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One Piece Manga |OT3| Anything You Can Gum I Can Gum Better

Lunar15

Member
It seemed pretty obvious to me that the theme of this arc was the effect that exploitative parents have on their children and how seeing your children as a means of satisfying your desires instead of what they love and want to do is one of the worst things you can do as a parent.

Like, how has this arc not been about that? From Sanji, to Pudding and Big Mom's children, Big Mom's homies and even Big Mom herself with her flashback.

That's a pretty great take. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how how the arc ends to see if it resolves that in a satisfying way. Big Mom becoming a psycho missile hasn't really helped that theme. Neither has the pacing. Also, Luffy's fight doesn't really tie into that theme in any meaningful way yet. The arc built up to a pivotal moment at the wedding that should have been a climax, but now it feels like we're building up to another climax.

I'll tell you what though, rather than sitting here and complaining, what I need to do is just go through the arc straight through once it's finished to give it a fair look. I just feel that individual chapters are rarely satisfying as Oda's pacing just feels cluttered and rushed.
 

NSESN

Member
She was still highly annoying during her brief appearances. I don't like the tsundere trope at all, so Pudding has been rubbing me the wrong way for a minute now.
She hardly fits the trope. She is more of a parody. It is just anothet gag in a series known for many gags.
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
So uh, what do we think about Napoleon saying "in my country, heinous criminals don't actually have much of a future, so..."?

Is... Napoleon from another country? Is he not a part of Big Mom's soul? Is he a living hat from Elbaf? Or is he the soul of some other guy who was put in a hat but Big Mom didn't obliviate his memories of his previous life like she did with everything else?
 

caliph95

Member
So uh, what do we think about Napoleon saying "in my country, heinous criminals don't actually have much of a future, so..."?

Is... Napoleon from another country? Is he not a part of Big Mom's soul? Is he a living hat from Elbaf? Or is he the soul of some other guy who was put in a hat but Big Mom didn't obliviate his memories of his previous life like she did with everything else?
It could be a hate from another country she put her soul in or it contains more than one
 

LotusHD

Banned
So uh, what do we think about Napoleon saying "in my country, heinous criminals don't actually have much of a future, so..."?

Is... Napoleon from another country? Is he not a part of Big Mom's soul? Is he a living hat from Elbaf? Or is he the soul of some other guy who was put in a hat but Big Mom didn't obliviate his memories of his previous life like she did with everything else?

The translation from JB says "our country" instead.
 
That's a pretty great take. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how how the arc ends to see if it resolves that in a satisfying way. Big Mom becoming a psycho missile hasn't really helped that theme. Neither has the pacing. Also, Luffy's fight doesn't really tie into that theme in any meaningful way yet. The arc built up to a pivotal moment at the wedding that should have been a climax, but now it feels like we're building up to another climax.

I think Big Mom's berserk rampages act as a manifestation of her relationship with her children; she's a greedy self-serving monster who's selfish desires trap her children into being subservient to her. The recent stretch of chapters where Big Mom has been chasing the strawhats also plays with this theme with the homies, who are also Big Mom's children in a way. The strawhats survived this stretch because they convinced King Baum to live for himself instead of just blindly following Big Mom, and by actually being a bit nicer to Zeus.

And yeah, Luffy and his fight with Katakuri doesn't necessarily tie into this theme, I think that's part of the larger story of Luffy growing stronger and improving. But Luffy vs Katakuri is not being set up as the big climax of the arc. Nothing really gets solved if Luffy beats Katakuri. It's Sanji, who has been a part of that theme of children living for themselves instead of their parents, who is being setup to save the day.

Which means that yeah, we are building to another climax. In the sense that Sanji vs Luffy was the climax of the "find Sanji" act of the story, and the wedding was the climax of the "assassinate Big Mom" act. They were climaxes because they shifting the story in a way that it couldn't come back from.
 

Anteater

Member
just shoot some water at big mom and that candy dude jinbe, or send some whales after them

interesting that big mom can't use prometheus and zeus

luffy got owned so i hope he'll come up with new moves that can't be copied (awakening), they specifically said Katakuri is the strongest commander so I wonder where Oda is going with this arc if he take him out, since he would've taken out 2 of them, sure Sanji's cake will calm down big mom but the strawhats have done plenty of damage
 
This was quick:

DKVOYJ9UIAETnUi.jpg
 

Anteater

Member
honestly happy to see someone kicking the shit out of Luffy in this arc, after the new world they were so strong that only thing threatens the crew was that they were being wreckless and dumb, i mean doffy was the only legit threat and luffy sorta won that with helps, so it'll be interesting to see how he get out of this
 

Ray Down

Banned
Pound :p

Though honestly i wonder how he gonna play into this now that he has returned to the story since I think most forgot/didn't expect him to be brought up again.

Maybe he breaks in and pulls a vaudeville and crashes into the cake, maybe more lola stuff and memory shenanigans.
 

Big One

Banned
I'm actually really sold on the idea of Carrot becoming a Strawhat due to Pedro's sacrifice. Pedro's story and role in Carrot's life is really no different than other characters like Dr. Hiruluk, Nico Oliva, Tom and etc. that influenced the Strawhats. The only difference is that Pedro's death happened in the present day rather than in the past.

It makes me wonder if there'll be a running theme of tragedy that happens in the present with future Strawhat members. Maybe somebody close to Jinbe will die as well that will kickstart his dream.
 

LotusHD

Banned
I'm actually really sold on the idea of Carrot becoming a Strawhat due to Pedro's sacrifice. Pedro's story and role in Carrot's life is really no different than other characters like Dr. Hiruluk, Nico Oliva, Tom and etc. that influenced the Strawhats. The only difference is that Pedro's death happened in the present day rather than in the past.

It makes me wonder if there'll be a running theme of tragedy that happens in the present with future Strawhat members. Maybe somebody close to Jinbe will die as well that will kickstart his dream.

If Carrot joins, I don't see anyone coming after her tbh
 

Big One

Banned
Wouldn't Jinbe be Fisher Tiger
Well yeah I meant that if Oda sticks to this theme of new Strawhats being nobodies until a present-day character influences them to have a dream starting with Carrot then maybe somebody in Jinbe's present life will influence him somehow. Like couldn't you imagine King Neptune sacrificing himself for Jinbe, for example? We're supposed to go back to Fishman Island EVENTUALLY in the story.
 
So uh, what do we think about Napoleon saying "in my country, heinous criminals don't actually have much of a future, so..."?

Is... Napoleon from another country? Is he not a part of Big Mom's soul? Is he a living hat from Elbaf? Or is he the soul of some other guy who was put in a hat but Big Mom didn't obliviate his memories of his previous life like she did with everything else?
That line confused me too but I chalked it up to a translation thing. Even without the his country part it makes no sense as a response.
 

RomanceDawn

Member
I'm actually really sold on the idea of Carrot becoming a Strawhat due to Pedro's sacrifice. Pedro's story and role in Carrot's life is really no different than other characters like Dr. Hiruluk, Nico Oliva, Tom and etc. that influenced the Strawhats. The only difference is that Pedro's death happened in the present day rather than in the past.

It makes me wonder if there'll be a running theme of tragedy that happens in the present with future Strawhat members. Maybe somebody close to Jinbe will die as well that will kickstart his dream.

Ace, White Beard?
 
Carrot plus Jinbe would be 10 crewmates plus Luffy, which fills out the tale.

It's all a perfect fit.

Regarding the chapter, it's another good one, and you can put me among those who have generally enjoyed WCI. Introduction of Germa, Pudding, the alliance with the Firetank Pirates, and seeing just how powerful an Emperor's crew is, not to mention how broken Big Mom herself is. It's been a really good arc for me, though the pacing itself has been kind of hit or miss at times.

Regarding Luffy and Katakuri, I feel like Gear Fourth on it's own is just too obvious. Luffy getting smashed by Katakuri the whole time and then going Boundman and smacking him around like Doflamingo seems silly, especially given it's time constraints. An unrevealed version of Fourth might be good. I feel like it's too early to do an Awakening now, too. That feels like something that should happen either during or after Wano. I don't see Katakuri imitating Gear Fourth in any case, but I do see him doing something to show off his real power, given that he's just toying with Luffy right now.

Also, you guys saying that Luffy is gonna eat Katakuri aren't serious, right...?
 

NSESN

Member
Carrot plus Jinbe would be 10 crewmates plus Luffy, which fills out the tale.

I still think that there will be more than 10. And I am still not sold with Carrot. She has yet to have a chapter focused on her compared to the other SH. Even Robin had focus in Alabasta.
 

DJwest

Member
And damn Luffy got schooled.

This is the first time in a while Luffy has been dominated in straight power.

This arc is a fantastic setup for the battle against Kaido. How the heck are the Strawhats going to beat the "Strongest Creature in the World", if Luffy straight out loses fights against the subordinates of another Yonko?

Luffy is getting completely outclassed at the moment. Really curious to see how he'll stack up against Katakuri in Gear Fourth.

Katakuri has cheat code see into future and out doing luffy attacks.
Still we know luffy not at full power since he has not used gear 4 yet.

That panel with Luffy getting kicked in the face was really painful. Katakuri kicked the fucking shit outta Luffy.

Luffy getting wrecked...

This is bad times!

Luffy is getting Sanji'd.

Hehehehe, loved this chapter! Luffy getting wrecked... Welcome to the new world, rookie! I'm not sure he will beat him with just Gear 4. And gosh, how are the SH going to defeat Kaido?
 

Ray Down

Banned
I still think that there will be more than 10. And I am still not sold with Carrot. She has yet to have a chapter focused on her compared to the other SH. Even Robin had focus in Alabasta.

It's only going to be 10 to match Blackbeard ten titans.

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I agree about Carrot but I rather not have the debate with her and Pedro be deader than Ace at this point since its just the same stuff back and forth.

It isn't a completely invalid strategy, but Luffy is having a hard time just getting close to him right now.

Well to be fair what if its just to sticky luffy cannot eat it?
 
It isn't a completely invalid strategy, but Luffy is having a hard time just getting close to him right now.

Outside of the obvious, which is the whole multiple Devil Fruits thing, I don't really understand how this is a valid strat at all. Maybe I'm missing something. Can someone explain it to me?
 

Ray Down

Banned
Outside of the obvious, which is the whole multiple Devil Fruits thing, I don't really understand how this is a valid strat at all. Maybe I'm missing something. Can someone explain it to me?

Yeah I'm not to fond on it either since wouldn't Katakuri just see what Luffy does and works around it.

That and if he sees Luffy come at him wouldn't he just make it so sticky to here he can't eat? Or like if you eat to much peanut butter at once and you cannot swallow it in one go.
 
Outside of the obvious, which is the whole multiple Devil Fruits thing, I don't really understand how this is a valid strat at all. Maybe I'm missing something. Can someone explain it to me?

I was thinking of it in a jokey, "take a bite out of crocodile" sort of way. I would never expect Luffy to win like that, but it would be fun to see him try.
 
I was thinking of it in a jokey, "take a bite out of crocodile" sort of way. I would never expect Luffy to win like that, but it would be fun to see him try.

Yeah, that would actually be pretty funny. Just Katakuri with that same stone face like, "...Seriously?"

Also, I've said it before, I'll say it again, Carrot for Straw Hat. Jinbei is a sure thing at this point. Just do it, Oda!
 
Gear 4 is kind of a question mark right now. As it stands, Katakuri technically couldn't replicate it due to the different properties between rubber and mochi. But while Luffy could use it, there's no guarantee he would be able to get a hit in. And if he does use it then he risks the stamina drain.

It's clear Gear 4 is going to come up, but it's hard to see what difference it could make.
 
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