A wedding to remember
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Eiichiro Oda
Translation: Stephen Paul
What They Say
In order to take down Big Mom, the Straw Hats have teamed up with “Gang” Bege and his pirate crew. But can these gangsters be trusted? And is this alliance enough to take down a seemingly invincible Emperor of the Sea?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
We open this time on our heroes plotting with Bege to assassinate Big Mom. I do rather like the interactions here, because Luffy quite obviously is NOT the sort of person who should be involved in such careful planning, and it shows. Oh and “Gastino” not only not getting forgiven, but essentially being straight up abused, is pretty great. Since, like Nami points out several times throughout the volume, he absolutely has it coming.
Anyway, the plan is set, and the party begins once the many eccentric guests gather. This may always be the case with the series, but the whole imagery for this setup is just amazingly done and super effective. The first issue facing the plot is the presence of one of Big Mom’s sons, Katakuri. Not only does the guy just plain ooze cool, he also has the ability to see slightly into the future! Now for the next turn against plans, Sanji DOES dodge the assassination attempt, but he actually throws Pudding for a loop by complimenting her third eye. And this I’ll admit having struck me as a bit much on the first read, seeming like something kind of trivial for Pudding to react so heavily to, even if it was a heavily rooted trauma for her. But the trick is, in looking back over it, that it’s Sanji’s snap, split second, completely earnest judgment coming forth here, and I think that’s what really matters. It’s not just the idea of hearing a compliment, but hearing one that’s so blatantly honest and powerful.
Now, Luffy and them do still manage to kick off the plan in a rather glorious manner, but it runs into a hitch when Big Mom is so overwhelmed with fury that she doesn’t immediately react like they were expecting and hoping. And in the midst of that, we get a flashback to Big Mom’s past. I won’t go into the details, but needless to say it’s really well done, and really, really dark. Like, it may well be the darkest thing that has ever happened in the series, so much so that it had to be essentially shown off screen and implied rather than stated outright. But it’s pretty obvious what happens here, and it’s pretty seriously messed up.
Anyway, Luffy and company manage to get the plan back on track, but it still falls short of taking down Big Mom! Now that they’re trapped in the midst of all these monstrous foes, are they doomed, or will they manage to find a way out from this terrifying scenario?
In Summary
This volume may just be the highlight of the arc thus far, and that’s certainly saying something as this arc has been no slouch thus far. It’s just a fantastic and interesting event of a sort we haven’t really seen in the series thus far, and it plays out perfectly. There are a ton of great character moments and interactions, the setting is absolutely stunning, and some fantastic and interesting new characters are even introduced! Add to this an incredibly powerful and dark backstory for Big Mom, and you get one hell of a volume. Be sure to give it a look, as the arc really is in full swing at this point!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: May 1st, 2018
MSRP: $9.99
