On the cover page...Kid is ALIVE! He seems to be alive and well. Making a nuisance of himself on Drum Island getting chased around by Dalton. Wait...I'm being told that's probably not what's happening, here. But, maybe it's foreshadowing something, anyway? Either Kid fighting Warcury or Minotaurus in Impel Down? Or it's just a silly, fun request. Who can say?
"Loki's a real wildcard" It DOES take a lot for even Luffy to say something like that.
Huh...it sounds to me like Loki was doing the same thing Herald was doing back in the day, only against the World Government instead of against Pirates (Chapter 1167). So...somehow...Loki had the same "fog producing technology" that Herald did. Could it be something special about some sort of royal ship? Could it have something to do with the "fog" that also covered the hole where God Valley used to be after it collapsed in on itself? (Chapter 1166). Oda's setting something up with "fog", I'm just not entirely sure what.
Although...this entire setup DOES also sound like it could involve The Man Marked By Flames. A ship in fog, followed by a large beast...it COULD be the Oro Jackson alongside whatever hatched from Roger's Giant Mystery Egg. Loki never confirms or denies that was him. But, it's definitely HINTED that the guy in the fog was Loki.
Imu mentions "A Coeurl" again. If you want to know more about Coeurls, I made a thread all about it over here:
https://worstgen.alwaysdata.net/for...with-tentacles-what-is-a-coeurl-anyway.68264/
Although, apparently, the alternate spelling "Quarl" can also mean a Jellyfish. And...I'll admit, Imu DOES look a lot like a jellyfish in this Shadow mode. So, alien cat or jellyfish, place your bets, now!
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quarl
But, again with Imu's tentacles. I guess we'll see later if those tentacles leave any lasting wounds. But, Domi Reversi doesn't even work on Luffy and Loki. Is that because they both have God Fruits? Or is any Devil Fruit User able to ignore Imu's Domi Reversi. I don't think we've seen anyone with any sort of Devil Fruit get Reversi'd, as far as I remember. Rocks was never confirmed to have a Devil Fruit. So, Devil Fruits in general MIGHT be a natural counter to Imu's powers.
"Wait, did you just say Rocks?!" Loki continues to be a bit of a Rocks fanboy.
Oh gosh, Ragnirs Hammer-with-a-squirrel-face look is SO CUTE! There WILL be merchandise of this in the future, I can already tell.
Luffy's just able to punch Shadow-Imu to pieces. And Loki's able to freeze Gunko in a block of ice with Niffleheim. Looks like this fight's over, for now. I guess since Brook has some ice-related attacks, he MIGHT be able to thaw Gunko out later, if he wants?
Luffy's still going into tired-old-man mode after using Gear 5. It seemed like he was gaining more stamina lately, but I guess not that much. So, I wonder how much of Luffy's life he's already burned through using Gear 5? This is probably a plot point that's going to come to the head by the end of the story.
Even Loki seems to have some stamina problems staying in his full Nidhogg form for too long. And he hasn't even Awakened it, yet! Maybe he hasn't Awakened yet precisely because of his stamina problems. Though, to be fair, it's hard to get your cardio in when you're chained to a tree for years.
Chopper's able to finish up Zoro's leftovers. And Zoro thinks it's "Because he's a amazing doctor". Yeah...that probably isn't it. Either ALL Devil Fruits counter Imu's Reveri. Or Chopper could have a God Fruit like Luffy and maybe Loki. I'm not sure which way I'm leaning towards, for the moment. I really wish Brook or even Bonney would have gotten a chance to attack someone who was Reversi'd.
All the fires are getting put out, everyone's turned back from getting Reversi'd...this really seems like the arc's wrapping up. Even the books get saved...somehow. Biblo's gone too, so he MIGHT have saved the books, but it's unclear. My bet? I think the books got dropped off in the upper Astral/Heaven Realm. We still need a excuse to visit that place, quick. And a quick book hunt sounds like a pretty decent reason to do that.
Looks like Killingham is remaining the Strawhat's prisoner for now. I'm a little surprised about that. Sommers is slowly putting himself back together, though. He MIGHT be able to ruin our little happy ending. None of the God's Knights managed to even escape, yet. So, chances are, this isn't quite over yet. We'll see.
"Squirrel...I'm hungry" Ragnir seems like a solid bro. He might just get Luffy some food, yet. Those two really seemed to bond while getting yelled at by Nami.
And being frozen in ice does NOTHING to stop Imu escaping.
And Imu's...leaving Pangaea Castle?! That's a first! Either Imu's going to Elbaph in person, in order to use their "Yokai" form to turn the tide of battle. Or...it's somewhere else. Maybe to pick up the Ancient Weapon Uranos? But, Imu didn't pilot Uranos, before when they destroyed Lulusia, so I doubt that. Or MAYBE to do something with that Giant Frozen Strawhat? Maybe Imu's going to send something like that to Elbaph in their place? But, Imu going to Elbaph directly does seem like the simplest interpretation.
Either way, the way Imu is phrasing this, it almost sounds like Imu is staying in Mariejois in order to protect something? Imu telling the Gorosei that they'll be without them for a bit makes it sounds like Imu is warning them about something. Maybe Imu's presence IS "sealing" something away within the Red Line?
So, yeah...I think Imu's going to Elbaph in person. We MIGHT just get a Imu face reveal before this arc is over, yet. Or at least, we might get a better look at whatever Imu turns into. It's...probably going to be some sort of Dragon. But, we'll see. Imu HAS mentioned "Coeurls" twice now. Imu might be a Displacer Beast aka...a cat with tentacles. Or maybe a Jellyfish. Or, since this is One Piece, some strange combination of all three. We'll see.
Also...this is going to get overlooked by most people, even me at first. But, take another look at Imu in the Flower Garden. Someone is kneeling on the opposite side of the room. And Gunko's still frozen in ice. So, either Imu got another "Assistant" when Gunko got promoted...or Imu's "Assistant" that we saw when Rocks broke in was never Gunko in the first place (Chapter 1155). Gunko may just be of the same "Heterochromia" tribe as whoever "Imu's Assistant" is.
We might get a few chapters of peace for the Strawhats before then, though. Scopper still has to tell them something. And we might find where the books went. Plus, Franky might find something in that 3000 year old lab. We'll see. But, I have a feeling Imu hasn't quite given up on Elbaph, yet. I have a feeling this arc won't exactly have as happy of a ending as it looks, right now.
