Wow.
When I first got into anime and manga I always said that One Piece was my favorite and that would never change. As the years have gone by that sentiment has definitely weakened. If you were to ask me for my favorite manga now I would probably hesitate and maybe say something like 3-gatsu no lion. It’s a more mature manga with super fascinating themes that really resonate with me and – let me be honest – that’s a cooler manga to name than literally the most popular manga on the planet. But reading through these last few volumes I think I’m back on the One Piece hype train. Consider me an Elton John fan because the Rocketman has firmly convinced me of One Piece’s supremacy again. Don’t worry, I still absolutely adore 3-Gatsu and cannot wait for volume 2 to be published, but I’m going to need to read a lot more volumes of that manga before it can match up to the amazing worldbuilding, storytelling and character writing that is Water 7. I don’t know if it’s interesting to read me rambling about One Piece being amazing for an entire post so let’s instead dive into the actual story of this volume.
We finally figure out Nico Robin’s exact intent. Of course Oda wanted to make it seem like she abandoned the crew, but her one stipulation for working with CP9 was the promise that the remaining members of the Straw Hat crew would be allowed to leave Water 7 alive. She loves them after all. Nothing in the world could have been a bigger motivator for the crew to do the exact opposite of what Robin wanted and instead desperately chase after her. Usopp and Franky are on board not by their own choice but due to the CP9 agents capturing them. I wonder if that technically goes against the promise they made to Robin, but perhaps they still intended to let Usopp go when all was said and done. Well, they likely weren’t planning to do that, but maybe they gave Robin that impression. Either way, they all board the Puffing Tom with one stowaway at the very back. These early arcs like Arabasta and Water 7 are a great reminder of how cool of a character Sanji really is. Him sitting on the back of the train waiting for a moment to sneak inside, then beating up an entire room of agents like it’s nothing is so cool. He gets to team up with Usopp and Franky to continue liberating fools of their consciousness.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew manage to get out of the burning building due to the heroics of Chopper. He saves both Paulie and Iceberg as well as Zoro’s sword. The Galley-La folks aren’t quite sure what to do with the unconscious Straw Hats but when Namie and Iceberg both wake up, the latter takes control of the situation. He talks to Nami and reveals what I mentioned earlier about Robin’s intent. They then team up to try and figure out where Zoro and Luffy were blasted off to. Turns out they’re both stuck in buildings because of course they are. With the Aqua Laguna rapidly approaching things turn into a manhunt. They learn of Sanji’s departure and rally the troops to get things figured out. Luffy and Zoro narrowly escape from their predicaments and they all scramble for higher ground to not get swallowed up by the Aqua Laguna. The crew is now desperate for a way off the island. We also learn who’s been leading CP9 all this time and it’s of course Spanda(m) who got brutally beaten up by Franky 8 years ago. The two have a lovely reunion over the phone in this volume as well.
Finally, we get the big team-up moment. Three remaining Galley-La workers, The Franky Family, the Straw Hats and the old lady from the train stop, Kokoro, all get aboard the Rocketman. The Rocketman was a failed prototype built by Tom’s Workers. Iceberg went to get the train ready for departure on his own accord. Great minds think alike. It’s a one way ticket with no brakes and it’s basically just a high speed ram at this point, but if the only way you need to go is forward then there’s no room for complaining. The Franky Family also bring their king bulls: Sodomu and Gomorra. Sodom and Gomorrah were of course two cities from biblical stories that were destroyed for their wickedness. Their story parallels the genesis flooding narrative (Wikipedia told me this, I’m not a bible scholar) which makes sense if they’re there to help overcome the flooding narrative in One Piece. They challenge the waves and come out victorious.
There’s three more things I need to quickly mention before we end this post. The first one is that in one of the SBS Question corners Oda addresses the fact that a young Paulie as well as several of Franky’s underlings, can be seen boarding the initial voyage of the Puffing Tom in their flashback. Nice eye for detail. We also have a new cover story arc which is some of the remaining Baroque Works members trying to free the ones in prison. We’ll see how successful they’ll end up being. Lastly, the birth of a fantastic character is upon us. We end Volume 38 with the first appearance of Sogeking or Sniper King. I wonder who the handsome lad underneath the mask is, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I’m excited for next week – as always – and I hope you enjoyed this post as well. Thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 