What a crazy chapter to leave things on going into a break. Volume 105 is building to its conclusion soon and I'm absolutely buzzing about it. The cover story alone is huge, confirming Kuzan's status as a full fledged Blackbeard Pirate. I'm willing to believe it too, at this stage. Theories have flown for years about him possibly being a double agent or building up his own agenda for his own sake of justice, but it's hard to imagine any justification for putting a resource as big as Pudding in Blackbeard's hands unless you're all in for his endgame.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see more of Blackbeard and Law fighting right out of the gate. Giving Law's crew a chance to shine is especially good, they were long overdue for a moment. Having them be underwater specialists goes a bit of a way to justify their lack of big moments on Onigashima but it still would have been nice to see a snippet of them taking out some fodder with surprise attacks from the castle moat or in the bathhouse or something. Better late then never though, and their quick, stealthy operation to hit the raft ship from underwater while the captains clash above gives us a good idea of how this crew usually works together. All that said, it took me a moment to work out what Law was actually doing on the first spread that was so different from his normal operations. I think it's that he generated his Room around Blackbeard, Doc and Stronger instead of around himself and was able to use his amputation moves without personally going inside it. It's definitely a step up in threat level from the unawakened version, which you could keep relatively safe from by staying away from the user.
Pretty funny having Doc ask directly if Stronger is dead and then continue assuming he is even after Stronger actually responds to that first question.
I like the different philosophies at play among the high level combatants in the world. Kaido thought that Haki conquered all, but Blackbeard clearly thinks differently. Law has no compunction about exploiting the common weakness of Blackbeard's specialised crew, which might be part of why he had such a ruthless reputation at his introduction.
Pudding showing up in the actual chapter is super interesting. I don't think we've ever had a cover story play into the main plot so immediately and directly. She still looks pretty scuffed up, so either they've been treating her roughly or the Tottoland invasion happened closer to the present than I was picturing. The timeline issues thicken. Oda plays Big Mom's status close to his chest. Honestly, I think she is dead, but it's not clear if Pudding was captured before something like that could be confirmed via Vivre Card.
I'm not going to pat myself on the back for calling the idea of the future version SBS asks being canonised by Bonney's fruit because honestly it was low-hanging fruit, but I still love seeing it. Curious that Luffy looks at his bad future counterpart instead of the good one. I suppose he's only on the good track after he becomes King of the Pirates, right?
Jinbe's summary of Kuma's life is curious in its contrast to what we've been shown previously. Neither the childhood Kuma from the SBS or Bonney's flashback from last chapter showed him in the royal regalia of Jinbe's mental image, in fact he looked quite poor. I think we've got a bit more still to learn about Kuma's life and the way the World Government (presumably) massaged his image into that of a tyrant to discredit his opposition to them. All that alongside the deal made to give up his life and be a cyborg, which Oda is hinting will be relevant soon. Bonney may think he was coerced or tricked into doing it, but after seeing the way Kuma made the long term play in separating the Straw Hats at Sabaody and was able to work with Vegapunk to have his final mission to protect the Sunny programmed in, I think we'll find Kuma submitted to in some way serve a greater good.
And then there's the special people comment. Oda doesn't draw Kuma with any distinct skin tone, and he lacks anything like wings (as does Bonney), so what is it that makes his race special? It would have to be an ability of some kind, or a symbolic heritage being passed down (maybe in the form of a unique, secret special initial, if I really want to take a shot in the dark.)
Bonney getting a lightsaber is a really fun development. Hope she gets at least one decent fight with it.
We get a little more Egghead worldbuilding as the crew are carried up to the lab, and it's still cool and vibrant and interesting. Good attention to detail having Franky setting foot on sky island clouds for the first time.
I would say it's a shame to have Zoro and Brook sidelined so soon, but when have the characters who remain on the ship ever been totally left out of the plot? Short of Zoro sleeping through Gaimon's chapter in the series' first year and Franky spending most of Punk Hazard bringing the ship around the island, the stay-behind group always gets drawn in one way or another. The only real loss is not getting new outfits for them alongside the rest.
And speaking of, they're an interesting lot. It's a tiny personal thing, but I appreciate the levers on the boots being given an actual function. After mistaking them for number 6-related design elements during the whole Atlas number mixup it feels like closure to have Oda telling me what they're for. For the rest of it, they certainly fit the mood of the arc, but are a little mixed to my personal aesthetic tastes. Is Sanji's top a Hawaiian shirt with a hood? What a fashion statement! I like Usopp's jacket, but the full length bodysuit looks a little too featureless on him. Needs a seam or some more creases to break it up. (Lilith's design has a similar issue and an equally cool jacket). Franky looks great in his visor and the clockwork key in his head is fun. Will it turn out to be a hat, or his new hairstyle?
And then there's Nami and Robin in pure fanservice mode. Nami's getup has a hood, a high neck and a plush looking trim on some of the edges, making it look suited for the island's natural winter climate, until you look at the bare arms and legs. But hey, Sanji's shirt has a similar contradiction, so maybe it's intentional. Kinda fits with the setting being a winter island with tropical air conditioning, right? I love Robin's jacket and its chunky arms but is that a goddamn suspender bikini bottom underneath? The future's fashion is wild. I'd be lying if I said I didn't find the looks cool, regardless of their practicality.
Interesting that everyone has an earpiece with an antenna now. Are we going to have the crew be more in-contact than ever, even during the split-up portions of this arc? Oh no, Zoro's going to be one of the only ones without one. Was his guard the ship choice just a play to get him wandering the island with no one to guide him?
Is it just me, or has Oda been leaning hard on the fanservice lately? Black Maria fighting topless, Robin's ultimate move coming out naked despite her other full body clones having clothes, the post-battle bathhouse scene, Bonney wringing out her shirt, and now her, Robin and Nami all set up to spend the coming arc casually pantsless. The ass-emphasising camera angle in Bonney's last panel this chapter also stands out. Oda's never skimped on drawing female characters in a way that appeals to him and playing with suggestive outfits. We've had one-off bath scenes in a couple of past arcs too. But I can't recall him using this much nudity over so many characters in such a short amount of time. I don't want to sound like some horrible puritan who thinks artists shouldn't draw things they're attracted to just to enjoy looking at them, or that they shouldn't write societies with looser nudity taboos than the real world, or that readers can't enjoy it when they do or anything dumb like that - all those things can work or fall flat based on execution and consistency of tone - I'm just making an observation that things seem a little hornier around here than they used to be.
You probably shouldn't try to get away with calling a leotard combat gear though. Not fooling anyone with that one, Oda.
The final scene puts Vegapunk in league with the Revolutionaries, which is a really cool development that makes a lot of sense in hindsight, given the Kuma stuff. If this has come out, it explains Cipher Pol's sudden decision to kill the scientists as well. I'm not expecting this to be a full on Revolutionaries arc, just due to Dragon being on the other side of the world, but all new details are welcome. I'm most interested to see where Vegapunk's personal politics end up sitting, given how much harm he's helped the World Government cause. It's hard to picture him as a full-on Revolutionary, but I got a sense of familiarity from his exchange with Dragon, so it doesn't feel like this is a new association.
I'm having a fantastic time in this new arc and hope to see things heat up further as we go into the final few chapters of this volume after the break.