- Joined
- Nov 16, 2005
- Messages
- 19,231
- Reaction score
- 1,273
- Gender
- Hidden
- Country
-
Let's go!
Heya again, One Piece fans. I hope you guys will forgive me for taking so long to do OP Ten Comments, but it does take me a while. I'll try to be a little more quicker from now on if possible, but I usually end up with nothing to do on Wednesdays, so might as well do this while we wait for the next stash of RAWs, eh!
Though this chapter was action-packed. I consider OP to be much more visual and self-explanatory than most manga out there, so there's not much opportunity to go in-depth. But eh, I suppose it's fun anyway to give out my thoughts on the furious action and drama that's so characteristic of OP.
Feel free to comment as always!
* * * Gold Knight's Ten Comments on One Piece Chapter 426: A Ship Waiting for the Wind. * * *
Don't get TOO comfortable...
1. Vacation in the Clouds. Heh, well, nobody will accuse any of Luffy's crewmates for having a fear of heights. I don't know if I'd be fishing from the clouds, even if I was guaranteed that they wouldn't dissipate under my feet and drop me to the land below. Maybe if I had a parachute in my backpack, though...
Eiichiro Oda seems to be rather nostalgic about the Sky Piea arc lately. I think he wishes sometimes that Luffy's crew could re-visit some of these older islands that were explored in past storylines, but because the rumored "One Piece" is always in the opposite direction, he can't do that. I guess I don't blame him for doing these covers as a sort of consolation.
About time they noticed...!
2. Spider-Sense's Tingling Now... Well, now that the "Buster Call" has focused itself on Luffy and Lucci, it's high time they needed to worry about getting out of there as well as staying alive. Right now Luffy is about as much danger to his own crewmates as Lucci is - his own crew is waiting for him to beat Lucci and get out of there so that they can be on their way. Luffy needs to finish this now.
Dom dom dom!
3. The Grim Reaper's A-Coming. After the destruction of part of the Bridge of Hesitation and the fleet had finally surrounded their escort ship and their position on what's left of the platform, I'm surprised that Luffy's crew still continued to stand firm. Not to mention that they had a perilious footing. Wouldn't it be easier for the fleet just to target them with their cannons at this point and blast them all out of the waters than to send their "finest" across? I know the Marines didn't do that, but I was really surprised that Luffy's crewmates didn't at the very least get alarmed and tried to scatter in order to avoid being all sitting ducks and hit by a cannonball. Even more surprised that the Marines didn't take advantage.
But I suppose at that point, Luffy's pirates were already in a jam and the only thing they would have been able to do was jump into the water and swim away.
And they still want to tangle with 'em...?
4. Treading Carefully... or Not? Not sure whether it's a good or bad thing that Luffy's crewmates are being besieged by a cautious enemy this time. Although if the Marines had REALLY been prudent, like I said, they would have used their artillery at them just as they did every other part of Enies Lobby. Yet even knowing that Luffy's crew was a dangerous sort, they didn't hesistate to jump to attack them with 200 of their finest captains.
So... caution, or overconfidence? You be the judge... I suppose they would have been more afraid of the Admirals' wrath than Luffy, though, especially if they're all as powerful as Aokiji.
Luffy's got himself an audience now!
5. Words of Encouragement...! Well, I suppose at least the Strawhat crew accomplished one thing by making their presence known to their captain, namely, Luffy now knows they're all still alive, and Robin's been rescued. I'm sure that had been bothering him the entire time he had been fighting Lucci, and after the battle he would have to stay just to make sure everybody had left safely. Luffy was definitely pleased here.
Of course, they're not out of the woods, yet... or should I say, off the island... yet. Franky was flat-out lying when he had said that "everybody's made it safely to the bridge." Not if the fleet has anything to say about it.
What's so evil about finding some gold coins? >.>
6. It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Lady Sings. Well, Lucci was pretty much saying that here. Even though he was impressed by the persistence of Luffy's crew, he knew that the Marines were about to attack 'em. I liked that Lucci didn't even recognize himself as the bad guy here. Most good villains are that way also.
Luffy's emotions must have been pretty crazy at this moment - he was elated one moment, and worried again the next. Ah well, I suppose he still only needs to focus on one thing right now anyway - and that's Lucci, because if he hadn't before, who knows but that his crewmates might not even have made it this far?
At least ONE did get outta there...
7. Now You See Him, Now You Don't... So where did Sanji go while all the captains were getting ready to fight Luffy's crew? I'm guessing he probably managed to get off and onto a ship (probably through a cannon hole) in order to commandeer it to give them at least a fighting chance.
If the ships came THAT close without doing anything, hey, if you're fast enough, why not go for it? The only thing that confuses me is how exactly he managed to disappear when we know at least 200 pairs of eyes, plus some with binoculars, were watching the area. Okay, sure...
Battles galore!
8. That's Some Clout...! Gotta give Luffy's crew some credit - except for Sanji - none of them seemed particularly intimidated by having to take on 200 captains - even after finding out many had special abilities as well. Zoro seemed to suffer the most, as one of his swords unfortunately disintegrated at the hands of a captain. At least it wasn't one of his hands, I suppose.
That captain that Franky had to deal with - looked like he ate a fruit from the same devil tree that produced the one that Buggy ate by accident. Don't you just hate it when they fall apart like that and then come back to haunt you more?
Oddest thing that I saw here, though - Nami was having more luck with her accuracy than Usopp. Wasn't Usopp supposed to be the dead-eye here? Maybe it's just that her storm lightning is so all over the place, though.
She sure knows how to feel up a guy.
One thing that doesn't surprise me in the least though - is that Robin was obviously the most dangerous of them all. Boy, with that ability of hers, no wonder she was able to escape from the Marines so often.
Dammit, not again!
9. Not Faring So Well... Even though Zoro, Usopp, Nami, Franky, and Robin are managing to hold their own against the onslaught of the Marines, Luffy finally ran out of gas - or it seemed. So was that the limit of his Gear abilities? Probably not.
Either way, Lucci's 'Rokuougan' certainly seemed to put Luffy out of commission for the time being. What next? Will Luffy get back up and try to fight further?
But actually, if Luffy DID get defeated here - I would have to credit Oda for being brave enough to go in that direction. In real life, you can't win them all, after all - and besides which, a rematch between Lucci and Luffy sometimes in the future would possibly be fun. Luffy could redeem himself then.
Mostly, though, I'd like to see how Luffy would deal with a situation where he'd have lost and have to be saved himself instead of the other way for once. Even though his battle with Lucci did result into his crew surviving, getting away, and being able to rescue Robin. (Assuming they somehow get away from the Marines.) Nevertheless, how would "losing" a battle affect his feelings to be the next Pirate King? Would he still feel like he was fit to be Captain?
Of course, the whole purpose of his battle with Lucci was to keep his crew safe and to give them a chance to escape - but at this point, I think Luffy has beaten up Lucci so severely, that his crew could take over and take care of the rest now. I think together, Luffy's crew could easily handle Lucci now. That's just my opinion, though. Of course, the Marines *had* to butt in...
And Sogeking is revealed to be...!!! XD
10. The "Return" of Usopp. I WAS getting tired of Usopp pretending to be Sogeking. Eh. I know he quit the crew because of Merry Go, and challenged Luffy to a duel and lost, and for that reason he had to disguise himself (poorly so!) so that he could feel comfortable by helping the crew again.
But somewhere along the way, he really did need to come with grips with himself and realize that he was just being ridiculous already! I've always thought that he was being overly dramatic when he thought Luffy didn't care a thing about their ship. Of course he did, he's the captain! Although I don't blame Usopp for feeling even angrier when Luffy had so quickly suggested that Usopp go ahead and leave the crew if he didn't like the decision. A diplomat, Luffy's not.
Anyway, I'm glad to see Usopp show such extreme concern for Luffy again to the point where he didn't care that his mask was on any longer. Looks like he's finally back now. Welcome back, Usopp. I just wish it hadn't taken such a long time. Hopefully they'll come to a better understanding of each other as a result of all this. One thing's for sure though - Usopp has proved himself not to be an useless member.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars. There were just too many things I didn't quite understand here. Action was still somewhat repetitive (ooh, look, another Rokougan!) And while the Marines' attack were obviously meant to add spice, I don't know why they didn't just shoot a cannonball at 'em and be done with it already. And why is Luffy vs Lucci not over already? Sheesh. Usopp's unmasking was a good highlight, though.
Predictions: The battle continues, apparently.. and for another five chapters probably. -_- We'll find out what Sanji is up to, though.
Credits: Thanks to Harrmd's Edited Manga, which was once again great this week and I liked it a lot. Also major thanks to pocketmofo as well for translating.
Looking forward to seeing what you think!
Don't just go and fall apart- comment!
