#manga recap

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1089)

Heyo friends! I am back with another One Piece Chapter Round-Up below the cut, but before we get into spoiler territory, I just want to point out this absolutely hilarious cover page. At first I didn't even notice Sanji behind her in the window but I love these layers Oda adds on to the simple request of Nami being served milk. Since she's being served a drink it makes sense the cook is in charge of it and since it's Sanji there's no way he doesn't use that opportunity to be... himself. And funnier still is that since the fact the paper is facing away from him he'll be waiting eagerly only to be rejected. One thing I might be reading into a little too much is Nami's quill, which looks like a skypeian wing hanging off her shoulder. Foreshadowing perhaps?(Look I have a contractual obligation to be absolutely unhinged at least once per round-up) Anyways, moving on, let's talk about the chapter below.

Obviously I want to freak out about that last panel, but there's something really interesting going on with this chapter before that. I don't know if it's because I have been recently reminiscing over Coby and the time he tried to stop the Marineford War, but I have honed in on the idea Oda presents of The Marines' absolute disregard for life and their acceptance of collateral damage. It was a shock to see it doubled down on in a new chapter just mere days after watching a clip of that moment from Marineford.

With this being tumblr and the overwhelming majority of us being left leaning, I feel quite comfortable in discussing politics as mine are also left wing. Very heavily so. But I preface it with that fact so that you understand that some of my personal biases may play a role in my interpretations. Obviously, Oda and Japan's cultures are vastly different from those that I was raised up in so I am only speaking from a very surface level understanding and not the lived one Oda writes from. I have a very ACAB and abolish the police mentality and from my obviously biased point of view, it seems so does Oda.

But it's not just policing that Oda emphasizes. It's any system of power. But he looks at it through the lens of policing because they make the most natural enemy of lawbreaking pirates. Also just like the popular idea of the Death Note representing Japan's harsh police system, the Marines also appear to be an allusion to it. I am really curious about which way Oda went about creating the Marines and their relationship to pirates. There was an idea of a distinction between pirates called Peace Mains and Morganeers in the two one shots of Romance Dawn where Morganeers were the pillaging type of pirates whilst Peace Mains preyed on the Morganeers like vigilantes and adventured as well. Obviously that put Peace Mains in a sort of policing position so it's really curious how we ended up with the Marines being the big bad(other than Blackbeard of course).

In a tangent before we get back to the Marines, it's really interesting what carried over from the one shots, what didn't and what could. It had been a while since I revisited them but one thing I realized because of Crescent Moon Gyari is that Whitebeard's Beard looks like a crescent moon, basically symbolizing the moon before the dawn that is Luffy. Sorry if that was obvious, I'd just never made that connection before. The more interesting things to me are what might still carry over. Particularly from the second one shot where the Nami stand in, Ann, a blue haired girl with a pet bird is featured. Ann obviously also shares similarities with Vivi and Karoo but the idea of the Roc being a bird who's blood can cure diseases got my attention. That coupled with the Big Egg on the Oro Jackson and Choppers dream makes me think this could make a appearance once again. Also interesting was the fact that one of Luffy's moves was called Moon Shot and the idea of flying was presented over and over again. And Nami was also the child of Pirates. Wonder if that'll ever come into play. Another thing that was quite apparent was the imagery that really made an impact and crossed over to the final version. Honestly, I'd love to examine the two one shots in relation to the real story one day if someone hasn't already.

Okay tangent over, back to the main topic. Which is, first of all, Oda's take on the Marines. There's two things at work here. One is Oda's take on the Marines as an organization through Imu's actions. One that does not care about the collateral damage as long as their power in ensured. And the other is institutions of power perpetuating their power through terrorizing life and the environment it lives on. They're kind of the same idea but one directly criticizes policing while the other criticizes any position of power. We'll focus on the first idea and then talk about how it connects to the second.

The idea has been hammered into us over and over again. The Marines exist to further themselves. It's the absolute and peak function of institutions of power. And also very antithetical to the idea of dreams, which terminate once you reach them. Each of our Strawhats have a dream that has an end goal. But as a result of this goal of self perpetuation, the Marines often overlook their secondary goal of keeping the peace. This idea started as early as Axe-Hand Morgans but gets properly implemented in Arlong Park where the Marines look away as they get paid. Arlong doesn't disturb them and they benefit by having him essentially be an agent for them. That's how you know peacekeeping is a secondary goal. It's secondary to the idea of the Marine's keeping power. Oda criticizes privateering and the warlord system through this hypocrisy.

And if this was just one instance then it could be seen as just one bad egg. Like policing so often wants to put out. But a system of power relies on the methods they use to stay in power always staying relevant. And that's when we come to Marineford, skipping over a lot of incredibly relevant examples to this argument like Enies Lobby. I feel like ya'll can follow that tangent yourselves. Ohara, knowledge that would invalidate their power, etc, etc. I would go more into it but I don't want to write so much away from the current chapter and the fact is that Marineford appears to deal with my criticisms.

So how does Marineford appear to address the criticism of self preservation and perpetuation? (And this next statement is me playing Devil's Advocate if it's not apparent) If the Marines cared about preserving themselves, why would they seek to end the age of piracy if the function that keeps them in power is dealing with Pirates?

Because, my devil's advocate self (wow, thank you for the softball Roy(no problem, Roy)), Marineford was an attempt by the Marines to depose Pirates and crown themselves the key power in the One Piece world. Oda did the math for us, the three great powers used to be the Four Yonkou's, The Marines, and the Seven Warlords. Do the math there and the Pirates come out on top. Also Oda cleverly states the strength of freedom by showing how strong these scattered, unaffiliated, and free people are by having the Marines, a wholly organized military force, be only a third of the equation instead of dominating. Oda follows George Lucas's lead on the idea of Rebels and Vietnam. So, Marineford wasn't just an attempt to put an end to the age of pirates, it was also an attempt to declare the Age of the Marines. And they did the math too, regardless of what happened, they would come out on top. Whether they declared their age or the pirate age kept going, they would still be needed. As Billy Butcher once said, "Fucking Diabolical". Why Koby was so important to the narrative of the War was because he let you see the true colours of the Marines. One that did not care about collateral damage as long as they stayed in power. They sacrificed so many lives needlessly for that reason. And they might have possibly ended the pirate age if not for Whitebeard.

So all of that just to get to this chapter. Sorry for the long ride, but thank you for sticking with me. This chapter horrifically signifies the Marine's policy, by way of Imu, of collateral damage through very familiar sights of rising sea levels. I will speak to the real world connections soon. But these scenes of climate devastation show how uncaring the Marines are to the suffering of their subjects. And Subjects they are. Some people say One Piece is pro monarchy but Oda positions the Marines, even clearer now with Imu, as Monarchs, and criticizes them. Oda isn't pro monarchy, he's showing us how these instituions of power supplanted the previous institutions. And while people suffer, the Marines launch yet another offensive to keep ahold of their power. It's blatant at this point. Where they could be helping people, they gather one of the biggest forces they have since Marineford and try to stop the release of information that could weaken their hold.

And the scenes of Climate Devastation precede an even more horrific sight. Not one of collateral damage. Not of the uncaring nature. But of the direct cost of keeping their power. The sunken island kingdom of Lulusia. It's terrifying and it ties the collateral damage to the cost directly. It's Oda's way of pointing out that the consequences of their actions and the actions they take to stay in power don't affect them, but their subjects, the people they purport to protect.

All of this is why I am so interested in the conclusion Oda reaches in terms of the Marines. It's the reason I support the Ancient Kingdom being a nation of Pirates, it supports the idea of dissolution of the Marines. Oda is clearly setting up Koby and the rest of his peers as the next generation of the Marines but up until Koby became the clear front runner of the Marines, I always thought the Marines were meant to dissolve. But Oda seems to be setting them up to reform in a new direction. There's not a lot I disagree with Oda on but this might be one. Either way though, I will appreciate the nuanced take that Oda so often hides under layers of shounen action.

But now to get to the real world implications. The whole situation with Imu is such a startling reflection of our own world. Again my politics come into play here. The Marines and the Twenty Kingdoms purport to be equal and not ruled under anyone but it's revealed that all along Imu has ruled them. Which would be a stark contrast to our largely democratic nations, right? But then Oda uses the visual metaphor of climate change and his point is clear. While policing exists to self perpetuate, it also answers to the beck and call of billionaires and corporations. I'm sure the statistic of 100 companies being responsible for 71% of global emissions is a statistic you've heard before dear reader. The governments bend over backwards to lobbying from these corporations while the police enforce it on the base level. On a visceral and violent level. We never left the monarchy, we just got new rulers.

Oh no! I've revealed my personal politics. Ahh! But in all honesty, this is my blog and I want to be able to talk freely here so I'll say what's on my mind. I'll always try to be upfront when my biases show though. The reason I am so explicit about my political opinions is because a lot of people who talk about One Piece don't engage with the deeply political and radical ideas it has. And as a result, you get a neutered audience and a neutered discussion. Anyways, that was my very long and convoluted idea on Oda's representation of policing and related politics, especially in relation to this chapter. Now onto a breakdown of the actual chapter.

So right away we see an interesting sight. Morgans has already positioned Luffy as the main character of this conflict. And as we later find out, the Marines approve. Knowing that this will be a much talked about event sheds a really interesting light on this. One, Morgans has made Luffy undeniable in the media in regards to whatever happens next. Two, something big is going to happen. Three, the Marines will probably want to disavow it. Four, Luffy's presence is going to have the opposite effect and solidify this event as if he wasn't presented in such a central light, the Marines would've been able to sweep it under the rug easier. Also while a lot of that is speculation, one more reaching bit of speculation I want to put forward is that whatever happens next is going to invalidate Lulusia's disappearance. Some major truth is going to be revealed and it's going to show how unnecessary these sacrifices that the Marines make are. This also only furthers my interest in Morgans. Who is he? What's his play? What are his goals and is he playing a game with the Marines? It seems he regularly withholds information but eventually plays it in an acceptable manner to the Marines. My take is that he's possibly a revolutionary who's doing his best to sway the tide in their favour. If you look at a lot of his moves, it suggests they're highly calculated for maximum effect under the Marines rule while also shifting the discussion more in favour to the Revolutionary's and their causes and setting up for future dissemination of information he's currently withholding. Or it could be entirely posible I am giving him too much credit. Next, Makino calling Luffy her baby's big brother. Another clue to deadbeat dad Shanks theory? Don't mind me here, just watering my pet theories.

But next, as I mentioned before, we see the consequences of the Marine's actions. From the apparently mundane but heartbreaking in Kamabakka, to the loss of life through tsunami's and the loss of homes on other islands. It's horrific and centers on the very real horror of Climate Change. But the sea levels rising a meter is also horrific in another way. Just to show how much water has been displaced, it's almost five times as much as the sea level has risen over the past 100 years in the real world. I think I dove a lot into the real world side of things so I do want to indulge in the One Piece world for a bit.

So first off, the connection to Enies Lobby is completely apparent. Enies Lobby has some connection to the Mother Flame and perhaps the Ancient Kingdom being there holds some weight? I think another thing that is interesting is that the water was displaced. Somehow the Mother Flame doesn't just create a hole, but an entire Void where the water can't take the space of. Something something Void century, the theory's not fully there yet. But what it also suggests is that maybe Lulusia isn't completely gone? Perhaps it's been sent to Davy Jone's Locker? There's so many pieces of evidence floating around that I'm sure I'm missing something or overlooking a key piece that ties everything together, because right now this feels like a major hint to the true nature of the world. Also this could be a key factor in One Piece's unique world, like the Calm Belt and the Red Line. Also one interesting line is, "had no parallel in recorded history." But perhaps the Void Century? Speculation abounds! But maybe I'll have a concrete theory in the coming days, who knows. The Truth is Out There. No, but really, I feel like one or a few of those massively popular and some not so popular theories are somewhere close to the mark. Like the One Piece being a log book or the destruction of the Red Line. There's so much that's valid that I can see it all happening.

Another heartbreaking scene plays out a little bit after we see the Marine's massive fleet, with a small flashback to Vegapunk, Sentomaru and Kizaru all looking much younger and happier. Kizaru is such an interesting character. He apparently has Unclear Justice but in everything he does it's hard to understand what that actually means. Nature of the word I guess? But Aokiji was Lazy Justice, and that can be seen in that he seems to be taking the easy way out by falling in with Blackbeard but what does that mean for Kizaru? He seems happy in the past and now he is very much uncaring. He mentions he's a cog in the machine but there seems to be some wiggle room. Perhaps unlike his previous two comrades, Akainu and Aokiji, Kizaru is the only one who can change? Honestly I don't really have a bead on him. But I am fascinated. Like with many things.

After that we get a recap and two key moments. The moment where Jay Garcia tells them to sink the escaping scientists is quite obvious and a parallel to Ohara and I think we've talked enough about direct actions, consequences, and collateral damage to get a rough gist of where that would go in reinforcing the themes Oda has set up in regards to the Marines. But the smaller moment of Jay Garcia remarking he likes what Morgans wrote is also key. The Marines hold some sway over the media, from withholding key information to actively enforcing violence but this is also an insight into how Morgans plays the game. He pacifies them but he also pushes his own agenda. A free media is key to citizens freedoms so it's really interesting how these two entities push and pull. I hope we get more insight into Morgans to see what Oda is actually trying to say because I'm curious.

And now we finally get to the last few pages. York is at times terrifying and at others painfully stupid. Just my type of character. She reminds me a lot of Buggy, who first started off as terrifying before becoming our lovable clown boy. But this makes me want York in the crew so bad. I would love if Vegapunk and all of his satellites joined because it would be such an interesting dynamic. The Come Save me panel is also quite a hilarious inversion of "I want to Live" from Enies Lobby as York is asking the Marines for help this time. I love her confident blustering. It's peak One Piece. It's peak Oda. I love it so much.

AND THEN FINALLY!!! OMFG THEY LOOK SO FUCKING COOL!!! I lost it so hard here. They're back and they look so badass! They look like a proper yonkou crew. This cutaway also hammers home how close we are getting to the end as Oda is skipping over some big fights. What this flash forward does let Oda do is that he can use it to do a small flashback chapter and recap key skipped over elements instead of going through them at a much slower pace in chronological order.

One final thing. All the strawhats look so cool, but a really surprising thing I noticed was that Ussop was holding the phone where I would assume Sanji would be. It feels like Sanji has shed a lot of the baggage that came with being Mr.Prince after Whole Cake Island and Wano. Now he's enjoying himself in the background. This could also be setting up the central role Ussop is going to be taking in Elbaf. Ussop of course has employed trickery before but just in this particular case with it's callbacks to Enies Lobby, I would've assumed Sanji be the one pulling off this ruse. Anyways, that's all for today folks. If you've read this far, thank you so much for sticking through. I really appreciate it! See ya for the next one! (Gonna slink off now to watch 1071).

[mangarecap]

Dungeon Meshi / Delicious in Dungeon Ryoko Kui (Historia y Arte)

[sir-klauz]

Reading list for this month!

(Rb or like if you decide to read one of these titles after seeing this, I love knowing if I’ve inspired anyone to read things I have! It’s fun)

Pond Snail Robber

“The delightful and brutal life of living with a robber! Ji Ho ends up missing the deadline to apply for a dorm due to a slip of carelessness but luckily a sunbae from his major helps him get a room nearby. Unfortunately, not even half a day after moving in he gets attacked by a robber. After managing to get away, Ji Ho later comes back home to see the robber shedding tears over the novel he wrote in high school...But this robber, with the reason of wanting to continue reading his unfinished novel, asks to live with him in exchange for taking care of the house?! The sweet and fierce life of these two has started!”

(I wouldn’t say the description is totally great at describing what’s actually happening but it’s good at hiding spoilers of what the actual circumstances ended up being and it’s kinda a funny joke about the “robber” part once you read it. Also, it has the cutest unique font design ever, a snail!”)

Boyfriends.

“Want a boyfriend? How about 4?! Meet Prep, Jock, Goth and Nerd -four boys with a lot of love to share!

A comic about getting yourself a boyfriend... or multiple boyfriends! Four college students begin a polyamorous relationship and navigate the adventure that is their dating life!”

(I freaking love this, it’s really smooth and fun, and wholesome. As someone who’s poly you don’t get a lot of kind depictions of poly relationships, or there’s only threesome, foursome, or more being writing about for kinks or open relationships that aren’t poly or about polycules. The graphics are great on the eyes with lots of pastels, and each character has their fun personalities, not to mention actually including a trans guy within a gay relationship! It’s grand. 10/10 love Goth or wanna be Goth ahaa. Nerd is too adorable. Really recommend.)

Minmotion Syndrome

"The 600 million that was left to you, I’ll pay it off for you." Seo Taeyoon, who was dragged into the situation because of his father's debt, got angry and sneers at Park Jaein for being an omega after the latter made a sarcastic remark. Although Taeyoon detected Jaein's faint pheromone scent, he was able to identify him as an Omega. Jaein found Taeyoon interesting, as nobody else can really detect his smell, so he offered to pay off his debt in exchange for buying him...! Thus, Taeyoon now wears a leash designed for dogs. How would their dangerous relationship begin and end?”

(So this whole thing is so tongue in cheek so far, and absolutely not digestible for everyone, though I’m only at chapter 9. but the art, is phenomenal and I adore the styles for both characters. And well, it’s nice to see omegas which are characters designed to always submit and be mindless totally being the top dog. I like it when things don’t fit into boxes, it’s kinda like in any nsfw circumstances where someone typically assumed as having to be subservient, isn’t, because it’s not as cut and dry as that nor has to for, for instant when people are like big macho bois can’t “bottom”… if you catch my drift.~ Park Jaein is pretty mentally whomped aha, his “crazy eyes” are spooky hot. I’m so bad. Taeyoon is an omega hating alpha son of a poor drug addicted male omega SW (adult worker). It goes into their stories about why they’re the way they are, and I guess I’m hoping it works out and they don’t hate each other anymore.)

The Pizza Delivery Man and The Gold Palace

“Woowon has spent his entire life repaying debts with his mother as a result of his father's irrational business investments and gambling. When his mother falls unwell, she retreats to the countryside, where she struggles by herself. One day, Woowon is fired from his part-time job, and while searching for a new job, he is introduced to one as a delivery man at a pizza shop in a wealthy area by a friend. Not only was the food delicious, but the staff was also known for being attractive. Woowon, who had a dashing appearance, goes to an interview and immediately passes. Seo-an has spent his entire life being swayed by his father's greed, who would not tolerate even the smallest flaw. That was how he lived, chewing at himself with bursting panic and constant avoidance of people. One day, everything came to a halt and Seo-an locked himself up at home. Then, a person who had done him a tiny favor appeared. After a long time, he was no longer afraid of others. A young love story in which two people who are tired of life fall in love.”

Lover Boy (Jeky)

(I really adore the art here and that a moan character is an artist, it’s a trialing story for both of them!)

Ongoing reading list still reading from month prior:

-

What's with this strange dream?!

“Jungoh was just expecting to take on a part-time job as an assistant. What he didn’t expect was working inside people’s dreams with a cute, but grumpy shaman named Ibeom. And he certainly didn’t expect Ibeom to be cursed by a nightmare seedling!”

(Sorry I had to use this image, it’s hilarious.)

Night by the sea

“Kim Euihyun, who had given up everything due to reaching his limits, ran towards the sea with a child in his arms and was caught by an alpha, Yeo Taejoo. Euihyun, who is left with only debt by his father running away, was given money, a house, by Taejoo and even a job if he gives his body..."

Intoxicated

“Omega Shen Tingwei wakes up after a traffic accident and soon realizes something is very wrong. The people around him have no idea what an omega is, the local pharmacy doesn't carry his heat suppressants, and no one - including the doctor at the nearest hospital - seems to understand the reason he is feverish is because he's going into heat. Enter Lian Jue, a wealthy man with Emotional Deprivation Disorder who is struggling to balance running his company, appeasing his difficult family, and caring for his adopted son, Kangtong. When he encounters the heat-drunk Shen Tingwei staggering around the city and saves him from getting hit by yet another vehicle, the two men soon become entangled in each other's lives. Shen Tingwei is lost and helpless in a world not his own, and Lian Jue can't help but be drawn to the unusual stranger...”

“Shen lived in a place as a lawyer where there are three gender known: alpha, beta and omega however an incident caused him to be transported in a society where there are only two gender recognized: male and female.”

Is there a love at first sight in e-sport

“The Asian champion is free to take the girl to score points in the game. Finally, he brings a girl to Kaimai but finds that the other party is a boy. Mr. Champion left behind the online dating that ended before it started. When he went to train with the club, he accidentally had a little friction with another team. When the opponent's deputy captain showed up, Mr. Champion was instantly tempted to doubt life. When the opponent spoke, it was the "girl" he personally brought that day. Is there love at first sight in e-sports? Exists.”

[klejdobetonu]

[ellapastoral]

Just dropped a 1 hr deep dive on the problematic nature of manhwa. Check it out and tell me what you think.

[musiciati]

Spy x Family Mission 64 (Abridged Recap)

Another day at Eden done and Anya finds herself alone at the bus station, neither the pesky trio harassing her nor her drama enthusiast best friend to keep her company as she waits for the late bus. So what does she do? Zone out in Anya fashion, that is until the dapper, elegance himself, Headmaster Henderson passes by for a chat.

Seeing that Anya has nothing else to do until the bus comes, he entices Anya into helping him with some task, but Anya knows when she spots some good ol’after school labor and blatantly denies helping that is until he cajoles her with some promised tea cakes. The girl likes her food, can’t blame her.

Making their way through Eden, Henderson and Anya have a surrogate grandfather to granddaughter talk about school, with bonus Henderson shock/surprised pikachu face similar to Loid’s face when trying to understand Anya.

Heading towards Henderson’s office, they have to cross through the hall of fame that is the Imperial Scholars portraits. 

If you look closely you can see Donovan Desmond’s portrait there…maybe one of those is Demetrius? A scientist working on the Anya Project? Cameos by the VAs?

Finally done with the task as Henderson’s little helper, she demands her payment of tea cakes and runs out as soon as she gets them to avoid an involuntary schools lecture by Henderson.

Back at home Anya sees how much the toll of piled up work has exhausted poor Loid and surprisingly it was that the almost invincible Yor was also exhausted from a tough opponent at work and does her daughterly duties, by sacrificing Spy Wars screen time to study and appease her parents.

While the sacrifice is novel, the execution doesn’t hit its mark spot on and Loid almost faints like a fair maiden at the thought of Anyas unusual interest in studying means she got another bolt.

Poor Loid just trying to be the best father, Yor is doing her best to keep the family upright and Anya trying her best to become a scholar and Bond is our best boy. 

Anyway thanks for listening to my unorganized thoughts and see you next time!

-Musiciati

[leweebdepoche]

I HEAR THE SUNSPOT (Romance/Strand of Life) 2013 - 6 volumes

Fumino Yuki

Rating : 10/10

In the following of Koe no katachi but much less dramatic, Do you hear the song of the sun? is a beautiful manga that tells us the story of the life of a hearing-impaired student. Focusing above all on the difficulties of everyday life and the clichés surrounding disability, this manga is bathed in an infectious positivity that treats this difficult subject with a great deal of truth and simplicity.

One fine morning like any other, Kohei woke up with his hearing severely impaired without the cause being determined. Suddenly plunged into a world of great loneliness due to the lack of adaptation and understanding of the people around him, he isolates himself from this hostile outside world. It is not until Taichi's sudden arrival and his irresistible joviality that he regains a taste for a life he had decided to live without others. The sincerity of the young boy will allow him to rediscover the joys he had simply forgotten. Learning about all the difficulties his friend has to face, the attitude of others towards him, and the maladjustment of society to his handicap, Taichi will use all his patience and understanding to break through Kohei's shell. The feelings he develops for Kohei will help him to take up the beautiful challenge of fighting against prejudice to give the one he loves the happiness he deserves.

Touching and very heart-warming, the main strength of Entends-to le chant du Soleil? lies in its extremely realistic approach, without any frills or unnecessary drama, to the living conditions of a hearing-impaired person. Offering a broad vision of the different types of deafness and the situations specific to each case through its varied characters, this manga is a welcome breath of fresh air that reminds us of the importance of learning to accept the differences in others without stigmatizing them. A beautiful message through a story of youthful love that will move you with its bittersweet flavor!

"It's not your fault if you can't hear !" - Taichi

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1082)

Haven’t written anything in a while on here manga-wise but there’s no way I miss talking about such a banger One Piece chapter. To start off with we get an adorable cover of Chopper mistaking Zeus for cotton candy. It’s good to know our collective son is being fed. It takes a fandom to raise a human animal hybrid after all. Jokes aside, I’m going to be diving into spoilers for this chapter below the “Keep reading” so check it out if you’re curious. Also, ya’ll should probably hold onto your butts cause this one’s gonna go a lot of places.

R.I.P T-Bone. As a lover of weird and offbeat characters in One Piece, I am genuinely crushed by T-Bone’s death. If you don’t remember, as he was mainly a minor antagonist in Water Seven, here are some reminders. 

He is one of the most lionhearted and kind character’s of One Piece, looking after both his subordinates and innocents. To me, the most logical way for T-Bone to have been killed is to have seen the citizens' plight and laid down on his sword so that he could get the reward money for his family. That’s the kind of man T-Bone was. He transcended the Marines as an institution and stood up to the strawhats as he believed them to be villains on the way to enact evil. After having his car disconnected and facing Rocketman bearing down on him, he faced Zoro in a one move duel, losing but having Zoro acknowledge him in the process. In a certain way he was also used to foreshadow Ryuma in Thriller Bark as he was skeletal looking and a swordsman. But most of all, he was an unquestionably good person in a world where muddled alliances and the forces of the world can waylay and mislead someone from their dreams and ideals. In my heart you will be missed T-Bone.

Moving on, with a heavy heart, I do want to take a second to talk about old One Piece, specifically Water Seven. As I went back to get screenshots I couldn’t help but marvel at the art of Water Seven. While Oda’s art has probably gotten better, his paneling in those days was in my opinion, at the height of Shounen paneling, matching up with the original Dragon Ball in terms of fluidity of action but bringing such a heavy emotional weight to the characters and line work that it really felt like the peak of his art style. His art has gotten a lot more refined but I really missed the adventurous romantic feel of his pre-timeskip art. As a whole, as things get more dense and locked in, the lack of romanticism and sense of adventure is really felt at times. Despite that, it has been replaced, for the most part, with other equally amazing things. Though I can’t help but miss it at times. 

Talking about the actual chapter again, I’ve looked favourably on the Marines in the past, like Garp and Koby, but if I spend an extended period of time thinking about them, that pleasant taste turns to ash in my mouth. Because the Marines as an institution, are broken and corrupt, more intent on perpetuating themselves than they are with forward momentum and progress. As is the territory with institutions. It’s a portion of why policing doesn’t work in real life. Living in Japan, with their harsh views on crime, Oda would know better than most. Despite what this chapter seems to be about, this chapter is actually exploring what I believe to be one of the main themes of One Piece, the inevitability of institutions. There are probably punchier and more accurate ways of conveying this theme, such as systemic oppression and such, but this really resonates and covers the full gamut of ideas that I believe Oda covers. I will expand on this as we move along but I wanted to put it out there so it would be on the back of yalls mind.

I absolutely despise Sengoku. Like as a person. As characters I don’t think there’s any that I actively dislike because the way Oda characterizes just works on me. I need to make that distinction because I think my dislike for Sengoku is something Oda has purposefully generated within me and others. Talking earlier about Koby and Garp and Hibari and T-Bone and other marines, there is a very important distinction to be drawn in that regard as well. And some very important points to be made. Marines that are on the younger side, like Koby and Hibari and Tashigi, are people that have joined the Marines to do good without having yet become fully complicit in its evils. But they have done so because it is, despite its flaws, the best way they can make a difference and not be stopped. It’s the inevitability of the institution, where despite it’s evils it must provide some sort of benefit, and where those with dreams must filter through it and make it greater just to have a shot at their dreams. People like T-Bone and Smoker are clearly different from similarly old people like Garp and Sengoku and Aokiji in that while the former may be in the Marines, they do their best outside of its systems, being forces of good in spite of their association. The latter on the other hand, as a result of their complicity, whether or not they have good hearts, have become tools of the Marines oppression. Garp’s name is repeatedly used to strike fear into the hearts of pirates and as a symbol for common people to look up to, despite his best attempts at changing them from the inside. And the argument for changing the Marines from the inside itself is such a flawed argument as can be seen with Garp himself. Trying his whole life to change things ended up with him being ground into the dirt while watching his grandson be murdered by a coworker. Dragon must have realized this as well and so created an organization to oppose it. The revolutionary army are an institution itself but one built on the premise of opposition rather than self perpetuation. They are meant to end when the World Government and Marines do. Though I do believe Oda also doesn’t think that to be the answer as our hero is a Pirate. Arriving at the end of this paragraph I just realized I didn’t address the moment that made me go on this tangent. As pictured above, Sengoku hears of T-Bone’s death and rather than mourn the man who many looked up to, he worries what it will do to morale. He wonders how the institution of the Marine’s will keep going. If he was ever a good man, the ways of the marines have corrupted him to think this way. In a way Cross Guild, another institution, also occupies a similar area as the Revolutionary Army, but Oda makes it even clearer that it’s not the way as our first big introduction to it is through the death of such a great character. 

Now let’s move on to the meat of this chapter. Buggy and Cross Guild. As we see above, this really down on his luck man was the one who killed T-Bone. Though knowing how strong T-Bone was, being called the ship slasher and being acknowledged by Zoro, as well as how kind he was, it’s easy to believe he let himself be killed to save this man's family. But it’s also through this interaction that we get a repeat of the theme that I mentioned earlier, The Inevitability of Institutions, as well as a great bonus where we see the inherent romanticism of Buggy. Buggy and his lackeys, Mihawk and Crocodile, have propped up Cross Guild to be an institution for Pirates, a much more successful version and iteration of both the Utopia Crocodile wanted and the Pirate Kingdom Blackbeard wants. They have made themselves the doors one must walk through. But this need also sets up the way that Buggy will later reject this monolithic thinking. 

As we see here, these institutions make it so that now, even to live, you must subscribe to one of them. As much as Cross Guild claims to be pirates, they are an entity in and of themselves. Because the whole dream of piracy is the freedom of not having to cater to anyone else's whims or conform. Cross Guild aren’t pirates, they’re Cross Guild. Another thing I want to comment on is the In the Flesh chants. Obviously the dramatic irony makes it funny since most of it is just cloth, but it’s also such a great representation of the makeup of Cross Guild itself. By propping up Buggy as the leader of Cross Guild, he comes to represent something that is mostly not him, just like how his giant persona isn’t him. 

In the panel above incorporates One Piece’s trademark humour, and later levies it into an emotionally resonant and stirring declaration. I know most people are freaking out about Sabo returning but I can’t get over how much I love Buggy. And his crew pulling a similar stunt to Barto Club, and having him be the figurehead of the ship actually also highlights how close Buggy is to Luffy as well. Also I love Buggy’s crying face, it’s so pathetic. 

I know this panel is mainly played for laughs but I can’t help but feel sorry for Buggy. He really hasn’t done that much wrong to deserve this. And seeing the meeting room, it seems Mihawk, the edgelord that he is, really enjoys his torture. Remember, Mihawk’s full name is Dracule Mihawk, the first part being based on the famous Vampire who’s namesake in turn was known to impale and torture people. It’s really interesting how, other than the mentor and goth side of Mihawk, we also get to see his sadistic side here. But Buggy’s declaration that his life wasn’t supposed to be like this really calls my attention. While Mihawk and Crocodile argue about how to make sure Cross Guild and Crocodile’s Utopia can stay afloat and perpetuate its own system, Buggy dreams. 

Buggy is one of Luffy’s best foils in the story, their interactions being so explosive that they can’t help but reveal things about each other. Luffy has a lot of parallels in the story from Blackbeard being a cowardly mirror to him to Koby being a weaker version whose cowardice was driven by his lack of strength. Buggy doesn’t have courage or strength and his circumstances had forced him down quite a dark path by the time the two crossed paths. Buggy was someone, who, seeing the potential of his peers, was forced to give up on his dreams and take the route that life gave him. As he stated, he never wanted to be what he became, he genuinely believed in Shanks and probably would have followed him had he set out for the One Piece as Shanks was the reason he gave up on the dream in the first place. Buggy, in an elevated sense, also represents those swayed by the circumstances of their life into having their path chosen for them and filtering into an institution, this time in the form of Cross Guild but earlier in the form of Impel Down. Buggy is someone who was forced to give up on his dreams and Oda shows what dark paths that can lead to but he also loves Buggy a lot because he doesn’t let Buggy fully give up on his dreams. 

And there it is. With just those words, driven purely by dreams, Buggy injects such a heart-stirring sense of romanticism back into the series. Because here's the thing. We already know Luffy’s unwavering goal has been the One Piece. And he is the most romantic character in the series in terms of love for adventure and exploration. But it’s been a constant and now he has the strength and clout to do all of it without barriers. Buggy is chasing that dream while impeded by some of the strongest people in the verse. In the face of such strong adversaries, Buggy dares to blindly dream and it reminds me so much of Luffy at the beginning of the series, looking down a Sea King as it stood in his path. Crocodile and Mihawk are monstrous but Buggy actively defies them. I love One Piece ya’ll.

So is Buggy a bad guy? Or just a fool who couldn’t hold onto his dreams as the waves of reality slammed into him? Here, he rekindles those dreams by verbalizing the feelings that drove him and every other pirate out to sea. A dream of freedom and treasure. The dream that you could aim for something other than what life had laid out for you. 

This is by far, one of my favourite speeches in One Piece. It reminds me of Rogers speech and delivered by such a pathetic character, hits so much harder. By doing this, Buggy defies Crocodile and Mihawks desires for a self perpetuating kingdom as there is now an end goal and really stands for the ideals of the series itself, a blind dreaming hope, the desire to chase after impossible dreams, and the love of the journey itself. What matters to these people isn’t that they’ll get to the treasure, it’s that they tried to. And were free while doing so. 

Not me crying at Buggy D Clown. One Piece gets me so emotional sometimes. It’s so beautiful. But asides aside, let’s wrap up some other thoughts in this final Buggy panel before getting to Sabo and the Revos (good name for a band?). First of all before we get to what this symbolizes for the series itself, I want to say a few more things about Buggy. His situation of failing upwards has always been shown in a comedic light but I believe it shows the insidiousness of the world. Because while the lower rank people, like the man who killed T-Bone, have to get filtered through these organizations to live, so does someone like Buggy, who doesn’t have the strength to resist such a fate. If you don’t have the strength to resist these institutions, they will use you as tinder, as fuel. Luffy isn’t in an institution because he’s strong. Almost every other character in the series doesn’t have a choice against it. Wheen you think about it, Buggy’s story really is a tragedy. Somewhere along the way, through necessity of survival his values got twisted. He’s always been a dreamer through and through so I think that’s why it’s sent him on an upward trajectory. But it all began with Luffy, who not only set him on the right path, but also gave him hope when he broke him out of Impel Down. 

And now the other purpose of this panel. With Buggy declaring his hunt for the One Piece, all 4 Yonkous are now on the hunt. Do ya’ll realize what this means? What the structure of the next arc is going to be? So this part is going to be mixed with some speculation and some evidence, but I strongly believe the next arc is going to be a showdown at Elbaf for the last poneglyph with every major Yonkou involved, with the final arc possibly after getting the One Piece or at the location itself being a showdown between Luffy, the Revos and the Marines. Or it very well could be a final showdown with all the involved parties at Elbaf. That all depends on how fast Oda wants to end things. I believe one of two people could be the man with the burn scars. The obvious choice is Jaguar D Saul. And that would be the way to go if Oda wanted to end the series faster, as him having the writings of Ohara as well as the last poneglyph would also set the Revos and the Marines scrambling after him. The other could be Scopper Gaban, the third prominent crew member of the Roger Pirates. That would be the final Roger Pirate marking Luffy’s journey and a great source of info. The last possible bead we had on him, if it wasn’t Shiki the lion, was him drinking with Crocus. But effectively, having one person hold the last key to the One Piece makes it so that the four Yonkou’s are on a collision course with them. I would love to see a Mad Max style race where the Yonkou’s are forced to clash purely for the love of adventure and their dreams, instead of ideological differences setting them against each other. It would be a really romantic and fun way to cap off some character’s journey’s. 

Moving on once again, we see some new Revo’s and I particularly love Ushiano and Ahiru. While the other two are also very cool, I love Ushiano’s way of speaking and his character design, he reminds of Barney but if he was soft and lovable. And Ahiru’s character design is just so great. I don’t know if anyone remembers Nami’s early character sketches but she was supposed to have a bionic arm so I’m really glad to see that return in another character. 

And here we get to see them interact with Sabo and find out that Ahiru was going to blast him. Ugh, Oda’s just so great with characterization! In about three panels we find out that she has a stoic demeanor, is a shoot first type of character, and worries about and misses Sabo, letting her guard down and being quite cheery around people she just met. And Ushiano is just adorable. I want to hug him. 

Oh yeah, Sabo’s back by the way. So it appears that Sabo did indeed survive the bombing of Lulusia and he’s seen something. His interaction with Koala is adorable and mirrors Koby and Hobari to a tee. 

And here we get the theme of this chapter rearing it’s head back one last time. Another set of down on their luck, weak citizens forced to filter through an Institution. This time the Lulusians through the Revolutionary Army. Oda has, in every instance possible in this chapter, where we look out into the world, highlighted the absolute despair involved in the inevitability of institutions and the forced choices that come with such a world. And is it a coincidence that this only happened when we took a look out into the world, away from our beloved strawhats? No, as we saw even earlier, through Aokiji being forced into the Blackbeard Pirates and the 100 damned souls onto beehive, in a world of inevitable institutions and forced choices, such decisions are forced on the weak. It’s why our protagonist is Luffy, and why he desires freedom. It’s exactly what he fights against, and it’s reflected in his crew as well as he took them away from the lives they thought they would be forced to lead. 

And finally we arrive at the final panel of this chapter. The truth about Mary Geoise. And a promise of a reveal. Oda usually likes to cut away at moments like this to maintain the breakneck pace of weekly releases but I really hope we get to learn what happened. Because it could very well contextualize for us what the next part will look like and whether or not the final confrontation will include everyone. It’s also very sweet that Sabo thinks about now involving his subordinates as it might get them killed. This information could also line up with the potential release of information that could happen from Egghead coming up so it could be saved for that. I’m really excited to see what it brings. Another thing that this chapter, being so good, makes me think about is how I’ll feel about it later when I binge the series. Because it’s always a balancing act between week to week storytelling and making an engaging continuous story. Back in Dressrosa, the week to week was a bit of a slog but on a reread and binge it was frankly amazing. I wonder if the breakneck speed and absolute amazing experience week to week right now will affect it negatively as a whole later on. Well, the only thing we can do right now is wonder and wait for next week.

If ya'll got this far, thanks for reading. I'm super late on this one but I'm glad I took my time because I could let my thoughts develop. And once again, if anyone wants to talk One Piece or any other manga with me in-depth, don't be afraid to hop into my dm's. See ya'll next time.

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1085)

Holy hell, my heart was in my throat the entirety of that chapter. There was such a sinister atmosphere engulfing the first part of this chapter. It really felt like stumbling upon something we shouldn’t have and the fact that we were so close to learning the truth was exhilarating. I don’t want to get into spoilers so I’ll put my more in-depth discussion below the cut. For now check out Franky and the cute turtles! It feels like forever since Franky’s been on one of these cover stories. To be honest I can’t remember the last one with him or Brook. But Franky’s defeated a crab trying to eat the baby turtles and is shepherding them to the sea. I swear that years after it ends people are going to find connections between these Cover Pages and details we haven’t found out. I say that because these baby turtles having to fend for themselves reminds me of how Franky had to fend for himself after being abandoned by his parents. I’m a freak about One Piece so I could go on about how I love Franky’s emotionality and how this reminds me of Tom taking care of a young Cutty Flam but let’s get to what we really should be talking about below the cut!

To save some time and space let’s just say I was very generous with the use of expletives during this entire first part because it was that harrowing. Right away we start off with Imu referring to themselves in the third person while talking in an older style of speech. They talk about how the D clan were their ancient enemy. Coba also says how Imu was the name of one of the 20 Kings. If Imu isn’t Lili, which I still consider a slight possibility, then the fact that Imu cursed her mistakes gives way to a pretty clear narrative. Imu was the one that killed Lili for her mistakes. And if I’m trusting the clues through the dialogue and trusting that cultural differences and translation haven’t obscure anything, then Imu is a child who was given Ope Ope No Mi surgery and has been alive since the Void Century. Imu being alive since the Void Century comes from their formal olden day speech and being young comes from the fact that they refer to themselves in the third person and that it would be along the lines of Oda’s comedy and the parallels we’ve seen so far. Though it could be that Imu thinks of themselves so highly that they refer to themselves in the third person, I’m sticking to Imu being a kid cause it’s hilarious. And finally Imu being given the surgery also suggests one more part of the narrative. That combined with the fact that Imu doesn’t directly condemn Lili, instead wondering at her motives, makes me believe that Lili was the one that sacrificed herself to give Imu eternal life in a show of fealty. At least that’s how I see it playing out. And I can definitely be wrong as last chapter I was speculating that Lili was actually Imu. 

As we see after Imu asks Cobra the question, Cobra admits that he knew he was probably going to die, as he was only holding on to a small sense of hope that was not gonna be the case.  It also seems like Lili was a secret co-conspirator to the D clan as Imu uses this moment to confirm that she indeed was a D. Now getting to the D’s. This gives us a lot of vital clues. But I think the most hope-affirming one is this: It’s not an inherited Name. Bear with me here. What does that mean? I think that the D is a chosen name. And the evidence in this chapter towards it is that there was a seemingly cute but mostly irrelevant flashback to Ace giving Sabo a D in his name. Sure, it was to show that he connected the dots but I think it’s for a deeper purpose. And the other piece of evidence backs that up. And that is that Imu didn’t know that Lili had a D in her name! Despite seeming to be comrades in arms! And the fact that Blackbeard was called a false D. And the stated fact that the D refers to the enemies of the Celestial Dragons. Do you understand? The D isn’t a family name. It’s a name that you take on when you oppose the Celestial Dragons. It’s been there all along! I literally stumbled across this while writing but I believe this wholeheartedly.

And speaking of the D itself. I’ve always been of the mind that it’s been meaning Dawn. Cause think about this. Raftel was actually Laughtale. That clears up any illusion that the D must stand a Japanese word. And then the DON sound effect from the drums of Liberation. Just as how “Laugh” was obscured by being “Raf”, so too, at least in my opinion, is the “Dawn” obscured by “DON”. And obviously Romance Dawn being the title of the first volume and chapter is a huge clue. Alongside that is the idea of passing dreams down being similar to waiting for the dawn to rise. It fits the theme. And not only that. But the sun and moon imagery. The moon, being the lunarians and the kozuki and the minks and many others, who watch over the world and wait as the sun-coded warriors of D, such as the Sun God Nika in Luffy, bring about the dawn. I had previously thought the Dragons and the Gorosei and Imu represented the Moon and the people descended from there, but seeing the hellish and demonic imagery of this chapter makes me believe they represent the darkness and Hell itself. And seeing as we haven’t yet ventured back into a Impel Down like arc, I can see an arc in the future where it utilizes that. 

A few asides before we move on. First of all, the way the Gorosei literally looked like giant demons with their barbed tails, Oni and Akuma like silhouettes makes me think the naming of the Devil Fruits is a misdirect. The dragons have already manipulated history to obscure the true name of the Gomu Gomu No Mi so why couldn’t they do something similar for Devil Fruits? Maybe these powers come from the sacred treasure of Marejois. Some sort of parallel to the apples in the Garden of Eden? Another thing is that thinking of the Lunarians also brought up some ideas. While they are Moon-Coded, their name literally derives from Luna, they also wield the fire of the suns. I wonder if they were the mech pilots of the giant robots that were on Egghead as they required a lot of energy. Or if they were used as energy sources like some Omelas type thing. It would certainly fit with what I think happened to Kuma and his people.

Anyways, I know it seems like this giant figure in the back crawling down the throne in the panel above is Imu but it’s actually one of the Gorosei. As you can see there are two silhouettes on either side, and when the five are shown again, the giant figure become the second one from the left in the panel below. Also we can see the snail capture the photograph that we eventually see in the newspaper.

I wonder if they have something to do with the Giant Shadows at the end of Thriller Bark. Finally, let’s move on to the end. Wapol finds out the truth and saves Vivi, who was captured by CP0. It seems they were carrying out Imu’s orders, who was not only motivated by whatever they saw in the frozen chambers but also their personal goals. 

That brings us to the end. Please let me know what you think of my theory that the D is a taken name because right now, that’s the only thing on my mind. Another thing I want to mention is that it reinforces the idea of inherited will and dreams. And spits in the face of fate and dynasties. Because Luffy chose the will of the D by following Shanks, not because he was Dragons son or Garps Grandson, those two oppose the Dragons their own way. It would also make sense why the Gum Gum Fruit chose him. He chose to oppose the order of the world by being kind. I’m still reeling from this chapter so I’ll end it here but I might reblog in the future if I have anything to add.

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Mini Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1087)

My heads not in analysis mode much right now but a new One Piece chapter came out after the most recent Void Month so I wanted to talk a little about the focus of this weeks chapter. Catch it below the cut.

Garp. That's the focus of this week's chapter. And through it, we get so much more insight into the hero of the navy than is evident at first.

A lot of my assumptions and conclusions are based on what happens next. Because the situation looks hopeless at the end of the chapter and Garp isn't smiling even though he is a D and he might die soon. SO! What does that say?

First of all, there's an assumption that Garp expects some intervention. Now, I'm gonna come out and say that I expect Coby and the other marines, as well as everyone they have rescued, to make it out. I also expect Garp to die. I also don't think Garp's death will be front page news. I don't know how it's all going to go down but I think there's a chance Garp expects Kuzan to bail them out. I don't think Kuzan will blow his cover that early. So that leaves some deus ex machina to save the new generation. Who knows what that'll be? I'm not here to speculate. What I am here to do is to talk about what all this says about Garp.

Garp is in deep denial. That's basically what his character is. At the beginning of the chapter, Commodore Brannew states that being a hero is a strength that you have to earn. And Garp has earned that. But just like Kuzan, he has also let it slip away by denying the obvious truth. The Marines are a corrupt organization that he continues to be the poster boy of by staying with them. He sees the truth of it. He also sees the truth of the matter in that those he loves and trusts choose things other than the Marines, and therefore condemn it as well. Him having to watch the execution of his adopted granson, Ace, should've been the final nail in the coffin but we see how he deals with that and all of those painful choices and decisions. He ignores it and keeps punching away. Training his body instead of confronting what all of it means. At the end of the chapter, Garp states that Justice will Prevail with a grim look on his face. Not at all like the D's we have seen in the past, smiling as they face certain doom. To me, this feels like Garp losing the way of the D's, those who challenge power. This invoking of justice at this time also brings back to mind my favourite Marine, Fujitora, and how he represents that Justice is blind. Garp wants his justice to be blind too. Thinking that if he does enough good on the side of the law that he'll tilt things in a way that'll lead to change.

It's the perfect counter to every single Marine with a strict sense of justice. Arguably they all see themselves as necessary if not even the good guys. But Garp, with his immense strength, reputation and extremely long tenure is the perfect counterpoint to them. He shows why their efforts will not pan out. Right now the only reason he's even making a dent is because he is working outside of the system. And even then, as an agent of the government, it's just senseless chaos. It's a resetting of the status quo and not real progress. To me this seems to be heading towards a tragic end for an extremely tragic character. Garp is denial and ignorance. Garp is stubbornness. Garp is one of the best foils in the series. But most of all, Garp, who's had so many of his loved ones choose a path away from him, is a tragic figure.

Being a hero is a strength that you have to earn and that justice will prevail are also concepts that link back to Luffy in a positive light. And by having Garp basically be a foil to Luffy in this sense, Oda highlights how great our protagonist is as well. A lot of people disliked the idea of Luffy being a chosen one a la the gum gum fruit/nika/gear 5. But Oda really wants to hammer in the point with this chapter that being a hero is something you earn. And something Luffy has earned with his actions as well. I'm sure Garp's end will be epic and tragic and probably somewhat heroic, but that heart of a hero that Luffy has is something Garp lost a long time ago. And Luffy shows how Justice really is blind.

Blind in that it doesn't follow laws. There's a lot that can be said about how justice is subjective, with how each admiral seems to have their own version and how Luffy's is entrenched in kindness. And how there is no cosmic right or wrong and how the law is a threat to follow rules and not at all true justice.

Garp also reminds me of so many of the older people I know and some that I dearly love and some that I wished I could love. He's stuck in his ways and because of that it's not hard to project that loved one that refuses to change onto him. He's relatble in the the way that he's someone who wants the best for you but your definition and his don't quite match up. And you see the love there but there is also the overbearingness and the expectations. I love garp. I hate garp. I love garp. He's such a great character.

One last tangent in this wildly rambling post. Garp and Koby. Koby is naive and falls for the pirates trap. But Garp realizes that it's not a fault with Koby. Koby needs to keep that innocent heart he has. It's absolutely essential that he does. And just like how Whitebeard couldn't get mad at his idiot son Squard, Garp can't let Koby take the blame and become what he has. Someone blinded to other's because they've been too busy ignoring their own pain. So Garp has only one job. And that's to get Koby off the island as the same marine he was when he got captured. He doesn't want Koby to change like Dragon or Luffy or Ace or Kuzan. More and more this becomes like Marineford and Whitebeards death. The ship splashing down. The hidden stab wound. The absolute insistence in believing in your own son. You hope that these character's learn from the past. That they change. That they aren't doomed to repeat the past because the story needs them to. You hope that this time it's different. You hope.

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1083)

Okay so this week is probably the first normal chapter we’ve had in a while after Oda’s streak of absolute 11/10 chapters in the last few weeks. It was just a 10/10 chapter. Average really. Jokes aside though, if you’re a One Piece fan and reading this, can I just take a moment to gush about how amazing this series and its community are? Like, we’re all over the world. Most of us don’t even share a language or continent, much less the same country. We all got into it at different points in the past 25 years and at different points in our lives. And it’s affected us all so much. I can’t help but romanticize such a romantic series. It’s been a journey for us as much as it has been for the Straw Hats. And like with every journey, it’s going to come to an end too. It’s bittersweet but I can still remember the feeling I had reading certain chapters and moments. Where I was during Rocketman’s chase in Enies Lobby, what I was doing during Skypeia, how stormy and dark it was outside when I first saw Hogback, and how reading Ace’s death shocked me for the entire school day. And all of that’s coming to an end. I know a lot of people joke about Oda’s estimate that One Piece is going to end soon, but if you’ve paid attention, his insistence that it’s going to end in 2025 has always remained the same. I bring this up because in a recent announcement about the live-action show, Oda brought it up again. I think we all realised it when “He Laughed” happened, but One Piece is going to end soon. I just want to say I’m really glad I got to take part in this journey. And meet and talk with people in real life and over the internet about it. And also enjoy the creativity it’s inspired in the readers too. We’re really lucky to have such an awesome series and awesome community be a constant in our lives for the past while.

Okay rose coloured glasses Roy over, it’s time to shift over into analysis mode. I know it’s not for everyone but I love One Piece politicking so much! But before we get into that below the cut, I just want to talk about how adorable and sinister the cover page is. Doffy is helping out the baby chick but he’s so doing it to manipulate it later. Never change Doffy, stay despicable. Alright see ya down there!

Okay, so we get into some really intense political and tactical discussions right away. This chapter is almost laid out like the establishing chapter of a big battle, like we’ve seen in Alabasta and Dressrosa. Where we needed to know the locations and particular struggles of each battle. But it’s not going to be a battle. At least not in the fisticuffs sense. It’s more subtle. But that’s exactly why Oda is being so thorough in this chapter. Oda prefers to rely on the art to tell the story as much as he can so with the amount of dialogue in this chapter it’s almost like that one chapter of Hunter X Hunter. You know the one.

Right away, we get Sabo establishing the objectives they set out to accomplish and Dragon and Iva clarifying to what degree they were successful. It’s a really effective tool to deliver expository dialogue and reminds me a lot of the way Christopher Nolan delivers it in his movies. It’s necessary to do it in such a direct way to take the hit of setting things up as early and in short an amount of time as possible but it’s also punchy and dynamic as the deliverer of each set of expository dialogue gets to showcase what their priorities and personality are. 

So the objectives. Let’s start with the first. Destroying the celestial Dragon’s symbol. It’s really interesting how the Revo’s symbolic targets are the Celestial Dragons. To me this, and Sabo’s realistic morals later on, symbolize a muddled goal. Because, in the way One Piece deals with dreams and ideals, it doesn’t leave space for realism. Dreams are meant to be outlandish and unreal and way too far out of reach. They shouldn’t be realistic. But this chapter grounds it all. Makes us face the realism of it. And don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it, the crunchy technicality of it all. And I think this is an incredibly smart way to go about it. But if we’re looking at this through the ideals Oda has set up, I think he’s saying this is the wrong way to go about it. It reminds me of how way back in Sabaody, Rayleigh said that the Straw Hats might come to a different conclusion once they learn the true history. And how the twenty kingdoms destroyed the Ancient Kingdom and took over. I think there’s a parallel there and it’s about how systems of power will continue to oppress if only the cogs in it are replaced. Meaning, the Revo’s could end up just becoming the new oppressors. It’s a cycle of power and abuse perpetrated by the system. 

Destroying the symbol of the Dragons also parallels with how the Straw Hats destroyed the flag of the Marines. Their attack wasn’t planned ahead of time. It was the fastest way to show Robin that they didn’t care who came after them. What she meant to them. This is also what the Revo’s are trying to show the world but the thought and planning of it, belies to us the impurity of it all. This also ties into the third objective Sabo mentioned. Destroying their food reserves and how the Revo’s were placing the Holy land under siege. The Dragons are horrible people. That, no one can deny. And I love the righteous rage of the Revo’s, Iva and especially Sabo. But notice the joy Iva takes in having them go hungry. How dramatic it’s made to be. It’s role reversal. What the Revo’s are doing may be right, but they’re just taking on the role of the oppressors at this point. And I know it’s not as cut and dry as that. That’s war. That’s why I love how Oda has injected this into the story. There’s always been great evil and great good front and center in the story. But the middle ground? The grey area? That’s always been lurking but is equally important. Now that we’re reaching the endgame, Oda has finally decided to let it take center stage and I’m so glad he has. If anything I can see this dividing the community and I am here for it. Because I think that’s when Oda is going to show us how the Straw Hats handle this. And that’s to dream and reach for an impossible ideal. I’m so excited!

Before we get into discussing the final goal, I also want to point out how casually Dragon mentions that eight of the twelve nations' uprisings were successful. You know what that means right? Four of those nations are going to incur a heavy punishment. And Lulusia has already paid the price. Sabo also mentions how Cobra was an acceptable loss but we’ll get more into that later. But this is the collateral damage the Revo’s are willing to accept. We know Luffy would never accept that. And that’s another point of Oda’s genius. The One Piece world is so nuanced. Because I strongly believe that Luffy is going to abolish almost all, if not all systems of oppression. And Oda wants Luffy’s blind hope to set an example. But he also realizes that it would kinda set the wrong message if the oppressed were told to seek out a peaceful resolution, because the world doesn’t work like that. So I think he’s using the Revo’s to soften the blow of it all. Where they’ll weaken the systems of oppression and somewhat take it over, but leave it in a weak enough state that Luffy can dismantle it. That way Oda can have his cake and eat it too. Speculation but I strongly believe it. 

And now finally the second point. The freeing of the slaves and Kuma. We’ve barely gotten off of the first page and I've written two pages of this in my google docs. I’m sorry for the length yall hahaha. But this chapter is incredibly dense. This point, of freeing the slaves, is probably the most uncriticizable of their goals. It’s definitely the system of power I can see the Revo’s outright abolishing. It also plays into the squeeze they’re putting on the Celestial Dragons. Not only have they lost their food but also their labor force. We also know that Sabo helped to free the slaves by finding the keys to their collars and that Bonney is in the area too and that she’s trying to free Kuma so I wonder if Sabo and her helped each other out. But Bonney is also the reason I think we’re going to see this lead right back into Egghead as she’ll fill in the blanks. 

Next, we get the announcement of a new set of bad guys who are directly loyal to the Dragons. Oda really can’t help himself. I believe Oda when he says One Piece is going to end soon, but things like this are why I don’t blame people for thinking otherwise. Oda’s the type to create 99 alts in an mmo before finishing the story with any of them (this comment is gw2 coded). But on either side of this reveal we get discussions on the part the media plays in this revolution. When I first saw Dragon mention that the media censored everything, I was a bit confused as I didn’t understand how the nations knew to rebel. But then I remembered the posters of Sabo and read closer. The news censored the mentions of other nations rebelling, but are mostly letting the truth get out about what the Revo’s did. I’m really interested in Big News Morgan as a character. Because on one hand, this all feels very calculated and in favour of the Revo’s while placating the government, but also Morgans seems to be someone only wanting to tell the best story while ignoring the inconvenient facts.

This all leads to the Flames of Rebellion. See, the way the story is playing out, with Sabo being the poster child of the rebellion, seems to work in favour of the Marines, as it gives them one symbol to take down and end the rebellion. But in actuality, it makes an unkillable symbol. Because if they let him live, he goes on to do more heroic deeds and raise the profile of the Revo’s. But if they kill him, he becomes a martyr and a symbol for greater revolution. That’s why this feels like Morgans is hoodwinking the marines in the guise of helping them and secretly helping the Revo’s. Or this could just be him telling the best story he could find. Either way this chapter must have been important to him as it did contain a lot of “Big News!”

And now, to get into Sabo’s character. I love Sabo. But very specifically the adult version of him. As a set with Luffy and Ace, he wasn’t as dynamic as them. But as the Flame Emperor?!? He’s just perfect. He’s spurred on by a righteous rage stemming from years living with an unfocused anger. For the longest time, arguably his formative years, he grew up not knowing why he was so angry. He didn’t have any context to his anger but everytime he saw injustice in the world it felt like that anger grew. He was of two worlds so he can’t remain impartial or unrealistic. He has to pick one to avoid getting swamped by the other. And it’s a flame of anger he has to keep stoked by fighting and rebelling. He’s worried that if he doesn’t it’ll go out and then he’ll have no purpose. That’s why, while his humble nature doesn’t let him play too hard into the role of “Flame Emperor”, his self sacrificing side and righteous anger see it as only proper that he be the kindling to the flame of rebellion, just as Cobra was. It’s a guilt of being a cog in the machines of oppression. Cobra was a cog just like Sabo. Or so he believes. That’s why he’s okay with both of their deaths. Maybe the mera-mera-no-mi only picks users that see themselves as sacrifices, as kindling to greater causes. One thing we know for sure is that Luffy won’t let that happen this time. 

This picture absolutely sends me. If I saw this even I would be like, yo Sabo, this you? But I wonder? Sabo looked surprised at the picture. If Sabo never went near Cobra, could this be a reintroduction to Bon Clay? We always knew Bon was morally ambiguous, their greatest loyalty to only to their friends. So this could be a deal made with bon Clay to frame Sabo as a killer. Only for it to backfire, maybe due to Morgans meddling. Or this could just be an unlucky arrival by Sabo just in time for the picture. Though I wonder about that because it would be right in front of the Gorosei, who have been teased to be powerful, so they would’ve just cut Sabo down.

Anyways, moving on because this post is dragging and I am also running out of time irl, gotta go do something, we get into the actual flashback. We get the absolute chaos of scattered forces, a showcase of the despicable nature of the Dragons, and the reintroduction of one of my new favorite Revo’s now, Karasu. This only happened because of this chapter. (Karasuno Fly! Yeah I'm a Haikyuu fan too, what of it)(Okay weird tangent but by typing the Celestial Dragons as Dragons so many times, something in my brain unlocked and I just want to point out that Kaido being a dragon mirrors Luffy’s fight against the Celestial Dragons, with the big punch taking him out also mirroring Luffy punching the celestial dragon back in Sabaody, okay tangent over) Karasu is so dedicated to his crow aesthetic that he made a totally unrelated fruit work to enhance it and themed his attack style after it. Mad respect to him. But it also shows how fruit users define the fruit and not vice versa. Love the other captains too but Karasu has shot to near the top of my favourite Revo’s list. 

We also get Fujitora, a marine who despises the Dragons attempting to call down a meteor. Oda is able to inject humour into even the most serious situations. But compared to a lot of the fights over the series we see how tactical and precise the Revo’s are. What they’re doing is messy but they’ve planned it all out. They’re holding back the admirals while Sabo gets the keys. They’ve destroyed the food supplies and the symbol already, taking care of the instant tasks probably at the same time. It’s surgical. 

And now we get the main setup panel. It tells us what’s at stake and where everyone is. Sabo freeing Kuma will not only save Shirahoshi from the Celestial Dragon (forgive me, these shitstains are the only characters whose names I actively forget), but it will also accomplish Bonney’s goal. I’m eager to see how that plays out. 

I love Vivi so much. She often seems like the only one with a full awareness of events. She usually has a hyper awareness of events. We see her confronting Lucci, having her, who I see as a Straw Hat, meet one of their recurring foes she hasn’t had a chance to meet yet. I don’t remember if it was established earlier when we saw the reverie for the first time but the rest of CP0 was also seen in this chapter. 

And finally we come to Cobra. He leaves his guards behind and goes into see the Gorosei. Alone. You realize what this means. First of all. The assumption that Sabo is telling the truth is what we’re going ahead with. Which means. That the Gorosei outright murdered Cobra. That’s… huge. What could he have talked about that prompted such a reaction? With no break next week and such an extensive set-up chapter I feel like there’s a chance we find out real soon. CHOO CHOO, THIS HYPE TRAIN HAS NO BREAKS!!! LET’S GO ROCKETMAN!!!

[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.

[roydeezed]

One Piece-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 1079)

I’m sorry, Kid fans. That’s all I can say to y’all. I can’t even clown on you cause that was brutal. But before we get to that, let’s go through everything else. The cover story of Germa 66 ended last chapter with the creation of Neo-MADS and now Oda is doing requests. The analytical part of me is like trying to figure out what it could mean, but mostly I’m enjoying squat little Luffy living his best life. Though I do want that shirt. It looks luxurious. Alright, enough fun and bush beating cause right away Oda answers some really important questions, like how York planned it and how she had S-Snake attack her and free her, but tees up another question in its stead; What is York’s contingency plan? Because everything that’s happened since the shit hit the fan has been a part of it, and that means that the Straw Hats are most definitely involved as S-Snake spared them but killed Edison. The simplest answer would be that York plans to turn in the Straw Hat crew to become a celestial dragon but is she really that naive that she thinks that she even has a chance of being a dragon anymore? So it’s gotta be something else then, probably what gets deemed this the ‘Egghead Incident’, such as a mass release of information or something. I’ll go more in depth past the ‘Keep reading’ so click to read more!

I think something akin to Whitebeard saying the One Piece is Real or Firefly’s can’t stop the signal moment could cap off the ‘Egghead Incident’ with the world learning something that demands action. Though I can’t guess what it could be. It’s gotta be something we don’t know.  Anyways as we read on, we see the island and Sentomaru evacuating while something sails closer to Egghead… Another piece of the Incident. Blackbeard’s ship! With Shanks remarking later how he was surprised that Blackbeard didn’t show up at Wano it makes me wonder what’s about to go down here. Because I think it’s more likely Blackbeard divided his forces in between Egghead and the Island shown in Chapter 1063 where he was fighting with Law. So I don’t think Blackbeard is here, as it’s implied that he was fighting Law at the same time as the Straw Hats were exploring Egghead. And knowing Elbaf is Shanks’s territory he would have given that one up as he wouldn’t want to suffer the losses. So since Van Auger, Burgess, and Doc Q were with Blackbeard fighting Law, that leaves the rest of the crew, Shiryu, Pizarro, Lafitte, Catarina Devon, Sanjuan Wolf, Vasco Shot and Aokiji available to wreck shop on Egghead. Depending on the direction Oda wants to take this, Aokiji being or not being on the ship is going to signal how this arc will unfold. Although I think the Straw Hats are outright stronger than Blackbeard’s crew; Law was holding his own against five of them by himself, the Straw Hats are severely weakened from the battle with the Seraphims. If Aokiji is on the ship I think it has a chance to go really well for the Straw Hats, with Aokiji defecting and the Seraphims falling to their side as they fight off the government. But if Aokiji is not there, as the Blackbeard pirates need somebody to stay at their base, then I think it’s worst case scenario. One of the main players on the board that a lot of people seem to be overlooking is S-Snake. Because there is a very lose-lose condition with her. She’s already captured Franky and Ussop, and if her powers work just like Hancock’s then even if she’s taken down, no one can undo their stone form. Meaning that the good guys need to gain control of S-Snake or things will be going downhill fast. There’s a lot of things that could happen if Oda goes forwards with the worst case scenario. Some Straw Hats, especially the stone-turned Ussop and Franky, could be handed over to the World Government by York, the others could lose to Blackbeards crew and they could be driven back with their tail between their legs. I also think a showdown with the aforementioned available members is going to happen simply for the fact that Oda loves to show the parallels between Sanji and Zoro by switching their opponents up and I think he’ll have them take losses to Pizarro and Shiryu here. So yeah, a lot of unsubstantiated predictions off of one panel, but that’s just how it goes sometimes with One Piece. Moving on to the main course now.

Shanks versus Kid. It wasn’t really a match though, my boy swaggered onto the deck and then one-shotted Kid in the most brutal way possible. Okay that’s not fully fair, but we’ll work our way up to it. So first of all, the one thing I want to highlight is something Oda has been doing recently, especially with fights concerning Yonkou. Did you notice it? They’re on water! That’s right, after more than 20 years of a pirate manga, major battles are finally happening over water. I jest but Oda’s making a point to have both Law and Kid’s fights take place on water, showing how tilty the fights can get when one person has solid ground. Both of these fights were really fun so I hope we have more. 

Right away, we see some fantastically goofy characters stand up to Kid in Shanks’s defense, and we soon find out how these goofy characters got so far as Elbaf. And that’s because of Shanks. Most of them are self-admittedly weak, using Shanks’s flag to be able to pirate around. This makes me think that Shanks, like Luffy, protects people's dreams, but to an outrageously generous degree, where people who want to be free on the seven seas are allowed to be simply because they want to as Shanks protects them. We also see that they were all meeting up, and it seems like Shanks was serious about going after the One Piece as that must be why he mobilized them. This also makes me think that the One Piece is time sensitive or otherwise Shanks would have gotten it much earlier. Maybe that’s why Roger laughed, he could’ve missed it by a day or so.

This chapter characterizes Shanks a lot, so forgive me for spending so much time on him. We rarely get such a detailed look at him. It also shows us how much he cares about fairness as he made sure Kid had recuperated enough from Wano, not just the ass-kicking Shanks’s men had given him earlier. Another thing that’s highlighted in this chapter is how much of an opposite Kid is to Shanks. Right away he claims he won’t hold back and is ready to fry all of the ships, but also the fact is, he is alone. He only has one ship and no allies like Luffy or any of the other Yonko do. It shows the difference between the two, with Law and Kid arguably being strong enough to be Yonko’s but not having enough political power in the form of wide spread crews to hold on to the title. It also brings into focus how important the politics of the world are, as connections and maneuverings of that sort are more important than raw strength, as can be seen with someone like Buggy.

We also see how well the crew works together and how diligent Shanks is when he’s on. He seems easy going but he had his eye on Wano and is researching the fact that Kid’s from South Blue(wonder if that’s gonna play into the story somehow). And soon, we see why he’s easygoing. As Kid prepares an attack, Shanks gets a look far into the future of him destroying the ships. That’s why he’s so chill. His future sight is so advanced he can afford to be. And this also does Kid Justice without having him massacre nine ships worth of people, as we see Shanks get serious. With one attack he cuts through Kid’s rail gun and incapacitates his crew, getting Killer in the attack as well. It’s honestly heartbreaking to see the crew beg for Kid’s life as they hand over the poneglyph rubbings. And then Shanks jumps away and Dorry and Brogy annihilate the Kid Pirates. 

I think this is Oda signaling that things are getting serious. And also potentially hinting at what could happen to the Straw Hats. Especially if we learn a familiar fate has befallen the Heart Pirates. All three prevailing crews from Wano could be decimated, with the dregs joining each other. As Kid went down near Elbaf, it’s easy to imagine him and Killer joining Luffy when he gets to Elbaf, especially if Luffy is going there with a chunk of his crew missing. Also a side note before I end it, watching Shanks protect his fleet so viciously makes me wonder about Barto, as Barto was going around messing up Shanks’s territory. Stay safe my boy. Anyways, as always, that was a great chapter and I can’t wait for the next one.

I love how cold all these panels are, absolute devastation. I'm kinda scared of Shanks now.

[roydeezed]

Detective Conan-Case Round-Up(Chapter 781-786)

This was an interesting case as it ran quite long for a case that didn’t have much narrative impact. It did have a lot of twists though. And left quite a deep impression on me in a probably unintended way. In this case, we find out why Heiji originally came to Beika this time because he wanted to show Conan a mystery. By the just to put into perspective how much of a trek Heiji and Kazuha make, Beika is said to be a ward of Tokyo and the fastest method to get from Tokyo to Osaka is the Bullet Train, clocking in at 2 hours. By car it’s around 6. So Heiji really loves Conan to be coming by this much. The case turns out to be about the CEO of a graphic design company that gets murdered and leaves a disappearing dying message on the tiles of the bathroom he was renovating. To avoid spoilers, I’ll talk about it past the “Keep reading” and go more in-depth into it as well.

Okay, so that was a lot of twists. Breaking down the case it turns out it was the secretary who was the CEO’s daughter from his first marriage and angry at the son and wife for covering up his death. She got revenge by first killing the son using his gluttonous attitude and an optical illusion to make it seem like the piece of pastry that had the poison on it was bigger, and then blaming the death on the wife by using her sandals and making it look like she committed suicide through another optical illusion which caused her to forget how Kanji looked like and ac in a very specific manner because of that. I really  loved how thematically consistent it was and how it centered around the concept of optical illusion while also being about graphic design. This was a really strong case all around.

This case had a lot of moving parts, but the one it utilized most was previous knowledge as it helped to solve the murders, with both optical illusions being things people could have possibly known. Though I did know the trick with the baumkuchen, my mind totally blanked until they brought it up and the Kanji trick is understandable through sheer common sense as well. Speaking of Baumkuchen, after seeing it in Cipher Acadamey I’m now seeing it here and I wonder if I’ve ever had any. We used to get a lot of sweet type things from the local bakery but it’s german so I don’t know if our bakery would make it. Time to hit up my german friend I guess. Speaking of german, these previous knowledge parts always remind me of the RACHE moment in Study in Scarlet.

Anyways, on top of it all, we got a return of some of my favourite characters, Kansuke, Yui Uehara, and Komei. I always found their dynamic interesting and their character designs have them chewing up the scenery. They feel like they dropped right out of a 80’s hard boiled hong kong detective film. I don’t know why but they also always seem to have higher stakes, maybe it’s because their harsh designs cut such a sharp contrast to Aoyama’s worlds as opposed to his more agreeable silhouettes. Anyways, I’m not a good enough artist to speculate but they just do. Let’s leave it at that. 

Now let’s get to the character drama. We get Ran telling Kazuha about how Shinichi confessed and she worries that she might have pressured him into it. It’s really sweet how much she cares about him and how understanding she is. Though Conan confessed, if you can call it that(I guess it’s the best you’ll get out of a deduction freak), it was because he saw how much Ran actually cared about him. And I understand that he doesn’t tell her about his predicament because he worries for her safety, you can’t blame her for not figuring it out because frankly it’s an insane conclusion to come to and Shinichi’s also pulled off some impossible stunts to keep the illusion going that most people wouldn’t be able to bridge the assumptions between. Such as the very convenient antidote pill.

Anyways, Kazuha tries to get Ran to give Shinichi a reply by promising to confess her feelings to Heiji and she does but he runs off to Conan before she can finish. I really love Heiji and Shinichi’s relationship. He straight up acknowledges himself as Shinichi’s best friend and that’s where it strikes a really sad cord with me. Because both Shinichi and Heiji both didn’t have peers that they could relate to and talk to and get excited about stuff with until way later in life. They’ve lead pretty solitary lives but now Conan finally has a lot of peers from the Detective Boys to Heiji to Sera. But Heiji is still pretty alone.

[roydeezed]

Screaming about Dungeon Meshi's Themes...

So I just finished shotgunning the last few chapters I had left and I've got thoughts. Like always. There's always thoughts. And these thoughts are about the themes of Dungeon Meshi. Dungeon Meshi has always had what I thought were two distinct and separate themes, of understanding and the fleeting nature of things, especially food and enjoyment. Most concrete thoughts and theses that the series put forwards come from these two themes. But I couldn't see how they were connected until the end. Through the lions desire to understand humans ever evolving desires and the stagnation of his own, I came to see how these two connected into one cohesive thesis and as a result produced a third theme, evolution, or growth, whatever you wanna call it. Because what Dungeon Meshi says is this, "Attempting to Understand others is an important and constant process, one in which those we attempt to understand continue to evolve and as a result help us grow as well." At the risk of spoiling things I won't say more as these are mainly scattershot thoughts I needed to get down right away after finishing chapter 93, but if you want to see if this rings true just apply it over the events of the story, especially the last few chapters so far. The rest of my thoughts I'm gonna let marinate for a few days before going over the last batch of chapters. These were the thoughts of Kabru stan quite obviously, see ya'll next timeeee!!!

[roydeezed]

Chainsaw Man-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 124)

Asa needs to stop being so damn relatable. Forget Patrick Bateman and Travis Bickle, Asa is the poster child of “literally me” now. Okay, enough joking around. Because this week’s chapter was an emotionally resonant capstone to Asa’s journey. The reason it’s so relatable is because Fujimoto earned it. Had she just come out and said these words would we have understood her as much? Maybe. But it would’ve been a soundbite to a character. Now it’s a defining moment.

And that’s because at the base of it all is Asa and Yoru’s relationship with us and each other. It begins with the core concept of lying and dramatic irony and ends with acceptance. We as the audience knew Asa had been lying. About pushing everyone away and her loneliness. And Yoru knew it when she took over. And Asa even knows it. But she lies to herself and everyone around her and refuses to admit it. Even her internal monologue was lying at the beginning. The change began after she thought she was stood up. She started to talk to Yoru about her feelings, for the first time really letting someone in, but eventually landing on wallowing in sadness and self-pity. It wasn’t until she was faced with the mortifying ordeal of trusting someone that she finally accepted her fears and acknowledged them. That’s why it’s so impactful, because it’s real and earned and gets to the heart of the fear of letting others in.

But then we get to the other side of the coin. And that’s Yoru. She’s been lying as well. As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, she cares for the girl she’s taken over and the life she’s started to lead. But for now she can hide behind a facade of self-preservation that Asa never could. Asa’s hurt ran so deep that she would’ve rather died than trust another, even someone sharing her own body. But we’re beginning to see those barriers break down as the two accept each other. 

And that gets us to acceptance. That’s what a big part of Chainsaw Man is. Acceptance. That’s the only way you overcome your fears. Denji accepted the fear that Makima didn’t love him. That’s why he was able to win. And then in eating her, in a very Chainsaw Man type of way, he accepted her again. And in semi-adopting Nayuta, he accepted her again. Chainsaw Part 1, from Denji’s perspective, represents all of the outside factors that stand in the way of our acceptance. Asa’s story is about our internal struggles in regards to acceptance.

Now jumping to another moment in the chapter, a strong moment that also jumped out to this sleep deprived brain, I want to focus on what Asa does right away, to stop them from dying. She hurts herself to stop focusing on the pain. It’s immediately pointed out as the wrong strategy as it leads to mistrust between the two, but it is another facet of acceptance. Focusing on other things, focussing on the pain, compartmentalizing, those are all valid strategies to not feel the fear, but it only delays the inevitable.  It only prolongs the suffering until acceptance. It only hurts in other ways.

Once again, these Chainsaw Man chapters are centered around one central moment in the chapter while other things simmer and begin to boil in the background. While the chapter focused on Asa’s emotional revelation, we also get Yoru getting closer to Asa and doing her damndest to save her while the Falling Devil plot advances.