#Ohara Yamato

[gabrielokun]

[staydandy]

I Can’t Reach You (2023) - 君には届かない。 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Childhood best friends. Two halves of a whole. The cool, smart one who’s good at almost everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles to do anything right­ - Yamato and Kakeru. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other. (MDL) AKA : Kimi ni wa Todokanai

Whumpee : Ashiya Kakeru played by Kashiwagi Haru (laying down) • Ohara Yamato played by Maeda Kentaro (sitting up)

Country : 🇯🇵 Japan Genres : Romance, Youth, School, BL / Boys Love

Notes : This is a Full Whump List • Adapted from the manga series "Kimi ni wa Todokanai." (君には届かない。) by Mika (みか)

Episodes on List : 4 Total Episodes : 8

*Spoilers below*

01 : Ohara Yamato falls & sprains wrist

05 : Coughing .. (at end) passes out

07 : (at end) Ashiya Kakeru sick

08 : … continued from previous ep. ... Sick (brief) .. sprains ankle, carried

[artstv]

scenes that inflict psychological damage, exhibit no. 54

[pokenoire]

His red face blushing always cute ngl

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1114 - Initial Thoughts

And we are back

TCB uploaded on a Thursday for the first time in yonks, but it had to be midway through my trip back from work

but anyway, GLOBAL WARMING! Vegapunk is pouring the tea, the world is sinking, so what more does he have to say and how will the world react?

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release Also!

Yamato's pilgrimage involves taking the long way around Wano to bring Yasuie's sword to the Enma shrine (the god of the underworld not Zoro's sword)

We'll likely encounter a bunch of characters on the trek but it surprises me that he's bringing back Yasuie's sword and not Shusui to Ryuma's grave. Either are still fine but I feel like that had more narrative significance, though if that was the task then Zoro wouldn't have been able to visit his grave off-screen - which should've very much been on-screen!

You know the tea is spilling when the chapter title is 'The wings of Icarus'

Naturally, the world takes in the revelation we left off on

The Navy reacts first, the Vice Admirals in disbelief but Akainu silent

Mock Town of all places is next, filled with nonbelievers of dreams, they mock the smartest man on the planet and deem themselves wise

Water Seven are shocked too, finding it difficult to believe that it's the whole world and not just them

Paulie and Pepe Lulu cameo too (love Franky but in another life I would've liked to have seen Paulie as a Straw Hat, would've been a perfect foil for Sanji too since he's a bashful perv, plus Nami would totally abuse how bad he is with gambling)

Doflamingo of course is revelling in the news, mocking Magellan about how this affects Impel Down

It's so surreal to me how we all know that Doflamingo is a menace, his debut literally involved him pitting marines against one another, but now he's in Impel Down he's just chilling, on his back just vibing with people like Magellan and Tsuru

It seems the Mother Flame's flooding did cause some problems for Impel Down

Doffy predicts that it'll take 5 more meters for most of the world to be flooded

He also implies evacuating 'somewhere high up' - like the Red Line maybe?

Fishman Island also reacts to the news, like everyone else they find it hard to believe

Back at Egghead though, the Buster Call don't care if it's valid, it's coming from Vegapunk so it holds weight but either way it's bringing unrest and discourse

The Gorosei meanwhile are livid, even considering going scorched earth to stop it

York is also annoyed, suck on it

Vegapunk makes a prediction, accurately pointing out the weather effects of Lulusia being wiped out

That for sure has got people more convinced, given how it's pre-recorded

Surprise Smoothie and Mont D'or cameos too!

And another already flooded island is surprised how much to a tee Vegapunk got the prediction right

Damn even Tonjit from Long Ring Long Land is getting a cameo!

Aokiji bandaged up also listens from Fullalead

Vegapunk also calls out that the earthquakes were not natural, which really sets the Gorosei off

The Straw Hats continue to fend off Saturn to protect Robin, with Lilith also in on the fight

Most of them get knocked away though, being caught by Robin's Spider Web

Saturn does still appear to be showing some damage, so still props to the crew for doing the job

Because Saturn has shifted his priority from Robin, making his way to the power station to protect it

Saturn crashes in, as Vegapunk explains his obsession with finding an unlimited energy source

Back to his 'human' form, Saturn basks in the Mother Flame

I was expecting something different, but it is a tiny flame kept in a giant tank

I wonder if the S-108 and the A&Mu stand for something? The latter are not elements on the Periodic Table

Also it's a flame inside liquid, A FLAME INSIDE OF LIQUID!

The Sleeping Giant still is on the move, passing unfazed through fire and flame

Even the Giants are struggling in the flames, still in pursuit by Warcury

Luffy however is back in Gear Fifth, that fermented shark meat must've done the trick

Marejois is stirring though, because Vegapunk has just brought up the void century

Most of the Celestial Dragons are in uproar, blaming the marines and feeling big enough to take on Vegapunk to kill him themselves

Though, interestingly, Saint Shalria - Charloss' sister - seems almost intrigued, it appears not all the Celestial Dragons know about the Void Century

Vegapunk goes on to talk about how the Poneglyphs are key to the void century

In a woodland a giant lounges as he takes in the news, the familiar laugh of Dereshishishi coming from him

I'm still not certain it's Jaguar D. Saul mind you, why hide his face for so long?

Man we're even going as far back as Orange Town!

With the Mayor and Chouchou!

The benefits of having a 20+ year manga is how you can bring back so many minor characters briefly to just show the entire scale of the world that's been built

We also see Margaret from Amazon Lily, her face seems conflicted

Vegapunk however explains that his second sin was trying to decipher the Poneglyphs, using documentation gathered from Ohara

Since Luffy could hear the broadcast I'm sure Robin is hearing it too, I wonder how she feels about Vegapunk about to lore drop a bunch of Poneglyph stuff she didn't get to discover herself

Brook is also calling for Zoro and Jinbe, not sure what their status is, same with Franky, Bonney, Atlas and Sanji vs V. Nusjuro

'History is a story, after all' is a lowkey banger line

But the Labophase is behaving differently, the clouds are stretching

Edison's plan has come into action, making the clouds wider so the Sunny can drop off into the ocean

Credit to Usopp for figuring it out too

Seems like the little tyke isn't making it out, it may end up being just Lilith at this stage

Vegapunk keeps going, stating that he only knows little about the void century, so he'll give the world some of the only facts he knows

Luffy strikes Warcury again with a Gear Fifth big punch, but the result hurts his hand all the same

Meanwhile Vegapunk details the story of a person born 900 years ago to a bountiful and advanced kingdom

Just like Nika, he had an elastic and stretchy body - which the world will very much connect to Luffy - called Joy Boy

Joy Boy was the first man to take to the seas: The First Pirate

But a break again next week, I know last week was a SJ break than an Oda break but c'mon I feel like he does this every year!

Oda sure loves to set a stage huh? What do you mean Joy Boy was the first pirate? That'd imply he's rebelling against something right? Was the advanced kingdom too restrictive maybe? So much still yet to be said

For the most part, what the characters were doing this chapter were secondary to this announcement built up, it's still cool that the Straw Hats deterred Saturn away from Robin - though we are overdue seeing Jinbe and Zoro do something of substance. Ju Peter and Mars are still kinda floating around, Doll and Bluegrass were circling the island last we saw them too. But yeah, lots of unique and surprising cameos, the mystery deepens as the plot continues somehow to thicken.

[raconteur-wanpi]

One Piece 1130

Here comes another review / reaction!

Starting with the Yamato cover stories again, it seems whoever is the suspicious kidnapper is also trying to steal Yamato's katana! Or at least, I'm assuming it's the same person. I feel like this means we're going to find out who it is rather soon. Is my bet on Perospero going to be completely and utterly debunked? We'll just wait and see.

Franky and the rest of the strawhats remaining on the giants' ship seem to have decided to call off the search! It's certainly the right decision, because as we'll see later, the rest of the crew is indeed already on Elbaf. It's interesting to see Franky specifically showcasing determination and speaking out the decision, I kinda love it. You have to remember he was the leader of the Franky Family for a long while, nice seeing that element of his again.

The rest of the New Giant Pirates are starting to show up! I remember both Gerd and Goldberg, but getting more dialogue from them is nice, they seem like genuinely charming characters and I love both their designs. They even showed up in Vegapunk's flashback, helping out Saul pick up all the books in Ohara. They seem to not like Rodo very much, which is kinda funny but makes total sense. It's also worth mentioning that apparently, according to Linlin's childhood flashback, Loki, Rodo and Goldberg were all born on the same day, or at least very close to each other! (From chapter 866)

The strawhats unfortunately don't recognize these two, who are certainly their allies, so instead they hide away from them.

This panel of all of them making their escape from Rodo's weird creepy dungeon is pretty cute, I always love seeing the strawhats casually interact. Sanji saying he used to cross a rope bridge like this is very interesting to me, surely there was one in Germa, right?

* Edit: oops, turns out that's Chopper saying it! Big thanks for the corrections in the replies. It's really hard to tell, but that makes more sense, we do see that in Drum Island.

Anyway, Luffy seems to spot something that catches his interest during this walk-away.

Meanwhile, back on the ship with the Giant Warrior Pirates....

Dorry and Broggy have been framed for the Egghead incident by Morgans also! Well, they did go against the government, so it's to be expected. Their bounties increasing to such numbers seems to actually align with real life inflation rates, Oda did his research.

Aaaandd here it is, one of the biggest things in this chapter. Vivi left a message to the strawhats!!!!!!! Being with Morgans, she was obviously able to draw the marking on the photo before it started getting reproduced for publishing. Everyone predicting Vivi joining the strawhats this arc is probably correct, hopefully! Please let it happen. Go get your girl kids!!!!!!

OK, this is the other huge (pun unintended) thing revealed this chapter. More information on Loki and, well.... the revelation Harjudin might be his brother!? They're both the King's sons, right? They both get referred to as princes here, aren't they!?

King Harold is referred to as Loki's father here, so it's safe to assume he was Harjudin's father also. If this is the case, Harjudin going after the Flame Flame Fruit in Dressrosa makes more sense.

Hmm, this narrative is pretty interesting, Loki getting called things like "cursed", "the shame of Elbaf" "not right in the head" etc, it feels like pretty cruel words. Even if he is indeed a horrible and dangerous person, something tells me we're meant to be wary of people being spoken about that way, so it might be a case of the people of Elbaf taking their measures against this guy too far and pushing him into what he eventually turned into.

One Piece loves this narrative, when you have things like Wano's unjust treatment of the Kurozumi Clan or Doflamingo's treatment when he was a child. Yes, Orochi and Doffy did turn out into terrible, horrible people, but the implication of those narratives is that it's the systems that failed them that created those monsters. It's not to feel sympathy towards them or anything, they really don't deserve that at this point, but rather to understand how they were created, and that the people who unwittingly turned them into such dangers were in many ways in the wrong as well. After all, Tama is also a Kurozumi, for example, and Wano needed to get over their treatment of entire clans for the crimes of a few. We even see that with Yamato being hazed for his father being Kaidou in the cover stories, only for Denjiro to scold the younger generation for this behavior. Not to mention, "the shame of Elbaf" does immediately make me think of "the failure of Germa" and such similar things. In fact, if we wanna push that parallel further, Loki being almost married off to the Charlottes' in a similar way, might have in fact been an attempt at "getting rid of the failure" and letting someone else deal with him, rather than an attempt at making amends with Linlin. I do think it's most likely that Loki will be a bad guy, but I think there will also be a narrative on how cruelty breeds more cruelty. Oda's favorite!

And here he is, the "accursed prince". Wow, what a panel! This is such a good drawing in sense of scale and danger. Incredible artistic work. Immediately leaves such a strong impression on who this character is, it's quite the introduction!

[l-in-the-light]

Advice for One Piece theoretists about the upcoming Strawhat crew members

I watched this vid so you all don't have to. The only thing Ohara got right is Law tbh (but the arguments he listed for him are so-so, he could have fished out so much more). I saw lately a post with big advice for One Piece theoretists to go back to their roots (early sagas), so now here's my piece of advice for all of you who want to crack the mystery of who the last Strawhats are gonna be:

crewmate (nakama) =/= friend (tomodachi). The word nakama appears in manga only when Luffy means "crewmate", it's been always consistent, because that word is clearly a big deal for Luffy. Someone who travels with Strawhats isn't automatically a crewmate. Not every friend will end up becoming a new crewmate either. Remember Water 7? Being a crewmate is a serious business, it's not just regular friends we snatched on our way. Once you're a crewmate, you're part of the family, basically. Family yakuza-style, might I add. Once you join you can't just quit because you feel like it, it's a commitment. So friends like Rebecca, Viola, Stussy, Lilith, Carrot, Bon Clay, Koby are not gonna become actual crewmates. They will always remain friends with Strawhats though!

not every crewmate will choose to take the journey with Strawhats. Take Vivi, Kin'emon or Momonosuke for example. They have their own responsibilities. That being said, if their duties ever get fullfilled, they're hopping on the crew 100%. I can see that happen with Vivi, not so much with Kin and Momo though, Wano is not gonna go anywhere, right? (or is it? :D)

Luffy made promise to Yamato. It's a promise he wants to keep in Ace's stead. This is important for him. People should start taking this seriously and I'm not sure why they don't.

plot convenience isn't enough of an argument for someone joining or not. That would be kinda bad storytelling ngl. Just because someone has "no other place to go" or "would be so useful on the crew" doesn't mean they will become a Strawhat. Being a crewmate ain't so cheap.

potential crewmate doesn't even have to be a friend at first to become a crewmate. Remember Franky's or Robin's case? Luffy was hostile towards Franky for the whole arc, not counting the very final chapters when Franky build them a new ship for free, which is The Moment when Luffy finally started liking him. At the literal end of the arc.

Luffy's final word is the most important one. Try to think of his own criteria, instead of trying to guess what's in Oda's head. Luffy is a simple boy, his criteria are also pretty simple and every Strawhat fits those. It's not about long, tragic and satisfying flashbacks (Zoro's flashback is short, for example), bonding over food, or stuff like that. You want to find Luffy's criteria, go all the way back to the beginning when Luffy meets Koby and then Zoro.

the last Strawhats do not have to be people from early sagas! Early sagas are important, but ignoring the later ones is a huge mistake. There are a few really nice theories that help you narrow it down: for example the theory of 13 Strawhats. Since as early as first OP chapters Luffy's crew is called Mugiwara Ichimi (which means Strawhat crew, but ichimi can be read as a pun: ichi means one, san means 3, Oda loves puns and number plays like that and uses them all the time, also in chapter titles). People also noticed this helpful pattern: there are always four Strawhats joining from each sea Luffy adventures in (Nami, Sanji, Zoro, Usopp from East Blue; Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook from Paradise; that leaves us with Jimbei and three others from the New World).

Yes, I'm a believer in 13 Strawhats theory, just like most Japanese fans. Oda likes giving obscure hints for that theory scattered around. But the actual answer lies in this image:

You have all 13 Strawhats here, disguised as cats. All you need to do is crack the code and figure it out. Have fun!

My hint is: start from who Luffy considers and called a nakama. You need to search through the whole story for it :D

[gabrielokun]

[emotionallychargedtowel]

That post about Higuchi Kouhei and his cat got me thinking about some other tokusatsu-to-BL pipeline actors that are on current or recent BLs, so I thought I'd do a screenshot post about Kamen Rider Revice, a recent toku series that features two lead actors who star in current BLs, plus an actor in a smaller role who was part of a side couple in a BL series that recently completed a second season.

The main character of Revice is Igarashi Ikki, played by Maeda Kentaro, currently playing Ohara Yamato in I Can't Reach You. His siblings are very central to the story as well--by the end of the series, the story is centered around his whole family. Ikki's younger brother Daiji is played by Hyuga Wataru, currently playing Yamasuge Ryuiji in If It's With You.

Here they are having a bath in the opening credits for the show (the Igarashi family runs a public bath house).

I should say at the outset that I can't entirely recommend Revice, especially to folks who don't already have some tokusatsu-watching under their belts. It's a hot mess in a lot of ways. But it does have some really outstanding highlights. The best aspects of the series, in my book, were:

Kagerou (Daiji's demonic alter ego),

George Karizaki (my beloved),

Igarashi Sakura/Kamen Rider Jeanne (the most formidable female Rider I've seen in any series in the franchise), and

the relationship between Sakura and Natsuki Hana (a rare example of a convincing Sapphic ship in a franchise well known for "heated drama between men").

I'm not going to get into 2 and 3 here, as tempting as that would be, but I'll include as much of 4 as time/space permits.

It might seem weird that I'm not recommending a series with some of my favorite characters in the entire Kamen Rider franchise AND a relationship between girls that is a hair's breadth from being canonically queer. It's just too much of a trainwreck to endorse as a whole. But as I said, the highlights are really something.

One of the biggest issues I had with Revice was that Ikki, the protagonist, just isn't a very compelling character. As a result I don't think Maeda Kentaro really got to show the range of his acting abilities in this series. (This just makes me more curious to see him in ICRY. From the excerpts I've seen so far, it seems like he shows a really different side of himself.)

Maeda appreciators might still enjoy the many determined faces and creepy smiles he gets to dish out in this series. Here's a sampling.

It's possible they'll want to look away when he starts doing things like this, though.

Fans of both Maeda and Hyuga might enjoy some of their scenes fighting side by side, including doing their various henshin poses (the moves they do before they transform into their masked Rider forms).

Or when they do things like this bonkers flying kick.

Thankfully, Daiji is a more interesting character than Ikki, so Revice gave Hyuga some more challenging things to do. I thought Hyuga also just really made the most of every opportunity the show presented to him. He was seriously impressive. This is the reason I was sold on IIWY the moment I saw the announcement about it based solely on Hyuga's involvement.

Here's a sampling of Hyuga as Daiji.

In addition to playing Daiji, Hyuga also played Kagerou, Daiji's aforementioned demonic alter ego. Kagerou was formed from thoughts and emotions that Daiji repressed. The biggest of these was his resentment toward Ikki. But apparently Daiji had also been repressing a desire to be a somewhat gender non-conforming goth, because that's Kagerou's other raison d'etre.

In some ways, it's hard to imagine a character more different from Ryuji. If they have anything in common, it's the fact that they both place a high value on honesty.

One other thing that's worth noting about Hyuga's work on Revice is that he was only 17 when the show premiered. He showed major dramatic range in this part, not only playing two very different characters but doing everything from low-key nuanced scenes to bombastic high drama. Not to mention the stunts! Doing all of this at 17 is seriously remarkable.

Now for our bonus dude! There's a secret evil-fighting organization called Weekend that secretly keeps tabs on the Igarashi family for years before coming out of hiding to join the big central battle of the series. One of the Weekend operatives is Ushijima Hikaru.

Look familiar? Maybe not, he didn't make faces like this on his BL series.

How about now? Yep, it's Oku Tomoya, who plays Hanabusa Asuka on both seasons of Minato Shouji Coin Laundry.

Oku has some big scenes and interesting moments in Revice. He does some romantic pining, goes through big-time loss, does quite a bit of martial-arts sparring, gets seriously injured, and more. He even gets to henshin a few times. Here he is getting ready to do just that with Sakura and Hana. Those Weekend uniforms are pretty hardcore in a 70s flight attendant sort of way, but I feel like Oku really sells it here.

While we're on the subject of Sakura and Hana, I feel like I can't mention their relationship without including some moments where their story came particularly close to tipping into full-on yuri.

If you're going to do an enemies-to-lovers story, why not make them full-on superhero nemeses?

The word "date" might not technically get used by the characters, but there's no mistaking that the amusement park hangout Sakura invites Hana on--while she is still a fully-functioning bad guy, I might add--is definitely a date.

Most of the time when a Rider beats their nemesis for the final time they don't hold each other tenderly in the sunset.

By the end of the series, they're in a big tub together at the Igarashi's bath house.

There are tons more examples but you get the idea. If this isn't borderline-yuri I don't know what is.

[tae-rambles]

OP ch 1120 SPOILERS

My reaction as i read:

hi Denjiro where did you come from? was he just on a walk or did he come to meet w Yamato on purpose? also he's the new daimyo of Kibi? did we know that already or is it a new info i cant remember

also i like how Yamato is like "no need for all this, its ok"

a flashback?

oh... never even crossed my mind to ask why was Clover arrested and let go so many times... thats clever

"answer to good and evil"? what does that mean

oh my god another D family! (how do you even pronounce that surname) i wonder which other characters we know of were/are hiding the initial...

i wonder what changed Vegapunk's mind to continue Ohara's research and risking his life if he couldnt understand why Clover did it those 22 years ago

hi Zeff, Patty :D

oh Robin... this is making me sad

damn Atlas...

wtf was that "snap" coming from Lilith

oh Atlas please dont tell me youre about to do what i think

good job Atlas but can ppl pls stop sacrificing themselves for at least five minutes my heart cant take it

but what about Stussy? she can skywalk so she might be fine?

the Marines are just so out of their depth lol

Luffy can hear Emet! :D Luffy's so confused lol

lmao Emet's immediately annoyed w him i cant

oh Emet, he's so sweet! i love himm!! "i've known Emet for only a couple of chapters but if anything happens to him i'm gonna kill Oda and then myself"

aaaah he's talking to you Luffy! but i like how Oda keeps emphasizing that Luffy is his own person, not Nika, not Joyboy, but Luffy

"but there are those who cannot be stopped" under the imposing worm Peter going in for an attack - love this visual storytelling

uh oh... Emet's rusty

and still fended the worm off! you rock Emet! :D

Saturn doing a jumping spider impression

dont fucking talk to the precious Kuma and Bonney you damn spider!

Atlas! D: my poor heart! this is just Pedro all over again

fuck off, York

dont you dare Emet dont you fucking dare! no more sacrificing yourself! no more blowing yourself up! i said no! D:< (also Peter bit off his arm :( )

oh, right, the general population didn't know Roger was a D

Great chapter as always :D, even though it was painful, can't wait for the next one...

i really hope Emet won't sacrifice himself here but it seems that's where it's headed... dammit!

EDIT: i've thought about this some more and was Joyboy really someone who would instruct his people to sacrifice themselves for him and his cause? that doesn't sound right. so maybe Emet has something else up his sleeve?

also, Emet is the second person to lose their arm to a snake-like monster while protecting Luffy. both Emet and Shanks were also waiting for the awakening of the Nika fruit to make their move it seems. i wonder if there are any other parallels between them...

[bengiyo]

Top 5 BL Boys who Knew

Let's talk about the Knowing again! I'm just doing this year.

Sailom (Wedding Plan)

The boy has the most elegant description of the Knowing ever given. He wins.

Zo (Hidden Agenda)

This show was mostly about nothing, but the parts of it that stuck out are how much Zo was punished for Knowing who he was by the boy he liked, his friends, and even his mom.

Ren (Tokyo in April is...)

This boy knew what was coming for him and still chose to suffer to protect the boy he loved.

Han Ba Ram (Sing My Crush)

Another boy who experienced immediate and direct consequences for expressing who he was! His confession was ruined and then stolen from him. He was bullied into silence!

Ohara Yamato (I Cannot Reach You)

Holding in your feelings because you don't want to force your best friend to go through queerness, only to have them explode out of you in the ugliest way possible? Oh yeah, he Knew.

Ask me Top 5 BL Anything

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Maeda Kentaro as Ohara Yamato Kimi ni wa Todokanai. Episode 1

[silver-stargarden]

man, every time I come across a new one piece youtuber I need to immediately watch one of their wano vids to see if they're transphobic or not

if you intricately comb through this entire story and study mythology and storytelling for days on end in order to come up with theories about what you think is going to happen, but you can't take five minutes to learn how to respectfully refer to a trans person? I don't trust your research, I don't trust your intellegence, if you can't refer to yamato by the gender he EXPLICITLY TELLS YOU HE IS IN THE TEXT IN BOTH LANGUAGES, I don't trust your interpretations. period.

joy boy theories lost a subscriber today lmao. also fuck randy troy and ohara

and you know what, instead of just complaining I'm gonna pay it forward and recommend merphy napier, melonteee, ya yo talk show, and the drawk show. the first three respect yamato, the third has an actual trans host, and the fourth hasn't gotten to wano yet but their discussion of impel down (and the whole show honestly) is eye opening.

[pokenoire]

I love I love them I love them LOVE THE CHILDHOOD FRIEND TO LOVERS WITH YAMAKAKE SO MUCH DAMN

THEM SO CUTE

For me they deserve a renewal of the JDrama, an anime and a movie, more Novels/Mangás (more BLCD too) 💖✨🥺🥺🤏

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1133 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back again

Grateful the scans came out today this time around, if it were tomorrow I'd have to wait till Sunday evening since I've got relatives to visit and such, it is that time of year

But today is One Piece day, so it's time to check what the chapter has to offer now that we've properly set down in Elbaf

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too

And the big reveal for the sword thief in Yamato's cover story is...Holdem...the guy Luffy could beat with ease

Tama is captured again and Speed was caught by a fire attack by Kamijiro (the lion head with the same name as the MHA ship that I like ¬_¬)

Seems like Speed always seems to catch strays in Wano too, and where tf is Shinobu? Not like Yamato should struggle with him, in fact Tama should be showing the fruits of her training by not getting caught

The actual chapter begins with a flashback of Ohara, the evacuation ship exploding

But the narration is a forgery, Spandine speaking to the media to pin it on young Robin

A cruel montage follows to remind us that Robin's childhood was rife with cruelty and sadness, being called so many things that were the opposite of who she truly was

Also a reminder how media controls the court of public opinion, random people wishing death upon a child

The reason for this flashback though also reminds us of the things Saul told her - as if we could forget - which is also present

We also see a scene of Robin checking a book of the world, with Ohara no longer marked in position, she writes it in herself but gets grabbed

Back in the present, anchors drop on the Great Eirik as the crew - likely the ones who never went to Skypeia - marvel at the sea of clouds

As they anchor on the western port they have a heart welcome waiting for them

Lilith and Bonney having the same happy pose is cute

Luffy and Co also sail down, with a unique longboat of their own

The ship uses island clouds on its paddles to row through the air, which is quite ingenious

It's called the Svalr which means 'cool' in ancient Norse, in terms of temperature, but may also be a nod to Svalinn, the legendary Norse Shield that blocks the sun enough to protect the realms form its intense heat

Seems Elbaf also has consistently perfect climate, which it seems Vegapunk was probably working on with their temperature regulation in Egghead

Lilith also marvels at the coexistence of technology, which does make me feel like she may stay here

Nami makes a note of Robin's haircut, having expected her to do something like it

Luffy also reunites with Hajrudin - who also still calls Usopp 'Usoland' XD - as he's introduced properly to the New Giant Warrior Pirates

Rodo is at the back chained and crucified, as even Hajrudin omits him from the numbers

Luffy does remind them that he didn't want subordinates, but Hajrudin reminds him back that it's their choice to make

He also praises Luffy for making emperor, noting that news of Big Mom's defeat reached here too

Nami seems curious about singling out Big Mom - especially since Luffy didn't actually beat her, wonder if Kid is indeed here if that'd give him brownie points - as Gerd gives her the short rundown of their familiarity

Yeah cannibalism would be something the overwhelming majority of nations would deem unforgivable...

The rest of the giants are ready to feast though, and Luffy is happy to oblige

Before they rush off however Robin asks Luffy, which snaps them back on the Svalr

Robin wanted to go meet Saul and was happy to go alone, but Luffy is insistent and the crew want to come too

With Gerd steering, she tells the crew that Saul did want to show Robin the library

Luffy's reasonings are pure, feeling honour bound to meet someone who looked after a member of his Nakama - Robin does wonder where he got that sentiment but it's more a matter of Luffy's character

Also Bonney's along for the ride, Robin's taken over the paternal warmth figure for her in the meantime

Hajrudin and Broggy agree to prep and delay the feast for their return, as they intend to bring Saul back with them

Usopp asks about how learned the giants are, as Gerd reveals that Saul is their history teacher but also teaches them about certain books

Interesting to think that upon his debut he regarded Elbaf giants as savages

The group arrive at 'Warrior Springs' another marvelous landscape with waterfalls, near it is the 'Owl Library'

The springs was formed from broken parts of Treasure Tree Adam, which means that the tree does break off naturally, wonder if that's the parts that make up the Sunny?

Luffy is ready to charge in, but Nami holds him back, noting that this is Robin's thing

Alas, she hears what we heard two chapters ago, Saul's fallen and won't get up

Luffy, Sanji and Usopp are annoyed by the twist of fate, while Chopper goes straight into doctor mode

Saul's body is seen by the beach, but Robin only laughs to herself and says she'll go to him alone

It's just like how they first met, cowboy hat and all beached up

Once again he screams upon her approach, failing to scare her once more

It's still surreal this guy is alive after 22 years, very noticeable scars on his face

Saul was playing, unsure of how to break the ice so choosing this way

Robin notes he has the same funny laugh too

Saul joins the group of peg-legs with Aokiji, Shiki, Inuarashi and Zeff, probably snapped off from the ice

Saul pulls Robin up close to get a good look at her, noting that she looks like Olvia - prompting Robin to remember her mother

Saul asks if she heard Vegapunk's broadcast, she heard bits but confirmed the rest via newspapers, since she was kinda in the thick of it

Saul notes that Vegapunk spoke of Ohara's legacy, the voices that were intended to be silenced, and commends their sacrifice for doing so

Robin however notes his scars, reminding him of his own sacrifices

Seems Saul survived by the fires of Ohara melting his ice and sweeping him into the water

We've seen Aokiji freeze parts of an ocean that stay frozen for a month, honestly I doubt that Saul just happened to defrost and fall into the water

He goes on a little rant about the negative press Robin got, but Robin stops him and asks if he's gonna praise her for being alive

Pressed against him in a big hug, Saul does just that, praising her for staying alive for 22 years, for being a survivor and being glad they could meet again

Robin breaks down in the hug, and from afar so does the crew barring Luffy, Jinbe and Zoro

and we end the chapter on a smiling Luffy, but also a break

Not much you can say about that chapter other than it being nice and sweet. There were of course hesitations that Saul's survival would slightly undermine Robin's struggle but having someone who was there from her past tell her that they're proud of her for enduring is quite the catharsis.

There has to be more to come with Saul since he's yet to meet the friends he foretold would be there for Robin, it's also quite symbolic that this rings true even for meeting up with Saul, they didn't let her go alone - Luffy, low on energy and hungry, delayed a feast with giants so that Robin didn't have to go alone! That's how big a deal it is to them. Also this will be another D. for Luffy to meet.

We're getting small bits here and there of Elbaf's worldbuilding too, there are some loose threads to deal with in Elbaf and with the crew - such as Kuma, what to do with Bonney and Lilith, Vivi's secret message etc. - but for now we can let things be nice until shit hits the fan.

To think, almost a year ago we were bawling about Kuma's backstory, now we're tearing up for Saul and Robin's reunion.

[thestalkerbunny]

So I've been reading One Piece since New Years on and off at my own snail pace and I'm currently at Chapter 1082. Out of the Current At the Time of this Post-1122 Chapters. A few things I'd like to say.

-Yamato not joining the crew TRAGIC. Depressed even. It was clear he was needed on Wano more to help Momo basically level up in being a good guardian, but at the same time I wanted Yamato on that CREW.

-Momo is justified in wanting to keep the borders closed a bit longer. Are you kidding me-the fucking CAPITAL LEFT THE GROUND and FLOATED HALF A MILE AWAY AND HAD TO BE DRAGGED BACK AND STILL CRASHED. It's in the SHIT right now. And I'm an 8 year old. In the body of a 28 year old. I need time to LEARN how economics work because that shit is WITCH CRAFT. He's valid in wanting something time to THINK and sort shit out.

-Everything leading back to the destruction of Ohara like: -grabs mic- HEY NAVY. HEY GOVERMENT. YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELVES. You had a gun, you shot it at Ohara out of paranoia and that bullet has ricocheted of so many different walls and hit you at so many angles you are full of more holes than a cartoon character. You keep MAKING YOUR OWN DAMN PROBLEMS.

-I really personally think that in a way-Buggy's performance and persuasion checks are ALWAYS at advantage against everyone he comes across at the cost of his intimidations against Mihawk and Crocodile. He's doing nat 20s on EVERYONE, getting what he wants, and what he needs; and then Mihawk and Crocodile show up and he's rolling 1s and 2s.

-I THINK GOL D. ROGER FINDING ONE PIECE, LAUGHING HIS ASS OFF AT IT AND THEN TELLING NO ONE IS THE ULTIMATE 'THEY WONT GET IT IF THEYRE NOT THERE' PISS OFF MOVE.