Chapters · Dressrosa › Punk Hazard

Chapter 657: Severed Head

Arc: Punk Hazard · Saga: Dressrosa · Released:

Summary

On the burning half of Punk Hazard, Luffy has strapped a pair of disembodied legs to himself and is gleefully pretending to be a “centaur,” insisting he “ate a dragon” and now has “dragon power.” Robin and Usopp tell him the legs belong to a dismembered man whose “top half is stuck on its own somewhere,” and they make him give the kicking legs back; Zoro is sent off to find the “killer samurai and the sliced-up dudes.” A huge explosion lets the fire-side group see across the island: the far side is all snow, ice mountains, a giant frozen lake and a sea of ice floes, resolving the “it’s so cold” mystery — Punk Hazard is half fire, half ice, and the two Straw Hat groups landed on opposite halves. Meanwhile the on-ship crew — Nami, Sanji, Chopper, Franky — wakes in a research-facility cell (“DECK-102”) after being gassed unconscious on the Sunny’s deck; Brook is missing. In the cell with them is a talking severed samurai head whose face is built from detachable cube-like pieces they must reassemble like a puzzle. The proud, pirate-hating warrior harangues Nami over her “breast-bands,” nosebleeds over the same, and explains he was cut down to this size by an unknown hand and came to the island for “a dire matter.” Franky blasts the cell open with his Radical Beam; dragging the head along, the group realizes the head, the legs Luffy had, and the rampaging “killer samurai” upper body are all one dismembered man — a samurai from the Land of Wano, identified by his topknot. He reveals he came to Punk Hazard to save his son’s life and would cut down thousands to reach his goal. Gunfire and an explosion drive them through a door into a room overflowing with gigantic children. (Cover: “From the Decks of the World, Vol. 39 — Gourmet Town Pucci.” A 1-page SBS Question Corner closes the chapter, vol. p. 24.)

New reveals

• The severed Wano samurai is in pieces across the island: his living legs (Ch 656) were grabbed by Luffy; his talking head is in the on-ship crew’s cell; and his upper body is the “killer samurai” the Ch 655 caller named (pp. 2–3, 9–17). “Then the killer samurai that guy was talking about is HIM?!” (p. 15).
• The samurai’s head/face is composed of detachable cube-like segments (“Puzzles”) that have to be reassembled correctly to form a face; he is alive throughout and “know[s] no more than you” about how he became a head (pp. 8–10).
• The samurai does not know who cut him apart: “I was cut down to this size, and I know not the name of the one responsible!! I thought myself dead, but then… THIS happened!!” (p. 10).
• He is a samurai of Wano, recognized by his topknot — “the traditional hairstyle of Wano” (pp. 15–16). Sanji: “Samurai from the Land of Wano?!”
• He came to Punk Hazard to save his son’s life: “I came to this island!! TO SAVE MY SON’S LIFE!!!” — and “would cut down thousands… if they dared stand between me and my goal” (p. 16).
• Punk Hazard is bisected fire/ice. The fire half has an active volcano, constant blazes and a sea on fire; the far half is snowy peaks, an ice mountain range, a giant frozen lake and a freezing sea of ice floes — the head sailed in across the ice, resolving the “it’s so cold on a fire island” riddle (pp. 4–5, 13).
• The on-ship crew was gassed unconscious on the Sunny’s deck and locked in a facility cell marked “DECK-102”; they suspect slavers/human traffickers (pp. 6–8). Brook is missing from the cell — “if this is everyone on board, where’s Brook?” (p. 8).
• Franky’s “Radical Beam” — a body-mounted energy beam fired from his torso — blasts the cell open (p. 14). “That crazy body sure ain’t for show!”
• Beyond the cell is a room overflowing with gigantic human children — “They’re kids… but they’re HUGE!!” (pp. 17–18).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters (appear, fire side): Luffy (centaur gag; “I ate a dragon”), Zoro (sent for the samurai), Usopp, Nico Robin
• Characters (appear, cell / Deck-102): Nami, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Franky (Radical Beam)
• Characters (referenced, not shown): Brook (missing from the cell)
• Unnamed first/continuing appearances: the severed samurai head (a Wano samurai; still unnamed on-page — same dismembered man as the Ch 656 legs and the “killer samurai”); the gigantic children beyond the cell; a laughing centaur on the fire side
• Locations / world: Punk Hazard (ice half now shown; “DECK-102” facility cell), Wano Country (referenced — the samurai’s homeland, by topknot)
• Creatures / lore: Dragons (the dragon Luffy claims to have eaten)

Notable panels

• Page 1 (cover): “From the Decks of the World, Vol. 39 — Gourmet Town Pucci: For Ship Buying, Repairs and Dismantling, See the Zambai Union.” Franky-Family / Galley-La side cast in a gourmet port discussing buying ships and cola.
• Pages 2–3: Luffy strapped into the severed legs as a “centaur,” claiming dragon power; Robin/Usopp make him return the legs. (“Centaurs aren’t real!”)
• Pages 4–5: The island-bisection reveal — snowy peaks, ice mountains, a giant frozen lake across from the volcanic fire half.
• Pages 8–10: The talking severed head; its face reassembled from cube “Puzzle” pieces. (“It’s a talking severed head!!”)
• Page 14: Franky’s Radical Beam blasts the cell open .
• Pages 15–16: Wano-topknot recognition; the samurai’s oath “TO SAVE MY SON’S LIFE!!!”
• Pages 17–18: Cliffhanger — a room overflowing with gigantic children.
• Page 18 (vol. p. 24): SBS Question Corner — “Hippo Iron, Saitama” header art; Q&A on starting the section with a BBQ, a fan’s caricature for Sanji’s wanted poster, and “Usopp Rubber Band.”

Open questions raised

• Who cut the samurai into living pieces, and with what power? (He himself does not know the name.)
• Who is the samurai’s son, where on the island is he, and is he among the gigantic children?
• Who are the gigantic children, why are they huge, and why are they being held on Punk Hazard?
• Where is Brook, and who removed him from the cell group?
• Why is Punk Hazard split into a fire half and an ice half — is it a result of “the accident four years ago”?