One Piece - Chapter 968 [manga]

[marvelB]

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How's it going, guys? Info's out for the first (well, technically second) chapter of the new decade! Credit goes to Redon and co. from AP for the info:

-Chapter title is "Oden's Return". Splash involves Gotti of Capone's crew rushing to save Chiffon from the marines.

-According to Oden's journal, it was the world's general public who coined the term "One Piece" to the vast treasures Roger gathered at the final island. However, it appears that Roger did not discover everything the One Piece had to offer either, saying that he was too early. When Rayleigh wonders aloud who will be the one to discover the complete treasure, Roger suggests his son would, but Ray points out that he has no children yet. Afterwards, having completed his voyage, Roger proceeds to disband his crew, giving them his final farewells....

-Soon, Oden finally returns to Wano. After reuniting with his family and friends, he gets informed of the events that took place during his absence... namely, the Scabbards and Toki's efforts to make the Kuri province prosper, and the passing of shogun Sukiyaki. However, it's after Orochi comes into power that Wano becomes a living hell.... the newly appointed shogun allies himself with Kaidou, who built weapon factories throughout the land, and the villagers were forced to work in them for a mere pittance. As further proof of Orochi's tyranny, he executed the entire family of a man who tried to defy him! Enraged by his outrageous actions, the Scabbards prepared to go to the Flower Capital and oust Orochi once and for all, but the shogun made a preemptive strike: He had Kaidou's men raid Oden's castle in Kuri and threaten the life of Momonosuke, who's next in line as successor to the Kouzuki clan! The pirates were driven off by Inuarashi and Kawamatsu, but not before Toki got wounded by the enemy's arrows while she protected her children....!!!

-Naturally, Oden is most displeased by this, and sets off to confront Orochi. Toki tries to stop him, fearing the consequences of his actions, but Oden will hear nothing of it. He immediately sets off for the shogun's palace, and cuts down all the guards in his way! Finally, he comes face to face with Orochi, who's frightened out of his wits. He tries warning the samurai that he'll have to answer to Kaidou if he's cut down, but Oden merely replies he'll think about that after he's finished the deed....!!!!

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[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Soon enough we'll be witnessing the tragedy of this act. It's going to be sad considering how good of a man Oden is.

[Hoodspirit]

Still not caring about Oden, so I don't think I'll feel the tragedy this time around with a flashback.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Hoodspirit

Still not caring about Oden, so I don't think I'll feel the tragedy this time around with a flashback.

Same here. Unless Oda surpasses himself, I doubt I'm going to care much. Now that there's no more Roger and Whitebeard, I just want this flashback to end as soon as possible.

[P_Dezz]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Same here. Unless Oda surpasses himself, I doubt I'm going to care much. Now that there's no more Roger and Whitebeard, I just want this flashback to end as soon as possible.

well the Kaido part will be interesting because there's gonna be some dialogue about his past with Xebec, and his other discoveries as well. Hopefully we get to see some sort of part of Kaido destroying Gecko Moria in the past.

[necrolyte]

Originally Posted by Hoodspirit

Still not caring about Oden, so I don't think I'll feel the tragedy this time around with a flashback.

Same for me. I just want the manga to get back to current time.

[khoa1708]

Originally Posted by Hoodspirit

Still not caring about Oden, so I don't think I'll feel the tragedy this time around with a flashback.

this flashback has been too long...
and yes, i still don't have an emotional investment in oden... can't explain why...

i had more feelings for the going merry when she was burned than i will have when oden dies

[grecefar]

nobody cares because oden is scum.

[marvelB]

Well, there's a translation out, though it's probably best to take it with a grain of salt until the official TL comes out, I think. Still, if what I read is right, then it sure didn't take long for Orochi to become a brutal dictator after Sukiyaki's passing....

Originally Posted by grecefar

nobody cares because oden is scum.

Now, now, while Oden was undoubtedly a hooligan (especially in his younger years), I wouldn't call him a complete scumbag! He helped reform Kuri after all, and at least this chapter proved that even he was disgusted by Orochi's iron-fisted rule. Sure, I can get why a lot of people don't find him very engaging, but he's certainly no villain.

Anyways, on the subject of Oden, I guess this is the point where he'll face Kaidou, eh? If so, then it looks like we'll be seeing the moment when he leaves that scar on the emperor's body, courtesy of Enma.....

[Hoodspirit]

It should still take 5 years until Oden dies, the current drama spike is a bit early. Which probably means 3-4 more chapters of this flashback.

[Rainbowman]

Originally Posted by Hoodspirit

It should still take 5 years until Oden dies, the current drama spike is a bit early. Which probably means 3-4 more chapters of this flashback.

Might be even sooner as the very next chapter from the looks of it.

[Jmariofan7]

Good lord the amount of comments whining about Oden are ridiculous, now I know you guys are trolling.

[Kaz_]

This seems really like a bootleg CP9 saga...With our tragic background character (Robin/Oden) trying to deal with a rich coward's schemes (Spandam/Orochi) while an unstoppable monster (Lucci/Kaido) waiting in the corner. Not even mentioning the main goal of entire thing is basically to find "3 Legendary War Ships" as in Poneglyphs or Blueprints.

Without those flashbacks, Wano gets my vote for most boring arcs out of all. Its like a never-ending introduction scene bombarding you with all those barely memorable characters. Hope things will get exciting in future because I truly cant handle anyore story-building for this godforsaken land.

[khoa1708]

Originally Posted by Jmariofan7

Good lord the amount of comments whining about Oden are ridiculous, now I know you guys are trolling.

i don't think we're trolling... the character just doesn't resonate with us... he's boring and uninteresting...
it's too late in the story to go all out on a "supposedly" all important character and his groupies... especially when we all know how it's going to end... honestly, for me, the best parts so far in this flashback was when oden was not involved but when the story was focusing on whitebeard, roger, and their crew

and it feels like a "mood killer" when we were at a really good point in the main storyline and suddenly cut to this super long flashback...

that's how i feel... didn't help that oden was introduced like a "gary stu" either...

[Kanon]

So there is another "King" besides Shirahoshi, and Oden believes Joy Boy is going to return at some point. The latter is rather mysterious.

[necrolyte]

After reading the chapter again a thought came out to my mind, do you think Luffy will be JoyBoy ? If you ask me I can see him wearing such a nickname, he is quite an optimistic character and is always laughing so he is joy boy What do you guys think ?

[The Small One]

Originally Posted by necrolyte

After reading the chapter again a thought came out to my mind, do you think Luffy will be JoyBoy ? If you ask me I can see him wearing such a nickname, he is quite an optimistic character and is always laughing so he is joy boy What do you guys think ?

This depends on the question if Joy Boy is just a personal name, or a title, like Poseidon. If it's the latter, then it will most likely be Luffy.

[Kanon]

Joy Boy is most likely a title. The mystery is what qualifies a person to be Joy Boy exactly.

[marvelB]

Originally Posted by necrolyte

After reading the chapter again a thought came out to my mind, do you think Luffy will be JoyBoy ? If you ask me I can see him wearing such a nickname, he is quite an optimistic character and is always laughing so he is joy boy What do you guys think ?

It's an interesting idea, to be sure.... but going by that logic, couldn't Roger also have been considered a "Joy Boy" of sorts? He's also pretty jovial, even remaining rather optimistic in the face of a terminal illness. I'm pretty much with Kanon in thinking that Joy Boy, if it is indeed a title of sorts, must be earned through some more specific criteria. Perhaps finding the complete One Piece, perhaps? Speaking of, I was always rather curious about that huge straw hat we saw in that frozen chamber in Mariejois.....

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Originally Posted by marvelB

Speaking of, I was always rather curious about that huge straw hat we saw in that frozen chamber in Mariejois.....

Popular speculation is that that straw hat belonged to Joy Boy from the void century.