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It's created a big issue that Oda has started sprinkling in actual deaths and nobody believes them because we've been conditioned to expect otherwise. Good example is Ashura Doji and Izo died for real during the raid, yet nobody thought it was legitimate when it happened because we also had Kinemon get his skull caved in by Kaido and be fine.

Imu would be a lot easier to get invested in if Oda gave him a character design and he wasn't just a blob with eyes and a crown.

Something special about seeing Krieg and Gin again after all of this. That must be the longest character drought we've had between their last appearance and their return.

Honestly, if we got a God's Valley flashback then I'd be most interested in seeing more of Captain John. He's a name that's floated around since Jaya as one of the main figures of that era, yet we've never gotten much of a chance to see him. Even if it were just a page or two of him clashing with Rayleigh or Gaban then at least we'd have something. I'm also interested in Wang Zhi, but more for his role in the Rocky Port incident than God's Valley.

Speaking of the Nusjuro feat, Franky just went out to silence the allegations that he's too slow. Oda's been giving him a great performance this arc.

According to the mental breakdown of Trolonoa after I tried walking him through the process explaining why slicing the horn of Onigashima wasn't exactly a relevant feat against a character who endured Puncture Wille and was back up a page later.

I believe a big part is the average OL member doesn't grasp just how absurd of a feat Puncture Wille is. They say if Kid's PCD can damage Big Mom then so can "insert attack here", but Oda's clear intended portrayal is that all of those attacks Kid & Law were pulling out at the end were monstrously powerful, and that's the only way to read into that battle when he shows the aftermath of PW had a side by side comparison with Bajrang Gun. I have to let out a chuckle when people pull out Zoro cutting off the Onigashima horn or Kizaru blowing up the mangrove trees as though they are feats equivalent feats to PW, because even just eyeballing should make that a ridiculous comparison.

Kizaru's performance against Snakeman destroyed the notion that guys like Katakuri and King are close to the Admirals, which a lot of people tried to run with over the years, so that's a win for the Admirals. He's also remained conscious after White Star Gun and Booming Dawn Cymbal, so he's not a slouch in durability, just naturally not up to par with freaks like Big Mom or Kaido. The biggest thing he's missing is good offensive showings because too many characters have been walking off his attacks. We have characters talk about how dangerous lasers are, but Sanji is countering them with his kick and the likes of Franky, Bonney, and Sentomaru have been recovering from his attacks. He's yet to put a dent in another top-tier outside of Whitebeard whose durability had taken enough of a dive to be ran through by Squardo. I don't believe his role in this arc is finished since Oda's made a point that he wasn't KO'd from the last attack and just resting, but until he pulls out some...

The reveal that Robin is a terrible chess player? She's blocked off the path of her bishops, has set her knights to defend her pawns rather than the other way around, boxed in the Queen, and is sending her King out into battle instead of keeping him protected behind the wall of pawns. This is really going to damage the perception of her as a scholar.

Great chapter, Vegapunk is already dropping bombshells. Sanji and Bonney got to look really cool. My favorite was the panel of the Weak Trio against Saturn. This is the Usopp that I've been missing, the one that is scared and terrified of the situation, but when he sees Robin is afraid he doesn't hesitate to put himself between them. Chopper using his other points that aren't just monster point again. Probably the only time I can recall where Nami stepped in and made the save carrying someone away. We all know the Mid and Monster trio are fearless in situations like this, so it's cool to see the Weak Trio step up and be the brave ones against an opponent that has Robin shook.

Maybe a bit premature to try power scaling them, but seeing them in action, I'm sort of subscribing to the notion of the 5 Elders being ranked by proximity to the sun. I'd say Warcury, Mars, and Nusjuro definitely have more top 3 vibes going for them than the other two right now. 1. Topman Warcury : Strong vibes of the main muscle here, and was usually always front and center of Gorosei group shots with the most dialogue as well. He is the main one being pitted against Emperor Luffy right now, his haki was crazy enough to make Luffy freak out, and he's evidently a bigger durability freak than Kaido as Luffy hurt his hand trying to attack him. 2. Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro : Just seems to fit the mold to serve as lancer of the group, to Warcury's brute frontliner. Oda really seems to like the idea of the cool stoic swordsman being the number #2 guy among a group of fighters. 3. Marcus Mars : The brains and analyst of the crowd, less combat geared in his role so far and more the big...

Dorry and Brogy are a good taste of why Elbaf is considered the mightiest nation in One Piece. It really seems these two would have blown through all of Wano's forces outside of Momonosuke and Yamato, and I'm not expecting them to be the best Elbaf has to offer. I'm betting on Loki being above these two, and if there is an Odin on the island then he should stand above everyone. Seeing the extent of those two power really drives home just how much more hopeless Kid's predicament actually was.

The three week break is disappointing, but I felt this was a fun chapter to get before the break at least. Luffy's speed feat this chapter was pretty wild. Saturn shoots his venom and before it can reach the group Luffy is able to uproot a tree, nibble it down into a baseball bat, paint it black with a can of paint he manifested from nothing, and swing the venom before it reaches. Those balls shouldn't have been slow at all if they are an attack from Saturn. Lucci impresses, enduring the Zoro attack and the follow-up from Jinbe really helped solidify his stocks after last chapter threatened them. If he went down from that attack then I'd have to bump him down slightly on my list, but Oda is still treating him with respect.

Hajrudin speaking up those two as his idols was the first sign that those two were more impressive than the pre-skip let on. Dorry and Brogy you can chalk up a lot to early writing not capturing their full power because Oda didn't realize the scope of the series at the time. I don't think it's dumb to have been conservative with them since their power wasn't that strongly defined at the time, they were in a vague territory of probably stronger then let on, but no way to know how much. If Oimo and Kashii start doing anything impressive like face a Vice Admiral then I'm calling a retcon there since we saw them embarrassed by the Franky Family and Galley La, and there's no real way to spin that they were actually strong in EL.

Assuming Lucci doesn't get back up, the way he went down doesn't build me a lot of confidence that he's ahead of Katakuri or King. He just landed no offense the entire arc outside of the Seraphim who didn't bother to dodge, Atlas who is a scrub, and Stussy who dove in front of his attack. Lucci must have gotten some licks on Zoro off-panel since he's bleeding, but as far as what we actually saw on-screen he hasn't been able to connect with his offense. It's tough to see him being able to tag Katakuri reliably when Luffy and Zoro weren't pressed dodging what he was throwing out. Zoro definitely had to dig deeper into his bag for that win against King as well. Had to develop his new technique and use one of his highest level moves to secure it. It doesn't seem he was ever in serious danger against Lucci. I'd still say he's shown enough to warrant being placed on that level, but he's not above that like people were speculating and arguably brings up the low end of the spectrum...

The OL is really calling this an anti-feat for Kizaru and a terrible performance. Did we not see giant G5 Luffy stretch out Kaido and use him as a jump-rope last arc, someone who would be deemed stronger than Kizaru by any impartial reader? What were they expecting Borsalino to do here if that's what they consider an anti-feat? Flex out of Luffy's grip? There's a very slim list of characters who should be contesting Nika in pure physical strength, and Kizaru is not on that list. Even Blackbeard will have to rely on Gura destructive power and being able to cancel the form to compete.

If Van Auger ends up having any sort of parity with Yasopp then him being able to destroy the biscuit knights makes sense, since Yasopp > Cracker should be the logical conclusion of Brannew saying the RHP commanders are above average. That said, I wouldn't put stock in that anime feat since the actual manga had Jean Bart tanking those bullets and he's set to be a future Usopp opponent whom at this point I have doubts will reach Yasopp level with how little Oda has developed him as a fighter post-skip.

Dorry and Brogy have feats that are still impressive in the post skip era. Moving a mountain sized skeleton and blowing clean through the island eating goldfish are feats that still hold up next to a lot of high ranking officers of the New World. The fact guys like Hajrudin still revere them after so much time and they wiped the Kid pirate remnants who should be on level with Jean Bart, Penguin, and Shachi... I could see them being a match for the non-RT5 Supernova, but with potential to end up in the Yonko Commander range if Oda really wants to drive home Elbaf being a stronger nation than Wano.

Life is better without spoilers anyways.

2024 in the OL is off to a real hot start. The worst take I've seen of the new year so far, but only because ShWanks comparing Sanji to the Flash came at the tail end of 2023.