*.:White ShadoW:.*

The first chapter of One Piece... Romance Dawn.

Also I've been mulling over the latest chapter and I think regarding a certain ancestor... Also it just dawned on me that Imu is "Umi" backwards. I know that "umi" means sea in Japanese, which means we might've seen Imu's presence pre-timeskip and didn't even realize it... A veritable force of nature.

Yes! I've been saying this since post-Dressrosa. Too many flourishes and extended cuts ruins the visceral nature of the attacks. The seizure-filled special effects are blinding, distracting and borderline nonsensical at times. One Piece is a bit more gorunded and doesn't need all these auras and fluff. When we do see haki manifesting in black lightning and extra stuff like that it looks epic because you feel the characters had to reach a really high level just to manifest these effects. If Zoro and Luffy can just generate DBZ SSJ auras casually it doesn't feel like One Piece. Hell, we didn't even see Zoro's direct attack that finished King, which in the manga was an epic ranged slash that sliced through King's Imperial Dragon. In the anime it's just blinding explosive flashes to the aftermath. Look at Zoro vs Pica and tell me if this isn't more visually grounded while still being epic?

Playing catch-up here but I think T-Bone might've willingly sacrificed himself or went along with the scheme and faked his death. T-Bone was shown to be a compassionate soul in the past and he might've been conflicted with seeing all the mass starvation as well as the World Government turning a blind eye on their suffering and sought a way to balance the scales a bit. As for this latest chapter...

Now we finally know that when... GODA still world building even when the series is near its completion...

Oh and mild spoilers but Toei just leaked their official New World OST for a certain Yonko this chapter:

I gotta give Oda credit, this one has me completely stumped.

YES! Just as predicted! Please Goda, please show us the fight and not the aftermath! 🙏

100% Co-Sign... I have not a single ounce of hope in this "Western modern audience" translation of a unique series like this ever being good in any way shape or form. CW/ Netflix-fied One Piece makes me shudder at the thought. The funny thing is an honest fanmade short would probably be more charming even with cheesy SFX and homemade costumes, because it'd be produced by people with a genuine understanding and passion for the series rather than this crap. Like I don't care if the Luffy's actor is Brazilian or w/e this isn't what makes One Piece beloved.

Not that this means everything in the One Piece world but we've seen the size of the Gorosei compared to Admirals and Shanks and they're larger than normal. I have a feeling their fealty to Im is due to being living relics of the Void Century, likely surviving due to Ope Ope no Mi. I said this a far while back but Doflamingo's grand plot in Dressrosa was basically replicating the machinations of "Mariejoa's Secret Treasure" aka Im. Im clearly has immortality, Doflamingo wanted the same immortality via Law performing the surgery. Im has an entire kingdom with a central core of ultra-loyalists maintaining everything, Doffy had the same for the most part. Doflamingo's Ito Ito no Mi ability is basically the physical manifestation of the puppeteering people to do his bidding, Im has been doing with the World Government and its allies for centuries. Doflamingo was trying to copy Im's playbook but couldn't due to Strawhat (Joyboy) Luffy aka "God's Natural Enemy", especially since Im's main factor of control is their complete anonymity. It seems even the Admirals and CP0 are completely unaware of Im's existence. This allows a level of passive control and tyranny of society Donquixote couldn't imagine, which made him a clear target. How does this tie into the Gorosei? Their loyalty was probably rewarded with immortality and power ages ago, the Gandhi dude with the giant almost certainly Legendary sword likely wielded it at some point. Each of them probably has some governance over a quadrant of the OP world. For example, the blonde youngest one controls the North Blue, etc... In any case, this doesn't have to mean they are as proficient at fighting as a Yonko, but I'm sure they're no slouches. The real problem is that a Gorosei's command to the Seraphim supersedes all other instructions, making his presence incredibly dangerous by default. Oda did an amazing job of building up to this moment with Bad Future elderly Stussy. PEAK PIECE!!!

I would like the fight to be manga accurate. Just like vs Doflamingo, once Luffy attains his new form Lucci should get mollywhopped like in manga canon. They can extend the initial clash but once Luffy goes into high gear there should be no dispute that G5 Luffy is wrecking shop. One of the things I hate about the timeskip era anime are the hyper-extended forced trades and clashes that show Luffy or Zoro struggling when these moments never happened. It cheapens the moment and makes them look weaker. Luffy's King Kong Gun obliterated Doflamingo's Heavenly Threads in the manga but in the anime it showed Luffy struggling for 3 minutes, which makes no sense because of how the attack works, this isn't a beam clash. Conversely, Kaido's Thunder Bagua in the manga utterly speed blitzed G4 Luffy before he could even move which showed how dominant he was, but the anime retcons things which takes away from the narrative quality. Those are my two cents anyway. That said, that depiction of Luffy vs Lucc part deux is fantastic, mucho props to the creator.

Lucci is such a damn hater...

So much to unpack in the last 2 chapters, Lore Piece is maxing out. Gear 5 Luffy is showing even more ridiculous abilities. Although subtle G5 Luffy producing functional glasses from his hair is next level. It makes me think that a Luffy with a full realization of his abilities will be able to produce objects and shape his environment to his liking... Which might mean physically mending the Red Line and easily "destroying" Fishman Island as predicted. I loved how despite the impressive upgrade Lucci could barely hold on, even though he overwhelmed Sentomaru's defenses, a man Luffy couldn't even touch with Gear 2nd pre-timeskip. A true emperor. I can't wait to see arguably the second most theoretically broken DF user Kizaru fares against the Mugiwaras. S-Hawk is an interesting one, my guess is that they gave him the Supa Supa no Mi so he can still slice and dice without his replica sword and Daz Bones was a prisoner in Impel Down. My theory is also that Vegapunk gave these artificial beings Lunarian physiology to make up for the fact that they can't utilize Haki, since Haki literally translates to "ambition" and they have none. I will elaborate more later because the Lineage Factor is a very fascinating topic that will take some time to delve into. Also, those WG agents that turned to stone from kid S-Hancock's Mero Mero no Mi need to get their statues destroyed immediately...

Good point, like Judge Vinsmoke seems to have a finer-tuned understanding on manipulating the Lineage Factor than Vegapunk, at least in the past. Well knowing his brain ability definitely explains why Im finds him more of a liability.

2 Chapter Recap

LORE PIECE! So much to unpack this chapter that I have to read it one more time. Seeing that ancient giant robot rocks because ever since the flashback with Nico Oliva and Ohara revealing the lost advanced civilization (still my top 5 OP chapters) I have been waiting too long for Vegapunk's arrival. As I've been theorizing Vegapunk has been more or less discovering past tech from the forgotten past and using it as inspiration. The impressive part is that he has the knowledge and skills to use this knowledge to create his own tech or offshoot abilities. Shaka being Logic is probably the closest to his true self, and his words might be the truest intentions. His design looks vaguely inspired by something but I can't remember what... It also seems like Vegapunk has more or less mastered the lineage factor as he can splice different races to create novel hybrids, also including devil fruit abilities and even latent skills like with the Jimbei seraphim knowing fishman karate. At first I thought it was only Zoans that could be mimicked since they are more biological in nature but now it seems even Paramecia abilities are possible. Logias and mythical DFs might have special properties to make them even more challenging to replicate and go beyond the standard rules of replication. In any case, having these seraphim present around the world and functioning as pseudo-Shichibukai presents an existential threat not only to our Strawhat superheroes but the entire world. The game has changed because it's crazy how much harder, better, faster, and stronger than the previous Pacifistas due to having super-robust Lunarian physiology, hinting Lunarians are augmented beings themselves. As for Vegapunk himself, it seems he's been able to divide his core biological functions into individuals, but essentially he's human after all. As we're near the end of the line I hope we'll get lucky and he'll unpack the whole mystery of the void century and the name of this mysterious island before CP-0 comes for him; I've waiting nearly 18 years for this epic discovery. And as a final note, the combat abilities of a Fishman that can swim and utilize different materials as water is pretty broken and a fresh concept. Throwing "solid" metal or stone as if it was water can not be underestimated. I wonder when Jimbei and the seraphim make contact if there'll be a father and son relationship, well if its even alive and can sense emotion that is...

A few things I wanted to talk about last chapter but didn't post in time: - Oda solidifying that with enough Haki you can override certain abilities was good, since people were complaining how Kaido and Big Mom couldn't be affected by Law's Room which was unprecedented back then. To me it made sense but w/e... - I found it interesting that the Kurohige Pirate captains all took abilities that made them more of what they already are, with Van Auger's teleportation ability being especially useful. I had Usopp pinned as his final opponent but he needs to level up beyond his observation haki, which he hasn't really definitively since Dressrosa. - Teach's way of doing things is what makes him the most "piratey" pirate IMO. Even though he has the fate hax effect working in his favor he's also smart enough to position himself in the right places. If he gets the hand on those copies of the poneglyphs he might end up being the first to Laugh's Tale.

Just as expected... Curiouser and curiouser...

THIS! Glorious!

Indeed... Honestly, I hope a meeting between Kaido and Luffy will be happening soon, as I've been waiting to see bloodlusted Luffy now that he's gotten some OP upgrades.

So this was a fantastic chapter! Pretty much the type of exposition chapter that makes me excited for the future: Oh and Vasco Shot is a sleazy grapist... confirmed.

YES! After the endless online debate the word of Goda finally makes it clear... Now this is spoiler involving Shanks in OP Movie Red BE WARNED! And interesting juxtaposition with "Hawkeyes" Mihawk huh?

Yes Zoro's Kyuutoru "Jest of the Dead" attack was soooo overdone in the anime that the impact of the strike felt less cool. I've been gone for a while because I got a new laptop and couldn't remember my password. -_- Anyway the recap... I liked that Yamato got to prove his mettle to his compatriots and gain some self-confidence. I liked that Green Bull showed heightened defenses towards obvious weaknesses like fire, and the scene of the Monster Trio casually relaxing to the scene, confident in their skills was god tier flexing. Which leads me to a minor gripe about the latest chapter, I don't think Carrot's appointment into being the leader of the Minks is well-earned as she has shown no prior interest, made no exceptional sacrifices compared to her peers nor any intrinsic leadership qualities. The contrast between Momo's and Carrot's journey makes this even more apparent. But it is what it is... Most importantiy... I've been calling Shanks a "Haki God" for years, and the fact that he could send his Conquerors Haki directly to Green Bull who got shook by it enough to get the hint. *bows* Sabo and the Revolutionaries wrecking shop, which makes me wonder what Dragon is doing? I feel like he might have his own solitary agenda. I always speculated his fury has to be about what happened with Luffy's mother, who I wouldn't be surprised is/was a Tenryuubito. Also Oda promised us Vegapunk's reveal after Wano was over, as well as the full explanation of what Devil Fruits are and how they work. It's funny how Vegapunk thought Momonosuke DF was a failure when it's pretty much an X-Copy of Kaido's in almost every way.

Precisely. Basil Hawkin's prediction was based on his own odds, and makes him the first Supernova casualty. What is pretty interesting is that rather than try to change the odds he actually stuck to his convictions by siding with Kaido. He compromised by joining Kaido and now had a chance to flee the battle or switch sides but chose to ride out his fate on his own terms. It was the first time we've seen him try to defy the odds and I feel he was tired of the constant pragmatism. The odds were in favor of the Strawhat alliance all along.