One Piece - anime part 10 - Thriller Bark

     One Piece (ワンピース) is the epic pirate themed shonen battle anime based on the manga of the same name by Oda Eiichiro.  The tenth story arc of the series, Thriller Bark, originally aired between January of 2008 and December of 2008 for a total of 45 episodes, between 337 and 381.

    After resting and regrouping following the success at Enies Lobby the crew, with their new shipwright, continue towards the next island, Fish-man Island. 

 

    As they leave the frozen trap of the strange bounty hunter family, the Straw Hats crew are in desperate need of more food.  A suspicious barrel floats towards their ship as they are trying to fish.  The retrieve it,hoping to find some lost supplies, but are surprised when it explodes, launching a flare into the sky.  Before they can worry about what trap it may have triggered they find themselves enveloped in fog.  Their journey has lead them into a fabled section of the ocean called the Florian Triangle.  I place filled with stories of ghost ships and lost crews.  As quickly as the fog arrived so too does a menacing and abandoned ship...with a strange skeleton on its deck.  The skeleton, singing to the clouds around him, greats the crew and introduces himself as Brook.

    The crew is taken aback by the talking, moving skeleton.  Luffy, unafraid of anything, eagerly greats the strange being.  Brook explains that he is a human who has eaten the Revive Revive fruit.  He and his pirate crew had been killed.  The Devil Fruit restored him to life, but by the time his soul found his body again it had decayed to the skeleton before them.  A separate condition of Brook is that his shadow was stolen ten years earlier, leaving him stranded with in the enshrouding fog of the Triangle.  If his body was touched by the rays of the sun, with his shadow missing, he would be burned to nothing.  Luffy wants Brook to join his crew, given he is also a musician, something Luffy ha desired from the start of his journey.  He declines, explaining that his only goal at the moment is to face the man who stole his shadow and get it back.  Before they can plan their next move they find themselves in the trap they had sprung when they opened the derelict barrel.  Brook tells them that they need to flee as quickly as he can and must leave them as well to attend to other matters.

 

    The crew find themselves trapped in the ghost island, Thriller Bark, but beyond that information Brook gave them, they have no idea what to expect.  Nami, Usopp and Chopper decide to take a smaller craft to explore the area they are trapped in, leaving the rest aboard the Thousand Sunny to plan an expedition onto the haunted island.  Their plan doesn't go as they anticipated and the three find themselves the first to land.  Things turn ire quickly as they are chased by a patchwork Cerberus, fleeing across the creep landscape until they run into a creature resembling a vampire who tells them he will help them get to the mansion on the island.  He tells them he is an assistant to the famous doctor Hogback.  Chopper is familiar with the world famous physician and his eagerness to meet him overrides his fear.  Before they can reach the mansion, the vampire assistant lays a trap for them and abandons them in a graveyard full of stirring zombies.  The zombies chase the three all the way to the mansion where they seek refuge from the terror around them.

    Inside the mansion they meet Doctor Hogback and his pieced together assistant Victoria Cindy.  Hogback welcomes them and explains that he is doing important research in the realm of curing death.  He refuses to let them into his laboratory though.  Meanwhile the Thousand Sunny becomes trapped in a giant spiderweb and instead of sticking around to see what made it, the rest of the crew disembarks and heads to the mansion as well.  Chopper, Usopp and Nami are shown to rooms they can stay in for the time being.  While bathing, Nami is attacked by an invisible man.  Usopp and Chopper had been sitting outside to guard her when they here a commotion, rushing into the shower, driving off the unseen assailant.  The three recognize that their are in danger and try to leave the mansion, only to find themselves surrounded by a serious of zombies.

 

    While they are fighting off the surprise zombies inside the mansion, Luffy and the rest beat the Cerberus and encounter the group of zombies the other three first encountered outside the mansion.  As they are about to defeat them all strange ghosts pass through the Straw Hats, causing them to loose the will to fight or live, allowing the zombies to ambush the now depressed pirates.  Inside, the other three escape the surprise zombies through a hidden passage only to find a room full of memorabilia regarding Cindy, learning the truth about her past and death.  They eventually find Doctor Hogbacks laboratory and learn the dark truth of his work, he is reanimating corpses in some unknown fashion.  They are discovered before they can learn the whole truth and a zombie samurai who reminds them of Brook attacks them.

    Luffy and the others are able to shack off the depressing effects of the ghosts and resume beating up the zombies.  Once that threat is handled a group of emaciated men come out of the woods and beg them for help getting their shadows back from the lord of the island, which is in realty a large pirate ship.  The person responsible for stealing their shadows is one of the Seven Warlords, Gecko Moria.  Luffy agrees to help the men and head inside of the mansion.  They find traces of Usopp, Nami and Chopper being attached by the zombies inside.  Furious, the group rushes forward, facing all challenges, to rescue their missing crew members.  The three have been subdued and are being transported to where Moria is along with the doctor, the invisible man, revealed to be the patchwork general of the zombies, Absalom and the strange girl Perona who controls the negative ghosts.

 

    As Luffy and the other crew members fight their way through the mansion, their numbers begin to dwindle, as one by one they begin to be separated from the group, beginning with Sanji.  Absalom rallies the zombie army and awakens his generals to fight off the invading pirate threat, as Gecko Moria begins his plan to create his 900th zombie, using the stitched together corpse of a massive demon from hundreds of years go.  Moria along with the doctor uses his technique of manipulating shadows to reanimate the corpses with stolen shadows, explaining the samurai who reminds them of Brook.  Before Nami, Usopp and Chopper can have their shadows removed, they escape capture and flee hordes of zombies, trying to find a way out of the island and back to the rest of the crew.  They end up hiding inside of Perona's servant, a large stuffed bear like monstrosity.  

    Zoro and Luffy get separated from the group as well with Frankie and Robin facing against a giant spider, the one responsible for the disappearance of the others.  Before the spider is able to deliver the final blow, Brook drops out of the sky, killing the spider instead.  He explains to Frankie and Robin that the zombies, created through Moria's devil fruit power, are susceptible to the ocean.  But since its harder to drown them he uses salt from the sea to suck the shadows out of the zombies bodies.  With this the first real victory they are energized and head off to find the other members of their crew.  AT the same time Usopp, Chopper and Nami, still hidden inside of Perona's servant, witness Gecko Moria remove Luffy's shadow and place it inside of the demons corpse, bringing a terror from 500 years ago back to life.  The shock of the situation causes them to reveal they hiding place.  Absalom abducts Nami in order to make her his bride.  Usopp and Chopper find themselves alone, facing against a legion of zombies.

 

    The reanimated demon, Oars, is alive but not exactly his self, as the power of Luffy's personality is controlling the giant demons body.  He heads out of the mansion in search of food and his ship...driven by Luffy's desires and personality.  Brook encounters the samurai who has his own shadow and begins to dual him, remembered the last time they met fiv years earlier when Brooks shadow was stolen from him.  Usopp and Chopper are able to escape from their attackers and meet up with Robin and Frankie.  They decide to head back to the Thousand Sunny.  Brook had told them that the incapacitated bodies of their crew members who ha their shadows stolen would be returned to the ship.  As long as the original owners of the shadows lived, the zombies would also live.  Brook told them the best plan of action would be to revive those members and regroup for an attack on Gecko Moria, if they wanted to save their friends shadows.

    They return to the shop to find it ransacked and the three crew mates who lost their shadows abandoned among the mess.  The quickly wake them up and update them on the situation and begin to form their attack plan.  The crew learns about Brooks past and how his crew, decades earlier has met the whale they had met when first entering the Grand Line, Luffy becomes more determined than ever to have Brook join the crew.  They head off into the island again, ready for what they will face, determined to retrieve their shadows and Nami.  Luffy heads directly to Gecko Moria, planning to defeat him single-handedly, while the others search for Nami.  Meanwhile Oars is still exhibiting the behavior patterns of the original owner of his shadow.  

    The plan to attack Moria isn't as easy as Luffy hopes.  Moria shows more of his devil fruit powers and uses his own shadow to fend off any assault by Luffy, making it almost impossible to land any effective attacks on him.  Moria sits back and laughs at the futility while bidding time for the return of his newest zombie horror.  The remainder of the crew faces the negative energy of Perona.  Usopp is able to overcome the attack due to his power lack of self esteem.  They leave her to Usopp...who has to face her zombies as well.  The ships supreme liar and coward does what he does best...run away while trying to think of a trap.  Zoro comes to Brooks aid, as Brook struggles against the zombie with his shadow.  Sanji finds Nami, unconscious and about to be wed to Absalom.  In a rage Sanji puts and end to the ceremony.  The zombie generals had been called away from the wedding to slow down Oars but were annihilated in a single attack by the demon zombie.

    One by one the Straw Hats use their revitalized motivation to defeat Moria's underlings, having overcome their initial lack of understanding in the types of dangers Thriller Bark had in store for them.  As the end game draws near, Luffy struggles to make any headway against the only important foe.  Before he can come up with a plan that will let him overcome Moria's shadow, Oars falls fully under the control of the pirate and returns to serve his master.  Gecko Moria takes this change of fortune to give Oars a mission before he escapes in the confusion...hunt all of the Straw Hats.  Oars, using their collection of wanted posters attached to his arm, gleefully sets out to complete his new task, beginning with Luffy.

 

    The Straw Hats gather together in the courtyard as Oars begins his hunt, ready to do what they can to defeat this new foe.  In the confusion of one Oars attacks, Luffy runs off to chase down Moria, Usopp recognizing the strategy enhances the ruse to distract the zombie demon long enough for him to get away.  The remaining crew however is faced with a challenge they are struggling to meet.  Oars attacks are more powerful than they can withstand and his zombie body means their attacks do little to impede his attacks.

    Seeing the tides turning, Perona, who has escaped from the trap Usopp set for her, decides to leave Thriller Bark on the Thousand Sunny.  There she encounters Nami, who is trying to find the rest of the crew.  Perona and her minions have loaded all of Thriller Barks treasure and food supplies onto the ship for their journey.  Before the two woman can square off a new player arrives.  A large man somewhat resembling a bear, one of the other warlords of the sea Bartholomew Kuma.  He has come to inform Gecko Moria that a new replacement has been selected to fill the void Crocodile has left after his defeat by Luffy.  Kuma causes Perona to disappear when putting an ungloved hand next to her.  He then approaches a terrified Nami, but he leaves her alone and heads off to find the other Warlord.

 

    The others continue to struggle against Oars while Luffy chases Moria through the forest.  Everyone begins o realize that the giant pirate ships position in the Florian Triangle appears to have changed and the fog is thinning.  Dawn if approaching and with it doom for everyone who has lost their shadow.  Moria is able to trick Luffy and heads back to the mansion, where he encounters Kuma.  Kuma informs him that the new Warlord, to fill Crocodiles place will be Black Beard Teach.  At this point the pirates begin to see results form their relentless attacks on Oars.  Moria, who refuses Kuma's assistance in he battle, arrives in time to offer tactical support for his biggest zombie.

    Meanwhile, Luffy is backtracking his failed chase when he encounters the pirates who have been hiding in the woods since their shadows were stolen.  They have a plan to power up their savior, by forcing other shadows they have freed and collected, into him, to power him up.  They are able to force all of their captured shadows into him, causing him to increase in size and power.  The monstrous Luffy heads off to confront Moria and Oars, now on a more even playing field.  Luffy arrives to the battle just as his crew is at their lowest point.  His attacks allow the other pirates to drag the defeated Straw Hats to safety while the final confrontation unfolds between monster Luffy and Moria, who is piloting Oars like a mech.  Luffy is able to beat down the giant demon before the power of the shadows leave his body.  It appears that they have won the incredibly hard fought battle.

 

    Before they can claim victory and force Moria to release everyone's shadows, he draws in as many shadows as he can, mimicking Luffy's monster form and enhancing it with a large volume of consumed shadows.  The Straw Hats, at their limits, stand for one final attack to, unwilling to lie down and die while they can still move.  Everyone pushing their bodies to the absolute limit begin to attack Moria, forcing the consumed shadows to escape his body, weakening it with each attack.  With no regard for his own safety, Luffy uses gear two and gear three at the same time to deliver the final blows to the monstrous foe.  But time may have run out for them as the sun begins to cast its light on the island.

    The timing is impeccable as everyone's shadows return to them before their bodies can be completely annihilated by the sun.  Victory, after much struggle, has finally come to the Straw Hats and the victims of Thriller Bark.  Gecko Moria's reign of terror appears to be at its end.  Now its time to rest and recover from their near death experience.  Or that is what they thought until the ominous shadow of Kuma spreads across the courtyard.  After almost destroying themselves to defeat one Warlord of the Sea, another one has appeared.  Kuma proves just as dangerous as they fear.  He is able to compress and expel air with his palm in devastating attacks.  Everyone, in their depleted states, struggles to dodge the blasts of air.  Kuma tells them that he will let them all go if they give him Luffy's head, at which point he will leave the island.  Refusing to give up their captain, Zoro attempts to stand against the monster Warlord.  Kuma, wanting to finish the fight, compresses a large volume of air and releases it in a powerful blast, hitting everyone on the island, rendering them near death and unable to stop him.

 

    As he is about to take Luffy with him, Zoro, through force of will alone, stands up and offers himself up instead.  Kuma accepts the offer but alters it.  Instead he uses an strange ability to pull all of the physical damage Luffy has sustained out of his body, creating an orb of pain.  He tells Zoro that he will let them go if Zoro absorbs all of the damage Luffy had taken instead.  Zoro, willing to sacrifice himself to safe his friends agrees.  Some time passes and the scattered, defeated pirates, begin to regain conciseness.  They find that Moria and Kuma have both disappeared and Luffy is still there, full of life and vigor, like he has not spent the past 20 hours fighting for his life.  They also find Zoro, standing comatose among a field of blood.  The Straw Hats celebrate their survival and success in rescuing everyone's shadows along with the pirates who has remained hidden among the horrors for years.  They recover from the battle and celebrate.  In the celebration Luffy once more invites Brook to join his crew, telling them they have met his friend the whale and will help him meet him once more.  He agrees to join the crew and continue his journey to explore the seas of the world.  Refreshed and resupplies the Thousand Sunny continues on its journey to fish-man island.

    After a relatively long period between gaining new crew members, we get two new additions in a short period of time with Frankie and Brooke.  Frankie is a bit of a character that doesn't fit in the world of One Piece in terms of design that breaks some of the atmosphere of the show, which is I feel has more per-industrial revolution aesthetic than post.  Frankie is very much modern aesthetic with his ridiculous cybernetics and ravenous consumption of cola, painting him as an outlier.  Brook is very much part of that older era of high sea piracy and fits more naturally with the rest of the crew than Frankie does.  Frankie's personality however is what makes him so lovable, even though his character design is at odds with the world of One Piece, at least in my opinion.  Brook however, while he fits the feel of the story with his design his personality seems to be the least thought out of everyone in the crew so far.  Don't get me wrong, I like Brook as a character, but he seems lack luster and takes parts of other characters personalities to build his own.  He runs on really three modes.  The first mode that we are introduced to is his comedic/pun laden nature.  Continuously making jokes on vernacular in relation to his existence as an animated skeleton.  While not exactly the same, this shares some similarities with Choppers comedic side.  The second personality trait is his desire to see women's panties, which is close to Sanji's woman obsessed side.  The final personality trait, which is a bit more general in terms of the crew, who all exhibit this behavior at some point, is his self sacrificing loyalty.

    Even though Brook appears as a composite character he is a welcome member to the crew and provides plenty of entertainment.  He and Frankie as enjoyable personalities to the cast, who haven't found a new mate in a long time.  The struggles against Gecko Moria and the horrors of Thriller Bark were overall quite enjoyable.  At times the way the heroes overcame their challenges was a bit redundant and lazy, the climax battle and the deflated state the crew found them in when the threat of Kuma arrived was quite good.  This was one of the first times you actually felt a level if concern for the safety of the Straw Hats.  Even with the apparent inevitability of loss in Enies Lobby, you knew they were going to come out on top.  Yet this time, that was more difficult to recognize.  They truly did get beaten quite hard against Moria and Oars.  Their success was more a moment of luck and plot armor than anything definitive.  Then Kuma arrives when they have nothing else to give.  They really did lose to Kuma and only survived the encounter through a mix of plot armor and Kuma's ability to accept an appeal for mercy.  This sets Kuma out as an interesting and problematic opponent for future story arcs, one that will prove to be a struggle they may not be able to over come the next time too.

    Since the terrible Foxy arc, One Piece has been arc after arc top notch shonen action.  Great enemies and greater conflicts that unfold in incredibly enjoyable ways.  Hopefully it can continue to ride this high wave of quality entertainment as we move into the next, shorter arc, Sabaody Archipelago.

The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya - light novel

 The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの陰謀) is the seventh volume in the Haruhi light novel series.  It was written by Tanigawa Nagaru with illustrations by Ito Noizi.  This seventh volume was originally released in Japan in 2005 and in English in 2012.

Click here to read the synopsis of the sixth volume, The Wavering of Haruhi Suzumiya. This series is 20 years old at this point, but spoilers follow. 

    Kyon finally goes back to December 18th with Nagato and Asahina to save himself from Asakura as she tries to stop him from resetting the world to 'normal' mode.  With everything he is aware of now in its place he is looking forward to some less exciting days as the school year comes to a close.  Something troubles him though with Haruhi's attitude.  She seems off somehow, distracted, perhaps a little depressed and has been that way since the beginning of February.  But, if nothing strange takes place, Kyon isn't going to worry about it too much, trying to enjoy her being a little subdued for once.  Just when he thinks his life will be calmer he finds himself hiding in the club rooms utility closet with Asahina from eight days in the future.  She has come back in time, at future Kyon's request, for reasons unknown.  With no help for why there are now two versions of Asahina in the present, Kyon suddenly finds himself as the cause of his problems.  First thing first, he has to hide her from the version of her that should exist in this timeline and while picking her brain for clues to the reason behind her appearance.

    From what he can gather, everything seems to be tied between  an SOS Brigade outing over an extended holiday weekend, where they fruitlessly tear up Tsuruya's family mountain in search of hidden treasure and a failed attempt at searching the city for abnormalities.  The future Asahina was instructed to travel eight days in the past at the conclusion of a shady fundraising event Haruhi puts on, dressing Asahina as a shrine maiden.  As they struggle to keep her hidden and to try to understand why she would be sent back, Kyon receives instructions from the adult version of Asahina, instructing him to do certain things for unspecified reasons.  One such activity, during the Brigade outing leads eight days in the future Asahina and Kyon to encounter a boy who appears to be from a rival time traveling faction.  The first antagonist to their world since the eradication of Asakura.

     Shaken by the sudden appearance of an enemy, Kyon vows to do whatever it takes to protect what he and his brigade members have.  He vows to protect Asahina's future to the best of his abilities, confident that Nagato and even Koizumi will be reliable allies in the coming struggles.  Before he can deal with those unknowns he still has more tasks to complete for future Asahina.  The foreknowledge that their treasure hunting mission was a failure makes the task of digging randomly in the dead of winter even more miserable.  Yet, despite the lack of success, Haruhi does not seem bothered and instead remains optimistic.  After two days of failure they shift course and revive the town patrols they did on their first outing as a group.  This is the segment of time where Kyon has to complete a few tasks and stresses himself over the details and the ability to keep furute Asahnia hidden as well as not arousing any suspicion from Haruhi.

    Things seem to go smoothly as they near the second day of patrols when a van speeds up beside he and future Asahina and snatch her off of the street before Kyon can register what is happening.  In a moment of panic he calls Haruhi to tell her Asahnia was just abducted...but Haruhi doesnt fall for his prank as Asahina is right next to here....this times Asahina.  Kyon backs out of the mistake and hangs up, to then recieve a covert call from Koizumi.  Koizumi tells him that hsi people are already in motion and he will be getting into a taxi to join the rescue operation.  he taxi pulls up and Kyon with the butler and maid from the two previous murder mystery games chase after the offenders.  The chase leads them into the hills near where they were digging for treasure and with an assist by the brothers from the murder games the culprits are trapped.

    Kyon now gets a moment to appreciate the situation and the real threat they are all in as a small group of people exit the van, along with an unconscious Asahina.  Kyons allies are willing to let them go if they agree to never interfer with the Haruhi group again.  The agree and leave the mountain on foot, abandoning their van.  The last person to leave the vehicle is the same boy from the previous day.  Their conversation confirms Kyons suspicion that this guy is a rival time traveler.  With Asahnia from 8 days in the future secure Kyon returns to the group, unable to tell Haruhi about the excitement he was involved in.  The following day they get together again to visit Tsuruya's mountain.  Haruhi instructs them to dig in the same spot they had before.  Not expecting anything, given they had dug it up earlier and replaced the dirt, they are shocked to discover a carefully burying container with handmade Valentines Day chocolates from the three girls.  Everything clicks into place as to Haruhi's behavior and Kyon is glad that the fate of the world is still secure.  Now he just has to make sure that this time lines Asahani succeeds in going back to the past 8 days to set everything into motion.

    Not since the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya have we had one complete story for a volume.  This  was a great return to form from the disjointed tales of the past few volumes.  The actual plot of this story though is less than relevant, whats important is the sudden appearance of rival factions that have before only been hinted at or hidden players in events.  Now Kyon has seen them face to face and the sense of threat is stronger than ever.  This volume really dealt a lot with solidifying Kyon's resolve to take on the roll that was thrust onto him since Haruhi took an interest in him.  His role as the lighthouse in Haruhi's skewed worldview.  Even if its more to protect the world of Asahina and Nagato, he has finally resolved to do everything he can to make sure things stay the course hes been informed if the correct path.  Things are beginning to click into place for him related to the future Asahina and why she is doing things the way she does.  His next concern is how much he can trust Koizumi's association of espers.  So far they have only been helpful and considerate, but his suspicion of Koizumi clouds his opinion of those associated with him.

     Its hard to see an end point for the story that has been evolving nicely over its course.  I keep wondering if we will ever see the characters outside of high school and how much time will actually transpire during the last remaining volumes of the story.  How much are we going to lean into Haruhi's feelings for Kyon?  To me the short stories seem to be the weakest, Nagaru really needs a long form narration to tell a compelling story.  Hopefully more of the later volumes will stick with one contained story that further expands the world and its secrets.  At the writing of this review the newest volume of the light novel is already out and activities to celebrate the anime are also pending in Japan.  I keep hoping this sudden live for this franchise could mean a third season of the anime.  There's obviously plenty of story to be told that only exists in the light novels.  But I dream too much some times...sometimes.

Next up, the Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya.

One Piece - anime part 9 - Enies Lobby

     One Piece (ワンピース) is the epic pirate themed shonen battle anime based on the manga of the same name by Oda Eiichiro.  The ninth story arc of the series, Enies Lobby, originally aired between May of 2006 and December of 2007 for a total of 73 episodes, between 264 and 336.

    The Straw Hat Pirates landed in Water Seven in hopes of repairing their ship and hiring a shipwright.  Instead they wound up involved in a long reaching plot of the World Government to revive an ancient weapon using plans hidden by the mayor of the city and Nico Robins ability to read the ancient texts.  Even though it appears Robin has betrayed them, they refuse to let her sacrifice herself for their safety.  They charge head long into the center of the World Government with a misfit band of allies.

     The ragtag coalition force approaches Enies Lobby and plans their attack.  They need to reach Nico Robin before she passes through the Gate of Justice.  Once she is through its enormous doors all hope will be lost of her returning.  What lies beyond it is the seat of the World Government and its most notorious prison, Impel Down.  They plan to attack the city head on, busting through the first gate and fighting their way to the center of the island.  Luffy has other plans and rockets himself into the heart of the city ahead of everyone else.  The Frankie Family, joining forces with the Galley La foremen, easily destroy the first gate.  Luffy fights his way through wave after wave of Marine and low ranking soldiers, working his way to the Tower of Law, where Robin is being help captive by CP9.

    The Frankie/Galley La forces run into trouble at the second gate when two giants stand in their way.  Meanwhile the rest of the Straw Hat crew is preparing to attack the city from the sea train.  Before they can plow through the first gate a group of Marines left behind from the initial attack closes it.  The Frankie/Galley La forces are able to overwhelm the giants, but are beaten badly doing so.  The amassed forces of Marines they come across next appears to be too much for their remaining strength.  The Straw Hats are able to meet up with the doomed forces and they regroup and try to push through to meet up with Luffy, working hard to evade the Marines.

     News of the attack reached CP9's commander, Spandam but he isn't concerned about it, having faith in the gathered defenses to stop the invaders.  As coalition forces struggle to evade the cities defenders, one of the king bulls they re riding tells Chopper that Usopp is missing from their group.  Usopp has been hiding his identity as the sniper king and wasn't able to make it onto the back of the king bull when the forces met up.  Instead he is back at the second gate and facing the two giants who has been beaten.  he learns that the giants had once been pirates working for the two who were fighting each other for one hundred years.  They had been recruited into services to the World Government when they were informed of their two captains imprisonment in Impel Down.  Usopp informs them of the truth, that the two giants are still fighting to settle the ages long argument.  

    Just as the combined forces are about to be overwhelmed, Usopp and the two giants come to aid in the battle.  They have decided to fight along side the invaders in revenge for the treachery of the World Government, tricking them into servitude fifty years earlier.  Luffy makes it to the courthouse drawbridge and faces the first member of CP9, Blueno.  Luffy unveils a new technique he has developed since the first fight with CP9 and defeats Blueno, despite his power and ability.  As he falls, the combined forces breech the courthouse and work to release the levers to extend the drawbridge that leads to the Tower of Law.  CP9, with their prisoners in tow, appear outside the tower to mock the invading forces as they struggle to reach them.  In a last ditch effort to save the Straw Hats, Robin yells that she is trying to die.

    Robins tragic history is shown in a prolonged flashback.  The island she was raised on, Ohara, is home to a vast library, and the archeologists/scholars who care for it.  Robins mother had left their village on an expedition to track down links to a century erased from memory 800 years ago.  Uncovering the information is banned by the World Government so any research into it means a death sentence.  In a combination of being left in the care of an unloving aunt and uncle and devil fruit powers, Robins childhood is less than ideal.  She is neglected at home and the other children attack her.  She spends most of her time reading and studying, wanting to follow in her mothers foot steps.  the only other people who don't drive her away are the people of the library.  The encourage her in the persuit of knowledge and at the age of eight she passes a test making her an official archaeologist.

    The scholars are secretly trying to decode the ancient language from the lost century..  When Robin tells them she can help with their research they chastise her for spying on them, causing her to lose the last safe space for her.  She flees the library in tears, not understanding why her life is as miserable as it is.  She comes across a giant who had washed up on her island.  Upon learning who Robin is, he tells her that he is friends with her mother.  The giant is a vice admiral of the Marines who is currently trying to flee them, marked as a traitor for helping Robins mother escape execution.  Soon Robins mother returns to the island, trying to warn the people at the library of an imminent attack by the World Government, but she is too late.  Spandams father has arrived with a flotilla, to carry out punishment for the scholars and their forbidden research.  they try to plead their care to the heads of the government but are rebuked and sentenced to death.  The Marines carry out their most devastating attack on the island, a Buster Call, bombarding it until nothing remains but ash and ruin.  Intent on killing all inhabitants.  The giant helps Robin escape the island but not before the World Government realizes she survives.  They put out a bounty on her, knowing she can read the ancient language and she begins her years as a fugitive, surviving as best she can in the next two decades.

     After this solid flashback we spend a number of filler episodes recapping how all of the members of the Straw Hats started out and joined the crew, mixed in with some offshoot feudal Japan stories with the characters...I honestly skipped all of this to get back to the real story.

     In a standoff between CP9 on one side and the Straw Hats on he other, Luffy declares war against the World Government by having Sniper King (Usopp) launch an incendiary shot at the flag atop the Tower of Law.  The bridge between the two sides fails to expand as needed and the Straw Hats still find themselves unable to reach Robin and Frankie.  In a moment of faith, Frankie decides to trust the pirates and burns the plans for the lost weapon in front of Spandam and CP9.  He is shoved off the tower, to fall to his doom.  At the same time, the sea train they used to get to Enies Lobby smashes through the bridge, on a collision course with the Tower of Law.  The pirates, being warned ahead of time to jump, land on the out of control train, smashing into the tower, saving Frankie and getting them across the gap.

    The shake the dust off and prepare to enact the final stage of the rescue operation, confronting CP9.  Spandam, not willing to loose his prize, instructs CP9 to take care of the invaders once and for all, leaving only their leader, Lucci to assist him in dragging Robin to the Gates of Justice.  To summarize the next 25 episodes the Straw Hats battle CP9 in a series of encounters, all while everyone else on the island is fleeing once it was learned that a Buster Call has been ordered on Enier Lobby.  Detailing the different confrontations and eventual victories by the pirates would ruin the fun of these episodes.  So we will just skip to their inevitable victory and escape from the island before it is utterly removed from existence.

     The pirates, succeeding in rescuing Robin, are recovering at Water Seven.  With the public declaration of war on the World Government, the defeat of CP9 and the escape of the Buster Call, Luffy and crew are now significantly more notorious.  Every member has been given a bounty, with those that previously had them seeing large increased in their worth.  This emboldens them to keep pushing forward, thinking if they are causing the World Government that much trouble they must be doing something right.  The destruction of Enies Lobby via the Buster Call is instead being blamed on the Straw hat pirates, who are in need of a new ship following the demise of the Going Merry.  Frankie informs them that he used the money he stole from them to buy a piece of lumber from a legendary tree that is neigh indestructible.  He along with the men of Galley La decide to repay the pirates for everything they did.

    Their celebrations come to a quick end though when a Marine ship arrives and quickly discovers the wanted pirates.  The captain of the ship is none other than Garp and with him are two faces the Straw Hats have not seen for a long time, Coby and Helmeppo.  Luffy reveals that Garp is his grandfather and after Garp gives his grandson a beating and stern talking too he decides to let the pirates go free for now.  Garp also informs Luffy that he met his father back when he escapes from Captain Smoker.  He tells him that his father is Monkey D. Dragon.  Not familiar with the name, Robin inform sLuffy that his father is the leader of the rebel group that is opposing the World Government.  Coby and Helmeppo, at the hands of Garp, have been training hard to be strong Marines and enjoy the reunion with the pirates who changed their lives forever...even though the next time they cross paths it will probably be to fight.

 

   As the threat of capture rescinds the pirates while away their time on the island, awaiting the completion of their new ship.  Usopp is struggling with asking to return as a member of the crew, whule the others prepare for their next course of action.  They learn of a dangerous section of the Grand Line, the frontier of a new world that appears to be ushering in a change to the current era.  At the same time, the World Government is trying to keep tabs on the four strongest pirates of the Grand Line, the four Pirate Emperors.  Unknown to Luffy, Red Haired Shanks, the most important person in his life, is one of the Emperors.  Shanks meet with another Emperor, White Beard, to discus stopping Luffys brother Ace from chasing down Blackbeard.  

    With the newest wanted posters now being distributed, the Frankie Family is concerned that Frankie himself now has a bounty on his head.  They plead with Luffy to have Frankie join his crew when they are finally ready to leave the island.  Luffy tells them he was already planning on doing that, sine they needed a shipwright anyways!  Frankie though isn't willing to leave and struggles to admit to himself and the others that he really does want to abandon his home to live the life of a pirate.  When the ship is finished, in record time, everyone uses the opportunity of the send off to force Frankie to join the Straw Hats as their newest member.  He relents and agrees and the pirates are finally ready to set sail in their new ship, designed and built by Frankie.  The new ship, with all the amenities the crew could dream off is christened the Thousand Sunny.  But their departure isn't smooth as Garps warship faces them, going back on his promise to let them go free.  The Straw Hats frantically fend off his barrage of attacks, while hoping that Usopp finally makes his request to rejoin the crew.  Usopp sees the ship as its fleeing the Marines and in a moment of humility admits he was wrong and wants to rejoin.  That was what Luffy was waiting for and stretches out to retrieve their land-based sniper as they charge forward to escape capture.

    Using a propellant system similar to his cola powered body, Frankie jumps the ship into the sky and blasts it a kilometer away, well out of the range of the Marine warship.  The Straw Hats are finally back on the open seas and headed to the next island on the logpose...the underwater city of the fish people, Fishman Island.  Before they can get there they encounter a ship that appears to be stranded.  The crew asks the pirates for help getting back to land to repair their wounded ship.  They agree and begin to tow the fishermen through a gradually colder section of the sea.  Soon large icebergs begin to behave in a fashion that appears suspicious.  The stranded fishermen is a band of disgraced pirates who are being forced to work with an eccentric family of bounty hunters to trap and defeat pirates.  The Straw Hats are the next target.

    The strange family ends up separating and attacking the pirates in various stages as they try to retrieve their jolly roger which was stolen by a bird.  They try to hide its theft from Luffy who ends up facing off with the head of the family who has devil fruit powers of the Heat Heat fruit.  While struggling at first, Luffy is able to enact counters to the mans oppressive heat abilities and punishes the patriarch for underestimating his crews abilities.  With their flag back on the ship they once again head out to seek the New World and Fishman Island, unaware of the dangerous forces that are beginning to take notice of their recent show of force.

     This was a really long but ultimately satisfying arc.  Even with its 12 or 15 filler episodes, most of which I skipped.  The success was a mostly foregone conclusion, but the battles along the way were done in a way that did not become tedious.  It was great to see Robins backstory and to have more of the underlying plot of the series revealed.  At this point the One Piece is little more than a McGuffin, something that Luffy isn't actively pursuing.  The is more letting his course in life get him to where he figures it will be instead of outright searching for it.  The artwork is progressively improving as well.  All in all the show is maintaining its engagement and quality of story telling.  Its serious and about fighting but is overcome with humor and insanity at every turn.  This is a story that really does not take its self seriously but is invested in telling a fun story with lovable characters.  After this arc I am starting to see why it is one of the most successful franchises ever.

    Next up, Thriller Bark, a story arc I have zero knowledge of as we roll into it!

First impressions for the Fall of 2023 anime season

The first week of October has come and gone and with it the introduction episodes for most of the new anime I had on my watch list.  Here's a run down of the initial impressions.

Dekoboko Majo no Oyako Jijo (The Family Circumstances of the Irregular Witch)

    This series fooled me and/or I wasn't paying close enough attention.  But the initial gag of the anime is that the buxom witch looking character is the teenage adoptee and the little girl looking character is the couple hundred years old witch mother.  This series focuses way to much on boobs...bu there are some other qualities that make it enjoyable.  The series definitely comes from yonkoma origins as the episodes have no over all narrative.  It will be interesting to see if the humor can remain interesting enough to keep my interest and how much time is going to be spent on world building in general.

Under Ninja

    I went into this one only based on my enjoyment of the original authors previous work and so far I am intrigues.  The animation is what I expected based on his style and the preview.  You can ignore the awkward CGI in the opening segment, the rest is pretty good.  The first episode does very little to explain whats going on.  The story flips back and forth between two different time frames, establishing a baseline of the world and the main characters situation and personality.  It feels like there is an active amount of subterfuge in the anime its self, which is fitting for a show about ninja.  I look forward to more of this weird story.

A Girl & Her Guard Dog

     This show has a very strong pedophile aspect to it...but that aspect is subtle.  Consider that Keiya is 26 years old in the current time of the show, he was made Isaku's guardian at the age of about 16 or 17.  Isaku is in love with his stoic protector and it sure seems like Isaku is attracted to the girl he raised who is currently 14 or 15.  Not a problem right?  But Isaku's character is fun, shes a clutz and quite socially awkward even though she looks like a traditional shojo princess.  Keiya and the rest of the yakuza clan they have shown so far are boring and stereotypical.  There is some potential for this to be a fun slice of live story if the creepy romance portion stays at a subdued level.  Though it is no Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting.

 

 Yuzuki-san Chi no Yon-Kyodai (The Yuzuki Family's Four Sons)

     Subtitle kerfuffle aside I am not sure this show is worth my time.  The family dynamic of the four brothers is more than predictable and it seems that dynamic is the entire basis of the plot lines, at least it is for the first episode.  Not a fan of the artwork as well, it doesn't really have any soul to it.  I'll give it a few more episodes to try and turn things around but I'm not too optimistic about it in the end.  Why was Minami-ke never released in English!!!!?????

You Were Experienced, I was Not: Our Dating Story

    The cold opening for this one made it out to be way more of an otaku wet dream story than it appears to be.  The premise is rather shaky but Runa's character appears to to have more substance than just a pair of boobs and dyed hair.   Her entire justification for deciding to date our MC Ryuto is an angle not normally taken, but she has some thought into her approach to dating.  She doesn't appear to be as shallow as you would assume and it feels like she may be the character with depth in the series.  There was enough reason in the way the first episode to keep me interested to see how it develops.  What has the outward appearance of little more than a shitty fantasy of what a relationship could be, might turn into a well done human relations piece as the two main characters begin to learn about themselves.  I got caught in this trap in the beginning, trying to be super critical of the show, calling out the idea that Ryuto only likes her for her looks and doesn't no anything about her.  She points that out, saying he approach to dating is to get closer to someone to learn about them in the hopes that honest feelings could develop as the she starts to learn the real person behind the declaration of love.  I am truly surprised by how this development caught me off guard.

Ancient Magus Bride season2, part 2

    Not much to say here, it is picking up where the last episode in the Spring left off with the Alchemist College now being sealed off to help prevent further attacks on the staff and students as they try to understand who stole a dangerous grimore and why.  Chise is trying to understand her classmates more as she gets closer to them, but there are definitely secrets that will begin to reveal themselves as the danger persists.

Spy x Family, season 2

    The misfit fake family returns for continued adventures!  The first episode was a great welcome back to this amusingly odd story.  Yor spends the entire episode trying to hide a fresh bullet wound to the butt and Loid thinks shes angry with him, threatening to compromise his mission.  Only Anya knows the truth and helps to thwart an attempt on her new mamma's life.  The show keeps up its energy and form right out of the gate...can't wait for more!!

My New Boss Is Goofy

    The artwork is a bit crude but this is a cute and amusing slice of life comedy.  I'm still low-key rooting for this to turn into a Bl anime, but I suspect that won't come to be.  Its nice to just turn your brain off and enjoy something pointless and cute for a while and this does that well enough, even with the terrible animation.

 

Pluto....sadly this does not premier until the end of October as its a Netflix series not a TV broadcast anime.  I also need to finish up the first season of Kaina of the Great Snow Sea before picking up season 2.

One Piece - anime part 8 - Water Seven

    One Piece (ワンピース) is the epic pirate themed shonen battle anime based on the manga of the same name by Oda Eiichiro.  The eighth story arc of the series, Water Seven, originally aired between April of 2005 and April of 2006 for a total of 35 episodes, between 229  and 263.

    With the Marine Base G-8, the Foxy crew, lose of memories, the return of Foxy and a dangerous Marine behind them, the crew continues on their journey to discover the One Piece!

 

    After surviving their run in with Admiral Aokiji, the Straw Hat pirates move forward towards their ultimate goal.  They run aground when they come across sunken train tracks for the worlds only sea train.  The woman who manages the station at the section of track the encounter tells them about all of the islands connected by it.  She tells them their Logpose is pointing at a nearby island called Water Seven, home to the best ship builders anywhere.  They strike off with enthusiasm in hopes they can finally find a shipwright to join their crew and get the Going Merry back into shape.  Water Seven is a marvel of engineering.  The city is made up of a series of canals that are traversed by sea creatures that act as horses, the foundations of the building underwater.  While not exactly refused entry, everyone they come across on their way to dock tells them to dock away from the city, not waiting to deal with pirates directly.  The moor the ship on a rocky outcropping and break off into groups to explore the city and resupply.

    Luffy, Nami and Usopp head out to cash in their gold treasure from Skypiae and then to the shipyard to find someone to work on their ship.  They meet members of the shipwright company Gallery La, who had just gotten through thrashing a gang of pirates refusing to pay for their repairs.  One of the foreman, a man named Kaku, who shares a prominent proboscis like Usopp agrees to take a look over the Going Merry to assess the damaged.  While he is away Usopp is attacked by a gang of thieves called the Frankie Family, who liberate him of two thirds of their money.  They also attempt to attack Zoro, who is the only one keeping on eye on their ship.  Meanwhile Chopper is separated from Nico when she is approached by a masked man.

    Kaku returns with grave news about the Going Merry, her wounds are too severe to repair and they are faced with having to dismantle her and find a new ship to continue on their journey.  Before they can break the news to Usopp, they notice that he is missing.  At the same time they realize that their luggage was swapped and the foreman explains it was done by someone from the Frankie Family.  Nami runs off to take what remains of their money to the ship encountering a badly beaten Usopp in the process.  Usopp confesses about his attack and theft.  While Nami heads back to the ship to get help, Usopp drags himself to the bass of the Franky Family, to demand his money back.  He is unable to do anything and their leader, Franky leaves him to be beaten to death by his gang.

    Luffy and the others head off to find Usopp and the Franky Family in order to get their money back.  When they come upon the near dead form of their ship sniper all concern over the missing money is lost.  With the boss missing in action, the Straw Hat pirates lay waste to the Frankie Family and their hide out, wanting nothing but revenge for what happened to their friend.  Returning to the Going Merry they tell Usopp that they are going to have to find a new ship.  Usopp, unwilling to accept the truth chooses instead to leave the crew and challenges Luffy to a fight to end things between them.  Luffy wins the dual easily, leaving Usopp to his own devices as has fully chosen the leave the Straw Hats crew.  Unwilling to force the issue the others decide to take what they can from their ship and leave it to Usopp as they head out to find a new one on their own.

 

    The next morning the town is a buzz with news that the mayor and head of the Gallery La Company was attacked in the middle of the night and almost killed.  When the mayor a man named Iceberg regains consciousness, he says that one of the two two would be assassins was Nico Robin.  World spreads immediately and the foreman of the Gallery La Company starts to hunt down all of the Straw Hat pirates.  Hearing the news about Iceberg, Luffy and Nami head to meet him in order to find out whats going on and to talk about securing a new ship.  Before they can get to him, Franky challenges him to a fight in the shipyard.  The fight is interrupted by the foremen of the Gallery La Company who tell Luffy they are going to kill his crew for trying to kill their boss.  No matter what Luffy says, he can't convince them they have the wrong idea about the shooting.

    In a bought of rage, Frankie fires a devastating weapon at the foreman who are interfering in his battle with Luffy.  Luffy and Nami use the distraction to escape into the city, trying to regroup with the other members of their crew and figure out their next move.  Luffy finds Iceberg recuperating in his bedroom and tells him that the blame placed on his crew is wrong.  Iceberg confirms that rumor that Niko Robin was one of his assailants and tells Luffy to bring her to him.  They run into Zoro, who is fleeing a mob of citizens looking for street justice.  They hide long enough to escape them and rejoin with Chopper.  Chopper tells them about what happened when he and Sanji found Robin.  They take her parting words as a message to them, that she and the people she are working with will be attempting to finish the job again that night.  The crew decides they will intervene in the attack in order to clear their names and get Robin back to their crew.

    They find the compound heavily guarded and before they can figure out a plan of action the group that Robin is working with, a mysterious group known as CP9, makes their move.  CP9 proves to be more powerful than the dockyard workers can handle and easily invade the compound.  In a moment of betrayal Iceberg learns that many of his trusted foreman have been undercover CP9 agents the entire time.  They are part of a secretive wing of the Wold Government and are finishing an operation that has been in action for years.  TCP9 has been searching for secret plans to build a powerful hip that has the capabilities of destroying the world.  The plans have been passed down in secret for years between master shipwright and apprentice.  Iceberg's master was known to be in possession of those plans meaning Iceberg is their current custodian.  Iceberg, prepared for this eventuality, had tried to fool them into thinking he had the plans.  Instead they reveal their knowledge about a second apprentice who was long thought to be dead that should have the real plans.  That apprentice is none other than the gang leader Frankie.

    Luffy and crew bust into the Gallery La company compound during the chaos of the CP9 infiltration, hoping to face Robin and resolve their problems.  With the Straw Hats innocence revealed, Iceberg and his remaining loyal foremen fight together against CP9...but are quickly subdued as they carry on their mission.  In the meantime, seeking revenge against Luffy, Frankie tracks down Usopp and kidnaps him and the Going Merry as bait, not knowing the real threat that is unfolding.  CP9 easily subdues Luffy and the other defenders at the Gallery La headquarters.  They have rigged the building to explode in a matter of minutes and leave to hunt down Frankie and the plans.  Back at Frankie's hideout, he forces Usopp to say good by the the broken Going Merry, releasing it into the churning waters of the approaching storm.  Not long afterward, CP9 arrives to secure the secret plans.

    With the plans in hand, CP9 arrests Usopp and Frankie, then head to the sea train, to depart before the storm hits the island.  A flashback sequence shows how Frankie, abandoned by his parents, was adopted by the master shipwright Tom.  He long with Iceberg were trained as his apprentices.  An agent from CP5 named Spandam had come to the struggling Water Seven island in search of the secret plans that he suspected Tom had in his possession.  The plans for the ancient fearsome warship Pluton.  Tom refused to confirm his possession of it and confronted the arrogant agent.  Years earlier Tom was help guilty of treason for building Gol D. Rogers flag ship and sentenced to death.  He had convinced the judge to let him amend for his 'crime' through his plan to build the sea train and its track.  His goal was to connect Water Seven to the neighboring islands, allowing it to trade goods and services with the others, in hopes of reviving its failing economy.  Agent Spandams arrival in search of the plans coincided with Tom's delayed judgement and the completion of the sea train.

    Spandam enacted a covert plan to make Tom look like a criminal, ruthlessly attacking the city he loved, using ships built by Frankie.  All three shipwrights were found guilty and were to be executed.  Tom convinced the judge to let his completion of the sea train be used as payment for the recent attacks he and his apprentices were blamed for.  Instead he would only be found guilty of his original crime, aiding the worlds most notorious pirate.  The judge approved and Tom was executed while his apprentices were pardoned.  Unsatisfied with the outcome Spandam had to return to the World Government defeated, to plan another course of action to retrieve the Pluton plans.  Spandam is now the leader of CP9 and is the mastermind of the infiltration of Icebergs company.

    Knowing that Nico Robin is leaving the island with the rest of CP9, the crew rushes after her before the sea train departs, but are unable to reach her in time.  To make things more dire the yearly storm hits the city with a furry never seen before.  Unknown to her, Sanji had gotten to the train earlier and was successful in sneaking on to it.  The remaining members of the pirate crew regroup and convince the head of the foreman, Kokoro, to help them stop the train and get Nico Robin back.  The remnants of Frankies Family arrive as well, recognizing that Luffy and his crew are not their enemies, vowing to join them in their fight against CP9, knowing they need to rescue Frankie.  The woman from the train station, who is revealed to have been Toms partner, takes the band of misfits to a hidden sea train, the original prototype, with the intent of helping them use it to catch up to the one speeding away to the Government island Enies Lobby.

    As the entire back up squad heads out into the raging storm, Sanji starts to fight his way through the train, rescuing Usopp and Frankie in the process.  Sanji, using a communicator on the train, is able to contact Nami to let her know whats going on.  Nami tells Sanji that Robin has purpously given her self up to the members of CP9 in order to protect the Straw Hat pirates from the wrath of the Marines.  She has chosen to sacrifice herself to save the only ones she has considered her friends, fearing the same force that wiped her home island from existence will bear down on Luffy and the others.  Unwilling to accept that sacrifice, they head further through the train to rescue her.  All while the others a rapidly speeding towards them, everyone ready for a serious fight for their own brand of justice against the world government.

    Usopp is able to get to Nico Robin as Frankie and Sanji confront the SP9 agents.  Instead of fighting them, they decide to flee with Robin but are thwarted in their attempts by her.  She continues to insist that she is done with them and is a fully compliant prisoner of the agents.  Forcing them to leave the train and her behind.  Luffy and the others catch up to them and learn of what transpired.  Unwilling to accept her surrender they charge ahead, understanding that they will not be able to stop the train from reaching Enies Lobby, choosing to bring the fight to the front door of the World Government instead, risks be damned.

    The Water Seven arc leads directly into the longer Enies Lobby arc and was a much needed palette cleanser from the terrible Foxy arc.  This arc covered ushered in a new direction for the story as the crew is faced with the possibility of having a different make up than it has to this point.  The loss of their ship plays a big roll in the dynamics of the crews inner struggles.  The underlying story centered around Nico Robin that has been charging ahead since Alabasta is fully revealed.  The World Government is trying to recover long lost super weapons as a last ditch effort to end the age of pirates for good.  This doesn't sit right with pirate or average citizen, as both are highly suspect of the World Governments real intentions or trustworthiness.

     This arc gave us a new style of conflict as well which is a welcome change to the standard antagonists the Straw Hat pirates encounter.   In every confrontation before there was a clearly defined line between enemy and ally.  But with the attack on Iceberg and the convenient set up of the pirate crew, they find themselves being hunted by a group of people they had considered allies the day prior, people they are not exactly willing to beat into submission.  On top of that they have to face the vary dangerous group think of the citizens of the city, as world spreads quickly.  There is so much respect for Iceberg and rumors spread quickly that the citizens, who normally would shy away from getting involved in pirate conflicts, fully mobilizes to dispense mob justice to the unjustly framed pirates.  Luffy has to start using his mouth and brain to try and resolve the threat that snowballs out of control.  The only saving grace is the second attack from the government agents, deftly revealed by Robin.  As the scheme speeds ahead to its conclusion, forces that were enemies become allies in a shared threat and a change in perspective.

    Next up, the assault on the center of the World Government to save Nico Robin and Frankie...Enies Lobby.  What kind of monsters lurk in this place of 'justice'?  Only Sniperking knows!!