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One Piece Manga |OT| ZEHAHAHAHA! The Name of this Age is Blackbeard!

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RomanceDawn

Member
Wow what a chapter. No action, just powerful words!

  • Aokiji may have allied with Black Beard but I still stand pretty firmly on the side that he isn't one of Teach's 10 super commander captains.
  • My guess is that Capone is allied with Big Mom, he showed up as back up for Tamago and Pekoms but only after Sanji and the gang pulled something off and got away.
  • I would have never guessed the Kid alliance was going after Shanks. I thought for sure Kaido or Big Mom.
  • That cat person from Hawkins' crew can be seen partying with the other established crew mates from Kid Alliance.
  • Oh and Oda's gag like SBS about Killer eating stick food through his mask becomes reality!
  • That winter island drake is on is probably the same island that was mentioned and seen as being one that Kiado really liked. Only the trees are very different. Not just that they don't look artificial, but they look like Bonsai trees. There could be a lot of little factors behind that but just pointing it out. Kaido could be small like the Bonsai and the wind and snow just makes it look like those ears/horns are shrouded in the clouds, or he really could be a giant. Or maybe thats a big owl(like a big version of the owl in Thriller Bark and Kaido rides that!).
  • A part of me wonders now if Kaido really isn't some kind of snow owl and thats why he likes the winter island. Zoan I would assume.
  • And that marine in fighting! Does Fuji not care to return the Marines right away or will he half assedly attempt to "capture" the Luffy and Law? Maybe he'll go all out!
So exciting! Too bad this very day will cary on into the next few chapters. I want to see Jinbe's reaction and while we still could without jumping a day into the future, the only time he could have gotten the news on this day seems to be during his party and I don't see Oda backing up to that scene.
 

smurfx

get some go again
Yeah, killing Shanks is Final villain type stuff. I think Shanks will be kille dby the end of the series, but it'll be Blackbeard who does it. No chance in hell does Kid do it
my guess is that the kidd alliance will be able to weaken shanks enough to where blackbeard can then crash the party and kill shanks and his crew. this is something i absolutely see blackbeard doing. then again blackbeard might end up crashing luffy's battle with kaido and killing kaido and taking credit. in the end it might be luffy/blackbeard/big mom who are the big powers left. blackbeard will most likely be the biggest power as he will likely take in any remnants from kaido's crew and others.
 
Is it that hard to assume that when Blackbeard and Shanks fought, they were nowhere near to the level of power they are today?

Going by the timeline, it had to have been over 20 years ago. They both weren't in their prime.
 
This chapter was awesome. And it lends credence to a lot of the better theories I've read as of late. Particularly, that the Marines and World Gov will eventually split, that Kuzan is with Blackbeard, that Kidd and friends are after Shanks, and that Kaido is probably a damn Hercules beetle. Wouldn't be surprised if he started off as a beetle and ate a Hito Hito fruit that made him into a giant. Can't wait to see what follows.
I think I'm ready to reread One Piece again. Just read the first chapter again and it's still the best introduction to OP one can hope for. And maybe the best OP chapter ever. It had everything and pumps me up every time. Just perfect.
Chapter 145 gives it some steep competition tho
 

smurfx

get some go again
I assume he's going to impel down

or maybe get executed
it depends on who in the world government is backing doflamingo. maybe because everything became so public they will be forced to jail him but that doesn't mean somebody from the world government won't interfere and possibly jail break doflamingo before he is taken to impel down. that way doflamingo will be able to get hunted down by kaido for not delivering his sad fruits. i really want the theory that doflamingo made ceasar put in some mind control state into the sad fruits that allows doflamingo to control them all to be true. that means doflamingo might inadvertently help luffy and law by making every single sad fruit user turn against kaido.
 
I might be remembering wrong but didn't Shanks say he was caught off guard by Blackbeard?

In either case I can totally see Blackbeard doing that kind of damage to Shanks. We don't even know how strong Shanks even was that many years ago. Sure, he beat some random bandits but almost died from a smaller sea monster that Luffy would've been able to one hit ko today.

Im pretty sure Shanks said the exact opposite lol. Something to the effect of "and its not like i was caught off guard either" talking to Whitebeard.
 
I don't think it'll be that simple. He still can black mail the celestial dragons about Mariejois' national treasure

Kind of hard to actually use that when he's locked up in jail with no way to get the info outside. Plus, I assume he had some piece of evidence he needed as well to prove his claims that he no longer has access to
 

smurfx

get some go again
i'm wondering what exactly aokiji does for blackbeard. don't think he is fighting for him but maybe he is some kind of information broker? maybe aokiji is the one that is telling blackbeard what the other emperors are up to. perhaps his final goal is getting all the emperors to fight and weaken one another.
 

Metal B

Member
  • Aokiji may have allied with Black Beard but I still stand pretty firmly on the side that he isn't one of Teach's 10 super commander captains.
This is the strangest of all new developments.
If Aokiji is really working for Blackbeard to later double cross him, wouldn't Blackbeard, the biggest traitor in all of One Piece, look right through him? Even if the whole battle between Aokiji and Sakazuki was just a play and he sacrificed leg for the mission to make it really look like, he separated from the Marines, i can't see Blackbeard falling for all of this. The only way this could work is, Blackbeard has to really, really believe that he is in complete control. He knows that Aokiji will betray him someday and he simply uses him in the meantime, but at the same time he isn't aware, that this is all part of Aokiji's plan. Blackbeard being outplayed in his own game, would be poetic justice.

But on the other hand the Gorosei don't sound like, they know about such a mission. So either Aokiji acts independent, the marines act independent from the World Government (which would be likely, since Sakazuki doesn't want to be a puppet) or he works for a third party (both Shanks or the Revolution Army would be possibilities).

No matter what, having a Ex-Admiral in your command, is a heavy portrayal of power. And an Ex-Admiral has a high chance to get into Blackbeard's inner circles.
 
Luffy beat that thing in one hit as soon as he set sail, Shanks lost his arm on purpose. He tells Whitebeard when he visits the Moby Dick.

And yea, BB's been hiding his strength the whole way, otherwise he never would have been able to give Shanks that scar.

Lol, why on earth would he lose it on purpose? That doesn't even make sense. No, he lost it because he was too weak and because it was a worthy sacrifice to save Luffy.
 

Qurupeke

Member
This is the strangest of all new developments.
If Aokiji is really working for Blackbeard to later double cross him, wouldn't Blackbeard, the biggest traitor in all of One Piece, look right through him? Even if the whole battle between Aokiji and Sakazuki was just a play and he sacrificed leg for the mission to make it really look like, he separated from the Marines, i can't see Blackbeard falling for all of this. The only way this could work is, Blackbeard has to really, really believe that he is in complete control. He knows that Aokiji will betray him someday and he simply uses him in the meantime, but at the same time he isn't aware, that this is all part of Aokiji's plan. Blackbeard being outplayed in his own game, would be poetic justice.

But on the other hand the Gorosei don't sound like, they know about such a mission. So either Aokiji acts independent, the marines act independent from the World Government (which would be likely, since Sakazuki doesn't want to be a puppet) or he works for a third party (both Shanks or the Revolution Army would be possibilities).

No matter what, having a Ex-Admiral in your command, is a heavy portrayal of power. And an Ex-Admiral has a high chance to get into Blackbeard's inner circles.

I believe that Aokiji wanted to change the world, like Smoker or Fujitora. He has his own sense of justice. He found the opportunity when he had the choice to become a Fleet Admiral, that's why he fought Kuzan. He lost so he realized that he couldn't accomplish anything as a Marine any more, that's why he left and joined Blackbeard. Obviously, he's going to use him but BB will also use him. In the end, he'll probably inflict some damage to BB but he will lose, either that meaning his life or he won't achieve his goal, at least directly.
 
He bet his arm on the new generation. It's a shonnen mangá, it makes sense.

So let me get this straight. In your fantasy:

Shanks is strong enough to defeat the monster, but decides to lose his arm against it on purpose, for no reason whatsoever other than it being symbolic.

Ok. Yeah, that makes sense.
 

Diablos54

Member
So let me get this straight. In your fantasy:

Shanks is strong enough to defeat the monster, but decides to lose his arm against it on purpose, for no reason whatsoever other than it being symbolic.

Ok. Yeah, that makes sense.
Luffy is strong enough to one hit the monster when he first sets sail. Shanks had Haki when he saved Luffy of course he could have taken out that monster. After the attack when he's in the water he's not even moving (at least in the anime), he's just floating there still as fuck. Shanks bet his arm on inspiring Luffy to become pirate king and it worked.
 

Jigolo

Member
Shanks is gonna wreck those Kids. The only think I could think of happening and how the Kid Alliance will get their chance is that both them and Blackbeard pirates will attack the Red Haired Pirates.
 

demidar

Member
I believe that Aokiji wanted to change the world, like Smoker or Fujitora. He has his own sense of justice. He found the opportunity when he had the choice to become a Fleet Admiral, that's why he fought Kuzan. He lost so he realized that he couldn't accomplish anything as a Marine any more, that's why he left and joined Blackbeard. Obviously, he's going to use him but BB will also use him. In the end, he'll probably inflict some damage to BB but he will lose, either that meaning his life or he won't achieve his goal, at least directly.

It could be that Kuzan and Blackbeard technically have different, non-opposing goals so the future success of one doesn't impel either to backstab the other (for now). Blackbeard becoming the Pirate King (or his efforts to reach that goal) is fairly likely to cause some disturbance to the power balance maintained by the World Government and the Marines which could be a reason Kuzan is tagging along (he might ally with Luffy later on if he sees it as more beneficial to his goals).

This is all speculation of course.
 

Diablos54

Member
I guess, Shanks wasn't as strong as he became 12 years later.
Maybe so, but he still had Haki, no way he'd have that and still lose the arm by accident, it was a calculated move.

If Luffy could one hit it 7 years later, there no way Shanks with Haki couldn't have done the same thing if he so chose.

No, we know he fought Hawkeye to a standstill before loosing his arm. It was likely just a choice between letting Luffy die and loosing his arm.
Forgot about that! Would make even less sense that he lost it by accident if he was strong enough to go toe to toe with Mihawk. Hell, Zoro couldn't even do that now I would guess!
 
Luffy is strong enough to one hit the monster when he first sets sail. Shanks had Haki when he saved Luffy of course he could have taken out that monster. After the attack when he's in the water he's not even moving (at least in the anime), he's just floating there still as fuck. Shanks bet his arm on inspiring Luffy to become pirate king and it worked.

So... you think Luffy wouldn't have been inspired to become a pirate if Shanks hadn't lost his arm? Are you for real? So let's imagine an alternate reality. Shanks defeats the monster and doesn't lose his arm. Luffy hangs out with Sabo and Ace, both of whom want to become pirates. Sabo leaves first. Then Ace. And then Luffy... stays. Because Shanks didn't lose an arm.

Ok. That makes even more sense.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
So let me get this straight. In your fantasy:

Shanks is strong enough to defeat the monster, but decides to lose his arm against it on purpose, for no reason whatsoever other than it being symbolic.

Ok. Yeah, that makes sense.

Actually thats exactly what happened. He forged a unbreakable bond with Luffy and laid out the Blueprint showing him what Pirates are capable off by being willing to sacrifice his arm to rescue someone close to him.

Losing his arm had no negative effects on Shanks, he is as strong as before - it was always just symbolic gesture.
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Shanks "betting his arm on the new era" just means he sacrificed it to save Luffy. Ya'll can speculate that he lost it on purpose, but he never said or even implied that. Even the biggest badass can be hurt in a desperate or unexpected moment. See: Whitebeard vs Squard.

And fighting Hawkeye to a standstill doesn't mean a ton, this was a long-ass time ago, they were both waaay weaker than modern-day haki-god Shanks.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Well, I stand by what I said. These thoughts on Shanks losing his arm on purpose are absolutely ridiculous. Shanks was too weak, simple as that.

I think the idea that Shanks would be too weak to face a Seamonster is as ridiculous as thinking he lost his arm on purpose ;-) I see where you are coming from and its a solid interpretation of the events... but Shanks wasnt too weak when his willpower alone was enough to make the Seaking back off.

Losing his arm wasnt much for Shanks, because as said it didnt have any negative impact on him, his power or status. For Luffy it was a defining moment which definitely shaped his character and what kind of Pirate he wants to be.

They arent called Strawhats for nothing and Shanks is one reason why Luffy wont have anyone hurt the people around him...no matter what it takes.

Then again its fine to disagree on such topics, would be boring anyway if everybody had the same opinion :-D
 

Metal B

Member
No, we know he fought Hawkeye to a standstill before loosing his arm. It was likely just a choice between letting Luffy die and loosing his arm.
They both were properly much weaker back then.
Also people are not always made out of iron in One Piece. People can lose limps, be shoot or cut like normal people (even so they die very, very, very slowly).
 
I think the idea that Shanks would be too weak to face a Seamonster is as ridiculous as thinking he lost his arm on purpose ;-) I see where you are coming from and its a solid interpretation of the events... but Shanks wasnt too weak when his willpower alone was enough to make the Seaking back off.

Losing his arm wasnt much for Shanks, because as said it didnt have any negative impact on him, his power or status. For Luffy it was a defining moment which definitely shaped his character and what kind of Pirate he wants to be.

They arent called Strawhats for nothing and Shanks is one reason why Luffy wont have anyone hurt the people around him...no matter what it takes.

Then again its fine to disagree on such topics, would be boring anyway if everybody had the same opinion :-D

.

So... you think Luffy wouldn't have been inspired to become a pirate if Shanks hadn't lost his arm? Are you for real? So let's imagine an alternate reality. Shanks defeats the monster and doesn't lose his arm. Luffy hangs out with Sabo and Ace, both of whom want to become pirates. Sabo leaves first. Then Ace. And then Luffy... stays. Because Shanks didn't lose an arm.

And besides, Luffy already looked up to Shanks.

I see your point -- you state it well -- but I reckon he would've shaped Luffy without losing an arm.
 

Lunar15

Member
Yeah, the guy who split open the sky by merely touching swords with whitebeard, who forced a stalemate with the world's greatest swordsman, and who stopped Akainu's magama punch with one arm and a sword, was weak.

We even see Shanks use haki on the sea monster in the very same scene that he loses his arm. He had the ability to stop it.

It's a multi factor thing:

1. Oda didn't have his power levels sorted out. He didn't know he'd have armament haki or people with powers that amounted to nukes

2. He absolutely had to have that symbolism in there. It was a constant through all of his drafts of Romance Dawn. The whole point of that chapter is to set up luffy's (and the audience's) ideal of what a "pirate" is. You don't get the impact if shanks doesn't lose an arm. Also, having a dude without an arm is really "pirate-y".

3. He also surely got stronger over time, but I still don't think the implication was that he was weak. As I said, he scared off the sea monster in the very same scene.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
They both were properly much weaker back then.
Also people are not always made out of iron in One Piece. People can lose limps, be shoot or cut like normal people (even so they die very, very, very slowly).

Sure they can the scene just shows that Shanks was prioritizing saving and holding on to Luffy instead of letting him go and getting rid of the Seaking first. Im sure he could have tried to fight the SK first, without loosing his arm but he might have had risked Luffy well being in the process.

This really isnt about past Shanks being a invincible bad ass, but he knew exactly what he was doing and could have prevented loosing his arm.
.

And besides, Luffy already looked up to Shanks.

I see your point -- you state it well -- but I reckon he would've shaped Luffy without losing an arm.

Its likely that Luffy still would have grown to be the Pirate we know today, but with that gesture Shanks more or less guaranteed the longterm impact of the incident. Even as a kid Luffy had already quite the dominant personality - meeting the Red Hair Pirates as well as his adventures with Sabo/Ace shaped Luffys characters and his core values and he hasnt really changed ever since.

He already looked up to Shanks because he was powerful...which made him sacrificing his arm for Luffy even more impact - Kid Luffy tonight he knew it all but didnt understand why Shanks would go this far to save him.

Its just has been my interpretation ever since i read the Manga - you could be right as well that eh Shanks was just surprised and couldnt handle the situation without losing his arm. I think both interpretation can exist somehow.
 

Jigolo

Member
Shanks was too weak? Hahahahahhahahahahahaha. Well that's one way to look at it

Here's what I think happened. In order to save Luffy in such a short window of time his arm had to be sacrificed. It was either save Luffy and lose an arm or just let Luffy become breakfast. He wasn't fast enough to save Luffy and come out of it unscathed given how quick he had to react.
 
Luffy couldn't control his haki at first; he didn't even know he had it or how it worked. The same could go for Shanks. He could also have learned it earlier thanks to Rayleigh. I agree on the power levels, I was planning to bring it up but thought it'd be too complex to put into short words.

Now, this was ages ago. Look at how much Luffy grew from the when he first left the island to how strong he is now. Don't you think Shanks would've grown tremendously since Luffy was a child to where he is now? He has been at sea for so many more years than Luffy.

Yeah, I'm 100% certain. To me it's 100% believable that Shanks went from being "weak" (and by weak he was still obviously above the average human but not strong enough to defeat a sea monster) to being able to stop Akainu in so many years of training.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Luffy couldn't control his haki at first; he didn't even know he had it or how it worked. The same could go for Shanks. He could also have learned it earlier thanks to Rayleigh. I agree on the power levels, I was planning to bring it up but thought it'd be too complex to put into short words.

Now, this was ages ago. Look at how much Luffy grew from the when he first left the island to how strong he is now. Don't you think Shanks would've grown tremendously since Luffy was a child to where he is now? He has been at sea for so many more years than Luffy.

Yeah, I'm 100% certain. To me it's 100% believable that Shanks went from being "weak" (and by weak he was still obviously above the average human but not strong enough to defeat a sea monster) to being able to stop Akainu in so many years of training.

This is also totally plausible and would surprise if this was the case. At the end of the day it wasnt "power" what impressed Luffy but the decisions Shanks made prioritizing Luffy over his own well being.

Only the fact that he didnt lose any of his power while loosing his arm makes me believe that it was a somehow calculated move. And even if he wasnt as strong as Yonkou Shanks he made a very competent impression and already had gathered some potentially strong crew member. Makes it more difficult to believe that he didnt know what he was doing...he was part of the Pirate Kings Crew and couldnt anticipate how to handle a Seaking ?

And yeah people can get stronger over time but i dont think Shanks being as powerful as you suggest would be able to rise to a Yonkou in such short time, his crew doesnt rely on DF or special fency powerups...yet they were able to cruise the Grandline and had access to Devilfruits. Just doesnt add up.
 

Harmen

Member
Shanks is gonna wreck those Kids. .

I think so too. I would not be surprised if Oda uses Kidd & co, which were/are the top tier of the supernovas, to show how powerful Yonkou are (and indirectly hype Kaidou with that). So far the only Yonkou we saw truly displaying his power was an ageing/diseased man planning to invest his life into a new generation. (also, Blackbeard is likely now much stronger than he was then).

I also believe Shanks will be beaten at a certain point (by BB probably), but that is probably endgame, after Luffy already met with Shanks to party.
 

Blackhead

Redarse
I guess, Shanks wasn't as strong as he became 12 years later.

No, we know he fought Hawkeye to a standstill before loosing his arm. It was likely just a choice between letting Luffy die and loosing his arm.

Maybe so, but he still had Haki, no way he'd have that and still lose the arm by accident, it was a calculated move.

If Luffy could one hit it 7 years later, there no way Shanks with Haki couldn't have done the same thing if he so chose.

Forgot about that! Would make even less sense that he lost it by accident if he was strong enough to go toe to toe with Mihawk. Hell, Zoro couldn't even do that now I would guess!

A plausible simpler explanation is that the seamonster was a lot weaker 7 years later. Many creatures have a shorter prime and lifetime that humans.
 

Harmen

Member
I think Shanks simply recklessly screwed up in a rush to try and save Luffy. People tend to disregard safety when they are in panic/a rush to safe someone dear. No reason to overthink powerlevels here, in my opinion. We have seen Luffy almost die many times because of stupid mistakes as well.
 

Lunar15

Member
That said, I wouldn't belittle Blackbeard's strength either. He's constantly referred to as a competent fighter long before he ever got the devil's fruit. I also think that Shanks wasn't as strong when he fought Blackbeard back in the day. However, a scar hardly means that he "beat" shanks.

I have no idea if the arm-loss was calculated, the result of lulffy's predicament, or a complete accident, but either way: Shanks could have beaten that sea monster. I don't think there's any question about it, even in that chapter with none of that later context. The very next scene where he scares it off with his haki is meant to imply this.

It's a shonen manga. Oda's gonna put symbolism above logic. It's what he does. He often forgoes completely reasonable and logical conclusions just to set up something that looks way cooler instead.
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Guys it has nothing to do with "strength." Again, see Whitebeard's downfall. Luffy was half a second away from being eaten, Shanks just did what made sense to him instinctively, which was rush in and grab Luffy away. He did not think "ha ha, as a powerful man, I will perform this reasoned and powerful attack to save this lad in peril!" He went OH FUCK and grabbed Luffy, lost an arm in the process, then looked back at the sea monster like "don't even fucking try it."

Being STRONG does not mean you are invincibly level-headed in every situation ever and can perform exactly the optimal action no matter what. Priority one was "get Luffy away," and he did that, and lost his arm. The act may have inspired Luffy, but this notion that it was a PLAN to lose his arm to inspire Luffy is frankly absurd. "OH FUCK, wait I bet if I rescue Luffy in a way that injures myself gravely it will be a boon for his future piracy yes let's do that." I don't think so.

You need only look at Ace's death to see a virtually identical situation. Ace could've deflected Akainu's lava punch any number of ways if he had time to think about it. But instead he threw his body in the way. And boy that sure wasn't from a desire to "inspire" anyone, nor was it because of any kind of weakness. It was a desperation move wherein someone else's safety was of the highest priority, and nothing more.
 
I think people need to realize that Blackbeard getting hurt by Luffy doesn't mean much. The guy takes twice as much pain from attacks than normal people. The fact that the guy walked away perfectly fine after being attacked by a raging Whitebeard proves how strong he is.
 
I think so too. I would not be surprised if Oda uses Kidd & co, which were/are the top tier of the supernovas, to show how powerful Yonkou are (and indirectly hype Kaidou with that). So far the only Yonkou we saw truly displaying his power was an ageing/diseased man planning to invest his life into a new generation. (also, Blackbeard is likely now much stronger than he was then).

I agree with this, it'd be an effective way to demonstrate the power scale, plus he's seemingly the only yonko the would beat them and leave them alive.

Probably while throwing them a party in honor of the effort...
 

kurahador

Member
I think people need to realize that Blackbeard getting hurt by Luffy doesn't mean much. The guy takes twice as much pain from attacks than normal people. The fact that the guy walked away perfectly fine after being attacked by a raging Whitebeard proves how strong he is.

He's a D, that's gotta be one of the reason for his resilience.

Which in turns is similar to Luffy.
 
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