Fantastic chapter.
It feels like a lot progressed this chapter. The Ice Oni subplot concluded, Luffy is quickly making it to the top, Marco has finally arrived to the main battlefield, and Kaido's raised the stakes to a whole other level.
Starting it off, though, with the star of the chapter Roronoa Zoro. His quiet journey around Wano is slowly paying off. At the beginning of the arc, Luffy and Zoro met and befriended O-Kiku, who tended to Zoro's injuries against Hawkins, and later fought together in order to save Tama, who was captured by Holdem and his men.
These moments that were accused of wasting time were necessary seeds to make us care about any of the character's motivations moving forward. And seeing what might've happened to Kiku and the rest of the Scabbards, in addition to the chaos below, spurred Zoro on to get serious. He returned order and stopped the plague of the virus in a snap, while declaring his intentions of cutting down Kaido. Great moment all around, and solidifies the protagonistic role he's had this entire arc.
Next up would be Chopper who pulled his weight as a doctor. While Zoro might've procured the antidote, Chopper managed to understand its mechanisms and help slow the plague's freezing process down using flames. Marco came just in time to help with that, but this was still a Chopper moment as he came up with the solution. He also agrees to help treat the enemies infected, meaning they could be incline to switch sides. That includes Apoo, who has already been disowned by Queen, meaning he'll have no choice but to become an ally. Chopper treating him might convince him more, with the possibility for growth as well.
Between Zoro's proclamation and these Apoo developments, the chances of every WG on Wano teaming up to face the Emperors, is looking more likely. It'd be a poetic old vs new showdown, a changing of the guard, as the rookies make the seas their's now.
That said, they won't have it easy. Kaido, almost in response to Zoro's words, performs an insane show of power by lifting Onigashima in its entirety. Not only is this balls to the wall insane, but it's easily raised the stakes as Kaido already plans to wipe out Wano and replace it with his headquarters. This has all but eliminated any chance of the raid failing. (Shame this dropped so soon, since I wanted to make a thread on why the raid wouldn't fail, but oh well, this should convince people.). The reason for this is if the raid fails, then Wano is finished, most of its populace wiped out by an island dropping on top of them, and eliminating the only prosperous district. Luffy and co MUST win here or they and everyone on Wano are dead. Kaido is a madman who isn't playing any games. This is what a war should feel like.
But to follow up on Kaido, Yamato remarks on the unique traits of dragons. It fuels the speculations on what Kaido is, though I'll wait on the official translations for clarity, as Yamato's phrasing on the fan scans makes it sound like they aren't a dragon.
Last thing I want to talk about is Sanji and his encounter with Black Maria. The way the whole thing went, it appeared as if they were luring Sanji specifically. Black Maria appears to have this interest in him. It could be related to Sanji's Vinsmoke lineage, which Queen already showed knowledge and interest of. And if Queen ordered Maria and her troops to capture Sanji, then Sanji/Queen might be just around the corner.
In short, awesome chapter. There's just so much happening in it to keep us going during the 2 week break period. The last few chapters have actually been great, with a lot of strong character moments and moving plot points. It has me wonder just how amazing 1000 might be.
It feels like a lot progressed this chapter. The Ice Oni subplot concluded, Luffy is quickly making it to the top, Marco has finally arrived to the main battlefield, and Kaido's raised the stakes to a whole other level.
Starting it off, though, with the star of the chapter Roronoa Zoro. His quiet journey around Wano is slowly paying off. At the beginning of the arc, Luffy and Zoro met and befriended O-Kiku, who tended to Zoro's injuries against Hawkins, and later fought together in order to save Tama, who was captured by Holdem and his men.
These moments that were accused of wasting time were necessary seeds to make us care about any of the character's motivations moving forward. And seeing what might've happened to Kiku and the rest of the Scabbards, in addition to the chaos below, spurred Zoro on to get serious. He returned order and stopped the plague of the virus in a snap, while declaring his intentions of cutting down Kaido. Great moment all around, and solidifies the protagonistic role he's had this entire arc.
Next up would be Chopper who pulled his weight as a doctor. While Zoro might've procured the antidote, Chopper managed to understand its mechanisms and help slow the plague's freezing process down using flames. Marco came just in time to help with that, but this was still a Chopper moment as he came up with the solution. He also agrees to help treat the enemies infected, meaning they could be incline to switch sides. That includes Apoo, who has already been disowned by Queen, meaning he'll have no choice but to become an ally. Chopper treating him might convince him more, with the possibility for growth as well.
Between Zoro's proclamation and these Apoo developments, the chances of every WG on Wano teaming up to face the Emperors, is looking more likely. It'd be a poetic old vs new showdown, a changing of the guard, as the rookies make the seas their's now.
That said, they won't have it easy. Kaido, almost in response to Zoro's words, performs an insane show of power by lifting Onigashima in its entirety. Not only is this balls to the wall insane, but it's easily raised the stakes as Kaido already plans to wipe out Wano and replace it with his headquarters. This has all but eliminated any chance of the raid failing. (Shame this dropped so soon, since I wanted to make a thread on why the raid wouldn't fail, but oh well, this should convince people.). The reason for this is if the raid fails, then Wano is finished, most of its populace wiped out by an island dropping on top of them, and eliminating the only prosperous district. Luffy and co MUST win here or they and everyone on Wano are dead. Kaido is a madman who isn't playing any games. This is what a war should feel like.
But to follow up on Kaido, Yamato remarks on the unique traits of dragons. It fuels the speculations on what Kaido is, though I'll wait on the official translations for clarity, as Yamato's phrasing on the fan scans makes it sound like they aren't a dragon.
Last thing I want to talk about is Sanji and his encounter with Black Maria. The way the whole thing went, it appeared as if they were luring Sanji specifically. Black Maria appears to have this interest in him. It could be related to Sanji's Vinsmoke lineage, which Queen already showed knowledge and interest of. And if Queen ordered Maria and her troops to capture Sanji, then Sanji/Queen might be just around the corner.
In short, awesome chapter. There's just so much happening in it to keep us going during the 2 week break period. The last few chapters have actually been great, with a lot of strong character moments and moving plot points. It has me wonder just how amazing 1000 might be.
