As I’m writing this it is pouring rain right outside my window. Summer has officially ended here in the Netherlands and I’m feeling two ways about it. Being able to hang out outside in a shirt is very nice, but the feeling of putting the duvet back in the cover and reading manga in the comfort of my bed is unbeatable. And today I sat down and read volume 35. After last volume set the scene, this volume put all the players on the map and started the mystery. So let’s not waste any time and let’s dive into this volume.
Let’s start with the cover story. We’re still following Gedatsu – the guy who worked for Enel – as he lives a new life on the surface. There’s not much sensible going on here, he’s working for a mining company and beats up every strange creature that comes their way. At the end of the volume, the cover story still seems to be ongoing, so I’m sure we’ll talk about it again next week.
While Sanji and Chopper worry over Robin’s sudden disappearance, the rest of the crew hears the bad news about why the Merry Go can never sail them out again. They struggle to accept the assessment of the Galley-La company, but it seems like they have no other choice. While they’re in the middle of this discussion, the World Government shows up and they have to hide for a little bit. Whatever the World Government wanted from Iceberg – and this isn’t the first time they’ve shown up – they didn’t get it. The crew finds out that Usopp is missing and the money is gone. Nami goes to find Usopp and finds him beaten up in the streets. She tells him to wait there while she goes to get Chopper to help him recover. Unfortunately, Usopp doesn’t have the patience and goes to confront the Franky Family on his own, getting horribly beaten up once more, before Franky leaves with the money.
Luffy, Sanji, Zoro and Chopper find out that Usopp has been beaten up twice and can’t stand for this. They make their way to where Franky’s family is and demolish the hideout. And when I say demolish I mean the building is gone and the people are down for the count. Usopp has been properly avenged. Speaking of Usopp, he finally wakes up on the ship, after Chopper took care of him and he apologizes profusely for losing the money they need to repair the ship. I cried reading this scene, it’s so painful to read because it hurts them so much. But Luffy has accepted that the ship is beyond repair, and it’s more important to keep the crew safe than to keep sailing on a ship that’s beyond repair. Usopp feels attacked by this notion. He considers himself the weakest member of the crew and he fears that he’ll be the next one that’s abandoned. He gets into a heated argument with Luffy and leaves the crew with the promise to fight Luffy at dusk for ownership (pun intended) of the Going Merry.
Dusk rolls around and Usopp and Luffy face off. Usopp isn’t as weak as he thinks he is and he knows Luffy better than anyone. He prepared for the fight ahead of time and pulls out every single trick he has. But as much as Usopp isn’t weak, Luffy is the future pirate king, and it wouldn’t make sense for him to lose a proper fight against one of his own crew. After a brutal fight, Luffy knocks Usopp out. There is a particularly painful panel somewhere in the middle of this fight, where the pouring rain looks like tears falling down the Going Merry’s face. She’s sad about what’s happening to the crew that have been her companions for so long. Luffy and crew abandon the ship, giving it to Usopp.
Here we get to see how well Oda draws his chapters in real time, as you can spot the wind picking up in intensity on several panels before we ever learn that the Aqua Laguna, a yearly storm that causes the water to rise, is coming. When it rains, it pours. A few things here happen all at once. Robin is still missing and the crew is worried for her. Franky returns from his trip and is furious about Luffy beating up his men. Iceberg, the mayor of Water Sever, is shot multiple times. When he wakes up, he reveals to his crew that Nico Robin was the one responsible, alongside a masked figure. This is the masked figure that mentioned ‘CP9’ to her on the street before she vanished. His men take matters into their own hands after hearing this.
Franky and Luffy clash at the shipyard, with Franky revealing his cyborg body. He doesn’t have a devil fruit but he has all sorts of crazy modifications which include fire breathing and an arm on a chain that he can shoot off, kind of like Luffy’s rubber powers. Their fight gets cut short by the Galley-La crew arriving to take care of Luffy and his friends. Things are heating up fast and if you flip the corner to look at the preview for the next volume, it shows Robin in the room with Iceberg once more, but there’s more masked figures now. What is going on? Who is CP9, why do they want to hurt Iceberg without killing him and why is Robin working with them? And don’t forget that all of these events are happening with a storm only a day away. The crew is two members down, doesn’t have a ship and is being suspected of attempting to assassinate the town mayor. Have things ever looked this dire before? Well, yeah, the fight with Enel was probably scarier, but the point stands. I can’t wait for next week, and I really hope you enjoyed this little recap! Thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 