Tag: One Piece

Romance Dawn

Romance Dawn

Morganeers and Peace-mains

Romance Dawn (ロマンス ド一ン) is the original title of the story that eventually became One Piece. Episode 907 of the One Piece anime adapts the beginning of this original story and that’s what today’s review is all about.

There are a lot of differences between Romance Dawn and One Piece, and yet Romance Dawn will feel extremely familiar to any One Piece fans. This is because many of the characters and concepts we know from One Piece were still present in Romance Dawn.

What I found most interesting about Romance Dawn, however, was seeing how many of the characters we know today used to be combined. For example, Garp and Shanks used to be a single character that was eventually split into two.

Peace-main Monkey D. Garp from the Romance Dawn episode of the anime One Piece
Peace-main Monkey D. Garp

In Romance Dawn, the two opposing groups on the sea aren’t pirates and Marines. Instead, there are two factions of pirates: Morganeers and Peace-mains. The Morganeers are the bad pirates and the Peace-mains are the pirates who fight for justice.

Garp is one of the Peace-mains in this story, not a Marine. However, that doesn’t mean the Marines and Peace-mains are interchangeable. Peace-mains are still pirates who desire treasure. And this is where Garp’s combination with Shanks comes in.

Since Shanks doesn’t exist as his own character, Garp is the one who originally wore Luffy’s straw hat. And it’s also Garp who obtains the Gum-Gum Fruit that Luffy eats.

Although we all love Shanks, I actually don’t mind this combination of him and Garp. Romance Dawn was originally supposed to be far shorter than One Piece currently is. I believe it was going to be the length of the East Blue Saga. So this version of Garp/Shanks makes sense in that context.

Anne and Balloon

The next combination of characters is Nami and Vivi. When these two are combined, the result is Romance Dawn’s Anne. Anne basically just looks like Nami with Vivi’s hair color. But, there are more aspects of Nami and Vivi that we can see in Anne than just her appearance.

For example, Anne’s village was destroyed by pirates under the command of Six Hone Spiel and she was taken prisoner by them. This is somewhat similar to how Nami’s village was attacked and captured by the Arlong Pirates.

And while Anne isn’t a burglar as Nami is, we do get the scene of her attempting to break her companion, Balloon, out of his cage. I wonder if that influenced how Oda eventually wrote Nami, or if his choice to make her a burglar was completely unrelated.

Anne talking about Balloon from the Romance Dawn episode of the anime One Piece
Anne talking about Balloon

I think it would be easy to say that the only thing Anne and Vivi have in common is that they both have blue hair. But, the impact Anne had on Vivi’s character is easier to see once you look at her relationship with Balloon the Ruku bird.

The relationship between Anne and Balloon is the same as the relationship between Vivi and Karoo. I’ve also heard that Vivi wasn’t originally planned to be a princess, so perhaps she would have been more like Anne before Oda made that change. Or, she would have been nothing more than a Baroque Works villain.

Unlike the Garp/Shanks combination, I didn’t like Anne as much as Nami and Vivi. Anne and Balloon felt a bit bland. And while I suppose they could have joined Luffy’s crew, they felt more like one-off characters.

I guess if they had joined Luffy’s crew, Anne would have still filled the navigator role as Nami currently does. I can’t really imagine her doing anything else since she didn’t display any particular set of skills.

Six Hone Spiel

Six Hone Spiel is the character I like the most from Romance Dawn. Sure, he looks stupid. But that’s part of what makes him a good character. Think of all the other One Piece characters you probably thought looked stupid when you first saw them, like Bon Clay (the best character).

I’m guessing that Buggy being a clown was probably partially based on Six Hone Spiel’s character design. But, Six Hone Spiel isn’t a clown. He’s specifically referred to as a sorcerer. And while I first thought that was simply because he was a Devil Fruit user, it actually seems to be because of his specific Devil Fruit.

Interestingly, Six Hone Spiel’s Devil Fruit is one we haven’t seen at all in One Piece. His Devil Fruit seems to allow him to use telekinesis. We saw him freely moving around weapons, and even people, without touching them.

Morganeer Six Hones Spiel from the Romance Dawn episode of the anime One Piece
Morganeer Six Hones Spiel

But, I think my favorite thing about how Six Hone Spiel uses his Devil Fruit ability is that he carries around a broom to ride on. By using his telekinesis, he can make the broom fly while he rides on it.

Of course, there are some issues with this ability Six Hone Spiel has. And perhaps that’s a result of Devil Fruit abilities not being fully worked out at this stage. For example, why can’t he just use his ability to capture Balloon? It worked on a member of his crew, so it’s not like it doesn’t work on living creatures.

Additionally, Six Hone Spiel is able to conjure a giant hammer out of thin air, which he then controls with his telekinesis. And I guess destroying his own pirate ship was also done with telekinesis, though I’m not sure how.

Conclusion

When One Piece eventually ends, I think it would be fun if Oda created the entirety of his original vision for Romance Dawn. I’m sure a lot of fans would be interested in reading that. And if it was ever animated in its entirety, I’d definitely watch it.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

One Piece (Reverie)

One Piece (Reverie)

One Piece anime series logo
One Piece

Reverie or Levely?

The Reverie (Levely?) arc of the One Piece anime is potentially my least favorite arc/saga of the series. Before this arc, I would have said that East Blue or Dressrosa was my least favorite. And while I still think those aren’t good arcs, Reverie is bad for a different reason.

At only 12 episodes long, you’d think that Reverie wouldn’t really be an issue. I tend to prefer the shorter arcs of One Piece, and this is certainly short. And its length makes it a bit difficult for it to really ruin anything considering the pacing of One Piece.

But, the problem with Reverie is that it’s even shorter than it seems. The majority of the episodes are mostly recap. I don’t remember which episode it was, but one of them literally had less than 3 minutes of new content.

What sucks about that is that Reverie is an arc from which we could have gotten a lot of lore. Reverie is the name for the meeting of the leaders of the countries that make up the World Government. Every 4 years, they come together in Mariejois to discuss the state of the world.

One Piece doesn’t focus too much on how the World Government is structured, and this was a glimpse into that. We even got to see that the royal families who make up the World Government aren’t actually the ones pulling the strings.

Another, minor issue I have with Reverie is that I don’t know if it’s Reverie or Levely. The official translations say Reverie. But a character in the series holds a sign that says Levely. So which is it? Of course, this isn’t the only name in One Piece that has multiple readings.

Mjosgard Donquixote

One of the more interesting characters to be featured in the Reverie arc is Mjosgard Donquixote. Yes, of the same family as Doflamingo Donquixote. However, Mjosgard’s side of the family never left Mariejois as Doflamingo’s did.

Normally, I wouldn’t say that a Celestial Dragon is a very interesting character. I mean, nobody’s going to argue that Charlos adds much depth to the series. And while Doflamingo is technically a Celestial Dragon, he’s really not. He’s a pirate who’s locked away in the lowest level of Impel Down.

Anyway, Mjosgard is neat because he’s the same Celestial Dragon who found himself shipwrecked on Fishman Island 10 years before the start of the series. He had gone there to recapture his escaped fishmen slaves. But, after being saved by Queen Otohime, his entire worldview changed. He freed all his slaves and now considers himself a regular human.

Mjosgard Donquixote from the Reverie Arc of the One Piece anime series
Mjosgard Donquixote

Going back to Charlos, Mjosgard appears in the arc to stop his fellow Celestial Dragon Charlos from kidnapping Princess Shirahoshi. While nobody else can lay a hand on Charlos to stop him, Mjosgard can because he too is a Celestial Dragon.

Now, at first, I thought it was odd that Mjosgard would continue to live in Mariejois as a Celestial Dragon after renouncing his “godhood.” But, it actually makes a lot of sense when you consider what happened to the other side of the Donquixote family who did that.

Mjosgard wouldn’t be accepted anywhere else in the world if he left Mariejois, except for maybe Fishman Island. Even then, it would be kind of awkward since he owned fishmen slaves.

But, we also need to consider that by staying as a Celestial Dragon, Mjosgard keeps all of his power and influence. He can then use that power and influence to do good, as we see him do during Reverie.

Im, Ruler of the World

By far, the biggest reveal of Reverie is that there’s a shadowy figure (literally) referred to as Im-sama who rules the world. Im is the one to whom all the Gorosei answer and is the only person allowed to sit upon the “Empty Throne” to which the kings and queens of the World Government swear loyalty.

Because of this, we can reasonably assume that none of the kings and queens know of the existence of Im. And it’s possible that even the other Celestial Dragons don’t know about his existence. If they did, surely Mjosgard would have told someone.

But, one thing we do know is that Doflamingo has some secret information regarding the World Government that would be damaging if it got out. This information could have to do with the Void Century, Im, both, or something else entirely. All we know is that it’s important enough that Doflamingo believes they’d try to have him assassinated to hide it.

Im-sama from the Reverie Arc of the One Piece anime series
Im-sama

Another thing about Im is that the Gorosei ask him which “light” of the world should be extinguished. It’s implied that the lights they’re referring to are Luffy, Blackbeard, Shirahoshi, and Vivy.

Now, Luffy and Blackbeard make sense for Im to want to have killed because they’re both members of the D clan who have rapidly risen to power. Although Luffy and Blackbeard are complete opposites, both would want to destroy the World Government, and therefore Im, for their own reasons.

Shirahoshi also makes sense since we know she’s the ancient weapon Poseidon. And while Vivy could make sense as the next ruler of the Nefertari family, formerly a Celestial Dragon family, I think there’s a better reason for getting rid of her.

I believe Vivy is Uranus (or Pluton if Momonosuke is Uranus).

Conclusion

I think I have to give the Reverie arc of the One Piece anime a 4/10. The new content isn’t bad. But the fact that the arc is mostly filler instead of giving us lore about the One Piece world makes the arc bad.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

What Role Will Shanks Play in the Future of One Piece?

What Role Will Shanks Play in the Future of One Piece?

“Red-Haired” Shanks

As a disclaimer, I’m not caught up on the latest chapter of the One Piece manga. So, while I find it unlikely to be the case, something I theorize about in this article may already be based on outdated information.

Also, yes, this article is based on manga content so there may be some spoilers for anime watchers. With that said, today I want to both explain my theory regarding the role Shanks is going to play in the future as well as attempt to discredit some other theories I’ve seen.

I believe that Shanks is going to be killed before Luffy reaches him, or at least before we get a fight between Luffy and Shanks. It seems like a lot of people disagree with that.

"Red-Haired" Shanks from the anime series One Piece
“Red-Haired” Shanks

Before I get into why I believe this, we need to go over some of the basics of the pirate known as “Red-Haired” Shanks. Shanks is a former apprentice of the Roger Pirates and current captain of the Red Hair Pirates. He’s also one of the Four Emperors who rule over the New World.

Shanks is also potentially the strongest of the Four Emperors. And if he’s not, he’s the most influential at the very least. He was able to put a stop to the Summit War against the Marines and was able to persuade Kaido not to participate in the war somehow.

And finally, Shanks is the one who gave Luffy his straw hat. He gave Luffy the straw hat and made a promise to Luffy that the straw hat would be returned to Shanks when they met as equals on the sea.

So, naturally, it would make sense that Luffy and Shanks are eventually going to go head to head, right?

Why Luffy’s Promise to Shanks Doesn’t Matter

One argument I’ve seen for why Luffy and Shanks have to eventually go head to head is because of their promise. Luffy’s supposed to return the straw hat to Shanks when they’re equals.

And since this is Luffy, he’ll obviously want to fight against Shanks — even if it’s just a friendly match with no real stakes. I’d like to see Luffy fight against Shanks. But I’m not convinced that we’re ever actually going to see it happen.

Why? Because Luffy’s promise to Shanks doesn’t matter. To realize this, you just have to look at what the straw hat Shanks gave to Luffy represents. That straw hat was given to Shanks by Roger and then to Luffy by Shanks. It represents passing the torch to the next generation.

Shanks giving his straw hat to Luffy from the anime series One Piece
Shanks giving his straw hat to Luffy

Roger gave Shanks the straw hat to symbolize that he was entrusting Shanks with the future. And Shanks gave Luffy the straw hat for the same reason. So it would make no sense for Luffy to give the straw hat back to Shanks once they met on the seas as equals.

Let’s say I’m wrong about Luffy and Shanks meeting up as equals and fighting. Even in that situation, Shanks wouldn’t take the straw hat back from Luffy. He never intended for that to actually happen when he gave the straw hat to Luffy.

But, then why did the two of them make that promise? Well, that promise has been one of the driving forces behind everything Luffy has done since. Shanks gave Luffy the goal of becoming his equal so that Luffy would become strong enough to fight against the evil of the world.

Shanks doesn’t need to fight Luffy. Luffy reaching the level of an Emperor of the Sea means Shanks already achieved his goal.

Shanks Will Be Killed by the Worst Generation

It makes sense for Luffy to fight and defeat the other three Emperors. Blackbeard is arguably the main villain of the series (Akainu and Im are also contenders), so Luffy is going to fight him. I don’t have any doubts there.

As for Big Mom and Kaido, I think they’re going to be defeated by Luffy by the end of the Wano Arc. Despite what Law and Kid did to Big Mom, Luffy has been Big Mom’s main rival ever since Fishman Island. Luffy explicitly stated that he was going to take down Big Mom — so he will.

And since Kaido is the oppressor of Wano, it only makes sense for Luffy to be the one to defeat him because that’s how it always works. Any time the Straw Hats arrive at an island and there’s a ruler who needs to be overthrown, Luffy is the one to do it.

Just look at Alabasta and Dressrosa as examples.

Eustass "Captain" Kid from the anime series One Piece
Eustass “Captain” Kid

However, just as Luffy has reasons for taking out those three Emperors, there are two other characters whom I’d argue have reasons for taking out Shanks. I mentioned the Worst Generation in the title of this section because I think it’s either going to be Blackbeard or Eustass Kid.

Blackbeard and Shanks have fought before, with Blackbeard wounding Shanks. And considering I can’t see Blackbeard achieving his goal with Shanks still around, it makes sense that he’d go after Shanks.

Eustass Kid already tried to take down Shanks and lost an arm in the process. He has a vendetta against Shanks now. And if we consider that Oda originally planned for Kid to be Luffy’s main rival, having Kid take out Shanks would be a great way to put them at odds after the events of Wano.

Conclusion

What role do you think Shanks is going to play in the future of the series? I’m thinking that the defeat of the Red Hair Pirates is going to be used to set up a fight between Luffy and either Blackbeard or Kid.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month, as well as Key Mochi~ for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Ancient Weapons in the One Piece World

Ancient Weapons in the One Piece World

Three Ancient Weapons

Although I’ve only recently finished the Whole Cake Island Arc of the One Piece anime, I am up to date on the events of the manga. So, this article is going to include spoilers up to the latest chapter (1040). You’ve been warned.

Now, it looks like we’re going to have the second ancient weapon of the series revealed fairly soon in the manga. And before that happens, I wanted to explain some of my theories surrounding these weapons.

But first, what is an ancient weapon?

An ancient weapon is a weapon created by, or originating from, the ancient civilization that was destroyed during the Void Century. There are three such weapons, named Poseidon, Pluton, and Uranus (Uranos?).

These weapons are said to be the most powerful things on the planet, capable of destroying everything. And because of that, the World Government is very interested in them. They don’t want these weapons to fall into the hands of pirates and they also want to use them for themselves.

Poseidon

Poseidon is the only current ancient weapon we know we’ve seen in the story so far. There are no theories to be had about this one. The true nature of the weapon Poseidon is that it’s a mermaid princess with the ability to talk to and control the Sea Kings.

There’s not always a mermaid princess alive with this ability, but there currently is: Shirahoshi. It’s also implied that the world government, or at least Im, knows that Shirahoshi is the ancient weapon Poseidon.

Even with this knowledge, it’s unclear exactly what they could do to Shirahoshi. Ideally, they’d like to take her power. But I don’t think that’s possible. At best, they could threaten or torture her to force her to control the Sea Kings on their behalf.

Alternatively, they could simply kill her so that she can’t use the Sea Kings against them.

Sea Kings at Fishman Island from the anime series One Piece
Sea Kings at Fishman Island

What’s important about Shirahoshi being Poseidon, though, is that it serves as the basis for my other theories. Ever since we learned the true nature of Poseidon at Fishman Island, I’ve thought that the other two ancient weapons would probably be similar.

Poseidon isn’t a physical weapon. It’s a person, or rather an ability that a person has that allows them to do or control something. In my mind, the same would then be true for Pluton and Uranus, despite there seemingly being evidence to the contrary in prior arcs.

I’ll also say now that it’s possible Joy Boy was the original user of all three ancient weapons. We know he has a connection to Fishman Island because of the Noah, which was created to be pulled by Sea Kings.

Pluton

Pluton is the first ancient weapon we heard about way back in Alabasta. It’s also the ancient weapon I believe is going to be revealed soon in the manga. This is probably the most interesting ancient weapon currently because we know a lot about it, but not exactly what it is.

So, what do we know about Pluton?

First, we know that Robin actually knows Pluton’s whereabouts. She’s known this ever since Alabasta. Second, we know that Pluton is a warship of some kind; there were even blueprints for it before Franky burned them.

This may seem obvious at this point in the manga, but ever since the Zou Arc when Momonosuke spoke to Zunesha, I’ve thought their connection would turn out to be what we know as Pluton. I even mentioned this briefly in my Zou review.

Zunesha destroying Jack's ship from the anime series One Piece: Zou
Zunesha destroying Jack’s ship

Momonosuke can talk to and control Zunesha just as Shirahoshi can talk to and control the Sea Kings. Both of them use the Voice of All Things to achieve this. And while Zunesha isn’t a literal battleship, it functions as one. It roams the seas, has people living on it, and can attack at Momonosuke’s order.

We know that the Minks who live on Zunesha are allied with Wano. Also, we know Zunesha is connected to Wano in some other way. And in the latest manga chapter, it was even revealed that Zunesha was Joy Boy’s “companion.”

Now, “companion” doesn’t really mean ship. But wouldn’t the Straw Hats consider the Going Merry and the Thousand Sunny their companions?

Also, while there were blueprints of Pluton, implying it really is a ship, that doesn’t stop Zunesha from being Pluton. Zunesha could be a ship that was given a mythical Zoan Devil Fruit and forced to wander the seas as a punishment for being so destructive as a battleship.

That would line up with the themes of Water 7 in which the World Government tried to argue that objects themselves could be “evil.”

Uranus

Uranus is the final ancient weapon we know nothing about. Because it’s named after the Greek god of the sky, most people assume it can fly. Some people have even suggested that it’s Eneru’s ship the Maxim or that it’s the Moon itself. I don’t agree with those two theories, though.

It probably won’t surprise you at this point to learn that I believe Uranus is someone with the ability to talk to and control a living creature. What is that creature? I think it’s whatever hatched from the giant egg we’ve seen on Roger’s ship the Oro Jackson.

And, specifically, I’m going to assume it’s a dragon. Many have theorized that the Celestial Dragons are thus named because they once had dragons. The egg on Roger’s ship is probably the last of those dragons and I’m guessing he stole it from the Celestial Dragons.

A giant egg on Roger's Oro Jackson ship from the anime series One Piece
A giant egg on Roger’s Oro Jackson ship

Now, if that dragon is one part of Uranus, who’s the person who can control it? I think the most natural answer is Vivi. The royal family of Fishman Island possesses Poseidon, the Kozuki Clan of Wano seems to possess Pluton, and so I’m guessing the Nefertari family of Alabasta “possesses” Uranus.

They don’t physically possess it currently. But I’m guessing they were meant to be the protectors of it and Vivi is the one with the power of Uranus. That would explain why Im has taken an interest in Vivi.

Aside from Vivi, my next best guess is Dragon (Luffy’s dad). He has the name and can seemingly control the wind — probably via a Devil Fruit. But aside from that, and having the Will of D, I don’t think he really fits.

Conclusion

Let me know in the comments if you have different theories regarding the ancient weapons. I’m pretty confident in my theories for Pluton and Uranus, though. Pluton seems almost guaranteed at this point, and there’s a lot of evidence for Uranus as well, I think.

If you enjoyed this discussion, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month, as well as Key Mochi~ for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

One Piece (Whole Cake Island)

One Piece (Whole Cake Island)

One Piece anime series logo
One Piece

Whole Cake Island Arc Overview

The Whole Cake Island Arc of the One Piece anime covers 95 episodes from Episode 783 to Episode 877. It started airing in 2017 and concluded in 2019. That’s fairly close to the length of Dressrosa. But as I’ll explain in this review, Whole Cake Island didn’t suffer from the same issues Dressrosa did.

Okay, well, that’s not entirely true. But, I’ll say Whole Cake Island masked those issues a lot better than Dressrosa did. And, I think the first improvement that’s worth discussing is the plot of the arc.

Partway through Dressrosa, Sanji left with I believe Nami, Brook, and Chopper to head to Zou before the rest of the Straw Hat Crew. Then, Sanji was captured by the Big Mom Pirates at Zou and taken to Whole Cake Island to be married to one of Big Mom’s daughters.

Why was Sanji being married to one of Big Mom’s daughters? Because he’s actually a prince from the Vinsmoke clan of the West Blue and the Big Mom Pirates and Germa 66 (the Vinsmoke’s “country”) wanted to forge an alliance.

We get Sanji’s whole childhood backstory at this time, which explains how he made his way to the East Blue. And, this sets up a reason for the Straw Hats to finally come into contact with the crew of one of the Four Emperors of the Sea.

Obviously, Luffy isn’t going to simply let Big Mom have Sanji. And so, the entire Whole Cake Island Arc is really just a giant rescue mission. At this point, the Straw Hats aren’t strong enough to take down Big Mom and her crew. Their goal is simply to rescue Sanji and flee Big Mom’s territory.

Increased Quality

Overall, I’d say there was a substantial increase in the quality of the series in Whole Cake Island compared to what came before. And this increase in quality applies to all aspects of the anime, namely the story and art/animation.

As far as the story goes, this may be my new favorite arc. I do still really like Thriller Bark, and I enjoyed Zou as well. But Whole Cake Island did a lot more than those arcs. Specifically, I think Sanji’s whole backstory with the Vinsmokes was great.

It would have been easy for this whole Vinsmoke connection for Sanji to feel forced. I mean, we already saw Sanji’s backstory from when he joined the Baratie. But, this goes beyond that without retconning it. And I really enjoyed Sanji’s interactions with his siblings (who have great voice actors I recognized, such as Kenjirou Tsuda).

Sanji Vinsmoke crying in the rain from the anime series One Piece: Whole Cake Island
Sanji Vinsmoke crying in the rain

Whole Cake Island was also surprisingly emotional. I know we already had Usopp “leave” the Straw Hat crew back in Water 7. So you’d think Sanji “leaving” the crew here wouldn’t be as impactful. But because of the circumstances surrounding Sanji’s departure, that wasn’t the case at all.

Of course, I can’t talk about the increase in quality of the anime during this arc without bringing up the insane animation during Luffy’s fight against Katakuri. The entire fight wasn’t animated amazingly because it was spread across many episodes (it was still good). But Episode 870 was crazy.

Honestly, my one big complaint about the arc has to do with the main antagonist, Big Mom. Despite her appearance, I do think Big Mom is a pretty cool character because of her ability and how she uses it. I also enjoyed her backstory. However, I couldn’t stand her screaming “wedding cake” for half the arc.

Big Mom Pirates

I guess I should start off this section on the Big Mom Pirates by explaining Big Mom herself. As far as we know, she’s a human. But, she’s huge and her skin is effectively made of reinforced steel even without her using armament haki.

She also has the Soul-Soul Fruit, which allows her to take the life force out of people and implant it into inanimate objects to give them life. It kind of works like Moria’s Shadow-Shadow Fruit. Big Mom can also implant pieces of her own soul into things.

The objects she animates are called Homies, and there are three Homies made with Big Mom’s soul. Prometheus is a large ball of fire, Zeus is a large thunder cloud, and Napoleon is a hat that can transform into a sword.

I don’t know if Napoleon’s transformation is due to a Devil Fruit like Spandam’s sword that ate an elephant Zoan fruit.

Luffy vs. Cracker from the anime series One Piece: Whole Cake Island
Luffy vs. Cracker

Below Big Mom herself are all her children. She has a lot of them, at least 70 from what I remember. Most of her children also have Devil Fruits — often corresponding with their names. For example, Oven has the Heat-Heat Fruit and Smoothie has the Wring-Wring Fruit.

Additionally, Big Mom’s children apparently encompass every known race other than Giants. It was specifically pointed out that there were no Giants among the Big Mom Crew. And the reason for this is that the Giants are sworn enemies of Big Mom due to the events of her childhood.

Oh, and aside from Big Mom’s children, she also has many other crew members from all around the world. Two we’ve met before are Pekoms, a lion Mink with the Turtle-Turtle Fruit, and Baron Tamago, who has the Egg-Egg Fruit.

Overall, Big Mom seems to have hundreds, if not thousands, of crew members.

Conclusion

Whole Cake Island is a 7/10, which is tied for the highest I’ve rated any One Piece arcs. However, as I mentioned, I do think this is probably my favorite arc so far. Despite sharing a rating with some other arcs, it’s the best.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month, as well as Key Mochi~ for supporting at the Senpai tier. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the Reverie arc is available now.