The Giant Pirates is a surprise! I figured that they were allied with Shanks from earlier in this arc, although maybe Shanks ordered/asked them to show up for some reason.
Edit: Just noticed in the spread where Bonney sees Luffy as Nika, Kuma has a panel showing some sort of awareness or recognition of Nika. KUMA LIVES 2024 LFG
i personally think that luffy being their god probably trumps any allegiance they might owe Shanks. and i suppose we also don't know the alignment of the Giant Pirates relative to Elbaf
True, there could be plenty of reasons for them to bring the Strawhats to Elbaf. I just think Shanks is moving more into the foreground of the story since he said "time to claim the One Piece" after Wano and being at Elbaf with Dorry and Broggy.
RIP Vegapunk???
The Giant Pirates is a surprise! I figured that they were allied with Shanks from earlier in this arc, although maybe Shanks ordered/asked them to show up for some reason.
Edit: Just noticed in the spread where Bonney sees Luffy as Nika, Kuma has a panel showing some sort of awareness or recognition of Nika. KUMA LIVES 2024 LFG
i personally think that luffy being their god probably trumps any allegiance they might owe Shanks. and i suppose we also don't know the alignment of the Giant Pirates relative to Elbaf
True, there could be plenty of reasons for them to bring the Strawhats to Elbaf. I just think Shanks is moving more into the foreground of the story since he said "time to claim the One Piece" after Wano and being at Elbaf with Dorry and Broggy.