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One Piece Chapter 1047 Review/Recap

The Wano Arc will likely go down as one of the biggest arcs in One Piece history, and after more than four years of following it, it finally seems to be reaching its climax. The Alliance stands on the verge of total victory. The Beast Pirates are all defeated or defected; Big Mom’s out of the fight. The only major threat left is Kaido, and Luffy looks ready to finish him off. However, there’s only one problem: when Kaido falls, Onigashima will fall on the Flower Capital. Even if it doesn’t, it falling will still kill everyone inside. The only one in any position to stop it is Momonosuke Kozuki, who continues to have a crisis of confidence.

Momonosuke, PLEASE STEP UP AND BE THE BADASS WE KNOW YOU CAN BE!!!

Recap

As Onigashima inches closer and closer to the Flower Capital (where the Fire Festival’s wrapping up), Momonosuke does everything he can to make it stop. However, he’s crippled by his fears and the memory of when he saw his Mother for the last time. Yet the future Shogun refuses to yield!

In the sky above, Luffy continues to use his crazy powers to throw Kaido for a loop. Yet the Beast Pirate captain scolds him, saying that a strong Devil Fruit doesn’t let one conquer the seas; like Roger proved, only Haki can, as he uses his own to hurt Luffy.

Down in the island below, everyone’s all but stopped fighting as they simply focus on survival. Most of the Alliance, though, realizes that if Kaido falls, so will the island, killing all of them, which they accept. Luffy, on the other hand, has no such plans. Inflating his fist until it’s bigger than the island, Luffy tells Momonosuke that he believes in him. So he needs to move Onigashima out of the way!

Oh, and Orochi’s still alive.

Review

If you think that I’m worried about what’s going to happen to Onigashima, then you clearly haven’t been reading One Piece long enough. Facing impossible odds is when Luffy truly flourishes, and he inspires those around him to follow suit. If he believes that Momonosuke can move the island out of the way, then Momonosuke can do that. All the future Shogun of Wano needs to do is let go of his self-doubt and become the peerless warrior everyone knows he can be!

That aside, it’s nice to see that the fighting’s all but done on the island, with the Alliance ready to put their faith in Luffy, come what may. What I don’t like is seeing that Orochi has, for the umpteenth time, escaped the death that he deserves. What’s it going to take to put that snake down for good?!? There’s no way he’s going to be harm Hiyori, though. Some deus ex machina’s going to stop him.

It looks like the battle for the future of Wano will reach its climactic end in a few chapters, and what an end it will be. Now, if Momonosuke could become the dragon he was always meant to be, everything will be golden.

Also, we all knew that Gol D. Roger never had a Devil Fruit, right? I thought it was pretty obvious

Also also, LUFFY’S FIST IS BIGGER THAN AN ISLAND!!! HE’S A RUBBERHOSE GOD!!

I Give “Skies Above the Capital” a 4/5

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One Piece Chapter 1046 Review/Recap

The battle for the future of Wano seems to be reaching its absolute peak, everyone! Big Mom’s been thrown far away, Orochi’s at Hiyori’s mercy, and all the major enemy leader’s are down. All that’s left is for Luffy to put Kaido down for good. However, there’s still another problem the Alliance faces: EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE! Fortuntately, the Alliance has Raizo the ninja. And if you read Shonen Manga, then you know to never underestimate a ninja.

Recap

Kaido is beginning to reach the end of his rope from fighting Luffy, yet he refuses to fall. Likewise, Luffy tells him once more that he’s the man who will become King of the Pirates, though Kaido doesn’t buy it. After all, despite losing much in one night, Luffy stands to lose just as much because Onigashima is ablaze with fire, courtesy of Orochi and Kanjuro. Luffy remains unconcerned, though, as he has faith in everyone to survive.

Down below, the fighting’s all but stopped as everyone’s desperate to escape the fires, but they can find no exit. The entire island’s a pyre, and they’re trapped on it. Fortunately, Jinbei and Raizo have a plan.

Ever since Oden’s castle burned down, Raizo vowed to never go unprepared again. Thus, when he saw how Zunesha spouted water onto his back every day, he got an idea. Using his ninja scrolls to store the water, Raizo now unleashes it inside the castle. With Jinbei’s Fishman Karate to guide it, they’re able to spread the water throughout the island, putting out the fires in the process. Never underestimate a ninja!

Review

I know some people don’t like deus ex machina’s, but when the Straw Hats do it, they always make it look so cool! I’d guessed that Zunesha would be able to put out the fires raging on Onigashima, and while he wasn’t directly responsible for it, I still consider this to be accurate. The fact that Raizo thought ahead and decided to use this trump card only proves how good a ninja he really is. Thus, Kanjuro and Orochi’s final act of malice seems to have failed.

There’s only one problem left, now. As Yamato tells Momonosuke, Kaido’s reaching his limits. When that happens, his flame clouds won’t be able to hold the island up anymore. When they go, Onigashima will crash into Wano and kill everyone inside. Meanwhile, Luffy still has to defeat Kaido, but his victory is all but assured. The final image even shows him wielding lightning bolts like a god!

We have another two-week break before the next chapter. However, if the trend continues, this next chapter will be suitably epic. Momonosuke, it’s time for you to come into your own!

I Give “Raizo” a 3.8/5

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One Piece Chapter 926 Review/Recap

This chapter of One Piece continues to set up the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance (which I will just call the Alliance for simplicity’s sake) plan to launch an all-out rebellion. 

There are a lot more samurai loyal to the Kozuki Clan left than I thought there would be, but that is an excellent thing. That just means there are a lot more people ready to put Orochi’s head on a spike where it belongs. The rest of the Straw Hats have split up to do their part:

What Is the Alliance Doing?

Nami is working with Shinobu to gather intel. For the moment, Shinobu seems to panic easily.

Sanji is doing what he does best and what he’d like to do best: cooking for people and flirting with girls. 

Despite Nami’s frustration, though, I think there’s a purpose behind Sanji’s actions. He could be trying to a.) gather intel by filling people’s bellies (full bellies can lead to loose lips), b.) win people’s support for the rebellion or c.) just flirting. Probably all three.

We then are given a glimpse of the prison where Kid and Luffy are being held. Backtracking for a minute, though, remember what I said in my recap of Act One of the Wano Arc? About how they would be running the place within a week?

Yeah, I was right. Though if you stayed with the story long enough, you’d know that Luffy wouldn’t break. Bonus, he and Kid seemed to be fully healed.

The guards can’t believe how much work the two captains are doing even with seastone handcuffs on them. Far from breaking, the two remain as defiant as ever, beating the crap out of the sub-warden. Their actions are winning over the other prisoners pretty quickly, which I think is Oda’s plan. Why? Think about it.

New Allies for the Alliance

Every single one of those prisoners will have an axe to grind against Orochi and Kaido for turning them into slaves. Until these two came along, they probably gave up any hope of living. But now they have two people willing to openly defy Kaido, and that will inspire them to do the same. When Luffy and Law get out of prison, and we KNOW they will, those prisoners are gonna follow them. Speaking of which, there’s a familiar face among them:

That’s Caribou, all right. He’s that pirate with the swamp-swamp fruit that tried to kidnap all those mermaids on Fishman Island. After a series of misadventures, he got captured by Kaido. And I know he’s gonna want to get payback!

In less than two weeks, the rebellion against Orochi and Kaido will begin. The Alliance is going to need all hands on deck to take down the Beast Pirates. Here’s who they got so far: The Straw Hat Pirates (minus Jinbei); the mink warriors of the Mokomo Dukedom; the Kozuki clan’s retainers; the Heart Pirates, and several ninja. Now add in the samurai they’re recruiting, and the prisoners, which include Kid and Caribou. That’s an army, and they’ll need one if they want to stand a chance. I have confidence in them, though.

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