The Everlasting One Piece Readalong: Vol. 7-9
Welcome back to the Everlasting One Piece Readalong. If you’re just joining us, you can find our previous adventures in our readalong tag. This week, we’re tackling the third omnibus collection, containing Volume 7, 8, and 9.
Volume 7-9 Overview
Luffy and Sanji take on Don Krieg. We learn more about Sanji’s past via a time skip (prepare your tissues). Yosaku and Johnny track Nami, who ran off with the Straw Hats ship and treasure, back to an island that’s under the control of pirates! Nami’s past and the true depths of her strength are revealed to some of her crew, and a reluctant plea for help emerges…
The Adventure Continues…
In our last installment, the action ended just as Sanji revealed his awesome kicking power. We return to the battle between Don Krieg and the fighting cooks; the latter refuses to cede their ship. Don Krieg’s second unit commander, the Invincible Pearl, steps into the battle and takes out several fighting cooks, bragging all the while. Sanji vows to take him down. Pearl boasts that he’s never shed blood in battle and doesn’t plan to start. Sadly for the Invincible Pearl, across the ocean a bit, Don Krieg has taken advantage of Luffy’s distraction by Pearl to attack him.
Luffy dodges the attack, but it launches him directly into Pearl, who ends up with a bloody nose. This triggers Pearl’s defensive fire move. He surrounds himself with fire and sends fireballs spiraling everywhere. Sanji throws himself into the fire and successfully lands a kick on Pearl, who responds by sending fireballs toward Zeff. Zeff, even with his peg leg, easily dispatches them by creating wind with a fast kick. Pearl isn’t making things easier for Krieg, though, and Krieg launches a huge spiked ball-anchor toward the Baratie. Luffy quickly launches it back with his Gum Gum Balloon skill, which destroys Krieg’s mast. The mast tilts and falls over…
…directly onto Pearl’s head. Pearl’s having a very bad day.
With Pearl out of commission for the moment, Sanji and Luffy have caught a break! Except then Gin reappears in the fight! (We met Gin in our last post, if you need a refresher.) He calls out for them to give up. He’s taken Zeff hostage at gunpoint. Gin demands that Sanji and his allies surrender, but Sanji refuses.
Pearl manages to pull himself together and step back into battle. He holds Sanji accountable for his first injuries—ever! Sanji can’t fight back without Gin shooting Zeff so everyone can only watch as Pearl hammers on Sanji over and over again. Gin, in a state of shock, tells Sanji that all he needs to do is hand over the ship. But Sanji can’t. He admits to taking everything from Zeff and so he’ll never let something that Zeff values be lost.
Flashback alert!
We enter the now-familiar flashback, and meet Sanji nine years before as a cook’s apprentice. He’s entranced by a story about the All Blue, a sea with every type of fish from all the oceans. The other cooks joke with him because they don’t believe it exists, but Sanji is convinced that it does. He swears he’ll be the one to find it and cook amazing things.
Sanji has big dreams, but he’s still a little kid. He sticks up his nose at leftovers from the returned plates. The other cooks tell him not to be so snobby, since being food insecure at sea can be the difference between life and death, but he doesn’t listen.
Very shortly Sanji regrets his aversion to leftovers when his ship is attacked by pirates! It’s Red Shoes Zeff, captain of the Pirate Cooks! The pirates steal all the treasure, although Zeff refuses to let his crew steal a huge bag of food. Sanji stands up for himself because he refuses to die before he finds the All Blue. He attacks Zeff but is quickly dispatched. Around the ship, there’s a massive storm, and before the pirates can load the treasure and leave, a wave sweeps Sanji into the ocean. Zeff, in a move that shocks his crew, attempts to rescue him.
When the storm clears, Sanji and Zeff are trapped on a huge rock with no resources and no access to the ocean. Zeff gives Sanji five days worth of food, claiming the larger portion for himself because he’s an adult. He commands Sanji to stay on his side of the island unless he sees a ship. We learn that Zeff doesn’t have enough food to survive, and so he makes a sacrifice: he chops his own leg off so he can eat it and stay alive.
Sanji carefully rations his food and he makes it quite awhile. But on the 70th day, he caves and peeks over to the other side of the island. He sees a giant bag, stuffed full, and he challenges Zeff for the food he believes that’s in it. But when he slices it open, he discovers it’s full of treasure, and then finds out that Zeff cut off his own leg for food. Sanji doesn’t understand Zeff’s position, but Zeff explains that Sanji has the same dream as Zeff did: to find the All Blue. By saving Sanji, his dream is over, because he’s lost his leg and his crew to the ocean.
But in One Piece, characters don’t stay down for long: Zeff knows that the ocean is brutal and deadly. Of all the pirates in the world, Zeff is one that has the ability to create a floating restaurant in the middle of the ocean, an oasis for the hungry, and run it and its crew. Sanji swears to help him as long as he survives…
On the 85th day, they’re rescued, and the heartbreaking backstory of Sanji finally ends (it’s okay to cry, promise). Sanji tells Gin he’s not going to stop defending the dream Zeff adopted after costing him the first. Sanji will defend the Baratie until death. So he allows Pearl to continue wreaking havoc.
End Flashback Alert!
Luffy, frustrated, uses his Gum Gum Battle Axe to destroy the part of the ship they’re fighting on. He’s going to sink the ship so the pirates can’t have it. The fighting cooks and Sanji aren’t having this, but Luffy is furious and tells Sanji that Zeff didn’t save his life just for him to throw it away. They’re opposed on which way forward is more honorable. Gin takes the argument out of their hands by coming between them, attacking Pearl, and destroying his shield. Because Sanji is so determined to save the ship and Luffy plans to destroy it, Gin offers to fight Sanji fairly for it. Here’s another place where honor is incredibly important, and there’s no explicit commentary on why it happens: readers have to infer Gin’s motivations.
Meanwhile, Luffy challenges Don Krieg to battle, telling him multiple times that he’s not suited to be king of the pirates. This infuriates Krieg, but he gets even angrier when Gin discovers that he simply can’t kill Sanji. By saving Gin when he was starving, Sanji became the one person that Gin couldn’t kill, even at the request of his captain. Enraged, Krieg launches a poison bomb toward the Baratie and surrounding area, ordering Krieg not to put on the protective mask that all Krieg’s pirates have. Shamed, Gin throws his mask into the water.
Determined that Gin will survive, Luffy steals masks from two pirates floating in the ocean and gives them to Gin and Sanji. He looks for a mask for himself and one conveniently lands near him. When the poison cloud dissipates he discovers that Gin has used the mask on Sanji but tossed Luffy the other, getting a full dose of poison. Krieg mocks him over his feelings of honor as Gin chokes to death. This is the last straw for Luffy.
As the cooks try to save Gin, Krieg and Luffy face off. Luffy’s determination during this fight is at odds with Krieg’s arrogance. Luffy’s fighting style is physical, while Krieg fights with tools. He launches spikes from his shield, and although Luffy is hit, he doesn’t slow down. To protect himself, Krieg throws on a porcupine cape, covered in sharp spikes, to deter Luffy.
Luffy isn’t one to be deterred by tricky tactics. He punches Krieg directly through the spikes and knocks him down. Krieg’s crew looks on in horror as Krieg attempts another attack, which Luffy again deflects in order to knock Krieg over.
But Krieg isn’t finished! He brings out his explosive battle spear, but even with its power, Luffy isn’t easily beaten. Luffy’s sheer determination is more of a strength than his Devil Fruit powers in this fight. Even with Krieg’s mightier firepower and gadgets, he’s no match for Luffy’s conviction about his future. Krieg is defeated even as Luffy is knocked into the ocean.
Zeff and Sanji talk about Luffy and his bravery as the tension of battle clears. Zeff, having traveled the Grand Line, recognizes something in Luffy that Sanji is only now just seeing. Before their conversation can get too deep, Zeff tells Sanji to rescue Luffy, who will drown otherwise because of his Devil Fruit power. Sanji immediately dives in after him and drags him up while reassessing what he knows about Luffy and his crew.
On the Baratie, Gin is dealing with the defeat of his captain. Krieg stands up, barely conscious, to continue the battle, but Gin puts him down. Gin at least recognizes that they’ve lost and need to come to terms with what that means. Gin still wants to be a pirate, but he has some learning to do based on their fight with Luffy. Sanji gives Gin a small boat so he and his allies can leave.
When Luffy wakes up, he’s still determined that Sanji become his ship’s cook, but Sanji believes his place is at the Baratie. He turns down Luffy’s offer to join him again, but still can’t resist telling Luffy about the All Blue which he hopes to find one day. From above, Zeff watches Sanji’s excitement.
When Luffy and Sanji come to dinner, the other chefs are quick to complain that it’s garbage. Zeff also enters the fray, and tells Sanji he’ll never be as good a chef as Zeff. Sanji storms out, leaving Luffy behind with the cooks. They’re relieved when he’s gone, because it was hard for them to lie, since the food is great as always. Then Zeff asks Luffy to take Sanji with him to the Grand Line, and help Sanji realize his dream. Sanji, still outside, hears everything. Luffy isn’t a fan of trickery, though, and he won’t take Sanji with him unless Sanji wants to go.
In the midst of the discussion of Sanji’s future, Yosaku returns to the Baratie to tell Luffy that he knows where Nami is headed and it’s terrible. So Luffy decides it’s time to go. Finally, Sanji admits to Luffy that he might as well chase his dream if Luffy’s going his way, and Sanji officially becomes a Straw Hat!
Luffy and Sanji sail with Yosaku to Nami’s location. Yosaku explains about the Seven Warlords of the Sea, government-sanctioned pirates (like Mihawk, who Zoro battled). One of them sent an ally to the East Blue of equal strength: Arlong. Luffy and Sanji aren’t worried about him, which Yosaku finds unwise, because Arlong is incredibly strong and dangerous.
So finally, we get to meet Arlong. We also discover that Nami is a member of his crew! She acts as his surveyor, making maps using the intelligence that the Fish Men bring her.
Zoro, Usopp, and Johnny arrive at the island ahead of the others, and Usopp and Johnny immediately abandon Zoro in order to hide from the Fish Men. Zoro is taken captive and carted off to Arlong at his headquarters.
Usopp, in his haste to get away, runs into a woman named Nojiko who keeps him from attacking the Fish Man that’s after him. She takes him into her home at Coco Village so he doesn’t do more damage, since attacking the Arlong’s crew results in a lot of death and destruction. Usopp learns that Arlong keeps a firm financial and military grasp on the island, and that Nami is a member of his crew. He learns that Nojiko is Nami’s sister and they’ve lived on the island since they were little. Usopp is horrified that Nami lied to all of them, and struggles to reconcile the Nami he knows with this new information.
Meanwhile, Zoro is meeting Arlong and his crew and discovering what Usopp is learning first hand, as Nami appears by Arlong’s side. One of Zoro’s best qualities is that he’s perceptive, and when Arlong brags that Nami joined up with his crew even after they murdered one of her parents, he immediately sees something’s not right. He throws himself into the water even though he’s still tied up and Nami rushes to save him. He mocks her for it since she’s such a big bad pirate. Nami retaliates by locking him up just as the Fish Man who lost track of Usopp returns to fill Arlong in. The Fish Men decide to check in on Coca village since Arlong has business there.
While Arlong is headed to where Nojiko and Usopp are, Nami sneaks into where Zoro is locked up and helps him escape! What is Nami up to, anyway?
In Coco Village, we meet Genzo, who is flaunting the rules by collecting weapons as a hobby. Arlong doesn’t allow villagers to have weapons, because it leads to uprisings. Arlong only wants people to work so they can pay tribute to him. He has grand plans to create a vast empire that will rule over the East Blue. He attacks Genzo and is preparing to kill him when Usopp arrives and launches his Exploding Star attack at Arlong. Being attacked by a human is an insult; Arlong begins to destroy the village. His crew manages to pull him away, knowing that if he keeps destroying villages it’ll be harder to make money, and Usopp goes on the run. After Arlong and his crew leave, Nami walks into town. Most of the villagers shun her except for Nojiko and Genzo.
Nojiko reminds Nami that everyone hates her, but Nami doesn’t seem bothered. We finally learn part of the reason she steals from pirates: Nami is earning the money to buy Coco Village from Arlong. She only needs seven million to meet her one hundred million goal…
Nami’s sneaky release of Zoro resulted in Zoro taking out the crew that remained at Arlong’s headquarters. Zoro knows he could leave, but he promised Luffy to bring Nami back and he’s not sure what she’s up to. He meets Hachi, Arlong’s first mate, and finds out that Arlong is back in Coca Village to capture Usopp. Zoro asks for directions, but Hachi offers him a ride, as Arlong’s guest.
Back on the ocean, Luffy, Sanji, and Johnny are having a nice meal when Momoo the Sea Cow interrupts. Momoo is part of Arlong’s crew, too, but he mostly seems hungry. Sanji tries to feed him and almost gets eaten, resulting in a quick and decisive battle where Momoo loses in a terribly unequal match-up. After the battle, they add insult to injury and have Momoo haul them toward Arlong’s headquarters.
Usopp, captured by Arlong and his crew, is taken to Arlong Park. He’s witness to Arlong discovering that the crew left behind was taken out by Zoro. One of his crew members offers to let him kill Usopp as a pick-me-up, but they’re distracted by turning on Nami because she saved Zoro earlier. Nami rejects their accusations, and confronts Usopp about following her. He’s angry that she’s betrayed them, especially Luffy. Now that we know that Nami’s whole purpose as a member of Arlong’s crew is to earn money for a larger goal, her motivations are clearer: she doesn’t truly want to hurt anyone, but Usopp is too close to spoiling her plans. She makes a play to get Usopp out of the way via a fight. Sadly for Usopp, Nami knows his fighting style, and she easily stabs him in the gut and dumps him into the water. She cements her position with Arlong’s crew .
But in the shadows, unbeknownst to Nami, Johnny watched her murder Usopp. He knows he has to tell the rest of the Straw Hats immediately.
Luffy’s group arrives at the island, courtesy of Momoo, and reunites with Zoro (albeit a little violently…poor Momoo). Before they can debrief, Johnny arrives on the scene, carrying news of Nami’s betrayal and Usopp’s death. Luffy refuses to believe it, but Nami appears as he’s in mid-denial and confirms everything. She tells them to leave before they cause more problems. Luffy refuses, and decides to take a nap right where he lands (my theory: he’s deliberately needling Nami to gauge her reactions, because Luffy is smart). Yosaku and Johnny decide it’s too risky to stay with the Straw Hats due to the strength of Arlong and his crew, so they leave to find a way off the island.
But twist! We learn that Usopp is alive and is very confused, because during the fight with Nami, she faked the attack and stabbed herself in the hand instead of stabbing him so he could get away. He’s struggles with what it means, and he finally sees Zoro and the rest of his crew and rushes to tell him the truth.
Nojiko returns home to find Nami has destroyed her house in a fit of rage. Nami falls asleep, exhausted, and Nojiko considers the Straw Hats for a moment. She knows that Nami has a complicated relationship with “friends” given her status as Arlong’s surveyor and her obligations to Coco Village. She goes off to find the Straw Hats to explain the situation, as long as they agree to leave. Luffy doesn’t want to hear anything and walks away. Zoro offers to listen, but immediately falls asleep (but never trust that a sleeping Zoro isn’t actually listening), leaving only Usopp and Sanji to hear Nojiko’s story.
Back at her house, Nami wakes to find Nojiko gone, and we enter another heart-wrenching backstory of Nami as a little girl, being raised by Belle-Mére with her adoptive sister Nojiko. As a little girl, Nami lived poor because Belle-Mére didn’t have a lot of money, and Nami was always stealing books to learn how to make maps: her dream is to make a map of the entire world. Their money problems lead to a fight, where Nami says awfully mean things to Belle-Mére before running away. She heads to Genzo and admits her fears to him: that Belle-Mére would be better off alone, because they’re so expensive.
Genzo assures her that’s not true, and tells her all about how Belle-Mére ran away to join the Navy and returned one day with Nami and Nojiko after finding them on a battlefield. Because she wanted Nami and Nojiko to survive, it meant she survived, too, and their bond is unbreakable. As Genzo finishes us, Nojiko comes to get Nami and take her home.
Before they make it, though, Arlong arrives on the island to pillage it. He charges a head price for everyone. Because of Belle-Mére’s poverty, she can’t afford the price for her and two kids, and so the villagers tell Nami and Nojiko to hide and have Belle-Mére claim herself. Instead, she claims the girls, because she can’t say she doesn’t have daughters. They reunite for a short time, but it’s not to last, as Arlong immediately takes swift action for the people who can’t pay—shooting Belle-Mére point blank in front of everyone, including Nami and Nojiko.
When Arlong discovers that Nami has the ability to make maps they take her away. She begs no one to fight on her behalf, because she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt. When she returns a short time later, she’s made an agreement with Arlong to serve on his crew. The villagers are furious and think Nami has turned her back on them and Belle-Mére’s memory, and tell her to leave and never come back. But Nojiko knows Nami better than that, and so she finds her at Belle-Mére’s grave. Nami tells her that she and Arlong made a deal: if she would work for Arlong, Nami could work for and pay him 100 million berries for Coco Village, ensuring their freedom. She’s determined to achieve her goal, and to free her village, and plans to do it completely alone.
Back in the present, Nojiko tells the remaining Straw Hats that Nami will never thank them for their interference, because friendship is a foreign thing to her given her situation. She’s trapped in an impossible situation that they’re only complicating.
As Nami makes plans to go steal the remaining seven million berries of her village’s price, the Navy arrives looking for her. Meanwhile, Luffy wanders into Coco Village to bear witness to everything. The Navy has pegged Nami as a thief. After the Navy attacks and takes her money that she’s spent years and years collecting, know exactly how much she might have, Nami realizes immediately that Arlong has tipped the Navy off and is trying to cheat on their deal. She and runs to confront him. But Arlong is immovable, and tells Nami he himself has never cheated her, and she’ll just have to earn it again, guaranteeing that Nami will be trapped in service to Arlong forever, with no escape.
At Coco Village, the villagers have decided enough is enough, and they’re going to confront Arlong instead of allowing Nami to be their sole champion. Nami tries to cut them off, saying she’ll earn the money again, but Genzo is firm. He reveals to Nami they’ve known what she’s doing, thanks to Nojiko, and they can’t let her shoulder their responsibilities any longer. Nami, hopeless, collapses to the ground as the villagers depart and starts stabbing the tattoo of Arlong’s crew on her shoulder in fury and frustration. She only stops when Luffy grabs her hand. Nami can’t understand why Luffy is still there and yells at him again.
All Luffy does is wait until Nami, sobbing, looks up at him and finally, finally asks him for help.
Luffy gives Nami his hat, and he and the other Straw Hats head for Arlong Park, where Luffy punches down the gate, looking for Arlong…
Takeaways
This omnibus collects two of my favorite character flashbacks: Sanji and Nami. When I recommend One Piece to folks, I always tell them to read up up volume 8 or 9 before they decide if the world and the story is for them. These are the volumes where the brutal nature of this manga takes center stage. The art style really drives home just how tremendously harsh this world can be. These volumes also deepen the world, showing that sometimes, not everything is as it seems. It’s a pivotal turning point, not just for Sanji and Nami, but also for the reader, because we get our first glimpse of some of the horrific things that could happen to our heroes once they reach their goal and get to the Grand Line.
Also, we start to see the level of deep government corruption. Keep your eyes peeled!
My single favorite moment this time is when the scene at the end with Luffy and Nami. Nami’s story is so devastating, and what she’s survived so horrific, that it’s impossible not to hurt for her at having her dreams crushed. But Luffy doesn’t know about her past. Luffy trusts her regardless even now. Luffy is many things, but foremost on a reader’s mind might not be “incredibly smart and perceptive”. But there’s a reason he and Zoro match each other so well. It’s not their differences, which are many, but instead their similarities and ability to suss character and intentions. Nami’s role on Luffy’s crew is cemented when Luffy places his hat on her head: his most precious treasure. Luffy trusts Nami, and Nami has finally reached a place where she can trust Luffy too, after years and years of not being able to ask anyone for help.
Next Time
We’ll be heading into the Straw Hats versus Arlong’s gang! We’ll be reading Volumes 10, 11, and 12 and getting to see what happens when someone acts dishonorably toward a member of Luffy’s crew. Come for the punching, stay for the emotions!
Follow all installments of the Everlasting One Piece Readalong here.