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One Piece Chapter 1177 Review/Recap

You know, if there’s one thing that I think fans have had a problem with when it comes to the Elbaph Arc, it’s probably Usopp. All the way back to Little Garden, Usopp had made it his dream to visit Elbaph and become a brave warrior like the Giants. Yet ever since the Straw Hats arrived in Elbaph, Usopp has never gotten a chance to shine. Most of the focus has been on the other characters! It’s left some people wondering if Oda actually forgot that we wanted this to be Usopp’s arc to shine! I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, as Oda might have just been waiting for the right moment to give Usopp the spotlight, but I think he might have done just that. As the fight for Elbaph continues, we not only see Usopp tell off the series equivalent of the Devil, but it leads to the first meeting between said Devil and the two who might bring them down: Luffy and Loki! And they are pissed! Time to see the fury of a god!

Recap

Now that Zoro and Hajrudin know that beating up the DO’d Giants will turn them back to normal, their group decides to not hold back. To be more accurate, they’re actually pretty happy about not having to pull their punches, as they proceed to go to town on their brainwashed comrades as we get several pages of them delivering lethal hits on them!

Jarul even notes how eager they are.

Elsewhere, Chopper finds his group being attacked by one of the demon Giants. With their old friend Kashii unable to run, Chopper uses his Rumble Ball to go Monster Form and sucker-punches his attacker. Surprisingly, that one hit is enough to turn them back to normal!

Elsewhere, Sanji and the others are taunting the dismembered but still living Qillingham when Luffy and Loki show up. And Nami just tears into them both for making the fires worse, leading to the two arguing with each other. This funny exchange gets interrupted, though, when Luffy senses something.

At Branch 8, Brook and Usopp are at the mercy of the Imu-possessed Gunko, the former begging the latter to flee. But Usopp doesnt run; he’s too angry to run. He keeps getting back up and telling Imu off for their gutless attack on Elbaph and how much of a coward they are for using others to do their dirty work for them! And Imu just says that a ruler shouldn’t dirty their hands as they close in point-blank and force Usopp to him with his own attack, getting caught in the blast in the process! That’s when Luffy and Loki show up, realizing that Imu is the source of the Haki they felt. And after seeing what they did to Brook and Usopp and the country, they’re beyond pissed as Imu tells them to submit or die.

Review

Okay, I know that we are at the point in the arc where the Straw Hats start to humiliate the enemy, but this seems too easy, even for them. Oda has to be planning something! But first, we gotta gush about everything!

Is Chopper a Forest God? And How Strong are the Straw Hats Really?

I think we all knew that Zoro and Hajrudin’s group was going to act exactly like they are. They are the kind of people who like a good fight where they don’t have to fight, this was the perfect excuse for them to do so! I’m a little concerned that Dorry got stabbed through the arm, though. But what we really draws my attention is what Chopper managed to do. He’s one of the weaker members of the Straw Hats, and he was still able to KO a Giant with a single punch! Either he’s stronger than we thought, or is it possible that there is more to his Devil Fruit than meets the eye. I’ve even heard some fans theorizing that maybe Chopper’s Devil Fruit was misidentified like Luffy’s, and that it might be an even rarer Fruit. Like, what if he was some kind of forest god or his fruit can counter Imu’s powers. Or we could just be overthinking it and the Straw Hats really have gotten that strong.

I can actually believe that the Straw Hats have gotten this insanely powerful, to be honest. Franky even says that it’s possible that they’ve gotten this good to match their captain’s growing power. After all, they did just take down Qillingham. Yet, I still can’t help but feel like Qillingham isn’t down for the count. He might have gotten surprised by them, but if manages to put himself back together, then he could start taking them seriously. Then again, I’m not too worried. I vote they throw him scattered pieces into the Underworld or the ocean where he can’t be found.

Also, if i wasn’t convinced before, I am now: Loki is gonna join the Straw Hats after this is done. I don’t know how he could fit on the Sunny, but they can make it work. The fact that Nami was able to scold him and Luffy makes him a Straw Hat in my book! And that image of the squirrel consoling Luffy is destined to be a meme one day!

But now, it’s time for the meat of the chapter: Usopp steps up.

Usopp Just Called the Ruler of the World a Coward! So Metal!

I know that Usopp hasn’t gotten that much to do in this arc, and I know that some people aren’t happy about that. After all, seeing Elbaph is supposed to be the culmination of everything that Usopp has been working towards! He wants to prove himself a brave warrior like the Giants, but he’s barely gotten to do anything. I’m hoping that he does get to do more, but I will say this: standing up to Imu is already one of his finest moments.

Not only is Usopp able to overcome his fear, but he’s able to look at the ruler of the world, one of the two people in the running for the final antagonist of the series, and call them a coward. Not only does this show just how brave Usopp really is, but the fact that the biggest coward in the Straw Hats is calling Imu a dirty coward has the biggest impact. And he’s right. Imu is a coward. They put themselves above everyone else in the world and rule it from the shadows because they think they’re a god, but deep down, they’re a scared bully. Rocks making it to him all those years ago was enough to unnerve them, but feeling Joy Boy’s Haki had them absolutely terrified. And even when they’re desperate enough to try to conquer the nation that could help stop them, they’re not willing to do the dirty work themselves. They say it’s beneath being a king, but any leader not willing to do the work is no leader. And now, they’ve pissed off the last two people they should have: Luffy and Loki.

Luffy and Loki are about to whip somebody’s ass

I know that this won’t count as their first face-to-face meeting, as Imu is back in Mariejois. However, that doesn’t make what’s about to happen any less significant. Luffy and Loki don’t know the whole story, but even if they knew that their opponent is the shadow ruler of the world, I doubt they would care. All that matters is that they hurt their friends and their home, respectively, and for that, they are gonna get their ass-kicked. And if Imu isn’t bluffing, their fight is going to shake heaven and earth. Good!

We’ve spent the last thirty years getting to see just what the world of One Piece is like, both the good and the bad. And a lot of the bad stems from Imu and the darkness that they helped to create. Needless to say, if this is the beginning of the end for Imu, then it’s time for them to get humbled and put in their place! Luffy, Loki, kick their asses!!!

I Give “Furious” a 4.5/5

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One Piece Chapter 1148 Review/Recap

On the last piece of One Piece, the situation in Elbaph has grown increasingly desperate. Now that they have ten Giant children hostage, including Colon, they’re holding them hostage to make the Giants bend the knee. Even worse, they demand that the Giants burn their school and library and erase their history and everything from Ohara along with it. But they’ve made a big mistake with their threats, and Robin and Gaban are ready to show them the error of their ways. There is a special place in Hell for people who threaten kids and try to destroy the past, and the Straw Hats are going to send the God’s Knights to it!

Recap

As the other kids watch in horror, the God’s Knights move the first of their hostages, a girl named Ronja, to an arrow platform leading over the Underworld. If the Giants don’t give in in the next thirty seconds, they will let her fall. Sommers even makes it a point to say the Giants are forbidden to save anything from the school or library, much to Robin’s utter fury. Pushed to the absolute limits of her rage, Robin emerges from her hiding place and wastes no time attacking Sommers. She knows she can’t kill him, so instead she has one of her clones throw both of them off the edge of the branch, figuring it would negate his Devil Fruit Powers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.

As everyone in Elbaph is listening, Ronja speaks up. She says that she loves her school, the library, and everything she’s learned, too much to let it be destroyed. She would rather fall than let that happen! However, Jarul can’t accept this, and begins to give the order to destroy the library. Right as he does so, though, and right as Sommers has Robin at his mercy, Gaban arrives. And in one swift the furious former piratee, he severs one of the cruel knight’s hands before delivering another blow to his chest…and they don’t regenerate.

Review

Words cannot describe the absolute fury that I was feeling as I read this chapter. Having devoted much of my life to the study of history, both as an academic pursuit and for the fun of it, I consider the act of destroying it to be one of pure evil. And it’s already been a long-established fact that the Straw Hats consider threatening the lives of children to be a reprehensible act. Once they manage to escape counter-attack, they’re going to focus their full fury on the God’s Knights. They’ll be lucky to return home in bodybags, especially since we now know they’re not invincible.

We still don’t know how it is that Gaban was able to deal Sommers an injury his regeneration can’t fix. However, one theory on Reddit might provide the answer. The fan theory is that Gaban managed to do this by infusing his attacks with a level of Haki strong enough to negate whatever healing factor the God’s Knights have. And they’re likely right. If you’ll recall when Luffy and Bonney beat Saturn to pieces, he was left down for the count. Even afterwards, he was still visibly injured. In addition, there’s the fact that when Emeth unleashed Joy Boy’s stored up Haki on Egghead, it was enough to send most of the Five Elders back to Mariejois. And it made Imu keel over in pain.

For the moment, it’s safe to assume that Haki is the key to putting a real dent in the God’s Knights. And unless the other Straw Hats awaken the ability to do so, it will be up to the Monster Trio, Gaban, and the Monster Trio to save the day. Whoever takes them down, though, won’t matter. What matters is that the good guys make the God’s Knights wish for death before they are done. Hell itself might be too good for the likes of them at this point! Sadly, we will have to wait two more weeks due to Oda going on break. In the meantime, next week the anime will be getting into Kuma’s life story, something that I’ve been eager to see animated since reading the manga.

Gaban, make the God’s Knights suffer.

I Give “Ronja” a 4/5

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