Manga: Chapter 612 (SPOILERS!)

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Watch out for sharks! While you're at it, watch out for Viz's One Piece!

We start this week's cavalade of craziness and coolness with a flashback to a few hours ago in the Mermaid Cove, as we see our slimey....slimeball Caribou escaping from the barred up barrel as the mermaids unwittingly free him loose. They try to escape but Caribou catches them and reveals to us that he is in fact, a Swamp man (in Japanese its called the Numa Numa Fruit...I won't make the obvious joke here) and absorbs the mermaids swith his liquidy body....ewwwww. But at least they're not dead apparently, Caribou plans to sell them at the human auction (what a jerk) and plans to absorb more (looks like he shall be the cause for future disasters on the island). We cut back to Coral Hill (I assume in the present time) where apparently the Straw Hats are being accused for kidnapping those mermaids Caribou absorbed since no-one else was there at the time as well as the fact that they get discovered for being pirates via the Wanted posters. Not only that but the amount of pirates coming here causing trouble has become quite an epidemic so its no wonder they're suspects. Prince Fukaboshi processes Madame Shirley's prediction of Luffy destroying the island and comes to the conclusion that they can't be left at large and they shall be "dealt" with (I dunno what they'll do exactly, it could be torture or simply banishing them so who knows).

I feel sooo sorry for those mermaids. Yuck.

We go above Gyoverly Hills as we see Luffy and the others as well as King Neptune riding towards the Palace. The shark Megalo is an adored pet of the Mermaid Princess who Luffy helped from Surume (before he got tamed of course) Pappaug is suprised but Brook asks why since Pappaug supposedly always knows the Mermaid Princess....which was apparently a lie.....nice. King Neptune says he went to them since his sons were supposed to but since they never came back he decided to go himself. Apparently one of the missing Straw Hats is already at the palace and already began drinking, he says the guy's name was Zori...but its Zoro of course. Neptune also says that he'll send his troops to find the rest of the Straw Hats (which something tells me isn't going to end well....maybe). Nami says that Franky went off to find a relative of Tom San and Robin went to find out an important history. When asked if they had problems, Nami says they sorta did and sorta didn't (maybe we'll get a flashback to that). Nami asks King Neptune how its so bright even though they are VERY DEEP underwater,the light comes from the roots from a Sunlight Tree Eve which is a colossal tree which goes from the surface all the way down to the ocean floor. Yep, even bigger than the Yarukiman Mangrove Trees from Sabaody. It is with this light that allows the people underwater to go on living apparently, a future plot point for later perhaps? That seems to be the case as Usopp records this fact to show Franky since it may be related to the Adam Tree which Franky used it's wood to make the Thousand Sunny. We arrive to the palace and the palace doors open....

...yeah the palace is a tad impressive XD

Seriously....beatiful artwork....so....awesome. We go into the palace and amusingly King Neptune gets scolded for going out without guards. Hehe, even someone as powerful as him gets yelled at. Luffy's food senses are tingling and wanders off on his own, while Neptune asks where his daughter is (whose name we now know is Shirahoshi), his assistants reply with saying "it" happened again...'kay. The King gets mad at them but they manage to fire back...I think this is a first XD. The assistants (who are actually the left and right ministers) inform the King that Prince Fukaboshi has a message for him. But we go back to the Straw Hats as they notice Luffy is missing. Speaking of Luffy we go back to his food related shennanigans as he notices the smell disappeared after a guard closed a big door. He opens the door once the guard is gone thinking the banquet is behind the door. He spots the food and runs towards it but the floor is all squishy, the lights come on and reveals that the floor is...the VERY giant mermaid Princess Shirahoshi (who by the way is also HAWT) and our chapter ends with her getting upset, thinking Luffy has come to try and kill her like other men before him and despite trying to be brave, cries out for help and Luffy being confused.

Now what did I think of this chapter? Well I thought that there were lots of foreshadowing moments in this one (which is good) as well as the fact that the art on the Ryuuguu Palace looks AWESUM. Not to forget the long awaited revelation of beautiful Princess Shiraboshi who is kind of a crybaby (which makes her still awesum also).

DAMN. Madame Shirley has a rival for Hottest Mermaid.

What will happen with the Mermaid Princess and Luffy, will Franky, Zoro and Robin be found? What does Prince Fukaboshi plan to do with the Pirates? How far will Caribou go until he gets discovered? Find out next week! See you all then!