Man, this chapter had me rolling.
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Great cover page to end the cover story with. I know it's been beaten to death in this thread, but the 3 sake cups is a really nice touch. Most of us realize that Sabo is still alive, and there doesn't seem to be much point in convincing those who refuse to bend. It's like trying to kick water uphill.
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No surprise that Luffy would ask which emperor is the target. While it's not proof, Nami's reaction is exactly what I'd expect if Law said Big Mom as in "oh no, if it's her Luffy's going to accept", and more importantly the story is simply rolling in that direction. I'll be very surprised if it isn't Big Mom. I guess what I said last week was quoted, so I don't need to repeat it, but it pretty much still stands.
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But now we find out that the first step to challenging this emperor is to kidnap Ceasar, which is a bit of a shocker. Is this a move against Big Mom herself, or possibly against Joker? The goal of confusion can only be attained if the person on the other end cares about the situation. The possibility of Ceasar working for Big Mom is an interesting one, but I'm leaning towards a move against Joker himself, I think. Law came to the island looking for a very important key to challenging this emperor, and I have a hard time buying Ceasar himself as that key, especially on an island with so much research. I think it's something we don't know about yet, but to get by Ceasar, Joker, and Smoker, while dealing with all these kids, drawing their attention to each other by using Ceasar seems like a good strategy. I have a feeling the kids will eventually be left in Smoker's care, since the Marines are more equipped to get all of them home.
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The humor in this chapter is the best I've seen in OP in a long time. From the "Huh? You'll betray us?" "No" "Ok then", to Chopper's reaction to the damage after getting his body back and Luffy and Franky blaming each other, to Chopper being strapped to Law's head (best thing ever), to Chopper being used as a key chain. I like Law a lot more in his current role. He makes an excellent straight man to be subjected to the SH zaniness.
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The project of trying to turn humans into giants over hundreds of years is very intriguing. The panel seems to hint that Oars was a product of that research. I wonder just how largely this research affected the OP world as a whole, and how much of the world population changed as a result of it.
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Luffy confirms that Zoro and Sanji have Haki… again. I might as well bookmark that page for future debates. The confirmation that Law uses it is nice, at least.
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Smoker kicking ass in Tashigi's body is pretty hilarious to me. I guess Oda's showing us that he doesn't just rely on his fruit power. I have a feeling that his attempts to get his report out are going to fail, or be intercepted by Joker and made nil. Smoker needs some success for once.
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The slime monster is awesome. I wonder just how much control Ceasar has over the thing. He wants to send it after the Marines and keep it away from the kids, I assume. But that seems... difficult, especially if it's bigger than a mountain. I really hope that it doesn't come down to Luffy/Zoro/Sanji fighting against the thing, though. I'd prefer to see either Smoker/Tashigi or the other SH's deal with it. Ideally I'd like to see Franky/Robin/Nami/Usopp put a stop to it somehow.
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I'm really starting to wonder what the deal is with Zoro, Sanji, and Brook. We can assume they got knocked out by gas when they weren't paying attention (though it seemed like Brook might have reacted a bit). I'm guessing they won't actually get captured, but I can't discount the possibility at all so I want to know!