One Piece Chapter 988: Sorry for the Wait

zanekin

* One Piece Chapter 988 Sorry for the Wait Read Online! VIZ: here

zanekin

First thing that jumps out at me is King vs Sanji. It seems like they were quite internationally separated for a 1-on-1. That's very interesting to me.

seiryu

NICE!!! We don't even see any of Kaidou vs. the Scabbards or much of Luffy vs. Big Mom, but I'm super pleased with all the action Oda has set up already. Hmm...I'm curious on the translator notes for the title because that makes it sound like there's a purposeful unique aspect to the common phrase. So FYI we have a legit translator now that even knows recent One Piece references (Momo using the same quote in the flashback per the translator notes). Damn...I was hoping for the cover story to end, but I want it to end on a positive note, so I'll take a few more to have that. The first thing that jumped off the first page is the 7th Numbers. He's based on the stereotypical Oni. So people that have watched Dragon Ball or Yu Yu Hakusho should be super familiar with the character design. This guy seems a lot less "comedic effect", so hopefully the top 1-3ish are legit powerhouses too. Shinobu's overpowered fruit ability is always the answer... I'm probably going to look up where Zeus was last shown since Nami has him super early in this chapter. I'm really getting tired of Oda purposefully having Sanji lag behind. Literally immediately after his moment of glory, we see him potentially dying if not for the Raid Suit (even Luffy is acknowledging the power and threat to Sanji on top of Sanji himself). Considering Iva is a legit powerhouse in the New World, Sanji should be stronger than this. Man...I think Oda's purposefully milking Yamato and her wishy-washy current personality. But she's clearly above Ulti's level though. That ending though! Poor Zeus is the butt end of everyone's crap. He's the one to get attacked by Brook both times (not used to being damaged since he's essentially a logia), always taking crap from Prometheus, and all the crap from Big Mom (plus all the crap from Nami during his short time as her "slave"). Luffy is going to have to step in now, and I'm looking forward to how Oda handles this!

weebywitch

Okay the moment when Nami calls Franky aniki at the end killed me!! like she finally acknowledges him the way his old gang did. She’s never been that grateful or submissive except maybe with Luffy when he put the hat on her and went to save her from Arlong way back in the day. What’s up with the gratitude for Jack leaving when talking to King? Were they implying that he was useless by staying behind? For a minute there, I thought that Momo has manifested his dragon DF in a different way and broken out of the chains himself—I was hella excited. The form of the wispiness in front of him gave me that impression. It’s not that the sulong itself is limited, it’s the amount of control each mink has before they are out of control and need to cover their eyes from the moon. So the Beast Pirates are misunderstanding the form itself. They might be willing to take each other out in order to destroy them—or position themselves such that they’re surrounded by enemies before they lose control so there’s no collateral damage and just be willing to sacrifice themselves. I wouldn’t say that Yamato is wishy washy so much as traumatized. Wanting to make decisions for yourself but never being allowed to do so re two very different dichotomies. They can have all the desire but still have to consciously work against the patterns of abuse and behavior. Especially trying to learn what is acceptable in a healthy relationship is new and unusual. Not knowing how to navigate that is natural. Healthy boundaries are unknown. It’s easier to get fed up and unilaterally rebel against an oppressive system than to figure out how to relate to and navigate a new and healthy one where you’ve never had an example before. Luffy having the wherewithal to stay and face Big Mom in order to protect the others was smart. He’s growing so much.

seiryu

> First thing that jumps out at me is King vs Sanji. It seems like they were quite internationally separated for a 1-on-1. That's very interesting to me. Hopefully it is Sanji getting caught off guard and he is able to keep up with King's speed/strength. > she finally acknowledges him the way his old gang did. She’s never been that grateful or submissive except maybe with Luffy when he put the hat on her and went to save her from Arlong way back in the day. Well...she is always been petty/self-serving (even Luffy is not immune to this when money is involved), so it's more that she has the feeling of them all being nakama but she only shows/expresses it when it's her benefit.> What’s up with the gratitude for Jack leaving when talking to King? Were they implying that he was useless by staying behind? King belittles Jack in the panel you are referring to so it sounds like a not so great translation of it.> For a minute there, I thought that Momo has manifested his dragon DF in a different way and broken out of the chains himself—I was hella excited. It's Shinobu's over-powered ability based on the flow of the panels.> It’s not that the sulong itself is limited, it’s the amount of control each mink has before they are out of control and need to cover their eyes from the moon. So the Beast Pirates are misunderstanding the form itself. They might be willing to take each other out in order to destroy them—or position themselves such that they’re surrounded by enemies before they lose control so there’s no collateral damage and just be willing to sacrifice themselves. Technically, the "limitation" is accurate. However, the willingness to sacrifice themselves for their goal is able to overcome the "limitation" (everyone else in the alliance is going into these fights with the "su-na-chi"/kamikaze mindset). This isn't that much of an issue because knocking out the raging individual is enough to stop them from seeing moonlight. > I wouldn’t say that Yamato is wishy washy so much as traumatized. Exactly. I've mentioned the trauma-based origin of the becoming Oden aspect. The constant back and forth is exactly why I call it a true "50-50" situation. We won't know to call Yamato a she or he until the end of the arc and a final decision rid of Kaidou can be made.

weebywitch

> Exactly. I've mentioned the trauma-based origin of the becoming Oden aspect. I mentioned it as well back when Yamato first came about/was revealed as being a bio-female who idolized Oden. I criticized the character when everyone else was applauding them as an example of a strong character/example, etc. So I’m not denying the point about waiting to determine identity/cause. It’s why I use the pronouns that I use. > Well...she is always been petty/self-serving (even Luffy is not immune to this when money is involved), so it's more that she has the feeling of them all being nakama but she only shows/expresses it when it's her benefit. She was actually in tears though. I recognize these traits of her character which is why I made the comment in the first place. Even if it was comic relief, I figured it was a huge point that she was happy he arrived. > King belittles Jack in the panel you are referring to so it sounds like a not so great translation of it. Wasn’t it someone else talking to King about Jack going out to fight and King staying behind? So Jack was being belittled by King? Maybe I need to reread that then. I only read it once. I’m very confused now. > It's Shinobu's over-powered ability based on the flow of the panels. The ability that they said didn’t work? It suddenly worked after she got knocked away and Sanji showed up? So he just conveniently handed Momo over to her as opposed to having been working on the chains somehow the whole time and cutting them? He was there to hear the announcement of his name, etc. Just random thoughts. > Technically, the "limitation" is accurate. However, the willingness to sacrifice themselves for their goal is able to overcome the "limitation" (everyone else in the alliance is going into these fights with the "su-na-chi"/kamikaze mindset). This isn't that much of an issue because knocking out the raging individual is enough to stop them from seeing moonlight. Is this with the mindset that the limitation is the sulong itself, ignoring the first part of my response? Or are you considering the “raging individual” to be once they’ve lost control of it? I’m unclear here. Either way, do you think it will be so easy a thing to knock out a sulong mink?

goldenvenus

I'm a bit confused with Yamato's part saying 'he's my son after all' ??? Anyway, the best part in this chapter would be Franky and Brook coming in to be the heroes of the day XD Looking forward to King vs Sanji, but I really want to know where Marco is at the moment.

riofriz

> I'm a bit confused with Yamato's part saying 'he's my son after all' ??? Yamato think she's Kozuki : which i find hilarious. I've finally caught up with the latest 4/5 chapters and oh my damn. So much stuff going on, this is exciting as hell, i couldn't help but whispering the cool anime soundtrack while reading (you know the one, the epic theme that's always there when something big happens). I love the dynamic with Yamato and she literally invited herself in the Strawhats, that could be a really cool turn of events Regarding the chapter itself, i think Franky/Brook entrance was the most epic thing Oda has drawn in years. And as WeebyWitch was saying, Nami's reaction says it all.

Marco Polo

Ok first of all what a chapter. The Guardians/Musketeers are facing off with Jack on Cat & Dog's behalf it seems. Will the Sulong transformation be enough to bridge the gap in strength? I imagine Sulong Cat & Dog working togather (who we haven't seen yet, boo) would be enough to defeat him given that they're both roughly equal to him in "base" form. Sanji with another typical clutch Sanji moment (been a while since we had one) to save Momo... I think him vs. King would make for a really intersting fight - Sanji has the speed and mobility to combat him in the air and I think we could get some really nicely drawn fights should Oda decide to have them fight. Also, King seemed to think Sanji could literally vanish because of the invisibility power of his suit? That's how I read their encounter, anyway. The crazy thing about this chapter is that Sanji gets out Sanji'd by Franky and Brook with that last page - the Brook vs. Big Mom rivalry is unexpected but I'm totally here for it. Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've seen Big Mom look visibly damaged and it's from a bike wheel to the face. Love it. : > First thing that jumps out at me is King vs Sanji. It seems like they were quite internationally separated for a 1-on-1. That's very interesting to me. The really interesting part to me is the timing - this all seems like the early stages of the war rather than the climactic final battle. I think this fight either ends with that moment where they both crash into the wall, or Sanji loses to set up a Sanji vs. King rematch in the endgame. > I'm really getting tired of Oda purposefully having Sanji lag behind. Literally immediately after his moment of glory, we see him potentially dying if not for the Raid Suit (even Luffy is acknowledging the power and threat to Sanji on top of Sanji himself). Considering Iva is a legit powerhouse in the New World, Sanji should be stronger than this. I'm really interested that this is the conclusion you drew from such a short encounter. We saw Luffy barely squeak past an opponent that would be considered in the same tier as King (Yonko Commander) in WCI. I don't think one panel is enough to really make that judgement.

weebywitch

> I'm a bit confused with Yamato's part saying 'he's my son after all' ??? Yamato is acting like they’re Oden hence “he’s my son”. > . Also, King seemed to think Sanji could literally vanish because of the invisibility power of his suit? That's how I read their encounter, anyway. Yup that’s exactly what he seemed to think based on what he said.

goldenvenus

riofriz WeebyWitch Ah right I totally forgot about the part where Yamato wanted to be Oden! Thanks for reminding me. Though it is indeed a bit hilarious that Yamato would go as far as acting like Momo's parent because of the obsession to become Oden.

seiryu

> I criticized the character when everyone else was applauding them as an example of a strong character/example, etc. Really? I'm blanking on this part. Sometimes you forget to post, so I'm quite sure the outlier opinion would stick out in my mind. But, main thing is we agree on the content thus far. > She was actually in tears though. I recognize these traits of her character which is why I made the comment in the first place. Even if it was comic relief, I figured it was a huge point that she was happy he arrived. I think I'm just "pessimistic" on Nami. I think the only "real" tears we see is her asking for help in Arlong Park. She's shown to have comedic effect tears like this (all types of emotions), but it's always selfish. It's her money gained, money lost, her life at risk, etc. 100% she finds everyone as Nakama, but she's probably the least expressive of it. Robin's words are harsh, but her actions are the opposite of Nami's.> Wasn’t it someone else talking to King about Jack going out to fight and King staying behind? So Jack was being belittled by King? Maybe I need to reread that then. I only read it once. I’m very confused now. Ah sorry, King is belittling Queen. Forgot Jack went up and I remembered Jack was mentioned in that panel. Essentially King is belittling how Queen wasn't able to respond to do anything the entire time (while he and Jack were able to do so).> The ability that they said didn’t work? It suddenly worked after she got knocked away and Sanji showed up? So he just conveniently handed Momo over to her as opposed to having been working on the chains somehow the whole time and cutting them? He was there to hear the announcement of his name, etc. Just random thoughts. Who said it didn't work? It's the best offensive power Oda has created and he has to negate her in combat because of it. It is above Yonkou/admiral level fruit abilities. Looking at the raw though, it is Sanji kicking them. There's the visual of him attacking and then smoke from the impact on the close up. > Is this with the mindset that the limitation is the sulong itself, ignoring the first part of my response? Or are you considering the “raging individual” to be once they’ve lost control of it? I’m unclear here. Either way, do you think it will be so easy a thing to knock out a sulong mink? I agree with the earlier comments, so yes, only the "raging individual" aspect. It is all relative to power tier. Inuarashi/Nekomamushi should be able to save all of their fellow Minks as long as they aren't heavily damaged/fatigued by fighting with Kaidou. Even the Muskateers (or whatever the exec level guys were), should be a tier below Inuarashi/Nekomamushi. So Luffy in Gear Fourth is able to do the same. With the power-ups, potentially the rest of the Scabbards can do so too.> Anyway, the best part in this chapter would be Franky and Brook coming in to be the heroes of the day XD Looking forward to King vs Sanji, but I really want to know where Marco is at the moment. Marco should still be with Perospero. I think they were shown in one other panel, but they are fighting the weaklings currently (clearing a potential escape path).> I've finally caught up with the latest 4/5 chapters and oh my damn. So much stuff going on, this is exciting as hell, i couldn't help but whispering the cool anime soundtrack while reading (you know the one, the epic theme that's always there when something big happens). Damn, got lucky that some of the best chapters in a long time was when you got to semi-binge.> The Guardians/Musketeers are facing off with Jack on Cat & Dog's behalf it seems. Will the Sulong transformation be enough to bridge the gap in strength? I imagine Sulong Cat & Dog working togather (who we haven't seen yet, boo) would be enough to defeat him given that they're both roughly equal to him in "base" form. Both were confident that alone they would take down Jack if they had Sulong (since they were equal in their base forms). The key is that the average Mink in Sulong is stronger than the average Gifter. Only Jack and Nangi (the 7th Numbers) are the legit powerhouses. They will be equals based on the Minks' number advantage.> Also, King seemed to think Sanji could literally vanish because of the invisibility power of his suit? He saw Sanji invisible carrying Momo off, so he knew the ability and told Sanji to turn it back on (taunting since he had Sanji trapped).> The crazy thing about this chapter is that Sanji gets out Sanji'd by Franky and Brook with that last page - the Brook vs. Big Mom rivalry is unexpected but I'm totally here for it. Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time we've seen Big Mom look visibly damaged and it's from a bike wheel to the face. Love it. If it's real blood, I'm going to lose some stuff. I'm biased to think it's her lipstick only based on power levels.> I'm really interested that this is the conclusion you drew from such a short encounter. We saw Luffy barely squeak past an opponent that would be considered in the same tier as King (Yonko Commander) in WCI. I don't think one panel is enough to really make that judgement. So let me counter with a question: how many times in the series has a crew member thought they were going to die? Sanji is acknowledging this, and Luffy is acknowledging Sanji is in danger too (his facial expression says more than his word choice though). He's saying he's going to die...doesn't get more straight forward on a power level difference than that...and this is per the raw. Not posting anything since that's "downloading". I can post as needed the individual panels though.

weebywitch

> Who said it didn't work? It's the best offensive power Oda has created and he has to negate her in combat because of it. It is above Yonkou/admiral level fruit abilities. https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/one-piece-chapter-988/chapter/21097 Page 7, 4th panel. Luffy said it. > Ah sorry, King is belittling Queen. Forgot Jack went up and I remembered Jack was mentioned in that panel. Essentially King is belittling how Queen wasn't able to respond to do anything the entire time (while he and Jack were able to do so). Ah okay that’s who’s being belittled. That makes more sense than King being mocked. I misunderstood who was speaking. If I’d known it was Queen being spoken to, I’d’ve gotten it right away. > Really? I'm blanking on this part. Sometimes you forget to post, so I'm quite sure the outlier opinion would stick out in my mind. But, main thing is we agree on the content thus far. I’m thinking it was one of the times I didn’t post until the official came out and I didn’t get much response to what I had to say but I posted it. GoldenVenus and j discussed it, if I recall correctly. I could find the post but yeah. The point is similar views.

lepony

I have a question irrelevant from the chapter.. In what scene exactly did one of the writers cry?

weebywitch

seiryu

> https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/one-piec ... pter/21097 Page 7, 4th panel. Luffy said it. For me, he's only referring to the rescue Momo objective. But yea, Sanji kicks both while hovering I assume. This matches the pattern of visualization for Sanji moving while invisible (happens once or twice in the chapter). I made the mistake of assuming Sanji only picked Momo up.> Ah okay that’s who’s being belittled. That makes more sense than King being mocked. I misunderstood who was speaking. If I’d known it was Queen being spoken to, I’d’ve gotten it right away. Yea, thankfully just a minor/fill in scene. But important since it is building the context of the crew members all going independent once Kaidou goes down. > I have a question irrelevant from the chapter.. In what scene exactly did one of the writers cry? Welcome to our community! It was two(?) chapters ago. It wasn't really anything emotional because the editor is new (all of the really emotional One Piece events are during the tenures of previous editors => this is key because people were seemingly comparing it to peak sad events in the series). It was probably all of the Scabbards having this kamikaze/"su-na-chi" mindset while executing a thoroughly planned unified attack against Kaidou. So yup, it was chapter 986 and not 987 and the key point is that it was the most emotional point/first time crying for his(?) limited time working with Oda. Got it covered WeebyWitch.

lepony

> I have a question irrelevant from the chapter.. In what scene exactly did one of the writers cry? Welcome to the forum! I don’t know exactly what you’re talking about here... could you elaborate? thank you my friend!! one of the editors last month said that when he was writing one of the upcoming chapters(that time 986-987), one scene made him cry...

weebywitch

> thank you my friend!! one of the editors last month said that when he was writing one of the upcoming chapters(that time 986-987), one scene made him cry... You’re quite welcome. Thanks for the explanation I’m glad that seiryu was able to answer your question about this. I hope that you enjoy it here! ^_^

Marco Polo

> He saw Sanji invisible carrying Momo off, so he knew the ability and told Sanji to turn it back on (taunting since he had Sanji trapped). That makes more sense. Observation Haki would be enough to see him > So let me counter with a question: how many times in the series has a crew member thought they were going to die? Sanji is acknowledging this, and Luffy is acknowledging Sanji is in danger too (his facial expression says more than his word choice though). He's saying he's going to die...doesn't get more straight forward on a power level difference than that...and this is per the raw. Not posting anything since that's "downloading". I can post as needed the individual panels though. I think that question somewhat misses the point I’m trying to get across. Sanji is not currently stronger than King and I don’t think I ever argued as such. However I’m not really sure what you mean when you say he’s lagging behind. Who, Luffy? Of course he is - Luffy is the strongest fighter on “our” side of the alliance. It’s still the beginning of the war, and the biggest opportunities for the crew to grow are still yet to come. As I said earlier, King is on the level of Luffy’s most recent opponent (Katakuri), and Luffy barely scraped through that fight. Luffy acknowledges the threat King carries because he’s come up against opponents of that calibre, and faced attacks of that level. He also knows that Sanji hasn’t experienced that. For Sanji to be demonstrably stronger than King in a two-page encounter would go against the powerscaling Oda’s spent years setting up. If Sanji vs. King is the route Oda chooses to go with, it’s a fight he’ll have to grow into and surpass his limits during - as it should be at this stage of the story. Every major fight the crew gets in now is one for their lives - if the stakes are any lower then they won’t grow into the Pirate King’s crew. If they’re suddenly breezing by elite level opponents, there’s no danger, no tension and no point in reading. The moments where the crew have seen the greatest growth are in fights where they’ve struggled. We’re also not used to seeing Sanji struggle in 1v1s. Pre-timeskip, he dispatched pretty much all his opponents relatively comfortably, save for Pearl/Gin and Khalifa (though the Khalifa fight is an exceptional circumstance). Post-timeskip we’ve not really seen much until Wano, and even then his Page One fight was more about introducing us to the Raid Suit’s abilities than it was giving Sanji battle experience. I think because he hasn’t had an obvious “win” in a while it seems like he’s fallen behind when he’s really doing just fine. Luffy (and now Jinbe) aside, he’s got the most impressive strength feats within the crew since the timeskip. It’s just a matter of giving him the right opportunity and setting to turn those glimpses of potential into a major takedown. Of course, Oda could well reveal in the next chapter that Sanji died from King’s attack and you’d be right and my argument would be invalidated. However, I’m fairly confident that won’t be the case.

seiryu

> We’re also not used to seeing Sanji struggle in 1v1s. Pre-timeskip, he dispatched pretty much all his opponents relatively comfortably, save for Pearl/Gin and Khalifa (though the Khalifa fight is an exceptional circumstance). Post-timeskip we’ve not really seen much until Wano, and even then his Page One fight was more about introducing us to the Raid Suit’s abilities than it was giving Sanji battle experience. I think because he hasn’t had an obvious “win” in a while it seems like he’s fallen behind when he’s really doing just fine. Luffy (and now Jinbe) aside, he’s got the most impressive strength feats within the crew since the timeskip. It’s just a matter of giving him the right opportunity and setting to turn those glimpses of potential into a major takedown. For the great majority of the series, Sanji has been roughly equal to Zoro, who in turn is shown many more times to be roughly equal to Luffy (they all have different styles, so the opponent that match up favorably against dramatically changes). Do you think Sanji is equal to Zoro now? If not, he's "lagging" behind the established expectations for the power trio (or whatever the nickname was). So that earlier part on Sanji being behind Luffy is what I'm getting at. Also I mentioned the Raid Suit, which is depressing since it means Sanji didn't train anything the two-ish weeks it took to get to Wano Kuni. The raw has Sanji thinking he's going to die because of the power difference and Sanji not knowing the durability of the Raid Suit. Of course plot armor keeps Sanji alive and we've already seen the Raid Suit power-ups throughout WCI. As a Sanji fan, I would assume you would want him to exceed expectations. I'm not the biggest Sanji fan, but I'm over this purposeful weakening of him. Training with Iva should have given similar power-ups as training with Mihawk and Rayleigh. Why is Sanji's cooking the only thing that made astronomical improvements? The Raid Suit is enough for Sanji to be inferior to Ichiji and Niji. Unless Oda has some huge twist, he's just screwing Sanji excessively and that's my gripe. I might be writing angry letters to WSJ if I was a huge Sanji fan. Doesn't make sense to me.