Last week’s volume was such a fantastic volume that the only way to go from there was down. Luckily for us, we only went down a comfortable amount and this volume is still great. We pick up right where we left last volume as the gang minus Robin flies into the Justice tower with the Rocketman. Unfortunately Kokoro and Chimney are mortally wounded in the process. No wait, they just have a nosebleed. I love how all of the straw hats are so incredibly pumped up with adrenaline at this point that being buried under a building doesn’t stop them. As much as Nami and Usopp are considered weak compared to some of the other crew members – and they are – they would absolutely roll most mediocre pirate crews by this point. They’re no pushovers. We’ve now firmly planted ourselves in the middle of combat, what are our matchups?
Although Nami starts off fighting Kumadori, she eventually tags out with Chopper who shoves the weird monk into a refrigerator. While this is going on, Franky fights with Fukuro who explains to the Straw Hat pirates that they need the keys to Robin’s handcuffs. The only chance Robin has at getting out of this situation hangs on the confidence of the CP9 agents to win against the Straw Hats and needless to say they’re very confident. Franky displays the fact that cola is such a big part of his power here and we see that different drinks give him different moods. That’s a very funny gimmick and him reprimanding Chopper for trying more funny drinks is hilarious. Fortunately, even though the fight is tough, Franky is just that good of a brawler that he beats up Fukuro. He does then get splattered by Chopper who had to go round three on his rumble balls and turn into giant deer monster. Terrifying as he is, he does manage to knock out Kumadori with ease and then beat up Franky before climbing his way up the tower.
Meanwhile, Nami has taken over for Sanji, who lost his fight against Kalifa’s new bubble powers. Kalifa seems pretty dumb for someone in such an important position. She is very powerful though and we only see the start of her fight against Nami. We’ll have to wait for the rest.
While Nami is off fighting Kalifa and Sanji is down for the count, Usopp and Zoro get their hands bound by another set of handcuffs and have to work together against Jabra and Kaku. Zoro eventually decides to use Usopp as a sword handle while they fight two of the stronger CP9 members. This is another fight we’ll have to come back to next week.
Last but not least we have Luffy, who is chasing after Spandam, Lucci and Robin. He almost drowns when he tries to cross the span of water in a little boat but is helped by Chimney who shows him a different, underground path. Lucci tells Spandam he’s aware they were being followed but he didn’t stop them because he’s looking forward to a fight. Luffy reveals that he has a third gear but doesn’t show the reader yet. We only know that he easily broke down a steel door while using it and then turns into a small child for a moment. He chases after Robin until he comes face to face with Lucci. As Luffy and the pigeon bastard clash, Spandam drags Robin further along. He then accidentally triggers the buster call and reveals to the entire island that he’s kind of a scumbag. Things are getting desperate for the straw hats and as usual I can’t wait for next week’s volume. We’re well and truly in the thick of things and although a lot still needs to happen things are speeding up. I hope you enjoyed this volume as much as I did and as always, thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 