Chapter 428 "Let's Return" Discussion

[raj]

@Onigumo:

My thoughts? I think Merry just couldn't die without making sure that Usopp and Luffy got back together again. I don't think it will stay there long, just long enough to bring Luffy back to everyone. Then everyone will clear out a buster call ship and go home. (After Usopp shoots down the other ships.)
But hey, anything could happen.

I kind of thought that aswell, you know, it was crying when they fought, and apparently it loves those guys. But dammit, I hope that it makes way for the Battle Merry or something, since it's clear they're going back to W7, although part of me thought it'd be cool if they built their new ship from scraps of a defeated Buster Call fleet, but whatever.

[Luffy D. Ace]

Thanx very much, Ill dl it, but wont read cause….

I HAVEN`T READ 426-427 YET, BECAUSE OF MY SUCKY INTERNET,,,,,,
SOME BODY PLZ UPLOAD IT WITH MEGAUPLOAD & PM MII )'''''''''''''''''':

[boiga]

So merry got washed away on aqua laguna to end up at enies lobby.

If merry rode aqua laguna all the way enies lobby, like a surfer riding a wave, could that mean that A L is about to hit the Buster Call Fleet?

If so, merry, being a light caraval would continue still riding the waves. Those gigantic over weight tubs with no maneuverability would not be able to turn into the direction of the on coming wave, and would thus tip.

It'd be Deus Ex Machina to extremes of course… but atleast it's not Dragon.

Anyone got a better idea?

[kljs]

One thing that was weird is Sanji….what the hell did he disappear to?
Can't wait to see his "I am going to save the day" thingy again.......

I highly doubt that the Going Merry is going to outrun the buster call..........

[theinvisibleworm]

This is morbid as hell, no orange trees to liven up the ship or anything.

[sabret00the]

@Tank252ca:

Huh? :wassat: I can understand the second point, but Chopper was still lying immobile on the deck of the rescue ship (and Chimney is just plain funny/cute). Out of all of the crew members Sanji seems the logical choice to me. Any better suggestions for Chopper's rescue, or were you hoping for some grand scheme for Sanji to save everyone?

Don't get me wrong, i know someone had to do the saving of the ship-folk but i hoped that Sanji's disappearance was something clever, not something that had to be done. In all honesty i don't understand why Kokoro never saved everyone.

[FlapperPrower]

I wouldn't be surprised if Iceburg or one of the CP9 (not Lucci) is in the Going Merry.

[The_green_samurai_ranger]

@boiga:

So merry got washed away on aqua laguna to end up at enies lobby.

If merry rode aqua laguna all the way enies lobby, like a surfer riding a wave, could that mean that A L is about to hit the Buster Call Fleet?

If so, merry, being a light caraval would continue still riding the waves. Those gigantic over weight tubs with no maneuverability would not be able to turn into the direction of the on coming wave, and would thus tip.

It'd be Deus Ex Machina to extremes of course… but atleast it's not Dragon.

Anyone got a better idea?

That sounds like the best theory of whats going to happen next.

[Matrias]

Can someone PM me a text summary with what happens? I'm at work, so I can't download .rars, only zips.

[Aldrich]

@boiga:

So merry got washed away on aqua laguna to end up at enies lobby.

If merry rode aqua laguna all the way enies lobby, like a surfer riding a wave, could that mean that A L is about to hit the Buster Call Fleet?

If so, merry, being a light caraval would continue still riding the waves. Those gigantic over weight tubs with no maneuverability would not be able to turn into the direction of the on coming wave, and would thus tip.

It'd be Deus Ex Machina to extremes of course… but atleast it's not Dragon.

Anyone got a better idea?

Yeah that should do the trick. Other possible outcomes include:

-Sanji sabotaging the BC ships during his absence, though it'd be way too farfetched for my taste and would feel like an unimaginative rehash from Skypiea

-The Buster Call chasing them all the way to W7, without authorization to attack the city of water; they'd have to come back to the Headquarters. Or maybe they just don't have the authority to leave Enies Lobby's whereabouts, as they have been send to destroy this particular island and nothing else.

I like the last possibility.

[davybackfight]

Great chapter mayne.

[Cap'n Carter]

I thought this chapter was pretty good, but I'm still a bit reprehensive about the whole Merry thing. I'd still like to see where Oda is going with this before I start spitting fire.

[Kumadori]

Hmmm… I almost wanna think this Merry will have been made by Iceburg. But then again, theres not enough time to make a ship that quickly and sail it to Enis Lobby when it took the sea train as long as it did. Also, Iceburg never saw Merry. Kaku inspected it.

I'm at a loss on this one.

[kljs]

given the current situation, I don't think an explanation will be in the next chapter…... because everyone has dropped into the Going Merry, now the priority is to run like there is no tomorrow..... what about Franky Family and the gang? how are they going to get out of Enies Lobby?

[AnimeNewtype101]

Does anyone think that it was that little elf-spirit that fixed Going Merry back on Sky Island? I mean it is possible for it to have reconstructed it in the ocean, then have it emerge right at the best possible moment.

I have to admit though this was one of the biggest surprises ever cause we all thought that the ship died, very big "WTF" moment.

[boiga]

Oh, about franky:

I really loved franky's expression when he realizes the FF are safe. It gets my vote as the most ridiculous happy crying panel in manga history.

The fact that FF survived, to me, makes franky joining the strawhats much more understandable. After this, the FF aren't going to have any bounties. They were only ever mentioned by the Marines as "the pirates by the Main Gate." Franky, on the other hand, will most definitely get a sizeable bounty that will make his staying on W7 impossible. Since he cares about his family so much, he wouldn't let them become criminals for life and would have to leave them behind by joining the straw hats.

If the FF had died, franky would be so guilt ridden about his choice to save robin instead of going back and fighting for the FF that it would have gotten in the way of his finding his dream.

[Voodzik]

@AnimeNewtype101:

Does anyone think that it was that little elf-spirit that fixed Going Merry back on Sky Island? I mean it is possible for it to have reconstructed it in the ocean, then have it emerge right at the best possible moment.

I have to admit though this was one of the biggest surprises ever cause we all thought that the ship died, very big "WTF" moment.

Yeah, but even then it wasn't really able to repair the ship. Meaning Merry's still gonna sink…

[Fat Tony the Chopper]

Assuming Merry departed as soon as the first train carrying Robin and Usopp departed, that gives it a 1 hour headstart on the other Straw Hats. One hour is the time they needed to rescue Zoro and Luffy, and prepare the Rocketman for departure. I guesstimate that it takes close to 2 hours to travel by sea train from W7 to EL, not an unreasonable guess seeing as how it took only 30 minutes to travel from Marine HQ's to EL by ship. Then the entire battle on Eneas Lobby up to this point probably took around 1.5 to 2 hours, 30 min - 1 hour for the fight to the court, 30 min for the buster call to arrive, and 30 minutes for the BC to shell the whole of EL. That gives the Going Merry about 4.5 to 5 hours to travel to EL. Assuming the sea train is like most steam locomotives it's speed would be about 40-50 mph. If the Going Merry traveled at half this speed, say 20-30 mph, 4.5 hours gives it plenty of time to travel to EL. The GM could easily achieve a speed of 20-30 mph if it were to catch a strong wind, or ride on an ocean current of some sort. However, catching a strong wind in the direction opposite the direction the Aqua Laguna travels seems very unlikely. Riding an ocean current seems like the most likely scenario. Here's one possible explanation for how the GM could catch a current to EL.

A hurricane/typhoon is not entirely a turbulent mass of wind and waves. There are some calm areas as well, like the eye of the storm in a hurricane. Indeed Aqua Laguna, which means small lake, may take it's namesake from this surprisingly calm area hidden within this very violent storm. If this calm area, which has no waves and wind, were to stretch all the way to EL, then the EL waterfall could take over and create a current leading to the island within this calm area of the storm. This works on the same theory that the marines use currents created by waterfalls to travel through the calm-belt like sea. So if the GM were to somehow find a calm area of the Aqua Laguna it could conceivably ride on a current safely through the Aqua Laguna to Enies Lobby.

Another possible explanation for how GM traveled to EL would be reverse currents created from the huge waves (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Tsunami/story?id=369286&page=1). However, it does seem a little farfetched to have a reverse current bring the Going Merry hundred of miles out to sea conveniently to EL. Not to mention, the GM would still have to contend with the strong winds and the huge waves of the Aqua Laguna while riding on this reverse current. It's more likely that the Going Merry used a combination of reverse currents and hidden ocean currents to travel to EL. A reverse current would drive the Going Merry far enough out to sea towards where it would be able to find the calm area of the Aqua Laguna. Then it would ride the current within this calm area to EL.

Finally there's the waterfall to contend with. Well, I figure that the GM could simply use to the same route the Buster Call warships used to get around EL. They did blow holes through the fences surrounding the island didn't they? So that problem is solved.

[taboo]

I'm actually kinda suprised you guys didn't see the Merry thing coming. Oda wouldn't kill off a partial main character-thing so suddenly like he did.

[boiga]

For clarification, which direction was aqua laguna heading?

I was under the impression that they CAUGHT UP with it while heading towards EL from W7 on the rocketman. Which is coincidentally was around the same time that the Going Merry was seen in the anime heading in a parallel direction as the rocket man.

I might be wrong though as my memory of the train ride is rather sketchy.

Anyone remember?

[Voodzik]

@boiga:

For clarification, which direction was aqua laguna heading?

I was under the impression that they CAUGHT UP with it while heading towards EL from W7 on the rocketman. Which is coincidentally was around the same time that the Going Merry was seen in the anime heading in a parallel direction as the rocket man.

I might be wrong though as my memory of the train ride is rather sketchy.

Anyone remember?

No, Aqua Laguna goes TOWARDS water 7. Not towards enias lobby.

[Matrias]

Can someone give me a summary of what happened, please? I don't want to wait until I get home to know.

[Kuroneko]

Thanks Hyakamaru!

The scene where Usopp sees Merry coming and convinces everybody to jump to the sea was brilliant. The next chapter probably will explain why the ship came to rescue them, or not. I liked FlapperPower's theory: what about Kaku huh ? Maybe he decided to give the Straw Hats a hand.

And Paulie rocked.

[onemoment]

You know, the complants about people dying are annoying me, because people here seem to want death for any other reason then a change of pace. That doesn't seem like a very good reason to kill someone.

Now, if the FF died that way, what point would it serve? What, that the BC can kill people? We saw that at Ohara. It give Franky a reason to join the crew. Eh, there are many other reasons, let's just leave it at that. No, if the FF had died right there then…well, it would just be randomly killing off characters. A forced tragedy. That's not good storytelling either.

Take, Dragonball Z, and the fight vs. Nappa. There, death served a purpose. As each fighter gave their lives to defeat Nappa, it made him seem more unstopppable, and made the situation seem more and more hopeless. It also made Goku's appearance all the more like a miracle.

Meanwhile, if the FF died in Enies Lobby, it would just make Franky sad. And it's not even unrealistic for them to survive either ,since the giants took most of the damage (but, wow, Paulie sure has a lot of rope huh?)

Now, while people do cheat death in One Piece, that doesn't mean that a bunch of cheap deaths will make up for it. One Piece is rarely...no wait...is never a story about tragedy. It's about victory, and a death toll only subtracts from the victory. Although, it would help if Oda stopped injuring hte minor characters so badly...

As for those who want the Merry to die, don't worry. It's will most likely sink after saving the SHs, unless Franky figures out a way to build his dreamship out of the Merry.

And for those who think the Merry appearing here is BS...wait til the next chapter.

[Aldrich]

Notice the great coherence of the Buster Call commanders; 6 chapters ago they sacrificed 1000 of their men to make sure Lucci doesn't die, and now that he is knocked out they simply bomb the remaining living shit out of him. Great job.

[onemoment]

@Aldrich:

Notice the great coherence of the Buster Call commanders; 6 chapters ago they sacrificed 1000 of their men to make sure Lucci doesn't die, and now that he is knocked out they simply bomb the remaining living shit out of him. Great job.

No, actually they did that to kill Luffy, since they were sure that Lucci wasn't going to die from that.

[Virgilijus]

So, I guess Lucci is dead (or at least should have died from the explosions or the falling into the water). Hmmm, though I still imagine he'll come back at some point as most main villains do.

[Cap'n Carter]

@taboo:

I'm actually kinda suprised you guys didn't see the Merry thing coming. Oda wouldn't kill off a partial main character-thing so suddenly like he did.

It's not that I didn't see it coming (I definitely expected to see the ship again, or some other kind of closure with it) as much that I think it's kind of dumb. But hey, if it works out fine…

[onemoment]

@Virgilijus:

So, I guess Lucci is dead (or at least should have died from the explosions or the falling into the water). Hmmm, though I still imagine he'll come back at some point as most main villains do.

I never saw the cannonfire hit him.

[kljs]

I think the cannonfire took out the whole top part of the tower with Lucchi in it…... but don't worry, he isn't going to die that easily, because I got a feeling that Lucchi might still be around as a nemesis to Luffy...... or, you can say Lucchi is the Anti-Luffy to Luffy....

[ITSALION]

Wow. Finally read the chapter.
WHY THIS CHAPTER KICKS ASS:
-Kokoro-san Mermaid Kick! Yatta!
-Chimney is just so damn cute
-Franky Family and Galley-La look so damn cool hanging like that…
-Usopp is awesome in this chapter
-The Vice-Admirals WILL. FUCK. YOU. UP.
WHY THIS CHAPTER WASN'T THE BEST EVER:
Coming soon.

[oceanizer]

Lmao, mermaid kick!!

Oh man, MERRY T_T

[Aldrich]

@onemoment:

No, actually they did that to kill Luffy, since they were sure that Lucci wasn't going to die from that.

They "know"? He's unconscious therefore cannot use tekkai. I'd say even a guy like Lucci would have troubles taking 9 human-sized cannonballs in the face, plus there's still the risk he'd fall into the sea.

They're taking a lot of chances for supposedly the most valuable assassin of the WG.

[kljs]

can we take Kokoro's mermaid kick as strong? it take out a captain-level marine….... or it's just because it was a surprise attack?

[Tank252ca]

@sabret00the:

Don't get me wrong, i know someone had to do the saving of the ship-folk but i hoped that Sanji's disappearance was something clever, not something that had to be done. In all honesty i don't understand why Kokoro never saved everyone.

Good point. Having rescued the gang from the tunnel, she certainly proved that she has the ability and should have been able to carry Chimney, Gonbei and Chopper. I guess Oda has Sanji pegged as the ladies' man and rescuer, and wanted to lead up to the big reappearance of Going Merry.

I can understand the desire to see Sanji do something clever, but with all of the speculation in the last couple of spoiler threads, I can't recall anything that I would really consider clever in the Oda sense. Sanji cooking for Luffy or Sanji breaking up Buster Call ships is nothing out of the ordinary. Kaku-raffe and Califa soap sheep were things that nobody predicted. In Oda's defense, though, I don't recall anyone in the recent threads saying that Sanji was out to rescue those on the rescue ship, but it seems so obvious now, doesn't it.

[Sazelyt]

Before being thrown out to the sea by Kaku, Merry's side was damaged, but currently it is perfectly fine.

It seems that Merry traveled a long distance while repairing itself. I guess, if that is the case, maybe it has also repaired its bottom part. Nothing really seems impossible at this moment.

[kljs]

damn….. the will of the mugiwaras is in the ship...but I would really be disappointed that if they continue to use the Going Merry.....it's just doesn't make sense to do all the development...... and to just make the Going Merry "auto" repair it self, when the world's best shipwright couldn't even do it......

[Tank252ca]

@boiga:

So merry got washed away on aqua laguna to end up at enies lobby.

If merry rode aqua laguna all the way enies lobby, like a surfer riding a wave, could that mean that A L is about to hit the Buster Call Fleet?
<snip>Anyone got a better idea?</snip>

As I recall, the Rocketman drove into the Aqua Laguna on their way to Enes Lobby, so the wave was traveling from Enes Lobby to Water 7. For the Merry to ride a wave to Enes Lobby there would have to be some reverse tidal wave effect or something silly like that.

I think Aldrich is closer to the mark. It was Spandam who ordered the Buster Call and he is no-where in sight at the moment, leaving the BC operation leaderless. That's assuming Aokiji doesn't ring the VAs up on the dendenmushi.

[kljs]

I didnt' think Spandam is needed to supervise the whole thing, because so far, the Buster Call really did their job….... and they are still doing their job, just that they never banked on how tough the mugiwaras are... or something like that.....

[Tank252ca]

@Fat:

Another possible explanation for how GM traveled to EL would be reverse currents created from the huge waves (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Tsunami/story?id=369286&page=1).

"These very strong reverse currents don't last long, but they can take things out to sea very fast," said Ricardo Matano, an oceanographer at Oregon State University. "So whatever was taken out to sea may remain there. The question is, how long?"

Well blow me down. So there is some scientific fact that loosely explains how the Going Merry could travel opposite of the Aqua Laguna. Good enough for me.

[immelmann]

What a great chapter~~~! Franky sure like to bawl like a child! nuahh~!

I cleaned up the pages real quick and joined the spread. enjoy!

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7jj0jm

[Malintex_Terek]

@taboo:

I'm actually kinda suprised you guys didn't see the Merry thing coming. Oda wouldn't kill off a partial main character-thing so suddenly like he did.

He already said he would kill off a character way back in Skypiea. Unless Robin dies, this is probably Merry's last voyage.

[kljs]

I might be wrong, but did Oda originally planned One Piece to end in the first 5 years of it's serialization?

because from what I see, this Chapter should have been the ending…... it has that ending feel to it.......with some cliffhanger...

[Le Lawliet]

@Aldrich:

Notice the great coherence of the Buster Call commanders; 6 chapters ago they sacrificed 1000 of their men to make sure Lucci doesn't die, and now that he is knocked out they simply bomb the remaining living shit out of him. Great job.

Well, if he's knocked out, whatcha gonna do? Not bomb him and let Luffy get away? They'd bomb the hell outta Spandam too.

[SteveRessel]

Franky is a red herring…. the next member of the Strawhats who is the shipwright will be....

KRABAUTERRMAANNNNN!!!

He takes corporeal form and giggles, runs about, hammers things, and people. By jumping from merry into the body of Franky!!! Possession! Intrigue! Rain suits! (that's a dead phallic give away) Hammer! (another sexual inuendo by Oda) and boyish giggles while Usopp's pants are down.

The moment Krabauterma possesses Franky, the Merry splinters into a million pieces. And the next journey begins.

[ITSALION]

You know, I sure hope that:
-The Franky Family partner with Galley-La Co.
-Franky joins the Straw Hats
I would love to have a new crewman who is a cyborg, cries like a baby, fuels himself on cola, and plays the guitar. Woo~~!!
Although I was mildly disappointed Sanji was rescuing Kokoro and the others. It was important and cool, but he didn't fight any Marines… T_T

[UsoppKing]

@Aldrich:

They "know"? He's unconscious therefore cannot use tekkai. I'd say even a guy like Lucci would have troubles taking 9 human-sized cannonballs in the face, plus there's still the risk he'd fall into the sea.

They're taking a lot of chances for supposedly the most valuable assassin of the WG.

Well…he lost to a "lowly pirate"...so what good is he now, in the eyes of the World Government, if he can't kill a single unarmed pirate?

[ITSALION]

Yeah, Lucci's worm shit now. I love how the Scarface Vice-Admiral is all like, "Pfft. Whatever."

[Polygon]

@Aldrich:

They "know"? He's unconscious therefore cannot use tekkai. I'd say even a guy like Lucci would have troubles taking 9 human-sized cannonballs in the face, plus there's still the risk he'd fall into the sea.

They're taking a lot of chances for supposedly the most valuable assassin of the WG.

''

**In their eyes, Lucchi can't help, so it doesn't matter what happens to him. At least, that's how I see ir.

Good chapter. the Merry moment was kinda WTF?!? In both a good and bad way.**

[SanG]

We need a translation…
That one in the spoiler threads seems to have some mistakes =(