By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

Alabasta is finally over, and the crew sets off on new adventure. Therefore, as you would imagine, this is very much a transition book, setting the pieces for the arc that takes over the next 9 volumes or so. Of course, this being One Piece, there’s a ton of stuff happening through the book, so much you barely notice that it’s all introduction.

First and foremost, we have a stowaway on board, who asks to join their crew: Miss All-Sunday, aka Nico Robin. I’ll make no bones about it, I love Robin. She’s one of my favorite characters, and I like what she adds to the crew: stability. Everyone in the crew has a quirk. Either they’re all quirks (Luffy, Usopp, Chopper), or they’re sometimes serious but frequently fall into silly (Nami, Sanji, Zoro). The closest Robin ever gets to goofy is her morbid sense of humor; Oda has said in interviews that she’s the only member of the Straw Hat Pirates who has normal expressions. For a manga like this, which can sometimes risk being too over the top silly, she’s a nice balance.

I was very amused at how quickly she finagled her way into the crew. She seems to have analyzed them perfectly, and wins Usopp and Chopper over by using her powers for silly stuff; bribes Nami with some jewels; Sanji loves her because she is pretty and female; and Luffy is Luffy, so he was always going to accept her. This leaves Zoro, who is the exception and doesn’t trust her. To her credit, she knows she can’t do anything with him, so doesn’t try.

The reader, of course, knows that she’s OK because we saw the flashback with Alabasta’s King, where she talks about how she’s always had a dream and kept trying to achieve it even though she was constantly on the run from the world. Dreams have always been the primary focus of One Piece (I’m Gonna Be King Of The Pirates!), and hearing that she has a grand dream is basically Oda telling us that it’s OK to trust her.

Dreams are a particular focus of this volume, as the crew, searching for a way to get to a sky island, wind up in a place called Jaya, surrounded by dismal pirates who don’t put any stock in dreams, and go on about how the real world demands focus. Bellamy, a particularly annoying pirate captain, even calls the One Piece a legend that only losers would pursue. Of course, this is balanced out by others, notably a huge bare-chested pirate with several missing teeth, who gets a full 2-page spread when he notes that “people’s dreams never end”. Gosh, I wonder if he’s important later on?

I presume, reading One Piece 24, that I am preaching to the converted. No one is going to try a series by reading the 24th volume, though this isn’t too bad a volume for a newbie to pick up. You get the basics of everyone’s personality, even if there aren’t any fights (in fact, a major moment in the book is when Luffy and Zoro choose NOT to fight). What’s not to like? The art can be a problem for some people. This is not really a series populated by pretty boys. Many, many goofy faces and goofy expressions on pretty faces exist here. Also, Robin’s one flaw is that, as the normal one, she gets stuck with the exposition much of the time, although Oda tries to balance it out a bit. And of course Viz translates Zoro as Zolo, for legal reasons. Yes, I know some people who refuse to read any of One Piece by Viz for this reason.

In any case, it’s a terrific volume, as always, and if you’re a One Piece fan you should definitely pick it up. Speaking of which, this month marks the start of Viz’s ‘One Piece catchup’, so Volume 25-28 are also available now. I’ll be reviewing them later.

Also, Robin has a great hat. I like hats.