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

And so at last we come to the end of Thriller Bark, and the fiftieth volume of One Piece. That’s quite a lot. I think it’s now the manga with the most volumes released in North America, though I may be wrong. There’s no special anniversary aspect to it, though, it’s just taking care of business as always.

But first, we have to take care of Moria. Luckily, Moria seems to have sown the seeds of his own destruction by trying to take in just a little too much power, which means that all that needs to happen is Luffy kicking his ass a bit. Seeing everyone’s shadows return is a lovely montage, especially coming right after the nightmarish image of Zoro, Robin and Sanji’s bodies burning to ash. I particularly liked seeing Margarita (who’s “gotten over” her hatred of plates) – Cindry may be genuinely dead now, but at least the shadow attached to her was saved.

Unfortunately, before anyone can celebrate, Kuma shows up. Now this is really unfair. Luffy’s knocked out after dealing with Moria, and everyone’s exhausted. Doesn’t Kuma know the most basic rules of shonen battles? He basically tells the crew that they can all live if they let Luffy die. This goes about as well as you’d expect. And then Kuma basically takes out everyone. Well, almost everyone.

I have to say, the chapter with Kuma and Zoro is possibly one of Zoro’s finest moments, and it’s not for his swordsmanship. Zoro’s unswerving loyalty to Luffy has always been one of his best qualities, and here we see him literally sacrificing his life for Luffy’s. Of course, as he’s hella tough, he does not in fact die, but I think the intent was there. Some nice interaction with him and Sanji as well.

And so now with Kuma gone (for the moment), we actually do get a celebration, and we finally hear Brook’s backstory. And it’s very sad, if only as it’s not nearly as spectacular as Robin’s or Franky’s. This is not the story of some pirates up against formidable enemies, or the World Government. This is a pirate ship, filled with enthusiastic crewmates, brought down by sickness and plague. This is the sort of thing that happens to pirates on the Grand Line *all the time*. The ones we never see. Only now we have Brook, with his revive fruit, who can show us. And his reward is to be alone, on a ship with his dead crew, for 50 years.

But now he has the Straw Hats! And yes, Brook joins the crew, which should surprise no one. And off we go again on more adventure! … except that Ace’s life is apparently in danger. Um, yikes? This must be why Kuma asked about Ace in the previous volume. Oh well, Luffy thinks Ace can take care of himself. So yes! More adventure! And they reach the other side of the Red Line, showing they’ve sailed halfway around the world. (Oda has said that this is about the halfway point of the manga, so that makes sense).

Unfortunately, they’re having a little bit of trouble getting to Fish-Man Island. Luckily, they manage to rescue a pretty mermaid to help them! And this time she genuinely is a pretty mermaid. In fact, she seems a little familiar… I’m sure we’ve seen her before, perhaps in one of the cover arcs. But anyway, she’s cute! And a bit of a ditz. And her friend Hachi is in danger! Hachi… hrm, that seems familiar too.

This volume wraps up an arc which proved more solid than I recall, probably as it read much better in volume format. In Volume 51, we deal with the masked man we see at the end of this volume. Who is he, and why does he hate the Straw Hats?