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

The Skypeia arc continues, and we finally meet our main villain, Eneru, face to face. One thing that’s immediately apparent is that his face is based on the American rapper Eminem (even his name is similar). Oda admitted this in an interview, but even if he hadn’t the caricature is so well done that it seems immediately apparent. He has the utter arrogance that most One Piece villains seem to have, but he’s also possessed of a sort of bored cruelty, very fitting to someone playing God. He has his rules, and his minions must obey them… at least till the end of the volume, where the rules are abandoned.

Speaking of villains, I can’t help but notice that the ‘cover story’ arc in these volumes deals with Wapol, one of the minor yet utterly irritating minor villains from the Alabasta arc. Oda has also stated that he hates to kill off villains, preferring to leave them broken and having their dreams crushed. This arc makes it clear why he might do that – so they can get new, better dreams. Seeing Wapol become an expert at making children’s toys is not something I remotely expected, but it’s very fitting for the sort of worldview One Piece has.

The other major thing that happens in this arc is meeting the Shandians, the other major inhabitants of this area. They’ve been at war with Eneru for some time, and at war with the sky people, and just at war in general. In fact, they read very much like a cross between an extended close family and a terrorist cell. And their leader, Wyper, seems very much like one of those ‘I don’t care about means vs. ends’ warriors we see so much in modern fiction.

And dropping into all of this chaos are our heroes, who get a lot of chances to shine. Well, OK, Chopper doesn’t shine, but you get the feeling he’s being set up to do something later. There’s also lots of funny moments, such as Nami’s utter devotion to money, and the crew somehow managing to convince a pack of wolves to stay and party around their bonfire instead of eating them. (I love that scene, as it reads like one of the ‘cast member and animal’ cover pages in the real world. Also has a great shot of Robin sitting apart from the others, smiling. She’s happy but guarded, as always.)

I also note this volume has the Straw Hat Pirates actually trying to get treasure! It’s so rare it actually needs to be pointed out. Adventure, saving kingdoms, battling tyranny, rescuing friends… there’s usually very little looting on their agenda.

The volume ends with the crew splitting up to search for the ruins where the treasure is. One team is Luffy, Zoro, Chopper and Robin. One assumes that Robin can keep the other three from getting utterly lost. One would be wrong. One giant snake later, everyone’s split up. Can’t wait to see what happens next…