第45回：Well I've Seen Just About Everything…

Are you ready for the Theory Express? ALL ABOOOOARD!

What *if* this elephant did in fact travel with a herd but due to the yet-unknown events of the Blank Century, the elephant was separated from its herd. If the elephant has lived this long, is it safe to assume that the members of its herd have also survived the ages? But where could they be? Consider the environment around the elephant, a thick fog…Stay with me now. Where have we seen that before? The Florian Triangle!

What *if* that fog is a part of the elephant’s natural respiration and the reason there’s more in the Florian Triangle is because…there are more elephants!? Does that mean those massive shadows were actually Zou’s herd!?

Wow!

Did you notice that the aft of Bartolomeo’s ship is designed to look like Chopper from 2 years ago? The aft of the ship is commonly where the Captain’s headquarters are located so…basically it’d be like every night Bartolomeo is wearing Chopper’s hat. Geez, these superfans, huh?

Great chapter but the pièce de résistance was this shot of Law getting excited (by Law standards anyway) over talk of a ninja.

Ninjas fall into the same category as robots, eh? Yeah, can’t blame him. Although I can’t help but wonder if Law would have the same reaction to a robot. The ’dark assassin quality’ of ninjas probably appeals to him but I’m not so sure about robots. On Punk Hazard we never got to see a panel where he reacted to seeing Franky Shogun for the first time. OH MAN! WHAT IF THE STRAWHATS EVENTUALLY FIND A ’ROBOT NINJA’!?

As for the women, well, Robin doesn’t seem to have a clue what a ninjas are and apparently neither does Nami. Back on Punk Hazard, when Nami used her…uh…’ninjary’ she confused a ninja chant for something a samurai would do.

Robots and ninjas, us boys love our toys.

We all know that one of Vergo’s (awesome) quirks is inadvertently getting (absurd) quantities of food stuck on the side of his mouth. But stop and think for a moment about how the variety of food is utilized by Oda-sensei and one can’t help but marvel at his ability to tightrope walk the gap between comedy and tension. In many of the scenes where Vergo appears most threatening (*acting* the role of a dedicated Marine when only the reader knows his true intentions) that’s also when he has some of the most absurd food items stuck on his chin. For example, think back to the flashback scene at Marine Base G-5 where he had Japanese rice dumplings decorating his chin like a Christmas tree. Here, in Episode 705, the culinary subject is a staple of adorable Japanese lunch-box items, the octopus sausage.

As viewers, our blood *should* be running cold when we find out the Marine a young Law decided to put his faith in was actually the two-faced Vergo. But no. There’s a derpy sausage octopus stuck on this otherwise menacing figure’s face and it’s all I can do to help myself from guffawing at the sight. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, bravo Oda-sensei.

This raises the question, who makes Vergo’s lunches? Do the Marine mess halls serve this? Does Mrs. Vergo make it with love for him? Or the unthinkable, did Vergo prepare that himself!?

And since you demanded it, this is what a Color or Arms-infused octopus sausage looks like in glorious color.

Excellent choice of music for Rosinante’s final moments. This musical selection originally comes from the One Piece: Episode of Chopper+ The Miraculous Winter Sakura from a segment that shares more than just a little in common with the heartbreaking conclusion to Law’s flashback: a wintery island where a great sacrifice from a role model figure is made for the sake of a social reject, both of whom eventually became doctors.