With Sugar being down and out for the count, it seems like the tide might finally turn on Dressrosa. Not just Robin, but all the people – and wild animals – that have been turned into toys over the past ten years have suddenly reverted to their normal state. On top of that, everyone’s memories of these people have also returned at the exact same time, causing mass confusion on the streets of Dressrosa. It also doesn’t help that many of the people who were turned into toys were pirates, government officials and navy soldiers, making for one big bunch of chaos.
One of the toys turned human doesn’t hesitate though and the moment that the toy soldier reverts back to his normal form of Kyros, hero of the coliseum and father of Rebecca, he jumps forward and decapitates Doflamingo right in front of several of his executives. Although it seems like all things should be over soon, the opposite is true. Doflamingo had a copy prepared made from string and his real body is perfectly fine. He kicks Luffy, Law, Kyros and the others who have stormed his main chambers out of the palace with a little help from Pica, the massive warrior who can turn into a castle through his devil fruit powers. He then activates a terrifying trap called the birdcage. This cage made of sharp strings covers the entire island and also infects some people on the island, turning them into marionettes that fight everyone in their vicinity. Dressrosa is in a state of total panic.
While this happens, Franky is still dealing with the executives near the factory but things are not going well. As a matter of fact, it looks like he’s been defeated completely and only after we cut away from the executives present at the site do we learn that he had enough cola left to skedaddle. His original goal was to destroy the factory after all, not to defeat strong fighters. Unfortunately for Franky, the person in charge of guarding the factory is one smart cookie and he once again has to face Senor Pink and his swimming powers.
Heading back to the coliseum, the fight that has been happening there is no longer important and it seems like everyone has other places to be. Out of everyone who wants to get out of there, Lucy – who we all now realize is actually Sabo – has the most hurry. With dragon claw punch he decimates the opposition and takes the Hito Hito no Mi for himself. He eats it and then asks Ace permission to use his ability before letting loose a fire fist that destroys the arena. He then reunites with Hack and Koala and is revealed to be the right hand man of Dragon and the chief of staff of the revolutionary army. They’re here to figure out where all the weapons that Doflamingo sells are coming from. Hack also laments that it’s shameful that the bumbling idiot that is Bartolomeo managed to break his hand.
With things escalating fast, on top of locking everyone on Dressrosa, Doflamingo now also puts out bounties on all the important folks on the Straw Hats’ side. One star for the less important folks, two stars for the middle of the pack and three stars for ringleaders like Luffy, King Riku, Sabo and Law. Finally, there are five stars – a bounty of 500 million – put on the head of the one who knocked out Sugar and ruined a decade of planning, God Usopp. That’s right, everyone treats him like their savior. Usopp definitely deserves respect for pulling through when he was needed most and he is without a shadow of a doubt the MVP of the Dressrosa arc, but he still almost ran away and got pretty lucky.
With everything popping off at once we’re left with three big fights. Down in the city, Sabo is squaring off with Fujitora who has been incredibly irritating throughout this arc. Pick the right side already instead of thinking taking care of Luffy is better than taking care of the evil mob boss that’s been murdering and enslaving people for a decade. Remember folks, the police protect the interests of the corporate elites first and foremost. Even the “good apples” will always do their duty first and worry about everything else later. Sabo puts a stop to him while Zoro is fighting with Pica at the top of the statue that was Pica’s body until a moment earlier. I think the gag with his high-pitched voice is definitely more impactful in the anime, but it’s still funny.
It looks like in the time that Luffy will spend to travel up the risen hill towards the palace and gather all his allies there – which are many by now – we will get a look into Law’s past. It looks like he was a very troubled boy who was saved by Doflamingo’s younger brother, a man by the name of Corazon. What is Law’s relationship with Doflamingo exactly and where is this Corazon now? Join me here next week to find the answers to these questions and more! Thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 