Every O-Kiku

Because she's worth overanalyzing panel-by-panel

[basedkikuenjoyer]

My friends and I got silly. Hope you like it, share it far and wide, and vote Kiku for the One Piece Popularity poll! Remember, Boss Cho is watching. What the Daimyo doesn't know, won't hurt her.

https://onepiecewt100-2026.com/en/vote/

(yt link: https://youtu.be/1O-uw5FdU6Q and seriously...share/use however you want. I personally think it'd be hilarious if shit like this became a meme.)

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Hunter x Hunter 414: Precious, Precious Babies

I like this, excellent diagetic exposition setting this one on the timeline. We've worked our way back to the martial law declaration and here we have this goon cheerfully opining about how this is the kind of shit he's here for. I like it so much we're breaking our arbitrary late-nite release rule. And eh, we don't have One Piece this week.

We also get a lot of fun stuff about some of the other goings on. Quite like the bit with Seventh Prince Luzurus and Basho being all like, woah dude do we really have to flush the drugs? Lowkey one of the things I like about HxH is Togashi does manage to work in some mild stoner bits because it's one of those things that's gotten so ubiquitous in Western media but is still quite taboo in Asian stories. So seeing stuff like Basho/Luzurus and Morel or even D2 and the NGL Commune gives this series a little bit of verisimilitude you don't often see.

Also have a nice reference as we set up Benjamin's soldiers. Like many of them, it's a work of classic literature in Lord of the Flies. Bit of a weird name to append to this ability but I'll take it. Of course it's the classic tale about kids on an island fending for themselves. Naturally I'm more familiar with The Simpsons parody episode Das Bus. And I do tend to agree with the more modern criticism that Lord of the Flies depicts such a dire scenario specifically because they were posh boys from a ritzy, competitive private school setting whereas say, kids used to looking out for each other in a poor inner-city neighborhood would fare better. But we're not here to talk about Lord of the Flies the novel, the ability is pretty interesting for a guy in this position.

Now the real meat of this chapter comes when we get back to Kurapika's group. Go figure the main chatacter has the best stuff. Naturally I mean absolute continuous gigachad Bill. Who keeps being one of the real sleeper hits of this arc. Reminds me of like, Melody in Yorknew.

I love, love, love this line about Kurapika having a very villainous trait. And good use of an English idiom that works here from the translator. I've mentioned before I grew up in a very rural, very fundamentalist part of the US. And that specific phrase. Man...I could be the rebel growing up. Those types, you know you tend to see the worst when they know they're just on the wrong side of an almost 50/50 environment but when you're in a setting they don't really have to worry about being out of controlling the local culture? You can find a lot of tolerance for like, questioning religious aspects. Had a lot of lively debates with pastors and stuff as a teen and they tended to respect that at least I was a kid that took the time to read parts of the Bible or look into the historicity of it or be able to compare/contrast to other religions. A few even used it as an impetus to try and sweet-talk me. Sorta like...admitting there's a few contradictions but not everyone is smart enough to handle that. Open a door to considering a career in ministry.

You wanna see that fundamentalist type short-circuit? Wanna know the real magic phrase? "I just don't really see the inherent value in 'sticking to your guns.' If there's a better idea, just move on and go with that." Oh man...even "progressive" religious types get nutty when you introduce that idea. Because it really gets to the heart of why folk like that think the way they do. Targets their insecurity. They tend to pat themselves on the back for being able to ignore a strong counterargument about a social issue or religious point of contention or whatever. You succeeded a test of faith. But if you target the idea of doing that being silly in and of itself? And I know that's a tangent, but Kurapika is very much this type of person. He has two unerring goals, he's the paladin if we compare to D&D classes. When I say this arc is setting him up for a test of that, engineered to pit slaying the spiders and recovering the eyes against both each other and the much more noble task of protecting Woble...Bill just laid out exactly why that type of thing would be so hard for a person like him.

Luckily...Kurapika has grown so much over Yorknew and the course of this series. Now if you'll excuse me:

AHHHHHHHHHHH EVERYONE LOOK ITS SWEET BABY ALLUKA AND HER BIG BROTHER AND MFING GON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who doesn't love this? How can you not? Instant top moment in the arc and series not just because it's so exciting to see Gon/Killua (and Alluka!) work their way into the arc. Uh, Noko too. Hi Noko! In a clever way, I love this plan about if they can locate the real Woble it's a huge advantage to the team on the Black Whale. But it is also such a perfect way of showing how much Kurapika has grown. He was so resistant to relying on his friends in Yorknew, but here he's proactively reaching out to them when they can help. Assuring Oito he trusts these two (And Alluka!) more than he does himself.

It's heartwarming. It's cuddly. We love to see it. There's sweet baby Alluka. 10/10 chapter.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Jojolands Chapter 38: Let's Dance

Said it before, but you always know you're in for a great Jojo's chapter when it opens with philosophical rambling about the nature of the world and humanity. Here we have one about how all progress begins with rocks and you know? I can buy it.

Looks like we're coming to the end of the Usagi, Fraud, & Suspicion story segment and it's been a doozy. Blowing up lions, Dragona's love life, lot of fun stuff all around honesty. Anything else we wanna add?

Oh! Hello superstar mangaka Rohan Kishibe!

Weird little segue but always fun to see this dude. Here he has apparently summoned his editor all the way from Tokyo to make a few edits to the dialogue in his manuscript. Honestly a pretty sus interaction all around and Kyoka the editor points this out. I'm sure this will come around in an interesting manner later, but for now an odd segue indeed. Anything else good this chapter? What's all this building to?

Oh! Oh hell yes we have our gang busting out their own torture dance! Vocal percussion on a whole nother level...

Complete with Paco singing an iconic Neapolitan song commemorating a cable car line running up Mount Vesuvius. Because that's awesome. Can't wait to see this funky grove animated and that's all really. Much like Part 5, the gang is having a little fun while they try to get information out of their vanquished foe. Who implies that he was set up by someone leading to...

Ooooh, an old theory of mine that Meryl Mei might not be the most trustworthy person paying off? This is getting pretty dicey as they find out who got the seal man a plea deal. Even more when Meryl immediately cuts in and starts ushering them to a parking garage and telling them to ditch their phones.

Honestly kinda glad we got the goofy dance sequence because it really feels like we're going straight from one harrowing escapade to another. Fun chapter, lots of great stuff all around.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Hunter x Hunter 413: Revolution 9

Guys look! We have returned to the mysterious CHAMBER OF LINES! I don't know why I love stuff like this so much, but it's such a departure from the otherwise lush and modern scenery of the upper tiers of the Black Whale. Obviously the lines are some variant of that Nen script we've seen a few times across the series. Makes me think of the entrance and exit to Greed Island.

I just always like seeing it, and don't forget that Chrollo is running around under the assumption there will be some spot like this. Now of course, part of the appeal is it is rare we get to see it. And there is an interesting example getting into the finer points of the Succession Contest. Ninth Prince Halkenburg is our subject ostensibly, in that King Nasubi is speculating on why his fire isn't lighting up. Correctly guessing he has a power that has his soul in another's body. Which is copacetic for the Contest. However, he does casually mention that Kacho's did. So her case is quite different. I have wondered if the deal there is the sort of thing where it's more like Fugetsu's memories of Kacho, but we'll leave that to ponder as the story inches closer to the point we left off in 410. This is still stuff that would have been happening during Morena and Borksen's time together.

Ooh...cool panel. Showing us the slow reveal of how Benjamin also got infected leading to that declaration of martial law. The gist of it is Queen Umma, who we discovered was the mother of both #1 & #9, made this play on Benjamin because she wanted Halkenburg to win. Benjamin's man Furkov took the initative because...

Some references don't really need to be pointed out, pretty obvious one here but it's cool. So Furykov wasn't the guy that had a power like that freaky Part 5 Jojo's stand and killed #8 Sale-Sale with that tailor-made Predator thing. But Furykov was the guy who had a strong natural knack for reading Nen. More like Hisoka and Ging, which is a hell of a group to be in.

We kinda already knew Benjamin's plan from the last batch but this all really solidifies it to me as he gives the order for Martial Law. He is the only one of the Princes to have a legitimate child of his own, so with his own death approaching he believes that if he can just eliminate everyone then by default his son inherits the throne. I figured we'd have a big, dramatic sweep of some of the "filler" princes as we got to the real climax for a long time and Furykov seems to bolster this plan of Benjamin's by probing a little how his own Nen ability and Spirit Beast might work together to ensure not only his son taking the throne, but having the intense power of all this to make him a truly great King.

There's an interesting parallel to Kurapika as well. Here we see Benji trying to dismantle the Seed Urn's rules in a different way. I know it was a lot to gobble up three of our ten chapters on covering what led to the point we ended at last batch, but I truly think this has set us up well to really have fun advancing the Succession War swiftly over the next seven. Go Team Twinsies!

[kitbashcomics]

[chromatic-lamina]

I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again, anyone get Dalek vibes from Imu? It’s his pretty white dots. They remind me of the protruding bubbles/baubles on the Daleks’ plating.

Both veer to histrionics too, and are prone to narcissistic injury and meltdowns, I think! Just me? Probably.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Friend Like Mu

We open today, on a climactic clash of gods. Yes. Big spooky Satan Imu and our great stretchy hope in Luffy who just rocked his royal badness Sabaody style. And we get some predictable flashback from Imu connecting Luffy yet again to this figure of Joyboy. What was crazy to me at first then just kinda cool was the framing.

It was almost like a transmission or Snail call which you don't really expect from such a deep flashback like that. Until of course, you remember Vegapunk's major assertion from the last arc. The past was "the future" in terms of being more technologically developed. Even if it doesn't mean much it's a good bit of world building for the past. That said, remember this. The framing and it almost seeming like Joyboy called Imu accidentally? Now there's a lot of potential given the recently departed Loki and his friend Mosa. Yes, very sad.

Oh, nice! He's still alive! Love this gag and the quick shout to Jinbei who didn't need more than that to get what his captain wants. You will be our friend Loki, that's non-negotiable.

Now, the real question...WHY THE FUCK IS LUFFY A GENIE!? Even like, making a baseball bat on Egghead at least kinda made sense with what was going on. But here Luffy's just screwing around. What inspired this idea? Big fan of The 1,001 Nights? Based but I didn't know you could read that well. Or like...were you that envious of Daifuku's ability? It was a cool one.

That said, I'm a big fan of The 1,001 Nights so I freaking love it.

We also get a great gag amidst the chaos of pulling Shuri out. Brook, Franky, and Jinbei get to learn a little Straw Hat lore today and you know? We don't really see this a lot with the later members so I honestly really liked it in this chapter. Of course, they're referring to when Aokiji froze Luffy & Robin back in Long Ring Long Land. Excellent throwback.

Speaking of...Imu is very quick on the draw piecing together what it means when this guy with an afro is pleading for specifically Princess Shuri. We know what that's all about now, but looks like the big cheese is about to take an interest in Boney. Luckily, he's gotta deal with Lu--

Crap. Even got the old school Crocodile finish. Which is still one of my favorite panels in the series. That doesn't really look very good does it? We'll just uh, hope he gets better next chapter but that's going to have to wait for a break sadly.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Skip & Loafer 81: Objectionable Content

Well, we're still clearly in our "solve all the B-tier couples" phase of this school romcom. I've binged these, I've kept up with them chapter-by-chapter and volume-by-volume. I'm sorry but usually this is about the point I kinda check out on most series like this. Not to say it's bad or authors shouldn't tie off the loose ends, it's just kinda weird to me so few seem to realize you can divvy this energy up throughout the series. It's one of the reasons I really liked Kaguya-sama, Kashiwagi & her beau were a great example of breaking from this trend some and it helped the series to have that couple who got together early.

We're also on Yasaka and her playgirl antics. She's set her sights on Ujie who...struggles with her charms around Valentine's Day chocolate. And I think the chapter doesn't really care about letting Yasaka off the hook. She ruminates she could stop these shenanigans and get along better with the girls in her class, but she "wouldn't be getting what she wanted" and kinda chuckles at guys getting flustered with her. Even as one girl warns her she won't be able to get away with stuff like this forever. I do hope there's an interesting conclusion to all of this but you know, realistically she just keeps feeling like the designated offputting late-comer all over this genre.

That said...we got a great Ace Attorney parody and at least some effort to tie this tale back to the main Mitsumi/Shima couple. So it wasn't spinning our wheels to the point I'm wondering if you just want 100 chapters. This was a lot of fun and really picked up a chapter I wasn't the most interested in at first.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

We got a Skip & Loafer twofer! This was a special chapter produced for Kodansha, sorta like an odd advertisement for careers at the publishing company. We don't get stuff like this in fan translations often, so good work Tsubame Club! Because it is a cute story. Mitsu is in her career doing a politics, she tours the company and the rest of the cast ended up finding the types of jobs they wanted at Kodansha! Mako's in distribution. Ujie/Mukai have computer nerd jobs. Shima's a cover model. You know, normal stuff.

I thought it was cute, also weird that Mitsu is having dreams like this. C'mon girl...even by your standards this is odd.

[fallensnowfan]

The One Piece Heroines episode was a blast! Snappy pacing and animation, a number of fun additions to the episode.

I liked seeing the way it differs from the source, spotting the extra scenes and changes. The smails and boss snail from Wano being used was cute. I hope more chapters are adapted

[basedkikuenjoyer]

I thought this was pretty cool. Elusive Samurai wrapped up earlier this year, but it got a bonus epilogue chapter this week. I haven't finished the manga, kinda content to wait for the anime on this one especially with how much fun the first season was. But you only really need to know the basics to follow this one. Because it's an alternate-world story about if the cast were just ordinary people today.

Interesting take on the historical AU story it draws from. Tokiyuki getting to enjoy a quiet life in the present says a lot and the chapter itself really spells out what it's going for. Some people will always influence whatever world they're in, some people are made important by the times they live in. Sometimes your gifts just aren't good fits for the times you live in. Spelled out here by Tokiyuki just being kinda a happy kid who blends into the background of a normal school life. He's still his squirrely self, just without the burden of being born to the wrong family at the wrong time. Seeing his dad as just a normal dude was oddly impactful.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

So we all saw the OP Heroines episode right? Nami in the lead role instead of just my leading lady in the story. The One Piece universe as more of a shoujo production. I assume that means Carrot wrote this story and good for her really.

I had fun. We've already broken down the stories from the light novels themselves so I won't dwell, Nami gets involved with a crooked cobbler and robs a fashion show she takes part in. Loved her outfit for that we see here. The adaptation adds a few details like giving Robin more of a role and honestly I think it paid off. The story as it was in the anthology probably would've been a little thin. Also funny watching some of the dudebros react to this...like, c'mon man it wasn't made with you in mind.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Hunter x Hunter 412: And You Thought Pronouns Were Tricky

I'm not going to dwell on this little aspect of Kakinese too much because I feel like I'd just be rehashing what the chapter itself says, so let's focus on a pretty funny Kurapika face as he tries to puzzle this out. Apparently we've been misgendering poor Shimanu this whole time. She's the humble attendant in Room 1014. Nice little detail that's cropped up about someone we've known this entire time. And quite cool to clarify these characters have been speaking a different language the entire time. Or is it just the names? Kakin was a bit isolated from the global order until this arc kicked off.

Interesting either way. It's a little tricky but makes enough sense. There's a subtle tonal aspect that doesn't translate well but makes it very clear to a native speaker if a name is masculine or feminine. Now, why on Earth would we take all this time to focus on something so small?

Woble is the same case, and Queen Oito was taking advantage of this linguistic quirk to cover the deception. You know what? Good on Bill for catching this one. Leads to a pretty tense scene where we have Kurapika using his lie detecting chain to smoke this one out. The Woble on the ship is actually Oito's nephew. So we do have a good explanation for where Kurapika left off last chapter. Though the gambit doesn't quite seem to be as effective as previously hoped. We also have the very fair question of where the female Woble is at this point in time. Seems like Oito legitimately does not know. The ramifications for the Succession Contest itself are also up in the air. Interesting stuff and hey, once again the Team Twinsies portfolio looking strong because now we have our out to keep Woble out of contention.

Moving on, we get an update on Beyond Netero. The man behind so much of this even though we haven't seen him for a while. Turns out he's been busy filing a lot of lawsuits, which between that and those glasses I'm loving this new side to him.

But what this scene really does is bring out a very interesting side to him. Seems like Beyond has a vested interest in bringing the Kakin Royalty down to the level of ordinary citizens. There's a lot of intrigue there but it's kinda hard to pin down where Beyond may be going with all of this, especially when we have all this extra context of the curse-bearers and his own offspring infiltrating the royal family.

All told, these first two chapters really feel like the typical setup we get in these batches every other year. I'm sure things will start getting wild soon but we've got some great new layers to this roiling game of political intrigue.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Card Subject to Change

And we are off! Love love love Lokidere here treating the secret spooky king of the world like a pickle jar he totally loosened up. Because he totally did guys. The more it develops the more I like Loki's dynamic with Luffy. Still think he's in a box closest to someone like Yamato where he's meant to be fun and ultimately end up filling Harald's wish to succeed him as King of Elbaph and we even do have a bit of a fun subversion with Luffy asking him to join up for a bad reason compared to Yamato doing the same. Interesting pair to consider side-by-side.

And I bring it up because this moment here really, really feels like when Luffy tags back in with Yamato in the fight against Kaido. We have a great flow to this chapter that feels like it puts pretty much everyone where they need to be. So let's see how the stage is set for what seems to be the final leg of Elbaph's action:

I love how One Piece never balks at being silly even in the most dire moments. I don't know if I've ever out-and-out said that before, but it's part of what makes it my favorite series. Like, Imu's lil black flame buddies are cute and we have this whole goof of Brook & Franky trying to check if the ice is cold but they can't tell because they're a skeleton and cyborg respectively. Perfect.

Then Loki comes crashing in and the hammer that is the only thing capable of undoing its own ice block just so happens to hit it and start freeing ShuriKo. GunRi? ShuriKo. We're sticking with ShuriKo. I'm interested in how this develops with Loki now in the mix of potentially trying to save one of these Knights. Because even if the Straw Hats here could slow him down enough to explain the situation Loki's still a hot head. So do we have some kind of three-way clash setting up around all of this? Definitely something to watch going forward. Especially when I'd imagine Imu at this point is too busy to intercede like he did last time.

That said, the real heart of this chapter to me seems to be what's going on with Zoro, Sanji, and the remaining two Knights. Zoro's side of this with Sommers is pretty damn cool. Since Sanji isn't within earshot, Mosshead can bring himself to compliment Swirlybrow. Classic start to a Zoro encounter with all the fun cockiness, Sommers acting like they can just get back to the banquet if you just let them take the kids, and I'm down for three swords vs. thorn sword.

As is often the case though, it ends up being Sanji's story that really has some interesting stuff going on. He sets up his clash with Kirinham pretty well. Apparently Zaza's enough of a woman for his hang-up but it's fine here because he can just focus on the Knight. Who confirms that yes, that interpretation is correct. We can also trust the Giants to buy some time when it comes to Zaza Gabor.

But as their clash starts, we go back to the earlier conversation with Scopper Gaban and talk a little about Sanji's latent potential for Conqueror's Haki. I think this is a very believable way to approach that for our favorite chef. He does have those qualities, but the biggest hurdle to realizing them is himself. Since we've invested so much in his backstory now we know the deal. The qualities that Sanji needs to ascend to the next level probably remind him a fair deal of Judge. But there's an interesting contrast with his dilemma in Wano. I don't think the heartless soldier of science could do this.

I will say I really like the idea floating around that Kirinham could do something cool by drawing out a sort of Nightmare Sanji and making Swirly take on the equivalent of Dark Link in the Water Temple. But regardless of how it shakes out it does seem like we have our fights set and they're really getting going. The spotlight at the end on Luffy/Imu was great too.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

She was a Playboy, Brigette Bardot...

We got a new volume which means a new SBS. Little light on the new information this time. Though through Rocks's tastes we have clarified Bacardi exists in this universe which is neat. Personally this was the big one for me. Former Kuja Empress Gloriosa's design was based on the well known French actress Brigette Bardot. Who left a legacy we'll call...complicated. Big deal in the 50s/60s and broke off of that to focus on animal rights advocacy but could be extremely racist/homophobic in how that was carried out, especially in her later years. Regardless, I do think her inspiring a design for someone like Gloriosa is pretty neat. Especially since it translates to both young and old Gloriosa. Also appreciate the Reddit thread for the nice comparison pics.

Also thought Oda's message about the volume being a whole 20 yen more to include an extra chapter was adorable. Like, these tankobon in Japan typically end up being about half what they cost stateside already. Current conversion rate would put this about 12 cents in USD more than it typically is. But it's sweet he cared enough to apologize. It's treated like a bigger deal in Japan to have to increase prices on childhood staples like this, there's a pretty famous example about an ice cream company in a similar situation.

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Hunter x Hunter 411: Mutually-Assured Destruction

We are so back! Sorry I didn't post this until now, thought I did Sunday night. I'm so excited to be able to crack into another batch of the Succession War arc. There's really some of my favorite stuff in the series playing out and these chapters are always so dense. First, we step back in time just a bit from 410. Which if you'll remember, left off with the First Prince's men making a desperate power play under martial law. Wipe all the rest out before he dies, he's the only one with a legitimate kid so his son can take the throne though with what we learn here that may be a phyrric victory.

All this was made even more interesting to me because I'm still Team Twinsies. My hunch is Fugestu is the one who makes it out of this if any of them do, especially with the bureaucrats in her corner. We left off with Benjamin's men making their push on the Justice Dept. And we pick up on the other side. Quick reminder the Ninth Prince is still lingering post-death through possessing one of the First's soldiers then we show Steiner, Kacho, & Melody strategizing. That to me says when we get back to where we were in 410, they're not going to be taken by surprise at least. And of course, we have pretty much the time it took for Morena/Borksen's card game unaccounted for in the Succession Contest itself.

That said, we spend most of our return on Kurapika and his Nen lessons. Which he has escalated as things wear on. There's a lot of little side plot stuff, one that deserves a quick Happy Pride and apparently Fifth's Nen Beast has started making moves, but it's all mostly recapping while not quite wasting time. Something I like about these segments when we come back. I think Togashi is managing his limitations well and this consistent volume every two years usually ends up feeling like a distinct chunk of the overall story.

Kurapika...he makes an excellent connection here. One I love and the second he said it sorta wanted to kick myself a little for not realizing about this ritual contest.

It's a Nen ability. Likely created by the first king of Kakin. It's Nen, it works like Nen. All these rules of the contest? They're just vows and restrictions to create a stronger ability. Incidentally I love national-level magic like this. Had a couple of cool ones in my personal TTRPG campaigns and they're a fantastic trope to play with. But yeah, this contest is a big risk for a big reward, even just supplying your entire dynasty with a super-powerful Nen beast is a big deal but I bet it's done a lot for Kakin.

Then...Kurapika gets called out for this even. Why say this out loud to a group of assorted soldiers? It flies in the face of his stalemate plan to admit a stalemate will likely screw up this whole thing. Probably bring down the monarchy itself.

Ohhhh...this is dastardly. Especially with the horrified look we see from Queen Oito. So is Woble the one that's Beyond's kid? No wait, the rule doesn't care about that. It's about being the child of a recognized Queen of Kakin. Though, is Kurapika bluffing?

Either way I like this setup. Make the whole contest as complex as possible, spell out the consequence as the fall of the monarchy, and remove Woble as something the others should concern themselves with. This is a great return to the action!

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Well...we finished Fire Force. Very neat shonen about fighting fires but they're demon things made from humans that turned. Had a nice secondary layer with the main character trying to find his brother who became a big important player in our designated church. Catgirl who wins fights with fan service... Look, sometimes we have trouble expressing ourselves. This is where Simpsons memes come in:

Now, make no mistake. I may not like NGE very much but I did like what Fire Force did as we got closer to the end. It's just...wasn't really expecting this series to get so introspective and start playing with the nature of stories and all that. Pretty trippy shit like the live-action segments and how it connected to the author's previous work Soul Eater. Also...yes it was silly and over the top but it was kinda leaning on the fact they knew what they were doing with Tamaki's finale. I can at least respect taking a stand that may be fanservice isn't that big of a deal and the prudish mom not really existing was pretty damn funny. Arthur being cluelessly adamant enough he actually could breathe in space was great. The actual finale with Shinra and the Evangelist was a solid ending too.