NOTE: Yes. I know. I’m back. It’s a damn miracle. Anyway, I’m not blogging everything I’ve missed, unfortunately, as I am still swamped with university. Second year is terrible. It’s lessened a bit, but I still have stuff to do, so I will be blogging from this week’s chapters. Anyway, enjoy.

The 3DS only has 8 hours battery life?! That is a reason to panic!

So, last time, Sanji fainted from blood loss. Apparently, he can’t take his women anymore. So this week, he is taken to Coral Hill on the Fishman Island to recuperate. When he comes to, he asks where he is and what happened, and Keimi says their in her friend’s house. Chopper, Luffy and Ussop explain the situation he was in, and he then says he can’t remember what he was doing when he fainted. They tell him not to. Ussop goes to introduce the blood donors, and Sanji thinks they are female due to their high-pitched voices, but they’re really two okama pirates called Splash and Splatter. Sanji overreacts comically. Chopper goes to inspect Luffy, and sees he has a scar on his arm, and Chopper theorises that Luffy was poisoned. Chopper asks how Luffy could have fought off the poison so quickly, so Luffy thinks back to Magellan, saying that he almost died before. Luffy then says that it was probably the Fishman swordsman with the octopus legs.

We then cut to that very swordsman, carrying his two fallen comrades. His name is Hyouzou, and he is a blue-ringed octopus fishman. He notes that he shouldn’t have nicked Luffy, as it would be bad if Luffy died. He overhears a commotion from the cove, saying that Ishley’s group were yelling something about opening a barrel – which is revealed to be the very barrel that Caribou was locked up in. Back at the Mermaid Cafe, a fortuneteller named Shirley (a shortfin Mako shark mermaid) asks if Sanji is alright, and Keimi says he is, but that Shirley is beautiful, so she shouldn’t go to see him. Luffy and Ussop are in the back of the room, touching a crystal ball, and Shirley tells them to stop. Keimi explains Shirley is a fortuneteller whose predictions were extremely accurate. Luffy is uninterested and asks an inappropriate question. Shirley angrily responds, and then gives Keimi the day off, and whilst telling her, Keimi remembers she has to give a clam to Pappug. Shirley says that he’s in the Cafe now, talking about an old friend he had met. As they arrive, Pappug comes out, followed by Brook. Pappug then invites them all to his house, and Keimi remembers to give him a clam, after which a bad pun is made.

They call for a taxi, and see a wanted poster for Van der Decken, the Captain of the Flying Dutchman, that was taken out by an underwater volcano, seemingly, a few chapters ago. Pappug explains that Van der Decken courted the mermaid princess, and got increasingly more threatening, so King Poseiden gathered his sons to form an army to search for him. Pappug then says that the Van der Decken the Straw Hats saw was most likely Van der Decken IX. Still on the taxi, they see the Candy Factory with a pirate flag on it, and Pappug explains that since Whitebeard died, another Yonkou, Charlotte LinLin (AKA Big Mam), has taken over the protection of Fishman Island from Whitebeard, and requires a large amount of sweets in return every month. Luffy wants to meet Big Mam, but Pappug says she does it from a business standpoint. Back at Coral Hill, Shirley has had another vision, and tells everyone to look for Luffy, as she foresaw a Straw-Hatted person that will apparently destroy Fishman Island with his own hands.

Well, it was a fact-filled chapter, at least. Ever since the new arc has begun, it’s been lacking somewhat, and this kind of backs up my claim. I mean, sure, we get a lot of new characters introduced, and a lot of old characters reintroduced, but this arc is still explaining everything that happened since the timeskip. Unfortunately, this has been happening for a while, and I assumed it would when I heard about the planned timeskip. As it can’t be avoided, I’ll review the rest. The Straw Hats learn some things about Fishmen, and how they can breed with Mermaids to produce offspring. They also learn of the Captain of the Flying Dutchman who attacked them a few chapters previously. We also meet Pappug again. But, alas, without the other crew members, these last few chapters have seemed a little bland. I mean, we just got them back together, and now they’ve been separated again. I can’t understand that, to be honest, but a separation usually always leads to a meeting of the main enemy of the arc, so we can at least hope. And the cliffhanger was expected. Shirley is a fortuneteller who has quit because her predictions always come true, and Luffy is finally on Fishman Island. I think anyone could have made that link. Anyway, it wasn’t a bad chapter, it’s just moving a tad slow for my liking, but I will look forward to next chapter, as it is keeping me guessing now as to what happens next.