Nami continues to be torn between Arlong’s crew, her love for her village, and the fleeting loyalty she still has for Luffy and his crew. In another epic flashback, we see Nami as a child with her stepsister and their adoptive mother, who was once a pirate soldier who rescued the two young babies and decided to raise them on the island. Bellemére didn’t have much for them and scraped by as a tangerine farmer until the fateful day when Arlong’s fish-men crew raided the town and demanded a toll for every person in it. Arlong discovered young Nami’s gift for drawing maps, and she enters a fool’s deal with the pirate to buy her village from him while drawing navigational maps in his service.
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In a remote part of the world, Son Goku is living his life alone after his grandpa, Son Gohan, has passed away. One day, he gets a visit from the beautiful genius Bulma who has crafted a device to detect the legendary Dragon Balls which, once collected, will grant her a wish from the Dragon god, and her radar is telling her Goku is in possession of one! She manages to recruit Goku to be her bodyguard as she collects the rest of the Dragon Balls. The two set off and encounter episodic adventures and meet a colorful cast of characters. Then, Goku begins training under the legendary Turtle master, Muten Rōshi, where he first has a rivalry with fellow trainee Kuririn that buds into a friendship as the two compete in the Strongest Under The Heavens martial arts tournament.
Sanji finally agrees to come with Luffy, which is great for many reasons: many volumes ago, Nami made off with the Merry Go, so they’ll have to take Sanji’s boat to track her down. Luffy already sent Usopp, an injured Zolo, and one of the pirate hunters after her, so the second pirate hunter, Sanji, and Luffy are on their tail now. But Nami may be going into a Lion’s Den. She had expressed interest in a great reward on a dangerous pirate, a Captain of the Fish-Men named Arlong. His brute strength makes Don Krieg look weak, and he has a crew of mutant fish-men with special abilities and strengths under his command. Nami’s treachery may run a bit deeper than everyone originally thought as Usopp uncovers her family home in a small village on the same island as the Arlong pirate compound.
In an epic flashback, we learn Sanji’s backstory and his debt to Chef Zeff, who saved his life but lost his leg in the process. Now, Sanji feels he owes a great debt and must save the Baratie Restaurant at all costs. Sanji goes up against the Indestructible Pearl, who has never shed blood in all his fights. After Luffy and Sanji make Pearl feel he is in danger, Pearl ignites the deck of the Baratie in self-defense. Then, Gin takes on Sanji himself and vows to take him down for Don Krieg, while Luffy has some difficulty getting to Krieg without landing in the ocean. Don Krieg then unleashes his mightiest weapon on the Baratie, punishing some of his own men and his enemies at the same time.
In their continued efforts to find a cook, Luffy has indentured himself for a year at the floating restaurant for damaging the ship. But, on the horizon is the fierce pirate Don Krieg who, until recently, commanded 5,000 men on an armada of ships. Recently, they had gone onto the Grand Line and had been single-handedly decimated by a fierce swordsman Zolo had been hunting before joining Luffy’s crew: “Hawkeye” Mihawk. Sanji, the sous chef of the restaurant ship, agrees to feed Don Krieg’s starving crew because he believes a chef’s calling is to feed people, but then he calls for all the chefs, and enlists Luffy’s help, to defend the restaurant once the pirates have recuperated.
Luffy and his crew finish their fight with the Black Cat pirates, and their reward is a new ship: the Merry Go. Usopp decides that his time being a villager is done, and that he must finally be a pirate sailing the seven seas. Initially content to sail on his own, Luffy invites Usopp to join the crew even thought they disagree on who should be captain. The crew find a few more folks who know Zolo during a cannon practice “accident”, and Nami saves the day with her advanced sea knowledge and knowing the signs of scurvy. The group agrees that they need a cook to do something with all the wonderful stores they have in the hold. One of the new folks help steer the Merry Go towards a floating restaurant that might have a cook Luffy could persuade to join the crew, but a skirmish between a naval officer gets Luffy in hot water immediately upon arrival at the restaurant.
Illustrated by MyeongMi Kim
After working for Vice-Chairman Youngjun Lee for nine years, Secretary Kim has decided that it is finally time to focus on herself. She wants to find a nice, considerate man from an unknown family, have a few kids, and settle into a quiet life doing a menial job. But all of this completely baffles Youngjun who not only relies on her for every task in his life, but, as he has come to respect her as an equal, he can’t imagine Secretary Kim being satisfied with a boring, hum-drum existence. He sets out to figure out why she would really want to leave and what he could do to make her want to stay, even if that means marrying her himself.
The band of heroes decide to help Usopp save his village against the Black Cat pirates, who intend to sack the village and kill Miss Kaya for her fortune. Nami, Zolo, and Usopp set a trap for the pirates, but their intel ends up being wrong. The group has to run the other side of the island to intercept the pirates. Luffy runs ahead, assuming he knows the way but gets lost. Zolo and Nami try to stall the pirates on their own. As soon as Luffy rejoins the group, he is sidelined again by the hypnotizing pirate Django who puts him to sleep underneath the destroyed stem post of the Black Cats’ ship. Zolo goes up against the fierce Meowban Brothers, the two pirate ship guards, until Captain Kuro confronts them all and reveals his fierce power.
With this volume, we conclude the action of Buggy the Clown and set sail once more. There’s a brief adventure on an almost uninhabited island where the small crew gain some fruit and another lesson about what’s really important in life, and it’s not always treasure. Then, it’s off to another village to hopefully get some real supplies, even though Luffy is sure that he’s lucky enough to not need things like food and water. In this village, they meet Captain Usopp who is captain of nothing but tall tales and a few village kids who like to pretend they’re pirates. Usopp is a favorite of the local well-to-do Miss Kaya, to the chagrin of her butler who thinks it shameful she would associate with the town lowlife. But it doesn’t take long for Luffy and Usopp to uncover a foul plot in this town.
Luffy, Zolo, and a thief named Nami get tangled up with Buggy the Pirate after Nami steals a map to the Grand Line and pretends Luffy is her boss she stole it for. Luffy is captured, and Zolo inadvertently rescues three of Buggy’s crew who Nami stranded previously. Buggy also has mysterious powers from eating a devil’s fruit, though not the same powers as Luffy. Buggy and his crew have been terrorizing a village and using buildings as target practice for their cannonballs. Luffy tries to convince Nami to become part of his crew after discovering that she is a great navigator, but Nami refuses to become a pirate. Luffy continues to learn what treasure can mean to different folks and creatures as he discovers a dog guarding a Pet Food store for his owner and the mayor who feels the town is his treasure.
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About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this siteRatings, Audience, and Subject Tags
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