I think this might be the first mention of Sea Kings, yeah! Although I think that Oda *might* have wanted to say Sea Beast/Sea Monsters here instead. Beasts like Momoo rather than the actual Sea Kings of later chapters.
This fight is definitely the best of East Blue. I agree completely with Carson, Oda was finding his footing with how to pace fights. You can really see the development from Kuro to Don Krieg to Arlong. And while the manga has better pacing, there's still a noticeable difference with Arlong in the manga too.
My absolute favourite part of these two episodes though, is how Luffy emphasises how he needs the rest of his crew, that he can't do everything himself. But also, that the thing that HE can do is to beat the strongest enemy that the rest of the crew can't handle. They all need each other.
desolate leng
2023-11-29 03:46:26 +0000 UTC
Please always continue to laugh and joke at the ridculousness, it's what Oda would love! The silliness and fun of Luffy and One Piece is a core of the series, even to this day :D
Riri
2023-11-28 22:32:54 +0000 UTC
Sea kings are giant sea beasts. Not a specific kind, it's more about the scale. Momoo is a normal sea beast, sea kings are much larger usually.