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Part 1 – Flashback Friday
This weeks chapter starts off with a flashback in which Kinemon along with Neko, Inu and the rest of the samurai we have been with for so long are attempting to rob Yasuie. They say it’s for Oden. Yasuie asks them if they care for Oden and they respond with “yes of course.” In a display of pure sainthood, Yasuie gives them the money they came for and more. He goes on to tell them to use this money to better themselves so that they can serve Oden as Wano’s best samurai. This was a powerful moment for me, seeing such compassion and sympathy for the youth in hopes that one day, they will be great says something about a person. Transitioning out of that flashback into the present where we see the tearful eyes of those same people who tried to rob Yasu hit me.
Part 2 – Behind the Smiles
We get an explanation of what was brought up about the smiles last chapter. Shocking, I know, getting answers just a chapter later. To keep it short, weapons made in Wano were traded for the Smile fruit, the Smile fruit is only has a 10% success rate, the other 90% only got the side effects of the fruit. These side effects take away sadness and anger from the victims. Kaidos Beast pirates’ names are even more clear now as well, the waiters are awaiting a chance to eat the fruit, the Gifters are the ones who have an ability from the Smile, and the Pleasurers ar the 90% who ate a faulty fruit. Crazy how it was all there in our faces the whole time. To mock the symptoms of the fruit, it was given the name Smile.
The filed fruits retained their side effects even after one bite. The town of leftovers was going through very hard time, people were dying, starving, in constant sadness and grief. Orochi didn’t like how this made Wano look so he took the leftover Smile fruit and brought it to these people. These people ate the fruit, and kept eating. It was either starve to death or eat the fruit, little did they know they would be cursed to not being able to emote sadness or grief ever again. It’s a really dark concept, it was hard to read, I feel bad for these people.
Part 3 – Brotherly Reunion
Oh boy. This last part of the chapter has been 5+ years in the making. So Toko is grieving her fathers death and Orochi sees her and is still angry about her laughing at him. He goes to kill her when a certain couple of well-mannered youths step in to save the young miss. Our boys Zoro and Sanji. Listen, just that last page alone with both together was enough for me to love this chapter. Let me give you some stats. This is the first time Zoro and Sanji have reunited in about 220 chapters. That’s over 5 and a half years, 23.3% of the entire series. The last time we saw them together was back on October 7, 2013 in chapter 723.
Conclusion
Loved the chapter. We got the full explanation for the Smile fruit which was darker than I thought it would be and we also got a Zoro and Sanji reunion. The explanation of what the Smile have done to innocent people adds on to the tension for our heroes to succeed or these people will continue to suffer. Act 2 is at the beginning stages of its climax that was started last week when Yasu was killed. The momentum will only be going up now since Zoro and Sanji look like they’re about to throw hands (and legs) with Orochi and his people.
TO BE CONTINUED X
~ S