I feel like I’ve been reading too much this week, because I keep reading volume after volume of One Piece, but I can’t help it, since I want to know what happens next and I also want to get up to date or at least close to that, since there are currently 662 chapters online and 61 volumes in stores.
Although volume 11 will be the last volume of One Piece that I will review for a while, meaning that I’m going take a break from One Piece and continue reading another manga series (since there are many that I started but haven’t finished yet, like: Kekkaishi, Kodocha (I watched the anime, but didn’t finish reading the manga yet), St. Dragon Girl, etc.
I won’t review all of the One Piece volumes (since there are so many, just some of them).
Again, since none of the libraries that are close to where I live don’t have any volumes of this series between 5 and thirty something, and the book stores only have volume 1 and the latest few volumes, I ended up reading scans online, it’s uncomfortable to read any book on an electronic, but I have no other choice, at least it’s convenient and faster.
Release date: January 3, 2006 (2001 in Japan)
Publisher: Viz Media
Format: Online (what I’ve explained above)
Type: Manga (in most cases these are read from right-to-left)
Age Group: 13+
Pages: 208
Source for Synopsis: Goodreads
Challenge: (personal) 2012 Reading Challenge, The 50 Book Pledge
Series
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber…at the cost of never being able to swim again. Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world
Volume 9
Luffy and crew must contend with “Saw-Tooth” Arlong and his nasty Fish Man pirates. Arlong’s pirates specialize in using mafia tactics to squeeze the lifeblood from innocent villagers. Needless to say, it comes as a big surprise to everyone that pirate-hating Nami is actually a member of Arlong’s crew! Always incredulous, Luffy won’t believe anything until he’s had a nap and a good meal. In the interim, however, Luffy’s crew meets up with Nojiko, Nami’s tangerine-growing sister, and the residents of Coco Village. They reveal Nami’s tragic pact with Arlong and her dreams for the future. Will Luffy and crew step in to help out Coco Village and their resident pirate Nami?
Some Quotes
I forgot to write down quotes when I started reading them, and since I read these chapters online, I don’t feel like going back and skimming for good quotes.
Review
Gore: It’s hard for me to be too sure: there is a lot of blood, but I don’t think what happens in this volume is considered gore, correct me if I’m wrong.
Magic: Yes, kind of (I count the devil fruits as magic, since they give those individuals who eat them, different kinds of powers)
Romance: No (This one’s kind of hard to say, since it’s a fighting manga, of course that doesn’t mean that there can’t be any romance in it, although there is none in this series so far, I wonder if there will be any real romance).
Action: 3.5 stars (it’s not fair to rate this for this volume because most of it is a tragic flashback)
Pacing: 4 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Drawings/Art: 3.5 stars
Warning, Spoilers
This volume is mostly about Nami’s village and her past, it’s so sad.
This volume starts off with Usopp still at Nojiko’s house and she’s telling him what Arlong is planning to do. Meanwhile, a villager named Genzo is found with a weapon by Arlong and obviously everyone knows that Arlong’s going to kill him thinking that he was going to rebel against him, Nojiko tries to interfere, but Arlong threatens to destroy the entire village. Everyone’s yelling, “don’t kill him!” over and over, and just when Arlong’s about to kill Gen, Usopp stops him by throwing his gunpowder star (that’s what he calls it), and then he starts lying and bragging (as usual), hoping to intimidate the fish men, but unfortunately it’s not working. They chase Usopp for a short while, but he somehow manages to escape.
Meanwhile, Luffy, Sanji, and Yosuke are almost there, when a giant cow/sea monster (whatever it is) pops out of the water, and the only one who’s scared is the most normal one out of the three, Yosuke. The giant cow wants food but instead of giving him the food, Luffy and Sanji fight him and they get it to lead the boat to the island. It’s funny how Luffy and Sanji act like it’s no big deal:
Sanji: “That was a nice little exercise.”
Yosuke: “These people are insane.”
Poor Yosuke.
A little while after that they crash somewhere on the island and Zoro finds them, after all, who wouldn’t hear a boat crashing. Johnny also meets up with them and then there’s confrontation with Nami, she tells them to leave the island (she is obviously trying to protect them from the fish men in her own way, like when she saved Usopp), but Luffy just says that he doesn’t feel like leaving the island yet and goes to sleep (he’s always doing certain things like this at the strangest times, lol), which of course shocks the others. A little while later, Usopp meets up with Luffy and the others.
Nojiko comes by and tells them that she will tell them about Nami’s past, and in return they have to leave the island. Luffy says that he’s not interested in her past and instead goes for a walk.
In this and the next few chapters, Nami’s past from eight years ago is revealed and why she’s acting the way she is. It also shows that she used to steal things ever since she was little, although she wasn’t as good as she is at it now.
Nami’s past is so sad and heartbreaking, I can’t even imagine living through something like that, I actually cried during a few of the scenes (which is rare when I’m reading books, unless something happens that is really sad). Out of all of the main characters so far, Nami had the saddest and most horrible past.
This volume ends with Nami finally asking Luffy for help and him and the others go to Arlong Park to fight the fish men for the village’s and Nami’s freedom. Then Luffy’s so angry that instead of using the door, he smashes through the wall instead.
There’s less fighting and more storytelling than in the other books in this series so far. These guys are such good friends and care so much about each other, even after all that Nami said to them and it looked like she betrayed them, they still trusted and help her (even though they now know the truth, but Luffy doesn’t).
[EDIT] I forgot to put the following sentence in this post:
Couldn’t the other villagers help Bellemere with paying for the kids? Like everyone gives her a little bit and then she pays the fishmen, that way she wouldn’t have died, the story could have still gone on similarly to the way it is now…ok maybe not, since they probably wouldn’t have found the map Nami drew, but maybe they could have found it another way.
That’s just my thoughts, I guess it does make more sense the way the plot is. [EDIT]
(I know that this is starting to sound repetitive) Overall, I’m enjoying this series more and more with every volume, it’s still not one of my most favourites like it is with many other people, although maybe that’s because I’m still in the beginning and or because I just enjoy other types of mangas more.
If you want to read more reviews about this book, go to Goodreads and read the reviews in the comment section or go to other websites.
I rated this book: 4.5 stars, so no rating picture below this time. Since I didn’t make halves yet, although I will soon.
If you read this book, then tell me what you thought about it and or the series. Tell me in the comments section.
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