Everyone has picked a side, and the forces are now engaged in the war for the fate of Dressrosa. Two loses won't shake Doflamingo's resolve. Not when he has a monster such as Pica on his side. Just try not to chuckle when he talks.
The Good
It was fairly obvious that the mystique behind Pica had to be hiding something. He's remained silent and absent for nearly this entire arc. I can't say I'm all that shocked that it was hiding his high-pitch voice. That's a classic gag for large dudes covered in muscles. Although cliche, Oda plays it off to great effects, and it really pays off when Luffy reacts to it with his usual level of tact.
In turn, he takes a huge leap away from another story cliche. Rather than keep hope alive of invading the SMILE Factory, Doflamingo has decided to just destroy the only keys needed to enter past it's impenetrable walls. Finally, an antagonist who doesn't seem to suffer from needless arrogance or just blind stupidity.
Despite my better judgement, I'm finding myself fascinated with the character depth of Doflamingo. I was already interested in knowing how he lost the title of Celestial Dragon. In this chapter, he makes a rather harsh distinction between his parents. He "lost" his mother then "killed" his father a few years later. Don't be surprised if the loss of his mother is what inspired him to later kill. For as ruthless as he can be, there's something sympathetic buried in there. Don't yell at me, but I sort of want a flashback to dig up what I'm certain is a dark past.
The Bad
The bit about having a squeaky voice is very hard to pull off in a manga format. I just don't think you can really understand what the creator is going for. That does allow the reader to sort of fill in the blank, which could very well be funnier than say what's ultimately selected in the anime version. However, I do applaud the use of a unique text for his dialog to really make his "voice" stand out from others.
Verdict 5/5
Oda is getting high marks with me for nailing out seriously solid chapters week after week. Two weeks in a row, we're getting chapters that really feed the hunger of various types of readers. It has plot, back story, some action, and ends it all up with solid laugh and a desire to see what happens next. I'm sort of on the fence with the voice joke, but the best effort was made in what's likely a tough situation.
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About the Author
 | Kristoffer Remmell (FoxxFireArt) is a freelance graphic artist, writer, and over all mystery geek. Follow for news updates: @AnimeVicers/@FoxxFireArt / http://kristofferremmell.tumblr.com/ |
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