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

I’ve talked before in my review of Volume 35 about the tough times Usopp has with a certain part of One Piece fandom. Generally speaking, they want him to shut the hell up and be as badass as everyone else. Now, this is unlikely to happen for several reasons. First, Usopp being the weak normal guy (along with Nami) is part of what makes the crew so interesting. Second, Oda likes writing Usopp being a cowardly dork. As long as Oda still wants to mine that for humor, he will. Just like Nami will get angry and hit the guys, and Sanji will be a moron in front of women.

And third, Usopp’s moments of fear and panic and cowardice are balanced out by his moments of pure awesome. In one of the best parts of the book, Sanji manages to get through to him and note that he may be totally useless in a fight with Jabra and Kaku, so why doesn’t he go off and do something only *he* can do? (You know it’s a big moment as we see Usopp’s face reacting beneath the Sniper King mask.) Sanji knows Usopp is really very clever – this is a man who built a Clima-Tact for Nami out of thin air, let’s remember – and also that they cannot afford to be distracted by mooks when their goal is to rescue Robin.

Meanwhile, Nami defeats Kalifa by showing that her power of fanservice is mightier (though I will admit the mirages were very well done). In any battle involving weather in some way, as the Soapland battle had become, Nami is bound to kick ass. Sanji shows off the fact that his kicks can now catch fire and defeats Jabra. And Zoro defeats Kaku, who is perhaps the cleverest of the enemy in using his truly bizarre giraffe powers, and also the most likeable – he gets a nice moment at the end when he’s about to pass out showing he may not be irredeemable. Unfortunately, Luffy and Lucci are still fighting, and aren’t nearly over yet.

This then leads to the final chapter of the volume, which is a masterpiece. Robin is now fully dedicated to trying to get away, but bound and handcuffed, she’s not getting very far. (Biting the stone bridge was particularly amazing, though.) Spandam tries to at least break her spirit, by revealing that the dickhead Marine who annihilated her home and mother is the father of Spandam, a dickhead Marine trying to do the same. Luckily, Robin is now made of stronger stuff:

Spandam: What was it like being an 8-year-old brat hunted by mercenaries? You couldn’t trust anyone. You couldn’t rest or sleep anywhere. You didn’t have any food. I don’t even want to think about how awful those 20 years must have been.
[…]
Spandam: The curtain falls on the Battle of Ohara! That wretched island will be wiped from history!
Robin: I’M STILL ALIVE!!!
Spandam: BUT YOU’RE GOING TO DIE!!!

And then, just as he’s about to drag her beyond the point of no return… the cavalry arrives. In the form of Usopp, doing what none of the others could have done, with skills that the Marines note are practically superhuman. Even Robin has a huge grin seeing this. It’s beautiful.

With this volume, we’re heading into the final chapters. It’s an adrenaline roller-coaster, and makes you absolutely want to move on to the next volume. Which isn’t out ’til May. Ah well.

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

This is another volume, like 40, where the majority of the plot is getting from one side of a building to another and fighting people who are in the way. I’ll do another bullet-point observations review.

— I haven’t really discussed them in my reviews, but I have been following Oda’s ‘cover page’ story arcs, most of which take a minor villain from a prior arc and redeem them in some way. This one during Enies Lobby is one of the best ones. It’s focused on Miss Golden Week and the rest of Baroque Works, as they set out to rescue the others from Impel Down. (In light of recent story arcs, this becomes a lot more far-fetched, but OK.) Most of them escape, but Crocodile and Mrs. 1, 2, and 3 are still imprisoned. Also, love to see the return of “Paula from the Pub.”
— The odd thing about the battles in this volume is that they start off looking very unbalanced or ‘wait, that’s the wrong opponent’. One Piece may push the boundaries of shonen a bit, but it still works within its cliches. Seeing Usopp going after Jabra (one of their stronger brawlers), Nami fighting Kumadori (who pretty much starts stomping her almost immediately), and especially Sanji vs. Kalifa (Yes, they both kick, but you know any woman will make Sanji their monkey boy) is just weird. There’s a feeling of wrongness that permeates the early battles, with the exception of Zoro and Kaku.
— And then right away that one’s taken care of as well, as Kaku activates his fruit powers. They’re truly hysterical, and it makes a fun ‘light-hearted villain’ character into a complete stitch, as he shows you the awesome giraffe powers he mow possesses. He is helped along by Sniper King being an idiot and handcuffing himself to Zoro. Whoops. And best of all, neither Kaku nor Jabra have the key for those cuffs. (Honestly, Sniper King does little here. Wait till 43…)
— Seeing everyone shift to their ‘proper’ opponent is fascinating, as you can see Oda manipulating everything to put the gears that he mixed up into the proper place. Chopper arrives to help Nami, and his huge sized form is much better at taking on Kumadori. Now she can go take over in Sanji’s fight as he, well…
— I am pleased that Oda, while still admiring Sanji’s chivalry a bit, had Nami pointing out how utterly stupid it is. And she even kicked him a bit too. I’m going to assume that a later volume in the future is going to have Sanji fight a woman again, because it’s such an obvious weakness it will have to be used against him. And he’s so clever otherwise!
— I like the way that we only see the aftereffects of Gear Three, with Chibi-Luffy, rather than the actual power. Clearly Oda is saving it for the Lucci fight.
— Lucci’s amused sneer as he tells Spandam that he let the kids follow them is amusing (in that it shows how little everyone thinks of Spandam) and disconcerting (as it shows Lucci wants to fight Luffy a bit *too* much…)
— Franky’s various personality changes when he doesn’t get cola is another one of the hysterical jokes Oda throws right into the middle of serious beatdown fights.
— And, at the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Chopper’s monster transformation. This has some great art, as Oda makes it utterly clear how WRONG this is in every possible way. Yes, he one-shot KO’s Kumadori, but this is not the Chopper we want to see, I don’t care if he’s powerful now.
— And then there’s Nami and Kalifa’s fight. There are some amusing bits where Kalifa is a flake, but it’s one of those things where, if you started trying to get someone into the series by pointing out the strong powerful women, you know (because Murphy works that way) they’d pick up this volume, turn to this fight, and then slap you. It’s pure, utter fanservice. With added balloon fetish.
— And just for a change, how about Spandam doing something moronic? Yes, after all the threats and boasts, the Buster Call is triggered by accident. Kudos to Robin for broadcasting that everyone should get the hell out of there, though she earns another punch in the face by Everyone’s Favorite Villain (TM) for her troubles.
— And finally, Luffy and Lucci meet and start to fight. Knowing Luffy’s fights in previous volumes, it won’t end soon.

Despite some soapy fanservice, this was a very good volume. Oda knows how to keep people reading even when the basic plot is “people hit other people” for 200 pages. Recommended.