Surprisingly, the shock of this chapter wasn’t in the chapter itself, but on the cover page. There’s two things to note, one being the obvious Sabo in grown up form, and the other being that Ace’s tattoo doesn’t have the crossed out S anymore. There isn’t much “meaning” to it, but it’s pretty cool to see Sabo at his current age. Of course, now when Sabo actually appears in the story, we’ll now what he pretty much looks like, sans the face.

As for the chapter itself, it continues showcasing the newfound goals the crew now has. Nami will study the weather as guessed since she was sent here, Franky will learn about Vegapunk’s tech, and Usopp will gain some new weird weapons. While that was all great to see, the best part was seeing Luffy’s actions affected each character in the past, and why they want to repay him by getting stronger (this goes for last chapter too). These scenes completely depended on Oda’s storytelling up till now, and how close he was able to push the characters into your heart (yay for cheese). So for me, at least, he succeeded.

I’m assuming next chapter will shift the focus back on Luffy, or finally begin the supposed timeskip. Also, Luffy’s message still isn’t clearly explained.. so that should be brought up soon.

I measured Brooke’s angle, and it really is around 40 degrees lol.

32 Comments

  1. I am very impressed with One Piece ever since the whole Moria arc towards now has gone. Personally, I love time skips and how it affects the main characters. Oda’s definitively doing it right.

    Kaus
  2. I think the first page is more of a fantasy, I’m pretty sure Sabo is dead and the fact that Ace’s tattoo is correct could suggest some sort of alternative future where they are all alive.

    Rem
  3. Firstly, bahaha at measuring the degrees, never even thought of it. Brilliant.
    Secondly, a good chapter, I liked all the characters interactions and Robin’s was interesting. Seemingly playing the revolutionaries to get her way like she used to but then showing her change of wishing to get stronger for Luffy, a nice touch.
    As for the cover page, the S not being crossed out on Ace’s arm (well completely missing) makes me think its just a one off pipe dream idea of what they would’ve been like if Sabo hadn’t died and they eventually all met up, but then again this is Oda so who knows.
    Guessing you changed your mind on the posting straight after the release as well haha. I personally don’t mind when you post, I just enjoy reading your views and everyones comments to see some different opinions.

    Fishmaster
  4. I’m a little hesitant about the eventually time skip. 666satan kinda ruined it for me. But Oda is a god, so only like 10% dreading it and 90% excited.

    The cover page was a bit more special than most because it shows what could have been if Sabo wasnt killed(I presume hes dead because after what happened to Ace, no character is safe! :P)

    The most interesting power up for me is Robin. With other crew members more obvious like Nami’s weather and navigating, Brook’s music, etc, how will she come back stronger? And how could meeting with Dragon help? Not that I’m complaining about it, just curious to see how (which btw I think would be pretty epic because we know so little of Luffy’s father).

    On a related note about the cover page, I always imagined the reason why theres a crossed S in his tattoo is because the guy doing it thought his name was spelled “Ase” and not “Ace”.

    Reni
    1. Well part of Robin’s purpose is the whole tie in with history, being able to read ancient text, etc. The World Government wanted her dead because of all that, believing that she was beyond dangerous just for being able to read the ancient language.

      She’ll probably learn all about the dark secrets of the WG, their future goals/plans, and maybe more importantly some hints about the Void Century and/or the Poneglyphs. She’s the brains of the crew, so I kind of figure that she’ll be growing stronger in that respect

      Plus she’s the ship’s archaeologist. Everyone else is getting stronger in the area of their ship title. Sanji’s learning secret recipes. Chopper’s learning medicine. Nami’s learning more about weather and navigation. etc. So it only makes sense that she’ll become a better archaeologist, I guess?

      Jaysus
  5. …. “Bone to be Wild”…. Win. I am stoked to see the crew after the power-up arc. I thought for sure you would use Franky’s tiger disguise or his second “face in the sky” as the cover pic but I loved Brooke’s 40 degrees as well so no complaint :P. I missed the crew so bad!

    Will
    1. Important stuff doesn’t necessarily happen in certain-numbered chapters in manga. Oftentimes, you’ll get a big “thank you” cover page and the story goes along just like normal.

      But hey, what you’re saying wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.

      Anonymooo
      1. Yeah… but this is Oda we’re talking about. He’s ridiculous when it comes to planning things out far ahead of time. He was also talking about this being around the half-way point in the series. If I were him I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to tie in the whole #600 issue with the time skip. It just works so well… lol

        Jaysus
  6. Adult Sabo really looks badass and I can’t wait to see him in real time as well. Maybe he and Robin can meet and talk about Luffy.

    I am also looking forward to Zoro’s reaction. There must be a reason for his story to be left until the end so it will probably get more coverage. He’ll probably come to some arrangement with Mihawk and finally train with him.

    Darklord
  7. I’m glad I finally caught up to 596 in one piece lol. Last week after finally deciding to start reading it after all these years (I started at chapter 1 Monday and now I’m on 596 today)it really is a good series. I really like how everyone has goofy crying faces but they still seem to be able to hit a soft spot inside of you, it’s truly amazing. Now that I am caught up and really interested in the story I’m angry that I have to wait week after week just like naruto and bleach haha

    Junkei
  8. Before Zoro starts training with either Mihawk or the monkeys, he’ll still need to work out what the message is. I’m really looking forward to finding out how Brooke will escape and if Franky will ever get his face repaired. If there’s going to be a time-skip I’d say it will be in the next 2 chapters.

    Snorlax
  9. I remembered a long time ago a picture at the end of an chapter, I don’t remember which one.
    But in it usopp was wearing a hammer and he has big muscle. Fot those who remember it was a great usopp.
    They are all strong but I really wanted to see usopp like this in the manga, stronger or atleast able to stand for himself.
    Not just a clown whom can aim well with false weapon.
    Don’t get me wrong I like his caracter, he is funny and all but he is useless in real fight. Just like he said watching and hiding was his motto.
    And about Sabo it will be be really interesting to see him alive and be next member of luffy’s crew. Well too bad his weapon is a stick, with nami there it doesn’t work. But we have zorro and brooke and their sword. So let’s wait and see.

    cafard
  10. I don’t know about yall, but I’m cool with everybody’s strategy to GET STRONGER except for robins…call me selfish, but i don’t like the idea of robin taking her HOTNESS over to those filthy REVOLUTIONARY’S and especially dragon! it makes me feel like she’ll be the last one to reunite with the crew “she needs more of the love you get from being with the gang”.
    on another note: FRANKYS POWER-UP is GONNA BE SICK!!!!! i predict LASER BEAM GATLING GUN!!!

    @Godknows…is that true??? have her boobs been steadily growing???????????????

    BROOKLYN otaku
  11. I am pretty sure the ACE tattoo is to show us that is not reality. That is a “what if”, it just shows how the three could be now if everything was perfect and all of them were alive. It doesn’t guarantee that Sabo is alive.

    Fricote do fofo
  12. I’ve been thinking. Luffy rang the Bell 16 times correct? 8 for the old age and 8 for the new age or something. Could Luffy’s message to his nakama be more like… the 8 rings each are for the 8 members of his crew (Luffy included) and he’s trying to tell them that he needs them all, just like how they were with him in the old age, to be with him again in the new age? Thus the 16 rings?

    Kliajb
  13. But the thing about One Piece is that its too long. 1200 chapters is like 24 years. though now its probably only like 12 more years… but the thing is in those 12 years, the author could die, loose motivation to write the manga, become bankrupt(very unlikely), or other bad stuffs that could happen.

    Suppa Tenko
  14. One of the thinks I love about One Piece is how the characters grow: they eventually get stronger, witch is different from most manga, like Naruto, for example, where there is always some new secret three phases training to be made. Therefore, I’m not very excited about the time skipping…

    It can ruin the entire manga =/

    Artur Botarelli
    1. I know, me either! But then, after seeing the emotional input everyone put in (the flashbacks, how each of them react differently to getting stronger for /Luffy!!/, I’m sure Oda can pull it off well enough that it won’t be like Naruto. I’m sure we won’t even see them actually training for chapters nonstop to master something, but just the after-result which will keep lots of the anticipation.

      Anon

Leave a Reply to Snorlax Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *