I have a post I’m working on for this series– another attempt at writing a Non-Chapter-Review post. Will I follow through? Or will it fall through the cracks like all the other’s that you don’t know I’m referencing? Only time will tell. I’ll say that it’s not wholly something I came up with- I’m basing it on a lot of theories I saw on Youtube(mostly Joyboy Theories), along with stuff I hear from my brother who surfs the Sub Reddit. I don’t much care for reddit myself; there’s 1 video in specific up there that I like watching, but on the whole I don’t go there if I can help it. Man, what a way to welcome back the King of Shonen Jump. Welcome back to the scene, Oda Sensei. You enjoying those laser eyes? Ah……… I don’t know what I was expecting from the return. Were we gonna go back to Egghead? Or catch up with some of the other stuff going on in the world right now? Which stuff? From what character’s perspective? This chapter answers those questions. One Piece Chapter 1,087: “Battleship Bags.” Only Oda, man, I Swear……
Overview
Ship Graveyard Near Naval Base G-1: Commodore Brannew is showing Jango and Fullbody the shipyard where Garp trained Aokiji. In loo of the traditional Sand bags, the pair would train by using Battleship’s as Speed Bags without Haki or Devil Fruits. All of this is to say: HOLY MOTHER OF CHRIST They’re Strong. And then we hop over to Hachinosu where we find that Garp has tossed Sanjuan Wolf in the f*ckin’ water head first. Wonder how they’re gonna get him out of there? Whatever the case; we see Vasco drink some more booze and shoot FIRE BREATH at Garp- only for him to block with some fodder Pirates. “He’s Got Them On The Ropes” is what this opening part of the chapter is meant to say. Or maybe it’s just “Garp Is F*ckin’ AWESOME.” Either one, really.
On his ship; Tashigi and everyone else are trying to get Hibari and the other’s thawed out after Kuzan’s attack. Kujaku tells him that they can head out to sea whenever Garp gets back. So he tells everyone to start leavin’. But a former Admiral stands before them, unwilling to let them go. So Garp tells Grus, Helmeppo, and Koby to start running towards the ship. But Koby catches eye of a kidnapped civilian in the hands of a Pirate. That was a trap, however; Koby got distracted long enough for Shiryu of the Rain to make his invisible move. Garp intecepts and takes the blade through his torso, and then knocks Shiryu through the ground. With an actual injury inflicted on Garp, the rift-raft thinks that they’re gonna be able to take him out with their overwhelming Numbers- they plan to collect on his 3 Crown(3 Billion Berry) bounty with the Corss Guild. But Kuzan knows better, and makes sure that he’s the one who attacks FIRST.
FLASHBACK: A Young Kuzan goes up to Garp, asking to become his student. Garp tells him that he’d rather remain “Free” and not have a student, but Kuzan’s already learned all he could from Marine Instructors. Garp’s insistent on not having a student. Then time passes and they’re punching the Battleship bags- No Haki or Devil Fruit allowed. Though Kuzan admits to not being able to use Haki at that time. Time passes- enough for Dragon to become a Revolutionary and for Luffy to say he wants to become a Pirate– and all through the years; Kuzan and Garp remained close. Present Day: Kuzan remarks that Garp “has a bad habit of raising enemies,” but Garp says he’s Excommunicated. They clash, and the sheer Haki blows the both of them away.
Avalo Pizarro decides to get involved in the battle, showing what he can really do with the Isle Isle Fruit. He starts turning Hachinosu into his body, about to SLAM Garp’s ship under the water with his hand- wanting a Newspaper Headline of his OWN!! Koby is worried for everyone, but Garp tells him not to lose his composure, and that “Justice Will Prevail!!” That sounds ominous. One Piece Chapter 1,087 END!!! This next week? Or something else? Decisions, Decisions for the King Of Shonen…………
REVIEW
You know, in comparison to all the chapters we got just before the break; this one doesn’t have much going on. This chapter was mostly a huge battle against the The Pirate Island- it just showed us how tough Garp and Aoikiji really are. I mean; they use Battleships as Punching bags WITHOUT Haki or Devil fruits. They’re just PHYSICALLY that tough! It’s like; no DUH they could take out a Battleship themselves. But WITHOUT Haki? That’s tough. But really; I don’t have all that much to say about the chapter. Seriously, it’s like “Night-And-Day” between this and the other chapters. If I were to say anything about this chapter, I’d say that I’m looking forward to seeing how Garp plans to get out of this one. He told Koby at the end of the chapter “Justice Will Prevail” in a way that implies that he still has an ace up his sleeve. What could that be? I actually don’t know.
The Marines don’t have the man power currently to just “send” to help them, you know? Between the uprising in other countries because of the fall out of the Reverie, dealing with the Cross Guild’s antics, and their only batch of Seraphim currently being on Egghead contending with that whole mess; they can’t go and help Garp out of this situation. More Sword ships on the way? Or are Tsuru and Sengoku themselves coming to help them? But then how would Garp know that? Then again, this is Garp; he could just be saying sh!t and not really have a plan to get out of this. That’s……… that’s what’s happening. In which case, this is looking worse than I thought. Ah, but then it is Garp; he’s STRONG. Though it looks like that stab wound plus the clash with Kuzan didn’t do much for him in this situation.
There’s also what Kuzan said about him “raising powerful enemies.” Considering the “training” he gave Luffy; the presumed training he did with Dragon growing up; and him rearing Aokiji to be able to punch a battleship with his bare fists- that’s 3-For-3 of the strongest Enemies Of The World Government. 2 of which might even know a few of their dirty secrets, and 1 getting closer and closer to their ultimate threat- The One Piece. I wonder how often he ends up thinking about it. Probably doesn’t let it bother him much, huh? We see him react to Luffy’s bounty with twinges of pride, so I guess he’s kind of proud to have created such tough enemies. Means he did a good enough job in training them. Is that a Good thing or a bad thing, though, considering how everything turned out? Eh……..
Then there’s also Sanjuan Wolf falling head first in the water with his Giant @$$. I imagine in the 2 years they’ve been collecting Devil Fruits that they’ve worked up counter measures in case Wolf were to fall in the water. Sh!t, I would HOPE that’s the case- otherwise Wolf is DOOMED. Well, not actually because it’s “One Piece.” I bring all this up because we see on the last double page that Pizarro is forming legs. And Oda told us in an SBS that a Devil fruit user starts feeling weak when they’re Knee-Deep in water. He may have a whole island worth of mass to work with, but………. I don’t think he can stand the ocean much, either. OH- Maybe he’ll pull Wolf out of the water when all of this is over. Can he lift that much, though? And how would he go about putting him down? So many questions- one’s that probably won’t be answered until it’s time for the Straw Hat’s to face off with the Blackbeard Pirates.
Uh……… I don’t got much else to say. Man, it REALLY IS Night and Day with the Reverie flashback. It’s not like this chapter is “boring” or “serves no purpose;” I think it’s definitely setting something up. Garp will NOT meet his end here; he’s not gonna get captured or die or anything like that. And as far as what something like that would mean for Luffy, I doubt he’d be worried. He knows how his Grandpa is; I doubt he’d be worried about his safety. I think he still cares about Garp- DEFINITELY. But will he choose a different decision than what he choose when he heard Ace was in danger? He would definitely for Sabo, but for Garp? Eh……… Maybe. Still his family- his loving Grandpa- even if he’s absolutely TERRIFIED of him a lot of the time. Okay, I’m out of stuff to say.
Conclusion
Well THAT was a way to welcome back this Legendary Manga. I think this might have been the chapter Oda was working on right before he went on break. Does that mean this is unfinished? No, I think this is the finished product. But I think he intended for the next chapter to be the one he came back with. What will be in the next chapter? Who KNOWS with this Egghead Arc. We could get an immediate follow up on this, or we could cut over to………… I don’t know; Elbaf again? Though I feel like that and the Revolutionary Army parts are over and set up for the future; it’s just this and the actual Egghead adventure that need to wrap up. And we’re closer to the end of THIS then we are of Egghead itself. My guess is that we wrap this up next chapter, and go back to Egghead for the conclusion. Which is probably gonna be the Biggest Thing to come out of this arc- aside from the Reverie stuff.
This was a good chapter, but maybe not the one for Oda to return on. Let me know what you guys think in the comments, and until next time, all. Stay safe out there……
