One Piece 50

[sara_tanaquil]

I have so many things I feel I ought to be catching up on! Maybe another life post soon. In the meantime, I want to get the One Piece train re-started before I lose momentum completely.

I have a lot of favorite scenes in this volume. At last, Thriller Bark wraps up, and we're getting ready to move on to the Shabondy arc.

Comments

[lego_joker]

Ah, the tail-end of Thriller Bark. I think it was here that I first started following the OP manga in earnest

[sara_tanaquil]

That said, we still don't know what [Lola]'s crew ran into in the fog, right?

[You do mean Lola, right?] Not that I know of. I was pretty baffled by that.

I'm actually very fond of Keimi (maybe less so of Pappagu - argh, those puns!), but mostly because of her connection to *not really a spoiler*.

Anything else I could say would be a spoiler for the main plotline of Shabondy, so I'll hold it for now.

Agreed, the cover arcs are essential. I really wish more of them had been animated. I think I remember reading that they stopped animating them as filler arcs after the Buggy and Coby/Helmeppo arcs did poorly ratings-wise, which is a huge shame. I'd a million times rather see filler animated from the cover arcs than invented out of whole cloth.

[lego_joker]

Actually, I think I read that the ratings thing was a myth on the One Piece wiki. The cover arcs didn't do particularly worse than the episodes that came before and after, so I guess Toei's executives put some kind of ~brilliant~ embargo on them for some reason.

[wednesday_10_00]

Robin analyzes his attack mode, guessing that he has the ability to manipulate the atmosphere itself, thus flicking things aside or delivering tremendously powerful blows.

I have never understood this. WHY do paw pads let him manipulate the atmosphere??

I wish I had something more intelligent to say about this volume, but mostly I'm just excited about what's coming up. (Also, I love Lola. I hope she didn't get eaten in the fog.)

[mangaroo]

I have never understood this. WHY do paw pads let him manipulate the atmosphere??

Oh, hey! That was going to be in my comment: "I do not understand the relationship between Kuma's power and his paw pads. Like, why does that fruit give this power? Or is the air compression power from his cyborgocity? In which case, what's the paw pad power?"

Now I have to edit it out. My one smart, not-Zoro comment. Although I guess one cannot speak of Kuma as unrelated to Zoro. Everything is yaoi erm, Zoro!

[sara_tanaquil]

I'm glad you guys pointed it out, because it never really occurred to me to question it. (I am not a critical reader.)

Now I have to edit it out. My one smart, not-Zoro comment. Although I guess one cannot speak of Kuma as unrelated to Zoro. Everything is yaoi erm, Zoro!

Everyone should love Zoro best!

[sara_tanaquil]

I wish I had something more intelligent to say about this volume, but mostly I'm just excited about what's coming up. (Also, I love Lola. I hope she didn't get eaten in the fog.)

I have to get to work on vol. 51! I've been slacking. Darn work. Darn JLPT study. (I forgot to post about the fact that I'm taking the JLPT again, didn't I? I seriously need to start posting non-One Piece stuff again.)

I'm guessing Lola didn't get eaten in the fog, given SPOILER cover arc image. I really hope we get to see more of her eventually. The whole vivre card thing (and who, exactly, is her mother?) seemed like a clear hint that we might see a reunion at some point.

[mangaroo]

[The hearts of ZoSan fangirls everywhere swell with pride.]

Ever so.

ZoSan fangirls are now fainting right and left.

LOL!

Sanji goes searching for Zoro

*swoon*

Robin used her power to eavesdrop, so she now knows the whole story as well.

Robin is so cool.

OMG, the adorability of baby Laboon.

Brooks alone on the ship of bones…saddest flashback ever. Well, except for every other flashback (Chopper!). "Quartet. Trio. Duet. Solo." - so much crying.

Laboon is bellowing joyfully.

I forgot Laboon has the strawhat flag painted on to keep him from ramming the wall.

Zoro ups his training to even more insane levels.

Oh, Zoro. Soon, you too will be splitting the sky open with your sword.

OK, it's been a long time since the cover arc, I admit.

Hey, I was proud of myself for remembering Camie and Hachi. No way do I remember this "Macro."

Zoro cheerfully and promptly erases Kokoro from his memory.

Admittedly, I love everything Zoro does, but this was so much visual LOL.

[sara_tanaquil]

I was hoping your Zoro love would give you a special place in your heart for this volume... <3

Brooks alone on the ship of bones…saddest flashback ever. Well, except for every other flashback (Chopper!). "Quartet. Trio. Duet. Solo." - so much crying.

I just can't bond with Brook as much as the other nakama (honestly I think Oda has yet to develop him as a character beyond the walking skull-joke - I have absolute faith in his ability to do this at some future point), but I think he has a strong case for having the absolute worst flashback/past life second only to Robin. (And maybe not second, at that. FIFTY YEARS.)

Oh, Zoro. Soon, you too will be splitting the sky open with your sword.

Hee! The time is coming.

Hey, I was proud of myself for remembering Camie and Hachi. No way do I remember this "Macro."Viz may have been spelling it Makuro (not that it matters...). He was/is the head of the slaver gang that traded Keimi (I can't make myself spell it Camie, that suggests a completely wrong pronunciation to me) for a fake takoyaki

[lego_joker]

Yeah - Brook certainly has potential to be a unique, multi-layered, and interesting Strawhat. He's the oldest guy on the crew, and however much he tries to hide it behind goofiness, he has to have seen and learned SOME things that would make the other Strawhats' skin crawl.

I envision that at one point or another in the future, he'll be dispensing some offbeat (and maybe depressing) sage advice to Zoro or Sanji, much as they might to Chopper.

[mangaroo]

I was hoping your Zoro love would give you a special place in your heart for this volume..

Honestly, the Zoro bits are more memorable to me from your summary than from my reading, where I was more struck by Sanji's actions to keep Zoro's heroism on the down low than I was by Zoro's sacrifice. Zoro's actions and his recovery seem awfully underplayed to me. (So Zoro, I guess.)