The Straw Hats crossed a desert to defend the kingdom of Alabasta, but the real adventure is about to begin! Crocodile and his army of assassins set their sights on King Cobra’s empire, Luffy and his mates get locked in the clink, and a regal imposter leads Vivi’s people towards a bloody uprising. Lucky for Luffy, Sanji and Chopper are still on the loose, and they’ve got a plan to spring their captain from the jaws of ravenous reptiles! While Princess Vivi struggles with the most difficult decision of her life, Monkey D. Luffy takes on the dastardly Crocodile in a deadly desert showdown!
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March 28, 2008
#1
If I need to tell you about this vol. of one piece you REALLY SHOLUD start from the 1st volume
March 28, 2008
#2
The first part of the Alabasta arc contained in Season 2, Fourth Voyage (technically this is about Season 4 of the original anime series) was mostly filler but nevertheless covered some exciting adventures as Luffy and Co. trudged through the desert to the rebel base in Yuba where they hoped to meet with Vivi’s friend Kohza and stop his planned attack on the capital Alubarna and on Vivi’s father King Cobra. Luffy’s brother Ace, who had travelled some distance with the group, has now parted ways with them to continue his search for Blackbeard, but he vows to meet Luffy again at the Pirate Summit (something that is happening just now in the manga series in Japan). Upon reaching Yuba, they find the town abandoned except for Kohza’s father, who is stubbornly digging for water. The rebel base, apparently, is now in Katorea, a town much closer to where the journey started in Nanohana. DOH!!
All of this is pleasing to Baroque Works leader, Crocodile, who is using the distraction of the civil war to facilitate his takeover of Alabasta. Meanwhile, Luffy and Co. converge upon Crocodile’s position in his casino at Rainbase. The Marine division led by Smoker and Tashigi arrive here at about the same time as the Straw Hat Pirates and eagerly pursue them. But this development plays into Crocodile’s plans as well, as the Straw Hats take refuge in the casino and fall into his trap along with Smoker. Sanji, Chopper, and Vivi help the rest of the group to escape, but the most crucial role is played by a former enemy once believed to be dead!
Once free, the Straw Hats find a much faster way to Alubarna. Crocodile tries to kidnap Vivi, but Luffy thwarts the effort and enthusiastically squares off against Crocodile. Unfortunately, Luffy learns the hard way that Crocodile is in an entirely different league than any of the opponents he’s fought before. Being made of sand and with an endless supply of sand to manipulate, Crocodile proves unstoppable and leaves Luffy to die. Thanks to an unexpected rescue by Ms. All Sunday, Luffy lives on, but he needs some time to recover.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew races on to Alubarna, where they find Crocodile’s Officer Agents waiting for them. They then separate to fight the Agents in a thrilling series of one-on-one battles! Usopp and Chopper take on the tag team of Mr. 4 and Ms. Merry Christmas in a bizarre fight combining elements of baseball and Whack-a-Mole (in this game, the mole can attack you too). Sanji takes on the playfully sadistic transvestite Mr. 2, who besides being a ballet dancer and face copier has kenpo fighting skills that rival Sanji’s. Mr. 2 is also aware of Sanji’s weakness for Nami and exploits this weakness fully. Nami, at long last, gets her first solo fight against Ms. Doublefinger, a dominatrix who can turn her whole body into deadly spikes. Luckily, Nami has a new weapon invented by Usopp called the Clima Tact that can create a variety of weather effects (including lightning). Unluckily, Nami hasn’t quite mastered the use of this weapon, and her life is on the line as this volume ends.
Next: Zoro vs. Mr. 1, Luffy’s arrival, what Crocodile really wants in Alabasta, the end of the war, and a new, unexpected addition to the Straw Hat crew.
March 28, 2008
#3
As is the case with each and every one of my One Piece reviews, I have to open by confessing a certain unwavering approval-factor of this series right off the bat. For a property with the word “shonen” right there in its title, the show is surprisingly devoid of the usual formulaic clichés that bog down most entries into the genre. Rather than endless fighting in some mystical tournament, One Piece has absolutely mastered the art of giving fighting fans what they want and blending it with a nice adventure-driven plot with unique (and likable) characters to boot. Suffice to say, I was hooked immediately.
That said, Season Two, Fifth Voyage contains episodes 104-116 of the ongoing saga across two discs. The packaging, as has been the case with all of the Region 1 releases thus far, consists of two thin packs within an attractive cardboard outer slipcase. Runtime comes in at 320 minutes and the show wears an appropriate if not slightly conservative TV 14 rating (due to a steady dose of cartoony violence rather than inappropriate language, nudity, or gore).
Language options are standard sub & dub, which means the viewer has the choice of the original Japanese dialog track (stereo) or an English dub (Dolby Digital 5.1) and the option of running English subtitles with either.
Special features consist of textless songs, Funimation trailers, and marathon play option (turns each disc into one continuous episode), and an English staff commentary over one episode (note: this last one is not located in the Special Features section but rather in the episode selection. It is very easy to miss!)
So let me begin writing about the story with a revelation I had in listening to the staff commentary even before taking aim at this particular story-chunk itself. Since One Piece is still running in Japan with no projected end, fans such as myself who thought the crew’s having landed upon the Island of Alabasta signified the beginning of the end of the ongoing voyage were downright wrong.
This story arc follows the exploits of the Strawhats as they continue to traverse the sandy isle of Alabasta just as the vile Crocodile and his minions begin to make their bid for control over King Cobra’s Empire. Using a really convincing impressionist/ ballerina, Croc manages to get Princess Vivi’s people fired up enough to where a violent uprising begins to take root.
Worse still, the crew finds themselves locked away in a prison cell while all of this madness unfolds and the grand finale comes in the form of an out-of-character enraged Luffy takes on Crocodile in an epic battle of fisticuffs across the desert sands.
While fans of the show aren’t going to want to hear this, I have suspected a gradual “slowing” of the plot pacing for some time now; a theory only further confirmed by the fact that the tale intends not to conclude until further notice. That said, this particular collection of episodes manages to accomplish some lofty plot points despite the fact that the pace’s sublime slow-down is felt throughout.
In all though, One Piece is certainly different enough from most ongoing shonen serials out there that it warrants consideration for its ability to combine grand adventure with the battle elements. I can’t say that this has been the best chapter of the saga thus far but it flows along with purpose and a bit of resolve by the conclusion.