Now that the Udon part of the cover arc has concluded, it is a good time to make a third pinned post for the next stretch of this Wano pilgrimage.
Flower Capital: Kin'emon, Momo, Hiyori & Toko, Otsuru, Osome & Chuji, Urashima, Nekomamushi, Hyogoro.
Kibi: Denjiro & the kids.
Kuri: Inuarashi, Shinobu.
Udon: Raizo, Holdem, Who's Who, Minatomo, the freed women.
Hakumai: Kawamatsu, Tama & Komachiyo, Speed, Sukune.
Ringo: Kiku, Ocho, Yamato, Ulti, Page One.
"Enma Shrine in Hakumai—Yasuie's sword is enshrined, and the pilgrimage is complete."
And thus Yasuie's sword is returned safely and they all lived happily ever after.
Kidding(probably, we can never be too sure,) but really, imagine if this were the last entry of this cover arc. It would be a bold move to end here, though I feel there will be at least a few more covers of this serial to see.
A cover being dedicated to enshrining Yasu's sword and the group reflecting on is nice. Yasu played a huge role in ensuring Wano would be able to experience peace like this, and his katana being retired in the shrine and region he loved is a heartfelt send off.
Ulti holding onto the Amigasa hat made by Tama for Kawamatsu is cute. It brings to mind the hat that Chopper received from Tama, which we see around the early 1060s. In the main story, Chopper leaped down to help Gaban who also has a Wano-style straw hat. Hmm, I wonder if there might be more to tell about the story of Gaban getting his own hat.
"Sumo tourney in Hakumai! Hurling Urashima's big brother, Yokozuna Sukune."
Kawamatsu appearance! It's unclear if he is a Daimyo or not but we do know that he is the most precious fella as always. It is so nice to see him enjoying sumo matches now that Kaido is gone, and getting to teach another about the sport is special and makes me really happy.
Think we'll get to see Kawamatsu and Yamato have a match? Decades of finely tuned sumo skill vs. greater strength yet with unrefined technique.
Yamato bluntly tossing Urashima's brother both establishes Yamato as a respectable figure to the people of Wano and sets up Yamato as Kiku's opposite here as well, which is interesting given their mirror character dynamic, and now that Kiku is the single remaining of Oden's former retainers who has yet to appear during this cover arc.
"Otama's Amigasa hat delivered to Kawamatsu, Daimyo of Hakumai."
Hnnnngggg. Everybody look at how adorable Kawamatsu is, receiving his new hat made for him by the precious Otama! His smile is everything and I love the cute Otama thought bubble from Yamsey.
In addition to the title Oni child, it appears that the townsfolk are all very welcoming of newly minted retainers Ulti and Page One as well. That is a good sign that Wano has become more accepting of outsiders. Yamato really feels like one of the samurai now.
As for what's next, other than merely visiting Ringo and anyone there next, I am unsure what goal or task the group could have within the region. Or just what will occur in general in Ringo. I'm curious to find out. If Yamato and Onimaru meet and become friends, that would be perfect and adorable.
Ulti and Page One may be cold upon arriving in Ringo, being cold blooded dinosaurs and all. Next cover "Pagesicle and Ultice cream are frozen in a river."
It's happening! The long awaited Kiku appearance! I missed her so much! This cover was so satisfying that I forgot there was a chapter which followed it. I went out to a nice restaurant to celebrate her return.
"Daimyo of Ringo Kikunojo and boss Ocho."
Alright, here we go! New kimono + flying hug + being besties with Yamato! It's all so so so very lovely. The way that Kin'emon would be so jealous that his daughter is giving flying hugs to others now, this is perfect. Her bang swooshing up is so cute. I hope she returns in OP Academy soon as well.
The Ocho appearance is also fun. Chrysanthemum and Moonflower.
And I have many questions overall. What adventures will happen in Ringo? Will Ulti become friends with Kiku? That would be delightful. What is Ocho's and Kiku's dynamic like? Who else will we see? What exactly is the overarching message of this cover arc? Currently, it kinda seems that it's to say Momo is a nepo baby who only inherited the loyalty of his father's former retainers, which is… not a great message honestly. I hope that can still change during this cover arc.
Yamato being the one who challenges a remaining part of Wano's culture which needs to change could be one of the best things to happen. The country does not benefit from having all of its positions of power being held by folks all from the same clan/who got the job due to their ties to Oden. Especially if they did not have a choice in being given the job by Momo. Yamato could both realize that not everything relating to Oden's legacy is good, ie the Kozuki nepotism we are seeing, while still carrying on a part of Oden's legacy that is beneficial.
Seeing citizens leave the country, maybe Kiku, would be appreciated. Oden would be happy that Kaido and Orochi are gone, though would be disappointed if those he knew were still limited by that law. And he himself left after becoming an Daimyo and was happy to let Izo remain with Whitebeard, so that should not be a hurdle for Kiku. Plus, Wano has Yamato's assistance and promise to help protect it and will be returning to the Flower Capital after this. So what gives? What will the final point conveyed be for the conclusion of this cover arc?
It seems we'll have a few chapters in Ringo before Yamato returns to the Flower Capital to answer that question.
Though for now, it's amazing to see Kiku again, my second best character in all of One Piece. I'm so happy aaaaaahhhhhh! Naysayers can buzz off, this is a good sign that Kiku will hopefully have main story relevance again. Perhaps something regarding Old Wano's history and or Toki. Maybe even Marco or Gaban.
"Go pay your respects at the grave of the hero, born in the West Blue and Raised in Ringo."
Another adorable Ringo chapter cover! With the full group and another pretty snowy scene this time!
Ocho the confident guide, kindly touring Yamato around and helping him to feel more accepted in Wano while teaching him about legendary figures of Wano outside of Oden and the Scabbards.
Kiku sweetly watching the scene while elegantly framing the scene on one side of the grave, Yamato on the other.
Page One carrying Yamato’s backpack now and still sporting a matching cloak with Kiku, and in spite of her being in the distance and the details being less clear, matching with Ulti too.
Ulti excitedly dashing ahead to make a big snowball. I thought she was excited to learn about this grave at first but this is excellent as well.
And Yamato snacking on a ringo in Ringo.
The care put into the small details, the placement, poses, and actions of each character is very thoughtfully done here. I like this cover a lot.
It looks as though we’re going to be having a group history lesson. Is this going to be a Void Century thing? I’ve been looking forward to seeing Wano’s history from that time. Old Wano, Toki’s family, the borders, the Kozuki-Mink companionship and more.
I wonder if word of Vegapunk's broadcast has reached anyone outside of the Flower Capital.
Or if Denjiro or a messenger told anyone else about how those kids threw rocks at Yamato, and they are making sure to have food ready for Yamato to cheer him up, in case that shook him at all.
The hero being from the West Blue makes me curious too. Did they arrive in a time before the borders were formed? If so, it could tell us a bit more about how long the world has been split into multiple seas and the ways in which Wano interacted with the outside world in the past.
"He fought against Kaido to protect his village, but perished without leaving a body behind."
We see the grave of another hero this time, one who fought Kaido to protect a village and disappeared without a trace. Their identity is a mystery but what I'm wondering now is for what reason did they fight for Wano? Did Oden know them? Or was their motivation unrelated to Oden?
I love how dynamic this panel is. The foreground being the hero's grave, the trio praying being slightly further back, and Snow Kaido in the distance looks great.
Having seen the graves of two different heroes now, it could be that the point is less about who the heroes are, and more that anyone can be a hero to Wano, regardless of their background. Which is something Yamato wants, to be a hero to the people of Wano, as Oden was.
I'm guessing this second hero is someone who fought Kaido during the 20 years of waiting. They were protecting their village, in the mainland so they didn't die in Onigashima. Kaido likely attacked the hero's village to use it to build factories in.
What will Ulti and Page One think of this I wonder? Do they care about Wano now? Will they defend Kaido's actions or denounce him here? Were they part of Kaido's crew when he fought this hero? Them building a snow Kaido is curious but also absolutely hilarious because of how gigantic it is.
Is the hero someone Kiku or Cho met? They were traveling through time and in prison respectively for the past 20 years. When exactly did the hero fight Kaido?
Thinking about Monet with her devil fruit, Kiku with her epithet, and Ulti with her Snow Kaido makes me curious if Oda is intentionally connecting sisters to snow throughout the New World. Or perhaps the connection to be keeping an eye on is how the current flashback has shifted away from the original focus, to focusing on the Rocks Pirates and Kuja Pirates.
Kiku(and Otsuru) and Shakky in particular have more and more parallels to each other as this flashback continues. They are both women who have worked at a teahouse/bar in run down places, Leftovers Town and Fullalead, and are named for flowers. Chrysanthemum and Peony respectively.
A quick extra thought relating to something that happens in HxH.
Because I watched this clip a few days ago, Kiku in 1157 reminds me of Netero saying that a prayer comes from the heart.
"Here lies the Heroic Pirate of Justice."
Starting with some cool linguistic info, the order of the kanji for "Kozuki" is able to be flipped and translated as "Gekko." Kozuki translating to Light Moon, and Gekko meaning Moonlight. It seems Moria changed his name at some point. That's an interesting layer to his character, as are the familial ties to Wano.
Everyone looks so stylish or cool here. The Ringo covers have all been such winners in terms of composition and this group continues to be wonderful to see each time.
I love the flipped perspective from the prior cover. As well as the lower angle so we can see the shrine that was obscured due to the high angle of 1157's. The idea of flipping one thing to another being done both visually and with Moria's Gekko/Kozuki name is pretty fun.
Where was Moria when Izo and Kiku and Cho were children I wonder? Did they ever encounter each other back then or at any other point during the Oden backstory? Did they live in the same village in the past? Did Cho and Kiku help spread the stories about Moria dying and disappearing without a trace, so he could leave. Something like that would be similar to stories of Shakky dying of love sickness being spread, so she could leave Amazon Lily to pursue her own goals.
Oden was away from Wano for 5 years if I recall, 30 years ago to 25 years ago, and we see very little of the country during those years.
It's a very wide window of time to show events in Wano from Moria's perspective and he seems to have been in and out of the country many times, which makes many more connections possible. Given the difficulties of reaching the country at all, closed policies, and fact that Kaido taking over would have made that more difficult, leaving and returning often feels special.
As for where the group goes next, I could see several potential options. To name a few, meeting Onimaru, visiting more graves, traveling to the site of Moria and Kaido's battle, meeting back up with the dino siblings, the list goes on. There are a lot of directions things could go from here and all of them sound interesting.
To jump back to a few prior scenes for an idea.
I like seeing the difference in how these two react to Zoro having Shusui. Kiku doesn't say anything though she would recognize the sword of course, while Kin'emon questions if Zoro took it. Hiyori was too young to remember much from 23 years ago, though Kiku was 19, and Kin'emon 33 when it was taken.
Oda choosing to have Kiku not question Zoro or say anything about Shusui in chapter 914 fits with her early characterization of not yet fully trusting Luffy and Zoro to give away her connections. Is it possible that she knew who took Shusui?
Cover serials by # of chapters:
Decks of the New World 25
And how many we've spent in each region:
7 chapters in the Flower Capital + 1 at the start showing Onigashima underwater.
