One Piece volumes 31-45

One Piece Volumes 31-45 by Eiichiro Oda, 3209 pages 15 books


Previously I had only focused on blogging about this series every ten books. But I realized that this tended to be mid story arc and really complicated the blog posts. So I am trying something new and blogging about one complete story arc called Water Seven.

Water Seven is an island famous for it shipwrights. It is here that the best ships get built, which is fortunate as the Going Merry is nearing the end of its usability. Luffy and his crew also realize that then need to find a competent carpenter to sail with them.

The Water Seven story arc reveals a lot of the back story behind Robin Nico and we get to see who Luffy's dad and grandpa are. In this arc we also see both crew members leaving and crew member(s) added. There is of course lots of fighting and action that is a must for all of these books.

I will have to be vague here to not give away any spoilers, so this might not entirely make sense. The one thing I am not sure I like, though it depends on how it is going to be used, is the featuring of new powers in the group.  These powers seem like evolutions of their previous skills. The reason I don't like this is because previously the members to the crew got by on teamwork and their perseverance. This ability to evolve into a stronger fighter seems like a cop out to allow more one on one fights and to permit stronger bad guys. I am not saying however that it is completely unfounded. The crew have been fighting since they began their journey and it does make sense that they should develop new skills for the new tougher people they are going to meet on the Grand Line, but it makes them lose some of that innocence or loveablity the crew has.

Either way I will keep reading to see what happens, the next arc is called Thriller Bark and I think I remember something about them heading for the underwater paradise of Fish-Man island...

One Piece Volumes 21-30

One Piece Volumes 21-30 by Eiichiro Oda, 2048 pages

In this ten volume block we see the conclusion of the Baroque Works story line along with the much expected fight between Sir Crocodile and Luffy. We also see the start of a new storyline called Skypiea. Skypiea is a mythical island in the clouds that is only rumored to exist. That of course is plenty for Luffy who makes it his goal to find it.

Throughout this group of manga I see a growing trend. Where before most, if not all of the fighting was left to Luffy, Zolo and Sanji, now we are seeing everyone pull their own weight. This is most noticeable in Baroque Works. Here each character is basically matched with a Baroque Works agent and must fight mostly on their own. Though this we get to see the characters develop and we see their strengths and weaknesses.

As I near the current halfway mark of this manga series it is nice to see that it still continues to be fresh and unique. There are times where you are not sure the heroes of the story are going to triumph or not. The fights that Luffy is getting into are certainly increasing in difficulty, especially vs Sir Crocodile.

I look forward to continuing this series and while I want to see how it ends, hope there are many more books to come.

One Piece Vol 11-20

One Piece Volumes 11-20, by Eiichiro Oda, 2018 pages

One Piece is a manga that has it all. It has pirates, battles, silliness and of course attractive women in skimpy clothing! The story is pretty good too.

In Volume 12 Luffy finally reaches the Grand Line and can start his adventure looking for the One Piece. Of course the Grand Line is where the toughest and most ruthless pirates reside. This of course means more adventures and fights for Luffy and his crew.

Something I found interesting is that Oda uses one page images to keep us aware of and informed about what previous characters are doing. An example was Buggy the clown, the illustrations showed him meeting the guy stuck in a treasure chest and assembling a new crew before his triumphant reappearance. These side stories help you not only remember that a character still exists, but also are normally humorous as well.

I know Eiichiro Oda is still writing more volumes and in some ways I hope this series never ends.