(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1190)
おぞましい姿...!! この世の者とは思えねェ…!!
What a hideous form...!! Doesn't even look like a person from this world...!!
姿 (sugata) means form, shape or appearance, so there's a chance that this really isn't Imu's real body, or maybe it's a half or full Zoan transformation. 世 (yo) means world or society, but it can also mean age, era or generation. So you can read Gaban's words as Imu's form not being of this world (he looks like a demon who should be in hell) or not being of this time (he looks like something who doesn't belong in this new era). I assume they chose to write it as "mortal world" to differentiate from the other time he talks about "the world", in which he uses the word 世界 (sekai)
Gaban's phrasing is very similar to how Oden put it, about knowing/learning/understanding the world. Gaban says he is someone who "knows the world" and he also knows enough about Imu to figure that he would want to kill Luffy because he reminded Imu of Joyboy. When Imu asks him what he knows, Gaban answers that he knows Joyboy's words
Which makes me wonder, does Imu know what Joyboy's words are? Can he guess? Instead of killing off all the scholars in Ohara, wouldn't it have been better to get them to translate the road poneglyphs, find Laughtale and destroy it? Was there a reason why they couldn't, or were they just arrogant enough to assume they could just restrict the knowledge?
Rocks has already made the association between Imu and "the world", and we know that Imu is mentioned in some way in whatever Joyboy wrote at Laughtale, but how much of Gaban and Oden saying that they know "the world" was just them saying that they know about Imu specifically?
What did Rocks know about Joyboy and Imu, for that matter? Did he learn it from being a descendant of Davy Jones? Are there like family legends passed down about the Void Century? Is that why the Davy Clan was hunted?
This arc is increasingly reminding me of Sabaody and Marineford. Luffy was riding a high of having developed a new power and defeated a powerful enemy (Gears 2 and 3, Enies Lobby - Gear 5, Wano), he gets a reality check when faced with someone higher up in the world (Kizaru/arguably most people at Marineford - Imu), he needs to be saved by allies that are more powerful than him (Rayleigh/Whitebeard Pirates - Gaban). The fact that Gaban emphasizes the danger to the rest of the Straw Hats just makes the resemblance stronger
Just like how Mihawk's appearance at Baratie served to reframe Zoro in the context of the power levels in the Grand Line, both Sabaody and Marineford served to reframe Luffy in the context of the New World. Up until that point, he had been blasting through all of their enemies, and even if he struggled, he still managed to come out on top and relatively unscathed. Luffy is relentless and resourceful, but blind grit can only get you so far. He needed time to learn how to use his Haki and his Gears, but he hasn't really had that with Gear5, has he? While being ridiculous and unserious is an essential part of Gear5 and I don't think that Luffy will or even should lose that, he still doesn't know how to use it to its full advantage
One of the major drawbacks to Gear5 is Luffy's lack of stamina. His fights should ideally be quick, but he gets easily distracted and loses precious amounts of time, which takes a toll on his body and requires frequent stops to recharge. And we could already see the cracks in that forming in Egghead, where Luffy fought Lucci, Kizaru and the Five Elders, and he didn't actually defeat any of them. It was nice to see him fighting Kizaru again, and it showed how far he came since Sabaody, but the real enemy is so much larger than a mere Navy Admiral, and the only thing Luffy could really do was hold them back, even when he was just up against Saturn
I keep thinking about the people whose death brings celebration aside from the context that Gaban provides, in which the people celebrating the fall of the previous king or other contenders for the throne are the ones who are also competing for it. Yeah, every pirate looking to find the One Piece will celebrate the defeat of other rival pirates also looking for it
But there are also the common people who will cheer for their deaths, like what happened after Marineford, when you can see people rejoicing after Ace and Whitebeard died, or how people talked about Roger's death. And these instances are explicitly contrasted in the story with the devastation felt by the people who actually knew Ace, Whitebeard and Roger, showing the difference between the death of a person and the death of an image
It also says something about all of the "deaths" that are celebrated at the end of country liberation arcs (One Piece doesn't really do killing as a rule, but to the people in those countries I don't think it matters much whether the villains are dead or just unconscious in the end). We know that their defeat was morally right and justified, but to a common person looking in from the outside, the death of an Emperor like Whitebeard might just be as morally justified as the defeat of an Emperor like Kaido. It's all a matter of perspective and propaganda. A pirate like Luffy defeating Kaido and taking his place as Emperor could be seen as trading one bad thing for another, depending on how it's framed to the rest of the world, while the good and just Marines killing Whitebeard and Ace is seen as a net gain for society, even though we know it's really the other way around
Gaban says that Luffy doesn't have the 器 (utsuwa), meaning caliber, ability or capacity. Way back in Baratie, when Krieg kept asking Luffy which one of them was King of the Pirates material, he used the same word, and Luffy confidently asserts that he (Luffy) is, that Krieg is no good for it. So it's interesting and sort of devastating to have the left hand of the Pirate King himself tell Luffy that he doesn't have what it takes
Gaban's attack name is カマキリ斧法 with the furigana ぶっぽう (buppou). カマキリ (kamakiri) means praying mantis and 斧法 is probably a play on the word 仏法 (buppou), which means Buddhism or Buddhist teachings. Gaban switched the kanji 仏, meaning Buddha, with the one for axe
TCB mentioned that the name could be a reference to a parable from the Zhuangzi, which is an ancient Chinese work, one of the foundational texts of Taoism, and very influential in adapting Buddhism to Chinese culture. The parable is about a mantis trying to stop a chariot, giving rise to the idiom 螳臂当车 (táng bì dāng chē), translated as "a mantis raises its arm to block the chariot". It generally has a negative connotation, implying a lack of understanding of one's own limits and warning against blind arrogance and hubris. I think the Japanese version of the idiom is 蟷螂の斧 (tourou no ono), which literally translates to "mantis' axe" but is used as a noun to mean a courageous but doomed resistance
Imu's attack is called 蟷螂梅 (touroubai), with 蟷螂 (tourou) also meaning praying mantis and 梅 (bai) meaning plum. This is maybe related to the 螳螂拳 (tourouken) or praying mantis style from Northern kung fu. There are several different praying mantis styles, but one of them is called Plum Blossom Praying Mantis
I wonder what Gaban meant with that attack and what exactly he's implying is a doomed attempt. Who is the mantis and who is the cariot? Is it the people in Elbaf trying to resist the apparently unbeatable Imu? Is it Imu's attempts at erasing history and restraining the "future"? Is that why Imu asks if this is a joke to him?
So we now have 10 named weapons from the 19 original nations. This one is called 骨喰藤四郎 (honebami toushirou), which is the name of a real sword made by Awataguchi Yoshimitsu, common name Toshiro, a master swordsmith from around the 13th century. The kanji for 骨喰 (honebami) literally translate to "bone eater" and there are apparently many tales about its name, usually involving the sword being sharp enough to shatter bones, or the way it cuts bones so easily making it seem as if it swallows them whole
Also, how interesting that the sword's guard is in the shape of a little snake eating its own tail. As a reference to ouroboros? To Jörmungandr?
As others have already pointed out, the fact that the former Roger Pirates still want to see his dream come true means that the dream is not something that had to be done by him specifically. And since it's very much implied that he and Luffy share the same (or at least a similar) dream, then that would mean that Luffy's dream is also something that doesn't necessarily have to do with him personally
For a moment I thought that Imu's use of the word "remnant" could have something to do with the inconvenient remnants of the Harley text, but they're not the same word. Imu uses the word 残党 (zantou), which means remnants or survivors, and the Harley text uses the word 残影 (zan'ei), which can also mean remnants, but more in the sense of a trace or afterimage left behind, a shadow, and echo, the dark spots in your eyes after you stare at the sun
The remaining Whitebeard Pirates, for example, were called zantou by Big Mom. Remnants in the sense of zan'ei seem much more like how Imu sees people like Joyboy, the previous Niddhoggr and Davy Jones, people who are long gone but who left a trace of themselves in the world and who Imu can't seem to let go of
I'll be honest, I had no memory that Crocus had mentioned Roger after he met the Straw Hats lol
I know that Crocus was already at Reverse Mountain more than 50 years ago and that he went back there after the Roger Pirates disbanded because of Laboon, but it feels a little suspicious how well positioned some of them were along the Paradise portion of the Grand Line, right? For story purposes of course it makes perfect sense, but in universe it's kind of funny that both Crocus and Rayleigh were at strategic points, since ships from all the Blues would pass through Reverse Mountain and then eventually converge at Sabaody if they wanted to cross over to the New World
We know they were all waiting for the crew that would surpass them, so I wonder if at least Rayleigh chose to stay in Sabaody on purpose, so that he would be in an ideal place to help or at least witness when that crew eventually showed up
Gaban, Rayleigh, Crocus and Oden all went to Laughtale, so it makes sense that they're all looking for someone who will... inherit Roger's Will? Joyboy's Will? Both? Anyway, they're thinking of specific people that Roger said would show up in the near future (I say near because he seemed to believe they would coincide with the birth of the next Poseidon, aka Shirahoshi). And it looks like Roger said at least something to that effect when he told Whitebeard about the Will of D., enough for him to also be able to guess at the kind of person Roger was waiting for
But Shanks didn't go to Laughtale, he doesn't seem like the sort of person who would ask for that kind of information without going there himself, and the other Roger Pirates probably wouldn't tell him anyway, seeing how Rayleigh was against telling the Straw Hats any details in advance, and wanted them to figure things out for themselves. We don't know enough yet, so it's always possible that Roger told him about the Will of D. stuff just like he told Whitebeard, but I think it's more likely that whatever Shanks knows he discovered while he was in Marijoa. But Shanks' faith in Luffy seems to be just because he's Luffy. Maybe because destiny or the will of the Nika fruit chose him, maybe because Shanks sees both himself and Roger in him, maybe just because of how much they bonded in that year he spent in Windmill Village
I assume that "we" means Imu and the Five Elders, the ones who have been actively trying to get rid of Luffy ever since Wano. Even with Luffy struggling so much, Gaban still believes that Luffy is in fact the one they've been waiting for, but Imu disagrees. He seems to think that they have been too caught up in the fact that Luffy ate the Nika fruit, managed to awaken it and has already climbed to the rank of Emperor that they mistook it all as proof of "destiny", but I wonder what destiny exactly
When the Five Elders talked during the Wano arc about the fruit evading the World Government for 800 years, does that mean that no one else has eaten it in all that time? So maybe the fact that Luffy has eaten it now means he's going to inherit Joyboy's Will and finish the war from the Void Century. Or the coincidence that the one who ate the Nika fruit also wants to be Pirate King, and reaching Laughtale would reveal Joyboy's words to the one who ate the same fruit? (is it just a coincidence that Luffy only says he wants to be Pirate King after he eats the Gum Gum fruit?)
Also, that last speech bubble says
互いに終わりにしよう!!
Let's end this together!!
互いに (tagaini) means mutually, reciprocally or together. I assume he means that both he and Gaban should stop seeing Luffy as being similar to Joyboy or the one who will finish the war
Gaban's attack is called 神門 with the furigana カムド (kamudo). A 神門 (shinmon) is one of the gates in a Shinto shrine (which I don't know enough about to confidently explain the differences) and literally translates to "gate of god(s)". The fact that Oda specifically wants us to read it as kamudo might be to make it sound similar to Roger's attack Divine Departure, or 神避 (kamusari)
I also think there's a pun there with Gaban apologizing to the Adam tree for eating it, since the verb 噛む (kamu) means to bite or chew and Gaban's epithet is Mountain Eater
腐っても「海賊王」の一団か…そうも信じたいのか!!
Even decrepit, you're still the Pirate King's crew... you really want to believe that?!!
I personally read that as Imu questioning whether Gaban still thinks he's powerful because he was one of the Roger Pirates, especially considering that Gaban answers back with a "like you aren't?", implying he also thinks that Imu is old and decrepit
[That could be an explanation for why he can't stay too long outside Marijoa and keeps coughing blood. Maybe his immortal body is finally decaying, since it has existed for at least 800 years. Maybe there's something in Marijoa or that flower room that helps keep his body in stasis. Or maybe he's only immortal if he stays there, and going down to the world makes his body try to "catch up" to the flow of time]
There's also a chance that Gaban's answer implies that Imu also sees himself as "still the Pirate King's crew", which could mean both that Joyboy was not only the first pirate but the first Pirate King, and also that Imu was once a member of his crew
It's also possible that Imu is asking Gaban if he still wants to believe that Luffy is the one they were waiting for, which would mean that Gaban is calling Imu out for wanting to believe that too, but I find that less likely. That そう (sou) usually indicates the thing that you're talking about at the moment, and in this case the most recent topic is Imu's comment about Gaban being old and a part of the Pirate King's crew
Gaban's attack is called 八千梟帥 (yachitakeru) and seems to be a variation of the attack he used against Luffy when they first met, which was called 八十梟帥 (yasotakeru). 八千 (yachi) and 八十 (yaso) mean 8000 and 80, respectively, but they can also be used as a general term for "a lot", and 梟帥 (takeru) is an old word for the leader of a powerful tribe. Yasotakeru is a term that appears in the Nihon Shoki, which is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history, and is assumed to mean "numerous brave warriors"
This is the second time poor Gaban has fallen to the Underworld in a single day lol
I don't think it's a coincidence that the left hand of the late Pirate King lost his left arm while protecting Luffy from an enemy he wasn't ready for, especially with Shanks on the cover page before he lost his own left arm (focusing out attention on the future loss and why that happened), and I'm sure this isn't going to be lost on Luffy either
I wonder if this is all foreshadowing that Shanks is about to show up, especially since this feels so much like Marineford. At the time, Shanks was there to end the war and give Luffy and the Whitebeard Pirates a chance to get away, so I'm curious about what role he might play if he shows up now, since Imu and the God's Knights are the ones trying to leave. Would Shanks force them to fight? Would he allow them to leave because Luffy isn't ready yet? If we do end up with another timeskip, would he play Rayleigh's part and help Luffy master Gear5? It would also give Zoro and Sanji a chance to train their Conqueror's Haki. It might even have something to do with the theories about time moving differently in Elbaf, which could give them space to train without disrupting the flow of events happening in the rest of the world
