The first scene was so cool. The tension built up of Fujitora and Luffy challenging each other, and Luffy’s immediacy and ease of asking if he was looking for a fight made me think of Seki challenging a yakuza in Shinjuku Swan. It’s such an effective way to build up the seriousness of a conflict and the guts of a character. To be fair, I don’t think Fujitora explicitly stated that he wanted to fight, rather that he wouldn’t move. Further, he did attack with gravity at one point but he’s been mostly defensive. Perhaps his true intent isn’t as obvious as fighting the Straw Hats. Anyways, Zoro ended up trading some blows as well until they were finally interrupted by Pica creating a frantic rush to get away. Pica seemed to act on his own since Doflamingo suggested that they should only fight who is necessary and let the rest kill themselves.
Speaking of the Don Quixote family meeting, it gave us some seriously crucial information about their relationship. Doflamingo has a complicated past with his celestial dragon lineage and here he told the family that he lost his mom at 8 and killed his dad at 10. That would be great reason to complicate his role as a celestial dragon. It’s also a deeper look into his past. Because he never had a blood family he views the Don Quixote executives as all he’s got. They are family to him. This statement appears to be largely truthful and mutual, in the way he forgave Buffalo, Baby 5, Diamante and Trebol like it was nothing, in the way he let the Sunny get away by valuing Giolla’s life, or likewise in the deep loyalty and faith his top men feel towards him. They do feel like nakama. Pica being a great example, I had assumed that he didn’t speak much due to being insecure and thus he only spoke around his family which is absolutely sweet, especially given that if anyone even laughs at Pica they are livid. With how Pica spoke openly later this reading may have been false but I like it nonetheless. However, there are some questions regarding Doflamingo’s family. If everything that has been said is true then we must consider how he allowed Vergo, his oldest friend, and Monet to die. Further, I think it was implied that Giolla would have been sacrificed if she wasn’t let go. I don’t think this counteracts Doflamingo’s love for his men, rather one reading could be that unlike Luffy who could never let a friend willingly die creating miserable displays of refusing to accept reality such as in Marineford, Doflamingo is quick to accept when he must let his family go. That said, it may suggest his family is important yet his own life or his mission is even moreso, something that separates him from Luffy as two nakama-centric characters.
To touch on the smaller but notable moments, Machvise and Dellinger are heading back to the palace but Senor Pink is searching for Franky to give him another shot, one versus one this time, which may make him the barrier between destroying the factory. Robin and the gang made it to the plateau, Tank showed up to guard Rebecca, Law’s key was found, and Robin made a net of arms to climb proving yet again that her power is awesome. Kyros and Franky are still doing what they were initially up to, and Kin’emon started to ask his peers about the samurai Kanjuro. Speaking of Kanjuro, I’m fascinated by how he will impact this arc seeing that he supposedly escaped and we’re kinda far into it and he has yet to even be seen. I’m eager to find out. Lastly, to touch on Pica’s voice some more, I totally predicted it, or at the very least during the first fight with him I suggested he’d either have a super cool but sparse voice or it’d be a joke of a voice. I suppose that’s not too hard to guess, it had to be one or the other, but it still felt somewhat good to have called it. As funny as Luffy laughing for a minute straight was, it was Zoro’s reaction which hit me the hardest. Zoro was utterly adorable~! He couldn’t hold in his laughter and chuckled during the escape with Luffy. They felt like kids together in that moment. |