(no subject)
The chapter opens up with a peek at a bedridden Cobra, who’s getting kinda grey in the mane there. While I would once say that it’s probably just some slight disease that means he’s sending Vivi to the Reverie instead of himself, after Ace… well. We’ll see if this takes a turn for the tragic as well. At least it gives some context to Vivi’s shopping trip.
As Hody gloats of Fishman Island’s impending doom, Fukaboshi gets a flashback to his father telling him about Noah’s ancient purpose- how fishmankind many centuries ago made a promise to some ubiquitously named ”great man” to safeguard the ship until ”the promised day”. Which is supremely unhelpful knowledge, as Luffy quite correctly points out when Fukaboshi protests his plan of ”smash the thing until it goes boom”.
In despair, Shirahoshi swims towards the ship and calls out to it, hoping to change it’s course… some how. Hody takes a shot at her AGAIN which Manboshi meatshields her from AGAIN, but before Hody can attack a second time Luffy grabs him and zooms in for some close and personal time.
Luffy’s punch sends Hody soaring into the ships bubble, as Luffy intends to take the fight to a place with oxygen and the space to move around in. We also see that Hody’s teeth penetrated his skin, as his haki is only strong enough to repel blunt force, not blades and edged weapons. Hody sees through his plan however and begins to rip up the bubble, gloating all the way as you do when you’re a villain. And when Fukaboshi attempts to get payback with his old mans Ultramarine move the water-bender Kame Hame Ha fails utterly and the two become embroiled in a scuffle where, to my surprise and amazement, Fukaboshi actually asks outright what most of us have been wondering this whole time…
Hody’s response is a wordless panel where he opens his mouth, leading to surprised faces all around until Hody breaks free and swims towards the ship. We then cut to a somewhat disorienting flashback, mostly because the grey border signifiying a flashback isn’t easy to spot and gradually fades in, where Fukaboshi apparently ordered the soldiers to ready some kind of air-ventilation mechanism in case of the worst case scenario before heading out to fight Hody.
Well, I’ve heard stranger plans. As the soldiers manning the air-tank contact Luffy over mini-snail phone to let him know everything’s ready, Hody goes on the offensive, which turns into yet another exchange of blows…
… that just end up being futile as Hody survives AGAIN. But the fight is interrupted as Fukaboshi contacts Luffy, revealing to him that he now knows Hody’s ”true form”…
We open up with a gorgeous water-color-esque spread page, with the whole crew decked out for fun times on the beach. Not much to say about it, save that Brook looks fabulous and Zoro is being a grumpy gus and refuse to have fun with the rest of us.
The chapter starts off proper with a small jump back in time to Hachi, Kaimie and Tom’s brother Den, who ALSO discuss Hody as Hachi states there’s no way to break him apart and that Captain Tai had feared this outcome- Tai presumably being some form of shorthand for Fisher Tiger. We then jump to the fearful citizens of the various districts evacuating the island while bemoaning their fate as well as the fate of the princess, whereupon we THEN jump to the minister of the Left informing the king of his decision to evacuate and begging the king to do so as well- a request that the king turns down as he will wait for his sons, come what may. We then make the final jump in the chapter as the minister of the Right approaches the battle-field, surveying the chaos before him…
The Right tries to tell the citizens present that they should leave since they are in fact useless civilians, but they all respond with a unified HELL NO.
And hey, if I had ring-side seats to a Strawhat beatdown you bet I would stick around. Realizing he has no time for arguments since the Strawhats will steal all the good kills if he tarries he tells them to do whatever they please and dives into the fray...
… where Hammond arrives on a tank ran by slaves, and it’s the silliest vehicle I’ve seen so far in One Piece. Like, it’s a palanquin they stuck cannons on. On the one hand I guess it’s cool they’re making use of their precious few resources in a creative manner but look at this thing- when one of the slaves wears down and collapses, they throw him out and replace him with another like they’re spare wheels. This thing will hardly last a minute in a real battle and there’s like only ONE. No, let us instead go to something that is both dumb, and AWESOME.
Even if Sanji is being a killjoy about it. However, the impressive size-change comes with a few drawbacks. Wadatsumi takes out more of his ”own” troops, and that’s not all…
While Sanji keeps on trolling and Wadatsumi keeps on huffing and puffing himself bigger, Jinbe turns away (in what I presume to be disgust at the indignity of it all) to ask Nico Robin to free the slaves. When she points out the quite valid possibility that they might turn on Fishman Island…
Jinbe shows that at least ONE fishman listened to his captain.
Icaros and Franky’s struggle continue, but it’s fairly one-sided. Icaros uses his octopus liquid propulsion powers to shoot water bullets which Franky casually blocks, but when he counters with a right hook it turns out Icaros has studied Naruto -style ninjutsu- the body Franky hits is an ink-clone that somehow walked and talked and I don’t know or care why. Neither does Franky who simply replies with a massive fireball from his chest.
Oh Chopper. Your life is made from disappointment. But when Dosun tries to take advantage of his opponents lack of concentration to start the Hammer Time, Chopper shoots down his fake funk with his FIST.
He is sadly not quite badass enough to pull it off without some bruised knuckles, and when Zoro decides to comment on the fact Chopper seems to just become more and more monstrous in his transformations we get a sweet little bonding scene in the middle of a massive battle for the fate of an entire island.
Daww. Chopper unlocked the power of self-esteem. One Piece, everyone. When Hyodou tries to take advantage of this lull in the action, the guy who once seemed capable of cutting Luffy…
Is suddenly Zoro’s bitch. Huh… not quite sure what to feel about that, but I guess it fits with how the battle seems to be sped up as these guys are way below the groups attention.