ONE PIECE has a long tradition of cute hilarity that then takes a sharp turn towards the tragically real. Pathos is one of the most profound tools in Eiichiro Oda's arsenal, and it is one that he uses to powerful effect. That might not necessarily speak to every reader, but ti does serve a secondary purpose. THe tragedy that so often marks his characters drives them to not only become better people, but to help make the world a better place. Add to that the cuteness of his character design and suddenly any member of the dramatis personae can transform into an agent of change. In some cases that transformation is far more literal, but we'll cross that particular bridge when we get to it. Suffice to say that this chapter focuses on those characters who have long been considered the major antagonists of the series.
When it comes to the Celestial Dragons, their ugliness is almost as legendary as their penchant for cruelty. The rampant racism, narcissism, and vengeful nature of these characters have long served to create a quagmire of issues that our heroes must rescue either themselves or their friends. The central plot of this chapter focuses closely on the interactions between Celestial Dragons while also proliferating some new ideas about the shadowy rulers of the Blues. Oda draws heavily on familiar, but unpleasant, faces from amongst the known Celestial Dragons throughout this chapter. In the aftermath of Saint Charlos' attempt to abduct Shirahoshi, Don Quixote Mjosgard declares the Mermaid Princess to be under his protection is a level of humility that is rarely seen amongst the World Nobles. The desire to own Fishman slaves in particular is a persistent issue that has lead to a range of issues throughout the Blues; many of these issues were eventually dealt with by the Straw Hat Pirates, but continues to afflict contemporary politics. His history with the Fishman Island Royal Family certainly plays a part in Mjosgard's desire to protect Shirahoshi, but for him to blatantly go against another World Noble in pursuit of this ideal is heartwarming to behold. Having fled the scene of his attempted crime, Saint Charlos is confronted by his father Saint Rosward who appears riding Bartholomew Kuma! As punishment for his crime against the World Government, we learn that Kuma has been forced into slavery. Surprisingly enough, the revelation that an immortal cyborg slave made to suffer eternal anguish at the hands of the World Nobles is only the third largest surprise this chapter. Queen Dowager Conny of Sorbet Kingdom - ironically the kingdom formerly ruled over by Bartholomew himself - is revealed to be none other than the Worst Generations Jewelry Bonny in disguise thanks to the powers of her devil fruit. Whether due to the translation or Oda's own linguistic, it appears that Bonny had planned to sneak into the Celestial Dragon's territories beyond Pangaea Castle in order to find Kuma specifically. From her phrasing, and emotional response to seeing the state of Kuma's well being, it seems as if Bonny has been working for the Revolutionary Army in order to track down the former Shichibukai. Tying into Oda's revelation about Kuma's circumstances, Sabo, Morely, Karasu, and Lindbergh are revealed to be hiding underground as they wait for an opportune moment to rescue their enslaved comrade. Sabo's declaration to save Kuma at all costs emphasizes the importance of Kuma's character amidst the cruelties of the Celestial Dragons. Though the hypocrisy of the World Nobles has often been discussed in passing, it has been an element of ONE PIECE that goes largely unnoticed due to the intangibility of being hypocritical. In response to this Oda manifests this paradigm by leveraging our new found understanding about the Empty Throne. That is to say that the leader of the Celestial Dragons appears, and sits upon this throne while the Reverie begins. The clandestine nature of this meeting between the Gorosei and Im denotes several interesting secrets: 1. The Celestial Dragons - and by association, the Marines - do not have the capability to placate or defeat all of the combined armies of the Blues. Were the nations present for Reverie to learn of someone sitting upon the Empty Throne, they may well lead a revolt against the World Nobles. In order to avoid a scenario where they fall from their position of power, Im and the Gorosei meet in secret in order to preserve their political identity. 2. Though the Gorosei are considered to be the leaders of the Celestial Dragons, Im is above them in terms of status. From the single page where these characters interact it becomes clear that Im makes all of the overarching decisions and the Gorosei simply carry out his mandates. 3. Obtaining actionable intelligence is one of the most difficult tasks for any organization working from the shadows. In the past, the Gorosei were able to accurately predict when Dragon would become a serious threat to their administration. Given the level of science, and technological advances available to the World Nobles, it was easy to theorize that they leveraged these capabilities to simulate potential scenarios. The introduction of Im, however, may indicate that the Celestial Dragons don't use technology, or science to make their predictions. Instead, it may simply be that Im possesses a skill, ability, or devil fruit that allows him to see glimpses into the future. By killing select individual(s) he is then able to change the course of the future presuming that the afore mentioned individual(s) can be killed in accordance with his machinations. In the wake of this last chapter, Eiichiro Oda was able to take a well deserved break from writing his popular series. ONE PIECE has been nothing but phenomenal following the conclusion of the Whole Cake Island arc with each chapter working to heighten the interest for Reverie. With Reverie now officially underway, and with the World Nobles working their schemes in the background, one can only speculate upon the direction that Oda intends to take his story. Will we see still more new concepts introduced in these coming chapters? Will the events of Reverie come to have as profound an effect upon the Blues as we've been lead to believe? Does Im have an ability and if so does that mean the Will of D is unaffected by it? These are questions that will hopefully be answered in the chapters to come! Written By: ALAN "VIENNA" SINGH
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Hindsight being twenty-twenty, Kim Se-hun returns to form with this week's chapters. That's pretty surprising because, if you've been paying attention, it never really felt like he'd distanced himself from his style in the first place. There were, however, a bunch of outstanding instances that marked subtle shifts in his writing. In that sense it could be said that he was true to himself even in experimenting with new styles of literary prowess. Se-hun is nothing if not subtle in how he disseminates information so why not apply that same methodology to acquiring information? Looking back it becomes clear that he needed sometime to consider the direction that HARDCORE LEVELING WARRIOR would eventually be taking in the future. Given that North American translations tend to lag behind Korean releases combined with two chapter releases a week, it makes sense that even a creator as skilled as Se-hun would require some additional preparation time in coming up with new material.
There is a lot of guess work that has to go into comprehending a series where the author rarely explains what is happening and why. The story really develops based on how it is interpreted by each reader allowing for a range of discussion and discourse to take place. Se-hun uses this to maximum effect in his portrayal of Sad Smile. The real world loan shark turned magical feudal lord in Lucid Adventure has a heavy hand in how events have unfolded in the story thus far. It should come as no surprise that even without an explicit explanation his personal attribute "An Unfair Bargain" is a Nightmare skill. While it remains unclear how he intends to use the Black Cores, we know that Sad Smile has been carrying out experiments with these Nightmare inducing objects from his speculations about Lazie's horn turned sword turned super monstrosity. Even though none of this information is stated explicitly, the knowledge can nevertheless be pulled from the writing and artistry of each panel. The black aura surrounding Sad Smile upon the activation of his personal attribute, and the completion of HLW's S Rank quest provide sufficient context for these inferences. Sad Smile's schemes remain largely obfuscated, but we can state with absolute certainty that he intends to bring down Giga. His position as Lord of Cobalt Castle essentially affords him vast political powers within Lucid Adventure which, when combined with his presumed knowledge of Giga's organizational secrets, allows him to function as a central figure for conflict. The use of Nightmare in particular appears to have close ties to Sad Smile, and may even hint at a means in achieving his endgame. Given that his current level of experimentation, however, his use of Nightmare may yet prove to have dire consequences for both his enemies and himself. For the time being, it is sufficient that Se-hun has allowed us to believe Sad Smile to be capable enough to bring Giga through Nightmare, and HLW's association with Dark. This last tidbit of information subsequently allows HLW to escape the lowest levels of Sad Smile's real world dungeon in light of his outstanding financial issues. Upon returning to Heart Heater and company, Se-hun expands upon Rim's character, Sora and Dark's training, and what we can expect going into the third phase of Combat God's tournament. In conjunction with a one day time limit we are also introduced to the concept of Skill Gems, Heart Heater's mysteriously overwhelming aura, and the importance of counterintelligence. Though it remains unclear as to where ranking within Lucid Adventure begins, its importance is made abundantly clear. Tying into this Se-hun also reveals three, seemingly, formidable rankers possessing one of the three traditional personal attributes. The sudden black and white of these rankers appears to indicate that each is exceptionally powerful despite being copies operating at fifteen percent of their usual efficiency. HLW, Sora, and Dark have proven themselves to be a fearsome trio over the course of HARDCORE LEVELING WARRIOR. Each has developed a set of skills, and a mindset that allows them to work as an effective team. Though there remain external influences that conspire to make or break their current dynamic, they continue to rely on one another as the story presses forward. With only one day left before the tournament continues, Sora and Dark will have to learn some more essential skills before they can hope to achieve victory during the siege round. Next week's double chapter aims to build on our understanding of rankers, and how effectively Sora and Dark overcome this stage of their training may prove to be the deciding factor in who wins or losses the fights to come! Written By: ALAN "VIENNA" SINGH |
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