Category: One Piece

Welcome to the part of the arc where folks start “dying”.

Ghostface shot Shaka! Well, maybe not Ghostface but someone blew his brains out. I wonder if he’s really dead? It’s possible granted we’ve got more than enough Vegapunks still alive. But wouldn’t it be strange for Shaka to get 360 no scoped without us knowing what his face looks like under the helmet? That one reason is why I’ll say he’s 99% dead, not 100%.

Kid says the darndest things.

Captain Kid really thinks he can beat Red-Hair Shanks. Guess it makes sense given he’s fresh off his win against Big Mom. Shonen rules are in full effect. If Luffy gets stronger after every big fight, then so does Kid. Problem is if he and his Kid Pirates crew are strong enough to take down The Red-Haired Pirates AND the Giant Warrior Pirates, plus some other pirate crews loyal to Shanks. That’s one heck of a lop-sided battle. Makes me think something unexpected will happen. No way is this battle playing out in a straight-forward matter. Admirals? Blackbeard’s Titanic Captains who aren’t attacking Law? Rocks D. Xebec? Rihanna? There’s no telling who’s gonna show up at Elbaph!

Interesting tidbit about Benn Beckman cutting off Kid’s arm and not Shanks like I thought. Of course, Kid wouldn’t have been strong enough to even get to Shanks back then. I only wish it wasn’t Benn but the monkey, Monster, who stomped Kid back then. Oh, the disrespect that could’ve been.

The Straw Hats have split up. You know what that means? Fight time!

Punk Records’ the main antagonist. Who else could it be? Doesn’t look like it’s Shaka. He looked genuinely confused by the situation. I’m starting to think ALL the Vegapunk Satellites are red herrings and it’s just Punk Records itself. Like I said the last chapter, I don’t see Oda passing up the chance of making an A.I. a major villain. And it’s now or never.

But why? If true, why is Punk Records rebelling? Probably something to do with being all brain and no heart. Classic evil A.I. trope. Or…maybe its self preservation? If Team Vegapunk leaves Egghead, Punk Records will get scraped by the World Government. But! If Ultron turns the traitorous Lou Vegaspunks over to the Navy, maybe it gets to live. Hmm…

Fifty Pacifista Mk. III MCs and not one DJ in sight.

Raise your hand if you think those Pacifistas will eventually fall under The Traitor’s control? …That many, huh? I’ve heard several theories from the One Piece community on who could be the traitor, but for now I’m going with there being at least two: A Vegapunk Satellite and Punk Records itself. An evil A.I. arc boss? How could Oda resist? As for which Vegapunk could be working for/with the A.I.… Shaka Khan The Good. He’s got important character written all over him. Either he stays the main VP Satellite helping the Straw Hats or he becomes an antagonist.

We learn everyone in the main lab is trapped inside the Frontier Dome. Yep, that’s more fuel to the theory the hidden antagonist(s) are keeping everyone else there for the Navy. I’m sensing a deal with Elder Star St. Saturn coming.

In the name of the moon, he will punish you!

Never thought I’d see one of the five Elder Stars outside of Marijoa. Makes sense given the world leaders are the only ones able to wrestle control of the Seraphim from Team Vegapunk. Yes, my friends, I think St. Jaygarcia Saturn will take back the Seraphim. That means Kizaru’s battleships will arrive at Egghead in time to confront the Straw Hats. Uh-oh!

Safe to say the other four Elder Stars have planet names too. …Luffy ate the SUN God Nika devil fruit. Elder STARS with PLANET names. Hmm… Could the secret ruler of the World Government, Im’s, real name be related to the moon? Or Earth? Or…whatever planet One Piece takes place on? Color me extremely interested in what develops from this.

And what about Admiral Kizaru? Will he be the first admiral to lose against the Straw Hat Pirates, or will it end in a draw? One way or another, I don’t think this arc’s ending without Kizaru getting hurt, be it a punch, cut, or negative Instagram comment.

Time to play Guess The Clone!

Is it CP0’s Stussy? Ah! I won! Yay! Stussy is indeed confirmed to be the first successful clone experiment. I guess OG Stussy (Miss Buckin/Bakkin, most likely the unidentified female member of MADS) cloned herself. Have you noticed all the clones we’ve seen so far are of powerful individuals? More on that later.

Is Stussy the “ally” Dr. Vegapunk called for help last chapter? I’d be hard for the CP0 agent to secretly answer a Den-Den Mushi call with Rob Lucci and Kaku nearby. For now, I’d say it wasn’t her. So, then… Why is she helping Dr. Vegapunk? Or is she? Is Stussy’s goal something or someONE in Dr. Vegapunk’s lab? If true, it makes sense why she doesn’t want the building destroyed.

Just who is the mysterious ally of the Vegapunks?

I doubt it’s a pirate (Why would a pirate be “chased from their home”?). It’s gotta be someone powerful who’s friends with Team Vegapunk. Hmm… Maybe a giant from Elbaph? A warrior there would be a big help. Plus, Elbaph, an island not a part of the World Government, would be a great place for the Las Vegas to hide. Then there’s Saul and the last Road Ponegliff probably on the giants’ homeland and, well…as they say… All Roads Lead To Elbaph.

Kid arrived at Elbaph first. Interesting. The Straw Hats not being the only pirate crew getting all four Road Ponegliffs could be fun. A race to Laugh Tale? I like it!

Vice Admiral Garp’s gonna confront Blackbeard. Uh-oh! Is that death flags I see? Can Monkey D. Garp rescue Captain Koby from who could very well be Luffy’s final pirate antagonist? Sure, he can! I don’t see Koby dying. But will Garp have to sacrifice himself to do it? Hmm…? And how does former Navy admiral and current member of Blackbeard’s crew Kuzan fit into the equation? Kuzan VS Garp incoming? Forget death flags. I see nothing but drama flags rising. Break out the Pepto Bismol because things are gonna get spicy!

Oh! And since Garp doesn’t have a devil fruit, could Blackbeard bust out his zoan fruit? He’s gotta have one by now, right? Poor Garp! Hope your life insurance is paid.

Wait a minute! I just realized why Oda gave Luffy toon force.

He’s made of rubber and most cartoons way, wayyyy back in the day had that rubber hose effect. You know? How all the characters were very malleable (Think the Cuphead game for all you young ‘ums out there.)? They could stretch, get smashed, and alter their bodies in crazy ways… almost like they were made of rubber. Brillant, Oda! You get an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert!

Interesting how only Zoan fruits are artificially created. Guess we don’t have to worry about artificial Logias popping up. But the Seraphim having Green Blood brings into question what S-Hawk’s devil fruit power is. Mr. 1’s dice-dice fruit comes to mind. But maybe Oda will throw us a curve ball. Since S-Hawk & Mihawk both have superoffensive capabilities, a defensive devil fruit works best. …Jozu’s diamond devil fruit? That’d be cool. Let’s go with that.

S-Snake using the mero-mero devil fruit. That was…interesting. But, to be fair, Franky went all heart eyes for Dr. Vegapunk, so the World Government agents doing the same for S-Snake could signal they think she’s cute and that was enough for the mero to do its thing. Hey! At least S-Snake isn’t wearing “combat gear”.

This could be Luffy’s final zoan fight.

Not counting Blackbeard if he’s got a zoan now, of course. It’s awakened zoan VS awakened zoan. Wasn’t sure if Rob Lucci would be a worthy opponent against Luffy, but it was stated long ago that he’s a fighting genius. That plus mastering his devil fruit sealed the deal. Plus, it’s a way for Luffy to gain more experience fighting in Gear 5 before his inevitable fight against Blackbeard. And let’s not forget Luffy VS Lucci allows OG Dr. Vegapunk to explain devil fruits to the Straw Hat Crew, specifically, the “Gum-Gum” fruit. Luffy doesn’t care, but it’s nice his crew knows how special their captain’s devil fruit is.

Devil fruits are born through hope? They’re people’s dreams realized? What are you smokin’, Dr. Vegapunk? You know you’re not allowed to prescribe cannabis to yourself, right? I was definitely expecting a more science-fiction explanation of devil fruits. But, I’m sure there’ s more to the story. We’re probably supposed to be confused until Oda drops more info bombs. Fine. I can wait.

Poor Sentomaru. His navy career’s over, but I don’t think he’s dying.

No way is Rob Lucci this arc’s chief antagonist.

More developments must be happening. Not saying Lucci isn’t stronger than he was in the Enies Lobby arc, but so is Luffy. Lucci’s not beating the Straw Hat captain at anything other than tic-tac-toe anytime soon. Maybe Sentomaru’s the main antagonist? He’s a marine officer now. His loyalties may side with the Navy. And with the Vegapunks giving him control of the Seraphim, he’d have the perfect opportunity to take out most of the science eggheads. Plus, it’d give the Straw Hats opponents to fight. So, yeah, put me down for Sentomaru betraying the Vegapunks.