On the cover page, a kitten is stealing a book! That fiend! Also, shades of Nami! I guess that's why Gen and Nojiko are getting sentimental about it! Of note, the book is basically about food for the cat. So, that kind of continues a theme of everything revolving around food and hunger in this world. Kind of interesting. I wonder if the Fish Encyclopedia also covers stuff like Sea Kings?
We are 33 years ago, 5 years after God Valley already. Time flies. And Mid-News Morgans is still hitting the pavement, getting stories himself. It does take a while to grow a media empire.
Harald's gone full lapdog for the Government, hunting down pirates for them. Hate to see it happen. I do wonder how he makes it foggy around his ship, though? Is that something the Knights of God can do? The Florian Triangle Shadows from back in Thriller Bark even get a direct mention (Chapter 490), confirming that this is not that. Still it's curious. And I do wonder if this is all connected to pyrobloin and island clouds, given how God Valley ended up last chapter. Still, Oda's reminding us about the Florian Triangle. So, that's still probably plot-relevant.
Ochaku got a really nasty scar on his face. Somehow. Even though, he's the one who stayed behind on Hachinosu when everyone else left to rescue Shakky. I'm guessing Shiki or someone fought him over trying to get ownership of Hachinosu for themselves? Seems like good bait for a future SBS question.
There's Buggy! I guess we're really waiting a while to reveal his part of the backstory. Weird. So, I'm guessing how Buggy joined the Roger Pirates is pretty plot-relevant. Or again, it's SBS fodder, we'll see.
Kind of a interesting note, the Marine Giants were actually drafted. From all over the world, and not just from Elbaph, even. Kind of puts a different spin on things, than what one might assume.
LORE DROP! Okay, so we find out more about Imu's "contracts". There's three contracts. Shallow-Sea, Deep-Sea, and Deep-Deep-Sea. That cross mark on people's left arms is the sign of the Shallow-Sea Contract. So, the other types of contracts might have different symbols. A Shallow-Sea Contract holder seems be called "God's Steel", like Gunko. So, it seems like Gunko isn't fully ingrained into the system. There's only 13 people with the other two kinds of contracts. I'm not sure if that's a power-limit, or just the amount of people who happen to be worthy at this time. But, for now, I'll assume Imu can only form full-contracts with a total of 13 people. The 5 Gorosei are likely the holders of the Deep-Deep-Sea Contracts. So, I guess the Knights of God make up the other 8 Deep-Sea Contracts? (And if Imu wants to keep using the number 16, then it's possible there's 3 people with Shallow-Sea Contracts, but we'll see if that's relevant at all.) With all the "Sea" talk...that DOES seem to hint that Imu is actually the user of the Sea God Fruit. But, time will tell.
I suspect there's some choice wording with the line "The entire WORLD would be clamoring to welcome you." Either a double-meaning with "world" meaning "Imu". Or possibly, that if Elbaph would be allowed to join the World Government, then everyone would already be mind controlled in the final stages of Imu's plan at that point, anyway. Or something to that effect.
The Knight's Temple is called Shangara. Kind of brings to mind Shangri-La, the fictional perfect village. But, I kind of wonder if that's what's Oda's going for, or if "Shangara" is actually referencing something else in Japanese.
Middle-aged Garling is kind of a awkward design. He doesn't quite look right. Because he's just a middle-stage between his younger and older selves.
20 years ago...and Harald is laughing and joking around with King Neptune in Fishman Island. Weird. That's really weird. I didn't see that coming. Neptune's even talking about hooking up lil' Loki with not-even-born-yet Shirahoshi. This flashback took a turn.
Harald calls future-Shirahoshi "mosa-mosa"...which DOES kind of make it sound like Shirahoshi COULD be Loki's phone-friend. Hmm...it feels like it's weird to call her "shaggy", before even meeting her. Strange. Shirahoshi never really hinted at having a "boyfriend" before. (Though, it would be one reason why she said Vander Decken wasn't her type.) I still like my idea better, that Mosa was Imu. But, this does seem to be hinting at this direction. Oh well.
Saul came to Elbaph and was asked about opening a school! We're really going down the list and checking things off fast in this flashback, now!
15 years ago, during Fisher Tiger's raid on Marejois....who should help free the slaves but...Saint Saint Saint Shanks?! Well...I guess Saint Saint Shanks WAS a former Knight of God, after all! They really let him back in after being on Roger's crew for years. And Saint Saint Shanks actually seems to have helped Koala and Boa Hancock escape. Things are really tying together, now.
Saint Saint Shanks is acting weird. And he's got a bandage on his head, and saying he's wasted the last 24 years of his life. So...either he's got amnesia, he's under mind-control, or he's a double-agent. I REALLY hope it's not amnesia, again. I know Oda seems to like the whole amnesia plot from what we saw with Big Mom. But, being a double-agent would be a lot more interesting. Plus...he's GOT to be the one who helped free the slaves, right? Unless Shamrock actually turns out to be the "good" twin, in a MASSIVE twist on Oda's part. But, I think Saint Saint Shanks is protesting a bit too much. I feel like this is a act.
Saint Saint Shanks also mentions the rest of the world feeling "alien" to him. Again, I wonder what the wording used in the original Japanese was. Because I wonder how literal to take that. Because the Celestial Dragons being from another planet is not impossible.
Also, just on the matter of Harald saying he thinks he's met Saint Saint Shanks or Shamrock before, even though we've never seen Harald meet the Roger Pirates...the Roger Pirates would have HAD to have been on Elbaph before. For one, Scopper's son Colon was born 20 years ago. This scene between Harald and Saint Saint Saint Shanks is happening 15 years ago. Colon would already be a baby of 5 years old at this point. So, yes, Oda just skipped a scene of the Roger Pirates having some adventures on Elbaph. But, lil' Saint Saint Shanks was probably with the Roger Pirates when they first landed on Elbaph along with everyone else on the crew. That's probably what Harald is talking about. The Roger Pirates were mentioned to circumnavigate the world, which would have been around 25 or 26 years ago, back when Roger was still alive. Plus, at the very least, Scopper himself would have had to be on Elbaph 20 years ago in to knock up Ripley. And Saint Saint Shanks is only a "recent" new arrival on Mariejois. So, it's possible Saint Saint Shanks has been to Elbaph a few times to visit Scopper, at this point, even after Roger's execution.
Oh no! Ida caught Flashback-Mother-Disease! The most deadly disease in the One Piece World! Not Ida! Pressuring Mato to keep her tavern open...not the most thoughtful thing to do, pressuring this child into doing this job for the rest of her life, but I guess we have to set things up for the future.
Awww....Loki's trying to help out Ida. In the most annoying way possible, but still. That's kind of sweet.
Estrid was apparently from Alcohol Village. What a creative name.
Oh, Ida was poisoned by royal-supremacists. Okay. Well, that explains that. I had to go back and check. That is NOT the same poison vial style that Saint Saint Shanks offered Bartolomeo back in Chapter 1126. This jar is more round, and the one Saint Saint Shanks had was black and taller. So, it's probably not related. Funny that "poison" has come up relatively often in this arc so far, though.
Although, why did Loki even visit his biological relatives in the first place, if he hates them all so much? Eh...maybe that's another SBS questions for the future.
Aww...poor Loki. Okay, yeah. Estrid's side of the family kind of got what they deserved. Even though, this is probably one of the big reasons why Loki gets chained up, later.
Next time...it's probably going to be Ida's funeral! Oh geez...that's going to be a downer. Well, Blackbeard's mom survived. So, I guess we have to get our mother-death quota for this flashback up to standards, again.
We are 33 years ago, 5 years after God Valley already. Time flies. And Mid-News Morgans is still hitting the pavement, getting stories himself. It does take a while to grow a media empire.
Harald's gone full lapdog for the Government, hunting down pirates for them. Hate to see it happen. I do wonder how he makes it foggy around his ship, though? Is that something the Knights of God can do? The Florian Triangle Shadows from back in Thriller Bark even get a direct mention (Chapter 490), confirming that this is not that. Still it's curious. And I do wonder if this is all connected to pyrobloin and island clouds, given how God Valley ended up last chapter. Still, Oda's reminding us about the Florian Triangle. So, that's still probably plot-relevant.
Ochaku got a really nasty scar on his face. Somehow. Even though, he's the one who stayed behind on Hachinosu when everyone else left to rescue Shakky. I'm guessing Shiki or someone fought him over trying to get ownership of Hachinosu for themselves? Seems like good bait for a future SBS question.
There's Buggy! I guess we're really waiting a while to reveal his part of the backstory. Weird. So, I'm guessing how Buggy joined the Roger Pirates is pretty plot-relevant. Or again, it's SBS fodder, we'll see.
Kind of a interesting note, the Marine Giants were actually drafted. From all over the world, and not just from Elbaph, even. Kind of puts a different spin on things, than what one might assume.
LORE DROP! Okay, so we find out more about Imu's "contracts". There's three contracts. Shallow-Sea, Deep-Sea, and Deep-Deep-Sea. That cross mark on people's left arms is the sign of the Shallow-Sea Contract. So, the other types of contracts might have different symbols. A Shallow-Sea Contract holder seems be called "God's Steel", like Gunko. So, it seems like Gunko isn't fully ingrained into the system. There's only 13 people with the other two kinds of contracts. I'm not sure if that's a power-limit, or just the amount of people who happen to be worthy at this time. But, for now, I'll assume Imu can only form full-contracts with a total of 13 people. The 5 Gorosei are likely the holders of the Deep-Deep-Sea Contracts. So, I guess the Knights of God make up the other 8 Deep-Sea Contracts? (And if Imu wants to keep using the number 16, then it's possible there's 3 people with Shallow-Sea Contracts, but we'll see if that's relevant at all.) With all the "Sea" talk...that DOES seem to hint that Imu is actually the user of the Sea God Fruit. But, time will tell.
I suspect there's some choice wording with the line "The entire WORLD would be clamoring to welcome you." Either a double-meaning with "world" meaning "Imu". Or possibly, that if Elbaph would be allowed to join the World Government, then everyone would already be mind controlled in the final stages of Imu's plan at that point, anyway. Or something to that effect.
The Knight's Temple is called Shangara. Kind of brings to mind Shangri-La, the fictional perfect village. But, I kind of wonder if that's what's Oda's going for, or if "Shangara" is actually referencing something else in Japanese.
Middle-aged Garling is kind of a awkward design. He doesn't quite look right. Because he's just a middle-stage between his younger and older selves.
20 years ago...and Harald is laughing and joking around with King Neptune in Fishman Island. Weird. That's really weird. I didn't see that coming. Neptune's even talking about hooking up lil' Loki with not-even-born-yet Shirahoshi. This flashback took a turn.
Harald calls future-Shirahoshi "mosa-mosa"...which DOES kind of make it sound like Shirahoshi COULD be Loki's phone-friend. Hmm...it feels like it's weird to call her "shaggy", before even meeting her. Strange. Shirahoshi never really hinted at having a "boyfriend" before. (Though, it would be one reason why she said Vander Decken wasn't her type.) I still like my idea better, that Mosa was Imu. But, this does seem to be hinting at this direction. Oh well.
Saul came to Elbaph and was asked about opening a school! We're really going down the list and checking things off fast in this flashback, now!
15 years ago, during Fisher Tiger's raid on Marejois....who should help free the slaves but...Saint Saint Saint Shanks?! Well...I guess Saint Saint Shanks WAS a former Knight of God, after all! They really let him back in after being on Roger's crew for years. And Saint Saint Shanks actually seems to have helped Koala and Boa Hancock escape. Things are really tying together, now.
Saint Saint Shanks is acting weird. And he's got a bandage on his head, and saying he's wasted the last 24 years of his life. So...either he's got amnesia, he's under mind-control, or he's a double-agent. I REALLY hope it's not amnesia, again. I know Oda seems to like the whole amnesia plot from what we saw with Big Mom. But, being a double-agent would be a lot more interesting. Plus...he's GOT to be the one who helped free the slaves, right? Unless Shamrock actually turns out to be the "good" twin, in a MASSIVE twist on Oda's part. But, I think Saint Saint Shanks is protesting a bit too much. I feel like this is a act.
Saint Saint Shanks also mentions the rest of the world feeling "alien" to him. Again, I wonder what the wording used in the original Japanese was. Because I wonder how literal to take that. Because the Celestial Dragons being from another planet is not impossible.
Also, just on the matter of Harald saying he thinks he's met Saint Saint Shanks or Shamrock before, even though we've never seen Harald meet the Roger Pirates...the Roger Pirates would have HAD to have been on Elbaph before. For one, Scopper's son Colon was born 20 years ago. This scene between Harald and Saint Saint Saint Shanks is happening 15 years ago. Colon would already be a baby of 5 years old at this point. So, yes, Oda just skipped a scene of the Roger Pirates having some adventures on Elbaph. But, lil' Saint Saint Shanks was probably with the Roger Pirates when they first landed on Elbaph along with everyone else on the crew. That's probably what Harald is talking about. The Roger Pirates were mentioned to circumnavigate the world, which would have been around 25 or 26 years ago, back when Roger was still alive. Plus, at the very least, Scopper himself would have had to be on Elbaph 20 years ago in to knock up Ripley. And Saint Saint Shanks is only a "recent" new arrival on Mariejois. So, it's possible Saint Saint Shanks has been to Elbaph a few times to visit Scopper, at this point, even after Roger's execution.
Oh no! Ida caught Flashback-Mother-Disease! The most deadly disease in the One Piece World! Not Ida! Pressuring Mato to keep her tavern open...not the most thoughtful thing to do, pressuring this child into doing this job for the rest of her life, but I guess we have to set things up for the future.
Awww....Loki's trying to help out Ida. In the most annoying way possible, but still. That's kind of sweet.
Estrid was apparently from Alcohol Village. What a creative name.
Oh, Ida was poisoned by royal-supremacists. Okay. Well, that explains that. I had to go back and check. That is NOT the same poison vial style that Saint Saint Shanks offered Bartolomeo back in Chapter 1126. This jar is more round, and the one Saint Saint Shanks had was black and taller. So, it's probably not related. Funny that "poison" has come up relatively often in this arc so far, though.
Although, why did Loki even visit his biological relatives in the first place, if he hates them all so much? Eh...maybe that's another SBS questions for the future.
Aww...poor Loki. Okay, yeah. Estrid's side of the family kind of got what they deserved. Even though, this is probably one of the big reasons why Loki gets chained up, later.
Next time...it's probably going to be Ida's funeral! Oh geez...that's going to be a downer. Well, Blackbeard's mom survived. So, I guess we have to get our mother-death quota for this flashback up to standards, again.
