Thank you for the reminder Yamato is a sizeable boi. As popular with the ladies of Wano as always. And Tama's back too! So Who's Who was also behind the missing people, we have Yasu's sword back. Looks like we've solved our main problems here in Udon.
Unless that changes, looks like we didn't have a retainer hanging around. Who's Who filled that space. Are we on to Hakumai? This cover serial is getting pretty long. It's about as long as Jinbei & Ace's already. Getting to the fun part if there's something weird going on.
1144 was a busy, busy chapter! So much that by the end I kinda forgot where we began with something interesting out of this Franky/Ripley pair. It's kinda cool how he gets to take over this role for Robin since she's so emotionally tied to a local which itself is also a pretty unique bit of Elbaf these days. Cool how this late we still have fun ways to put the Straw Hats in different situations.
It also gives Franky more of that time with Vegapunk when Lilith & Bonney pop up. I assume this is also setting them up with a permanent place to hop off the voyage. But what about this reveal! Early spoilers made it sound like another mech but here we have some old world lab/factory-looking thing dated to...3000 years ago? That's wild, Zunisha was already impressive for being a little older than the Void Century. It was a big deal to find out the world used to be more technologically advanced. So now we have something incredibly deep. Imagine we'll put a pin in it and come back later.
After that we develop in a direction that keeps building off of some core ideas I'm typically big on. This segment keeps playing with ideas that remind me of the end of Wano. Specifically asking the Straw Hats to sit out and the way God's Knights are acting. Particularly Gunko fitting the mold but we'll get there.
I am Nami in this moment. You are so heckin' adorable right now Colon. In terms of One Piece kids he's becoming a great one and continuing the thought above, I actually do like how Colon plays with the difference between expectations and reality. He's an oddball for being the exact type of kid we all expected to see in Elbaf.
See, the threat of God's Knights right now is kinda like the old Raid plan. In practice. Which wasn't too different than storming the Tea Party. Now the Straw Hats are caught when they're partying with buddies and it allows only a few people to wreck a lot of havoc. That is a great dynamic. I'm trying to think of when else we've had something like it. Being honest, it's kind of why I'm sour on Enies Lobby. Government agents shouldn't be breaking up into neat little 1v1 fights so everyone can get a powerup. God's Knights can just casually sip tea and jam out because the hard part is going to be finding them while their abilities assault you on several fronts.
Of course though...Gunko you're amazing. It's cute, after she eats she wants to jam out for a little. I like to do the same after dinner, watch the sunset from my back porch with some tunes. It's the little things, but this is such a solid scene because it characterizes the Knights through casual dialogue. No shit it kinda feels like what makes people love Quentin Tarantino movies. But of course it's amazing she's listening to Brook. Love anytime we remind you he is actually a super famous musician and it leads to that great little exchange about not liking the current world. Feel like we could have some arc words out of that bit about mocking interests.
Then finally I'm glad I could get one of these. The intro box for the nightmares is a nice touch. We had Saul panicking trying to do something about these kids marching into the flame. I know it's an awful situation but I love the D&D brain Saul's using to throw anything at the wall and see what sticks. Shield wall, lassoing kids from behind. Can't say the guy isn't giving his all.
Great seeing Dorry, Broggy, & Gyaban at the end balancing the scales. I hope this isn't quite the end for Spooky Gregg but if it has to be at least we had him for a while.
I felt it was worth its own post to ask for a moment of silence. Chapter 1144 also gave us a tragic moment of losing a beloved side character. Spooky Gregg your time with us was short, but touched all our hearts and you died doing what you love. Scaring children while looking absolutely dapper.
