With fan excitement building for the next arc of One Piece in the form of “Wano Country”, the “Reverie Arc” still has some hidden aces up its sleeve. The final minute of the most recent episode, 887, not only gives us Shanks’ surprise return but also adds a new wrinkle to the story. Shanks appears in front of the Five Elders and states that he’d like to talk with them about a “certain pirate”. Luffy’s role model’s return will surely have big implications for the series.
The current arc has seen a gathering of the representatives of the world with the Straw Hat Pirates being given a pat on the back from some and a side eye from others. With Neptune and his daughters in tow, stating that they are under the Straw Hats’ protection, a failed kidnapping attempt leaves the participants on edge. Certainly, by introducing Shanks here, the series is hoping to shore up viewers’ excitement level at not only his return, but the possible final conflict between the Red Hair Pirate and Monkey D. Luffy.
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Shanks himself has had a weighty role in the life of Luffy, being one of the main reasons that the young pirate set down on his path of trying to take control of the Grand Line. Originally one of the pirates on Jolly Roger’s crew, Shanks eventually found his own crew under the banner of the “Red Hair Pirates” and has continued being a powerful force on the open seas.
Shanks’ abilities are numerous with his swordsmanship being nearly second to none. On top of this, he can exert his will over people and creatures, bending them to his will if he overpowers them in both physical and mental strength. While Shanks, powerful as he was, didn’t take Monkey seriously at first, the Straw Hat Pirates’ reputation began to grow. With the Captain of the Red Hair Pirates giving Luffy his trademark hat, Shanks now has Luffy clearly in his sights and we’ll have to see what this means for the series moving forward.
What did you think of Shanks’ return? What do you think this will mean for the series moving forward? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and pirates.
Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best-selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.
