Getting back into it, slowly and surely.

So the people in Chocolate Town seem to be Reiju and Ichiji, after all. Or at least someone who looks like them.

Momo still has some growing up to do (doing things because you want to, not because of dead people telling you to), but it’s nice to see his growth from an Alvida-Coby-esque “No, no, no, it’s totally impossible!” to a more “No— but wait, I might be able to…”

Looks like we get to see Kaido’s awakened powers as well.

And look how tiny Luffy is in comparison!

I really like how Oda draws this type of fire. If anyone has a good English word for it, let me know — in Swedish I’d call Kaido here ‘glödgande’, which is that beating heat of coals at the heart of a fire. Not merely glowing, but almost alive in their burn, igniting all that comes near.

Also, not sure what to make of the symbolism of Onigashima losing both horns.

Here I see a potential physics problem. However, since I know nothing (-1000) about physics, please correct me on this one.

Luffy was using his anchoring to Kaido to direct his hit. The tension in his stretched body was what was making the hit hit even harder. But now the other end of the tether is cut loose — all that power has to disappear somewhere, which should make Luffy flap around like a rubber band.

Maybe the current shenanigans will hit differently on a reread and when we see more of Luffy’s awakened powers, but for now they seem too deus ex machina. Too much power, all relying on his stubbornness. I’m sure we’ll see A Drawback once Kaido is down (mini-Luffy? Aged-Luffy? Mummy-Luffy?), but for now there isn’t any tension in the story. With Bound Man there was the stress of him running out of haki-stamina and having to wait before he could counterattack, and with Gear Third there was the problem of getting smol. We’ve seen a withering in chapter 1045 but then Luffy just thought of his friends and got well again.

It’s all just too convenient.

I do like the reminder of Wano’s decades of horror. This has been a long fight and people forget. It also packs an emotional punch before the sweet, sweet resolution which should come any day now. Maybe.

It’s also nice how Oda goes out of his way to show the differences between Kaido and Orochi. On one hand, the only thing Kaido is explicitly shown to say relates to the Kozuki clan and Momo, otherwise he’s just rampaging and fighting to his hearts content. Orochi, on the other hand, is shown speaking and smirking and simpering and sneering — but never fighting, never with a weapon in hand, only a fan.

And Orochi’s orochi-form is also glowing…

…although not for long.

All right, I’m not sure what to think of this turnout. Is it expected? Yes. But overall, I’m more all right with Hiyori being rescued than I ever was, am, or will be with the total letdown that was Rebecca’s development in the Dressrosa arc.

Hiyori has so far always been shown as a scheming, manipulative, lying, deceitful, double-faced, utterly proud and most vindictive and deceptive. She has always used her brains and her beauty to outwit her foes, from the sad tale of the tripple Bs to her masterful handling of Orochi (until he attacked her only friend and her pride rose).

But she hasn’t been shown to have any sort of inkling or will to fight. She says she wishes she could kill Orochi herself in chapter 950, but the way she does it implies resignation – she says it to Zoro with tears in her eyes after he has defeated a bunch of ninja that would have found and captured/killed her if not for him. She seems to accept that she is no match in a physical battle. She and Denjiro even devised the plan of the bloodied kimono to fake her death, as they probably both realised that she wouldn’t be able to fight. She gives Zoro Enma and says she’ll keep away from Onigashima – probably partly due to her knowing that Denjiro (and probably the other Akazaya as well) would protect her if he/they saw her in danger there. Here, she used her cunning to disarm Orochi and, lacking the resources to kill him, appears to accept her fate in a crumbling castle, watching him die.

In another way, this end lets Denjiro keep his promise to her. In chapter 973 he promises to protect her, and that he does.

I also like how their kimonos mirror patterns; her light cloudflowers and his striking targets.

And the floating lights, proclaiming his demise.

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Oh HERE’S the answer on that sunacchi thing that Momo learned from Zoro as a way to hype himself up before a battle. Somebody asked me awhile back if it had an actual meaning in Japanese, and all I could say was that it’s the Japanese pronunciation of the English word ‘snatch’- as it turns out it does have a proper meaning in-universe, we just don’t learn it until here.

What is Kid planning on doing after he gets his crew back? I don’t see him going after Kaido on his own, because that would be suicide and he’s well aware of that.