Been awhile since I've weighed in on a chapter discussion, let me crack a few joints here pops knuckles, wiggles neck, feels good man.
Personal opinions on this chapter? Overall it isn't bad. Not as well done as last weeks, in my opinion, but it wasn't bad.
Zoro's flashback was decently handled and funny, though the idea that ANY sword can be as strong as Mihawk's really ruins the idea of having different classes of swords in the first place. Still it was nice to see a reference to his training.
Koala paging in Sabo seems interesting to me, because one would think it would imply there's a bigger threat than Trebol lying around. I would assume Burgess, as he and Sabo deserve a rematch of sorts. Though, it seems a little silly to have that fight happen when "The Last Fight" was the name of he chapter. She could be paging him in to help with Doflamingo, but I find that idea a little obnoxious.
I'm going to have to go with the notion that the Jaya-throwback wasn't that great. I was perfectly okay with the reasoning behind the fight; Bellamy lost and deliriously accepting his current path as the only way in sight of his idol attempting to kill him vs Luffy trying not to kill someone he's come to have a small amount of respect for (how he came about that respect still bugs the heck out of me, after all Bellamy did hint at messing with the sky island residents, I don't think him helping them out of the coliseum or his tragic experience of almost being killed gives him a free pass in that regard.) But I would've preferred a different ending than the one-punch knockout, maybe a gomu gomu no storm up through the floor to show Doflamingo he means business.
I find the cliffhanger executed more effectively with mangastream's translation. Where it seems more like a taunt from Doflamingo to an almost dead Law, rather than Doflamingo checking to make sure Law's dead. Doflamingo has proven continuously he likes seeing Law in particular suffer, so keeping an inches from death Law lying around seems to fit his character quite nicely. The editor's note is totally unnecessary and accentuates the cliffhanger in all the wrong ways.
The bigger issue I'm having with Dressrosa is we're at about 126 chapters for this whole saga (PH +DR), and it's definitely starting to run on fumes when it comes to reading week by week. There are multiple reasons for this:
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We haven't gotten to see half of the Strawhats for awhile, their humor/antics are sorely missed.
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The fights haven't been quite as powerful emotionally, only Diamente vs Kyros had any well established emotinal build up into it, and due to Oda's new style of switching in between fights/action to keep things present, rather than giving a fight 1-2 chapters and turning back time a bit for each fight, it was hampered in that regard.
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The big bad isn't leaving a feeling of threat the same way previous villains have. We all know the fights usually come down to the inevitable Luffy vs Big Bad, but previous Big Bads have always left a more dire threat happening during their fight. Alabasta had the bomb + civil war guys ignoring Vivi, CP9 had the buster call/marines and the very real threat of Lucci killing everyone if Luffy failed, Skypiea had the very real threat of Enel just raining lightning down on anybody anywhere anytime, and thriller bark had Sanji Zoro and Robin almost dying due to their shadows being gone (plus the lurking threat of Kuma we knew about as readers). Doflamingo's bird cage hasn't felt nearly as threatening (maybe if it, I dunno, started shrinking?)
That being said there are some strong positives that have come out of this arc:
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Dressrosa reminds me what I loved about the Whitebeard War, all these active and fleshed out side characters are pretty awesome/fun.
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Oda's writing style has improved in regards to the volume format, chapter's feel like they flow together now rather than just breaking from scene to scene. (Which, I recommend to a lot of reader's who are tired of reading weekly, try reading once a month. I find the current chapter's much more rewarding when I read them in batches of 3 or 4.)
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Doflamingo himself. Outside of his lack of a final threat, he's proving to be one of the most interesting villains this series has seen. He's motivations are layered extensively, and the loyalty he inspires in his family is awesome in how it rivals Luffy's own ability to inspire people.