Oh, and as for Fujitora. Doflamingo is both a Warlord and a Celestial Dragon who answers to people above Sengoku/Sakazuki. Fujitora can't do anything against him. Even if he arrests him after this, he'll just get out.
If Fuji moves against him, he could lose his place in the Marines. And then he'd be in a pickle with that whole goal of eliminating the Warlord system.
And my dream of Marines winning in the end would finaly be complete, considering they have the biggest gathering of Logia fruits of any faction and exclusive acces to Seastone weapons.
you know, marines are really the weirdest faction in the world. They range from common marine soldiers to some of the most influental people in the world in rank and overall power, with conflicting ideals and widest gaps between defeats and victories. But when the time comes they are the greatest powerhouse of the world: they lose small battles all the time with low ranking marines, but then they also were capable to defeat a yonko and one of his top commanders ensuring the Marines victory at marineford (and Sengoku, Garp and Kizaru didn't even went all out).
After that i'm pretty sure that we won't see another overwhelming victory like that for a long time, maybe even end-series, but at least what Law said after defeating Vergo about "marine gathering forces" for what's coming gives me hope for more victories on their side. (Will Ryokugyu be more Sakazuki-minded than Fujitora?)
Regardless of its king, Dressrosa has been part of the WG for 900 years.
And now the entire kingdom is about to cheer for the strawhats and hate the marines.
This is quite serious. Though I doubt that Aokiji predicted this far ahead.
It's stupid, that's what it is.
Perhaps if Fujitora didn't meekly accept the assessment that marines can't become heroes in this country, it would have been different. What the hell are they going to do, throw rocks at him if he would crush Doflamingo? What possible reason they would have to not be thankful for his assistance?
The entire "We hate WG for some inexplicable reason" stuff was stupid when Viola did it, and it hasn't become any less stupid since then. You can't blame them for anything, you were happy with Doflamingo yourself up untill this afternoon, you morons!
@Daz:
Uh huh. And the point Darth raised in the first place was how the notion of sending more admirals to Dressrosa, as Aokiji suggested, seems silly considering how much the story and tension is strained by even one.
Aokiji presents it as potentially the greatest threat to the new marines, a dire situation that all admirals should mobilize for- but now we see that more than Fujitora would have been insane overkill. Yes, Aokiji did not know this, but thats not the point in this case.
This does not mean that sending 2 admirals with forces to neutralize Doflamingo with his crew isnt biggest action that marines had to take in last 2 years.
The point of sending 2 admirals is for making it overkill on Doflamingo and taking him out as fast as possible.
Doflamingo told his crew that it would be difficult to take out Fujitora but he grinned and said something along lines that suggested it as possible.
Im out of discussion, that stuff is draining and its like pulling lines with a bunch of stubborn people that dont consider anything else beside their own thoughts..
Back to doing more enjoyable stuff 
Making Fujitora stronger than all Seats + Doflamingo is unresonable to say the least.
Admiral is the strongest weapon of the marines, they only have 3. I don't count Akainu here since I don't think FA takes part of the action, at least not as much as the admirals.
1 admiral should be more then enough to handle 1 pirate crew that is not yonkou, or else marines would never stand a chance with all the pirates out there if they would need 2 out of 3 admirals just for Doflamingo pirates.
@Nex:
Oh, and as for Fujitora. Doflamingo is both a Warlord and a Celestial Dragon who answers to people above Sengoku/Sakazuki. Fujitora can't do anything against him. Even if he arrests him after this, he'll just get out.
If Fuji moves against him, he could lose his place in the Marines. And then he'd be in a pickle with that whole goal of eliminating the Warlord system.
Bullshit. He is an ex-Celestial Dragon, and Fujitora has the authority to revoke his title as a Warlord. This is in fact pointed out by Maynard.
And since being beaten by Luffy does not revoke either of those titles, if what you say is true, then any victory on part of protagonist is going to be meaningless, since Doflamingo cannot be arrested, and Luffy won't kill him. Great, Doflamingo is going to be the king no matter what.
That was my original point. It's clear that Oda struggles to make Doflamingo crew appear even midly competent after what he put them through with their arrogance and odds being overwhelmingly in favor of Straw Hats.
Fujitora is just the icing on the cake; the incredibly powerful figure that is forced to do nothing because any intervention on his part instantly break the tension. This chapter would be a prime example of that: He just randomly, after tens of chapters of doing bloody nothing, gets up, and decides now is the time to help the citizens. And it of course coincides with Pica attacking.
It's so obvious Oda doesn't know what to do with him it's painful.
Now that I think about it:
why did Oda end Fuji's fight with Sabo? It has served absolutely no significance to the plot whatsoever and judging from how things will turn out now, it won't be significant either. Unless Oda actually surprise us and just make Fuji destroy Pica and Zoro has to save all that buildup and tension for something else.
Bullshit. He is an ex-Celestial Dragon, and Fujitora has the authority to revoke his title as a Warlord. This is in fact pointed out by Maynard.
I think the problem here is Doula Mongo having the WG under blackmail.
I think the problem here is Doula Mongo having the WG under blackmail.
Very nice remembering this little tidbit. Here is another: Fujitora does not know about it. Actually, as far as we can tell, no-one except for Celestial Dragons does.
You can't use knowledge that is available on meta level to yourself as a justification for characters actions. Rationalisation will only get you that far. Fujitora does not know, therefore it can't be motivation for his actions.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Now that I think about it:
why did Oda end Fuji's fight with Sabo? It has served absolutely no significance to the plot whatsoever and judging from how things will turn out now, it won't be significant either. Unless Oda actually surprise us and just make Fuji destroy Pica and Zoro has to save all that buildup and tension for something else.
Fujitora doing something? Yeah, that isn't going to happen.
I like this chapter quite a bit more than the last chapter.
I like that it shows that Robin can take quite a bit of damage. The panel with Fujitora helping the citizens. But most importantly, set-up to make a defeat have some weight. I wouldn't mind if Pica goes down next chapter after this one. Last week was really rushed and didn't have much weight to it. A set-up or simply even an extra chapter like this could've done wonders for that fight. Also, the Pica statue at the end looked really cool.
That said, I'm still disappointed that Rebecca didn't get to prove that she's stronger now - it's annoying because that's what her motivation initially was - she didn't want to be protected anymore, but now this fight ended up being about Kyros' desire to protect his loved ones. Diamante also really isn't that interesting of a character compared to most of the other executives. That said, the arc's still not over yet and there still might be a chance for Rebecca to do something. Same for Robin getting a full fight. Robin's injured, but I can see her powering through it. If anything, it would make for a extra awesome possible match against Trebol because she is injured - I'm still really happy with Robin this arc. It's been a long while since she's gotten to do so much and have these cool moments.
Bullshit. He is an ex-Celestial Dragon, and Fujitora has the authority to revoke his title as a Warlord. This is in fact pointed out by Maynard.
And since being beaten by Luffy does not revoke either of those titles, if what you say is true, then any victory on part of protagonist is going to be meaningless, since Doflamingo cannot be arrested, and Luffy won't kill him. Great, Doflamingo is going to be the king no matter what.
An Ex-Celestial Dragon who the CD's can do nothing about because he knows their most guarded secret, so he gets to be on anyway. If he wants to be a Warlord he'll be one. If Fujitora revokes it, he just gets himself reinstated and gets Fujitora fired. Doflamingo is the most powerful enemy we have ever seen in the series.
And as for who is going to stop Doflamingo. That would be Kaidou. As soon as the factory is gone, Doflamingo has lost. Luffy beating him at this point will be a symbolic victory. And yes, Fujitora may take him away after the fact, but if he gets orders from Sakazuki, he'll be told to take Luffy and Law as well.
Beyond this, did everyone who's complaining about Fujitora get this annoyed with Smoker in Alabasta, because he's doing pretty much what Smoker did, except he's actually staying in town to help protect the civilians.
Very nice remembering this little tidbit. Here is another: Fujitora does not know about it. Actually, as far as we can tell, no-one except for Celestial Dragons does.
You can't use knowledge that is available on meta level to yourself as a justification for characters actions. Rationalisation will only get you that far. Fujitora does not know, therefore it can't be motivation for his actions.
Does he really not know, though? Kuzan, for example, seemed to know plenty.
Fujitora doing something? Yeah, that isn't going to happen.
I'm totally not expecting that either. Although the little optimist in my dark, cynical heart is still folding his hands in prayer.
zoro putting his bandana on will hasta la vista pica nice knowing ya buddy
@Nex:
An Ex-Celestial Dragon who the CD's can do nothing about because he knows their most guarded secret, so he gets to be on anyway. If he wants to be a Warlord he'll be one. If Fujitora revokes it, he just gets himself reinstated and gets Fujitora fired. Doflamingo is the most powerful enemy we have ever seen in the series.
And as for who is going to stop Doflamingo. That would be Kaidou. As soon as the factory is gone, Doflamingo has lost. Luffy beating him at this point will be a symbolic victory. And yes, Fujitora may take him away after the fact, but if he gets orders from Sakazuki, he'll be told to take Luffy and Law as well.
Beyond this, did everyone who's complaining about Fujitora get this annoyed with Smoker in Alabasta, because he's doing pretty much what Smoker did, except he's actually staying in town to help protect the civilians.
A) Yes.
B) Smoker wasn't an Admiral and him not being around was actually a decent excuse.
C) The setup was different.
D) If Doflamingo is that influential, he will just stay in Dressrosa and get Marine Admiral protection detail for himself. What, he can fire them, but not have them as body guards?
Doflamingo's political power cannot possibly be this absolute, because if it was, there would be no way to depose him.
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Does he really not know, though? Kuzan, for example, seemed to know plenty.
And Kuzan was implied learning those things because he wasn't in Marines anymore.
Not to mention we don't know what Kuzan did and didn't know for that matter.
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I'm totally not expecting that either. Although the little optimist in my dark, cynical heart is still folding his hands in prayer.
Honestly? I have resolved myself to being disappointed by him in this arc, and I will instead play Kaizoku Musou 3 when it comes out. All currently shown Admirals as playable characters? Hell yeah.
Shame I have to turn to tertiary material to have Marines do something, but hey, I will take what I can get.
I'm pretty sure Fujitora knows Dofla is off limits for some reason. Even if he isn't instructed, he has "seen" enough to connect the dots.
Smoker actually did something. He did what Koala was doing here - looking for evidence. Fuji on the other hand, he may have some hidden agenda, but if so he does a very bad job at covering it.
Which Lil B song is that quote from?
Honestly I can't remember for the life of me and Google doesn't seem to know either, back when I was compiling his Discography I listened to every song a few times to make sure I didn't have 2 of the same tracks, and that's when I heard that verse.
"I live Based, so don't try to be Based" - Lil B
I'm pretty sure Fujitora knows Dofla is off limits for some reason. Even if he isn't instructed, he has "seen" enough to connect the dots.
And he would care, because?
You know, blackmail only works if you are alive to blackmail somebody. Which is why Doflamingo said the offer was made after he proved to be difficult to remove.
The entire thing about Doflamingo being off-limits has no justification whatsoever within the storyline. Especially for the supposedly moral character like Fujitora.
I thought Fuji was laying off Doffy so that the Dressrosa incident would become uncontainable and prevent another corrupt Shichibukai being covered up?
_"_Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!" - Auron
How infamous is Zoro ? So many people are watching his fight right now. After this arc, the entire world will know his name.
Unless Usopp takes all the credit.
Honestly I can't remember for the life of me and Google doesn't seem to know either, back when I was compiling his Discography I listened to every song a few times to make sure I didn't have 2 of the same tracks, and that's when I heard that verse.
I managed to find it after remembering some google search functions:
http://genius.com/Lil-b-its-alright-remix-based-freestyle-lyrics
SWAG
And he would care, because?
You know, blackmail only works if you are alive to blackmail somebody. Which is why Doflamingo said the offer was made after he proved to be difficult to remove.
The entire thing about Doflamingo being off-limits has no justification whatsoever within the storyline. Especially for the supposedly moral character like Fujitora.
If Fujitora suddenly started attacking Doula Mongo, the latter would just reveal the secret to the entire Dressrosa.
And thus, everybody in the country now would know WG's greatest secret.
Well, I guess he made some security measures like if he gets taken out, his knowledge will spread around. So he might have someone else who might set it off or he's just bluffing because such a person might be quite riskful to him as well.
@Nex:
Couldn't even make it through all 12 pages. AP, you disappoint me. Can't we have just one chapter where the thread isn't overwhelmed with bitching, because this is getting pretty tiresome.
People here don't understand the term. Also, "one-shot" is confusing for most.
Fishman Island was less real friendship and more symbolic. It was important to Brohoshi because it was the bridge for relations between men and fishmen more than anything between he and Luffy.
As for Luffy and Bellamy… If people remember I was probably the biggest decrier of both Bellamy and the tournament. I hated that Oda brought him back and wanted him to become a...sympathetic character. But much like Luffy, I eventually came around because you could tell something about him was different. For Luffy, it was when Bellamy told him that he would not laug at him anymore. For me, it was the "Bellamy, the Pirate" chapter. They're firends in the loosest sense of the word. But that's all Luffy needs.
Even if they weren't friends. Seeing how Doffy treated a devoted member of his crew would be enough to piss Luffy off.
For crying out loud, when he loses next chapter it won't be a "oneshot." Him and Zoro have been fighting for a while now. They've exchanged blows. Zoro has already cut him and made him cough up blood. Yes, he'll lose in some big flashy move (as is the Shonen Way) but he will not have been "oneshotted."
What kind of fight have they been having? Because I dont see much of one. Pica has been running away. What damages has he suffered? Dont worry ill wait. All Zoro has been doing is slashing stone. He is not injured at all. The way this chapter is set up is implying that as soon as Zoro locates Picas real body, one hit from him will defeat him. That is a one shot
I always thought the line about mobilizing the admirals had at least something to do with all the shit involving Doflamingo, not just the mingo himself, who is obviously a pretty formidable threat in terms of strength and influence, but still probably not worth many admirals after him (even though Law implied that it's common business to send the admirals after rogue Sichis as a procedure, I guess the safer the better).
He's a guy that has dealings with a shit ton of shady brokers (¿remember the shadowy figures, some implied to mean business if provoked, like that Jack or wathever?), and I don't necessarily mean that in times of need Doffy can call an army of super powered pirates that usually do business with him, since I'm quite sure some of em will be happy to see a rival businessman go, but what his actions can provoke some dangerous ripples, like ganging up for the spoils left in his wake and stuff like that. Taking control of the New World's weapon dealings, for example.
And last but not least, Kaido. If Doffy goes down, Kaido unleashes his fury upon him, probably meaning a nice side dish of casualties. And Aokiji knows probably every single one of these elements considering he himself is a shadow broker right now.
Also, I'd honestly wait to see if there's something else with Fuji going on. Akainu was on his way to questioning the Elders, maybe they got the answer and it was "no touching Dofla and that's definitive", and Fuji knows about it? He's been specially vague during the climax, and he wants his men to believe the fight with Sabo was a complete stalemate that drained him or injured him or wathever while stepping into the sidelines. But I've said this like a hundred times to no avail, so yeah, wathever.
If Fujitora suddenly started attacking Doula Mongo, the latter would just reveal the secret to the entire Dressrosa.
And thus, everybody in the country now would know WG's greatest secret.
A) That's operating under assumption Fujitora knows, for which you don't have even an indication, much less concrete proof.
B) You still haven't said why would Fujitora care. If he knew, of which you have no proof.
This was a nice chapter. Diamante's little flashback was nice cause not only did it show that he was sadistic and not a redeemable guy, but it also showed us how Scarlet's death affected the other members of the Riku family. For some reason it was satisfying to see Robin's back all bloody and scarred. (Maybe I'm an S?)
Pica also seems to be cold-hearted and plans on winning at any cost. We got some cool looking attacks from him too. All the landscape destruction and reshaping to me is very interesting and makes for gorgeous panels to look at. I'm also glad his giant statue didn't go to waste cause I think it's a really unique way of fighting and has a lot more potential then what it has previously shown. Zoro coming up with all these different plans on the spot was funny. I don't get all the hate for Zoro being badass and having the mentality to just cut everything. That's always how Zoro has been and it doesn't bother me in the slightest, but it's all up to opinions, so I won't argue it or say people are wrong for thinking otherwise.
Based on the chapter title alone I had a gut feeling that this would be the start of their battle and that it wouldn't be concluded in a single chapter. I like that it will continue at least another chapter even though I feel it should have happened with Senor Pink and Diamante. Plus the picnic is getting interrupted and Fujitora and the Marines are (actually?) going to do something. I'm actually intrigued to read the next chapter to see where all of this is going to go.
I thought Fuji was laying off Doffy so that the Dressrosa incident would become uncontainable and prevent another corrupt Shichibukai being covered up?
If that was the case, he would not be placing his bets on Luffy, as said with his conversation with King Riku. Neither would he try to protect citizens, because that's counter productive to that goal.
He cannot make this incident any larger, unless he would allow him to kill everybody including himself.
At this point, I'm going to force myself to abstain from any and all discussions on Fujitoras motives and actions until the arc is over.
Maybe I'm injecting waay too much logic here, but surely some wandering ship on the ocean has noticed the mass of strings covering the island at this point? Maybe it's because we've jumped around from Luffy and Law fighting Dofla that it feels like it's been ages, where actually it's been…an hour or two?
I thought Fuji was laying off Doffy so that the Dressrosa incident would become uncontainable and prevent another corrupt Shichibukai being covered up?
That's what I have always thought, Fujitora is waiting to see how the fight pans out between Luffy an Doffy, if Doffy loses then Fujitora does not need to do anything and it will all go public. Would also damage the Shichibukai system which is exactly what Fujitora and Akainu wants. Will be interesting to see what the Elder Stars think when they find out Doffy has been arming Kaidou with artificial df's. When Kaidou finds out that Doffy can no longer supply smiles its going to be more like "Get Doffy" than One Piece with everyone gunning for him, better for him if he ends up in Impel Down.
P.S For the love of God Zoro stop f**king about and put Pika down, I understand that Pika's purpose is to keep Zoro busy as I doubt he would be seriously challenged by any of Doffy's officers except perhaps Trebol and thus would screw up the various battles we have had. Still… it is getting old now.
@Daz:
At this point, I'm going to force myself to abstain from any and all discussions on Fujitoras motives and actions until the arc is over.
Sigh You might be right on that one. And at this point, is just me pointing at the same stuff over and over and people going "It might be explained later" and "If Fujitora secretly has this knowledge that he was never implied having then it all makes sense" or even "Maybe he is secretly the best Machiavellan ever!".
I will wait until the arc is over, when we will know everything about his motivation, and then I will explain why it sucks. Unless he really is the best Machiavellan ever.
And he would care, because?
You know, blackmail only works if you are alive to blackmail somebody. Which is why Doflamingo said the offer was made after he proved to be difficult to remove.
The entire thing about Doflamingo being off-limits has no justification whatsoever within the storyline. Especially for the supposedly moral character like Fujitora.
Who knows. But, sometimes when you're having an argument about a topic, you don't consider all the possibilities.
Maybe Fujitora wants to "survive" this incident as an admiral so he can see the institution of Shichibukai brought down. If you think about it, standing on the side and not clearly helping Dofla or the enemies is the least risky way to do it, especially when dealing with the Shichibukai whose position is probably the most protected out of all of them. If Dofla fails, he can always blame it on him refusing to listen and bringing down his own demise. At the same time, he's doing his best to protect as much civilians as he can.
I agree, there are some possible holes, but it sure beats discussing it to such lengths before the arc is even resolved.
Fuji is just having a really hard time finding the bathroom.
A blind man can't work on a full bladder.
Set Art by Daily Rowlet
@Galaxy:
We literally just had a flashback of Pink in 775.
But… the flashbacks seem to be designated for the slightly "redeemable" characters, so I really doubt Pica is getting one.
You never know with Oda on whom he'll redeem or at least show why they're like that, besides I could be wrong about Pica getting a flashback or right about Pica getting a mini one at best. It's hard to say that We're not getting a flashback for anyone in the arc when there are a lot of flashbacks in this arc.
I still, have no idea what I'm doing
What kind of fight have they been having? Because I dont see much of one. Pica has been running away. What damages has he suffered? Dont worry ill wait. All Zoro has been doing is slashing stone. He is not injured at all. The way this chapter is set up is implying that as soon as Zoro locates Picas real body, one hit from him will defeat him. That is a one shot
zoro being epic !
still wondering, what's up with burgess?
He only destroyed stone. Or am I missing something because Pica is only shocked.
He only destroyed stone. Or am I missing something because Pica is only shocked.
Pica is spitting blood.
@vlad:
zoro being epic !
still wondering, what's up with burgess?
He may have already left the island empty handed, must admit would be a waste if he has though.
@Farsighted:
You never know with Oda on whom he'll redeem or at least show why they're like that, besides I could be wrong about Pica getting a flashback or right about Pica getting a mini one at best. It's hard to say that We're not getting a flashback for anyone in the arc when there are a lot of flashbacks in this arc.
Usually the bad guys who are allowed a sympathetic angle are folks who we haven't seen do stuff that bad. Sure, Pink is partly responsible for many lives lost with supporting Doflamingo, but the difference here is that most is implied/left to the readers imagination, while with Pika and Diamante for example, he goes out of his way to make them seem as detestable as possible. Diamante physically and emotionally torturing Rebecca, Pika harming innocent bystanders and actually going for wounded people.
It's not entirely impossible, but very unlikely, since the three seats are all inhuman monsters. Kinda like how characters like Spandam and Hody have no room for redemption.
Could someone with a good grasp of the Japanese language please help me here? Is it true that the kanji for 7 (七) is also associated with the meaning "to cut, to dice"? Hence the chapter number?
Pica is spitting blood.
That's it? It's just a little blood coming out of his mouth. That's not that serious
Still… it is getting old now.
This whole entire arc is getting old.
I will wait until the arc is over, when we will know everything about his motivation, and then I will explain why it sucks. Unless he really is the best Machiavellan ever.
Maybe that's just Ramen Justice.. no but in all seriousness if we do get an explanation it probably will suck if Oda couldn't just give us a reasonable explanation by now.
"I live Based, so don't try to be Based" - Lil B
That's it? It's just a little blood coming out of his mouth. That's not that serious
Damage is damage. You asked for it.
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Maybe that's just Ramen Justice.. no but in all seriousness if we do get an explanation it probably will suck if Oda couldn't just give us a reasonable explanation by now.
That's a pretty stupid way of thinking considering Oda tends to explain several things only later.
For example, Law's motivations.
Damage is damage. You asked for it.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
That's a pretty stupid way of thinking considering Oda tends to explain several things only later.
For example, Law's motivations.
And his crew is still a joke
Okay chapter I guess… point up for Robin proving that she can, indeed, get injured. And Diamante just got knocked out by a grave, that's new.
Now can we finally get Pica out of the way?
It's a shame that Pica gets killed before his intro in the anime.
And his crew is still a joke
Mr. 1, Ohm and Ryuma all got one-shotted actually.
In this regard, Pica is actually doing better.
