Captain Hammer [One Piece 960]

Oda sure spent a long time building up Kozuki Oden. It wasn’t worth it.

What the hell is Oden? Seriously. I can’t tell if he’s a joke character or not. That exposition dump at the beginning of the chapter sure didn’t help. Why is a vessel of Kozuki Sukiyaki, he’s Oden’s daddy, getting a report on his own son’s life? Most of the stuff mentioned seems to be public knowledge. Nope. Didn’t like that at all. It was a lazy way to convey information to the audience. Maybe Oda’s trying to rush to the good part by doing that, but whether or not that’s true, it really annoyed me.

I not even gonna list all the stuff Oden’s done. Basically, he’s an uber strong badass whose also well-meaning but no one understands him. Translation: He’s an asshole but we’re supposed to like him. And, what’s with the kidnapping of women to put in a harem resulting in a war where people died? What the what? Of course, Oda added a line saying the women were free to go at any time, trying to smooth over that rocky road. It’s…it’s like Oda poured everything he thinks a man should be into this character in an attempt to make the ultimate badass but instead creating a Japanese Gaston.

I’m really confused about whether or not I should take Oden seriously, y’all. Oda’s not the best at showing diverse genders so he really could be setting Oden up as a man’s man and expects everyone to believe it. I guess many fans will. Got no problem with that, but for me, if that’s where he’s going I’m not buying it.

We also meet a younger Kin’emon, Tsuru, and…Denjiro! Yep, Oda saved him for the flashback like several people had guessed. What I didn’t guess is that there’s an internet rumor (Special Thanks to Jay from RJ Writing Ink for letting me know.) that Denjiro could be or be related to Koushirou, Zoro’s old master!

Are you Future Me?

Maybe. You got starfish tattooed on your butt too?

Hmm. Well, they have similar builds. It’s possible. Especially because we know next to nothing about Koushirou. It would also explain why he hasn’t shown up in the present on Wano. And, then there’s tying Zoro into Wano more and we get a recipe for a big thumbs up for that theory from me.

It was a decent chapter, I guess. We’re finally in the flashback, Oden has met Kin’emon and Denjiro, and we can all surmise Oden will defeat the Boar Mountain God, earning some brownie points with the public. The parts with Oden I can do without. I’m afraid he’s gonna end up being the stereotypical ideal male fantasy character equivalent to how Hancock is what Oda may consider the ideal female character.

WHY THE HELL WAS KOZUKI SUKIYAKI GETTING AN REPORT ON HIS SON’S LIFE?!

Sorry! Sorry. Sorry. I-I just can’t get over that. I’m gonna leave now. Gonna get some ice cream while I wait for my brother to email me a list of all the stuff I have in my bedroom. I see that junk every day, but I need to be reminded…just because. Later!