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

[lego_joker]

Oh dear lord this arc. My feelings on it are very conflicted

[wednesday_10_00]

I had to go back to the wiki a dozen times to remember who all the guys participating in *spoiler* were.I admire your dedication in checking the wiki. I pretty much just skim past characters I don't care about, and that part was a lot of skimming for me. I just got to a part of the story where some of them come back, and I'm like: ugh, I STILL don't care about you

[sara_tanaquil]

I also hope that the evilness of the Tenryuubito is a foil of some kind for future developments, because it's certainly not characteristic of Oda's normal way of setting up villains.

Although, to be fair, Oda has always had SOME villains that are just despicable - Spandam, for instance. However, what's weird about the Tenryuubito is how invariably awful they are. It will be interesting to see where he goes with it eventually

[mangaroo]

And some may never get further development, but the fact that they were introduced at all has the effect of suggesting that the epic world is richer than the author has time to show us.

This was my reading. (Ignoring the fact that y'all have spoiled me re: characters that merit more particular focus right now.) The way they were introduced -- as pirates of strength/merit equal to Luffy, all convening on the entrance to the New World -- just made sense to me. Well...except for the coincidence of them all convening at the same time. The point is: Luffy isn't the sole contender for the crown. And previous generations (Whitebeard, Shanks, the other shichibukai) show that there's nothing uncommon about a plethora of superpowered pirates. Or superpowered navy men.

I even like the fact that only 2 strawhats qualify for this list. (Poor Sanji.)

[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.

[mangaroo]

Also note his crew's symbol.

Other than the fact that it looks like the Sunny, what am I noting about it? Have I seen it before?

[sara_tanaquil]

It looks very much like - but not quite like - one we saw in volume 24-25. But there won't be anything more done with it for quite a while.

Ohhh, this picture (showing a bit of fan deduction, not spoilery) sums it up quite cleverly. (I didn't even notice the symbols on stage at the auction house. Clever fans!)

The third image in the linked picture is from volume 25 volume 32, from when Doflamingo was forcing Bellamy and Sarquiss to fight.

As for what you think it all means, speculate away. Fans have been trying to figure it out for quite a while now. ^__^

[ETA: Oops, I remembered wrong. The scene with Doflamingo is in volume 32, showing us the aftermath on Jaya at the point when the Strawhats are just returning from Skypiea. We did see Bellamy and his crew using the mark in vols 24-25, though.]

[mangaroo]

Eventually I realized it was an accent, but for a moment there I thought my Japanese was completely gone.

It's amazing to me how easily I can handle accents and sarcasm and misdirection in English writing, but I need everything in Japanese to be textbook and transparent. (Although sometimes I will catch a subtitle that goes overboard in its contextualizing, and think "he just said 'fuzakeruna,' not 'don't give me [whole sentence recapping what the last person said].'")

they are both captured two panels later.

That was kind of hilarious.

his eyes have turned to takoyaki

Everyone should have their own eye-gimmick. Chopper's can be books. Haru's can be mackerel. Sorry, mixing up my texts.

"Don't thank me. Captain's orders."

See, these are the kind of Zoro moments that have a huge impact on me. Like…pirate hunter turned superpirate or something? The pirate code?

If you're wondering exactly what just happened, wait another forty chapters or so…

Haki? Or the bison is in love with Luffy.

Someone points out that he REALLY shouldn't

[sara_tanaquil]

Whee, long comments! I love it when you have time to do these.

Like…pirate hunter turned superpirate or something? The pirate code?

Zoro is totally a pirate samurai!

Haki?

Ding ding ding! It won't be more fully explained for a while though. (That bison looks too traumatized to be in love. Although, Luffy is really good at winning over animal pets.)

I totally don't get the winking joke. Is this something sparkly guys do in manga that I haven't noticed?

I guess? Honestly I don't get it if it's supposed to be a specific cultural reference, I just think it's hilarious that poor Duval is still 100% dork behind the new pretty face. (We like you that way, Duval. Never change!) And also the way his face kind of shatters when he tries to do the winking thing.

Thank you for fixing Viz's translation.I did think Viz missed the boat a bit there. It was a subtle difference, but there was something so poignant about Chopper assuming that he couldn't go because Keimi couldn't. Kind of like a child's-eye view of racism

[suffire]

I apologize for randomly coming in here, but I'm in the process of re-reading OP as well, and just found my way to these summaries, I am really enjoying reading these!

[sara_tanaquil]

Yay for new friends/readers! I am in a bit of a lull right now because end of semester/holidays, but hoping to get back on track with volume 57 shortly.