 It's official, Luffy has reached a level that even the Admirals should be scared of. How satisfying to see that the overwhelming threat that no one in the Straw Hats could leave a single marcon back in Saobodi is now clutched like a helpless little toy in the palm of Luffy's hand. Oda is giving us that sweet, sweet taste of what it truly means now that Luffy is a Yonko. CP Zero? Small fry. An Admiral? No problem. Or at least in Gear 5th form that is. As we do see that Luffy's first response was to fight Kizaru in Snake Man, which is a wise decision because one, Kizaru is a super speedy opponent and Snake Man would be Luffy's fastest form. And two, he knows there's a limit to how long he can use Gear 5th and he's already activated it once against Luchi. But ultimately Snake Man isn't enough. Gear 4th isn't enough. Kizaru is just too damn fast. In fact, Kizaru had been blitzing through everyone since he arrived at Egghead. He blasted through Sentomaru, made pretty easy work of Luffy initially, even destroying Vega 4th 01 in the process, blew Bonnie into God knows where, and was dangerously close to fulfilling his mission to kill Vega Punk and all in a day's work. Who are we kidding? Probably all of this achieved in about 5 minutes, 10 minutes tops. Which is what makes Luffy surprising him and trapping him in his fist all that more impressive. This panel is an absolute masterpiece that makes me feel nostalgic, pure awe, hype and anticipation all at once. This is a goddamn admiral that we have never, not once, seen him lose in a battle, never shown to break a sweat, or look truly in fear of losing, never at a disadvantage. Kizaru has always remained unfazed, unbothered, so confident in his abilities. And look at him now, in Luffy's fist. The shot of giant Luffy holding Kizaru really makes him seem almost godlike. Actually the perfect comparison would be that I felt like I was watching a scene out of Toy Story when Sid is holding a helpless toy in his grasp and we're genuinely worried for that toy's safety. Even the smile on Luffy's face is wicked, and now I know that the fight's not necessarily over, and I'm sure Oda wouldn't just wrap it up this neatly. Kizaru doesn't look completely helpless or completely scared, although you can tell that he's certainly surprised, even taken aback. And not in his usual amused sort of way either, when it feels like he's just entertained as opposed to concerned, because I'd even say that his expression here betrays his attempt at nonchalance. And although this chapter has also shown that Luffy is going to need to find a way to sustain Gif Vith for long enough in order to fight tougher foes, and if he wants to defeat Kizaru. But what a glorious moment it is to just bask at just the moment, in just how far our rubber boy has come. Even his own crewmates can't get over it. They've seen Luffy expand to gigantic proportions before, and even still, the extent of his growth and power-up since awakening the Nika Devil fruit is a tremendous sight, and a perfect way to use the eye-popping effect to capture and continue the toony-toony vibe of Luffy's Gif Vith. And on that note, this panel is actually a scene right out of Tom and Jerry, which really has to make you laugh. Kizaru's actions in this chapter, as well as his last fight against Sentomaru in 1991, shows him to be very consistent with what we've seen of his character so far in the story. Despite his personal friendships and relationships, he's not someone who gets very personal or emotional about his tasks. And despite him subscribing to the so-called lazy justice, he's actually very efficient. And for the most part, effective in getting tasks done, we saw in the last chapter how Sentomaru's loyalty to Vega Punk meant that he almost unhesitatingly betrayed the Marines. But the same can't be said for this man. It seems to be the case that Kizaru has spent an even longer time with Vega Punk than Sentomaru has. And even still, he wasn't extremely emotional, or at least he wasn't conflicted about following orders. Yes, he says that this isn't an easy mission. But there is no doubt in anyone's mind, least of all his, that he's going to go through with killing an old friend. He certainly didn't show Sentomaru any remorse or hesitation, despite the fact that he's known Sentomaru since he was only a child. Is that just simply Kizaru's personality? How can someone be so detached? It certainly has me more interested in his character. And interestingly, about his relationship with Bonnie as well, Kizaru seems to refer to Bonnie as an old friend too, raising the question of just how long has Kuma spent working as one of the Shichibuka? And the short interaction between these two is actually very interesting. For example, with all of this action and speedy movements going on, it's easy to miss this line from Bonnie, that she realized that she should be targeting someone else rather than Vega-Punk. And it does make me very excited about what she's learned from Kuma's memory, to no longer have it out for Vega-Punk himself. Also Kizaru's line about kids growing up so fast, that could possibly have implications about Bonnie's real age, and whether she's using her devil fruit to make herself older or younger. It also actually reminds me of Kuzan's line to Robin after their reunion at Long Ring Long Land, when he comments on just how much she's growing too. And this interaction all ties back to Kuma of course, who is what this chapter is titled after, but didn't actually take as much up of the chapter as I expected. Actually, the chapter was quite a curveball in that respect, because I was expecting that we'll finally get some Kuma backstory or action at least, whereas the chapter itself, at least where Kuma is involved, was really only setting us up for things to come. Because Kuma has now successfully escaped Marijoua, and is continuing on his way to wherever he's headed. Was it just me, or did anyone else think that Akainu didn't truly give it his all? Personally, he didn't seem to be as hell-bent on taking Kuma down, as we've witnessed him before, such as against Ace, and the ruthlessness and determination that we've seen from him in the past. Or is it just supposed to be a testament to how much Kuma is determined to reach his location, despite supposedly having no consciousness? And where indeed is he headed, as Akainu quite helpfully asks, how does a non-sentient Kuma know where to go, and makes him so determined to get there? This chapter suggested that the scuffle between Kuma and Akainu occurred the day before the current events taking place at Ekhead, which would mean that Kuma's mission wasn't prompted by something that Bonnie did, like accessing his memories. And since Vega-Punk didn't know that CP-Zero, nor Admiral Kizuru, and a Gorosei member were all on their way to Ekhead at that very moment, it seems unlikely that Vega-Punk called for Kuma's help, or that Kuma would be programmed to return when Vega-Punk is in danger, unless Vega-Punk configured Kuma to come to Bonnie's help whenever she's in dire danger. And perhaps her being stuck in the eddy is what set Kuma off even before she ran into trouble with Kizuru or Ekhead in general. Something that I did get a lot of satisfaction from this chapter was seeing the Celestial Dragons having to live in fear or concern, and not have all of their whims and desires just simply met whenever they want. Even if it is just lobsters, they are feeling the implications of the Revolutionary Army's attack, and I have to say, it serves you right. I also loved Akainu's response to all of this, he genuinely looks like he cannot give two craps about all of their grumbling and blaming. I honestly half expected him to attack them, just out of fear, frustration, or annoyance. And I know that last dialogue from him in this chapter, commenting on Kuma's lost will, lost mind, lost everything, the fact that he's just a puppet. I felt like this is something that could be very well said about himself. Now that he works directly under the world government, it's like Akainu has no will or mind of his own, and must simply live out the orders of the world government and serve the Celestial Dragons. Which is exactly why Garp refused the role time and time again, but I didn't expect Akainu to be so dismissive about his fealty to the world government, especially given his brand of justice, but also given Ryokugu's deep admiration of Akainu, Ryokugu who does in fact respect and worship the Celestial Dragons. So I expected their values to align a lot more. The other massive part of this chapter is, of course, the awakening of the ancient giant robot. So correlation doesn't always mean causation, but it can't be a coincidence that the ancient giant is now waking up after Luffy activated Gif Fifth and with it the drumbeats of the Warrior of Liberation. But then you'd have to wonder why now? Why did the ancient giant not wake up earlier when Luffy used Gif Fifth against Luchi? Is it simply because they were too far away? Could the robot not hear Luffy's drumbeats back then? Which is, I suppose, plausible, but also seems a little doubtful given that Zunisha recognized his heartbeats immediately despite not being super close by. It also raises the super intriguing question of if Luffy's Gif Fifth form and the heartbeats was indeed what activated the ancient giant now, then what happened 200 years ago? Or better yet, who happened 200 years ago? Was there another case of a would-be joyboy 200 years ago who had the semblance of the heartbeats of the drums of liberation and was just simply born too early and only if the timing was right could have uncovered all the Earth's secrets and overthrow the world government two centuries ago? What is indeed the significance of this timeframe? Because so far we know that aside from the ancient robot trying to attack Marishwa, this is around the same time that the Saint Priest, which we saw in the Jaya Ark, left the Saint Priest Kingdom before mysteriously vanishing. It's also the first time that the Fishmen attended the Reverie after the prohibition of Fishman slaves that was finally achieved after centuries of discrimination for the first time and the flying fish appeared at Greenbit around the same time. And given that we know Saint Priest was sent upstairs to a sky island, what's fascinating is that both Skypeer, as well as this big moment for Fishmen and the fact that they both occurred around the same time, both Skypeians were I suppose Shandorians I should say. And Fishmen had close ties to the ancient kingdom or to Joyboy himself and so you can't help but wonder whether these were isolated events that occurred 200 years ago or rather part of a bigger movement that concerned a certain potential Joyboy. A potential Joyboy who wasn't fully able to awaken the Gomu Gomu No Mi, perhaps died during that pivotal moment where it was make or break and the user's life was on the line to awaken the Nika Devil Fruit. Or perhaps this all concerned another individual, someone who just simply had the voice of all things. Similar to Momonosuke's relationship with Zunishio. Or is there another explanation for the awakening of the ancient robot entirely? In this case in the present, is it the presence of Saturn? And does it have to do with the Gorose or the world government that the ancient robot is now responding to? Is it the amount of Haki or the overall energy that was expended between Luffy and Kizaru? Is it even York's secret code that the vagabunks managed to resolve? Whatever it is, it is perfect timing because Vega Force 01 was destroyed and can no longer lift the Sunny to take it to the back for escape. So the likelihood is that the robot will be fulfilling this role instead, particularly if we responded to Luffy's Nika Devil Fruit form and will be obeying Luffy's commands. And so the straw hats along with Vega Punk may just be getting out of here without too much trouble. Like I said, they did just crack York's code, but I'm sure that things are hardly close to being over. We still need to see the showdown between the rest of the Marines and the forces at Egghead. Possibly we'll even see match-ups like Robin and Dole, which would truly be a delight. And all of this possibly next week, because it does seem like we are back to regular schedules and not just the chapter every two weeks, which is the greatest news of all. And I'm really hoping that it's next chapter that we finally get to see Kuma's backstory. But as always, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. Make sure to like and subscribe for more videos and thank you for listening to another one of my ramblings. This is Joygirl and I'll see you again soon.