One Piece Chapter 818 – The Red Poneglyph

So the Poneglyphs do guide one to Raftel!

And so the story shifts back to journey towards Raftel and the dangers awaiting the Straw Hat Pirates in their path. The Red Poneglyph aka. “Road Poneglyph” serves as a guide to reaching the final point of the Grand Line, Raftel. Carved in four Red Poneglpyhs are the locations of certain points which when joined reveal the location of Raftel at the point where all the lines intersect. With one of the stones found, Nico Robin now needs to read the remaining three in order to find the location of Raftel. Easier said than done though as two Yonko each have in their possession a Red Poneglyph.

One Piece Chapter 817 – The Kouzuki Clan

So the Mink and Kouzuki Tribe are connected to the Void Century

Momonosuke’s real identity has finally been revealed. And like most of the reader’s expected, Momonosuke is the Lord of Wano Kingdom, well the heir of it. Kine’mon revealed his lies and confessed that Momonosuke and he were not father and son. He only manufactured that lie to keep Momonosuke’s identity safe from the unsavory sort looking to capitalise on such information (seems like Doflamingo knew the worth of Momonosuke). Just like Kine’mon, Kanjuro and Raizou, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi  swore loyalty to the Kouzuki Clan and by extension to Momonosuke.

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.