On the cover page, Vegapunk has perverted the natural order to his whims, again. And Chopper's never been more happy about it! Does this count as Zeus getting a power up? Because, you could probably find some creative uses for making it rain candy in battle. Although, this DOES kind of hint that Zeus can "absorb" different elements into himself to give himself different effects. So, I wonder what would happen if Zeus "absorbed" a Island Cloud?
The title for this chapter is kind of interesting. Because while it can be read as "Omen", it can apparently also be read as "Maki" (魔気) or "Demonic Spirit" . Now, "Haki" (覇気) literally means "Domination Spirit". There are other meanings of the sound "ma" in Japanese, though, like the artistic "Ma" which is the concept of negative or empty space, which would fit something like the Void/Blank Century pretty well. But, I just have to wonder, if Imu is using "Maki" instead of "Haki", could that mean there are still other forms of "ki" that we haven't seen in the story, yet? Maybe "Bink's Sake" isn't about a alcoholic drink, but instead about some form of "Sa-ki" which would be interesting. "Sa" (さ)...is mostly a filler word in Japanese meaning "like" or "so", but it can be used to try and pressure or convince someone to do something. But, there is a word "Saki" (先), which means BOTH "past" AND "future". Which, kind of fits, if we're trying to make the future more like the past of the Void Century. That...would change "Binks' Saki" into a VERY different song. "We're trying to bring Bink's future!". Now, that would be kind of interesting. The original line is (ビンクスの酒を 届けにゆくよ) or "I'm going to deliver Binks' Sake". When I plug (ビンクスの先を 届けにゆくよ) into Google Translate, it spits out "I'm going to deliver Binks' Message", which is also a interesting alternate possibility. I don't know, something to think about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_(negative_space)
https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/14922/what-does-さあ-saa-mean
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/先
Imu...has arrived!
One detail that I didn't notice about his design before is that each of his 3 Skulls has stitches around the foreheads. Kind of implying that whoever originally had these three skulls got lobotomized or their skulls cut open at some point.
Also, he's got 4 rings around his belt. Possibly to reference the 4 Skypiean Gods?
Also...Imu's a LOT smaller than I thought he'd be. I was thinking he'd be taller than Loki, given his size compared to the castle's window last chapter. But, he's barely taller than a normal human. Like, Whitebeard-size or so. Smaller than most Giants. That's interesting.
Also, the Singing Buildings and Trees are sticking around the whole time while Imu's here, apparently.
Also, that set of Flaming Eyeballs behind him isn't technically a "ribbon", it's a circle. So, I wonder if there's a difference? Could there be a level ABOVE "Awakening" your Fruit that gives you a "aureole" instead of a "ribbon"? Or maybe it's just something completely different that we've never seen before, with nothing at all to do with Awakening his Fruit.
And Imu cuts Gerd's fingers off! Geez! I wasn't expecting Imu to get that violent right out of the gate! Imu is NOT shy about cutting people, cutting Stansen's leg off. Chopper better get stitching! Chopper's got his work cut out for him this time! Notably, neither Gerd nor Stansen get Revseri'd due to Imu's attack. So...either Imu's just given up on Reversi-ing people, or that's not how it works?
Honestly? Imu's "Omen" attacks kind of remind me the most of Mr 5's Snot-Bombs. I'm not sure if that's what Oda's actually going for or not, but it feels like a similar hand motion and effect.
And Imu can even give "Omen Rings" to others in order to power them up. Interesting.
And Imu DOES have feathery wings. So, that does reinforce the possibility of some connection to the Lunarians. Especially with that flaming ring behind him acting as a similar feature to King's fire.
Imu just blasts Gunko's ice-prison. I feel like that's probably just to free her and not to "punish" her for failing. Since Imu was the one controller her body at the time. And, it seems like Imu's mostly on a rescue mission right now, to make sure to get all the God's Knights back.
And now the fire is burning the Walrus School...and burnt the food Loki and Luffy were going to eat. Going from one extreme to the other...classic.
And it sounds like Imu's actually out to avenge Harald's death. Imu really does seem to care about the people under his command, if his freeing the God's Knights is any indication.
"If thou had not been here many tribulations could have been avoided" That's a interesting line. Assuming that Imu's talking more about "Nidhogg" than Loki himself, then I wonder what Imu means by that? Maybe it was just that Imu was trying to conquer Elbaph more "peacefully", and Loki's presence turned this into this huge battle, when it didn't need to? Imu does seem to prefer stealth and planning to direct confrontation, it seems.
And it looks like we're going to see Imu versus Loki next chapter! That should be a fun fight, given how much both of these characters have been hyped up so far. Luffy probably should join in, too. So, we should get to see the difference in strength between "Imunko" and Imu's true form!
