The apple really doesn’t fall far from the samurai tree.

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Chapter 684 – Smoker and Virgo fight it out while Sanji and Tashigi’s group has poison gas on their tail. Caesar’s past is also revealed. As it turns out, he was the one developing destructive gas and detonated it when Vegapunk found out, practically obliterating the island. 3.5/5

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Chapter 685 - Luffy encounters the long lost son, Momonosuke, who has been transformed into a little dragon by eating one of Caesar’s rejected artificial Devil’s Fruits. They eventually begin to fly from the garbage area while the separated teams do battle against their respective obstacles. 3/5

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Chapter 686 - This chapter focuses on the fight in the Biscuit Room against Monet, the snow woman. The girls and Chopper manage to head after the children, leaving Zoro to deal with Monet until the appearance of his least favorite reinforcement, Sanji, who is leading the G-5 Marines. Soon it’s Zoro and Tashigi back-to-back against Monet in a tumultuous swordsmen battle. 4/5

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I don’t know how, but Caesar Clown has somehow become twice as despicable as he was in the beginning. Between his revolting facial expressions and dastardly deeds, I can’t remember ever disliking a villain as much as him. Not to mention the fact that Oda is really pulling heartstrings all over the place with characterization of the manic children. What with Momonosuke, the tsundere samurai child, and his inability to connect with the kids, and Mocha who is able to resist the drug candy, these kids are making this arc incredible.

The excitement just doesn’t stop with all these fights. I thought for a split second that Nami was going to be the secret weapon to taking down Monet, but I guess using heat bubbles against snow would’ve been too easy. In any case, Robin put up a good show and hopefully we’ll get to see more of her as they head after the kids. We don’t learn much about Virgo and Smoker’s fight except for the fact that they’re still fighting, but the combination of Tashigi and Zoro against Monet is looking to be like one of my favorite team ups so far. One Piece hasn’t really addressed their relationship or the fact that she looks like his deceased childhood friend, but I’m hoping that’s what we’ll get in the next chapter.

GO Rating: 4/5

[KissManga]