I really like that idea, haha. I had to throw on some quick colors. Tried for an old-timey film grain on Luffy. Didn't come through super good, but I kinda like it.
(Though I think Oda made him all white to primarily contrast with darkness Blackbeard, probably…)
This is awesome! Good work.
Does anyone find it weird that Zoro’s final opponent (most likely) has the clear clear fruit? How do you make a devil fruit we’ve seen Sanji beat pre time skip not to mention Queen basically had the same ability and Sanji also beat him handily
I mean it seems so not threatening now that we’ve basically seen it defeated twice now, how will Oda make Shiryu’s usage of it differ
I expected Oda to give Shiryu the diamond diamond fruit
Because Sanji > Zoro
I saw a post theorizing that Laugh Tale could be the result of an awakened Nika Nika no Mi, which could be interesting. Especially considering how the people in Wa no, having eaten the Smile fruit, are forced to laugh no matter how tragic what happens to them is. My point is that perhaps Joy Boy's message wasn't funny at all.
In any case, I'm hoping we never get to learn what was actually written. I think it's more efficient to see our Straw Hats laugh (if that ought to be their reaction) than read a funny message. One is more universal than the other.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
It's pages like these that make me love One Piece
BB seems pretty knowledgeable on DF. Y'all think he knows about Gomu Gomu?
@Daz:
Many posters have said that at the end of the day, “Luffy is still Luffy”, but reading the official translation excacerbates why I can’t quite get behind that idea. Not fully.
While Luffy has always been prone to goofiness, even in serious battles, this constant, involuntary laughing feels completely unprecedented. And it really does seem involuntary – its not simply that Luffy is enjoying his new powers, because he states right off the bat after recovering, before doing anything, that “for some reason, I’m having fun” – his current mood surprises even him. And it really is in marked contrast to how Luffy acted at the climax of prior high-stakes battles; he might do some silly techniques earlier on, but by the time Crocodile/Lucchi/Doflamingo need to go down Luffy is deadly serious. Indeed, that’s also how Luffy was acting just before Kaidou clonked him unconscious yet again. Yet now we have the inverse progression, which manifests abruptly and is tied into Luffy now also looking more than Nika, suddenly feeling more than Nika/Joyboy according to the one person who knew him, while we’re getting exposition on how Luffys true DF type has a “Will”, just as Luffy has his inexplicable recovery/transformation…
Even if Luffy was acting like he does now just because he was happy with his powers or because the DF makes him feel good, the net result is still that Luffys behavior changes as a result of his DF, in a manner that explicitly evokes the figure the DF is based on.
By his Nika DF awakening, Luffy is becoming more Nika.
It’s not a radical departure from Luffys normal personality, its not literally Nikas ghost possessing him, but it’s a hop and a skip away from it. And again, it all comes back to the dang fruit.And on that note, the lack of establishment for what Nika/Joyboy means or how relevant they are to the current story can’t help but undercut the impact of this whole reveal.
I know Luffy has now become something Kaidou knew about, but I don’t really get any catharsis from the grand re-emergence of Luffy as “Nika the Joyboy, mythical liberator of the oppressed!” because I don’t have any sense that the OP world at large cares about it, except King, a random unseen guard, and an ancient elephant who stumbled onstage at the last minute seemingly just to get quickly re-established as JoyBoys friend so it could vouch for JoyBoy being back.
If Luffy had to manifest as the slave-liberating Sun God in such an extremely literal sense, it’d have been neat if I knew at least Jinbe of the sun pirates cared about it or something.
Of course making Nika more well-established earlier on could have “given away the puzzle”, but Oda is dealing with very plain and obvious set-up and payoffs most of the time, he went to great lengths to hammer home an incoming twist regarding Luffys DF at the last minute anyway, and…ultimately I don’t care about “the puzzle”. I don’t want the story to try and “outsmart me” just because, if something surprising happens I want to go “Of course! That is a totally satisfying resolution” not “Huh? I guess that makes sense”
The fight is exhilarating for Luffy, which is why he's euphoric. Not out of character considering the circumstances (near-death experience, new-found power).
Is there a place where we can like, hold hands, close our eyes, sing merry songs and fight the temptation of reading the spoilers together?
Come to think of it, AP and Redon's forum have always been my main source of spoilers, Discord doesnt send me any notifications and I dont use it that much.
Same. Especially now that I've been perma-banned from the One Piece discord for no reason.
The very fact that Luffy randomly ate the DF, can't make it a "Chosen One" the thing. Was Oda a Lost fan? One of the best lines in the series is, "Don't mistake coincidence for fate,"
Great line. I think it's from Eko?
In any case, LOST might help us navigate through this apparent fate/free-will tension in One Piece. LOST has shown us that they are not polar opposites. When Desmond is convinced that the good guys have already won in the series finale (due to seeing the other world), Jack reminds him that it is our choices that make our paths, and the path of the world. In other words, if things are written, one must always question who actually writes them in fine. It is Luffy's actions that made him who he is, that will never change. There isn't an instant in the story where he wasn't responsible for his actions.
I THINK the vivre cards said he did, but far as I'm concerned its not canon till its on panel. Cards are done by editorial team and are mistake prone.
Exactly my take on Vivre Cards.
Cant believe its been 7 years since Naruto ended….. I'm feeling old.
There is no way that's true.
Where does time keep going!?
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