Looks like this volume has emphasis on battles for Sanji, Nami and her first weather weapon, and Zoro, with some Vivi political content running in the background. I think I miss reviewed the last volume, talking about a layer of battle dedicated to everyone else while building a layer for Luffy's boss battle, and this being a trend in the series. There are three layers--the crew have a tier where their battles become more focused and separate from the broader battle situation. There's so much going on, and I always rode the wave of excitement without any confusion. That's the magic of this series. ( )

Writing a review for this chapter ?.
Zoro is a badass. ( )

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Title: Utopia
Series: One Piece #21
Arc: Baroque Works #10
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 188
Words: 8K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_One_Piece_chapters_(187_388)

"Stalemate"

"Oh Come My Way Karate"

"2"

"Climate Baton"

"She Who Controls the Weather"

"Tornado Warning"

"Utopia"

"Cutting Steel"

"Mr. Bushido"

Sanji and Mr. 2 Bon Clay exchange blows, until Bon Clay discovers the sea cook's weakness and he transforms to resemble Nami to distract him. Bon Clay dominates the fight, but Sanji is able to defeat him after exploiting Bon Clay's vulnerability when he transforms. Nami fights Miss Doublefinger, partner of Mr. 1, and a Devil Fruit user who can create spikes anywhere on her body, during which she struggles with how to use her new Climate Baton weapon. Unfortunately, most of that weapon's abilities are nothing more than magic tricks. One street further, Zoro battles Mr. 1, who possesses the ability to create blades anywhere on his body. Meanwhile, Vivi reaches Chaka, the acting captain of the royal guard, but before they can stop the fighting, Crocodile and "Ms. All-Sunday" Nico Robin arrive.

My Thoughts:

The fight between Sanji and Mr 2 had me laughing. Mr 2 can make himself look like anybody else and so he chooses Nami's face to distract Sanji. While it was funny, the actual fight itself dragged on with Sanji and Mr 2 simply kicking at each other. I'm not a huge fan of drawn out fights with limbs and body parts whizzing all over the place with devil-fruit enhanced whizziness.

However! We DO find out why Sir Crocodile has been after the kingdom all along. Drum Roll Please! PLUTON. No idea what that is beyond it is supposed to be a super weapon. And King Cobra doesn't know where it is. So Sir Crocodiles goal is to get this super weapon and forge a government that not even the world government can stop and thus become tyrant of the world. Pretty ballsy!

There's more long drawn out fights that I skimmed through and finally got to the end of the volume. Can't say I cared particularly one way or the other.

★★★✬☆ ( )