One Piece 854 Review: Family Distrust

One Piece, Chapter 854: What the Heck Am I Doing

A bit of a housekeeping chapter, this one. There are some minor revelations here and there, but it's mostly one that just moves characters along and catches the rest of the characters up. Nami and Jinbe (after a brief mishap) get pulled into the mirror world with Chopper's team. We get a quick confirmation that Jinbe didn't actually spin the wheel because he guessed it's rigged... which honestly is a bit of a bummer considering how long that little subplot was built up in the background, and the revelation that Jinbe just said 'eh, fukkit' is a bit disappointing.

Big Mom keeps Brook around like a keychain, and apparently Brook was so strong that he cut Prometheus, which is something that never happened before. This really makes me want to see the actual Brook/Big Mom happen, god dang it! There was that long talk between Big Mom and Pudding that basically affirms that the Vinsmoke massacre is an actual plan by Big Mom and not just a story cooked up by Pudding to fool Sanji. Between Big Mom's vivid descriptions of the Vinsmoke murders and how the wheel is rigged to hit 'life' anyhow you spin it, Big Mom's previously seen 'crazy-psychotic but with a code of honour' persona seems to be falling apart bit by bit. 

There's a weird bit where a monkey is sleeping on Sanji's bed and that fools the chess guards. Huh?

We get to see the Big Mom captains discuss the intruders, and, well, they're definitely underestimating the Straw Hats. I mean, wouldn't you, if you had a small ragtag bunch versus having to deal with the Germa, a literal superhuman army? The largeness of Big Mom's organization means that Mont D'Or, the sibling that's organizing all this, has to rely on second-hand reported news which are the slightest bit outdated -- like believing Tamago (who's alive in chicken form) and his account that Pedro blew himself up, and assuming that Brulee has Chopper and Carrot under control. There's a bit where Opera straight-up lied to Mont D'Or, telling them that Luffy and Nami burned to death when he went overboard with torture, not wanting to admit that he got one-shotted by Jinbe and fearing reprisal by Big Mom. Mont D'Or seems to take this at face value, but he pauses and he did tell some of his soldiers later on to not trust Opera for guard duty. Very interesting to see that there's some conflict in-between the Big Mom forces...

Sanji is feeling sorry for himself, and apparently he is an idiot, thinking that there's no way of going back to the Straw Hats. You mopey shit, Sanji! Bobbins finds him, and is about to steal Sanji's food (who he notes to have made to the specifications of his crew without realizing it) when he one-shots Bobbins with a kick and runs away with the picnic basket. Yeah, he's going to go off and find Luffy, so at least hopefully we don't get much more mopey Sanji? The fact that he needed this moment to doubt that the Straw Hats will accept him can't be helped, but everyone knows that the Straw Hats will team up again so I'd rather it be sooner than later. So.

By the way, you guys wanted more manga reviews, so vote on the top right corner which of the four mangas you want me to review regularly. I already am semi-keeping-up with Magi, Kingdom, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and TerraForMars, but it'll be too much of an effort to really review each of those four chapter-ly.