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.
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.
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