This is kind of far fetched but it caught my attention…
Going back to the chapter cover of Chapter 845 The Enraged Army, we have a cover request from Aqua Wild Strawberry for Nami being spoiled by 5 kittens:
If you look at the wiki page for Chapter 845, though, it says:
Fan Request??: “Nami being pressed to look after 5 little kittens”. (Wild Strawberry Aqua from Osaka) .
Not only is there a question mark, but the request asks for Nami spoiling the kittens. The reason is explained on the One Piece Podcast episode 443 (about 45 min into the ep).
The girl who sent the cover request, asked Oda to draw a cover of Nami spoiling 5 kittens. But then Oda suggested, “How about having the kittens spoiling Nami instead?”
So it was actually Oda’s idea to have Nami being pampered by the kittens. (And in my opinion, the way they are serving her, reminds me of the way Sanji serves her food/drinks).
Also, the cover request was sent a long time ago, at the beginning of the year, but not answered until Ch845 (most likely because of the cover stories going on).
Why would Oda purposely alter the cover request? Why have Nami being spoiled by being served food & drinks, the way Sanji used to serve her? And why use this cover for this particular chapter? Maybe I’m looking way too much into this, but it’s something fun for SaNami fans to think about :)
These are just my thoughts and reactions after reading One Piece chapter 850.
Warning: Spoilers up to Chapter 850
I had so much I wanted to say about the other scenes, but this review is already too long, so I mostly wrote about the big plot twist in this chapter.
Some fans have pointed out parallels between recent chapters and Baratie arc chapters. For example, chapter 44 (Sanji enters) and 844 (Vinsmoke Sanji), as well as other chapters. So I wonder if it's a coincidence that in Chapter 50 Nami "betrays" her crew and runs away to Arlong Park, and in Chapter 858, Pudding's betrayal is revealed.
Also, in Ch.50 Nami was crying at the end, wondering if she'd ever be free. I don't know if this is important, but I just decided to mention it.
Sanji's bento
I wouldn't have noticed all these details, but thanks to other people posting about it (all the credits to them), I realized Sanji's bento is made up of food that the SHs love: meat, sandwiches, hamburgers, rice, fish, tangerines, chocolates. I wonder what Brook likes?
Anyways, this was touching, and shows that even though Sanji's trying to focus on the wedding and making Pudding happy, he can't forget about his crewmates, and just unconsciously ended up cooking for them. I was kind of baffled by his lack of reaction last chapter to Brook going on a rampage, his crew being captured, etc., but this kind of made up for it.
Also, I keep seeing the roses. Are they important? Do they symbolize something?
Prisoner Library
So now we know what Pudding whispered to Luffy and Nami, and why Luffy's trying to rip his arms breaking free. The fact that Luffy's going to rip his hands off to get to Sanji, while Sanji's hands are on the line, really got me. I hope someone does show up magically to save them, before Luffy rips his arms for real.
But who can save them? Brook is with Big Mom, Pedro is occupied, Chopper is still trying to find the castle, that leaves...Sanji? Who is currently maybe traumatized but actually in the castle and free to move around, so he seems the most likely option right now.
(I hope he also gives Luffy that bento he made).
Pudding's room
Oda really did a good job keeping his cards to himself when it came to Pudding. The way he kept her out of the spotlight and tried not to reveal too much about her, and kept fans guessing whose side Pudding is on, was really well done. He also kept her ambiguous enough that fans saw her as an angel or a traitor depending on how they saw her.
Before, it almost seemed like Pudding was too good to be true.
Now she seems almost too wicked to be true. I mean, she seems more like a sadistic psychopath rather than a traitor who was stringing the strawhats...
I did expect some kind of plot twist or revelation about Pudding, because Oda kept her mysterious. I was pretty convinced by her acting, especially after 848, and believed she had good intentions. I also became rather fond of her, maybe because she's the first girl who seems to really like Sanji :" That being said, I was prepared for a big surprise concerning her, but nothing prepared me for this. I was expecting maybe a grey character, or maybe a yandere.
But I never expected an outright psychopath.
Also, whether Pudding was good or bad, I was pretty convinced she really liked Sanji, and wanted to marry him. It seems I was totally wrong about that. I was very unprepared for Pudding planning to kill Sanji during the wedding.
But we still don't have a character introduction box for Pudding. Does this mean there's going to be another plot twist surrounding her? Or is there something else about her we don't know? Maybe she has a super-high bounty??
For now, I'm going to believe this is her true character since her 3rd eye was finally revealed, but I still have some questions about her. Is her killing Sanji also part of Big Mom's plan? Or is she carrying out her own plan? And she makes it sound like she's going to kill Sanji because he fell in love with her?? Does she just enjoy violence like that little girl Anana from Ch.845?? I don’t understand how her mind works...
Also what is her relationship with Lola? Why did we get the flashback with Pudding and Lola? (My wild theory is that Pudding, since she's Big Mom's favorite, helped Lola get Big Mom's vivre card).
Although I don't think there was any concrete proof about Pudding's "evil" side before, now that I think about it, there were some signs that she was very good at acting. She lied in Chapter 727, when she was first introduced. She lied to save Luffy and Chopper, by saying she hired them. What's interesting is she lied to Big Mom's own underlings to save two strangers, because she didn't know who Luffy was at that time (unless she was lying about not recognizing Luffy right away, too). (Also, the Hansel/Gretel reference may have been a hint too)
I think this is the only concrete scene where we know Pudding was lying for sure. But I guess it's important that this is how Oda introduces her to the SHs.
One of the reasons I decided to trust Pudding was because Sanji, Luffy, and Nami all seemed to trust her. I feel like normally at least one of the 3 would pick up on her lying. Well, Luffy did eventually ask Pudding why she wasn't at the meeting spot but he also called her his friend...
Anyways, I really feel bad for Sanji here. He looks genuinely shocked to me, so I think he did fall for Pudding's acting. He's been duped by girls before, but never in a situation like this, so I feel really sorry. I was actually glad there was finally a girl who just seemed to love Sanji, but of course, it was too good to be true.
Back in Ch. 845, when Sanji told Pudding, "If you're okay with it being me, let's get married," it gave me the impression that Sanji has a low opinion of himself when it comes to girls, like he doesn't actually expect any girl to love him.
For now I'm going to assume that Sanji was really duped by Pudding's act. If so, this must be pretty traumatizing for him and since Pudding was his last ray of hope, he's basically lost all hope. He already looks broken enough, but I guess this is going to break him for real.
I also wonder what he's going to do. Although a lot of fans want Sanji to finally kick a girl, I don't think it will be that easy for him to do so, even after all this. One of the things that really stood out about Sanji, was that he has an extreme moral code that he never compromises, no matter what the consequences are. And that statement from EL about never kicking a woman...I don't take that lightly.
So I'm really curious how he will deal with this situation.
Also, is it actually confirmed that Sanji can see through a woman's lies, or something? I thought he said, he always believes in a womans' tears, which gave me the impression that he believes a woman's tears are always sincere.
This scene makes me think of 2 quotes by Sanji that really stood out to me
- "I believe in a woman's tears"
- "A real man forgives a woman's lies"
If Sanji really believes in these things, then he should believe that Pudding's tears in Ch. 845 were sincere, when she cried with sympathy for him. What is he going to believe now?
And if a real man forgives a woman's lies, doesn’t that mean he is going to forgive Pudding's lies?
Like I mentioned, I don't think Sanji is someone who bends his principles. He'll feed any hungry person, even if he knows that person will come back to kill him and his friends. He'll never fight with his hands, even if he's losing a fight so badly. He'll never kick a woman, even if he dies.
So I'm really curious how Sanji will react, and how he'll handle the situation. I just can't imagine Sanji doing a concasser on Pudding, no matter how evil she is...but maybe he'll find a way to outwit her or turn the tables on her?? Either way, this is the perfect timing for Sanji to do something.
The other SHs, Chopper, Brook, Pedro, Luffy and Nami, all had their moment to shine and do something. Moreover, at the moment, everyone is either restrained or preoccupied, except for Sanji. Chopper is still trying to find the castle, Brook is with Big Mom, Luffy and Nami are in the prisoner library.
I can't even come up with any predictions about the next chapter, but I'm really curious what Sanji will do (hopefully he does something).
Also, I wonder if the lightning bolt symbolizes something? There was a flash of lightning in Ch.845, when Sanji proposed to Pudding. And there’s one at the end of this chapter. Is it a signal that the “love spell” is over?
Also, I love Reiju's comment to Pudding, "What a beautiful personality you have." It's kind of ironic, though, since Reiju is the one who called Pudding a sweetheart. She seems very calm here, though, in spite of being captured and bleeding a lot. I wonder what she's going to do? I don't know why, but I can't help liking Reiju more and more (I even changed my userpic to her because I was so upset she got attacked ;;).
I'm wondering if Zeff will told Sanji to just set hell loose. I mean, he's already entrusted Sanji with his dream. There’s nothing left for Zeff by now, well ecept Baratie. I'm not trying for being rude now, I think Zeff wouldn't mind if it cost him his life.
Zeff gave everything to Sanji, his cooking skills, his fighting styles, his dream, HIS LOVING FIGURE AS SANJI’s PARENT (cry a river) and most of all, what Sanji's lack right now is:
Zeff already inherit his everything to Sanji, there's no regret left. He trusted Luffy because he's the one showing Zeff (a veteran pirate) that very moment. And he also entrusted Sanji to Luffy, proves that he believe Luffy is the one who wil make Sanjil realizes it sooner or later. By this time he's just ready letting Sanji go to pursue All Blue, and consequently his reasons to live. Whatever happens, as long as you have guts to defy destiny, that 'Willpower' will becomes your ultimate strength. Whatever happens just break loose first, there's a way. That conviction is what Sanji needs.
Funny enough it's Luffy in every battles. And Sanji didn't learnt at all so far.
