#op chapter analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1185)

It's nice but kind of sad to know who taught Brook to use the polite speech he still uses to this day. Candelle says that when asking a favor he should use 敬語 (keigo), which is the Japanese honorific speech, and in the end he uses it exclusively

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Brook called Candelle 国の太陽 (kuni no taiyou), which literally translates to "country's Sun", which is a very specific way of calling her, especially with all the other references to Luffy and Nika so far. I wonder if that's why her name, キャンデル (kyanderu), sounds like candle, or キャンドル (kyandoru)

If she's being associated with the Sun, then it would also make sense for her to be associated with freedom and hope, but instead Brook immediately remembers an encounter with the Celestial Dragons, which seems a bit odd. Also he said that the ship specifically washed ashore, like what would happen in a shipwreck, and it reminded me of the Celestial Dragon incident that happened on Fishman Island. That ship was also wrecked, and the Celestial Dragon in it almost died because he lacked the backing afforded to him by the Marines

(chapters 624 and 625)

I assume it wasn't the case here because Fishman Island is far enough away from the surface to allow the possibility of a cover up and Esperia isn't, but mostly because they wouldn't have the ingrained animosity that the Fishmen have against humans in general and the Celestial Dragons in particular. It's also interesting that Brook says they had never encountered that kind of authority before. Does he mean that Esperia wasn't a member nation before they came? Did they not have to send tribute before? Was that the first time they were "discovered" by the World Government? How ironic that a wrecked ship washes up, probably needing help and repairs, and then that nation is rewarded with subjugation and control

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It's extremely suspicious that the commander of a battle convoy would be bedridden for months due to the stress of the Celestial Dragons visiting. It's not impossible, but it seems unlikely. It seems clear that something happened to make her unable to make any public appearances for a while. If we're being dark, I would say it reminds me a bit of Ginny, which would raise the possibility of Shuri being half Celestial Dragon (possibly a Manmayer, since that's the family she belongs to when she becomes Gunko). Maybe Reuven married Candelle to keep this a secret and protect her and Shuri from being taken to Marijoa

With yet another comparison of Candelle to the Sun, I wonder if this has anything to do with Gunko saying that her biggest fear is Nika the Sun God. Maybe she fears Nika because it subconsciously reminds her of her mother and the country she "betrayed" and left behind. I've also seen theories that Candelle is actually a spy for the World Government that infiltrated Esperia, which I don't personally believe because I can't think of a reason why they would need to do that

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When Brook talks about the land to the west, he calls it カミガタ (kamigata) in katakana, so it could mean any number of things, but there's a good chance it's a reference to the 上方 (kamigata) region in Japan that encompasses Kyoto and Osaka, especially since this region sits to the west of the Edo/Tokyo region. The Kansai dialect spoken in this region (and used in the lyrics of Brook's song) is more melodic and energetic than standard Japanese, and is usually used for comedy

For example, the chapter title is ほっときなはれ (hottoki nahare), with the verb 放っとく (hottoku) meaning to leave alone or to ignore, and なはれ (nahare) being an imperative form of the verb to do in the Osaka dialect, the more famous regional variation of the Kansai dialect. So a basic translation would be "mind your own business" or "leave me alone" but I assume the decision to use "mindja own beeswax" was to keep the spirit of what Oda was probably going for by using Kansai dialect

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A sudden mist that comes out of nowhere and stays for half a year before dissipating, also seemingly out of nowere, is something else that's more than a little suspicious. Especially if you consider that it destroyed the country's 宝 (takara), or treasure, the musical instruments that were Esperia's main export and cultural heritage. Seems like something maybe the previous owner of the Gas-Gas Fruit might do

It feels even more pointed since the mist literally and figuratively took away the people's Sun. Candelle was the country's Sun and, since the Sun is an obvious link to Nika, she also represents their freedom and hope, all of which were lost after months of exhaustion and disease. Which is why I say that it feels like a deliberate attack, because after taking away their Sun God, the Celestial Dragons came to take away their freedom

[Sidenote: I'm kind of disappointed that she died so quickly and out of sight. No one should be surprised anymore that we have another dead mother in a flashback, but for someone who was so hyped her death felt too out of the blue. Maybe that's the point? Still feels weird though]

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Brook says that Shuri sometimes moves as if she can see the future, which would suggest she has some level of future vision. Observation Haki in itself is not something one has to be born with, but the fact that she seems to have acquired such and advanced level at such a young age and in a relatively peaceful country in one of the four Blues does indicate that she has a natural talent for it at the very least

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It's interesting to learn that he wanted to be a pirate at this point in time, because nothing else seemed to suggest that. He was a boy living in a trash heap, who went on to serve Reuven and Candelle, and he hadn't mentioned at any point that there was something else he wanted to do. Not even when he was a kid and just spending time with Reuven, which would have been an excellent point to mention that he had dreams of freedom/adventure/money/whatever. We see him being envious of kids who get to go to school and play real instruments, we see him thinking swords are cool, we see him more than willing to wear the battle convoy uniform someday, and... uhm, enjoying beautiful women. And that's about it. The only thing we know he loves more than Esperia's king and queen is music, which doesn't really have anything to do with piracy. Unless he'd already met Yorki and his crew by this point and wants specifically to be in that kind of pirate ship. By my counts there's still about 10 years between this time in the flashback and when the Rumbar Pirates leave Laboon at Reverse Mountain, but who knows when they met

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This could just be an example of Brook being ride or die for his king, but he did tell Shuri before that he could guess why the king was worried. To me it shows that he's smart and aware that the kingdom's financial situation won't allow them to pay the heavenly tribute and that the Celestial Dragons would demand something absurd in return or just straight up attack them

If my theory that Shuri is half Celestial Dragon is correct, then this could all just be a plan to take her back to Marijoa. Last chapter we saw that when she was 14 her fame had already stretched to other countries, so it's not impossible that the same Celestial Dragon that came before heard about her and connected the dots. There should be a reason why they didn't just show up and take her (maybe it would be too much trouble? Candelle is supposed to be incredibly strong and the nation was prospering), so six months of smog poisoning the country's health and spirit, plus the death of their Queen/Sun would ensure that they would be easy pickings for the World Government. In that case, the demand for an absurd amount of slaves would be a win-win for them. If the king accepts, his people's morale and trust would hit an all time low and capturing the princess would be easy, and if he denied them, they could use it as an excuse to invade and take her anyway

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Since this is about 62 years before the present timeline, this country that was wiped out couldn't be Ohara or God Valley, which are both from the West Blue. There's a chance it could be Thriller Bark, since the island also came from the West Blue and we don't know when it made its way to the Grand Line or how it happened. It could also be the Kamigata country that Brook talked about before. If the lyrics we see later on are from the same song and not an embelishment made up by Brook, then it would make sense, since it sings of their name not being erased, and not giving up, and fighting back against an enemy

By the way, I think this song was really well used. It's first introduced with the implication of being a happy song for when princess Shuri grows up and decides to become independent and move away from the shadow of her parents. The lyrics seem to be about a child wanting to be treated as an adult, which is basically what Shuri is doing. And then the second time it's background music for complete devastation, and the lyrics turn to resistance in the face of annihilation. "I've heard about this violent place full of danger we can't even imagine, but they're easier to defeat than you'd think, and we don't have anything to lose anyway, so let's fight and protect our home" and the initial lyrics about a child growing up get a lot darker, with the implication not only that war will destroy childhoods, but that this now grown up child will probably have to fight in it too. Bonus points to the fact that Shuri, the innocent child brimming with life and future from the beginning of the song, ends up trapped in a nightmare and literally stuck in time, unable to grow up properly. The use of Kansai dialect, usually associated with comedy and lightheartedness, is just an extra punch to the gut

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So lots to unpack here, right? First, that man at the back seems to be wearing a God's Knight uniform. If that Celestial Dragon theory is correct, he could be the Manmayer (maybe) who was at Esperia and is Shuri's biological father. If not, it seems like a lot of trouble to send a God's Knight to destroy an already weakened country all the way in the West Blue

(chapter 1110)

That big fire bird kind of looks like Saint Mars, but the incomplete version of him when he's just coming out of the Abyss. So not only a God's Knight, but even one of the Five Elders is here in person, possibly. Why would they go through all of that for one country?

Not to mention that they seem to have Domi Reversi'd both Reuven and Shuri, which would also suggest that Imu is here in some capacity, maybe as cordyceps Imu like what he did to Saturn in God Valley. The fact that Reuven is dead means that either Shuri and him had a disagreement with their inhibitions lowered by Imu's attack and Shuri ended up killing her father, or Reuven was resisting the change somehow and Shuri couldn't, so she killed him. Kind of like the opposite of what happened with Loki and Harald

<- chapter 1184 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1170)

The title for this chapter is 裏腹 (urahara), which means opposite, reverse, or contrary. Like when you compare two things, and they don't match with each other. For example

気持ちと裏腹な言葉 Words that don't match (someone's) feelings

In this case, I imagine it means the two contrary sides Harald is showing. How he says to kill him and tell Elbaf what a bad king he really was, but then the mind control switches on and he says he will silence everyone in this castle and turn the country over to Imu

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We finally get an explanation as to how Gaban knows how to deal with the Gods Knights, but I wonder why/when they stopped coming for Shanks. Because if he doesn't even remember that happening, they had to have stopped at some point, right? Did they find it wasn't worth it since they always lost? Would people as proud as those guys really stand for that kind of humiliation? If Shanks was young enough to not even remember, how did they even find him in the first place? I can't imagine the Roger Pirates would go around advertising that they had two young children on board, and Shanks even says after this that the Gods Knights rarely come down from Marijoa anyway

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(official and TCB)

The difference is because the original sentence is pretty vague, he only says

ゾッとするよ... おれの人生 Makes me shudder... my life

ゾッと (zutto) means shuddering, shivering, being horrified or disgusted. So it could mean that he's disgusted by the life he could have had if he had grown up like the other Celestial Dragons, or it could also mean that he's horrified that this is the kind of life he has to live by being related to those people. Personally, I kind of agree more with the official translation, especially because Gaban follows it up by calling it fate, like it's fate that he wasn't raised in Marijoa and so was spared from sharing their twisted way of thinking

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So what was the requirement, in the end? Was it just brute strength? Was it the Conqueror's Haki that he seems to have used, judging by that black lightning? Was no other royalty except Harald and Loki born with Conqueror's Haki? Although, saying that something has lain dormant for centuries, considering the lifespan of a giant (let alone an ancient giant), doesn't actually mean that many generations when you think about it lol

If it was just about strength, then either Harald had purposefuly not tested if he was able to bypass the hammer before, or Loki is already stronger than Harald was before he got the boost from Imu (more likely, consering Harald mentions that with his strength now he might be able to do it). I was kind of hoping it was a little bit more like the MCU Mjolnir where only the worthy could pick it up or something. It would have been nice if Loki, who was always told he was cursed and unwanted, were actually chosen by this weapon who turns everyone else away, but oh well

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I'm not the most well versed when it comes to Japanese sound effects, so I'm not sure what animal this sounds like. It reads as バオオオオオ (baooooo). As far as I know a howl sounds like ワオーン (waoon) and a roar sounds like ガオー (gaoo), but we can at least be sure that the fruit was in fact a Zoan Devil Fruit, and that it's probably not a bird as I had been hoping

From his silhouette, we can gather he has claws, spikes (hair? fur?) and horns (though maybe they're more because of his ancient giant blood than because of the animal he transforms into, who knows). I like the idea I saw of it being Nidhogg, the dragon from Norse mythology that gnaws at the roots of Yggdrasil, especially considering that Ragnir is a squirrel and in Norse mythology the squirrel Ratatoskr runs up and down Yggdrasil to carry messages between the eagles perched atop it and Nidhogg at its roots

(chapter 1138)

That silhouette also kind of looks like the dragon on top of the tree in the Harley mural, and there is a bolt of lightning (though it looks like it's coming from Enel's Ark Maxim) that even strikes the tree like Loki does

(chapter 1142)

When the children were thinking about things that scared them, they mentioned Nidhogg, written as 雷竜 (raiyuu) with the furigana ニーズオッグ (niizuoggu). The kanji 雷竜 literally translate to lightning/thunder dragon (funnily enough, it's also the Japanese name for brontosaurus)

Ragnir is written as 鉄雷 with the furigana ラグニル (raguniru), where 鉄 (tetsu) means iron or steel and 雷 (kaminari) means lightning

I could also see the fruit being Fenrir, since in Norse mythology Fenrir is Loki's son and plays a big part in Ragnarök, as well as being the one that kills Odin. He is also imprisoned by the gods because of prophecies that foretold the trouble he would bring, which seems pretty similar to Loki being chained to the Adam Tree. According to some stories Nidhogg gnaws on the roots of the world tree because he's trapped there, so it works for either case, actually

I would lean more towards Nidhogg than Fenrir because of the name, since Fenrir is written as 巨狼, which translates to Giant Wolf, with the furigana フェンリル (fenriru), and it doesn't have the nice lightning association that Nidhogg's name does. Besides, this is how my flying zoan idea can still sort of win lol

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Just as a sidenote, but I personally find the idea of my own thoughts being controlled even more horrifying than just someone controlling my body without my consent. Like, you're losing your own sense of self, your morals, your feelings, everything. It's control without even being aware that you're being controlled, or maybe manipulated into not caring that you are being controlled. It's the ultimate loss of freedom, where you're not even free inside your own mind

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I'm not going to lie, I kind of wish this hadn't been included, it makes me think less of Harald. If he knew the brewers village was responsible for her death, why was Loki locked up while Ida was dying? If he knew Loki loved her like a mother, enough to destroy a whole village because of her, why wasn't he there when she died? Why was he all alone? Why was he still locked up until now, when you happened to need him?

This "I love you too" kind of pisses me off more than it makes me sad. I think it's safe to say this now, but even if Harald may have been a good king (kind of debateable, considering how easy he was to manipulate, but I will admit he achieved a lot and his heart was in the right place), he was a bad father. There is no conceivable way that Harald didn't know the whole country thought Loki was cursed and that they blamed all of Elbaf's misfortunes on him. How could he allow that kind of thing to spread and linger for more than 60 years when he loved his son? Even if he believed the stories about Loki being violent for no reason, that's so much different than being called cursed. It just makes it hard to actually care that he died, other than feeling sorry for Loki for having been put in this position

I think that's kind of the problem of wanting to give someone The Worst (tm) life ever, while at the same time still wanting them to have the traumatic experience of losing a parent that loves them. It can work, as long as the parent hasn't been alive or present or have any kind of power during that whole The Worst (tm) experience. For example, Bellemere died before Nami's horrible life with Arlong started; Olvia chose to be absent from Robin's life to keep her safe; Sora had absolutely no power to help Sanji while he was in Germa

But Harald was there, he was alive and he had the authority of a king. He traveled a lot, but he was still a part of Elbaf society, he (supposedly) still received reports about what was going on in the country, he had the status of most beloved king in Elbaf's history. Am I supposed to believe there was nothing he could have done for Loki?

<- chapter 1169 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1181)

It might just be a coincidence (though knowing how much these people love their puns, maybe not), but there's a potential wordplay joke on this cover story too. The word used for panda shark is パンサメ (pansame), with サメ (same) meaning shark, but the verb 覚める (sameru) means to wake up, which is possibly why the reader specified the sharks as sleeping, to play with that other reading of same

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Imu called Harald's death a 迷惑 (meiwaku), which means trouble, bother, annoyance or inconvenience. I don't know if calling it a setback expresses the same level of... flippancy? Disregard, maybe. That calling a person's death an inconvenience does. It reminds me of Imu and Sommers talking about Harald's sacrifice as a blunder or mistake

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Sadly I couldn't think of any puns with this name, it's pretty straighforward. The attack is 鉄雷一槌 with the furigana ラグナイヅチ (ragunaidzuchi). 鉄雷 is the kanji used for Ragnir and literally translates to Iron Thunder, 一 (ichi) is the kanji for the number 1 but is also used as an "a" prefix before a noun, and 槌 (tsuchi) means hammer, so the name is pretty much Iron Thunder Hammer

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(chapters 1181 and 1179)

Imu calls the omen his 軍事力 (gunjiryoku), which means military force or military strength. It reminded me of what Garling said in Marijoa, though he used the word 戦力 (senryoku), which also means military strength, fighting power or war potential. As far as I can tell their meaning is pretty much the same

Gunjiryoku also reminded me of Gunko's name, which is written as 軍子 and literally translates to army child. If Brook's guess about her is correct, Gunko isn't her original name, but was given to her by someone in the time between when Brook last saw her (more than 52 years ago) and the God Valley Incident when she's specifically named as Gunko from the Manmayer family (38 years ago). That time she was with Imu when Rocks invaded the Holy Land she isn't really spoken of, so it's unclear if she's already being called Gunko by then

If omen is Imu's military might, then Gunko is another weapon in his arsenal, someone he can use when he wants and who does his bidding in the meantime. A child made for war, as it were

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He also calls it 万物に潜む力 (banbutsu ni hisomu chikara), which reminded me of the Voice of All Things, written as 万物の声 (banbutsu no koe). We still don't know enough about the Voice to be able to make an educated guess about what it means, but it's interesting to note, especially because not everyone can hear the Voice, even if by definition all things have it

潜む (hisomu) means to lurk, to be hidden, or to lie dormant. It implies that omen is something that everything has but not everyone is able to unlock or use it (like the name suggests, it's kind of like haki), and that Imu has the ability to control it. Or bring it to light, maybe. If we're going with his associations with the devil, you could interpret that as everyone having the capacity for evil, and the devil sways people more towards it than towards being good

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The gigantification thing is pretty interesting too, considering how much the government wanted to find a way to turn people into giants, both with the initial experiments to create ancient giants which failed and ended up creating Kaido's Numbers, and with Ceasar Clown's experiments on the children, which was also backed by Big Mom

(chapters 1181 and 605)

Also, doesn't the way his arm inflates before he grows give off Luffy's Gear3 vibes?

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(chapters 1181 and 1129)

Imu's attack is called 天罰剣 with the furigana ネメシス (nemeshisu). 剣 (ken) means sword or blade, and 天罰 (tenbatsu) means divine punishment or wrath of God. I remember talks of divine punishment twice in Elbaf so far, first with Nami punishing Rodo (incidentally by striking a "god" with lightning, just like Loki is doing now) and when the children were about to fall off the pier and thought they were being punished for misbehaving. The name Nemesis suggests that he sees his divine punishment as a retribution from an opponent that cannot be beaten, like the outcome is unavoidable and the person deserves whatever wounds they receive

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Ok first off, I think it's beautifully in theme with all the blasphemy that Imu calls them a 三位一体 (sanmi ittai), which can mean not only three parts of something, but also the Holy Trinity, as in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

(chapters 1181 and 1149)

Imu did say when he first possessed Gunko that he would show everyone 神の支配 (kami no shihai) or the dominance of god. The implication at first being that he would show the overwhelming power that made him the Ruler of the World, but it turns out to also be about his actual powers. God's Domination comes from the Devil Fruit and is based on a Holy Trinity of powers: the Domi Reversi, the Covenants, and the Omen

(chapters 1181 and 1150)

Domi Reversi is a 堕落 (daraku), which means corruption or degradation. It takes the desire for power (which all people have, according to him) and turns it into something all consuming. The Domi Reversi grants people strength and an indestructible body, but in exchange it takes away a person's mind and inhibitions, not in a way that turns them into puppets, but in a way that turns them into the worst versions of themselves, with no self control or morals

(chapters 1181 and 1169)

The Covenants are 契約 (keiyaku) or contracts and, while they supposedly afford you more free will than the Domi Reversi, they still bind you to Imu's orders. It's interesting that he says people choose them out of self-interest, since the only one whose reasons we actually know is Harald. And you could argue that no one pointed a gun at his head and made him do it, but it's also undeniable how much pressure the World Government was putting on him and how far they would be willing to go to convince him to join "voluntarily"

This one is pretty interesting. Imu says

それを成す為の羨望の魔気 And the power (omen) of envy to achieve that

I assume "that" is referring to that first sentence about how people desire strength. Imu says 魔気, which are the kanji for omen, but with the furigana ちから (chikara), which means strength, ability or power. Based on what he said before, about omen being a power that lurks within all things, he's explicitly associating omen with power. But he says that it's envy that allows people to achieve the strength that they so desire. The omen powers the envy that lies dormant within all people and that guides them into making deals with the devil, or falling victim to the dominance of god

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Those shaded eyes make me think this question has at least a little sarcasm in it, or at least anger. Maybe resignation? It reminded me a little of Rocks' last interaction with Harald where Rocks is asking him for help, which we know is a question he's repeated a lot during their friendship, but it doesn't really feel like Rocks is expecting the answer to be any different this time. It feels more like a ritual they both need, like a worn out discussion they follow mostly for nostalgia's sake

(chapter 1159)

So I feel that this is not the first time Imu has had this debate, which seems like an extension of the discussion about domination being bliss

Imu says that domination is the only 幸福 (koufuku), which means happiness, blessedness, or joy. Maybe this is more of a non-native speaker point of view, but I really want to associate this koufuku or joy with Joyboy, especially considering how Imu is really fixated on him during this monologue

If you think about it, it makes sense from Imu's point of view why he would think that devils and gods are the same, even if you disconsider that he literally kind of embodies both. Both a god and a devil are powerful supernatural beings that exert their will and influence over people, that dominate them, so to say. From a Christian perspective, God is good and the devil is bad, but for a lot of religions with multiple deities, they tend to be more neutral, or at least there are good gods and bad gods. If both god and the devil offer domination to "lesser" beings, and domination is the source of joy in the world, then there really wouldn't be much difference between a god and a devil

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It feels relavant that there are two separate memories with that exact phrasing, especially since Imu yells the same thing to Joyboy/the heavens right after. The first one is Loki remembering his father's words, and the second is what appears to be a conversation between Imu and Joyboy. I've seen someone talk about the possibility that Imu and Joyboy are related, and I thought it was a pretty interesting theory. It already feels like there was at least some sort of betrayal between Imu, Joyboy, Davy Jones and Lily, and the idea that person had is that Imu and Joyboy are kind of like a Cain and Abel situation. If that ends up being true, maybe this is another sign of that? Both could be memories of talking to family members

Harald is also talking about his reputation being irrelevant, and how all that matters is the future. Like Vegapunk said in his message to the world, we don't know what Joyboy's reasoning for his actions was yet, whether he was a good man or not, and who, if anyone, was on the "right" side of the Void Century War. All we know is the aftermath, the future

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So Loki can do damage, though mostly when Imu is distracted. When he used his Omen to block, even Thorheim didn't seem to do too much. This could be good if Loki and Luffy can decently tag team in a fight, even more so because Luffy is bound to remind Imu of Joyboy

He also seems to have fond (?) memories of Nidhoggr. When Imu is thinking about him, he doesn't seem to have nearly as much hostility as he has for the others, so there's a chance they were on the same side during the war, or at least enemies in the way that Garp and Roger were, which is more like friendly rivals

<- chapter 1180 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1183)

Imu has been talking to and about Luffy and Loki like they really were the Joyboy and Niddhoggr who were his enemies/traitors during the Void Century, so it's interesting that right now he's actually using their names when he's saying they won't be his soldiers. Joyboy and Niddhoggr wouldn't join him, and Imu acknowledges that neither will their successors

The question now is, who/what the hell is Douzan. In Japanese, it's just written as ドウザン (douzan) in katakana, which is how Oda usually spells characters' names. A 銅山 (douzan) is a copper mine, but I don't think that's what he's going for here? lol though honestly who can say

From context, it seems that Douzan was also someone who wouldn't bow down to Imu and got eliminated because of that, though it's still unclear if this is also something that happened during the Void Century (or maybe before that?)

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Loki's attack is 鉄雷二武界 with the furigana ラグナジンヘイム (ragunajinheimu). 鉄雷 is again the kanji for Ragnir, 二 means two, 武 means warrior, military, martial, etc, and 界 means world, realm or area. So something like Ragna Dual Martial Realms. Mythologically speaking, I would guess that the two realms could be Niflheim and Muspelheim, the two primordial realms of ice and fire, especially considering Loki already has an attack named after Niflheim. However, I'm a little stuck on the jin part of the name, to be honest, because 人 (jin) means person or human, but you could also read 神 as jin, which means god(s) or spirit, so maybe the two martial realms are the land of men and the land of the gods. Maybe it's Elbaf's Underworld and Sun World. Maybe I'm reading too much into this lol

Imu's attack is 憤怒剣 with the furigana グラム (guramu). 憤怒 (fundo) means anger, rage, or resentment, and 剣 (ken) means sword or blade. In Norse mythology, Gram (meaning ill-tempered, wroth, angry, frightful or resentful) is the sword that Sigurd used to kill the dragon Fafnir, who wasn't exactly a dragon so much as someone who commits patricide to steal his father's treasure, after which he shapeshifts into a dragon and hides away

It's interesting that Imu doesn't seem to follow any specific theme/culture/language in his attacks like the rest of the characters, since he's used latin (domi reversi), greek (nemesis), aztec (tzitzimitl) and now norse (gram)

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(chapters 1183 and 1179)

So Imu wasn't able to break the ice after all, which means that even if the other Straw Hats decide to free Gunko they probably won't be able to do it, though of course they have no way of knowing that or that flash freezing is apparently not fatal

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He says he lost contact with her after she traveled to Marijoa, and it's someone that he didn't think he'd ever want to see again, which means she wasn't forcibly taken there, or at least not obviously so. The oldest Reverie we know of was 56 years ago (where Rocks met Harald), so it's not possible that she went there for the Reverie and was kidnapped/tricked into staying, at least not unless the flashback covers a few years. Since Brook knew who the God's Knights were, I'm guessing some of them went to his homeland and Shuri ended up going back to Marijoa with them. Also, doesn't the idea of a little girl (apparently) willingly going away with the people who destroyed her home give off Nami vibes?

Since even when she's not being possessed by Imu, she still has a different name, personality and memory than Shuri, there's a chance she lost her memory at some point, whether before or after going to Marijoa, so it could also be that what Brook thought was her own choice was actually her being controlled or already being Gunko. Either way, her behaviour between possessions implies that she either didn't go willingly and it was a misunderstanding on his part, or she went but regretted it later

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(chapters 1183 and 653)

This song is a callback to the one Brook sang at the end of Fishman Island. My musical knowledge isn't the best, but apparently a new single can just be a re-recording of an existing song, so Brook probably just updated it based on his new experiences at FMI, since the next panel shows him singing some verses that are different from the ones he's singing now in the flashback. In Japanese, "good morn-maid" is グッドモー人魚 (guddo mooningyo), which is a pun on グッドモーニング (guddo mooningu), the Japanese-English way of saying good morning, and the word 人魚 (ningyo), which means mermaid

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That "end-maid" is mostly the same kind of pun, mixing エンディング (endingu), or ending, with the 魚 (gyo) at the end of 人魚 (ningyo). 魚 by itself just means fish by the way

Brook's silhouette against the dawn sun rising obviously brings to mind Nika, since he's even kind of doing the Nika dance, which is interesting considering the first verses talking about a brand new world. I wonder if the verse about losing your soul is relevant too. Calling it a bad ending makes me think of those little SBS specials about people at 40 and 60 years old in two diverging futures, which if I'm remembering correctly were in the normal timeline and in one where something goes wrong. Maybe it's one where they lose their dreams/souls? Since they go against everything they stand for now

But anyway, the scene of waking people up by making noise also reminds me of Usopp and his home island. So that's three associations in only two panels (FMI, Nika and Usopp/Syrup Village), I wonder if there's some connection to be made. Brook is kind of the opposite of Usopp in this case, though, since Brook was apparently famous and beloved (at least for his swordsmanship, if not his music) and Usopp was more infamous than anything

.

So her eyes were already mismatched even before whatever happened with Imu. It's also not something she seems to have inherited from either of her parents. I wonder if it's just for aesthetic purposes, but her appearing in the same arc as Loki who also has unusual eyes seems a little too pointed for that. Maybe I'm reading too much into it? We still haven't gotten an explanation for his eyes either

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(chapters 1183 and 1139)

Gaban is an obvious Sanji parallel, but it's interesting that he and Brook are saying almost the exact same thing here. I say almost because Brook says 恋 (koi), which specifically means romantic love, while Gaban says 愛 (ai), which has a broader meaning of love and affection that doesn't necessarily have to be romantic in nature. In this case they are both talking about romantic love and how it is supposed to be free of boundaries and restrictions like race or, uhm, monogamy lol

.

I think it's funny that Brook calls the king アニキ (aniki), which is a respectful way of calling your older brother, your senior, or just a man older than you. If I'm not mistaken it has a little bit of a gang vibe to it

Later on Brook calls him 国王 (kokuou), or king, but with the furigana アニキ (aniki), basically implying that he thinks very casually of the king and that they have a friendly, familial relationship

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This was objectively hilarious. What does that even look like? Do they put tapes on the snails' mouths or something? Also, I like that silent mode in Japanese is マナーモード (manaa moodo) which literally means "manner mode"

.

First, I like that the guy more literally says she's gonna have to accept the don's love, it's such a weird way of putting it. Second, I find it beyond boring that this is the reason they're after her, especially considering she's supposed to be the former captain of the battle convoy and so why wouldn't they have some lingering resentment or something, anything that isn't "beautiful women can only ever be desired", which is giving me Kuja Pirates nightmare flashbacks

Having said that, the fact that she's introduced like this, as this woman who is strong and beautiful and that everyone admires and loves and wants, is reminding me of Shakky and God Valley (and also Ginny, maybe). In the sense that I wouldn't put it past Oda to have the triggering event for the fall of the kingdom be another case of the Celestial Dragons stealing women away

<- chapter 1182 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1163)

The title for this chapter is 約束 (yakusoku), or promise(s). There are a lot of promises made in One Piece, but to me the idea that always comes to mind are unfulfilled promises, like Zoro's promise to Kuina and Brook's promise to Laboon. In fact, chapter 104 is called 約束の岬 (yakusoku no misaki) or cape of promise(s), where both Brook and Luffy promised Laboon they would return one day. But there are three examples in particular I think make even more sense in this context, and they are Joyboy's promise to Fishman Island, Noland and Kalgara's promise in Skypiea, and Oden' speech to the Roger Pirates

(chapters 649 and 299)

Both in Fishman Island and Skypiea, there was a promise made hundreds of years ago, and while we still don't know the specifics of Joyboy's promise, it's safe to assume it involves the people of Ryugu Kingdom being taken to the surface on the Noah arc. And the Shandians have been fighting for 400 years to ring the Golden Bell of Shandora in order to signal to Noland and his descendants that they were still there, waiting for them

(chapter 958)

Chapter 958 is called 約束の港 (yakusoku no minato) or port of promise(s), and it's about the place where the rebellion's allies were supposed to converge before the raid on Onigashima. But that chapter actually begins with a flashback of Oden talking about going back to Wano and why the country needed to keep its borders closed, with a promise to open the land of Wano in the future

[Sidenote, that's an interesting timeframe he gave, isn't it? This is approximately 25 years before the present time and 5 years before Oden's death and Toki's prophecy, so why did he say 20 years in the future, specifically? We know Roger said they were too early, but I don't think he said how long exactly]

These three cases are all about promises made and left unfulfilled, and they all in a way involve people trying to connect and being unable to (Fishman Island with the surface world, Kalgara with Noland, Wano with the rest of the world), kind of like Vegapunk's message about people being isolated and the last lines in the Harley text about how "they will never meet". And all of the promises were/will be fulfilled by the inheritors of the original people's Wills. The Shandians rang the bell (thanks to Luffy), Momo will one day open the borders (to help Luffy, probably) and the promise at Fishman Island wouldn't have been mentioned if it wasn't going to be fulfilled too (by/for Luffy, the inheritor of Joyboy's fruit)

.

When Rocks says that "promises are meant to be kept", it could be he's talking about when he invaded Marijoa and told Imu he would be back, "right here". Now, "here" could mean Marijoa, as he claimed he wanted to show his crew the peak of the world, or it could mean facing off against Imu. Either way, as Rocks called Imu "the world" last chapter, it seems that both meanings can apply now

Imu says that because of this, you (plural, so supposedly the Davy Clan) must be erased from history. Which is kind of sad, because it did happen. In the present, Davy Jones is just a legend and a game, and almost nobody has ever even heard of Rocks or the Davy Clan

It's also possible that Rocks is talking about a different promise, between Davy Jones and Imu, which would be an interesting parallel with Joyboy's promise to Fishman Island, both made 800 years ago. If it's a promise passed down to Davy Jones' descendants, it would also resemble Noland and Kalgara's promise, carried on by each new generation. Of course, in both of those the connotations were positive, which isn't the case here

I can see it being either interpretation, or even both. Imu could be angry at Rocks' presumption to threaten him in Marijoa, and/or at an 800 year long fight against Davy Jones and his clan

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The pirate says that Imu is 無差別 (musabetsu), which means indiscriminate. To Imu and the Five Elders, everyone who lives on the surface is the same, small and insignificant, the only distinction being that some of them (like the Marines) are useful to them on occasion

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(chapters 1163 and 1108)

That guy says that being attacked by Imu/Saturn is 興味深い (kyoumibukai), or very interesting. I'll be honest, I have no idea what he means by that. Is the pain different? Saturn by himself appears to have poisonous legs, but does that extend to this case too? Could it be the poison's effects that are interesting? Or could Imu now Domi Reversi these people too? I had thought before that they needed to flip that pentagram in order to do that, but apparently just impaling Rocks is enough, so who knows

Also Gaban saying "not again" seems to imply that Roger has a habit of going off on his own and causing trouble for everyone, which is very Luffy coded

.

(chapter 1095)

In Egghead it's established that low ranking Marines can't even look at one of the Five Elders, but there are too many Marines present in God Valley to all be rear and vice admirals, and they all saw not only Saturn but also Imu, so I guess not one of these men are expected to leave this island alive, which makes it even more interesting that Dragon, a rookie, manages to survive. Did he smuggle away without getting caught? Did Garp bargain for his son's life in exchange for his silence and cooperation? (I can see it, but there is the fact that I can't see this happening and Garp still trying to get his grandsons to join the Marines in the future, if the reason he stayed was to protect Dragon). Maybe they didn't kill the Marines who were there but didn't see anything, since Bogard is also there and still alive in the present. Also, Garp is technically in some hot water himself, actively attacking what he thinks is one of the Five Elders, so I'm not sure he's in a good enough place to bargain for other people

.

If this is Garp's first time seeing one of the Five Elders, then there's no reason for him to think that anything is different about Saturn, which is probably also true for most of the others there with the exception of Rocks, who has actually met Imu and recognized them

I'm not the first person to say this, but Imu sprouting from Saturn's head looks very much like a cordyceps fungus, those parasitic fungi that inspired The Last of Us, which mainly infects insects (like those zombie ants) and other arthropods like spiders. So it's very funny that Garp says

ウジ虫共のトップは相応の姿してんだな a suitable form for being at the top of maggot-like insects

[If Imu looks like a fungus, can I make a joke about how when Rocks calls them rat king he's getting the wrong kingdom (like animal kingdom and fungi kingdom)? Sorry.]

.

Imu says that their world is still 未完成 (mikansei), which means incomplete, unfinished, or imperfect, suggesting that there they do have a plan and an end goal here. It's possible this goal is related to the original war between the 20 nations and the Ancient Kingdom, and I'd guess it involves flooding the rest of the world, leaving only the people living in high places (like the top of the Red Line). It would also explain those megastructures that are being built around the world for the past 700 years, where at least one of them, Tequila Wolf, is a gigantic bridge that could also survive a mass flood

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So Dragon still has faith that the Marines are the good guys here, or at least that they were misguided and misinformed, like he was. It makes sense, he's mostly seen the Celestial Dragons killing people, he didn't see the Navy ships opening fire on the civillians asking for help, and he hasn't really had any time to stop and think about what it means that the Marines are there to serve those same Celestial Dragons

Regardless, no good could have really come from it if he had managed to reach the ship. Either they would recognize Shanks and give him back to Garling, or they would assume he was just another civillian and kill him or put him back on shore, or they would take him, and we already know how much Cipher Pol likes orphans, especially one who would grow to be as strong as Shanks. Ironically, Shanks owes his life and freedom to Captain John and Kid's future Jiki Jiki Fruit

.

So many attack names! I'm going to take an absurdly long detour here, be warned

Ganzui having what appears to be Mr. 5's Bomb Bomb Fruit from all the way back in Whiskey Peak looks like such a random choice of fruit, though if you think about it, Whiskey Peak was also about a bunch of colleagues all fighting and stabbing each other in the back. His attack name is a pretty literal translation of both the kanji and the furigana

Captain John's Big Eater, though, has both layers and a pun. The furigana reads ビッグイーター (biggu iitaa), or Big Eater, with the kanji 暴贖握磁気. 暴 (bou) means violence, 贖い (aganai) means redemption or atonement, 握る (nigiru) means to grasp or clutch, and 磁気 (jiki) means magnetism, so something like Violent Redemption Magnetism Clutch. However, 暴贖 can also be read as boushoku, and 暴食 (boushoku), which sounds the same but is written differently, means gluttony or overeating. And 握磁気 can also be read as akujiki, and 悪食 (akujiki) means eating strange food, so Overeating Strange Food, aka Big Eater

I like that, while there are some similarities, the naming conventions of past and current devil fruit users are mostly unique to each one. Captain John, for example, doesn't have Kid's punk aesthetics, so his attack doesn't have the punk themed name we see with Kid's moves

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I've already talked about Galaxy Impact and Divine Departure before on the post for chapter 1156 (both celestial themed, one astronomical and one religious)

We've seen it already, but Linlin's attack is 威国 (ikoku), with 威 (i) meaning power, authority or majesty, and 国 (koku) meaning country, so something like Sovereign Nation, maybe? It's translated as Ikoku Sovereignty because it seems to be based on Dorry and Brogy's Hakoku Sovereignty, written as 覇国 (hakoku), with 覇 (ha) meaning supremacy or hegemony. Also, written as 異国, ikoku can also mean foreign country, which makes sense since the giants won't allow her in their country

I think it's hilarious that Kaido just yells 龍 (ryuu), which means dragon. To be fair, he had literally just eaten his fruit like five minutes ago, so he gets a pass on not coming up with names and puns yet

Rocks' attack is 深淵の呪い, with the furigana パンデモニウム (pandemoniumu), or Pandemonium. 深淵 (shin'en) means ravine or abyss, but not like the Abyss that the Five Elders and the God's Knights travel through, which is read like "abyss" but written like "pentagram"; 呪い (noroi) means curse, so literally Curse of the Abyss. Pandemonium is the capital of Hell in John Milton's Paradise Lost, and an abyss is a bottomless pit that leads to the bottom of the sea, or the underworld, or to hell, so I take it his attack means "I curse you to the big hole that leads directly to hell" lol

I think this is the first time we see Whitebeard name an attack, and I found it kind of an odd name, or at least difficult to translate. It's 破空阿 with the furigana ハクア (hakua). 破 (ha) means break, rip or tear, and is possibly related to 序破急 (johakyuu) which, according to Wikipedia, is a "concept of modulation and movement applied in a wide variety of traditional Japanese arts" and means roughly "begin, break, hurry". 空 (sora, but can also be read as kuu) means sky, empty air or void. I'm not really sure about 阿 (a), it could be from 阿字 (aji), the first sanskrit alphabet letter (that अ symbol that some people visualize to meditate? I'm very much not an expert) that can be associated with emptiness or blankness, but is also considered like a seed, a primordial letter, the essence of all mantras. Something like Primordial Void Breaking is my best guess. The funny thing is that 白亜, also read as hakua, means chalk. I assume the kanji meanings are based on how his power looks (ripping or tearing at empty space) and the chalk thing is because it looks like his moustache? Also it has the kanji for white (白), like in Whitebeard. TCB chose Shattering Void, which kind of works, and the official translation chose to go the Ikoku Sovereignty route and called it Chalk Hakua, which is just a mix of the original name with one of the readings, but makes absolutely no sense without context lol

Ok, end of detour

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All of the people who attacked Imu had Conqueror's Haki, though maybe they didn't know to use Advanced Conqueror's on them? Either that, or that approach doesn't work on Imu and/or the Five Elders, just the God's Knights

The only people seen being knocked out by the haki blast are the Marines, I wonder if it's because they were closer, while the Roger Pirates, Dragon and Shanks are all trying to get away from where the fight is happening (or they're all immune to it, which is always a possibility, though I'm more inclined to believe that even insane-haki-wielding Shanks must have had a hard time resisting as a literal baby). When Imu used a haki blast in Elbaf it didn't affect everyone, but I saw it as them being selective (like Luffy in Fishman Island), and Luffy and company felt it even in the Underworld, but it wouldn't make much sense for Imu to just want to affect the Marines right now

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So, is this a Naruto reference? More importantly, is it just a Naruto reference? Because we can see Dragon hitting the ground with Shanks in his arms. The next time we see him, there are little movement dashes on his back suggesting he's rolling over, and there's still dust everywhere from things falling down, so it doesn't seem like too much time has passed since he fell, but there's already a piece of wood in his arms instead of the baby. If Shanks fell out from the impact, wouldn't he have cried? They seem to have literally just finished falling down, exactly how fast is that crawling baby to have gotten out of sight already? Is this just a little ninja joke that I'm not supposed to take seriously? Was it fate???

The fact that Shanks apparently went into the treasure chest by himself really does make him seem like a child of fate

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After the attack, Imu switches their focus to Teach and Eris, and immediately clocks them as being from the Davy Clan, but how? Maybe this is another indication that there's something biologically different about the descendants of Davy Jones. On that bottom left speech bubble they say

解き放ってはならぬ有害な命 harmful life(lives) that must not be released

Now, it sounds mostly like they're saying that Eris and Teach cannot be unleashed onto the rest of the world and bring harm to Imu and their domination of the world, but we could also relate it to the theory of Davy Clan members having multiple souls that must not be released/unleashed/woken in baby Teach

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I wonder why all that Reversi game imagery in the present if Imu can just impale people in order to Domi Reversi them. Maybe because they were possessing Gunko, and not in their original body? Maybe cordyceps Imu has different abilities? But yeah, a Domi Reversi'd Rocks attacking his family would probably lead to Roger and Garp having to team up to stop him (maybe with Rocks asking them to kill him, for maximum angst)

I also wonder where Kaido, Linlin and Whitebeard fall in all of this, and if this is where Kaido's talk about pirates eventually betraying you comes from, if he is the one who ended up seeing Rocks like that and abandoning him. From what we know of his character, I can't really see Whitebeard being the type to cut and run because things got tough, otherwise he would've probably done that already. Linlin is just incidentally there and Kaido wanted to test out his powers, but Whitebeard deliberatly chose to stay and help out, and yet he's not mentioned as being on either side of the Garp+Roger vs Rocks fight that Sengoku talks about in the future

<- chapter 1162 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1184)

(chapters 1184 and 1146)

The last time we saw Brook get electrocuted (with a thumbs up, even) is when Gunko was making her speech about people warning the world about danger and how there's a war coming and it's unstoppable. I wonder if it's deliberate then that Brook is being electrocuted in this cover story by jellyfish with Imu eyes. It still feels right now that this flashback is following the Shakky in God Valley/Helen of Troy route, but maybe there's another reason the kingdom was destroyed and Shuri was taken

.

I have a very curated online experience, so I mostly don't see Discourse on my dash unless someone I'm following is commenting on it, but I can pretty much guess what the Shuri and Brook one is about, so here's my two cents on it

It's not unusual for teenage girls, both in Japanese and Western media, to be fixated on their chest size. Think of those teen movies where girls stuff their bras so their boobs seem bigger in order to look "more mature". I'm not saying it's good, I'm just saying it happens. It's also normal for teens to have crushes on older people and to want to be treated like adults, I don't think I have to explain that it only becomes a problem when the adults in question indulge in and encourage that behavior. All of this to say that this interaction by itself is fine. She wants him to see her as a grown up woman, and he shuts it down immediately. As far as One Piece pervert characters go, this was all pretty tame

My only grievance is that, frankly speaking, I don't trust Oda much. He has a track record of making couples where the female character is unnecessarily young. There was no reason, for example, why Rebecca's mom or Pudding had to be 16 years old, was there? The story would have been exactly the same if they were 18 or 20, so their age was a conscious, deliberate choice on Oda's part. Sadly, it's also not an uncommon thing in manga, both shounen and shoujo, for teenage girls to end up in relationships with adult men (if someone tries to use the damn age of consent argument I will hunt you down and stab you in the face). Not only that, but "older woman in a younger body" is also, sadly, something that you see a lot in shounen. Which is to say that, while we don't know at what age she was frozen in time, I could see the "her body is 14-16 but her mind is 77 so it's fine" argument used in the future

I'm happy that Brook seems completely uninterested in her, and so far it doesn't look like it's gonna go that way, but if it ever does, let's just say that I'll be disappointed but not surprised

.

Brook calls the king 大恩人 (daionjin), which means great benefactor, someone to whom you owe a great debt. This kind of debt is mentioned a lot in One Piece, and it's usually an interaction that saved a character's life and has a great influence on them, like Luffy saying he owes Law a life debt, or Sanji saying he owes Zeff a debt, etc.

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There's a visual metaphor here about Brook being on the outside looking in, but framing him as being the one behind bars. His circumstances are quite literally keeping him locked away from having a chance at doing the thing he loves

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Sharing of meals is one of the key themes in One Piece, a sign of friendship and goodwill that Luffy especially but also the Straw Hats in general think very highly of. Like Luffy has said, a hero is someone who shares their food, and scenes with lots of people having a meal together always lend a sense of community and bonding, like the typical feast at the end of a story arc. I think it's interesting that the things that came to mind for Reuven when Brook offered him food as a sign of friendship was not only the difference in the quality of the food, but also that other scene of being presented with a woman of "good pedigree". She's being described exactly like the food, her accomplishments being presented by someone else without even mentioning her name. It's the flashiness and exuberance that hides an emptiness, something that will never match the sheer kindness and warmth of a child who has only frogs and bugs to eat and still chooses to share it with someone else, without any expectation of repayment other than friendship

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(chapters 1184 and 584)

I don't think it's a coincidence at this point that Brook is being so heavily mirrored with Luffy. Both coming from rough backgrounds, spending time in junkyards, making friends with an older person who changes their lives, plus the Nika shot at the beginning of the flashback. But especially with these panels, both of them being beat up by adults, with the higher point of view lending even more of an impression of a grown man looking down on a child

As a bonus, the Marines also end up being paralleled with Porchemy and his gang, which only becomes more obvious when it turns out they were buying drugs from a gang and were more than willing to kill a kid for what he's seen and heard

As an aside, "we're all bones when we die" is a more literal translation of what Brook says, but I like the TCB's poetic license in turning it into "of the dead you'll find, only bones get left behind"

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(chapters 1184 and 584)

This is another shot that seemed very similar to Luffy's flashback. I assume that this was all done to really emphasize how important Reuven (and Candelle) were to Brook, and exactly how horrible it must have been to lose them. Though by this logic, it's not impossible that Candelle didn't die during the flashback, like Sabo didn't. The implications of what might have happened to her if she survived are... not great, so I'm not sure if I prefer that scenario

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It's important that Reuven calls Brook a musician here, because so far all he's seen is Brook playing on a violin made with a glass bottle and some wire. The sound effects when he's playing also imply that it must sound pretty bad, but Reuven saw beyond that, he saw Brook's potential and his love of music. Brook knows that Reuven is a prince now, and must have heard the best of the best musicians out there, and he still calls Brook his favorite. He also not only wants him to be able to learn music, be he also offers him a place to stay and even an education. It really contrasts with the beginning of the flashback within a flashback, where Brook is hated and chased away just for existing

<- chapter 1183 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1174)

Starting off with the chapter title, which is せかいで1番つよいもの. せかい (sekai) or 世界 means world, 1番 (ichiban) means first, or number one, or best, つよい (tsuyoi) or 強い means strong or powerful, and もの (mono) can mean both thing/object if written as 物 and person if written as 者. So the title could be read either as "the strongest thing in the world" or "the strongest person in the world". I assume the reasoning behind the official choice is because the title is likely refering to parental love being the strongest thing in the world, and because it works as a direct contrast to this question

The question is この世で一番こわいもの and is framed mostly like the chapter title, with この世 (kono yo) meaning this world and こわい (kowai) or 怖い meaning scary. The mom even makes the connection, by saying that it's fine that she's scary sometimes because it means she's strong enough to keep her kid safe

By the way, the fact that the title is mostly written without kanji reads like a child is saying or writing this, and that reminds me of the title of chapter 1142, わたしのこわいもの or "What I'm Afraid Of", which was also written without kanji and refers specifically to that scene where the children were talking about the things they were afraid of and that were later materialized with Killingham's sleeptids

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On the one hand, the fact that when Harald got the Deep Sea Covenant he became succeptible to Imu's mind control should make one question all of the other God's Knights personalities, at least a little. Because that kind of mind control is sort of like what happened to the Domi Reversi'd giants, in that they didn't become drones or get completely possessed like Gunko, but had their priorities changed to match what Imu wants, and they all became more violent and less... empathetic, I guess, as a result. So there is a non-zero chance that there are other God's Knights that were influenced in the same way. On the other hand, I really doubt Sommers is one of them, or at least I will be infinitely pissed off if he is lol

(chapter 1160)

His sadistic glee at other people's suffering, especially in regards to watching your loved ones die in agony, is something that has been established since his introduction and we're shown that he's felt this way at least since God Valley. Granted he was already a God's Knight at the time, but his sadism doesn't really serve any purpose for Imu, I don't think, so it's really more likely that he just sucks

Also, he must be really in the sauce if he thinks that Imu is the kind of being who would take responsibility for this "mistake" instead of blaming Sommers for his irresponsibility. And sure, they could always scrounge up more kids, but they'd have to do that with the whole island on high alert and converging to the harbor, which would not only end up with at least some giants dying (aka less warrior slaves to work for them) but would also waste even more time, when Imu went there specifically to call them out for taking so long

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When that kid says he thinks heaven is punishing him for doing bad things, he calls it 天ばつ (tenbatsu), which means divine punishment. So all these children are trying to understand what's happening to them, and they end up seeing it as deserved punishment for all the "bad" things they did, which ended up being... kid stuff. And you can even see how they got to that conclusion. All of the nightmares they admitted to out loud came to life and are currently destroying their home, their school got burned to the ground to save one of their friends who was almost sent off a cliff (the same way they're going to die right now, by the way), every adult who has tried to save them so far has ended up badly hurt just from trying to touch them, they had just been told that they would be taken away to never see their home or family again, and now they're being told that even that is gone and they're just going to die instead. They have absolutely no understanding of the political machinations at work here, and it probably didn't help that the one that destroyed their ship and is "responsible" for them having to fall to their deaths is Nika the Destroyer

(chapter 1129)

This is probably not related, but when he said divine punishment it reminded me of way back in the beginning of Elbaf, when the East Blue crew were stuck in Rodo's legoland. Nami said that Rodo would receive divine retribution for trying to imprison them there (and for changing her clothes) and she also called it 天罰 (tenbatsu) before blasting the so called "Sun God" with lightning, which still feels really thematically appropriate with the way this chapter ended

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Especially horrible to note that Ripley says that "the Sun God is watching" when you're a bad kid, considering the Nika nightmare sleeptid. I feel so bad for them. Interesting that Colon seems to have won an Emet plushie, though, and that it doesn't actually look like what I suppose is the Emet representation in the Elbaf mural, but it does look a lot like the real Emet, so I wonder where the person who made de doll got their inspiration from. Maybe the library has stuff about Emet? Would they also have a picture?

(chapters 1120 and 1138)

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(chapters 1174 and 1147)

Not to fixate on this one girl, but that's such an interesting thing for her mother to say, isn't it? Like, in the middle of all these kid specific problems like not wanting to eat vegetables and getting into fights with other children, why is she talking about needing to protect Karin? Plus, Karin was introduced while complaining about having bad luck. Not to mention the obvious association with Usopp, with being accused of lying and with that long nose of hers. I don't now, she just caught my attention

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I think it's extremely cute that Bjorn calls his brother out for being an otaku but when he sees that Rodo came for him, he calls him あにうえ (aniue) or 兄上, which is a respectful and old fashioned way of saying older brother, and kind of matches how Rodo speaks (which is an old fashioned samurai way that makes him sound like a total dweeb)

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(chapters 1174 and 1143)

This is the payoff to Sommers' speech when he first arrived in Elbaf. We've been waiting for a scene involving parents and children, and it ended up being all of the children who had to go through this and it happened literally how he explained it, right? They did see the thorns up close, and still chose to embrace their kids anyway. Also, I loved that there were different kinds of parental love shown here. There were mothers, fathers, grandparents, foster parents or 親代わり (oyagawari), which is what Ange offered to be for Johanna, and even siblings (we don't know their family status, but since we don't see their parents, it's possible that they aren't around and Rodo is Bjorn's guardian)

When Sommers calls them martyrs for love, he says 殉死 (junshi) which, as far as I could find out, means following your master into the grave. Like when a servant commits suicide after their lord dies, you know? A ritual of self sacrifice

[Sidenote: all of the feelings that I didn't really get during the flashback were definitely felt in this chapter lol]

It's interesting that he calls their deaths poignantly pointless (I like beautiful and meaningless better, but that's just a personal preference), because it really shows how much he just doesn't get it. He really doesn't understand the kind of connection that would make someone voluntarily go through that kind of pain and sacrifice. He talks a lot about 感動 (kandou), which means deep emotion or passion about something, being deeply moved or inspired. It's the word he uses when he talks about "emotion in killing" and "touching display" and "saga of emotions", but the only emotion he really feels is pleasure at seeing other people's suffering. He understands the cause and effect that people will sacrifice their lives for their children but he doesn't really get why they would do that, which is why he calls it meaningless

(chapters 1143, 1160 and 1174)

It actually reminds me of Gunko being surprised that Gaban would choose his son's life over getting rid of her or being confused about why Ronja wasn't happy that she was saved at the expense of the library and school. It shows how much the Celestial Dragons as a whole are disconnected from other people and even their own emotions. It's probably why Gunko's memory broke through both times and why Imu didn't understand why Brook had such an influence on her

(chapter 1149)

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Luffy's move is called ゴムゴムの腹せんべい (gomu gomu no hara senbei), with 腹 (hara) meaning stomach, belly or abdomen and せんべい being the name for Japanese rice crackers. I wonder if the name is a reference to the term せんべい布団 (senbei buton), which means a thin and/or hard bed, a bed worn flat and hard by usage (kind of like, you know, a rice cracker), since Luffy strecthes his stomach out like a mattress for them to land on

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Is this also a prophecy from the Harley text? I like that it still doesn't necessarily specify that Loki isn't Nika, he could still very well be both the beast that blankets the sky and the Sun God. Loki called himself a 破壊者 (hakaisha) or destroyer and one of the interpretations about Nika is as a 破壊の神 (hakai no kami) or God of Destruction

(chapter 1136)

The fact that they mention at least three different ideas of Nika really makes me want to think about three different versions of Nika, aka Luffy, Bonney and Loki, which is why I'm harping so much about this

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Also, as a sidenote, when Rodo talks about everyone wanting to be the Sun God and rule the world, he uses the word 支配 (shihai) which means rule, domination or control. It's also what Imu says when they possess Gunko, that they will show everyone 神の支配 (kami no shihai) or the dominance of god, which is ironic because they are in fact the from the people who style themselves as gods and rule the world

(chapters 1136 and 1149)

If it really was Gunko herself who said that the thing she fears the most is Nika, I wonder if she imagines Nika as a destroyer, as someone who would take revenge on her for standing with the wrong god

<- chapter 1173 analysis

[anmechokola]

(SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 1169)

This pretty much confirms that Shanks was in the East Blue searching for Ace, right? Since Garp is from there and he's the one who had the information about Roger's son. This also makes Ace's childhood even sadder, because here are all these people who loved his father and were excited about Ace's existence and could have told him what Roger was really like... and yet. None of the older Roger Pirates went looking for him (and I don't necessarily fault them for that, it's established that the Navy was hunting them and it would've brought so much attention on Ace and put him in danger, plus none of them had any reason to suspect he wasn't being raised properly) and Shanks spent a whole year on the same island without meeting him (which really puts faith into this equation)

Shanks must have at least thought about giving Ace the Nika fruit, given that he assumed Ace would inherit the Pirate King title, and who better to have the fruit of the Warrior of Liberation than the King of the Pirates. It's interesting that he's putting this much emphasis on bloodline, since he just finished cutting ties with his own

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What Gaban says on that left bubble is

期待された者は…意外と天下を取らねェもんだ…!! People with expectations placed upon them... unexpectedly fail to take control of the world...!!

The verb 取る (toru) means to take, obtain, win, take control of, etc. And 天下 (tenka) means the whole world, society, or the ruling power. So basically just because a person is promising, doesn't mean they will be able to live up to those expectations. But the thing about taking over the world reminds me of Rocks and his supposed successor Teach, and makes me wonder if Teach will also fail to live up to his father's image and dreams

The sad thing is that Ace died specifically because of those expectations, because of the burden of being considered the heir to Roger's title, regardless of what Ace himself felt about that. It didn't really matter, what mattered where other people's expecations of him, the image of The Son of The Pirate King that the world cloaked him in, and in that sense he failed to live up to that because he didn't want it. But if you really want to get tragic about it, he kind of did live up to it in the sense that his death is also the catalyst of an event that ended up shaking the world just like Roger did. Even in death, he still didn't escape his father's shadow and the world's expectations

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Shanks calls Imu 御大 (ontai), which a familiar/affectionate way of saying boss or leader. It's what all the God's Knights so far have called Imu, so he probably learned it from Garling and Shamrock. It makes me wonder if Shanks knows who exactly this Great One is, but he must at least suspect the amount of power they have, as the owner of the contracts

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I don't know if I'd personally use the word "freak" here, since Shanks only says 奴 (yatsu) with emphasis, so it's more like that person or that guy. At most, you could say that bastard, I think. Yatsu is slightly derogatory, but Shanks doesn't really talk in a polite way to begin with (unlike Koby, for example), so it doesn't read as any more rude than the way he normally talks

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So Shanks himself cannot create and Abyss and wouldn't have to obey Imu's orders unless they were close by, so he probably felt safe enough in the East Blue to spend a year in Luffy's village. Given his power level, I do still think that when he tells Whitebeard that he gave up his arm for the new era, he means the connection to the Holy Land and not the pitifully weak sea monster that ate it. Fate or the Fruit itself chose Luffy, so Shanks chose him too and took a more visible stance against his birth family, since after this is when he becomes an Emperor and kind of symbolically declares he is a part of this "lower world" they hate so much up there

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Really, asking Loki to be the one to stop him was such a cruel thing for Harald to do. I get that in terms of strength Loki was probably the only one that could, but even inside the castle you can already see the information being distorted. It went from "help Loki stop the king" to "Loki must be fighting with the king, we must protect the king" without even leaving the premises. Of course when the news got out it would distort in a way that painted Loki as the bad guy, even if other people had survived. You don't just erase 60+ years of hatred with a single order from Harald that almost no one heard

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Harald doesn't necessarily call this a mistake, he calls it

取り返しのつかない事 something that cannot be undone

The idea is basically the same, but calling it a mistake made me want to think about how Imu and Sommers called what Harald did a mistake/blunder, and how ironic it would be if all of them thought of this day as a mistake, but for different reasons

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Harald, my guy. In what world would people ever believe him? With Loki and Harald's respective reputations, who was going to believe him when he said that everything his father was working towards was a mistake and his father had lost control and killed all his guards? I get that you're desperate, but you yourself have never once believed or listened to your own son, even while loving him, so what chance did he have with the rest of the country?

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It's interesting that Loki calls the Devil Fruit 禁断 (kindan), which means forbidden. Harald had called it Elbaf's 秘宝 (hihou), or hidden treasure. Is it forbidden because it's supposed to stay hidden? There must be some circumstances where it's ok to eat it, like what's happening right now. Or was it supposed to stay hidden until the right time for the end of the world mentioned in the Harley text? Harald said he would eat the fruit and take Ragnir for himself, so are those two things related? Was Rocks hoping for the power of the fruit, or Ragnir, or both?

<- chapter 1168 analysis