*.:White ShadoW:.*

Some interesting developments... Oda's 5-year plan seem daunting, but I'm just going to enjoy the ride...

I thought that too initially, but both he and Kaido mentioned that he seemed on the verge of death, so I took the fatigue and the fact he had to re-summon the form mid-match as a portent of an extreme physical consequence later. I won't dismiss that possibility since everything Luffy is doing now in Gear 5 is completely unprecedented.

That said, post-Arc chapters are probably the most exciting world-building we see in One Piece, but these post-Wano arc exposition chapters will be the most important in Oda's career IMO. The tonal shift and narrative logic needs to be clarified for all the fans and it seems like a lot of work. Oda has to explain how the Gorosei could've overlooked or been lackadaisical about Luffy being in possession of the "Most Ridiculous Power" in the series, and why they only felt like desparately acting now despite fearing its awakening the last dozen chapters. Oda has to explain how Shanks is collaborating with the Gorosei and how it's logically mutually beneficial for both of them. If Oda just focuses on the aftermath without coherently explaining at least the first point, it might be an issue for many fans.

And now for my thoughts on this chapter: That was more typing than I'm used to.😅

Yes, it's funny that even back on OG SRK I called Shanks a "Haki God" explicitly. I can't wait to see him in action, I still think he might be able to conjure an arm manifested from pure ryuo haki when he does his serious sword techniques. He might've learned a thing or two from Gol D. Roger. As for this latest chapter. It was mostly exposition, and I feel this is going to be torture for anime fans since this moment might be 2.5 episodes in total, but I hope Luffy does something new with this attack other than being a "Big Punch". I love Kaido's trump card though, I respect that he wants to end this in his full Zoan dragon form as well. He doesn't stray from his theme. Also something I didn't address before. It seems despite Luffy's toon force healing he still can get harmed by cutting attacks, and with how he looked when Gear 5 was wearing off Luffy might be out for a surprisingly long time. Like borderline catatonic, this may be the drawback that prevents him from activating Gear 5 willy nilly. I wouldn't be surprised if the next mini-arc (which shows the blowback from Kaido's defeat) goes on for half a year before Luffy recovers.

He seems to be just loosely affiliated, the Charcoalbeard crew clearly doesn't trust him. And now for 1045... GOMU GOMU NO... My "Big O" theory might actually be correct...

Remember Reverse-Vitiligobeard said that he felt that the Yami Yami no Mi wanted him to find it, the only difference that he earned it in a more treacherous way by killing his captain Thatch than Luffy and Gomu Gomu no Mi.

The Lineage Factor is something that was elaborated by Judge Vinsmoke. It is the genetic history of all animals, including humans. Judge, Caesar, and Vegapunk learned about it, but only Vegapunk seems to truly have full understanding of it as he has been able to replicate the powers of Devil Fruits in other beings and learned how to make objects "eat" Zoan Devil Fruits (Funkfreed for example). He also was able to create an artificial Devil Fruit with no drawbacks unlike Caesar Clown's SMILES in the form of Momonosuke's artificial DF, derived from Kaido's Lineage Factor. In Vinsmoke's case he learned how to manipulate the Lineage factor to modify his children's bodies, like with Sanji he unlocked Lunarian-like abilities. It may be that the Will of D might have something to do with the Lineage Factor and not just direct heritage, which would explain why even a full giant like Jaguar D Saul is also a D. Fortunately, Oda promised that we will meet Vegapunk after this arc and he will explain everything about Devil Fruits... unfortunately that could mean we'll know in 2024. 🤣

I've had that feeling from the very beginning, unfortunately my entire treatise was deleted along with all of SRK, but essentially I tied it in with Davy Jone's Locker being another term for oceanic hell or the afterlife, which coincides with Devil Fruits being weak to the sea. The souls and artifacts of all who died in the lost civilization got turned/ reincarnated into Devil Fruits. Zunisha was likely a witness to the old civilization. The only missing link is what the Lineage Factor has to do with all of this... EDIT: I just realized that by coincidence, my previous review of chapter 1044 was my 100th post. WOOT!

And regarding what we saw this chapter— I've been also speculating this possibility for a while: This was a long 2 weeks, so glad no break next week!

I've been hitting refresh on manga sites praying for an early release of chapter 1044. SO HYPE!!!

I'm quite hopeful that Oda will make the whole revelation coherent and not *pure* deus ex machina. I would definitely hate if Luffy's victory was solely through Joyboy taking over. That said, it wasn't like Oda wasn't leaving substantial breadcrumbs involving Joyboy and the whole underlying narrative of fate and "The Will of D". I remember when Nico Robin save Monkey D Luffy and I wondered what made her heel turn in the grand picture. Only to find out 3 arcs later that her random sentimentality came from the kindness of Jaguar D Saul. Kid Nico Robin was also spared by Aokiji, whose mentor was Monkey D Garp. Everything we've has been interwoven with a grander plan, the mercy and defiance of the D clan has been shaping the future in ways that the World Government nor Im cannot comprehend nor predict.

Yes, it seems so. It also coincides with what was explained by Kaku regarding the Devil Fruits... I think we've seen him before, I never forgot that smile... https://images.mangafreak.net/mangas/one_piece/one_piece_66/one_piece_66_2.jpg https://images.mangafreak.net/mangas/one_piece/one_piece_66/one_piece_66_12.jpg

I seriously did not see this coming. Oh and there's also Dragon Momonosuke and Zunisha who can run interference...

LET'S GO!!! I'm so hype for next week!

Hey Dr. J! Hope you've been doing well. I was in Japan for a couple years but now I'm back in Europe coincidentally.

I hath returned brethren! This is a good but tricky question but I would say Conqueror's Haki > *. Awakening is amazing, but much of Big Mom's defeat is attributed to the uniqueness of Law's Devil Fruit rather than just Awakening itself. K-Room just happened to have the rare effect that could bypass Big Mom's ridiculous defenses but most other Awakened abilities wouldn't have fared well, as we saw with Kidd who played mostly a Marvel assist role the whole fight. But this arc isn't over yet, Luffy's Gear 4th has already displayed abilities that resemble an Awakened state, so I wouldn't be surprised if Luffy just refines it or find a way to take away the drawbacks somewhat... But yeah Law and Kidd finally defeating Big Mom was glorious, and the R-Room was also strategically smart since it didn't alert anyone of destruction. Now there's only one real battle left, and I can't wait to see Luffy finally being pushed to his true limits!

Ah Yes! Although there's a break next week I hope chapter 1036 will give us what we've been waiting for...

Some interesting developments... I hope to see True Form Asura soon!

Unbelievable I wrote out a long ass post and it got deleted when I switched tabs!!!🤬 Alright let's do this again... It's a pity I've been a bit busy to post here but the latest developments have been awesome, namely Kidd's and Law's Awakening! Law's Kroom is quite interesting as it seems to create Room inside the opponent bypassing their haki-clad defenses. I guess since it's not considered an offensive move armaments can't detect it allowing the true attack to be concealed. Pretty cool. Kidd's Magnetic Assign ability is pretty cool too, even though it proved more to be a nuisance to Big Mom than anything, however in a melee situation, especially with a non-Yonko opponent it'd be very powerful. Nascent usage of awakening seems to be quite taxing on the body, so I think Law and Kidd only have 1 more of those attacks before being fully drained. They're going to have to devise a strategy to ensure those final attacks hurt. These revelations regarding Awakened Devil Fruits also shows how impressive Doflamingo and Katakuri's mastery over their Awakened abilities are as they showed zero fatigue when using them. They likely discovered their abilities years ago. Sanji destroying the Raid suit was a bit disappointing but it's meant to show his resolve and his disdain for his former Germa family. Continued use might've actually taken away his humanity but I also feel he could've at least waited for Franky to check it later on and maybe remove those issues. Ah well... But back to Awakening, I think the recent showing of awakening hints at Luffy discovering his abilities this arc. Luffy's Gear 4th moves like Kong Organ and Black Mamba— where he literally sprouts extra limbs from his arms l pretty much shows he's on the cusp of being fully Awakened. Last but not least, CP0... I guess being the special secret police of the Celestial Dragons requires next level strength. The fact that Robin exclaimed that their skills far exceed that of CP9 means they might have even more refined form of Rokushiki, superseding even the versatility of Who's Who. I can't wait to see what they're truly capable of... "LET'S GO CRAZY!!!"

So Luffy has finally entered the realm of the 4 Kings. After nearly 20 years of reading One Piece to finally see him split the sky... Damn I can't wait to see this week's chapter.

Sanji likely has Lunarian genes via the "Lineage Factor" experimentation Judge spoke of, but didn't inherit all of the racial characteristics of a Lunarian (i.e., wings or even stature?). Shandians, Birkans, and Skypeians are likely their true descendants, if anything. Bear in mind Sanji was considered a complete failure of an experiment according to Judge, since he was born with empathy and no obvious superhuman abilities. Diable Jambe likely manifested later and Sanji blindly believed it was solely due to his passionate nature. On the other hand, techniques like Luffy's Red Hawk— which conjure fire, are likely based off Haki.

To be fair Oda has given us a ton of chapters uninterrupted, I can only imagine how much sleep he's lost for our enjoyment. For the first time in a long time I can say I can actually wait 2 weeks. Some more things of note: -Zoro's dad and the story involving how he (and presumably his mother) left Wano will probably be reserved for the end of the arc but nonetheless intrigues me, as Zoro is the last OG Strawhat to not have a real deep dive into their origins. -Like other sky races, Lunarians have wings. But one thing I noticed is unlike the Skypeians, Birkans, and Shandians the Lunarians have fully formed angelic wings, while the other sky races have these tiny cherubic wings by comparison. This leads me to believe that they're definitely offshoot of the Lunarians, only inheriting some of their characteristics. -In the Vivre Card releases in Japan King's bounty was revealed to be 1,390,000,000 beri, eclipsing even Commander level Katakuri. Although completely unfounded I think in addition to the Beast Pirates being more destructive overall, a lot of King's bounty might be owed to simply being the member of an ancient race the WG wants erased from history. The same way Nico Robin had an 8 figure bounty as little kid because of being an Oharan. Now as for 1025: Last but not least... 💀

Latest Chapter is out and Holy Shieeet! https://onepiecechapters.com/manga/one-piece-chapter-1023 Some really interesting reveals: I'm 90% sure that after the major events of Wano conclude we will finally see Vegapunk, these revelations are right in line with a face reveal. Oda said ages ago that once he appears all the secrets of the Devil Fruits will be answered which is likely why he's been holding him back for so long. He might even be one of "them". I'm So Hype Right Now!!!

^ I was just about to post this. lol Some interesting developments...