Volume 58 is a little bit special to me. The reason I got into One Piece was because my friend at high school – who I’m still good friends with to this day, more than fifteen years later – was talking about some of the events that happened during the paramount, including the cliffhanger we end this volume in. He was watching the anime at the time, so this moment happened a little while before that, but it still brings back memories of standing in the high school cafeteria listening in on people talk about stories I didn’t understand at all. The paramount war is really, really good and it’s easy to forget that sometimes, considering it happened more than fifteen years ago. I was a teenager, Bush was president of the United States and the Netherlands was much more xenophobic… actually no, that hasn’t changed much. But let’s not get too political in our manga recaps, One Piece is far from political after all. Let’s instead enjoy this volume to its fullest.
Although Akainu tricked Squard into stabbing Whitebeard, the ferocious emperor of the sea is more angry at the idea that one of his sons was tricked by such an evil man than by getting stabbed. Right after this little parlor trick of the marines, the live feed gets completely cut off, leaving the world in a state of disbelief that Whitebeard has sold out all the captains working under him. Of course, this was all a lie as Whitebeard soon proves by creating an escape route and stepping into the frey himself. The world’s most dangerous man is about to let loose.
After the video feed to the world was cut due to Aokiji freezing everyone involved in the broadcast we get a quick shot of the supernovas that were all still in Sabaody. They’re all looking with different reactions. Jewelry Bonney is very sad about something she’s seen on the screen. Going back to the action, the marines have put up massive walls around the bay and are now going to turn all of the ice back into water with the help of Akainu’s magma powers. The pirates are about to lose their footing, but so far it doesn’t seem to deter them much. With Oars Jr. being heavily wounded but not taken out completely, he makes a path by blocking one of the walls that’s supposed to rise up. While this is happening, Luffy requests that Jinbe uses his fishman karate to launch him up in the air. He starts attacking all three of the admirals, while using the attack as a distraction. Unfortunately even gear second is small time stuff compared to the leaders of the navy, and he’s quickly overpowered. Luckily, Marco the Phoenix is there to help him. While the admirals are focused on this, Crocodile angrily kills the executioners, claiming he’d rather not see the navy succeed, and although he is not on anyone’s side, for the time being he’s helping Luffy and the gang out. He’s a pirate at heart and although he’s not a good person, you gotta have a code. During all of these distractions, the Whitebeard pirates are up to something. They reveal their trump card, which is one more ship that was hidden underwater. With the help of Oars Jr. they ram this ship into the broken wall, breaching past the defenses of the navy. Things are about to become scary.
As the battle rages on, things quickly go south. Luffy is taken out by Kizaru – who is steadily working on being the most horrible person in the series, although there’s some villains coming up who still outmatch him in this – and Jozu gets defeated by Aokiji. Kizaru then deals serious damage to Marco while Akainu hits a devastating blow on Whitebeard. Is the tide about to shift drastically in favor of the marines? A group of marines attack Whitebeard and although he’s still more than powerful enough to fight them all off, even wounded badly and hurt from his old age and illnesses, he does take some hits here. This man is on the same level as some of the major villains we face in the second half of this manga and it’s sometimes easy to forget how much of a juggernaut he really is. While all this is happening, Sengoku gives the order to execute Ace. This is where Luffy – unintentionally – displays his conquerors haki to the entire war. A shift in focus for everyone involved. Whitebeard gives the command that everyone should help Luffy reach his goal, making him the most important figure in this war. People immediately jump in line to support him and even figures like Boa Hancock, Daz Bones and Crocodile support Luffy. He has the most impressive power of anyone here, the power to make almost anyone his ally. He’s such a likable dude, who wouldn’t want to be on his side. Luffy makes short work of a hesitant Koby by punching him in the face and is then faced with arguably his most difficult foe: his own grandfather. Lucky for Luffy, Garp wavers and chooses family over duty, allowing Luffy to swiftly take him out. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Sengoku but he is not in a place to worry about it for long since Luffy has now reached the platform. Although he’s about to save Ace, Kizaru can’t help but be a total scumbag and destroys the key to Ace’s handcuffs. Faced with Sengoku, the leader of the marines, and no real plan, things are looking dire even though Luffy is as close to his goal as he can be.
Here to save the day is Mr. 3 Galdino. A surprising ally but he has a good reason to be here.
If I told you I was here to mourn my fallen comrade and avenge him, would you laugh at me?
Galdino is a real one for this. He’s come in clutch so many times throughout this arc that he’s more than made up for his past actions in my opinion. He creates a new key and with that Ace is now freed from his chains. Ace and Luffy fighting back to back (with Galdino in the background) is an iconic moment in both the manga and anime. The two make such a good team and they’re about to wreak havoc on the battlefield. With their mission being a success, Whitebeard gives the call for retreat. He’s planning to make Marineford his grave, but not before letting his crew escape and leveling the place to the ground. Someone of his caliber could surely manage all of this. The mission is a success and everyone’s on their way to freedom.
Except it’s not a success. At this point in the manga our hearts get broken as we learn about Ace’s fatal flaw. He can handle many things and he has the potential to be a great pirate. But he cannot let the slander of his captain, his true father, slide. Akainu exploits this weakness and starts hurling insults at Whitebeard, distracting Ace and letting him waver. As this happens, he attacks the two brothers, injuring Ace and then setting his sights on Luffy. Things can go wrong in a moment and although One Piece is known for never killing off characters, Oda must have woken up in a bad mood one day as Akainu’s flaming fist pierces through Ace’s chest, protecting his younger brother from certain death. The mission that was about to be a massive success has turned into a failure for the Whitebeard pirates. Wow, what a volume. We end on another cliffhanger. One thing that’s interesting in this volume is that we find out a lot about the navy’s top men. Akainu and Kizaru will do whatever it takes to win, distracting, lying and using all sorts of tactics to win. This makes sense from their perspective of course, but it doesn’t make them good people. Aokiji follows orders but doesn’t go out of his way to be cruel and destructive. Garp and Sengoku seem like somewhat decent people considering the status they hold, but the entire organization does seem rotten to the core. We conclude this arc next week and I can’t wait to read the next volume. Thanks for reading along again this week!
Opal Kaharis 