Manga: Chapter 639 (SPOILERS)

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

No need to fight! One Piece Vol 58 from Viz is out now! Read online at JManga!

Summary
The Alabasta Kingdom’s elite soldiers are preparing for the Reverie. (Cover Page)

Hody is able to incapacitate Decken. The effect of Decken's ability on Noah is negated, causing the ship to fall.

Luffy saved Shirahoshi from Hody.

Jimbei and Sanji intercept Wadatsumi's attacks.

Zoro challenges Hyouzou.
Thoughts
We are reminded once again that the Reverie is coming. The majority of monarchs in the One Piece world such as King Cobra will be in attendance. I wasn't interested in the Reverie but after seeing this week’s cover page I have to admit that my interest has peaked a bit. The Reverie will likely be an important event and I hope that we will be able to see it happen in media res. I doubt Luffy and the gang will be there but a few pages of a chapter depicting the event will be fine.

The chapter picks up right where we were left last chapter. Decken and Hody continue to fight as Noah chases after Shirahoshi. Hody is very confident that all he has to do is kill Decken to stop Noah. He was correct, since knocking out Decken was all that it took to stop the ship. Now we have to worry about Noah crashing into Fishman Island. That surely will not be good, but I guess the characters will deal with that when it happens.

It is rare that we see two villains duke it out. The fight between Decken and Hody was very exciting. I am very happy to see that Decken put up a good fight, especially because he was able utilize his feet in a fight through attempts to stab Hody. It backfiredas Hody did an impressive move by biting Decken's leg and forcing him forward. I thought Hody was going to move out of the way at the last minute making Decken's ax hit the catfish-fishman. That is something we have seen many times before in other stories. It was very nice twist and possibly one of my favorite parts of this chapter.

My second favorite part of this chapter was Luffy’s rescue of Shirahoshi from Hody. That was awesome to see. Personally, I think Gum Gum Snake Shot was a silly choice to use because Gum Gum Pistol would probably have done the same thing. I don't see what Snake Shot is supposed to do. Hopefully,  I will understand the distinction later ( when it is animated or something).

You could feel the tension rise as Hody  looms over Shirahoshi. I felt a sense of relief as you I saw Luffy reaching over to stop Hody. It is brilliantly set up. It was clear that Luffy was going to stop Hody but a sense of doom pervaded those brief seconds before Luffy’s arrival. There aren’t many good things to say about Hody but he has become an intimidating force. It feels as if you are watching a corny old shark movie.

This line is so cool that I even provided the image.

"No....I will protect everything! I spent those two years for that reason!"
-Luffy

That line had me awestruck. There are no words that can describe what I felt when I read that.

The panel depicting Luffy saying that amazing line was just perfect. I don't know what it was about the panel but you feel  Luffy’s confidence and responsibility.. It is not   arrogance but instead a mature confidence that you rarely see from Luffy.

We know  why Luffy wants to be stronger. Luffy first fully explained his desire for greater strength during the Enies Lobby Arc. Marineford stresses his desire for this strength even further as Luffy fought to the bitter end to save his older brother Ace. Now we are here watching Luffy fight  Hody who constantly says the wrong things in front of Luffy.

This will surely be a sweet fight to watch.

Finally, we are starting to see the match ups. The first one is  a surprise as we see one featuring Jimbei and Sanji against  Wadatsumi. I didn't even expect to see Wadatsumi in a fight but apparently he is this important.

I am very iffy about this fight. This match just feels like it is a waste of Sanji’s talents. The cook  is long overdue for a serious fight. Instead he is not only fighting  a joke character but he  is partnered with Jimbei. It didn't help that why Sanji wants to fight Wadatsumi is because he hurt  Nami. We already know that Jimbei is a strong fighter so it feels pointless to display his talents any further. Even with the Energy Steroid I think  Jimbei and Sanji will easily overpower him.

Maybe Oda will put one over on us and prove that Wadatsumi is a serious contender and that Sanji will need Jimbei’s help. It did not gel  with me as Jimbei is able to easily withstand Wadatsumi's attack and simultaneously hurt him.

Like we didn't see this one coming....

Zoro vs Hyouzou is  a match up everybody saw coming. Zoro of course would get the swordsman of the group to fight. It helps that Hyoyzou happens to be one of Hody's strongest underlings as well. One part of me did want to see a Robin vs Hyouzou's match since it would have been interesting to see how Robin would defeat him. This would have forced Zoro to fight somebody outside his norm.

It will still be a satisfying fight nonetheless. We have a fight between Zoro's Three Sword Style versus Hyouzou Multiple Drunk Sword Style. I am looking forward to see how Hyouzou will use his arms in the match against Zoro and how Zoro will counter him. The overdose as a result of Energy Steroids seemed  unnecessary for Hyouzou’s abilities but it doesn't spoil the fight for me. Instead I am looking forward to the fight with greater anticipation.

So cool that I had to use it twice.

The action is picking up with each chapter as we are seeing individualized fights set up. The shark-fishman is just saying all the wrong things to Luffy. First he stated he will become the Pirate King and now he  claims that Luffy is unable to protect anybody. All of this is just going to make Hody's defeat even sweeter.

I wonder how the rest will be paired up. We have four other people (for that matter (Hammond says hi)) and seven Straw Hats. It would seem as if three of Hody's lieutenants (Dosun, Zeo, Daruma or Much) will get two Straw Hats apiece with the remaining Straw Hat fighting the remaining lieutenant. It sounds like an unfair set of fights but I guess that is where the Energy Steroids factor in. I smell a fish fry.

Til next time true believers!


Written by: Mikey
Edited by: Dsaftler