第167回：The Legend Comes True

Franky’s battle with Sasaki displayed some dubious talents of dinosaurs and in doing so provided plenty of much-needed laughs to an emotionally intense segment of the Onigashima battle, especially after the heavy themes of Jimbei’s bout.

While the battle didn’t necessarily display any significant new tricks from General Franky, it *did* succeed in establishing a potential opportunity for an Iron Pirate upgrade! Much like we discussed how Zoro’s recovery might be establishing post-Wano story elements, Sasaki’s tear-down of General Franky established a need for Franky to improve on his creation. With the presence of MADS looming in the background and the story of One Piece drawing to a climax, it doesn’t seem like there’s a better time for General Franky to get some shiny new upgrades!

As a side note, I will say I’m surprised that Denjiro didn’t factor into this battle and he and Sasaki seemed to have shared a friendship and an unsettled beef after Denjiro disabled him during the Onigashima infiltration. While Kaido’s crew seems to be going down one after the other it begs the question…have we really seen the last of them?

Yamato’s Devil Fruit has finally been revealed and it is…a Guardian Deity Wolf! So much for the Kirin and White Tiger theories! The idea that Yamato could be a wolf wasn’t even something I considered but now that it’s been revealed, Odacchi’s master plan for the arc is almost complete!

While I’d place good money on a certain Studio Ghibli having planted the seed of this Devil Fruit in Odacchi’s mind, the meaning of Yamato’s role is quite clear as one part of the Momotarou team we’ve been talking about and wondering about since Wano began. You can catch past installments for a full description of the legend but basically it’s the story of a hero (Momotarou), a pheasant, a monkey, and a dog who work together as a team to defeat an evil oni (an ogre-like demon). Momotarou befriends his companions by sharing dango with them. The very same dango that Tama-chan produces and used to befriend Komachiyo and Hihimaru (also a dog and monkey).

Combining MOMOnosuke and LuffyTAROU’s names creates Momotarou.
Tama provides the dango.
Luffy serves double-duty as the so-called ‘monkey’.

And now we appear to have confirmation of Yamato as the dog. What a great twist! Maybe Oda didn’t catch you but I completely thought Komachiyo, Wanda, or Dogstorm would fulfill the role of the dog which is why I hadn’t even considered Yamato factoring into the final battle!

One question remains…who will be the pheasant?! I think we’re all expecting it to be everyone’s favorite pineapple-head but does Oda have any more unexpected surprises up his sleeve?!