第60回：The Land of Chocolate

With his family finally coming to the forefront of the story it’s time for a Sanji extravaganza! Let’s put together the evidence and check for ‘Prince’! *BAM!*

While ‘66’ might actually represent a quantifiable amount of something, double sixes may be seen all over the militant group’s uniforms, vehicle and…utility belts!?

But it doesn’t stop there. The real origin of those double sixes, well, you could say the answer is written all over each Vinsmoke’s face:

Yes, it seems the ‘double six’ is referring to the trademark curly eyebrows of Vinsmoke family members. Reminds me of the Transponder Snail Sanji used in Chapter 173 that gave us our first hint at the secret of Sanji’s formerly obscured left eye.

Here’s a brief breakdown of the naming method for Sanji and his siblings thus far:

0: Reiju- ‘Rei’ means ‘zero’ in Japanese and although difficult to concisely explain without using Japanese writing, the addition of a small katakana ‘yu’ after the katakana ‘ji’ (as in San’JI’ and Yon’JI’) joins both syllables to form ‘ju’ which sounds comparatively feminine.

3: Sanji- Could literally mean ‘three o’clock’, a common snack time in Japan akin to (but not as strictly followed) as afternoon tea in some countries.

4: Yonji- Although this is not the correct Japanese for ‘four o’clock’ the numeric naming pattern is kept intact for Sanji’s younger brother. Also, kind of interesting how much Yonji’s haircut looks like Sanjiro’s from the special comic Family Time.

Oh, speaking of Reiju, careful inspection of the newspaper comic in Chapter 825 reveals a female figure next to ‘1’ and ‘2’! Looks like Reiju made it into comic form as well!

Love it or leave it we’re going for a ride on the Crazy Prediction Train!

Brook seems to know a thing or two about the Vinsmoke family. Brook supposedly hails from West Blue and the Rumbar Pirates set out from West Blue but where Brook spent his time as a soldier for a yet unnamed kingdom is still unknown. As a soldier, did Brook have a less-than-desirable run-in with the Vinsmoke family? They appear to be quite active and with no land to call their own is it possible they clashed with Brook’s kingdom in West Blue? If the Vinsmokes are able to transport themselves throughout the world with as much ease as the Marines, that would explain how Sanji might have arrived in East Blue! It makes perfect sense that they could have been in East Blue on business when Sanji was young. Of course their ‘business’ isn’t a happy one and could only mean one thing, war.

So we’re looking for a war in East Blue that would have happened between roughly twelve and twenty years ago. Anything come to mind? How about this:

What if (and I know it’s a big if) the Vinsmokes were responsible for the conflict that devastated Nami and Nojiko’s hometown!? Depending on Nami’s age Sanji would only have been less than two years old so it doesn’t seem that he would have set out on his own *at that time* but such events in East Blue could have led to some kind of rift in the Vinsmoke family.

Totland

It’s still not entirely clear what ‘Totland’ is supposed to mean but it is possible that Oda-sensei is using a colloquial term for ‘children’ ie ‘tots’. With Charlotte as the ‘Mother’ Whole Cake Island and its surrounding regions are a playground for the children of the world, her ‘tots’, so to speak. But if Big Mom’s goal is simply to gather specimens of all races is her dream already realized? What is she looking to accomplish?

Speaking of her so-called ‘children’ she’s amassed quite the collection, hasn’t she? This panel in particular is very telling as it depicts members of various species all in a single space. From left to right:

1. Unknown
2. Fishman?
3. Longleg Tribe
4. Tontatta
5. Snakeneck Tribe
6. Tontatta Children or Possibly Unknown Mini Species
7. Giant
8. Possibly Longarm Tribe
9. Mermaid
10. Mink

This fellow also deserves fair mention. He has at least two sets of arms and that cigarette makes him look similar to the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. Is he a new race? A half-Fishman?

We were just talking about how Sanji’s name related to ‘three o’clock snack’ and what time is it in the café but three o’clock! Well, at least that’s what the smaller clock reads. The significantly larger clock on the wall seems to suggest a different time. So is it coincidentally three o’clock? Is Pudding secretly expressing her love for Sanji!? Or is Pudding just a shrewd businesswoman, “It’s always snack time at Caramel Cafe!”

The triumphant return of shadowy villain reveals!

This appears to be a woman with an oversized hat, long flowing hair and a wispy dress wielding a...katana!? For some reason this mismatch of European and Eastern design with oversized headwear reminds me very much of a Dark Souls character but maybe that’s just because I’ve been playing it too much.

Take a close look at that giant spotted egg in the background. Although it’s a little difficult to determine the depth of field, it appears strikingly similar to the giant egg-like object on Roger’s ship from Chapter 0. And take note of the egg’s defenders, they’re European-style knights! Knights and giant eggs? Are these unfertilized…dragon eggs?

Next up is this shadowy longarm tribe figure holding a Transponder Snail (which zoomed up, reads ‘MOM’). I love that steam engine chimney hat! Check that wheel behind him. Is that a cart for carrying the flour or is that…him?

Finally a character who, for now, bears a resemblance to the March Hare character from Alice in Wonderland riding a stork or crane-like bird. Interestingly enough there’s another instance of a similar bird in this very chapter from a crowd scene in Chocolate Town. Are they a common form of transportation on Big Mom’s islands?

Final thought, what do you think, is Big Mom responsible for the colorspread from Chapter 28?

The long-awaited reveal of Kaido in color and sound! Kaido’s voice is provided by voice actor Tessho Genda.

Kaido has been defeated as a pirate seven times and his pirate symbol *seems* to depict the kanji for number eight. Is this possibly related to the Japanese proverb ‘fall down seven times, stand up eight’? Is that ‘eight’ a challenge showing that no matter how many times he falls, he will return? I wonder what the result will be if and when he clashes with Luffy!

Sengoku’s transformation into Garp 2.0 is now complete. His constant guffaws at Vice-Admiral Tsuru’s troubles while munching on okaki crackers parallels Garp’s own senbei-munching devil-may-care attitude from two years ago.

The biggest difference?

Garp was in *active service* as a Vice-Admiral while pulling the same attitude that Sengoku is in his comfy Marine-in-title-only semi-retirement. #SengarpZFG