Highlights
- One Piece chapter 1098 was an emotionally heartbreaking read for fans, with the Kuma flashback reaching new depths in storytelling.
- The fact that the entire chapter was unfinished, with sketches instead of finished lineart, suggests that Oda’s health may be a factor in his recent breaks and fans hope he improves.
- Ginny’s forced marriage to a Celestial Dragon and subsequent enslavement was a devastating twist that showcased the sacrifices made by the Revolutionary Army, with Kuma blaming himself for what happened.
One Piece chapter 1098 officially dropped and this week’s chapter has been nothing short of heartbreaking for the fans to read. This chapter hit completely new levels in the Kuma flashback and was certainly the very best that the fans have read in this part of the story so far.
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The quality of this flashback has been improving ever since it began and one can only wonder as to how much it can improve further as it continues. Oda is a master of flashbacks and this one is proving to be one of the very best in the entire story, possibly reaching the levels set by the Oden flashback. With events focusing on the life of Ginny, the birth of Bonney, and the pain of Kuma, One Piece chapter 1098 was absolutely phenomenal.
An Unfinished Chapter
One of the most surprising things that fans witnessed in One Piece chapter 1098 was the fact that the entire chapter was unfinished. Quite a lot of the chapter was illustrated just as sketches, instead of finished lineart. This is because Oda was not able to finish the chapter on time and the reason for this is unknown. On the cover page of the chapter, Oda apologized to the fans, however, a reason as to why this happened was not given.
This has likely got to do with his health, which, as fans know, has been worsening over the years. This could also very well tie to the fact that Oda has been taking a lot more breaks recently and fans can only hope that his health improves. Oda might need to take more breaks in order to improve his health and that would certainly help him. Fans need to be understanding about this and only hope that he starts to feel better soon. That said, the unfinished chapter certainly didn’t affect the fans’ reading experience as it was definitely one of the very best ones in the entire story and a heartbreaking one at that.
Ginny’s Forced Marriage
In the previous chapter of One Piece, fans got to see Kuma and Ginny join the Revolutionary Army. Both of these characters then went on to reach great heights, with Kuma becoming the third pillar of the army, while Ginny becoming the commander of the East Army of the Revolutionary Army. Given that Belo Betty holds this position currently, fans already knew that something terrible would happen to her. However, whatever they had imagined for her was nowhere near what actually ended up happening. Ginny ended up being kidnapped by someone, who later gave her to the Celestial Dragons.
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She was forcibly wed to a Celestial Dragon and taken as a slave permanently. Meanwhile, this news reached Dragon but he did not do anything about this, much to the dismay of the fans. The Revolutionary Army continued their work and decided not to pursue Ginny. They expanded their operations all over the world and helped liberate many countries. In the eyes of the world, the Revolutionary Army became heroes, however, this definitely came at a massive sacrifice, which fans were seeing right in front of them. While not much was revealed about the life that Ginny endured, fans were told that a Celestial Dragon had his eyes on her and successfully managed to marry her forcibly. Ginny endured two terrible years in this place before an even greater catastrophe befell her.
The Revolutionary Army Expands
One Piece chapter 1098 highlighted the Revolutionary Army expanding their operations very well. Kuma, who was one of the pillars of this army, was distraught ever since Ginny was captured. Prior to this incident, Kuma was always a very emotional fellow who wore his heart on his sleeve and showcased emotions through a wide variety of expressions, no matter what. Now, Kuma barely showed any emotions on his face. It looked like all the joy had been sucked out of his life and that he was devoid of feelings. Kuma also punished himself in a way by overdoing things. For instance, he started taking more missions and became more reckless than ever before.
His body suffered a lot more and, while the Revolutionary Army members could not understand it, fans can put two and two together and come to the conclusion that Kuma was incredibly upset by what happened and, to an extent, blamed himself for it.
The Revolutionary Army certainly made great waves and Dragon looked like he was succeeding in expanding his operations as well. Dragon became an incredibly powerful fighter and the Revolutionary Army was now being highlighted all over the world. Eventually, this army would even get brought up at the Reverie, as fans have seen during the Arabasta arc.
Ginny’s Death And Bonney’s Birth
For 2 years, the Revolutionary Army continued to grow significantly stronger. By this point in time, even Sabo had joined the Revolutionary Army and fans got to see him train with Kuma as well. One day, the Revolutionary Army leaders were surprised by the fact that Ginny made contact. Ginny mentioned that she was finally let go by the Celestial Dragons. Essentially, she was discarded by them after they had no more use for her, especially since she ended up contracting the Sapphire Scale Disease.
This disease was deadly and Ginny knew that she did not have long left to live. In her dying breaths, she wanted to talk to the Revolutionary Army once more, especially the love of her life, Kuma. She did not disclose where she was headed to, however, Kuma knew where she would be going. He immediately headed to the Sorbet Kingdom, right to the church where they were living. There, he found Ginny’s dead body, which was covered in blue scales and stones. Ginny had her child with her and this child was none other than Bonney. The Celestial Dragons forced her to bear this child before she died and one can’t even imagine how much he must have suffered during those two years.
From there onwards, Kuma decided to raise Bonney and became a father to her. He raised her very well, however, this job became even more difficult when, suddenly, one day, the Sapphire Scale presented itself in Bonney as well. One Piece chapter 1098 saw Kuma shut her in, preventing any natural light from hitting her, since that causes the disease to spread even faster. He left the Revolutionary Army in an attempt to find a cure for Bonney and sought out as many doctors as he possibly could. The vast majority of them did not even know what the disease was, however, eventually, one of them mentioned the name of the disease to be Sapphire Scale and the fact that it is almost never seen in the current day and age. After exclaiming that Bonney was suffering from it, she was given 5 years to live, at most.
Now, Kuma’s goal is to find the cure for Bonney’s disease and, at the same time, deal with the evil king Becori, who has now returned to the Kingdom.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1098, is set to be November 12, 2023.
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