SPOILERS!
Man One Piece SLAYS me. Read it each week in Weekly Shonen Jump!
Continuing from last week, Luffy (or Lucy if you prefer) has entered the tournament at Dressrosa in order to win Ace's Flame-Flame Fruit and has stunned pretty much every contestant in the room after taking down a big dope called Spartan.
A soldier tries to disqualify him for causing rough housing but Luffy is saved by the Chinjao family who say that Spartan should be disqualified because he started the fight. Luffy thanks them and one of the three men called Xai gets all up in Luffy's face and even giving him the middle finger. Nice, thats what emotions will do to him as he gets dragged away by the others.
We meet some of the other contestants who are basically crime bosses and pirate captains from all over the world who are just here to gain Ace's devil fruit powers. There are so many in fact that the only one worth mentioning is Bellamy. Remember him? Somehow he is still alive even though it looked like he was killed by Doflamingo. I hope Luffy kicks his butt again like he did in Jaya because I hate Bellamy. He's a total arse.
WHY ARE YOU ALIVE BELLAMY? WHY??!!
Anyway, Round One of the tournament will be a Battle Royale with four divisions and over 550 competitors...only four will be left by the end. I'm guessing this round will be a breeze but the real test will be the next one.
Luffy is shown some preparation quarters filled to the brim with armor and weapons, although only firearms aren't allowed. Naturally when Luffy sees armor, he has to put on a full suit looking even more awesome and gladiator-like than he did in Thriller Bark.
A very handsome man nearby is making all the women (and even some men) swooning with his charm. This man is Cavendish Bounty who is captain of the Beautiful Pirates. That is subtle. He points out to Luffy that theres a weight-restriction on armor and it won't do him any good because he is confident that he'll win.
Priorities, Ladies and Gentlemen
Luffy briefly ignores him while a soldier tells him the same thing about the armor, so he removes some. Cavendish tells Luffy about how stepping into the ring can bring out the worst in people and how its a total bloodbath, not a drawn out fight with swords.
When Cavendish asks his name, Luffy nearly blows his cover but no-one believes him when they see the name Lucy on his shirt. Cavendish counts him lucky since he would've had to kill him if he really was Luffy because he wants revenge on him and the other rookie pirates for stealing his thunder in the papers following the Whitebeard War. Somebody is jealoooooous.
Ignoring Cavendish once again, Luffy admires a statue of a gladiator called Kyros who was the greatest warrior in the Corrida Colloseum. A barely clad female gladiator called Rebecca comes up and thanks Luffy for what he did since she hated Spartan.
She goes on to say that Kyros won 3000 matches in a row and only suffered one injury from an opponent during that streak and even though he supposedly retired twenty years ago, no-one knows who he really is. Even his actual existence is one of the mysteries surrounding Dressrosa.
Why did Cavendish eat the rose he was holding?
Some burly fighters tease Rebecca because Spartan apparently "picked on her". She ignores them but tells Luffy that she'll win the Flame-Flame Fruit and slay Doflamingo. I wonder why. Rebecca goes off and says that she hopes they'll both get passed the first round.
Suddenly an announcement is heard: the winner of Division A has been determined so quickly. The chapter ends with this masked man unveiling his identity. Much to the shock of everyone, its Jesus Burgess who is now the First Fleet Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates. Oh my...
Well this chapter has certainly had some surprises hasn't it? The additions of Bellamy and Burgess have mixed things up. Whether Bellamy is still working for Doflamingo isn't really clear yet but he could be more dangerous than before especially because Ace's devil fruit raises the stakes even higher than gold.
Additionally Burgess seems more dangerous than before because he seems more muscular than before the timeskip and will probably be in the final four alongside Luffy and maybe Bellamy and Rebecca too. On top of that, the fact that Blackbeard has an entire fleet under his arms makes him sound much more of a threat even though it was probably obvious since he is one of the Four Emperors now.
Burgess may put the Hulk to shame
No doubt Burgess is here to win the fruit for Blackbeard, although whether he'll actually accomplish this or not remains to be seen (although personally I have a nagging feeling that he'll take the fruit whether he wins or not). Aside from those two, Cavendish is probably going to be one of those annoying jealous types who'll get their comeuppance but Rebecca could have potential to be a strong female character.
A lot is going on right now even outside of the tournament so admittedly its a little hard to concentrate on all of these events going on at once. We'll probably see more of the other Straw Hats next time than Luffy if I know my One Piece. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing how this arc progresses and I'm sure you all are too.
Please leave a comment if you have something to say about the chapter, the characters, or the arc in general. I'd love to see what you all have to say. Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time!
Must be his time of the month...wait
This chapter certainly introduced a lot of characters.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Bellamy is still alive simply furthers the golden rule of One Piece that "if you DID NOT actually see them die, they're probably not dead." I suppose that huge scar he has across his face came from that moment when he and his first mate (was his name Shakis or something?) were forced to fight eachother under the influence Doflamingo's powers, and that moment where it was implied that Bellamy was beheaded. so now it turns out no, he was just cut really badly. (shrugs) ...what ev'.
Honestly, I really do not see him making the final four. Odds are Oda brought him back just so Lucy can continue the running gag of knocking him out in a single punch sometime during the battle royal.
Bergess showing up however was a huge surprise. I honestly did not expect to be seeing any of the Blackbeard Pirates this soon, but it should certainly make for a good show.
I too am really liking this Rebecca character so far. I hope she does become a strong female character.
Okay, so this prediction may be completely out of the blue, but remember that woman Viola that Sanji met in the last chapter that wanted him to kill her ex for her. How much does anyone want to bet me that the pretty boy Cavendish Bounty we just met this chapter is Viola's ex. He certainly fits the part, and it would connect to two plotlines somewhat.
I am pretty sure I figure he was not dead as well. It continues to make me groan when long time fans keep saying that people are going or have died when we should know by now the Golden One Piece Rule. It is fine, as you said this is just another chance for Luffy to one hit KO Bellamy. I am pretty sure he is just as cocky as before.
DeleteI so wish that Rebecca is a "Strong Female Character" because Oda has been dropping the ball on these ever since we came back from the Timeskip. I am still shaking my head at Oda's use of Robin and Nami back at Fishman Island.
Your prediction would be a great way to bring plot points back together. Right now everything is all scatter. Still, we know that Oda somehow likes to bring things back together in one central location. I like your prediction.