Franky punched a vice admiral, so that's all I need to say this was a good chapter.

Even though I recently reread One Piece, I feel the need to at least go through a chunk of this arc again. After a 3 week break and how fast things move chapter to chapter, the sense of what is happening and has happened off for me. Besides that, it's been interesting to see how chaotic everything has been, and that despite the ancient robot showing up at the end of the last chapter, there was nothing mentioned or shown of it this chapter. Definitely seems like something that we'll get more focus on once the actual information Vegapunk wants to spread starts happening. Unfortunately, that probably means next chapter will end with the cliffhanger of that starting, only for the break to happen before we get the chapter proper of getting actual juicy tidbits.

As a positive, at least it didn't pan out being one chapter per minute for the countdown.

Got the chance to watch the series since I was hanging out with friends who had a subscription. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this. Overall did a solid job presenting a lot of the big beats of the East Blue saga, while adding its own twists which gave it its own charm.

I don't really have much to say that has already been said. Really strange the sudden shift in Yamato not wanting to leave even if you can make sense of it on paper. I want to like the whole farewell with Momo, but I just can't muster any feelings towards him. He's not the unlikable brat he started out as, but like with so much other characters from the arc he just feels so underutilized. There's also the fact that he had so little interaction with Luffy the whole thing of him calling Momo a little brother just doesn't work for me. The whole "here's our flag to raise" moment.

Perhaps in the future on a reread I'll be a little more receptive to this arc, but at this time this arc was just a slog to get through. Some fun characters like Queen with some neat moments, such as Jinbei finally joining. However, those great moments were few and far between with so much mediocrity.

I've been seeing people predicting Carrot could still join. While not against it, I laugh at the idea because if true it would be such a jarring thing with how little screen time she has had since the end of Whole Cake Island.

Yeah, that fact that Atlas can change shape is a huge red flag right there, Seems to recall recently that a lot of people were apprehensive on how the stakes could stay high after beating Kaido, and I feel Oda has done a great job on building the stakes here. We saw how just two Seraphim took on some really powerful pirates, but here we have 4 on the island on top of a traitor, plus with a Admiral on his way. Throw in real Vegapunk missing and trying to protect the various numbers, it's less about winning and more about surviving. If the arc keeps it current pace and quality, this arc will be a great way for me to get reinvested after the slog that was the past arc.

Bonney having a higher command with any pacifista's that look like Kuma was great payoff. With so many things going on, you wouldn't think about it being the case, but makes a lot of sense. I assume this will include S-Bear, so this helps even the odds overall with the numbers.

I didn't read the spoilers, but I had caught wind that the arrival wasn't who most were expecting. My top guess was Black Beard, with the Grand Fleet being behind that, so I was trying to think my next guess. A few hours before the chapter, I was brewing in my mind the idea of the Cross Guild being the ones to show up, my main thought being that with so many Navy there, it would be lots of bounties for the picking (weak reasoning, but was something that just came to mind). With the reveal being Dorry and Broggy, I think it works well. I fully expected them to help out the crew again at some point, and this is a good way for the Straw Hats to go to Elbaph next.

My main question in my mind is how long this conflict will continue. Personally, I feel this will be a Straw Hat victory, but in so far that instead of decimating everyone they cause the buster call to back off, which considering the last few encounters with it, shows growth for the crew against the world government. Also feel Saturn will have some sort of limitation that will cause him to back off despite being so seemingly OP. Give readers and the crew something to ruminate on with how they will eventually take on people that can't sustain damage.

Egghead keeps on delivering

Unfortunately, I finished rereading the entire series a few weeks ago, so not really in the mood to do just the post time skip to discuss here. However, will give some general thoughts.

Fishman Island and Punk Hazard were shorter, enjoyable arcs, though not particular stand out arcs. Of course one of the bigger problems is that it's the start of the new world after the crew trained for a few years, so the threats weren't going to be serious to them and in certain situations they had to be nerfed in a way to make the villain not be taken down immediately (ie, Luffy fighting Hody Jones in the water).

Dressrosa is still an arc I personally enjoy a lot. I remember on here back when it was going on a lot of people weren't terribly fond of it, especially as it went on. Part of it being that half the crew was gone and a bunch of new characters were getting small bits of spot light. Also was a good bit longer, taking over two years to complete the arc before moving on. Senor Pink is still my MVP of the arc, and I love Fujitora through the whole thing. Doflamingo in a way was put in an unfortunate position, a very power warlord, but the story was moving onto the Emperor's being the big threats, so he couldn't be the force of nature that he would've been earlier in the story. I think Oda did a pretty good job showing him to be a decent threat. Gear 3 Luffy even with Haki could do practically nothing, showing that had he continued on without training this would've been a story end for him. Gear 4 was a boost that allowed him to overpower Doflamingo, but took a number of hits to take him down for good. End of the day, really like this arc.

Zou was a very impactful, short little arc. The whole reveal that the minks were protecting Raizo and went through everything to protect him hits as hard or even more this time aroung reading it. Also gives some hype to just how strong and sturdy commanders under an Emperor are, even if Jack ends up being more of a scrub in the arc he's supposed to be important in.

Whole Cake Island is currently the best arc post time skip (though Egg Head is catching up to it). While still not the biggest fan of the Vinsmoke part, it does tie in well with two very different dysfunctional families with heads who are terrible parents. With Big Mom's family, with some of her children you see how there is emotional damage that made them who they are today. Katakuri has the legend of being undefeated and untouchable, but he has that front in order to protect some of his closer siblings in age. MVP of this arc was Capone, who outside Law is the only other non Straw Hat Supernova that has made a huge impact (Bonney is getting there). Big Mom also had a great showing, with it taking Chopper, Brook, Nami, and Jimbei working together to fend her off. The idea of her actually being taken down feels impossible. Superb arc.

Wano is where the first two acts are solid, though it's so dense with all these different characters and connections you have to make between them. It's like One Piece entered into another Manga story where two protagonist groups are working together for a common goal. Act 2 has some really great moments, between Yasuie and the reveal of the true nature of the Smile fruits right after his death being a back to back heart wrencher. It really makes you want Orochi to be taken down, thought that becomes the problem with Act 3 where Kaido is the target, and he's had almost no screen time to be the one you want taken down. Kaido is just a weak antagonist for me personality wise, though there's a few fun moments with him when fighting Luffy on Onigashima when he gets drunk. Gear 5 was fun with how wacky it was, but doesn't save how boring most of the act was.

Once again, I just can't find myself to care for Oden. The first chapter feels like it's trying to really hype him with his record growing up, and add on top of the fact that he sailed with both Whitebeard and Rodger to come across as trying too hard to make him cool. That would be less of a problem if there was an emotional core to grab on to, but pretty much everyone from his entourage feels paperthin. He finds them, does one small thing, and now are indebted to him. In past arcs, because so much time was spent on the relationship between the people in it, my connection with all those characters deepened. Here, none of those relationships felt fully formed. All in all, I enjoyed it for the most part, but even in bulk it felt like it was dragging on near the end.

Now with Egg Head, there are a few small details I didn't quite connect since there was time between chapters. The biggest thing was I got Caribou came with them, so I figure he will be playing a role. Another small thing I thought of is how the three Seraphim on Egg Head have different connections with Luffy, and that those will come to play in how once under Saturns control they may gain their own will to not attack Luffy at the very least.

Loved this chapter a lot. Kuma was a character I was interested in learning more about, and now with this chapter, he's skyrocketed higher in how much I like him. Add on Ginny, who while we know will end up having a tragic fate, is a really fun character in her own right. Everything about this chapter was done just right for me, showing just who Kuma is as a person, giving a short but good idea of what the revolutionaries were like in the early day before becoming a huge presence, and giving a nice relationship between Kuma and Ginny in just a chapter.

One other large stand out for me was Dragon mentioning being in the Navy for a short while, then leaving since he was unhappy with how they dispensed "justice". I think with having reread a lot of the series again recently, and being reminded of how the system's justice is terrible, and how even people like Smoker and Fujitora are ultimately cogs in the system and can't dispense actual justice in their positions, this little part just really hit hard.

Caribou being a Blackbeard fanboy mirroring Bartolomeo was something I was not expecting after everything that has happened with him since his introduction. If it was just his fighting prowess, he'd be just a chump, but it's him knowing about Shirohoshi's true capabilities that make him dangerous.

Really getting a sense of Blackbeard playing the long game between stealing powers and using them for various purposes. With the ability to imitate Saturn, I see the big aspect of that being Blackbeard gaining control of all the Seraphim.

I may be misremembering, but I recall a lot of posters here, myself included, being down on Katakuri at first. There was some dunking on his more serious looking design standing in stark contrast to practically all the rest of his siblings. I believe for a little bit at the time the scantlations being read gave him the name dogtooth, which was a choice. For me, once the reveal of his face with the scarf removed happened, I loved his design. Add on the quick backstory we got at the end of the fight, he was solidified as a great character.

As for Bege, every time I go through Whole Cake island I am floored by how he shot to the top of being one of the best Supernovas for me. He didn't leave a lasting impression in his first appearance, but Whole Cake Island really made him stood out. Even crazier how Kidd who was supposed to be a more major character didn't come close to having the same impact for me, and was in an even longer arc compared to Bege.

@FelRes said in How was your Day 2 (general chat):

@The-Franky-Tank said in How was your Day 2 (general chat):

@FelRes said in How was your Day 2 (general chat):

@The-Franky-Tank said in How was your Day 2 (general chat):

Just got back home from a 10-day trip to Iceland. If you love mountains, water, snow, and cool weather you should definitely go there. Got lucky and saw the Northern lights, kind of. It wasn't strong enough to see the colors with the naked eye, it was mainly a faded green mist in the sky with the colors appearing on pictures.

I went to Iceland over the summer, it was absolutely gorgeous. So many puffins and so much rye bread. Didn't get to see northern lights tho. It was daylight pretty much 24/7 it was weird but cool. Need to go back one day.

Awesome, glad you got to enjoy your time there. Being October puffins were long gone for me but did get a rare sighting of some reindeer in the distance. Also got a chance to see some of my favorite animal, the Humpback Whale during a whale watching tour. Where all did you go during your visit?

We circled around the entire island. Highlights for me were the myvatn baths, whale watching up north in Dalvik, puffins in Borgarfjörður eystri, and Glacier Lagoon + Diamond Beach. Loved seeing all the seals playing in the lagoon, they're my 2nd fav animal after sharks. And we miraculously saw some humpback whales engaging in some... humping at Diamond Beach. It was nuts. I missed out on elephant rock tho, which was the main thing I wanted to see r.i.p.

Really cool things you got to see there, only places I went that you mentioned was diamond beach and glacier lagoon. Loved the area, all the various shaped ice scattered around and the various colors with the volcanic ash mixed in made for some very vivid imagery. Since it was October, I was able to go into an Ice Cave at the nearby glacier there which was an amazing experience in its own right!

Not a lot for me to say this time. The biggest thing I liked was the little bit of Stussy we got, and how she has a soft spot for Kaku to want to release him. With an elder coming towards their location and Lucci asking one of the elders spare him, there's been a little bit of me wondering if perhaps Lucci will turn, so to speak, in this arc, to protect Kaku. Was feeling that a little more strongly, but now that the Elders attention are on the giant robot, the small chance of that occurring is completely gone.

@Johnny-B-Decent said in American Politics: A Brand New Day:

So, he can't legally run for President, right?

Unfortunately, being a felon does not stop him from running. However, he can no longer vote.

Don't know what kind of punishment if any it will lead to, but in the Trump trial he was found guilty on all 34 counts!

@electricmastro said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:

@The-Franky-Tank said in Chapter 1115: Pieces of a Continent:

Something I just realized that we are missing from this arc that I'm doubting we will get from this arc, and that's the true nature of Devil Fruits. From what I recall, it really seemed like we were going to get some big info on the nature of Devil Fruits once we met Vegapunk, but outside of seeing more fruits being replicated like S-Shark having Senor Pinks ability, we never really got anything big about Devil Fruits. Seems like the logical conclusion is anything important to know will come from the big void century flashback, but still a little bummed we didn't get any kind of focus (bar something in the message includes something about the Devil Fruits, but I have doubts about that).

Well Vegapunk said devil fruits came from dreams. Isn't that big

Only thing that really says to me is that even a genius like Vega Punk doesn't fully comprehend the nature of Devil Fruits. On the one hand, for what we got from the arc I can buy that Devil Fruits are outside something he could fully understand. However, the fact that he can replicate fruits to an extent even if for Zoans he can't get the color down of the dragon fruit, you'd think he'd have some small insights for us to chew on before getting bigger reveals down the line.

Something I just realized that we are missing from this arc that I'm doubting we will get from this arc, and that's the true nature of Devil Fruits. From what I recall, it really seemed like we were going to get some big info on the nature of Devil Fruits once we met Vegapunk, but outside of seeing more fruits being replicated like S-Shark having Senor Pinks ability, we never really got anything big about Devil Fruits. Seems like the logical conclusion is anything important to know will come from the big void century flashback, but still a little bummed we didn't get any kind of focus (bar something in the message includes something about the Devil Fruits, but I have doubts about that).

Yo, Foxy was shown this chapter! 10/10!

Feels like we have at most 2 chapters left of this. As it stretches on, the Elders are stopping their attack against the Straw Hats and the Giants, and focusing on stopping any more information from getting out. With their focus turned and everything ready to allow the Straw Hats to escape, they are definitely leaving the island when the message ends, whether cut off or completes in full.

As expected, the message is going to cause mass confusion and most likely chaos. You have those who are quick to believe what they are hearing, or at least to ere on the side of trust. Many more though are baffled or outright mocking the idea of the information even being close to truth. Just seeing all these various locations and characters showing up in panels goes to show how we really are starting to head into the final stretch. Seeing characters like Foxy and fake Luffy, I wonder if we will see some more forgotten east blue characters like Kuro before the message wraps up.

Got the game myself from Target Thursday. Getting ready to start chapter 3, one of my favorites of the game. Just completed all the currently available quests and made it through level 30 of the pit. Loving everything about the remake so far.

@King-Cannon said in Chapter 1114: The Wings of Icarus:

@The-Franky-Tank said in Chapter 1114: The Wings of Icarus:

Seems like the obvious implication of how to stop the recording is to take out the mother flame. Makes a lot of sense, with it being the one thing on the island they want to preserve, so it makes them decide it it's worth letting the whole message out to keep it, or if they deem the potential info that will be made public is something that absolutely must be stopped. Feels like it could go either way, since we aren't getting the full story the whole recording could play out with plenty of questions to be answered. On the other hand, depending on what else Vegapunk could spill may be something that Oda and the Elder's don't want to readers/world to know about. I'm still leaning towards the recording cutting off eventually, mainly on the fact that if the mother flame is destroyed, they have one Vegapunk who can help rebuild it if need be (assuming the theory of that's where the recording is coming from being correct). Also seems like an Oda move to finally give some info and tease a big piece of information only to cut it off once again.

I think you're misreading the scene. Saturn is trying to kill the Den Den Mushi present near the Mother Flame.

Taking the MF out itself would be useless in stopping the broadcast, because it's being done by an organic creature.

Perhaps I didn't word things as well as I could have. I'll grant that it's an out there theory, but I was trying to say I think the actual answer to stopping the message is to destroy the mother flame. I don't have the most solid argument, but my main part of the theory is that since Vegapunk would want to prevent the message from being stopped, it would make sense in a way to make the one thing they would want intact from the island to be the key to the whole thing. Yes, right now they are killing anything organic because that's the assumption, but that doesn't mean that is what they are supposed to destroy to stop it.

Interesting, so Joy Boy was the first pirate in this world's history.

If you told me this chapter was going to be a very slow dip with reactions from so many people and seeing the chaos that is still unfolding on Egghead, my initial reaction would've been this would be a very annoying chapter. However, the pacing and the way we see so many characters from the past 1100+ chapters reacting on top of the increasing desperation of finding the way to stop the message made for a very enjoyable chapter for me. I forgot there was another break after this, but like last time, it gave enough info to chew on but not make me dread a two week wait. Seeing Saul chilling while all of this going down was definitely the best part of the chapter for me.

Seems like the obvious implication of how to stop the recording is to take out the mother flame. Makes a lot of sense, with it being the one thing on the island they want to preserve, so it makes them decide it it's worth letting the whole message out to keep it, or if they deem the potential info that will be made public is something that absolutely must be stopped. Feels like it could go either way, since we aren't getting the full story the whole recording could play out with plenty of questions to be answered. On the other hand, depending on what else Vegapunk could spill may be something that Oda and the Elder's don't want to readers/world to know about. I'm still leaning towards the recording cutting off eventually, mainly on the fact that if the mother flame is destroyed, they have one Vegapunk who can help rebuild it if need be (assuming the theory of that's where the recording is coming from being correct). Also seems like an Oda move to finally give some info and tease a big piece of information only to cut it off once again.

Really looking forward to seeing this arc wrapped up. Feels like once the message ends, we are past the climax of the arc.

Interesting start to whatever we are getting out of this broadcast. We've had small tidbits of the rising sea levels between Water 7 and Wano being the most prevalent cases. Add on the Celestial Dragons taking the highest point in the world where they would be affected the least, it all adds up to this aspect having not really been prevalent as a topic in the greater One Piece world. The bigger thing though of note was Vegapunk not ascribing good or evil to "him", which I can only assume as being referred to Imu.

Now with all the build up again with this chapter of everyone tuning in to listen to such a huge broadcast, and the desperation of trying to stop it, I'm pretty sure that the broadcast will be stopped at some point. What kind of information we will get before that happens is to be seen, but I assume some of the biggest pieces will not be revealed at this time, just enough to make the world want more, but not enough to understand the whole truth. How everything plays out from here will determine how worth it playing all of this out it, and determine to me how good this arc wraps everything up.

Was nice seeing Kaya and Syrup village again, which unless I am forgetting something is a person and place that never really gets much of a call back. Would be crazy if we ever get an actual look/call back to Kuro or Krieg themselves though, since they have never been mentioned again since their respective time in the light. While it sucks there's a break, I like that the reveal we got isn't so crazy that it's going to make me go crazy waiting a little longer for the next chapter.