#chapter 879

Jinbei doesn’t add too much to the crew yet he’s joining, so Pudding joining isn’t too crazy of an idea

Hmmm... interesting point @spartan1204, although I disagree in this one because well Jinbe is joining anyways and in my opinion he has already proven that he is worthy enough to receive his place as a SH member with many ways. First of all without his help Luffy and Nami would be left inside the book prison.He is physically very strong and therefore only even this alone would be a reason enough for everyone wanting to hire him. Secondly, he has really good mentoring skills. Best example of this is placed to the pre time skip when Luffy was completely lost and driven in the mental breakdown after Ace’s death but Jinbe was the one to kick him up to the game again in middle of his sorrow. Latest chapters (sorry for spoilers) have also showed his ability to be the voice of reason. The others were devastated by Pedro’s sacrifice but Jinbe told them to keep up the fight because thanks to Pedro they were a bit in safer waters (until Momma strikes again).  Someone might think that voice of reasoning is “Zoro’s job” and yes he is usually the one who doesn’t let the emotions control in distress (for example in Luffy vs Usopp-chapter) but still, they are a team and they have tried to guide each other together at bad times, it’s not a job for only one member. 

As we learned in Fishman Island-saga, Jinbe has done bad things in his past and yes we can say it’s his fault that Arlong did what he did in East Blue and he admits it. However, Jinbe has showed being regretful about the events and even though his mistake caused Nami some deep wounds she was ready to forgive him, after all the years of agony.  What I try to say is that Jinbe is already completely accepted into the crew (he has no grudges with anyone and he has been a big help in general, in battlefields and outside of them) and that’s why I see Jinbe joining to the SH pirates much more logical than Pudding’s, currently.

Maybe what bothers me the most about Pudding’s possibilities to join the SH crew is that she has not shown any remorse about anything. Let’s say that I don’t hate her but like said earlier, she is too complicated for my brain at the moment. I don’t actually even know anymore what she actually thinks about Straw Hats, genuienly.  If we throw away the shippy goggles from this analyze (i.e her joining SH just because she likes Sanji-kinds of arguments) the possibilities for her to join decreases, in my opinion. Why? Because we still don’t know a thing about her real motivations. She can say this and that but since she has been a bit swingy with her thoughts lately, how we do even know whether she even wants to join the crew in first place? Yes she might want to get rid of BM but what if she wants to walk her own path after the victory? Or what if she really just despises all of them Straw Hats and what if everything else is just an act? Like said, we really don’t know much about her so it’s really hard to read her plans at the moment and that’s one reason I see her joining the SH crew a bit far fetched (this of course doesn’t mean I’m absolutely right about anything because I can’t read Oda-sensei’s mind).

Yes the aftermath about everything that has happened in WCI can be postponed to later chapters and we don’t know yet what Oda has prepared for us and them but so far it just doesn’t seem fair at all that someone who lied a lot without any regrets and caused quite a ruckus (planned or not) would be forgiven easily and let to be part of the crew. If that’d happen it would require crew chemistry and that Pudding would be genuinely sorry about everything without her having personality swings. At this moment she isn’t really popular among SH for reasons so she needs to work hard if she wants to regain any respect. As said anything can happen but I just would like to see that IF Oda decides to add her as a new SH that he would give her plausible reasons/storylines which allow her to join not just because “she is the fiancee of Sanji” and “she is now in love with him but can’t decide”-kind of reasons. 

really it’s  overwhelming.

This was a pretty decent chapter that continues to establish that Pedro is dead. Like time I checked in another series, it can still amount to him not being dead. Yes, bad times. Joking aside, I thought this is a really good time for Strawhats and Carrot to understand that sacrifice has to be made when things gets heated up. Jinbei is a great character choice to talk to everyone. Keep in mind, Ace’s death is only Luffy’s experience; Pedro’s death is for the rest to learn. It’s sad, but it is realistic. Let’s keep his death permanent.

The chapter is a setup for potentially next bout with Peros. I like the fact that he did lose an arm, clarifying the deadly explosion being deadly enough to rip off a limb. It feels like the setup is for Carrot to finish the job for Pedro. If so, that would be great, though it would only make me wish further for her to join the crew. Anything is possible. The point is the danger isn’t over yet for them.