One Piece 27

Eiichiro Oda – Viz – 2010 – 56+ volumes

Yes.  I remembered correctly.  This volume confirmed my suspicions that Skypeiea was far better than Alabasta.  By the end of the volume, the stage is completely set, and the situation is quite a grand one, though I don’t really want to spoil anything (it involves treasure hunting, a native population, and Kami and his people).  The rest of the volumes will probably just be a series of fights and flashbacks, but I believe the treasure hunting element makes it a lot more fun than it has any right to be, as does the fact that the stage is a weird, hyped-up jungle with gigantic plants, south birds, snakes, and things like that.  Not a whole lot of fighting happens here after Luffy and company finish off Satori (haha) and Chopper and company deal with the errant Shura.  But that’s okay, because the exposition here is amazing.

I like the character designs here too, particularly on Gedatsu, Eneru, and Wyper.  Wyper mostly for the facial tattoos, Eneru for the crazyness inherent in him (the long Buddha earlobes and the thunder king drums he’s got going on), and Gedatsu for his crazy hair and winning personality.  We do get to meet Eneru, the Kami, this volume, though he does very little aside from introduce himself in a silly way.  Gedatsu and Wyper don’t really do all that much, either, but I think we’ll get to see them in action next volume, whereas Eneru still has a bit to wait.

Technically, the plot is currently a clash between Eneru’s men and the Shandians in Upper Yard, with the Straw Hats just passing through for treasure, but Eneru tells his men to keep an eye on the Straw Hats instead of the Shandians.  In addition to crazy strength, I forgot that Eneru’s men also do some sort of mantra that lets them see their opponent’s moves in advance, which makes fighting difficult, as you can imagine.  It’s implied that Satori was only defeated because he let his mantra slip, so let’s see how the others take direct confrontation with the Straw Hats.

There’s also plenty of humor here, in case you were wondering.  I can’t even really point out the best bits, because it’s all good in context.

On to the next volume!  It’s the last of the ones I have here, and should end on a nasty cliffhanger, as opposed to the nice, adventurous ending this one has.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.