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One Piece (Beware, spoilers)

I just don’t think this was meant to be Usopp’s arc, the same way Wano wasn’t Zoro’s, even though his master was from the master swordsmith family and escaped to Zoro’s island. That was more a fan hope in both cases and doesn’t seem to be Oda’s intent - ultimately each arc is Luffy’s.
 
While true, it feels like wasted potential. Usopp always wanted to reach Elbaf, since we had been on Little Garden. It's such a good opportunity, to give him a bit of focus, something the individual crew members could use. So I understand the disappointment, when it doesn't happen.

Oh well, looking forward to Sanji and Zorro beating the crap out of some royal knights losers.
 
Well, that was quite a lot for one chapter. Liked it a lot, very fast paced, but not leaving out anything relevant, and hitting when it should, I thought. And I guess that pacing means, that the flashback will be over soon, too.

I get a bit Rose of Versailles vibes, Candelle visually reminds me of Oscar. Considering the hair, and the uniform being based on Central Europe of that time, I assume that might be intentional.
 
Definitely not wasting time, this current flashback - which is a relief!

I wonder if the fog and plague are going to be further explained or whether that’s just meant to be a natural disaster that can unluckily befall anywhere.
 
I'm glad Second Flashback seems to be short, not that it doesn't have interesting info but I really want to get back to the present. I didn't exactly need the origin story of Brook's weirdly polite manner of being a creep.

The focus on Brook now feels weird. I've seen a lot of talk about how Elbaf should have been Usopp's arc, and while it's better that the story goes where it makes sense to go rather than where fans have expected it to go it is a bit disappointing. Zoro should have been more involved in Wano (his teacher back in the East Blue likely hailed from there) but wasn't, Franky should have been more involved in Egghead but wasn't, because the story just didn't go that way.

But it underlines a problem I've had with One Piece for awhile now that I've had trouble articulating. The crew as a whole has just been weirdly static ever since the time skip. They really haven't changed at all. They get new power-ups sometimes sure, it's still a shonen, but as characters they've been more or less unchanged since reuniting at Sabaody. All of the big character moments we've had in the New World have come from new arc-specific characters, the Rebeccas and the Yamatos and the Bonneys. The Straw Hats have felt less like characters and more like pieces that are plugged into a story to say their expected catchphrases, do some cool battles, and not much else. They haven't really done anything.

Can you imagine a moment like Usopp leaving the crew in Water 7 happening now? The closest we got was Whole Cake Island, and even then Sanji's situation felt weightless as if everyone knew it would be resolved quickly, and it was.

It's wild to think that the crew has been more or less static since the time skip which, at this point, happened before the halfway mark of the current chapter total. We've been in the post-time skip for more of the series's entire run than before it. The Straw Hats just are what they are now, and have been for most of the series. Those early moments of growth not only feel like a lifetime ago, but from a different series entirely.

I've been hoping that as we approach the end we'd start to see growth again, as the Straw Hats come closer to fulfilling their dreams, or actually do so. Some are more likely than others, Zoro's dream will be fulfilled when he defeats Mihawk in their inevitable duel, it's just a matter of waiting for that. Nami likely won't fulfill her dream of drawing a map of the world within the timeframe of the series itself, but we'll likely see it done in some flash-forward at the very end. But Usopp's nebulous dream of 'being a brave warrior of the sea'... if that's not fulfilled in Elbaf then where? He got one moment in this entire arc, when he was about to fire on Gunko but she closed the gap instantly, he doesn't hesitate and fires point-blank getting caught in the explosion himself. But that's not growth so much as a cool moment. I guess that's all we're going to get?

I dunno. I'd like to be shocked by something happening with the crew again, but I guess Oda just has too much plot to get through, at least that's how it feels. The Straw Hats are just along for the ride in their own story.
 
Hmm, did the Strawhats ever have much development outside of their arcs and flashbacks? Like, Zorro got his part when encountering Mihawk, but elsewise? Telling Luffy, that he can NOT go to Usopp during Water 7, without Usopp apologizing, or taking Kumas attack in Thriller Bark doesn't seem much like development either. Namis development happened over East Blue as a whole, but also seems stagnant on the Grand Line.

I mean, maybe I misremember. But I think that has been a thing from the start of the series almost. Characters get their arc, and then are kinda done developing? Please correct me, if I'm wrong.

I mean, I wished giving each crew member a final arc, essentially, would have been great, but I guess it will not happen like that. A shame.

The problem is maybe more, that as the series went on, we just haven't seen them just hang out. Or it's extremely rare, more than at the start. They could do with a small arc that's just them and an antagonist, like that weird movie with the cool, but strange, artstyle. To explore the crews dynamics a bit. Which will not happen, but it would be fun.
 
It was nice to see Sanji calling for Robin’s help in Wano, rather than sacrificing himself to protect her and never relying on a woman, as I would have expected pre-timeskip
 
Huh, so we really start this final meta-arc with fighting Imu. That's unexpected. I don't see Luffy losing here, the way everything is set up, so that changes things up a bit. Still assuming that Garling will be the final bad of this group, taking over Imus place.
 
I doubt that the crew will ever have to go and backtrack to Marijoa for an arc, so there's a good chance that this fight with Imu is the last time Luffy will have to contend with the World Government, unless they just keep slingshotting heavy hitters deep into the new world from the Red Line like they've been doing.

Maybe Imu will flee when he loses and while he's licking his wounds back at the Holy Land the revolutionaries will finally actually do something and attack and Dragon will topple the elders and Imu.

Hahaha, just kidding. Dragon's not going to do anything ever.
 
Now I wonder, if Luffy actually loses here. I mean, visually, it seems pretty clear, the last panel is pretty intense. But it is also possible, that it will lead to him finding a new level of accessing his fruit power, maybe? I mostly wonder, because he promised to never run away again, in some earlier part of One Piece (I think after Whole Cake Island?).
 
Heck of a way to end a chapter (with a hiatus next week to boot!). I've seen some people compare the last panel of this chapter to one from nearly a thousand chapters ago, when Crocodile impaled Luffy. Probably the first big '...oh shit' moment of the series. Guess we'll see where this goes soon enough.

And I love that the big fated first meeting between Imu and Joyboy seems to be the result of Joyboy dialing the wrong number on his Denden Mushi.
 
Oh, yeah, good catch. The spoilered part seems also reminiscent of that a bit. Specifically when Sanji talked to Crocodile.

I keep wondering now. Giving Elbaf a big loss would feel fitting for the start of the last meta-arc. But then, considering that Zorro and Sanji are still clearly getting their own fights, this isn't over yet, and I can see Luffy making a comeback. Defeating Imu here, especially after what just happened, would be pretty cool. And it would set things in motion in the world government even more.
 
I'm leaning towards a partial victory myself: they'll probably prevent the kidnapping, and Zoro and Sanji may defeat the knights, to show their dominion of conqueror's haki and the like, but I don't think Imu will be defeated yet, after having hyped him up so much.
Most likely Imu will have to withdraw, mostly because of his "can't get away from Mariejoise for too long" condition, maybe combined with having to deal with the simultaneous threat of maybe partially-recovered Loki, maybe also partially-recovered Luffy (though less likely), and perhaps Shuri/Gunko...? Maybe Zoro, Sanji & the giants, if the kids situation is resolved...?

Whatever it may be, it'll probably still take quite a few weeks/months to get to. 😅
 
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