Chapter 914: Okobore, the Town of Leftovers

Kdom

This arc had the possibility of already starting in a big climax, since so much had already been established and built up to, but everything that people were daydreaming about is still in the horizon despite the timid beginning (with a fast pace): the big fight against Kaidou and his crew (and Big Mom, possibly), a lot of popular characters hanging around to please everyone's tastes, the history of the Kouzuki clan and perhaps some info about the Void Century and the Dawn of the World.

I, for one, am happy to feel the atmosphere of Wano and all its different sceneries (this chapter was beautiful to look at) and to finally get to appreciate Zoro again after so many years insatisfied with his portrayal (and that's better than having all the Strawhats together just for the sake of it). The new characters have grown on me too thanks to this last chapter. Of course, I also have my personal criticism to the last few chapters and the contrived presentation of some topics. All things considered, this is an enjoyable start to the arc in my opinion. Nobody is obliged to like it, obviously, but there's also the fact that that most readers don't have the patience to live in the present of the weekly reading and get lost in their own wishlist and internal fanfics.

While Zoro-Luffy interaction are great, I wish we can move on with some other character to deepens the arc plotlines. I guess next chapter would be a good moment to switch.
The only thing i miss with zoro now is his reaction when he learns Luffy and Sanji new bounty

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@K.:

Do the flags in the cover page represent different pirate crews? What will be Bellamy's story about?
.

It lacks some skulls a bit don’t you think ?

Questions for those who read the viz version : how does Stephen translates the gozaru speech pattern ?

Dahaka. 0

@Kdom:

While Zoro-Luffy interaction are great, I wish we can move on with some other character to deepens the arc plotlines. I guess next chapter would be a good moment to switch.

Please no switching, let's finish this plotline first before we move on to the next.

I love that Oda is trying to keep everything so straight and simple for now. It's a great way to avoid a clusterfuck of plotlines and characters that Dressrosa was.

Just look how he juggles the characters so the pacing won't slow down. First we get Tengu and Otama, then Tengu is out and Tsuru comes in, and now Tsuru is out and Kiku comes in.

WCI was a big improvment in terms of planning after the mess Dressrosa was, and if those 5 chapters are any indication of how this arc will be handled, the trend will continue.

Kdom

but this plotline won't be finished anytime soon
In skypiea, Oda switched between the plotlines at a good pace and it was well done

theackwardstation

Actually, this particular plotline (the invasion into the Bakura district) can be finished pretty soon as long as the focus remains on it instead of wandering away, but of course it all depends of the kind of content that Oda is planning for it, which I can't be sure yet. That said, it doesn't need to be anything massive considering that the headliners are not too high on the hierarchy to demand a lot of screentime (with the exception of the Supernovas, but they're something else for later), and that district doesn't seem to be particularly pivotal to the plot compared to other settings in Wano. What I expect is just enough exposure to trigger whatever else is going to happen after (while also getting a little more exposition of different subjects). But I may be wrong.

In Skypiea, everything was much more intertwined and converging into the same point, so all the characters just engaged in a very streightforward shonen action in the Upper Yard. Wano could have the same treatment eventually, but in the meantime it seems to be much more complicated in the way it's going to develop (different missions to tackle a much more difficult enemy, and also many motivations that go into different directions). If that's the case, it's better to take one step at a time.

ArmamentHero

@theackwardstation:

Actually, this particular plotline (the invasion into the Bakura district) can be finished pretty soon as long as the focus remains on it instead of wandering away, but of course it all depends of the kind of content that Oda is planning for it, which I can't be sure yet. That said, it doesn't need to be anything massive considering that the headliners are not too high on the hierarchy to demand a lot of screentime (with the exception of the Supernovas, but they're something else for later), and that district doesn't seem to be particularly pivotal to the plot compared to other settings in Wano. What I expect is just enough exposure to trigger whatever else is going to happen after (while also getting a little more exposition of different subjects). But I may be wrong.

In Skypiea, everything was much more intertwined and converging into the same point, so all the characters just engaged in a very streightforward shonen action in the Upper Yard. Wano could have the same treatment eventually, but in the meantime it seems to be much more complicated in the way it's going to develop (different missions to tackle a much more difficult enemy, and also many motivations that go into different directions). If that's the case, it's better to take one step at a time.

Wano arc should be simple and straight to the point. We already know who's involved or going to be involved. We know the big bads and the tyranny of their reign. A Skypeia arc-like formula actually wouldn't be that bad. So far, Wano has been solid.

Simple is best.

theackwardstation

@ArmamentHero:

Wano arc should be simple and straight to the point. We already know who's involved or going to be involved. We know the big bads and the tyranny of their reign. A Skypeia arc-like formula actually wouldn't be that bad. So far, Wano has been solid.

Simple is best.

It's not that simple though.

Even if we know who's involved, a lot of different characters need their own development going further into the arc. Just from the villains' side, we have two different allied parties that are still raw in every aspect (Kaidou and the Shogun), one of them (Kaidou) being too important to the series to not get the proper depht at some point (not to mention the Calamities). We also have the potential participation of a third antagonist in the arc (Big Mom) to bring her own chaos. Aside from that, we have random players that need to justify their roles in the plot, especially the Supernovas allied to Kaidou (Kidd, Killer, Hawkins, Apoo and Drake). There's also the possibility of more parties arriving into the scene, like the Marines or maybe something crazier.

We also have different groups of allies that should be focused in this arc, like the Kouzuki clan and the minks. From the Kouzuki clan, especially, we should expect to get some development on their recent circunstances, but also look back at Oden's backstory and even visit the origins of the clan (the Poneglyphs, their will, what's the deal with Zunisha, etc). The minks are close to the Kouzuki, so a lot can be done together, but they should get their own highlight. Besides that, there are also individual stories thrown in into the mix, since now I'm expecting O-kiku and O-Tama to get some narrative importance, not to mention Momonosuke. Not only that, but it's reasonable to expect some development on Carrot, then we have to see what's up with Jimbe's current circunstance. At last, some Strawhats may get more than fights in Wano.

You see, we have MANY different players, many themes, many layers, and a lot of important history tied to Wano and the rest of the world. Some of it can be neatly developed together, of course, but it's already much more complicated and bigger than Skypiea. However, that doesn't mean that the narrative need to go all over the place at the same time and become a terrible mess like Dressrosa… to avoid that, simplicity could be achieved by organizing the story into sucessive steps, taking one step at a time. That's not different than the structure Water 7/Enies Lobby as one long arc.

And we can see glimpses of it already. For example, chapter 909 shows that the Strawhats that arrived in Wano earlier already have a plan in motion, so that's probably bound to happen when we finish things in Bakura and leave to the capital.

ArmamentHero

@theackwardstation:

It's not that simple though.

Even if we know who's involved, a lot of different characters need their own development going further into the arc. Just from the villains' side, we have two different allied parties that are still raw in every aspect (Kaidou and the Shogun), one of them (Kaidou) being too important to the series to not get the proper depht at some point (not to mention the Calamities). We also have the potential participation of a third antagonist in the arc (Big Mom) to bring her own chaos. Aside from that, we have random players that need to justify their roles in the plot, especially the Supernovas allied to Kaidou (Kidd, Killer, Hawkins, Apoo and Drake). There's also the possibility of more parties arriving into the scene, like the Marines or maybe something crazier.

We also have different groups of allies that should be focused in this arc, like the Kouzuki clan and the minks. From the Kouzuki clan, especially, we should expect to get some development on their recent circunstances, but also look back at Oden's backstory and even visit the origins of the clan (the Poneglyphs, their will, what's the deal with Zunisha, etc). The minks are close to the Kouzuki, so a lot can be done together, but they should get their own highlight. Besides that, there are also individual stories thrown in into the mix, since now I'm expecting O-kiku and O-Tama to get some narrative importance, not to mention Momonosuke. Not only that, but it's reasonable to expect some development on Carrot, then we have to see what's up with Jimbe's current circunstance. At last, some Strawhats may get more than fights in Wano.

You see, we have MANY different players, many themes, many layers, and a lot of important history tied to Wano and the rest of the world. Some of it can be neatly developed together, of course, but it's already much more complicated and bigger than Skypiea. However, that doesn't mean that the narrative need to go all over the place at the same time and become a terrible mess like Dressrosa… to avoid that, simplicity could be achieved by organizing the story into sucessive steps, taking one step at a time. That's not different than the structure Water 7/Enies Lobby as one long arc.

And we can see glimpses of it already. For example, chapter 909 shows that the Strawhats that arrived in Wano earlier already have a plan in motion, so that's probably bound to happen when we finish things in Bakura and leave to the capital.

I agree, my whole point was regardless of the complexities that we know will happen, they should at least be much more successive in a simple straightforward manner leading to that epic climax, just like what you just said.

Blissed

Why do people still phrase Big Mom's Wano appearance as potentially happening?

It doesn't get any more clearer than Ch. 907, and on a lesser note, I'm pretty sure we know exactly why Oda didn't let them read that newspaper in Ch. 910.

Long John Silvers Rayleigh

@Blissed:

Why do people still phrase Big Mom's Wano appearance as potentially happening?

It doesn't get any more clearer than Ch. 907, and on a lesser note, I'm pretty sure we know exactly why Oda didn't let them read that newspaper in Ch. 910.

Because if she has a major role in here than she would have to get one in elbaf too ( where he's built up a lot more ) and that would mean big mom basically hanging about for 200-300 chapters. IMO she shows up too Late but heads to elbaf with her crew.

theackwardstation

@Blissed:

Why do people still phrase Big Mom's Wano appearance as potentially happening?

It doesn't get any more clearer than Ch. 907, and on a lesser note, I'm pretty sure we know exactly why Oda didn't let them read that newspaper in Ch. 910.

I believe Big Mom will show up in Wano, but some people disagree, so I say potentially to avoid an unrelated discussion.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Long:

Because if she has a major role in here than she would have to get one in elbaf too ( where he's built up a lot more ) and that would mean big mom basically hanging about for 200-300 chapters. IMO she shows up too Late but heads to elbaf with her crew.

Big Mom doesn't need to participate in Elbaf, though. Her defeat in Wano by Luffy's hands could already pay dividends to the plot there, being crucial to its developments.

camey

my question is, how did u guys know that the person in cover page is Bellamy? he did not vow to be part of SHGF rite?

Blissed

@Long:

Because if she has a major role in here than she would have to get one in elbaf too ( where he's built up a lot more ) and that would mean big mom basically hanging about for 200-300 chapters. IMO she shows up too Late but heads to elbaf with her crew.

Her showing up late is pretty weak, no? It's not even like everyone is already here, with the arc being well underway. Not to mention the whole Jinbe situation has to be resolved as well. She has the Marines all in a tizzy over it, only to not make it on time? I don't see why that would happen.

Her appearing in Elbaf, that's what I thought would happen at first, namely because I had immense difficulty picturing her showing up to Wano. That Oda isn't crazy enough to deal with two Yonko crews in one arc. And as the WCI arc progressed, it became evident that we were definitely seeing her again. So logically, people, including myself, pointed towards the Elbaf arc as where she'd reappear. Then Ch. 907 happened, so turns out it is Wano after all. And in hindsight it makes sense, because if she's dealt with in Wano, it seemingly sidesteps the issue of wondering how the Elbaf arc could possibly matchup to what Wano will offer us.

Admittedly, the issue with taking it as a given that she's coming to Elbaf, even before Ch. 907 came out, is that there was no real concrete evidence or foreshadowing to confirm as much. People just assumed something would inevitably come/happen to make her go there due to her connections to the place, like the last Road Poneglyph being at Elbaf or something. In fact, we're still waiting for something along those lines…

Not to say that it still couldn't happen, but I don't see how anyone can push the "Big Mom in Elbaf" thing to the point where they're now saying that Oda was just kidding about her participating in the Wano arc. Either both things happens, or she's dealt with at Wano IMO.

As for her potentially taking part in three arcs, I don't see the big deal. We're already in uncharted territory to begin with following WCI. Big Mom is a Yonko, so him handling her differently from past antagonists isn't surprising at all.

KageKageKing

@camey:

my question is, how did u guys know that the person in cover page is Bellamy? he did not vow to be part of SHGF rite?

He didn't , but took a piece of his vivre card anyway. And this is a separeted story from the SHGF Cover Stories. A Side-Story of it.

Nilitch

Is there really a reason to believe that Bigmom will be part of the Elbaf arc tho ?

Long John Silvers Rayleigh

@Nilitch:

Is there really a reason to believe that Bigmom will be part of the Elbaf arc tho ?

Because oda set up her being an enemy of giants, have memories she cant access, gave her a memory fruit using daughter and trashed whole cake island. If oda isnt gonna resolves big mom's relationships later why delve into them so much in the background.

Kishido

Yup I have no doubts that Big Mom will be at Elbaf…

Only worry I have is that Wano wil be cleared with Big Mom being down as well and we won't have an Elbaf arc at all

Blissed

@Kishido:

Yup I have no doubts that Big Mom will be at Elbaf…

Only worry I have is that Wano wil be cleared with Big Mom being down as well and we won't have an Elbaf arc at all

There's no reason to believe they won't go to Elbaf, regardless of what happens with Big Mom. They were going to go there long before they met her.

Lord of Chaos

@Blissed:

There's no reason to believe they won't go to Elbaf, regardless of what happens with Big Mom. They were going to go there long before they met her.

Yeah no way Oda doesn't do a Elbaf arc he's been building up that since LG.

c0nflikt

man so far for me at least dressrosa was alabasta x2, and wci was thriller bark x2, it wouldn't surprise me if wano was skypeia x2 mark my words

Johnny B. Decent

@c0nflikt:

man so far for me at least dressrosa was alabasta x2, and wci was thriller bark x2, it wouldn't surprise me if wano was skypeia x2 mark my words

How was WCI anything like Thriller Bark besides the homies?

Darkestsith6

I think a good excuse to go to Elbaf would be to place a Road poneglyph there.

With BM coming to Wano, it seems like the Kaido/BM phase of the story should conclude here and we should move onto the BB/Shanks half of the emperor plot.

K. Kira XXIII

@Monquito:

ok STAPH!

Just wondering because of the translator's note about the word "Sessha". Used by male samurais. It could just be her way of speaking.

Alternatively it could just be a man disguised to gather intel from people like the sumo wrestler.

I was just thinking about Izo that is most likely from Wano. So there is precedence for okama to be there.

[hide][/hide]

Either way, I was just thinking about that in the context of Sanji meeting Kiku.

@Kdom:

It lacks some skulls a bit don’t you think ?

You are right, I guess I was just thrown off by Shank's flag being up there as someone pointed out.

I hope the last poneglyph is not on Elbaf and that we get a small arc of the complete Straw Hat crew on a treasure hunt. Maybe, even as a competition with the Red Hair pirates. Elbaf already has a thousand excuses to go there. Usopp's desire, Big Mom's past.

Johnny B. Decent

I think Izo is the only non-hideous crossdresser in the entire series.

BattleFranky69

@S.C.:

I think Izo is the only non-hideous crossdresser in the entire series.

Eh, I think Inazuma (the scissor DF one, i don't remember if that's what their name was) was okay.

At first I wasn't sure why they'd bother abducting O-Tama but it makes sense if Kaido is the 'king of beasts' or whatever for him to want someone with the ability or innate talent of taming wild creatures, so it's not overly contrived to create a damsel in distress situation here even though at first glance that's what it seemed like.

Also, are SMILE DF users permanently stuck in an off-looking half-human, half-animal form? None of them look like what you'd expect the hybrid form of a normal Zoan DF user to look like. More like they'd been turned into a stop-motion claymation sort of version of it than, say, Dalton's hybrid form does.

Johnny B. Decent

@BattleFranky69:

Eh, I think Inazuma (the scissor DF one, i don't remember if that's what their name was) was okay.

At first I wasn't sure why they'd bother abducting O-Tama but it makes sense if Kaido is the 'king of beasts' or whatever for him to want someone with the ability or innate talent of taming wild creatures, so it's not overly contrived to create a damsel in distress situation here even though at first glance that's what it seemed like.

Also, are SMILE DF users permanently stuck in an off-looking half-human, half-animal form? None of them look like what you'd expect the hybrid form of a normal Zoan DF user to look like. More like they'd been turned into a stop-motion claymation sort of version of it than, say, Dalton's hybrid form does.

Oh, yeah, him. I guess he is a Newkama, too, but since he just wears a suit, I suppose I didn't look at him in the same way his fellows dress.

BattleFranky69

@S.C.:

Oh, yeah, him. I guess he is a Newkama, too, but since he just wears a suit, I suppose I didn't look at him in the same way his fellows dress.

But I think there's a physical body transformation between male and female, and the way it looks UNDER the clothes changes. Or something. It's been a while since I watched the breakdown of it on youtube.

K. Kira XXIII

SMILES were made by Caesar, why was anyone expecting any of the Gifters to look normal?

BattleFranky69

@K.:

SMILES were made by Caesar, why was anyone expecting any of the Gifters to look normal?

When they said side effects I don't think anyone expected it to be merely superficially cosmetic. Though there are probably more, we just haven't gotten the details yet. If that's the only side effect of SMILEs, though, I'll be disappointed.

Forgot to mention it, but…Batman. LOL. Classic. Now we just need a robin SMILE and we'll have the dynamic duo.

Fraco

@camey:

my question is, how did u guys know that the person in cover page is Bellamy? he did not vow to be part of SHGF rite?

arm tattoo 16 chrs

Wintermute

But Bellamy has a much more broad back than this person. I'm not convinced either.

Blissed

Dunno who else people think it would be. Even the "Side Story" part makes it even more obvious, as it fits with how Bellamy didn't join the fleet, but is cool with Luffy and has his Vivre card.

Long John Silvers Rayleigh

Glad Viz wasnt a bunch of cowards and called the guy Manbat

KageKageKing

Ain't that still the name of a Batman Villain?

Kaptayn

@KageKageKing:

Ain't that still the name of a Batman Villain?

It is. I still have nightmares of him from Arkham Knight.

Wintermute

Both names would fit equally.

Btw, can someone photoshop a batarang onto Zoro's sword?

ArmamentHero

Let's just hope Batman and Robin meet eachother xD

theackwardstation

Time for the crazy theory of the day.

Ok, in this chapter we learned that Oden was the Shogun of Wano 20 years ago. Besides that, Momonosuke once said that he met Roger when he was younger (which we assumed was him lying or confusing Roger for someone else). What if Oden died over 20 years ago and then Momonosuke and cia travelled in time to the future? Maybe not intentionally and not consciously.

That's obviously a very absurd interpretation of the facts, but I find this amusing.

Fraco

momo was inside the egg on the ship btw

theackwardstation

The egg of time.

imperioonepiece

Random theory: That was a dragons' egg, Momo was in it, and Momo is originally a Dragon. ó.o

Boing

@Wintermute:

But Bellamy has a much more broad back than this person. I'm not convinced either.

It's just art wonkiness.

BellisarioFaith

Sorry for the lack of comparisons; was preparing for/on vacation. Here's this week's, and quite a few.

The VIZ title of the chapter does not translate it to "Leftover" Town, keeping it as "Okobore Town". (Mangastream calls it the former name, Jaimini's Box uses both.)
Kiku refers to the plant that healed Tama as "bugleweed" in MS, "jyagan grass" in JB, and "the evil-purging herb" in VIZ.
Kiku's speech quirk–using "sessha" as her first-person pronoun (a term used by male samurai)--is included with this explanation in a translator's note in JB. MS converts the quirk to the Shakespearean style by having her say "I doth be"; in VIZ, she says "this one" to refer to herself, Game of Thrones style.
The official translation, after having Tsuru tell Tama to eat up, adds another sentence (which conveniently explains what shiruko is for English-speaking readers who may not know): "The sweet bean porridge will make you feel better!"
Tsuru's words when she's yelling at Tama for refusing to eat the food is a bit different in each version; the official is "Silence! What kind of woman sets out food for a hungry person, and then takes 'No thanks, I'm not hungry' for an answer?!"
When Luffy chimes in telling Tama to eat the food because it's her birthday, he says "Besides, you deserve it!" in MS, "Good for you!" in JB, and "Lucky you!" in VIZ. Also, when Zoro questions if it really is her birthday, Luffy answers with "That's what I'm saying!" (which is a bit stilted) in MS, "Yeah, it's true!" in JB, and "That's what I heard!" in VIZ.
In the scanlations, Luffy says that "she" (as in, Tama) will be able to eat poisoned food when she grows up. In the official version, he says that "you"–as in, grown-ups in general--can handle eating poison.
In JB, Tsuru refers to the town's citizens themselves as leftovers. In MS and VIZ, she says that the townspeople hope to live off the leftovers/scraps from the nearby town of government officials. She also states in JB about the farm that Oden planted that the food there was "nothing like the food that Orochi and his subordinates manipulate. It was a paradise", while in MS and VIZ, she says that Oden didn't create the Paradise Farm (and it is given this name, or "the Paradise Plantations" in MS) so that Orochi and his minions could control all of the country's food.
The Gifters have hyphens in their names in the official version, so they're Bat-Man and Gazelle-Man.
Bat-Man states in JB that there was a theft from the farm a few weeks ago, implying that it happened once. In MS and VIZ, he states food's been stolen from the farm "over the last few weeks", showing that it's a repeated event.
Also in JB, Gazelle-Man states "I am Idaten!", implying that his is his real name. Instead, he says "I run like the wind!" in MS and "I'm uncatchable!" in VIZ.

Long John Silvers Rayleigh

I forgot to mention it but did anyone else find evil-purging herb kind of corny. Like yeah one piece is corny but it reminded me of something else.

BattleFranky69

@Long:

I forgot to mention it but did anyone else find evil-purging herb kind of corny. Like yeah one piece is corny but it reminded me of something else.

Like how salt purified Moria's shadow zombies?

Long John Silvers Rayleigh

@BattleFranky69:

Like how salt purified Moria's shadow zombies?

I mean specifically the name. Like if brook said " dont worry I'll grab the shadow-purging salt from the kitchen" in thriller bark

It just sounds weird because what it's doing is also it's name. Or if chopper said "nami's been struck by the 'feel bad disease' " in drum island

Trafalgar Rao

@imperioonepiece:

https://jaiminisbox.com/reader/read/one-piece-2/en/0/914/page/1

Anotge boring chapter lmaoo

badwolf1234

50% chance caribou would appear this arc

uniaka ikuzakas

Not sure what is the point of caribou plot anymore. If kaidou gets defeated this arc, he will not be able to go after fishman princess anymore.

desa

@uniaka:

Not sure what is the point of caribou plot anymore. If kaidou gets defeated this arc, he will not be able to go after fishman princess anymore.

Maybe he'll be an ally.

Buggy D. Clown

Laws carefully planned attack plan has gone to shit in 1 chapter. He should know better by now loll