User blog:Kaido King of the Beasts/Chapter 906: What is This, a Crossover Episode?

Pretty chill chapter.

Seeing Columbus on the front cover gives me flashbacks to 2015 when she was first mentioned - I remember some of us thinking she was a generic-looking dude. Well holding off until we got confirmation really paid off this time, and she amuses me quite a bit.

The interactions between the variety of characters was fun. Shirahoshi and Rebecca may not have been too beloved in their own arcs, but their amiableness is easy to get behind here and it's funny to see characters like Dalton become fellow Luffy fangirls. I was surprised to see Sai at the wedding, since the king had initially thought the Chinjaos wouldn't be coming with him. And Wapol adds yet another scumbag to the hive, wonder how long it'll take for the likes of him and Stelly to group together to compensate for their cowardice and do some major damage.

But in the middle of the happy crossover interactions are some moments that gave me quite a pause. The reveal that the moving sidewalk was powered by slaves was pulled off pretty well, and served as another reminder about what the World Government is built on. Also, Shirahoshi getting swarmed by suitors seemed comedic at first, but her brothers' words after that made it clear that Shirahoshi's naivete is on a track to hurt them. Reverie hasn't even started yet and the fishmen's situation already doesn't look good.

All that stuff was easily predictable, but the last few pages definitely threw me for a loop. Always great to see Doflamingo again, and for his reintroduction to segue into the national treasure was quite the stuff. I can't believe it's almost been four years since we first heard of it, and now it arrives, in all its straw, headwear glory. Yeeeeah I was NOT expecting that, and right now I don't know what to feel besides surprised. How would a straw hat have allowed an immortal Doflamingo to take over the world? The best prediction I can give is that it's basically like Luffy's afro, it gives them great, untold strength they never knew they had. Will we find out its significance in Reverie's short remaining time with us? Or will we not learn until National Treasure 3 comes out?

The Straw Hat has led some people to think that it might tie into some kind of destiny thing for Luffy, but right now I'm not really feeling it. It is worth noting that the significance of Luffy's straw hat goes beyond him, given how it was formerly owned by Shanks and Roger. And if it was associated with Roger, it being important is not much of a surprise at all. Luffy earned the straw hat by impressing Shanks, and so regardless of how involved he becomes with this treasure, I doubt it will follow any sort of birthright/destiny outcome for him.

Reverie was seeming so straightforward, but this treasure business is making me anxious to see what other unexpected developments might unfold. Seven days, (supposedly) ten chapters, so little time...

How was the chapter? 180 years of searching and I'm 3 feet away. It's a big blue-ish green man... with a strange-looking goatee... I'm guessing that's significant. Still a little on-edge from being shot at but I'll be fine, thanks for asking. When are we gonna get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird. Give me the Declaration, Staw.