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

As we’re in the middle of a huge arc, it’s inevitable that a majority of the volume will be dedicated to melee fighting, as with most Jump shonen manga. So, in this volume, we see Sanji, Franky, and Sniper King taking on most of the mooks and low-level bosses of Cipher Pol, only to get utterly trashed when they finally hit the real thing. Well, I say utterly trashed, but that’s not quite true – they came close. Sadly, Robin is still in denial and self-loathing land, so she was not prepared to lend a hand in her own rescue.

We get several more intriguing tidbits on Robin in this volume. It’s mentioned a couple of times that Robin is not guilty of any particular hideous crime (something we may have gathered already given that this supposedly happened when she was *eight*), but that her mere existence is the issue. This has been dwelling on her since Water Seven, and is likely why she’s behaving so irrationally. Sniper King is absolutely correct – did she seriously expect, knowing the Straw Hats as she does, that they would simply abandon her and move on? Well, yes, she did, because she has no sense of self-worth. I loved the fact that this argument was between her and Sniper King, if only as he’s the other main cast member to struggle with hideous self issues, and it’s great to see him lay into Robin and tell her to have faith in her captain.

Speaking of Sniper King, now you all know where Sniper Island is. It’s… in your HEART. Even in the middle of a serious arc, with lots of violence and action, Oda still gives us some hysterical laughs every chapter. Paulie’s reaction to all the hot women around him (and how about Nami’s sensible, uncaring clothing change in the middle of the car? Once again, Nami is NOT your typical shonen chick). Luffy and Nami’s wonderful joint reaction while praising Usopp’s updated clima-tact (possibly the only time the two share a gag like that – Nami’s normally far too sensible). The Marines’ reaction to Zoro cutting the train. Franky’s centaur form. Wanze… in general. Luffy and Chopper’s reaction to Sniper King. And, of course, Luffy having the plan explained to him, and then just doing whatever the hell anyway. This is Luffy, after all.

And we finally arrive at Enies Lobby, and meet 3 more CP9 members. Fukuro is merely comedy relief, and designed to be irritating (and he succeeds). Kumadori is also fairly comedic, but I’ve always liked his over-the-top theatrics, which fits perfectly, as his name recalls the makeup on Kabuki actors. And Jabra is, well, a grumpy jerk, but he also screams “I’ll be fighting Zoro or Sanji later” to me. (BTW, he’s also the only one to suffer romanization issues of the group, though it’s not too bad – fans have called him “Jyabura”.)

And in the end, we get another fantastic “this encapsulates all that is great about One Piece” moment, with Luffy surrounded by Marines. “There’s 10,000 soldiers here on Enies Lobby!” “Yeah… I’m by myself. Get out of my way!”