Posted by 
I’ve been dying to learn more about the Dwarf at Tontatta Kingdom and it seems like I got what I wished for in this chapter! Yes, I readily admit – Nico Robin is my favorite character in One Piece and my interest in little man’s land stems predominantly from their entanglement with her! The Straw Hat’s cursed child and the current imbroglio that surrounds her are certainly intriguing – but the Dwarf is also striking quite an impression in their own right, with their seeming spontaneity and screwball charm sticking out like a sore thumb. The warrior dwarf Leo, in particular, caught my eyes almost immediately and there’s no denying it – if he makes it to the recruit, the little guy would make an excellent addition to the Straw Hat crew! Leo is a Devil Fruit user – that in and of itself already makes him a clear standout, but there’s more to the Nui Nui no Mi user that just that. In fact, the reason why I’m rooting for him so hard is because of his rather distinctive persona – Leo has an unparalleled appreciation for the very notion of “nakama”, and there’s a somewhat frivolous and perky temperament to him that screams “Straw Hat” like no one else. His goofiness is what defines him on the surface, but that doesn’t mean the dwarf can’t take on a more solemn image when the time calls for it – Leo and his fellow dwarves intends to wage war against the Donquixote Pirates and as it turns out, their prime target is also a certain “Dark Factory”, one that is situated at the basement of the Corrida Coliseum. That’s presumably where Robin and Usopp are headed to next and while their primary objective might differ from that of the Dwarf’s, it’s highly likely an alliance between those two is still in the making – after all, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and that political kernel certainly rings true in this instance!
The Dwarf’s crusade to liberate their friends appears to have a tie-in with the Toy’s planned revolt as well – for starters, both parties want Doflamingo dead and there’s a possibility that the Dwarf’s “nakama”, Princess Manshelly, is at the root of all this conspiracy. The latest bombshell was quite telling to say the least – as many have correctly deduced, the living-toys were once human and the culprit is, in fact, a bona fide Devil Fruit user. My gut instinct says the princess of Tontatta Kingdom could very well be the malefactor in question – but that’s nothing more than a shot in the dark and your hunch is probably as good as anyone’s at this stage. Doflamingo’s entire machination continues to be shrouded in mysteries and his true intention has yet to be spelled out – I suspect the wretched fate that befell the living-toys could have a connection to the production of Smiles, but any form of clues in this respect has thus far remained scarce! The Smile Factory and the Corrida Coliseum, coupled with the Flower Field and the “Toy House” – all of the hot spots and its ensuing commotions are slowly but surely coming together at the big picture. But let us not forget where the grandest showdown is currently taking place – the three-way confrontation on Green Bit is, no doubt, a clash of epic scale and it looks like Trafalgar Law might be the one who’s most disadvantaged in this confrontation. The Surgeon of Death has found himself in quite a clutch, and the ongoing face-off, one that pits Law against both Doflamingo and Admiral Fujitora, has unquestionably taken a toll on the young Shichibukai – it’s a brawl that is just as much of a slugfest as a battle of wits and needless to say, I can’t wait to see he gets out of this one!
Random tidbits:
- It’s great to see Robin chwan again! – She’s such a doll!
- “The princess’ a bitch, but she’s still our nakama” – Leo’s already a Straw Hat at heart! Right from the get-go, you just know he’s going to fit in with the rest of the crew like a glove!
- “I don’t have to worry about falling now” – Did he just stitched granny to the wall? Leo’d better be home when she needs to poop.
- “It’s Usoland’s Haki!” – Lies, all lies! One of these days, Leo’s going to stitch that big fat lying lips right up.
- “Don’t cry and rage at the same time” – It doesn’t look like Don Chinjao is going to back off any time soon. He seems to be an old acquaintance of Silvers Rayleigh as well! Did I mention I’m a huge fan of the Dark King?
- “Those shady pirates should be locked up” – A whack on the head that was well-deserved. Kin’emon is such a baka!
- Panzer Vor! – I can never get enough of tank-mode Franky. He’s a fellow toy alright!
- My sincerest apologies for the slight delay in putting up this post! Just got back from a three-week business trip, and now that I’m no longer on the road, I should be able to meet my blogging commitments in a timelier manner. Thanks for bearing with me, love you guys!
tl;dr: @SeishunRC – #OnePiece 717: I smell a new nakama! Leo would make an excellent addition to the Straw Hat crew. #Manga
Eh, I’m holding out for another female nakama.
It seems like Rebecca is the fan favorite at the moment – but I’m firmly on Team Leo. A baka dwarf with a Devil Fruit power, Luffy’s not going to say no to someone like that 😛
Yes he will. Luffy will one look at him and say “No he is a baka dwarf”. Also every member in the straw hat crew is their own individual with unique personality, you can’t put two people who are the same type of person on the same crew. And Leo doesn’t seems that he has a dream to leave his explore the outside world
Don’t get me wrong – I’m happy to have Rebecca or Violet on board of the Straw Hats, but Leo does seem like a pretty strong contender :3
Nobody knows what’s his dream – there’s so much about Leo that we don’t know, anything is possible 😛
Plus I think neither Rebecca nor Violet. Rebecca has this thing for the toy soldier(could be her boyfriend who knows)and Violet just said that she can’t with Sanji, but she is a woman she may change her mind.
I acutally like Marguerite to be a “Nakama”
Although it was slightly hinted early on that Luffy would maybe have one more crew member by the number he gave, I’m quite honestly at a position where another close nakama seems very unlikely.
To me Luffy’s own backstory seemed final, as if he was the last one to hold, as a key member with something to contribute and learn from in the death of someone dear to him. Jinbe, Law, even Bellamy Perona Ivankov Mr.3 and Buggy, all seem like potential allies, powerful ones at that, that although have roles, but don’t seem very core to the Straw Hat’s crew, at least given the relative lack of seeing any of those allies with the Straw Hats in color spreads.
I’m not saying that no one will join the SHs in combat, in fact I think by the end Luffy might even have a sort of unofficial division of allies like Whitebeard’s own crew and New World connections, which I’m sure Jinbe and Law would be apart of in some form. Its just that by this point it seems like all of East Blue and Paradise was a prologue for gathering together before their real test of strength in the New World as one united crew. It would be odd to find another nakama that didn’t have to train two years and have the history of hardship that all the other nakama have together at this point, and yet still be on par with them in intimacy and strength.
For this reason I find all of the “next nakama” speculation to be more like fan-fiction personal appeals. Just like adding Sai and Yamato to Team 7 seemed out of place to the core already established. It can be done, but I doubt Naruto even has a thought about Yamato being rescued as much as Sasuke (at least mentally by this point).
Yes, they can care, but it just won’t be as tragic like say when Luffy watched everyone vanish or his brother Ace die. Leo in particular seems like a good character in his own right, but not above say the Franky Family or Princess Shirahoshi. When saying goodbyes, its just not like Usopp almost being left behind.
I have a feeling One Piece is going to go on for a very long time (and I hope it does) – there’re so many things that Oda sensei has yet to explore. I doubt we’re near a conclusion or even a satiation of any kind, and adding a few more to the Straw Hat crew is probably not out of the question just yet!
But hey, what do I know – like you said, it’s all speculation and a random shot in the dark. In the 16th year of its serialization, the story still holds immense potential and that’s, in my opinion, what sets One Piece apart from the rest :3
I very much see your point here, but I think that the big thing when the story unfolds is going to be how the Mugiwara match up with (or against to be more accurate) the Blackbeard Crew. The fact is Blackbeard has a crew (pre-timeskip) of 10 (11 if you include Stronger). The Mugiwara are one to two crew members down in that regard. I think a confrontation with Blackbeard is a given and Luffy’s crew is ultimately going to have to match up with his. In that regard I believe new nakama to be more than just fan speculation but a given.
That’s an interesting observation… but aside from the Monster Trio – and perhaps Franky, I doubt any of the remaining Straw Hats could match up to the Blackbeards in a physical combat.
I have a hard time thinking of a position that still needs filling within the Strawhat crew. They have pretty much every major role fulfilled, and that is pretty much the hallmark of a new Strawhat crew member is a particular niche that need filling. It always breaks down into Fighting Vs Skills, unless they wanted to take Sanji out of the top three fighters the new crew member has to have a skill. Although Leo and Violet are cool, fun characters (Pretty much like every other character in One Piece) I doubt they will join the crew unless they develop some kind of useful skill as we progress.
Now the only other character I can think of that would actually fill a role as well as be a good member of the crew would be Jimbei. He would fill that Old Salt/ Experienced elder archetype well and be a nice addition to the powerhouse crew as one of their frontline fighters, but that might just be my love for the “Chivalrous Gangster” characters talking :P.
Don’t forget that he’s way better in the water than the rest. Actually, most of the crew would be useless in the water, so having Jinbei covering that particular field would somehow fill the quota of a specialty. Plus, Luffy and him had that whole talk of ‘becoming his Nakama’, and he didn’t refuse, but he couldn’t join right now, if memory serves me right.
i agree! they need someone that will cover the water for the crew and jinbei or maybe another fishman fits the bill. if they need aerial battle, they have usopp and nami, if the battle is ship vs ship, franky and sunny is more than enough and if the battle is on the ground, well, they have monsters that can take care of that.
it would be nice if we got more than one Nankama to join. Perhaps that will be Oda’s surprise is that it will not be just one but perhaps three Nankama.
luffy already set the numbers for his crew which is 10, if anyone will join, it will be their last one member.
I really doubt Luffy will be stingy when it comes to numbers, Luffy will likely want to be like Shanks, so he will want a large number of crewmembers.
seriously, why everyone is saying “xxx for next nakama” everytime a new character is introduced?
Isn’t that part of the fun? 😛
Not really, is more annoying than “X is Sabo”.
Despite being amusing speculating, is just shooting air from the month: nothing is decided yet and you know what pass in that trollish head Oda has.
Bellamy should join up
I think Rebecca’s out of the question. But maybe the toy soldier might join the Strawhats when he’s back to his human form.
forget rebecca, the dwarf would be a more unique choice.
Hooray for Team Leo :3
I’m still hoping for Princess Shirahoshi to join so then there will be two princesses including Vivi for the Straw Hats. Whoever is next will add more life to the party for sure.
The Thousand Sunny is hardly big enough for Shirahoshi 😛
I’m betting on Bellamy. There have been rumors that the next nakama is a former enemy.
why do i feel like we will see wapol at the factory?
I think next crew member will be strong because they are going against kaido.
It may be kinemon or his partner he is searching.