We're back again, for what I assume to be the last chapter of volume 97. It makes for a pretty good set of chapters, probably the most consistent Wano volume so far following a long run of setup volumes so dense with worldbuilding and character intros that it was often hard to figure out the direction the arc was going. 97 is still doing setup work for the real fighting, but at this stage all the new elements are much more cohesively pointed toward the arc's conclusion, even if there's still a way to go.
The cover story stretches on another chapter, even if the double-Enel face is a lot of fun. After this I'm expecting the twist that wraps it up - like Caribou being on one of Kaido's islands, Enel's moon lore and so on and so forth. Soon the slow sections will be worth it. Soooooon.
I'm surprised at the amount of debate over Blunder Bagua. I thought it was a really clever way to handle the joke. You're not translating a joke if you just write in the corner "this was really funny in Japanese, we swear." And you can explain all you want why it was funny in Japanese, that doesn't make it funny in English. If Oda's intent was for the panel to be funny and the translation doesn't make it funny, you've failed the author's intent, no matter how "accurate" and unchanged the translation otherwise is. And, of course, by not having it work as a joke, you get people like Drumztv on the first page of the thread just looking at the use of numbers in the wordplay and taking the line seriously as a legitimate power scaling thing (somehow missing the the Bam sound effect and comedically timed blood coughing that were also meant to play up the ridiculousness of what she's saying).
The infiltration of the party is a great scene that calls back to the fake smiles of Ebisu town - their situation forces the samurai to smile and laugh externally while they're suffering inside, just like so many others victimised by Kaido and Orochi's rule. Sincere smiles and laughter have always been central to One Piece's philosophy and storytelling (you might call the whole thing some kind of "laugh tale" even), so Wano really stands out for repeatedly emphasising forced and masking smiles, and turning them into a sign of suffering.
Some absolutely gorgeous spreads this week, with the submarine breaching the water being a real highlight. I love the way Wano's waters are drawn. It's going to be such a same going back to regular oceans when the arc is done.
I guess most of Law's crew is staying behind. I expected at least Jean Bart to have a role to play, but I guess these guys just aren't really fighters.
Marco talking about spotting a strange shadow at sea is a curious new factor. The obvious answer is Perospero, who we saw coming in last chapter, but I actually doubt that's the case. After kicking the Queen Mama Chantre off the waterfall, Marco should have been miles ahead of Perospero, way too far ahead to see him approaching. I think this has to be something else. Something bigger, maybe, like Zunesha hanging around the outside of Wano, waiting for his orders.
Izo is here (and Cat has a cool new gun arm) which is great, but the real reason his intro spread is exciting is that his kimono doesn't match the person who was "surprised [marco] got involved" a couple of chapters ago. That means there's one more important player yet to be revealed, and it's probably the mystery man who met with Crocus just after the timeskip. Nearly nine years we've been left to wonder about that. One Piece just isn't going to feel the same without it hovering over our heads
And then we come to the big reveal of Yamato. Oda's depictions of queer people have always had me in two minds. I wouldn't call them the best out there by any means - with the disgusted reactions of characters like Sanji played as a joke, non-passing crossdressers played for shock and laughs and a whole lot of 'predatory gay' stereotypes - but they've never read as malicious either. The man has a clear affection for Japan's drag scene, he just also has some blind spots that I think come from assuming that ultra-flamboyant and performative environment is indicative of all of queer culture (as well as there certainly being some differences between the Japanese and English-speaking queer cultures that alter what is and isn't acceptable, and far be it from me to say the culture I know is the only one that's got it right). Kiku was a clear improvement over previous efforts, even if the scanlators really did a number on the western community's understanding of her by having her answer the "are you a man" question with a "yes but" as opposed to having her just hit right back with "I'm a woman at heart" like in the original. I also like that Izo hasn't been retconned to match his sister's identity. The distinction between a trans person and someone who just feels right crossdressing is a cool thing to maintain. Yamato though, I have my reservations about. Calling him a daughter in the Odabox while every other character and instance has gone with male pronouns has only created confusion. The idea of making him "Oden-gendered" rather than just feeling more right as a man has shades of the kinds of discourse that tells trans people they're just dressing up in a costume, or accuses them of being 'trans-trenders.' I'll sit back and see where it goes, given that two pages isn't a lot of depiction to make a final judgement on, but I'm wary. That said, obviously I'll be using male pronouns for Yamato. He's made it clear what he goes by, and the respectful way to treat people is to acknowledge that, even if you don't agree or understand their reasons for choosing it.
Hopefully we can be a little better about that here than the reddit threads I've looked in on have been.
Anyway, the implications of Yamato carrying on Oden's will (and being mates with Ace!) are extremely exciting. If we're going to get some series endgame info about the One Piece and the truth of the world after the battle, as expected, this is where it's gonna come from. This is not at all the character I expected to be flinging us forward into the final arcs, but Oda does as he wants, unpredictable as always.
See you all in two weeks for probably the first chapter of volume 98 (unless that one somehow manages to have a better-feeling stopping point than this, but I feel pretty safe in my prediction here).