So happy to hear nothing is going wrong with Oda's health! This chapter felt very cinematic the way it cut out scenes we've already experienced but threw in the ones missing. It serves to tie a bow of sorts over all the holes between the past the present. I guess Oda could have just flashed back to these things individually, but decided to get them over with all in one go.
Oden's family moments get me every time. We just don't get pirates with wholesome families in the series. It seems like every pirate, male and female, is a bachelor who just engages with prostitutes on the side and maybe has an abandoned kid somewhere. Big Mom being the big exception, though her family is a front for what is really just her personal army. Oden was a family man pirate, his wife and kids sailed on the legendary Whitebeard and Roger's crews, proving there is room for this kind of dynamic in every crew. I very much appreciate seeing this unique side of Oden and Toki.
Kaido's full forces make it all the way to Oden castle, they even get there before the Scabbards. Kaido and King's aerial mobility easily let them to take an army on their backs and cross the skies faster than Samurai fighting pursuers on foot. One of the Numbers actually shows up 20 years ago and gets the credit for capturing Neko and Inu. The way things were looking, I figured all the Tobbi Roppo and Numbers only joined after the flashback but it looks like at least one of these guys was around 20 years ago. The Number easily dwarfs Kaido and Big Mom, they're giant powerful brutes who may or may not be using a Zoan DF. It's now a very safe assumption that none of the Numbers have SMILE DFs, Doflamingo and Caesar didn't even know each back then. We get a full unobscured shot of biker Kaido's body from back then and that is definitely Katakuri's dad lol. Kaido mocking and strangling a child over a drop of several stories easily explains Momo's severe PTSD triggered by mere mentions of Kaido, and finally connects all his memories from Zou and Dressrosa.
I'm glad Toki finally got her moment. Escaping a burning castle and running past Kaido's army on horseback is no small feat. And then we see that rather than escape into the future, which she admits has been her cowardly way of life for the past 800 years, Toki instead chooses to die to leave behind a little flame of hope for the people of Wano so they have a reason to survive 20 years of hell after Oden's fall. That was Toki jumping into her own pot to try and lift up Wano after the Kozuki family's failure. I say she's dead because using her power in front of crowd is information that would make it back to Orochi, and traveling with a gun shot wound could still kill her in the future. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be seeing Toki again until it's time to find out what happened during the Void Century and that may be beyond the scope of Wano.
Denjiro taking his rage, his shame, his sorrow into the Enma temple and then emerging as a demon was great. When your parents tell you to stop making that face, Denjiro never stopped. That's exactly the dramatic transformation needed to turn around and serve the cowardly scoundrel who took advantage of your lord, betrayed his friendship and trust, then used his power as Shogun to kill him and ruin the rest of Wano. There was really no other way I would believe one of Oden's loyal Scabbards effectively acts as Orochi's right hand man for the next 20 years. It sounds like a good plan, but could you actually withstand looking at Orochi's face every week for the next 20 years at not lop his head off? Now we finally see he's been doing quite a bit behind his back, possibly to keep himself sane. Hiyori was educated and protected even as she defied Orochi to his face. Hiyori took some money from the bad elements living the capital and Denjiro Robin Hoods that to the towns in the outskirts.
I believe we're only now about to find out what Denjiro's truly been planning inside the capital. He has gained power and influence by Orochi's side for a reason. Ahsura stole supplies, acquired Kaido's blue prints, and amassed outlaws under his name. Kamawatsu protected Hiyori for some time, collected the wills and weapons of Wano's fallen, his inspiring loyalty created a successor to continue his job even after he got captured. Neko and Inu probably got away thanks to Ashura and Denjiro, or maybe Kyoshiro later set them free by secret. Nice to finally know their spat from last chapter spiraled into accusations of being a spy, to later dividing Zou into day and night. In Zou they managed to raise and rule an army of warrior Minks as well as protect another Road Poneglyph from Kaido and any other aspiring pirates. Just when Orochi thinks he has the alliance checkmated and cornered thanks to a spy, here we are presented with Orochi's own insider Denjiro.
Oden's family moments get me every time. We just don't get pirates with wholesome families in the series. It seems like every pirate, male and female, is a bachelor who just engages with prostitutes on the side and maybe has an abandoned kid somewhere. Big Mom being the big exception, though her family is a front for what is really just her personal army. Oden was a family man pirate, his wife and kids sailed on the legendary Whitebeard and Roger's crews, proving there is room for this kind of dynamic in every crew. I very much appreciate seeing this unique side of Oden and Toki.
Kaido's full forces make it all the way to Oden castle, they even get there before the Scabbards. Kaido and King's aerial mobility easily let them to take an army on their backs and cross the skies faster than Samurai fighting pursuers on foot. One of the Numbers actually shows up 20 years ago and gets the credit for capturing Neko and Inu. The way things were looking, I figured all the Tobbi Roppo and Numbers only joined after the flashback but it looks like at least one of these guys was around 20 years ago. The Number easily dwarfs Kaido and Big Mom, they're giant powerful brutes who may or may not be using a Zoan DF. It's now a very safe assumption that none of the Numbers have SMILE DFs, Doflamingo and Caesar didn't even know each back then. We get a full unobscured shot of biker Kaido's body from back then and that is definitely Katakuri's dad lol. Kaido mocking and strangling a child over a drop of several stories easily explains Momo's severe PTSD triggered by mere mentions of Kaido, and finally connects all his memories from Zou and Dressrosa.
I'm glad Toki finally got her moment. Escaping a burning castle and running past Kaido's army on horseback is no small feat. And then we see that rather than escape into the future, which she admits has been her cowardly way of life for the past 800 years, Toki instead chooses to die to leave behind a little flame of hope for the people of Wano so they have a reason to survive 20 years of hell after Oden's fall. That was Toki jumping into her own pot to try and lift up Wano after the Kozuki family's failure. I say she's dead because using her power in front of crowd is information that would make it back to Orochi, and traveling with a gun shot wound could still kill her in the future. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be seeing Toki again until it's time to find out what happened during the Void Century and that may be beyond the scope of Wano.
Denjiro taking his rage, his shame, his sorrow into the Enma temple and then emerging as a demon was great. When your parents tell you to stop making that face, Denjiro never stopped. That's exactly the dramatic transformation needed to turn around and serve the cowardly scoundrel who took advantage of your lord, betrayed his friendship and trust, then used his power as Shogun to kill him and ruin the rest of Wano. There was really no other way I would believe one of Oden's loyal Scabbards effectively acts as Orochi's right hand man for the next 20 years. It sounds like a good plan, but could you actually withstand looking at Orochi's face every week for the next 20 years at not lop his head off? Now we finally see he's been doing quite a bit behind his back, possibly to keep himself sane. Hiyori was educated and protected even as she defied Orochi to his face. Hiyori took some money from the bad elements living the capital and Denjiro Robin Hoods that to the towns in the outskirts.
I believe we're only now about to find out what Denjiro's truly been planning inside the capital. He has gained power and influence by Orochi's side for a reason. Ahsura stole supplies, acquired Kaido's blue prints, and amassed outlaws under his name. Kamawatsu protected Hiyori for some time, collected the wills and weapons of Wano's fallen, his inspiring loyalty created a successor to continue his job even after he got captured. Neko and Inu probably got away thanks to Ashura and Denjiro, or maybe Kyoshiro later set them free by secret. Nice to finally know their spat from last chapter spiraled into accusations of being a spy, to later dividing Zou into day and night. In Zou they managed to raise and rule an army of warrior Minks as well as protect another Road Poneglyph from Kaido and any other aspiring pirates. Just when Orochi thinks he has the alliance checkmated and cornered thanks to a spy, here we are presented with Orochi's own insider Denjiro.
