Manga Plus: https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/viewer/1009655
VIZ Manga: https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/one-piece-chapter-1021/chapter/23053?action=read
Author Comments 8/09/2021: https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/mangaka-musings-08-09-2021
**Eiichiro Oda
Did you watch episode 982 of the One Piece anime?! That was insane! Was it a movie? What an amazing episode!**
Weekly Shonen Jump on break next week. Chapter 1,022 will release on Aug. 22.
Like the Avatar? / Like the Miis?
Dragalia Lost ID: 97617932505
It's been so so looooong… ROBINNNN.
I absolutely loved this fight. It's my favorite of the F6 fights.
As for Momo being matured... While I'm not a fan of it, at least he has the resolve.
Loved Robin's fight. Appreciate the fact that she struggled through it and took some real damage.
I would like to see Momo become 18 years old adult instead of getting 20 year growth so he can be older than Hiyori.
Another hakiless Tobi Roppo goes down.
That Number looks absurdily small in comparission to the others.
So we're 'bout to have another character pretending to be Oden, not a big fan of said development.
I've always liked the Dragon Claw fingers that Sabo does. Makes me want to try and position my fingers like that. The only other ones I really like are Yusuke's Spirit Gun and Kamehameha. Never cared for gum gum punches or Naruto hand signs.
I think Caribou is referring to his ability as a "hungry gal" because it's bottomless. Or is that a typo and it's really "he" for Luffy.
I must say I LOVED this fight!
Can’t post my thoughts as usual, I’m on the phone and at work…
But I’ll leave this: I feel Sasaki, Who’s Who and Black Maria are getting up. Sasaki and Black Maria will resume their fights, now on hard mode (awakened Sasaki In berzerk mode and Black Maria’s torso was a decoy and she’s actually the spider, while Franky is out of the Shogun and Robin is exhausted). Who’s Who is not fighting Jinbe again, however.
Nico Robin, holy fuck, what a fight, absolutely shattered my expectations
As for Momo likely becoming older, I have absolutely nothing against that at all tbh, I'd love to see what he could do with a bigger dragon form.
I must say I LOVED this fight!
Can’t post my thoughts as usual, I’m on the phone and at work…
But I’ll leave this: I feel Sasaki, Who’s Who and Black Maria are getting up. Sasaki and Black Maria will resume their fights, now on hard mode (awakened Sasaki In berzerk mode and Black Maria’s torso was a decoy and she’s actually the spider, while Franky is out of the Shogun and Robin is exhausted). Who’s Who is not fighting Jinbe again, however.
Frankly I think it's wild that between Who's Who and Black Maria, you're more confident about Black Maria being the one to get back up lol
That was even nicer with a better translation and higher image quality.
I'm actually much more of a fan of everything else before Robin's demon form is revealed.
I also want to give a shoutout to Black Maria. Some of her techniques are really cool.
She has brass knuckles and uses a bunch of her spider abilities in neat ways; from her net to her poison.
When it comes to Robin, though, I think the coolest thing to come out of this is that she learned Fishman Karate and Armament Haki (and didn't just do stuff related to the Void Century/opposing the government), abilities which I also felt were forever going to be in "shounen prison" (meaning as usual for shounen only the guys get the cool shit). The demon form is really cool thematically/in substance, but the design is too wierdly twig-like to me.
It's also really cool it seems like a really obvious Devilman/Devil Lady reference, but the design just bothers me.
Why the hell do I hear Baka Mitai everytime I see the cover page?
Dont like how Maria beat the shit out of Robin yet Robin beat an ancient zoan in one attack.
@Joy:
Dont like how Maria beat the shit out of Robin yet Robin beat an ancient zoan in one attack.
Is just a spider, they're not famous for their toughness and she didnt use armament either.
Huh, somehow I didn't catch it on the scans, but Robin DID sprout her limbs on Black Maria's body when she did Giganteum.
I like the puns with Black Maria's attack names in the official translation.
Great fight, loved the Maria attack puns.
Not too keen on the Momo thing though. Not got a problem with a possible adult Momo (Even if I don't see the point), but if Shinobu can age up people, why hasn't she used it to turn a few bad guys to dust? She's a decent ninja, she should have been able to get the drop on Orochi at some point in the last twenty years.
Really loved her fight. It practically makes her fight vs Yama a non-fight, she just kind of rolled him away lol.
This is really creatively inspired stuff that is just such a unique combination. Demon hand-making archaeologist vs Half-spider brawler escort woman.
I saw some people get upset that her wings were pointy. To me it's the same logic as "Why can Sanji light his leg on fire?" "Why do the Marines' coats always stay on?" "Why are Luffy's teeth not made of rubber?"
The series just does not abide by strict real world logic and never has. I'm just happy her Demon Child epithet is being manifested.
But yeah this is easily my favorite Flying 6 fight so far.
I figured Shinobu would use her Rot fruit on Momo for a while because I couldn't figure Bonney coming to Wano and knew he needed to age up so yeah, no issue from me.
Croc or Enel would never.
Wanna see the "ancient civilization destroyed" thing done really well? FFXIV did a great take on it. The bar's high for One Piece to beat.
Great fight, loved the Maria attack puns.
Not too keen on the Momo thing though. Not got a problem with a possible adult Momo (Even if I don't see the point), but if Shinobu can age up people, why hasn't she used it to turn a few bad guys to dust? She's a decent ninja, she should have been able to get the drop on Orochi at some point in the last twenty years.
Eh, Denjiro literally worked for Orochi, and had his full, complete trust, but never made a move either until Kinemon and co. came back. Because they both know that at the end of the day, nothing's going to actually change in the long term so long as Kaido is still there.
Maricade
Marianette
Mariarson
Top tier translations this week!
I think it's cool, though kind of rushed, and not sure why Robin turned black… Is it haki?
Vigilant one should be in the presence of a will backed into a corner. Expectations can often become the debilitating web ensnaring ones judgment. Such was the case for Black Maria who seduced herself with her own ego, delusion and power. The projection she created dominated her perspective and shackled her foresight. Caution evaporated and left imprudence to pilot her actions. So entrenched was Black Maria by her arrogance, the thought of being overwhelmed by Robin became an impossibility. And within that absence of anticipation, a blind spot was spawned. Black Maria faced impossibility and could do little against the crumbling of her judgment. She was wrong and within her psychological descent, the terror known as "Devil Child" Robin overwhelmed Black Maria. Robin has won. And the Beast Pirates suffer another critical blow.
Love it.
Fantastic chapter.
Thrilling battle.
Glorious puns.
Nico Robin.
Thank you Oda-sensei! Top tier art and form.
!
Another great fighting chapter! Really nice showing by Robin - although I had to look several times to see whose limbs are where.
So, are we right to assume that Caribou stored masses of food in his swamp for his boss, who as of now seems to be female? Hmm, gluttonous women in One Piece?
An excellent chapter!
It's been so long since we got a good Robin fight, so I was so happy to see her stretching her wings and showing off the results of her training, since it seemed like she didn't learn much. I especially liked the fact that Robin didn't become a master of Fishman Karate in 2 years or so, she learned a few things and adapted it to work in her fighting style. That seemed like such a Robin way to do stuff.
@Joy:
Dont like how Maria beat the shit out of Robin yet Robin beat an ancient zoan in one attack.
Joint locks and such are designed to beat people no matter how strong they are though.
I find it endearing that Robin, someone who had existed without companionship for almost two decades, is now able to express the meaning of the bonds she now has through the abilities she has chosen to learn. Robin is strong not only because of herself but because she has others to live life alongside. The battle against Black Maria, showcased Robin's amalgamation of the knowledge she had attained from Sabo, Koala and likely Zoro and Brook concerning her demonic bloom and aura. Now that Jinbe has joined the Straw Hat Pirates, Robin can evolve her abilities further by consulting with another Fish-Man Karate Master and incorporating the knowledge she will learn from Jinbe into her Hana Hana no Mi application. Robin has conveyed how prepared she is for the New World and how far from helpless she is. Robin IS strong.
The durable nature of Robin also means that she will recover shortly and continue assisting her crew and the Samurai Rebellion in the war against the Beast Pirates.
Wano is freaking great. I loved the rooftop fight (both of them, and both are among the best in the series), loved the Jinbe and Franky fights, and definitely loved the Robin one. I hope Oda keeps them coming and I really hope he does right by Sanji.
Nice of Robin to give Maria her turn at being manhandled prey, after Maria manhandled and crap talked on others.
Amazing chapter. Mostly gonna repeat myself from the spoiler thread.
Cover page was bittersweet. I hope we get to see more of the Don Quixotes.
Robin's fight was fantastic. Easy to follow, both combatants got to show off, we even got some insight into Robin's training! I love that we got to see her interact with Koala and Sabo, little things like that are wonderful. Makes me like all three characters more. And that finisher, pure eye candy. It's gonna be up there with some of the greatest finishing moves of this series. How can you not love a giant devil wrestling a giant zoan. Giving her the classic bangs was such a nice touch. It's like all my complaints about Robin since the time skip has been checked off one by one.
Brook was great too. I love that he respected Robin's fight (I can't remember which fight it was, but early I recall the crew telling Nami… at least I think it was her... not to interfere someone's fight. It's nice to see the women get the same sort of respect in their battles). And at the same time he still got a lot of action. Provided support where needed, had a fantastic finisher and some snazzy lines too. It helps that Black Maria's fodder has been very memorable compared to the rest.
Momo growing up... initially I disliked the idea, when I saw the theory on the forums I hand-waved it as impossible, but the spoiler thread made me warm up to it. Congratulations to those of you who guessed it! For now I'm neutral on it, gotta see what Oda makes of it to properly judge it. I'm curious what he'll look like, if he'll be similar to Oden, more scrawny like his mother, or maybe even being similar to Ryuma. I know he already exists in this universe but an extra reference to how he looked in life doesn't hurt.
@Zar:
Momo growing up… initially I disliked the idea, when I saw the theory on the forums I hand-waved it as impossible
I didn't say he's going to be like Oden, just pretend to.
And oh gossh, Hyogoro, the Scabbards and Kaido himself are going to make comparissions, succesfully turning Momo into another source of publicity for Oden.
There is nothing to compare, really… Oden never made a sacrifice as big as Momo plans to do... all what Oden did was dance like a fool that's all he did for Wano...
When he could've saved Wano he turned his back on the country and even his family... Oden's selfishness is one reason why Wano became what it became...
Momo sacrificing his lifetime to help safe his country and his people, is so much more than anything Oden ever did. If anyone compares him to Oden after that, then they will acknowledge that Momo surpassed his father as leader...
Indeed 
Also putting this page of Monsters here with Ryuma for comparison. It wouldn't be a bad look for Momo. Even got the topknot. Plus you'd get the irony of a dragon being a homage to a dragon slayer.
I've decided, this will be my prediction for his adult appearance if it happens. It feels like a stretch since Ryuma already exists in canon and Momo has both a father and mother to take after, but who knows.
!
Edit: And by appearance I mean having some reference to it. Not an exact match, that'd just be weird.
It happened…it finally happened.
Robin actually got her own 1v1 fight.
And it was really, really good!
What a fantastic chapter. The fact that not only did Robin finally get her own fight for the first time since Skypiea, but it may actually the best 1v1 of the arc so far? Amazing. I seriously could not be happier with how this went down. Black Maria was a great opponent, Robin showed off some really cool moves, we got a flashback to when she was with the Revolutionaries, confirmed that she picked up some Fishman Karate from training with Koala, her demon form at the end - it's all so good. And like the best fights, it all serves to highlight Robin (and Brook!) as a character, with her proving that she's not just the brains of the group, she's capable of handling herself, and she's willing to embrace her reputation as a demon (quite literally in this case) to protect her friends. Brook gets serious points for leaving the fight to Robin, and still got to look cool himself taking out the Number and gifters in one (pretty cool) attack. I just loved everything about this chapter.
It'll be interesting to see how adult Momo goes. Oda wouldn't set that up if it wasn't going to happen, so the question is more what that will mean for Momo and those around him. He's essentially giving up his childhood for the sake of his country, which is pretty noble, but as Shinobu points out, he will still have the mind of a child. There's some good potential for both drama and comedy to come from this, so I'm not nearly as against it as I've seen some other people be. I doubt Momo is suddenly going to be a badass fighter capable of taking on Kaido or anything, but it should boost his abilities enough that he can be more helpful than he is now.
@Zar:
Indeed
Also putting this page of Monsters here with Ryuma for comparison. It wouldn't be a bad look for Momo. Even got the topknot. Plus you'd get the irony of a dragon being a homage to a dragon slayer.
I've decided, this will be my prediction for his adult appearance if it happens. It feels like a stretch since Ryuma already exists in canon and Momo has both a father and mother to take after, but who knows.Edit: And by appearance I mean having some reference to it. Not an exact match, that'd just be weird.
I guess one sees less impossibility when you really work hard to achieve your ambitious.
Frankly I think it's wild that between Who's Who and Black Maria, you're more confident about Black Maria being the one to get back up lol
I’m not saying WsW won’t get up, judt that he won’t fight Jinbe again. Jinbe vs Who’s Who was such a one-sided fight, it doesn’t make a second round a thrilling idea. Jinbe would just handle WsW another wooping.
Now, Sasaki vs Franky? Franky lost the shogun; round 2 would be hard mode.
Maria and Robin? Robin is clearly exhausted, and round 2 IMO depends on my theory that the human torso was a trick of some sort. That would mean Robin wasted energy on a fake Maria, and the spider would be mostly unharmed. Round 2 would be hard mode as well.
I feel there’s some room for a returning WsW to instead get in the way of Drake. Maybe WsW’s running from CP-0, gets in Drake’s (who’s chasing Apoo) way, and we get Drake/Who’s Who/CP-0 3-way battle. That would also free Apoo for Brook. Drake has had scenes with WsW and questioning CP-0’s presence in Wano, so all those elements meeting could give us interesting insights.
As for Jinbe, he’ll likely get a more fitting opponent in either Jack or Smoothie. The later depens on BM’s children arriving, but I feel it will happen, due to Jinbe having more grudges with the BM Pirates, and Smoothie having her own water-based powers.
@Joy:
Dont like how Maria beat the shit out of Robin yet Robin beat an ancient zoan in one attack.
Grappling moves are much deadlier than any other form of attack, since they're designed to cause continuous damage.
A punch or kick may have more impact, but it only lasts less than a second.
Here's something interesting.
Momo –>Aged up.
Raizo --> Always looks old
Kinemon, Kanjuro, Kiku --> All dead.
Does this move more or less erase the part of trying to convince the people of Wano that Momo is a time travelling 8 year old?
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Grappling moves are much deadlier than any other form of attack, since they're designed to cause continuous damage.
A punch or kick may have more impact, but it only lasts less than a second.
Getting your head cut off is technically a one shot to…or getting hit by a flying rock into the ocean.
Heck, didn't Law oneshot Smoker and Vergo
Well this really wasn't much of a fight, honestly. Or have we lowered expectations considering Robin took ages to get into a proper fight? K, carry on then.
Well this really wasn't much of a fight, honestly. Or have we lowered expectations considering Robin took ages to get into a proper fight? K, carry on then.
It lasted as long as an average One Piece fight would. One chapter and a half pretty much.
Only Enies Lobby had longass fights, really.
You talk of its duration as if it's the most important part. The fight is pretty static, the only interesting parts were Maria's, even as underdeveloped as she is, and that transformation Robin had came out of nowhere. At least it was resolved swiftly, though.
You talk of its duration as if it's the most important part. The fight is pretty static, the only interesting parts were Maria's, even as underdeveloped as she is, and that transformation Robin had came out of nowhere. At least it was resolved swiftly, though.
It was certainly more of a fight than what Sanji vs Absalom was.
Everyone knows Robin's fight is good, so next…
Maturing Momo. Yeah it was foreshadowed. But it doesnt mean I must like this development.
How nice, getting an instant power up without drawback like that!
"But he actually loses some years of his life by doing that! Its a tear shedding sacrifice!!"
No, he will get an instant power up, no drawback at all. Lost years of his life? Only that? Pssh... considerinh he will get a bigger dragon form and maybe magically Oden's sword technique and physique, thats a slap on the wrist.
Luffy did lose some years of his life back then from Iva, but he doesnt get a clear power up from that. Only a cure for poison.
What a fantastic chapter. It felt a lot like an Enies Lobby fight, with its clever tricks and new powers that don't fully make sense coming out of nowhere, but you excuse it because they're just so freaking cool. Brook gets sold a little short, but Robin is in the running to be the MVP of Onigashima. It was all drawn beautifully as well, and is going to be one of the sequences I'm looking forward to the most when the colour volume starts getting this far. Especially the Mari-arson panel (great work on the names, Stephen); the way they colour fire has always been really appealing to me.
I love the versatility Robin's been showing with her fruit. From flexible noodle arms for the Sea Serpent Snap Dragon move to whatever the heck Demonio Fluer is, she's really pushing it to its limits and showing why it has a reputation as one of the most broken fruits. Similarly, Black Maria plays it real smart and shows why Robin can't just effortlessly win every fight. She takes advantage of the giant limbs' vulnerability, uses a large weapon and a poison ability to discourage spawning limbs close to or on her, then lights the room on fire to limit the other places arms and legs might come from. It's a great play/counterplay exchange that gives both combatants a strong showing. And the finisher! Just like Jinbe's fight, this one wraps up in an unexpectedly brutal looking way. We're in the big leagues now, and the crew is not toying with their opponents.
The only questionable visual in the chapter is giant Robin's chest in the opening pages. The line rendering is a bizarre choice, and looks a lot weirder than just, say, leaving her boobs smooth and nippleless. Also, why is this an issue at all? We've seen already that Robin's full body duplicates can come out fully clothed. And she's still got the ribbon in her hair, even in the giant version! So you can't tell me it would be impossible to make it clothed at that size. And if that was going to be the excuse for making her naked, just remove the ribbon too and let her hair free for a classic, natural-looking Godiva censor! Which happens anyway on the demon form!
The whole thing strikes me as Oda just wanting to draw tits and not thinking things through further than that.
I loved the mixing and matching of martial arts and skills in the flashback. It's definitely something I want to see more of, given how many different non-devil fruit styles we've seen so far. It's also nice to actually see a human using Fishman martial arts with the shockwave effects and everything. We knew Koala could use the style, but we'd never seen her do any of the more waterbender-y things actual Fishmen did with it. I'm happy to consider it confirmed that water manipulation isn't species-specific, it's something you can train and learn, just like the flame swordsmanship Zoro picked up. Elemental powers are just something humans seem to have in One Piece.
Makes you wonder if the Minks' electro is also something that could be figured out by anyone with the right training.
The shadows on the Demonio form are inevitably going to trigger a million ongoing debates about armament haki, but I don't think that's what we're being shown. Haki has more of a metallic, reflective smoothness its its rendering, with bright spots where it's catching the light. The rough, rendered edges and lack of reflections here just don't match. It'll be interesting to see how the anime and colour manga choose to colour it, with that in mind.
I was going to screencap a couple of panels to compare how haki is drawn, but someone on reddit made this edit, showing the point better than I could have hoped to:
!
I wish we could have seen more from Brook in this conflict, but hey, he was the clear MVP of Whole Cake Island and his final attack here is a spectacularly drawn panel, so I won't complain too much.
It's interesting looking back at Robin's scenes post timeskip with the assumption she was perhaps capable of this all along. Oda probably could have let her put up more of a fight against Monet. Even without armament, the Fishman Karate moisture tricks should have done something to a snow logia. Trebol, on the other hand, is extremely lucky to have only attacked her when she was playing decoy, and that Sugar managed to get Robin when she did. I feel like it's in character that she let Kyros and Diamante have their fight, even though it seems like she would have been more than a match if she'd had to step in. The Stardust move would have been a tough hit if it caught her by surprise with her big limbs out though.
And we have the final reveal - Momonosuke might be turned into an adult. Some people guessed it as early as the first reveal of Shinobu's power. Some people got it earlier than that. I remember reading a theory years and years ago that Bonney would join the crew alongside Momo and be used to age him up and down when he needed to fight. I wonder if that person is still around to know how close they were on that point. Anyway, I can't understand the immediate negative reaction a weird number of people had to this development when the spoilers came out, assuming it would mean he fights Kaido and steals the win from Luffy, then getting mad about that assumption. Are we reading the same series? As if this isn't the moment it all clicks into place for issue of the Onigashima colony drop and how to prevent it.
It also makes a whole lot of thematic sense on different levels. The loss of innocence Momo suffered when Kaido attacked is made manifest. The need for him to grow up and be a leader is taken literally. The 20 years of suffering for the locals that the time-jumping squad didn't have to endure are made up for all at once. The parellels and contrasts to Oden, who both acted like an adult when he was a child and joyfully shirked his responsibilities like a big kid when he was an adult.
I don't see Momo fighting Kaido head on. Age is not a substitute for experience, but it might be enough to turn a piddly little dragon into a fearsome full-size one. At best, he gets a token clash to be part of the Momotaro scene, then goes off to save the island. Which makes complete sense and should be a fitting conclusion to the battle.
Horrible time to have a week off to wait through, but what a great chapter to be left on. I'm really excited for the direction the arc is headed. Assuming the remaining fights will wrap up in order of importance and emotional weight, I can see either Drake and Apoo or Killer and Hawkins wrapping up in the next chapter, then onward to the heavy hitting Scabbard, Sanji and Zoro, and Kid and Law scenes.
What a fantastic chapter. It felt a lot like an Enies Lobby fight, with its clever tricks and new powers that don't fully make sense coming out of nowhere,
I heard this a few times now, but I can't really comprehend it.
1. Robin's ability lets her spawn body parts, pre timeskip limited to 200 limbs/eyes whatever
2. Post timeskip she can conjure many, many more limbs. Not clear if the new limit is really a thousand or if it's just a flavorful name, but enough to form even bigger limbs out of hundred smaller ones.
3. Apart from that, she mastered to conjure a fullbody clone, brains and all that. It's really pushing it from my point of view, but that's still a Fishman Island thing. I'm used to it at this point.
4. And now, against B-Maria, she combined 2. and 3. to form a gigantic clone avatar of herself.
5. However, that huge avatar is still only the size of B-Maria. She would like to up her game and go even bigger, but at that point the entire floor is on fire.
6. Once that was cleared up with the Fishman Karate move, she did what she originally tried to do: give it her all and finish the fight. Completely logical to me, the next upgrade is a form that uses even more limbs. Notice how Demon Robin is now at least twice the size of Black Maria? She's overpowering her through sheer bulk now.
The visual is of course driven by rule of cool, even though I would argue that conjuring a demonic visage did scare the Gifters to the point that they couldn't move, so there was a minor reason to summon something scary and not just Robin in extra-extra thicc.
So what exactly is weird / Enies Lobby'ish?
Nothing extraordinarily weird happened here, it's a natural progression as far as I see it. Not comparable to Ashura or Diable Jambe, skills that virtually came out of nowhere and didn't even slightly relate to anything Zoro/Sanji showed before.
I admit I have no idea why her finishing move is called Jacuzzi Clutch though. Could it be that jacuzzi has another meaning I'm not aware of?
You talk of its duration as if it's the most important part. The fight is pretty static, the only interesting parts were Maria's, even as underdeveloped as she is, and that transformation Robin had came out of nowhere. At least it was resolved swiftly, though.
Most One Piece transformations come out of nowhere though.
So, we are four chapters away from the Volume's end.
It's time to speculate end of Act 3 again. Yeah, I've been saying it would happen near every volume end/start since… Volume 99? 98? Lol. But it will happen, be sure of it.
Wano predictions: There will be 5 acts; All Straw Hats will get fights, some in Act 4; Big Mom Pirates will arrive; Carrot will have her moment, but won't join; Yamato will be a Kouzuki samurai and Wano's Guardian; Shanks will visit Luffy in Act 5; Next arc is Mary Geoise.
The way all these battles are being settled is IMO a clear sign the Flying Six are going to awaken and force the Strawhats to go all-out.
This Chapter was AMAZING!!!! I LOVED IT!!!! Definitely feels like it's Oda's response to Robin lacking glory moments (not originally planned), but I'm actually okay with it because she got a much needed buff!!!
Zoro vs King
Sanji vs Queen
Drake vs Apoo
Killer vs Hawkins
Inuarashi vs Jack
Nekomamushi vs Perospero
Raizo vs Fukurokuju
Law and Kid vs Big Mom
Team Momotaro vs Kaido
Still a lot of fights left. And this is assuming the remaining Numbers don't get full fight chapters.
I heard this a few times now, but I can't really comprehend it.
1. Robin's ability lets her spawn body parts, pre timeskip limited to 200 limbs/eyes whatever
2. Post timeskip she can conjure many, many more limbs. Not clear if the new limit is really a thousand or if it's just a flavorful name, but enough to form even bigger limbs out of hundred smaller ones.
3. Apart from that, she mastered to conjure a fullbody clone, brains and all that. It's really pushing it from my point of view, but that's still a Fishman Island thing. I'm used to it at this point.
4. And now, against B-Maria, she combined 2. and 3. to form a gigantic clone avatar of herself.
5. However, that huge avatar is still only the size of B-Maria. She would like to up her game and go even bigger, but at that point the entire floor is on fire.
6. Once that was cleared up with the Fishman Karate move, she did what she originally tried to do: give it her all and finish the fight. Completely logical to me, the next upgrade is a form that uses even more limbs. Notice how Demon Robin is now at least twice the size of Black Maria? She's overpowering her through sheer bulk now.
The visual is of course driven by rule of cool, even though I would argue that conjuring a demonic visage did scare the Gifters to the point that they couldn't move, so there was a minor reason to summon something scary and not just Robin in extra-extra thicc.
So what exactly is weird / Enies Lobby'ish?
Nothing extraordinarily weird happened here, it's a natural progression as far as I see it. Not comparable to Ashura or Diable Jambe, skills that virtually came out of nowhere and didn't even slightly relate to anything Zoro/Sanji showed before.
I admit I have no idea why her finishing move is called Jacuzzi Clutch though. Could it be that jacuzzi has another meaning I'm not aware of?
Perhaps a little hyperbole on my part. To be clear, it feels like Enies Lobby, but you're right it's not exactly the same. I can put the pieces of Demonio together in hindsight, but I would never have guessed it before I turned the page and saw it. Our crew could pull any visually insane thing out on the next page, and that's exciting. People and powers in One Piece make weird shit happen, and I'm on board to roll with that.
I also want to be clear that Enies Lobby comparisons are not a negative. The whole Water Seven-Enies Lobby saga is still my favourite part of the story to date.
There are definitely some bits of weirdness in how Robin's fruit works though. Like how the justification for giant limbs is still lots of small ones blooming at once, but we can see in the chapter how the giant ones are treated the same as normal, individual ones for the purpose of sending damage back to the main body. Not to mention things like the giant body's face and hair, which wouldn't be possible to form in such detail if the normal size limbs weren't able to actually coalesce into a fully functional whole. Which raises the question of where damage to the wings and horns of Demonio would go back to.
I’m not saying WsW won’t get up, judt that he won’t fight Jinbe again. Jinbe vs Who’s Who was such a one-sided fight, it doesn’t make a second round a thrilling idea. Jinbe would just handle WsW another wooping.
Now, Sasaki vs Franky? Franky lost the shogun; round 2 would be hard mode.
Maria and Robin? Robin is clearly exhausted, and round 2 IMO depends on my theory that the human torso was a trick of some sort. That would mean Robin wasted energy on a fake Maria, and the spider would be mostly unharmed. Round 2 would be hard mode as well.
I feel there’s some room for a returning WsW to instead get in the way of Drake. Maybe WsW’s running from CP-0, gets in Drake’s (who’s chasing Apoo) way, and we get Drake/Who’s Who/CP-0 3-way battle. That would also free Apoo for Brook. Drake has had scenes with WsW and questioning CP-0’s presence in Wano, so all those elements meeting could give us interesting insights.
As for Jinbe, he’ll likely get a more fitting opponent in either Jack or Smoothie. The later depens on BM’s children arriving, but I feel it will happen, due to Jinbe having more grudges with the BM Pirates, and Smoothie having her own water-based powers.
All I know is Awakening for Who's Who makes far more sense than the idea of Black Maria vs Robin round 2. She's the only character that took two chapters to defeat, and it was in a much more decisive manner than what Sasaki and Who's Who got
