The following contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1087, "Battleship Bags," by Eiichiro Oda, translated by Stephen Paul available in English from Viz Media.
Finally, after a month-long wait, One Piece has returned and it is safe to say that the chapter is everything that fans have been waiting for. One Piece 1087 was certainly worth the wait and it is an incredible addition to the already amazing Egghead Island arc.
Surprisingly, the entirety of One Piece chapter 1087 focused on the Pirate Island, where the Vice Admiral Garp and his team of exuberant Marines were fighting against the Blackbeard Pirates. Fans expected for the story to head back to Egghead Island and focus a bit on the Straw Hat Pirates, however, that certainly was not the case. Nonetheless, the chapter was every bit as incredible as fans expected it to be and certainly set up some very intriguing plot points.
Garp's Past
One Piece chapter 1087 focused quite a lot on the Marine Vice Admiral Garp. The very beginning of the chapter saw Oda give fans a glimpse into his past through the character of Brannew. In a conversation with some other Marines, he mentions how Garp used to train in the past. Oda also alluded to Garp's training with Aokiji in the past, which was touched upon in the chapter later. According to Brannew, Garp used giant marine battleships as punching bags. Just by looking at it, one could tell that these marine battleships had been punched and dented to a point where they simply could not be used. While destroying battleships is not a big feat in One Piece by any means, the fact is that Garp achieved this in his youth without using any Devil Fruit power or Haki.
Garp ensured to not use any Haki while doing this so that he could train his body physically and ensure that he was strong enough to keep up with monsters such as Roger. At a certain point, Kuzan, who went on to become a Marine Admiral later on, asked Garp to take him under his wing. Garp didn't want him stifling his freedom, however, Kuzan started training with him nonetheless, eventually managing to dent the battleships himself. This just goes to show the relationship that Garp and Kuzan shared and how Garp was really proud of having him as his apprentice.
Sadly, in the current timeline, Kuzan has now gone against Garp And this is a feeling that he has felt before when his son, Dragon, ended up becoming a Revolutionary and later on, his grandson, Luffy, ended up becoming a pirate. His other grandson, Ace, also ended up becoming a pirate and died in the Paramount War, eventually. Garp is a character full of tragedies and Oda goes well and beyond to highlight that once again in One Piece chapter 1087. Regardless, he fights for what he believes in and his own sense of justice.
Garp Vs Blackbeard Pirates
In the current timeline, One Piece 1087 made sure to focus on Garp's fight against the Blackbeard Pirates. While they are strong indeed, none of them really stand a chance against Garp, other than Aokiji, who is Garp's very own student and a person capable of taking on the very strongest fighters in the world. Garp was able to throw Sanjuan Wolf into the water, defeating him effortlessly in the process. Meanwhile, Vasco Shot was also useless against Garp, and Kuzan himself was beaten to a pulp, even though he kept getting back up.
For the vast majority of the fight, Garp looked very comfortable, however, now that he had rescued all the slaves and, at the same time, made sure that all the injured marines had evacuated, he called it a day and decided to leave the island since there was no end to the pirates there. However, that is precisely where Kuzan decided to stand in his way once again and there is no going back for him from here onwards. The strategy shifted to escaping from the island and running towards the coast.
The plan certainly seemed simple enough, that is, until Koby messed up and couldn't discern an enemy from a hostage. While this was pretty easy for the likes of Gruss and Helmeppo to figure out, Koby simply couldn't read the true emotions of this person and ended up getting caught.
At the same time, Shiryu was aiming for Koby and would have killed him, however, Garp decided to jump in the way and took the brunt of the attack himself. Although Garp easily beat Shiryu down after, he was already injured and took a fatal wound, which meant that he was weakened and this gave the pirates on the island a chance to take him down. Not letting this slow the Navy down, Garp ordered all his students to run to the battleship while he would stay behind to take down Aokiji and the other pirates.
Expectedly, Garp ended up clashing with Kuzan for one last time and both their attacks knocked the other one back. Needless to say, Garp is not in perfect condition anymore after sustaining a seriously fatal injury from Shiryu. It is going to be incredibly difficult for him to escape from here, especially if Blackbeard returns to the island in the upcoming chapters. While Kuzan is likely down for the count, Garp is still conscious and feels like he has a job to do.
What exactly he will do from here onwards remains to be seen. However, the primary goal for him is certainly going to make sure that the next generation of the Navy survives. To that end, Garp will likely try to make sure that they escape while covering for them, just as Whitebeard did for his Division Commanders during the Marineford arc.
The Power Of Avalo Pizarro
An interesting ability that was explored in One Piece 1087 is that of Avalo Pizarro, the Fourth Ship Captain of the Blackbeard Pirates. Throughout the chapter, fans saw one ability after another being used by the members of the Blackbeard Pirates. Was beaten without any effort by Garp. Vasco Shot's ability was nullified by him easily, however, all this time, Avalo was carefully observing the battle. Towards the end of the fight, it was Pizarro who took the stage and decided to use the power of his Shima Shima no Mi. Pizarro's ability is very similar to that of Pica, however, it is much stronger as the latter could only fuse stone while Pizarro can control the island without assimilating with it. A glimpse of this power was given to the fans towards the end of the chapter where he used the island to stop the marine ship from escaping. With Garp down, this proved to be the perfect chance for him to shine.
Fans could only see Koby plead for him to stop, however, this is certainly not going to work. The only hope of the Navy at this point is Garp himself. Thankfully for them, Garp isn't unconscious and certainly will get up to fight once again. Fans can expect Garp to put on a show once again, despite being seriously injured and helping his fellow Marines escape. That would certainly be the perfect setup for what is to come in the future of the story as Garp would end up staying behind and getting captured by the Blackbeard Pirates, while Koby and the next generation of Marines head back to the headquarters, who would then likely launch an attack on the Blackbeard Pirates.
Things are looking incredibly interesting in One Piece and, fans should expect the events of the Pirate Island to continue over the course of the next few chapters. Since this section of the arc looks like it is going to wrap up soon, One Piece 1088 will most certainly focus on it and drop the curtain on it properly so the attention could be turned elsewhere.
Undoubtedly, Oda's return was an incredible one and he delivered a chapter that every fan of the story would have absolutely adored. Garp is a character that many fans have always wanted to see more often and Oda has finally delivered here.