475: Rush to the Final Stage! Whitebeard's Tide-Turning Maneuver
Luffy's attack does nothing to harm the Admirals' Logia bodies, but that isn't Luffy's aim. He quickly activates Gear Second and jets past the three towards the scaffold. Kizaru, however, is faster and materializes next to him and kicks him away into a building. As Luffy picks himself up out of the rubble, he sees the executioners on the scaffold bringing their blades down on Ace's neck, and there isn't a thing he can do.
However, the next thing that happens is the executioners being knocked off of the scaffold. Sengoku demands to know who did that and sees Crocodile in the middle of the plaza. Sengoku says that he thought Crocodile would be more focused on Whitebeard, and Crocodile replies by saying that he can kill Whitebeard any time, he just doesn't want to see the Navy win. His own head then pops off as Doflamingo emerges from the crowd of marines, saying that him siding with Whitebeard and rejecting his offer to work together his making him jealous. Crocodile reforms and claims that he doesn't team up with anyone, and the two clash.
With this reprieve, Luffy starts dashing towards the scaffold again, fighting off the marines and even a Rear-Admiral utilizing Rokushiki techniques, before running into Aokiji who manages to stab him with an icicle before being kicked away by Marco.
Somewhere in an underground facility, Mr. 3, having escaped Aokiji's attack with a wax dummy, overhears an announcement that three Devil Fruit users have breached the plaza, and wonders if he's been found out. Hearing footsteps, he quickly hides and witnesses replacement executioners being hurried down the hall. Hmm.
Eyecatches: Luffy and Chopper
The pirates dive into the still-steaming bay water in order to make a swim for Oars Jr, braving a barrage of cannonfire. The marines can't understand why they're so determined, until a giant paddleboat breaches the surface and everyone scurries to get aboard. The idea of another ship being hidden underwater hadn't occured to the Navy, and Whitebeard himself says that he never said that he had revealled all his ships. The marines open fire on this new ship, but Sengoku yells for them to shoot Oars Jr. instead, but it's too late. Oars Jr. manages to grab the ship and heave it through the gap he created into the plaza, finally breaching it.
After Oars Jr. goes down again from another round of cannonfire, Whitebeard himself steps forward and jumps down into the plaza. Ordering his men to stay back, he charges up his bisento and swings, unleashing a powerful wave that blows the grunts back in droves. Raising his fist into the air, he rallies his men by calling for them to save Ace and destroy the Navy.
On the scaffold, Sengoku starts rolling up his sleeves, saying that it looks like he and Garp will have to intervene after all.
Finally, finally, after experiancing much loss and suffering the characters have gotten to the plaza and are this close to saving Ace. The problem is, I just don't care. See, by the time we first got to this point in the manga, I had realized that I no longer cared much for what was going on. The nonstop fighting was starting to get bland and drawn-out since everyone had already shown off their abilities, and we already knew that Ace was going to be gotten off of that scaffold and that the Whitebeard's would ultimately come out the losers in this fight. But above all, I missed the Straw Hats. I missed their interactions, the feeling of experiencing new locals and plot developments. I was beginning to suffer from Arc Fatigue, from an arc which had only been going on for fifteen chapters at that point.
On to something else. I get the feeling that Oda was playing the Unlimited Cruise video game whilst brainstorming this chapter. How else does that explain Doflamingo and Whitebeard's moves in this chapter/episode coming right out of the game? With the filler Rear-Admiral fight, it's good to see Rokushiki being brought back, since I enjoyed how versitle and vast it was, and wouldn't mind seeing more of it in the future. Not impressed at Sengoku being so surprised at the idea of Whitebeard having a back-up ship, especially for a guy known for his strategies. The ending builds up expectations for him to finally strut his stuff on the battlefield, but given how this battle's been going, he'll be standing around up there with his sleeves up for several more episodes before finally doing anything.
