Shonen Beam

[scanlation by Binktopia]

It seems Oda’s cover page commission wasn’t a one-off. One for each crew member, perhaps?

Chopper didn’t look any different in Brain Point, but his face definitely does in Walk Point. Whether that is an active change in character design or simply a subtle change in art style is difficult to determine, though. Reading on a couple more pages reveals that Chopper is also much larger than before. If he has grown this notably in Walk Point, I have to wonder what he looks like in all forms now.

Thankfully, Usopp and Chopper are still on the same comedy wavelength. This interaction has been sorely missed.

How badly do you want to see Usopp's signature?

Speaking of characters falling back into their preferred interaction, the argument between Zoro and Sanji is hilarious.

Poor Number Sev-- er, Sanji

The collection of pirates waiting to join Fake Luffy’s crew is impressive in terms of individual bounty values, but their character designs are all a little too “generic evil,” which in One Piece usually translates to a warped face and a scowl. It isn’t worth wasting too much time intricately crafting throwaway pirates, but at least one of them looking a tad less bizarre would have helped variety in this scene.

Stole the Rinnegan during the timeskip

Luffy is still dumb! He may not be as overtly stupid as before (which could be a result of him trying to keep a low profile), but he’s definitely still oblivious if he believes that those are the real Zoro and Sanji.

So much for the .0000000001% chance of Brook leaving the crew. Also, I stand by my dislike of the excessive glamorizing of his character by focusing entirely on his comedy elements, but they did set up the opportunity for Brook to announce to the world that Luffy is alive, which is a powerful moment.

Similarly, I still have a negative opinion of Franky’s redesign, but I also still respect Oda’s inventiveness. Franky’s hand-within-a-hand is clever, his robot speech is amusing, and while I wish it was always there, I’m at least somewhat relieved that his hair can regrow instantly.

Push three seconds for personality

The crew’s reactions upon hearing of Luffy’s imminent arrival are exciting, and Rayleigh’s speech builds tension nicely heading into the new arc, but all thoughts of chapter 600 being the milestone reunion chapter were wrong.

Final Flash: The pieces are falling into place, and the comedy elements really helped this chapter stand above the previous two, but ultimately this was yet another setup chapter, and we still have at least one week to wait until the highly anticipated full reunion.