Great discussion in this, some very interesting theories!
All the Chopper and Luffy running around and getting lost here is just filler content. Like, episode 93 is about 90% filler, lol (94 was mostly canon though). You can sort of tell when it's filler, because it's when everybody starts acting a lot more dumb than usual. What they run into, like the dance powder, is part of the arc though, it just shows up a little bit later.
In fact, the first nine or so episodes of this arc, from 93 onwards, is mostly filler (with 98 and 99 being completely filler).
Yosaku told us about Jinbe when he, Luffy, and Sanji were on their way to Arlong Park! He said that the warlords go after other pirates and give a piece of the loot to the government.
Ace's back tattoo actually started out as a manji (the buddhist symbol) in the manga, but Oda changed it to a cross later on.
Also, in Japanese, "hige" (as in Shiro-hige, whitebeard) means both moustache and beard, there aren't two separate words. Can cause some confusion!
And since you're a week ahead from this... yeah, the fighting there is between Smoker and Ace is filler. In the manga, Ace creates a wall of fire to stop the soldiers, and then they all just run to the Merry.
In fact, I'm pretty annoyed with what the filler does with some things in this arc, TBH. Luffy's characterisation is possibly what suffers the most here in the beginning, but the time wasting and the shifting on worldbuilding details are also frustrating.
desolate leng
2024-01-13 03:41:34 +0000 UTC
24:56 Carson: She goes up a cup size every arc
Me: He's starting to believe
Seraph_Dalgon_
2024-01-12 20:39:32 +0000 UTC
Ace and Whitebeard just got introduced, I'm so excited!