Oda = not cannibalism.

Whatever it may be, its not cannibalism.

This all seems really weird.

First of all this is One Piece, its not cannibalism. Dark Oda isn't happening all of a sudden. Not this Dark.

We have a soul manipulator thats getting old. Shes scheming and wily. She sees the perfect invincible tool to inhabit to further her ambitions. Soul transfer and Big Mom being controlled by Caramel is extremely likely.

Way more likely than Cannibalism. Its almost too obvious a Red Herring, and one we encountered already at Big Moms introduction. Its not Cannibalism.

The more interesting question is, if MC took over, then these childish tantrums would imply that Big Mom is still emotionally or even fully mentally trapped at age 6 in that moment. Thats why things related to Mother Caramel and birthdays trigger her real personality and MC loses control.

Another thing to examine is if BMs original personality is even capable of doing the dirty, or desiring it in the first place. So either MC is procreating old school style using BMs body OR she mightve taken the souls of the children with her into Big Mom. Children that were loyal to her, and implanting their souls into other unwitting victims somehow.

Mother Caramels interest in clones (yes im fully assuming that BM is MC at this point), might be to have empty soulless shells to implant more of her loyal "children" who are not her biological children but actually the kids she took with her on soul transfer into BM.

It explains a whole lot more of her general behaviour, inconsistencies and interactions with Pudding as well. MCs personality would identify with the once beautiful young Carmel, so her comments about how disgusting Puddings 3rd eye is suddenly male all the sense in the world.

@King:

Same thing could have been said for Crocodile. He had already lost the moment Smoker left Alabasta.

Also, had Luffy lost, the WG would have gotten away with it as Fujitora would've been forced to fix everything and get all the credit, so a "bad" guy would still win.

Yeah I get it. I have no problem with Fujitora's decisions or thinking.
Its the fact that the people of Dressrossa were never really in any danger because of him being there that bothers me.

Of course this is One Piece so that never is an issue. It's the illusion of tension, tenuous as it is, that was in my opinion dispelled by Fujitora.

But yes I agree that Fujitora's character arc is explained correctly and tied in a neat pretty pink bow.

@King:

People seem to ignore that Fujitora did save people left and right.

But he couldn't interfere in the fight or else his plan to prevent this stuff from happening again would've gone down the drain. Nothing will change if the Admirals can just keep fixing the WG screw-ups.

The only problem I have with Fujitora is that his presence drastically reduced the tension of the Doflamingo fight. The same fight without Fujitora on the island would have been many times better. His character is fine, but he cast too large a safety net over the entire arc. I blame his presence on Doflamingo being lackluster.

His motivations, his orders, all that are secondary. He could have been injured, poisoned, incapacitated somehow. He could have been the only one with enough power to slow the birdcage using his gravity, and the reason everyone survived long enough for Lucy to win.

He could have been given a momentous task, or a handicap, or just not be there. But he was there diffusing all the tension. And he felt more awkward than a fart at a funeral.

@Al!naJames:

I'm just… this chapter really made me speechless and made me question my life choices of reading this comic for the last 10 years and investing so much of my time and money and emotion into it.

I can't even get mad at Burgess for being SO pathetic and overall a terrible character or at Sabo for being the case of his misfortunes, I just feel sad and somewhat disgusted in general.

I don't see this as much of a problem. In Banaro Island Blackbeard considered that even his entire crew put together was no match for Ace. Now we have a guy that we have to assume grew at around the same pace as Ace, a guy who could hold his own against an admiral two years ago. Sabo should be a monster. He can stand against an admiral and hold his ground, even though he is clearly outclassed when doing so.

What I'm saying is Burgess could have been a bigger challenge, sure, but story-wise it makes sense that Sabo is on a league above him. Maybe the story is setting up Burgess for growth, and eventually this moment will have it's payoff.

What I'm seeing Oda do lately is sacrifice the present of his manga to set up a billion things without explanation. He sets up confusing and often frustrating character arcs that may pay off much much later because his manga's longevity is ensured. I think that when looking back all the character elements we detest will be reedemed. Fujitora is already paying off. Rebecca might yet redeem herself, and this arc may yet as well.

There seems to be a severe lack of patience in the forums. Whatever that means.

Im seeing a trend of people complaining non-stop for the last (insert number) chapters as if Oda has gone off the deep end and this Manga will never return to its former glory.

Everyone that complains seems to be sure that the last chapters of Luffy recovering were a bad move and that clearly One Piece has declined because its not interesting.

Everyone that complains seems to know the reason why Fujitora is the way he is and that theres no piece of information that could possibly redeem or explain his behaviour.

Everyone who complains seems to know exactly what would make the arc better, what parts of the arc should be removed, what makes an interesting manga, what apparently broke this arc and how One Piece will never be the same.

But when Oda gave you Gear 4 everyone was going wild and suddenly your interest peaked. The second Luffy stopped fighting and you had to tolerate any other story elements, your interest declined with words like "formulaic", "uninteresting" and "unoriginal" being thrown around.

I believe that Oda has made this arc finale into exactly what it should be. We as readers have been "stuck" inside this Bird Cage, wanting to move on desperately. Everyone wants to know whats going on with the rest of the Strawhats. Everyone wants the story to stop dragging. The usually grand and epic scope of One Piece has been confined to the same setting and plot for so long it feels restrictive and desperate. Doflamingo has kept the characters and us readers from enjoying the manga of fun and freedom we have come to know and love. So we as readers somewhat mirror the feelings of the characters within the arc.

I believe that once we see the breath of fresh air we need in the following 10 chapters, with the obligatory aftermath, worldbuilding, commenting, repercussions, etc. chapters, we will be able to look back at this arc in another light. There will be a stark contrast between the usual freedom and joy of the manga and this heavy, oppressive, limiting and slow moving arc.

I think that right now Luffy's desire to break free echoes our readers. He has become our voice. What I believe is that when read consecutively, this arc will be much greater without all the grief that the weekly waiting has wrought upon us.

So I think all of us forum-goers are glad to have this arc finish. If only to see the whining stop. And there has been so much of it. All of the toil generated just because we are in a place where something has to be said. This is a forum. We are here to discuss. The problem is that when there is nothing much to discuss it is much easier to bitch and critizise that just be patient.

So, having done my fair share of internal bitching, and having allowed this forum to taint my appreciation for this manga for too long, I have traversed the five stages of grief and have come to an understanding of sorts. This manga is changed, but it may be with purpose. If only we could be patient I believe we'll see the purpose of this arc and everything in it when we dont have to lose our patience everytime nothing happens.

I hope this makes sense to you guys, and I hope that it resonates on some level with those that have lost faith on Oda and this manga.

@Fraco:

or maybe… finding one piece make you get the disease, and you need to know somebody with a fruit that makes him the best doctor in the world and the only one able to heal you. maybe sacrificing his life. just to say

Yeah, I agree it's mostly based on speculation, and no more likely than any other theory at this point.

But still, “every stanza kind of rhymes with the last one”. George Lucas knows his storytelling and this theory is pure poetry.

When Luffy arrives at Raftel he is told the truth: One Piece was in his heart all along, he only needed to look for it.

Luffy pulls out his heart and dies.

@Razh:

We saw he was not much older than Luffy when he picked up Rayleigh. Then there's blank and he appears as much older again in Buggy's flashback (we don't see Roger, but we see Rayleigh as all grown up). His and his crew's growth was obviously a lot longer than Luffy's, spannig over 20 years at least.

It's inconclusive if he had the ability to hear stuff right of the bat, as you say.

I agree it's inconclusive at best. However the odd specificity of Oda's answer always struck me as a clue and a wink. I think it's far more tantalizing as a theory than this odd fixation with Roger having the same fruit as Luffy.

There's also the added depth of having the one who inherited Roger's power be the one that finds the cure to the disease that ended Roger. Inherited will and Romance galore.

@Razh:

It doesn't explain why Luffy also has the potential to hear the voice of stuff, which Sea Kings seemed to have implied. They said the boy heard them and that he's the first since that Roger guy, or something close to it.

Well, it would seem Roger had this ability right off the bat. Skypea is far too early on the path to Raftel, which means that Roger had the ability to listen to Poneglyphs early in his pirate career. Unless he went back to each Poneglyph after achieving enlightenment.

But with all the metaphysical elements that Oda introduces into his story I doubt that achieving enlightenment is something exclusive to one person. More likely it's like real life new age spirituality where enlightenment and the extrasensory perceptions that come with it can be achieved by any and all.

The Hito Hito would simply be a shortcut. It means he would be granted knowledge, power and sensibilities far beyond the ordinary, and at the absolute peak of human strength. Luffy would have to reach this peak to recieve the same boons Roger started out with.