Where last volume we were bombarded with lore and worldbuilding, this volume we spend most of our time with fights and scraps in and around the island. I’m guessing this recap will end up being a lot shorter than some of the others, but that’s fine too. Wapol’s mini-arc gets completed in this volume by the way. He starts his own company and develops Wapometal. Oh, and I guess he also married Miss Universe. Definitely the prettiest woman in the One Piece universe and not a rigged election, right? Then again, beauty is subjective. Moving on to the actual story
Enel announces that out of the 81 fighters present on the island, only 5 will still stand after three hours. That’s a pretty bold claim, but we see him back it up later in the volume to a certain extent. This is where we get into different fights, so let’s go through them one by one.
Shura challenges the Shandians but severely underestimates Wyper’s resolve, paying the price almost immediately. The Shandians split up. Things almost immediately turn into an all out brawl with several people on all sides taking hits. The straw hats are so far coming out on top, even though Luffy has to face Wyper, Chopper is running around scared and both Zoro and Robin are also on their own. Zoro is straight up lost but Robin has found what they were looking for, interesting historic ruins. I saw a comment on social media recently – I’m sorry, I should have saved it as I don’t remember where I found it – which talked about the Straw Hat crew being a bunch of teenagers who take in a depressed 28 year old woman and make her feel loved and it’s so accurate.
Zoro fights Shandian Braham who loses to his one sword attack: 36 pound phoenix. I’m sure we won’t see that attack’s number go up in future fights. Meanwhile Enel shows up briefly on the Going Merry to taunt Ganfor and beat up both Usopp and Sanji in a matter of milliseconds. His lightning is incredibly powerful and easily the most powerful devil fruit we’ve seen the crew face up until now. As strong as Crocodile’s sand was, lightning is much more deadly and comes with the speed bonus as well. Plus there is no water to combat its effectiveness. I wonder what the counter to lightning is? After informing Ganfor that his men are still alive and working on a secret project that’s almost complete, he leaves again and Hotori and Kotori take over.
Shandian Genbo then pretty handily loses to Commander Yama who goes to attack Robin shortly after. On the side, Chopper is dealing with Priest Gedatsu, who is a weird one. He doesn’t properly open his eyes or his mouth. Honestly looking back on it now the four vassals were much more quirky than powerful. They kind of go down like fodder once their tricks are figured out. That’s not a bad thing per, it’s kind of cool to see how absolute power isn’t as absolute as it seems when you peek behind the curtain. Gedatsu goes down pretty handily due to his own stupidity and Chopper being a brave strong boy.
Kamakiri gets toyed with by Eneru who is untouchable. The final big battle is between Nami, Ganfor, Hotori and Kotori. Nami and Ganfor win this pretty easily since Ganfor is quite strong and Nami is quite tricky. There are 25 fighters left on Upper Yard and I believe that’s excluding Conis and Pagaya and Aisa, who have joined up with Nami and the unconscious Usopp and Sanji. Things are heating up quickly and I’m excited for what’s coming next. I’ll see you all next week and thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 