I'm curious if Loki will still be disparaging against humans by the end of this arc, or learn to see things from their perspective, as Ida spoke of.
Loki's dislike of humans is why I'm still unsure if he truly cared about Lola.
We know Loki does value and empathize with Shaggy, who may or may not be a human, and idolized Xebec, though I guess I'm not exactly sure where the line is drawn for Loki between his negativity towards humans specifically, and his overall closed off emotional state towards trusting anyone, regardless of species.
Harald wanted to foster connections between giants and humans, though ultimately took the wrong approach, even with Ida's guidance.
And in the present, we see the consequences of Harald's misstep regarding other things he tried to understand, as discussed here. He failed to find a balance between valuing warrior's pride and valuing the library/school.
Aside from Collun, the kids of Elbaf in the present have no warrior's pride, which all but goes to show that Harald's influence resulted in the old ways being mostly thrown out, both the good and the bad.
It's one of those chapters that like, if you're the type of invested fan who'd keep up with a blog like this you could probably see coming. But it is important to actually show what the point of all of this Saga of Harald was about. We could be done with the flashback this chapter, maybe next one's transitioning us out of it. On one hand, I wish we could've tweaked the balance. If this is it maybe a little less play-by-play of God Valley for a little more of the long gap between that and Harald's end. Which hey, great contrast to Wano where I feel like we'd be better off with one more chapter before White-kichi shows up.
On the other hand, I do think this chapter does a great job really pulling the "point" and tragedy of Harald into full focus. And honestly? This one scene with Ida says everything. Ida's never actually asking him to be this total pacifist or make the country follow suit. Wano is a great example of a country that can have both a strong warrior culture and not have it consume them. Sure isolation is its own problem and all but Harald's fatal flaw was being blinded by his hopes to the point he missed out on the actual inevitable threat.
And of course you have the tragedy that Loki was imprisoned. Never getting to say goodbye to Ida. I think both of these stories work well together to bring out that core point of Elbaf. But I will say in a way that really makes me think Loki's destiny is to become the new king. Remember a core element of all of this flashback is we've already seen Luffy's journey tread much of this ground. Hajrudin is the son of Harald already on his (extended) crew.
Harald was blind to the realities of the pacifist Elbaf he was creating. Loki was the outcast who allowed it to exist. It's a great stand-in for how society uses outcasts to channel frustration into cohesion. But Loki's already shown the temperament Elbaf needs. Harald was so blinded by the World Government's illusion of working with the outside world he failed to realize humanity would love the giants more for standing up to the evil rot commanding it.
Ooh, love that panel of Imu's influence. Yeah I could draw a parallel to the role of a samurai and that hierarchy and all but really it's true of a lot of oppressive systems. I think I saw the same basic concept for the first time with 1984. Hierarchies don't actually control the entire society. Acquiescence is the cost of being part of the privileged class. Ultimately it is quite possible to slip through the cracks of the oppressive power structure, make it work for you. But not if you fall for the propaganda of what a "good" life has to look like. Classic example to me is the knowledge there are people out there with triple my income and less of a safety net because they have to "keep up with the Joneses" to maintain their career. Or maybe they only got that leg up through membership in a hardline church that makes heavy demands of their social and family life.
This is why the Akazaya Nine are important; they'd pretty much all be considered "undesirables" in a Japanese caste system. The higher you go up the ladder, the more power and privilege you have on paper but it tends to come with a lot of hidden constraints. After all, Imu has to hide from the world. It's a great symbol and you need to spell it out because this is shonen manga...but yeah I figured it was obvious the second we introduced the inner circle and regen powers.
So yeah, bring it home. This flashback has pretty much answered the questions it set out to as of now. Loki's not that bad of a guy. He'd likely make a fine king of Elbaf going forward. We know more about God Valley. Shakky, Dragon, and Shanks got a lot out of this detour. We did figure out how to hurt the Knights.
Not gonna lie...it was a fun flashback but the climax of the cover serial caught my eye more.
1169's first page is up on the Japanese site, and it's exactly what I have been waiting for.
Gaban getting more focus. He has been woefully out of the spotlight for most of this flashback thus far but no longer!
Translation by me. I made a mistake with the part where Shanks is talking about Roger's son but everything else is correct as far as I'm aware.
I love how much this conveys about Gaban's perspective, him stating that heritage does not always define a person's future. And how that relates to Shanks, to Ace, to Ida's sons, potentially himself, to Oden, and many more.
As well as enjoying Gaban being skeptical about ideas of fate and destiny. Both as a contrast to Rayleigh, and due to Gaban wanting to get to know Luffy himself, while deciding to not let Shanks' words paint his own views of Luffy as an individual. It has me curious what Gaban meant when he referred to Shanks as a "child of fate."
Then him saying that Shanks and Buggy the sons of the Roger Pirates has me thinking of Ida viewing Loki as her son just as much as she views Hajrudin as her son. Gaban's point about people subverting the expectations of their birthright makes me wonder if that will be true for Hajrudin and Loki too. Someone other than either of them may be involved in helping Elbaph as a whole to learn to both value the library & school, and their warrior's pride. Lots to be excited about from just the first page.
Oh man. The way Oda-sensei gets the emotion of grief across in every wordless panel here...! Damn.
14 years earlier, Holy Land Mary Geoise
Ahahahah now at the stage of a flashback where I see the Big Tragic Event coming like a steamroller with nothing anyone can do to stop it...
"Power" is...! The way it's bursting forth is almost terrifying.
Lots of thoughts here! None organzied. But:
Once again, the power of symbols (pirate flags, slave brands etc)
What IS that symbol???
What is this magic??
...what is going on with the sketchiness; Odacchi are you okay??
Okay - confirmation that, yes, Imu makes people immortal. Somehow. (And Shanks absconded right before it happened to him!) And I have learned the word for pentagram! (ごほうせい, though the furigana is "Abyss" I think?)
Aaaaand yeah, once Imu's in your mind you can't resist their power. Checks out! I wonder if Shanks knew exactly what he was escaping, or if he just suspected it was some kind of bad juju and wanted none of it.)
