus, Law has that mysterious “Water” part of his name. We ever going to learn about why that was taboo? It would be interesting if it had to do with some kind of affinity for the sea.) They’ve also got excellent teamwork, as we see Bepo directing Jean Bart to protect Law from Augur.

Shock Wille brought Big Mom to her knees, and the pain Blackbeard feels is amplified because of his fruit, so this must’ve been excruciating. (Blackbeard might be smart but he’s also overconfident; it seems he realized his mistake in not being aware Law had awakened his fruit, though). However, he also has insane stamina and durability, so he keeps fighting on.

The bottom panel is great. I love the side angle of Law to show both Kikoku and his fruit as well as his waving cloak while Blackbeard looms in the background.

And I love seeing Law’s brain working.

He’s got a crew that excels in the water, and Blackbeard’s got a crew full of anchors. His crew knows exactly what to do because they’re clearly a well-oiled machine.

And that smirk *swoon*

So, Pudding’s on Blackbeard’s ship, but where’s Coby?

Speaking of Pudding, she’s looking confident for being a prisoner of another Emperor.

Big Mom’s (and, by extension, Kaido’s) fate remains ambiguous here. Honestly, I’d prefer it if both she and Kaido had perished (we saw them in a volcano that then erupted, for goodness’ sake) but this is One Piece.

The final panel of the Blackbeard vs. Law fight has me nervous.

Black Vortex draws everything into itself, which allows Blackbeard to use his DF nullifying powers. I find it hard to believe that Law wouldn’t have studied up on Blackbeard and would be unaware of his ability, so I’m hoping he has a means of countering its effects. However, we’ve seen it used to great effect on some powerful people, so... 

I still think Blackbeard needs to have some kind of win here, especially after losing out on Hancock’s fruit not long ago. He’ll likely getting Law’s Poneglyphs somehow, but I don’t think Law dies. Maybe he’s captured (Blackbeard, Law, and Coby being in one place would give us the perfect chance to learn about Rocky Port, after all) or maybe there is interference from an outside source, allowing Law to escape. 

But it seems like Oda is giving Law and the Hearts a chance to show out before things turn.

Speaking out outside sources...

How the hell is Akainu hearing about this fight while it’s in progress? Feels like more evidence in favor of Kuzan being undercover.

(Also interesting that this island is called Winner Island. Not sure what to make of that yet.)

As for the other plotline, I don’t have a ton to say. A few high- (and low-) lights:

Oda continues bringing in SBS material with young Jinbei and old Luffy from a bad future. 

We get some background on Kuma from Jinbei, and I had to laugh at Jinbei not sugarcoating anything. (Also, lightsaber!)

Clearly, there’s more going on with Kuma (who is also apparently part of some special race), Vegapunk, and the Revolutionaries than anyone knows, which is supported by the exchange between Shaka and Dragon at the end of the chapter.

Also, massive eyeroll at the fanservice in this chapter. We get a shot of Bonney, who is being very serious, with her ass front and center, and then the outfits Nami and Robin are put in...

Even Franky -- FRANKY -- is wearing pants. C’mon, Oda. This is honestly just gross.

Meanwhile, Zoro and Brook hang out with the ship because they don’t trust Lilith. Smart. They may end up being the first to interact with CP0 then.

Minus the brutal fanservice, this was a great chapter. I’m going to be on tenterhooks for the next week waiting to see more of the Law and Blackbeard fight.

[acornpirate]

Chapter 1059 Thinky Thoughts

(I started writing this and then I accidentally deleted my draft and I’m MAD about it)

- I enjoy Marco. I also enjoy the running joke of Shanks asking him to join his crew and Marco being like, “lol, no.”

- *affectionately* Sanji, go die.

- In staying to protect Wano in a time of potential weakness, isnt’t Yamato is kind of correcting Oden’s key error? IIRC Oden left to go to sea knowing his father was semi unwell (he got better, apparently), and that’s when Kaido/Orochi and co swooped in. Anyway I’m still hopeful for a Yamato cover story following the current one.

- Luffy’s begrudgingly accepting face on page 2 is adorable.

- Hancock, pls. (*side eyes Luffy/Hancock shippers*)

- I can’t believe we’re finally getting a name for Vice Admiral Smiley Cigar , this is like his 3rd or 4th appearance?

- Blackbeard Pirates continue to be creeps, can’t wait for the Strawhats to destroy them.

- Obligatory joke about BB trying to use Hancock’s Fruit to Sexy Stun people.

- Those Lunarian Pacafistas sure are a thing. Yikes. Creepy creepy. I’m 100% team “Celestial Dragons are Actually From The Moon” theory, btw.

- I’m guessing Koby didn’t know he did Blackbeard that favor…

- Rayleigh for Uncle of the Year

- Shakky for Auntie of the Year, also interesting but unsurprising reveal, since they all seemed to know each other before.

- At the end of the day, I do like Hancock - she does just want to keep her people from experiencing the horrors she did as a slave.

- I gotta wonder if Koby offered himself as a hostage to ensure the safe escape of the rest of his soldiers (& bff Helmeppo)

As I expected this was kind of a more intense info-dump chapter. I think the final fight is almost certainly going to be Luffy vs. Blackbeard, (as opposed to Luffy vs. WG/Celestials) especially because Sun God Fruit vs. Darkness Fruit just makes sense now.

I said this somewhere else, but based limited info we have, I think BB and Shanks' fight where Shanks got his scar had something to do with the stealing of the Gomu Gomu no Mi -

Would make sense that if Shanks (apparently) knew its value, other people might have known too. Someone like Blackbeard, who was on Whitebeard's ship for ages, gathering intel. Maybe they ran across each other in the search for it/transporting it.

Could explain why Blackbeard's original plan before Ace caught up with him was to kill LUFFY and bring him to the WG. He knew Luffy had value beyond his 100 million bounty (which it was at the time).

Could also be what Shanks told the WG - ie: "Blackbeard knows about the special fruit, FYI".

I’m guessing we’ll be back to the Sunny. Maybe they’ll catch up on the news, maybe we’ll find out what their next stop is, maybe someone will do something stupid and fall overboard.