#chapter 1150

I imagine that Queen would love this demon possession stuff. He loves using viruses to make his enemies fight each other like a game.

Plus, this is just a damn awesome two pager.

This line from the chief is good too. I like how it is highlighting the worst parts of Elbaf's warrior culture.

And remember, we have seen Usopp confront a similar mindset prior.

Thank you for humoring me. Now on to our main show. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THIS CHAPTER!? It was crazy enough when Stussy's dropping bat wings and going all Red Wine Supernova on CP0. Now Gunko's going full LadyDeviMon Digivolution here and whipping out comically oversized shotguns from a spellbook. This was a...sudden escalation. And we're only just now acknowledging our main fighters are still MIA. That said, if this is our first taste of Imu's power I actually do like a lot of what I'm seeing. I think this chapter does a lot to ensure Imu will stay a good foil to Luffy/Nika in the end of this. Because this power is still so wild.

See? God her flippantly doodling a spell circle has me feeling something. But this is crucial. We're seeing a brutal compelled contract power. Something much scarier than Tama's or Sugar's. Especially if it can affect guys like Dorry & Brogy. But it is still framed as something that will allow one to become unbound by logic and reason. Dark Nika. It seems there's some form of restriction where it has to work on someone Imu can rationalize as a King.

I love that hypocrisy. It reminds me of Fruits Basket a little, especially if you look at it through the lens of being a metaphor for the dynamics of the Sohma Family being very very old money. They could all always leave their troubling situations if they accepted growing up and being a normal person who has to live in the real world. Hierarchy is inherently a pyramid scheme. Every little bit of extra power you get over others further down comes with a cost of your freedom in having to maintain the position. The person at the top, be they Imu or Akito Sohma, is so busy maintaining their grip they don't have a life.

Why would I compare worldwide authoritarianism to the dynamics of an abusive home? Well maybe our title and vector for this shift can illuminate. Domi reversi would be Latin for "Returning Home." Why wouldn't I compare those two things? The more I watch far right (and frankly some leftist voices who lost sight of the cause) messaging spiral further and further into naked embrace of brutal repression towards "undesirables" the more the rhetoric reminds me of abusive family members. I don't want to flex stuff like this when talking about a comic book too much, but remember this is coming from someone with a Master's who has heavily studied authoritarianism since well before 2016 and I've worked with the juvenile justice system in the past. Fascist ideologies are really just abuse writ large in so many ways. From Cindry to Gunko and all these girlies in between we see these stories because they're a stand-in for the real world traumas that mirror these fantasy arcs.

Now, tomorrow we'll talk more about how this Domi Reversi title has a double meaning. You can't ignore how well it works for the cover serial this time too and when it came to Wano taking up/returning swords were a way to mark significant changes in Kiku's story. I can't ignore that happening and transitioning us to the part where she's perfectly poised to be weird and interesting right when a similar character in Gunko tears the wheels off of Elbaph and sends it into free fall. Let's wrap up this chapter, but I think it's a fair point to say any of the next 5-6 could get really clever with our girl in a myriad of ways.

"If I hit em high hit em high hit em high, then you hit em low hit em low hit em low."

Sorry, the original Space Jam soundtrack holds a permanent spot in my brain. The other reason I'd bring Kiku up here is because I cannot ignore how she's a great go-to example of someone who I could argue might be able to resist this type of demonic contract. A fair few but not all of these good-hearted women could but I wanna stick with the one who's got a golden opportunity to tie in via the covers. Let's assume for a second the idea the Knights had to consider a worthy target means there are some limits. I'm going to start from the idea it works like the closest thing we've seen. Big Mom (though Boa Hancock works) who is tied to Elbaf and don't forget we've connected that idea thematically in why the kids' moms were a good symbol. A miracle, even a staged one like Mother Caramel's might just be your best bet here.

Think about it this way. Big Mom's Soul Pocus worked if you had any shred of fear towards her. I get the vibe Imu's contract is the same, but for ambition. That's why a tough honorable warrior dude like Brogy who'd waste a century on a pissing match is susceptible and how Luffy needs to be special to overcome it. That's why someone like Kiku would not have to worry. Sure she was grateful and dutiful but generally happiest when she was part of a grubby little reject family no one would care enough about to laugh at the queer. Position requires obligation. Noblesse oblige is a two-way street. The best ones to wield power and influence are the ones who don't want it. It's not exactly a new idea, same logic as why the Hobbits were portrayed as the virtuous ones who could handle the One Ring's corruption.