RJ Writing Ink

One Piece Chapter 1181 Review/Recap

So, remember back during Vegapunk’s big lore dump about the Void Century and Joy Boy, and how I started calling Luffy the second coming of Pirate Jesus? I said that partly as a joke, because I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Joy Boy and Jesus Christ. Both had loyal friends and followers who thought the world of him. Both of them died (well, Jesus came back before ascending to Heaven), but it was said that they would one day return when the world needed them most to save them from the Devil. Well, now we can add another similarity between the two: both were betrayed by someone they called a friend. The difference here, though, is that unlike Judas, Imu not only does not regret turning on Joy Boy, but he became the Devil themself. Or God, as he calls himself. But is there a difference at this point?

Recap

Standing before the monster that led Harald down the path to his death, Loki is understandably pissed off beyond belief. His dad still had half of his life left to live, but Imu robbed him of that! So, Loki doesn’t hold anything back as he swings Ragnir down with all his strength. To his surprise, Imu blocks it using the black flames, Omen.

And then, he uses them to grow giant-sized, allowing him to clash directly with Loki before stabbing him into the ground!

Imu then delivers a monologue explaining that it’s the nature of man to crave power, that gaining it too easily corrupts, leading to covenants, and that his power of Omen leads to domination. He offers this power to Loki, but Loki tells him to shove it, saying this domination of God is just a deal with the Devil, with Imu not seeing the difference. To him, domination is the only source of bliss in the world as he remembers Joy Boy.

Taking advantage of Imu’s distraction, Loki hits him so hard, he crashes into the World Tree, making him cough up blood. Then, he resumes his dragon form and fires a massive blast at Imu. And Imu just smirks at this while thinking Nidhogg really is back! This guy is a menace!

Review

Guys, I’m going to be completely real with you: I think that Oda took some extra inspiration from the Bible when making Imu. I know that many people were already considering Imu to be the series’ equivalent to the Devil. Given how he is said to be Jesus’ biggest adversary in the Bible, it makes sense why Imu would have a deep hatred for Joy Boy, who the series has set up as the equivalent of Christ. What I wasn’t expecting, though, was something that the fandom has gotten particularly interested in: this one panel showing the silhouettes of Joy Boy and Imu talking centuries ago. Thanks to that, some fans think that, rather than always being enemies, the two used to be friends.

I don’t know if this is true or not, but if Joy Boy and Imu were, in fact, originally friends, then that wouldn’t just make Imu the Devil. It would also make him the equivalent of Judas, the man infamous for selling Jesus out to the Romans. Whereas Judas is said to have ultimately regretted his betrayal and killed himself out of remorse, though, it seems that Imu has no such regard. Or if he does, then he has buried it under centuries of fear and hatred. Either way, it doesn’t paint a good picture of him.

Imu Doesn’t See Himself as God or a Devil

What I found more interesting, though, was how Imu acts like there’s not a difference between a God and a Devil. That explains a lot about his mindset. To him, both are beings of unrivaled power who hold dominion over all. The real difference is that while God is actually able to create, the Devil can only corrupt what already exists, and is thus inferior to God. It also makes even more sense why Imu fears Joy Boy and Nika so much. If Imu is supposed to be the Devil, then Nika is the God that they oppose, and he knows that Luffy becoming the heir to Joy Boy could destroy everything he’s built.

All that aside, it’s looking more and more like Imu is meant to be a dark inversion of what Joy Boy, and thus Luffy, stand for. Imu has the ability to warp reality around him like Luffy can in Gear Five, hence why he can grow to the size of giant and his prescence turned those houses into cartoon monsters. I want to see Loki give him a thrashing for his dad, but I don’t think he can handle him alone. I’m not sure anyone can beat Imu right now! The only solution might be for Luffy and Loki to stall him until the demon is forced to retreat back to Mariejois after hitting his limit. Luckily, Luffy is currently eating all the food in the school, so he should be ready to fight soon. And when he does…it’s going to be a day to remember!

What a really good chapter of One Piece. Even with how heavily it focused on fighting, we were still able to learn a good deal about Imu. And while I still think Blackbeard will be Luffy’s final and ultimate enemy, Imu is proving himself to be every bit as hyped as we feared. At this point, it doesn’t matter if he calls himself God or Devil; he’s just that tough.

I Give “God and Devil” a 4/5

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