How do you bake a cake?
We all know, in theory or in practice, how to bake a cake. We need ingredients, and we infer that the better quality those ingredients are, the better quality the cake will be. We know that we have to mix and stir those ingredients, and we're led to believe that the more thoroughly and conscientiously we combine them, the better the cake will taste. We know we have to cook the cake in an oven, and we figure that the more exact the temperature and timing, the better the cake will look.
So, writers are taught to focus on ingredients and their combination. They’re told they should create attractive, sympathetic characters, so that readers will care about them deeply, and then to plunge those characters into situations of continuing peril, the descent into which is the mixing and stirring, and the duration and horrors of which are the timing and temperature.
But it’s really much simpler than that. “How do you bake a cake?” has the wrong structure. It’s too indirect. The right structure and the right question is: “How do you make your family hungry?”
And the answer is: You make them wait four hours for dinner.
As novelists, we should ask or imply a question at the beginning of the story, and then we should delay the answer. Readers are human, and humans seem programmed to wait for answers to questions they witness being asked.
—Lee Child, "A Simple Way to Create Suspense"
The East Blue Saga
Romance Dawn (1-7)
Romance Dawn made a solid first impression, it does a good job of getting me invested in Luffy, as well as the overall vibe for this new Manga.
The series begins with Gol D. Roger, the King of the Pirates, meeting his end with his final words acting as a challenge to the rest of mankind, to find his legendary treasure in One Piece... or One Place, if you've watched the first opening in English for the animated series.
As we're introduced to Luffy, the first thing we see him do is stab himself in the face, in the middle of a tavern full of pirates to earn their respect. I guess that's one way to grab the audience's attention. Luffy desperately wants to be a pirate, but Captain Shanks consistently refuses. In the process of saving Luffy from a sea monster, however, Shanks gives him his hat. He asks to please return it to him someday, when he's become a great pirate.
Following these events, we catch up with Luffy a decade later, having grown far more comfortable with his rubber man powers. He ventures into the ocean completely unprepared, and starts with nothing other than a positive attitude.
We eventually cut to a young boy named Koby working under a lady pirate, named Alvida. Luffy then explodes from a barrel, helping to liberate this young man from servitude... or bullying him out of it, I suppose.
Now, something that I found interesting is how they used Koby as the audience proxy, and not Luffy, as a way to introduce us to this new world. This has the funny side effect of telling us that we suck shit, but of course he grows a backbone by the end, inspiring us to do the same.
Without much delay, assuming he's a good guy, Luffy expresses interest in recruiting the highly reputable pirate hunter (by the East Blue standards) named Zoro Roronoa... or Zolo, if you're reading the official English translation in the Manga. I will be referring to him as Zoro because, sorry, but that's his name.
Let's take a moment to talk about Zoro, he's the first to join Luffy's Straw Hat crew, with him filling the role as their main Combatant.
Now, none of the characters are officially given the "first mate" position, but it's easy to see why many fans headcanon Zoro into that role because it seems to be his function as a character, why the character was created in the first place.
In the Lord of the Rings the "first mate" was Samwise, in Yu-Gi-Oh that was Joey, etc.
One of the things about Luffy is that he has a fundamentally different approach to the world and how he sees reality than most everybody else.
This is why Luffy arguably needs a first mate, otherwise he would simply be too different than the rest of his crew. You need someone who is written in a similar larger than life manner, who similarly embodies his ideals of extreme drive, ambition, and strength of will.
He's the companion who can truly be on the same wavelength as Luffy when it comes to their fundamental perspectives of the world and the path that must be walked on to reach the top... for the most part.
Anyways, the reason Zoro is tied up in the first place is for protecting a little girl from Captain Morgan and his irredeemable son. Zoro rejects Luffy's offer to join him, so Luffy goes to look for his swords.
While he's searching, Koby tries to free him, but he's too late, Captain Morgan open fires. Thankfully, Luffy falls down from the sky, blocks all the bullets, and returns the three swords belonging to Zoro.
They team up to fight and overthrow Captain Morgan, Koby grows a backbone and begins his dream of becoming a Marine, and Zoro joins Luffy in exchange for saving his life.
I guess the only thing I have to say at this point is that Captain Morgan is very one dimensional. He's a take down of the "might makes right" philosophy, that it's wrong to misuse a position of power and having a position of power isn't the same as deserving it. You could argue that this isn't a bad theme, but One Piece doesn't explore it in a thoughtful way. Morgan says constantly that his rank entitles him to say and do whatever he wants, and stuff like this can be a little annoying, like they're not giving the audience any credit.
My only other little critique of this arc is that Zoro's backstory does kind of seem shoved in there. I think the animated series had the right idea by saving it for later. Still, it was a solid start, and so was Luffy's backstory.
Final Ranking: C - Adequate
Orange Town (8-21)
The arc picks up right after the events of the last one, with Luffy and Zoro stranded at sea because neither one of them can navigate. That is until they see a bird, Luffy jumps up to catch it, carrying him away until he reaches Orange Town.
Nami, who was in the middle of running away after having stolen a map to the Grand Line, Luffy falls out of the sky and lands into her life.
I actually forgot how early the Grand Line was foreshadowed, which is hyped up to be an area of the world which is very dangerous, but is presumably filled with unspeakable riches. It was slightly disappointing, honestly, because One Piece is hyped up to be this huge, ever evolving world, but it actually isn't, so you'll just have to wait to see all of that.
Okay, up next is Nami! She is the... second? to join Luffy's Straw Hat crew? Her role is navigation, planning the journey, advising the captain, and ensuring that obstacles are avoided.
Nami is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to Zoro, portrayed as more grounded, realistic, and pragmatic.
If you have a hero with transcendent ambition, having a second character to play into that is great, but now you need someone to balance that energy out.
Dreams and ambition must be tempered with practicality and realism after all, in order to actually achieve them. Nami is the necessary opposite, pointing his dreams in the right direction.
Although Luffy seems to think the Cook and the Musician are the most important roles in any pirate crew, in actuality, these two complete what Luffy needs the most in order to succeed right off the bat.
Zoro, who is still lost out at sea, discovers some pirates on a defunct boat. They explain that this random girl, Nami, pretended to be starving and desperate in order to lure them in and steal their boat and treasure along with it. Zoro uses them to bring them back to their base on Orange Town. They explain that they are a part of a notorious pirate crew led by Buggy the Clown.
Buggy is very of the time, this was right after the likes of Final Fantasy 6, Twisted Metal, and Batman: TAS came out, so the cards were on the table for a mad clown character like this.
Out of all the villains introduced during the East Blue, Buggy the Clown is probably the best and most memorable out of all of them. Now, that sounds like a compliment, but it also kind of isn't, you'll see what I mean once we get to the other villains.
After taking refuge in an abandoned home, Nami explains that she specializes in robbing pirates and Buggy is not someone to take lightly. He's terrorized this town to the point where it's almost completely deserted.
Nami explains that she hates pirates and once she steals 100 Million's worth of Berries, this world's currency, she will buy "a certain village". Luffy is now excited to ask her to be a part of his pirate crew, but she declines and reveals that she had no idea Luffy was a pirate.
I have a small complaint when it comes to the exposition. It's not so bad the first time, but there is this reoccurring thing earlier on where Luffy will say that he doesn't understand, as if its adolescent demographic wasn't paying attention, which leads to that exposition being repeated in much simpler terms. It just comes across as a little clunky to me and a waste of time.
Anyways, Nami, seeing an opportunity to leverage Luffy's innocence for her own personal gain, she agrees to be Luffy's Navigator on the condition he helps her with Buggy the Clown. Luffy immediately agrees, but Nami ties him up in a rope and offers him up to Buggy, expressing interest in joining his crew instead.
I'm honestly loving Nami so far. A big problem with shonen, even these days, are that the female characters are almost always absolute crap. That's not to say she's the best character ever, but she is on par with the likes of Bulma or Misty.
As such, she doesn't come across as "the female character", but rather a character who so happens to be female. She's very believable and although she can't fight like Zoro, she's still able to use the skills she does have in order to achieve what she wants.
As Luffy is being thrown into a cage, Zoro finally lands on the shore of Orange Town with the pirates he brought along with him. Together, they lead him to Buggy's hideout.
Back at the hideout, however, Buggy intends to take Luffy's life. When Nami is forced to make the decision to prove her loyalty by firing a canon into Luffy, she declines and begins fighting back. This isn't at all what she thought would happen and she's not going to become what she hates.
That's when Zoro jumps in and takes Buggy down... except he doesn't. Buggy is a devil fruit user, just like Luffy, and has the ability to assemble and reassemble his body parts. Zoro lowers his guard and sustains a serious injury, and they escape, pointing the canon at Buggy and his crew, with Zoro lifting the cage and bringing Luffy to safety.
As Luffy and Zoro are trying to plan their next move, they notice a dog barking in front of a pet food store. The mayor of the town, one of the last residents, explains that the dog's master has been deceased. To that little dog, that building is his treasure.
That brings us to this arc's main theme, which is treasure and what that really means. Buggy and Nami both value literal treasure, the mayor values his town, and the dog values his pet food store. This has the effect of hinting at us that the One Piece isn't just going to be a big pile of gold, it's going to be something more personal and unorthodox.
Let's be honest, the dog was the best and most memorable part about the arc for me, and the story behind it actually made me cry. One Piece often gets praised for how big it is, but sometimes it's little things like this that will actually go a long way.
Now, Buggy unleashes his subordinates to find and deal with the Straw Hats. One of Buggy's lackeys, a lion tamer, beats the living daylights out of the dog, leaving behind nothing but a burning building.
Luffy is able to fight the lion tamer, but unfortunately the damage has already been done, and all that's left is a single box of dog food. Luffy sits next to the dog and gives it to him, with Nami realizing in that moment that Luffy had fought that lion specifically for the little dog.
They work together to defeat Buggy, the town comes back who chases off the Straw Hats and they're forced to flee, but not without the help of the little dog valiantly protecting them from the mob.
Overall, nothing stands out too much about Orange Town. I think Buggy was an excellent "first boss" so to speak, and I found the dog and its backstory heartbreaking, but that's really it. It does its job and it does it well enough.
Final Ranking: D - Not bad
Syrup Village (22-41)
Syrup Village is One Piece's first crack at a more conventional arc. We've also probably already hit our first big "One Piece Killer", which are controversial arcs in which a lot of people seemed to just drop the series.
I want to start off by saying that I don't think it deserves it, however, one of the big reasons for that probably could have just been Usopp himself, who may have come across as an acquired taste at the time. He's cowardly and a major eyesore compared to the rest of the crew. And when I say eyesore, I literally mean he looks like he came straight out of a 1940's Warner Brothers cartoon.
Take that for what you will, but regardless, the story continues as Luffy, Zoro, and Nami are sailing along in their tiny boat.
We then cut to Usopp as he's pulling a "the boy who cried wolf", pretending that pirates are attacking in an attempt to rile up trouble in his neighbourhood. And then with his brigade of kid followers (or without them, whatever), trying to scare off the small group of Straw Hats using tricks.
Alright, so outside of Zoro and Nami, Usopp and Sanji seem to have been created to fill gaps in the group's dynamic, rather than just Luffy specifically.
Usopp is the third to join and his role on the crew feels the least essential, with that of a Sniper.
However, early on he's also positioned as the "master of none", unofficially filling the positions of Shipwright, etc. until they can find those who can specialize in these roles.
Now, I implied earlier that it's extremely debatable which character is the "first mate" or the "best friend" in One Piece, most fans assume that it should be Zoro, but I get the feeling that the author would have chosen Usopp.
The reason I say this is because Usopp gets what I felt was missing from Luffy's character, which is thought bubbles. A lot of thought bubbles, actually.
Usopp is a similar character to Nami in the sense that he's more realistic. Usopp is supposed to be like you, the audience, the one who's the most relatable in terms of his feelings of inadequacy. Usopp is the everyman in a world full of monsters, who has to grow the most, and as such Usopp feels more like a main character than the actual main character.
Usopp and Sanji both have dreams that are a little different, in Usopp's case it's an active dream, but with no clear endgame. It's a little dark to suggest, but I theorize that there simply won't be an endgame for Usopp, not given the triumphant ending that the hero in their own story would typically be given.
Eventually inviting the gang in for food, he explains about the town and his wonderful relationship with a sickly rich girl named Kaya. The stories he fabricates for her makes her very happy, much to the dismay of her butler, whom we're just going to call Captain Kuro from the start, tries to dissuade Kaya from interacting with Usopp.
As he's telling stories to Kaya, Luffy wishes to ask Kaya for a ship himself.
However, at the property, Captain Kuro reprimands Usopp for trespassing on her land. He then takes things too far, attacking Usopp's personal character and his father's legacy. This leads to Usopp punching him in the face, storming off at the behest of Kaya.
As this is happening, a character named Jango moonwalks down the road until he meets up with Usopp's kid followers, revealing that he's a hypnotist.
Luffy catches up with Usopp, who ran to a secluded spot overlooking the ocean. Luffy tries to console Usopp by letting him know that he knew his father, who is a part of Shanks's crew, and considered him to be a great man.
There's someone on the beach! While eavesdropping on Jango and Captain Kuro, they overhear a sinister plan.
It's revealed that Kuro was a feared pirate who was thought to have been sentenced to death years ago. In reality, he's been playing the long game in an attempt to essentially retire. The plan is to hypnotize Kaya, have her sign over her family's fortune, and then wreck the village.
I'm going to be completely honest, this plan is so stupid. It's also a bit too coincidental for my taste, you would think Jango would've already known.
And get this you guys, Luffy couldn't hear the exposition that was just given to us! Usopp then proceeds to break down the entire plot for a second time. Gee! It's almost like there's a reason why One Piece is as long as it is!
Anyways, Luffy then shouts down at them, don't do the bad thing, face-planting into the ground below. Kuro mistakes Luffy for being dead. Usopp then goes to try and warn the villagers, the pirates are coming, and they naturally don't believe him, getting chased out of the village for his trouble.
Let's talk about Captain Kuro. Kuro seems to have been intended to be the direct opposite of Usopp. Kuro has no honour, abandoning pirate life while he was in danger.
The point is that Kuro is the cowardly one and not Usopp. Kuro is the victim of his own gutless entitlement, abandoning his dream for a life he didn't deserve.
And that's great, as a villain he makes complete sense. But Captain Kuro is so boring, he's so serious you guys, look at how seriously he takes himself.
I don't know what I would suggest, maybe lean more into the fun cat motif? Maybe lean into horror a little bit, what with his Edward Sciccorhands? Maybe you could have a moment with them in the mansion, sneaking up on the Straw Hats? Wouldn't that be fun!
Anyways, a bunch of fights happen, it gets super dragged out by the end, leading to Usopp joining Luffy's crew. He promises to one day return to Kaya, with tons of (mostly) true and fantastical stories. And as a reward for their valiant efforts, Kaya supplies them with their very own ship, the Merry Go... oops, I'm sorry, the Going Merry.
We also get one last tidbit of information of Usopp's past regarding his sick flashback Mom and why he cried "the pirates are coming". Man, the villagers must get sick a lot, what with Kaya and his Mom both succumbing to a vicious illness.
Jokes aside, this has been One Piece's greatest strength thus far, its determination to make you care about each individual core character. It's doing the slow burn, thoroughly exploring each Straw Hat before they join the ranks.
I've heard critiques that Usopp gets his development much later on, but I found that wasn't the case, they do a great job of fleshing him out right from the start. It's for that reason why I'm giving Syrup Village a pretty decent score.
Final Ranking: B - Enjoyable
Baratie (42-68)
I feel like it's at this point where One Piece is really starting to heat up. To be honest, I get the feeling that the adolescent demographic for One Piece didn't think Syrup Village was epic enough, so Baratie is much higher stakes and has so much more happening as a result. Just a hunch.
Regardless, while playing with their new ship, the crew discovers Yosaku and Johnny, the former suffering from scurvy. Food has been a motivation here and there throughout this saga, but it's this incident that brings to their attention that they need a cook to aboard their ship.
They eventually come across a restaurant on the ocean named Baratie, after accidentally shooting a cannonball into it, causing a giant hole on its roof. This leads to Luffy having to pay for the damages by working in their kitchen.
Inside, we get introduced to their cooking staff, including the head chef Zeff who is also the owner of this restaurant. As well as Sanji, another chef who is a capable fighter. However, he remains committed to the restaurant for reasons he refuses to share, insisting on remaining there.
Okay, so filling the fourth and final gap in the group, at least for now, we've got Sanji. He fills what Luffy considers to be the most important role, which is that of a Cook.
Now, if Usopp fills a gap that couldn't be filled by Nami, Sanji fills a gap that was created by Zoro.
He's another larger than life character, the equal and opposite to Zoro in almost every way. Yin and Yang, Top and Bottom, Betty and Veronica, you get the picture.
I said before that Usopp and Sanji both have dreams that are a little different, in Sanji's case it's a passive dream and with a clear endgame.
If you want my theory, I think the "All Blue" is the One Piece. The All Blue is a rumored sea of legend, said to be the only place in the world where the North Blue, South Blue, East Blue, and West Blue seas meet. And if that doesn't sound like endgame material, I don't know what does.
Sanji's isn't a story about growing as a person necessarily, but rather coming to terms with who he already is and the codes of honour that he lives by, both as a chef and as a man. Sanji is the Lisa Simpson to Usopp's Bart Simpson, for comparison, his ideals get challenged and reaffirm that it's okay to be himself.
Anyways, someone bursts through the door, the captive has escaped! He, named Gin, rolls up onto a chair demanding to be fed. Not liking the thought of anyone going hungry, Sanji gives Gin food in secret for free. Luffy then wants Sanji to join their crew as his cook, but he refuses, citing that he has his own reasons to stay.
One of the benefits of this setting is that basically anyone can just show up, lots of bursting through the door happening here. The next to burst through the door is Don Krieg, barely managing to return from a 7 day trip to the Grand Line. After receiving some food and regaining his strength, Krieg beats Sanji to the floor.
A reoccurring thing you'll see me do is complain about how the villains suck, with Don Krieg being my least favourite out of all of them.
Don Krieg as an opponent is meant to be the direct opposite of Luffy, the direct opposite of a Straw Hat in fact.
It's a showcase of dreams versus reality, of mechanical power versus will power. He believes that he will win if he simply has more ships, more men, stronger weapons, and tougher armour. He doesn't put much stock into his own strength, whereas all Luffy has is raw determination.
Spoiler alert, but Nami betrays them all and it's at the worst possible moment. She threw Yosaku and Johnny out and made off with the Going Merry.
Immediately showing up, someone much more dangerous than Don Krieg, Mihawk, which Zoro has been looking for, for many years. Mihawk is essentially like a level 100+ character in an online video game, who was just picking on Don Krieg for fun.
Mihawk's design is awesome, and one which I think will age pretty well despite how simple it may appear in comparison later on. He's not brash or a showoff, and recognizes true ambition and dedication in others.
Zoro wants to be the best and says if he wants some fun, he can fight him. Mihawk in response asks him where he gets his courage, and Zoro replies it comes from ambition, and a promise he made to a friend.
It's explained that the Red Line and the Grand Line split the seas into four, the East, South, North, and West. East Blue, their area, is the tamest of the four seas. And that tiny knife is the smallest blade he has.
Zoro is easily outclassed. He thinks back on about that promise he made to a friend, to become the greatest swordsman. Impressed by his honour and bravery, Mihawk lets him live, he wants him to hone his skills and try to defeat him once again. Zoro lifts a sword into the air and vows to never lose again, in which Luffy is just happy to see him move.
After this happens, Yosaku, Johnny, Usopp, and a beaten up Zoro, all go to chase after Nami. Luffy decides to stay, dealing with business here.
After fighting, fighting, and more fighting, we get to see Sanji's big, dramatic backstory.
Zeff, who had only intended to steal some food and valuables, washes up with a young Sanji on a rock. Zeff suggests they should go to ether side of the rock to keep an eye out for passing vessels. 70 days pass by and it's discovered Zeff had the same dream he had, to find the All Blue. On day 85, the two were rescued, the flashback ends, and Sanji declares he will defend him with his life and repay his debt.
After fighting, fighting, and more fighting, Sanji and Luffy defeat Don Krieg.
After Don Krieg is defeated, chef Zeff punches Sanji in the face, but it's explained that it was done to convince him to leave with Luffy and follow his dream. Luffy rejoices and they make their way out, with Sanji reflecting on his life. That's when Zeff says, hey Sanji, keep your feet dry.
Overall... that was a lot of fighting. Baratie isn't content to simply hype up the Grand Line, but it also tries to be hype in of itself. What kills the hype for me though, is everything to do with Don Krieg. I hated Don Krieg, he's not a good villain.
Comparing Syrup Village and Baratie side-by-side, while they are seemingly very different, I feel as though they are equally as substantial, with similar strengths and weaknesses. I'm giving it the same score as a result.
Final Ranking: B - Enjoyable
Arlong Park (69-95)
Here's the thing, if you're still not on board with One Piece after Arlong Park, quit, this is the best you're gonna get before we reach 300-something chapters. There were times where I had to pause ether to cry or to cheer, it's so much better than all the arcs before it. None of this is to say that it's anything new in isolation, but this is where that slow burn with the core cast all pays off.
Arlong Park deals largely with Nami, the only Straw Hat not to have received a clear backstory yet. While Orange Town did have something of a resolution, I guess, I wouldn't call that Nami's arc, at least not like all the others. In hindsight that was intentional because we're exploring that right now.
We pick up right after the events of Baratie, with Nami returning home after intending to leave everyone else behind.
Next to Arlong Park is Coco Village, where Nami grew up in a small house surrounded by tangerines. The very first time Luffy sat down to talk with Nami in Orange Town, she said she likes two things, money and tangerines. It's simple, but little things like that acting as clues for the future are a nice touch.
During the ending for the last arc, with Nami looking at the bounty photo for Arlong, we were lead to believe that she was going to claim that bounty for herself. However, we learn that not to be the case when it's revealed that she's actually working under Arlong.
As we're introduced to Arlong, he's immediately built up as a monstrous threat. He's responsible for the destruction of the neighbouring town, Gosa Village, and is extremely elitist. He considers himself and his army of fish-men to be superior to humans, that naturally should serve him.
This isn't a complicated villain, but a good one, the best we've had since Buggy the Clown. He's essentially just a Tales of Symphonia villain, short of shouting INFERIOR BEINGS!!! He runs the gambit from quiet confidence, to explosive anger. He's a lot of fun and that's all he needs to be, just pure ruthlessness and evil.
Let's talk about Nami's big, dramatic backstory. I really loved Bell-mère, Nami's adoptive mother. She was an ex-military solider whom upon returning to the island, did so on the verge of death carrying in her arms a baby Nami and Nojiko, Nami's step-sister.
I liked Nojiko more than I thought I would and there were subtle things about her character that endeared her to me, like how she also got a tattoo in solidarity with Nami.
Sometime later, a family conflict emerges before Nami eventually storms off, shouting that she's sick of being poor and "you're not my real Mom!" Stopping at the center of town, she encounters Genzo, who explains how much Bell-mère loves her and her step-sister.
As Nojiko goes to bring Nami back home, Arlong arrives to collect the protection tax. Bell-mère, knowing full well she doesn't remotely have enough to pay for both her and the kids, outs herself as their mother and pays to protect them. This leads to her unfortunate death at the hands of Arlong.
Discovering that Nami has a talent for mapping out charts, Arlong elects to keep Nami by his side. Nami agrees on the condition that she can come up with 100 Million Berries, so she can buy her village's freedom. This choice forces her to turn her back on everyone, pretending that Bell-mère's death means nothing to her, all in an effort to work towards a solution for her and her community.
Anyways, through comedy and bad luck, the first group minus Luffy and Sanji get split up, leading to Zoro, Usopp, and then Luffy, all being separated, leading to them all individually meeting up with Nami, who is serving under Arlong.
Part 1: Zoro and Nami
Zoro is first up, thrown in front of Arlong and eventually Nami. The dialogue between the two is intense, with Zoro testing Nami's claim that she was always lying to them and that she never really cared about them... by throwing himself into the waterfront to drown. This forces Nami to come to Zoro's rescue, proving to him once and for all that Nami isn't as bad as she said she is.
Part 2: Usopp and Nami
Usopp is placed in front Arlong and Nami in a similar circumstance, apprehended after protecting a villager from danger in Coco Village. The scene becomes heated with Usopp, unlike Zoro, not seeing Nami as anything but a traitor. Arlong no longer trusts Nami due to her uncharacteristically rescuing Zoro, so to prove her loyalty, she... stabs Usopp, throwing him into the waterfront to bleed out and drown.
Okay, to be fair, it is later revealed that she actually stabbed her own hand in an attempt to get her reputation back and to protect Usopp from danger.
Part 3: Luffy and Nami
I'm a bit at a lost for words. Actually, let's back it up, really let it sink in.
The entire story surrounding this arc has been through the lens of Nami and how she's doing everything in her power to control the situation, so that no one else has to die. When faced with situations by Zoro and Usopp and... not Sanji for some reason, she has found genius ways of navigating the situation. And you can only imagine what she was done throughout the past decade or so.
She's dedicated her entire life to Arlong and has almost amassed the full agreed upon salary to buy her village and her own freedom from him. However, Nami ends up letting Arlong know that she almost has the full amount and should have the remainder very soon. Arlong then sends sends some corrupt Marines to reprimand Nami, confiscating every last bit of her savings.
As she goes back to confront Arlong, Luffy finally arrives and is confronted with accusations of Nami's betrayal and the alleged hatred of their group. Luffy never believes a single word of this and even when asked to straight up leave by Nami herself, he elects to... take a nap and fall asleep, so he isn't leaving.
Things continue to unfold and Arlong has no intention of ever allowing Nami to go free. The reality of the situation crushes her, running away.
In a flood of tears, thinking about how she has pushed everyone away for no good reason now, and that all of this effort had been a total waste of time, she collapses to the ground. Overcome by emotion, Nami stabs the tattoo she got to prove her allegiance to Arlong, and Luffy walks up to her one last time.
Her initial reaction is to scream at him to leave, but Luffy acknowledges this and still does nothing. She pauses in complete and utter desperation and she does what is the very difficult thing to do for so many people, she turns to Luffy and cries for help.
Despite being told to leave, despite being told Nami doesn't like them anymore, despite her insistence that she doesn't need them anymore - without hesitation, Luffy places his hat onto Nami's head, reassuring her that this will be fixed.
Luffy makes his way back to the rest of his crew, who have been waiting all this time. It's here where the Straw Hats truly formed once and for all, at least in my opinion, a loyal group who are there to protect each other.
And this exchange in particular is probably the most powerful and wonderfully touching things that I have ever read, it's that serious. When Luffy first met her, he said not to touch his hat, but now he's giving it to her to keep it safe, indicating that he now has Nami's complete and total trust.
The fights that follow feel poignant as a result. And each Straw Hat is able to get the spotlight, with each character serving a critical role in the battle. No one feels like they're getting the short end of the stick or like they're taking a back seat to Luffy and his confrontation.
Overall, Arlong Park is leaps and bounds compared to everything that came before it, and is composed of many profound and masterfully handled moments. There were many scenes that truly touched me and will most likely stick with me even as we're about to reach the end of the series.
Arlong Park is extremely focused. The entire plot of the arc centers around Nami, her journey back home, the tragic backstory she has, and the resolution that follows. At no point does the plot deviate to somewhere that doesn't feel important and every bit of dialogue ether informs or furthers the story.
Final Ranking: S - Perfect
Loguetown (96-100)
It's here where it starts to become apparent for me that One Piece is using the cover pages to tell their own subplots. If you line them up side by side, they tell the story of Buggy the Clown after Luffy had defeated him, how he came to meet a new ally, and how he regained his foothold as a real threat. I say because it gives some added context to Alvida and Buggy's presence in this arc.
This also tells us that the villains and characters probably won't be forgotten about once their arc is done. It gives us a sense that the characters are all moving around and are still living their lives, and that this is a fully lived in world.
The name of the town itself was likely taken from the English words "Prologue" and "Epilogue", as this is the town of beginnings and endings. It was the place where Gol D. Roger was born, for example, but also the place where he was executed. This holds great significance for Luffy, getting to bare witness to Roger's execution platform and even acquire a real bounty for himself.
This arc introduced Smoker, a character that gives us a touch of the dangers that we can expect from the Grand Line. A part of why Smoker is here is because after introducing us to a ton of corrupt marines, he is here to remind us that the marines are supposed to be the good guys, whereas the vast majority of pirates are villainous scum.
Two of Zoro's swords were destroyed during his conflict on Baratie, and it's here where he is able to acquire two new ones. If this felt like the "true beginning" for Luffy, it also felt like the true beginning for Zoro as well, embarking on their paths to become the world's best.
Alongside Smoker we're introduced to Tashigi, who looks exactly like Kuina, the girl from Zoro's past. Why? We don't know yet.
Overall, Loguetown was just a nice break in-between arcs, but it was also a charming little arc in its own right. It wasn't anything special just by the nature of what it is, but it is captivating enough, a neat bookend to the East Blue Saga.
Final Ranking: C - Adequate
In conclusion...
So... here’s the thing. Don’t go into One Piece with very high expectations. If you’re looking to get into the hype and see what everybody is talking about, well, the story at this point is thematically and structurally very simple.
One Piece first came out in 1997, so you’re less likely to find something with a fast pace and with a dark and gritty atmosphere. The enjoyment here mostly comes from the simple adventure, seeing Luffy build his crew and getting to see all of their interactions.
The East Blue generally gets better the deeper into it you get, the best portion is the end. Arlong Park works so well because, while it uses the same template that it used for all of the arcs before it, it adds in a really cool plot twist and plenty of great character moments.
Probably one of the weaker aspects of the East Blue are it's villains. Buggy and Arlong are both memorable, Alvida is okay, but the others, Higuma, Morgan, Captain Kuro, and Don Krieg - aren't very good, if not outright bad.
What matters though, is that it really excels with it's protagonists. All of them are likeable and compelling, and watching Luffy convince each of them to open up their hearts and join his crew is wonderful, every single time.
After having digested it all, while I don’t think the East Blue saga was consistently amazing, the main characters and just the vibes were strong enough to where I felt compelled to keep reading anyways, warts and all.
☆ Hello there! ☆
It might seem weird to do this, but I've decided to put the intro here seeing as this marks the "actual start" to One Piece as a series. You can think of the East Blue like Yu-Gi-Oh Season Zero, where it starts out as one thing and eventually becomes something else.
This is actually more common than you would think, even today. Chainsaw Man's Academy Saga (Part 2), for example, is very different than the Public Safety Saga (Part 1) that it started out as. The big issue with this is you risk losing the reader's patience as you shift focus going into Part 2 and oh boy did I feel that with One Piece.
To start more on a positive note, one of the benefits of reading One Piece is how much fun it is to talk about. While the One Piece fandom isn't perfect, it's still far better than the likes of "Steven Universe" which is filled with parasocial, insecure, narcissistic little shits who will actually try to kill you if you disagree with them. In my experience, One Piece discourse is awesome.
The next you're probably wondering about is if you'll enjoy it and... I don't know. One Piece sometimes gets sold as a "modern odyssey" online and I can safely say that's total dog water. This was not a consistent experience.
The quality disparity is extreme. I often found myself shifting between not being able to stop myself from flipping to the next page, to having to force myself to turn to the next page. This just means whether or not you'll enjoy it is really up in the air.
This can also be a good thing if you're like me and you like to form strong opinions on things, and is partially why I wanted to start writing a huge post on it. Hey, it's not like I don't like cartoons! I like a fun challenge!
The way I've decided to do this is to try and summarize each arc and give some thoughts and opinions along the way. So, I would ask that you please right click and view the page source. Check out all the hard work I put in. Thank you.
The Baroque Works Saga
Reverse Mountain (101-105)
After having discovered the origins of all the main cast, we now find our crew sailing away from... a town. Another town. Another town but with tangerines.
Yeah, as I've mentioned earlier, the world of One Piece actually isn't a world, but rather the setting just takes place on a horizontal line. This is a concept that's actually unique to One Piece, it's always the same journey along the same path. I didn't know what to make of it at first, but there are some benefits to this, like giving the series a sense of time and progress, as each new battle propels them closer and closer to their dreams.
Reverse Mountain makes a point to highlight how intimidating the Grand Line can be, visually communicating how small and insignificant the Straw Hats really are compared to the Grand Line's obstacles. Be that on the snout of a sea monster, the opening to a huge water passage, or a giant whale, we are being made to feel extremely small and vulnerable.
After sailing straight into the mouth of a giant while, the crew, minus Luffy, meet an old man living inside. He's been trying to assist the whale by calming it down, as it's constantly bashing its head against the wall of the Red Line.
The whale, named Laboon, became very close to a group of pirates and when the day came for them to leave, they promised the little whale that they would return soon - only to never return. Now broken from the despair in his heart and having nothing left to live for... Luffy challenges the whale to a fight!
Luffy states that they are now rivals and promises to return someday to settle the score. This lifts the whale's spirits and makes him not feel impossibly sad anymore... What, were you expecting something else?
It's here where Nami is given a Log Pose. A normal compass won't work here and since the Grand Line is composed of small islands, these devices point towards the closest island within that chain. You have to wait for the Log Pose to adjust to the island before moving to the next one, this forces the crew to wait and explore all these individual islands.
Overall, Reverse Mountain was... fine? It does a good job of accomplishing everything that it needs to do in such a short amount of time. I liked Laboon and the way the arc ends is pretty touching, so I respect it, but it's just fine.
Final Ranking: D - Not bad
Whiskey Peak (106-114)
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Little Garden (115-129)
I want to start off by saying just how much I love the giants! The concept of giants has always been something that I’ve liked, in theory, but never in practice because they’re usually portrayed as bumbling oafs, but here they’re powerful and cool. Vikings and Barbarians has always been something that I’ve been into and it makes me feel like a kid again.
Remember when I talked about “true beginnings” during Lougetown? It’s here where it feels like the true beginning for Usopp, giving him some much needed character development. He admires the giants and wants to be like them! There’s this big thing here about fighting with honour, but also dying with honour, so that worries me a little bit.
I also find it interesting how compatible he is with Nami, they have this natural friendship going on, like they’re able to just relax and be open with one another. They’re also the two weaker characters at the moment, so they get to share this running gag where they get really scared.
The big problem here is that the pacing comes to a screeching halt the moment Mr. 3 is introduced. I find that I don’t like anybody from the Baroque Works outside of Ms. All Sunday and Mr. Zero, which is an issue.
I will say that Sanji does get to have a cool moment and we do get to see his rivalry with Zoro again, perhaps to mirror the giants in some way.
Drum Island (130-154)
The first to join the crew after entering the Grand Line, and the fifth member to join overall, we've got Tony Tony Chopper.
His dream is kind of like Zoro's and Nami's, in the sense that it's tied more to his skills rather than just their role as a character. His dream is to cure any disease and become the ultimate Doctor.
This is how Gol D. Roger, the King of the Pirates met his end, ultimately defeated by an incurable disease. Kindness can't cure people, you need to work hard and learn.
Now, a big problem with certain characters, especially on the back end, is that there's only so much you can do with them. I think where Chopper's strength as a character comes from is with his dynamics with the others, he's great as a duo, just not as an individual.
I guess that stands to reason because he is the mascot character, you don't watch Pokémon and expect Pikachu to be this super compelling character all on his own. It is what it is, he's just here to be cute.
Alright, so a reoccurring complaint that I’ve been having about One Piece is that the villains suck shit, albeit with very few exceptions. A lot of the villains in One Piece could be summed up as “I’m the bad guy” and in a generically evil, cartoony way. And don’t get me wrong, One Piece is very cartoon-ish, but most of them have still been extremely lame thus far.
The big draw here is getting to see Tony Tony Chopper join the crew. His big, dramatic backstory is a sad tale about him and his adoptive father. It was dark, dramatic and hopeful in all of the best ways possible.
I want to take a moment to pause and compare with Hunter x Hunter, which is another shonen series that is known for its inconsistency. Even if you don't love every arc, each one of them is so different tonally and conceptually and structurally, you can always appreciate what it's trying to do and you feel more of an incentive to go back and reevaluate your thoughts.
But because so many of the arcs in One Piece follow such a similar story structure, in comparison, there's less of an incentive to go back outside of looking to see some key thing that was set up, or maybe a moment that was cool.
Regardless, I liked Drum Island a lot. It feels completely disconnected from the rest of the saga, but I feel that ended up working in its benefit. All it needs is to delete Wapol outright, it didn't need him, and that's all I have to say. I can recommend this one, even as a standalone.
Alabasta (155-217)
Okay, so are you all excited about One Piece finally getting started? 155 chapters in? Well, I am!
The actual Alabasta arc is a bit tricky for me because when it’s good, it’s very good, but when it’s boring, it is boring. I think there’s just a lot of downtime during this arc, or a lot of setting up to do within a saga that already feels like it had a lot of set-up.
It really takes it’s time to set up detailed locations, characters, and complex social situations. When previously on an island, we really only visited a single town, but here we visit several locations and that’s really neat. And as a result of building all of this, however, Alabasta can feel quite slow.
I do feel like, however, that this arc places too much focus on side and background characters, most of whom I ultimately did not end up caring about at all. Take Koza for example, a super serious looking dude who gets a flashback with Vivi and himself as children.
Sir Crocodile was a great villain, however, the best since Arlong. And unlike Captain Kuro back in Syrup Village, his plan seemed very well thought out. He's got drip, it's giving mafia boss. He even defeats Luffy a couple of times, so that means he means business.
I also liked the introduction of Luffy’s cool and sexy older brother, Ace. This shows that there’s way more to Luffy’s past than what was previously shown all the way back in Romance Dawn.
Smoker and Tashigi do return, which is exciting, though it is disappointing that he doesn't actually participate in the war. Mr. 3 also returns, but he also doesn't do anything of any particular importance.
The straw hats versus the Baroque Works have an iconic moment in every single fight, and they each get a nice chunk of development amidst all of this chaos. I love how Luffy had to push himself to his absolute limits, making Sir Crocodile's defeat glorious.
The introduction of the Clima-Tact was one of my favourite things. I would say that it’s here where Nami gets her “true beginning”. She essentially becomes a Blue Mage and I think that’s the coolest thing ever! I love it so much!
The ending was perfect and bittersweet, as we say goodbye to Vivi. At this point I had really grown attached to her, so having to say goodbye was as painful as it was beautiful.
Overall, when the Alabasta Arc is good, it’s really good. We get some incredible fights, interesting world-building, and compelling character moments. I do think it is messier than some folks give it credit for, but the good parts make it all worth it in my opinion.
Despite the Alabasta Saga being a bit more all over the place, I felt that this saga was better than the East Blue, albeit without the same feeling that you as a reader are making progress. Every arc had its high points, but it still felt difficult to finish. The general momentum and feeling of progression has been slowed down, and certain things don't feel like they're going to be relevant until way later.
There wasn’t a whole lot to say about the East Blue, if we’re being honest, it was just a good start to the series and I guess it’s nice to look back on. The Alabasta Saga, however, is a completely different beast and it invoked stronger feelings out of me.
After having digested it all, I do think the journey to Alabasta felt cathartic. I also feel like One Piece’s world-building has been paying off, as previous characters come back, fan favourites get introduced, etc.
It does feel like One Piece is only getting started, however, as it’s just at this point where One Piece is showing us a clearer idea of the kind of story that it’s trying to tell.
The Sky Island Saga
Okay, so I was really looking forward to being able to talk about this saga, this is widely considered to be one of the next big "One Piece killers" and it's where a lot of people actually first dropped the series, so I really wanted to form my own opinions and talk about it.
Jaya (218-236)
Jaya is a similar arc to Lougetown, it's mainly dedicated to world-building and setting up future events. It introduces Blackbeard and other Warlords of the sea. It makes it very clear how far Luffy's come since the start of the series and I consider that sense of growth really valuable, it's one of the most rewarding parts of engaging with any long story.
The most exciting part for me is getting to see Nico Robin join the crew, who pretty much demanded that she join in exchange for Luffy forcibly saving her life. And to be honest, I did look it up, and it seems like she was the only main character who wasn't planned super early on, who is replacing this tiny little guy with plant powers. Now, I do think this was a much better call because she brings some much needed maturity to this group of teenage and young adult pirates.
There's not much else to say here, it serves as a nice breather and I guess that's fine.
Skypiea (237-302)
So, a complaint that I had about the last saga was I felt that it lacked momentum, but I'd say Skypeia is a step up. Even in the beginning we see the dangers of Sky Island, and we meet the Shandorians as it culminates into a battle against Enel.
I do think he's another good villain - he does look a bit distracting, my first thought being that he looks like Eminem, but I'd consider that a good thing in this case. There are times when a sense of humour is allowed and this is one of them.
Alright, so let's talk about it, Skypiea is a controversial portion of One Piece. It seems like the majority of the fanbase doesn't like it and... I don't understand why? I thought it was a good time! I thought the location was super interesting, it changes up the formula here and there, and we get a pretty good villain. So, what's there to complain about?
The general consensus seems to be that Skypeia "feels like filler", meaning that it feels disconnected from the story and it's a little too self-contained.
I'm not sure if I'd agree? It's clear that there was a lot of work put into fleshing out the history of Skypeia, as it delves into themes of colonialism. A lot of these things tap into the Void Century, a hidden away piece of history that was erased by the world government.
This was Nico Robin's first showcase as a Straw Hat and this setting was also perfectly suited for that, as the crew's new archaeologist. And I liked the interactions between all of the crew just in general, particularly the early pairing of Luffy, Usopp, and Sanji.
You could argue that Alabasta had higher highs, but Skypiea I would argue is more consistent and the fight between Luffy and Enel put a big, dumb smile on my face.
Skypeia isn't perfect - there was a flashback placed right in the middle during the final blow on Enel, and none of the henchmen are all that memorable, but I'd still argue that Skypeia is one of the most cleanly executed parts of the series thus far.
