One Piece 1082 Review: Surprise Death!

One Piece, Chapter 1082: Let's Go and Claim It!

A death!

Holy shit, a death!

I mean, it is a relatively minor character, all things considered. Vice Admiral (formerly Rear Admiral, last we saw him) T-Bone, otherwise known as that guy Zoro beat when the Sea-Train was on the way to Enies' Lobby, gets killed off in a pretty unambiguous manner. He was killed offscreen, and he's killed by civilians trying to turn in a bounty to Cross Guild. 

...And I really have to applaud the decision to pick T-Bone. I don't think anyone would really care if it was Vice Admiral... oh, Yamakaji or Strawberry or Dalmatian that died; I'm pretty sure 90% of the fandom don't even know they existed! But it's different from killing someone major like, oh, Smoker or Sengoku. But choosing T-Bone to kill off? T-Bone has always been one of my favourite minor characters in One Piece due to the sheer juxtaposition of his horrendously ugly skull-face... and the fact that he's the kindest guy ever. He was ripping off parts of his cape to bind his subordinates' wounds, his sole motivation in fighting the Straw Hats was to defend his men and enact justice, and unlike CP9 or Nero or any of the other antagonists in that arc, you really do get the idea that T-Bone is a really kind and nice dude who believes in the cause he's fighting for. He's not a jackass like oh, Ratel, who attacked Sphinx Island or whatever.

And now he's dead.  

And I love that this is the power of a well-built world, where I actually do feel a bit for T-Bone dying. It's obviously not going to be as 'huge' as if someone major like Garp or Law dying, but the finality of this minor character, and the sad thing that one of the few genuinely good Marines in the world got caught in the cross-fire of the Cross Guild's schemes, is pretty sad.

We mostly see Sengoku and Tsuru discussing this, talking about the grand machinations of Buggy the Clown (hee hee) and how the civilians they're supposed to be protecting are stabbing them in the back. Tsuru -- and the narrative, later on -- show that the people killing T-Bone are genuinely very desperate people from a place called Pepe Island, where everyone is starving and dying. Poor T-Bone is a nice guy, but hunger and desperation and a need to help family is going to triumph over that. 

That scene ends with Hina telling them very casually that Garp has gone off with SWORD elsewhere, and Sengoku and Tsuru get absolutely shocked that Garp might potentially be knocking on Hachinosu's door. Oh dear!

We get to see Karai-bari Island, where we see the guy who killed T-Bone get the compensation from Buggy, and... you really do feel for him. He's just a random poor guy, who just doesn't want his family to die, and now he's a wanted man for killing a Vice Admiral, and he's dragged into this mess with Buggy's many rowdy and evil goons.

...and then we get to some expected Cross Guild comedy. Buggy's fanboys have created the ship for the Cross Guild... and its figurehead is a giant clown head. We get a perfect showcase of Buggy's shocked and crying face as Crocodile and Mihawk walk up behind them all gloomy and shit. We cut to Buggy's detached head being strung up on a hook while Crocodile and Mihawk talk about the Marine and their ultimate plan to make an 'utopia' and a 'strong military state'. 

And while hanging on that hook, all beaten up to hell, we get an interesting look into Buggy's mind. He knows he's talking up to two people much more powerful than him, but then he interrupts their meeting about how 'wealth and power' isn't just it. Buggy then talks about how he used to be on the Pirate King's crew with Shanks, how they never arrived to Laugh Tale... and how Buggy had let go of his original dream because he knew Shanks was always going to be that guy. We get a flashback, complete with Buggy's inner thoughts, about how disappointed he is that Shanks isn't going for the One Piece and to follow in Roger's footsteps. He deflects with the excuse of Shanks causing him to lose the treasure map, and runs off, but I think at some point Buggy ends up believing in his bullshit excuse...

And now, years later, Buggy is pissed off that he now actually is on 'equal footing' with Shanks, and he yells out, all beaten up and teary-eyed and snot-nosed, that he, too, wants to be the King of Pirates. He wants to claim it all, while Crocodile and Mihawk are clearly a lot more skeptical since they're going to do all the heavy lifting and they want to kind of avoid conflict. But Buggy rolls off his hook, talks next to a Den-Den Mushi, and does the big, bombastic declaration that the Cross Guild would now claim the One Piece.

And he's pathetic and all, but I really do think that what makes Buggy a bit more likable this time around is that he's actually aware that he's outclassed by Crocodile and Mihawk, let alone Shanks, but damn, he's got a crew now, he's got the means, and he's going to try. 

And we cut again to Kamabakka Kingdom, where we see a quartet of weird-ass Revolutionaries, all subordinates of the four Revolutionary commanders. Ushiano is some kind of Mink or Zoan that's a long-legged cow-creature. Ahiru, who we've seen before, is a cute girl with a robot arm. Gyamble is basically Humpty-Dumpty, and his personality is that he likes to gamble. And Jiron seems to have some kind of eating Devil Fruit, because he keeps eating telescopes and goggles and stuff. Turns out Sabo is back, everyone is all happy, we get a cute moment with Koala (which is basically what's expected) and the handwave that Sabo isn't even in Lulusia and he used some kind of a three-beat-code signal. I guess Sabo didn't really realize the sheer scope of what the World Government was going to do to Lulsia, huh? 

And we cut away to the final page, where Dragon and Ivankov are the only ones that are allowed to hear Sabo's report, becuase he doesn't want any of the captains hearing it since even hearing it puts them at risk... so I guess he saw Im!

Anyway, nowhere as epic as the last... three or four chapters, but it can't be all high-energy, high-tension all the time. I'm not the most excited about Cross Guild or the Revolutionaries compared to former Admirals, Monkey D. Garp, the Blackbeard Pirates, or Red-Haired Shanks... but it's about time that they get to do something after they're built up so much. Admittedly, Sabo's survival was never in question in my head that it slipped my notice that this was even supposed to be a 'reveal', and... I'm just waiting to see if the Revolutionaries will do anything at all, y'know? They've been in the background for so much and I've honestly had all my hype about Dragon die down... I really do want to be excited about them, and this seems to be a pretty good setup to them finally doing something!

Random Notes:

• For the longest time, I thought T-Bone's newspaper was folded when Sengoku and Tsuru were reading it, because there was a huge line right across the middle of the photograph. Turns out that it's just his mustache! Get it? Because T-Bone despises anything crooked, and he won't do curved sword slashes, and before he died his facial hair is also rigid and completely straight?
• It is interesting that Mihawk doesn't really want to face off against Shanks or Blackbeard just yet. There's a lot of debate on just how strong Mihawk is, and I don't doubt he's super strong, but I don't quite think he's at the level of a Yonko like Shanks just yet. 
• Ahiru actually made a bunch of background appearances in previous chapters!