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Op chapter 1187 - key points 👹🧊
Imu: you finally show yourself, Joy Boy!
Luffy: Stop calling me by another name! I'm Luffy! The man who will become the King of Pirates!
(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1187)
I swear this is the last time I'm gonna make this rant, but.
While I'm happy that Sanji is going to overcome his insecurities to unlock his full potential, and since Conqueror's Haki is necessary to defeat the enemy we all knew he was also going to have it, and if this is now going to be treated as another power-up then I have nothing against Sanji having it
But I just can't stand the fact that the only way to defeat the God's Knights is using goddamn Conqueror's Haki. Because unless Oda is gonna do a retcon on the fact that it's something you have to be born with, then what is the damn point. Of anything.
From a narrative perspective, you're telling me that the enemy are a group of people who think they are different and above every other person on the planet, just by virtue of being born better than everyone else. And the only way to defeat their strongest warriors is using a power. That you need to have from birth, that sets you apart from everyone else on the planet. Even if you have to train to be able to use it, you can only do that if you have the potential by virtue of being born with the ability to use it. What are you even saying here. The only way to fight elitism is with this different, better elitism
[Not even getting into the fact that it kind of invalidates all the training that Luffy had to do in Wano with the help of a teacher in order to be able to infuse his attacks with Conqueror's Haki, because Sanji is going to have to be able to use it right away in order to fight now (which was already kind of invalidaded in Wano when Zoro was also able to use it instinctively right off the bat, which I also personally kind of hated)]
One Piece; Chapter 1187
[shaking my executive dysfunction] LOCK IN– 💔 Sorry this is so late, my reading choice underwent an update and then I kept using all my energy on other stuff than making this :/
Anyway! Spoilers below, as per usual!
one piece 1187
its cool how gaban confirmed to sanji that usopp will get conquerors haki once he believes in himself
(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1187)
(chapters 1186 and 1187)
Now, this is probably nothing, but I've seen people pointing out how weird it is for Luffy to be barefoot in that big panel of him vs Imu at the end, but I notice he's been barefoot for this whole chapter, actually. I would've said this was just an oversight, but every time we see his feet in this chapter he's specifically not wearing his sandals. And it just feels odd when last chapter there was a panel highlighting the fact that he tossed his boots for his sandals as he's getting ready to fight
.
Interesting that only one of the flames seems to speak in a different font, I wonder what that's about. Also, they speak! And to each other, which means they seem to be separate entities and at least somewhat conscious
(chapters 1179 and 831)
I already thought this before when Imu first arrived in Elbaf, but his power sometimes looks a lot like Big Mom's. Those singing trees and houses looked like the trees from the Seducing Woods in Whole Cake Island, and now Imu's little black flame balls also look and act a lot like her homies
(chapters 1150 and 835)
In fact, the way Big Mom makes her homies feels a little like how Domi Reversi works, in that they both take a portion of someone's lifespan as an exchange. So if Big Mom takes that lifespan as a "soul" and puts it in other things that develop a life and consciousness of their own, I wonder if those little black flames could also be the portion of lifespan that Imu took from people when he used Domi Reversi
These are all purely speculation, obviously, but the spooky trees and houses also remind me of Thriller Bark, where Moria could take people's shadows (that retain some of their personalities, so somewhat similar to a part of their souls) and use them to revive his zombies. All of this to say that this talk of shadows and souls makes me look at those sentient little flames and question where their sentience comes from
.
Imu's attack is called 怨魔剣 with the furigana スティグマ (sutiguma). 魔剣 (maken) means magic/demon sword and 怨み (urami) means resentment, grudge, malice or bitterness. Stigma, or スティグマ (sutiguma), is most likely about the Catholic belief of wounds that appear on certain people that correspond to the crucifixion wounds on Jesus Christ, ie on the hands and feet (from the nails), on the side of the chest (from the lance), on the head (from the crown of thorns), and on the back (from carrying the cross)
[Hilarious to me that Loki is Jesus in this scenario, he even gets pierced by a sword/lance on the side of his chest and everything]
Also, I think it's interesting that on Imu's side the black flame takes the form of what appears to be a suzu bell, which are round bells used in Shinto shrines and ceremonies that you ring in order to wake deities and repel evil. It's pretty ironic, since he's basically The Evil/Devil Guy and ringing his bell seems to call forth his black flame sword like a homing missile. In fact, the whole attack name is ironic, since the name of a holy wound is being used by a guy who looks like a demon and who has eaten the Devil Fruit
.
It's very funny that Sommers is quite literally in the middle of kidnapping children as hostages to control the giants, and he thinks that after they do that both the giants and the Straw Hats would just... finish their party? It's silly because that's a very stupid thing for him to say, but it also really highlights how little he thinks of people's lives and relationships. It reminds me of Gunko telling the Straw Hats that the children's lives mean nothing to her and she doesn't understand the concept of a hostage, and her also being confused about why Ronja wouldn't be happy that the giants chose her over the school and library (made even more painful now with the added bonus of her backstory)
(chapters 1146 and 1149)
It serves as a reminder that the Celestial Dragons don't think of anyone that isn't them as people, but it also makes me wonder how much of this is being influenced by their contract with Imu. Gunko is still a special case and a mystery, but Sommers and the other God's Knights have at least a Depths Covenant, and it was shown that Imu could influence and control Harald almost like he was Domi Reversi'd. It felt like he had no inhibitions, compassion or regard for other people, which we know is not his usual personality. He behaved like the God's Knights do, and we haven't ever seen them when they're not potentially under the influence of the Covenants. Just something to keep in mind
[I hope this isn't the case, though. I hope their lack of compassion or empathy is due to their upbringing and existence within a society that values purity of blood and social stratification over everything else, because that already makes a lot of sense. And we have seen that some Celestial Dragons struggle to be different from how they were raised, especially when exposed to different people and cultures, showing that it's not so much that they're intrinsically evil, just that that's what happens when you live in isolation and are raised to believe that everyone different from you is inferior and unworthy. It's much more interesting to explore that than if the root of all evil just ends up being Imu]
.
When Sanji is listing out the problems they're facing, he uses the term 現況 (genkyou), which means present condition. When he correctly calls out Killingham for being the root of the problem, he uses the word 元凶 (genkyou), which means main cause/culprit, source or ringleader, and is also the title of this chapter
As a lot of us speculated at the time, Gaban really did have more to say to Sanji that got drowned out by Loki's loud yelling. Gaban said that Sanji has 素質 (soshitsu), which means makings (of), aptitude, talent, nature or qualities. It's not exactly the word that was used to talk about the "qualities of a king" when people first talked about it when Luffy used it on Amazon Lily and Marineford, which was 資質 (shishitsu), meaning nature, disposition, talent, qualities or temperament, but the meaning seems pretty similar to me. Gaban also said
ただしお前はなぜか自虐の危うさを抱えてる But, for whatever reason, you are burdened with concerning/dangerous self-torment
The term 自虐 (jigyaku) means to inflict pain on your own body and mind, to torment yourself. And this is where I think a second reading of the chapter title comes in. Because I don't think it's a coincidence that a chapter titled "root of the problem" that ends with Sanji being told he has a tendency to torment himself just happens to coincidentally have a cover art featuring Reiju protecting Sanji from his siblings and father. Specifically a Sanji who is the only duckling among his family of swans, a role reversal of a classic tale about being mocked and abused for being different than the people around you
(chapter 597)
As Rayleigh explained to Luffy, the only way for someone's Conqueror's Haki to become stronger is if that person also experiences personal growth and becomes stronger. He uses the term 成長 (seichou), which means growth or development in the sense of, like, maturing, both physically and mentally
(chapters 52 and 58)
Sanji's problem has always been his abysmally low self-worth, ever since his introductory arc. It could seem at first glance that his willingness to put his life on the line to defend what he thought was the most important thing to Zeff was the same as Zoro and Luffy's resolve to risk their lives in pursuit of what they want, but it's not really the same, is it? Luffy and Zoro accept that dying is a possibility, but they're not looking for it and have no intentions to just give in to it if it comes. On the other hand, Sanji seemed like he really would have just stood there and let himself be killed because he believed that was the best outcome. He had no qualms about giving up on his ambitions and his life because he sees them as less important, which is why he had such a hard time understanding Zoro's choice
(chapter 65)
Zeff says that Luffy has no ためらい (tamerai), which means faltering or hesitation, and then asks Sanji
生きるための装備か…死を恐れぬ"信念"か… An equipment for survival... or a "conviction" that doesn't fear death...?
[As I've said before, some of the earlier translations... took a lot of creative liberties, so to speak]
The word that Sanji gets caught on is 信念 (shinnen), which means belief, faith or conviction. There is no hesitation in Luffy, there is no part of him that doesn't fully believe he will achieve his goals. It's not so much arrogance as it is... ruthlessness. Luffy sees his ambition in front of him and he will strive towards it or die trying. Meanwhile, Sanji is always the first to give up on himself for other people. He tried to give up his dream, his life, his freedom, his place with the Straw Hats, his happiness. And while it does speak a lot about his compassion, it also speaks to his lack of confidence in himself
(chapter 841)
Sanji is a failure, a black mark, a secret shame. He is the ugly duckling surrounded by stronger, better, beloved swans. And even if he can now stand tall in front of them and emphatically denounce their ideals, it doesn't change the fact that he is nothing like his father and brothers, the ones who are actually proud of being royalty. So I wonder if he (unconsciouly, maybe) believes that if he accepts the idea of being a "king", that he'll end up being just like them after all
(chapter 1031)
His struggle in Wano was choosing between being the version of him that is "himself", even if he thinks of it as 頼りねェ生身のおれ (tayorinee namami no ore), or "the unreliable, flesh and blood me", and the cruel, indifferent warrior of science version of him. Even when he ultimately chose to stay as he was, he still didn't trust himself enough and had to ask Zoro to kill him if he ever changed
So in order to really unlock his potential, Sanji is probably going to have to let go of his tendency towards self sacrifice and actually have confidence in himself and his dreams
<- chapter 1186 analysis
