Chapter 1,041: Komurasaki
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Throwback to when Luffy activated his last 2nd Gear against Lucci and claimed wouldnt stop using it until the end.
This arc is finally ending, all these climax chapters are just amazing.
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So the Gorosei fear that the fight between Luffy and Kaido will force the Gomu Gomu no Mi to awaken and therefore ordered his elimination…
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Nice to have the confirmation that Momo and Yamato don't have the full picture, and may even give potential and more specific motivation for Yamato to sail with Luffy, in addition for Momo's sake, in order to find out just what that big picture is at Laugh Tale. She might even better understand all of Oden's goals in the process too, like ones relating to Joy Boy.
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Throwback to when Luffy activated his last 2nd Gear against Lucci and claimed wouldnt stop using it until the end.
This time it could be but a prologue to "crap, Kaido is still standing after taking all that punishment, what else oh what else could I do with my devil fruit"
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My thoughts and questions on the chapter.
Any chapter that starts with any Vinsmoke getting punched in the face is a good chapter. And this one has two of those.
I'm not really sure what to make of Momo's reveal that he does not know anything specific from Oden's journal and therefore has doubts about opening Wano's borders. On the one hand, it kinda feels like a cop out from Oda to in the end not have that many people know what Oden knew. I assumed this was a clear sign that we were going towards the end of the series. Also, Yamato never mentioned that the journal missed anything. On the other hand it strengthens the moment when the whole information is revealed to the Strawhats and us readers.
What exactly happened where Orochi and Komurasaki are? In the first panel she is laying in the background then she comes up and starts playing the Moon Princess. Then the ceiling comes down on Orochi. Then time passes. Then he wakes up but cannot transform, because of seastone nails? Did Komurasaki pin them into his body while he was passed out? I'm confused.
I'm really intrigued by the CP0 guy's dialogue with Lucci (it probably is, right?) about the Gorosei's command. If they know that it is an impossible task to achieve, what is their plan?
What a nice little panel of Luffy rushing towards Kaido in Gear 4. Moreover, it juxtaposes Kaido in his drunk state nicely. In these two panels, Luffy is the fighter to omit more danger.
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This time it could be but a prologue to "crap, Kaido is still standing after taking all that punishment, what else oh what else could I do with my devil fruit"
I'd find that rather bullshitting, since Kidd nd Law established using Awaekening without being used to it drains a lot of stamina, and Luffy is supposedly using his last remaining energy.
It would also be weird that a power Luffy doesnt know how to use or control can actually land any hit at all.
Either way, he does finishes Kaido with G4, or Zunesha steps in.
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Raizo is a total badass, right to the end, even as he's on fire, he stood firm and made sure Fukurokujo went down.
It seems they're talking about Luffy's fruit, based on how things are being said to CP-0. I'm liking this less and less, but w.e. Maybe it'll awaken or perhaps it'll happen later down the line against Blackbeard.
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@Mr.:
My thoughts and questions on the chapter.
Any chapter that starts with any Vinsmoke getting punched in the face is a good chapter. And this one has two of those.
I'm not really sure what to make of Momo's reveal that he does not know anything specific from Oden's journal and therefore has doubts about opening Wano's borders. On the one hand, it kinda feels like a cop out from Oda to in the end not have that many people know what Oden knew. I assumed this was a clear sign that we were going towards the end of the series. Also, Yamato never mentioned that the journal missed anything. On the other hand it strengthens the moment when the whole information is revealed to the Strawhats and us readers.
What exactly happened where Orochi and Komurasaki are? In the first panel she is laying in the background then she comes up and starts playing the Moon Princess. Then the ceiling comes down on Orochi. Then time passes. Then he wakes up but cannot transform, because of seastone nails? Did Komurasaki pin them into his body while he was passed out? I'm confused.
I'm really intrigued by the CP0 guy's dialogue with Lucci (it probably is, right?) about the Gorosei's command. If they know that it is an impossible task to achieve, what is their plan?
What a nice little panel of Luffy rushing towards Kaido in Gear 4. Moreover, it juxtaposes Kaido in his drunk state nicely. In these two panels, Luffy is the fighter to omit more danger.
Gets me even wondering as what exactly they have to do to open Wano's borders in the first place, for as much as they've talked about the general idea. It might not even be opened up by the end of the arc depending on how complicated the issue is for all I know.
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IIt would also be weird that a power Luffy doesnt know how to use or control can actually land any hit at all.
And I would agree to all of that. But after everything we've seen from Kaido, part of me wants him to go down to something really special. Gear 4 is nice, but if Gomu Gomu no Hydra and the like are what seal the deal, I will be a little disappointed. I hope Oda still has a couple surprises in store for us, awakening or anything else.
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The power they fear must be insane if they can't even wait and see if Kaido kills the bastard.
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Yeah very doubtful that Luffy will defeat Kaido with gear 4 or that anyone else will defeat him, so i'm looking forward to how Oda spins the lame rubber fruit into a legendary one with "awakening"; if that's indeed where things are headed with the order to eliminate him at once. It would make more sense for Kaido's awakening to be what the elders fear. :ninja:
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So putting it all on the table.
-The new order is based on a rumour/unverified information.
-It is the worst possible outcome the elder stars can imagine.
-It is something that can only happen in a world class battle.
-It is something that Luffy has/will gain.
-Whatever it is is more dangerous than Kaido or the void century/ancient weapons. -
Raizo's fight is top 5 for this arc. This is the same lame that held Shinobu when she cried out the truth to the people as Oden boiled. Raizo got his payback while honoring his lord. Oda came through and made ninjas look good.
"God of longevity". Well, he didn't outlast the real Gawd Raizo.
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I'd find that rather bullshitting, since Kidd nd Law established using Awaekening without being used to it drains a lot of stamina, and Luffy is supposedly using his last remaining energy.
They said it drains a lot of stamina like three or four separate times, each one of those times Law (and maybe Kid, too, I don't remember) saying that this would be it for them and they've got to make it count. And each time we got a "Haha, just kidding, we've got another attack in us. One more, and then we're spent!" Rinse and repeat. I say this not to prove or disprove how Luffy's awakening may or may not drain him in a fight the first time he uses it, but it's just to say that Oda's going to write a fight however he feels it needs to be written in the moment. Whether a character should go down or be tired is less crucial than how Oda decides the fight should go.
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In 1030 and 1031, they said it takes out a lot, but not that it would be it in either of those chapters.
Fight didn't really get covered again until 1038 when they look like they were drained. Law used another Shock Wille and Kid used the bull, but neither said it was their last bit of strength in reference to those attacks in that chapter. It was mostly their crew being worried.
Following those attacks, Kid said time for round 2 in 1039. Kid said he had an ultimate attack up his sleeve in that chapter. Law then said "the next round is going to be his last" and that he won't have any strength after the following attack. So, the "its my last" stuff doesn't come in until 2 chapters ago (1039). Everything before then was just "it drains my stamina" or "its last resort".
In the same chapter, all the maneuvering being done with the bull and buildings were referred to as "scraps to begin with". The final attack for Kid was the cannon. Law is the only questionable one here. As he used the R Room which can be implied to not take much strength due to it just cancelling out sound, but at the same time any use of the DF should be considered "use of strength".
If anything, none of this is the same as Luffy's ability to keep getting up and getting better. Law and Kid performed ultimate attacks and were drained. Only Law was able to perform a sound cancellation ability as well as slice through a homie. Kid is safe here, throw Law under the bus until he beats the allegations.
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After months of predicting it basically every chapter, we really do seem to finally be in the wrap-up stage of the battle. I'm not sure if Oda will manage to get Kaido's fall by the end of volume 103, but it's probably going to be close, the way things are building at the minute. Imagine what a landmark volume it could end up being if two Emperors fell at once though!
Pudding on the cover has surprising strength to punch the Vinsmokes' metal skin without hurting herself. Maybe we've all underestimated her a little. Or maybe it's a One Piece classic "Fist of Love." Just leave that hanging there for the shippers.
The Zunesha thing feels a tad drawn out left as it is. We know there'll be no contest against those tiny ships when it's given the order, and the Voice of All Things shenanigans going on imply it can communicate with Momo even at this distance. There's not really a reason to hang on for the next development like there was when it first showed up so suddenly - the outcome from here is obvious. What is interesting is Yamato calling Momo the one to bring the Dawn (a term that definitely deserves its capital D at this stage) and Momo rejecting his father's will. The certainty of Momo's role from Yamato is something to remember for everyone operating under the reasonable assumption that Luffy would be the one (even if in the guise of Joyboy, Nika, or whatever else). And then there's Momo. I've got legitimate respect for him making his own assessment of the state of the world and his father's goals. Oden was flawed and did make a lot of mistakes in his time, leading to the current state of affairs. There is nothing but courage and maturity in being able to see and acknowledge that when you're only eight years old and your dad's death was like a month ago. I know some readers will dismiss him as a coward anyway. I also know the narrative will probably make opening Wano's borders the right thing to do regardless of this scene. But regardless of all that, I think it's a great scene for Momo.
Fuku isn't going to take a full chapter to deal with. I imagine he's going down basically the next second he's onscreen.
"lol," I say as we smash cut to the narration confirming Fuku is down. "lmao"
Jinbe saving Raizo is great though. And I'm interested in what this plan is that Raizo is talking about. I hope it gives Denjiro and Kawamatsu their moment in the sun, whatever it is. Those two are the only ones left without any obvious finale or solo moment during the raid. But Denjiro was last seen the castle, I think, and Kawamatsu was down on the Performance Floor, so know knows what it could take to bring them together. My guess is that the plan goes with what Hiyori is doing and ends with Orochi's downfall.
And speaking of, the moment Hiyori reveals herself seems to bring the Orochi plot thread within one scene of being concluded. I still think Denjiro is the most likely to deliver the killing blow, but who knows what could happen. I do like the seaston nails making a comeback though. We know that different levels of seastone purity can affect how weak the victim is made, but Orochi not noticing he'd been stabbed at all suggests to be you can refine seastone to the point of giving no physical weakness or sensation whatsoever besides turning devil fruit powers off. There's probably not any wider implication to that, but it's cool that it exists.
I'll be honest, I really did expect Izo to take care of the CP0 threat in its entirety. It speaks to their strength that he could only manage mutual destruction with a single one (even if they were both likely already wounded to some degree. I hadn't even noticed until the call came in that the third member of the group hadn't gone with the others. I must have imagined him being present for their chase after Robin and the clash with Drake and Apoo. Without names, it's too easy to think of these guys as a collective rather than three individuals that could act on their own. Drake seems set to finish off the leader (good, he deserves a better ending than his unceremonious defeat a few chapters ago) but that third guy remains out of reach. Maybe he'll be the one to escape and tell the story of what happened to the Government. And then, who's going to stop Apoo and Inbi?
I'm no longer a naysayer on the Gum Gum being the fruit. Hard to imagine many other reasons for the sudden switch to targeting Luffy. I'm trusting Oda to make whatever's going on here work with the story. Over more than a dozen years following this story week to week he's very rarely let me down, so I'm affording him some trust to develop this idea right.
The Elders' "Worst-case scenario" sounds pretty specific. Could they be referring to the same mysterious event everyone else calls the Dawn of the World, or is it something else entirely? It kinda implies to me that the important devil fruit has a usecase to fulfill, rather than just being symbolic of a former enemy of the Government.
The sword outside the dome is back to being literally ten storeys tall after shrinking to six for a bunch of chapters. It was still way too big for Kid to have used either way, but after it came up in the last chapter's thread I'm really cued into the size changes.
Franky saving Zoro is a nice touch. With no sign of the reaper figure around, I get the feeling we'll have to wait until after the battle when Zoro properly recovers before he tells us what he saw and what it means. But with all of CP0 accounted for this week, we can probably rule out it being a living person we know (long odds for Caribou, but still), and say it actually was either a hallucination or a legitimate spiritual entity. And it could be worth remembering that despite looking a tad bloodied, Franky did his main fight inside his mech 90% of the way. Of all the Strawhats, he might just have the most fighting strength to spare at this point.
Hey, Usopp and Nami are hiding out in the place they first got cornered by Ulti and Pageone. I like that Marco's still playing healer. And hey, that hole in the Performance Floor is a hell of a lot bigger than it we really got to see it being in the last chapter. But it only makes sense given how big Big Mom got. And look how much the destruction is adding up. The right side is almost completely destroyed (which is consistent with the buildings Big Mom got rammed into, stuck to and had dropped on her in the last couple chapters).
The mini flashback certainly makes the end of Kaido feel close, but I'm putting a lot more stock in Luffy's "final Gear Four" statement. I don't think Oda's going to make a liar out of him at this stage. This is it. But will we get a new form if he's gone Snakeman now? I'm going to say yes. Sure, we've never seen him switch between forms after going into the gear before, but that is a low hurdle to handwave away.
There are as few as four chapters left in volume 103, or as many as six if Oda wants to stretch it into a really long one. It could really be happening in the next handful of chapters. I'm not going to set my hopes too high for a quick resolution with Orochi, Apoo, Inbi and two members of CP0 still on the board, but it's definitely feeling achievable. I'm started to feel anxious for it! Not just because we've been building toward this moment for so long, but also because the end of Kaido means the end of the series' penultimate battle. Everything that comes after it will be endgame material, and that's something I have a lot of conflicted feelings about after having One Piece as a constant in my life for so long.
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It is possible that the WG is mistakenly thinking Luffy could learn how to control Zunesha, since her arrival is what seemed to set this sudden change of plans with the Cp-0.
They're not realizing what Yamato knows, that is Momo and not Luffy the one controlling Zunesha.
So perhaps, Luffy will run out of stamina, and perhaps the last member of the CP-0 will attack Luffy, but still Zunesha is going to come and fight, leaving the WG wondering if not Luffy, then who is controlling the Elephant.
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So what is Luffy going to pull out of his upgrade hat? Yelling this is my final gear 4 and not stopping until he's run out of gas at the end of this chapter kind of sets it up to be not enough and he'll need something else to complete the climax.
With all the signs regarding the elders it seems like we're headed into his awakening mostly because the situation makes it seem like Luffy is going to be out of Haki so he'll need an upgrade that is Haki independent.
I will say though I'm very weirded out by how many things Luffy has gained in this confrontation, it feels like we're running out of escalation upgrades in the eternal power creep cycles of battle shonens. Depending on what is going to beat Kaido what is there going to be left?
Of course it might just be another gear 4 technique at the end of the day.I'll be very surprised if the flow after this is going to be immediate Kaido flashback and then learning this hydra has defeated Kaido. It doesn't feel like a clean good climax that way. The flow screams one more to me right now.
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Ugh… again with jumping scenes and panel? There are some pages we can cut to better pace the chapter, and yet again we STILL need to see the aftermath of badass Hokage vs Akatsuki ninja battle, ppl running around, etc.
CP0 sucks ass. Despite going as "government very best agents" one of them lost against a heavily wounded Izo. And the Gorosei want them to kill Luffy? Good luck lmao.
And then finally, Gomu-gomu awakening will on the table next. Can't wait!
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:ninja:
Anyway, pretty rockin' chap.
This seems to point VERY STRONGLY in the direction of the GG fruit being the one they talked about (IMHO the CP-9 escort 13 years back was enough to seal the deal for me) but hey, I'm still open to it being something else.
Didn't you imagine something like that already for Wano with your theory of the different islands and seasons ?
Wow! You remember stuff even I had forgotten!
Yeah, I think I had an idea like that from way the hell back that predicted we'd see Wano comprised of the four seasons and that each season would be a simultaneous front. Given how Oda changed Wano's layout something fierce (Kaido's base was initially set in Ringo) I think he publicly mentioned how he wanted Kaido to be located in the winter region but ultimately changed it. I don't remember having that discussion with him privately so I think it's…somewhere. Either way you can go back to the old chapters of Drake in (supposedly) Ringo with Kaido's (no longer) lair in the background. Now it might just be a fort or something.
I think he probably had a similar idea himself but he had to reel it in. In the end, each region did have a certain 'struggle' of sorts, but not on the scale I imagined it could have been. That's largely because I didn't think we'd have this many players. I think I would've drawn those conclusions around the end of Punk Hazard when everything with Kaido fit into place so the scale of the assault wasn't even an option in my mind.
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Ugh… again with jumping scenes and panel? There are some pages we can cut to better pace the chapter, and yet again we STILL need to see the aftermath of badass Hokage vs Akatsuki ninja battle, ppl running around, etc.
The last 15 chapters have always had a jumping scene transition chapter between the major fights (All-Stars, Big Mom and Kaidou), which usually took 2 chapters or so, so it's not surprising.
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Great chapter!
I guess if Nami slaps Sanji with his new body it won't be an issue for several reasons. Sanji's flipped eyebrow means the power turns on and off leaving his skin normal. Or Nami's fists/palms will be protected by love. Pudding suggests metal hard skin won't be an issue for Nami.
Dang I was actually hoping that would be a topic of discussion between the two.
Where is Yamato in relation to Momonosuke? On Momo's back? Any ideas what Yamato may have just realized?
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:ninja:
Anyway, pretty rockin' chap.
This seems to point VERY STRONGLY in the direction of the GG fruit being the one they talked about (IMHO the CP-9 escort 13 years back was enough to seal the deal for me) but hey, I'm still open to it being something else.
Wow! You remember stuff even I had forgotten!
Yeah, I think I had an idea like that from way the hell back that predicted we'd see Wano comprised of the four seasons and that each season would be a simultaneous front. Given how Oda changed Wano's layout something fierce (Kaido's base was initially set in Ringo) I think he publicly mentioned how he wanted Kaido to be located in the winter region but ultimately changed it. I don't remember having that discussion with him privately so I think it's…somewhere. Either way you can go back to the old chapters of Drake in (supposedly) Ringo with Kaido's (no longer) lair in the background. Now it might just be a fort or something.
I think he probably had a similar idea himself but he had to reel it in. In the end, each region did have a certain 'struggle' of sorts, but not on the scale I imagined it could have been. That's largely because I didn't think we'd have this many players. I think I would've drawn those conclusions around the end of Punk Hazard when everything with Kaido fit into place so the scale of the assault wasn't even an option in my mind.
Greg, do you think Luffy's fruit will actually awaken in this battle?
Because your prediction suggests that Kaido will be taken out by Momonosuke with Luffytaro's help (Hence, Momotaro slaying the big bad oni) which I agree with. I had a hard time imagining how would Momo finish off Kaido with Luffy still taking a credit in delivering the final blow in a pretty convincing manner. Until the last couple of weeks with the topic of awakened Devil Fruits being the hot stuff recently.
Now I see the outcome being Luffy using his awakening to stretch whatever sword it is that Momo is going to wield and then release it to increase the momentum of Momo's sword swing against Kaido ten folds to finish him off.
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The Gorosei Knew about Luffy ever since he beat Crocodile which is pretty much since the start
It will feel odd to me that after all his crimes as a notorious pirate he suddenly becomes more important to capture than Robin just because of his devil fruit
It feels like Luffy never used it til now for them to act that way!!
You knew +2 years ago he had that bullshit rubber fruit so why act surprised now?
It makes no sense to me, especially if it goes as predicted
" the rubber rubber is not even its real name '' yeah i will never buy that shit.
weird how it hypes up some people.
I will remain in good faith and hope they're talking about something else, you know something that makes sense and actually exciting.
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The answer to why act only now is Shanks. It seems now likely that the pirate he was talking about is Luffy.
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You knew +2 years ago he had that bullshit rubber fruit so why act surprised now?
The Gomu fruit is said to come from a certain tree. Maybe it's so unique that it's only the fruit to come from a tree, for one reason or another, while the rest of the devil fruits don't.
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It seems to me the story is shaping into Shanks Aizening everything and everything since chapter 1 going according to keikaku.
He had the hat, he had the fruit, gave both to Luffy, he's in cohoots with the elders, he keeps running around to prevent people and events from rocking the boat too much…
Don't know if it'll go all the way to the twist villain reveal, but if what speculated above is true he kinda is anyway, at least to anyone ever being under the impression of this being a story about freedom and self determination. -
The French translation is more vague in the last panels of the CP0 dialog than Steffen one and is closer from the scanlation one. Does anyone know which one is closer from the Japanese version ?
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Zoro got a visit from death right after he claimed he would be the King of Hell, and now apparently in coma
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The Gomu fruit is said to come from a certain tree. Maybe it's so unique that it's only the fruit to come from a tree, for one reason or another, while the rest of the devil fruits don't.
I'm preeeeetty sure that's just an example of the early volume translation weirdness that everyone hopes will eventually get fixed up.
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Greg, do you think Luffy's fruit will actually awaken in this battle?
Because your prediction suggests that Kaido will be taken out by Momonosuke with Luffytaro's help (Hence, Momotaro slaying the big bad oni) which I agree with. I had a hard time imagining how would Momo finish off Kaido with Luffy still taking a credit in delivering the final blow in a pretty convincing manner. Until the last couple of weeks with the topic of awakened Devil Fruits being the hot stuff recently.
Now I see the outcome being Luffy using his awakening to stretch whatever sword it is that Momo is going to wield and then release it to increase the momentum of Momo's sword swing against Kaido ten folds to finish him off.
I don't think it needs to be particularly complicated. I never imagined it being a convoluted move, more of a team-up. What you suggest could totally happen but I feel it would steal Luffy's thunder being an assist. I've always seen both of them finishing this off. And with Kaido's body being that large, it's entirely possible to be doing simultaneous attacks in tandem that compliment each other.
Personally I've always seen Luffy grabbing hold of Momo and launching him into Kaido. That way they both strike and they're both performing direct meaningful attacks.
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The last few chapters confirmed that DF existed around the Void Century. So, vegapunk had nothing to do with them other than experimentation
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The last few chapters confirmed that DF existed around the Void Century. So, vegapunk had nothing to do with them other than experimentation
That, plus Toki's whole time travelling deal, anyway.
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I really think it will be interesting if Shanks snitching on Luffy, assuming I'm right, leads to their next encounter not being a friendly one.
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sees Luffy's 1.5 billion Berries poster
"Guess we will meet soon"
runs to Marie Geoise
"It's right that one, officer!"
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About time to cash in on that investment
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A random thought occurred to me this morning…
We did see Luffy exhibit a strange new power in this act. When he fell off Onigashima, he was able to send his thoughts to both Momonosuke and the Heart Pirates.
In Momonosuke's case, it may be explained as some sort of link between "Joy Boy" and the "Ancient Weapons" or something like that, but what about the Heart Pirates?
Was that some kind of haki we never heard about before? Or could it be related to his awakening?
(Frankly, I hate the thought of Luffy having a different power. I find it really hard to think of a way to do so without also explaining all the rubber powers. There's many other DFs in Onigashima that make more sense for expansion, like Chopper's and Tama's.)
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We did see Luffy exhibit a strange new power in this act. When he fell off Onigashima, he was able to send his thoughts to both Momonosuke and the Heart Pirates.
I interpreted that as another aspect of whatever the Voice of All Things is supposed to do. I could easily be wrong, though
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I interpreted that as another aspect of whatever the Voice of All Things is supposed to do. I could easily be wrong, though
It may be, but it's strange how that explanation feels so detached from everything the arc seems to be building towards to.
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It seems to me the story is shaping into Shanks Aizening everything and everything since chapter 1
If Shanks turned into similar Aizen type of story I'd be very mad at Oda
It's not even initiated well as Luffy ate it by accident and the whole crew was in shock and distress including their captain who also wasn't initiated to steal it, it was Rakki ru who did it.
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Just when you think that luffy vs kaidou is the last battle so we can finally focus only on this, drake gets back up for round two.
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I'm preeeeetty sure that's just an example of the early volume translation weirdness that everyone hopes will eventually get fixed up.
Can we then be sure that trees have nothing to do with the devil fruits though?
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We know from Smiley that once a Devil Fruit user dies their fruit doesn't need to spawn on one particular tree but that a normal fruit seemingly absorbs the powers
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We know from Smiley that once a Devil Fruit user dies their fruit doesn't need to spawn on one particular tree but that a normal fruit seemingly absorbs the powers
Right, but can we guarantee that none of the devil fruits originated from a specific tree at some point?
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Think of it from the translator's perspective. As someone who gets rather obsessive about my writing, I go to great lengths to vary up how I phrase things so that my words flow better, and there's only so many times you can write "Gum Gum Fruit" in a scene without it beginning to feel repetitive.
Most of the big things people tend to think of as fruits come from trees, so assuming a fictional type of fruit would probably come from a fictional type of tree isn't too far fetched, and therefore using "Fruit of the Gum Gum Tree" lets you add in some variation to the phrase "Gum Gum Fruit" while still getting the same concept across. If that translation decision was made early enough in the English-language run, and/or by someone not particularly well-versed in the franchise, they may not have been aware how (or how many) Devil Fruits would be presented going forward.
Could a tree be involved? Sure. But we have zero indication that they are after 20+ years of manga.
More to the point, Devil Fruits are unique, in that there is only one of each type in action at a given time, and they "respawn" at some point after their previous user passes away, seemingly out of another nearby mundane fruit of a "similar" type, if the Smiley situation from Punk Hazard is anything to go by. Which also doesn't really line up with the idea of a particular Devil Fruit "respawning" from single tree located somewhere in the world that is unique to that fruit, to say nothing of the fact that it would allow anyone who controlled that particular tree to lock down access to that particular Devil Fruit at will, whereas in "reality" they more or less seem to just pop up at random.
So yeah, I'm inclined to think the "Gum Gum Tree" is just a bit of early installment translation weirdness from before they'd hammered out official terminology and phrasing - pretty sure I remember Den Den Mushi being called "Snailophone" or something like that at least as late as Little Garden, rather than "Transponder Snails" as they are now, so it's not like they've been perfectly consistent from Day 1…
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Think of it from the translator's perspective. As someone who gets rather obsessive about my writing, I go to great lengths to vary up how I phrase things so that my words flow better, and there's only so many times you can write "Gum Gum Fruit" in a scene without it beginning to feel repetitive.
Most of the big things people tend to think of as fruits come from trees, so assuming a fictional type of fruit would probably come from a fictional type of tree isn't too far fetched, and therefore using "Fruit of the Gum Gum Tree" lets you add in some variation to the phrase "Gum Gum Fruit" while still getting the same concept across. If that translation decision was made early enough in the English-language run, and/or by someone not particularly well-versed in the franchise, they may not have been aware how (or how many) Devil Fruits would be presented going forward.
Could a tree be involved? Sure. But we have zero indication that they are after 20+ years of manga.
More to the point, Devil Fruits are unique, in that there is only one of each type in action at a given time, and they "respawn" at some point after their previous user passes away, seemingly out of another nearby mundane fruit of a "similar" type, if the Smiley situation from Punk Hazard is anything to go by. Which also doesn't really line up with the idea of a particular Devil Fruit "respawning" from single tree located somewhere in the world that is unique to that fruit, to say nothing of the fact that it would allow anyone who controlled that particular tree to lock down access to that particular Devil Fruit at will, whereas in "reality" they more or less seem to just pop up at random.
So yeah, I'm inclined to think the "Gum Gum Tree" is just a bit of early installment translation weirdness from before they'd hammered out official terminology and phrasing - pretty sure I remember Den Den Mushi being called "Snailophone" or something like that at least as late as Little Garden, rather than "Transponder Snails" as they are now, so it's not like they've been perfectly consistent from Day 1…
See, you say all that, and I respect it, but for some reason I'm not sure if I should completely discount the ideas of trees being relevant to devil fruits regardless of early prototype situations.
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The last 15 chapters have always had a jumping scene transition chapter between the major fights (All-Stars, Big Mom and Kaidou), which usually took 2 chapters or so, so it's not surprising.
But do we REALLY need those scenes in the first place?
This is the penultimate battle, you would think Oda will laser focusing on the battle first before delving on like 10+ ongoing sideplots… or, better, finishing those sideplots FIRST on focused chapters, THEN going forward with the final battle.
The most hyped battle is being muddled with unnecessary baggages at this point. Focus is the keyword here.
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But do we REALLY need those scenes in the first place?
This is the penultimate battle, you would think Oda will laser focusing on the battle first before delving on like 10+ ongoing sideplots… or, better, finishing those sideplots FIRST on focused chapters, THEN going forward with the final battle.
The most hyped battle is being muddled with unnecessary baggages at this point. Focus is the keyword here.
It's not really that different from Luffy vs. Lucci, which started relatively early and had this lack of focus so the other SH could be shown fighting too.
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It's not really that different from Luffy vs. Lucci, which started relatively early and had this lack of focus so the other SH could be shown fighting too.
Yeah but in those cases, the SHs are doing something (fighting). Not… running around...