User blog comment:Kaido King of the Beasts/Chapter 806: Jacked Off the Island/@comment-9022101-20151105205827/@comment-24850639-20151106001821

Couldn't disagree more. He actually started the Zou Arc 11 chapters ago, when the Twirly Brows got there. Even as Dressrosa was concluding, he was laying several foundations for whats currently enthralling us in this arc. He did the exact same when transitioning Punk Hazard to Dressrosa, and I think he's done a masterful job of it here as well. You have to remember we're at the phase of the arc where were getting overloaded with the relevant information, and if the story moves too fast while the context is still being built then the epic/emotional/impactful moments are as epic/emotional/impactful as they should be. Granted the opposite is true when too much hype is built around something that doesn't live up to it, but at this point in the series I think the stakes are too high for Oda to screw around anymore. Everything from here on out is going to have very long-term story implications, so no more arcs like Long Ring Long Land. I absolutely agree that the way we've been teased about all this with breaks and what not between is indeed crap, but I think we've seen/learned A LOT in the past few chapters, definitely including this one. Aspects of this chapter that aren't "fluff":

1) Zou is a living, breathing creature, and it has a NAME. Did the Minks give it this name, or did it have this name through some other means unrelated to the Mink completely? Its been around for 1000 years, did an Ancient Civilization name it? It washes itself twice a day, how the hell did an ecosystem and civilization of people come to live there?

2) The Wano Kingdom samurai's abilities have yet to ACTUALLY be explained. There's all sorts of speculation on if its Devil Fruit based or not, and the new knowledge that Kanjuro's creations are weak to sea water could eventually offer some insight.

3.) Minks who become pirates seem to get a certain kind of treatment....has yet to be fully expanded on with Bepo. Carrot says he's "under the care" of Mr. Cat Viper. Two things about that......We don't know if "under the care" means exactly as it sounds, given that so far the Minks appear to be hiding something. Secondly...."Cat Viper" is two animals.....in other words a hybrid. It seems all but confirmed that they arent Zoan users, so does representing 2 animals grant you some kind of distinction in Mink Society? Is he actually just one type and the other animal name means something special?

4.).....Speaking of, from what we've seen so far, the guy Jack was torturing/interrogating looked a LOT like Pedro from last chapter. Could explain the missing piece of his ear, and why Wanda reacted to his presence the way she did. Is Pedro the "boss" of the Forest? He certainly looks like he at least fits the "Cat" part of the description.

5.) Who is Jack looking for? How exactly did things go down with him and the Admirals? Why was he so confident? He seems all but confirmed as this arc's antagonist. I mean he was looking for something he believed was on Zou.....AND one of Kaido's men (who could be one of Jack's direct subordinates) got taken down there, so he's got at least 2 reasons to come back.

Then there's obviously the hints that something bad PROBABLY did happen to Sanji/Brook/Caesar/Momo, as well as the seemingly duplicitous nature of the minks. Either way you get my point, and I'm not really sure what made you see this chapter as fluff.