User blog comment:Ghmorello/Chapter 887: Hot Pounding/@comment-24850639-20171201161847

We're definitely still quite a ways off from this arc being done, but it at least feels like we're getting to the final climax pretty soon. You'd think the ceremony would have been the climax of this arc, but then dealing with Big Mom didn't go as  planned and now the new climax is her eating this damn cake. That is likely going to spur it's own new set of events; Big Mom being down doesn't mean they'll be out of the frying pan instantly. There's still all these other prominent Big Mom Pirates that are aiming to take them down. There's also still Luffy v. Katakuri, which will be much more intense this time around. I give it March at the earliest, June at the latest for Whole Cake to be done.

As for this chapter, it was nice to see more of Bege on display, and get more insight into Pound's story. Bege's ship being amphibious didn't surprise me, but seeing Oven get ran over was pretty damn hilarious. The Sanji feats at this point almost feel patronizing. Who cares that he lifted a damn cart with a cake on it, compared to his feats against Oars? We saw him do an Anti-Manner kick course on a giant that stood him straight up as he was falling down, and that was before Water 7. I literally can't express enough how badly I want this redemption moment for Sanji combat-wise. We already knew Sanji was ridiculously fast because he matched a Fishman's speed in the water with Blue Walk, so of course he's absurdly fast. His strength as a fighter needs to be validated again by a strong enemy.

I do think Pound is dead, and once Chiffon learns the truth of who he was from Nami, I think it amplifies the tension between Oven and Bege. Now Bege has an even bigger vendetta for killing Pez' grandad, on top of hurting his wife. Will have to see what happens with this cake though.