Video summary
The video transcript explores a significant continuity puzzle regarding Usopp's sudden appearance on Elbaf and his detailed knowledge of conversations he was not physically present to hear. The narrator questions how Usopp could overhear Gaban's discussion with Imu about Joy Boy and Roger, especially since Usopp arrived later via Hody Jones, who was not near Gaban at the time. Similarly, the speaker points out a previous instance in Chapter 1177 where Usopp magically appeared on Brook's side to fight against Imu despite being far away from Nami's group. To resolve these logistical inconsistencies, the author speculates that Usopp has unlocked a new layer of Observation Haki, allowing him to perceive events and voices from great distances. This interpretation aligns with established traits of Observation Haki seen in characters like Coby, suggesting that Usopp's rapid growth is tied to his role as a sniper and his recent display of immense bravery, which requires significant willpower—a core component of Haki mastery.
Beyond the mechanics of Haki, the analysis delves into the thematic significance of Usopp's speech regarding Luffy's identity as the Sun God Nika versus the human Monkey D. Luffy. The narrator argues that Usopp's intervention serves three distinct purposes: first, it acts as an in-world plot point where Gaban tries to elevate Luffy to a divine status while Usopp insists on preserving Luffy's freedom; second, it functions as a meta-commentary to the audience, reminding fans that despite the god-like powers and prophetic elements introduced with Gear 5, the story remains fundamentally about Luffy's personal journey rather than just the legacy of Joy Boy or Nika; and third, it serves as a reminder for the author, Oda, not to let the narrative become so entangled in cosmic history that it loses its human core. The speech effectively grounds the fantastical elements back into the reality of Luffy's character, ensuring that the "destined hero" trope does not overshadow the protagonist's agency and growth.
The discussion also shifts to the combat dynamics between Luffy and Imu, noting a peculiar visual regression where Imu appears weaker despite his terrifying transformations. The narrator suggests this might be an illusion created by Luffy's increasing effectiveness or that Imu is actually regressing with each form change, though the possibility of another transformation into a silhouette creature remains uncertain. A key focus is placed on Luffy's use of the Kraken Gatling attack, which draws parallels to his earlier victories against Enel and Crocodile. The narrator highlights that Luffy's arms contorting to an extreme degree before striking Imu in the stomach mirrors his previous tactics used to break through divine shields like Ryugu. Furthermore, the transcript notes that unlike Luffy's usual disregard for physical pain, he suffered significant injury from the initial contact with Imu's void shield, hinting that the darkness associated with Imu might be canceling out Luffy's rubber properties, similar to how Blackbeard's Yami Yami no Mi affects others.
Finally, the video concludes by connecting these current events to broader narrative threads established in earlier arcs, particularly Alabasta. The narrator draws a striking parallel between Crocodile's warning that Vivi and Kohza must never meet and the current stakes regarding the Reverie meeting and the potential confrontation with Imu. This connection underscores Oda's long-term planning, where early plot points like the rain god Zaza and the prohibition of certain meetings are now paying off in the final saga. The speaker expresses eagerness for the upcoming fights of Zoro and Sanji, which will likely break the current monotony of Luffy facing Imu alone. Ultimately, the video posits that while Usopp's Haki abilities may be evolving into something akin to Conqueror's Haki given his recent acts of defiance, the true climax awaits the full crew's involvement, ensuring that the resolution honors both the established shonen logic and the deep historical connections woven throughout the series.
Read the full video transcript
I didn't know Usopp overheard that much
of law stuff as if he heard every word
of Imu and Gabann. So as much as I loved
Usopp's speech, I do question one thing.
It's this thing because I understand how
Usopp, he knows about Nika because he
was with Vegapunk when Vegapunk equated
Luffy's form to the Sun God Nika. And
the giants were also talking about Nika
and the Harley at the party before all
of the Holy Knight stuff happened. Joy
Boy is a very different question though.
I mean Joy Boy is not a foreign concept
to the Straw Hats. Robin def initely
knows about him at the very least
because of the Fish-Man Island apology
poneglyph, but I'm not entirely sure why
even if Robin did tell this information
to the others, why Usopp chose that name
to drop because Gabann was just talking
about Nika, no Joy Boy. However, we are
focusing a little bit too much on Joy
Boy and nowhere near enough on the third
name that Usopp dropped which is Roger.
Usopp said that Gabann, he was
projecting Roger onto Luffy and Gabann
didn't say a single thing about Roger in
this chapter. However, he did mention
both Joy Boy and Roger in chapter 1,190.
This was when Scopper Gabann saved Luffy
and more importantly, Usopp was not
there at the time and you know what? I'm
not entirely sure how Usopp got to where
he is right now, but it feels implied
that he hitched a ride with Harudin. And
more importantly, Harudin wasn't
anywhere near Gabann in chapter 1,190
either. And yet it does seem like Usopp
overheard Gabann's entire conversation
with Imu. And not only that, but Usopp
then thanks Gabann for saving Luffy
which is something that he wasn't even
there to see happen. And if we add all
of that onto the two times that Oda has
very recently emphasized Usopp's
observation haki, it feels like he may
have somehow been able to use his
observation haki to hear these
conversations and see these events from
ever ever so far away. Otherwise, I
don't know how Usopp knows any of this
because he shuts Gabann down with such
specificity. So I think it's possible
that Usopp may have unlocked a brand-new
layer of observation haki for himself.
And hearing voices from far away is a
pretty well-established observation
trait. It is rare, but it does happen.
One great example is Coby unlocking his
haki Z Marine Ford and suddenly hearing
the voices of all of the Marines and
pirates all around him, which is a very
exciting idea. Ever since haki was first
revealed, I thought that Usopp would go
on to become a master of observation. It
just suits his role as a sniper so well.
And I do wish that this was a little bit
more, how do I say this uh confirmed at
all? Because everything I've just said
could be wrong. Everything I've just
said is speculation. I want there to be
a bit less subtext with Usopp and a lot
more just text. Smack me in the face
with that text and tell me what is going
on. Because Usopp's been a bit of a
tricky character on Elbaf. I've seen a
lot of comments that are just confused
about Usopp and how logistically he's
here all of a sudden. How? A lot of
people seem to feel like he's teleported
here out of nowhere, and I completely
understand the confusion because let's
quickly run through the order of events.
In chapter 1,189, Loki, Hajrudin, and
the suspect Usopp are all together in a
group, but Hajrudin leaves to go and
take a shot at Imu. Then in 1,190, we
cut back to this group and Hajrudin is
gone, but Usopp and Loki are still
there. So, you know what? Having said
that he arrived with Hajrudin, I don't
even know if that's logically or
narratively possible. And what I would
have to assume instead is that Usopp
hitched a ride with Loki, who did arrive
in 1,191.
But then we have to answer the question
of why did Usopp appear on Hajrudin's
shoulder? And I honestly don't have a
good answer for that. I wish that Oda
would give us one. Would would give us
something. Maybe a simple scene of Loki
getting up and one panel of Usopp saying
something like, "Wait, big man. I'm
going with you because I need to protect
my underlings." Or whatever. It doesn't
really matter what he says, but to me
this Usopp business just lacks a tiny
piece of connective tissue. By the way,
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And it's not the first time that this
has happened with Usopp during this arc,
either. There's a much worse incident in
chapter 1,176.
Usopp is with Nami and Jinbe's group
screaming, not really knowing what to
do, and being generally useless. But
then in the very next chapter, 1,177,
Usopp, he spits in the face of Euclidean
geometry and is actually somehow
teleported across the map to where the
Brook is. And now he and Brook are
fighting together against Imunco. And we
don't know how he got there because they
were so far away from Nami's group. But
we also don't know why Usopp went there
because he didn't even know that Brook
was fighting someone. Unless this has
the exact same explanation. Because
suddenly we have the exact same Usopp
problem twice. In 1,177,
Usopp somehow knows that something
important is happening somewhere and he
wasn't there. And then in 1,192,
Usopp somehow knows what was said and
done somewhere that he wasn't. And both
problems could have the same solution,
observation haki. Maybe Oda isn't
forgetting to show us that Usopp knows
these things. He might just be being a
hell of a lot more subtle about it and
letting it build up in the background.
Let's say that Usopp's observation haki
showed him what was happening with Brook
and Imunco, and Usopp knew that he
needed to get there ASAP in order to
help Brook out. But he didn't ask Nami
or Jinbe for help because they were too
busy dealing with the fire. It was up to
him and him alone to save Brook. I still
don't know how he got there. It has the
same sort of logistical issues as
chapter 1,192 does, but I think that
there is something to the idea that
Usopp is finally growing in terms of
haki, which thematically makes a lot of
sense with his demonstration in chapter
1,192 because this is Usopp showcasing
bravery. Bravery which requires
willpower, and this might be one of the
greatest exercises of willpower that
Usopp has ever engaged in. And since
willpower is directly tied to haki, it
only makes sense that growth in one area
comes with growth in the other. There's
also one moment where Koby and Helmeppo
and he looks up at Usopp and he says,
"Where has this guy been this whole
time?" Which is exactly what I've been
asking myself this entire arc. Where has
Usopp been? What are you doing, Usopp?
And originally, I took this as a very
fun statement, like just who the crap is
this guy talking down on me from above?
And what's he been doing whilst the ice
Koby and Helmeppo have been losing arms?
But there could be a lot more to it than
that. Koby and Helmeppo was of course
the one who was able to identify the
conqueror's haki emanating from Zoro
even though he wasn't consciously using
it, as well as the potential conqueror's
haki within Sanji that he is trying to
unlock right here and not here
elsewhere, but right now against Killing
him. And so, you know what, mates? I
think the dream is back on the menu,
boys. Usopp has lied about having
conqueror's haki in the past. And
according to the laws of Usopp, all of
his lies do eventually come true. So,
we're not talking about mere observation
anymore. Is there even a tiny chance
that at this moment Koby and Helmeppo is
looking up at Usopp and sensing the
potential of a conqueror, wondering
where this power has been this whole
time? What has someone of your caliber
been doing on the sidelines? And that
works with all of their the stuff I just
said about willpower. Conqueror's Haki
at its core is the power to exert your
will over others. And Usopp's kind of
doing that right here and now by
standing up and giving this speech. The
weakest, most naturally cowardly person
here is standing above one of the
greatest living legends that this world
has ever produced. The left hand of the
left hand of the Pirate King is on the
floor, but the left hand of the Pirate
King is still standing. And Usopp is
refusing to yield to the idea of
running. Even in the face of the most
overwhelming enemy they've ever
encountered. So, I don't want to say
something like Conqueror's Haki
confirmed in big red letters on the
screen, but I guess I've gone and done
it now anyway. But just keep in mind,
even if this is true, it probably won't
happen on Elbaf. It might be seated
here, but Usopp Conqueror's Haki seems
like more of a final war type of deal.
However, this right here and now could
be the beginning of an Usopp
renaissance. There's an almost meta
commentary laced into Usopp speech to
the fandom. You may be caught up with
the Luffy is the destined hero crap, but
Luffy's going to Luffy like he always
has. Nothing has changed since chapter
one. I actually think it serves three
purposes, that being one of them. The
first is in-world. Scopper Gaban, he was
propping Luffy up as the prophesized god
of Elbaf manifesting his divine presence
on the island and trying to make Usopp
understand the grand importance of that.
And in-world, Usopp was right there to
shut it down. He doesn't want anyone
else impinging on Luffy's freedom. But
the second I think is a reminder to the
fandom. And it's not so much the fandom
itself that has gotten out of control
and carried away, but I do think that
Oda has recognized the way that he's
built up his own writing by deliberately
associating Luffy with a god means that
every now and then he does need to give
us a snap back into what the heart of
One Piece actually is. It's like when
Luffy first used Gear 5th during the
raid. We just learned that Luffy had the
Nika fruit. He had the powers of the Sun
God. And there was actually a question
over who it was we were looking at. A
question that Oda had Kaido ask. He
said, "Just who are you?" And Luffy
replied with, "Who am I? I'm Monkey D.
Luffy, the man who will surpass you and
become king of the pirates." Which at
the time was very necessary for him to
say because we didn't know if this was
Luffy or if he was being possessed by
Saint Nika or Joy Boy. And we needed
some grounding after all of these insane
developments. But the third purpose of
Usopp's speech is actually, I think, for
Oda himself. Oda has spoken a lot about
the freedom that Gear 5th has given him
as an author, but I suspect that this is
also a reminder for him not to get too
carried away by the story that he is
telling in the background. And to
remember that this, regardless of the
history of the world, is the story of
Luffy, not the story of Nika or Joy Boy.
Fun fact, Tohuwabohu is a pretty common
phrase in German D. Describing signifies
utter disarray, complete chaos, or a
disorganized jumble. Like when kids
leave their room in chaos, parents might
come in and say, "Was für ein
Tohuwabohu?" Which means, "What a mess."
And yeah, you know what? That explains a
lot. Nothing particularly about One
Piece, but when I was googling this
phrase, a lot of the results I got was
this indecipherable Central European
shenanigans. And I believe that this was
a show in the '90s from Austria. And
mate, it does look like '90s chaos.
Proper '90s Tohuwabohu. And you know
what, mate? This show, it ran for eight
whole Staffel. That is so many Staffel.
Did anyone notice how Oda weirdly shows
panels of Imu getting hurt? He's
probably trying to make it obvious that
Imu is in its weak form. I I bet Yeah.
It's hard to know what to make of this
at the moment, to be completely honest
with you. Because what's happening in
One Piece right now is counter to all
established shonen logic. Because Imu,
he has transformed. He's gotten bigger.
He's gotten scarier. And usually that
aesthetic implies greater strength or
speed or the some sort of step up in
fighting capability in some way. But,
the exact opposite is true. Imu does
genuinely seem weaker, and I'm not sure
if that's because he actually is or
because Luffy is stepping up and being
more effective against him, and it just
creates the illusion of Imu getting
weaker because Luffy's getting stronger.
And narratively, he's going to smack Imu
in the stomach. And I really hope that
this idea pans out. The idea that with
every transformation Imu is actually
regressing. He's getting weaker, and we
are gradually doing a reverse cell,
beating him down into his original form.
Although, at this point in time, I still
don't think that's the most likely
outcome because I feel like we have one
more transformation into the big
silhouette creature, and I currently
have a rough time seeing that guy being
weaker than the Imu that we've already
experienced. But, whatever direction it
goes, I am eagerly awaiting finding out
why Oda bothered to transform Imu at
all. I don't know about all this
crocodile talk, but Luffy's Kraken
wrestling really reminded me of Luffy's
octopus fireworks he used against Enel.
Him breaking the black void shield also
reminds me of him destroying Enel's
Raigo. I agree, bringing up the octopus
fireworks made fantastic call. The
wobbling arms, I think they definitely
are a callback to the shotgun. However,
the functionality is a bit more similar
to the octopus fireworks that Luffy did
use against Enel. It was designed to
break through Enel's mantra, which is
what we called haki before the word haki
became known to us. And because Luffy
was bouncing his attacks off the wall,
Enel could not read his intent. That's a
key difference between observation haki
and future sight, by the way.
Observation haki can see the future, but
only if it's an immediate and intended
future. You basically see the will of
your opponent and what they're intending
on doing. Whereas, future sight is just
flat out, here's what's going to happen,
intended or not. And because I pointed
out with Crocodile in the last video,
this attack that Luffy used on Enel also
concluded with Luffy smacking him in the
stomach, just like the bouts with
Crocodile and now Imu. So, the framework
of this move set is a fairly
well-established way to get in at least
one good hit. It's also not lost on me
that Luffy used an attack like this to
hit someone claiming to be a god on
Skypiea and now he's using a variant to
hit someone that Gorosei claim is a god
in the modern era. So, evidently Luffy
he has developed a standard operating
procedure for encountering god. Step
one, establish that the individual
claims divine authority. Step two,
contort your arms to a medically
concerning degree. And step three, punch
god directly in his divine abdomen and
watch his divine blood spill all over
everywhere and create a nasty stain all
over our floor. And as for the part
about breaking through Enel's Ryugo,
this is 100% on point as well. Not only
does Luffy punch Imu, but he breaks
through the Toho Waboho shield of chaos
and nothingness, which as we explored in
the last video is a phrase used to
describe the world before the creation
of light. So, we saw light created in
this chapter with Luffy's dawn attack
breaking through and a similar thing did
happen with Enel. Luffy broke through
the Ryugo and he yelled let the sunshine
dispelling the darkness and the chaos
from Skypiea. But something that I
didn't talk about in the review video
was Luffy's first encounter with Imu
shield. He used the Kraken Gatling and
not only did his arms bounce right off,
but the shield also hurt Luffy pretty
significantly. It's easy to miss, but
there's this one sliver panel of Luffy's
hand being covered in haki and also
bleeding after making contact with the
Imu shield. He also said that his hands
felt like they were going to break,
which is unusual because Luffy normally
treats the structural integrity of his
skeleton as more of a suggestion. But
after making contact with the void,
Luffy he behaves unusually. He behaves
like a normal person smacking their fist
into a brick wall would probably behave
by saying "Ow, that hurt." And this
specific interaction did make me think
of the other time the darkness has made
Luffy's body suddenly much more
ordinary, which is of course Blackbeard.
His Yami Yami no Mi, the power of
darkness, can cancel out other devil
fruits and make their users feel
extremely mortal all of a sudden, which
Luffy did experience during Impel Down.
And this may not be the case, however,
because Imu he is utilizing darkness and
nothingness. I wonder if there's an
innate property that he shares with the
power of Blackbeard. And that to some
degree Luffy's rubber body may have been
canceled out by the power of the void.
If so, it would make the attack at the
end of the chapter much more impressive
because Luffy would be blasting through
Imu with raw strength alone. And once he
gets through his powers, they are back
and he gives Imu's body the rubber
effect. Look, I don't know if any of
what I just said actually happened, but
the initial encounter it did make me
think of Blackbeard. And to think we
still haven't seen the Zoro and Sanji
fights. Yeah, this is probably just
because of all the breaks that we've had
lately, but I feel like it has been
forever since we've probably gotten to
see Zoro or Sanji. They have come up a
little bit, but I'm real eager to get
back to them. I think it might help to
break the Imu Luffy Loki monotony a bit,
but also we know how One Piece works. We
can't actually do the serious Luffy
stuff until the rest of the crew have
had their fights. We're not going to be
dealing with Imu before Sanji figures
out how to beat killing him and Zoro
cuts Summers up into pieces, making good
on his offer to slice up Summers' metal
heart from way back when. Dear man on
the internet, I'm rereading the Alabasta
arc and noticed that Crocodile was very
focused on ensuring, quote, "Those two
must never meet." in regard to Vivi and
Kohza. That's very true. I actually made
a whole video about Alabasta because it
is the first saga in One Piece where you
can see that Oda is thinking and
implementing the foundation of the end
game of the series, which back then he
thought was going to happen much sooner
than it actually did. And Crocodile's
words about Vivi and Kohza are very
eerily similar to what we hear in the
Harley about the Reverie meeting meeting
or they not meeting and how in the third
world surely they will meet this time.
And I'm not going to go through
everything I said in that video here,
but I highly suggest re-reading or
re-watching Alabasta because there are a
lot of fascinating connections that we
can now make, especially with the
Alabasta focus on rain and how it ties
into our knowledge of the rain god Zaza.
So, definitely check that out and please
do let me know what you think about all
of this in the comments below.