That was a mostly enjoyable chapter. Unfortunate to hear the release schedule is slowing down temporarily, but hopefully Oda can use the time to add extra polish or better plan the upcoming sequence of events.
The Will of P is strong, stronger than anything else!! So Pound survives Oven, steals a ship, and sails for several days minimum out of Tottoland. That's one way to get people to talk about the cover story. Pound was a basically a nothing character, he only became something because of his death. He achieved true death in the One Piece sense that nobody would ever remember Pound's life, not even his little contribution. It was honestly very harsh even though he committed no sin and loved Big Mom. I guess Oda agreed, and brought him back to meet his family. It's a very nasty tendency to make big kills like Ace or Pedro but minor side characters like Moscato and the mountain Pig get to cheat death. Thus, minor characters people normally wouldn't think about only get brought up because they BS'd death. Never does it improve the story more than it hurts it. At least we haven't crossed that final bridge like Naruto and Dragon Ball where the power of revival makes a mockery of death. Pound goes from being a tragedy to being a different kind of tragedy. I would try to save this by having Mansherry temporarily heal Pound from the brink just long enough to meet the Bege family, once they sail away Pound dies in silence, being loved and remembered thinking his life was worth it. If there's any upside to this, it's that Gin can still survive the MH5 and meet Sanji again in the future.
We got some precious Strawhat crew quality time. The comedy was on point. Luffy, Kid, Zoro, and even Kanjuro are lost? So that's why Kanjuro hasn't been able to report the alliance yet, even worse he's even being attacked like an enemy. Pretty neat how this little minor detail Orochi forgot in the back of his mind like "oh yeah, my personal time jumping spy never once visited Kaido's new mansion" blew up into a big weakness. Robin passes on Franky and Sanji and prefers the big blue fish. Franky with those horns is an awesome classic look, Robin with that leather is entering fetish territory, and we finally see Jinbe lose the kimono. The Franky battle bike and the battle tank look sweet and very useful. The Weak Trio and Carrot again, oh boy, move along at a steady place under tank defenses as experienced Usopp mans the cannon. The Iron Franky in the battlefield is inevitable. If I had to guess who is stalking Robin and Jinbe, that's probably Caribou who knows Jinbe and Robin's face and is nowhere to be found right now. It could be Gyukimaru sneaking his way over to help. It could be Yamato, but that would turn this whole thing into a subplot.
Kaido's crew is young and competitive and I love that. There are 3 All-Star spots up for grabs and the Tobbi Roppo are a bunch of animals fighting for their place in the pack. Blackbeard has 10 captain positions, Whitebeard has 16 commanders, the Strawhats have no hierarchy besides captain, the competition to move up the ladder in these crews is not very intense. Even in Big Mom's crew you couldn't imagine 50-year old Perospero and 48-year old Oven fighting to replace 30-year old Snack's position. 1) They are family so infighting is discouraged. 2) Most of Big Mom's powerhouses are very old, the elderly are not hungry for promotions and have little to prove. 3) They might have held Sweet Commander posts in the early days and no longer wish to regain that responsibility. That may be where old allies of Kaido like the Numbers fit into all this. Last chapter we saw the Headliners were the Gifter elite, so there is even competition among the riffraff to see which ones can get promoted. Kaido's pirate crew really gives us a fresh dynamic we haven't experienced since the numbered agents of Baroque Works.
Great to see Kaido, the All-Stars, and the Tobbi Roppo all interacting in the same room. Kaido is so chill taking that verbal abuse from Ulti, he just lets that Chihuahua bark. Who's Who looks like he has a height and legs to match Baron Tamago, his long leg Zoan hybrid from should be fascinating to see. Black Maria is a big, big girl. King and Jack make Whitebeard and Katakuri look like shrimps. Big Mom and Kaido are barely half a meter to a meter taller than those two. Yet Black Maria might tower over all of them, she's reaching Shirahoshi and Neptune's heights here which are just below the average giant. If Big Mom asks her to join the crew, she's a certified giant. We also find out Who's Who and Sasaki were former pirate captains. They're not used to bending the knee, are eager to take on the Calamities, and give King some lip as they believe they can knock him off his position. They must have been promising star rookies back in their generations. If Sasaki had a talented crew of Fishman pirates, that's even more interesting as every Fishman pirate crew so far has had connections to Fisher Tiger and the Sun Pirates. Kaido's son is called Yamato and apparently nothing less than the Tobbi Roppo can wrangle him safely. Is he that much of a beast or is there a peculiar trick only they can pull off? This honestly sounds more interesting than seeing Jack vs Who's Who, which will no doubt be interrupted by the alliance lest the enemies actually defeat one another.
At this point, I wonder if the Strawhats or Kanjuro will encounter Yamato first. Depending on that, the Tobbi Roppo could enter battle earlier than expected. Yamato is a peculiar name. It's been used for battleships, natural landmarks like mountains, many anime and historical figures, and most importantly the racial stock of the Japanese people. Maybe this is just saying Kaido's son is more human than demon. Yet they still need the Tobbi Roppo to reign him in. The party continues as we have yet to meet Big Mom and the Numbers, but Luffy's already there and ready to woop some tail. Yet the Kid Pirates haven't thrown a single punch, this leads to believe they are still some ways from the mansion. The skull is as big as its own city. I'm all for finally getting this show on the road, the Strawhat and Kid Pirates would be fighting an army on their way over to Enies Lobby.
INTRODUCED for 3rd time coz he has been irrelevant.
Imagine kidd & killer are already on top, next to Queen & Apoo
