One Piece

To be fair, Bege was the mastermind of the very assassination plot that got this whole ball rolling, and his first thought was to indeed poison the cake before giving it to her. They would normally be totally justified in assuming something had to have been done to it.

edited 23rd Mar '18 11:10:54 AM by LSBK

True, but I still find it amusing that they aren't even considering the possibility.

I think bringing those two back will backfire since they'll probably find out about Katakuri, if they didn't already know.

I actually kinda like that. They figure they're totally screwed because the guys who made the cake have already tried to kill Big Mom, so why wouldn't they try again.

So their reaction when they find out that it's just a normal cake is gonna be interesting, being saved by one of the dudes who caused the entire mess in the first place.

No matter who offered that cake it would be reasonable to assume it's poisoned.

Yeah. That's why it's gonna be great when they find out it isn't.

Just watching them as they wait for another disaster and it doesn't happen...I expect a few of them to just faint from pure stress.

The only altruist here is Chiffon. Bege has repeatedly complained about getting dragged back into the Straw Hats’ troubles.

Big Mom is gonna eat the cake and get mad hot, Shokugeki no Soma style.

At this point Bege doesn't want them to die, because otherwise it meant they wasted all this time helping them for nothing.

edited 23rd Mar '18 2:40:30 PM by LSBK

Also the cake was really good when he tried it.

Though I get the larger point, it's still weird for Judge to be saying all of these things like they're faults, when not even a full day ago he was crying and wondering why his other sons were so messed up.

So, there is this theory that has been floating for a while speculating that Zoro has special lineage linking him with Wano, and I have to say that I am not a fan. I pretty much never like protagonists having a super cool dad (because it is always the dad) that is totally powerful and famous and crap.

There are quite a few exceptions that I like, such as with Sanji, but it usually feels cheap to me. Maybe it doesn't invalidate Zoro's hardwork completely, but I really would not like that "twist".

I agree. I like when the protagonists' gifts or skills are primarily the result of their own merit. Like with Luffy and Dragon or Garp. His relation to them doesn't really play a part in what Luffy is capable of, other than the fact Garp trained Luffy. Even so, I think the Goa flashback showed that his training solo and when his brothers meant more to him.

On that note, this chapter made me come to see something I'm not sure I ever fully appreciated before. At Marineford, Mihawk said that Luffy's most terrifying ability was his power to make allies. We've seen this plenty as recently as Dressrosa and the Grand Fleet. Gell even the Buggy arc had Shushu the dog covering their escape. Before now, though, it never really clicked just how potent this gift of Luffy's really is.

The Straw Hats would never have lasted as long as they have on While Cake without the allies they'd made. True, they aren't all attributable to Luffy directly, like the Vinsmokes, though even then Reiju might not have saved him from poison sure arc's beginning if he hadn't been good to Sanji. Still, the friends Luffy and the Straw Hats made have clearly made the difference in this arc and other and I'm beginning now to see why Mihawk considered that so dangerous.

The power to make allies of old foes and rivals and complete strangers is not something to take lightly.

It's the one universal shonen protagonist trait.

Well, not always universal.

Name one. ONE.

Attacko on Titan?

Nah, even Eren has a knack for making friends and getting people to like him (or at least tolerate him), even if the feeling isn't mutual.

edited 24th Mar '18 9:47:59 AM by M84

I thought this was about Shonen protagonist having an awesome bio daddy they owed all their prowess to... well, I dont read or watch Attack On Titan but I think he might qualify as an exception...

A bit of Yes and No there, if you know just why Eren has his particular powers.

While it's not my favorite gimmick, I don't particularly mind the "got awesome powers via lineage" idea. The only time I've ever really been against it, was Naruto, and that was at least partially an issue with The Chosen One as much as lineage, as the series made such a big deal of defying fate and working towards your own goals and then made Naruto four or five different flavors of Chosen One, at least two of which were lineage based.

Lineage alone doesn't bother me, since each individual can still use the powers in their own way and, as My Hero Academia teaches, it's their power to do with as they choose.

Hence "yes and no", since it's not, strictly speaking, inheritance.

edited 24th Mar '18 10:31:02 AM by sgamer82

Nope. Bio-dad is the one who let Eren eat him to pass on the Attack Titan power to him in the first place.

edited 24th Mar '18 10:27:20 AM by M84

Wow, one more reason not to read that.

How differently do you think things would have turned out if the Straw Hats did not treat this arc as a stealth mission going in? If they had gone in with the rest of their core crew (not necessarily the extended alliance) prepared for battle?

Stealthing didn't really do them any favors, after all. They were spotted immediately as they entered Big Mom's territory and walked straight into all of their traps. They only turned the tables by fighting through the traps at basically half their crew's strength, and getting lucky with Jinbei setting up the Bege alliance.

Realistically speaking or narratively speaking? Realistically, at best, they clear out the commanders and then Big Mom probably eats them. Narratively, they all win all their fights and make Big Mom promise not to be so naughty anymore because Oda doesn't want Luffy to hit a girl, then they all sail off into the sunset.

edited 24th Mar '18 11:29:49 AM by Arha