One Piece 851 Review: Sanji Sad

One Piece, Chapter 851: Tab End

Apologies in advance, but Boku no Hero Academia, Attack on Titan and Fairy Tail reviews are going to be delayed by a couple of days, maybe until after New Year's. Bunch of personal stuff going on and I'm super-busy, and my laptop ate my Attack on Titan review, so they're going to be delayed somewhat. One Piece is here and up, though, so let's talk about it. It's a pretty eventful chapter, I think.

We open with Pudding playing up the part of the hammy, evil bastard villainness, making a long talk about how she's going to go all red wedding, kill everyone and see their brains splattered all over the walls and shit, all the while we cut to shots of Sanji with his eyes darkened, as he stands against the wall listening to the woman he loves basically be everything she's not, mocking him, shooting his sister, and just being the most despicable and vile human being ever. This kind of makes me kind of think that it might just be a red herring -- maybe Pudding is trying to get Sanji and the Straw Hats to super-hate her, and is actually warning them about the Vinsmoke assassination in some weird roundabout way? And trying to push Sanji so he'll fight back instead of being stuck in the Big Mom Family? Maybe the plot and Pudding as a sleeper agent was there from the beginning, but Pudding is having second thoughts and is trying to warn Sanji in her own way?

Or maybe she's just a huge bitch, which the chapter is trying so hard to push. Pudding shows off her candy-jacked bullets that can pierce through the Vinsmokes' harder skin, and she goes through a bunch of weird faces as she tries to predict what face Sanji will make when her treachery is apparent, pulling a hilarious 'Sugar with tatatatabasco' impression. As Sanji just stands in the rain, eyes downcast, Pudding actually mocks Sanji's puffed-up face and his cheesy lines about getting married, before poofing her face up and making an absolute mockery of Sanji's sacrifice. Man, that was absolutely mean-spirited. Also funny at the same time.

Not so funny are the panels of Sanji in the rain as he tries to light up his cigarette and the rain just refuses to let it light. That's a powerful page, with Pudding's mockery of his ugly face and his stupid gestures sounding loudly in the background as Sanji silently just tries to get a smoke, one last bit of comfort, the flowers and food discarded on the ground, and we finally zoom into his face, with tears that are just... sad. It's just so sad. Sanji's just so beaten, and that panel is honestly just heartbreaking.

And then we cut into something far more dramatic, where BROOK IS FIGHTING BIG MOM! How do we not get a full chapter out of this? Big Mom is just standing, looming over Brook with her two elemental clouds Prometheus and Zeus on full display. Brook just keeps getting up, and Big Mom mocks the Soul King for wanting a slab of stone more than Sanji. Brook notes how Sanji is kind, and how he will refuse to budge once he has decided to sacrifice himself for others... but on the other hand, Luffy is a truly hard-headed captain that will break through barriers. Brook leaves the matter of whether Sanji will stay behind to be resolved between Sanji and Luffy, Brook notes that even if the worst case scenario -- that Sanji will not leave with them -- he would do his task of obtaining the Road Poneglyph if only to show that Sanji can leave the Straw Hats without a shred of guilt.

Man, that huge panel of Big Mom and her clouds looming, and Brook just dressed in a slightly-ragged cloak, cane-blade out, is just amazing. I really enjoy Brook, if it's not apparent already, and it's just so awesome to see him actually being a badass. Big Mom notes how Brook is optimistic about how nobody is going to be killed on this trip. Brook's answer? A condescending "young lady... what kind of fool would plan to die?"

Man, Brook's awesome. He's straight-up standing against a Yonko. Not even Luffy can claim that. 

We cut away to some nonsense about Chopper and Carrot tickling Brulee. I don't care about this plot. Damn! Good thing it's short, before we cut away to even more soul-crushing as Pudding stabs her hand into Reiju's head, pulling out a roll of film and revealing herself to be the user of the Memo Memo no Mi, the memory fruit, which allows her to edit over other people's memories, replacing Reiju's memory of being shot by Pudding as her being shot by a stray bullet. It's some very interesting and weird power that actually kind of reminds me of some of the more exotic stands in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, getting rid of Reiju and passing her off as wounded.

Meanwhile, Sanji's flower lay crushed and left outside Pudding's windowsill.

Why the monologue, Pudding? That's a bit of a weird thing to do, so either you're a silly egomaniac, or you've got more plans up your sleeve. I'm interested, that's for sure. 

Meanwhile, we cut to Luffy and Nami, and Luffy's obsession with ripping off both their arms. Opera, the Whipped Cream dude shows up and is getting ready to pump Nami full of crossbow bolts until she coughs up Lola's location. Then suddenly a mysterious figure shows up out of nowhere... and JINBE FUCK YES! 5000-tile justice fist and Opera is just one-shotted to fuck. Jinbe looks so awesome, and he apparently still has both arms and both eyes, so what did he lose in that roll? Either way, he apologizes for being late, and is about to free Nami and Luffy.

Fuck yeah Jinbe! Fuck yeah Brook! Also very much enjoying the feels that sad Sanji is giving me.