#op chapter 1188

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1188)

"How dare you remind me of my ex. You're not even as good as him anyway"

[joymu]

I 100% think Luffy transformed into a genie just to mess with Imu btw😭😭 Last chapter he literally said he looked scary, so of course his solution to facing a giant demon was "I need a supernatural form too." But devils are evil, so Luffy naturally went with the friendlier version, a genie.

Genies grant wishes, a kind of bargain that echoes the classic "deal with the devil." So it's interesting that Imu grants people power through contracts, while Genie Luffy grants people's wishes.

[skys-ship]

Mu? Imu!

I haven’t seen anyone point this out yet, but in the official English translation, when Joyboy asks for the identity of who he’s talking to, Imu answers in a way that makes it seem he’s questioning his own name.

Who questions what their own name is?

I’d like to know what people think this means!

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1188)

(chapters 1187 and 1188)

Besties who get impaled together stay together <3

[joymu]

Okay, time for my delulu Joymu symbolic reading that's been brewing in my brain for a while. Imu's attack, "Void" made me connect a few dots.

Imu refers to himself as "Mu", which in Japanese means void, nothingness, and it is the exact same character (無) is used in the Harley for the second world.

"Within the void, there was a breath..."

I wonder if the call we saw in this chapter was that breath?

This might even be what the second world looked like:

He even says the view is nice. I wonder if it's nostalgic for him?

Back to the swords, I think Imu's sword attacks may be reflecting his psychological relationship with Joy Boy rather than serving as arbitrary move names.

Together, they even seem to form an emotional progression:

- Nemesis: the rival.

- Stigma: the lasting mark that rival left on you.

- Wailing Void: the emptiness after losing or failing to reach that rival.

The sword "Wailing Void" in this scene could be symbolizing the emptiness Imu feels upon realizing that the person standing before him is not the Joy Boy he has been waiting centuries to face. It embodies the void left by the absence of his true rival.

It reminds me of the moment when Madara stabbed Sasuke (who strongly resembles his beloved younger brother, Izuna) through the chest while repeating the same words that his rival had once said to him. In both scenes, the physical act of stabbing carries emotional weight that goes beyond simply defeating an opponent.

This is where the "stigma" comes in. The stab is directed at one person, but emotionally it is aimed at someone absent. The true target, psychologically, is the rival who left a permanent mark on them.

Oooor they could just be cool, edgy sword names, and Oda will probably have him pull out another random-ass blade in the next chapters and invalidate everything I said lol.

Also, I wrote this before the TCB translation dropped. Most other translations just called it "Void," but "Wailing Void" somehow ended up making my argument stronger, I think.

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1188)

Once again, when there are two flames talking, one of them speaks in a different font. I wonder if that's meant to imply that these are in fact two different entities talking to each other

Also, the way Imu's arm stretches and bends in unnatural ways... I don't think it's a coincidence that this attack looks so much like Luffy's rubber punch

.

Luffy's Gum Gum Genie is pretty straightforward, he calls it ゴムゴムの魔神 (gomugomu no majin), with 魔神 (majin) meaning devil, evil spirit or genie. Funnily enough, it's composed of the kanji 魔 for devil, demon or evil spirit, and 神 for god or deity. It reminds me of Imu's speech to Loki about there being no difference between a god and a devil

(chapter 1181)

.

(chapters 1188 and 1180)

So when Imu blasted the ice he was expecting Gunko to both wake up and try to get out of it herself, apparently. Which is interesting for two reasons. One, he doesn't seem to recognize Ragnir's ice, which is supposed to be unbreakable for anyone other than Ragnir, even though Imu knew him from before. And two, the fact that he thinks she should have woken up means she's not doing that for a specific reason. Maybe Ragnir's powers have that effect, maybe her memories and personality resurfacing is messing with her head and she's just passed out. I don't know, maybe she's faking it

Also, Imu remembers Brook from 60+ years ago, so he either has an amazing memory or that time was extra memorable. Because it had to do with Gunko? Brook was in that room with them for such a small amount of time, but maybe the impact he had on Gunko's psyche makes him easier to remember. Maybe Imu has access to Gunko's memories as Shuri when he possesses her

.

Luffy's attack is called スキあり銃弾. 銃弾 (juudan) means bullet and is written with the furigana ブレット (buretto), also for bullet. スキあり (sukiari) is an expression that means chink in the armor, like when you sense someone's weakness or see them distracted. In this case, he thought Imu was too preoccupied with Gunko to notice his punch coming

.

Imu's sword is called 虚無剣 with the furigana ボーフー (boofuu). 剣 (ken) means sword or blade, and 虚無 (kyomu) means nothingness, or a state of emptiness. The furigana possibly refers to the Hebrew term bohu from the Bible. Now please keep in mind that I know next to nothing about Hebrew (or the Bible for that matter), so take this with a shallow-DuckDuckGo-search sized grain of salt. Apparently, the term bohu is mentioned along with the term tohu three times in the Bible, but most notably in Genesis to describe the state of the Earth before God began creation, and tohu and bohu are usually translated as "unformed and void", or "formless and empty". I think it can be read as both vohu or bohu

[To be fair, vohu could also be referring to the Ashem vohu which, according to Wikipedia, is "the second most important manthra, and one of the most important prayers in Zoroastrianism. It is dedicated to Asha, a Zoroastrian concept denoting truth, order or righteousness." It could also be about Vohu Manah, "a Zoroastrian concept, generally translated as 'Good Purpose', 'Good Mind', or 'Good Thought', referring to the good state of mind that enables an individual to accomplish their duties", again according to Wikipedia. But to be honest the Bible one makes the most sense to me, both because of the whole Christian devil theme Imu has going on and the meaning of the word matches better with the rest of the sword's name]

(chapter 1138)

The first line of the Second World in the Harley text reads

虚無に息吹あり Within emptiness there was breath

It's the same word for emptiness as Imu's sword name. Plus the chapter title, by the way, which is 虚無 (kyomu) with the furigana ボーフー (boofuu). I've said this before but I don't like that they used the word "void" here, because it makes you think of the Void Century, and that's not the same word. That void is 空白 (kuuhaku), which is more related to a blank space, gap, or vacuum, like the 100 years that are "blank" and missing from the pages of history. Besides, kuuhaku is used in the first line of the Third World, but it was translated as "emptiness", which just creates unnecessary confusion in my opinion

Anyway, the word 息吹 (ibuki) means breath, but in the poetic sense it means something like a sign of new beginnings, a breath of fresh air, etc. The First World ended shrouded in "death and darkness" and the Second World begins with a breath of fresh air blowing in the middle of all the nothingness that was left behind. In that way, it kind of mimics the myth of creation, with God bringing light and life into a world that was tohu and bohu, or unformed and empty

It's not lost on me then that Imu's sword seems to do the exact opposite of that, sucking the life right out of the surrounding trees without even touching them. The sword sucking things out of the environment (and into Imu? Into the sword? Into the emtpiness? Who knows) also reminds me of Crocodile's attack where he sucks the moisture out of his surroundings

(chapter 201)

In both cases, they are taking away "life" and leaving only nothingness behind. I wonder if Imu's sword will have any other impact on Luffy besides the, you know, impaling part. Will it suck the vitality out of him like when he lets go of Gear5? That would also be very reminiscent of Crocodile taking all the moisture out of him and leaving him a husk at the end of their second fight

.

And speaking of Crocodile, this is certainly not the first time we've seen Luffy take such a big and seemingly definitive hit during a battle with a Big Boss. Him being impaled on Imu's sword is very similar to when he was impaled on Crocodile's hook during their first fight in Alabasta (and when he was dried up at the end of their second fight). The first time Luffy fought Kaido also ended pretty quickly, with Kaido only needing to land a single hit to take him out

(chapters 178 and 923)

All this to say that this is looking like a prelude to a loss before a comeback. Because to me this felt like a very unbalanced fight in Imu's favor, with the added bonus of none of them being in a good condition to begin with. Loki has been dead on his feet since the start and Imu has been coughing up blood since he arrived. Not to mention Luffy's terribly ominous words about feeling unbeatable before joining the fight. It would make more sense to defeat Imu in Marijoa anyway, where he's at the peak (ha) of his power, to really make it stick. And, if we're going with Imu's speech that history is repeating itself, I can see this arc ending with the kids actually being kidnapped, like they were 800 years ago, and the Straw Hats and some of the giants racing to catch up with them. Remembering that Vivi left them a message on the newspaper, it would also make sense to meet up with her along the way, since she's involved with the whole Imu business because of her ancestor (another bonus of being reminded so much of Alabasta in these last few panels, could it be a Vivi foreshadowing?)

<- chapter 1187 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1188)

"I lost my dear friend Loki that day"

"Quit telling everyone I'm dead!"

"Sometimes, I can still hear his voice."

[joymu]

X

They crucified jesus for telling the truth