On My Shelves: One Piece — the Fourth Piece!

 

I continue my review of the immense and intricate shonen anime One Piece, following the sometimes "Idiot Hero" Monkey D. Luffy and his peculiar crew – swordsman Rorona Zoro, navigator Nami, combat cook Sanji, medic Chopper, sharpshooter Usopp, archaeologist Nico Robin, and musician Brook – in their united yet individual quests across the hazardous sea called the Grand Line.

To recap important points about our heroes and the world of One Piece: Some years back, the so-called Pirate King, Gol D. Roger (usually called Gold Roger) was executed by the World Government, but before he died, revealed that his had left all of his treasure, including the legendary "One Piece", at "that place" – a statement almost everyone believes to mean at the last island at the end of the Grand Line. This ushered in an era of treasure seekers and those preying upon them and others, both groups generally called "pirates" regardless of their actual morals (or lack thereof); such independent operators are generally against the World Government's law.

Besides the utterly bizarre nature of the world itself (with varied species of humans and nonhumans interacting in various ways), another key element of the world of One Piece is the existence of superhuman abilities of various types; the most common source of these abilities (though not the ONLY source) is for the wielder to have eaten a "Devil's Fruit"; these fruits grant the eater various powers ranging from the barely useful (the "Human-Human" fruit, which allows the user to turn into a human; this is sorta-useful for an intelligent animal) to the godlike (Enel or Eneru had the power to control, direct, and even become electricity in all its forms).

In exchange for this power, any eater of the Devil's Fruit also becomes what non-Devil Fruit users call derisively "a hammer" or sometimes "anchor"; they are utterly unable to swim, and in fact lose all their powers and virtually all ability to move when immersed in water over their knees. There is also a stone called kairoseki or seastone which has the same effect; basically Kryptonite to these people.

Luffy's crew has several such: Luffy himself, who ate the Gum-Gum or Rubber Fruit, so he has become a "rubberman" – he can stretch and twist his body like rubber, rather like superheroes Mr. Fantastic and Elastic Man or Elastigirl. Chopper, whose normal form is that of a reindeer, ate the Human-Human fruit. Nico Robin has the power to make duplicates of her body parts grow from any surface in view, which turns out to be a much more frightening power than one might think, and "All Bones" Brook ate the resurrection fruit… which guided his spirit back to his body after all the flesh had decayed, producing a living skeleton.

 

When last we left Our Heroes, they had managed to barely escape Thriller Bark – with Zoro nearly sacrificing his life to protect the others by allowing Bartholomew Kuma to "push" all of Luffy's injuries and pain into Zoro; Zoro's willingness to accept nigh-unimaginable and likely lethal injury for the sake of his Captain impressed Kuma enough to cause him to let them go. Of the Crew, only Sanji and Robin understand what Zoro did.

There is a short interlude of filler featuring the return of Foxy and his sidekicks, which I won't bother with; honestly, I skip most of the filler events.

Still, after the darkness of the arc just past, we're ready for something lighter, and this begins with an encounter with a Mermaid named Caimie and her starfish companion Pappagu. As the Straw Hats have saved Caimie and Pappagu from a sea monster, Caimie agrees to lead them the Sabody Archipelago, where their ship can be prepared to dive deep enough to reach "Fishman Island" – which is not an island at all, but a colony of various fishmen living at a depth of ten thousand feet. This is a necessary part of their journey, because Fishman Island stands before the only passage under the Red Line, a narrow but immensely long island-continent that separates the first and second parts of the Grand Line.

But scarcely are they on their way when Caimie gets a message that her dear friend "Hatchan", another Fishman who makes his living running a restaurant, has been captured by the "Flying Fish Riders", a group of slavers who capture and sell Fishmen to the wealthy. The Straw Hats agree to help rescue Hatchan.

But it turns out there is more to this than meets the eye. First, the Straw Hats discover that "Hatchan" is none other than the Octopus-Fishman of the same name who used to be one of Arlong's crew, and who fought Zoro nearly to a standstill during the Arlong arc. Hatchan, however, is truly reformed, just wanting to live a quiet life.

And when the leader of the Riders, a man named Iron-Mask Duval, sees what ship has come, it is clear he has far more personal business with the Straw Hat crew.

Specifically, he has business with Sanji, who he blames for ruining his life… and when we see Duval's mask come off, we understand why. Because poor Duval's face is a virtual mirror, not of Sanji himself, but of the terrible sketch of Sanji that is on Sanji's Wanted poster. A very minor small-time crook in his hometown, Duval suddenly found himself pursued by top-flight bounty hunters and Marines, for no reason other than that he looked like a bad Wanted poster.

Naturally, Duval tries to kill Sanji, but Sanji's equally furious at the living reminder of that hideous poster that has denied him recognition as the pirate he's become. Sanji proceeds to beat Duval with almost contemptuous ease… but at the same time uses a technique we have seen once before, one that allows him to – literally instead of merely figuratively – "rearrange your face".

Thus, when Duval rises from unconsciousness, he finds that his old, comical face is no more; instead he has a classically handsome face, one that looks nothing like either that abominable poster nor like the real Sanji. He will now be no more a target of the government or bounty hunters than he wants. Now with gratitude towards the Straw Hats and Sanji, he promises to aid them if needed and gives them a Snailphone with which to contact him.

With that short adventure done, the Straw Hats move on to Sabody Archipelago and begin to look for a man that Hatchan says can do the ship coating for them. But he warns them of one terribly important thing: that they may encounter nobles of the World Government on the islands, and that they absolutely must not antagonize them in any way – no matter what the nobles do. For they are called the "Celestial Dragons", and are the descendants of the original founders of the World Government, and are in essence above all law.

He also says that both he and Caimie have to disguise themselves, as Fishmen are considered lesser beings by many of the people in the Archipelago and not allowed on the islands – and especially not near any of the Nobles.

Luffy actually proves capable of restraint, something surprising to any viewer of the series. Though absolutely furious when he sees these people abusing others they have enslaved, he manages to keep from attacking them for the sake of his crew and friends.

After a short journey – during which our friends are attacked several times by bounty hunters (woefully inadequately armed for the targets they're after) – the crew arrive at a bar which is the home of Hatchan's friend and his wife, Shakki. Shakki is there but Hatchan's friend, named Rayleigh, isn't. Shakki gives them some ideas of where to look for Rayleigh, and also mentions why there are so many bounty hunters around: besides Luffy and Zoro, there are no less than nine other "supernovas" – new rookies of the Grand Line with bounties on their heads exceeding one hundred million belli.

Searching for Rayleigh takes several of the crew, including Luffy, to an amusement park which naturally appeals to them on other grounds; unfortunately, during their enjoyment of the park, bounty hunters figure out that their companion Caimie is actually a mermaid, despite a careful disguise, and she is kidnapped while the others are distracted and brought to an auction house for slaves; mermaids being highly prized, she is expected to bring a high price. We see glimpses of other people in the slave pens, including one Giant and a man who looks suspiciously like the outline of "Rayleigh" we were given.

Caimie's kidnapping galvanizes the Straw Hats to action, and they quickly call on Duval's group (now renamed the Rosy Life Riders, reflecting Duval's rather changed outlook on life) to help them search the Archipelago quickly.

Despite having been divided into different groups, the Straw Hats are mostly gathered together (minus Luffy, Chopper, and Brook) and arrive at the auction house. Originally they intend to simply smash in, kick ass, and get Caimie back, but upon learning that World Nobles are involved with the Auction House and likely actually present (after all, who but the nobles and those in their favor could even buy slaves, when slavery is generally prohibited?) they decide on another tactic: they'll buy Caimie. They have about three hundred million belli, and to everyone's surprise it's the usually tight-fisted Nami who suggests this course of action.

But when Caimie finally goes up for auction, Saint Charloss – one of the World Nobles – makes a pre-emptive bid of five hundred million, immediately making this strategy useless. Luffy arrives at this point, and begins to head straight down the aisle to retrieve Caimie (in full view of everyone there, including the Straw Hats, World Nobles, other spectators, and even several of the other Supernovas who have come to observe the events).

Hatchan desperately tries to restrain Luffy, and in the process his disguise comes off. Saint Charloss, seeing a "fishman" in the audience, stands and shoots Hatchan down without a second thought. Seeing Hatchan down, possibly bleeding to death, and the screaming Caimie on the stage, Luffy snaps, and in an utterly dramatic moment of silent fury (done completely in sketched-out black and white), punches Charloss so hard he flies across the room.

Straw-Hat Luffy has now assaulted a Celestial Dragon – one of the highest crimes on the planet.

The assembled guards now try to take out the Straw Hats, while they try to figure out how to get Caimie out of her sealed exhibition tank; the slave collars and bracelets are explosive, and if removed incorrectly will kill the wearer. During the battle, Saint Shalria, sister to Charloss, decides that since Caimie was the point of contention, she'll kill the mermaid in retaliation. And just before she can pull the trigger… something happens. A wave of power stuns not just Shalria, but all the guards, all the remaining people in the building except the Straw Hats, their friends, and the Supernovas.

Rayleigh has arrived. He uses this same strange power (which we will later learn is called Haki) to remove the bonds from Caimie so swiftly that by the time they explode, they are too far from anyone to do damage.

The Marines arrive but find they are terribly outmatched, as they find themselves facing Straw Hat Luffy, Eustass Kid, and Trafalgar Law, all three "Supernovas" wielding extremely powerful Devil's Fruit powers. Luffy's group manages to escape, but as Kid and Law flee (because they know that Luffy's actions will cause a Marine Admiral to be dispatched to the islands), they are suddenly intercepted by something or someone that looks suspiciously like Bartholomew Kuma…

Luffy and company arrive back at Shakki's, where they finally discover that this "coating craftsman" Rayleigh is actually none other than Silvers "Dark King" Rayleigh, once first mate to Gold Roger himself. Given the uproar surrounding Luffy's actions, the Straw Hats are advised to disperse and keep a low profile for the next few days, as Rayleigh puts the dive coating on their ship.

But events have gone much farther than the Straw Hats imagine. Soon they find themselves under attack by what appears to be Bartholomew Kuma, but firing laser energy beams instead of using his signature "pushing" powers. We also see the other "Supernovas" encountering these incredibly powerful duplicates, and then facing Admiral Kizaru – a Logia fruit user with the power of light, something that makes him almost invincible. Kizaru can be considered to be on the same level as God Enel, the lightning man; he cannot be killed by ordinary physical force, he can move at energy-speeds, and he controls and directs his energy at will.

Kizaru nearly kills several of the Supernovas – "The Magician" Basil Hawkins, "Mad Monk" Uroge, "Red Flag" Drake, and Scratchmen Apoo – before being alerted to the location of his actual target, the Straw Hats. At the same time, we learn that these duplicates of Kuma are mechanical beings, called "Pacifistas", and were created by the mysterious "Doctor Vegapunk" that has been mentioned several times previously.

The following battle is one of the most heartrending of the series. Luffy finally realizes that the Pacifistas and Kizaru are a force far, far beyond them and -- in a shockingly terrified tone of voice – orders the crew to flee, run from the battle, something he has never done before. The Straw Hats are utterly shocked by this command but attempt to comply…

… but cannot. The Pacifistas are too powerful, and assisted by their commander Sentomaru (who also is a Haki user) and Kizaru are quickly and completely overwhelming the Straw Hats. Zoro, who wasn't even really healed from his injuries on Thriller Bark, collapses. Just before Kizaru can deliver a killing blow, Silvers Rayleigh appears and engages Kizaru, but this is only enough to take Kizaru out of the immediate combat; the Pacifistas remain, and even Chopper unleashing his rampaging monster form isn't enough to stop Sentomaru.

And then Bartholomew Kuma – the real Warlord – appears, and with a single gesture, seems to erase Zoro from existence.

Luffy's scream at this is heart-piercingly terrible, and his horror is repeated again and again, as Kuma erases first the second Pacifista and then, one after another, every single one of the Straw Hat crew. Finally, he stops before a broken Luffy and says "We will not meet again."

Pop!

And Luffy, too, is gone.

Even the narration underscores the shocking events. "Here the Straw Hat crew was utterly defeated."

This is a powerful lead-in arc for what is coming – the Impel Down and Marineford Arcs. In no prior story have the Straw Hats been so completely and casually destroyed. Even their temporary defeat in Water 7 by CP9 wasn't so devastating, and was quickly and decisively avenged. Here, our heroes are not merely defeated by foes that outmatch them in every possible way; they are then dispatched as though blasted from existence, leaving not a trace they were ever present.

The fact that we, as viewers who get to hear dialogue the Straw Hats cannot, learn that what Kuma is doing is sending the Straw Hats far, far away to destinations only Kuma can know does not in any way lessen the horror felt by the Straw Hats and particularly Luffy, whose loyalty to his comrades is one of his most defining traits. The terror and helplessness are built up, with us watching it breaking Luffy in a way nothing else ever has, culminating with Robin – the usually cool and fearless Robin – screaming his name, eyes wide with fear, reaching towards him and vanishing.

There is also a wealth of background detail revealed through this arc – once more, background that will mean little to us until many, many episodes later. A call by someone we can recognize as Donquixote Doflamingo to the slaver warehouse reveals the moving of forces that may change the face of the world; the rest of the Archipelago discovering that Fire Fist Ace has been captured by the World Government; the mentions of Doctor Vegapunk, the demonstration of Haki, and many other details tantalize us… or merely pass by, unimportant details amid the frenetic, comedic, or dramatic action.

This is both a low and high point of the series – low in its emotional resonance, but high in tension and power. This solidifies the hold the characters have gained on us and prepares us both for some release from this horrific tension… and for a forthcoming arc of even greater power.

Because once Straw Hat Luffy realizes his brother is now in the hands of his enemies, there is no power on Earth that will stop him from trying to rescue Ace – even if he has to challenge Marine Headquarters itself.