One Piece Chapter 988 – Straw Hat Pirates VS Big Mom

As the full moon envelops the night sky with its radiant embrace amidst the flakes of snow blanketing the land, the winds of freedom echo across the halls of destruction unhindered by the chaos erupting before it. The Soul King and the Freedom Rider have arrived! And beneath their platform of announcement lies the concussed Big Mom interrupted partway through her act of annihilating the target of her ire. Now injured on top of being enraged, will the Straw Hats have to engage to prevent further devastation? Or will disorientation take hold of Big Mom and dissipate her memories once again?

One Piece Chapter 889 – Big Mom’s Transformation

She’s angry…

If Big Mom wasn’t strong enough already, she has now entered a state that surpasses even her rage induced frenzy. Who exactly is Charlotte Linlin and how did she get so powerful? Her further rise in strength further supports Big Mom being taken out by the cake Sanji, Pudding and Chiffon have made. No one comes close to Big Mom’s strength currently and other than Big Mom falling from the satisfaction of having tasted the sweetest treat she never knew existed, I don’t see any other way to defeat her based on the information we currently have available.

One Piece Chapter 888 – The Mink Transformation

Carrot’s Moon Lion Transformation

With a Full Moon revealing itself during the Tea Party event in Totland we finally get a glimpse at what the Mink’s Full Moon transformation is like. More than just sending the Mink into a feral state, the Moon transformation matures the Mink and enhances their capabilities. As for the white hair in that state, we will have to wait to see if the white hair is consistent through other Mink’s transformations or whether it is specific to just Carrot. What we can confirm is that the power associated with the Full Moon transformation is real.

One Piece Chapter 812-816 – Sanji Vinsmoke

Oh Sanji…

So many twists and reveals in these past few chapters, I find myself left quite silenced and immensely liberated by the possibility these developments leave the story to develop towards. I was wondering how Oda-sensei would utilise the Mink race once the focus shifted towards Sanji and the Straw Hat Pirates struggles to get him back, but now with the reveal that there exist a long-standing relationship between the Mink race and the Kougetsu Wano Kuni Family, it seems inevitable the Mink race will be part of the story for a long while now, especially with the Wano Country yet to be even dealt with in the story. Kaidou and the Mink race will be intrinsically linked to the Wano Kuni story (and Kaidou’s) once the focus has shifted towards it.

One Piece Chapter 811 – Saving Zou

I’m surprised Zoro has a jacket on…whatever happened to his “warriors training”

Out of all the characters, who would have thought that Caesar would be the central person in helping save Zou and the Mink, albeit his assistance was acquired through blackmail, but still nonetheless his actions did end up saving the Mink race. The fact that Oda is placing such focus on Caesar and is going through to the effort to redeem his character somewhat suggest to me that Oda does have future plans for Caesar in being an ally/associate of the Straw Hat Pirates. If Jack and Kaido do have more of Caesar’s weaponry, Caesar being associated with the Straw Hat Pirates will be a huge benefit for them in their upcoming battles against Kaido.

One Piece Chapter 806-810 – The Battle Of Zou

What an awesome colour spread

Looks like many major events were happening around the One Piece world concurrently. For Luffy defeating Doflamingo to have ultimately, albeit indirectly, saved a nation from one of Kaidou’s “calamities”, I find myself wondering what other rippling affects the Straw Hat Pirates feats since entering the New World have been caused within the New World, especially ones with lasting and major implications. By removing Jack from Zou, the Mink tribe were given the opportunity to survive and over time, drive the remnant forces of Kaidou/Jack away. Still the question remains, why is Jack so passionately after Raizou?

One Piece Chapter 804 – The Mink Of Zou

Good work Ryuunosuke!

Overcoming the limitations of its existence, this brave soul pushed himself beyond his capabilities driven by the duty etched into its soul by its creator. A noble and honorable soul using everything it had to scale the massive hind leg of an Ancient Elephant in order to deliver its friends, the Straw Hat Pirates and Law, to the top. Regardless of fatigue, it broke past the barrier of impossibility and successfully saw to it that the Straw Hat Pirates reached the top. A hero in name, form and action, Ryuunosuke the dragon will forever be remembered for what it accomplished during its trying journey towards the enigmatic Zou. RIP Ryuunosuke.

One Piece Chapter 802-803 – The Island On The Back Of An Elephant

It’s cute, but I can’t help but pity it

Zou has finally be revealed and true to its name, it definitely has something to do with an Elephant, more so than I had initially expected. After chapter 795, I had suspected that the Island the Curly Hat Pirates land on was an Island that could possibly rest on the back of a massive animal carrying it, but I expected a giant whale or sea king, not really a thousand-year old Elephant casually cruising in the oceans like it was nothing. With the setting of the next arc being that of this ancient giant elephant, I am curious as to the origins of this elephant and its longevity. Hopefully as we learn about the residents of Zou – the Mink – we also learn about this enigmatic ancient elephant.