Creative Staff
Story/Art: Eiichiro Oda
Translation: Stephen Paul
What They Say
The Straw Hat pirates have finally arrived in the dangerous waters of the New World. On a mysterious island called Punk Hazard, Luffy and his crewmates run into all sorts of trouble. And controlling things from behind the scenes is a rogue scientist and weapons creator, Caesar Clown. Luffy and Trafalgar Law enter into a pirate alliance in order to defeat Caesar, but the mad scientist unleashes a deadly gas all over the island. As Luffy goes after Caesar, Trafalgar Law puts his plan into action.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Though Land of the Dead has spread over the island, by breaking into Caesar’s lab our heroes (as well as the navy soldiers) have turned the confrontation into a battle to breach deeper and outrun the deadly gas. Though Caesar attempts some dirty tricks by letting gas into parts of the building, he’s only able to take out some navy grunts through such means. Unfortunately for the surviving soldiers, though, Vergo shows up and what they think is their salvation quickly becomes a nightmare. Though Tashigi attempts to resist his attacks and save her men, she quickly falls before the mighty foe, forcing Sanji to step in.
Next up, Luffy runs into Caesar, starting off round 2. Though Caesar pulls out a number of tricks using his abilities, Luffy’s power proves overwhelming, and it’s only through Monet’s interference that the mad scientist is able to escape. The battles continue alongside the mad rush, and we even get a glimpse at Doflamingo and his quirky crew. As the clashes heat up Luffy ends up unintentionally throwing himself literally into the trash heap, Chopper is forced to deal with the mad cravings of the children, and Law and Smoker end up taking over the fight with Vergo.
In the discarded trash of the island, Luffy ends up meeting a dragon who can talk, and claims that his name is Momonosuke. Apparently he was a boy, but when he ate Vegapunk’s artificial Devil Fruit, his body ended up shifting shapes. Thanks to his help, Luffy is able to return to the surface, his hatred towards Caesar freshly renewed. Meanwhile, Zolo and Tashigi are forced to deal with Monet and her formidable Logia abilities, and Mocha ends up taking the burden of dealing with the children upon herself, eating the full bag of candy even knowing its effects. Will Luffy and crew be able to escape the gas, capture the mad scientist, and save the children before time runs out?
In Summary
Though the series has obviously had stronger entries, it’s still interesting to see just how good Oda has gotten at making each book in the series feel so dense, something this volume definitely shows off. The gas makes for a unique obstacle for the heroes, but we also get some solid fights, many of them including some interesting matchups. Furthermore, the bigger picture seems to be opening up here, implying that this arc will have ramifications leading past its conclusion, which is definitely nice to see. The only real worry here is that, despite his powers, Caesar seems to be a scientist more than a fighter after all, and it seems this arc may not end with the big flashy battle one may expect as a result. Even so, hopefully the arc will be able to come to a strong finish, as it’s definitely made for an interesting ride thus far.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: December 3rd, 2013
MSRP: $9.99
