[Manga] Chapter 442 Discussion
 

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There are a few confirmed spoilers.

My, my, that was rather surprising but very amusing. The idea of an afro-haired skeleton zombie sounds fun XD Plus, lol at the recent spoiler pics of this new character.

Oh man, I enjoyed this much more than the Ace/Blackbeard fight. Brooke (the skeleton guy) is the most awesome undead guy EVER. There's not a full translation yet, but the parts I liked best were when Luffy actually asks him if he can poop (which he responds yes), and he even asks Nami if he can see her panties! XD I hope he does join the crew, and as the musician, at that. But if not... well, maybe he'll be one of those "helper" characters for the main story arc (like Pauly, Pell, etc.). Either way, I just want this guy to stick with the crew for a good while....

Am i the only person that thinks the afro skeleton guy looks like Saul Hudson AKA 'Slash' of Guns n Roses?
Now i just hope he's a musician :)

Not just Slash, but Brooke even looks like Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas (which, as I recall, is one of Oda's favorite movies). But now that I think more about it, Brooke most likely won't join the crew (as much as I want him to...). After all, he probably follows that old pirate story forula of having some sort of "curse" that leaves him bound to the Florian Triangle or something. I really hope that this guy has some crazy abilities (preferably music-related)...

"Won't you be my nakama"?

What a curveball he has thrown us... here's to a much higher quality raw

isn't Demon Triangle a place where a lot of people, well i like this new character and hope that he will join the crew he is really a unique character but isn't it too fast for a new crew member to join ??

Oh man, I just read a translation of the chapter. Some really funny lines, one of my faves being when Luffy thanks God for the "treasure barrel" and Zoro responding with "...says the guy who kicked "God's" ass in Sky Island..." And I also noticed that Brook has a "Yohoho" laugh. Man would it be awesome if he sang a sea shanty. I can imagine it now:


"Yohohoho, and a cup of tea!" ;)

I do have doubts about afro skeleton guy though. Kokoro clearly stated its the place where many ships vanished, I dont really trust him, this has to be some kind of trick.

Way to ruin our fun. Just kidding, after all he could turn out like Nami, be good to just get something of the crew, turn evil again and because of Luffy or someone he'll turn good once again and join the crew for real.

Maybe, if he is a permanent member.... he can be a butler or something. Franky's already the musician. Although.... maybe his role in the ship has to do with the fact of whethe or not he can crap altogether.

This seems a bit too sudden for Oda. No one on Luffy's crew joined at the simple words of "Hey, join us!" Even Ussop had to go through all that fight and stuff.

Luffy: You should join my crew!
Skeleton: Sure!

Best. Recruitment. ever :p
But ya, if anything, he's just gonna be a temp

but...but... he has an afro, and a top hat... how can you not trust a skeleton with a top hat and afro... a gentleman skeleton :heh:

So, does that mean that Luffy now has to make due with a skeleton crew? <bada bing>

Thank you, thank you! I'll be here all week. :D

I thought it's a great idea to have the afro-skeleton guy join the crew just like that. For some reason, I'b be delighted if he really gets to be a permanent addition (or at least the whole next bigger arc). It would be so refreshing and unconvetional after all the blood and tears style the others had to go through to join up.

I agree, it's an excellent way for him to join the crew :)

Only one chapter and i love the guy already :D

Afro+skeleton = awesome.

Seriously guys, you know by now that there's no way a crew member would join so easily - in one chapter too.

There's been an unofficial "rule" from the entire manga up to date, that if a new crew member joins, there's a big battle that comes with it.

Luffy battled the Morgans when Zoro joined
Luffy, Zoro and Nami fought Kuro before Ussop joined
The strawhats fought with Don Krieg before Sanji was convinced to be part of the crew
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Ussop fought against Arlong's mermen and then Nami became part of the crew (for good that time)
The strawhats were on that one snow island and fought some guy who's so weak I don't even remember his name, when Chopper joined

Robin did join the strawhats temporarily after the Alabasta arc,
and then the strawhats spent 100 chapters or so against CP9 in this huge epic that finally had Robin and Franky join


So no, there's no way I can believe someone would join the crew permanently after one chapter given the history of the manga.

Lol, the unko jokes had me laughing so hard... :D I can imagine some of the humor getting lost in the translation, becuase the humour was enhanced so much by how both the question and answer were phrased. :D And the look on Luffy's face when he's asking... Oda you're a genius!

Considering that the series has been running for nearly 10 years now, I think that Oda is entitled to try something different for once when a new crewmember is involved. I'm not saying that Brooke is indeed a permanent member of the crew right now (as awesome as that would be), but if he ends up helping the crew throughout the Triangle/Merman Island arcs, then I think it would be safe to say that he is indeed a new nakama....

Yeah nothing wrong with hoping he'll be a permanent member.

Before anyone became an "official" member, we learned about their dreams and any attachment/virtue that they struggled to leave behind.

With Ussop his dream was to be a brave pirate of the seas, and his attachment was to the Ussop pirates as well as the sickly lady

With Sanji his dream is finding all blue, and his attachment was to the restaurant ship, serving anyone who was hungry at sea, and of course the man who saved his life Zeff

Franky - building the ship of his dreams and sailing it with the people he loves/ leaving the Franky family

Zoro - becoming the greatest swordsman in the world/his struggle with the idea of being "evil"

Anyways you can fill in the rest for Chopper, Nami, and Robin.

But anyways, each character had something they were reluctant to give up/leave behind before they joined the Strawhats. In the end the appeal of how their dreams may be accomplished by joining the Strawhats won through and was enough motivation to look past any emotional baggage and attachment.

And each time the new characters watch the Strawhats battle, they think to themselves "With these guys, my dream will be able to come true. They have the strength to make it happen"

So, my conclusion is, before I'll get fairly close to accepting a new character as a crewmember of the Strawhats, their dreams and background will need to be revealed. I'll need to see how their dreams would fit in with joining the Strawhats too.

Plus, he's a perb. How can you not trust a skeleton with a top hat, afro and is also a perb???

I believe the afro is very important too, by the way. We already got some foreshadowing with the Davy Jones Back Fight; what more do you want? Brock's already 10 times much cooler than the entire skypiea arc multiplied by arlong arc plus a a third of the blackbeard-ace fight!!!

Here's to hoping Brock's a permanent team member!