One Piece 1068 Review: Rokuougan

One Piece, Chapter 1068: A Genius' Dream

A bit of a shorter chapter, it feels, but mostly because it's more action and setup instead of just huge revelation after huge revelation. Which... yeah, we've had a lot of those recently, so a bit of a breather is nice. Pythagoras is trying to talk to CP-0 and get them to sail away from Egghead after they return S-Bear, but obviously Lucci, Kaku and Stussy catches quickly into the fact that the Vegapunks are suspicious of their arrival, and is probably on to their game. Apparently, a bunch of Cipher Pol ships -- CP5, CP7 and CP8 -- went missing in the past couple of months after visiting Egghead, with the accusations from Rob Lucci being pretty clear. This causes Lilith to get absolutely pissed off, although... well, Vegapunk totally got rid of those government ships, right? Lucci and gang use S-Bear's ability to leave the ship behind and head off to Egghead on their own. 

In Kamabakka Kingdom, the real Kuma also uses his ability to transport himself... somewhere. Presumably to Egghead and to protect Bonney. 

The true dr. Vegapunk asks to be let on Luffy's ship, and gives a whole speech about how he wants clean energy to be given to everyone, because that'd make wars stop. Which... yeah, I agree that clean energy is important that stuff like geothermal or hydroelectric power sources are very, very important... but Vegapunk thinking that it'll stop humans from fighting is supremely naive, and Jinbe calls him out on it. Luffy really doesn't care or understand, but he 'gets' that Vegapunk wants to make people happy and that's a nice thing... but just like Skypiea, Luffy doesn't care to be a big 'hero' for everyone else. Despite, y'know, having been a goddamn hero throughout the entire series. Oh, Luffy. Vegapunk also gives Luffy a bit of a catch-up about the existence of CP-0, and how they're here to assassinate him, which... kind of interesting that Luffy only learns this now. 

Shaka orders an evacuation, and deploys S-Snake, S-Hawk and S-Shark, presumably the Seraphims of Boa, Mihawk and Jinbe. Sentomaru is also confirmed to be on the ship! Right, he exists, I completely forgot about him!

The CP-0 agents are a little surprised by the giant holographic alien dragon, and Kaku is like an excited little kid jumping into things. Everything here is rather... well, it's not bad at all, it's just rather slower-paced because Stussy is just explaining things a bit too late while Kaku makes a fool of himself, first with the hologram and then with the laser net thing that's covering the upper levels of Egghead and prevents them from going with Geppo. There's a very strong catty rivalry vibe I get from Kaku and Stussy, and I appreciate it. 

Atlas shows up and gets angry, and despite Shaka's warnings, she goes in to engage the CP-0 agents. As she's making some over the top long name attack like the Atlas Super Ultra Punch, Lucci just goes straight into his hybrid mode, goes 'this isn't a game' and immediately ROKUOUGAN's the fuck out of the giant robot girl. Atlas is still kinda alive but her doll head is cracked, but... okay, yeah, the Vegapunks really aren't going to be much help against warriors of the CP-0's caliber. Atlas is still talking as she falls, but definitely out of the picture and I assume that's just because of her robotic physiology. The chapter ends with Luffy's group passing across Lucci's... and both Luffy and Lucci recognize each other. Cliffhanger!

Random Notes:

• The cover story has Judge and Caesar Clown beating each other up before they remember that they met in MADS under Dr. Vegapunk. Oh, hey, we get to see the stripey shirt under the labcoat that we saw in the Punk Hazard flashback!
• I love that the Den Den Mushi that Pythagoras is using is being held by one of those metal stand-and-clamp things.
• Kakus' CP-0 mask is... it sure is something, I'll tell you that. 
• Dragon and Ivankov don't get transported alongside Kuma. RIP to that theory, I guess. 
• I was a bit baffled that there are civilians on Egghead, but apparently they were seen all the way in the Atlas reveal chapter. I just mistook them for automatons.
• Ah, right. Back to writing chapter reviews with "Luffy" and "Lucci" again. That's not going to fuck with my brain at all.