5 stars - I loved it!
Wow this was a very emotional and unexpected volume. Oda really isn’t holding back with this current arc. So much happened in this volume and I am reeling and anxious to find out what is going to happen next. I am going to attempt to not spoil anything outright by being vague but I am still going to put the rest of this review under spoiler tags just in case, so just be aware that there will be some discussion of what vaguely happens.
This volume starts with Egghead with Luffy and the gang trying to rescue Vegapunk but they have to make a temporary alliance with Lucci and Kaku to attempt to wayward seraphim that are attacking them first. We learn the truth about who betrayed Vegapunk and why the Navy is now on their way to the island to potentially destroy it and him.
We then skip to Kid who is going after Shanks again. He lost his arm the first time and now he is back, and well let's just say it didn’t go well again. I am very worried about Kid and his crew now because it’s not looking great for him. We also get a glimpse of a fight between Law and Blackbeard, which anything involving Blackbeard is concerning because he is formidable, and it also isn’t going well. So we may be ending this with two of the Monster trio out of the picture, which is very surprising because I never expected this.
Next we jump to Sabo and the Revolutionaries. Last we saw, Sabo was being declared the murder of King Cobra and had declared war on Marijoa, but we get the full side of the story finally. The Five Elders have been lying about everything and Sabo brings that information back to the Revolutionaries, but Sabo did free some of the slaves, damage their food supplies and free Kumo. Sabo’s actions will change everything because we now know the truth and we will have to see what the Revolutionaries do with it and how they will defeat the Celestial Dragons and the Five Elders.
Finally, we have Koby being a prisoner of Blackbeard. He traded his life for a ship full of navy men and has been a prisoner for a while but he escapes with the help of Perona and as he is escaping help arrives in the form of Garp and SWORD. SWORD is a branch of the Navy that Koby is a part of that is kind of separate from the Navy and basically can do what they want but once they get in trouble the Navy will cut all ties with them and leave them to their fate. It was cool to learn about this group and that Koby was a part of it. I really love seeing all his Sword members come and rescue him and Garp leading the charge. The end of this battle was very sad and I am heartbroken by it but it doesn’t surprise me that is how it ended.
Overall, this volume has been an emotional and information packed one. My only real complaint was that I wish it had stayed with one storyline at a time instead of jumping back and forth but I still enjoyed it. Also, I am still so surprised by the fate of three of these characters and I am eagerly waiting for more news or clarification at least.