That’s a very good writeup and it does change my mind on some level.

I agree that saying ginny is “Kuma’s love interest” was a misstep on my original comment, and that their relationship is more nuanced than that.

On a side note the allusions to rape/SA were already made with the Boa sisters and the introduction of the CDs in sabody park.

So I don’t remember now since it’s been a long while since I’ve read them, but until now the notion of SA of slaves by the celestial dragons was mostly a “heavy implication” thing - we see them act extremely gross and possessive towards women, and see the trauma inflicted upon their victims. This fits OP’s brand of a manga geared mostly towards children, that ocasionally deals with very dark themes. This chapter however leaves no doubt; Ginny got pregnant while she was enslaved and then she was discarded, and that’s why I believe this chapter is very brutal even among the other chapters showing the violence of slavery.

For the brutality of the chapter, I think Oda does well in juxtaposing the successes of the now Freedom Fighters to the inner despair of Kuma and co. It’s the acknowledgement that revolution is brutal and that behind the triumph is real people who’ve lost nearly everything.

That’s a good way to put it. All in all, I’m loving how this arc is giving a lot of exposition to the Revolutionary Army in general and Kuma in specific