One Piece Volume 41 is the single best manga volume ever written and it’s not even remotely close. This entire Water Seven Saga has been a blast from the very start, but this volume has one of my absolute favorite moments in the entire series as well as the backstory of my favorite character whose backstory I also really like. So there’s so much to love here. The cover story continues the former Baroque Works members in their attempts to escape the law. Not my favorite cover story, but not everything can be a hit I suppose. Let’s dive into the volume itself though.
Just leave the rest to us.
The first part of this volume continues the journey towards the top of the tower. Luffy gets there first after defeating Blueno. The rest of the crew has to battle their way through it. Zoro just makes a path through the floors to help himself – and inadvertently Chopper and Nami – to an easy route. Sanji breaks through as well and Usopp gets some help from the giants who owe a lot to him now. Usopp is very quickly becoming that brave warrior of the sea that he always wanted to be. On the other side of the gap are Franky and Robin. Franky is moved by the Straw Hats attempt to save their friend and helps out by pretending to blow up. Instead of blowing up, he propels himself and Robin out of the building, almost falling to their doom. Robin and Luffy are now face to face. This is where we get one of One Piece’s most famous moments. All of the Straw Hats are gathered on one side having a standoff with the members of CP9 on the other side. But Robin is still not convinced. She’s being held back by the fact that she’s not just a regular pirate, but she’s so highly wanted that the government can send a Buster Call after her at any moment, sealing the fate of her new friends in the Straw Hat crew as well.
Nico Robin’s backstory is a tearjerker, like all of Oda’s character backstories. I’m personally not super fond of either Sanji’s and Zoro’s backstories. I think they’re the least good. At the top I would probably put (and this is half the cast so it’s cheating) Robin, Brooke, Franky and Nami. But even out of those four, Robin is probably my favorite. We start off her story with her reading a book on the outskirts of town in Ohara. She’s been abandoned by her mother and since she already got hold of a devil fruit at a young age – I don’t believe we ever learn how she got it – she’s being bullied for it. She does have a happy place though, when her family is mistreating her, in the local library of Ohara. This is a research facility where some of the most brilliant archeologists in the world study history. When she first wandered in there as a young child they treated her kindly and they have treated her well ever since. She now requests to join them in their research of the void century, which the leadership disapproves of. Of course, Robin doesn’t fully understand why they don’t want her to join at her young age, but this is to protect her from the government. While sad about being left out, Robin encounters a shipwrecked Jaguar D. Saul. We already met Saul in the bonus comic for this box set when he was working with Kuzan and Garp. It turns out he deserted from the navy after talking with Robin’s mother, Nico Olvia. The two become fast friends.
In the meantime, the escaped Nico Olvia makes her way back to Ohara to warn all of the researchers at the library that they are in danger. The government, under the leadership of Spandine, is approaching to deal with them. Not only that, Spandine has been given the authority to call in a Buster Call, a dangerous fleet attack that will destroy everything on an island. Both Akainu and Kuzan are present for this attack and for Kuzan this probably became – as the zoomers call it – a canon event. Watching Akainu brutally blow up an escape ship with civilians really boiled his blood. While all this chaos is going on, we get a quick meeting between Robin and Olvia, before Robin is hauled off by Saul to escape. She’s not let onto the escape ship because the kids are scared of her and this ended up saving her life inadvertently. Eventually Kuzan catches up with and deals with Jaguar D. Saul. The researchers are all killed after throwing their books into a nearby lake, hopefully saving some of them from the brutal fires the marines set at the library. Robin is allowed to escape by Kuzan. This is his way of repenting for the brutal actions that his people took. Not quite good enough buddy, but you know that too, right? Ever since that moment, Robin has been doing everything she could to survive, hunting down the poneglyphs while looking for that group of friends that Saul promised her is out there.
Which brings us back to the present day, where the Straw Hats and CP9 are still facing off. Robin refuses to join them since she’s still desperately trying to distance herself from them, in the hopes her friends can make it out alive. I don’t need to watch the anime to hear the dialogue being said here in my head. Luffy says quietly that he fully understands Robin’s enemy.
Sogeking, shoot down that flag.
Usopp might be a coward throughout this manga, but there isn’t a moment of hesitation here. Luffy asks him to shoot down the flag for his friend and Usopp shoots down the flag. There’s nothing else important in that moment. Usopp is the one pulling the trigger on the declaration of war against the entire world. And of course all of this results in Robin finally giving in to the one thing she’s been wanting to say all this time. I want to live. Of course you do, and I couldn’t think of a better team to help you achieve this than the one right in front of you. The anger in Zoro’s face alone is enough to take down half the base, let alone his actual skill. But there is some trouble in taking down the drawbridge so the Straw Hats need a plan B to get into the Justice Tower. Luckily Kokoro and Chimney weren’t down and out yet, and the Rocketman has one more ride to take. The entire gang – minutes Robin but including Franky – makes their way across. It is also great to see how happy Franky is that his people didn’t abandon him. He was a bit sad about that concept although very understanding. Ride or die. Next volume the fights are going to kick off properly. This was a lot of setup for the arc, and this isn’t the last time that will happen. Things are ramping up and the entire Ohara background story is vital to the core story of One Piece, so it makes sense that Oda took his time developing it properly. I can’t wait to see what happens next. Thanks for reading!
Opal Kaharis 