Shonen Beam

[scanlation by Binktopia]

Oda takes cover page requests now? People of the internet, this must be used for the greater good.

This flashback involving Hancock really seems like the last time we’ll see her for a long while. If that is indeed the case, her last appearance aptly showcases her blind love and her hilarious misunderstandings. She may not have fit in with the crew, but she was a tremendously enjoyable arc character.

Cover story, please

I’m inclined to believe that the claim of a 400 million Beli bounty is just as fake as this would-be Luffy is. We’ve seen no hint of such a number anywhere, let alone confirmation. Furthermore, a 100 million Beli increase seems incredibly low for everything that has taken place since Enies Lobby. It could be true, but I’d be disappointed if it was.

Luffy’s small demonstration of his Haki is an acceptable amount of suave, but it mustn’t go too much further than this. It was the fact that Luffy has been so lovable and carefree in most of his adventures that made the times when he got serious so impactful. If Luffy is now always calm and collected, there won’t be an appropriate sense of importance when the plot moves towards a climactic revelation or fight.

New Franky is… bad. Honestly, I like the idea of one of the crew members being huge compared to the others, especially considering the giants and “large humans” we’ve seen in other crews in the series, but these new modifications are far too outlandish, even for Franky. At this rate, he might as well just turn himself into the Strawhats’ ship.

… actually, that isn’t a terrible idea. Franky is too weird for the crew, and yet his position is a vital one. Turn him into the ship, and he remains integral, but he won’t take focus away from the rest of the crew.

Where is your hair?!

The conversation between Robin and Franky about Brook brings up another interesting potential twist, and one that I would support: Brook should leave the crew. I like his personality, I like his humor, and his backstory is acceptable (if not great). However, unlike the rest of the crew, his dream is already directly attainable. If he is already so successful as to be able to hold a world tour, there’s no reason he couldn’t travel to Laboon right now. Seriously speaking, I don’t believe Brook leaving is even a possibility, considering the emphasis the series places on unity (and being “nakama”) and just how long we’ve waited to get a musician, but I miss the 5- and 7-person crews we had earlier in the series. Perhaps this long-winded idea only serves to reaffirm that Brook being a famous rock star was a bad writing choice, because of how it crosses over with Brook’s primary objective.

In stark contrast to the last paragraph: Chopper is still adorable. That is all.

The Marines are inept enough to focus all their resources on the fake Straw Hats. This could be seen as a necessity for the real crew to escape quickly, but given how strong everyone must be now, I’m sure they could still escape even with the Marines right on them. Demeaning the Marines like this is rather unnecessary.

Zoro’s reintroduction is the most satisfying moment of the last two chapters. He hasn’t lost his terrible sense of direction, he’s incredibly powerful, he made a dramatic statement, he provided a funny scene, and he has a seemingly specific and important new quirk: a scar over his left eye, contrary to the color spread in the last chapter, when it was on his right. This is an admitted mistake from Oda, who has since said that it is intended to be over Zoro’s left eye (and will continue to be, going forward). I’m tremendously curious as to how something as seemingly innocuous as which eye is scarred matters enough to make a public admission of error.

Even setup chapters can't contain how badass Zoro is

Final Flash: Still no reunion. As a setup chapter, this one is perhaps more enjoyable than the last, if only because we’re this much closer to finally moving on with the plot. This chapter also provided more interesting material for theorizing. Overall, though, it seems quite obvious that Oda has deliberately set up chapter 600 as an important milestone.