After the break One Piece manga has returned with a great chapter. The chapter is filled with great emotional scenes and one of the most anticipated fights of the series. So let’s discuss about it.
The chapter doesn’t start with where it left off in 1091. It starts with a flashback. We saw the Kuma situation 1 day ago. The tyrant Kuma enters the Holy Land Mary Geoise. There he destroyed and harmed some Celestial Dragons which led to the entrance of Akainu.
Where is Kuma trying to reach?
This chapter creates a major question for the readers about the destination of Kuma. During, the confrontation between Kuma and Akainu, we see him fly off to somewhere ignoring Akainu. After, leaving Kamabakka Queendom Kuma flew to the Holy Land. However, it seems the Red Line was a hindrance on his path so he had to climb it. Now, the destination of Kuma is very unclear. Don’t worry we will try to predict the location.
Egghead
The first and most probable chance is Egghead. The first thing is the references to the Sabaody Archipelago arc. Next, is the flashback that was shown in the chapter. Bonney in the flashback says that her father will leave her behind.
So most probably Kuma reaching Egghead will start the long-awaited Kuma flashback. Another thing is the parallels to the Sabaody arc.
Another important thing is the last conversation between Luffy and Kuma in the Sabaody arc(Chapter 513). Kuma said to Luffy, “We will never see each other again. Farewell”. So this might lead to the unexpected final meeting of Luffy and Kuma.
Elbaf
Though the importance is not clear it might be one of the few destinations where Kuma may be going. So far from the story, it is a guess that the next location of Straw Hats is going to be Elbaf. So Bonney and Kuma’s reunion may happen in Elbaf. As people say Elbaf might turn out to be the arc of reunions. We might see Robin, and Saul reunion along with Luffy and Shanks possibly.
So it won’t be out of the book if Oda sets Kuma’s story there too. But what reason may be behind Kuma going there? One possibility might be if Sorbet Kingdom has any connection with Elbaf. In this chapter, Bonney also said that she has targeted someone else for his father’s situation.
It is not Vegapunk anymore. So she learned something from the memories and that person may be someone from Elbaf too.
Luffy and Kizaru Result
This section of the chapter was the most hyped-up and anticipated by the fans. The long-awaited rematch of Luffy and Kizaru started this chapter. We see Luffy fighting Kizaru in Gear Fourth Snakeman. We see the fight is intense and Kizaru kicks Luffy out of the the dome.
Soon, we see Luffy return back in his Gear Fifth form. He has crossed the buried of the dome which no one could pass through except Kizaru. The dome was covered in a barrier of light so without light speed it was hard to pass through it and so Kizaru was the only being. However, we saw almost at the end Luffy said he passed through the barrier twice. That means for a time period Luffy reached the speed of light too.
In the final part of the fight, we see Luffy grabbing Kizaru in his Gear 5 “Gigant” form. The fight stays on a cliffhanger for next week. So finally we will see Gear 5 vs. Kizaru next week.
The Ancient Iron Giant Awakens?
The whole chapter was very hype but the cliffhanger was the most unexpected thing. The last panel of this crazy chapter was the awakening of the Ancient Iron Giant. We see the drums of liberation playing as the Robot’s eyes start to shine. So what happened?
Most probably the sound of the drums awakens it from its slumber. However, as Vegapunk said it runs with the Eternal Flames. This still seems like a mystery for now. But possibly, the eternal flames have a connection with the Sun God Nika and the Drums. The sounds of drums might be a part of the way to keep the Flames burning. Like we saw in Skypiea the Straw Hats were dancing around a flame while playing a drum. So the sound may be a trigger to the awakening.
However, this creates two more questions.
First, Why didn’t it happen during the Luffy vs. Lucci fight?
The most possible answer would be the sound was not strong enough. After Luffy turned into a Giant the sound of the drums was strong enough for the Giant to hear or to awaken the Eternal Flames.
Second, it awakened once 200 years ago. So this creates a question what triggered it’s awakening at that time? Did someone awaken Nika fruit at that time too?
For now, I am quite unsure of the explanation behind this. But most probably there has to be a drums reference too 200 years ago. What happened 200 years ago?
Conclusion:
With this chapter and questions the Void Century feels very close. It feels like Oda is spreading seeds for the big mysteries to uncover. The Final Saga is on another level right now. The good news is the series is back on schedule and there is no break next week. So for the continuation, we don’t have to wait too long. See you all next week.
