I've said more than enough about Sanji's current direction already, and I can't be bothered going over it all again. Bottom line is I just really don't vibe with what Oda's been doing with him. I'm sure for people who are on board with his New World depiction the moment where he can't even turn on his haki for fear of hurting Black Maria's (brass knuckle-equipped) hand is a hilarious new extreme for his chivalry, but on my end it feels like an eyeroll-inducing new low after seeing the same character at least be able to meet Kalifa and Big Mom's attacks with his kicks for the sake of self-defence in the past.
But I can forgive it this time. For two reasons.
a) Even though he probably should have done so sooner, choosing to call for help and rely on his crew instead of just flaming out like he did against Kalifa does show some actual growth both from that moment and from his self-sacrifice attempts in Tottoland.
and b) it set up the Robin and Brook tag team fight I've been missing all my life.
Oh, and one more bit of credit I have to give the Sanji/Black Maria scene is that it's drawn and framed really well. I love how Oda uses the webs in foreground layers to break up the panels.
This battle is something that's long overdue for Robin and she comes in with such style. She's been one of my favourite members of the crew since Ennies Lobby but it feels like she's given the spotlight so infrequently. Brook was the MVP in the last arc so I wasn't expecting anything as big for him here, but hell, I'll take him coming along for the battle. He's another underrated fave, so it really just comes together perfectly.
Black Maria choosing to fight topless (well, naked, I guess, it's not like the spider half's wearing pants) is an interesting choice from Oda. She's still got her hair up, which is gonna make it hard enough to Godiva it in manga form, let alone what they'll have to do to keep it from going outside the anime's age rating when it all has to actually be in motion. I don't get why she needed to strip to fight in the first place though. Was she hiding that weapon in her kimono?
And speaking of, if I had to guess the flow of the fight, the fire on that thing is going to make it hard for Robin to handle no matter how big she makes her arms. Lucky she's got Brook there to chill it out first.
In other areas of the battle, we can see Marco getting pushed to the lower level of the dome by King, back toward the entrance. I've seen a few people incorrectly place them at the base of the castle, but you can see the ledge, the stairs and the upper level bridges and buildings between them and the castle.
Yamato explains the spying animals. I don't know if Marys was the right choice for their name. At first I thought it might have been intended as "Merries," making the unit possibly an offshoot of the Pleasures. Stephen goes into the Japanese version and decision making on Twitter
, and I would have preferred even the most basic attempt at a pun. As it is, Marys sounds almost like it could reference a bunch of things (Black Maria's name and a play on Queen Mary, assuming a certain Lead Performer created them, being among the suggestions in the Twitter thread), none of which are even close to the mark. Even something as simple as Wallsave Eyes (thinking along the lines of
Wonder Egg Priority's Seeno Evils) would at least not lead people in so many wrong directions.
It doesn't look like Momonosuke actually got in Yamato's shirt in the escape panel, which begs the question of where he is. While we know Momo has to at least speak to Kaido before the battle is over, Yamato's narrative endgame isn't quite as clear. Opponents worthy of a 1v1 are quickly running out, with Sanji seemingly being set up to fight Jack for his redemption. If they go left they're tracking to get involved in King and Marco's battle. If they go right, it's Wanda and Carrot's fight with Perospero. I think both of those matchups are fine without having to throw Yamato into the mix. Queen feels unaccounted for at this point, but he's on the opposite end of the island and I can't see Yamato taking Momo across the heart of the battlefield just to set that up.
I'm still not quite sure where we are in terms of the end of volume 99 and the start of volume 100. It's almost a shame we can't justify wrapping volume 99 with chapter 1003, because literally everything else feels anticlimactic by comparison. I think if I had to pick one, the mystery figure from 1004 feels a lot more like the kind of cliffhanger Oda would end a book with than the fight setup here. 12 chapters remains an outside chance, but it's never safe to bet on that.
I think we're going to spend a little while in this phase of focusing on the crew 1v1s before we get back to the rooftop, so I'm looking forward to seeing which fight gets the spotlight in the next chapter. Maybe Carrot and Wanda, given how long it's been since we checked in with them. I'm also pretty keen for the digital volume 98 and colour volume 93 coming out on Wednesday. They feel so close and yet so far away, but they make this a good week for One Piece stuff.