One Piece Discussion (Spoilers)

[Myoti]

[SPOILER]
Well, the current manga chapters has shown something about the 100 year gap, but still not everything. However, it's safe to say the World Government did something then that they ovbviously don't want anyone to know of...[/SPOILER]

I like the plot, but I hate how one fight can take up to 3 volumes. It`s even worse than DBZ manga-wise in that category.

What fight ever took up 3 volumes? 3 chapters, maybe, but it actually had a purpose in doing so.

I`m not a fan of OP flashbacks either.

Most are good. It's just that they like to take place right before the big fights. Xp



Ch. 399:
[SPOILER]
Thankfully, Oda can't keep anything simple. ^_^

Instead of the Strawhats simply crossing the bridge, we have them jump down and fly across on Rocketman. This is making things interesting...
[/SPOILER]

[MasterDias]

I did so, and I was able to interest myself in the backstory after it had gone on for a while. Following the flashback I read through what seemed like a standard arc ending (that is, until the big party). Now I'm curious as to those who have a fuller perspective, what would you say about the overall series plot?

[spoiler]Well, the whole thing with the "lost 100 years" has been developed somewhat slowly. We know of at least two weapons of incredible power, Pluton(first mentioned in Alabasta, I think) and Poseidon(mentioned on the Poneglyph in Skypeia).
The World Government will apparantly do everything to keep people from finding out about the lost century...and thus they massacred the entire population of Ohara except for Nico Robin. Now, they are trying to somehow get ahold of Pluton itself... Their reasons are not entirely clear.

Then there is that thing about an ancient kingdom that was apparantly destroyed sometime in the distant past, possibly by the ancestors of the World Government...and that they left the Poneglyphs to warn people in the future. Some fans have speculated that the people with D as their middle initial(5 have appeared so far) might have something to do with this lost kingdom...[/spoiler]

[Myoti]

[SPOILER]
Ja. But it doesn't seem like the WG will be getting Pluton anytime soon, as Franky destroyed the blueprints.


On a side note... yay that Baskerville is out of the game (hit by Rocketman). This means we should have a pretty straightforward shot for the CP9 fight.

I kinda hope it goes like some people think. First an all-out brawl, then having Spandam rush towards Imple Down with Robin. The Strawhats chase after and one by one each SH stays behind to fight one of the CP9 members, eventually coming down to Luffy and Franky against Lucchi and Spandam (not that Spandam can DO much :p ).

[Kawaiikneko]

Woot, finally back to the fighting!! *cheers*

[Myoti]

Yes! This week, Ch. 400, the fight (hopefully) begins.

[uc pseudonym]

I'm waiting for this as well.

What fight ever took up 3 volumes? 3 chapters, maybe, but it actually had a purpose in doing so.

Out of curiosity, I looked over those arcs that I actually possess copies of (Baratie and now Arlong Park, thanks to Shonen Jump). It just took me a while to have the time to do this. Luffy's fights with other Captains are typically 4-6 chapters long. From when they start fighting Don Krieg (not counting when he hits Sanji inside the restaurant) to when he gets actually defeated is 16 chapters. I wasn't paying attention to chapters during Skypiea, but I think it was quite a while between when Luffy first fights Eneru to when he is actually defeated.

So while 3 volumes is exaggeration, the fights do take a while.

[Tommy]

Skypei.....

Not one fight takes 3 volumes but multiple fights with the same oponents.

[MasterDias]

Yeah, but Alabasta is similar actually where Luffy fights the main villain a few times before actually winning.
In Enel's case, from what I remember, Luffy was knocked off of the ship and had to climb all of the way back up.

[Tommy]

Yeah, which took up 4 chapters.

[Myoti]

In Enel's case, from what I remember, Luffy was knocked off of the ship and had to climb all of the way back up.

Yeah, that.
Okay, so it seems I was a little exaggerating on that point. :p

[SPOILER=Ch. 400]
Funk Freed is a sword?! :O

Oh, and it seems "confirmed" now that we have:

Zoro vs. Kaku (I wanna know his freakin' power already!!)
Usopp vs. Jyabura (he still fights someone strong, so it's all good ^_^ )
Nami vs. Kumadori
Sanji vs. Kalifa (I WAS RIGHT!!!!! XD )
Franky vs. Fukurou (Whoa. Didn't see THAT one coming. O.O )

No word on Chopper's opponent (Spandam?), and Luffy takes off after Lucchi, I suppose...[/SPOILER]

[Kawaiikneko]

I really didn't like how long the skypeia arc dragged out.. geez oh man... >.<;;

ANYHOW!! I can't wait to see how the fights turn out, especially since Luffy had something up his sleeve he couldn't use in his battle with the one other door... guy... <.<;; I've forgotten his name already.

[Myoti]

Bluno was the "Door guy".

And I liked Skypiea. I didn't "drag" that much (at least something was happening :p ).

[uc pseudonym]

I'm going to have to agree with Kawaiikneko... I read almost all of the final battle of that arc in one sitting and some events took quite a long time to happen.

My One Piece source only has through 396. I need to do some research.

[Tommy]

UC, if you need some, I have some good MSN scans. Chapter 30 something has Usop mouth some F words which I KNOW is just a sign of bad translating.

[uc pseudonym]

It didn't take much effort to find somewhere with a translated 399, and from Myoti's post I don't think 400 has been scanlated yet (and I'm not interested in RAWs). So thank you, but I'm fine.

[Myoti]

Yes, my "source" is... different. >_>

My comment earlier, about it taking only 3 chapters, I was trying to refer to episodes, I think, which tend to pull in more chapters at once. So yes, it can take several chapters/a few episodes to get things done, but at least it's interesting. :p

[MasterDias]

I liked Skypeia, but there were a few things that were annoying. The pacing wasn't as good as some of the previous arcs, and some of the main characters(namely Usopp, Sanji, and Chopper) were unconcious for a good portion of it. Plus, it did suddenly leave all of these plot threads hanging from Jaya and Alabasta(the Blackbeard Pirates, Bartholomew Bear and Donquixote Doflamingo, Whitebeard, Ace, Smoker and Tashigi, etc.)

Well, anyway, 400 is out, or at least a RAW+translation...an actual scanlation should follow shortly.

My thoughts on the current matchups:
[spoiler]

Luffy vs. Lucchi - The obvious one.

Zoro vs. Kaku - No surprises here either. 2nd strongest vs. 2nd strongest as usual. Kaku's devil fruit will be an unknown factor in the fight however.

Usopp/Sogeking vs. Jyabura - I find this matchup interesting as Jyabura seems quite strong. However, he seemed arrogant from what we saw of him earlier which will likely work in Usopp's favor. I'm looking forward to this one regardless.

Nami vs. Kumadori - Staff+weather-user vs. another Staff-user. Kumadori's seemingly loud/boisterous nature and his semi-frequent hirikiri attempts will probably give Nami enough time to figure out her Perfect Climatact techniques. It will be interesting to see what new moves Usopp programmed into it.

Sanji vs. Kalifa - I had thought such a match-up would be amusing but it's pretty surpising anyway. Let's see if Sanji can overcome his weakness for women. Something occurred to me actually. What did we see Kalifa fight with in Water 7, besides the whips? Yeah, that's right, her legs.
I hope that Kalifa's DF isn't something that makes her ugly. That would make the fight too predictable.

Franky vs. Fukorou - The most surprising to me as I thought Chopper would get him. And Franky's almost out of cola. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Speaking of Chopper...
These matchups aren't completely set into stone as it's still possible that someone(Chopper, perhaps, who is strangely absent in the last part of the chapter) will switch with someone else. And then we still have the unknown factor of Spandam and his sword/elephant.
I am generally satisfied with the current matchups however.[/spoiler]

[Tommy]

No Sandum?

I`m on Volume 40, mind you.

Funny how that little mask made it go from looking patheticly stupid, to cool.

[Myoti]

I like Sogeking vs. Jyabura. He ain't fighting Kaku like I thought, but he's still fighting someone strong enough to prove himself.

I hope too that Kalifa's power is some "ugly" power. I want to see something more interesting...

[Myoti]

[SPOILER]
GIRAFFE?!

I knew he'd have something wierd, but that... oh wow.

The CP9 will be in the next side-story... as a traveling circus! XD


NOTE: This isn't a bad thing. Xp
[/SPOILER]

[Myoti]

Sogeking and Zoro handcuffed? Unexpected and extremely awesome.

I'd actually like to see Kaku and Jyabura being handcuffed as well. Even if it knocks out their DF powers, they could probably still fight.


I get the feeling Kumadori may be using something special to control his hair (electricity, perhaps?). Either way, Nami's going to be in quite a fight (as is everyone else).

[Kawaiikneko]

the handcuffs were funny XD Too bad the quality was terrible... I'm looking forward to some HQ releases... =__=;;

and the giraffe!! XDDD
Am I being vague enough not to use spoilers? lol

[Myoti]

Perhaps we could just somehow change the title and stop using Spoiler tags altogether? =p



Is Kawaiineko on the AP Forums? O.o

[uc pseudonym]

If you come up with a different title I'll change it for you.

Meanwhile, you're both talking about chapters I haven't read. I always wait for the HQ stuff because I'm not motivated enough to view a chapter more than once.

[Myoti]

How about just, "One Piece Discussion [SPOILERS]"?

[uc pseudonym]

That could well be considered to refer to the Shonen Jump pace of One Piece, but otherwise it is a good title. However, I definitely think you should account for this. We can alter the first post or modify the title; your choice.

[Tommy]

How about "The Official OP Fan Club Thread" ?

[Myoti]

Well, most of us in this thread seem to much farther along than SJ, but just in case, I don't want some "new fan" to come wandering in and have everything ruined, so that title change seems good to me.

[uc pseudonym]

I'll edit that as well as the first post, just to make sure everything is clear.

[Tommy]

hahhahahah.....spam pwns!!!!yahahahahaha

Unfortuneatly, my good friend Ipzie, my One Piece knowledge only extends to Chapter 397. *wipes tear*