Chapter 253: Varse

Arc: Skypiea · Saga: Sky Island · Released:

Summary

After the Shandian guerrillas are forced into retreat by Enel’s Priests (Wyper calls the regroup, Kamakiri is downed, and Ohm is stopped because “Kami Eneru calls”), the chapter shifts to the Straw Hat camp on the shore of Angel Island. Over a pot of hot-rock stew, Nami runs a strategy meeting reviewing Noland’s picture book and the legend of the City of Gold; she rescales an old map of Jaya against the map of Skypiea and realizes the sky island is the missing half of Jaya — placing the gold at the “right eye of the skull,” and resolving to split the crew and head straight for it tomorrow. That night, despite Robin’s warning that a fire reveals their position, Luffy, Usopp, Sanji, and Nami light a huge bonfire and dance around it in celebration (the Nika-silhouette splash). The Sky Knight (Gan Fall) wakes, joins them, and explains the dance is called “Varse” — to sky-dwellers it embodies their eternal hopes, because true earth (vearth) cannot exist in the sky; he also reveals Upper Yard is “sacred ground,” once called Jaya. The chapter closes at the Shandian camp, where Wyper rages that a bagful of “Varse” is insignificant — until he learns the dirt is Aisa’s treasure that Kamakiri was wounded protecting; the Shandia vow to take their next attack tomorrow and restore Shandia “to the state it was 400 years ago.”

New reveals

• Nami deduces that Skypiea (Upper Yard) is the missing half of Jaya — Jaya as drawn looks like a skull, the present island is only “half a skull,” and the City of Gold sits at the “right eye of the skull” (Page 9-11).
• Noland’s ship’s log details surface: he wrote that El Dorado was “full of gold,” mentioned gold ingots shaped like a bell, and his last line before death was “I saw gold in the skull’s right eye” (Page 9).
• The chapter title’s word, “Varse,” is the name of the sky-dwellers’ campfire dance; Gan Fall says it “embodies our eternal hopes” “to those who live in the sky,” because greenery/soil don’t naturally exist there (Page 16-17).
• Upper Yard is “sacred ground” and “was once called Jaya” (Page 17, per Gan Fall).
• Skypiea’s environment “rapidly speeds up the growth of fauna and flora,” which is why the Jayan civilization’s remains were swallowed by the forest (Page 8) — a mechanic for the lost city.
• Aisa’s treasure is a bagful of dirt/“Varse” (vearth); Kamakiri was wounded protecting it; Wyper had made her a “rash promise” to collect it (Page 18-19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Zoro (referenced “give me a hand”), Gan Fall (the Sky Knight), Enel (named “Kami Eneru”), Wyper, Ohm, Gedatsu (priest present at retreat), Kamakiri, Aisa, Genbo, Braham, Laki, Conis (referenced), Pagaya (referenced as “father”), Mont Blanc Noland (picture book/log)
• Locations: Upper Yard, Angel Island, Skypiea, Jaya
• Concepts: “Varse” / vearth, “El Dorado” / City of Gold, the knock-up stream, Mantra (implied by the Priests), Shandia

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page “VARSE” + cover story: Wapol’s Omnivorous Rampage, Vol. 16 — “All of a sudden, business is booming!” (cover shows a crowd queuing behind a “ROLLUP!” / “SOLD OUT” banner).
• Page 2-3 — Shandian guerrilla retreat: explosion (“BOOM!!”), “Wyper! Kamakiri’s down!”; Wyper orders “Retreat for now!!! Regroup at the rendezvous point!!!”; Ohm is intercepted (“Wait, Ohm!!!” / “You’re not going anywhere”) because “Kami Eneru… calls.”
• Page 4-7 — Hot-rock stew cookout; Nami chairs “the official Straw Hats ‘What are we going to do tomorrow?’ meeting.”
• Page 9 — Noland’s log: “gold ingots shaped like a bell,” dying line “I saw gold in the skull’s right eye.”
• Page 10-11 — “TA-DAH!!” the rescaled Jaya map; “It looks just like a skull!!!”; right-eye = treasure point.
• Page 12-13 — Robin warns the fire reveals their position; Luffy insists on a campfire.
• Page 15 — Full-page Nika silhouette splash: Straw Hats dancing around the bonfire in pure silhouette, Robin seated in foreground. (Marquee mirror candidate.)
• Page 16-17 — Gan Fall wakes, joins, and names the dance “Varse” — embodying sky-dwellers’ eternal hopes; Upper Yard = “sacred ground,” “once called Jaya.”
• Page 18-19 — Shandian camp: Wyper’s “a bagful of Varse will be insignificant!!!” → it’s Aisa’s treasure → “WHAR!!”; vow to restore Shandia “to the state it was 400 years ago.”

Open questions raised

• If Upper Yard is the lost half of Jaya, where exactly does the “right eye” land within the Priests’ four Ordeals, and who reaches the gold first?
• What is the full significance of “vearth” / true earth to the sky-dwellers and to Enel — and why does the Shandia (and Aisa) treasure a bag of dirt so highly?
• Will the bell-shaped gold ingot detail resolve into a literal Golden Bell in Upper Yard?