sahugani's One Piece Review 462

sahugani · Jul 9, 2007

Sahugani’s One Piece Review 462

Zoro rules this chapter

OOOHHHH!!! I’ve been aching to do this review as once again Oda has packed so much goodness into one chapter. Stuff got a bit hectic this weekend and I was so frustrated that I kept having to put off the review. I was even losing sleep over it. After getting my RL stuff handled, finishing my Bleach review, and buying more Dr Pepper than a single person should have, I’ve finally gotten to it. The pics in this review came from the Edited Manga by the guys over at Franky House and the title and final pics are gifts from ZoroSan over at deviantart, so check out his other art pieces at his DA page.

Unintentional Hero

do you really think he cares?

It has been weeks and weeks and we finally reach the moment we’ve all been expecting. Despite his best efforts, Enel has become a heroic figure in the eyes of Spacey. He doesn’t even know how to react to genuine praise as he was used to scaring it out of people. There is only one issue I can think of. Now that the sky pirates are destroyed, there are not many more good deeds for Enel to do on the moon that he would even be willing to do for his own selfish reasons, which are still very much present despite Spacey’s heartfelt thank you. I can’t wait to see how the little robot will make this former vengeful god into a decent person.

Ultimate Negativity

you rarely hear the beneficial effects of pessimism

As the story returns, we are started off with the duel between Usopp and Perona, which was the ultimate highlight of the last chapter. Perona is having a hard time accepting that Usopp is immune to her ghosts, so she tries sending four of them through him at the same time. To her disappointment, the attack caused her own ghosts to lose the will to live after passing through Usopp. It even caused Perona to collapse in a similar fashion, though I believe that is more due to her own disappointment of failure rather than a backlash of the negative hollow. Usopp then announces to the world that he is basically the most miserable person on the planet and in the current situation, is damn proud of it. For the first time, Usopp has an opponent that only he can beat. After the events of Water 7, I think this is crucial for his character. Part of the reason he left the crew was because he felt weaker than the others. Now that he has an opponent who all but him immediately lost to, he will have a fight under his belt that he can brag about without lying or exaggerating. From the looks of it, this could be the first of the final fights that Oda focuses on after the Strawhats pair up with an opponent (not necessarily their final opponents though as I’m still pulling for Luffy/Oz). To tell the truth, I’m looking forward to this nearly as much as Zoro’s fight (which is saying a lot).

Powerhouses Move On

the flames of passion never get old

With Usopp keeping Perona’s ghosts and wild zombies busy, Zoro, Sanji, and Franky keep running through the Wonder Garden towards Hogback’s lab. They comment a bit on his powerful depression. More than any other Strawhat, the crew is generally most surprised when Usopp pulls off something fantastic because they don’t really expect as much out of his negative attitude. This could simply have to do with the fact that he fights in the presence of his nakama more than any other Strawhat, so they witness his skills firsthand. Anyways, it seems they did somewhat fulfill Usopp’s final request to get rid of the zombies as a group of them left the Usopp fight to chase after Zoro, Sanji, and Franky. Since the Strawhats are much faster, they are not really a problem and Sanji announces that he is leaving to go save Nami. To my delight, the “flames of passion” burn once again as our Ero-cook flies off the side of the garden bridge. This causes some confusion for both Zoro and myself. Zoro’s issue is that Sanji has just jumped from such an immense height. Even Franky’s explanation of how it’s possible for Sanji to survive the fall, you must admit it is a pretty long distance to fall. Once again we must go by Oda physics to explain this .My issue is that he had no idea where to even start looking for the wedding ceremony. He had even initially intended to start at the top of the tower with Luffy and seemed to say last chapter that he still planned to move upwards. That doesn’t really fit with his sudden decision to leap to the very bottom of the tower. The only guess as to how this is logical to Sanji is that he is following his instincts and his instincts tell him to jump off a bridge.

Signature Move

technically, if they both use the same move, Ryuuma is a bigger target

We turn now once again to the duel between Brooke and Ryuuma. As they continue their fencing style match, it is once again clear that Ryuuma is easily overpowering Brooke. Still, no matter how many times he falls and no matter how many bones are broken, Brooke just keeps getting up. Ryuuma threatens that he will use the Arrow Notch Slash technique to make Brooke incapable of ever returning for his shadow. At these words, Brooke becomes highly emotional. We hear the history of his technique and how it had been nicknamed by his nakama. Ryuuma does not know the history of that technique’s name and so Brooke cannot let him utter it. This is really the first time that we have seen Brooke fighting for his own reasons. Up until now, he has fought to get his shadow back so that he could leave the Triangle and find Laboon. Now, Ryuuma has insulted the memory of Brooke’s nakama and the significance of his past. As Franky pointed out to him, Brooke’s appearance makes it hard for him to have a future outside of apologizing to Laboon. The only thing he has left is his past. As the sole survivor of his crew (other than Laboon), he is the keeper of their memory and dreams. Just as his afro is sacred to him for the purpose of apologizing to Laboon, his technique is sacred to him as its history is the link to his deceased nakama. He will not let anyone utter the name of his technique without realizing the full weight of the words’ past. Though the fight as a whole is for the purpose of finding Laboon, this final strike is for himself.

Broken Bones

wait a minute. he doesn't have a valid barber's license

Coming out of the final clash, both duelists stand around for a little while (as that is how the technique works) before Brooke collapses. As Brooke falls, he once again reminisces about Laboon and in his mind apologizes for not being able to say sorry in person. He realizes that since he could not go to Laboon, he has lost the one meaning his life has had since he started his second life. While up until now he has remained one of the quirkiest and upbeat characters we’ve met in the series, he quickly deteriorates into admitting the misery of his existence. This is compounded by the fact that Ryuuma is preparing to cut off Brooke’s afro in a final act of disgracing his shadow’s original host. He does not even know the meaning of the afro to Brooke. He just knows that Brooke sacrificed everything to save it. To Ryuuma, taking Brooke’s afro is the ultimate way to finish him off. Since he can’t kill Brooke without killing himself, he is taking away the one thing more important to Brooke than anything else. In the fights between the two, there have been two consistent goals for Brooke that were easy for Ryuuma to recognize. In order to move on with his life’s goal, Brooke needed to get back his shadow and protect his afro. Ryuuma decides to ensure neither wish is ever fulfilled. Luckily for Brooke, the ground starts to quake and both swordsmen are thrown across the room. His afro is saved as Ryuuma wonders what the shaking was and two pirates make their way to the room.

Saved

Here he comes to save the day

Franky is the first in the room and goes straight to Brooke to make sure he’s alright. Ryuuma is annoyed that Franky has interrupted his duel before he could finish demoralizing the skeleton. He thrusts his sword at Franky, but Zoro comes out of nowhere to intercept the zombie’s blade. Before the clash is over, Zoro reveals that unlike the other Strawhats, his reason for coming on the island wasn’t to save anyone. He just wanted to meet the legendary samurai who killed a dragon and test his swordsmanship. As the two swordsmen separate, it is Ryuuma that has been pushed back. Brooke is shocked that Zoro could stand up to the zombie and asks Franky who he is. When Franky tells him that Zoro may be able to retrieve Brooke’s shadow for him, he is all too eager (to the point of annoying) to accept the offer. Since Zoro has now taken over the duel with Ryuuma, I doubt Brooke and Franky will just wait around till its over. It looks like they’ll be doing some support or background work during the final fights. I know it has been said that since Zoro is beating Ryuuma, Brooke may return the favor by beating Jigoroh. I highly doubt this as not only is Jigoroh already placed as Hogback’s bodyguard in Chopper’s fight, but that would be way too simple and clean for Oda. I’m guessing that Franky and Brooke will be cooperating in some project that will lead to Luffy’s victory over Oz and/or Moria.

New Blade

It'll look better on Zoro

I can’t say I’m surprised at the next turn of events. The announcement of Ryuuma’s sword was something that despite all Oda’s skill, could not have avoided foreshadowing without compromising Ryuuma’s characterization. It is revealed that the katana Ryuuma wields is Shuusui, one of the 21 great swords along with Zoro’s Wado Ichimonji. Since the sword is such high quality, Zoro announces that he’ll be taking it for himself. Now the issue is whether Zoro will even be able to beat Ryuuma with only two swords. In order to obtain this third sword, he first has to fight with two. He may borrow Brooke’s for the time being, but that is uncertain. If Brooke is going to go out and help Franky with something, there’s a chance that he’ll need his sword. However, with the later events of the chapter in regards to the general zombies, there will be plenty of swords lying around for Brooke to borrow. You can also consider that if Franky’s project is more related to his carpentry ability than fighting, Brooke may not even need a sword. I’m hoping to see Zoro borrow this sword as I think it would be fitting for Ryuuma to fall on its blade. From my perspective, this is going to be the fight to watch this arc. I already said it in a past review, but this fight is crucial to Zoro’s growth as a swordsman. In all his past fights (except Mihawk), his opponents were inferior to him in pure swordsmanship, but found ways to overpower him with other aspects of their styles. This is Zoro’s first fight other than Mihawk against an opponent whose sole source of power comes from his swordsmanship.

Marriage Problem

maybe he needs to practice a bit more

The story turns to Absalom’s wedding ceremony. Thanks to the quaking that saved Brooke’s afro, Nami is also saved from the beast man’s kiss. Absalom gets frustrated and asks what is causing all the shaking. A zombie runs in and says that Thriller Bark has entered a strong ocean current. Apparently Oz has started to move the rudder on his own. It seems Oz also inherited Luffy’s complete idiocy when it comes to navigation. Without having any knowledge of where he is going, he follows his gut and turns the ship the way he thinks is the fastest route to One Piece. Absalom, who left Moria’s side before Oz crashed through the wall, is now realizing the sheer idiocy of the gigantic zombie and the folly of using a shadow that does not take orders. Like Perona, he gets overconfident that he can handle the situation and sends out all the general zombies attending the wedding to go and stop Oz.

Beating the Beast

HAHAHA!!! DEATH AND DESTRUCTION!!!

The army of general zombies move out and try to stop the hulking beast. Since he is so large, they accept the plan to attack his feet and topple him. When dealing with enemies that don’t jump well like an elephant or giant (their styles don’t seem to incorporate much jumping if you look at it.) the strategy is a good one and it has worked against giants earlier in the series. However, Luffy is a very nimble fist fighter, so both him and Oz move around a lot when fighting, so the gigantic zombie is able to jump right above the army of general zombies and unleashes his own non-rubber version of gomu gomu no gatling gun. Needless to say he utterly destroys his opponents. In the instants before their demise, the general zombies are shocked that such a large creature could move so fast. Even as top-heavy as he is, Oz still has enough leg strength to move himself at great speed. This is the reason I still believe Luffy’s major fight will be against Oz rather than Moria (but Luffy will still deal the symbolic ass kicking to him too). It is true that historically in this series, when Luffy promises to kick someone’s ass, that person is the major enemy. It is also true that the person is generally the one with the most status among the fighting villains (while Lucci was subordinate to Spandam, he got a lot more respect from the marines). Moria fits both these categories and so it is easy to see how he could be seen as the major opponent for Luffy. Despite this, there is another trend I have seen. The people that Luffy faces are the ones that give off an aura of invincibility (for the major arcs like Arlong Park, Arabasta, Skypeia, and CP9). Their power is something that all but Luffy fear. Moria’s shadow power does not inspire the same fear that Oz’s sheer power does. The essence of Luffy’s fights is that he is defeating the people that no one else has a chance in hell of beating. Moria has already admitted to having lost to someone in the New World while Oz has been hailed as an island conqueror. Oz is the one with the legacy of invincibility and so he is the one that Luffy must surpass.

Sanji’s Success

Sanji won't see whats coming

A zombie reports back to Absalom to tell him that every single general zombie sent out against Oz has been beaten before they even started fighting. While Absalom is in shock that pretty much the entire force of his to fighters have been annihilated by the creature he has worked so hard to revive, he doesn’t have much time to let it sink in as Sanji is on his way. The cook had captured a panda zombie and beat the location of the wedding out of him. While he did witness Oz beating on his own allies, he doesn’t dwell on it as saving Nami takes precedence. While Absalom is complaining about Oz’s insubordination, Sanji crashes through the door. While I am glad to see him finally reach his destination and light the spark of his duel with Absalom, there are some definite changes to the norm of his character at a time like this. First of all, I was expecting Sanji to make more of an entrance as that seems to be more the norm of his character. He still has time though as in most of his fights, he is knocked away at first then makes his dramatic return to dominate his opponent. Another thing that I just noticed but don’t really care all that much about due to the circumstances is that Sanji isn’t starting the fight with a cigarette in his mouth. Normally, he starts with one, it is lost in the fight and he lights up again to signal his victory. But his addiction to Nami is much more fitting at the present time, so it’s better not to have the cigarette in this case. As for how the fight will go, we still have no clue how Sanji will deal with Absalom’s invisibility and force blasts. My only thought is that he might start smoking mid fight and use the smoke to determine where he is. I’ll be ecstatic if that turns out to be true. I also doubt that Nami will simply stay asleep through the entire fight. As I said last week, I doubt she was dressed with her Perfect Clima-tact, so I’m expecting her to wake up and go look for it. She will most likely be intercepted by Lola or possibly Hildon and have to fight weaponless for a little while.

Overall

he deserves to be shown off again

I should really stop doing these overall sections as they all end up the same. I just constantly praise Oda for his genius and reiterate how the chapter was awesome. That’s the reason I don’t give ratings for One Piece chapters. If its going to be a 5 every time, why put it in? Anyways, this chapter is another great installment to the series. While Usopp’s fight didn’t see much development, we were blessed with some more hilarity as Perona tested his immunity to ghosts. It was also great to see Sanji reach his goal and Oz total a bunch of general zombies. However, the true highlight of this chapter was Zoro taking over for Brooke against Ryuuma. That part was simply divine. Even though it was pretty damn predictable, it was the event we were waiting for and we finally got to rejoice…except maybe for the hardcore believers of Brooke’s recruitment.

haruka9 · Jul 10, 2007