Next Straw Hat Crewmates (Vol. 8 - Onigashima)

[electricmastro]

@Johnny:

Personally, I think the Weakling Trio need to step it up more. If Big Mom wasn't there, Page One and Ulti would have continued to beat the shit out of them.

Regardless of Usopp being the weakest and Chopper's role as a doctor and whatever else, it still doesn't keep me from thinking how the Straw Hats will one day go up against the forces of Akainu, Blackbeard, and Im, so of course I'd want Chopper and the others to step it up more after they trained two years to help support each other more and that things like Chopper saying that none of his attacks were working against Queen shouldn't just leave him to quit being a fighter just to focus more on being a doctor, because Luffy and the others will always need support in whatever they can do.

[Johnny B. Decent]

@electricmastro:

Regardless of Usopp being the weakest and Chopper's role as a doctor and whatever else, it still doesn't keep me from thinking how the Straw Hats will one day go up against the forces of Akainu, Blackbeard, and Im, so of course I'd want Chopper and the others to step it up more after they trained two years to help support each other more and that things like Chopper saying that none of his attacks were working against Queen shouldn't just leave him to quit being a fighter just to focus more on being a doctor, because Luffy and the others will always need support in whatever they can do.

Alas, having such a tiny crew means they can't afford such a luxury.

[Ghidorah Guy]

@Coookie:

What I want is a dream beyond "go out, be free, have adventures" but still something selfish, so nothing in the direction of "I want to support Luffy as the man who will bring the Dawn"

My best guesses:

1. Yamato declares their intention to retrace Oden's journey.

2. Publishing Oden's adventures…which is kinda complicated in of itself for obvious reasons at the current moment. But that could always change should the truth surrounding the True History inevitably gets out.

3. This is one I'm more inclined to lean towards: as befitting the revelations thus far offered this arc, Yamato may possess some goofy, ludicrous dream that won't be revealed until a later time.

Since a big part of Wano imo will center around belief in the impossible, in miracles, I can't help but think it'll be something as suitably mindboggling as wanting to meet Oden in person.

Then again, could be an all-of-the-above kinda deal. I highly suspect Luffy and his predecessors all possess(ed) multiple dreams, new ones being added to the list with each successive generation -- afterall, Luffy wanting to become Pirate King may not necessarily have been his stated earlier goal to Ace, nor was it evidently Roger's -- so we could also see this extend to the rest of the crew at some point. See Sanji's fixation on gaining the power of invisibility for one.

[BlueOGRE]

@Ghidorah:

My best guesses:

1. Yamato declares their intention to retrace Oden's journey.

2. Publishing Oden's adventures…which is kinda complicated in of itself for obvious reasons at the current moment. But that could always change should the truth surrounding the True History inevitably gets out.

3. This is one I'm more inclined to lean towards: as befitting the revelations thus far offered this arc, Yamato may possess some goofy, ludicrous dream that won't be revealed until a later time.

Since a big part of Wano imo will center around belief in the impossible, in miracles, I can't help but think it'll be something as suitably mindboggling as wanting to meet Oden in person.

Then again, could be an all-of-the-above kinda deal. I highly suspect Luffy and his predecessors all possess(ed) multiple dreams, new ones being added to the list with each successive generation -- afterall, Luffy wanting to become Pirate King may not necessarily have been his stated earlier goal to Ace, nor was it evidently Roger's -- so we could also see this extend to the rest of the crew at some point. See Sanji's fixation on gaining the power of invisibility for one.

didn't she said she wants to open Wano's boarders. which is something that is known since Zou

[electricmastro]

@Ghidorah:

My best guesses:

1. Yamato declares their intention to retrace Oden's journey.

2. Publishing Oden's adventures…which is kinda complicated in of itself for obvious reasons at the current moment. But that could always change should the truth surrounding the True History inevitably gets out.

3. This is one I'm more inclined to lean towards: as befitting the revelations thus far offered this arc, Yamato may possess some goofy, ludicrous dream that won't be revealed until a later time.

Since a big part of Wano imo will center around belief in the impossible, in miracles, I can't help but think it'll be something as suitably mindboggling as wanting to meet Oden in person.

Then again, could be an all-of-the-above kinda deal. I highly suspect Luffy and his predecessors all possess(ed) multiple dreams, new ones being added to the list with each successive generation -- afterall, Luffy wanting to become Pirate King may not necessarily have been his stated earlier goal to Ace, nor was it evidently Roger's -- so we could also see this extend to the rest of the crew at some point. See Sanji's fixation on gaining the power of invisibility for one.

I'd suppose that supporting Luffy as the man who will bring the new Dawn to the entire world would fit in with the highly ambitious worldwide dream like with Jinbe of wanting to bring peaceful equality between humans and fishermen everywhere.

[Syphin]

!
The underlying theme behind the deconstruction of the Beast Pirates is the realignment of their forces allegiance. What initially began as a group of fighters that constituted two pirate crews, a few Samurai, a ninja and the Mink turned into hundreds than an army of thousands before the raid on Onigashima. Such a theme carried forward through the story of Onigashima with it still continuing. The disparity in numbers between the two forces continues to close with the Samurai Rebellion on the path to growing larger than the Beast Pirates force. It has been set-up to happen. And it will happen. The whole Onigashima story has been building up toward Luffy taking Yamato away from Kaido.

On the journey to Onigashima, the first major turn began with Kyoshiro revealing his identity (Denjiro) and allegiance to the Kozuki family. The Samurai Rebellion force was bolstered from 4,200 to 5,400. Further into the arc, X Drake’s undercover operation is burned and he abandons the Beast Pirates to throw his lot in with the Straw Hat Pirates + Samurai Rebellion as an army of one.

When the Ice Oni virus is released by Queen, Hyogoro exploited its affliction to turn its power back on the Beast Pirates as it temporarily returned him back to peak strength. Chopper used the antibody Queen made to base his own virus creation that nullifies the Ice Oni virus. The compassion and understanding Chopper showed melted the hearts and fear of the Ice Oni virus from the Pleasures and Waiters subject to Queen’s cruelty and heartlessness. As a result, the 4,000 Pleasures and Waiters present on the Performance Floor turned their back on Queen and the Beast Pirates and sided with Chopper and the Samurai Rebellion.

The development between Nami and Zeus continues from the Whole Cake Island Arc with Nami completely winning Zeus over here after being targeted for extermination by Big Mom. Tama is given the opportunity to use her Devil Fruit powers on Onigashima and as a result of issuing the order for those that consumed her Kibi Dango to shift sides to help Luffy and Momonosuke, about 300 SMILE users turned on the Beast Pirates. Subsequently, this is turn caused the followers of some of the Headliner’s to join the Samurai rebellion – roughly a thousand.

With the Beast Pirates forces dwindling, it is only a matter of time before the Oniwabanshu and the Mimawarigumi, which numbered 5,000 each before the start of the battle (10,000 in total), turn on the Beast Pirates. I suspect this is part of the reason for why Hiyori has been saved for this point in the arc. Hiyori’s appearance, message and resolution will catalyst another shift in allegiances. The realisation of the battle she has been fighting for 20 years will inspire those once loyal to the Kozuki clan to remember why they made such a commitment in the first place. Momonosuke’s reappearance and transformation will be saved for a different development. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the Numbers, Apoo and Hawkins eventually turn on the Beast Pirates. Usohachi, the sibling hunter, is already displaying his power to win over undecided Beast Pirate soldiers.

Even Kaido’s Mythical Dragon Devil Fruit powers are being used against him thanks to Momonosuke and Vegapunk’s Artificial Devil Fruit. Everything that makes the Beast Pirates such a terrifying force is being deconstructed and consumed by the Samurai Rebellion.

At present, Kaido does not believe there is place within the hearts of the Wano people or humans in general for acceptance of Yamato. Due to his own past, such a context has become his truth. Once Kaido is made aware of the current state of the Beast Pirates and arrives at the realisation his plans are beginning to crumble in front of him, Luffy will deal the final blow and express his intention to also “take” his son, Yamato, away from [New] Onigashima i.e. aboard his ship. Bathed in such a reality, Kaido will come to know defeat and the narrow-mindedness of his perspective.

!
The Straw Hat Pirates are also meant to be a reflection of the Rocks Pirates in regards to their strength but a deviation in terms on their bonds and relations. Fear, power and ambition kept the Rocks Pirates together but when they met a wall they couldn’t pass, they collapsed. The Straw Hat Pirates have since entering Wano encountered numerous walls and have yet to crumble as Kaido suspected, expected and believed only possible. The bond Luffy has with Yamato will be the revelation that shatters Kaido’s perspective on the world, pirates and possibilities.

[Zik]

@Nilitch:

Wow mate, I love you, but what's the sudden disdain for Zoro-boy ?

Why does it have to be disdain? It's just wanting a character to be stronger than Zoro and Sanji.

[Shiebs]

I wonder how many Black Beard members have conquer’s haki?

[Zik]

@Shiebs:

I wonder how many Black Beard members have conquer’s haki?

Would be cool if its zero.

Including BB.

Then they come with an alternative against all odds way to fight those users.

[Shiebs]

@Zik:

Would be cool if its zero.

Including BB.

Then they come with an alternative against all odds way to fight those users.

Stop it you’ll get the people on these forums rooting against the Straw Hats

[Robby]

Blackbeard was SO desperate to get the darkness fruit to turn off devil fruits, I do wonder if he's get lousy Haki. I know the vivre cards say he has it but…

yes, he uses the word haki a couple times, but he did it in such a way and time in the series he might have actually been saying lowercase verb "spirit" rather than capital Named ablity "Haki". In Japanese anyhway. .

[Syphin]

Blackbeard will probably get a Zoan devil fruit that will allow him to harden (Mythical Turtle?) because the one area he is glaringly lacking in is his defense.

Also considering how contained Oda has kept the Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi, I expect that Devil Fruit to be taken by one of the Blackbeard Pirates. Unless Oda plans to unleash Orochi in the climax of the arc when Kaido fails to bring Onigashima down on the Flower Capital.

Teach will be fine without Haoshoku Haki and so will the rest of the Blackbeard Pirates. I do expect the members to know how to use Haki in general though.

[Robby]

Except we're seeing with Kaidou that the big boys get layers of super armor with their super haki, and yhou need yhour own super haki to break through it.

Blackbeard can turn off fruit defenses but he needs to be able to break past that super armor.

Ugh. Years ago I was excited to see how Luffy was going to deal with an enemy when his rubber defenses stopped working and the actual solution saddens me greatly.

[Ghidorah Guy]

@BlueOGRE:

didn't she said she wants to open Wano's boarders. which is something that is known since Zou

If she's to join the Strawhats, that'd presumably entail some other long-term dream too tho.

[Syphin]

Considering the avenues science has taken to advance military might in One Piece, I wonder if Blackbeard will arrive at a solution that doesn't conclude in him attaining Haoshoku Haki but rather harnessing the power of science. There is just something wrong with Blackbeard having such a chosen ability. I feel, if Blackbeard was going to have Haoshoku Haki, he would have already uncovered it over the 38 years of life he lived before the start of the series - unless he is a late bloomer?

Science has become such a driving force in the New World that I now wonder if Oda will slot in a new character that fills such a role within the Straw Hat Pirates for the future. Chopper and Franky aren't scientist like Caesar, Vegapunk, Judge or Queen. Who knows, maybe one of the children of the MADS scientist that followed in the footsteps of their parent or an assistant of the MAD scientists will be introduced in the future/revealed. With the details of MADS yet to be delved into, such a possibility does hold potential. Or could we get a Giant who fancies science over the native beliefs of their tribe allowing them to develop a device that shrinks them to normal person size (so they fit through the doors of the Sunny).

I am quite excited to see how Oda handles the role of science going forward in the story of One Piece as that is a relevant power that has been to an extent equated to the abilities of Devil Fruit/Haki users.

[rayleigh92]

@Syphin:

Considering the avenues science has taken to advance military might in One Piece, I wonder if Blackbeard will arrive at a solution that doesn't conclude in him attaining Haoshoku Haki. There is just something wrong with Blackbeard having such a chosen ability. I feel, if Blackbeard was going to have Haoshoku Haki, he would have already uncovered it over the 38 years of life he lived before the start of the series - unless he is a late bloomer?

Science has become such a driving force in the New World that I now wonder if Oda will slot in a new character that fills such a role within the Straw Hat Pirates for the future. Chopper and Franky aren't scientist like Caesar, Vegapunk, Judge or Queen. Who knows, maybe one of the children of the MADS scientist that followed in the footsteps of their parent or an assistant of the MAD scientists will be introduced in the future/revealed. With the details of MADS yet to be delved into, such a possibility does hold potential. Or could we get a Giant who fancies science over the native beliefs of their tribe allowing them to develop a device that shrinks them to normal person size (so they fit through the doors of the Sunny).

I am quite excited to see how Oda handles the role of science going forward in the story of One Piece as that is a relevant power that has been to an extent equated to the abilities of Devil Fruit/Haki users.

I think Franky cover the Technology Role of the crew very well, as I dont' think there's needing for a 360° scientist like Vegapunk. And Teach having CoC would not amaze me as he clearly knew Haki back at Impel Down and that wouldn't be the first thing he hid the last twenty years. By the way Teach being a no-CoC user which want and almost achieve the top of the world would add a bit of tragedy to his personality.

By the way I do agree Science/Technology has being a recurrent pattern since Thriller Bark's end, with Water Seven's post-arc hinting to it along the New World itself. We basically had cyborgs for three arcs right away (Pacifista were just all over the place back then), and when we went into the New World the first thing we met was Punk Hazard, which yet have to unveil all of its secrets. Caesar's studies, SMILEs, gigantification, clonation, Germa's Modified Humans, the mysterious Marines' new force, the whole Queen. We are basically into some sort of High-Tech centripetal Vegapunk saga which go further and further as hidden lore and I cannot stop loving it. Hoping to meet the mad scientist himself soon.

[Ghidorah Guy]

@Robby:

Except we're seeing with Kaidou that the big boys get layers of super armor with their super haki, and yhou need yhour own super haki to break through it.

Blackbeard can turn off fruit defenses but he needs to be able to break past that super armor.

Ugh. Years ago I was excited to see how Luffy was going to deal with an enemy when his rubber defenses stopped working and the actual solution saddens me greatly.

Well, as always, take what I'm going to say with a grain of salt, but…without going into the full details behind my rationale:

If things are headed where I think they think are, by Awakening his Darkness Fruit and/or employing the power of what I believe will be his third and final devil fruit ( Kami kami no mi Model: Shinigami/Enma, ie God of Death ), Blackbeard, King of Cheaters, is basically going to gain the ability to remotely seal devil fruit abilities in general. Bad news for Luffy, Chopper, and...Brooke.

But by EOS, I'm predicting Luffy won't need his df at all to stretch, at least by the final stage of their duel; elite Haki mastery will be shown to naturally replicate devil fruit abilities, more or less. We'll see this on full display when Shanks and Co. strut their stuff ( and particularly why I believe Kizaru was wary of Benn Beckmann ).

I'm fully expecting each and every Strawhat will be eventually revealed to possess CoC and/or mastering certain Haki-related skills to counter some overwhelmingly stacked odds posed by the BB Pirates, cuz I also foresee the latter packing a shit ton of unfair advantages, as is their modus operandi.

[legumes]

@Jabra:

"He knows how to fight Kaido" (and Kaido knows how to fight Yamato)

That's fair, but kaido consistently goes out of wano to fight lots of people etc. Yamato only has the one person to really focus on (his dad).

@Jabra:

"Kaido isn't serious" (despite saying so multiple times and Yams feeling the killing intent)

There's a difference between being serious and wanting to murder someone. Just look at how Kaido actively talks about how to murder luffy when he's down, he walks over to kill zoro after his attack and dumping luffy into the goddam sea.
Meanwhile with yamato he keep rambling on about how yamato will serve as a good heel soldier for his army, and how he's forever destined to be alone and dominate others with his power. Does that sound to you like he wants to turn yamato into a pulp?

@Jabra:

"Kaido is tired" (this is my favorite )

"It's only 15 minutes (while everyone who isn't Luffy could endure one T-Bag, at best)

I imagine fighting groups of capable people again and again without a break will do that for your stamina, regardless of how much stronger you are. That doesn't strike me as an unreasonable assumption. Or the fact that oda spent all this time drawing all the hits that he's been eating ever since the samurai jumped onto him.
Unless you're implying that kaido is perfectly healthy as of now and we're going to see many more chapters of him taking hits before he finally kicks the bucket, when he intends to end the series soon?

And yea, multiple people did eat hits from kaido and BM (zoro, kidd, law, killer) and come out fine, go back and read the panels. It's not a yamato/luffy-exclusive thing and Oda can easily write it up for ease of panel flow and for dramatic stakes.

@Jabra:

I understand the reflex to argue against anything that could threaten Yamato's chances, even something as insignificant as powerlevel. And it's true, at least the Zoro / Yams dynamic has to be addressed in some form (and it will if he joins, no question).

But I would rather hear how it will be addressed instead of shitting on Yamato's achievements.

I don't think anyone here is downplaying it as if its a bad thing. Moreso pointing out the argument that yams holding back kaido = potentially too strong is not a valid argument given how it's been debunked by multiple people here.
And yea, count me in as someone who doesn't give 2 shits about monster trio nonsense. It would be funny as hell to see zoro being kicked to number 3 on the musclemen pecking order, but alas oda probably wouldn't want to dump that much fuel into the bonfire.

[astagadragon]

@Zik:

Would be cool if its zero.

Including BB.

Then they come with an alternative against all odds way to fight those users.

It'd be cool if the SH are top dogs for a change, we will be wondering how absurd the enemies' powerset to troll SH.

[Deicide]

SHs being top dogs results in Fishman Island: cheating villains that end up not feeling that threatening without some cheap tricks (like dropping a giant ship on people's heads).

It can be amusing for change, but near the end of series? Nope.

I mean, we may have some portions of arcs ahead in which the SHs can curbstomp everyone around, but that won't happen for a full arc. The SHs will be top dogs when they conquer the seas, not before that.

As for the Conqueror Haki thing, I don't think it's a problem for Yamato to have it (heck, I expect Hancock to join and she has it), what I find strange is for Yamato to go toe-to-toe against an emperor. I was expecting him to lose, and for Luffy to rescue him at the last moment. That would have made Yamato more fitting as Luffy's subordinate. Right now, there's a portrayal that feels more like equality.

[astagadragon]

Tbh in Dressrosa the crew + Grand Fleet members also curbstomped Doffy's crews. No one is even threatening them, well maybe Pica, but he is also massacred by Zoro.

Doffy need Sugar's broken DF just to stall Luffy and co. After that? The crews are dancing around Doffy's.

Only Beast Pirates are threatening the crew but then again Jinbe and Franky barely broken their sweat…

[Deicide]

@astagadragon:

Tbh in Dressrosa the crew + Grand Fleet members also curbstomped Doffy's crews. No one is even threatening them, well maybe Pica, but he is also massacred by Zoro.

Doffy need Sugar's broken DF just to stall Luffy and co. After that? The crews are dancing around Doffy's.

Only Beast Pirates are threatening the crew but then again Jinbe and Franky barely broken their sweat…

I did feel Sasaki was a big threat to Franky. No one has ever caused serious damage to the shogun, but Sasaki managed to disable it completely, that wasn’t a small feat, and I doubt baseline Franky would have fared good without the mech suit.

Black Maria exhausted Robin, plus Beook was essential for Robin’s victory by disabling Maria’s weapon. A true 1v1 would be even harder for Robin.

Of the Beast Pirates fights, only Jinbe’s seemed easy, but Jinbe is a former Warlord and this was his first match-up as a SH, so it served to establish his “level”. I even think he will have a second fight.

Of the Dofla fights, I didn’t feel they were easy, but mostly balanced. And they served to establish the Grand Fleet’s captains mostly, who are all somewhere around “mid trio” level, if not higher.

[Zik]

@Shiebs:

Stop it you’ll get the people on these forums rooting against the Straw Hats

LOL

I forgot who had to be the underdogs.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Robby:

Except we're seeing with Kaidou that the big boys get layers of super armor with their super haki, and yhou need yhour own super haki to break through it.

Blackbeard can turn off fruit defenses but he needs to be able to break past that super armor.

Ugh. Years ago I was excited to see how Luffy was going to deal with an enemy when his rubber defenses stopped working and the actual solution saddens me greatly.

Maybe there's some mythical zoan out there with a haki bestowal ability and Blackbeard gets it and just gives his entire crew conqueror's haki.

The hardest to find devil fruit though. Probably on Laugh tale.

[electricmastro]

@Deicide:

SHs being top dogs results in Fishman Island: cheating villains that end up not feeling that threatening without some cheap tricks (like dropping a giant ship on people's heads).

It can be amusing for change, but near the end of series? Nope.

I mean, we may have some portions of arcs ahead in which the SHs can curbstomp everyone around, but that won't happen for a full arc. The SHs will be top dogs when they conquer the seas, not before that.

As for the Conqueror Haki thing, I don't think it's a problem for Yamato to have it (heck, I expect Hancock to join and she has it), what I find strange is for Yamato to go toe-to-toe against an emperor. I was expecting him to lose, and for Luffy to rescue him at the last moment. That would have made Yamato more fitting as Luffy's subordinate. Right now, there's a portrayal that feels more like equality.

Well, Yamato has been going up against Kaido for far longer than Luffy after all.

[Blowfish]

I was gonna go on a rant right now but I think Robby and Syphin saved us all a lot of typos.

[Monquito]

@electricmastro:

Well, Yamato has been going up against Kaido for far longer than Luffy after all.

I dont know how you guys have such and exact count of minutes passing, but.. uh.. Luffy's about to change that, guaranteed.

[Shiebs]

I really hope the Straw Hats vs Black Beard pirates pays off, cause I really haven’t been a fan of too many of the post time skip fights, I think all around pre time skip was superior in both fighting and story telling, although I still really enjoy the series

[electricmastro]

@Monquito:

I dont know how you guys have such and exact count of minutes passing, but.. uh.. Luffy's about to change that, guaranteed.

I meant that Yamato has fought more battles with Kaido than Luffy has.

[Shiebs]

Do you guys think Bonney is going to be a prominent ally in later arcs? I mean she seems to be tied to a lot of plots and could potentially be centuries old, possibly even having knowledge on the void century

I would like to see her have a new form of fighting outside of making people young and old, hell anything would do give her nunchucks for all I care

[Zik]

@Shiebs:

Do you guys think Bonney is going to be a prominent ally in later arcs? I mean she seems to be tied to a lot of plots and could potentially be centuries old, possibly even having knowledge on the void century

I would like to see her have a new form of fighting outside of making people young and old, hell anything would do give her nunchucks for all I care

Probably enemy at first then reluctant ally, and then as friends when she gets to know the strawhats better.

Would be nice if Oda threw in some twists for her character arc.

[Ghidorah Guy]

@Shiebs:

Do you guys think Bonney is going to be a prominent ally in later arcs? I mean she seems to be tied to a lot of plots and could potentially be centuries old, possibly even having knowledge on the void century

Her powers, like Shinobu's, would certainly come in very handy with respect to say rapidly accelerating the growth of clone armies and who knows what, let's put it that way.

The respect with which she was treated by Akainu also gave me a similar vibe as that bestowed upon Shanks, so that and a few other things makes me wonder if she may have some kind of direct ties to the Gorosei or some other important authority. Whichever the case, I also suspect she might otherwise also have some connection to or some knowledge of IM as well. Nothing more I can really say for now beyond some hunches.

The fact she was inspired by the famous Anne Bonney also poses some intriguing implications for a number of reasons as well, given the potential significance of the name 'Anne' itself in One Piece.

• Anne from Romance Dawn
• Blackbeard's infamous ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge
• Anne being the name Rouge had in mind should her child have been a daughter

So I def think she's set to figure heavily into future plotlines. As I said before, I think her powers alone will make her a target for a certain somebody looking to speed up his science projects, as well as possibly granting back his youth.

Apart from all that, one idle thought and pet theory I had a while back is that she's actually Big Mom's mom lol; the complete opposite of popular early theory surrounding her being Big Mom's daughter. Would be a whacky plot twist at any rate.

[electricmastro]

@Shiebs:

Do you guys think Bonney is going to be a prominent ally in later arcs? I mean she seems to be tied to a lot of plots and could potentially be centuries old, possibly even having knowledge on the void century

I would like to see her have a new form of fighting outside of making people young and old, hell anything would do give her nunchucks for all I care

Bonney and Urouge are the only two supernovas Luffy has yet to personally meet, so I think it's pretty inevitable. I suspect she'd bring up Kuma's situation at Mariejois and that may lead into the Straw Hats rescuing Sabo from whatever happened to him there.

[Zik]

I'd keep in mind that Ace was beaten and captured after Enies Lobby/Water 7. Luffy didn't find out until AFTER Thriller Bark and Sabaody when Kuma split up the crew. I mean Luffy saw Ace's vivre card burning away at the end of the arc and still didn't immediately go after him.

I was thinking of a potential save Sabo or Vivi arc and that's what led me to my why don't those newspaper birds drop off the newspaper in Wano post.

I think most of us naturally assumed the strawhats would leave Wano heading to their next destination (whether that be Ace's and WB's grave or Elbaf or some yet to be revealed place) and they'd either get the news via bird or a past ally or new one (Marco) would bring up the fate of Sabo/Vivi and the crew would just make a bee line to go save him.

Well it's quite possible Oda puts off that rescue arc for a bit.

[MiyamotoMusashi]

@Shiebs:

Do you guys think Bonney is going to be a prominent ally in later arcs? I mean she seems to be tied to a lot of plots and could potentially be centuries old, possibly even having knowledge on the void century

I would like to see her have a new form of fighting outside of making people young and old, hell anything would do give her nunchucks for all I care

I always thought her setup could lead to being a potential nakama, now with Yamato that seems unlikely to impossible.

[Zik]

@MiyamotoMusashi:

I always thought her setup could lead to being a potential nakama, now with Yamato that seems unlikely to impossible.

Yeah, pre-Dressrosa I was thinking something like that would naturally fit to add to Luffy's reputation.

Get a former warlord to be your ally and then get another super rookie to join your crew. Those come off as big accomplishments given how the warlords and supernova were introduced and positioned; the former being above Luffy until he started beating them and the latter being his peers.

Son of a yonkou would fall in line with that as well as another big achievement if Katakuri is anything to go by (since there's no way he'd get an actual emperor to join his crew).

[Blowfish]

I'm anticipating a lot from the Zoro vs King fight. Maybe a little too much. It might have implications for what Yamato's role will be in the crew.

If at any point King challenges Zoro's unofficial status as Luffy's right hand man, I think we'll finally see Zoro embrace being Vice Captain or First Mate as his official role in the crew. There was more than just a mere lineage reveal when we found out Sanji was a Vinsmoke. We learn of his family's infamy, yes, and has access to advanced technology, which has become an asset now, we also learn he's royalty whose latent mutant genes may be finally awakening.

Even if Zoro's relation to the Shimotsuki is never outright confirmed, I feel like his reputation is going to get a bump as well like Sanji being revealed to be from a Family of Royal mercs. Zoro has always had ties to Samurai since East Blue, with his village dojo, sensei and imagery, so at face value it doesn't seem like just finding out his clan lineage will be enough to warrant dubbing Wano the "Zoro arc" it's been touted as when compared to how Whole Cake was for Sanji's character. His past actively caught up to him, and he thought he could sacrifice his happiness to protect everyone but as it turns out just meeting Sanji's real family kinda changed the Vinsmokes.

Zoro's thing isn't so straight forward, we meet Zoro as a hungry combatant literally head hunting the strongest swordmasters the sea has to offer with one name in particular that was at the top of this list. How did this change after meeting Luffy, well for starters he met the peak pretty early on in their journey, fell before he could fly again, strangely enough thanks to encouragement from the very same person who defeated him, who he later puts his pride aside to ask him to be his Teacher. 'Unlike other crewmates, Oda has made it clear with Zoro, especially with his speech in post Water 7 about forgiving Ussop that he doesn't have to leave to the crew to settle inner conflicts or otherwise , he dealt with that the moment Mihawk gave him that first scar.

More so his thing seems to be slowly coming to terms with how he's now willing to circumvent his own dream to execute Luffy's without hesitation. We've already seen this countless times, most recently when he tanked the Yonko combo. So I feel like the only way to follow through on Zoro's development is to finally have him acknowledge his dedication to this Journey, not just Luffy's, or his own but everyone's as a collective. Not an outsider like Barto or Urouge, it has to be proclaimed by Zoro himself with pride.

[electricmastro]

@Zik:

Yeah, pre-Dressrosa I was thinking something like that would naturally fit to add to Luffy's reputation.

Get a former warlord to be your ally and then get another super rookie to join your crew. Those come off as big accomplishments given how the warlords and supernova were introduced and positioned; the former being above Luffy until he started beating them and the latter being his peers.

Son of a yonkou would fall in line with that as well as another big achievement if Katakuri is anything to go by (since there's no way he'd get an actual emperor to join his crew).

Yeah, I wouldn’t doubt there has been consideration to “1-up” Jinbe’s recruitment, in going from recruiting a former warlord to recruiting an Emperor’s child that knows a lot about the Emperor’s moves in addition to holding a key element to getting closer to the new dawn.

[MiyamotoMusashi]

@Zik:

Yeah, pre-Dressrosa I was thinking something like that would naturally fit to add to Luffy's reputation.

Get a former warlord to be your ally and then get another super rookie to join your crew. Those come off as big accomplishments given how the warlords and supernova were introduced and positioned; the former being above Luffy until he started beating them and the latter being his peers.

Son of a yonkou would fall in line with that as well as another big achievement if Katakuri is anything to go by (since there's no way he'd get an actual emperor to join his crew).

That just adds to it as well.
I was mostly going on by her possible relationship with WB/Ace, her animosity towards Blackbeard, her special status for the WG (similarly to Franky and Robin) and a few minor things.

[Zik]

@MiyamotoMusashi:

That just adds to it as well.
I was mostly going on by her possible relationship with WB/Ace, her animosity towards Blackbeard, her special status for the WG (similarly to Franky and Robin) and a few minor things.

Yeah that's a part of it as well, there's a lot of mystery to the character and questions that need answering (her connection to Kuma and his to the strawhats). If I felt there'd be more characters joining the crew I'd be all for her joining.

Just not sure the strawhat 13 will be a thing as much as I use to. At best she'll be an ally like Law.

It is pretty criminal Bonney and Luffy haven't met yet. Just to see Sanji slaving away 24/7 making meals for these two gluttons.

[Syphin]

Considering how Bonney's story threads are connected to some of the central plot points of One Piece, it make sense why her focus is being saved for later parts in the manga (same reason for why Urouge is being saved for an arc that can connect to the Sky Islands). I anticipate Bonney may be relevant in the story focusing around Sabo (he may have stopped Bonney killing someone - the attempted murder).

Also, Bonney seems to have the mind of a young adult, I don't expect her to secretly be a mature lady under the guise of a young rookie.

[electricmastro]

@Syphin:

Considering how Bonney's story threads are connected to some of the central plot points of One Piece, it make sense why her focus is being saved for later parts in the manga (same reason for why Urouge is being saved for an arc that can connect to the Sky Islands). I anticipate Bonney may be relevant in the story focusing around Sabo (he may have stopped Bonney killing someone - the attempted murder).

Also, Bonney seems to have the mind of a young adult, I don't expect her to secretly be a mature lady under the guise of a young rookie.

Bonney is probably the most shrouded One Piece character with the most clearly laid out hints to her story and situation, in that she might have been an affiliate of royalty with Kuma in South Blue and that Kuma have may agreed to become a cyborg because she was held hostage by the government for her age-changing powers, but that Kuma had fully lost his free will by the time Bonney escaped and found out about his cyborg modifications.

[Benjaman]

Is clear that Yamato is gonna be the new nakama, apart from him being a very unique character design wise, Oda made sure to give him a very distinctive quality story wise. He met Ace before. Ace and his impact in Luffy as a catalyst is a key point for the series. The biggest problem Oda has now, if he wants to make a new Nakama is how much connection will that person have with Luffy overrall on the series. No new nakama is really needed, but if it was, its needs to be someone that can in some form have a raport with the overall story of Luffy. And Oda has decided to elevate the story of Yamato around a key person in the life of Luffy. Yamato has been waiting for Luffy since the start of the series, that makes it for worth it as a character than any other one. Tama being a close second, but I think her role is more connected to the reformation of the smile users, than any new type of nakama.

[electricmastro]

@Benjaman:

Is clear that Yamato is gonna be the new nakama, apart from him being a very unique character design wise, Oda made sure to give him a very distinctive quality story wise. He met Ace before. Ace and his impact in Luffy as a catalyst is a key point for the series. The biggest problem Oda has now, if he wants to make a new Nakama is how much connection will that person have with Luffy overrall on the series. No new nakama is really needed, but if it was, its needs to be someone that can in some form have a raport with the overall story of Luffy. And Oda has decided to elevate the story of Yamato around a key person in the life of Luffy. Yamato has been waiting for Luffy since the start of the series, that makes it for worth it as a character than any other one. Tama being a close second, but I think her role is more connected to the reformation of the smile users, than any new type of nakama.

As mentioned, I get the feeling that the most convincing way Yamato will feel crucial to Luffy's story at this point is supporting him as the man who will bring the new dawn to the entire world beyond Wano, in time for Joy Boy's second coming, something Pedro was willing to die for. I'd imagine it would have something to do with going to Laugh Tale since Oden presumably wrote something about it in the journal after visiting there, and may be distinct from Robin's Void Century dream as well.

[Zik]

@electricmastro:

Bonney is probably the most shrouded One Piece character with the most clearly laid out hints to her story and situation, in that she might have been an affiliate of royalty with Kuma in South Blue and that Kuma have may agreed to become a cyborg because she was held hostage by the government for her age-changing powers, but that Kuma had fully lost his free will by the time Bonney escaped and found out about his cyborg modifications.

That's a bit of stretch given none of those details are known or specifically hinted or laid out for us.

We know Bonney and Kuma are connected but not how.

We don't know when or why Kuma became a warlord. We don't know when Bonney became a devil fruit user.

Nothing says she was ever held hostage. It's actually said that she escaped the world government which is why Akainu said he would capture her again.

Given Bonney's age (if it's accurate) and Kuma being a tyrant of a kingdom first and then a pirate. Its possible he became a warlord and then a cyborg for the WG while she was a child or before she was born.

[electricmastro]

@Zik:

Nothing says she was ever held hostage. It's actually said that she escaped the world government which is why Akainu said he would capture her again.

I mean, what else would the government do with her? Akainu's said his blood froze after finding out Bonney escaped, and that was after he non-hesitantly went after one of Whitebeard's sons and faced his wrath.

[Zik]

@electricmastro:

I mean, what else would the government do with her? Akainu's said his blood froze after finding out Bonney escaped, and that was after he non-hesitantly went after one of Whitebeard's sons and faced his wrath.

Holding someone hostage means you'd want something in return for letting them go.

The world gov. could've simply imprisoned her like they did Kaido and then she escaped.

The why may be any reason. She has valuable info or found out something she wasn't suppose to, experiment on her DF, etc.

[Monquito]

Quite remarkable how the Oni race isn't covered within the Grand Fleet or the Mink-Ninja-Samurai alliance.

Seems like something that'll be explored further like Joy Boy, the Lunarian or the Shimotsukis, there will most likely be a good reason why destiny is joining together all these rare Pokémon in one crew.

[Zik]

@Monquito:

Quite remarkable how the Oni race isn't covered within the Grand Fleet or the Mink-Ninja-Samurai alliance.

Seems like something that'll be explored further like Joy Boy, the Lunarian or the Shimotsukis, there will most likely be a good reason why destiny is joining together all these rare Pokémon in one crew.

They might be just as rare as the Lunarians.

Before recent chapters, we have heard nothing about either the whole story (Nika as well).

[Shiebs]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who think Bonney is going to be super important to the plot moving forward

If it weren’t for Yamato I’d think she would have a strong case for joining the crew

If Yamato doesn’t join I think her chances will go up considerably

[Zik]

@Shiebs:

I’m glad I’m not the only one who think Bonney is going to be super important to the plot moving forward

If it weren’t for Yamato I’d think she would have a strong case for joining the crew

If Yamato doesn’t join I think her chances will go up considerably

I would agree even if Yamato joins but Bonney would have to immediately show up in the next arc and get a lot of focus.

I'm ready to see Sanji be overworked trying to feed her and Luffy.