Whole Cake Island Homage
Luffy pulls out a new move — Gomu Gomu no Majin (Rubber Rubber Demon/Djinn).
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.
Last chapter was building toward whether Sanji would awaken his Conqueror’s Haki. For that to happen, Sanji needs to overcome his self-loathing — which is why the Whole Cake Island arc is being revisited as a self-homage. That part makes sense.
As for the Majin form — the obvious reference is Daifuku’s Hoya Hoya no Mi genie from WCI:
But why specifically a “demon”? I’m still not sure it’s necessary. Luffy says he transformed this way after watching Loki fight — but size-wise, this form is roughly on par with a regular giant. It’s nowhere near the scale of an ancient giant like Loki. Could he have just used Gomu Gomu no Gigant instead? Maybe the demon form has a unique trick — like a feint attack that regular giants can’t pull off. Probably overthinking it, but still.
The Name “Vohu” — From the Hebrew Bible
Im’s technique — 虚無剣 “Vohu” — takes its name from the Hebrew phrase “Tohu va-Vohu” (תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ), found in Genesis 1:2 of the Old Testament. Tohu means chaos or formlessness. Vohu (Bohu) means void or emptiness — “without form, and void.”
The World Government uses the cross as its symbol. So it makes sense that Im, as its true ruler, would wield power named after words from the Hebrew Bible. The theological undertone is very much intentional.
A couple more WCI callbacks: the scene where the trees part to clear the field of view is another self-homage. And Jinbe stepping in to provide backup is yet another nod to WCI.
Davy Back Fight Homage
Im’s combat style during the battle is surprisingly playful — lots of varied attack patterns, heavy on bombs. It has a distinct Foxy energy. Especially those face-stamped bombs.
“The Afro man… no way.”
This line from Im refers to Brook. Im is remembering Brook from the night Brook killed King Ruven. Im recognized him as “the Afro man” from that incident.
Alabasta Homage
The scene of Im’s Vohu withering the forest, combined with Luffy getting stabbed — that’s a self-homage to the Alabasta arc. Im and Crocodile also share a persistent theory: both may have originally been female. (That might just be a SaltyDog hypothesis, but still worth noting.)
Nika impaled by Im. Luffy impaled by Crocodile. We haven’t seen Nika in this kind of genuine crisis since his awakening — it lands with real weight.
And the fog that destroyed Esperia Kingdom follows the same pattern as Crocodile ravaging Yuba with sandstorms. Same logic applies: the fog and toxic smog were likely a Devil Fruit ability — most probably Mommoyeur Glowe’s power. Weakening the kingdom’s population to make recovering Princess Shuri easier. In other words, Glowe is very likely a fog-type Devil Fruit user.
That’s all for this week. See you next chapter.