Okay, so, the newest chapter told us a lot and gave us more questions. First Gunko/Shuri killed a man (her father, apparently) who Brook "owed everything to." At this point, it would be easy to assume that she did it under Imu's influence, but something in chapter 1149 makes me wonder if it's not the case:
To me it looks like she's crying out as her father's being attacked, but of course, it's also possible that this is her after regaining control. Also, it's clear that Gunko's, or should I say Shuri's, memories of Brook and her past in general aren't fully there. But how? Is that another power of Imu's, or of someone else working for him? Or did she lose her memories on accident, perhaps from the trauma?
Either way, since she's helping Brook, there's definitely more to their shared past than the musician knows of.
I'm kinda blown away by how much this chapter is focusing on ideas I'm invested in, I just want to celebrate it for now, and potentially make a more in-depth post later.
The Brook and Gunko focus I've been waiting for! All right!!! Dual identity, a shadow controlling a body, the original owner of the body resisting said control. Gunko is so so so Cindry-like and it's great.
Brook potentially being a warrior sworn to protect a lord who was murdered by Gunko/Imu is strongly strongly reminding of the Akazaya & Oden. Nicely building on Jarul having Yasu vibes in last week's chapter.
The way Imu's eyes are the background here reminds me a fair amount of Moria activating Shadows Asgard.
I love how the Knights are a bunch of arrogant dorks at times, and continue to ponder if any of them are truly loyal to Imu, or if they are all being controlled by their covenant marks.
Totally called Zoro's plan haha. I appreciate his plan being such a simple one, it allows for the Brook and Gunko scenes to breath.
Well this was a fun, lively chapter as we really get into the counterattack. I always love that part of the flow of an OP arc. We get slapped around, we hunker down and cover the backstory, then everyone starts popping off. And Zoro gets right to it with a great plan from last week!
Seriously, no notes. Used his head, understood the thematic significance of not getting surrounded by Reversi pieces, and by taking to the air was able to bait Dorry & Broggy into re-creating their duel on Little Garden! Love it, especially since yeah instigating infighting is exactly the type of callback to Wano Act 1 I love to see. Great start all around.
So uh...Brook's handy at fighting with a shield. Who knew? Even if it is obvious as the afro on his head this Princess Shuri/Sherry/Cherie (my hope) is gonna be patricidal through something similar to Loki and all but woaw. Brook lore. You love to see it. Always wondered about his time pre-Rumbar Pirates. And this gives us an interesting detail. If this princess would be pushing 80 then Brook's not actually that much older than her. For reference it'd be more like the gap between Denjiro & Kiku. So still a clear elder but this would put Brook as a kind of big bro instead of an unc as the kids would say.
Obviously though, this really did do enough to get Gunko to relax the bindings and even give the kids what seems to be a bit of leeway. So now Robin is our only one held up and Sommers has his own struggles with Sanji adding to those imminent. How about that though? We did it once with Big Mom and it was some of the coolest shit that ever happened in the series and here Brook is tangling with the biggest bad in the series's avatar. Love that for Boney. Sanji sometimes fits that "Worf Effect" role like with Doflamingo but honestly I think it's the perfect spot for Brook. Fascinated by how this will develop, love the twist even if he's wrong he just wanted to forget this chapter.
Oh hell yeah! This is cool. It's like when you find out Grandma was a lowkey civil rights baddie back in the day. True story, ended up being in the same class as a young man from the family who used to teach the old segregated schoolhouse in my small town. His grandma just came running up to smother me with a big hug at a community event out of the blue one day and I found out it was because her and my grandma were big-time old friends that stood up to the man (shithead hospital admin) together in the 70s. You go grandma.
Seriously though, that story is why I love seeing the kids here. Especially when I grew up around a lot of Baby Boomer dads who never fought "the big one" their daddies told em to prepare for and took it out on trying to obsess about how masculine their sons were. Really seen a lot of how well that works out for a culture in my lifetime. I wonder about the other side of that. I've seen the way some young folks act today about stories from my own political doings that didn't even really feel significant at the time. There's a lot that draws back to Doffy's big speech in Marineford about the difference between kids who know peace and war. I like how Elbaf explores that as a core theme.
Then...lol eat a dick Sommers. Just a nice stroke of luck but one that'll also force the trio of Knights to adjust their approach. I still gotta wonder how much this will actually drag on in the end. The two biggest heavies on the allied side still haven't joined the fray and it looks like we're already getting it under control. Frankly I think a big, quick win and getting back to planning and worldbuilding for the end kinda works after Egghead. That showed us the full might, Elbaf we put a bow on an obvious ally by finding out how to fight back and getting an easy chance to practice.
How about this? We haven't done a poll in a minute. Elbaf as of this chapter is I believe at 47? Just shy of the 50-chapter mark. Egghead clocked in at 68. So,
Still tickled by this massive nightmare chaos and how Odacchi draws it.
Scary Nika! Ghosts with hats! A bear in a helmet...??
Little Colon trying to get everyone to buckle up by appealing to the warrior spirit of Elbaph, and one of the other kids is like "But we're not warriors!".
Robin having to watch another library - one with her Ohara's books! - burn on order of the World Government. Oof. ;_;
And Brook ran off somewhere... BROOK WHAT DO YOU KNOW???
Ohhhh Jarul is spilling the Evil World Government, Innocent Loki beans!! Excellent. (But please don't die, Jarul!)
A plan? A scheme?? Zoro's plans are usually uuuuuuuuuuh interesting. So. Yeah. Let's go two chapter reactions at once (at least!)
Well the giants are excited, and so is Zoro. (And him calling Hajrudin "brother" is funny to me for some reason.)
Okay yes EXCELLENT (he's terrifying - demon indeed). From above so they can't Reversi him!
Oh. Oh no??? Oh whoops. Um.
Ah. So this is how Brook is getting around - caterpillar style. Of course it is.
SHURIHIME??? Gunko is "Princess Shuri"??
...oh after Brook kept talking about how it couldn't be her because she'd be 80 years old now I was all ready to be excited for Brook FINALLY getting to reunite with someone from his pre-death life (...) but. But apparently. He hates her because she killed his benefactor...??? Oh no.
IT'S OKAY lots of people have good reasons to kill their fathers (I mean, see Loki!) and she seems to like him, so maybe we will get a heartwarming... um. She's a Knight of God. So. Maybe not-so-heartwarming reunion...??
But she is trying to protect him from Imu's attack! So...
HUH. Imu doesn't know about Brook. So even if you've got Imu in your mind, Imu doesn't automatically absorb all your memories or anything. Hmm.
I absolutely love how there's a bunch of normal, (as in, not professional pirates or warriors) parents rushing out to save their kids. It's such a thing in One Piece - The God Valley incident had a lot of regular people (including, of course, Shanks' mom) dying trying to protect their children. And on the other extreme you have the worst possible parents, like Daddy Vinsmoke, and Big Mom, who don't just not love their children unconditionally, but are the ones the kids would need protecting from.
OH LOOK Odacchi set this one up IN LITTLE GARDEN that's totally normal for a mangaka to do. Just wait literally over ONE THOUSAND CHAPTERS to bring reference this two-page spread:
Dorry and Brogy's attack in chapter 129 (!!) is "supreme country"; Gerd, Goldberg and Road's in 1173 is "roaring country".
Oh WELL PLAYED, you three. Well played!!!
That's right. No ship; no getting the kids off of Elbaph. \o/
