Just to get it out of my head. Cover page
Caribou basically acts like everyone expected him to. I really hope the granny will kick his ass, and not only because he deserves it. It would add badly needed flavor to the apparently "super dangerous" New World. No matter how amazing Punk Hazard is, it's still just an island inhabited by a handful of notorious criminals. I'm not surprised that a Warlord can slice up mountains. I'm not surprised that a gas logia can overwhelm you in an instant. And I'm certainly not surprised that a Vice Admiral knows his haki. What I'm looking for are the small things, the unexpected deathtraps. But whatever. Oda has another 400+ chapters to show us hell, and I'm sure he will deliver. Maybe even on the next cover page.
Chapter
The chapter itself starts with General Franky, just what I was hoping for! Baby 5 seems to reform like a logia, but I think it is obvious at this point that she is a Paramecia. She wouldn't be the first who is able to reform bodyparts (Buggy, Berygood) and the ability itself is way too freakish to be considered a force of nature (or whatever translation people came up with years ago). Anyway, somehow I'm a little sad that her opponent isn't Sanji. She reminds me a lot of him for some reason. Both are smokers, both literally "serve" their respective crew, both behave weird when confronted with the opposite gender. Just imagine a clash between them. Or better said, an anti-clash. Sanji wouldn't be able to hurt her because she is a woman, Baby 5 wouldn't be able to hurt him because he is a "man in need". Hilarious.
Speaking of her quirk, somehow it reminds me of a certain Futurama Episode. "Ah, Leela's experiencing the greatest joy a woman can feel: Worshipping some low-life jerk." Even if it's just another female stereotype abused by Oda, it starts to entertain me. At least her wacky flashbacks of "ugly men in need" make me giggle.
Sadly her daydream is interrupted by Franky trying to crush her beautiful ladyface. He is seemingly just toying with her, carelessly singing a song about the invincible iron pirate. This is one of the moments that will shine in the anime, that's for sure.
Still, I can't shake the feeling that Franky's apparent superiority will take a turn soon, unless he leaves the cockpit and gets serious. Baby 5 doesn't seem to be a threat, but Buffalo is suspiciously calm. And he is actually the one who was labeled as a "fighter". It wouldn't surprise me if Franky is sacrificed to hype him, just like Sanji/Vergo. Wait and see, I guess.
Switch to the lab. This likely needs a proper translation, but Dofla's lines to Vergo are really touching. Sure, in the end his subordinates are just tools in his eyes, but valuable tools nevertheless. After all the talk about "which kind of pirates Luffy hates the most", I wonder where this puts Doflamingo. Gray zone?
Anyway, the next pages are not worthy to really comment on. Standard stuff really. Usopp is scared from Law's warning, another reminder that Zoro isā¦I don't know...the shit, Luffy protects the children. Thank god the chapter didn't end with that...
...but with Caesar impaling Monet's heart! I never thought that all the heart-crushing and squeezing would have some effect on me, but it does. Really curious how the anime will handle this. I mean, imagine this animated :blink:. As for why Monet didn't turn her heart to snow? Well, Smoker didn't turn his to smoke, Kinemon wasn't able to coordinate his legs, same goes for the Yeti Cool brothers or Tashigi. So the answer seems simple: you can't control your bodyparts once they are cut off by Law. Only the head seems to function, even when split in half (since Vergo could smile & Kinemon could still talk once his mouth found it's place). Now to the highlight of the chapter, at least for me. Doflamingo has ambitions to becomeā¦the Pirate King? I'm not sure if I like it, but it shows that we really know nothing about his personality. I thought he wouldn't be the type of guy who values such titles, with him operating in the shadows and all that.
And now he is "Nyan-catting" his way to Punk Hazard. I forgot who said it, but thanks for the great laugh. I thought it was actually quite badass, now it's just ridiculous 
.
Now the obvious question: what does he hope to achieve there, alone? Because Team Counter Hazard is pretty much still intact. I would buy it if he defeats Law easily since his powers seem like the perfect counter to his DF (no movement, no room), the same goes for Luffy to a lesser extent, I guessā¦but what about the dozen other strong fighters? Even if Smoker, Zoro, Sanji & Franky are no match for him, they are sure powerful enough to interrupt his attacks (giving the heavy hitters a chance to act). Unless he is able to control them all, which would be overpowered on a whole new level.
So my bet is on a gigantic tease on Oda's part. It will be bitter, but there is no way that the arc ends with Doflamingo's defeat. The fact that all his crewmembers are still at Dress Rosa basically confirms it. Oda wouldn't waste them just like that, and I doubt he reintroduces them after their master is down.
All in all it was a good last chapter 2012, but it was no "The voice of the New World", which blew my mind last year.
