One Piece 949 delivered after the two-week break and I think it was a great way to kick things off again. First things first, this week we got to see One Piece on the cover of Shueisha’s Weekly Shounen Jump. Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Robin featured on the cover. The remaining Strawhats aren’t forgotten though, and the be on the cover in next week’s issue of the Jump, according to some sources.
With that, we can move on to the color spread, which shows all the Strawhats in a pool with a gorilla. This has to be one of the best spreads that we’ve seen in a while and we hope that Oda can come up with more of the same as we move forward.
Before we begin, please note this post will contain official spoilers from the current chapter of the manga. If being spoiled is not for you, I suggest that you stop reading the post here. However, if spoilers don’t bother you, we can get started. Also, note that we did not create the spoilers or leaked them. They’re available all over the internet.
One Piece 949 Review: The Takeover of Udon
The entirety of One Piece 949 was set in Udon Prison. The battle between Luffy’s men and Kaido’s men finally began and as expected, Kaido’s men whipped out their weapons that were created by Queen and it seems that they were very effective on some people. However, Luffy didn’t stand for it and saved them immediately. We also Luffy declaring that he’s going to defeat Kaido and free Wano Country.
At first, everyone was doubtful of what he was saying. But with time, they soon understood that this is possible and they started backing him. Babanuki was also taken out by Luffy before he was able to do any serious damage. Thanks to Luffy using Future Sight Haki, he was able to stop him before it even happened and Babanuki’s elephant exploded from inside.
With that Udon Prison is now under Luffy’s control, which is great because Luffy will make sure to use this place to the best of his abilities. Udon is already cut off from Kaido and thus can be used in various ways. Luffy’s growth in Wano continues and hopefully, we’ll see him get better before the final battle finally begins.
At the same time, there are just 8 more days left until the final battle of Onigashima begins. Luffy has to get stronger in that time because the last time he faced Kaido didn’t turn out well for him.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see any action from Sanji and Zoro. That’s one criticism of this chapter for me. I would’ve loved to see what’s going on in the Flower Capital because we’ve been away from there for the last 4 chapters now. But, with the Udon story almost being wrapped up now, I think we’ll be focusing on the events Rasetsu district soon enough.
