Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Manga: Chapter 672 (SPOILERS!)

SPOILERS!
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Following up from last week's cliffhanger, we discover the identity of the mystery man at the end of the last chapter. It turns out to be...someone we've never seen before. All we know is that his name is Vergo, he is in cahoots with Monet and has a steak on his cheek. Law tries to fight Vergo, but he is somehow paralyzed and is attacked by Vergo with a bamboo pole imbued with a mysterious power.

Meanwhile, outside the Research Facility, the Marine soldiers are shocked to see that Caesar Clown has not only defeated Luffy, but also Robin, Franky, Smoker, and Tashigi. On top of that, he didn't even touch them! Caesar orders his Centaur Patrol to tie up the five. Caesar also orders the patrol to ignore the Marines and head inside the research facility, as he will protect them from the raining slime no doubt to keep his good image in the eyes of his men. I really don't understand why Caesar didn't just kill them, he had the perfect opportunity. Maybe he's still set on experimenting on them, but thats the only reason I can think of.

Well that was disappointing.

At the center lake, Brook tries to fight the slime blobs but isn't getting anywhere due to the poisonous gas they spew out. At least Zoro has some patience. Kinemon cries out in pain, while Sanji swims deeper under the lake surrounded by icy, poisonous water. Even when he's in Nami body, Sanji continues to regain his manliness. Sanji tries using his Observation Haki but doesn't find Kinemon's torso...until he sees said torso caught in the mouth of a shark. Sanji manages to take out the shark pretty fast though and catches the torso. Sanji uses Blue Walk and reaches above the surface just in time before the poison closes around him. Why do I have a feeling that before this arc ends, Sanji is going to get the snot beaten out of him by Nami?

Now that his body is fully assembled once again, Kinemon formally introduces himself to Brook, Sanji, and Zoro. He expresses both his thanks to Sanji as well as apologies for his earlier behaviour. This isn't the time for tears though, as the slime has surrounded everybody since Brook and Zoro couldn't do anything to stop it. Kinemon steps up to the plate and says that he can burn the blobs with his sword. As he slashes one of the blobs, a massive explosion occurs just like what happened a few chapters ago. However, they manage to survive since not only does Kinemon's sword style allow him to cut with fire, but it can also cut through fire itself. Okay its official, Kinemon has quickly become my favourite character of this arc. Apparantly Zoro seems to think the same as me, as the chapter ends with him stating that he shall help Kinemon rescue his son Momonosuke since the Foxfire sword style has sparked his interest.

Sanji has gained 100 Picarats!

Well what can I say? Kinemon certainly made this chapter, but aside from him we also got another mysterious possible-villain in the form of Vergo as well as some more manliness from Sanji. Once again, Oda impresses me with the beautiful artwork not only in character designs (in this case Vergo and Kinemon) but most notably the underwater scenes with Sanji and the explosion following Kinemon's attack. I do like how this arc is progressing, going back to the introduction of Vergo, the formal introduction of Kinemon, Sanji's progression as a man, and how Kinemon's sword style is going to affect Zoro. What I didn't like was seeing Franky, Robin, Smoker and Tashigi so easily beaten by Caesar considering they're supposed to be stronger. But maybe we'll get a proper explanation for this soon.

Of course we'll also need to see what Caesar plans to do with Luffy and the others after catching them; what Nami, Usopp and Chopper are up to; as well as what exactly is Vergo's connection to Law is. I'm really looking forward to what else this arc has in store for us, so tune in next time for the Misadventures of Kinemon co-starring the Straw Hats. I'll see you all next time!

Kinemon needs to be part of the Straw Hats. Who's with me?

1 comment:

  1. I do agree with you that Kinemon has certainly become more intreaguing since he has pulled himself together. Sanji definately stepped up to the plate these last couple chapters, which I did appreciate, and it's a relief to finally see Zoro invested.

    As for Luffy and the others getting so easily deffeated by Ceaser, well he is a Gas man so it there could be a laundry list of means he could use to suffocate/posion/disorient them so it's not too much of a stretch. As for why he doesn't kill them well...because they are the main characters and it's always the dastardly villains duty to place the heroes in very escapable situations rather than just kill them themselves on the spot. After all, it worked for Crocodile and Geko Moria. Right?

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