User blog:JustSomeDude.../735- Brave Justice

Ok, so there wasn’t much action in this week’s chapter. But there was a ‘’ton’’ of plot given, and I just have to talk about it. I’m a bit late with this blog, but that’s because I wait for the vastly superior Powermanga translation so that I can make sure I’m getting my facts right before making potentially stupid declarations.

Anywho, let’s jump right into it:

We start off in the Colosseum with Gatz informing the audience that Diamante will be participating in the final round instead of the 4 other officers under him. One interesting thing about this is that although all of us expected some 1 vs. 1 rounds before the final, it seems this is going to be a 5-way free-for-all (this is later confirmed on the second-to-last page if you think I’m speculating). It’s funny because given the free-for-all format of the first round, there was no reason for us to expect 1 vs. 1 fights in the final. Seems that the culture of One Piece has made us subconsciously expect that every fight will be 1 on 1, but Oda’s trying to break that more in the New World. We’ve had numerous fights after the timeskip that break this format. Some examples include:
 * Sanji & Jinbe vs. Wadatsumi
 * Any fight involving Monet
 * Franky & Nami & Usopp vs. Baby 5 & Buffalo,
 * Law vs. Doflamingo & Fujitora

Another important detail on the first page: Cavendish is still asleep. We have no idea when Hakuba might show up again, but I expect a nasty surprise for whoever the next person who tries to turn him into a toy is.

Then we move on to the Sabo/Rebecca section of the chapter. Seems she saw immediately that “Lucy” was no longer the same person. She seemed more surprised than anything, so I would expect than in the coming fight she’ll continue her strategy of neutrality in the fight and not join up in the apparent Sabo/Bartolomeo alliance. Speaking of which, those two seem to be pretty good friends now, with Barto berating Rebecca for talking to Lucy “all casual-like”. Seems Barto’s recognized the importance of Sabo to Luffy, but can also maintain himself without starting to foam at the mouth. Also, “Lucy’s” drawn-on scar on his chest is hilarious.

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag110/justsomedude7/Blog%20Images/Sabosscar_zps33fa6128.png

Now on to the Luffy section. I’ll tell you what I ‘’should’’ be talking about here: How Viola was Rebecca’s aunt, and how she’s been watching the dwarves this whole time. But I’m not going to talk about that, because I’m obsessed with another aspect of this part of the chapter: Luffy and the fucking rock. Am I the only one who sees this plan as 1) Completely unnecessary, and 2) Inherently faulty? So here’s the plan, according to Zoro and Kin’emon:

http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag110/justsomedude7/Blog%20Images/LuffyandtheRock_zps0375db6b.png

So now let’s break it down. First off, Viola said already that they all can just take the stairs, so this entire plan just seems to be so that Zoro and Kin’emon don’t have to climb the stairs. First those lazy fucks take advantage of Brownbeard so they don’t have to run, now this! Now my biggest gripe with this plan: Once Zoro & Co. are at the top, Luffy is still at the bottom! Now ‘’maybe’’ if the basket weighs more than Luffy (in his likely heavy fish costume) he can ride the chain back up, but seems to me that the plan is just a waste of time for people who are very capable of climbing stairs quickly. Lastly, I assume that at some point, Luffy will have to drop the rock, which will make an incredibly loud and noticeable noise. Seems to me like this is one of the shittier plans One Piece has ever had…

Now the Toy House section. Seems Franky has already destroyed quite a bit and has brought the fight to the inside of the Toy House. Destroying the factory should be a breeze for him later. But also, he’s fucked if things go on like this. The man needs (and will get) some help to overcome Senor Pink, Mach Vise, and the Marines. At this point, the only players left to help him out are the Soldier, and the various Toys made from the Colosseum losers. Most likely the Soldier will come soon, since he was already on his way up the elevator.

Now the interesting thing about this part: Senor Pink seems to be a pretty stand-up guy. In fact, besides the officers, what we’ve seen from the DD pirates, most seem to be pretty honorable, or at least have respect for their fellow crewmates and do not see them as weak, or expendable. Among the enemies the Straw Hats have faced before, this is an interesting difference. Even though the crew as a whole is doing some pretty bad stuff, the fact that they carry this respect for each other shows they aren’t totally awful, and shows that as a crew they are stronger than any other the Straw Hats have faced.

Now for the really important part of the Chapter: Issho. We finally get a hint at the Justice he believes in. Apparently that Justice does not include allowing certain pirates government support and special privileges that they are pretty likely to take advantage of. Issho mentions the incident with Crocodile and Alabasta specifically (based on the Powermanga translation) and insults Doflamingo by stating that had Croc succeeded, Alabasta would have been “just as vile” as Dressrosa. (Kind of cool how Croc & DD faced off in Marineford, given their similar situations, isn’t it?) This shows that Issho is not so blind (oof, dad-pun. Kill me!) as to miss seeing that Dressrosa kind of blows hard right now. And he’s no coward. He is more than willing to disrupt the balance of the 3 Great Powers to accomplish his goal of removing the Shichibukai. It’s interesting how Akainu and other marines see Law’s attempt to disturb this balance with even one Shichibukai as greatly troubling, while Issho is more than ready to get rid of all of them. One thing’s for sure, the man is no coward, and he will do whatever it takes to do what he thinks is best. That’s a trait that I’m now convinced all the admirals share, and I’m convinced Issho will be a damn fine admiral.

The interesting thing about this chapter is that it ties up several of the big loose ends of the arc with a pretty big hint about what Issho will do, and how the Colosseum fight will be formatted, and some other smaller details too. The only big loose ends left now are what's going on with the Sunny and whatever the deal with Doflamingo and the Samurai is. Been a long time since we've seen the Sunny, and knowing Oda I'd expect we'll see them... I actually don't know if we'll get that soon or if Oda's just gonna keep that on the backburner forever. We'll see if I'm right next week! (Or in 20 weeks. Or longer...)