第75回：Gold and Oden

I’ve had my eye on Sanji’s attendant for some time.

His speech quirk of ending phrases with ‘nasu’ (‘eggplant’ in Japanese) seemed like more than a coincidence since Zeff’s nickname for Sanji was ‘Little Eggplant’ but the reveal of his hairstyle in this chapter confirms that he’s in fact a ‘Big Eggplant’. Aw, a ‘Big Eggplant’ for the ‘Little Eggplant’, that’s sweet ^o^

History has been said to repeat itself and Sanji’s dilemma this chapter presents a strong case for that sentiment as our beloved chef desperately struggles through a stormy night to deliver a lunchbox to someone he cares deeply for.

If the overlapping with his journey to feed his mother wasn’t clear enough there’s even a hungry dog added to the mix!

Last chapter Sanji asked himself what he ‘was doing’ and this chapter he seems to have found his way back on course.

Bobbin’s line about demons in this chapter piqued my interest and a One Piece colleague of mine recalled that an identical line was uttered by Vito in Chapter 813!

We should’ve known from the start that this wasn’t going to end well!

The details of Jack’s risky attempt to free Doflamingo from his Marine captors have been further fleshed out in Episode 770, lending to some surprising guest appearances by big name Marines!

Although Jack didn’t seem to have Doflamingo under his protection, Mingo could have succeeded in escaping on his own which leaves Mingo’s fate, mysteriously, unknown!

As it turns out, Momonosuke’s father, Oden, sailed the Grand Line with both White Beard *and* ‘Gold’ Roger.

For the One Piece soundtrack enthusiast, this should bring to light a chillingly prophetic selection of music originally written over fifteen years ago! A certain melancholy melody which was first used in the very first theatrical One Piece feature film was quickly ported over to the television series and has famously been used during dramatic emotional scenes. The name of the song is… ‘Gold and Oden’. Woah… Although the song doesn’t have a relation to Roger and Oden, it’s still an amazing coincidence that two completely unrelated objects would be connected twice in a single series, separated by over fifteen years!

Those of you interested in hearing the melody, it plays during Ganzo’s poignant flashback which poses the question, can an object have little monetary value, but still be more valuable than gold?