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One Piece Chapter 947 Review/Recap

Straw Hat Luffy’s luck never ceases to amaze me. In the last chapter of One Piece, Luffy was able to free Hyogoro and himself from their collars while Big Mom ran wild. Unfortunately, eating all the Oshiruko earned him the wrath of the amnesiac Big Mom. It’s time to see the results of Luffy’s training in Straw Hat vs. Big Mom, Round 2!

Recap

Luffy figures out that what he did to their collars is the same thing Rayleigh did when they rescued Camie back in Sabaody. With everything that happened, though, he doesn’t know he did it.

Despite Hyogoro thinking he can take the Yonko, she’s still too much for them. The old man tells Luffy that he’s already mastered the Haki technique without knowing it. By letting his Haki enter something else, he can destroy them from the inside; that’s how he got their collars off.

The clash between the two pirates spreads throughout Udon Prison, with Big Mom destroying every the door to every area. Desperate, Queen and the Beast Pirates lure Big Mom in with a jar of Oshiruko. Queen then headbutts her from above, but to his horror, all it does it bring her memories back; then fall asleep.

Queen has his men throw every sea stone handcuff and chain on her, pump her full of tranquilizers, then takes the bulk of the guards to deliver her to Kaido. Udon goes into lockdown, with minimal guards, no communication with Wano, and Luffy now free and at full strength.

We know where this is going 🙂

Review

Remember how I said Kaido should have killed Luffy when he had the chance? This is why. Big Mom’s left Udon’s defenses in ruins, and now Queen’s taken most of the guards with him to deliver the Yonko to Kaido. He was terrified, though, that he forgot that Luffy’s now free to run wild. In a prison with tens of thousands of people who hate Kaido and Orochi, minimal guards, and no way to contact the outside world. In short, he goofed up.

I know I’ve been saying this for the last several posts, but now it’s happening: Impel Down Breakout, Part 2 is here, and it’s going to be awesome.

Luffy’s Prison Break is Coming!

I am concerned about Big Mom now that her memory’s returned. For now, though, she’s removed herself from the equation. Better still, she’s now Kaido’s problem. He’ll have to divert a good part of his forces to keep her prisoner, and even then, I have no doubt she’ll get free. Knowing Oda, it will happen right before or during the night of the rebellion.

After being virtually put on the bus for the entirety of Act 2 of the Wano Arc, next chapter will see Luffy show off his new strength in full. I estimate that Udon Prison, and it’s army of prisoners, will be his by nightfall. I better make some popcorn in advance!

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One Piece Chapter 943 Review/Recap

Just when you think that you have found the absolute worst in hate sinks in fiction, the bar is lowered yet again. In this chapter, we learn the curse of the SMILE fruit, and how it hasn’t just robbed the people of Ebisu Town of their happiness, but of their ability to show any other emotion. It’s enough to make me sick to my stomach.

Recap

A flashback reveals that Tonoyasu, rather Lord Yasuie, wasn’t just the guy who tried whipping Oden Kozuki into shape, he helped the Nine Red Scabbards become the warriors we have seen. Back when they were just Oden’s followers and tried stealing money from him, he not only gave it to him, but even paid extra so they could learn to become people Oden could rely on as Shogun.

In the present, Hiyori explains what she meant about the SMILE fruit robbing the people of the ability to do anything but smile. As artificial Devil Fruits, there was no guarantee they would work. In fact, they only have a 10% chance of even giving people powers. Anyone else gets not only the “no swimming” effect, but loses the ability to express negative emotions. Shinobu confirms the same thing.

Orochi cruelly ordered the defective SMILEs to the leftover town. It saved them from starving, but it cursed them as well.

In the present, Orochi shows his wickedness once more, laughing at Yasuie’s death and comparing Wano to heaven itself. Just then, Toko runs up to her father, tearfully, begging him to get up but unable to do anything but smile. Orochi becomes enraged at the sight of her and decides to kill her right then and there. Before that happens, though, Sanji and Zoro show up, and they do not look happy

Review

Hmm, this is a new feeling. A calm, tranquil fury and its all being directed at our new hate sink, Orochi. As for the SMILE fruits, it churns my stomach to know that something so vile was allowed to exist. Robbing people of the ability to show any emotion except a fake grin, an unwanted mask that they can’t get off.

The Joker from DC Comics would probably think this is the funniest thing in the world right now.

Orochi and Kaido are poisons, rotting Wano from the inside out. If they can’t remove them from power, Wano will be destroyed.

That said, I like how the explanation that they give for the SMILE fruits, even if it is messed up. Thank heavens the Straw Hats were able to stop the production of those abominations.

Now the main problem, though, is that Toko is in Orochi’s sights, and he’s not going to let her get away. Sanji and Zoro can hold him off, but that will just attract more attention. Orochi’s thugs may let their guards down now, but Orochi will stay as paranoid as ever.

One way or another, though, I am looking to seeing Sanji and Zoro fight Orochi next week. It’ll give us a good look at what the monster is capable of.

I Give “SMILE” a 4/5

One Piece Chapter 934 Review/Recap

The last chapter of One Piece dealt with a whirlwind of events in such a short amount of time. Robin’s mission was compromised leading to Nami, Brook, and Shinobu to rescue her, an amnesiac Big Mom’s helping out the Alliance, and Komurasaki was seemingly cut down by Boss Kyoshiro. My gut tells me that she’s not really dead, though.

As with a lot of cases in this arc, this chapter’s all over the place. As in, it splits between five separate locations. I think that this shows just how ambitious Eiichiro Oda is with the Wano Arc, but it could end up backfiring on him. Dividing the focus of the story between several locations means giving each of them the right amount of focus, and that’s hard even for the best writers. I think he can pull it off, though.

The chapter first shows us that the Big Mom Pirates that came with Big Mom made it out relatively intact. Some of their Devil Fruit users did drown, though. With King in the skies, they have no way of getting inside the country. They know Big Mom’s alive thanks to her Virve card, but that’s about it.

Speaking of which, Big Mom’s headed to Udon Prison with Momo, O-Tama, Kiku, and Chopper to bust Luffy out. Oddly, it seems her hat Homie’s been quiet the whole time. Losing her memories means she doesn’t know about her Soul-Soul powers, so that could explain it.

The biggest highlight of this chapter, though, the one thing I think is more important than anything else? We finally have a map of Wano Country!

I’ve been trying to figure out where everything is in Wano, but can’t think of anything. This map will help make sense of everything!! Thank you, Oda-Sama!

Going back to the group that busted Robin out of Orochi’s Castle, they’re all in shock at Komurasaki’s apparent death and how Kyoshiro could kill her like that. Kanjuro notes that he wasn’t in power in Oden’s day. The head of the Yakuza was called “Hyogoro of the Flowers”.

The important thing is, they’re all safe, though they’ll need to lay low for a while. And Robin managed to learn a lot of information.

Brook also confirmed that while there was a Poneglyph in Orochi’s basement, it wasn’t a Road Poneglyph. The only likely place it could be is at Onigashima. Guess we’ll have to wait.

As for the Flower Capital…

State of Mourning

They’re all mourning Komurasaki’s death, while I still don’t think she’s dead. Even Sanji’s crying.

More importantly, back at Udon Prison, it’s revealed that Kidd managed to escape.

He still has his Seastone Cuffs on him, so it’s not like he can get far. So much for a second Impel Down. Luffy (yes, Luffy’s in this chapter!) has bigger problems. The old man he befriended and gave food to is being beaten by the guards who want to know who’s been feeding him. The old man refuses to talk even with the threat of death, revealing who he really is.

So this old man’s Hyogoro, the former head of the Wano Yakuza. In Japan, the Yakuza are known to provide aid to those stricken by disaster and provide protection for the people living under them. They’re still capable of being murderous thugs, though, so take their actions with a grain of salt. Hyogoro seems to represent the more honorable aspects of the Yakuza, so I like him. He could be a huge help in the coming battle against the Beast Pirates.

However, the Straw Hat’s plans to break Luffy out may have hit a roadblock: Queen showed up at Udon Prison. Great.

I don’t want to sound optimistic, but this could be an opportunity. If the Alliance (Big Mom included) shows up, Luffy could rally the prisoners and they could take down Queen. They’ll follow Hyogoro, which makes the odds even better. That would be a major blow to the Beast Pirates’ strength. It could also attract more attention, though, so they will need to be careful about this. Guess we’ll find out in two weeks time!

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