#ch79

[pardon-my-scifi]

Only Maomao would get excited over the method of her execution. I hope Jinshi doesn't hear what you're about to do with the hair pin he gave you, Maomao.

[shysheeperz]

[dailysmilingnatsume]

[everymariemjolnir]

[kookoofufu]

Chapter 79: "To Live" (1999), and end credits of the One Piece film (2000)

Oda's comment from One Piece Color Walk 1: "I wanted to draw a picture in a Wild West style. But in this world, the United States of America (probably) does not exist. The setting is probably a barren land, located somewhere in the West Blue."

Usopp looking fresh as fuck, also the only person with sunglasses and face paint. The drunk panther with Nami might be trying to cop a feel. Looks like Whiskey Peak. Interesting that this is set in the West Blue, which we still haven't really seen, even though it's where Robin, Brook, and Shanks (!!) are from.

I'm so into the back part with Sanji and Luffy, it's so cute!I love the danger sign, Sanji's pink hat, the tiny town in the background with a flower shop, and how Luffy somehow found tropical fruit in a desert.

[sundriedmilano]

i miss him sigh

[achtung-attitude]

He trails off, noticing something. Something flies out of T’onga’s mouth. Not blood, not teeth. Something alive. A fly. And also, even as she is shunted away from him, she pulls a red-toothed smile.

“What?” he mutters. Before he can complete his through, he feels every inch of body rattle from the inside out. Through the convulsions, his scattering thoughts land on realization. “Inside her mouth… The fly… A closed space!! HOUSE OF PAIN!!!”

A torrent of blood burst from his nose as T’onga collapses to the ground. She scrambles, looking on triumphantly as All-Kill tips over his air platforms and collapses into the rubble of his once-beautiful home.

END of CHAPTER 79

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 79 Gorilla Posting

Here we go, dear void. Hakuri, a lore dump that took me forever to translate, and some long-desired insight into a named character! Editor's Note: First Page: (none) Last Page: 急げっ！！！ [isoge!!!] "Hurry!!!"

Hakuri and... a New Name!

He learned nothing...

My boy! My little guy! The character I'm completely, totally normal about... he's back!! Unfortunately, he's still pressuring himself big-time.

I don't know how the official English will translate this, but on the first page, Hakuri is literally asking Kudou for a "role". Not just a task he can do, but a specific function (役目 [yakume]). So despite his much-appreciated silly faces this chapter, he's still in the depths of his self-worth issues.

Wait, who's Kudou? That's our Kamunabi higher-up with the gas mask! Their surname is 区堂, with 区 [ku] for ward/district and 堂 [dou] for hall/temple/shrine. Not very descriptive but it imparts a sense of dignity and being a small part of something greater. Kudou-san uses the neutral/polite pronoun watashi so their gender isn't really known at this time. Might end up with another Hiyuki situation by assuming y'know?

Hakuri, though... he and Chihiro care so much about each other. He better take care of himself this time (he won't).

I can't wait to see them reunite.

Because...

And so it comes to pass (along with many cute expressions)...

Hakuri's slightly nerfed right now as a consequence of how his sorcery was restored, but he should still be able to use his Storehouse to withhold the Shinuchi from the Hishaku. After that, I'm really, truly feeling like he's going to get kidnapped or some other horrible thing will happen to him. He can get kidnapped by the mole/traitor, arm the Master Swordsman on request (yes it's sealed but it can also be unsealed), lose access to his sorcery by overdoing it again... any number of things. No matter what, he's going to be a big player for the climax of this arc and I hope he doesn't suffer too much for it. He's already been through so much.

The poor guy is really hard on himself too:

...

Uruha's death panel there is weighing so damn heavily on him. So despite him thanking Kudou for the Kamunabi saving him, he's still laser-focused on being useful, probably to make up even just the slightest bit for what he feels he did to Uruha. Lord knows what he'll do if he learns that Chihiro technically died because of him too. Hakuri, it wasn't your fault at all...!

That's what the scuff marks on his face are about, though. He slept for 3 days straight but he's still not completely restored. That's how badly he wore himself out and his mindset that led him to do it is worse than ever. Hakuri is absolutely desperate to do anything he can, and it's probably not going to end well once more.

You don't have to be useful, Hakuri. You don't have to be given a role to fulfill. You're worthy of love just as you are. Please, let him learn this one day soon... but at least we leave off with him on a silly note.

Go!

Hakuri being unable to calm down is so cute; he's always giving 110%. The day where he allows himself to relax before collapsing into a coma will be a precious one!

Kamunabi Lore Dump

Real depiction of the team I wish I could work with to translate these text-heavy chapters.

The random guy we followed in the middle section of this chapter gave us a bit of information. Thank you, random guy.

So the former name of the organisation was "Counter-Sorcery Forces" and used to have a strength-based hierarchy. Congratulations, powerscalers! You have a new tool to help you in your debates.

I assume the official English will translate the military ranks on that paper, and yay I was right. Cool beans. Keep them in mind!

These aren't still in use but it's still useful to draw comparisons. Other than that, I have kind of a hard time believing that 24 people with fighting experience -who are also expected to be the first line of defence in situations just like this chapter!- are no match for three guys. Maybe it's just Samuraishaku alone? Even Azami's got some respect for him after all.

Still, it's not the first time we've seen these "Dead Willow Brothers" (死柳兄弟, shigyuukyoudai).

Chapter 57, as a refresher.

The older brother was the one throwing chains to support Hiruhiko here most likely. So hooray that was cleared up!

I wonder if the other Hishaku team has mercenaries too or if we'll finally get a clear sighting of "Jane Hishaku" and the last member we haven't seen yet. Maybe a surprising character will appear as reinforcements too. There's a lot to speculate about!

My Dearly Beloved Gorilla Wife

Someone draw him crushing a watermelon between his bare thighs PLEASE

His first name at last! 奏士郎 [soushirou]! 奏 [sou] for play music/perform/report/petition, 士 [shi] for gentleman/scholar/samurai, and 郎 [rou] for son/young man (yes it's the same kanji for what Ro of the Masumi goes by).

Azami is a man of contrasts, apparently. He speaks softly compared to the rest of the male cast (aside from Kyora) and packs a gigantic fucking punch too. I love him. He's not the traitor, he's my wife. My mind-bogglingly strong wife that probably rose to the highest echelons of the Kamunabi on raw strength alone. Seriously, I don't think I can possibly love him any more than I already do. His fighting style is to cast "fist" in his opponents faces! Leave the fancy footwork and tactics to Shiba, Azami's just going to rely on his brawn to get things done. Would still like to know what his sorcery that involves him pinching some kind of energy between his fingers is, though.

As for the Azami traitor theory, I suppose people who want to cling to it can take comfort in the fact that he wasn't given an alibi. He's absolutely furious about what happened to the Rokuhiras and had to ask Chihiro for the details. But he still could have provided the information that let the Hishaku infiltrate in the first place, I guess. The only thing that would make sense to me is if he was aiding the Hishaku out of sympathy and they misled/lied to him about their intentions. But at this point I think even Kudou is more suspicious than him.

Remember, only four people in the Kamunabi's higher ups helped Kunishige hide after the war: Azami, Kudou, Prince Nez, and the eyepatch guy we haven't seen in ages. I think we're supposed to be playing a guessing game about which one of those four it is right now.

Anyway, my wife's innocent. Let's do a minor TL note instead.

Sauceless typesetting strikes again.

圧倒的殴殺力 [attouteki ousatsuryoku] is pretty over-the-top in how much it says but it's along the lines of "overwhelming lethal brute force" while the Ruby next to it simply says パワ- (power). Speaking of nitpicks, though...

C'mon, man.

I don't expect the vertical text to be kept but the huge bold font used in JP has a bigger impact than the polite font used in English. I don't know. I just feel like it's a better match for the ridiculous setting here- we've got dudes rocking out on taiko drums and a shamisen in the background, not giving a restrained performance y'know? People enter, but only one leaves alive! This is the mother fucking Thunderdome in the middle of Kamunabi HQ! Don't question or downplay it, go all-in on the ridiculousness! There's something I want to say about this chapter that might help anyone who sees a bunch of Azami fan art with the title of the chapter: 曲者 [kusemono]. 曲者 has a ton of possible meanings but some of them likely apply to Azami himself too. "Villain", what it was translated to in the official, is perfectly valid (as are similes like "ruffian" and "knave"). But it can also mean peculiar person/stubborn fellow, something that is more than it seems, expert/master, and monster/phantom/spectre. I hope we keep learning more about Azami as this fight goes on!

Lastly...

What in the heck are you wearing my dude?

First up, that's not Samuraishaku's real face, that's the men-yoroi for his helmet- including the moustache. Pray it breaks during the fight so we can see what he really looks like.

Next, this is the second time we are having a fight against one of Kunishige's killers. Hatshaku keeps escaping but maybe we'll learn more about this guy. I feel like this is a good time to get more information on the raid itself if nothing else.

Lastly, only bringing this up because I've seen some "what if he's a different person that wasn't there at Kunishige's murder" questions because he's not wearing the suit we saw in chapter 45. Yes, this is definitely the guy who only had his left leg in frame during chapter 2. This framing makes it unmistakable:

What's under that long bang?!

Azami sees the samurai guy

Thinks about how he asked Chihiro for details of the incident over two flashback panels, zooming in on the guy's leg in the second

Notices the same leg armour in the present right in front of him

Gorilla mode activated

Clenches his fist and says they "meet at last", clearly itching to fight

Wherever Azami's loyalties lie, he clearly cares a great deal about Chihiro and Kunishige. He's fucking pissed about his friend's death and is ready to cave one of the killer's faces in.

Alright life is steamrolling me so that's all I've got this week. Be safe and treat yourself one day this week while we wait to see if there's a perspective shift. Back to Chihiro and Samura or more of this Azami & Hakuri goodness? I know what I really want but I'll take what we get.

[pardon-my-scifi]

Are you freaking telling me Himmel gave a ton of money to a dwarf to finish building a bridge so Frieren could use it!? These two are giving me cavities.

[loichte]

Uhm

Okay google lens

[shysheeperz]

[dailysmilingnatsume]

[alex-the-mediocre]

Wha ch79 spoilers ahead, be careful

EASTHIES!!!!! WTF!!!!!

LIKE, TF YOU MEAN HE JUST ERASED VINNANA'S MEMORIES?????

This has to have severe consequences

His ass just erased the memories of a wise in the middle of the damn city

Tf they gonna say to the king when he doesn't get to see the wise in principles around?????

My hope is that he erased the night or the deal or the exception or something other than straight up the whole magic out of her cuz ya know, THAT'S THE GOD DAMN WISE IN PRINCIPLES????

Is2g if this man comes after the other grandparent of this series I'll chew him to dust GET AWAY FROM THEM!!!

[everymariemjolnir]

[kookoofufu]

These cover pages are so ominous for no reason. We never see these mfs but suddenly we're checking in on them at "a wedding at a certain ruined island." What wedding? What island?? What sea??? There's no way the wedding is a coincidence since these covers appear during Whole Cake Island. Why isn't Yasopp with Shanks at the wedding if they're on the same island? Where's Lucky Roux? Is it his wedding?? I swear this has to be important.

The background looks suspiciously like chapter 79's color spread which shows cactuses and a ruined town, and Oda comments that the spread is "a barren land, located somewhere in the West Blue." They could be in God Valley (very unlikely since it was probably destroyed), but ruins in the west blue? Hm....