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[moveyourdeadfros]

We open up with… oh. Oh my god. This cover image.



THIS COVER IMAGE. This… vision. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to BREATHE anymore. I have seen fabulous in it’s true form, and it is this. So beautiful. So damn… beautiful.

So as we recall from last week, Luffy told the dudes who could sink their ship at any time to kindly go bugger themselves and their offer to be his cronies. Negotiations break down hella fast, but the stalwart crew has enough time on their hands to make the ship blast off again! The Coup de Burst almost causes the bubble to deflate and the tension rackets up! Will they make it? Face to face with the prospect of death, what are the thoughts running through their heads, the thoughts that may in fact be their final ones?!



Stay classy Sanji. While they manage to soar right through the outer layer, they unfortunately find out that the other side of the layer… is ALSO ocean. Que tons of ”GURBLE NGARBLE GURBLE” as people start drownig all over the place and the crew try desperately to stick together… all to no avail, as the pages turn dark… the fishmen watch the spectacle, but Hammond decide they can’t rest on their laurels. They don’t want to risk the ”Neptune Army” to find the Strawhats before they do, and as such return to a place called Noah to report the arrival of the Strawhats to their superior…
Well, that was exciting and all but we’ve had far too many perilious moments. It’s time to ratchet up the adorable-meter…



I have so many cavities right now my teeth could pass for Swiss Cheese. The little sproglets disperse as Luffy comes to, surrounded by Usop, Chopper and Sanji. Because they were picked up by an old friend…



Keimi! And no, by the way- the five little girls are NOT the result of her and Hachi getting HELLA busy, we’ll get to them later. Sanji casually tosses the captain his hat in what is one of the most adorable scenes in the chapter for some reason, as he explain to Luffy that they were all separated, which Luffy is… okay with.

Right. Guess we’re too busy to hurry the arc along to worry, moving on. Sanji reveals the nicknames he’s given the other men of the crew, and Keimi comes in to warm them up with some delicious cold seaweed soup. Que this.




Oh Keimi. Never change. We are now introduced to the little mermaidlets!



Oh Oda and his puns. They have all been brought to Mermaid Cove, the place where all the merfolk (there’s got to be SOME men there, right?) hang out and Keimi works at the Mermaid Cafe. Sanji promptly starts frothing at the mout, but… he pulls through! He manages to overcome his own raging hormones, resisting the allure to bleed out or lose consciousness. The good old Sanji is finally coming back, guys! The gang exits Keimis house to rise up to the surface by means of turtle elevator-



Which is the most awesome thing I’ve seen so far. We then get a lot of exposition as Keimi tells us she lives on the bottom, furthest away from the light because the rent is cheapest there, that Hachi is recovering in the Fishman District which is a hella scary place to be, and that Pappugg is apparently some kind of super-rich designer now that lives in ”Fisherly Hills”, and that the reason she’s not living there with him is because she feels out of place there. Enough set up here for many interesting situations, I’d say… we get to see some bubble-roads which allow fish to swim even above the surface, some more impressive scenery… and finally. At long last. Sanji accomplishes what he’s been longing for since Thriller Bark.



Two words. Woah. Momma.

Also is it weird that one of the things I like most about this picture is how every mermaid looks like she has a different tail? That they’re not all just generic fish-tail but have different patterns, hairdoes and facial structures. Oh Oda. You’re good to me. You’re so good to me. As for Sanjis reaction, no words of mine could ever do it justice. I shall simply let this page speak for itself.



But all is not well in paradise, as the mermaids picked up a familiar-looking barrel as well as the Strawhats… and back at ”Noah”, Hammond reports back to his boss about the situation, but all we see…



Is one sinister silhouette…

Well, what to say about this chapter? It’s kinda sad that the group is split up AGAIN so soon after their reunion, but what are ya gonna do, it’s how One Piece rolls pretty much all of the time. We got a lot of info dumped on us about Fishman Island here, and I have a good feeling that we’re gonna end up seeing some really impressive vistas in the future. I’m already loving how Oda’s drawn out the underwater city here, and as for who the boss might be, speculations are currently running rampant. I think that one of the things we’re seeing is a lock of hair over his face, which I don’t think Arlong had… yeah, some are speculating it’s gonna be a retread of Arlong here. I’m hoping for someone else though- it kinda feels like Arlong is played out as a character. Someone who knows him though? That could be interesting…

Comments

[moveurdeadfros.livejournal.com]

People HAVE argued that Luffy broke Arlongs nose and that might be what makes it look different, but yeah... I THINK that Arlong is supposed to be in jail. HOWEVER what's to say that during that jailbreak, a little fishman decided it was time to leave the tank?

But a brother would be kinda cool. It's probably gonna be someone with a relation to Arlong in some way. Don't know why, just a funny kinda feeling I've got.

[ningen-demonai.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he broke it, but I dunno if they're gonna wrench the whole thing off and call it a day. :|a

... Actually, now I kinda want the person to be a female and also maybe connected to Kokoro somehow.

WE WILL KNOW IN A WEEK OR TWO or probably more cuz Oda's good at that.