sahugani's One Piece Review 501

sahugani · Jun 1, 2008

Sahugani’s One Piece Review 501

been a while since i saw that version of the Whitebeard tattoo

Hey guys! There’s not much to say this week in terms of announcements or anything. All I can say is that hopefully once classes are over for me in a couple weeks, I’ll be able to return to regularly releasing these earlier. The pics in this review come from the Basement Edited Manga with a pic from Binktopia’s chapter 500 Edited Manga and another from Null’s chapter 303 Edited Manga. The title pic is a piece by bayanghitam over at DeviantArt so be sure to visit the rest of his gallery.

Treatment

they have yet to realize the horror they are bringing back

We return once again to the cover arc of the CP9 getting treatment for Lucci. Up till now we have seen the other ex-assassins performing various tasks in order to earn money to pay Lucci’s medical bills and this week we finally get to see the payoff. What is really screwed up is that it looks like they have just let Lucci lay there without medical attention this whole time while the others collected the money. I mean I know that doctors need to get paid as well and waiting for the cash ensures that the patient won’t skip out, but I would have thought a doctor’s priorities would be different. I would have expected them to treat first and then demand payment since in a medical emergency, time is priceless. Up until now I had thought that the doctors had been working on him this whole time and the CP9 had been trying to work off debt left by medical bills rather than building up the money for an up front payment. Oh well, at least Lucci is going to be on the mend now. The remaining question is whether or not he will still be a sadistic bastard when he wakes up or if he will have reformed his ways.

Silver’s Generation

he's smarter than we thought

As we start the real material of the chapter, we first venture into the office of Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp in the Marine HQ as he has just received an urgent report. The report is in regards to Rayleigh being sold off at the auction house in Shabondy. While his subordinate is extremely distressed about this news, Garp is still just as cheerful as always and finds the information highly amusing. He tells his subordinate not to tell this piece of news to the higher brass, saying that he’ll handle it personally and others like Sengoku need not be involved. The marine takes this as Garp doubting that it truly is Rayleigh since normally, news like this would call for the top fighters to be deployed. He is shocked when Garp tells him that he is certain that it is indeed Rayleigh and explains that the former first mate probably got himself in debt and sold himself off. Garp knows Rayleigh’s strength better than probably anyone else in the marines as he was the one with the most history in fighting with Roger’s crew back in the day. He knows that if word of Rayleigh’s appearance got out among the ranks of the marines, Sengoku and the admirals might be smart enough not to act, but some idiot trying to prove himself might want to take advantage of Rayleigh’s current slave status to bring in the legendary pirate. Garp also knows that doing so would lead to the deaths or incapacitation of a shitload of marines. He says that at this point in time, the marines cannot afford a loss such as that since it would mean declaring war on two legends at once. The other legend he is referring to is a matter I will discuss later.

Open Market

since when are auctioneers celebrities?

We turn now to the auction house, where Caimie has been fitted with an exploding collar and Disco has recovered from Rayleigh’s “spirit” release. The auction now begins and rather than being treated like a normal auction, it feels more like an entertainment venue. For some people in the audience, that is in fact exactly what it is. They just get pleasure from watching “lesser humans” lose their freedom. One thing that I must take note of is the symbol of the crossed out smiley face on the wall behind Disco. There has been speculation stemming from this detail that Donquixote Doflamingo of the Shichibukai is behind the auction since his symbol is also a crossed out smiley face and this kind of thing is somewhat fitting in his ideology. Looking back at Doflamingo’s flag though, I must point out that the two smiley faces do differ (and this also means Doflamingo’s differs from Law’s symbol as well). Here is a comparison of the two smiley faces.

the symbols of Doflamingo, the auction, and Law

It is a close enough match that you could argue that the connection still exists, but it is by no means a certainty. I’d say that I am doubtful that the connection exists as there has been a recent focus on the Shichibukai from beating Moria to the Kuma and Zoro duel to Blackbeard’s appointment. I’d rather back away from the Shichibukai connections for a while. If he does in fact have a connection to the auction, it wouldn’t be too much of a shock as the Shichibukai are pretty much free to do whatever they want after getting their status. Moria took to capturing ships and crews from pirates and innocents alike, so it’s not out of the question that Doflamingo might set up a business that revolves around human sale.

Buyer’s Guide

i really want to see what a minkman is

As the auction starts out, the scene shifts to Sanji and Duval. The Strawhat cook has reached a stress level to the point where he is currently smoking three cigarettes at once due to both Caimie’s capture and having to deal with the narcissist he created. He is currently reading through a flier that lists the average starting prices for various types of merchandise at a human auction. The interesting thing about this list is that it gives us a guide to the races of the One Piece world, many of which we have not even seen before. First on the list are humans, for which the only requirement is that they are not law abiding citizens of a World Government allied country. All criminals and foreigners are fair game though. The first such groups that we have yet to meet are the dwarves and minkmen, both of which are priced at 700,000. Dwarves appear in a lot of media and so we can quite easily guess the attributes of this race as being short, most likely bearded, and very strong compared to humans with a better work ethic as well. For minkmen we really don’t know what to expect. They could be exactly what their name suggests and they are naturally half mink, half man similar to how fishmen are half fish. I guess we won’t really know till we see one. Next on the list are the Longarms, Longlegs, and Snakenecks. So far, as far as we can tell, we have only seen one representative from one of these groups in Apoo, a Longarm and one of the Shabondy supernovae. Their names seem relatively straightforward as whatever body part is in the name is abnormally long compared to a regular human. After that are the races we’re more familiar with: the fishmen, giants, and merfolk. The first are the fishmen, which oddly enough are the only ones of this group that are not separated into different price ranges for male and female. This is odd because it is the only one of these three races for which we have actually seen both genders (the octopus fishwoman in Hachi’s cover arc as the sole female example). The giants are listed after the fishmen but are ten to fifty times more expensive due to their rarity, the difficulty in catching them, and their much greater capability for heavy labor. Since the main use of a giant slave is manual labor, the more physically strong males are considered more valuable than females and thus are five times more expensive. After this comes the merfolk, which are divided into three groups: male, female, and parted female. Unlike the other slave races, having a mermaid or merman is for the most part purely decorative and is considered the equivalent of owning a rare fish to keep in an aquarium. Since females are the ones that have the legendary beauty, males are much less valuable and go at the same price as a fishman. Female mermaids that have their tails already parted are more expensive than the males but are still cheaper than non-split females because it means they are over thirty years old and are generally less pretty. A pretty female mermaid like Caimie though is highly prized and tops the price list at 70 million. The final item on the list is devil fruit users but there is no average price tag attached to this group. Due to the different values of various devil fruits as well as the capabilities of different users to develop their abilities, a set price cannot be established.

The Search Closes

the tails are a bit overboard

After this, we turn to the other Strawhats and their flying fish rider partners. As we briefly turn to Luffy, we find that apparently he needed to wear a bunch of bubbles like a suit because every 5 minutes, the flying fish needs to go underwater to gain momentum again. The majority of this scene is with Usopp and the kamikaze bearded flying fish rider as they talk to one of the other kidnapping groups, the coffee monkeys. the group has a monkey theme and the leader even wields a bo staff as a short and amusing little nod of the head to Sun Wukong (Monkey King in Chinese epic novel). We can also assume that they drink a lot of coffee, no doubt contributing to a level of hyperactivity fitting of monkeys. at the moment though, the entire group seems depressed and none more so than their leader, who has started drinking alcohol. Apparently this was the group that was responsible for catching the giant that is currently at the auction house. They were very proud of themselves and the fact that their catch was going to be the main prize of this auction. However, once Peterman brought in a mermaid, their catch was reduced to the number 2 spot. While this would likely be negligible in terms of actual cash won on their giant since giants are sold for work while mermaids are for decoration, it is a matter of reputation. Whoever brings in the best selling prize of a month’s auction gets recognition as a successful business and is more likely to get good deals on later sales. Anyways, now that the Usopp pair has this info, they now know that Caimie is at the auction house on Grove 1 and the seller was Peterman. With this info, everyone is told to go directly to Grove 1 to meet. We even get a brief glimpse of Zoro, who despite being out of the communication loop, is trying to get to Grove 1 to return to where he mistakenly thinks the Sunny is docked. On the way he runs into a few attackers who are either bounty hunters or pirates who don’t recognize him, but he is rightly unconcerned about them.

Arrival

couldn't Duval have both the buffalo and a flying fish as steeds?

We once again return to Sanji and Duval now that the entire group has been informed that Caimie is on Grove 1. Apparently a half an hour has passed since the auction opened, which terrifies Sanji. Duval is not worried yet since a prize like Caimie is sure to be kept for the second half. If she was put up for auction too early, the big buyers would become uninterested in slaves that come up after her. Another reason Duval is not very concerned is because despite the slowness of his water buffalo steed, he has been traveling to Grove 1 all along. As a successful kidnapping group leader, he already knew that the auction house on grove 1 was the most likely place for Caimie to be if the ones that took her had already dropped her off for sale. The point of sending the faster flying fish around the archipelago was to catch up to her in case she was still in the possession of the kidnappers or to at least find out anything they could about who took her and where she is now. Sanji calls this instinct but in actuality it is just logic and knowledge of the business. Unfortunately for Duval’s pride, his steed is so slow that even though he was traveling to Grove 1 the entire time, the flying fish that his subordinates ride are so much faster that Chopper was able to get there before Sanji and Duval.

Quarrels

just because the Tentyuubito shouldn't be touched doesn't mean this guy can't get beaten

When Franky arrives at the auction house, he finds that Hachi, Pappagg, Sanji, Chopper, and Nami are already there and the cook is causing a scene. He is having an argument with the clown themed doorman at the entrance and demanding that the guy brings Caimie back despite the fact that the guy is pretty low on the totem pole. Even though Sanji alone could most likely take out every one of the armored guards present in addition to this asshole, the guy continues to act high and mighty because he considers himself better than pirates. In his mind, all he needs to do is hint to his kidnapper connections that certain pirates are deserving of being caught for slave trade while he, an “upstanding citizen” is immune from being targeted by kidnappers. Nami brings up the issue of the World Government and suggests that the auction house or kidnappers must be using bribes to stay open despite government laws. The guy not so subtly hints that the World Government is in on it and allows it willingly but unofficially. Basically, the idea is that since the slave trade is such a valued practice for the Tenryuubito, the Government allows it in order to appease them. Since they can’t officially announce their support it without losing the support of the world populace, they turn a blind eye to it as if they were completely unaware of its existence, which allows others on the archipelago to participate in it and help the industry thrive. The only thing that the government asks is that the kidnapped slaves not be law abiding citizens. Other races are fine because the government can ignore nations they are not allied with and even if the nation is allied, the other races are still minorities whose support they can afford to lose. Criminals are also alright since the disappearance of a criminal means more support from the loyal citizens.

Nami’s Selfless Side

i love Nami-san like this

When Franky threatens to blow up the auction house, Nami, Hachi, and Pappagg are tasked with calming down the hotheads, Franky and Sanji. Hachi stops Franky from attacking since it could cause collateral damage to Tenryuubito, which would bring the wrath of an admiral down on their heads. He also explains that even if they were somehow able to rescue Caimie by force, she most likely already has an exploding collar attached. If the auctioneer feels threatened, he could kill Caimie with the simple push of a button and there would be no chance of saving her. Nami decides that if they are going to save Caimie, they need to play by the nobles’ own rules and buy her “legally”. She estimates that the treasure she obtained from Thriller Bark is worth at least 200 million beli. Given that the average starting price for a mermaid is 70 million, that much cash should be enough to buy her back. It is a theme with Nami that despite her greed, there is one type of situation in which she becomes generous and that is when faced with female allies. Multiple times when there is a female supporting character that she becomes extremely close to, she becomes willing to part with her treasure. It started with Vivi when the princess promised her 1 billion beli to take her to Arabasta but in the end, Nami gave it up for the sake of her friend. More recently, after the zombie Lola saved her, Nami gave away treasure unprovoked to the zombie’s shadow’s true owner even though this human Lola didn’t even ask for any. Now Nami is once again more than willing to part with her treasure for the sake of a friend. She bonds with female companions relatively quickly (as opposed to male companions who she has too much fun extorting) and is often the first to stand up for them.

Evil Eye

is there a name besides supernovae for bounties above 300 million?

As the four Strawhats enter the auction house along with Pappagg and Hachi, they are quickly noticed by the Kidd crew. While Sanji ogles the dancer girl that is currently being sold, Kidd himself looks them over and is disappointed to see that Strawhat Luffy is not among them. He clearly has an interest in checking out the Strawhat captain since they are the only two pirates on the archipelago currently at or above a 300 million bounty. This little scene along with what we saw of him last week makes me see him as having a superiority complex and is brash and cruel enough to pick fights with pretty much anyone at the drop of a hat, but he is not without enough common sense to avoid actually hurting a Tenryuubito. This at least takes out my theory that Kidd would be the one to hurt a Tenryuubito and summon the arc’s true villain. He is very proud of his reputation since it causes his name to strike fear and respect in others. Since Luffy is pretty close to his bounty, he wants to be certain that this other rookie is as much of a joke as the rumors say so that he can prove he is better. I am still highly doubtful that Kidd will be the main enemy of the arc since his bounty is still lower than Moria’s was at least ten years earlier. In addition, despite the slight bit of self-restraint that I have added into my view of his character since my first analysis, he still seems more like an asshole that just needs to be put in his place than a villain that needs to be defeated to serve a higher purpose. Given that the other Strawhats are on their way right now, I’ll guess that Kidd will get to meet Luffy soon enough. Due to the fact that Luffy is traveling with only a mere flying fish rider and not a Strawhat capable of stopping him, I’m guessing that we’ll see the Strawhat captain make a big entrance and pretty much try to save Caimie in the same way Franky was going to (except probably with less risk of actually injuring a Tenryuubito). He’ll try to save Caimie regardless of the collar. Fortunately, we have already seen that Rayleigh has taken an interest in Caimie’s safety and if he witnesses Luffy pulling off a very Roger-like action, he may become more willing to help the Strawhats directly in aiding their escape. In this situation, even if the Tenryuubito are uninjured, we can assume that they will call for some type of assistance from either a marine officer of some high rank or a very skilled bounty hunter. Kidd will also probably factor into the escape somehow, possibly trying to confront Luffy as the Strawhats leave but will instead face the full might of Silvers Rayleigh.

War on the Horizon

Drake's specific background makes him very intriguing for this arc

While the Kidd and Law crews hang out at the auction house with the Strawhats on the way, the other supernovae are the first to receive information regarding the global conflict from the newspaper. We see the ones that met Zoro simply giving shocked looks but Oda gives the actual delivery of the information to the only remaining supernova we have not yet seen since 498, Drake. He announces to his crew that the World Government is planning a public execution of Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates. Up until now, Whitebeard would be angry that Ace lost and is in prison, but would still have enough common sense to declare war on the World Government. If anything, he would just be looking for Blackbeard alone as the man who murdered his nakama and then beat up and turned in his former commander. If the World Government actually plans to kill Ace though, that changes Whitebeard’s objectives drastically. At that point, the rescue of a nakama who has not yet been killed takes precedence over avenging those already fallen. In this case though, since Blackbeard is a Shichibukai and thus on the same side as the government, the two goals overlap. If they actually go through with the execution before Whitebeard can intervene, he holds the entire military chain of command responsible for this death since the order came from the very top. In short, the announcement of the execution as well as its public display is a direct declaration of war from the government to Whitebeard. The government has problems fighting the Yonkou because taking the offensive spreads their forces too thin and the forces can be attacked by any of the Yonkou along the way to the target. Ace’s execution is bait in order to draw only Whitebread without the other three to the doorstep of the Marines so that the government will have the advantage in terms of both numbers and terrain. They can freely use the full force of their admirals, vice-admirals, and the two present Shichibukai, Kuma and Blackbeard.

The one aspect of this announcement that seems to be ignored is the reaction of Ace’s family. The execution is intended to infuriate Whitebeard, but we have no word on the reactions of Ace’s brother, father, or grandfather. Luffy has not yet been informed though he likely will be by the end of this arc or sooner. I’m not certain how he will react to it since he has already proclaimed his desire keep his journey separate from Ace’s. However, if faced with the prospect of his brother’s death, I’m not so certain that Luffy can sit back and simply trust in his brother’s ability to survive. There are two or three scenarios I deem as somewhat likely though Oda’s unpredictability makes this kind of thing insane to guess at in the first place. One scenario is that this matter gets put on hold until the end of this arc during which it is announced that Ace is dead (though Luffy might not hear the news) and Whitebeard’s war will continue. I don’t see Luffy acting under this scenario because Luffy directly fighting the government works better under a different chain of events. Should Oda decide to send the Strawhats into the global conflict within an arc or two of entering the New World, then I would more suspect that Ace will not have been killed yet and Luffy decides to stop the execution after hearing about it. This leads to one or two small arcs on islands in between Fishman Island and the execution location. The only way I see for Luffy to go help Ace is if at the end of it, either Luffy personally witnesses the execution or gets Ace to travel with them. The option of death is pretty clear as to why I see it as possible since it gives Luffy the motivation to jump headfirst into the global conflict and become a major player in it. The second option of joining is something I explained a few reviews back as a theory. Basically, if Luffy reaches Ace and by that time Whitebeard has been either captured or killed (by either Blackbeard or Sengoku I am guessing), Ace will have a reason to travel with his brother to either save or avenge his captain. The reason I support Ace joining the crew is because his presence serves a purpose, which was my main issue with Brooke’s recruitment throughout Thriller Bark. If the Strawhats are to join the global conflict, Ace provides knowledge and familiarity with the environment, major players, and objectives.

As for other reactions to Ace’s execution, we still do not know what is cooking in the heads of Garp or Dragon. Since Garp seemed to know that the war with Whitebeard was about to begin, he must have known about Ace’s execution already. This puts him in a bit of a dilemma as he must choose between his grandfatherly love and his responsibility to his rank in the marines. He seemed happy and giddy as always in his scene at the beginning of the chapter but inside I’m guessing that he is in fact sad and conflicted. He does not allow himself to show a sentimental side or a sad side and instead masks it with outward appearances of either joy or violence. For example, he was outwardly angry that Luffy became a pirate but was secretly proud that his grandson had become a strong young man. We will likely see him continue to act as a marine officer should and support the execution but when the time comes he will act as a grandfather and try to save him in some way. As for Dragon, there are likely only a few if any that know of Ace’s relation to Luffy, Garp, and Dragon and so they didn’t even consider how the revolutionary would react to this execution. We have seen Dragon save Luffy from execution before and it is likely that he would want to save his other son as well though I think that unlike Ace, Luffy is someone that Dragon has big plans for and the savior at Logue town was partly for his family love and partly for his grand scheme. He will be a bit of a wild card and if he does play a part in the scenario of Ace’s execution, it will not be until the final hour.

Overall

Whew! I can’t wait till school ends so I can get these done quicker. Oda really knows how to end each chapter with some big revelation that goes into a completely different subplot each week. We’ve gone from the big supernovae naming to Caimie’s kidnapping to the first mate of Roger’s crew to Ace’s execution and more news on the global conflict. If there is any author that can handle so many subplots simultaneously, it is Oda. As always, I can’t wait to see what happens next chapter. Also, just as a warning, there is a chance that I might not get around to making a review next week due to finals. I’ll try to since it is a great way for me to relax, but I’m not certain if it will be possible. If I don’t make one, then I will make a double the next week as I always do.

conan · Jun 1, 2008