So instead of starting from last week’s flashback cliffhanger, we go back even further in time to before the Sun Pirates were created, introducing Queen Otohime, and the state of affairs on Fishman Island. Queen Otohime is my kind of character, and the extremes to which she holds her principles is typical Oda fare, but hilarious nonetheless. It matches her goal of moving Ryuuguu Kingdom above ground, to make contact and connect with humans, but obviously not as many people agree to move along with her. Like I’ve said way back when this “speciesism” first went into play, a lot of it has been done before (like, if you’ve had a history class), making most of the “politics” feel like a rehash, and therefore bland. It’s basically Skypiea’s race war, except now it’s species.

Meanwhile the scattered characters of the would be Sun Pirates were actually orphans, and the leader of the pack was Fisher Tiger, presumably because he was simply the eldest. And so when Tiger went and freed the slaves, causing a target on his head, the orphan bros banded together for protection, ending the chapter. There’s definitely enough things that explains a lot, like why Fishman District looks the way it does, what it became, and why people like Hodi hang out there. What I really want to know is how Fisher Tiger actually freed the slaves, how he climbed the red wall, how he actually died, and how Arlong and Jinbe went about their ways. There’s a glimpse here and there, but it was mostly an introductory chapter that felt a bit redundant even if necessary, which makes me wonder just how long this flashback might go, and if it will even cover some parts at all. Is this the one flashback to finally end the history of the fishmen race overall? Given that half of what I want to know happened before the Sun Pirates were created, and that no one could tell the flashback as good as Fisher Tiger could, Hancock’s flashback was probably the best I’ll get.

baby shirahoshi hnnnnng

24 Comments

    1. I think Oda has already stated in one of his SBS that mermen/fishmen are mammals like humans, which means live births. Imagine how big the queen must have been through pregnancy and how much it would have hurt. Maybe this is why she is so fragile?

      T9H5
      1. The point is, they made such a big deal out of Arlong. Like Jinbei saying it’s his fault that Arlong is released into Eastblue. All those fishermen pirates saying they’re doing this for Arlong’s sake. Arlong this, Arlong that… was he that much of a big shot? I dunno, for me he’s just another extra who provide Nami with some in-depth background when Luffy tried to recruit her. We’ll have to wait and see how much Arlong affect the present with his actions in the past.

        Serapita
      2. We already saw how Arlong affected the present story:

        The fact that he lost the the Straw Hats doesn’t mean he wasn’t important… No, he’s the guy who took the oppression on his fellow fishmen and flipped it so he was the one oppressing humans. The current Hodi gang looks up to him for taking that first step, not for his power. And sure, his arc provided some background (and spawned an awesome forum), but he made the whole “revenge for kinsmen” thing worse for the New Fishmen Pirates.

        Luxorcist
    1. well, Arlong to be completely honest was much more like a super villain that strawhats shouldn’t have been able to beat regularly except that excess momentarily adrenaline rush Luffy got to somehow magically win.

      I mean literally, him just tossing and spraying water was enough to make it a shotgun and blast a damaged Zoro to the ground. Luffy just won with pure bodily strength. The next big villain we ever met after Arlong that gave Luffy this much trouble was Crocodile, and he was a Shichibukai. Arlong prob just never did anything deserving a huge bounty since he hides out in East Blue conquering islands and bribing marines.

      thenewhorde
  1. So, Shirahoshi is like… 16-17 years old?

    I was actually quite impressed with the OP Wikia trivia about how Fisher Tiger alludes Malcolm X (self-defence against abuse) and queen Otohime alludes Luther King (Non-violent methods).

    Otohime way of dealing with social issues is Oda-like at all! that man can pull such things in a comedic fashion! reminds me of Toro Fujisawa with his work Great Teacher Onizuka.

    But the World Government is truly the worst villain here, even worse than any pirate. The “Tenryuubito can do whatever they want”; “You overlook slavery but freeing slaves is a crime?” is all you need to see it, Kidd was right.

    Now, who will be the murderer? Tenryuubito again?

    Arlong tried to stop Jinbe from going ape shit with the defeated marines? that was pretty unusual.

    Was that a frog?

    Lectro Volpi
  2. Nitpick: is the title supposed to be I know that “feelING”, or just “feel”?

    I dunno, I think we’ll get everything up to Fisher’s death and then a cursory explanatory “epilogue” about the present. And I’m totally fine with that since fishmen have been around since almost the beginning, yet we know nothing about them except for the slavery and Fisher saving them bit.

    Vsin
  3. While I too would like to see Fisher’s assault on Mariejoa, given the fact that he seems to have returned immediately to Fishman Island after accomplishing this feat and the fact that he seems completely uninjured, seems to suggest that the guy is an absolute beast! Even if his wounds were healed by a doctor afterward, it’s still pretty damn impressive!

    Hopefully if it doesn’t end up being shown we’ll at least see him get to see him fight, preferably against someone already established as strong, like one of the Admirals.

    Also, I want his Frog/Hippo shirt!

    goldoa

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