第83回：Big Mom’s Musical

Now that we’ve had some time to…digest…the events of Chapter 867, let’s talk about them, shall we? While I can still think of some explanations that don’t involve cannibalism it’s looking more and more likely that Linlin devoured Mother Carmel and, in the process, gained her Soul Soul Devil Fruit abilities.

Back in Volume 16, a reader asked, if he’d gain Devil Fruit powers if he ate Luffy.

Oda-sensei replied, “You’d get food poisoning.” Notice that Oda-sensei *didn’t* say, ‘yes’ or ‘no’, he simply said the reader would get food poisoning. Is this another classic case of Oda-sensei being coy to through us off the trail of his story?

Take a look at the giant’s village. Wrecked homes can be seen throughout the town but by this time the giants had already established Mother Carmel’s new orphanage.

They gave priority to Mother Carmel over their own people! That kind of selflessness is a rarity and something we could all learn from.

In the same panel we can also see some familiar giants in the background behind Jarl: Hajrudin, Raideen, Carsey and Oimo.

Hey, speaking of Raideen, have we seen him before?

What about the burly fellow sandwiched between Oimo and Carsey in Chapter 866? They both seem to have made an appearance way back in Chapter 129!

I cannot wait to see the Germa 66 transformation sequence in the animation.

They even have their own theme music? There are clear musical sound effects throughout the sequence so Oda-sensei may already have a clear idea of their theme music. Since Oda-sensei recently collaborated with the animation on Big Mom’s ‘Bloody Party’ it’s possible that he might work with the animation staff on an original song for the transformation sequence of Germa Double Six!

It’s easy to miss this panel of Pudding gasping at Sanji as he carries Nami into the castle! What does that gasp suggest? Their marriage ceremony hasn’t been sealed with a kiss yet, so Pudding’s motivation and action from this point forward are going to be terribly interesting.

The acquisition of ingredients for the wedding cake has been fleshed out with original vignettes and even a brand new island design!

How great are the lines, “There’s going to be a Tea Party!”, closely followed by, “So many people are going to die!” ^O^ Crazy! Only in One Piece!

Check out Mr. Fancy I-don’t-need-me-no-gold-lighter Pants over here lighting his cigarette with electro power!

This episode marked Big Mom’s grand entrance in the anime and if you haven’t seen Big Mom’s musical entrance I highly suggest checking out the video on Toei Animation’s official YouTube Channel! Whole Cake Island is off to a ‘Mama’gnificent start!

A touch of playfulness on behalf of the animators came through this episode during Luffy and gang’s scream of shock at Sanji turning down a woman.

The manga displayed a quartet of Munch-style screams but the anime provided the scene with a bit of extra shock value as Chopper, Luffy and Nami’s eyes literally depicted popping free of their noggins. Check out the attention to detail so that each set of eyeballs are unique. Naturally Brook has no eyeballs so what flies out of him? HIS SOUL!? IS IT REALLY *THAT* SHOCKING!? ^O^

Also note that an alpaca-drawn pumpkin carriage came to pick up Pudding. The pumpkin was visible in the manga but sure enough, the alpaca was indeed part of her escort! No relation to Alpacacino, right?