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!”

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

This is one of my favorite volumes in the series. There’s so much awesome going on that it can be hard to sum up, but I’ll give it a shot. Franky’s flashback finishes up and CP9 capture him, with Usopp putting barely a token resistance. Worse still, they throw Going Merry away into the sea! And oh crap, Spandam’s back in post-flashback time, and he’s got a leather gimp mask now.

However, things are now going to turn around. Chopper rescues Iceberg and Paulie (and Zoro’s cursed sword) from a burning building, looking utterly badass as he does so. Iceberg then wakes, and has a chat with Nami about what really happened with Robin several chapters ago. We get confirmed (as if we couldn’t guess) that Robin has become too attached to the crew to use and abandon them like she always has before, so is sacrificing herself and the world just so that the Straw Hats can leave Water 7 safely. It’s pretty cool.

What follows is the moment I usually use when someone asks me “What moment sums up all of One Piece for you?” It’s almost iconic. Nami collapses, and Iceberg starts to worry, but it turns out she’s collapsing in relief because Robin is still their friend after all. Then she gets up and heads off. I’ll quote this part in full:

Iceberg: Wait! The Straw Hats are already defeated. What can you do now?!”
Nami: *Now*, you say? This *starts* now! Luffy and the others are fine. They can’t be done away with that easily. We’re going to get Robin back! Hesitating makes us weak. Now that we know she needs to be saved, OUR STRENGTH WILL BE INFINITE!!!

As if that weren’t enough, this is followed by Sanji getting off a quote that makes him look manly and cool, and then sees him discovering Robin about to get on the train to Enies Lobby. Chapter 359 is near perfect.

I feel I should note that there is some great humor in this volume. Galley-La’s reaction to Chopper’s transformations, Sanji’s hilarious image of Robin as a Rose-of-Versailles shoujo princess, the entire scene with Sanji’s note to Nami (note her utter lack of reaction: I once again note this manga is not for shippers), and Luffy and Zoro’s reaction after Nami arrives at the train with a huge bag of meat and sake. Oda can still bring the lols. (There’s one more, but as it’s a cliffhanger I’ll wait for the end.)

With all this done, it’s time to go find Luffy and Zoro, who have managed to get themselves trapped in various bits of the city. Oh, and there’s a huge tidal wave caused by the typhoon, hitting the city. For those who like action, Luffy, Nami, Zoro and Chopper escaping from Aqua Laguna (with an assist from Paulie) is utterly fantastic. Times like these make One Piece seem like a big-budget movie. (I also note that Luffy, escaping with Nami, simply wraps his rubber arm around her torso and yanks her. Luffy is no Sanji. And thank God for that.)

Unfortunately, the storm is so bad that ships can’t get through, and the last train (with Robin and CP9) is gone. Fortunately, Sanji, as well as the captured Franky and Usopp, are on board that train. Also fortunately, Kokoro knows of a prototype runaway sea train that will be able to follow them to Enies Lobby. This leads to everyone and their brother setting off in pursuit: the remaining Straw Hats; Paulie, Lulu and Tilestone from Galley-La; and the ENTIRE Franky Family, including their giant sea horses Sodomu and Gomora. (Yes, yes, I know… look, Viz has to keep this rated T for teen. Best to just smile and nod at the odd romanji.)

And then there’s the end. Franky and Usopp are free, but Usopp is still in bitter self-hatred mode, so shouts that he can’t possibly do anything and stomps off. Grr. But wait! Another person heard their call! He has come to help them save Robin with his awesome sharpshooting skills! That great masked hero… SNIPER KING! Sniper King in general is wonderful, and we only get a brief taste here. Wait till Volume 39, where you find out where Sniper Island is. (No spoilers in the comments, please.)

This volume marks the end of the first part of Water Seven. The next 6 volumes are unofficially known by fans as the Enies Lobby arc, and indeed, that’s where everyone’s headed. Can’t wait for April!

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

Every One Piece arc has a section where our heroes get the ever loving crap kicked out of them, in order to show how serious the new villains are before the Straw Hats then come back and wipe them out later. And, Water Seven being the longest arc to date, the ‘things suck’ section is particularly long, taking three whole volumes. Luckily this is the last, so after this one we should be getting back to the pirates kicking ass and having wacky fun doing it.

In the meantime, though… Iceberg’s been shot, apparently by Nico Robin, who is in cahoots with CP9, a secret government organization who turned out to have been moles at Water Seven. Luffy and company appeal to Robin, but she’s having none of it, insisting that she is leaving the crew, and that she has a wish that will never be fulfilled if she stays with them. (If they read their own manga, they’d know this was a giant hint that Robin is deceiving them. What kind of wish or dream CAN’T be fulfilled by being with Luffy?)

And what’s worse, Lucci and Blueno are Devil Fruit users, and put their powers to very good use. Luffy and Zoro get punched out of the building and across the entire city (shades of what Luffy did to Crocodile in Alabasta…), and Nami (merely thrown out the window, the curse of being one of the two ‘normal’ crew members) is now surrounded by people who still think she’s part of the ‘evil pirate crew’. Oh, and Chopper’s trapped in a blazing inferno along with Iceberg and Paulie.

Could things get any more desperate? Of course they could! CP9 has realized that if Iceberg doesn’t have the plans they’re looking for, then they must be with Franky, and they go charging off to capture him. Franky, meanwhile, is having a talk with Usopp, still frantically trying to fix the Going Merry. This is the nicest scene in the volume, and also the first time that we see Franky not being a jerk. This will prove to be important, of course. We also hear the legend of Klaubtermann, a legend that exists in particularly beloved ships, and realize that that’s how Going Merry got fixed in Skypeia. (Betcha forgot that, huh? Oda loves to do callbacks, and this is nowhere near the best. Wait till Thriller Bark…)

And then CP9 come in and start kicking the crap out of everyone again. This leads us to the second half of the volume, which is a giant flashback showing Franky’s childhood with Iceberg, along with their mentor, Mr. Tom. Tom is half-fishman and kind of written to be a vague ethnic stereotype, talking about doing things with a BOOM! He’s a fabulous character, but this is a flashback, so he also has ‘doomed’ written on his forehead in permanent marker. The flashback, like most One Piece flashbacks, is quite depressing. I was particularly struck by Kokoro, who appears younger here, and gives the impression that Tom’s death drove her to become an alcoholic.

And then there’s Spandam. I hate Spandam. I *really* hate Spandam. There are One Piece villains that are more badass (Crocodile), or very strong but complete monsters (Arlong), or even so cool they even avoid their karmic due (Eneru), but it’s hard to find one as smug, loathsome, and annoying as Spandam is. And unfortunately, get used to him, because we ain’t seen nothing yet.

Luckily, as I noted at the start, things begin to get better in the next volume, which has many of my all-time favorite One Piece moments. Stay tuned…