Oh how I’ve missed this. Still not necessarily “back” at it yet, but I’m taking steps. This is one of those steps. I plan on doing a large post for the chapters I missed- though not necessarily a “Mass Review;” just a general overview of everything I missed. I just did this one to section off that portion of the series I missed. Oh, wow; first chapter back and I’m already at a loss for words to say in this opening. Ah……………… It’s rough in my house right now- I haven’t been getting much work, and I’m having a problem getting what we need. And the weather getting ready to change- as I’m told- is going to make things even rougher. But I’ll never get anywhere with my head down!! That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway. Ah…………….. Don’t know when that post will be out– just know that that will be the MAIN project I’m working on for the next week. So hopefully I’ll manage to get it out before Oda Sensei comes back from break. But knowing MY luck: I’ll get a full week of work the MOMENT I start working on it. Not a BAD THING by any means, but it means that post is going to take longer than I would like it to. Ah………………… That’s about all I got. Let’s Begin. One Piece Chapter 1,127: “Adventure In The Land Of Mystery.”
Overview
Ogre Child Yamato’s Golden Harvest Surrogate Pilgrimage Volume 15
To make a long story short: Someone is kidnapping people in the Kuri region- including girls from the Soba Shop and the Carpenter Minatomo who was tasked with reconstructing Oden Castle. Okay, it’s not that long of a story. Yamato ends up talking to Inurashi, who’s taken over as the Daimyo of the Kuri Region! I imagine that-if Doji were alive– he would have taken Kuri again, due to his general history with the region. After everything that happened between he, Inurashi, and Kin’emon at the start of Wano and during Act 2; it was naturally gonna fall to one of them. The Kuri region hold a special place in the hearts of Neko, Kawamatsu, and Inu as the place where they first met Oden, and Kin and seemingly Kawamatsu and Neko have chosen to remain in the Flower Capital close to Momonosuke. So Inu took the helm. He’s similarly worried about the situation…………….
Chapter 1,127
A Fire’s Broken Out On The Island. No clue how, but it’s starting to spread into the Forest. The Giants of Elbaf spread to stop the flames from reaching The World Tree Yggdrasil, thinking it might behoove them to reach out to the Sun God for aid. But that’s not the ONLY problem: The Stingermore Bees are starting to fall out of the sky at random, and those who were in the forest prior have reported that the “Ear God” in the forest had collapsed, causing those earlier tremors. No one can believe that the Ear God was felled. Bigstein(“Steinn” is the Nordic Root word for the Scandinavian word “Sten,” which means “Stone-” “Big Stone”) Castle: Nami is freaking out, using Zeus to fry all the Stingermore’s that come her way. Zeus asks where they are, to which Nami replies that the last thing she remembers is drinking on the Giant’s ship. She tries looking around for anyone– “even Usopp at this point-” but finds it hard to move with all this “bumps” on the floor.
She walks around the corner to find a Giant animal- a giant Porcupine to be specific, which she startles. It’s quills are made clear and it starts chasing her. She here’s Usopp’s voice, looking over the ledge to find him in the teeth of a Giant Cat. She sends out Zeus to defend herself, but the force pushes her over the edge- electrocuting the Porcupine but falling on the cat. Then the Electrified Porcupine falls on the cat, shocking it just the same! It frees Usopp, and the 2 starts running. Usopp says he doesn’t remember anything passed drinking the “Green Fairy Absinthe,” either. Which reminds Nami: They were told early on the the absinthe was powerful stuff- strong enough to cause hallucination. When they reach a ledge, Usopp decides to stand up to the “hallucination-” only to get batted of the ledge, bringing Nami down with him.
The cat follows them to the ground, having turned into a Giant Lion. It’s about to attack when the Monster Trio come in with a joint attack, knocking out the giant cat. Luffy’s decides to pass on eating the cat, since that Giant Rabbit they grilled earlier was tasty enough. Sanji says that they should also look around for more of those Bees to fry up. Zoro is more concerned with confirming the crew’s safety, while Nami is offput by their rather “lax” demeanor. You’d think she’d have learned by now what it takes to rattle these guys. One Piece Chapter 1,127 END!! Don’t know WHY, but I kept having to “backtrack” a few times during the post; I think my “One Piece” post making skills have been dulled. Good thing I’m doing 2 of these………………..
REVIEW
Did you get the reference in the title of this post? ‘Cause I didn’t- not until I stopped and thought about it. I think I might have subconsciously made a reference to the 2nd Original “Dragon Ball” movie “Sleeping Princess In Devil’s Castle.” Before I used the word “Maiden,” I was gonna say “Princess,” but I decided against it. Because Nami is a Queen, Yohohoho. I don’t know why I chose “maiden,” really; I just kind of did. As for why I might have referenced that movie; I think it’s because Dragon Ball Daima and Sparking Zero are right around the corner, so I might be in a bit of a Dragon Ball mood. Though I likely won’t get to play “Sparking Zero” any time soon…………….. But I’m watching Daima I PROMISE you.
Now: One of the topics I wrote in my notes is the reveal of Yggdrasil. I’ve been hearing a lot of discourse about this chapter on twitter- mainly about the number of mistakes Oda made in this chapter, from the visuals to Luffy mislabeling a 3rd Gear move as a 4th Gear move. I don’t really know what’s going on behind the scenes, but I’ll say that these problems will likely be fixed in the volume release, yeah? As for WHY; either there’s an in-story reason like the “hallucination” idea, and the weapons Luffy and Nami are carrying really are changing, or- Oda really DID just make a few mistakes, or possibly his assistants. I try to keep in mind that Oda’s in his 50s right now(49), and needed to have eye surgery a few years back, so- things like this might start happening every now and then; something I’ve notice happening with series that have gone on for a while. The Volume 41 release of chapter 422 added like 4 pages to the chapter, not to mention Black Clover chapter 281 initial release was unfinished. My point is that Oda likely caught this mistake prior to the release of the chapter, but it was too late to go back and change it. Probably why he’s taking next week off; fixing this chapter’s errors. I imagine that part of the problem was his struggle to decide whether or not to give Luffy and Nami weapons, and- in the case of Luffy- WHAT weapon he would have. I also imagine that he’s going to be resting a little bit.
Okay NOW on to Yggdrasil: That’s one of the things that’s debatably and “error,” because the tree that we see in this chapter isn’t the same as the one we saw in Big Mom’s flashback when she came to Elbaf- this one has that “curled, overgrowth” look- like it’s a few different plants swirled up in one, you know what I mean? Vs the one in Linlin’s flashback that looked more or less like a Giant, typical tree that took up the vast majority of the island- the type of tree that would take a minute to burn through. Now; it’s possible that Oda decided to change the design of the tree, just as he did with the Yonko between Pre and Post timeskip, but……………………….. I don’t think that this is the same tree. Then again, where the h#ll that thing is in relation to this village would poke a hole in this idea. It’s like: This doesn’t look like the same tree, and yet that tree- from what we saw- was pretty darn big during the flashback- to the point that it felt like it dominated most of the island. That tree would be visible from anywhere on the island, like it pretty much was for Kidd when he finally made it there. This doesn’t seem like the tree.
It might be that the Giants of Elbaf are separated more like a continent- multiple countries sharing land and resources, fitting with the Norse idea of “9 Realms-” 9 “countries” across the island. And perhaps Yggdrasil in this context is the place where the leaders of each “realm” goes to meet to discuss certain matters with the King of the Island- Odin. Or, because Oda’s already used that name, I guess he’ll go with the spelling “Othin,” as Tekking101 often points out. Though………………… why all these “countries” would answer to one king is a peculiar. It’s happening on a Global Scale with the Empty Throne, but the world at large doesn’t know about that part. The Giants DO. Maybe he’s the “Strongest Giant On The Island” or something, and was able to get them all to fall in line. Or maybe they AREN’T “countries” and more like “states,” which would still fit the theme I’m going for. Why didn’t I say that in the first place? It’s like the US where each state is a “Realm,” and the King is the “President” of the country, with the Village Chiefs being “Governors.” And Yggdrasil is where they all meet. Yeah; yeah that’s it.
And the meeting place is likely The Castle Nami and the other’s find themselves in. It’s certainly large enough, but I don’t think that it’s stable enough. So maybe just at the base of the tree. Which begs the question as to what this castle actually is– what purpose it has if not being able to hold actual Giants. Since the building seems to be made of Stone Legos, people were speculating that it might just be a “dollhouse” of sorts. The Reason For The Lego Motif, as I’m sure you’ve been hearing all this week: Lego blocks originated from Billund, Denmark, in 1932 from the work shop of “ole Kirk Christiansen.” 2 years later, it was named “lego” for the Danish word “leg godt,” or “play well.” And Oda made them stone for some reason to be revealed at some point; maybe because Elbaf is a little more “primitive” and doesn’t have what’s needed to make ACTUAL Lego blocks, so they heat up clay and solidify it. For the kids. So this might just be some Giants “Dollhouse;” a Giant with access to the “Higher Realm” atop the World Tree. I am of course talking about Prince Loki. You know; the “Trickster.” Maybe he’s the “playful” type- something like Usopp was to Syrupp Village. I’m not the first person to try and make this comparison, either.
Totally Not Mark outlined in his wildly popular “Checkered Fate” theory that the series follows a pattern, like spaces on a checker board. And he speculated that Syrupp Village’s parallel would be Elbaf, with Loki being the same “rotten kid” playing pranks on people that Usopp had been. Fittingly, fans also believe that Elbaf will be an important arc for Usopp’s character; his being confronted with how he was 2 years ago would go a long way to helping him grow, don’t you think? I think that this castle might be his creation, and brining the Straw Hat’s hear is one of his little “pranks.” If I Were To Take A Guess: The Sunny was in fact Eaten by a Giant Fish after a night of drinking the Green Fairy, and that fish was caught by Loki, who found them in its gut. He decided to “play with them,” putting them in his Lego castle and having his pets chase them around. That sound about right? I imagine Usopp and Nami don’t find this quite so funny, but then- the Villagers didn’t exactly find Usopp’s pranks funny, did they? They may have recognized that it was a boy keeping hope alive that his dad would come back, but I imagine they still got annoyed. That, and Totally Not Mark’s theory is about how the series “inverts” it’s ideas; how the arcs repeat themselves while doing the opposite.
Alabasta was about Crocodile trying to take over, only for Luffy to knock him to the sky and reveal him for the False Hero he was; Dressrosa was “What if Crocodile Succeeded,” with Dolfamingo having been ruling for some years before Luffy came and knocked him down, showing him to be a False God. Arlong had already taken over Nami’s island by the time the Straw hat’s got there; Hordy was just about to try. Those of Syrupp Village saw through Usopp’s lies for what they were– Loki might just be a plain “Troublemaker.” To the point of his tricks being life threatening even to Giants. That’s what I THINK Oda’s going for, anyway.
………………………. Yggdrasil, right. Man, I CANNOT keep my thoughts straight on this thing. I guess that I’ve said everything I wanted to say about, but I also wanted to say that Yggdrasil- whether or not it’s the Giant Tree we’ve always seen on Elbaf- likely connects to Sky Islands, allowing a small town of Giants to live in the sky. That would the Aesir; Othin, Thor, Loki and all those popular types. Based on the fact that Steinn castle seems to be built on the side of the tree- or at least somewhere in the sky.
Another point I wrote in my notes: The giants in the village below Yggdrasil mentioned “The Sun God.” We KNOW there’s no way in h#ll they’re referring to Luffy, so either they’re referring to the Still Alive Nika– or a certain character is about to show up. I doubt that it’s Nika(though you never know with this series, now do you?), so I’m going to focus on Linlin’s Flashback again. Specifically the Semla Incident. Mother Carmel’s Homie- Pandora, whom she labelled as “The Sun God” upon its creation to PUT OUT THE FIRE LINLIN STARTED. Are ya pickin’ up what ahm layin’ down? Pandora is acting as the “Sun God” in Elbaf- though not necessarily “Nika;” more like the Mountain God in Wano or the “Ear God” we here about in this chapter- something “literal.” 1)This means that Homies can persist even after their creator’s death- even when the soul of that creator was used to make it. And 2)It means that Pandora has seemingly been acting independently from Carmel since that day, working for her to gain favor in Elbaf up until her death at Linlin’s teeth. Now……………….. I’m sure Pandora’s just trying to preserve itself, acting as the “Sun God” when needed.
Other “Minor” things in the chapter: There’s the Giant Cat turning into a Lion. Occam’s Razor suggests that “The Simplest Answer Is Often The Correct One,” meaning that this Cat just has the Neko Neko No Mi- Carnivorous Beast Model: Lion. Since Loki is known to be a shapeshifter, people think that this Cat has some of Loki’s power or that it may even be Loki, who similarly likely has a transformation Devil Fruit. OR- maybe Loki’s bloodline is directly descended from the actual Nika, giving them all abilities like shapeshifting and- from what we saw Luffy do against Kaido– the ability to throw lightning, a la Thor. And THAT’S what makes them the Royal family of the island. And the conflict of the arc(from a narrative perspective): “The Blood Of Nika” vs “The Embodiment Of Nika……………….” or maybe “The Will” since Nika’s a “Warrior Of Liberation.” As for what BRINGS these people into conflict with one another: Maybe the “Allfather” is an oppressive force on the island, high on the lineage of his family and thinks that he and his family are entitled to do what they want- much like the Celestial Dragons. Could imply some cultural interaction between the 2 that has informed the behavior of the World Nobles, but then- we’ve seen what “Desire” can do when one is allowed to immerse themselves in it. So maybe it’s just a coincidence.
One way that the Straw Hat’s could come into conflict with Elbaf goes back to that last part of the chapter: Luffy straight up said that they ate the Ear God before coming to save Nami and Usopp! I imagine a culture like that of Elbaf- that’s highly isolated much like Wano and the Shandians, to the point of labelling the animals they find as “Gods-” might take problem with the one of their “Gods” being slain and eaten. In that way, it would end up being a reflection of the Skypiea flashback with Noland– with a different context, of course. I would imagine there’s a reason the Giants hadn’t killed and eaten it THEMSELVES, at least. Not to mention- should my theory prove correct- Othin and his family my take “problem” with “Some Human Daring To Take The Visage Of Their Beloved Nika” or something. And again: HE IS A YONKO IN ANOTHER YONKO’S TERRITORY. And we just saw what Shanks does to “Upstarts” who make trouble in his territory- TWICE NOW. Shanks may be a “Nice Guy-” but he’s still a Pirate. With a name that protects people- people who can’t afford the Heavenly Tribute the Celestial Dragons demand. People who aren’t considered “Human” by the World Government, who ALSO know better than to get start trouble in a Yonko territory. To the point of making a entire splinter organization just to have a group who can challenge one. I am telling you:
Luffy And Shanks Are About To Have A Problem.
If Luffy does what he’s done the entire series and “free Elbaf” from their oppressors- IF that’s even the road Oda’s going to go down(I can’t see anyone else being dumb enough to come here knowing it’s Shanks’ territory, as well as the fact that they’re F*cking Giants Who WILL F*cking Murder You If You Point A F*cking Gun At Them)- then I can see Othin or whoever getting in contact with Shanks- telling him what happened- and thus creating conflict. I am of the mindset that This is the FINAL “Self Contained” arc before we go ALL IN on the main story- The Final Island before Throne War starts. I don’t know what Island is after this- maybe Lodestar Island– but……………… that’s gonna be where it starts. How we get to THE Throne is up in the air, but…………… Luffy will be there. Probably even leading the charge. And Shanks ain’t dumb enough to bring up some “Petty Pirate Beef” at The End Of The F*cking World. But the MOMENT that they are finished taking out Imu and Teech(Akainu’s another issue that Luffy definitely needs to punch, but maybe not defeat with 2 more important enemies ahead of him. If Luffy can’t take on every random enemy on his way to Kaido, then the same would obviously apply to Blackbeard and Imu)- the MOMENT that they’re able to fight again- Gloves. Are. OFF. And whoever wins that fight- gets to go to Laugh Tale. At least– that’s how I feel about it.
Conclusion
HOLY STINKING SUPER CR@P I can’t believe I actually managed to get through that in 2 days!! I thought I’d have take some of Sunday just to finish what I was talking about; I even made a preview over on my old site just so I have something to put out on Sunday to let you guys know I was talking about One Piece again. I’m still gonna put that out tomorrow, and this post will be out on Monday, so it’s no big deal. But STILL, man; even on a Good Week I’d struggle to get a post done in time- even just the one. Maybe there wasn’t as much to this chapter as I thought(a lot of what I said was speculation, looking back at it); maybe it was easier to come back to a series that I’ve been doing since the start of my career(“Career-” like this is making me some money) as opposed to something I just added along the way; maybe I was just “Really Determined” and managed with the time I had to work with, showing that I have developed SOME “Time Management” skills along the way. Who knows. All I know is that I Managed To Finished This Post In 2 Days. But if I don’t hurry up and wrap this up, then I’m gonna have to continue writing this “Conclusion” into Sunday……………
I just want to stress: It’s so good to be talking about One Piece again. I know I wasn’t here to talk about the ends of My Hero and Edens Zero, but I want you all to know that I do still plan on doing full Retrospectives on both series. I kind of have to, considering how important both series have been in my journey- informing me of what I like and don’t like in a series. What does that have to do with “One Piece” you might be asking. The ANSWER: Nothing really- just wanted to let you know. But yeah: I’m happy I got to review this chapter. And I hope you all enjoyed it. SIDE NOTE: It was about time to start cooking dinner, and my computer’s battery was getting low. Which is why the above paragraph seemed so “rushed;” I had to get off in a hurry. But I still had some time left to rewrite this last section– still within the last 2 days. Or, well; it’s Monday when you guy’s are seeing this, but still- I wrapped on Saturday, September 21, 2024, around 8:59 pm. So yeah- Still Managed. That’s all for now, everyone- Laters!!
