Well, damn. After the pace of the last few chapters, Iβd thought it would be a little while more before we jumped into these executive fights, but shit really picks up here - thatβs awesome.
Going in chronological order;
-Diamante and Burgess are really freaky, physiologicallyβ¦ But itβs a nice reminder of how diverse Odaβs character designs are (well, the men, at leastβ¦).
-The introduction of Diamanteβs power was a littleβ¦ abrupt, but itβs very cool. Definitely similar to Inazumaβs fruit, but weβve seen a lot of similar powers recently, and it seems like Diamante can do a whole lot more with his - if he can form objects into a wide variety of shapes, as seems to be the case, thisβll be a really interesting fight.
-The Mera-Mera Fruit being attached to the fish is a bit of a twist, and I guess disadvantageous, perhaps to Barto and Diamante as fruit users? Although, given Doflamingoβs history of chicanery, I have to wonder if the fruit is even truly in there. Could just as easily be rigged with a bomb, or something like thatβ¦ Weβll see!
-Seems like Saboβs got a face scar, which could be from the Tenryuubito attack or anything else. I know some people are really anal about Saboβs face not being revealed yet (which I donβt understand - we obviously fucking know itβs him, heβs gonna get a big reveal soon, so donβt sweat it), so I did laugh out loud when I saw the sunglasses over his eyes. I think heβll either be βunmaskedβ over the course of the fight, or do it himself if he ends up winning the final.
-Typical Luffy, charging right inβ¦ But I did love the βwhat the hell is wrong with this fishβ comment.
-Doflamingoβs starting to realize whatβs really going on, and beginning to lose his cool. Interested to see if heβs going to rage out at this point, or calm himself down and try to outwit them. Itβs been said a million times, but for such a clever guy Iβd hate to see him completely blindsided by Luffyβs antics.
-Lao Gβs scene was terrific - another wonderful weirdo on Doffyβs crew. The G-sign, the reading glasses, the shaky legsβ¦ Hope to see more of him now. And it also begs the question of where Dellinger is, and who heβll end up fighting.
-So Pica shows upβ¦ With some kind of stone or clay Logia, perhaps? It could be one of a couple of things, so I wonβt make any serious predictions yet. But the dude is frigginβ imposing either way. Kinemon also seems to have disappearedβ¦ Is he trying to find Kanjuurou, or is there something else going on?
All in all, another really solid chapter - I feel like the next dozen or so are gonna be a pretty wild ride.