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.
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!
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