#ch548

This is a badass moment for Bon, completely flipping the previous scene where he ran away from Magellan on its head, and it does frustrate me that Bon survives this. I don't mind him staying behind and taking over the Newkamas, but I can't imagine a world where he escapes this situation alive.

This is something Oda does far too often, and I will point it out every time. He wants his characters to have these cool last stands, but he doesn't go through with actually killing them off. My enjoyment of this scene is dramatically reduced because I know Bon lives, and it undermines the sense of menace for Magellan that's been built up this entire arc.

I appreciate the callback to the formatting of Bon's sacrifice at the end of Alabasta

Out of all the captains in the series, I've always appreciated Jinbe's style of leadership. He's gone through so much and sacrificed a lot of personal happiness for the good of others, and you can see that in how he deals with Luffy here.

I recommend reading the entirety of 548 together just to get the full range of expression for Bon Clay. Ever since he was first introduced in the pre-Alabasta chapters Bon has epitomized the series' friendship theme to a ridiculous extent. Bon knew the Straw Hats for approximately two seconds before deciding he was ride or die for them, going so far as to sacrifice his original crew to help them escape Hina back in the day. A part of this is because he's seen the Straw Hats at various times be as equally friendship-orientated as he is, deepening the comradery even though they barely spend any time together.