Chapter 948: Introducing Kawamatsu the Kappa
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So Viz uses Yagura Ryuo as well. Interesting because if most or possibly all of the Scabbards used Ryuo (CoA), then maybe Kinemon's foxfire style is an application of that. That could mean that Luffy and Sanji have been using what Zoro might be close to using. He was interested in Kinemon's sword style after all.
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I am very concerned that Oda might skip whatever happened at the capital after the prison break.
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I really hope there's some pay-off to the capital stuff. Otherwise the entire thing was a pointless distraction to remind us that the rest of the crew still exists.
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What would really peeve me off about skipping it is that, of the two storylines that we got in chapter 945–the fight in the capital and Big Mom showing up at Udon (and I guess maybe a third more minor plotline if you count the Kin'emon/Inuarashi/Ashura Doji stuff)--the capital fight is the storyline I was more interested in from the beginning, probably partially because it was taking Big Mom and co. so long to get to the prison that I had already lost a lot of interest in that.
When that was the plotline we jumped to the next chapter, I'm like "Well, sure, let's see what happens with this, looks like it could be cool"...but it's kept going and going. The end of last chapter in particular seemed like a perfectly good place to cut away from Udon prison and back to the capital, and that's actually what I was expecting to happen, lulz. I wouldn't have minded at all getting this chapter later down the line as a way to check in with or cut back to Luffy's group after getting some chapters on the capital first.
I dunno, maybe this'll make sense in hindsight if Oda is planning to show the stuff in the capital in full, and plans to end Act 2 with one of the members of the Straw Hats being captured by Fukurokuju and co. and/or revealing the traitor to the Alliance or something. But just offscreening that plotline would be extremely annoying.
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This is just Impel down and Dressrosa rolled up together.
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Kawamatsu looks like the guy in Croc's coverstory but it shouldn't be him because he was locked up in Wano all those years.
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Wano, so far, is mostly Zoro and Luffy driving the story. Kinemon and Momo have been smaller forces in this arc, but not diminutive at all. There are similarities with Dressrosa, but it is more like WCI arc. Dressrosa was Law and Luffy, while WCI arc was Sanji and Luffy driving the story. Difference is an ally and now with WCI and Wano, it's crewmates with their own narrative and motive. If Kinemon and Momo's actions were more prominent to moving this arc, i'll put 1 of them over Zoro. The Flower Capital is more important than the Udon escape because the immediate narrative is that Zoro is going against the plan and has a strong incentive outside of helping the captain or crew. It's not just Zoro running around for his sword. He's made a connection with the people. I just don't like how lazily Oda separated him from the group. He was on Komachiyo with them having a conversation.
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Yeah, while the group shot was cool, that seems to be the only real purpose for staying at the jail this chapter. Just to have a cool group shot to reveal Kawamatsu and Kiku's mask.
Hopefully at least with that done, next time we can get back to the capital. I don't think we really need to see more of the jail until it's already taken over. Let the anime expand on it.
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For the most part of Wano, Oda seems to be focusing on the things that I personally find way less interesting and important to the plot, like all this haki training against fodder which was not set up very convincingly, in my opinion. And then everything else is done in such a big rush that those events are hindered from being as impactful as they should…
That's very unfortunate, so I hope things will get better going on from here after the prison break.
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A little bit a slow chapter, mostly building up to the "pose as a team" shot at the end rather than taking any huge strides forward, but it was a lot of fun regardless. I was sure we'd cut away from the prison this week, but what the hell do I know?
The use of the other prisoners here is interesting. It emphasises the point Oda's made before about Luffy not necessarily being a hero. He's come into Wano and he's starting shit all for his own agenda, not caring at all about whether the locals want their lives to be catapulted from "kinda unpleasant" to "certain death fighting unfathomable odds." For better or worse, the people around Luffy tend to get dragged into what he's doing. Also I like that what is essentially just a mob of anonymous nobodies are given something of a collective personality/will to share rather than just being set dressing. The people of Dressrosa were also their own grouped character, but their characterisation was more frustrating than anything for most of that arc.
Kawamatsu is finally here, and I'm not disappointed one bit. Surprised, maybe, that he's an actual kappa rather than an aquatic mink species that could be mistaken for one (otter or platypus would have been great), but I'm interested to see how kappas fit into the series' racial lore. (And was it just me, or did the panel where he's preparing the fishbones in his mouth before the reveal make them look like whiskers, perhaps as one last tease for mink theories?) The gag where he unleashes 13 years of vomit on his captors was great as well.
And then we get to that great group shot and the big talking point of the chapter. Kiku. Christ, that's brought out some toxicity. Our spoiler threat here didn't look great, but the One Piece reddit (and its mods' response) are a hot garbage fire. Like, just awful. I was happy to see the number of the people in the comments here actually talking back against all the ignorant shit the trolls were spouting The majority of y'all are good types.
An interesting part of that debate, now that the official translation is out, is that the "yes" in Kiku's response to being asked if she was a man is something entirely added by the scanlators. In the raws and in the official translation she goes straight to "I'm a woman at heart," without any tacit acknowledgement of prying gender questions, which is extremely telling of how Oda intended for us to read her. Can't discuss that on Reddit though, because the mods want to treat it like a "lets hear both sides" kind of thing despite the objective right and wrong of the issue. At least this new info has her wiki page changed to neutral pronouns after being locked with male ones a couple days ago. It is infuriating to me that every inch of queer representation and every respectful concession has to be fought for. Frustrating beyond reason that the people controlling the discussion on such important fan resources as the wiki and the reddit are choosing to take a step back and act like the trolls and advocates are somehow equal, and refusing to take a hand in guiding fans who are less educated in LGBTect issues down the right path.
I've been trying to keep my contributions to the official release threads instead of the scan ones lately, so I've been holding that in over the weekend.
The most common stance I see on Oda's queer representation is that he doesn't do particularly well, but to be honest I think the man is due more credit than he gets. In the context of Japan's more conservative society and queer representation in the shonen genre, I think he comes out ahead of the pack. Thinking on other shonens I've read, the characters who would canonically fall under the queer umbrella (as understood from my very western perspective) are few and far between, and it's generally one, if you're really lucky two, per series. Counting something like a dozen named okama, Luffy's asexuality and now Kiku, not to mention ambiguous characters who crossdress but don't specifically follow the okama's genderfluid ideology, like Izo, Oda comes out far ahead in the numbers game. He does fall into some traps with depiction: a lot of the one-note minor okama fall into a gross "predatory gay" stereotype (and have names like Splash and Splatter, ugh) and characters like Sanji and Daz being upset by them is played off as funny instead of gross. It would be wrong to discuss queer representation in One Piece without at least acknowledging those issues. But compare and contrast something like One Punch Man, and its Puri Puri Prisoner. He falls into all the same traps, but its worse there because he's the only canonically queer character the series has. He's all ONE has to say about the queer community. One Piece gives us a number of queer characters, many of them bombastic and exaggerated, as is the style of the series, but they do show a few varying perspectives on what it means to be queer, especially with the introduction of Kiku as a more subdued take. These characters have roles beyond being a token character or a joke in the wider lore, and most of them are unambiguously heroic to boot. Aligning most of the okama with the Revolutionary Army in opposition to the fascist, authoritarian World Government strikes me as incredibly fitting, whether it was intended to read that way or not. There's also, and this is a subjective impression so your mileage may vary, the way Oda's queer characters don't scan as being any way malicious. The man clearly has a liking for Japan's drag scene and wants to work that into his art. I don't feel like I'm being invited to laugh at these characters just for being queer. They're funny, certainly, but they're funny because they're all such large, colourful personalities, same as basically everyone else in the cast. Characters like the aforementioned Puri Puri Prisoner, I certainly don't get the same vibe from. We laugh at him in what feels like a meaner way.
In conclusion, Oda's handling of queer characters is far from perfect, but he's included more of them than basically anyone else writing for his demographic and despite the issues his writing has, it scans as sincere and non-malicious, and I think credit needs to be given for that, as well as acknowledging the flaws.
(other good shonen queer representation that comes immediately to mind include Hero Academia's Magne and Tiger, D.Gray Man's Kanda and Soul Eater's Crona, for anyone curious)
I got a little ranty in a couple of spots there, but these things felt important to air. Thanks to anyone who made it through the whole thing.
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Don't know if it's intentional or not, but luffy's words that he will not let any practice dummies in prison go to waste describes most of act 2/udon plot so well.
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Hopefully at least with that done, next time we can get back to the capital. I don't think we really need to see more of the jail until it's already taken over. Let the anime expand on it.
I think its almost guaranteed that the next one or two chapters will stay at the prison, and we will have some '''epic''' fight against the wardens and the other fodder to show off Luffys improved haki stuff.
Its unfortunate, especially with the break right now, but this is probably where the focus will stay.
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Kawamatsu has a cool design.
Decent chapter overall. I hope with Kikunojo being revealed as transgender, it doesn't become a joke like Oda likes to do with transgender characters.
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I think its almost guaranteed that the next one or two chapters will stay at the prison, and we will have some '''epic''' fight against the wardens and the other fodder to show off Luffys improved haki stuff.
Its unfortunate, especially with the break right now, but this is probably where the focus will stay.
I'm leaning towards believing Luffy won't make much progress in the haki training on the Beast Pirates here. Right now I think they'll take over the prison, and then without much else to do right now, Kidd will come up and suggest fighting/training together to mutually try to learn this level of haki. I'll probably be wrong though.
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I think we'll at least see them take out the wardens on panel so Kiku and Kawamatsu can show off a little.
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Something I've always wondered about is with the first page of a cover story, they just say "cover story #x" and the cover story's name isn't mentioned until the second page.
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I have to admit, I am starting to find Daifugo's incredible arrogance funny. He really thinks he could beat Luffy, who at this point, could literally knock him out with a nose flick, but that won't stop him from trying!
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I've seen different kind of SMILE user abilities like fireballs and transforming parts of the body. Maybe Old Maid, Daifugo and other Headliners can do more more like Sheepshead. That can be a reason for why Queen is confident in them. I still don't think it's enough to leave just because BM
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Queen's confidence is probably more in the plague weapons, and assuming there are too many prisoners, Waiters, and Pleasures for Luffy and Hyo to handle as well. I doubt he would have been as confident in them if he knew about Raizo and Caribou sneaking around trying to free other prisoners, or the rest of BM's group arriving there.
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Now Kawamatsu, and back then the reoccuring Frog person in multiple background shots in Totland, and of course Big News Morgans make me think of as of yet unnamed tribes of Amphibian people and bird people akin to merfolk and minks.
I hope we are for now done with Luffy, and he just trains his haki in the background while adding prisoners to the revolution. Because I want to see Big Mom meeting Kaido, Law fighting Hawkins, and whatever literally everyone else is up to.
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No way we're done just yet with that Kiku cliffhanger. Maybe the chapter will also take the time to show what else is going on.
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Do we get a chapter this week?thank you
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We don't. Normal Oda break.
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Kiku being biologically male was a cool plot twist. I liked it. Our first truly transgender character. Instead of just a joke like the okama. Kawatasu being a kappa was alright. Overall, this chapter was okay but I hope the next one will be something much more exciting because I feel like the prison-based chapters are getting a little old. I would rather focus on Zoro's fight
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I've seen different kind of SMILE user abilities like fireballs and transforming parts of the body. Maybe Old Maid, Daifugo and other Headliners can do more more like Sheepshead. That can be a reason for why Queen is confident in them. I still don't think it's enough to leave just because BM
Holy crap, you just gave me a thought: What if the fact that they can warp their weird new bodies into different shapes also makes them able to merge together (like One Piece's version of the Fusion Dance) and make Chimera-style SMILE beasts? That would be a way to boost their power to an appropriate level and also demonstrate the real horror of SMILEs since the 'side effect' is pretty lame considering the benefit of it.
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Judging by the number of posts in this thread, this chapter was below regular, huh?
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We waited long before Kawamatsu was finally revealed and it turned out..meh.
O-Kiku being Izo 2.0 was..meh.
Chopper not being recognized was at least honest.
Overall one weaker chapter without much progression, just smaller already imminent details. -
@Don:
We waited long before Kawamatsu was finally revealed and it turned out..meh.
O-Kiku being Izo 2.0 was..meh.
Chopper not being recognized was at least honest.
Overall one weaker chapter without much progression, just smaller already imminent details.Wait Izo was a guy?! How didnt I notice that…
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Judging by the number of posts in this thread, this chapter was below regular, huh?
Have you checked the spoiler thread?
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Have you checked the spoiler thread?
I think most arguments there had little to do with the quality of the chapter.
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I think most arguments there had little to do with the quality of the chapter.
And he just argumented that the number of posts had to do with the quality of the chapter.
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@Don:
We waited long before Kawamatsu was finally revealed and it turned out..meh.
O-Kiku being Izo 2.0 was..meh.
Chopper not being recognized was at least honest.
Overall one weaker chapter without much progression, just smaller already imminent details."Izo 2.0" is a bit off, as he's never been identified with anything other than male pronouns. In fact, Izo has never even been outlined as an okama, even in his Vivre Card summary. I don't think Izo is transgender or even subscribes to the okama's specific genderfluid philosophy, I think he's just a dude who likes to crossdress. Kiku being actually trans makes her something new.
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"Izo 2.0" is a bit off, as he's never been identified with anything other than male pronouns. In fact, Izo has never even been outlined as an okama, even in his Vivre Card summary. I don't think Izo is transgender or even subscribes to the okama's specific genderfluid philosophy, I think he's just a dude who likes to crossdress. Kiku being actually trans makes her something new.
I don't even get calling her that when Kiku is far more fleshed out than Izo, who we hardly know anything about as far as characterization goes.
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Kawamatsu reminded me a bit if Frog from Chrono Trigger. And that was great for me
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Wait Izo was a guy?! How didnt I notice that…
Yeah White Beard doesn't allow women in his crew. Well women fighters cause he sure has a lot of lady nurses but they got sent away during the war. Thats just how he roles.
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Well, Kikunojo seems to be widely known as man in Wano, so it could be the same for Izo. Plus they both seem to have the same inspiration of kabuki actors playing female roles. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there's some relation between the two.
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Has membership dropped a lot? I remember back when we had a break in punk hazard when vergo was holding law's heart at the end of the chapter, but at the time he was just a silhouette… and we had endless discussion on who it could be, back and forth debate, lots and lots of people chiming in on who it was and why it was going to be said person.... and now a days it just doesn't seem like that much energy/emotion in the thread.... am I wrong?
Oh yeah for anyone confused by my join date, I was originally on these forums as choperman (join date 2007) but I lost my old password so now I'm just shiebs
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Has membership dropped a lot? I remember back when we had a break in punk hazard when vergo was holding law's heart at the end of the chapter, but at the time he was just a silhouette… and we had endless discussion on who it could be, back and forth debate, lots and lots of people chiming in on who it was and why it was going to be said person.... and now a days it just doesn't seem like that much energy/emotion in the thread.... am I wrong?
Oh yeah for anyone confused by my join date, I was originally on these forums as choperman (join date 2007) but I lost my old password so now I'm just shiebs
Spoiler threads tend to accrue around twenty or twenty five pages, and steam is certainly lost by the time the official thread is up and running. But you're not wrong; I can recall Punk Hazard threads without a break hitting 45 plus pages. There's definitely less membership on the site across the board. I have little insight beyond that, since I don't use any other forums or frequent this place much; I enjoy reading and gaining other insights here just as I have since 2012. That for some, I suppose, may change.
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I've been here for a while, pretty much a permanent lurker. Seems most discussion is happening in spoiler threads, yeah. I still enjoy the discussions that do happen here.
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Has membership dropped a lot? I remember back when we had a break in punk hazard when vergo was holding law's heart at the end of the chapter, but at the time he was just a silhouette… and we had endless discussion on who it could be, back and forth debate, lots and lots of people chiming in on who it was and why it was going to be said person.... and now a days it just doesn't seem like that much energy/emotion in the thread.... am I wrong?
Oh yeah for anyone confused by my join date, I was originally on these forums as choperman (join date 2007) but I lost my old password so now I'm just shiebs
Forum traffic has gone down. Impossible to say exactly where they all went. Orojackson, reddit, etc. though Orojackson is closing down so maybe there will be a bump. And most discussion happens in spoiler threads now since official thread doesn't get posted til the viz version is released. I'm guessing the lower traffic is partly why there hasn't been a character tourney in a long while.
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Has membership dropped a lot? I remember back when we had a break in punk hazard when vergo was holding law's heart at the end of the chapter, but at the time he was just a silhouette… and we had endless discussion on who it could be, back and forth debate, lots and lots of people chiming in on who it was and why it was going to be said person.... and now a days it just doesn't seem like that much energy/emotion in the thread.... am I wrong?
Oh yeah for anyone confused by my join date, I was originally on these forums as choperman (join date 2007) but I lost my old password so now I'm just shiebs
The series was at an all time artificial high during the war, Strong World, and timeskip, not just here but everywhere, especially in Japan, where the volumes sold massive amounts of extra copies at the time and it had a lot of publicity and marketing pushing it.
Those numbers naturally dipped back down slowly over time, its now a bit closer to the activity level it had around Thriller Bark, though maybe a bit lower.
That said, other factors to consider
-the spoiler thread gets all the activity before the real thread. We're trying to support the official release but most of the fandom doesn't care enough to wait the extra day.
-The series is 20+ years old. Older fans have moved on, and its harder to get new ones to jump in
-the series is 20+ years old, a lot of the minutia and endgame have been discussed at length already. Unless your a next nakama fanatic that has to prove the new female flavor of the week is next.
-Naruto and Bleach aren't also driving traffic to Jump anymore. MHA is great but there's no great shonen trinity giving fans lots to discuss every week, less reason to go to a dedicated spot to do so
-forums in general see less usage nowadays, while things like reddit, twitch, youtube see more activity. And in some cases, people just move to facebook and keep track there.Lots of factors.
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I don't even get calling her that when Kiku is far more fleshed out than Izo, who we hardly know anything about as far as characterization goes.
That's another excellent point. I don't remember Izo having even a single line of dialogue.
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To be honest, I didn't even know who Izo was before people brought him up out of the blue as the person in that Kinemon/Yasu flashback. I'm not even sure when and where he previously appeared, but if anything this flashback panel should be more a subtle wink to some background character than Izo's grand comeback.
Re: forum membership, on top of what's already been said maybe the series has its ups and downs as well. On my end at least, both Dressrosa and WCI had those times of wild speculation where it felt that the story could go anywhere (Doflamingo beheaded by Kyros, Whole Cake castle brought down by the bomb, …). I never was much of a debate person, but still I felt deeply invested in those arcs (only to be disappointed later, but that's how it is). Zou was excellent story-wise and the closest to a classic One Piece adventure setting we've gotten since Punk Hazard, so I was very much into it. Reverie brought a ton of new information, so it was exciting as well even if it failed to accomplish anythng with it.
With Wano, save for a couple chapters I'm somehow not feeling any of that enthusiasm. The story is still good and the pacing has improved compared to WCI, but at the moment there's not much that I would want to discuss on a weekly basis. -
Has membership dropped a lot? I remember back when we had a break in punk hazard when vergo was holding law's heart at the end of the chapter, but at the time he was just a silhouette… and we had endless discussion on who it could be, back and forth debate, lots and lots of people chiming in on who it was and why it was going to be said person.... and now a days it just doesn't seem like that much energy/emotion in the thread.... am I wrong?
Oh yeah for anyone confused by my join date, I was originally on these forums as choperman (join date 2007) but I lost my old password so now I'm just shiebs
I remember Vergo appearead completely in his 'first chapter',we just didnt knew who he was.