Better Then I Could Hope For

One Piece Chapter 940 Review/Recap

When you read One Piece long enough, you’ll learn not to freak out over every little problem that occurs. The reason being that it will either work itself out or turn out to be to Luffy’s advantage. In this case, I’d say getting thrown in Udon Prison’s working to Luffy’s advantage.

Recap

After his argument with Shinobu, Trafalgar storms off in order to bust the Heart Pirates out of prison, despite knowing that it’s likely a trap or they already talked. Usopp and Nami don’t blame them; they’d do the same thing.

The quiet’s interrupted by three newcomers to Ebisu Town: Bungo, Bongo, and Bingo. These three stooges lived in the Flower Capital running an arson scam, burning down buildings and then getting the money to rebuild them and from the families of people who died.

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Komurasaki swindled them out of all their money, and when they tried to kill her a few chapters back, they got thrown out. I love karma. They’re now living with Tonoyasu.

Speaking of Tonoyasu, he tells the others that he will provide all the support he can when the Alliance launches their rebellion, then goes on his merry way. Shinobu and Kanjuro still have no idea who he is, though.

Regardless, it’s clear that everyone in Ebisu Town loves Tonoyasu and his smile. He doesn’t have any money of his own since wages are virtually nothing. He even had to sell his own daughter to the Flower Capital. To everyone’s surprise, his daughter’s actually Toko.

Toko sends all the money she earns back to her father, but her dad feels bad about it, so he gives it to everyone else in town so that they can get by, even if it means he goes hungry. So he’s beloved by everyone in town as their Buddha.

Meanwhile, in Udon Prison, Luffy and Hyogoro have managed to beat the stuffing out of everyone Queen throws at them. Fed up, Queen decides to call it a night and continue tomorrow.

While the guards are knocked out, Luffy tells Hyogoro why he’s so determined to beat Kaido: so he can be King of the Pirates. Not surprisingly, Hyogoro actually met Gol D. Roger when he came to Wano years ago. Their conversation’s cut short by the appearance of Caribou and Raizo. That key Raizo stole turned out to be for Caribou’s shackles, so now he can he use his Swamp-Swamp powers.

Caribou then begs Luffy to let him be his subordinate, and that he’s changed. (So lying). So what does Luffy do?

The implication is that if Caribou tries anything again, Luffy will kick his ass. That will be enough to keep him in line for a while.

Hyogoro, meanwhile, nearly cries tears of joy when he learns that the Kozuki Clan and the Nine Red Sheaths are still alive. Combined with Luffy’s compassion to him, the old man decides to throw his lot in with them and help take down Kaido and Orochi. And he won’t be alone. Udon Prison is bigger than they know.

There are four other mines that make up Udon Prison, each as big as the one they’re in, and home to tens of thousands of prisoners. Most of them were imprisoned for attempting to rebel against Orochi. On top of that, the former bosses of the Yakuza are in Udon as well; they will follow Hyogoro and the Kozuki Clan. Luffy makes it clear to everyone what they need to do: destroy Udon Prison and join forces to defeat Kaido.

The hour of freedom may be closer than the group thinks: Chopper and Big Mom’s group has just arrived outside of Udon.

Review

If you read my recap of the First Act of the Wano Arc, then you’ll remember how I said that Luffy would be running Udon Prison within a few days. That’s largely come true. I also predicted that when Luffy escaped, he would bring all the prisoners with him for the rebellion. This has turned out to be even better than I hoped for. Tens of thousands of people in one place, and all of them hate Orochi. If they were to escape, they would have the numbers they may need to crush Kaido.

They may not have a choice, though. With Big Mom already at Udon Prison’s gates, they may end up getting out that night. Oh well, just improvise.

There is a downside to this, though. If everyone was to escape, then Orochi and Kaido would become too paranoid to hold their yearly meeting. For all we know, Kaido could decide to call whatever forces he doesn’t already have in Wano to his location. This could lead to an even bigger war than I anticipated.

This chapter ended up getting me seriously pumped for what is to come. If done right, this will be the second mass prison break that Luffy’s responsible for. There are still a lot of unknown factors to worry about, but I know Luffy can handle anything.

I Give “The Spark of Rebellion” a 5/5. I am so pumped for the next one!