We interrupt this journal to bring you shrieks of unholy glee
I have a million things I want to be posting about (and I am hoping to get to some of them tomorrow), but I feel like I just need to get this off my chest first, because I can't put it into a more general post where people might get spoiled.
The following contains serious spoilers for the latest chapters of One Piece in Shounen Jump (specifically, chapters 731-736, including chapters from Dec. 16 to Feb. 3 - inspired principally by having read ch. 736 last night).
I take back everything I just said in another thread about the Punk Hazard/Dressrosa arc (which I see is now being called the "Pirate Alliance" arc on the wiki) not being as plotful as Water 7.
Sabo! Alive! Fighting in the colosseum for Ace's devil fruit! There was much shrieking.
This is totally a delayed reaction, because properly speaking the reveal was in chapter 731, released on Dec. 16. As it happens, I read it on the plane to Japan (I was using those 14 hours in the air to catch up on neglected One Piece chapters, among other things), and literally as soon as I landed, the first thing I wanted to do was to buy the Dec. 23 issue of Shounen Jump. And I did, but to my great sadness, Oda did that teasy thing where he hits you with the big reveal and then switches over to another thread of the storyline, leaving you hanging for a month. Meanie. (I did get to giggle myself into fits over Franky calling himself 俺ランド instead of oresama. "Me-Land" just isn't as funny.)
So even though ch. 731 ended with Sabo alive, having revealed himself to Luffy, wearing Lucy's gladiator costume, and declaring to Koala (more unholy shrieks of joy) that he intended to get Ace's fire fruit, for some reason I was so excited to learn that he and Koala were alive that I totally didn't process the last part. By the time Oda finally started showing "Lucy" again (who everyone thinks is still Luffy, even though we saw Luffy leaving the colosseum in disguise), I couldn't even remember who the other Lucy was, so I was very confused until I got to this frame. At which point the penny finally dropped.
I think One Piece is the only manga that succeeds, at least once a year, in making me literally shriek with joy in an empty house. (My cats are getting used to it.)
Sabo, with Ace's fire fruit ability? BEST IDEA EVER. I doubt he'd join Luffy's crew, since he's evidently an agent in Dragon's Revolutionary Army along with Koala, but it would be so awesome to have him as a semi-regular character/ally.
Also? I am totally in love with Bartolomeo, the Luffy fanboy. (Whose name Sabo can't get right, LOLOL, like brother, like brother!)
I've already seen a sneak preview of this Monday's chapter (737), but I desperately want more. No new chapter on Feb. 17, sob! So looking forward to Feb. 24.
It kind of kills me not to be reading first in Japanese (there is so much that even the best translation can't capture), but at times like this it's worth the sacrifice.
Incidentally, for anyone who is wondering how I keep up with the latest chapters but doesn't want to click on spoilers - besides buying Japanese volumes when they come out, I subscribe to Viz Manga's online subscription to Shounen Jump Alpha, which, as of relatively recently, is fully simultaneous with releases in Japan (the magazine in Japan and the matching Shounen Jump Alpha chapter both come out on Mondays). Also, chapters no longer expire after a year is up; you get to keep them forever (on your ipad or for viewing and re-downloading online), just like magazines piled up in the closet from the old paper days.
The following contains serious spoilers for the latest chapters of One Piece in Shounen Jump (specifically, chapters 731-736, including chapters from Dec. 16 to Feb. 3 - inspired principally by having read ch. 736 last night).
I take back everything I just said in another thread about the Punk Hazard/Dressrosa arc (which I see is now being called the "Pirate Alliance" arc on the wiki) not being as plotful as Water 7.
Sabo! Alive! Fighting in the colosseum for Ace's devil fruit! There was much shrieking.
This is totally a delayed reaction, because properly speaking the reveal was in chapter 731, released on Dec. 16. As it happens, I read it on the plane to Japan (I was using those 14 hours in the air to catch up on neglected One Piece chapters, among other things), and literally as soon as I landed, the first thing I wanted to do was to buy the Dec. 23 issue of Shounen Jump. And I did, but to my great sadness, Oda did that teasy thing where he hits you with the big reveal and then switches over to another thread of the storyline, leaving you hanging for a month. Meanie. (I did get to giggle myself into fits over Franky calling himself 俺ランド instead of oresama. "Me-Land" just isn't as funny.)
So even though ch. 731 ended with Sabo alive, having revealed himself to Luffy, wearing Lucy's gladiator costume, and declaring to Koala (more unholy shrieks of joy) that he intended to get Ace's fire fruit, for some reason I was so excited to learn that he and Koala were alive that I totally didn't process the last part. By the time Oda finally started showing "Lucy" again (who everyone thinks is still Luffy, even though we saw Luffy leaving the colosseum in disguise), I couldn't even remember who the other Lucy was, so I was very confused until I got to this frame. At which point the penny finally dropped.
I think One Piece is the only manga that succeeds, at least once a year, in making me literally shriek with joy in an empty house. (My cats are getting used to it.)
Sabo, with Ace's fire fruit ability? BEST IDEA EVER. I doubt he'd join Luffy's crew, since he's evidently an agent in Dragon's Revolutionary Army along with Koala, but it would be so awesome to have him as a semi-regular character/ally.
Also? I am totally in love with Bartolomeo, the Luffy fanboy. (Whose name Sabo can't get right, LOLOL, like brother, like brother!)
I've already seen a sneak preview of this Monday's chapter (737), but I desperately want more. No new chapter on Feb. 17, sob! So looking forward to Feb. 24.
It kind of kills me not to be reading first in Japanese (there is so much that even the best translation can't capture), but at times like this it's worth the sacrifice.
Incidentally, for anyone who is wondering how I keep up with the latest chapters but doesn't want to click on spoilers - besides buying Japanese volumes when they come out, I subscribe to Viz Manga's online subscription to Shounen Jump Alpha, which, as of relatively recently, is fully simultaneous with releases in Japan (the magazine in Japan and the matching Shounen Jump Alpha chapter both come out on Mondays). Also, chapters no longer expire after a year is up; you get to keep them forever (on your ipad or for viewing and re-downloading online), just like magazines piled up in the closet from the old paper days.