Chapter 426 discussion (spoilers)

[marvelB]

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Things just get more and more insane as this arc continues! Summary:



The Buster Call blows up half of the Bridge of Hesitation. The Marines report that Luffy and Lucci are still fighting in the first tower, while 9 pirates (they confirm Zoro and Robin as well) are on the escort ship att he bridge, so the BC ships surround them. The crew is sure that the Marines came to take back Robin, but they won't allow it. The Marines then say that that the group on the bridge are the ones who beat CP9. They're surprised because in the past 800 years the previous generations of CP9 have always guarded Enies Lobby, yet a single pirate crew has taken them out, and their captain is even able to fight so well against Lucci. They conclude that Luffy isn't an amateur after all, but are still confident that he won't beat Lucci, and that the crew will soon be taken care of as well. It's then that the crew spots Luffy, and yell to him that they're all right and have rescued Robin, and are waiting for his return. Lucci says that what Luffy had said about his crew surviving seemed to be true after all, but wonders if he'll still be smiling soon enough, because evil will never thrive in this world....



Meanwhile, the Buster Call sends out 200 of their best Captains to deal with the pirates. Usopp is worried because he remembers the strength of Smoker, who was a captain, but Zoro says that sending out such a force is just proves how afraid of them the Marines really are. Suddenly Usopp notices that Sanji is gone, just when the captains are attacking, and Zoro wonders where he is. Nami suggests to get away from the escape boat to avoid getting it damaged, and Robin says she won't let herself get captured again. Franky fights a captain with an afro who somehow disconnects himself like Buggy, but his body parts look like volleyballs. A captain that Zoro fights catches one of his swords with his bare hands, setting it on fire. Usopp says that he can't hit the captains that he's fighting. Franky says that some of them are DF users, but Robin doesn't care, since DF users are in the crew as well, and Clutches a few captains. Zoro says to just keep fighting them until Luffy gets back.


Luffy and Lucci continue fighting, and Lucci says that Luffy's doping has gotten weaker. He then says that it's proof that Luffy can't defeat Enies Lobby, and even if the island's shape is destroyed, he'll chase down and kill Robin, who fought against the WG, while serving under "dark justice". But Luffy says that they came to take her away from that, and attacks with a Jet Stamp, but Lucci dodges and counters with another Roku Ougan (the secret technique from the previous chapter). Luffy collapses, apparently unconscious. Usopp spots him, and shouts his name. A captain is about to attack Usopp, but Zoro knocks him out of the way, asking what Usopp is doing. Usopp takes off the mask (whoa) and shouts Luffy's name once more.....



Yeesh, things just keep getting worse and worse for the crew! But I wonder what the significance of Usopp taking off his mask means now. Plus, there's other things that should be explained soon, as well (where Sanji disappeared to, the outcome of the Lucci fight, etc.)....


Edit: Oh yeah, there's a colorspread, too! Heh, it sorta looks like the crew is back in Skypiea again...


Edit 2: Holy crap, I just NOW noticed that Zoro's sword (I think it was Yubashiri) broke apart when the captain burned it....

[kari-no-sugata]

Zoro's sword is definitely toast:
http://i3.tinypic.com/2yo673r.jpg

The SFX next to the sword is "bororo" which means "fall apart", "break apart", "in tatters" sort of thing. Maybe this is the "boroboro no mi".

You can see in the next page that Zoro is already using a new sword - looks like he grabbed one of the Marine's (see the one in his right hand):
http://i1.tinypic.com/2hwfzf7.jpg


btw, Cocoro and Chimney claim to be hostages. Nice to see Nami zapping the Marine captains too

Looks like the gang are going to have to beat down the Buster Call after all. Maybe Sanji has gone to destroy the ships - swim underwater, and kick the keel to pieces. Stops new Marines arriving and also means they can get away.

I suspect that when Luffy sees Usopp he'll recover enough to do one final move on Lucci. Maybe he'll have enough power left to join the fight against the 200 high class Marines - they could do with some help.

[marvelB]

Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I realized that the captain actually DID break Yubashiri. If he has the power to make things break apart like that, then he's definitely an opponent that Zoro should avoid (and Franky, for that matter, since most of his body is made of metal)...


But if there was one thing in this chapter that shocked me more, it was Lucci's speech. I had the impression that he cared more about killing people for fun, but it turns out that he's truly devoted to the World Government. It looks like his beliefs are as strong as Luffy's, from the things that he said. Really makes me wonder what will become of him after he's been defeated....


And finally, even if the 200 captains are defeated, there's still the battleships, thousands of lower-ranked Marines, AND the 5 VAs to deal with. Truly a hopeless situation, indeed....

[kari-no-sugata]

Originally Posted by marvelB

Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I realized that the captain actually DID break Yubashiri. If he has the power to make things break apart like that, then he's definitely an opponent that Zoro should avoid (and Franky, for that matter, since most of his body is made of metal)...

Given that the guy is gone in the next scene, maybe Zoro was able to finish him off with a big move (eg 30 pound cannon) quickly.

Bit of a shame that it was Yubashiri that got broken - the weapon trader guy *gave* it to Zoro for free. Well... it's not like any of Zoro's blades are "disposable"

Originally Posted by marvelB

But if there was one thing in this chapter that shocked me more, it was Lucci's speech. I had the impression that he cared more about killing people for fun, but it turns out that he's truly devoted to the World Government. It looks like his beliefs are as strong as Luffy's, from the things that he said. Really makes me wonder what will become of him after he's been defeated....

Well... I guess he believes in / enjoys "dark justice" - ie kill all those in the way.

And finally, even if the 200 captains are defeated, there's still the battleships, thousands of lower-ranked Marines, AND the 5 VAs to deal with. Truly a hopeless situation, indeed....

Well, like I suggested before, if Sanji goes to destroy the keels of those ships, they're going to sink / be unrepairable. Robin can do distance attacks, so could adjust the rudder (or the stearing wheel) to help slow things down. Usopp can do long distance attacks too - as can Zoro. I'm not sure if Nami can do remote long distance attacks - ie somewhere not above her, or where she moved before. Maybe she can use the wind though. Of course, if the Marines get desperate, they'll try to do long range bombardment - which is why it is good idea to concentrate on taking the *ships* out. Well, the nice thing is, upcoming chapters are still going to be tense for a while.

[DrFuko]

Jesus Christ, can things really get any worse for them? Oh yeah, the pigeon can still kill everyone... or not. Its hard to predict this manga these days.

[Dual247]

now that was an interesting chapter with loads of events: zoro losing a precious sword, sanji's disappearance, luffy getting owned, usopp's unmasking, marine's captain power levels. man, lots to take in.

however, most notable to me is zoro's yubashiri getting toasted. this obviously points to the next fallout which is zoro getting a new and more powerful sword. i'm expecting him to get a new sword no later than the very next arc or perhaps even at the end of the current one. let's face it, he needs a new powerful sword to balance out his arsenal. with the wadou and kitetsu on hand, having a weakass marine sword or any other normal sword would not help zoro continue his progress in becoming a better swordsman. so i very much expect him to find the void left by yubashiri soon.

that said, i'm very curious and excited to see what the replacement will be. perhaps another legendary blade that exceeds the quality and power of even the kitetsu but not the wadou. with this new addition, no doubt in most people's eyes, zoro will once again raise to comparable levels to luffy's gears. but poor sanji, he'll be left behind. i always rather those 2 rivals are closer in terms of power level. however with zoro's dream of becoming most powerful swordsman in the work makes that less likely. but even so, i'm anxiously awaiting what he'll get and how.

the thing about the yubashiri is that its not very distinctive. the wadou has kuina's blessing in it, and the kitetsu has that "cool" factor in it. i rarely hear anything about this one. so its not too much of a lost. but hopefully his next one gets some distinction. like i've hear some say it having some kind of seastone effect in it. who knows. btw, LUFFY, GET YOUR ASS OFF THE FLOOR AND KICK THE PIGEON GUY'S ASS!!!

[Slayerx]

Originally Posted by Dual247

the thing about the yubashiri is that its not very distinctive. the wadou has kuina's blessing in it, and the kitetsu has that "cool" factor in it. i rarely hear anything about this one. so its not too much of a lost. but hopefully his next one gets some distinction. like i've hear some say it having some kind of seastone effect in it.

Indeed, i wasn't sure which sword broke until i read here, but i'm glad it was the yubashiri. That whole thing with Zoro testing his luck against the Kitetsu's curse back in east blue was just to good for the kitetsu to be the sword to break... not to mention, when it comes to getting a new sword, i can't help but think Oda might be able to get tagashi mixed up into that aswell ^^

Originally Posted by kari-no-sugata

Well, like I suggested before, if Sanji goes to destroy the keels of those ships, they're going to sink / be unrepairable. Robin can do distance attacks, so could adjust the rudder (or the stearing wheel) to help slow things down. Usopp can do long distance attacks too - as can Zoro. I'm not sure if Nami can do remote long distance attacks - ie somewhere not above her, or where she moved before. Maybe she can use the wind though. Of course, if the Marines get desperate, they'll try to do long range bombardment - which is why it is good idea to concentrate on taking the *ships* out. Well, the nice thing is, upcoming chapters are still going to be tense for a while.

Sanji going to sink the ships is not hard to see at all... though he doesn't need to hit the keel, keel for a ship like this gonna be really strong, he can just hit the softer under belly; ship will still sink... doesn't matter if the ship can be repaired or not, i mean, the marines can always build more ships...

However, concetrating on the ships is gonna be really hard... they are having enough trouble just holding their own against the marine soldiers... not to mention those ships won't sink that easily... Luffy gave one of those ships a gear 3 gomu Ax, and the ship was still floating; sure it did alot of damage, but that giant Gomu ax is one of the strongest attacks in the strawhats arsenal... it will be hard for any of the other strawhats to muster up those kinds of attacks while being attacked by soldiers... attacking from underneth really is the only way for them to go, but the marines will catch on after the first ship sinks, and thus will aim to defned themselves from under water attacks... it's not hard to imagine that they have non-df captains who can fight in the water, and possibly even some mermen amognst their forces... afterall, attacking a ship from below is WAY too obvious a move for them to overlook having a defence for it...

Originally Posted by marvelB

And finally, even if the 200 captains are defeated, there's still the battleships, thousands of lower-ranked Marines, AND the 5 VAs to deal with. Truly a hopeless situation, indeed....

Y'know, i'm not even sure if those 200 are all of their captains and Luietenents... i mean they said the best 200 not all of them, and i kinda wonder if that's 200 out of the entire bustercall, or 200 out of just the two ships parked next to the bridge...

What's interesting about this though is that in this situation, With the vice admrils and all, these captains are sort of like the above average grunts of the buster call (everyone below being the actual grunts)... and yet they are all really strong; not often do we see grunts capable actually putting up a fight in shonen, especially when we think about how easily everyone else in enies lobby was taken out...

(Oh man, now this is one of the capters i really want to see animated, mostly because you KNOW the anime team is gonna extend some more into the fight with the captains)

Honestly, with such powerful firepower, grunts that can actually fight, and the 5 vice adrmils whose strength can rank anywhere under Aokiji... the bustercall is really showing why it's the marines greatest force....

Y'know part of me wonders if the strawhats are really gonna win this one... things are looking more and more hopeless by the second... i mean, in addition to the marines forces, Luffy after his fight with luuchi, win or loose, will not have much energy to fight... not to mention the battleships are surrounding the strawhats, ships that can blow the escort ship out of the water should it try to move... with all this in mind, their doesn't seem to be anyway for them escape... i'm starting to think the strawhats may actually loose this one... they'll be captured and sent to prison, and probably seperated... but one way or another they will breakout, rejoin eachother and escape from to the sea... maybe with the bustercall hot on their trails... it would indeed be a VERY interesting turn of events

[deltara]

Do you recall Usopp telling to a Strawhate mate, that he knows how to use Kabuto? Wait and see.

My predictions 1. Luffy wins to lucchi but the unpredictable will be Usopp's part in this arc using KABUTO

[regasatanum]

Maybe Oda intend to make luffy lose this battle. and to oppose such a big firepower, losing is acceptable. therefore oda keep introducing more and more opposition in this battle to make Luffy looks ok to lose.

Buster Call is supposed to be something terrible isnt it. so... luffy is losing... and struggling.... until.... some old friends of Luffy turned up...

Guess who... Shanks? Dragon? Ace? I will guess Shanks with his fleet. a sea battle.

[Blackage]

I am loving this arc soooo much

[strategos]

Ussop will shine in this part of the Arc.
Luffy will be happy to see that Ussop never left.
The one who will make the rescue will be Iceberg with the Battle Franky ships.
Remember that in the Flash back they were able to defeat Sea kings.

[chitgoks]

regasatanum, i think so too.. shanks will arrive
this situation is hopeless for them.

[yamato_D]

i don't know why people want to see shanks or ace come to the 'rescue'. they have no clue as to what is happening with enies lobby and the straw hats. it would be bogus if they suddenly arrived and saved them all.
i'm sure sanji will do something engenius to save them all or alter the plans of the marines. kinda like what he did to maxim, during the skypea arc

[marvelB]

Yeah, I highly doubt that Shanks/Whitebeard/Dragon are aware of the Enies Lobby situation right now. the ONLY outside help I could see the crew get is from the FF/Galley-La/giants group, but I wouldn't count on seeing them reappear anytime soon....


And as for Sanji, I think it would be pretty cool if he snuck onto one of those battleships, disguised himself as a captain, and used the cannons to blast away those 200 other captains, but it's extremely risky, especially if he gets caught by a VA afterwards....


And as for Zoro, yeah, he's gonna need to get Yubashiri replaced soon. I think it would be awesome if he got one of the other Kitetsu swords (it would be pretty badass for Zoro to be able to fight with TWO cursed swords, heh). And hopefully, next chapter Usopp will somehow help Luffy win (even though Luffy collapsed, he was still in his "Gear" mode, which means that he should still be conscious). Maybe Usopp will reveal Kabuto's secret soon, after all...

[ShikaShika]

I usually lurk the OP forums, but I'm just enjoying the arc too much not to chime in with a few thoughts from time to time.

Originally Posted by Slayerx

not to mention, when it comes to getting a new sword, i can't help but think Oda might be able to get tagashi mixed up into that aswell ^^

You mean Tashigi? If so, I was thinking the exact same thing. ^^

Originally Posted by strategos

Luffy will be happy to see that Ussop never left.

I think you're on to something there. I didn't really realize until right now, that Luffy doesn't even know Ussop is there fighting with him. I'm sure the sight of him will at least partly be a reason to a sudden Luffy comeback. Assuming Luffy is still conscious (or regains his consciousness shortly).

Also, I don't really see anyone in the Mugiwara crew sinking ships... That's not what we usually see them do, they're usually fighting man on man. Of course desperate situations call for desperate measures... but stilll... I think Sanji will probably turn up kicking a lot of marine ass and not much more than that.

[yamato_D]

i was just thinking about how mihawk destroyed all of don krieg's ships by himself. i wonder if he could also take out a buster call by himself....
i mean, we can assume that he's extremely fast, and the battle ships can't be THAT much bigger than those of don krieg's, right? i'm just saying this because if zoro hopes to achieve mihawk's strength, then he should be able to at least take out one battle ship.

[DrFuko]

We are seriously clueless as to what will happen. Nonetheless, the greater the comeback is from the brink of [bender voice]DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM [/bender voice], the greater we will apreciate the mugiwara pirates.

My suggestion is that both Robin and Usopp will be the trump cards this time around. Robin should have plenty of stamina and is the only crew member that is yet to have a break-through. Oh, and lets not forget that Robin hates the BC, with all her heart.

...and there is a 100% chance that we will see Kabuto in this arc. If not, then my perception of 100% sucks.

[strategos]

Probably, USsop might even sink on BC LOL
But I think this might be this actual conversation between ussop and lyffy
Ussop: Luffy what are you doing! Get up and get revenge for the Going Merry. They killed the Going MErry. OR something like it.
THe sword that Zoro lost was the second sword he recieve from the old man, right?

[chitgoks]

great chapter.. thrilling.. ppl thought the fight would have ended by now.. but it's still ongoing.. and the barrage of marines + with devil fruit users.. wow.. cant wait for the anime.. the fights should be awesome

[Slayerx]

Adding on to what i said earlier about the strawhats possibly loosing, i see a lot of great potenial in the strawhats loosing this fight... with the strawhats fatigued from cp9 fights, an army of marines, and five vice admrils waiting, the ground fight seems hopeless and even if they manage to get the escort ship moving there is no way that can escape those bustercall ships now that they are right on top of them... defeat really seems inevitable...

However, in defeat comes good story development and potential... i mean, the strawhats have had their share of individual loses, but never really have they faced with a complete and utter defeat... it will really help add more to the sence that they are not invincible and they can loose big time... By loosing, they will be captured and probably all sent to impel down... Luufy, Zoro, and sanji will find breaking out is impossible due to seastone cells, so it will fall onto ussop and nami to get the breakout going... Robin, however, may get sent to the gov't HQ, and thus after the strawhats breakout, they will be off to an inevitable close enounter with the heads of the world gov't... the strawhats get a brief intro to the guys at the top, but are then forced to retreat due to the 3 adrmils showing up...

also, looking back at older chapters, What i thought was really interesting though, is that in the last chapter of the last mini arc, it was stated that Croc, Mr.1, 2 and 3, were all fated to impel down... Now that could make for a very interesting ancounter for the strawhats... not to mention, now it kinda makes sence why Oda had croc's minons escape but not Croc himself (no real reason for croc not to escape), fewer characters to deal with...

Originally Posted by yamato_D

i was just thinking about how mihawk destroyed all of don krieg's ships by himself. i wonder if he could also take out a buster call by himself....
i mean, we can assume that he's extremely fast, and the battle ships can't be THAT much bigger than those of don krieg's, right? i'm just saying this because if zoro hopes to achieve mihawk's strength, then he should be able to at least take out one battle ship.

Well comparing the bustercall ships to Don krieg's is very faulty... first, We only know that Don krieg's main ship was about the size of a warship, the rest are unknown but we can assume they were smaller... second, size does not equal strength; Don kriegs ships were built outside of the grandline, while the warships were built using the marines resources; the bustercallships are undoubtably of FAR better quality, especially since they are built for war...

Considering how the first warship faired against Luffy's gear 3 Giant Ax, Zoro might be able to do some good damage, but sinking one of those ships will be pretty tough... and that's not considering the marine captains on top of him...

Originally Posted by marvelB

Maybe Usopp will reveal Kabuto's secret soon, after all...

y'know, to be honest, i really don't think there's any secret to Kabuto... it's a just a really good sling shot... i know what ussop said, but i think that was just ussop being ussop

THe sword that Zoro lost was the second sword he recieve from the old man, right?

Correct, the good sword that's not as important as kunia's sword, and not as cool as the cursed sword