One Piece Chapter 1132 Review/Recap
After a three-week break to benefit his health, Oda is back with an all-new chapter of One Piece. And, as is often the case when he goes on these extended breaks, Oda cooked. The Elbaph Arc is a story twenty-five years in the making, and from what we’ve seen so far, Oda intends to go all out. Not only do the Straw Hats reunite and we get hints at what threats they might face, but we nought have gotten about something connected to Nika’s legend. Also, our heroes travel on a rainbow bridge in a direct send-up to Norse mythology! An actual rainbow bridge!!!
Recap
As the Great Eirik reaches the shores of Elbaph, Colon, the Giant kid who was with Shanks earlier, runs out to greet them. Since the Giant Pirates are headed to the Sunworld, Colon follows them up and gives them food. All the while, he’s thinking about Luffy, the man that Shanks talked about.
Back with the Giant Pirates and half the Straw Hats, they run into Hadrujin and his friend as they head back up. As the Straw Hats, Bonney, and Lillith watch, a giant rainbow forms right in front of them. Then, the two ships manage to ride atop the rainbow up to the sunworld part of Elbaph!
Elsewhere, Luffy returns to the bridge where Gerd and Goldberg meet him. However, he keeps his mouth shut about his promise with Loki. Meanwhile, the other Straw Hats manage to trap Road under a giant tree they cut down, letting Gerd and Goldberg catch up with them. The two then punish their crew member for kidnapping the Straw Hats. Now that they’re reunited (and have their ship back), Luffy prompts Usopp and Chopper to run ahead to see the nearby village. We then get a beautiful, double-page spread of the enormous Giant village as it comes into view for the Straw Hat’s, leaving Usopp in tears over his dream. The three then get shocked by seeing their friends arriving on the rainbow bridge. The chapter ends with a quote from the explorer Louis Arnot about Elbaph from his books, with the final lines being a warning for one to not linger for long.
Review
Wow, what a chapter. Considering how long fans have been waiting to see Elbaph in full, this was well worth the wait. Getting to see Road get his comeuppance was just a small part of what I liked about this chapter. The main part was the rainbow bridge.
In Norse mythology, the gods of Asgard had a rainbow bridge known as the Bifrost. It served as a means of letting them travel between Asgard and Midgard, aka Earth. Getting to see it incorporated into the story lines up with it taking after Norse mythology. However, what got my attention the most was how the Hiants mentioned how they made it: they claim to have drawn it from a sunstone painter. That’s got many fans thinking about a connection to Nika.
When Luffy is in his Gear Fifth form, he’s able to will anything he imagines into existence via Toon Force. Ergo, we can infer that Nika’s powers are imagination-based. If sea stone is meant to suppress power, what if sunstone does the opposite? It lets anyone using it create whatever they imagine? In other words, it’s the equivalent of a magic pencil or brush, like a rainbow bridge. That could become a game-changer as One Piece nears the final battle for the fate of the world.
Speaking of final battles, it looks like Luffy could end up freeing Loki, which could start the beginning of Ragnarok. While that could prove disastrous, I trust Luffy. I hope he doesn’t get into too much trouble when that happens.
One last thing. The final panel of the chapter shows what appears to be a figure in the forest. Fans are convinced that this is the same figured teased at near the end of the Egghead Arc, and the same person drinking with Crocus. It seems like another thread that Oda is about to tie over. I’m hoping so.