tl;dr - this flashback is going for a slow pace and there's still a lot to get through so don't expect it to end anytime soon
So I know a lot of people want the story to go back to Egghead so we can see things like Zoro vs Lucci, but looking at what we know about both Kuma and Bonney and considering the overall pace of the backstory, I'd say we probably have a good 3-5 chapters left
First off, this flashback clearly is going for a slower pace to more thoroughly flesh out both Kuma and Bonney. If the story really wanted to, it could cut out most of these past couple chapters, but instead of rushing through it, they show us more mundane moments with the characters so the audience gets attached to them. For example, this page doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. But it helps us empathize with Bonney being denied Kuma's letters, and we get to see her playing with her crewmate Gyogyo. Point is, this backstory is going for a slower, more character-driven approach. Which honestly I'm fully on board with.
One thing that I've noticed with the last chapter is that, while most of the backstory up to this point was squarely from Kuma's perspective, the focus seems to be switching from just Kuma to focusing on Kuma and Bonney as co-stars of the flashback. Like we got to see Bonney being stuck in Sorbet kingdom, hanging out with Connie and her crew, and then escaping with them to start their journey together. I think that we've more or less seen most of what we need to about Kuma's backstory, but there's still a lot of questions surrounding Bonney's past that are likely going to get cleared up before flashback ends
So with that in mind, I feel like we're gonna get a few chapters showing Bonney and her crew being pirates. Comparing the bright-eyed, innocent kid we see at the end of 1101 to the Bonney we see at Sabaody, she seems way more cynical and less optimistic. And honestly that makes a lot of sense. She's spent most of her life cooped up in an old church and then sets out to sea at the age of nine, entering into the grown-up "real" world when she's only a kid. And considering how this backstory is going for a slower, more character-driven approach, I think it'd only make sense for the story to show us Bonney developing her current mindset as a pirate.
One year at sea later:
Sidenote, but I really like the symbolism with Bonney's fruit. She was pretty much forced to prematurely "grow up" and act like an adult when she's still only a kid, reflecting how her Devil Fruit literally lets her change her age.
Speaking of Sabaody, it really wouldn't make sense for us not to see it from Kuma's and Bonney's perspectives. Bonney literally set out to sea to reunite with Kuma, so I think it's only right that we see them being on the same island together. Did Kuma get to say one last goodbye to his daughter? Or did he avoid her without Bonney being able to receive any closure for his death? And if so, how'd Kuma feel about being denied one last chance to see his daughter? Either way, this definitely seems like it'd be the big, emotional payoff to this backstory, so I think we really do need to see this. And of course, Sentomaru and Kizaru were there too so I think it'd be interesting to see how they'd react to the little girl they befriended becoming a pirate.
Now after Sabaody, we obviously need to see Vegapunk finishing the roboticization process on Kuma. We've been building to it for all this time. It's literally the conclusion to Kuma's story as a human. There's no way we're not seeing it
And finally, we definitely need to see what happened to Bonney over the timeskip. When we saw her post-Marineford, she and her crew had been defeated by Blackbeard and then got captured by Akainu. How did Bonney break free? And what happened to her crew? Bonney and her crew were clearly very close, but they're nowhere to be seen on Egghead despite sharing her goal of reuniting with Kuma. Given that we're still in Flashback Piece, I think they're probably dead and/or sacrificed themselves for Bonney, but all the more reason we need to see that since this flashback is going out of its way to show how close Bonney and her crew were.
Anyway I know a lot of people are dying to see Zoro vs Lucci, but it looks like we'll be in this flashback for a while.
So I know a lot of people want the story to go back to Egghead so we can see things like Zoro vs Lucci, but looking at what we know about both Kuma and Bonney and considering the overall pace of the backstory, I'd say we probably have a good 3-5 chapters left
First off, this flashback clearly is going for a slower pace to more thoroughly flesh out both Kuma and Bonney. If the story really wanted to, it could cut out most of these past couple chapters, but instead of rushing through it, they show us more mundane moments with the characters so the audience gets attached to them. For example, this page doesn't really tell us anything we don't already know. But it helps us empathize with Bonney being denied Kuma's letters, and we get to see her playing with her crewmate Gyogyo. Point is, this backstory is going for a slower, more character-driven approach. Which honestly I'm fully on board with.
One thing that I've noticed with the last chapter is that, while most of the backstory up to this point was squarely from Kuma's perspective, the focus seems to be switching from just Kuma to focusing on Kuma and Bonney as co-stars of the flashback. Like we got to see Bonney being stuck in Sorbet kingdom, hanging out with Connie and her crew, and then escaping with them to start their journey together. I think that we've more or less seen most of what we need to about Kuma's backstory, but there's still a lot of questions surrounding Bonney's past that are likely going to get cleared up before flashback ends
So with that in mind, I feel like we're gonna get a few chapters showing Bonney and her crew being pirates. Comparing the bright-eyed, innocent kid we see at the end of 1101 to the Bonney we see at Sabaody, she seems way more cynical and less optimistic. And honestly that makes a lot of sense. She's spent most of her life cooped up in an old church and then sets out to sea at the age of nine, entering into the grown-up "real" world when she's only a kid. And considering how this backstory is going for a slower, more character-driven approach, I think it'd only make sense for the story to show us Bonney developing her current mindset as a pirate.
One year at sea later:
Sidenote, but I really like the symbolism with Bonney's fruit. She was pretty much forced to prematurely "grow up" and act like an adult when she's still only a kid, reflecting how her Devil Fruit literally lets her change her age.
Speaking of Sabaody, it really wouldn't make sense for us not to see it from Kuma's and Bonney's perspectives. Bonney literally set out to sea to reunite with Kuma, so I think it's only right that we see them being on the same island together. Did Kuma get to say one last goodbye to his daughter? Or did he avoid her without Bonney being able to receive any closure for his death? And if so, how'd Kuma feel about being denied one last chance to see his daughter? Either way, this definitely seems like it'd be the big, emotional payoff to this backstory, so I think we really do need to see this. And of course, Sentomaru and Kizaru were there too so I think it'd be interesting to see how they'd react to the little girl they befriended becoming a pirate.
Now after Sabaody, we obviously need to see Vegapunk finishing the roboticization process on Kuma. We've been building to it for all this time. It's literally the conclusion to Kuma's story as a human. There's no way we're not seeing it
And finally, we definitely need to see what happened to Bonney over the timeskip. When we saw her post-Marineford, she and her crew had been defeated by Blackbeard and then got captured by Akainu. How did Bonney break free? And what happened to her crew? Bonney and her crew were clearly very close, but they're nowhere to be seen on Egghead despite sharing her goal of reuniting with Kuma. Given that we're still in Flashback Piece, I think they're probably dead and/or sacrificed themselves for Bonney, but all the more reason we need to see that since this flashback is going out of its way to show how close Bonney and her crew were.
Anyway I know a lot of people are dying to see Zoro vs Lucci, but it looks like we'll be in this flashback for a while.
Last edited:
