第157回：But Setsubun Gooone♪

Kaido reflects on Luffy’s ability to stand toe-to-toe with him while glimpsing shadows of Oden, Whitebeard, Roger, Rocks, and Shanks behind him. Notice anyone missing? Where’s…Big Mom? We saw Mom and Kaido having *some* kind of duel earlier in Wano and although it might not have been a deadly serious knock-down drag-out winner-takes-all duel, they still seemed to be a decent match. So why is Mom absent from this line-up?

It could very well be that Kaido is reflecting specifically on the men whom he’s fought with in the past. I’d place my money on that being behind the decision. The Japanese colloquialism used to describe Luffy here is specifically in katakana and *probably* could just as easily be read as ‘man’ if Oda-sensei wanted it to be.

Aw… Why you gotta think that way, Kaido?

Zoro’s remark here suggests that he isn’t yet familiar with the imbuement of Ryuo the same way that Luffy is. If Zoro is able to pick up on the quickly, although perhaps unrefined, he might be able to give Kaido a flashback to his bout with Oden!

In November 1997, the world got its first taste of Zoro’s Onigiri. At the time, the name was little more than a silly pun possibly referencing his experience during Shells Town with Rika. I don’t think anyone ever expected Zoro to be slicing and dicing *actual* oni.

Well, 23 years later, here we are and Zoro is actually using his Onigiri against its titular target!

While Kid’s armor looks similar to a mecha, the floating arms and lack of legs differentiate it enough from something like General Franky. But why is it different from General Franky? Why not just have Kid make another robo-like construction? What’s with the magnetic hovering arms and torso?

While we can’t know Oda-sensei’s exact reasoning with asking him, I’d suggest that this form of approach to doing battle with a skilled opponent is simply more advantageous than having a humanoid form. Why? Because there’s less material that can be damaged. You can’t cut or damage limbs that aren’t attached! Kaido can swing that club around all he likes, but unless he connects with a physical part of the construct, the object can still move with more freedom than a fully skeletal-based form.

Oh, and it looks cool. That too.

Be sure to watch Kaido’s expression throughout the duration of this conflict. His smile here, while threatening, is different from the stone-jawed, shaded eyes, Kaido we’ve seen so far.

There seems to be a joy and dare I say, expectation(?) behind those pearly whites. Is Kaido excited at the prospect of maybe getting what he’s always wanted? A perfect death in the blaze of battle.