#ch 1037

It has been 84 years…

…and I completely forgot about the new chapter until now. Oh no.

But this was such a joy, I completely forgive myself!

Thanks to translator notes, I now know that the title can read “drunk dragon bagua” and “famous for booze”. Very fitting for the drunkest chapter in the whole saga so far.

The guy challenging Orochi seems a bit more polished than other background figures. An homage that I don’t recognise, maybe?

Nice touch with the Toki-sculpture in the back, to go with the Oden-one seen in the beginning of the feast. Foreshadowing, mayhaps? The dawn is near, now that Toki appears?

Prediction: people will look up at the lights and not see a fairytale prince à la Tangled, but rather the terrific view of an island hovering over them. Fun and terror, just the thing to get your heart racing after a feast.

Okay, this whole sequence is just pure gold. If I could, I’d just put it all here.So go! Go and read the chapter and rejoice at the total chaos. I’ll wait.

When Shanks stopped him before the Paramount War wasn’t a serious one-on-one fight then, just a “here, but no further”?

No wonder he’s been searching for self-destructive ways to end his life (like jumping from a cloud and crashing alliance negotiations) if he lives for the fight but can’t get anyone to fight him, the poor lizard.

And look! Just look at how happy he seems!

And the movement! Although I have Views on the direction the art style has taken, I really enjoy the flow and movement in the last chapters, the easy lines of ink lending such energy to the page.

Also, I wonder what the snaps are.

I love drunk Kaido and will choose my new icon accordingly.

Fights are usually the least enjoyable bit of One Piece for me, but this whole thing is done just beautifully.

This whole page for example is just pure beauty, even though I’ll focus on the left-hand side here:

As far as I recall, Luffy hasn’t been much of a kicking man before, relying more on arm techniques. He’s not avoided kicks to the same extent Sanji refuses to use his hands in combat, but he does rely on his hands quite a bit. This could therefore be read as another way he’s evolved: his earlier hits didn’t quite make the mark but he evolves, and a kick in the face is never wrong.

And I have to give major points for hardness of technique as well. Do you know how hard it is to hit someone properly with a back-kick? It’s not a piece of cakewalk, I’ll tell you that.

Reminds me a bit of Ulti’s headbutt from chapter 983, although with some Conqueror’s distancing going on (which we can see in the Ulti-panel, I just realised):

But back to Kaido.

First; look at how happy he is when Luffy blocks his bagua-hit with his hand. He has realised Luffy will counterattack and he is overjoyed!

He even says it straight out in the beginning of the chapter: he’s happy! He’s celebrating a great match!

Both look quite beat. Wonder how long they’ll manage yet.

And then. I really hope Oda’ll tell us how Shanks died and Sabo got captured soon.

If this is in reference to the gomu gomu-fruit I will be miffed.

Or wait… is it Zunesha that’s the specially named fruit-bearer?

Such a nice bit of continuity there, by the way! I just assumed Zunesha had continued on her ramble and the Mink warriors took another route to Wano, but looks like she carried them there! Must have been tall enough that they could just jump over, as well.

I HAVE A GOOD THEORY.

but i'm gonna wait until we have more info