Anime | Manga Official One Piece Manga Discussion Thread

[The 13th Kenpachi 4,279]

Waiting for next thursday like

 

 

 

Anyhow, what does everyone think about the breaks that the manga takes? Are they a good thing or a bad thing?

[Felixx 6,646]

New Chapter is out!

 

 

 

Damn! I didn't see that coming Big Mom can control the weather, I wonder how that works.

 

But the biggest part... THEY FOUND SANJI!!! I thought that would take way longer And well, Sanji's reaction doesn't really surprise me. Since he's forced to stay with his family, he talks all this crap. Just like Robin when she left in Water 7. I wonder if the next scenes will be as emotional as the fight of Luffy and Usoppe 

 

Can't wait to see the next chapter!

[The 13th Kenpachi 4,279]

Sweet mother of Luffy that chapter was really good.

 

The pacing picked up a lot so it's not dragging on which is good! Sanji pulled a Robin and pretended to hate Luffy His acting was pretty bad though! But yeah that was emotional since he was one of the OG crew members. That kick to the face was priceless. Also, is Luffy wearing a new outfit? Cracker got pwned and we finally see the other commanders! That reminded me of how Rob Lucci got blasted through the wall after Luffy kicked his ass and all the marines were going crazy. Sanji's brothers saw Nami and got a bit loved up, but Sanji didn't .

 

Next chapter will be awesome!!!

New Chapter is out!

 

 

 

Damn! I didn't see that coming Big Mom can control the weather, I wonder how that works.

 

But the biggest part... THEY FOUND SANJI!!! I thought that would take way longer And well, Sanji's reaction doesn't really surprise me. Since he's forced to stay with his family, he talks all this crap. Just like Robin when she left in Water 7. I wonder if the next scenes will be as emotional as the fight of Luffy and Usoppe

 

Can't wait to see the next chapter!

Sweet mother of Luffy that chapter was really good.

 

The pacing picked up a lot so it's not dragging on which is good! Sanji pulled a Robin and pretended to hate Luffy His acting was pretty bad though! But yeah that was emotional since he was one of the OG crew members. That kick to the face was priceless. Also, is Luffy wearing a new outfit? Cracker got pwned and we finally see the other commanders! That reminded me of how Rob Lucci got blasted through the wall after Luffy kicked his ass and all the marines were going crazy. Sanji's brothers saw Nami and got a bit loved up, but Sanji didn't .

 

Next chapter will be awesome!!!

 

 

What the hell happened to Brook and Pedro? And where did Pekoms go, our boy got annihilated. Caesar's experiment thingies? JINBEI?????

 

I need to know

I hope we see Brook vs Tamago soon and Chopper needs to get out of that mirror immediately!!!!!

 

Anyway. I know this is slightly off topic but I don't care-this is OP related. This speech is perfection.

Edited October 22, 2016 by Barry Bacon Allen

[Felixx 6,646]

Last chapter was phenomenal!!!!!

 

Luffy didn't move an inch while Sanji kicked his ass so hard. What a captain, truly amazing. When Sanji cried that really gave me the feels. I wish he would have just said what's up, instead of keeping that charade. But at least Luffy was smart enough to notice Sanji lied. I mean even Nami believed what he said

 

Best part was the last sentence "WITHOUT YOU I CAN'T BECOME THR PIRATE KING!" So firetrucking epic!

[The 13th Kenpachi 4,279]

Last chapter was phenomenal!!!!!

 

Luffy didn't move an inch while Sanji kicked his ass so hard. What a captain, truly amazing. When Sanji cried that really gave me the feels. I wish he would have just said what's up, instead of keeping that charade. But at least Luffy was smart enough to notice Sanji lied. I mean even Nami believed what he said

 

Best part was the last sentence "WITHOUT YOU I CAN'T BECOME THR PIRATE KING!" So firetrucking epic!

^^^

 

Amazing chapter. I really liked that last line too, Nami came in with that slap (Sanji x Nami????). It was very reminiscent of Robin leaving the crew .

 

 

Now, WHERE IS JINBEI and where is Caesar?

[Felixx 6,646]

NEW CHAPTER!

 

Love that it picked up right after the end of the last chapter. So Luffy intends to keep his promise, even tho Big Mom sent her army to kill him. What a man! We even see him fighting against them, almost on his own if you don't count Nami.

 

Sanji finally met Big Mom (and damn she's huge ). The dinner (or lunch...) scene was really funny with all the speaking foods And he told Pudding he will marry her. Oh and break next week.

 

Now I wonder what'll happen next. Luffy said he won't move an inch until Sanji returns, and I'm sure he won't break that promise. So either Sanji will come back on his own, or Luffy gets captured by Big Mom's army.

 

Ah well, have to wait 2 weeks to find out

[The 13th Kenpachi 4,279]

NEW CHAPTER!

 

Love that it picked up right after the end of the last chapter. So Luffy intends to keep his promise, even tho Big Mom sent her army to kill him. What a man! We even see him fighting against them, almost on his own if you don't count Nami.

 

Sanji finally met Big Mom (and damn she's huge ). The dinner (or lunch...) scene was really funny with all the speaking foods And he told Pudding he will marry her. Oh and break next week.

 

Now I wonder what'll happen next. Luffy said he won't move an inch until Sanji returns, and I'm sure he won't break that promise. So either Sanji will come back on his own, or Luffy gets captured by Big Mom's army.

 

Ah well, have to wait 2 weeks to find out

 

 

"Every person has at least 100 people they want to kill!" This is my favourite quote from Big Mom, it sums up her character really well. An all around bloodthirsty pirate.  Pudding has malicious intentions, all of Big Mom's children are evil so why is Pudding any different? Through crying and behaving like she's upset, she's using Sanji's soft spot for women to make him marry her. Luffy is being his typical self and fighting against the Yonko commanders (he's going to get his ass kicked) alone. Where the hell are Jinbei, Brook, Pekoms, Chopper and Carrot? I hope at least Jinbei shows up next chapter to help Luffy fight the army and we still need to break Chopper and Carrot out of that magic mirror. I really want to know what happened with Caesar too since I love his character and I believe he'll be the next strawhat after Jinbei. We haven't seen normal Luffy use tankman yet! 

 

I think Oda is setting up for a wedding invasion, where the straw hats will bust through the church. Considering this is the wedding of a Yonko's daughter and the son of the head of Germa 66, it'll be broadcast through transponder snail so I'm guessing that's how the event will go public. 

Edited November 6, 2016 by Barry Bacon Allen

[Firaga 5,947]

Well, now that I'm caught up, I figure I have the ability to contribute here now. I'll still use spoiler tags, but just for the sake of cutting down length.

 

First, about the series in general:

 

 

I started following One Piece around the time that it first started airing on the new Toonami block. I'd heard, read, and even seen it before hand, but I never really got much of a understanding or connection to it other than it was a show about pirates and was talked about in the same vein as shows I was already familiar with like DragonBall and Naruto. So, first, I started watching the anime and power watched the episodes leading up to the episode that would be set as the premiere on Toonami, i..e episode 206, the beginning of the Long Ring Long Land Arc (which, btw, is an arc that, for the record, I'll rewatch over something like Skypeia or Thriller Bark any day... no, I'm not joking.) and from there, began taking in as much One Piece as I could: from the anime, to movies, to OVAs, and eventually, reading the manga. I started the manga two years ago, about a year I think after I started watching the anime. And two years and various highs, lows, and then highs again with putting time to catch up, I'm now in the current running pages and caught up with the newest bits of story.

 

In summary: ... this series sucks... okay, obviously I'm kidding, but still, this is definitely not everything I expected it to be when I was thinking about what it was like to know how the story is in current time and how I feel about the series overall looking at the bigger picture so to speak. It's not terrible but... I guess I had my expectations set too high. Then again, when you're constantly reminded how big the fanbase is, how popular it is in Japan, and how many fanboys use it as means to shit on other series that I like, including the two series I mentioned before... yeah, I don't think it's unfair to expect anything except than high quality work. So I guess you could say I'm a bit disappointed in the final result. To sum up my overall gripes with the series: there's too many subplots, the pacing is too touch-and-go to support it, there's not enough characterization in the main cast, way too many side characters, and at times when dealing with serious subject matter, the intention and the message wind up making the practice seem a tad hypocritical... but despite all that, I am perfectly comfortable in saying that I'm throughly invested in the world, the story, and the characters, and will continue to see what happens next.

 

 

Now, on Chapter 845:

 

 

Since this was basically a chapter on reinforcing what we already know about the arc (only really adding in the Big Mom crew attacking Luffy) like the wedding, Sanji's false betrayal, Luffy's strike, Chopper and Carrot evading Brûlee in the mirror, Brook and Pedro stealing the Poneglyph, and Pekoms unknown status (see what I meant about too many subplots?), I'll just say what I think about the Totta Land arc so far:

 

The biggest thing I'm taking away from this arc so far is, no surprise, Sanji: I've made it clear before (not in here, elsewhere) that Sanj was, and still is, my least favorite Straw Hat. He always came off as the least sympathetic, least developed, and worst, least committed to the crew. How he turned out after the timeskip only exacerbated that for me, especially the infamous nosebleed subplot in Fishman Island. But, still, starting in the Zou arc and leading into now, so far I'm starting to like him a lot more. I'm really glad that just in general more Straw Hats are being fleshed out because at best, I feel the only one that's really changing post-timeskip is Luffy.

 

Now that we know Sanji's backstory with the Vinsmokes and what he's doing now with handling the wedding with Pudding and the whole Vinsmoke/Big Mom situation, I really feel the emotion and distress, especially when dealing with this asshole family. Speaking of which, one thing I want Sanji to do express some character development is to drop his whole "don't kick girls" rule. Ever since Enies Lobby, for me, it's been a huge hindrance to his character, and I still can't believe that even when Nami herself called him out for it, she immediately took it back afterwards by complimenting him. I'm not saying that hitting women is the bees knees or anything, but as I mentioned, when dealing with serious issues like that, I feel the series says one thing and does another.

 

I'm sure other people have asked these questions before, but I'm going to post it anyway: What if Sanji's crew are being endangered by a woman? Better yet, what if he has to make a choice between standing still and adheering to his own personal code of honor and letting his crew mates die to a female opponent? More specific to this arc: what if Pudding and/or Reige are not as trusting as they appear to be and they attempt to seriously harm Sanji or his crew? If the series can go out of its way to emphasize that racism is bad and we should treat people equally, that should also apply to defending oneself and others. That includes appearances too. It won't mean much to mean if Sanji fights one of the many "gonks" that have been shown Big Mom or Chiffon. And I hate pulling this card but, I know this is a Japanese series and they still have a bit of a problem with gender equality, but I'm optimistic enough to believe that i can be pulled off, maybe not now, but at least sometime in the future.

 

Edited November 9, 2016 by Firaga Sensei

[Felixx 6,646]

Well, now that I'm caught up, I figure I have the ability to contribute here now. I'll still use spoiler tags, but just for the sake of cutting down length.

 

First, about the series in general:

 

 

I started following One Piece around the time that it first started airing on the new Toonami block. I'd heard, read, and even seen it before hand, but I never really got much of a understanding or connection to it other than it was a show about pirates and was talked about in the same vein as shows I was already familiar with like DragonBall and Naruto. So, first, I started watching the anime and power watched the episodes leading up to the episode that would be set as the premiere on Toonami, i..e episode 206, the beginning of the Long Ring Long Land Arc (which, btw, is an arc that, for the record, I'll rewatch over something like Skypeia or Thriller Bark any day... no, I'm not joking.) and from there, began taking in as much One Piece as I could: from the anime, to movies, to OVAs, and eventually, reading the manga. I started the manga two years ago, about a year I think after I started watching the anime. And two years and various highs, lows, and then highs again with putting time to catch up, I'm now in the current running pages and caught up with the newest bits of story.

 

In summary: ... this series sucks... okay, obviously I'm kidding, but still, this is definitely not everything I expected it to be when I was thinking about what it was like to know how the story is in current time and how I feel about the series overall looking at the bigger picture so to speak. It's not terrible but... I guess I had my expectations set too high. Then again, when you're constantly reminded how big the fanbase is, how popular it is in Japan, and how many fanboys use it as means to shit on other series that I like, including the two series I mentioned before... yeah, I don't think it's unfair to expect anything except than high quality work. So I guess you could say I'm a bit disappointed in the final result. To sum up my overall gripes with the series: there's too many subplots, the pacing is too touch-and-go to support it, there's not enough characterization in the main cast, way too many side characters, and at times when dealing with serious subject matter, the intention and the message wind up making the practice seem a tad hypocritical... but despite all that, I am perfectly comfortable in saying that I'm throughly invested in the world, the story, and the characters, and will continue to see what happens next.

 

 

Now, on Chapter 845:

 

 

Since this was basically a chapter on reinforcing what we already know about the arc (only really adding in the Big Mom crew attacking Luffy) like the wedding, Sanji's false betrayal, Luffy's strike, Chopper and Carrot evading Brûlee in the mirror, Brook and Pedro stealing the Poneglyph, and Pekoms unknown status (see what I meant about too many subplots?), I'll just say what I think about the Totta Land arc so far:

 

The biggest thing I'm taking away from this arc so far is, no surprise, Sanji: I've made it clear before (not in here, elsewhere) that Sanj was, and still is, my least favorite Straw Hat. He always came off as the least sympathetic, least developed, and worst, least committed to the crew. How he turned out after the timeskip only exacerbated that for me, especially the infamous nosebleed subplot in Fishman Island. But, still, starting in the Zou arc and leading into now, so far I'm starting to like him a lot more. I'm really glad that just in general more Straw Hats are being fleshed out because at best, I feel the only one that's really changing post-timeskip is Luffy.

 

Now that we know Sanji's backstory with the Vinsmokes and what he's doing now with handling the wedding with Pudding and the whole Vinsmoke/Big Mom situation, I really feel the emotion and distress, especially when dealing with this asshole family. Speaking of which, one thing I want Sanji to do express some character development is to drop his whole "don't kick girls" rule. Ever since Enies Lobby, for me, it's been a huge hindrance to his character, and I still can't believe that even when Nami herself called him out for it, she immediately took it back afterwards by complimenting him. I'm not saying that hitting women is the bees knees or anything, but as I mentioned, when dealing with serious issues like that, I feel the series says one thing and does another.

 

I'm sure other people have asked these questions before, but I'm going to post it anyway: What if Sanji's crew are being endangered by a woman? Better yet, what if he has to make a choice between standing still and adheering to his own personal code of honor and letting his crew mates die to a female opponent? More specific to this arc: what if Pudding and/or Reige are not as trusting as they appear to be and they attempt to seriously harm Sanji or his crew? If the series can go out of its way to emphasize that racism is bad and we should treat people equally, that should also apply to defending oneself and others. That includes appearances too. It won't mean much to mean if Sanji fights one of the many "gonks" that have been shown Big Mom or Chiffon. And I hate pulling this card but, I know this is a Japanese series and they still have a bit of a problem with gender equality, but I'm optimistic enough to believe that i can be pulled off, maybe not now, but at least sometime in the future.

 

 

Yeah good question. Until now he was lucky and there was no need to fight against a woman. (Except for Kalifa in Enies Lobby, and he almost died because of this.)

Honestly I can't say what Sanji will do in this situation. Maybe there will be such an event as you described, that his friends are in danger and to save them he has to fight a woman.

Or such a situation will never happen, and Sanji stays like he is.

 

 

 

[Firaga 5,947]

 

 

Yeah good question. Until now he was lucky and there was no need to fight against a woman. (Except for Kalifa in Enies Lobby, and he almost died because of this.)

Honestly I can't say what Sanji will do in this situation. Maybe there will be such an event as you described, that his friends are in danger and to save them he has to fight a woman.

Or such a situation will never happen, and Sanji stays like he is.

 

 

 

 

I really hope it's the former, but after re-thinking it a little, I kind of have some more doubts. I forgot to mention this before, but the arc's dilemma for Sanji isn't really giving him development in the sense that he's being portrayed as someone who is flawed and needs to change but rather that he's being put into a situation he can't control and it's hurting him and his crew in the process and we're supposed to feel sorry for him and appreciate just how committed he really is to his friends. Basically, it's what happened with Robin during Water 7/Enies Lobby.

 

However, funnily enough, in those same two arcs is when I started to dislike Sanji too. I thought he was decent beforehand, only being slightly miffed at him when he was being an asshat to the crew-members who didn't have a pair of tits (in particular, the moments where's he fed Nami/Robin good food and gave the guys garbage), but overall, I still liked him. But then Water 7/Enies Lobby happened, and Sanji both A) Exacerbated the problem I had with the Luffy-Ussop conflict (and pretty much Usopp's character arc in general, but that's another conversation altogether) by kicking Luffy and B) Did the whole "won't kick a girl" routine with Kalifa along with the Nami insult/compliment takeback.

 

Thriller Bark also played a big part in it due to his fight with Absalom throwing in what I thought was a pointless fact in him discovering/desiring Absalom's Devil Fruit so he can peep on girls. At that point, I felt Sanji not only regressed as a character and his "overly passionate ladies man" quirk went into "overly annoying pervert" mode, something that would only get worse after the time skip.

 

But like I said before, this arc seems to be going the route of ignoring any flaws that Sanji has altogether and is instead glorifying his positives. Even when Robin was being glorified in Water 7/Enies Lobby, it works because her flaws were still being acknowledged to a certain degree. Sure, nobody insulted her or gave her a "Reason You Suck" speech or anything, but the fact that she was shutting herself out from everyone and trying to make herself a martyr was still addressed and used against her. I'm not seeing that with Sanji. Yeah, he gave that false speech in front of his family but we as the audience know he's just lying to protect his crew. So, because of all this, I'm afraid that Sanji's development is not going to go the way I want it to and instead of pointing out his flaws, it's going to do the exact opposite.

 

Edited November 11, 2016 by Firaga Sensei

[Felixx 6,646]

Finally a new chapter!

 

 

 

You can say what you want, but the pacing One Piece has atm is top notch! So much happens in each chapter.

First off Luffy lost the battle. Didn't surprise me at all, since he was already exhausted. But I love how this all shows what weaklings Doflamingo's crew members were in comparison to Big Mom's

Also glad that Nami took part in the battle Well I wonder now how Big Mom reacts when she hears the story about Lola.

Not much to say about Sanji's part.

Then we finally saw Brook and Pedro again! I love how Brook says "this is our only chance, and Luffy needs the Poneglyph to become pirate king" instead of running away like Pedro suggested.

The little lecture about the Poneglyphs was nice too. Oh and Sweet Commander Smoothie What a nice entry.

 

 

 

[The 13th Kenpachi 4,279]

 

 

Luffy got absolutely destroyed by the sweet army just as I expected. Smoothie could be the strongest of Big Mom's crew and a good opponent for Luffy! I think Nami and Luffy may end up getting imprisoned next chapter. Anyhow, Pudding could have been telling the truth or she and Big Mom could have both been lying about letting the straw hats go. I'm glad we saw Brook and Pedro since they haven't been present in a while, and I'm glad they are getting some well deserved screen time! Hopefully Chopper and Carrot escape the mirror world next chapter, they've been there for ages.

 

 

[Firaga 5,947]

 

 

You can say what you want, but the pacing One Piece has atm is top notch! So much happens in each chapter.

 

 

 

Not when there's several plots at play and only one 20 page chapter per week plus breaks to cover it... then again, that's One Piece in a nutshell.

 

Okay, aside from that depressing comment: I liked this chapter. My favorite parts were seeing Luffy and Nami being beaten by the Big Mom Pirates (not because I enjoyed it but because we're finally seeing Luffy and co. really struggle against some big New World type enemies) and the debut of Smoothie Charlotte.

 

More on Smoothie: her entire introduction was really creepy and threatening. You have Tamago babbling on about the Poneglyphs while at the same time she's casually just straight up torturing a girl by squeezing her body like an old dish rag as juice drips out and her body shrivels up. This is one of the most brutal and dark Devil Fruit(?) powers I've ever seen from this series and I can tell that Smoothie is going to be a tough mini-boss sometime in the future.

 

On Big Mom and Sanji: She's totally lying to him. I mean, why would we suspect that she isn't at this point, right? The entire Big Mom family/crew (sans a few) have all shown to be psychotic pieces of shit. Honestly, I'm surprised that Sanji is even believing her in the first place and this is treated like she's totally capable of keeping her word in his eyes. This is going to to turn into one of those "Omg, they were lying the whole time" moments later on, isn't it? I hope not.

 

One last thing: Brook and Perdo. First off, kudos for giving both Pedro some much needed backstory that distinguishes him from being "Zoro light" for this arc and Brook being a confident equal to Pedro. Hopefully, this is a constant for him throughout the arc and possibly even brings in some expansion for his character because he desperately needs it. Second, are they really going to follow through on their plan next week or are we going to cut to someone else? Unless Chopper and Carrot are finally getting out the mirror and/or beating up Brûlée or Luffy and Nami are given more screen-time to fight Mont-d'Or, I don't see why we would. I guess that's until next time, though.

 

Edited November 17, 2016 by Firaga Sensei

[Felixx 6,646]

 

Not when there's several plots at play and only one 20 page chapter per week plus breaks to cover it... then again, that's One Piece in a nutshell.

 

Okay, aside from that depressing comment: I liked this chapter. My favorite parts were seeing Luffy and Nami being beaten by the Big Mom Pirates (not because I enjoyed it but because we're finally seeing Luffy and co. really struggle against some big New World type enemies) and the debut of Smoothie Charlotte.

 

More on Smoothie: her entire introduction was really creepy and threatening. You have Tamago babbling on about the Poneglyphs while at the same time she's casually just straight up torturing a girl by squeezing her body like an old dish rag as juice drips out and her body shrivels up. This is one of the most brutal and dark Devil Fruit(?) powers I've ever seen from this series and I can tell that Smoothie is going to be a tough mini-boss sometime in the future.

 

On Big Mom and Sanji: She's totally lying to him. I mean, why would we suspect that she isn't at this point, right? The entire Big Mom family/crew (sans a few) have all shown to be psychotic pieces of shit. Honestly, I'm surprised that Sanji is even believing her in the first place and this is treated like she's totally capable of keeping her word in his eyes. This is going to to turn into one of those "Omg, they were lying the whole time" moments later on, isn't it? I hope not.

 

One last thing: Brook and Perdo. First off, kudos for giving both Pedro some much needed backstory that distinguishes him from being "Zoro light" for this arc and Brook being a confident equal to Pedro. Hopefully, this is a constant for him throughout the arc and possibly even brings in some expansion for his character because he desperately needs it. Second, are they really going to follow through on their plan next week or are we going to cut to someone else? Unless Chopper and Carrot are finally getting out the mirror and/or beating up Brûlée or Luffy and Nami are given more screen-time to fight Mont-d'Or, I don't see why we would. I guess that's until next time, though.

 

 

 

At lot is going on, yeah. But the pacing is still good I think And at least we had not the annoying part where they need 10 chapters to get from point A to B like in the past.

 

Agreed. Would have made zero sense if Luffy could've beaten them all on his own. I mean Big Mom is a Yonko, and her crew should represent that.

 

Smoothie's introduction reminded me of that scene with Crocodile, where he used his devil fruit powers to dry out Mr. 3. Gives the manga/anime more seriousness, despite almost no one ever dying

 

 

[Firaga 5,947]

 

 

At lot is going on, yeah. But the pacing is still good I think And at least we had not the annoying part where they need 10 chapters to get from point A to B like in the past.

 

Agreed. Would have made zero sense if Luffy could've beaten them all on his own. I mean Big Mom is a Yonko, and her crew should represent that.

 

Smoothie's introduction reminded me of that scene with Crocodile, where he used his devil fruit powers to dry out Mr. 3. Gives the manga/anime more seriousness, despite almost no one ever dying

 

 

 

 

I mean, it's been, what, 40 or so chapters and we're not even doing the wedding yet. Oh well, at least there's not _that_ much still going on, unless we decided to cut to the Wano team doing something else.

 

I forgot about that moment. Crocodile is/was such an imposing force. Definetly one of my favorite villains of the series.

 

[Felixx 6,646]

New Chapter!

 

 

 

Well Nami and Luffy got captured. Surprised me a bit tbh, considering Luffy's promise

The chat between Luffy and Big Mom was amazing. She showed how cruel she really is, saying she wants to see her own daughter dead. I mean yeah we've seen her kill her son, but she was hungry then. Now we she was completely herself. The part with the books was creepy.

Luffy was full of himself again, even though I doubt he has a chance against Big Mom. She even mentioned that she could have killed him in an instant, without even being there.

The Treasure Box will probably play a big role later on, since a bomb is hidden in it I assume it will help them to escape when the tea party begins.

Summa summarum a really great chapter!

 

 

[The 13th Kenpachi 4,279]

New Chapter!

 

 

 

Well Nami and Luffy got captured. Surprised me a bit tbh, considering Luffy's promise

The chat between Luffy and Big Mom was amazing. She showed how cruel she really is, saying she wants to see her own daughter dead. I mean yeah we've seen her kill her son, but she was hungry then. Now we she was completely herself. The part with the books was creepy.

Luffy was full of himself again, even though I doubt he has a chance against Big Mom. She even mentioned that she could have killed him in an instant, without even being there.

The Treasure Box will probably play a big role later on, since a bomb is hidden in it I assume it will help them to escape when the tea party begins.

Summa summarum a really great chapter!

 

 

 

 

Brook is a certified badass. 

For a second I thought Lola was Gold Roger's kid

 

 

 

[Firaga 5,947]

 

Had a feeling I was missing something today.

 

*sees Rebecca on the cover page* THAT'S IT. THIS CHAPTER SUCKS... nah, I'm kidding. Now for my real thoughts:

 

Well, turns out I was semi-right last week, instead of following the Brook/Pedro plot, we cut to a different plot altogether in Chopper and Carrot trying still trying to escape the mirror and beat Brûlée... for a moment. Then we cut back to the Luffy/Nami plot. And then back to Brook/Pedro again.

 

Overall, I thought this chapter was okay. Mostly a mixture of continuing subplots, establishing character beats, and finally kickstarting a major battle conflict between the Straw Hats and Big Mom Pirates since Luffy vs. Cracker in Brook and Pedro launching their attack on Tamago and co. Nothing spectacular, but it still had a decent number of cool things in it.

 

Here's my biggest negative with the chapter though, and really, it's more of a problem with a certain component in the series overall. Let me explain:

 

See, I appreciated the stuff with Nami, Lola, and Big Mom, but I have to admit: out of everything that happened in Thriller Bark, one of my least favorite aspects was the Nami/Lola conflict because a) Nami didn't get a fight, b) Lola was antagonizing as a character for the most part, c) Nami didn't give a fight, d) It was partially detrimental to Nami's unfortunate "fanservice chick"/"damsel in distress" role in that arc, and finally e) Nami didn't get a fight. Seriously, how is it that I feel like every major male pirate has gotten a fight, or at least an obligatory "awesome panel of awesomeness" (most frequently shared by guys like Zoro), while all the women either get the shaft, stand still and look pretty, or get bogged down with stupid subplots like this?

 

Seriously, all I wanted to see when that stupid pig showed up was for Nami to pull out her Clima Tact and roast that freaking porker into bacon. Last arc, she got an excellent fight with Kalifa that showed off her smarts and it was easily one of the best fights she was ever apart of, but immediately after... she's sharing romance advice with an obsessed stalker, all while having an underlying "girl power" tone to it, and one that also seems to play a huge part in the significance of their relationship overall.

 

The point I'm trying to make is that the emotions behind Nami sticking up for Lola in this chapter rang a little hollow for me. To be fair, I don't hate Lola. I actually thought it was pretty great how in TB she showed a little depth to herself after the scene where she pretends to fight Nami to ward off Absalom. It was a little out-of-nowhere, but it provided a nice little subversion of expectations none-the-less. She was pretty okay in the later chapters of TB in her human body with her crew too. But even after all that... I still can't get behind the fact that she's a walking missed opportunity for Nami to have a fight, one that seemingly demeans Nami as a character, and possesses a character quirk that frankly, is the complete of opposite of funny. Again, not saying I totally hate it, but I just feel that if the Nami/Lola relationship was written a bit better, I'd feel more for it.

 

[Felixx 6,646]

 

Had a feeling I was missing something today.

 

*sees Rebecca on the cover page* THAT'S IT. THIS CHAPTER SUCKS... nah, I'm kidding. Now for my real thoughts:

 

Well, turns out I was semi-right last week, instead of following the Brook/Pedro plot, we cut to a different plot altogether in Chopper and Carrot trying still trying to escape the mirror and beat Brûlée... for a moment. Then we cut back to the Luffy/Nami plot. And then back to Brook/Pedro again.

 

Overall, I thought this chapter was okay. Mostly a mixture of continuing subplots, establishing character beats, and finally kickstarting a major battle conflict between the Straw Hats and Big Mom Pirates since Luffy vs. Cracker in Brook and Pedro launching their attack on Tamago and co. Nothing spectacular, but it still had a decent number of cool things in it.

 

Here's my biggest negative with the chapter though, and really, it's more of a problem with a certain component in the series overall. Let me explain:

 

See, I appreciated the stuff with Nami, Lola, and Big Mom, but I have to admit: out of everything that happened in Thriller Bark, one of my least favorite aspects was the Nami/Lola conflict because a) Nami didn't get a fight, b) Lola was antagonizing as a character for the most part, c) Nami didn't give a fight, d) It was partially detrimental to Nami's unfortunate "fanservice chick"/"damsel in distress" role in that arc, and finally e) Nami didn't get a fight. Seriously, how is it that I feel like every major male pirate has gotten a fight, or at least an obligatory "awesome panel of awesomeness" (most frequently shared by guys like Zoro), while all the women either get the shaft, stand still and look pretty, or get bogged down with stupid subplots like this?

 

Seriously, all I wanted to see when that stupid pig showed up was for Nami to pull out her Clima Tact and roast that freaking porker into bacon. Last arc, she got an excellent fight with Kalifa that showed off her smarts and it was easily one of the best fights she was ever apart of, but immediately after... she's sharing romance advice with an obsessed stalker, all while having an underlying "girl power" tone to it, and one that also seems to play a huge part in the significance of their relationship overall.

 

The point I'm trying to make is that the emotions behind Nami sticking up for Lola in this chapter rang a little hollow for me. To be fair, I don't hate Lola. I actually thought it was pretty great how in TB she showed a little depth to herself after the scene where she pretends to fight Nami to ward off Absalom. It was a little out-of-nowhere, but it provided a nice little subversion of expectations none-the-less. She was pretty okay in the later chapters of TB in her human body with her crew too. But even after all that... I still can't get behind the fact that she's a walking missed opportunity for Nami to have a fight, one that seemingly demeans Nami as a character, and possesses a character quirk that frankly, is the complete of opposite of funny. Again, not saying I totally hate it, but I just feel that if the Nami/Lola relationship was written a bit better, I'd feel more for it.

 

 

About the part with Nami. I kinda agree.

Nami definitely, DEFINITELY needs a good fight. The last one with Kalifa was ages ago, and it would be more than nice to see her go all-out again. But 99% of the fans think the same At least from what I've seen.

I think the part with Lola was good the way Oda handled it. The "main" villain in that scene was Absalom, not Lola. So when Nami became friends with her she had a reason to be mad at Absalom. (Yeah I know he kidnapped her and kinda tried to rape her... hmm... okay forget what I just said ). I guess we were just supossed to feel sorry for Lola, that's why their friendship was created. And also because of the Vivre Card later on.

 

 

[Firaga 5,947]

 

 

I guess we were just supposed to feel sorry for Lola, that's why their friendship was created. And also because of the Vivre Card later on.

 

 

 

 

I definetly feel sorry for Nami since she has to be dragged into this mostly mediocre character dynamic just to support the fact that Big Mom is a total pyscho-bitch, which was already reinforced heavily in other scenes. So there's that.

 

Edited November 25, 2016 by Firaga Sensei

[Felixx 6,646]

New chapter!

 

 

 

Not that much has happened.

Sanji is ready for his wedding and already in his "love-mode" again. I seriously hope he gets a good fight in this arc, or I will lose all hope for his character.

Brook managed to reach the treasure room, thanks to Pedro. I really enjoyed that Brook gets some screen time now. Hopefully he can show some more good moves in the coming chapters. And the part about his soul power seems to be quite useful.

Big Mom is stil full of joy. But I get the feeling that will change soon

And then Pudding. Considering that little flashback with Lola I assume she wants to run away, just like her sister. And she's probably prepared to die. So to say it short: Pudding wants to sacrifice herself to help Luffy and his friends. Well... sounds familiar Will probably be the trigger to unleash Luffy's full anger towards Big Mom.

 

Oh and that boy Anglais was awesome! "I ain't brushing my damn teeth tonight!". Shows that no one takes the intruders serious.

 

 

[Joker 1,560]

 

Zoro has 3 swords and Luffy got his hat from an old friend that lost his arm to a sea monster when Luffy was a kid and eat the devil fruit so Luffy couldn't swim oh and they fight a Clown guy who also had a devil fruit power.

 

[Firaga 5,947]

 

Well, Pudding's dead.

 

Yeah, I'm going with the "Pudding commits suicide" route instead of the obvious "break free from Big Mom like Lola" parallel. I mean, really, doesn't the whole crying thing signify that something a bit more serious will have to happen? Maybe that's just me.

 

I mean, Pudding's marriage with Sanji has a lot more on the line for Big Mom than Lola's departure ever did. Lola just went and left without any hang-ups for Big Mom to care about. Meanwhile with Pudding, her marriage gives her the Germa 66, which is a really big thing for Big Mom, as we've previously seen. So I think something as drastic as randomly offing herself to stop the wedding might be an option.

 

[Felixx 6,646]

 

Well, Pudding's dead.

 

Yeah, I'm going with the "Pudding commits suicide" route instead of the obvious "break free from Big Mom like Lola" parallel. I mean, really, doesn't the whole crying thing signify that something a bit more serious will have to happen? Maybe that's just me.

 

I mean, Pudding's marriage with Sanji has a lot more on the line for Big Mom than Lola's departure ever did. Lola just went and left without any hang-ups for Big Mom to care about. Meanwhile with Pudding, her marriage gives her the Germa 66, which is a really big thing for Big Mom, as we've previously seen. So I think something as drastic as randomly offing herself to stop the wedding might be an option.

 

Yeah, many fans made the same suggestion. But I'm not sure if the "suicide topic" will be used in One Piece. Because it's extremely serious. Wouldn't mind though, since it would be something new.

 

Oh and the second part isn't right I think. In the last chapter Big Mom said if Lola had married that person she would be Pirate King by now. So it must have been a powerful person.

 

[The 13th Kenpachi 4,279]

Was that a Bleach reference at the end with the soul King bit? I'll take what I can get. Thanks Oda