General Thriller Bark Re-Reading One Piece Manga

[Larsi]

I didn’t catch on my first read that Yosaku/Johnny telegraphed Mihawk’s appearance. Look at Zoro’s face!

Well, they were wrong, it wasn't actually mihawk they were talked about, we found out later.

 

[Ichimonji]

Well, they were wrong, it wasn't actually mihawk they were talked about, we found out later.

Yep! Good catch! still enjoyed Zoro’s face!

 

[Larsi]

Yeah definitely lol.

It was really hard choosing a favorite moment per chaptrr several times

 

[Infinity]

What arc are y'all reading this week?
[automerge]1681262691[/automerge]
Nvm, I see it in the thread, reading Arlong Park as we speak

 

[Ichimonji]

Arlong Park
Great arc. Still holds as the best arc prior to entering Grand Line. The complexity of Nami’s backstory and a great villain in Arlong were MVPs. This brought back great memories. In this arc, we really get to see the Marine corruption. My only complaint is Arlong was too linear with no backstory shown (yet). Doffy, for example, had great depth as a villain.

Best Character: Nami. As it should be, it’s her arc.

Favorite Panel: Chapter 81: Tears (no question)

Spoiler: Arlong Park Panels

Either I did not know or forgot that the World Government takes a cut from Shichibukai pirating activities. How corrupt!

Loved Zoro here. As way of background, Zoro tests Nami by jumping in the water, all tied up. Nami goes and rescues him, showing she cares. Top tier Zoro moment here.

This is the only panel that showed Arlong with some emotion, other than being insulted being called half-fish. Arlong showed he cared about his bretheren. Arlong still lacking depth, but good to see!

Bellmere had such a great end. Anyone can have children. Not everyone can be a parent. This made me tear-up. Respect, Bellmere.

Leeeeeeetttt’s goooooooo!! That’s my navigator! Come get these hands!

I would love this framed. Love how this title panel was colored and styled.

Love Luffy mad, particularly to save someone he cares about. Chills.

Loved this panel. Luffy responds to Arlong when he says he would be the best captain to “use” Nami. Really puts into perspective how Luffy views his nakama. Emotional.

Look at this Garp scrub! Cut by Morgan! What a weakling!

Spoiler: Arc Easter Egg

What a callback this is from Oda! In Chapter 84, when challenged by Arlong, Zoro says the Grim Reaper himself can’t take him until he defeats Minawk.

The Grim Reaper tried in Chapter 1038!

 

[Larsi]

Finished reading Arlong Park, here's my favorite moment from each chapter:

Spoiler

69: Yosaku namedropping Jinbeu
70: nojiko convincing the boy not to get himself killed
71: nami saving zoro from drowning
72: usopp saving namis village by drawing arlongs attention
73: luffy and sanji beating up momo the sea cow
74: nami fooling arlong and his crew by pretending to kill usopp
75: the fishmen fodderizing the marines
76: luffy refusing to leave
77: bellemere finding baby nami and little nojiko
78: bellemere refusing to say she doesnt have kids
79: little nami deciding to save her village
80: arlongs betrayal
81: nami finally asking luffy for help, him putting his hat on her head, the rest of the crew preparing to take in arlong, its one of my favorite moments if not the favorite moment in all of one piece
82: luffy decking arlong
83: usopp drawing the attention of the fishman away from the townspeople again
84: sanji and zoro standing up to fight again
85: zoro taking down hachi
86: sanji diving in to save luffy
87: usopp still refusing to let the fishman run back
88: luffy waking up
89: luffy breaking free
90: luffy admitting his weaknesses, but still determined in his own strength and comrades
91: luffys shark teeth
92: luffy breaking atlongs blade in anger at his comment of using nami
93: luffy destroying the room that had brought nami so much pain
94: nezumi getting beaten up by everyone
95: genzo having his pinwheel all along to cheer up nami
Start of 96: luffy's first bounty

I'm including the start of 96 since i feel like before they get to loguetown they're still in arlong park arc.

This arc is so good man. Arlong is still portrayed as a bit cartoony with how simplistic he is in his mindset, but he's definitively the best villain in East Blue, I'm not counting Smoker since I don't count him as a villain really.

Great character moments for all of the straw hats. Nami best of all, Luffy probably second. Usopp's thing of deciding to man up and not run away hasn't gotten old yet(it definitely has in the current manga). Zoro and Sanji almost being buddies openly is kinda strange.

The world is once again getting bigger, the story is getting more nuanced.

Most of all I was reading like this a lot:


@Ichimonji Garp isn't a weakling, Morgan is clearly admiral level

 

[Larsi]

Doing each of the three arcs separately

Loguetown favorite parts:

Spoiler

Rest of 96: mihawk showing shanks luffys bounty
97: zoro finding and obtaining kitetsu
98: smoker apologizing for his pants eating the girl's ice cream
99: luffy surviving the execution because he's struck by lightning
100: dragon saving luffy

Short, nice arc with both callbacks and foreshadowing. Sets the stage for the grand line well.

 

[Larsi]

Reverse Mountain:

Spoiler

101: the sea kings emerging in the calm belt
102: luffy being an idiot and fighting laboon
103: foreshadowing brook and his first pirate crew
104: luffy promising to come back and meet laboon again
105: crocus "talking to" roger

Nice little breather and setup arc, wiyh a sense of wonder with laboon. Alluding to Brook and Roger was also nice

 

[Ichimonji]

Lougetown
Great transition arc. Shorter than I remember. Love the duality of Smoker from being a hard-ass to the ice cream girl. I was a bit taken aback on how easy it was to trap Luffy, but also glad to see Buggy getting a win.

Best Character: Dragon. Smoker is close second. If I didn’t know the importance of Dragon’s character - i.e. this was my first read - I’d probably go Smoker.

Favorite Panel: Chapter 100: The Legend Has Begun, pg. 17

Spoiler: Lougetown Panels

Red-Haired Pirates second intro looks badass. To me, it was a direct contrast to Straw Hats as of now - Red Hairs are a grow up pirate crew! This ain’t your kid’s pirate crew!

This panel flew under the radar for my first read-about (and anime). All this talk about dreams, and we get a second theory of fate. Love that. Luffy is the son of Dragon, grandson of Garp, pupil of Rayleigh, protege of Shanks, is Joyboy. I mean dude has fate written all over him!

This reminds me of OG Naruto. In the fight against Neji, Naruto goes on this rant about how he created his own path and tells Neji not to be bogged down by “fate”. Mfer, you’re the last person who should be saying that, Mr. Child of Prophecy-son of 4th-Jiraiya trained-9-tailed looking ass kid!

Obligatory panel of Dragon’s flex. Loved the “he smiled” throwback too!

The heavens want Luffy to survive. Close enough. Dragon fits that role. Although, I lol that Dragon saves Luffy from bum Buggy and Smoker, but let’s him be railed by Crocodile, Doffy, Big Mom, Akainu, Kaido, etc.

This panel gave me chills. I audibly heard Roger’s voice as I read it. Also note those four things: will, destiny, freedom, and dreams, are all Joyboy. Nice foreshadowing!

SH’s ready to go on the Grand Line, with their dreams in reach! Leeeeeet’s goooooo! If when charging to the last island, they all did this again, I would shout!

 

[Larsi]

Whiskey Peak:

Spoiler

106: zoro sleeping through all the commotion
107: zoro vs 100 bounty hunters
108: the entire chapter felt like one long moment, and it was all good
109: zoro finishing off his 3 opponents without luffy being harmed
110: nami extorting igaram
111: zoro saving vivi
112: i hate the luffy vs zoro fight, its so out of character, but mr 5 and ms valentine being like flies being swatted is so funny
113: vivi blurting out crocodiles identity
114: robin appearing and trolling most of the crew

Outside of the stupid luffy vs zoro fight, its a fun little arc. It sets up a good mystery and builds suspense well.

 

[Larsi]

@Ichimonji come on slacker

Favorite parts in Little Garden:

Spoiler

115: dinosaurs and giants!
116: dorry and broggy having fought for one hundred years
117: usopp deciding he wants to br a brave warrior like the giants
118: dorry fighting regardless of his injuries
119: mr 3's plan starting off strong
120: plan is still going strong
121: mr. 3 tutning full bond villain
122: luffy showing up to save the day right before zoro cuts off his legs
123: luffy using mr. 3s powers against him
124: usopp breaking luffy free from the mind control
125: luffy, usopp and karoo fighting so hard to save the others
126: sanji picking up the phone from crocodile
127: sanji tricking crocodile
128: smoker tricking the baroque works agent
129: the giants killing the island eater

Mr. 3 presents one of the few actual threatening moments so far in the series, where its believable that he'll succeed.

Dorry and Broggy are fun, the lead up to Alabasta is good. Actually seeing crocodile is great. The straw hats persevering is great.

 

[Ichimonji]

[will try to get one a day until caught up!]

Reverse Mountain
Nice transition arc. I love the world-building in this arc, setting the geographic stage for the Grand Line and all that awaits our beloved crew. Laboon was a great story. Even greater story Luffy fighting him to get him to stop ramming the Grand Line. Whether whales, dogs, or cats, we don’t deserve animals!

Best Character: Laboon. No question.

Favorite Panel: Chapter 105: Log Pose, pg. 20

Spoiler: Reverse Mountain Panels

Geographic galore! As I mentioned, the world building in this arc is great. That is what One Piece is best at: world-building.

LAAAAAABOOOOOON IIINNNNTTTTROOOOOOO!!!

This is hilarious! But also more hilarious that Crocus can probably spank all of them at this stage, being Pirate King’s doctor.

This is interesting. If Crocus was with Laboon for 50 years, and Roger was executed 20 years ago, then that means that Crocus left the lighthouse to join Roger Pirates 20-ish years ago. Then, he came back. We later find out that Roger also came down Reverse Mountain and that’s when Crocus and Roger met. Crocus then joined to stabilize Roger in his illness, wanting to sail and find out what happened to the Rumbar Pirates.

Favorite moment of the arc. The promise! This reinvigorates my theory that Luffy Will tear down Red Line and join the oceans. That way, able to see Laboon again.

Take my tears!

Nice explanation on how Log Poses work and the different routes. Following the journey of other pirates and other routes would be cool.

I don’t know why this was funny to me, but Crocus knows what is in Raftel - he was there! Old men keep their secrets!

[automerge]1682898907[/automerge]
Whiskey Peak
Nice set-up arc. Unlike the ones preceding it, this one has plenty of laughs! It was a good palate cleanser from the emotions to see so much comedy. For me, the funniest arc so far!

Best Character: Zoro

Favorite Panel: Chapter 112: Luffy vs. Zoro, pg. 17

Spoiler: Whiskey Peak Panels

Another detail I didn’t know: if WG gets a corpse instead of an alive bounties person, they only pay 70% of the bounty.

This arc was all Zoro. We start with the sudden threat on ”curly hair”. How many tombstones you want?

These two tried to trick Zoro. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter!

Probably my second favorite panel of the arc. I can practically hear Ms. Monday’s whimpers.

The first time around I didn’t think anything of it. Now knowing the feet it’ll have, and Alabasta’s seat on Reverie, this reveal is HUGE! Funny how much dropping down the hair changes one’s facial expressions.

My favorite part of the arc was the Zoro and Nami banter. Hilarious! Zoro is so mad, Nami straight manipulating! This next panel encapsulates it.

Lmao at Luffy going all out without an explanation! Prior to Enies Lobby, where Luffy got gears, I’ve always believed Zoro and Luffy were equal in power.

Loves how high and mighty Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine talked so much shit, just to be one-shouted by these two monsters. This panel, them telling them they are interfering in their fight, was great.

Probably the funniest panel in the arc. They go through all this trouble and Vivi blabs. Also hilarious the Unluckies painting Nami and she returning, realizing there was no way out, lmao.

Mandatory One Piece Georgaphy for my collection! Iparapara looks so stupid!

[automerge]1682987485[/automerge]
Little Garden
Solid arc. I enjoyed this arc because of Mr. 3’s cunningness. Kuro was cunning, but did not show it inside battle. Mr. 3 and his strategies were a nice break from the straight-up fighting. His ploy was fun to watch unfold. It’s how assassins in a organization such as Baroque Works would operate. I thoroughly enjoyed Broggy & Dorry. Great introduction to giants. Real men keep their word!

One thing I picked up in my second go-to is how the giants referred to Elbaf as a god. Can’t wait to see what Oda does with that. I theorize he’s a figure in the Void Century hailed as a god.

Best Character: Mr. 3. As Larsi said, a true Bond villain.

Favorite Panel: Chapter 116: Huuuge, pg. 17-18

Spoiler: Little Garden Panels

This is just funny! All these dinosaurs and Luffy decides to ride one!

Usopp had already said it, but here is the moment where his dream of becoming a Brave Warrior of the Seas is solidified!

Mr. 3 was a lot cooler and masterful than I remember. Gave off mastermind villain vibes! Great showing!

Man, what a statement. Honor goes both ways!

”Not Particularly”. Man has half of his feet cut. What a G!

While not my favorite panel of the arc, this is my favorite moment. I laughed so hard, the same way I did 20 years ago. And yes, I have done this post as a kid.

The Bomu Bomu no Mi is so artful! Looks at its beauty! Still disappointed it was wasted on scrawny Mr. 5.

Loved this panel because, knowing what happened in Impel Down, and how hype Luffy was for becoming a Candle Champion, this brings it full circle!

Luffy finds the real Mr. 3 in a sea of Doru copies. Luffy the blasts the right one - says it was just instinct. On re-read, this was clearly Kenboshoku haki!

Crocodile is my favorite character. Obligatory introduction Croco panel!

 

[Larsi]

Theres funny moments in the zoro vs luffy fight, but its such a stupid and out of character moment for luffy.

I never really like Mr. 3 until this reread. He's really good here, though i feel like he got taken out a bit abruptly in the end.

 

[Larsi]

My favorite parts of each chapter in Drum Island:

Spoiler

130: vivi deciding to save nami first of all
131: luffy blasting wapol away
132: the crew resorting to not use violence against the villagers
133: luffy and sanji braving the elements for nami
134: kureha healing the child
135: dalton transforming, first zoan appearance i think, other than chopper
136: dalton sacrificing himself to save the villagers
137: sanji sacrificing himself to save nami
138: luffy reaching the castle
139: proper introduction/explanation for chopper
140: the crew wanting to recruit chopper
141: chopper crying as he chews on the bread
142: chopper being given his name by hiriluk
143: chopper fighting through hell to find the mushroom that he thinks will cure hiriluk
144: hiriluk sacrificing his last moments to help someone, twice
145: "a man dies when he is forgotten"
146: luffy just leaving in the middle of the fight to get warmer clothes
147: usopp offering to carry dalton up the mountain even though he's terrified
148: luffy protecting the flag with his body
149: chopper wrecking using his rumble ball
150: nothing going right for wapol
151: luffy ignoring wapols offers and taking him out
152: luffy not accepting choppers excuses to not join the crew
153: kureha sending off snow cherry blossoms to see chopper off
154: chopper officially joining the crew

Its a good arc, though the villain in the story is underwhelming. We do see first glimpses of ace, blackbeard pirates and the reverie, all big things. Chopper is likeable, dalton and kureha are pretty good.

But I hate hiriluk so much. And love him at the same time. He's both bad and sweet at the same time. I almost think he had as bad of an effect on the citizens as wapol, he really should just have not done anything with medicine, except for inspire chopper, he still did that wrong though. Still, I loved several of the emotional beats of him and him with chopper.

 

[Ichimonji]

Drum Island Arc
Solid, not great. I had told Larsi Drum was my favorite before Enies Lobby, but will have to change my pick. Upon re-read, it lacked battle intensity and was predictable. Wapol was just a horrible villain and never challenged Luffy. I would even wager a healthy Sanji could have beat him. The arc was funny, though. The Hiluluk/Chopper connection was why I held it so high. The healing the country with cherry blossoms still gives me chills.

Best Character: Chopper.

Favorite Panel: Chapter 153: Hiluluk’s Cherry Blossoms, pg. 14-15

Spoiler: Drum Island Panels

Geography Tracking post! Vivi explains the types of islands in the seas.

Sanji being chivalrous and throwing Nami out the way, sacrificing himself.

Always be kind! Nice, Luffy!

Naturally, Lapin returns the favor. One good deed sparks another!

Cover Story. Just odd. I didn’t know Jango had heart eyes! Lol.

First time Chopper hides backwards! Legendary!

I had forgotten the disease Nami got was in Little Garden. No one recognized it because it’s so old! Thankfully, Kureha is old!

Probably my second favorite moment of the chapter. I know this feels when my wife won’t stay resting when sheKs sick. The eyes of Kureha!

Luffy just stays asking peeps to join his crew. Imagine if Kureha had joined!

First time we see Chopper embarrassed! Legendary! Can’t hide his emotions! This is one of my favorite character ticks.

First time Chopper was asked to be in the crew was Nami, wanting to get a doctor so they could rush to Alabasta. Luffy was chasing Chopper to eat him!

Kureha then explains why Chopper initially said no. “Wounds not even a doctor can heal”. Chills.

Luffy then asks Chopper to join, not knowing he’s a doctor. Luffy just wanted a cool monster in his crew! Luffy’s a kid.

Just take all my tears! All of them! You know how Chopper has like a metal thing on his left horn base? This is why. It’s how he put his horn back together after it was broken trying to get the mushroom.

These next few panels took my heart. A father’s love. He wanted Chopper to feel better. The realization must have been heart-breaking. Amazing story.

Third favorite speech in One Piece for me. This is why I’m such a fan of One Piece. Just masterful in execution and story.

Chopper starts to come around to joining SHs in this panel. First time anyone had ever called him friend.

Chopper still says no at the end. His heart is still broken, still unwilling to trust.

Luffy responds by telling him “Oh just shut up and come with us already!” Just his carefree nature and love. This made me smile.

 

[Larsi]

Drum Island Arc
Solid, not great. I had told Larsi Drum was my favorite before Enies Lobby, but will have to change my pick. Upon re-read, it lacked battle intensity and was predictable. Wapol was just a horrible villain and never challenged Luffy. I would even wager a healthy Sanji could have beat him. The arc was funny, though. The Hiluluk/Chopper connection was why I held it so high. The healing the country with cherry blossoms still gives me chills.

Best Character: Chopper.

Favorite Panel: Chapter 153: Hiluluk’s Cherry Blossoms, pg. 14-15

Nifty part on the metal part of his horn, especially since real life reindeer regrow their antlers every year. I wonder if it is because the hito hito no mi thoroughly changed chopper beyond his transformations? Or oda just not knowing that fact?

 

[Larsi]

Reading Alabasta and it really does a good job of making you feel as if its hopeless.

 

[Larsi]

Alabasta is long lol

Spoiler: Favorite parts per chapter

155: Crocodile taking out the pirates that were attacking Alabasta
156: The crew already coming up with a plan to deal with mr 2
157: Ace and Smoker meeting and bantering
158: Luffy being oblivious to Ace and Smoker even though he's in the same room as them and crashes into Smoker
159: Ace oneshotting 5 ships. TBH more impressive than Mihawk's introduction
160: Mr. 1 vs Mr. 2
161: Luffy getting a crowd of Jugon apprentices
162: Luffy being tricked out of the supplies by a bunch of birds playing dead.
163: Koza taking in and respecting Vivi as one of the gang.
164: Koza protecting Vivi
165: Crocodile revealing himself to the officers in Baroque Works
166: Luffy literally knocking sense into Vivi about accepting their help.
167: King Cobra wasting no time going after Crocodile when he finds out he's behind everything.
168: Luffy and Usopp walking up to Smoker and Tashigi randomly.
169: Crocodile Trapping the Straw Hats and Smoker in the world's most obvious trap.
170: Robin taking out Pell.
171: Mr. 1 and Mr. 2 causing complete chaos to set up the rebellion.
172: Crocodile's fruits of rebellion finally ripening.
173: Vivi being brave enough to fight the bananadile.
174: Sanji tricking Crocodile and luring him away so he can save the Straw Hats.
175: Chopper also tricking Crocodile.
176: Luffy engaging Crocodile for the first time.
177: Luffy repeatedly interrupting Crocodile's speech by punching him.
178: Luffy's first defeat.
179: Luffy waking up as the rebellion starts and the pieces fall into place.
180: Robin saving Luffy.
181: The Straw Hats fooling Baroque Works by pretending to be Vivi.
182: Vivi seeing through Mr. 2's disguise due to the X mark they made.
183: Karoo doing his best to save Vivi.
184: Usopp's "5-ton" hammer
185: Chopper blowing up Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas with their own cannon.
186: Usopp standing up for Luffy's dream,
187: Vivi willing to destroy the palace to stop the rebellion.
188: Sanji seeing through Mr. 2's weakness.
189: Sanji and Mr. 2 respecting each other in the end.
190: Nami being unable to make the Clima Tact work.
191: Nami then being able to figure out the Clima Tact.
192: Crocodile namedropping Pluton.
193: Nami winning her fight.
194: Zoro tossing a building.
195: Zoro using haki, by far the first Straw Hat to do so.
196: Crocodile still being untouched even after all the elite soldiers.
197: Crocodile's organization once again foiling attempts to stop the rebellion, this time by shooting Koza.
198: Luffy returns.
199: Luffy decking Crocodile.
200: Luffy just beating up Crocodile.
201: Luffy's second defeat.
202: Poneglyph revealed.
203: Cobra trying to bury Robin and Crocodile alive.
204: Luffy using blood to beat Crocodile.
205: Luffy withstanding Crocodile and his poison.
206: Vivi being thrown all the way up the clock tower.
207: Crocodile's bomb being on a timer, cutting the fuse not being enough.
208: Pell's sacrifice(Would be even better if it wasn't a fakeout)
209: Luffy defeating Crocodile.
210: The rain returning.
211: The end of conflict.
212: Smoker telling the World Government to shove off about giving him and Tashigi credit for defeating Crocodile.
213: New bounty for Luffy and first bounty for Zoro.
214: Bon Clay saving the Merry.
215: Bon Clay sacrificing himself to let the Straw Hats get away.
216: Vivi and the Straw Hats' farewell.
217: Robin asking to join the crew.

Like I said before, Alabasta really feels hopeless so much of the time. Any time it gives you hope it is immediately squashed, in a totally believable way. Even then, the ending turning out good is also completely believable. Crocodile is an amazing villain, pretty much has the best parts of all previous villains in one piece. I feel like the arc could be a little bit shorter, but it feels really epic still. I like Vivi and several of the secondary characters even more than I did before. Easily the best arc so far. Favorite moment is of course Vivi's farewell at the end, the double page spread of the X marks on the arms farewell is so iconic.

 

[Larsi]

Jaya favorite parts per chapter:

Spoiler

218: Robin winning over the crew(except zoro)
219: Majira being an obvious idiot. (Fun fact, the ship that fell from the sky is from Briss)
220: The ship being eaten by a giant turtle.
221: The giant shadows on the horizon.
222: Robin solving their log pose conundrum.
223: Blackbeard introduced.
224: Luffy refusing to fight Bellamy.
225: "People's dreams never die!"
226: Robin having found the information they needed again.
227: The story of Noland he liar.
228: Montblanc wanting to find the gold to get bakc at Noland and those that ruined his life.
229: Luffy ready to risk almost certain death in the Knock up stream.
230: The south bird trolling Luffy.
231: Luffy off to kick ass.
232: Luffy oneshotting Bellamy.
233: Kuma and Doffy introduction.
234: Whitebeard introduction.
235: Entering the knock up stream.
236: Flying up the knock up stream.

Nice smaller arc, good setup and a few cool introductions. Not a whole lot to say about it. It's always longer than I remember when I do my rereads.

 

[Ichimonji]

Alabasta Arc: Part I
Loved Alabasta Part I! Better than I remember! It’s the first complete and truly long arc with many cycles. Seemed like a complete story for Alabasta. In this part, I loved how Croc was introduced, a true villain. He’s my fav character, so no suprise there. Mr. Prince was awesome here. I also loved the Baroque Work’s plan and how it strategically was built. Brilliant. Seeing Luffy lose at the end of Part I was amazing - you rarely see that with protagonists. Overall, really enjoyed it and held up. Vivi now jumps off the page knowing her importance down the OP manga!

Best Character: Crocodile.

Favorite Panel: Chapter 178: Grand Line Level, pg. 20

Spoiler: Alabasta I Panels

This will forever be one of my favorite running jokes in One Piece. Emergency Food Supply Lmao!

Easily the best intro in the series thus far. Crocodile is just so hype. Look at that man, just oozing coolness! Cut from different cloth, swine!

I can’t wait till the final farewell when they hoist their hands up. Man, if they do a callback later on in the series to this when Vivi sees SH again, I will fangirl.

Mr. 1’s intro was great. Just came out so hype. He‘s a bit more talkative than I remember. Also, forgot Mr. 2 gave him a good clash when they met here. Bon hype!

Crocodile is such a mastermind. Planned since Day 1. Everything was so interconnected and impactful. Pretty much manipulated a whole country! Such a good work here as a villain.

I rolfed when I read this panel. Luffy ate a hallucinogen and went crazy. Chopper tranquilizers hum. Peep Sanji’s reaction.

Always loved this scene. First time I saw it gave me chills. Also, I didn’t know Mr. 4 was “stronger” than Mr. 3, but was placed lower because Me. 3 was smarter. Interesting!

Ah, the legendary Luffy vs. Vivi. I did not see this coming the first time. The second time, I read it fondly. What a rare mature truth from Luffy. Really digging deep hitting in the feels.

This panel jumped off the page for me. Mainly because Crocodile seemed to have softened as the arcs went by. He is shown later keeping Mr. 1 (who failed him) and showing trust to him. Good (albeit it small) character development.

Just a straight savage. Mental torture for Vivi. So deliciously evil! Croco is so cool.

Probably my second favorite panel. I loved this rivalry banter between the two. Just pure hate in Luffy’s eyes, which we rarely see.

I had to pick out this panel. Everyone is trapped, about to die, and Sanji is posing. Luffy and Usopp of course hyping him up. Zoro don’t give a ***! Never passes an opportunity to insult Sanji! Lol

This panel took me by surprise! As way of background, when the casino foods, Luffy orders Zoro to save Smoker on a whim. Zoro begrudgingly does it. When confronted by Smoker, Zoro is annoyed he had to do it. Smoker then turns around and let’s them go. Zoro flashes a smile in response!

Zoro’s smile are like a needle in a haystack. I presume he found it honorable act by Smoker and flashed a rare smile. A gold nugget!