What an emotional roller coaster! Been a while since a character died in One Piece I was genuinely sad about. And, it happened in the present. With NO ambiguity! Bravo, Oda.
Tonoyasu AKA Daimyo Yasuie Shimotsuki has truly kicked off the beginning of the end for Shogun Orochi. Safe to say he let himself get captured all so he could fix the Alliance’s plan and cause massive damage Orochi. Off the top of my head, this is what Tonoyasu did:
-Made Orochi look like a paranoid idiot.
-Guaranteed the Wano alliance recruits will be released.
-Gave them a new gathering spot.
-Reminded all of Wano what a piece of garbage Orochi is, bringing most or all on the Alliance’s side.
-Shutenmaru is closer to fighting alongside to Alliance.
-Died in front of his daughter.
Woah! Okay, that last one wasn’t good, but everything else he did was. He both saved and died for the Alliance in one chapter. Amazing. Even more so because we really didn’t spend much time with Tonoyasu. Oda did a great job keeping him in the background until this moment. Yeah, we know he was someone important but not on this level. What more can I say? I got chills reading this chapter.
Well, let’s talk about the ending. SMILE fruits drain people of emotions, leaving only humor? Or, at least they can’t express anything other than happiness. One more reason to hate Ceaser Clown. But, why? Why do the fruits do that? Or, maybe their emotions are drained to create SAD, the substance used to make SMILE fruits? Thinking about it, we really don’t know how SAD is made. That makes more sense to me than the completed fruit draining emotions. Looks like Dr. Chopper has his work cut out for him curing Ebisu Town’s residents. I bet you forgot Chopper’s a doctor. I know I did.
Kaido. It all comes back to him. Even if everyone hates Orochi, if Kaido isn’t defeated it won’t matter. But, at the end of the day, the populace has to want it. They too have to fight for their freedom or there’s no point.
A fantastic chapter. Best Wano chapter so far. See? This is what happens when storytellers are picky about which character dies, so when it does happen it matters a lot. Looking forward to how Oda handles Toko’s PTSD. Because I’m sure Oda won’t ignore it. Right, Oda? …Oda?
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 