(All) Might Makes Right [My Hero Vigilantes 92]

Oh, this beautiful arc. Mark my words, this flashback is planting seeds to some big stuff happening in the future.

All For One’s finally putting that Toy Block quirk to use.

But first, let’s talk about All Might being able to bulk up in his prime. That was surprising. I always thought it was the result of his injuries during the 1st All Might/AFO fight. Nope! It’s always been a thing. Why? What exactly is it? My guess it’s All Might’s version of Full Cowling at a high percentage. Just like with Deku, the Symbol of Peace can’t be stomping around at 100% power 24/7. He’s gotta hold back when that insane power isn’t needed, hence him using Full Cowling too.

Nice seeing All Might and Sir Nighteye interact. You can see All Might’s always willing to put himself at risk for others (Deku, anyone?) while Nighteye is the more pragmatic one. Guess that’s always been their relationship.

There’re two other big takeaways I got from this chapter. One, All Might should easily be able to realize All For One is behind this mess. And, two, AFO really wants Overclock. This supports my theory of O’Clock’s meeting with All Might will lead to the speedster helping discover AFO’s location for the #1 hero. Which, of course, leads to the top hero and top villain’s first big fight.

Something’s Fishy About Kaido [One Piece 999]

Someone with a fish-fish devil fruit? And, it could be Kaido?! I don’t think anyone saw that coming.

WHAT? Luffy’s a “D”?! Oda’s dropping huge info this chapter!

The odds of Oda making a fish-fish devil fruit in a world where Fish-men exist and the natural weakness of devil fruit users is being submerged in water were pretty low. But, here we are. It’s been implied by Big Mom she gave Kaido a fish-fish devil fruit. But, he’s a dragon, right? He ate the dragon-dragon fruit and that’s that, right? Well…take a look at this:

Kaido’s got fish scale tattoos and whiskers. And, so does our fishy Koi friend here (Well, it’s got actual scales but you get what I mean). We can also ignore Kaido’s horns because they seem to be more of a characteristic of his species than the product of having a devil fruit (Yamato’s got horns too), so I guess it’s really true.

What’s more, it’s probably a fish-fish fruit: model Koi. Why a Koi? Because there seems to be an Eastern legend about the Koi fish. Basically, the gods were so impressed by a Koi making it to the top of a waterfall against all odds that they turned it into a dragon. Think Magikarp and Gyarados, for you Pokémon fans, and you got the gist of it.

So, what does this all mean? Is Kaido’s dragon form simply the awakened version of his devil fruit? Does he have even more hidden abilities ready to unleash on Team Luffy? Maybe. Or, maybe there’s a hidden weakness ready to be discovered by some perceptive opponent. I don’t know but I find it very fascinating.

Tenacious D [My Hero Academia 295]

Is this it? Are we finally nearing the conclusion to this roller coaster of an arc? I-I think so…

…Unless Horikoshi turns back the clock in order to show us the ENTIRE Re-Destro/Geten VS Gunga Villa Heroes fight. Nah! Maybe we’ll get a snippet or catch the end of it, but no way is Hori ending on that battle after everything that’s happened with Team Deku. That’d be like ending an awesome rock music festival with Justin Bieber. Sure, he’s a big name, but who wants to see that after watching U2, AC/DC, and Foo Fighters play? BTW, I humbly apologize to every Re-Destro and Geten fan for comparing them to Beiber. I hope someday you will forgive me.

Deku has Spidey-Sense Danger Sense. Yep, that happened. I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m not saying it’s overpowered or dumb, just…really unexpected. And, yes, I know Horikoshi is a Spider-Man fan. I just didn’t think he’d give Deku that power. Especially, since he already gave Spider-Deku webbing in the form of Blackwhip. Well, okay… Guess we won’t have to worry about Toga fooling him again.

Alright, so that’s 3 quirks Deku’s got (The Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Users), not counting One For All. 3 more to go (The Second, Third, and Sixth Users). Hm… Running up walls. I’m calling it now, he’s getting a quirk that’ll give him that ability.

Don’t Mess With Mr. Compress [My Hero Academia 294]

First Dabi and now Mr. Compress. Now, I’m just waiting for Spinner to reveal he’s actually Froppy’s little brother from the future here to get revenge for canceling his favorite TV show.

Stylish hair, shaved armpits, and a refined sense of style. Mr. Compress is 100% metrosexual.

Yep. Mr. Compress is Oji Harima, The Peerless Thief’s descendant. Many people guessed that but that’s how Horikoshi rolls. He loves dropping clues to mysteries. And, it’s not the mystery itself, it’s how the reveal affects the story that’s important. In this instance, we now know Mr. Compress’ motivation for joining the League of Villains: A reformation of society.

We also learned more about Oji Harima. Most of the Robin Hood-ish stuff was first revealed in the second My Hero Academia data book. But, what we didn’t know is Harima targeted “sham heroes” more concerned with getting rich than fighting for justice. Did he kill those heroes? We don’t know. But, I think a major reason why he’s so notorious is more about him defying the new world order. Flawed or not, the Hero System was created to stabilize this chaotic world where quirks are now the norm. It was to give hope and support to the masses and make potential criminals think twice about committing crimes. It’s no wonder the government back then villainized Oji Harima so hard for his actions. It wasn’t about whether he was right or wrong, but about them wanting to establish that system and, most likely, thinking they can always “fix” the cracks later.

The Bland Before Time [One Piece 998]

Ah, yes, the classic Oda Flex™ chapter. Let’s see if the Tobi Roppo zoan reveals were worth the wait.

Aw! Almost makes you forget Eneru was a fascist dictator with a god complex. Adorable! ❤

We’ve already seen X. Drake’s zoan form. Did we know he was an Allosaurus? I always thought he was a T-Rex. I guess Oda’s saving that one for later. He’s gonna fight Scratchmen Apoo and maybe co-fight Queen? Just who the hell is fighting Queen? Brook and Robin? They’d be more useful fighting him with Drake than Kaido. Queen and Brook can have a rock star battle or something. Oh, and let’s not forget Monster Chopper for the assist. Yeah, I’d like to see that.

Zoro/Marco VS King. I think that’s happening. Who else is King gonna fight? Franky? Nope, General Franky’s about to tangle with Sasaki, a Triceratops. Gotta say, I’m loving Sasaki’s zoan form design. He’ll be a real challenge for ole Frank.

*SIGH* Sanji’s getting a joke fight with Black Maria. Okay, that’s not fair. It’s possible Black Maria could be one of the strongest—HAHAHAHA! Oh, boy. Sorry! I tried to keep a straight face. This is One Piece we’re talking about. The odds are not in Black Maria’s favor she’ll be anything more than an eye candy gimmick. Next!

Plan B: Snitch [My Hero Vigilantes 91]

Hoodie’s just too strong. Gonna need Mr. Big Guns with the big buns to take him down.

All For One hates Paul Rudd.

It’s Hoodie talk time. O’Clock suggests he has a souped up version of cellular propagation, which is kinda funny because that’s close to what I first thought Re-Destro’s quirk was. Anyway, it looks like Doctor Ujiko modified Hoodie so much his original fighting style doesn’t work. In the end, the bad doctor and All For One only care about power for their Nomu soldiers. Technique need not apply.

Um… There’s not really much else to say about the chapter itself since it was mostly fighty-fight/runny-run. But, I will like to touch upon a couple things. One, I don’t see All Might fighting Hoodie. If he does then Hoodie’s going down, hard, and going straight to Tartarus. We know that’s not happening so it’s safe to say Kurogiri will warp Hoodie outta there the second they see All Might arrive.

Bakugo Wins Again [My Hero Academia 293]

Not only does Katsuki Bakugo win Japan’s recent My Hero Academia Popularity Poll, but his official hero name is revealed. And, that’s not all…

The Top 10 most popular My Hero Academia characters in Japan as well as the Top 10 most likely people to bring their own pillows on vacation.

It’s safe to say Bakugo’s having a great week for someone impaled by Super Shigaraki several chapters ago. #1 in Shonen Jump’s My Hero poll for the fifth time and we learn his hero name is Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight. It’s a dumb name but I’m guessing everyone will just call him Dynamight so just going by that I like it.

There’s another interesting development for Bakugo this chapter: He’s focused on saving people and not winning. Remember, his thing was “fight to win” while Deku was “fight to save”. Well, when attacking the Near High-Ends, Bakugo remembered how powerful his explosions were when saving Deku several chapters earlier. He’s now realized first hand to strength that can be drawn from an intent to save. Sure, Deku has leveled up but Bakugo is right on his heels. Don’t count the overrated brat out yet. He’s still got a lot more room for growth!

We have confirmation Eri did indeed heal Mirio with her Rewind quirk. Good job, Eri! Have fun getting kidnapped. What? I’m just saying Eri’s too powerful even with having to store up power before using her quirk for big projects. She’s way too temping a target for the Paranormal Liberation Front. Especially, with Doctor Ujiko captured by the heroes. If they want erasure bullets they’re gonna need a lab to replicate a bullet or Eri herself.

Terry Crews Returns! [My Hero Academia 292]

This is one hell of a roller coaster!

If you think that’s cool, wait until you see what he does with a jar of Metamucil.

This arc one twist and turn and reveal after another. Now, we’ve got one more: Lemillion is back.

Still no Wash, but we got the next best thing. With Lemillion’s return it’s hard seeing the League doing much to stop him. I would say it’s time for the League of Villains to escape but every time I do something else happens. Could the League actually be captured this arc? Would Horikoshi surprise everyone and go down that route? …Nah! The League’s still endgame enemies. They aren’t getting captured until the final arc.

So, how did Lemillion get his quirk back? Eri, probably. Yeah, no shock there. But, here’s another question: When did she do it? Was it during the time skip by a trained Eri and Mirio kept it secret to surprise everyone? Was it while the battle was going on and Mirio decided to risk getting erased by Eri’s power to save everyone? And, how did he get to Team Deku so fast? I don’t know the answers but this chapter has officially put Eri fixing Deku’s arms on the menu.

Angel Island Zone: Act 1 [One Piece 997]

Oda started the clock, so shall we begin?

Queen thought the Toughest Guy was Mark Ruffalo.

A common way to instill urgency plot is writers giving the protagonist a set time limit to accomplish their goal. It’s not exactly a new concept for Oda whether is Doflamingo’s shrinking cage or Sir Crocodile’s time bomb, it’s an effective way to up the dramatic anti. It not only sets the stage for Kaido’s defeat being the only option for survival but it’ll be seen by Wano’s citizens so it’s a win-win for Oda and us, the audience.

You know what? I’m convince the main reason Oda created Smile Fruit was showing off strange animal fusions. Good on you, Oda! Feed that fetish. We don’t judge here at the Opera Castle. We just form opinions or conclusions about whatever we want. Totally not the same thing.