I can imagine Oda with a notebook checking off things he had to show to keep the plot moving while drawing this chapter, making sure he hits all the beats so his audience doesn’t get confused later.
There’s a lot of small stuff happening this chapter. The first being the Firetank Pirates going off to find Chiffon’s twin sister, Lola. That’s should be fun. Can we focus on that instead? No? Okay, moving on.
We find out Luffy offered Kid a chance to join his alliance but Kid isn’t having it. He tried that once and ended up worse for it. I wonder if we’ll ever get a flash black about what immediately happened after Kaido met Kid, Hawkins, and Apoo. Anyway, Kid and Killer leave to find the rest of their crew. Looks like if Kid’s gonna fight Kaido, he’s doing it his way.
While Team Luffy tries convincing the recently freed prisoners teaming up a pirate to beat another pirate makes sense, Kawamatsu decides to leave. He’s got business somewhere else. Maybe he has to go to the bathroom. See? That’s why he wasn’t covered in his own feces and piss being locked in that prison for years. He’s been holding it in. Hey! If Portgas D. Rouge can stay pregnant threw sheer willpower, why not this?
We get some nice Chopper/Luffy interaction. I keep forgetting Chopper’s a doctor, but there he is, doing something other than wrapping bandages. He’s improved so much over the years, Y’all!
Momonosuke meets his father’s Fanclub, no pressure, kid. And, Shutenmaru takes Kin’emon and Dogstorm to a graveyard of Kozuki Clan friends who couldn’t wait 20 years for them to return or didn’t believe it would happen. I do find it interesting Shutenmaru believed in them for quite a while before hopelessness finally got to him.
When then see a pissed off Zoro taking out ninjas in a forest, wanting to get his stolen sword back. Komurasaki is going to lead him back to where the fighting monk took it. That guy is in for a world of hurt if Zoro is still fuming over Tonayasu’s death. My guess is the monk will drop some important info on Zoro about the sword, maybe this will lead to Zoro learning a new move. After clashing swords with Kyoshiro, Zoro must realize he needs an upgrade.
Also, Law got captured. …I mean, okay. Not much to say except without his hat he looks like Ace if he’d joined a rock band.
It was a…necessary chapter. We needed to touch on the smaller plot points to keep things going at the pace Oda wants. And, it seems like Oda wants to get to the next part quickly. He’s not wasting time. I like that. This wasn’t a show-stopping chapter but I appreciate it focusing more on the finer plot details. That’s always welcomed in my book.
And, don’t forget to check out Law’s Twitter for new additions for his Heartbreaker Tour starting next month. On sale now!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 