One piece vol 4 by eiichiro oda

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.

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This volume is definitely more about Zolo than Luffy, which gives Zolo some more depth as a character in his fighting role and as a supporting cast member. But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some great moments for our stretchy-hero even though he's asleep for a good portion of this volume. Nami is her usually treasure-loving self, but she gets a chance to have a little more humanity with Usopp and show that she can care about people as well. She shows she can have a heart when it comes to Miss Kaya as well. The storytelling in this arc is much smoother and paced a lot nicer, so I'm starting to see why this tale can take up so many volumes but still be entertaining to readers. Oda has a way of drawing you in but making a sequence breathe in a satisfying way.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
​Suitability Level: Grades 7-12

Publisher: VIZ Media
Publication Date: August 17, 2004​
ISBN: 9781591163374 (Paperback)

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Action Adventure, Humor, ​VIZ Media