[Theory] One Piece – Yamato: The Bonds Of Sea And Adventure (Nakama Theory)

Yamato Art by punkao (https://www.deviantart.com/punkao)

We are at the stage in the story where it becomes harder to consider new characters potential Straw Hat Pirates given the limited runway left in the manga. At the moment, no other character has been as closely linked to the Straw Hat Pirates and their end goal within the story as Yamato.

When you couple Yamato’s curiosity for the “Will of D” and Luffy with Yamato’s desire to sail the seas, their love for adventure and their awareness of Joy Boy and the “Dawn”, it seems apt to have such a character more closely tied to the Straw Hat Pirates and Law than not. And given Law’s interest in the history of D, he WILL be traveling alongside the Straw Hat Pirates to their next destination that involves further information sourced from the Poneglyphs and Road Poneglyphs (Robin is the only one who can translate the stone text for him).

[Theory] One Piece – Doflamingo’s Undercover Agent: Monet

The keeper of chaos. The broker of darkness. The agent of secrets. The mediator of devastation. The supplier of power. The shadow of the Tenryuubito. Whatever mechanisations were ongoing within the New World, Doflamingo before his fall had his hand turning it. And even now, bound by chains of seastone and locked away on the sixth level of Impel Down, Doflamingo still holds relevance within the events unfolding in the story due to the gaping void left by his departure as Joker. But prior to his defeat, the instruments enabling him to hold such a position were the operatives of his family allowing access to key information necessary for critical decision-making. And among the officers Doflamingo employed, one of his most valuable was the undercover agent Monet.

One Piece Chapter 1063 – Bonney And Kuma

The advancements within technology and science may have been a recent development within the One Piece world but ever since the Punk Hazard Arc over 11 years ago, the readers have been slowly teased of the new position such developments hold within the political and militaristic landscape of One Piece. Caesar showed how science and technology can destroy Islands, create weapons of mass destruction and even replicate the powers of the Zoan Devil Fruits within Artificial ones albeit with massive side effects. Now with the story centrally focused on Vegapunk, we are beginning to see the true heights science and technology have reached within this world. And intersecting through such a focus is the story thread dealing with Bonney and Kuma who have, to a substantial extent, been ruined by the progress of science and technology.

Suzume (Film) Review

Suzume is a wondrous film that will take you through a spectrum of emotions leaving you feeling satisfied and joyful and falling absolutely in love with it by the end. The emotional resonance emanating from it held me captivated and submerged. Completely and utterly enchanted. Tears overwhelmed and overflowed. My heart enraptured yet harrowed at the same time by the enveloping tragedy and the dawning affection shared between the characters in focus. Concluding the film left me in a state of awe where all I felt like doing was sitting there in silence as the credits rolled appreciating what I experienced and melting away within the melody of the Suzume theme song until it ended along with the credits. The film genuinely seized me and absorbed my heart into its essence.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) Review

Mario, one of the most iconic characters in gaming if not THE most iconic. Mere mention of the name Mario evokes imagery of the plumber with a mustache donning a red and blue outfit with a red hat containing the letter M. And for those who played the games other aspects such as jumping, mushrooms, coins, stars, pipes, the question mark blocks and the need to repeat levels have become elements intertwined with the existence of Mario. Elements that now help define the direction of the 2023 film. In addition, the core characters introduced across the Mario games encapsulates the identity of this film. With each of those characters representing an anchoring point during the story’s progression. And when you bring into play the history of Mario and Nintendo, you get the embodiment of the journey. In short, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is very representative of Nintendo and gaming as a whole – joyful, fun and entertaining.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) Review

John Wick 4 was beautifully enrapturing. It literally brought a tear to my eye in the theater and not because of anything overwhelmingly emotional happening in the story at that moment but due to the sheer passion and quality instilled in John Wick to craft it into such a breathtaking franchise. Witnessing the conclusion of this film series erupt into the spectacle that John Wick 4 is, I couldn’t help but be motioned by the pleasure and gratitude of being a spectator to such an experience filling me up.

One Piece Chapter 1062 – The [VI] Vegapunk

What a curious development, the mystery surrounding Vegapunk is even more fascinating than I initially suspected. Rather than something as simple as cloning or biological legacy, he instead split himself into six forms to cover more areas of research and potentially make it more difficult for his “enemies” to fully discard of him later on. It is unclear when Vegapunk exactly devised such a methodology but based on how events progressed through the story, I feel certain that Vegapunk only segmented himself after the events on Punk Hazard with Caesar i.e. around 2-4 years ago.

One Piece Chapter 1061 – The Humble Genius Scientist

So we finally get the reveal of the genius scientist “Vegapunk” but something tells me not everything is as it appears. For starters the appearance of Vegapunk greatly differs from the implied accounts we have had of them throughout the manga and there is just something about the Pun[k] 02 label on this character’s suit that makes me suspicious if this really is THE Vegapunk.Could this be Vegapunk’s daughter or a clone or someone pretending to be the scientist? Whatever it is, Vegapunk is behind it.

One Piece Chapter 1060 – The World Government’s Secret Weapon

We have known about floating Islands in the sky since Skypiea and about man-made/alien Island flying constructs since that scene where Capone Bege was pulled into the sky pre-timeskip but this is the first time we have seen a Death Star type of weapon floating in the sky, although it could very be the construct Bege was attracted to pre-timeskip. With such a development, the World Government has now become the Empire within One Piece. If it was clear that the World Government are the final antagonist of One Piece (sorry Blackbeard), it should be very apparent now.

One Piece Chapter 1059 – Assault On Amazon Lily

What a spectacular turn of events to introduce the new technology of the Marines and consolidate the chaos erupting within the New World with the dissolution of the Shichibukai and the defeats of two of the Yonko. What appeared to be a likely victory for the Marines turned into a conflict that saw Blackbeard make an entrance and even the reintroduce Rayleigh into the story along with Shakuyaku who was a former Empress of Amazon Lily and the the former captain of the Kuja Pirates. How wild. I love it.

One Piece Chapter 1058 – A Clown’s Fortunate Misfortune

Ever since the happenings surrounding Buggy within his initial appearance and the cover pages featuring him and his adventures, especially his meeting with Ace and the events that transpired within Impel Down, he has captured the essence of fortunate misfortune. Buggy may not get what he wants through the circumstances unraveling around him but what occurs is a miraculous level of serendipity that puts the fortune in misfortune. Truly, when it come to Buggy, when fortune strike, it always misses the mark for him hence that humorous spin of mis-fortune he is embraced by. Such a conveyance is expressed comprehensively within this chapter.

One Piece Chapter 1057 – Yamato’s Decision

While within the realm of possibility, I am curious as to why Oda-sensei scripted Yamato in such a manner to only have him remain in Wano Kuni out of focus. I did suspect such a development, but I couldn’t see much reason for it considering the character and narrative momentum Oda-sensei has associated behind Yamato. One of the earlier theories I had which could have seen Yamato remain in Wano was the possibility of there being a seventh Wano Family and Kaido and Yamato being descendants of that family. In order to discover more about his blood and family story, Yamato would need to remain in Wano to uncover additional information. With Yamato not remaining in Wano to follow the “path” Oden took in traveling Wano, this could potentially open up an interesting path for Yamato to develop to be weaved into the story at a later point when the Straw Hat Pirates are in need of assistance.