SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
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Summary
Chopper, Franky, Nami, and Sanji escape from the Biscuit Room with the imprisoned children.
Brook contacts Luffy, Robin, Usopp and Zoro to discuss the kidnapping of their fellow crew members.
Smoker has arrived on Punk Hazard.
Thoughts
This chapter picks up right where the last left off, with Chopper, Franky, Nami and Sanji breaking into the "Biscuit Room" which houses children of multiple races. The chapter started off lightly with the boys marveling at Franky, and then took a sudden grim turn when the men in suits attacked Nami’s group. Interestingly, they indicate that they are meant to protect the children.
These children are being held captive in this room for an unknown reason. It has something to do with an illness they had before or they are currently part of an experiment. It makes you wonder how long they have been held in the Biscuit Room away from their parents. That made it more touching when you hear them plead with Nami's group to rescue them. It is hard to say no to children in need.
CENTAUR! (Kind of)
Luffy and his group are finding more mythical animals around Punk Hazard. So far we have seen: Dragons, Centaur-like creatures, and harpies. I can't help but think about The Four Demon Guards of Impel Down. It could be because of how similar these animals look. I wonder if they could both be results of experiments done at Punk Hazard.
Still, there is action yet to come as Luffy and his group close in on the building that Brook described over the Transponder Snail. I wonder where this is going to lead, because things will get tougher as they get closer to the complex. Luffy's group is beating up the mystical animals with ease but the men in the suits could subdue them if they are not careful.
It is clear that the laboratory is at the center of every strange occurrence on the island and Smoker is hot on the trail to the same conclusion. He may not know about the laboratory-like complex that Brook mentioned but he knows that something is happening.
Smoker has also confirmed the obvious about Punk Hazard. Based what we learn from Smoker: Four years ago, Vegapunk conducted gas weapon experiments on Punk Hazard that made the island uninhabitable. Then two years ago the island was suddenly hospitable enough to be the setting for the duel of the Admirals. The result of the icy and heated combatants changed the climate of the island to what we see in this arc.
It is obvious to see that whoever is in charge of this island has ties with the government. If I would have to guess, this lab is tied to Vegapunk and is meant for experiments that could be a secret to the majority of the Marines. Though they are antagonistic to Vegapunk’s Pacifistas, they make use of the gas weapons that Vegapunk was developing four years ago.
In the end, everything ties back to the laboratory
and the mysterious master that runs the facility. He sounds familiar with
Vegapunk and his technology and could be an associate of the famed inventor.
The name of the island is Punk Hazard after all. Punk Hazard reminds me of Area
51 where only a few people in the government know about the facility, even
though countless of experiments are conducted there.
We haven't heard anything concerning the Warlord
that had attacked Luffy's new friend, Ashimaro. Is the Master of Punk Hazard
and the Warlord one and the same or will we see a conflict of powers on this
island? Hopefully this won't be disappointing like the last arc. We are slowly
getting answers but we are getting even more questions and my mind is running
with speculation.
Until next time true believers!
And... yet again, they give Nami MORE generic female character traits. First it's not giving her a fight at Fishmen Island, then it's using her for cheep thrills in the bathroom, and now... maternal feelings. Someone please gag me with a spoon.
ReplyDeleteOkay, maybe that's a bit harsh, especially given her history with her own foster mother taking in herself and her sister, and given that this is the first time we've been in a situation with children crying out to her, I suppose it's not that big a stretch to suggest she had these kind of feelings the whole time.
But considering with her, we also have guys like Franky and Chopper, both of which have shown one many occasions to be extremely compassionate and heartfelt, why weren't they jumping at the opportunity to rescue the kids in need.
I don't know, just a bit odd. Other than that, there's was some pretty neat things. I liked the discovery that this island was were Akainu and Aokiji had their huge dual, thus why the island is split in half between half on fire and half on ice. I think Oda's idea to create centuar like creatures using the bodies of animals other than horses was extremely clever.
There's just so much mystery and intrigue going on, and when it comes down to it, THIS is what One Piece is all about: the sense of adventure.
I am still upset about the 'no fight for Nami' thing at Fishman Island and the whole bathroom thing...Didn't I cover both of those chapters? I can't remember.
DeleteI wasn't upset about Nami feeling compassion for the kids. I was thinking the same thing too when she looked at the kids. She saw her own mother killed before her eyes and suffer though some harsh things in her own childhood. I guess she didn't want to have the kids suffer though something like that as well.
The centaur thing was pretty cool as well. Still, the mystery of this island is surely pushing me to love it.