Takano crying doesn't mean it has to be a sad chapter. Maybe the battle has officially started and we see all strawhats standing together in an epic doublespread or something.
Or if there's really a shocking death, then I hope Act 3 ends in 986 and we get to see Cobra's death in 987.

Anyway editors always hype up stuff like this so it's better not to expect too much or else you may just set yourself up for disappointment.

@Shiebs:

I don't think Oda writes story plot points to help anime filler, it may seem like it's been a long time since we initially heard of the other level six prisoners and still haven't seen them but he mentioned Vega Punk at Thriller Bark and we still haven't met him yet and thriller bark was waaaay before Marine Ford, so I still expect we'll get the level six prisoner arc, I just have no idea when that will happen, it probably will happen in some random island pit stop the straw hats go to that they weren't expecting, like a drum island and punk hazard, you know Oda has to have some island we don't know about left in the mix, it can't all be laid out ahead of us, he's got to throw a surprise in there, it just wouldn't be Oda if he didn't

Also how long do you guys think till we get to the fights in Wano, I mean in Water Seven had the whole island raid that took like dozens of chapters before we even get to the one on one fights, do you think there will be something before the fights or is Oda just jumping right in

Yeah I agree some of them may appear in the story at some point. I doubt they'll become major arc villains though. It'd be weird to see Luffy struggling against these characters after he has defeated Kaido and Big Mom (team effort or not).

It's not Oda's fault, but personally I just find the level 6 prisoner concept less and less interesting after so many of them are introduced and defeated in non-canon materials (power-wise I don't think any other prisoner could have been more dangerous than Douglas Bullet, who's already defeated anyway).

My guess is that the prisoners may serve as minor villains for less powerful strawhat or as fodders to be defeated by the marines new weapon etc. and nothing more.

I think the problem many people have is that the "strawhat crew" storyline and "the rest of the world" storyline are current too separated from each other. It's hard to get invested in minor characters in Wano when you know there are many bigger, more interesting events going on all over the world.

Hopefully that will change after Wano, and we can have new arcs that deal with Vegapunk, the revo, the marines, WG etc. directly and not just 20+ chapters of adventure with new fodders and villains on Elbaf.

@Shiebs:

Your forgetting about Crocodile and Gecko Moria's reentering the story and hopefully getting a flashback

though I wouldn't be surprised if Gecko reappeared this arc since we know he has beef with kaido

And Doflamingo is def breaking out of impel down, I highly suspect him and Croc will have a showdown since that was foreshadowed at Marine Ford

EDIT: Oh yeah at some point the other level six prisoners that escaped have to come into the fold too…. so yeah there's that

At this point I start to feel that Oda mentioned level six prisoners just to allow Toei to have their unlimited supply of new villains for every movie / filler arcs.

@MrBits:

Very solid chapter, but not an outstanding one IMO. Biggest issue for me was actually the art/paneling. Having Oden's final moments happen in a couple of tiny panels instead of a big impactful one is… odd.

Even though I loved this flashback on the whole, I think this is the first one where I can say the journey was better than the destination.

I hope it goes on for a chapter longer to tie up some loose ends.

I think Oda's intention is to have the page where people finished his sentence be the "big impactful panel" and it works for me.
If we get a double spread of him getting shot it would have made that moment less powerful.

Kaido was attempting to give Oden an unceremonious death. He didn't care enough to let Oden finishes his speech. The tiny panels of Oden getting shot and falling into the oil are perfect because that shows exactly how much Kaido and Orochi care about his honor. But then the people refused to let it end like that and made sure that Oden at least got a sendoff he deserves. That's the part I really find touching IMO.

Can someone please remind me again why people think Shinobu is a traitor, other than the fact that she dislikes Law who's like everyone's favorite character? (and she has a valid reason for being like that IMO, even Nami and Usopp agreed)
I mean, I can imagine someone like Kanjuro or Kiku becoming a traitor, but I can't just think of any reason that supports Shinobu's betrayal.

@theackwardstation:

Yes, I had the official translation in mind, although the phrase "at the helm of the celestial dragons" in Jaiminibox also implies that the Gorousei are Tenryuubito, in my opinion.

I read the Japanese version and I believe the word Oda used is "天竜人の最上位" which is exactly the same as the official translation. So I believe it's pretty clear that the elders are CD themselves unless Oda pulls something like "they are actually not CD but people serving them don't know that".

@Cockycent:

You can continue to play mental gymnastics. They're both stealing from mangaka and I will continue to laugh at anyone who argues that 1 is better than the other

You are speaking as if Oda is conjuring chapters every week all by himself.

The One Piece chapters we are enjoying every week is not the work of Oda alone, but also his assistants, the editorial staff, the graphic designers, the marketing team, the printing company, the distributors etc etc. All of whom also needs to be paid.

Are all those people part of the "greedy company" and therefore, by your logic, do not deserve your support?

I mean, at least "I read scans because it comes out early" or "I read scans because I don't want to pay" are reasons I can comprehend. You don't have to agree with them but you can see why they are valid reasons for some people.

Your "I read scans because I hate greedy companies stealing from mangaka, so I'm supporting another group of greedy people who are also stealing from mangaka" is just an attempt to justify something you know isn't right, but you just want to feel right when doing it.

@Cockycent:

I will never understand the piracy police and don't want to.

The "support the creatives" agenda was taken over by the same people that make sure creatives get a small piece of the pie. So I choose to pay for what I like and not to "support" anyone. If you choose to do something, why force it on others? It's very weird to push or bully people into anything. It's almost like those religious wars. People are being shamed for using scans and not wanting to feed a greedy company (that still refuses to pay creatives their worth) exactly they want them to.

It all stems from "support the creatives" in the end. People have been brainwashed to be foot soldiers for a cause that isn't what they think it is. So when people go back and forth over piracy vs paying for the mag, I shake my head. While the greedy companies make their money off you, you're policing people to pay for something and the money barely goes to the creator that you intended it for.

It happens in all forms of media where someone figures out a way to make more money over a creative's work. It's a marketing tool. So many Youtubers and their followings preach it and are ignorant of what they're saying. What is the alternative that they sell? If you don't pay for it the way that they say, the creative gets nothing at all. That is a lie. You can buy volumes individually or in bulk, while reading wherever you want. There are many ways to send the creatives support without cutting yourself off from free scans.

I seen 2 OP fans discussing something that stem from a cancerous place and hoped it didn't spread, but it did anyway

Scanlators and pirate sites are getting rich by profitting from work they have no right over. Would you say that they are more 'greedy' than the company?

What is your basis for considering whether authors are getting paid enough? And how much would Shueisha need to pay their authors in order for you to not consider them 'greedy'?

@Darkestsith6:

There's like a 60% chance Orochi ends up being a Spandam tyoe of chump. I don't know how someone who is supposed to be a top tier would act so scared unless it was all an act and a lie. It's probably why he had to bring Kaido into the picture to take over.

But you can also say that, while Kaido is probably capable of taking over Wano all by himself, he chose to ally himself with Orochi and let the guy rule the country as he likes. I still hope Orochi turns out to be really strong and Kaido may even respect him to a certain degree.

Wano is still known for having "strong samurai" even after Kaido took over, so we can assume that at least there are some strong samurai serving Orochi.