Recent Chapter Discussion

[Symbiote]

I was never expecting much.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

As expected, Oden was just a Kanjuro's creation. I wouldn't say this contradicts his powers though considering he never needed to create talking drawings prior to his clone and it was apparent he was pretending to be far less skilled than he actually was when pretending to be a Kozuki ally. It's expected that Orochi would still be alive with him being related to Kanjuro (and allowing a character to die from realistic injuries isn't in Oda's style 2) though it's still contrived when it lacked any real foreshadowing and there doesn't seem to be any real way Kanjuro would anticipate Kaido's actions.
Also, it seems Momonosuke has Kenbunshoku Haki out of nowhere that was only given prior build up in a guidebook. Having it isn't bad, though him developing it at such a high level when being actively protected from the battles going on is. When Coby activated his in an intense battlefield, at least he was actually taking part in the battle and had significant combat experience through Rokushiki. It's not as though young non-combatants haven't awakened it prior such as the Skypiean girl, though Momo having done so just like that is still a pretty egregious way to introduce this plot point.
As has already been said, Kaido's hybrid form is underwhelming in appearance, especially compared to prior Zoans such as Lucci, though Kaido in general has been underwhelming throughout the entire arc.

 

[SSJ2]

I guess the next time we'll see Ashura will be on Raftel, with Roger, Ace and Pedro. Looking forward to it.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Forgot to mention that Ashura being fatally injured by a drawing because "friendship limited muh abilities" is just .

 

[SSJ2]

Funny that Kikunojo could beat Kanjuro single-handedly, but the much stronger Ashura was defeated by a mere drawing that was supposedly difficult for a wounded Kanjuro to control

 

[Papasmurf]

Oda really needs to start taking hiatuses more. The nigga clearly ran out of ideas after Fishman Island, lol.

 

[SSJ2]

Oda really needs to start taking hiatuses more. The nigga clearly ran out of ideas after Fishman Island, lol.

How could he have run out of ideas when every chapter was already planned in 1997?

 

[Papasmurf]

Oda really needs to start taking hiatuses more. The nigga clearly ran out of ideas after Fishman Island, lol.

How could he have run out of ideas when every chapter was already planned in 1997?

You're right. Oda clearly planned Wanokuni in chapter 0 from traveling to feudal Japan in his mind from doing copious amounts of LSD and shrooms. :dawae

 

[SSJ2]

Holy shit. Idk if it was the quality of the scans, but the art in 1009 was the worst I’ve ever seen. That was almost on par with HxH.

 

[SSJ2]

Holy shit. Idk if it was the quality of the scans, but the art in 1009 was the worst I’ve ever seen. That was almost on par with HxH.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Most of the chapter consists of the typical fight scenes you'd expect. Not really attention grabbing and makes Big Mom a contender for this arc's prestigious biggest idiot award with her completely forgetting the flaw of a DF user losing ground on a mountain that has nothing but sea level below it. The super serious and deadly Yonko, everyone .

As for the events with Orochi, it's made apparent he didn't survive through Kanjuro's ability. Perhaps it's an ability of his DF taking more inspiration from the hydra rather than the Yamata no Orochi (in which case, why Oda didn't just make it a Hydra Devil Fruit is beyond me), though the whole situation seems quite pointless with how quickly he was fodderised and it seems doubtful he'll have any meaningful impact on the plot now he's been discovered.

 

[Papasmurf]

So when will Luffy asspull an Awakening out of his ass to beat Kaido and/or Big Mom?

 

[SSJ2]

He's already strong enough to make Kaido dodge his attacks while in Base. At the beginning of Wano, the strongest version of G4 Luffy couldn't even damage a drunk Kaido

 

[SSJ2]

Also I guess Zolo is almost Yonko level now? Somehow can tank a combined attack from Kaido/Big Mom

 

[Papasmurf]

He's already strong enough to make Kaido dodge his attacks while in Base. At the beginning of Wano, the strongest version of G4 Luffy couldn't even damage a drunk Kaido

So basically Luffy is a Saiyan, and he's progressing faster than Namek Galu? Lol.

 

[SSJ2]

The only real highlight of that chapter was Zolo finally getting Haoshoku and also using Asura again. People will still argue that he's on par with Simpji

Luffy has seemingly gained the same advanced Haoshoku that Prime Whiteboard and Roger were shown using, but to a lesser extent. I'm actually fine with that as it saves him from getting some sort of bullshit Zenkai to be able to contend with Kaido. The problem is how did he go from being KO'd and nearly dead to being able to inflict the most damage yet on Kaido? That's some bs.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

So, it's confirmed Zoro still has Asura and it's a devastating technique, raising the burning question of why he didn't use it earlier against Kaido and so many other opponents. Imagine the one member of the Straw Hats who chastises Luffy on not taking the New World seriously holding back his strongest technique for no reason .

Law's rationale also seems pretty stupid in it not being worth one of them dying to try and drown Big Mom. The fact their alliance is even able to contend with two Yonko is miraculous when such a thing was thought to be a hopeless situation. How exactly is the sacrifice of one ally not worth taking down a Yonko in the eyes of a man who often prioritises results?

Zoro being revealed to have Haoshoku Haki seemed inevitable with his relevance in the plot. The reveal that you can coat attacks in Haoshoku Haki does make some sense as it's very much a physical manifestation of conquering opponent's through your will, though it does raise the question of why master Haoshoku users don't all use this and why Rayleight chose to half-ass Luffy's training to the extent of not even mentioning it. Luffy's stamina regeneration is bs as already said, even if arguing his better Haki control helps his stamina regen.

 

[SSJ2]

Yea I was thinking about Rayleigh's training too, but I'm pretty sure he made it clear he'd only teach Luffy the basics. I guess in his mind he thought Luffy would have greater growth by learning the complexities on his own. Rayleigh's goal wasn't to make Luffy the pirate King through his own training, he wanted Luffy to do it himself.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

It still wouldn't be offering Luffy any more of an unfair advantage to just tell him Haoshoku Haki can be used to coat oneself similar to Busoshoku, even if not teaching him how, especially when he bothered to show him a comparably advanced technique with displays of Busoshoku Current Luffy is only just starting to get the grips of.

 

[SSJ2]

The same can be said about Busoshoku kV 3 tho. Rayleigh only displayed that power when ripping off that mermaid's handcuffs, I don't believe he ever taught it to Luffy. Idk, I get the feeling that Luffy wouldn't have wanted everything spelled out for him when he was so adamantly against hearing of the true history and whatnot from Rayleigh. Rayleigh was meant to be a guide moreso than his master who taught him everything he knew.