So remember last week when I complained how the One Piece release after the break was merely good, but not great? Yeah, that changed this week, with the manga release of the prequel to One Piece Movie 10: Strong World. Releasing sometime in December, the author thought it would be good to let us have a peak at both the movie antagonist’s backstory along with a teaser of what happened before the start of Luffy’s story. So hopefully you all have had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving, and if you shopped on Black Friday, hopefully you found what you wanted but still had Thanksgiving with friends and family. Now, hopefully I can get over this cold fairly quickly. Enjoy the reviews, and be good people.
ONE PIECE (chapter 565) – Oars’ Road
Back on Saobody Archipelago, the populace anxiously wonders what’s going on at Marineford now that the video has been cut out. There’s a brief glimpse of the non-Strawhat Supernovae on the island, all were watching the video feed. Some think of what to do next, while others decide to join the fight. Back at the battle, Akainu’s attack breaks some of the ice foothold. Whitebeard’s ship Moby Dick gets destroyed. With the footing gone and the siege walls still up, Whitebeard tries to break down the wall with his powers, but they still hold steady. Some of the pirates make their way to the opening that Oars Jr. caused, but that’s just a set up for a trap as they get taken out by cannons. Ivan and Jimbei see Luffy try it, too, only to get blown back as well. All the explosions cause Oars Jr. to actually regain consciousness. Kizaru prepares to deliver the finishing blow to Oars, until a stream of water crashes in front of him and the other admirals. It’s Luffy, facing all three of them before he can reach Ace. He uses a broken mast to attack them, which Aokiji freezes. Then he tries an attack on the frozen mast to hit the admirals, which they just phase through. Whitebeard, annoyed at Luffy’s recklessness, finally takes charge. He tells Oars to stay where he is and tells Jozu to prepare their trump card. He then rallies his men to charge at the opening.
Luffy has yet to beat an admiral, and how he’s facing all three at once. Not a good sign. It was cool seeing a brief glimpse of the Supernovae again. And it looks like some of them might head to the battle. Not sure if they’ll be able to help out, or if they’ll get there in time. Also, I was actually surprised that Oars Jr. is still alive. I mean, getting pierced through the heart/chest? Should be dead, right? Ah well, at least he’ll be able to do something more for now. Eagerly awaiting how Luffy is going to get out of his situation along with what Whitebeard’s trump card is. Good chapter. (Note: be sure to read One Piece: Strong World Chapter 0)
NARUTO (chapter 473) – Brother
Kisame goes in for the kill, and Sabu is still far away. However, Killer Bee manages to get in one last attack to save himself: he finds the pencil he threw earlier and tried the same attack again. This time, it just barely connects with Kisame, but it’s not enough to take him down. Suddenly, Bee’s sword that Kisame is holding is cut from a throwing star. Raikage has arrived. They were able to find them thanks to the huge mass of water that Kisame made earlier, along with Bee’s chakra mixed in with it. Kisame’s sword gives Bee more of his chakra back, and Raikage signals him that it’s time for an attack. Kisame tries to start a water technique, but he’s stopped by a Double Lariat from both Bee and Raikage, severing his head. Back at the site of the Kage meeting, two samurai are questioned about what happened. Two of Sasuke’s minions still being alive, they’ve forced those two to remove their armor, revealing it to be true. Mizukage and Choujuro manage to catch up to Ao, who is still trapped by Fu. But through a series of tricks, Mizukage discovers that it’s not Ao and manages to free him. Back in the village, Sai confronts Naruto and decides to tell him the truth that Sakura couldn’t say.
That was a pretty great finale to the Killer Bee vs Kisame fight. A little sad to see Kisame go, because he definitely lived up to the hype of his strength. Man, villains in this series are dropping like flies. Ao’s situation was resolved, but now we have new development for Suigetsu and Juugo. Will they be able to escape and meet up with Sasuke? And will Sai reveal a truth shocking or boring to Naruto? I’m going to guess boring, because it’ll be something that either we know or could’ve easily guessed. Still, the lackluster ending doesn’t detract from the awesome fight finale. Good chapter.
BLEACH (chapter 383) – Too Early to Trust
Yammy falls, but quickly gets back up again, much to the surprise of both Byakuya and Kenpachi. Yammy transforms into an even larger state to increase his power. As he gets angrier, he gets stronger (like The Hulk). Back on earth, Aizen continues to aggravate Shinji to make him attack. Shinji asks Hacchi to help keep Hiyori safe and alive until Ichigo returns. They face each other, waiting for the right moment to strike. Aizen mocks Shinji’s trust in Ichigo, saying that it’s something only the weak do. But he questions Aizen’s rationale, since he has followers that trust in him. Instead, he tells them that he never asked the Espada to trust him, only to follow. Meanwhile, as Tousen faces both Komamura and Hisagi, he decides to reveal his own trump card. Komamura assumes it’s his bankai, but instead, Tousen moves his hand to his face.
Man, Yammy still isn’t defeated? Kind of getting tired of him already, especially since the story is barely progressing as is. No Ichigo this week. And nothing really happened back on earth in the meantime. Curious to see what Tousen will be able to do if he does get the hollow transformation down. Still, with nothing really happening, this week’s chapter falls short. Disappointing chapter.
HAJIME NO IPPO (chapter 875) – Unquestionable Genius
Ippo rushes forward, trying to make it an infight, his specialty. Woli dodges his punch by jumping over him. Ippo tries to attack at the position Woli lands, but he’s able to slip underneath it. No matter how hard Ippo tries to land a blow, Woli is able to dodge and counter. Ippo is taking blow after blow and still continues to miss his attacks. The crowd is getting restless, as they witness this fight being one-sided. As Ippo stumbles towards the ropes, Woli closes in. What can Ippo do now, with Coach Kamogawa even confused what to do?
Sadly, it’s still more of the same. Ippo has yet to mount a counter-attack, and right now, it’s getting a little stale. Chapters are getting a little shorter than normal as well. Thought it’s getting stale, the pacing is still done very well. Just wish the round was over so that Ippo can try to think of some sort of tactic to regain the upperhand. On the other hand, Woli continues to be very impressive. Not only is he super agile, he can definitely throw some heavy blows. Will Ippo even have enough in him to mount a comeback after the beating he’s been taking? Decent chapter.
FAIRY TAIL (chapter 161) – Crushing Evil and Spreading the Truth
With the time fast approaching, the others prepare to destroy their respective lachryma crystals. Zero uses his Genesis Zero attack, summoning spirits and ghosts to eat Natsu’s soul and existence. As it engulfs Natsu, he’s somehow able to supress it with his Dragonslayer magic, the golden flame burning away Zero’s magic. Zero realizes that Natsu’s magic is the real type of Dragonslayer magic. Natsu uses a hidden Dragonslayer technique and releases all of his magic power to blast Zero away, causing him to crash into the lachryma crystal and destroy it. At the same time, the other crystals are destroyed, and Nirvana is stopped. Zero is defeated, and Cait Shelter is safe.
So like I assumed, Zero was defeated in this week’s chapter. Yeah, yeah, easily predictable. Still, it was a pretty fun arc, and we did get to see a few new characters as well. Don’t know how many more chapters we’ll have for the arc to fully finish now that the conflict is resolved, but can’t wait to see the repercussions of what just happened. And remember, with Nirvana destroyed, they still have to somehow escape from it. Decent chapter.
HISTORY’S STRONGEST DISCIPLE KENICHI (chapter 362) – And a Hero Comes Along
Kenichi refuses to turn the sword over to the armor guy, but still remains helpless hanging on the edge of the roof. As the armor guy swings his axe, he’s stopped by Kagerou. He asks Kagerou if he’s betrayed them, but instead, he says that he only came along to get a sword, and that Shigure is going to give him the sword he wants. He no longer has any ties with his former group. Armor guy laments that they were so close to achieving Eternal Dusk. Katana user, still struggling against Sakaki, asks Kushinada to help him, but she refuses to get involved in a fight to aid the armed division. Sakaki finally decides to get serious now that he doesn’t have to worry about Kenichi. He forces the katana user back. The kukri user says that this place must be the hardest defended, so the other swords must have been stolen successfully. However, Sakaki doubts that, and we are shown the other locations where the Ryouzanpaku members are meeting their foes head on.
Not much really happened in this week’s chapter, especially at the beginning. Sure, we get the other Ryouzanpaku members fighting for a brief glimpse, but it doesn’t look like they’re fighting against any weapon masters, so they shouldn’t have too hard of a time. And as for Kagerou’s turning sides, that was pretty much assumed given last week’s situation. Main thing we get this week, wondering what the code name Eternal Dusk means and what they’re up to with all these weapons. Disappointing chapter.
