One Piece Chapter 1183: GOOD MORN-MAID

Loki and Imu continue to battle, and Imu claims he will erase Luffy and Loki just like “Douzan”, was Douzan a person? A place? I’m curious as to what this name-drop means. The parents of Elbaph push through their wounds, as the Holy Knights say they’ve captured seven of the children again already. Zaza is such an overwhelming presence, flooding every panel and constricting the action. Sanji looks furious, but we leave it there. We cut back to the other group of Straw Hats, as they discuss Gunko. Brook believes that within her body, she contains three personalities, one being Imu, one being Princess Shuri, and the third being her Gunko personality. The big surprise of this chapter– Brook begins to describe his history in the Esperia Kingdom, with Gunko and the royal family 70 years ago…

Brook is singing a (new to us) song “Good Morn-maid” Which I cannot wait for Cho to perform in the anime, as he always does such a great job. Oda treats us with an incredible panel of Brook jumping into the air, bathed in the light of the sunrise. A beautiful scene, ruined by Brook’s crass lyrics, as the people of the kingdom yell at him to be quiet. That being said, the people of this kingdom clearly respect the 20-year old Brook, as he is entrusted with caretaking the young Princess. With some banter between the two, and Brook professing his love for the Queen– we are introduced to the King, who I can’t help but notice looks remarkably like Wapol with a disheveled and unshaven appearance. While King Reuven appears irritated by Brook, it seems he is a trusted guard and pretty much a member of the family.

It seems the Moulon Rogues (ha, Moulin Rouge) is intending to make an attempt on the Queen’s life (or indeed her heart) as she leaves the Opera House. As the King and Princess panic, Brook keeps his cool and explains that there’s no need to worry, as the gang simply hadn’t yet realised that they’d all been cut down when he met them before. As he speaks these words, blood gushes from their wounds and they collapse to the ground. Holy cow, that never gets old. Brook’s Akira Kurosawa style delayed slash is such a treat whenever it shows up.

Finally, we see the Queen, Candelle. She seems a powerful fighter in her own right, the former leader of the Royal Guard. The narration describes she and Brook as the two stars of the instrument-making kingdom. I certainly wasn’t expecting this from the Elbaph Arc, as I never hold my breath for detours as we quickly approach the end of the story.

But here we are, the story of how Brook’s home kingdom fell. I’m sure this will tie into the larger themes of the arc, either paralleled or subverted depending on the outcome of the battle in the present day. I also can’t help but feel some connection between the ideas used here, and those featured in One Piece Film Red, though they may just be superficial. A young girl, her caretaker and an island of musicians. If Princess Shuri has any type of inherent, or devil fruit, ability, that leads to the destruction of the Kingdom, then I’ll bring the idea back into the conversation. Oda does often sprinkle future main story ideas into the movies, at least archetypically with their featured villains. Z and Kuzan, Tesoro and Doflamingo, Bullet and Kaido and now Gunko and Uta? Potentially.