VIZ Manga: https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/one-piece-chapter-1044/chapter/24172?action=read
Manga Plus: https://mangaplus.shueisha.co.jp/viewer/1012989
Author Comments: https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/mangaka-musings-3-27-2022
**Eiichiro Oda
I went to see the Spirited Away stage play! It was so well-done that I could be saying I went to the actual Aburaya bathhouse!**
Like the Avatar? / Like the Miis?
Dragalia Lost ID: 97617932505
The fruit revelation: awful, dumb. Oda at his worst.
The fight after it: great, funny, wacky. Oda at his best.
I stan Looney Tunes Luffy.
Sanji!!! I want to learn more about his eyebrow
Luffy is a 20th Century cartoon character now.
Neat.
What the hell did I just read? Is there some substance experimentation going on?
The fruit revelation: awful, dumb. Oda at his worst.
The fight after it: great, funny, wacky. Oda at his best.
Pretty much. Quite enjoyable, with some stuff that's difficult to process…
Masterpiece of a chapter. I'm in love with Gear 5th! The design looks great, and I'm intoxicated by the feeling of not knowing how the fights' choreography could go from now on since every page is full of potential. It's like I can hear the drums of liberation myself. And I can't help but smile at the thought of this being Oda's own freedom and joy as an artist.
After last chapter, everyone had their own fear for what could happen with Luffy, and mine was Luffy not being rubber anymore, and it going as far as retconning the entire series to say that his power was only a "stretch ability". Ironically, even though Luffy's DF taxonomy changed to a flamboyant Mythical Zoan, his powers are still the same as ever, so I'm super happy with that. The Awakening just put it over the top with rubbery freedom.
The way I see it, Gear 5th is the culmination of all previous Gears. I'm not suggesting it's a linear skill tree, since Awakening looks like a binary thing of turning it on/off, but from a meta perspective you can see the conceptual steps that led to this stage. Gear 2nd? Accelerated heartbeats to heat the body and stimulate it. Gear 3rd? Inflation of limbs. Gear 4th? Strengthening the body's elasticity and more control over forms and movements, plus a more 'divine' design. All of this together is the core of Gear 5th, isn't it? That's why this final mode feels so in place and cathartic to me – and why Luffy can be so great at using the Awakening to its max potential. Luffy deserves and owns it.
Btw, I like the taste of the Gomu Gomu being a Mythical Zoan, although I reckognize the awkwardness of the fruit not having standard Zoan transformations. The safest bet for a explanation is simply the arbitrariness of the model Nika being an exception -- and it's not the first time a DF breaks the common pattern of the taxonomy. That said, my secondary bet is that Luffy can't transform because he's a human who ate a human fruit, so it gives him only one perpetual form of rubber man -- regarding that, there's an interesting SBS in volume 20 which I recommend people to check out.
Anyway, the important thing about the Gomu Gomu Fruit being a Zoan is the "will" of the fruit. There's a lot of room for theories now, like the idea that Luffy was chosen by the Gomu Gomu Fruit. And, of course, Luffy having the powers of the "Sun God" Nika, the Warrior of Liberation, is full of thematic connotations that's in line with who Luffy was throughout the story. People don't like it, but I see it as a little push of Fate – the soft version of it.
I believe Black Beard's Yami Yami Fruit is also a Mythical Zoan of a "God" related to Darkness, and I should point out that Teach said the fruit chose him. So it's more likely than ever that this is our final battle in the series – Sun vs Darkness, which rhymes with the fight between Ace and Black Beard. Beautiful stuff! And I'm craving to learn more about other "Gods" and the mythological lore of One Piece.
At last, I must say it'll be awesome to analyse the Zoan category under the light of the new information we got this chapter. The revelation about the "will" of Zoans makes a lot of sense with much of what we've seen about Zoans and Smiles in the past. And I believe we'll find new secrets about Paramecias and especially Logias in the future too -- we need Vegapunk now!
Copying my post from the spoiler thread, with some new considerations:
–---
Man, I've been reading One Piece since 2001 (I think) and started to read weekly in 2005. I've never been so let down until now.
I see so many problems with this that I fear it may be One Piece's dreaded "Jumping the Shark" moment. Of course, Oda has enough credit for me to wait and see, but I'm really worried by where this seems to be going.
- Problem #1: The lovable underdog rubberman protagonist who rose to the top by his own effort is now retroactively a god predestined to rise to the top in this very moment of history. I really hate the "chosen one" trope played straight, so this is a big bummer for me. As prophecies were becoming more common in One Piece, I was hoping Luffy would end up as the odd element, the one who wasn't prophecized but ends up, by his own effort, enabling the prophecy to happen. Like, there would be a Joyboy, not Luffy, but Luffy, by his own choice and effort would allow Joyboy to fulfill his destiny.
- Problem #2: A zoan fruit? Of a god? That is entirely fictional and was never fleshed out before? Are you kidding me? This is piles upon piles of bullshit. By not fleshing out Nika beforehand, Oda essentially created an asspull power that can do whatever the plot requires. Even if he establishes some limits in the next chapters, it set a precedent that we can now expand those limits whenever the story needs it.
- Problem #3: It being a zoan also adds a lot of retroactive questions. For instance, that means Luffy should have forms, which include his baseline pure non-rubber flesh form, to which he should have reverted a few times in the past. For instance, when he was drowning in Arlong Park, shouldn't he had reverted to baseline, and thus died because Genzo and Nojiko would be unable to stretch him? That's the first example that comes to mind, and I bet there are plenty of others around. NOTE: As it was pointed in the spoiler thread, zoans not always revert to baseline even underwater, so this point can be contested. Still, I feel there's a complete lack of foreshadowing that Luffy hadn't a true paramecia fruit. We never got any hint of it behaving differently in over 1,000 chapters.
- Problem #4: Even the god's personality described by the Elders is like Luffy's, and, since "zoans have a mind of their own", we now have opened the can of worms that maybe even Luffy's personality and the traits that made him special are not his own, but inherited through eating a Devil Fruit. We go back to Woop Slap's question way back in East Blue: "Is it his dream, or his destiny?". There will be a huge thematic dissonance here if, in the end, fate takes over freedom in a story that has always been about freedom. NOTE: It was pointed that it would be OK because the Luffy we always knew had the fruit for 99.99¨% of the story. No, it's not ok. It would mean the true Luffy is someone we never really delved into. The real protagonist would be a deity or Devil Fruit, not Luffy.
- Problem #5: By linking Joyboy to a devil fruit, and not the Will of D or the D Clan, it diminishes the entire mystery. While once we had several D (including Blackbeard and Law) that could potentially "become Joyboy", now we now it was only Luffy that ever had the chance from the start, and just because he ate a fruit when he was just 8 years old. (At least, this opens the question of what Blackbeard really is, and what happens when he deprives Luffy of his powers)
- Problem #6: I already lost count of how many times Wano Act 3 has failed to raise the stakes, and this is just another stance of it trying to do so, only to defuse the tension soon after, before we could explore the hopelessness of the situation. This has happened so many times in this arc that is has been a frustrating read so far. I wanted to see how the characters in Onigashima would act against Kaido. Instead, Luffy returns with god-like slapstick powers and make Kaido seem like a fool. At this point, I'm really really tired and frustrated with the whole of Onigashima and just want it to end ASAP. I don't wanna see this fight dragging for another 10 chapters, with Oda trying for the Nth time to "raise the stakes" and failing. Just end it, please, and move on to more interesting stuff.
- Problem #7: Slapstick powers. I hate them. They are fine in a self-contained story, but when you try to mix it into a world that pretends to have some seriousness, they suck all the tension around. One Piece has always carefully balanced over the fine thread between silliness and seriousness, but I fear the protagonist becoming a god of slapstick may tip the scales too far in one direction whenever that power is used.
- Problem #8: The seeding for this revelation was really wonky. Not only we never explored Nika before to understand its powers, we never even heard of Nika or that the Gomu Gomu was special before 30 chapters ago. In a 1,044+ chapter story, this is a really terrible setup, especially since it conflicts with so much previous story, like why didn't the Elders started going for Luffy's head the moment the news of a rubberman started spreading around.
Maybe the next chapters will make things better. But really, right now, I'm really worried that this story may take a direction I either don't care about or even deeply dislike.
Wano predictions: There will be 5 acts; All Straw Hats will get fights, some in Act 4; Big Mom Pirates will arrive; Carrot will have her moment, but won't join; Yamato will be a Kouzuki samurai and Wano's Guardian; Shanks will visit Luffy in Act 5; Next arc is Mary Geoise.
I don't get why this chapter was so hyped up to the point ppl who translate were suggesting ppl not read or look at the leaks.
This was just another good chapter by Oda in Onigashima. Big development but it didn't really shake the OP world yet.
Devil fruit change wise still wish Oda just opted for a surprise 4th category.
First what I love about this:
Gum gum awakening being like this and looking like that it's everything I could hope it to be and even more. It's so outlandish and yet feels so natural, that it's impossible not to love it. Doflamingo's awakening worried me but Oda was clearly keeping his best for the main guy ultimate power.
It's also great that the power most feared by the big guys upstairs in the world oppression business is absolute and unadulterated ridiculousness. "A laughter will bury you all", really great stuff.
Now what I still hate… Everything else.
The 5 stars not doing anything earlier to prevent this, Shanks likely having a proactive role, Luffy doing nothing to deserve this but losing over and over while expanding on a completely different power and actually ignoring his fruit...
And ford god sake, why, why, why why it had to be a mythical Zoan? Why the joy boy declaration?
Couldn't it be just the silly fruit silly power being feared on its own? It was really necessary to make up Tex Avery's Jesus Christ that just happens to have gum power of his own for this to fly?
Right now the bad severely outweighs the good for me, hope I'll be convinced otherwise soon.
I dont believe Luffy could be a zoan and not know or that the government actions make sense based on what they seem to have known. But I loved Luffy grabbing the eel with the giant lighting on the ceiling. And the ooga ooga eyes before he grabs the floor to block Kaido's attack. It's just very fun.
So to me its a bad story idea but a really fun read
I also enjoy Hiyori telling off Orochi off.
I didnt like the design of gear 4. I enjoy this one so far. I'll see later.
Gear 5 is Comic-sans Luffy?
Hmm, I like it!
If Oda's subtext for Luffy's powers is that he always wanted them to look a little silly ( no matter how serious the story), then it follow that the big awakening Hail Mary power-up for Luffy is that he possesses obvious ridiculousness.
@Zik:
I don't get why this chapter was so hyped up to the point ppl who translate were suggesting ppl not read or look at the leaks.
This was just another good chapter by Oda in Onigashima. Big development but it didn't really shake the OP world yet.
Devil fruit change wise still wish Oda just opted for a surprise 4th category.
Probably because its easy to go Luffy is a mystical zoan that sucks. But seeing the visuals of Luffy new ability its actually a lot more fun.
Hiyori going 'The Lannisters sent their regards' on Orochi, lmao.
Oda still cant let go of GoT.
Great chapter. The translation wasn't really that much different, so the chapter was still awesome. I'm loving how people around the world now are just making vids and art based around Luffy's new Gear 5, haha!
Amazing Chapter !
Luffy still Luffy and the awakening just follows what oda has been doing so far with devil fruits. The power up feels natural.
The only problem is why the five elders never hunted luffy because of his powers but I think we need to wait and see what Oda will come up in the next chapters, but that is a minor problem of a weekly serialization. And I trust Oda, he already proved he has absolutely control over his work and I think he is very aware of this gap.
Whether you like 1044 or not,
am I the only one who is surprised that Luffy awakened before Kaido?
Whatever I think bout it, here's one thing that still stands out. When the Gorosei said: "Legend to only us." It could not have been the Gum Gum fruit because nothing has changed for them to go after it now. Here's the thing. Nothing has changed still. As late as 1028, the World Government did not care who won the fight. But not only do they know that the Gum Gum fruit is special, but they have always known? And they were actively going for Nico Robin? It's so completely incoherent that there must be something that's going to be explained or changed in the volume release.
#Vergoshotfirst #Doflaisapunk
Easily one of the best chapters in the series as far as I'm concerned.
@Scabbard:
Whether you like 1044 or not,
am I the only one who is surprised that Luffy awakened before Kaido?
If Awakening requires a temporary death experience, then it makes sense Kaidou would never awaken.
Hiyori going 'The Lannisters sent their regards' on Orochi, lmao.
Oda still cant let go of GoT.
More like the north never forgets
Copying my post from the spoiler thread, with some new considerations:
–---
Man, I've been reading One Piece since 2001 (I think) and started to read weekly in 2005. I've never been so let down until now.
I see so many problems with this that I fear it may be One Piece's dreaded "Jumping the Shark" moment. Of course, Oda has enough credit for me to wait and see, but I'm really worried by where this seems to be going.
- Problem #1: The lovable underdog rubberman protagonist who rose to the top by his own effort is now retroactively a god predestined to rise to the top in this very moment of history. I really hate the "chosen one" trope played straight, so this is a big bummer for me. As prophecies were becoming more common in One Piece, I was hoping Luffy would end up as the odd element, the one who wasn't prophecized but ends up, by his own effort, enabling the prophecy to happen. Like, there would be a Joyboy, not Luffy, but Luffy, by his own choice and effort would allow Joyboy to fulfill his destiny.
Maybe the next chapters will make things better. But really, right now, I'm really worried that this story may take a direction I either don't care about or even deeply dislike.
Luffy is not an underdog and has never been an underdog. He started the series by being stronger than everyone else in East Blue and having a power that in that region was so rare that they considered it myth and it gave him a huge advantage against enemies.
At the end of this arc the narrator literally says that he is destined to be a legend and to prove this he is saved from death by a lightning bolt from nowhere suggesting that a divine power wanted him to continue his journey.
This is not characteristic of an underdog you were projecting the story you wanted to read into the manga and not the one he was telling.
This chapter is unbelievable, super excited for the next. Luffy is one of the best protagonist in fiction to me at least not even so much because of any ideals or ambitions but just as a result of who he is and how he goes about in his goofy goodness, the comedy to one piece was always what I enjoyed the most and the theme of freedom so intimately intertwined with comedy that makes sense to me as far as the alternate name reveal and nothing about the other name of the GGf makes it any less stretchy….names are given based on what abilities are given by the fruits, well until we learn more about the fruits anyway
I still need a solid explanation as to why Luffy actually awakened and if he actually died or not (I assume not since he wasn't smiling).
I guess we can also all agree that the whole SMILE plotline we've had for the last decade is going to be tied to Luffy's devil fruit in particular. Maybe Vegapunk knows about it and was trying to recreate in particular? I can't believe Oda promised us Vegapunk would explain what devil fruits are back in SBS volume 48.
Might as well post it here:
After reading this chapter for 4 times and contemplating a long time I have finally been able to set my mind at ease, collect my thoughts and for some reason in this spoiler thread decided to be probably one of the last people to share my thoughts. Not just about this chapter but the entire ordeal in general. Something I haven't done here in ages. So for anyone giving two rats arses about it here they are:
Wano is the longest arc in One Piece and it still has I believe quite a few chapters before it wraps up and I think there is a very significant reason for it. Well there are actually many.
There seems to be a clash of minds, thoughts and opinions throughout the community. My mind was clashing with itself as well, but after rereading the chapter several times and going back in time to think and have a look at the story as a whole it is starting to come together for me.
And as it does, I just got this feeling of "liberation" no pun intended.
It was like I was in darkness but now I see the light. No pun intended as well…
Luffy being Joy Boy, being the Sun God Nika is in my opinion, Oda connecting the dots, starting to fill in an important piece of what is the giant one piece puzzle and most importantly setting up the stage for what is about to happen / come.
And the main focus Oda wants to bring across imo is that in this imperfect world of One Piece is that people are living, in a world full of Racial differences, supression, rule of elites, cenzorship and general hurt of the people who are lacking the power to defend themselves or carry out their own WILL this is a moment when the Sun will rise and the dawn will come and their wills will be carried out through a certain individual.
One Piece started with a chapter called the Romance Dawn. This was no coincidence. The crew we have been following through all these years has a symbol of a straw hat, which is no coincidence. Their ship was first to be Merry and was to tell of the Merry old journey the SHs would take.
There is a song out there known to the general fans of stories…. It is called The Merry old Land of OZ and its lyrics go:
_You are out of the woods
You are out of the dark
You are out of the night
Step into the sun, step into the light
Keep straight ahead, for the most glorious place
On the face of the earth or the sky
Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate and bid it open
the middle of the song then tells about a spot on earth where people are not to tall, too young and where they dont compare and dont complain
The song finishes with
HA, HO HO HO, that's how we laugh all day in the land of OZ.
It is a song from Wizard of Oz and it might not have any relevance to the entire thing and it may be Oda doesn't give two rats about it or doesn't know it….or maybe he does... I thought it is interesting and so I brought it up.
Moving on with my thought. So they had a ship called Merry... but as their Merry journey started unknowingly shifting from a random adventure to a "mission" they left the Merry and got a ship called the Sunny. Specifically Thousand Sunny. Coincidence that in the Hindu Script: Bhgavad Gita wrote Chapter 11, Verse 12 there was a saying: If a thousand suns were to blaze forth together in the sky, they would not match the splendor of that great form.
Perhaps… their ship being called the Sunny after Merry is a coincidence? I do not think so..
And just as the ship would set sail in the east and travel to the west, so would the sun.... and here we come to this chapter.
We have just witnessed the awakening of the Nika .... the sun god...in other words we have just witnessed the awakening of a Sun/Dawn and where did we get that? In the land of the Sun "Japan/Wano" however , take a note how until this moment Wano was more or less contected just to the moon... or was it? They are waiting for the dawn....and remember that the moon only reflects the light of the Sun... And in the kozuki crest there is... and then there are Toki's words: "You are the Moon...unaware of the Dawn..."
So yes…_ Is it a coincidence we see the Sun that a captain of the Sunny is the Sun God? Is it a coincidence that his awakening and Dawn it bring would be happening in Wano? Is it mere chance that the people of Wano were treated as Slaves and are now to be liberatad by the guy whose pure purpose is to do exactly that.
Shandorians believed that the spirits of the dead are caught in the trees…
We have been hinted at the importance of these giant trees in OP for long time. Eve.... Adam.... and of course Fruits usually come and fall from the trees.... If the trees possess spirits....then I guess so would the fruits and if there is a garden....there is a forbidden fruit... and if there is a forbidden fruit...there is the devil... and thus Devil Fruits with the spirits of the dead make sense.
As does the fact that even the smiles fruits are in a shape of an apple...Oda playing symbolism to the bone.
And so does the inherited Will.
Let us go back to the Drum island to Choppers "father" and his famous words: When do you think people die? When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol? No. When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No When he eats a poisonous mushroom soup? No. They die when they are forgotten!
But Blackbeared tell us on Jaya... People's dream never die!
But Roger Tells us... I am not going to die partner!
And there is a common theme in One Piece. Those who die... and know their will be carried on... die with a smile...
Oden... Roger... Saul...Ace...
And there he is...the Sun God Nika... and his trademark... the smile...
And here is Kaidou people have already mentioned how "King, the Lunarian...asked him if he is the Joy Boy and that the very name Kaidou could mean that"...interesting... as is interesting that Kaidou could also mean a road...an important road from the Meiji period...road towards what? Or there is even the Kai D Ou option...Kai = Ocean, Ou = King....
Joy Boy -> has to go through Kaidou (road) -> in his journey to become Ruller of the Seas...aka Pirate King. Maybe we are stretching things a bit...No pun intended again...
But are we?
Kaidou...is sad, Kaidou drinks away his sadness with Sake....Kaidou goes through a lot of trouble to get the Yamato a Mythical Zoan fruit which is supposed to be a Guardian Diety of Wanno...
Why? And Zoans we learn have a will of their own... they effect the user/host in some way... If Yamato is given a Guardian of Wano DF what is supposed to happen next?
And Kaidou goes from saying Winner need to rationalizations in one chapter to I am sorry for winning like that in the next one....
Is that so? Or is there more? Is there a whole lot more? Are the "Slaves" to be freed here really because Kaidou just....operates that way? Why is he seeking a glorious death? Why does he say that Death completes a person? And there is a Festival in Elbaf for Death and Rebirth of the Sun... interesting...
And then there is Big Mom with her sad story and her inherited will and control of the souls...but then a part of her soul...gets free indicating the strength of free will perhaps?
We are literally being bombarded with symbolism and these different ideas, ideals, prophecies and goals.... but to what end... what does it all mean, where is it all leading. Are things above just a coincidence. __**_I think not and I think, we are about to see how the Sun will rise in the East…
After a long long thought and debate with myself I have come to conclusion that I am excited about the next chapter, excited about learning about Kaidou…excited to see how Oda wants to tell his story... It may be a shounen, but I believe it carries a much grander message and overarching story behind all of it.
To anyone reading through this giant wall of text. You are brave, a brave warrior of the seas indeed...maybe even Usopp..._**__
人事を尽くして天命を待つ
I loved this chapter so much. Best gear reveal.
I won't repeat all the reasons why from the spoiler thread because I'm lazy.
I'll just repeat one thing: some people are taking the Sun part in Sun God way too literally.
Might as well post it here:
After reading this chapter for 4 times and contemplating a long time I have finally been able to set my mind at ease, collect my thoughts and for some reason in this spoiler thread decided to be probably one of the last people to share my thoughts. Not just about this chapter but the entire ordeal in general. Something I haven't done here in ages. So for anyone giving two rats arses about it here they are:
Wano is the longest arc in One Piece and it still has I believe quite a few chapters before it wraps up and I think there is a very significant reason for it. Well there are actually many.
There seems to be a clash of minds, thoughts and opinions throughout the community. My mind was clashing with itself as well, but after rereading the chapter several times and going back in time to think and have a look at the story as a whole it is starting to come together for me.
And as it does, I just got this feeling of "liberation" no pun intended.
It was like I was in darkness but now I see the light. No pun intended as well…Luffy being Joy Boy, being the Sun God Nika is in my opinion, Oda connecting the dots, starting to fill in an important piece of what is the giant one piece puzzle and most importantly setting up the stage for what is about to happen / come.
And the main focus Oda wants to bring across imo is that in this imperfect world of One Piece is that people are living, in a world full of Racial differences, supression, rule of elites, cenzorship and general hurt of the people who are lacking the power to defend themselves or carry out their own WILL this is a moment when the Sun will rise and the dawn will come and their wills will be carried out through a certain individual.One Piece started with a chapter called the Romance Dawn. This was no coincidence. The crew we have been following through all these years has a symbol of a straw hat, which is no coincidence. Their ship was first to be Merry and was to tell of the Merry old journey the SHs would take.
There is a song out there known to the general fans of stories…. It is called The Merry old Land of OZ and its lyrics go:_You are out of the woods
You are out of the dark
You are out of the night
Step into the sun, step into the light
Keep straight ahead, for the most glorious place
On the face of the earth or the sky
Hold onto your breath
Hold onto your heart
Hold onto your hope
March up to the gate and bid it openthe middle of the song then tells about a spot on earth where people are not to tall, too young and where they dont compare and dont complain
The song finishes with
HA, HO HO HO, that's how we laugh all day in the land of OZ.It is a song from Wizard of Oz and it might not have any relevance to the entire thing and it may be Oda doesn't give two rats about it or doesn't know it….or maybe he does... I thought it is interesting and so I brought it up.
Moving on with my thought. So they had a ship called Merry... but as their Merry journey started unknowingly shifting from a random adventure to a "mission" they left the Merry and got a ship called the Sunny. Specifically Thousand Sunny. Coincidence that in the Hindu Script: Bhgavad Gita wrote Chapter 11, Verse 12 there was a saying: If a thousand suns were to blaze forth together in the sky, they would not match the splendor of that great form.
Perhaps… their ship being called the Sunny after Merry is a coincidence? I do not think so..
And just as the ship would set sail in the east and travel to the west, so would the sun.... and here we come to this chapter.
We have just witnessed the awakening of the Nika .... the sun god...in other words we have just witnessed the awakening of a Sun/Dawn and where did we get that? In the land of the Sun "Japan/Wano" however , take a note how until this moment Wano was more or less contected just to the moon... or was it? They are waiting for the dawn....and remember that the moon only reflects the light of the Sun... And in the kozuki crest there is... and then there are Toki's words: "You are the Moon...unaware of the Dawn..."
So yes…_ Is it a coincidence we see the Sun that a captain of the Sunny is the Sun God? Is it a coincidence that his awakening and Dawn it bring would be happening in Wano? Is it mere chance that the people of Wano were treated as Slaves and are now to be liberatad by the guy whose pure purpose is to do exactly that.
Shandorians believed that the spirits of the dead are caught in the trees…
We have been hinted at the importance of these giant trees in OP for long time. Eve.... Adam.... and of course Fruits usually come and fall from the trees.... If the trees possess spirits....then I guess so would the fruits and if there is a garden....there is a forbidden fruit... and if there is a forbidden fruit...there is the devil... and thus Devil Fruits with the spirits of the dead make sense.
As does the fact that even the smiles fruits are in a shape of an apple...Oda playing symbolism to the bone.
And so does the inherited Will.
Let us go back to the Drum island to Choppers "father" and his famous words: When do you think people die? When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol? No. When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No When he eats a poisonous mushroom soup? No. They die when they are forgotten!
But Blackbeared tell us on Jaya... People's dream never die!
But Roger Tells us... I am not going to die partner!
And there is a common theme in One Piece. Those who die... and know their will be carried on... die with a smile...
Oden... Roger... Saul...Ace...And there he is...the Sun God Nika... and his trademark... the smile...
And here is Kaidou people have already mentioned how "King, the Lunarian...asked him if he is the Joy Boy and that the very name Kaidou could mean that"...interesting... as is interesting that Kaidou could also mean a road...an important road from the Meiji period...road towards what? Or there is even the Kai D Ou option...Kai = Ocean, Ou = King....
Joy Boy -> has to go through Kaidou (road) -> in his journey to become Ruller of the Seas...aka Pirate King. Maybe we are stretching things a bit...No pun intended again...
But are we?
Kaidou...is sad, Kaidou drinks away his sadness with Sake....Kaidou goes through a lot of trouble to get the Yamato a Mythical Zoan fruit which is supposed to be a Guardian Diety of Wanno...
Why? And Zoans we learn have a will of their own... they effect the user/host in some way... If Yamato is given a Guardian of Wano DF what is supposed to happen next?
And Kaidou goes from saying Winner need to rationalizations in one chapter to I am sorry for winning like that in the next one....Is that so? Or is there more? Is there a whole lot more? Are the "Slaves" to be freed here really because Kaidou just....operates that way? Why is he seeking a glorious death? Why does he say that Death completes a person? And there is a Festival in Elbaf for Death and Rebirth of the Sun... interesting...
And then there is Big Mom with her sad story and her inherited will and control of the souls...but then a part of her soul...gets free indicating the strength of free will perhaps?We are literally being bombarded with symbolism and these different ideas, ideals, prophecies and goals.... but to what end... what does it all mean, where is it all leading. Are things above just a coincidence. __**_I think not and I think, we are about to see how the Sun will rise in the East…
After a long long thought and debate with myself I have come to conclusion that I am excited about the next chapter, excited about learning about Kaidou…excited to see how Oda wants to tell his story... It may be a shounen, but I believe it carries a much grander message and overarching story behind all of it.
To anyone reading through this giant wall of text. You are brave, a brave warrior of the seas indeed...maybe even Usopp..._**__
Love you post, OP is such a deep story whether some want to admit it or not. To me also Kaido is the most fascinating character in the series. Nobody comes close. There are so many things about him that make him interesting. Hopefully Oda will showcase everything about Kaido in the next few chapters. He deserves it
In regards to the leniency of the WG not desperately pursuing Luffy for his powers, I understand the sentiment. It's a fair point. That said, I think this issue is old news in the manga. I don't mean it as a defense, but only contextualizing this particular problem as a whole.
First, Luffy's accomplishments were always much more serious than the consequences of his actions afterwards. In fact, it never felt like Luffy was properly pursued by the Marines even after destroying the judiciary island, or punching a Celestial Dragon in the face, or plotting a prison break in Impel Down, or defeating multiple Shichibukai, not to mention his lineage as a D., the son of Dragon and the grandson of Garp. There should be always an Admiral running after Luffy for years now just like Smoker tried to do a few times. But no, that never quite happened in the series (although Admirals were assigned against Luffy in a few instances).
Second, the Nika DF is not the only special DF in the verse, and other special DF users were also not hunted like crazy by the WG. I mean, think about the Ope Ope no Mi, described as the "Ultimate Devil Fruit". The WG was willing to pay 5 billion berries for it, but how much was Law's bounty? Ridiculously low. He even hung around with the WG as a Shichibukai. And what about Black Beard? He says the Darkness Fruit is the strongest DF ever (possibly another God fruit?), but Teach didn't have a bounty for a long time and then became a Shichibukai too. If the WG wanted to, they could have trapped Teach to kill him or whatever, but Black Beard was a free man until he betrayed the WG.
It is what it is. Perhaps the WG is simply incompetent. Or perhaps they don't have the resources to put an Admiral to hunt every special DF user in the world. Or perhaps the WG count on people not unlocking the full potention of all these special DFs. Or perhaps One Piece is just a story and stories need a few conveniences here and there.
Luffy is not an underdog and has never been an underdog. /QUOTE]
Crocodile, katakuri and kaido to me are the only 3 fights I would say he was the under dog…every other opponent seemed to have been held back by either circumstance or conviction.
@G_Soldier:
Luffy is not an underdog and has never been an underdog. /QUOTE]
Crocodile, katakuri and kaido to me are the only 3 fights I would say he was the under dog…every other opponent seemed to have been held back by either circumstance or conviction.
There were opponents stronger than Luffy that's normal but that doesn't make him an underdog.
An underdog story is the story of someone that the universe conspires to make him fail but he succeeds against all odds.
This is not Luffy, he is someone who has always been described as being very lucky and that the universe conspires in his favor.
This doesn't detract from Luffy's merit as the protagonist as he is still a charismatic and hardworking guy who manages to convince people that he will achieve his goals but that doesn't mean he started the race last.
So could it be that blackbeard's fruit is a mythical zoan instead of logia reason he doesn't go intangible like logias. Human human model sad
Im so glad his awakening isn't a stupid bounce house!!
3ds friend code: 2509-2091-9671
@Chopper:
Im so glad his awakening isn't a stupid bounce house!!
But at the same time, he sort of could still do that if he really wanted to, its great lmao
I wonder if we understand everything about Gear 5? Luffy’s hair kind of melted last chapter, right? But now it’s become engulfed with flame.
Also, Luffy’s shirt may have changed colors as well. I guess we might understand after seeing next week’s color spread.
Whatever I think bout it, here's one thing that still stands out. When the Gorosei said: "Legend to only us." It could not have been the Gum Gum fruit because nothing has changed for them to go after it now. Here's the thing. Nothing has changed still. As late as 1028, the World Government did not care who won the fight. But not only do they know that the Gum Gum fruit is special, but they have always known? And they were actively going for Nico Robin? It's so completely incoherent that there must be something that's going to be explained or changed in the volume release.
I try not to get too caught up in these details, but I do kinda agree. The World Government's qualms with Luffy in the past were more about the actions he has taken being troublesome for them. I do not remember any sense of them being worried about him because he has the devil fruit of a god that inevitably changes the world whenever it surfaces. There was no vibe of that, nor has there ever been any urgency to go after Luffy at any point from that far up.
I agree that hopefully Oda makes it make sense, but I don't know.
With that said, in regards to the other complaints I'm seeing from other members about this being too "chosen one". I… don't know that we've been reading the same series? The vibe of Luffy being the "chosen one" trope has always been strong in this series. One prime early example of this off the top of my head was Luffy smiling when he was about to be killed by Buggy in Loguetown. It was an exact parallel to Gol D. Roger and gave off big "chosen one" vibes for Luffy, and these kinds of things have been scattered all throughout the series.
So maybe he didn't have a specifically "chosen one" power before this point. I do get that. It does feel random (but I do love Gear 5). But Luffy being the "chosen one" to become the Pirate King has never been very subtle in the series. Like ever. My only problem with this revelation is as I and ea77 talked about above, it feels so out of the middle of nowhere. The "chosen one" aspect of it is not too surprising.
Also, I want to take a moment to mention what so many are inevitably going to overlook with the rest of the chapter: I really like the Hiyori scene.
I wonder if we’ve seen the Rain God, Forest God, and Land God in the series? Are they also in Devil Fruits? Who would they correspond to?
I'll preface this post by saying that I don't want to take away from the massive joy this chapter has brought to (according to a subreddit poll) 85% of the community. It's great that so many enjoy it and you aren't wrong for doing so. I'm not trying to convince you otherwise. I do think a lot of people are really reaching in trying to prove that Oda is a genius and had everything planned all along but I digress. This post is more of a vent than anything.
Man, I've been reading One Piece since 2001 (I think) and started to read weekly in 2005. I've never been so let down until now.
I see so many problems with this that I fear it may be One Piece's dreaded "Jumping the Shark" moment. Of course, Oda has enough credit for me to wait and see, but I'm really worried by where this seems to be going.
Maybe the next chapters will make things better. But really, right now, I'm really worried that this story may take a direction I either don't care about or even deeply dislike.
This is pretty much how I feel. I caught a handful of episodes in the 4Kids days but really started following in 2009. This has to be the worst I've felt about OP in all that time. I'm wrestling with whether this or chapter 755 (Franky kissing Kyuin) is my most disliked. For the first time I'm deliberating on if I want to take a break from the manga. I say this about my favorite series and not easily. For me Onigashima has, despite many awesome moments been a massive exercise in frustration and disappointment. Heck, I'll make my own list of problems for the whole of act 3.
-Problem #1: The lack of tension. From the very start we had way more named protagonists in this raid than enemies. The "danger" was solely in the number of mooks and the presence of two emperors. But we never really feel like the raid could fail. Or like it will succeed but with an important sacrifice. Queen and Tama did a good job of removing the mook threat. We even had two of the Tobiroppo taken out as a freebie by Big Mom and another with Drake's defection. Also Marco's here to help despite prior evidence to the contrary because…he's popular, I guess? But we can add tension by dropping the island and its bombs on the flower capital as if Kaido winning wouldn't already doom the people of Wano!
-Problem #2: The easily removed subplots. Nami and Usopp running away for days on end. The ice oni plague that Chopper had to cure in an arc where he already easily cured a plague made by the exact same antagonist. The kanzenbo chase. Nami "gaining" Zeus despite having had him for the past 100 chapters. All unnecessary.
-Problem #3: Excessive use of fake-out deaths. I'm the first person to defend Oda not killing characters off too often. Heck, Kinemon surviving was actually really clever. And nobody expected Orochi to die from a beheading. But Kiku? Kanjuro? Kanjuro again? You can't have your cake and eat it too.
-Problem #4: The disrespect of Big Mom and the BMP. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Oda deliberately avoided Luffy having to fight BM because he doesn't want to depict his main character spending 30 chapters punching a woman. So he handed her off to two side characters. And we never got to see Smoothie have a real fight. I'd love to believe BM will be back for Elbaf but given how much attention she got in Wano, I doubt it.
-Problem #5: The failure to give all of the SHs interesting fights. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji got the love they deserved. Robin's fight was decent. Jinbe's was great thematically and visually but I'd rather have had him struggle with Jack than curb-stomp WW and then go on to rescue mooks. Franky's was a disappointing reel of shogun, suplex, and beam - the only 3 things Franky knows how to do anymore. I'm not validating Nami and Usopp's fights as real. Brook 1-shot a number. Chopper held off a not-serious Queen. In what is the face-off arc, it's criminal to have snubbed 4+ members of the crew. Problem #2 proves that time wasn't the issue. Not enough villains? Add a stegosaur, parasaur, ankylosaur, a proper T-rex, a fricken megatherium for all I care.
-Problem #6: Carrot being put on the backburner. :ninja:
-Problem #7: Hiyori's role was pathetically underwhelming. She snuck into the raid, seemingly patched up the scabbards, and stuck a nail in Orochi. That's fundamentally it. The collapsing roof did most of the work and because Oda can't have a sympathetic female do something dark, the last gasp of the Kanzenbo conveniently shows up to deliver the finishing blow. It really feels like she was added just to be Zoro's EOS love interest.
-Problem #8: The Human-Human Fruit Mythical Model: Nika. So instead of Luffy having a random paramecia (granted, a pretty good one) that Shanks' crew just randomly plundered, he actually has arguably the most significant fruit in the entire series, that is actually a mythical zoan which, barring heavy theorycrafting, isn't tied to any real-life animal or myth, but rather one that Oda very recently established within his own story. That presumably had rubber properties. I'm sorry, Oda, but that is the most convenient bullpoop you've ever whipped out. Oh, and it also ties Luffy to this legendary figure that was first name-dropped less than 30 chapters ago (or if you want to lean on Luffy's Joy Boy connection, ~80 chapters ago when the Oden flashback made that evident). Because Luffy already having the hat that the prior Pirate King wore and which was apparently a very important symbol in history wasn't already suggestive of a "child of prophecy." Look, even if you argue that Luffy did have to work hard to achieve what he has, this still reeks of the trope and leaves a sour taste in the mouth. I won't complain about gear 5 itself because although I think awakening is a bad concept, his abilities do seem plausible within that framework. But poor Chopper. His fruit just got outshone hard.
So much of Skypiea has been brought back to life recently, and these two panels here are more relevant than ever too.
..
Can’t wait to see if Luffy will have to say on the sun now that he has fully awakened as a sun deity.
On its own, the chapter is alright.
How it connects to the bigger narrative, ugh.
I like Gear 5th's design and its powers but why oh why must it be an in-universe mythological zoan?
Whacky Theory Time: the island of Enies Lobby was the stage for the ultimate battle of the Void Century.
Just think about it: there's a huge dark hole in the bottom, and there's always sunlight at the top of the island (even at night). Couldn't this be the after effects of the Awakening of the Darkness Fruit and the Sun God Fruit? Just like Punk Hazard became an island divided in half by volcanoes and ice.
Love the chapter, love joyboy storyline. Love Luffy’s new fruit powers. The last two chapter have been two of the best ever for me.
Only thing I didn’t like about the chapter was this game of thrones phrase. C’mon Oda, c’mon, don’t bring crap quotes from crap shows into your great story.
Also I could use more information on the gorosei reaction to Luffy’s fruit. It seems to me that they didn’t know all the details about the gum gum fruit and just when Zunesha showed up, somebody, probably Im gave them information that they didn’t know and they started scrambling quickly. I would like to know more about this.
@All:
On its own, the chapter is alright.
How it connects to the bigger narrative, ugh.
I like Gear 5th's design and its powers but why oh why must it be an in-universe mythological zoan?
I agree. It being a Mythical Zoan is cool and all, but I would have liked to see a actual mythological sun deity get represented, given how much of those we have in mythology.
Whacky Theory Time: the island of Enies Lobby was the stage for the ultimate battle of the Void Century.
Just think about it: there's a huge dark hole in the bottom, and there's always sunlight at the top of the island (even at night). Couldn't this be the after effects of the Awakening of the Darkness Fruit and the Sun God Fruit? Just like Punk Hazard became an island divided in half by volcanoes and ice.
If, and only IF Luffy had actual sun/fire powers aside its rubber physiology, sure. But I don't think it would work, given that Luffy, who has had that Fruit for years, never used fire powers until after the Timeskip. It's likely just friction.
Toon Physics Luffy. I'm down with it.
Not sure about his devil fruit being super special awesome, though. It's a lot to take in. Is it a soft reboot? Was it planned from the start? Does it matter? Gonna need more time to process.
NNID: jervinnectar
Love the chapter, love joyboy storyline. Love Luffy’s new fruit powers. The last two chapter have been two of the best ever for me.
Only thing I didn’t like about the chapter was this game of thrones phrase. C’mon Oda, c’mon, don’t bring crap quotes from crap shows into your great story.
Also I could use more information on the gorosei reaction to Luffy’s fruit. It seems to me that they didn’t know all the details about the gum gum fruit and just when Zunesha showed up, somebody, probably Im gave them information that they didn’t know and they started scrambling quickly. I would like to know more about this.
What's the Game of Thrones phrase
@Galleon:
If, and only IF Luffy had actual sun/fire powers aside its rubber physiology, sure. But I don't think it would work, given that Luffy, who has had that Fruit for years, never used fire powers until after the Timeskip. It's likely just friction.
Friction with what exactly? There's no friction in Red Hawk, we just invented this excuse out of the blue and convinced ourselves of it. Greg believes in Lunarian genes, which I think is a more fitting possibility.
In my opinion, the fire is caused by Luffy's body heat increasing to even higher temperatures. As we know, Gear 2nd produces tons of steam and heat, so it igniting into fire is not far-fetched (and I remind you that Red Hawk was a Gear 2nd technique). And like Gear 2nd, this Awakened state has a crazy heartbeat, so Gear 5th probably is super hot too (no pun intented), thus the hair on fire. And the strengthened rubber should allow Luffy to resist hotter temperatures without melting. IMO, this is reaching into the potention of the "Sun God" epithet – which I don't interpret as a literal creationist God, but still relevant to the Myth.
Like 40 chapters ago when they were all fighting Kaidou and Big Mom at the same time, Big mom fried Luffy with lightning and went "Wha?"
"I'm made of rubber!"
Which we all knew and accepted.
And then immediately after, Kaidou blasts him and goes "What, fire doesn't work either? " And Luffy yells out "cause I've got guts!"
And we rolled with it because its Luffy and funny and awesome and it was connected to the thing we already knew and accepted and it was just a quick thing in an action scene, and we didn't think about it.
But….
(We also got red hawk a decade ago and never any explanation for it beyond what we ourselves decided.)
Robby, I agree with all of that.
I just add that Luffy's heat and steam precedes Red Hawk with a pseudo-scientific explanation in Gear 2nd. In true shonen fashion, it's reasonable that this phenomenon would escalate to higher temperatures. In my opinion, Nika's fire is justified by the rubberness of the body and its shenanigans.
