Starting the chapter, we’re introduced to “Urashima’s Casket,” a device that can make anyone grow older. However, a mention is about as far it as goes, since Decken needs to marry the princess first to gain access to the palace. So I’m thinking the casket will come into play later on in this arc, or perhaps even other arcs. Moving on, because Otohime was able to impress Fishman Island with her iron will to unite with the humans, she is finally able to gain everyone’s signatures. Her death scene, while not unexpected, remained shocking and was “great” in that Oda style of forced happiness in front of cruelty that never fails to move me. Just in the nick of time to become a martyr too, as if she had died previously, people would have looked at her death only in pity. Now with the inspiration from her successful contract with the Tenryuubito, legit or not, she passes on her will. Given Fishman Island’s current state, it seems her martyrdom didn’t last. The earlier “bonding” scene between the brothers protecting Shirahoshi should have been an obvious death flag, but it proved effective emotionally as the brothers fight against their tears to entertain Shirahoshi from activating her recently learned dangerous wail.

One point was made by Otohime that the mermaid that can speak with the sea kings shall be guided by a person. That really screams Luffy, but to be honest, Luffy’s got enough of a head start with all his connections already. Will of D, relation to Dragon, the King’s Haki, and encaptured the heart of supposedly the most beautiful woman in the One Piece world? Eh, I guess if Roger and his crewmates like Rayleigh can pull off so much stuff, Luffy needs to leave behind some legends of his own, as mere proof of his superiority. If he is to be the one that guides Shirahoshi, I hope it’s something he earns, rather than “destiny” makes it so.

25 Comments

  1. That was so cruel how she died.. I’m also thinking Luffy is the one, but we’ll see for sure in the next few chapters.

    A friend of mine recently complained about the flashback, however I really enjoy them. And whilst they are cruel we finally learn some long needed information about the Fishmen and about how everything looks from THEIR perspective.

    That said I wonder when this flashback will end. And I wish for nothing more right now, than the bastard who killed Queen Otohime being brought to justice!

    1. In all likelihood, it’s probably Van Decker who killed Queen Otohime, he was after Shirahoshi after all.

      And I agree with you, the flashbacks are nice and help to flesh out the One Piece story a bit more.

  2. This was a really sad chapter. I felt really bad for the royal family at the end, too. Anyway, the person to guide Shirahoshi is pretty likely to be Luffy, but whenever I see the silhouette, I think of Shanks.

    OT: The sidebars and the new banner look wonderful.

    Click
  3. As obvious as Vander Decken would be, I don’t think he has the guts to outright shoot Queen Otohime. He probably just took advantage of the situation.

    Hodi may not be responsible, since he is still a palace guard at the time.

    My guess is that the Tenryuubito planted an assassin among the crowd. What the Tenryuubito do not lack is pride in themselves. If they were to agree to the negotiations with “lesser beings” then they would lose face.

    MasterDragonKnight
    1. In turn, they created a martyr, and if they were clever enough, should have realized that’s not usually a good idea. So they shouldn’t have accepted the contract in the first place if they were just going to kill her afterwards. Either way, the result of Fishman Island not changing stays the same.

  4. I don’t think destiny plays as an important role in One Piece as most people seem to think.

    Take “King’s Haki” for example. Luffy doesn’t have it because of who his father is or because of the “Will of D.” He has it BECAUSE HE’S LUFFY! Haki has also been translated as “spirit” or “ambition.” And Luffy is in no short supply of either of those things. Apart from rare moments of self-doubt, Luffy is supremely confident in himself and his abilities and “King’s Haki” is merely a way to demonstrate to others that he IS superior, at least in terms of fighting capability.

    Likewise, Luffy won’t help Shirahoshi because he’s destined to, but because he wants to. Besides, Jinbe doesn’t know about that, so he probably didn’t relate that part of the story to the crew anyway.

    goldoa
  5. Interesting thought just came to mind…
    It is foretold that a man in a hat (possibly Luffy) will be responsible for the destruction of Fishmen Island.

    Most likely Luffy is going to help Shirohoshi with the contract, and after the Strawhat’s adventure on Fishmen Island and their departure, Shirohoshi will deliver the contract to the Tenryuubito. Then, everything gets set into motion. The Fishmen and mermaid are allowed on the surface and Tenryuubito are able to reclaim their “stolen property.” Luffy could then seen as the one responsible for the destruction of Fishmen Island.

    Does seem plausible… We all know something is up with the contract and the tenryuubito.

    Chimp
  6. “Starting the chapter, we’re introduced to “Urashima’s Casket,” a device that can make anyone grow older. However, a mention is about as far it as goes, since Decken needs to marry the princess first to gain access to the palace. ”
    =__= …

    See Key
    1. Couldn’t he still guide her without her actually joining the crew? I mean, he could do that classic shonen thing: “You have to stand up for yourself and fight your own battles, you big baby!” and then she’ll stop cowering in fear and fight Decken. Something like that could be considered guiding, no?

      But more Hancock is never a bad thing.

  7. Alright! We’ll get Urashima’s Casket and then we’ll use that so I can marry Shirahoshi immediately. Wait, you say I must marry Shirahoshi before I can get the casket (that I was going to use to marry her)? Perfect plan!

    Those first two pages cracked me up in that classic One Piece way.

  8. Sengoku: The gura gura no mi… the power to destroy the world.
    Mihawk: Making allies… the most fearsome ability.
    Otohime: Controlling sea kings is the most fearsome ability.

    I guess that is the eye of the beholder.

    I doubt Decken or Hodi killed Otohime, they are not that important, but I do not want it to be the horrible, cruel, mean tenryuubito… again.

    Ah! I love Shirahoshi and we are led to believe she is going to join the gang buuuuuuut I will keep it whit a grain of salt.

    At first I thought Manboshi and Ryuboshi´s dance at the worst moment was dumb but then I felt pity, that was cruel.

    Lectro Volpi
  9. I really hope this arc can at least give some spotlights to the new characters instead of just focusing on the straw hats crew. I mean the princes are suppose to be really good warriors of fishmen island, so why not emphasize that by giving them some important battle thats actually on the good guy’s side for once?

    Its kinda like in the Crocodile/Albanista-whatever arc where you had the supposedly greatest swordsman in the kingdom (forgot his name) getting pwnd by Nico Robin in only a few pages, which annoyed the hell out of me.

    If they put so much backstory into the royal family of fishman island, please give us some worthy battles/actions in the present timeline.

    Also, hoping Jinbei and Shirahoshi (lol) joins the straw hats crew, as unlikely as that is to happen.

    YanDaMan
  10. @YanDaMan: i don’t think jinbei’s ever gonna join the strawhats. most likely, he’ll stay in fishman island as it’s protector.

    i’m thinking that the ‘destruction of fishman island’ prophecy isn’t meant to be taken in the literal sense. who knows, maybe shirahoshi will call the seakings to raise fisham island to the surface or someplace with more sun, which is what otohime wanted in the first place.

    Dalman

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