As long as she keeps fighting to save her kingdom... THEN SO WILL WE!!
One Piece, Alabasta
by Eiichiro Oda
Genre: Fantasy
About: Princess Vivi's kingdom has for years been terrorised by a secret organisation that's turned the people against the crown. Civil war is on the horizon and it seems hopeless for things can end without bloodshed. Luffy and the gang are determined to help her, but it will mean defeating one of the seven warlords of the sea.
The Good
The first island they come to is full of dinosaurs and is where an epic 100-year-old fight between two viking warriors (also giants) has been going on. This was a great introduction to the type of Grand Line adventures we can come to expect. Then after we leave, Nami gets sick and I loved how the crew all rallied to find her a doctor (and that the doctor turns out to be such a cute little weirdo - Chopper is a great addition to an already eclectic band of pirates). And every time the crew are in danger, Oda manages to balance the serious with the just plain ridiculous. Water Luffy was such a slap in the face to Crocodile's years of planning. Luffy springing a leak in the middle of a very serious fight and bouncing around the place is everything that's right with this series. Oh and Nami's fight with Ms Doublefingers using Usopp's party favour... beyond stupid. Also special mention to Zolo's epic posing for Mr 3's wax sculpture - he doesn't get as many silly moments as the rest of them but this one took the (wax) cake.
Favourite arc: Drum Island, Chopper joins the crew!
The Bad
I love Luffy when he's at his silliest, but hate that he goes into fights without a plan. Sure, it's weird to think of him strategizing but he lost against Crocodile as many times as he did purely because he didn't bother to find out about the dude's powers and think what his weaknesses might be. It all worked out in the end, because duh, but it's annoying that he doesn't listen to anyone and assumes he'll win simply from sheer will alone. Usopp, Nami, or even Vivi could have thought up a plan for him. I'd love to see Luffy lead by listening for once because he was so obviously not ready to fight with a warlord. There was a lot at stake and it reads like he doesn't care when he's so thoughtless, even that he claims to care very much.
Worse arc: Whisky Peak, only because it felt a little pointless. At least Zolo got to show-off.
The Somewhat Iffy
Mr 2, of course. The epitome of Iffy. But also that weird fight with Mr 4 and the Mole woman (I forget her codename. Ms Merry Christmas?). That fight was stupid (and long) and came with this section where a gun was half gun, half dog and the explanation was the gun ate a devil fruit because now inanimate objects can eat fruit? As Usopp said: That's ridiculous.
Most ridiculous character: The Banana Gators aka giant crocodiles with banana's growing out of them. Or as Luffy says of them: What weird bananas.
Overall
In this saga we get a depressed whale, dinosaurs, viking giants, spy island, a new crew member that's half reindeer, half man, and a brief introduction to Luffy's brother, also a pirate, also super humanly strong. It's both fun and serious and, as always, massively endearing. The bonds between the crew members are great to read and I loved that you could see how drawn Vivi, Nico Robin and Mr 2 were to the crew precisely because of that.
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