Oof. That’s about all that can be said about One Piece Chapter 1088, which sees the death of one of the story’s oldest characters and greatest heroes. The chapter covered a ton of information before that, so it’s time to dive into the world of One Piece once again! As with all reviews, expect spoilers and be on the lookout!
Koby Trains Hard
Until this chapter the only time Oda has shown Koby’s training was in cover stories during East Blue. The poor kid kind of went from nerdy wannabe to glow-up Navy hero in the blink of an eye. So it was interesting to finally get some insight into his time with Garp as his teacher. Obviously, Garp is about as good at teaching in a classroom setting as a rabid cat is at swimming so that only goes so far. When he decides to take in Koby to train him though, that begins the true journey to his status as hero.
Seriously, this kid was out there punching warships with Garp, no Haki allowed. That’s badass, even for a Navy Admiral to train on. The fact that Koby was eventually making massive dents in the ships along with him is just a wild boost to his powers like nothing seen yet. Speaking of, this chapter gave some backstory with those warship punching bags about another character.
Garp and Aokiji
The relationship between Garp and Aokiji hasn’t been explored much before now, but it goes for the heart quickly here. There were words that Aokiji had been his apprentice in his younger days before Admiral, but it’s actually shown how Aokiji approached Garp about his training. It was a good parallel of Garp and Koby’s relationship, where Garp obviously took more care in the young man’s training instead of just pushing Aokiji.
Either way, their tense talk about the past while Garp faces his former apprentice is a fantastic dramatic moment. It’s not often that there are this many big moments back to back in chapters, but Oda has seriously delivered with Sabo’s story and Kuma’s return to the Red Line.
Galaxy Divide
Okay, Garp has only ever shown his abilities in the story a couple of times. Even then it was just hurling cannonballs at ten percent power to hit Luffy. His strength has been built into a total legend throughout the series and this was the payoff of payoffs. Pizarro, one of Blackbeard’s crew that ate the Isle-Isle Fruit (or stole it) was about to smash the ship of escaped prisoners and SWORD in the form of the island Fullalead itself. Garp aims Galaxy Divide straight at the giant skull.
He broke the damn thing right down the middle. An entire skull formed from a seaside mountain, and he broke it in half while covered in slices and stab wounds he called scratches. This is an older, weaker Garp, so what in the world did this man do in his prime? Better yet, this single man wasn’t enough to take out Rocks D Xebec on his own, and he was massively powerful!
SWORD
Finally getting to see SWORD work together was a nice treat, as they’ve never all been in one spot before. It is interesting that Tashigi was there with no sign of Smoker though. Seriously, because his Logia powers would have helped a lot. Either way, the teamwork works when Garp hits Pizarro with Galaxy Divide, allowing Koby to smash the huge arm. Then Grus uses his Devil Fruit to make a giant clay net that catches the falling rouble, saving the ship. It was quite an accomplishment considering Koby’s fear he wouldn’t make it. It came at a heavy cost, though.
The Death of Monkey D Garp
Garp holds out against Aokiji and the other pirates long enough for Koby and crew to escape Fullalead. He isn’t going to join them, Garp now on the ground, a massive icicle protruding from his chest. It’s a grim sign of things to come. Now, an old hero of the Navy struck down by a protege turned pirate shakes the world. No doubt it’s going to have a massive effect on Koby, who Garp called the future of the Navy. Then there’s sure to be a reaction from Luffy, along with likely retaliation from the Straw Hats and Navy. Like all that bear the Will of D though, Monkey D Garp died laughing.
Egghead Island
As the chapter ends it flashes back to the seige in progress down at Egghead Island. Everyone is tense and barricaded in the upper lab of Egghead Island, and the Navy is quickly surrounding them. They’ve even had to team up with CP0, who find themselves in danger after Lucci and Kaku are trapped with them. Lucci seems to have ulterior motives instead of his orders to kill Vegapunk, so it’s not clear if they’ll stay friends after.
One Piece Theory Corner
A couple of chapters ago saw Kuma flee the Revolutionary Army in the Kamabakka Kingdom to climb to Marijoa. Sabo, Iva, and Dragon speculate it may be Pacifista programming that returns him to where he was a slave. Today’s rampant speculation says they’re only half right. Kuma is climbing the Red Line as a Pacifista following directives, but it isn’t to return to Marijoa.
Kuma is following the Pacifista programming activated by Sentomaru on Egghead Island around the same time. He commanded the last of the Pacifistas to go on the attack and keep Straw Hat safe. Now Kuma’s programming is responding to that order. Kuma uses his Paw-Paw Fruit to fly from Kamabakka to Egghead, but the Red Line is an obstacle. Once he climbs the entire thing he’s likely to pop right to Egghead where his daughter and Straw Hats are.
So, that’s all in this week’s new chapter of One Piece! There will be another chapter out on Sunday, but after that will be a break week for all of Shonen Jump’s publications. It seems like One Piece just came back from the break month a couple of chapters ago, but as long as it keeps going everything is okay. Gamescooper will release a new chapter review when it drops, so check back here then!
