Mammoth Base Opera Castle

Seeing Luffy stretchy backhand that baddie was such a casual, yet awesome use of his powers.

With the entire (sans Jinbe) Straw Hat Crew there and various allies coming, Oda did the smart thing and started us off with only Luffy. I love Luffy’s treatment of animals, you don’t mess with him and he won’t mess with you. We meet the mini-Vivi Clone, Otama and learn she’s waiting for Ace. Ruh-oh! Isn’t that just like a pirate to go out for cigarettes and never come back! Well, whatever Ace had going on with Otama you can bet Luffy’s picking up where he left off.

I get the feeling the Wano arc will be so Japanese I’ll be speaking in Nagoya dialect by the tenth chapter.

Goodbye Reverie! You were fun, but Oda ain’t slowin’ down for no one, whether you Wano or not. We catch up with Luffy’s team wearing their Wano arc clothes, touching on the Reverie. We also get a title introduction for Straw Hat Luffy (not Monkey D. Luffy) because… I don’t know. Is Oda reminding us Luffy is a tough mofo before all heck breaks loose or is there an even deeper meaning?

Where’s the Revolutionaries’ declaration? What’s will happen to Bonney? Is Vivi Im’s takedown confirmation? What about Fujitora’s anti Warlord panel in Hall H? Oh, so we’re doing that, Oda? You set up the plots and now you’re letting it simmer. Everything I mentioned can be shown at a later date, or specifically, it’s effects and consequences. Why have Im tell us when we’ll instead see soldiers gunning for Vivi? Why see what Bonney’s going to do when we can see her allying with the Revolutionaries later (Yep, I think that’s where Bonney’s character is going.).