I think this was a great chapter, both for its content and all its potential implications into OnePiece-verse.
Fuji- Wait, what? He blinded himself? So did Sakazuki conscript a man who blinded himself
and expect him to be a stable follower? Or did the blinding come just in the past 2 years,
maybe in reaction to something he saw tenryubito doing during his duties as Admiral?
I have no idea what Oda is setting up here and am more interested in Fuji's backstory
than I have been in an admiral's before. I don't think this was part of the Zatoichi character,
was it? I can't recall any fictional examples of self-blinding besides Oedipus, who did bad things
and got upset. I don't think Oda will go that way in a shonen tho, if he ever gets a flashback…
And did Fuji actually get upset about a character calling out his attacks? Like we haven't
seen this in every single fight since Romance Dawn? What if Luffy had said muchi instead
of kick, he'd still be getting steamed?
Riku + Elizabello- of course they can't be in the alliance, but will still join Luffy's collection
of indebted heads of state, which Oda will make use of at some point in a pay-off that's been
building since Drum Island. Maybe at the Reverie, but I think closer to the war at the end.
I wonder if Eggman ever paid Blue Gilly and the others for their work in B Block?
Ideo - Are 4 people really enough for a club? You need more than 4 ppl to crew/sustain even
a small boat, so I think they might make good land-based shows of strength on the islands
under Luffy's flag. Particularly as a fighting club, if they protect FI then we might finally see
the Fishman Karate dojo in a cover story or random check-in.
Yonta Maria- holy hells, I wouldn't be the least bit angry if the first chapter after the break
is just Franky exploring the ship and describing it to us from a shipwright's POV. That is a huuuuge ship!
If that ship is on the sea next to the Sunny, nobody will believe the orders come from the Sunny;
it'll be a bunch of gags like how chars wonder why Zoro's not captain when he's so strong.
On the other hand, though, what's the point of Orlumbus' fodder underlings?
By definition they won't be useful against named opponents, and Luffy can already
haki blast enemy fodder. If they stick around, I think they'll just serve as logistics
support, transporting other allies or materials around or setting up escapes like
in this chapter.
Law- Okay, no leg for Kyros after all, though I guess that was already clear last chapter.
I like that Oda defied a lot of our expectations on that one, and its not like Kyros
was really slowed down by its loss.
I imagine Law had more awake time than Luffy the past couple days, do you think
he was consulted on the Alliance discussions?
Pull Luffy from the fight strategy- Dumb move alliance, Luffy fighting Fuji appeared to
be the only thing keeping Fuji from turning his floaters into sinkers. Did they really have
any plan like what was raised in the last chapter thread if the citizens hadn't shown up?
As Chopper has said before, Luffy has an intuition as to who he should fight. The Alliance
shouldn't get in the habit of blocking that instinct.
Tontatta- I'm happy they're coming along, hopefully on the Sunny for the reasons people
put forth in the thread. Their naivete will be an endless source of hilarity. Interesting that
Leo wants to pledge to Luffy and not directly to Usopp. Even last chapter, he was still
calling the Strawhats, "Usolanders." I look forward to Luffy asking how dwarves poop.
Too bad Manshelly won't be around to meet Brooke; I wonder if her magic healing could
put flesh and tissue back on his bones, only for him to cry over losing his skull-jokes :D
The Tontatta could also come in useful replenishing Usopp's Pop Greens with their
plant care skills (and occasionally planting a Tontattabasco ball in his food).
tl:dr- Fun fun fun chapter, I'm giddy with the possibilities. If we agree that Luffy
accepting the Alliance's fealty makes him a proto-yonkou, does that mean it's time
to rename them to 5 Emperors? Will chap 800 declare Luffy to be Gok(o)u? stay tuned
(I have little Japanese, is Gokou the right construction?)