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 third story arc of the series, Introducing Chopper at the Winter Island, originally aired between August and December of 2001 for a total of 14 episodes, between 78 and 91.
In the Second Part, Entering the Grand Line, the crew of the Going Merry is ready to head off into the dangerous waters of the Grand Line, the point where they can begin their search for the One Piece. Everyone has talked about how dangerous it is, but what are those dangers?
As they continue to travel to Vivi's island, Nami succumbs to a dangerous fever. The crew is desperate to find another island to get her medical aid, given that she is the only one with any medical experience. Before they can find land a strange pirate ship attacks them, headed by a man named Wapol who has a Demon Fruit ability that allows him to consume anything he wants to. The strange pirate captain and his crew aren't as strong as they think and are easily defeated by Luffy. Shortly after the strange encounter they find an island. As they are about to disembark a group of islanders wielding guns tells them to turn around. Before the situation can get out of hand, luffy and crew convince them they aren't a danger to their village or island. They are allowed to land and search for a doctor under the watch of a man named Dalton, who the others look to as an authority figure.
Dalton explains that their island had been attacked a number of months earlier by the pirate Black Beard. In the confusion their despotic king fled with his loyalists, leaving the citizens of the country to fend for themselves. Once Black Beard had left they realized that the tyrant who has controlled their country was also gone and they could run the country themselves. Unfortunately for Luffy, the only doctor remaining on the island is a crazy woman they call a witch, who lives in a castle on the top of a shear mountain spire. Luffy decides to set out with Nami and Sanji to seek the help of the witch. Meanwhile the strange pirate Wapol arrives on the island. He is actually the king who had fled during Black Beards attack and he has come to reclaim his throne, fighting anyone who gets in his way. Facing killer bunnies, a massive avalanche, the extreme cold and an impossible climb to its summit, Luffy succeeds in bringing his crew mate to meet the islands only doctor. He succumbs to exhaustion and hypothermia before he can talk to her.
Nami is saved from near death by the doctor, a woman named Kureha and her strange assistant Chopper. Nami is the first to be revived and meet the humanoid reindeer. Upon learning that he has been studying to be a doctor she asks him to join their crew. Once they have all recovered from their wounds Kureha tells them about she and Choppers history together and the reason the island no longer has any doctors. Before they can leave to join with the rest of the crew the despotic king Wapol comes to claim his castle from Kureha and Chopper, planning to officially resume his iron fisted rule of the island. Luffy faces off against the crazy king as he tries to protect the people who have been kind to him once they understood his crew didn't pose a threat to them. Chopper works to protect the land he holds dear along side Luffy and shows that the Devil Fruit he ate did more than transform him from an ordinary reindeer. In the end, the king is still just as weak as when Luffy faced him while he was pretending to be a pirate and the islanders can face freedom. Chopper decides he will take Nami's offer and becomes the official doctor for the Straw Hats crew. They head off again to Vivi's homeland, to face the dangers that await them.
I think Chopper is my favorite character in the entire series, so to actually sit down and watch his origin story was quite enjoyable. This as an enjoyable arc that helped to erase the bad taste the previous arc had left in my mouth. Even with the continued frequency of more and more Devil Fruit characters, Choppers situation provides a fresh angle to one of the backbones of the franchise. Instead of just being some one dimensional human character we have an animal that eat a fruit granting human power but more so...which makes one wonder what would happen if a human ate the same fruit. A fresh new dimension to the Fruit and the possibility of its effects has now been introduced. With the first official new crew member in a long time, we will see how long it takes for the next member to be added to the ranks and how well the next segment will pan out to be. This part was quite enjoyable over all...so hopefully this trend persists for a while.
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