One Piece Chapter 1191: THERE’S STILL LOKI

Gaban explains the nature of Imu, to the best of his knowledge, to Luffy. Imu is the man who stands atop the world, the devil in the place of angels, the uncaring god of a harsh world. Imu’s overwhelming Supreme King Haki knocks out the giant animals of Elbaph as he mutters to himself about his regrets in letting those two children from God Valley live, who I would presume to be Blackbeard and Shanks but this could be a misdirect from Oda. Imu’s power explodes, transforming him into an even more bestial form with huge horns.

Meanwhile Chopper, Robin and Saul have located Biblo the Owl, who has been protecting the library books. Saul implores Chopper to talk to Biblo to understand his motivations better. However, whatever Biblo reveals to Chopper is still hidden from us for another week. This mystery has slowly been building in the background throughout this arc and I can’t help but feel I haven’t given it enough thought. The way it’s building makes me think it could be quite a large reveal, due to the way it’s being timed along with the climax of the action.

Speaking of which, the scale of this fight between Gaban and Imu is just incredible. Gaban retains his laid-back persona despite his missing arm. Even still, he emphasises to Luffy that this is a battle he can’t win, or at least he believes Luffy can’t win. Both Luffy and Gaban are in rough shape. Luffy is by no means at his full strength, Gear 5th being the only thing holding his body together. Before Imu can land another blow on the two, Hajrudin steps in landing a clean blow to Imu’s face. When reading, it was here that I realised just how similar Imu’s current form looks to Loki, down to the beard and everything. I’m not sure yet what exactly this means. Hajrudin’s next-level punch leaves Imu cratered in the cliffside. Gaban emphasises again that Luffy and his crew need to leave, asking Hajrudin to make it happen. Luffy believes he really can recover from his wounds due to the amount of food he ate.

Hajrudin takes another explosive blow from Imu in his back, stating that as a warrior he’s more than ready to die in battle. He also makes it clear he believes Loki is worthy to take the throne and lead their people, as he arrives on the scene to help out. Gaban is aghast at Luffy’s ability to get back up and join the fray yet again. All culminating in one huge blow from Luffy, Hajrudin and Loki: Gokoku Sovereignty. A beautiful bookend to Dorry and Brogy’s combo attack from all those years ago, a new generation of giants, along with the future Pirate King, banding together to show that they deserve to live, that their people will not be subjugated.

It’s definitely a bummer to be going to another break. It seems like we haven’t had a good string of chapters for a while now. Just before I was writing this, it was announced that One Piece would be receiving not one, but TWO new movies in 2027 and 2029. The first of which– “One Piece Film: God Valley”, will presumably adapt Volume 114, but the second, “Film BAAD”, I have no clue about. The way Oda’s handwriting goes, the ‘D’ in ‘BAAD’ is emphasised, which shouldn’t be a surprise, but that word is a mystery to us all for now. Look forward to my coverage of those in the future!