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One Piece Chapter 1126 Review/Recap

When I first read the leaks for this week’s chapter of One Piece, I had to double-check on Reddit to make sure they were accurate. As trustworthy as people like PewPiece and Redon are, I still had difficulty believing what happened. Specifically, I couldn’t believe what the leaks said that Shanks did. Then again, I should’ve remembered that in the previous arc, we saw Shanks almost single-handedly destroy the Kid Pirates. He may be a nice guy and Luffy’s mentor/father figure, but Shanks can be ruthless when he wants!

And that’s only covering a third of what happened here!

Recap

A month ago, Bartolomeo and his pirates raided the island of Gratel in Shanks’ territory and burned his flag. However, that proved to be a massive mistake, as in the present day, the Red-Haired Pirates have the Barto Club beaten and at their mercy. Barto’s on his knees apologizing and begging for forgiveness, and the Red-Haired decide to let things slide, on one condition!

They have a month to make sure that Luffy drinks this deadly poison…so Barto drinks it himself.

It’s a good thing it was a bluff, though, and Shanks was just testing them. But they still burned his flag, so Yassop sinks their ship; it’s unknown if there are any survivors.

At Pirate Island, Blackbeard’s finally returns and is furious to learn that Koby (and Moriah) got away. However, he lightens up when Kuzan reveals he got Garp.

In addition, they also have Pudding as their prisoner, Augur and Devon are returning with Caribou, and Lafitte is keeping an eye on the Red Port. With the Revolutionaries stopping any food from getting inside, Blackbeard thinks it’s the perfect time to pull off their plan.

Meanwhile, the Straw Hat and Giant Pirates continue celebrating their escape from Egghead. However, when they wake up two days later, they have yet to arrive at Elbaf, and the Sunny is gone. And Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper along with her!

When Nami wakes up, she’s in this place that looks like it’s made out of LEGOs and wearing this Viking outfit.

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

Review

Of all the ways we could segue into the Elbaf Arc, seeing Shanks go full gangster wasn’t on my list. Then again, neither was seeing Saturn bite the big one, but I’m not complaining about that!

It took me a few seconds to remember that the Barto club had burned Shanks’ flag, and for good reason. That happened in a cover story seven years ago, so it’s nice to see it pay off after all this time. More importantly, Shanks’ secret test of character for Barto was terrifying but also necessary. If Barto had been willing to give Luffy the poison or lie about it, Shanks likely would’ve killed him then and there. And while their survival is in doubt, the Barto Club’s stocks just increased significantly!

Speaking of survival, this chapter confirmed that Garp is alive but now a prisoner of the Blackbeard Pirates. Imagine the uproar if Blackbeard decided to execute him in a dark reversal of Roger’s own fate! Worse, him having Pudding means he could gain the means to read the Poneglyphs. Most importantly, though, the theory that Blackbeard plans to infiltrate Mariejois has some merit. And disguising Devon as Saturn to get the crew inside is a good plan, even if we know it’s doomed to fail. That said, I’m still hoping to see if Teach can pull off raiding the “Holy Land” of the Celestial Dragons.

As for what’s happening to the Straw Hats, I’m lost. There’s a fan theory that it has something to do with Vivi since the missing crew knew her from their time together, but I’m not sure. For all we know, this could be another detour, but I’m hoping it’s not; Oda has made us wait long enough as it is for Elbaf! And with Nami waking up in a house made of LEGOs, my curiosity will make it hard to wait for next week. I must have answers!

Also, is it just me, or doesn’t it feel weird that only a month has passed since in-universe since the events of the Straw Hats’ Grand Fleet story? If the events with Barto happen in the present, that means the Whole Cake, Wano Country, and Egghead Arcs took place over a very short timeframe!

I Give “Taking Responsibility” a 4/5

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One Piece Chapter 1059 Review/Recap

With the story in Wano Country over, One Piece is free to focus on everything that happened abroad. And as we’ve learned, a lot happened. First and foremost was the decision to dissolve the Seven Warlords. As a result, the former Warlords are now hunted by the World Government, with Boa Hancock among them. However, that’s not the most surprising thing about this chapter. The biggest surprise is the little Seraphim-Esque cyborgs that the World Government now has.

Recap

Aboard the Red Force, the Red Hair Pirates take Marco back to Sphinx, with the latter refusing to join Shanks’ crew. He says he’s too old to babysit pirates as he flies back to Sphinx. 

In a flashback, Yamato reveals her reasons for not joining the Straw Hat Pirates. The attack by Ryokugyu made her realize that with Kaido gone, others would come to try and seize Wano Country. Thus, she plans to stick around and look after everyone, which the Straw Hats respect. As for Marco, he heads out, but not before Luffy thanks him for saving his life at Marineford, to which Marco says Ace would be proud of how strong Luffy’s become. 

Amazon Lily Under Attack

Meanwhile, on Amazon Lily, the island and the Kuja Pirates are in bad shape after the Marines attacked several weeks prior. During that battle, the Marines deployed a new breed of Pacifistas that looked like Seraphims, which came close to destroying the island. Then, to make matters worse, Blackbeard shows up to take Hancock’s power for himself!

While Hancock turns most enemies into stone, she’s no match for Blackbeard. Rather than take her powers, Blackbeard decides to outright kill her, despite this meaning that everyone she petrified can’t return to normal. Thankfully, Rayleigh pulls up and demands that she return everyone back to normal and for everyone to leave. 

In the present day, Amazon Lily’s safe for the moment. However, they’re all worried by the Seraphims due to their insane strength. Moreover, one of them looked like a kid version of Hancock. 

As for the Marines, they limp back to port with disturbing news: Koby was captured by the Blackbeard Pirates!

Review

Vegapunk, what did you do?!?

It’s safe to assume that these new Serpahim, as fans have dubbed them, are new Pacifistas created by Dr. Vegapunk. Firstly, their strength is greater than any normal child should be. The one that fought Blackbeard sliced off part of the mountain on Amazon Lily! More troubling than their strength, though, is their appearances.

The Facts of the Seraphim

Exhibit A: their skin and the wings growing out of their backs is an almost exact match to King of the Beast Pirates, who’s supposed to be the last known Lunarian left in the world. The fact that these Seraphim resemble the Lunarians cant’ be a coincidence. 

Then there’s exhibit B: the two Seraphim deployed resemble kid versions of Hawkeye Mihawk and Boa Hancock. Except the copies are stronger than the real ones were as kids, and there’s no way that that’s a coincidence, either. 

The jury’s still out on this, but here’s my theory for right now. Dr. Vegapunk got his hands on the DNA of the former Warlords, along with that of the Lunarians. Then, he combined them with his cybernetic knowledge to create the Seraphim. In other words, Vegapunk made a bunch of cyborg Lunarian hybrid clones to replace the Warlords. That is some Dr. Gero-level mad science going on.

More than all of that, though, it’s the name that worries me. In Judeo-Christian Theology, Seraphim are the highest level of Angels that serve under God. Vegapunk gave the World Government a group of terrifying angel-cyborgs to enforce their will worldwide. That is terrifying!

Blackbeard is a Menace and Needs to Be Stopped

The other big talking point about this chapter is Blackbeard himself. The man openly attacked the Marines and the Amazon simultaneously and whooped both their butts in the process. The only reason Hancock remains alive is that Rayleigh and Shakky show up. No matter how you look at it, Amazon Lily might not be safe for its people anymore. And as annoying as I find her crush on Luffy, I like Hancock, and I’m glad she’s safe now. But if Rayleigh admitted that he’d lose to Blackbeard now, everyone should be worried.

We still don’t know what Blackbeard has planned, but whatever it is, it will lead to him and Luffy finally throwing down hands. Especially since he’s kidnapped Koby, AKA Luffy’s friend in the Marines. They may be on opposite sides, but there’s no way Luffy will let Koby get hurt. As it stands, Luffy might be the only one who can stop Blackbeard.

As One Piece heads into the final stretch, Oda’s setting us up for the biggest war his world’s ever seen. All the pieces are getting put in place; all hands are on deck, etc. If there’s going to be a war between the Straw Hats, the World Government, and Blackbeard Pirates, then Oda needs to go all out. And in the next few weeks, that’s what we’ll be getting. That, and more explanation about the Seraphim, because they’re terrifying.

Also, side note: surprised that Shakky’s the former Pirate Empress of the Kuja Pirates. Didn’t see that coming. Also, it’s nice that Oda confirmed why Yamato didn’t join the Straw Hats.

I Give “The Captain Koby Incident” a 4.5/5

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