Jump again

One Piece 648 was a bit daft, centred as it was on the Sea Kings, making them sapient in a way that will be difficult to reconcile with their former roles and really all seems a bit of a stretch timing-wise. The rest was the aftermath of a battle that never really seemed to get off its feet, especially in comparison with the immense one we had before it, and it’s not like there was ever any real danger of Luffy not pulling through (so Oda opted for comedy, which was a good move – Chopper once again providing the real laughs here). The final twist of another new nakama wasn’t exactly unexpected – either this was going to be how things proceed or he was going to go off to be his own captain again – but I’m glad we’ll start making some progress beyond Fishman Island again now. Time for the Grand Line, if you please!

Naruto 565 for one thing showed that for all the criticism he gets, Oda is better than Kishimoto at depicting anatomy from odd angles. Comparing the female Jinchuriki with wings seen from below with a comparable angle for Shirahoshi, even if the former focuses on legs and the latter on the torso (as Shirahoshi doesn’t have legs), it’s clear which has been done better. The Jinchuriki’s pelvis seems…distended. The chapter itself was another underwhelming one, with a few moments of action and then big two-page spreads of things I don’t find very interesting – plus a fight that’s essentially a rehash of the Pein fights.