One Piece 53

[sara_tanaquil]

[Potentially spoilery comment on this volume (OK to read after reading the volume)]So, mangaroo, you're not super attached to any of the Strawhats besides Luffy, right? I mean, you won't mind if we don't see them for... a while? /facepalm

On with Volume 53! From Shabondy to Amazon Lily.

Comments

[lego_joker]

Oh, Amazon Lily. One of the shortest arcs in One Piece (comparable to some East Blue arcs, for one), and yet one of the funnest.

I know that Kuma's appeared the least out of all the Seven Warlords, but that one line he says to Luffy right before he vanishes the poor guy... goddammit, I have a feeling that this is going to turn into an EPIC tearjerker some hundred or so chapters down the line, when we see him (or what's left of him) again.

Is there any significance to the fact that Robin was the last one vanished? I mean, I've seen LuNa shippers AND LuRo shippers (yes, they exist - I kinda used to be one) latch on to the vanishing scene like it's the Holy Grail, but still...

MOST of Luffy versus Sandersonia and Marigold is pure win. No doubt about that. But the one-in-a-million power bullcrap is annoying no matter what series it is, so the only thing I can commend Oda on the King's Haki is that he waited 519 chapters before "officially" declaring Luffy the Boy Who Liv... er, the Chosen One.

I kinda feel weird seeing Luffy now reacting with "appropriate" shock and awe at learning that people are Shichibukai/Yonkou/whatever the Bigshot of the week is. What happened to that kid who reacted to Crocodile's countless "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" speeches with "Yeah? Well I'm a Hachibukai!"? I mean, I guess it can be chalked up to character development, but still...

I love, love, LOVE the banquet on Amazon Lily. It's nice to have an arc end without some big bad villain getting his lights punched out, and Luffy's Gum-Gum Belly Face technique is adorable.

[sara_tanaquil]

yet one of the funnest

I have to admit that Amazon Lily is not a favorite with me, but Hancock just keeps getting more adorable. And I really can't say why I love her so much.

Is there any significance to the fact that Robin was the last one vanished?

I've never seen it in shipping terms, but it has occurred to me that that having her go last is extra poignant in terms of her deep-seated fears of being ripped away from her nakama.

declaring Luffy the Boy Who Liv... er, the Chosen One

Maybe I have less vulnerability to this due to having read less shounen, but I think it's interesting to reflect on just how many people in the New World can command haki (I know not all of them have King Haki, but still). That makes it a bit less of a sword-from-the-stone thing, and more of a reminder of the absolute gulf between those with real power in the One Piece world and those without. (Can you imagine if Shanks had bothered to use his haki on Higuma back in the day? He could have crushed him like an ant. Like Zoro said on Jaya, "Fights where nothing is left but pity are painful.")

What happened to that kid who reacted to Crocodile's countless "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" speeches with "Yeah? Well I'm a Hachibukai!"?

I hadn't really thought much about that, but I think maybe he's impressed not by the fact that Hancock is a shichibukai, but by the fact that she's so much more powerful than he suspected (and maybe a little bit regretful that he didn't get to fight her after all). I don't know if I'm expressing this well, but I get the impression he underestimated her, and not only because she's female, but because she gave no previous indication of how powerful she really is. (I seriously doubt we'll ever see a Hancock vs. Luffy fight, but I'll bet she could give him a run for his money.) By contrast, he doesn't seem that impressed by the revelation that Kuma is a shichibukai (more annoyed that everyone else seems to recognize him when he doesn't).

I think I'm rambling, sorry!

[wednesday_10_00]

I think it's interesting to reflect on just how many people in the New World can command haki (I know not all of them have King Haki, but still).

The one-in-a-million comment made me start thinking about how many people we've seen with King Haki (7-8? probably more that I'm not thinking of), and what the population of the One Piece world is supposed to be.

[off-topic, but: I always laugh in the Kuroneko Kareshi series when the narration says the cat people are .001% of the population--but didn't Shingo go to a bar specifically for gay cat men? And don't get me started on probable leopard inbreeding. Oh, whatever. Don't expect logic in the cat porn, Denise.]

[lego_joker]

Ah, on Shanks... I was just thinking about that scene today, and I think that for all of Oda's smooth storytelling and quick adjustments, Romance Dawn is one of the places where the seams really begin to show. It's pretty obvious there that at the beginning, he didn't REALLY plan for OP's power levels to soar into orbit like it has now. Shanks was presented back then as a powerful and respected but still ordinary pirate, and getting his arm bitten off by a sea king was an entirely reasonable plot point.

Now? I can't help but agree with Whitebeard's position of "What the hell kind of monster in the EAST BLUE could take your arm off?" And Shanks' non-answer of "I bet it on the New Age" really doesn't answer anything, IMO, when the guy is apparently one of the OP world's Untouchables.

I actually wasn't specifically thinking of the "Hancock is a Shichibukai" scene with that other issue. I was more thinking of the part where Luffy hears about the Whitebeard Pirates going to war with Marine Headquarters and starts looking all impressed (I think his actual words were "That's crazy!"). I guess you can say the full might of the marines has been established pretty well at this point, but the Whitebeard Pirates really haven't done much so far, and Luffy doesn't strike me as the kind to acknowledge them as anything other than "those guys Ace joined up with".

I dunno, I just think it would've been more in-character for Luffy's concern to solely be on Ace, and treat the whole "WB vs. Marine HQ" thing as an afterthought, to Granny Nyon's further frustration.

Your mileage may vary, though.