One Piece – 229 – 236

I am in love with this new arc.

What a story so far, the initial episodes were a bit slow, but did a nice job of introducing us to Water 7, a city of water canals and seahorse driven boats, well what at least looked like seahorses. Luffy, Usopp, and Nami venture out into the city and exchange their gold into real hard cash, unaware of the local bounty hunters lurking in the shadows ready to snag it all.

We are introduced to numerous new characters, starting off with the stringent yet childish mayor of Water 7, Iceberg and his super sexy assistant, Califa. Add onto that we have the shipwrights Paulie, Lucci, and Kaku, all very interesting characters with unique abilities of their own.

So many story lines are happening once things start to roll. While exploring the city with Chopper, Robin is distracted by the presence of a masquerade dressed man who calls out to her. Chopper comes out of a book store to find Robin has disappeared. Sanji manages to catch a glimpse of Robin walking with this mysterious person only to lose track of her soon thereafter.

Then we have the serious matter in the middle episodes of Usopp getting jumped and beaten to a bloody pulp by the Franky Brother henchmen who manage to steal two-thirds of their money.

But the juicy stuff occurred during episodes 235 and 236. Usopp has been avenged by Luffy, Chopper, Sanji, and Zoro by beating the living day lights out of the Franky Brothers henchmen and demolishing their headquarters. However, Luffy has to break the bad news to Usopp given to him by Kaku that the Going Merry is not longer repairable. What comes next is an intense verbal argument between Luffy who wants to move on with the journey by purchasing a new ship with the money left over, and Usopp who cannot believe Luffy has been deceived by the shipwright’s advice that the Going Merry can no longer be fixed. In the end Usopp leaves the ship and the crew all together in a fit of rage towards Luffy’s final decision thinking there must be a way to save the ship. Before he goes, he challenges Luffy later that night to a dual.

Usopp put up a really good fight despite his severe handicap; he is in terrible shape since he was badly beaten by the Franky Brothers henchmen and by Franky himself. He manages to come to the fight well prepared as he begins by disorienting Luffy’s senses with various oddities and techniques, never allowing Luffy a moment of rest all during his barrage. Even though in the end he manages to catch Luffy in a huge explosion, he knows it is not enough to bring his former captain down.

Royall pissed, Luffy gets back on his feet and lands the finishing blow to end the battle. He tells Usopp it’s been fun and he can do whatever he wants with the Going Merry. The Straw Hat Pirates is now one member short!

Impressions – Really great batch of episodes here. Cannot wait to see what happens next.

Related posts:

1. One Piece – 239 – 240
2. One Piece – 237 – 238
3. One Piece – 227 – 228
4. One Piece – 241 – 312
5. One Piece – 404