@Aohige_AP:
Isn't it obvious? Luffy crashed Impel Down, stole Sengoku's hat, declared AL as his own, humped his wife Hancock in front of the paparazzi, declared a billion bounty, ate oreos and farting haki he just trained, all while wearing a pimping Pirate King coat.
This is the best analysis of this chapter thus far, lol.
@brennen.exe:
I know I'm late to the discussion, but this was the page I landed on when I came back online… so anyway, I wouldn't dismiss this point so quickly. Sanji's reaction, both in vocally and visually, would be completely out of character for "LUFFY MARRIED <insert any="" woman="" who="" is="" not="" luara="">". It's an extremely valid point. I know everyone already mentioned how stupid it would be for Ray's "plan" to give away Luffy's location and connections right after telling Nyon they were safe and that the Marines wouldn't make a move on a hunch. His plan would be a complete contradiction to him easing their worries and confirming their safety.
I don't want to drag this out, but the circumstances are different. Luffy will be stubborn when there is something he needs to do, like save his brother, but in this particular scenario we have Rayleigh telling him he needs to make sure the same situation doesn't happen again. This, combined with my other points, are what lead me to believe that whatever it is won't be too strenuous and won't take him too far from Amazon Lily.</insert>
Yeah, and you mentioned, I believe, that you like JD's theory about the (figurative?) writing on the wall–but writing on a wall, figuratively or otherwise, doesn't necessarily get you written about in the newspaper. It has to be something that has Luffy showing himself and being outrageous again, and that would get attention and could be dangerous, and thus doesn't sound like it's not too strenuous... Jus' sayin'
Do you think Rayleigh set up an incident with a reporter friend?
@Sammsy:
to all those saying Luffy's name means nothing yet, you do realize that his name will only mean something after he proves he is serious. Even if he is pirate king, roger or whitbeard strength his name still does not mean nothing.
(stuff snipped) So don't bring up Luffy has no name YET to declare something his, no shit. He will never have a name to declare it his until he proves things are his by DEFENDING them.
Sammsy I have to compliment you on your well thought out posts–especially in the spoiler thread! But this one I disagree with, for these reasons:
I think WB (and the other yonkou, if they have territories--I can't see Shanks with any though---seems like it'd be too much effort on his part...) earned their reps through deeds long before they started declaring territories to be under their protection. Trying to gain a rep by putting an island at risk so you can prove your stones seems a little like putting the cart before the horse--and really doesn't seem anything like what a man like WB would have thought was a good idea. He was all about protecting those he cared about--not putting them at risk.
Luffy has already started earning a rep with his deeds--that's part of why he has a bounty at all. I believe as he gets stronger and have adventures, he will continue to make that rep (and his bounty, lol) bigger. He doesn't need to declare a territory to do that, it doesn't seem like a terribly good idea if teh main reason is to pump up his rep., and in fact has specifically stated that he has no desire to "conquer" anything. That statement makes me feel he wouldn't really have much interest in declaring territory--that would involve a loss of freedom to go where and when he wanted in order to be around to protect said territory--and that is contrary to everything we've been told about Luffy throughout the entire Manga.
@$abZ:
If Magellan was beaten to an inch of his life (my guess is by Blackbeard, Shiryuu and co) then maybe it gave Bon Kurei the chance to fuck off outta Impel Down. But that depends on if he was beaten by Magellan. If I had to guess, I'd say that we'll get a flashback, and just as Bon Kurei was going to get attacked, Blackbeard and the rest of them burst in to attack Magellan because Shiryuu wanted revenge. Dunno how Bon Kurei would escape from Impel Down though… maybe he got a lift from Blackbeard lol… but most probably not.
I posted about this possibility earlier in the thread, and it isn't a bad theory. He could easily have escaped by disguising himself as some fodder marine and stowing away on a ship off of ID.
I thought of a reason earlier that made me feel it wasn't Bon-chan, though. But I'm tired and can't think of it at the moment. If I remember I'll try and post it later–However, there's also Iva-chan's saying everyone now knows where he is--that coupled with Brennen's statement above about the event needing to be close to AL makes me think it is really Luffy.
Also--He has no way, that we know of, of knowing where Luffy was prior to this newspaper article--and finally, why would he do it unless he knew where Luffy was and that he might need such a thing done? He really cares about Luffy, so he'd need a good reason, I think.
But of course if it were him--it'd be a massive troll by Oda for sure.
@iMustang:
Just watch, that letter will notify Buggy he's replaced Whitebeard as the 4th Emperor, what I've been saying would happen ever since Buggy said he wanted the title after Impel Down. If I'm wrong then they might be offering him the title of Warlord? Either way yields an awesome result~
But I thought Yonkou weren't "chosen" like Shichibukai, I thought they earned their status by their deeds and their power level–just like Roger and the title "Pirate King." (This is where I got that impression--Garp's wording about the Yonkou here: http://www.onemanga.com/One_Piece/432/07/) The fear about any change in the number was about the potential for a war between them and/or any increase in power for any of the four, which would increase their personal threat to the WG.