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One Piece Chapter 1089 Review/Recap

You know what makes the World Government such a great group of villains? There’s the fact that they’re willing to level entire islands and risk the safety of the world to cover up the fact that they’re built on a lie. They’ve made it clear time and again that they’ll let the world burn to stay in power. More than that, though, its the fact that almost every time they try and mess with Luffy and the Straw Hats, they lose. So even though this chapter shows they just create climate change on steroids, I can’t stop grinning. The Straw Hats have one-upped them once again. 

Recap

In Luffy’s hometown of Foosha village, everyone’s reacting to the news about Garp going missing. However, all that becomes secondary. A world-spanning earthquake and accompanying tsunamis sweep over the entire world. Devastation ensues as some islands are even swallowed by the sea. No one knows it, but this is the result of the erasure of Lulusia Kingdom. It’s destruction caused global sea levels to rise by a whole meter, leaving nothing but a massive waterfall underneath.

On Egghead Island, the Marines have finally arrived, and they’re not playing around:

• 100 Warships
• 30,000 Marines
• 9 Vice Admirals from Navy HQ
• 1 of the Five Elders

This massive force is led by Admiral Kizaru, with Saturn of the Five Elders overseeing everything secretly. Saturn even orders the ships of Egghead Island workers and researchers fleeing be sunk. At that moment, though, they get a call from Egghead Island from Punk York. As Kizaru listens in, York reiterates her wish to join the World Government as a Celestial Dragon, arguing she has no interest in the Void Century. The Elders start considering her offer so long as she can replicate the “Mother Flame” Vegapunk created. The Elders all agree to York’s demands, but there’s one tiny problem: the Straw Hats are still there. They’re all fine, Lucci’s fine, they’re all fine, and they’re holding York prisoner. The Navy and World Government are left in shock.

Review

Oh, World Government, when will you learn? Every time they end up picking a fight with the Straw Hat Pirates, they get humiliated. Even the few times they win, Luffy ends up turning that back around on them. When they got separated for two years, they got stronger. When Luffy failed to save Ace, he still embarassed them by raiding Marineford again. Even their attempt to kill Luffy in Wano backfired on them by unlocking Luffy’s true power. They should know better than to mess with him by now.

At least we know the World Government’s not playing around regarding Egghead Island. A fleet of 30K people and officers is the largest force they’ve mustered since Marineford. It’s even larger than the dreaded Buster Call. They’re even willing to sink the civilian ships fleeing. In addition, the aftermath of the destruction of Lulusia , with what I assume was the equivalent of a nuke, likely killed tens of thousands worldwide and put countless more lives in danger. And so many people have witnessed what happened, there’s no way they can keep the truth a secret after this. Many people will eventually discover what the World Government did and get angry. 

At any rate, the Straw Hats, Bonney, Vegapunk, and the others are okay, even Lucci (how is he even free?!?) So, that means they either beat the Seraphim or found a way to get them under control. While it stinks that we still don’t know how they win, that can wait for the next chapter. For now, I’m just glad that they did win. The World Government might have lost its new toys, enough to make waiting another two weeks worth it!

I Give “Under Siege” a 4.5/5

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Edens Zero Chapter 250 Review/Recap

If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, then you’ll know there’s been a lot of talk about AI. They’re becoming more and more prevalent in society. People are using them to run computers, write articles and stories, and improve their lives. There are two problems, though. Firstly, people are worried that AI will eventually replace them in the workforce; it’s partly why the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are striking. Secondly, there’s the fear that unsupervised AI will go Skynet on the world. Given the knowledge about O.N.E. Void and the revelations about Joker in this chapter, it’s clear where Edens Zero stands on the issue.

Recap

After putting down the Joker attacking Rebecca (and giving her his coat), Professor Weisz explains that he and Bernadette (the bunny girl) were tracking Joker for a while. Furthermore, rather than stopping time, Joker’s powers let them slow time to a crawl in a limited range. They weren’t in range, so they were safe. Thankfully, Professor Weisz shuts down the drone’s reactor, letting time proceed as normal…with hilarious results.

Back indoors, Professor Weisz explains everything to the group while Weisz wonders how this guy is his alternate, future self. Everyone guesses that the distortion didn’t work on Rebecca due to her time powers, but then Bernadette drops a bombshell: Weisz created Joker Helix by accident.

Ten years ago, Professor Weisz created Joker Helix as a game engine. However, the AI he equipped it with started gaining knowledge from across the universe. By the time the Professor figured it out, it was too late; the AI had bailed to multiple computers on multiple planets. Now, they’ve found Miltz. As everyone wonders what they’re planning, Joker answers that for them: it hijacks their comms, brings in more drones, and says its here for the Mother Ether!

Review

Well, say what you will about Mashima and his manga; the fact that the big bad is an AI, and that Joker is an AI, makes this timely as they come. If we’re not careful, we could have a Skynet or Ultron to deal with in the future!

First things first, though: this chapter seemingly confirms that Joker Helix isn’t Labilia. For all we know, we might not see Labilia again at all. Which, while not important to the whole plot, feels a little sad. She and Rebecca just became friends again! However, the fact that Joker is an AI created by Professor Weisz is just as disturbing. At least it means that Weisz’s older counterpart isn’t part of the OSG, though. There’s still the question of how the Professor Weisz of Universe Zero never lost his arm, but that’s a question for another day.

Revelations aside, this chapter was pretty funny to look at. Seeing everyone in the hot springs get confused about what happened was a good blend of humor and fanservice. Seeing Rebecca name copyright-friendly game engines was also funny. The lengths people go to get around copyrights!

Everyone’s going to have to fight an army of AI-powered machines now. Given how they can slow time to near-zero, this should make for an interesting fight. I just hope that O.N.E. Void doesn’t show up, or everyone’s screwed.

Also, happy 250th chapter, Edens Zero.

I Give “Joker” a 3.5/5

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