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One Piece Chapter 1041 Review/Recap

You know the old saying “revenge is a dish best served cold?” There’s just something so satisfying seeing the look on the face of those who wronged you as they realize they’re about to get what’s coming to them. Hiyori Kozuki, AKA Komurasaki, has waited twenty years to take revenge on Orochi for what he did to her family. Now, after somehow showing up on Onigashima, Komurasaki has her moment. Komurasaki shall have her revenge. But will it end up costing her her life?

Recap

Picking up from where the last chapter left off, Momonosuke tells Yamato what he learned from his father’s journal. However, he doesn’t know the full story, as Oden ripped out the pages on Laugh Tale. Thanks to that, he’s no longer sure about whether opening up Wano will be the right choice. Elsewhere, the Straw Hats and Alliance members struggle to get away from the fire and crumbling island. Most of them are so spent, they couldn’t fight back even if they wanted to.

Meanwhile, in the treasury, Orochi starts losing patience as Komurasaki continues to play her music. He’s so distracted that he doesn’t notice the ceiling cave in until its too late. Now pinned, Komurasaki reveals three things. Firstly, she pinned him with a Seastone Nail so he can’t use his powers. Secondly, Komurasaki explains that the tune she’s playing, Orochi’s favorite tune, is “Moon Princess.” Lastly, that it was the favorite tune of her father, Oden Kozuki.

Atop the skull dome, Luffy and Kaido’s battle continues as the latter realizes that Big Mom’s been beaten. He then relapses into his drunk state as he remembers how he first met Big Mom in the Rock Pirates. Luffy, though, doesn’t care in the slightest, and gives Kaido the beatdown he deserves. No matter what happens, he’s going to kick Kaido out of Wano.

Review

Once again, there’s a lot of things happening at once in this chapter, and I will try to give my thoughts about them as best as I can.

Firstly, I immensely enjoyed the moment when Komurasaki revealed to Orochi that she was Oden’s daughter. The look of pure terror on his face almost makes all the pain he’s caused worth it. Key word almost. The fact that Komurasaki, or rather Hiyori, was able to disable Orochi’s powers makes it all the more enjoyable to watch. Now, all she needs to do is keep him there until the fight’s over, and he’ll face justice at Momonosuke’s hands.

Speaking of Momonosuke, he’s still wracked by his insecurities regarding his Dad’s legacy. He shouldn’t worry so much, though. Oden always expected Momonosuke to surpass him and be the leader that Wano needs. And Wano needs to be opened to the world, on its own terms. Otherwise, everything that’s happened to the Alliance will be for nothing.

As for the rest of the Alliance, they all seem to be okay, with even Zoro being saved by Franky. However, they can’t fight anymore. Which is bad, because now the Gorosei wants CP0 to off Luffy. If they intervene, then Luffy might lose. And right now, he can’t afford to lose. Kaido’s getting close to being beaten; all Luffy needs is one last push to take him down.

So, basically, this chapter was another chaotically fun and exciting chapter of One Piece. Just what I’d expect from the likes of Eichiro Oda.

I Give “Komurasaki” a 4/5

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My Hero Academia Season 4 Episode 20 Review/Recap

Ever since Midoriya began attending U.A., life seems to have gotten bleaker. First, the League of Villains, then Stain, All for One, Overhaul, and All Might’s retirement. However, despite how dark things are, U.A.’s determined to have their School Festival even as some seek to ruin it. Thus, both sides steel their resolve over a cup of rare tea in this episode.

Recap

Having gotten the go-ahead from Principal Nezu for Eri to visit the Festival, Togata brings her to U.A. ahead of time to meet everyone. Eri immediately endears herself to the entire school as they gush over her and look forward to seeing her at the Festival. Meanwhile, Principal Nezu speaks to the authorities, telling them of his plans for the Festival- if the alarm’s sounded, even on a false alarm, the Festival will be cancelled. Thus, Class 1-A steels their resolve over a cup of Gold Tips Imperial tea.

Meanwhile, Gentle Criminal prepares for his and La Brava’sgreatest stunt yet. On the day of the Festival, they’ll have Gold Tips Imperial tea at a nearby cafe. Then, they’ll sneak into U.A. High.

Review

In a nutshell, this ”School Festival Arc” has been pretty boring and forgettable. After everything we saw in the Hassakai Arc, though, it would be hard to top that. Nonetheless, I feel this episode sets that stakes for what’s to come and why they’re still important, if on a smaller scale.

This episode has Principal Nezu explain his reasons for having the Festival, regardless of the times they’re in. It’s because I’m times of hardship, it’s all the more important for people to smile and remember that bad things won’t last forever. Since Midoriya hopes the Festival will help zero smile again, it’s all the more important it succeeds. Conversely, Gentle wants to ruin it because it will make people be even more paranoid.

That said, I think Gentle and La Brava are the best part of this arc. They’re like the Joker and Harley Quinn, only the Joker genuinely cares about his Harley. It’s sweet to see, but I still don’t want then to win.

In addition, this episode has seen Midoriya try to branch out into ranged attacks, something that his fighting repertoire has been sorry lacking. He may not be able to do them on his own yet, but maybe Hatsume may be able to help.

That said, why did they name this episode after tea? I get that tea’s important to Gentle, but what does it have to do with the of the episode? It doesn’t really make sense to me. regardless, next episode will hopefully see the start of the fight between Deku and Gentle. Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!

I Give “Gold Tips Imperial” A 2.5/5

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One Piece Chapter 969 Review/Recap

I’m now ready for this flashback to be over. However, it would seem that Oda still has some more backstory to explain regarding Oden and the Nine Red Scabbards. Thus, we get to see how Oden went from being the one everyone hoped would save Wano into Oden the Fool.

Recap

Oden’s attempt to kill the traitorous Orochi fails due to his retainers Devil Fruit Powers. Now safe, Orochi then arrogantly reveals how he managed to trick everyone in Wano into becoming Shogun and gain Kaido’s backing. What’s said next is unknown, but everyone in Wano saw the effect. Instead of setting them all three, Oden began to dance in the streets of the Flower Capital in his loin cloth every week. Soon, people began to lose faith in him and called him “Oden the Fool”.

Five years passed, and things in Wano got even worse while Oden learned of Roger’s death. When Orochi demanded that Oden build him new factories in Kuri, though, he made the mistake of telling him of Hyogoro’s fate. Since the leader of the Yakuza wouldn’t bow to him, Kaido imprisoned him, killed his men, and killed his wife. Finally at the end of his rope, Oden decides to do what he should have done and kill Kaido. With the Nine Red Scabbards in tow, the group heads to the Flower Capital in revolt.

Review

I don’t know what it was that Orochi said to Oden to make him dance in the streets like a fool. My guess is that he made a deal of some kind with him, and then backed on it later. Orochi only did it to make Wano lose faith in Oden, and it worked. Oden became Oden the Fool, and now he’s going to the fight that will end in his death.

Personally, I think this chapter was unnecessary as a whole, because we already knew how it would end for Oden once he returned to Wano. The only thing it did was show how Oden lost all of Wano’s respect by the present day. At this point, I just want to move on to the present day so we can see the Alliance go to war.

I Give “Oden the Fool” a 2/5. Get on with it, already.

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One Piece, Chapter 968 Review/Recap

Well, Roger, Oden, Rayleigh and everyone else did the impossible. They made it to the end of the Grand Line and learned the secrets of the world. However, this also means that Roger and Oden’s voyage must come to an end. As we reach the end of this momentous flashback, it’s time to brace for the end of Oden’s voyage.

Recap

Once the news of the Roger Pirates making it to Laugh Tale went public, everyone started calling Roger “King of the Pirates” and his treasure “the One Piece”. It didn’t matter much to Roger, though, as he was going to die soon. Thus, he officially disbanded the Roger Pirates, and they dropped him off someplace away from the Marines. After that, the rest of the crew returned to Wano to let Oden off, finally completing his long voyage.

To his surprise, everyone in Kuri gave him a warm welcome, courtesy of the Nine Red Scabbards and Toki’s good leadership. However, Oden soon learned how bad things had gotten for the rest of the country. With Kaido’s backing, Orochi had already begun his reign of terror on Wano. When the Scabbards tried to stop him, he sent assassin’s to kill Momonosuke and Hiyori. Thankfully, Toki saved them at the cost of injuring herself. As a result, Oden goes ballistic, and against Kin’emon’s wishes, heads to the Flower Capital to confront Orochi. The slithering coward warns Oden that Kaido will come after him if he tries to harm Orochi, but Oden’s hellbent on killing the usurper.

Review

This chapter did a lot of reiterating things that we already knew or suspected. On the world stage, the World Government’s reactions to Roger reaching Laugh Tale, and how they hide his real name, confirms what I already knew. The truth behind the Void Century, the D, and how the World Government came to power can be found in Laugh Tale. In regards to this arc, Laugh Tale revealed why Wano shut its doors to the world, and why Oden’s became more determined to open them. It has something to do with the return of Joy Boy in 25 years.

Unless Joy Boy’s somehow still alive in the present, I’m going with the theory that Luffy’s Joy Boy reincarnated or inheritor of his will.

What I didn’t expect in this chapter is how the people felt overjoyed to see Oden return. Based on their reactions, the lies Orochi spread haven’t begun yet. Sadly, though, I can also tell that Oden attacking Orochi will be what seals his fate. My guess is that Kaido comes, the two have a fierce fight, but in the end, Oden’s captured and executed as a traitor. It’s a bittersweet ending, but we all knew it was coming.

I think there will only be three, maybe four chapters left in Oden’s voyage. I enjoyed the flashback, but I want to get back to the present and see how Luffy pulls off another miracle. We all know he’s going to find a way to win, don’t deny it. Death to Orochi and Kaido!

I Give “Oden’s Return” a 3.75/5. Good falling action, but we already knew what’s happening next.

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One Piece Chapter 962 Review/Recap

A few weeks ago, Act 3 of One Piece’s Wano Arc started, to fans joy. However, it then immediately shifted into another one of Oda’s world-building flashbacks. In this case, it’s the origins of Oden Kozuki and his retainers, the Nine Red Scabbards. The last chapter saw Oden take up residence with Yasuie after his dad disowned him. The legend of Oden continues to grow in this chapter! Also, Orochi proves that he was always a slimeball.

Recap

After two years of living with Yasuie, Oden gets bored and decides to head to Kuri. At the time, it’s a place so lawless that even the Shogunate gave up on it, making it perfect for Oden. Denjiro and Kin’emon insist on going with him, much to his dismay. Along the way, Oden documents his adventures as he comes across several of the future Nine Red Scabbards. Most of the time, he ends up beating them up and they end up deciding to follow him out of respect.

After traveling for some time, Oden finally enters Kuri on his own and fights against Ashura and his men. By the time Kin’emon and the others reach Oden, they find out he beat all of them. Thus, he straightened out everyone and made Kuri into a livable place. As a result, his father took back the disownment and made him the Lord of Kuri. Rather than deal with a bunch of stuck up people from the capital, he appoints his friends as his retainers. With that, the Nine Red Scabbards are formed, while peace reigns in Kuri. Six years pass, and two mysterious strangers wash up on the beach of Kuri to be found by Kawamatsu.

Review

In my opinion, I think that Oden Kozuki’s life leans heavily on tall tales and Japanese legends. While I understand the importance of world-building, though, I don’t think it necessary to go into detail on the backstories of the Nine Red Scabbards. Previous chapters established enough for us to get the picture.

Through his travels in Wano, though, it’s clear that Oden never gave up on his goal of leaving the country. He saw Kuri as a twisted mirror of the prison he thought Wano was, hence why reined it in. With the arrival of Inuarashi and Nekomamushi in Wano, though, he may finally get his chance to leave.

This chapter seemed to do little for me other than hyping up Oden more. After the last chapter’s revelation that Orochi started as Yasuie’s servant, I wanted to see what the jerk was like in the past. Sadly, this chapter almost wasted that chance. The only hint we got was that Orochi clearly stole money from Yasuie and tried to blame it on Oden. Even back then, he was a snake.

As interesting as these flashbacks are, I look forward to getting back to the present. I want to see the war and Orochi’s head on a pike by this time next year!

I Give “A Daiymo and His Retainers” a 3/5. Give us more important stuff!

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One Piece, Chapter 961 Review/Recap

Last chapter of One Piece gave us our first look at the life and times of Oden Kozuki, and his life was crazy. His father couldn’t take it anymore, so he had to disown him. At that moment, though, the capital came under attack. By a boar so big, that it’s called the “Mountain God.”

Recap

Thanks to Kin’emon stealing its child, the Mountain God Boar devastates the Flower Capital in search of its kid. Entire sections of the city and its people get eaten, including Tsuru. Furious, Kin’emon tries, and fails, to slay the Mountain God. However, Oden then lures it in using its child, and with his two swords, he slays the Boar and saves everyone inside.

Even though he saved the city, everyone still blames him for the Mountain God’s attack. His disownment holds up, and thus Oden leaves the Flower Capital. He’s not alone, though: Kin’emon and Denjiro are so impressed by what he did that they choose to become his followers. Thus, the trio heads to stay with Lord Yasuie, where they meet his new servant: Orochi.

….what?

Review

If it were in any other story, seeing Oden slice the Mountain God Boar in half would be all kinds of badass. Considering how we’ve seen Zoro do similar feats before, and most of the heroes and villains have done crazier stuff. In other words, its not as impressive. It makes for one heck of an origin story, though, and this is Oden started to rise to world renown.

Now, for the elephant in the room; or rather, the snake. I’ve had theories about Orochi’s backstory, and now it looks like we have our answer. He was a servant of Yasuie. What puzzles me more, though, is what led him to betray his country and even kill his former Lord? Then again, he looks like the kind of person who would brown-nose anyone to advance in life.

While seeing the backstory for the Wano characters is fine, I felt it was a little unecessary to see Oden kill the Mountain God. We’ve seen crazier feats before, so we didn’t need the affirmation of how strong Oden was. I hope that this flashback doesn’t run for too long, as I want to see the war for Wano play out. Regretfully, we’ll have to wait two weeks for that to happen.

I Give “The Mountain God Incident” a 3/5. Cool, but not Amazing.

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One Piece, Chapter 960 Review/Recap

One Piece has spent the entire Wano Arc building Oden Kozuki into this lather-than-life legend. How he was the only person to injure Kaido. How he was a member of the Roger and Whitebeard Pirates. Yet the Wano Arc’s entering its climax, and we know so little about the man. Thus, before the final battle for Wano, One Piece gives us its traditional, expository flashback. This is the story of Oden Kozuki.

Recap

Thirty-nine years ago, Oden Kozuki already garnered a reputation at age 18 for all kinds of trouble. With Oden having failed to leave for the 38th time, his father decides to disown him for his troublemaking. As for Oden himself, he’d already return to the Flower Capital to pay respects at a man’s funeral and cremation. By cooking a bowl of oden and drinking sake over the deceased crematory pyre.

While all of this is going down, a young Kine’mon steals a white boar from a group of Yakuza. His plan is to sell it, but before he can, the Flower Capital’s attacked by a giant Mountain Boar God. While everyone’s terrified, Oden confidently tells Kine’mon to give him the boar.

Review

I will not lie: when I all of Oden Kozuki’s exploits in his youth, I couldn’t stop laughing at how crazy they were. The stuff he got away with before he turned 18 sounds like something out of an American Tall Tale. Here’s a list of everything he did up to this point, and I’m taking this directly from the chapter:

• Threw his wet nurse across the room before he was a year old
• Was already defeating wild animals by age 4
• Started visiting the Red Light District at 6. Proceeded to get himself banned by the Yakuza and declared war on them by age 10.
• Became the boss of the quarry he was sent to.
• When the Capital suffered from drought, he tried diverting a river, causing the place to flood
• At age 15, he started taking women from the Capital for his own harem, and started a war with their loved ones when they came after him.

Like I said, tall tales, and they’re awesome! With his larger than life personality and inhuman feats, it’s no wonder why Gol D. Roger, Whitebeard, and even the Navy leaders respected him. He’s as rowdy and crazy as many of them.

However, that being said, I think underneath his irresponsible demeanor, Oden Kozuki wanted what’s best for Wano. While eating his namesake food over a man’s pyre was disrespectful, it should be noted that he drank his sake like he was sharing a drink with an old friend. He cares about Wano, in his own crazy way. If he didn’t, then why would he try to save it when there’s a drought?

Oden’s Red Scabbards

In addition, this chapter gave us a look at what the Nine Red Scabbards were like in their youth. We knew that they were ne’er-do-wells, but that’s about it. The most important thing about the Red Scabbards, though, is that we saw their ninth member, Denjiro. As several people point out, he looks a lot like Zoro’s sword master: whether this is a coincidence remains unknown, but I hope to see where this goes.

This Will Be Fun

I was somewhat frustrated that the manga switched to a flashback right before the final battle. After reading this chapter, though, I’m on board for what comes next. I want to see how Oden left Wano, what he did with Whitebeard and Roger, everything. In addition, Eichiro Oda’s proven himself a master at world building. I know that he knows what he’s doing with his story. We may have to wait to find out how the Straw Hats got themselves out fo their mess in the present, but it will be worth it.

I Give “Enter Kozuki Oden” a 5/5. Great setup for a flashback.

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