One Piece 51

[sara_tanaquil]

Shabondy, yay! This is one of those arcs (kind of like Jaya, vols 24-25) that can be overwhelming at first and is probably better on a re-read, but even on a first read, it is still made of multiple layers of awesome.

Comments

[wednesday_10_00]

I think the Duval/wanted poster thing might be my favorite gag in all of One Piece. And I love Duval after his "surgery." He's just totally adorable.

In my head he's saying "Get a grip, man."

I think that's appropriate.

In a rage, Duval charges at Luffy on his mammoth bison. He says nothing can withstand its horns.

I love when the bison and Luffy actually connect. "The horns don't even matter!"

Not that I'm a drooling Trafalgar Law fan or anything.

Is it possible to not be???

[sara_tanaquil]

Is it possible to not be???

Totally agreed, although in connection with the too-many-characters thing, I can remember that it took me a while to pick up on his awesomeness, or notice that he was being singled out for development. In the beginning I just couldn't tell any of the supernova(e) apart. Later during [arc name redacted for spoiler protection], wrenwyn was sqeeing about him at one point, and I was all "Who was that again?"

[wednesday_10_00]

I think I only remembered/recognized him because of the bear. Um, not that I remember the bear's name. (Does the bear have a name?)

[Law spoilers]
He was totally just a face in the crowd until the team up, though. It's kind of ridiculous how fast he became one of my favorite characters.

(edited to clarify: When he showed up after the time skip, I remembered that he was the doctor who helped Luffy, but I didn't especially LIKE him at that point.)

Also, speaking of not recognizing people, when the Strawhats are coming back to Shabondy after the 2 years, I was all, "who the heck is this??" when we see Duval. Poor Duval. But it's funny to me now that I forgot him so completely when I loved the wanted poster gag so much.

[sara_tanaquil]

The bear is Bepo. (I don't think that counts as a spoiler.)

Alas, it is hard to keep up with One Piece on a first read. I can't count the number of times I have completely lost track of characters or plot threads when reading weekly. Lately I have been rereading the current arc a LOT to try to keep it all straight.

[wednesday_10_00]

Thanks! I knew the bear would have a name.

It would be really awesome (um, for me) if your summaries ever got to a point where you were doing the most recent volume, because that would help a lot with keeping stuff straight. Hey, you're only 24 volumes away, right? Over 2/3 of the way there!

[sara_tanaquil]

Hee, I will gambare!

Honestly these summaries are very useful for me too. I wouldn't be able to remember half as much detail if I weren't doing them. Plus, I usually have to reread each volume at least three times while doing the summaries (twice in Japanese, once in English) and it is amazing the things I only notice on the third time through. Or that you guys point out that I missed entirely.

[wednesday_10_00]

*cough* You will gambaru, I think.

I love your summaries (and the discussions they facilitate), so I hope you'll keep up with them, even if you can't do them as quickly during the school year.

[sara_tanaquil]

Eh, I don't think grammar counts when you're speaking japanglais. I prefer gambare. ^_^

But yes, I definitely hope to keep up with the summaries through the school year this time! We're just getting to the part that I feel is dense with stuff I need to re-read closely because I never really absorbed it the first time round.