We join the gang as they get out of their predicaments from the last volume. To an extent, at least. I love how a lot of these stories are very meticulously crafted so that the volumes work out having good cliffhangers. Writing consistent weekly chapters is a skill already, but also having both the chapters and the volumes end on good moments is very, very impressive. I don’t know how these manga artists do it. Either way, Chopper and Carrot take out Brulee’s forces with relative ease as they had tricked her from the beginning. Carrot was never the one in danger, but instead a frog who Brulee had turned into Carrot. It’s going less well for Brook and Pedro. Brook comes face to face with Big Mom herself and Pedro has made his intentions of not leaving this place alive clear. He doesn’t have long to live after all. Brook is a pretty realistic man and he knows that his job is to retrieve the poneglyph and nothing else. When worst comes to show, he can at least bring that with them. If he can escape from Big Mom, that is.
While his sister is being attacked by someone and is heavily bleeding, Sanji is off cooking a meal for his fiance. Due to her being busy, he has to go in through the window. Definitely not creepy, but for once it pays off to be Sanji. He finds out Pudding’s plot. She wants to kill all of Germa during the wedding ceremony so that the Big Mom pirates can take the technology for themselves. She is telling Reiju all of this because Pudding’s devil fruit allows her to manipulate someone’s memories. She cuts out the memories of their conversation once she’s satisfied that the guns they wanted to use actually work on the Germa soldiers. Things are looking quite dire.
Sanji gets Reiju back to feeling well and explains to her what happened to her. She then shares with him what actually happened around their birth. With her being the older sister, she was around for a lot of it. Her father had her mother take an operation that allowed her children to become emotionless fighters. Their mother was vehemently opposed but the operation was forced upon her either way. She tried to undo the effects with a poison but this was only partially successful. Her greatest joy in life was the fact that Sanji turned out so lovely compared to the other siblings and she would often brag to Reiju about it. Now she wants Sanji to be free with his crew while Germa’s miserable history ends. She still has her emotions but can’t go against Judge.
Things are finally turning around a little bit. Nami and Jinbe are running around through the castle while Luffy is making his way back to where he promised to meet Sanji for food. Chopper and Carrot even managed to save Pedro who is pretty hardcore when it comes to bombing the crap out of people. No chill on that guy, but I suppose his prior experience with this place explains that.
Brook in the meantime managed to copy the poneglyphs in time. He is so incredibly cool in this arc. He managed to get things done that were considered impossible while not even batting an eye. He fought with Big Mom and survived and stole one of her most precious treasures. And a little birdie tells me that’s not all he’ll do this arc. But let’s go back to now. We have everyone in one place with the exception of Luffy and Sanji, who are about to share a lovely picnic in the rain.
With everyone relatively safe, the gang gets a proposal from Jinbe. What if they team up with Capone Bege? He’s another member of the worst generation and although Luffy is already in an alliance with Law to take down Kaido, why not double dip and join his alliance to take out Big Mom. He has been planning to take her out from the start and we learn that he’s a pretty brutal guy. It’s mostly just normal mafioso stuff, but in a world like One Piece it feels a little bit dark compared to the rest of the story. I’m sure this guy will end up being a goofball eventually. We learn that Lola was supposed to marry Loki and establish friendly relationships with the giants of Elbaf, but that plan went south when she ran and it seems like her twin sister, Chiffon, got the worst of the abuse. She has no issues watching her mother die as Bege and Pez – that’s their son – are her family now. Luffy, Bege and Caesar (who is also there) don’t like each other, but their goal aligns enough that they establish an alliance. Also, Luffy’s missing tooth is back due to the magic of milk. I love manga.
This volume was great. I love Sanji’s backstory and the duality of his internal ideas clashing here. The way he interacts with his sister and later with Luffy really shows his caring side. It’s a shame his womanizing ruins his character so much throughout the years. He could have been a fun gentleman character but alas. Thanks for reading, join me for volume 86 next week!
Opal Kaharis 