Manga Diaries – One Piece Volumes 19 to 21

One Piece Volume 19 One Piece Volume 20 One Piece Volume 21
If you don’t know what my Diaries are, please go here. Spoilers ahoy!

Otherwise, let’s go!


Volume 19:

Does Smoker have Luffy-dar or something? Wow, he’s got good instincts.

Do the people of this world know about the different kind of Devil Fruits and what they do? Me, if I heard of a Flower-Flower Fruit, and based on the other fruits’ powers, I would be afraid I would transform into a tree. Or at least have some blossoms coming out of my head and arms, like the bananas for the bananagators.  I could also picture the Cardian Reci from Sailor Moon. Either way, I wouldn’t have guessed blossoming limbs. Sand-Sand Fruit, on the other hand, makes perfect sense: Crocodile becomes sand.

I’ve also just found out it’s supposed to be the “Going Merry” instead of “Merry Go”. I wonder what else Viz changed…? I’m trying to avoid looking things up to avoid spoilers.

Anyways, war is on the verge of breaking out, and Vivi realizes how outclassed she is in fighting ability. And I’ve realized that the monsters of this world may be more useful than Pokémon. For my team, I want that tiger with the bunny head choker on the back cover.

Volume 20:

OK, now I want a supersonic duck on my team. At least some of them have an awesome Sturdy ability that just keeps them hanging on. Holy cow, Karoo for MVP.

So we learn something big in this volume: weapons can eat Devil Fruit. Yeah, the government really should be watching over these fruit more carefully.

Oh, and nice job, Zolo. I was wondering how the bandage would help the group identify each other, but the cross was a nice trick.

I guess we’ll never know what happens if a human ate the Human-Human Fruit.

Vivi actually makes it in time to stop the war only to be interrupted by a Baroque agent. So close. Sanji should have kept the glasses on; he looked good in them.

Also, I thought by now there would be some info on “okama”. I mean, I can read his coat, but I was expecting a note about the pun by now. And is “michi” actually read as “way” in this case? Or is it supposed to be “okama michi”? So confused. Speaking of confusing, is Luffy and crew the Straw Hat Pirates or the Straw Hat Gang? Or is it just based on others’ attitude of them? I hate not knowing if this an adaptation error or not.

Anyways, Chopper and Usopp put up a brave battle to defend the gate. Oh, that reminds me. I wanted to say that there should be an epic lie-off between Usopp/Chopper and Yamazaki/Syaoran from Cardcaptor Sakura. The person who gets Chopper or Syaoran to believe the most ridiculous lie wins. Place your bets now.

The camel being person #6 on the Supersonic Ducks was a nice trick. Bravo. The creepy-looking lady has a name. It’s Nico Nico Nii I mean Nico Nico Nico Robin. Explains her all-knowing smile.

Volume 21:

This was a very action-heavy volume. Not much in terms of overall story progression. We have a few more battles to check in on, and they take up the entire volume.

I thought the climate sticks Usopp provided were something to throw, but I would have never guessed they made a staff. It’s pretty interesting that although Luffy is the main character, it’s his allies who need to power up more. More influences from Watsuki and Rurouni Kenshin? Nami gets a weapon, and Zolo becomes one with the world or something? I didn’t really get it.

Sanji also fought Mr. 2, and I was expecting him to fall in love with Sanji. It feels like it would be the typical “I only like women!” “I’m a woman at heart!” exchange, but that could still happen.

More Devil Fruit: Spiky-Spiky and Dice-Dice. Doublefinger’s powers are actually pretty cool. I might have eaten the Dice-Dice Fruit if it involved dice not dicing. That way, I never would have to pass the dice in a board game. I could also leave my decisions up to the dice like the manga Para-Dice. I have taken some tests where I knew like none of the answers. At least rolling the dice for a guess would have been more fun than just picking randomly.

Final Comments:

I understand why Oda can’t keep the Straw Hats together too much, but I really don’t like how often the scene switches for long periods of time. I’m reading these volumes in rapid succession, and I find myself forgetting details like the fact Zolo and Nami were facing two Baroque Works agents. With six main characters (but feels like seven at this point), characters feel like they can disappear for volumes. At this rate, I can understand how Sanji (it was Sanji, right?) disappeared for two years. Oda just doesn’t seem to check-in with other groups that often. He focuses on one situation and ignores everything else. I think this is what I’m disliking about One Piece the most. It’s too bad, as he blends comedy and action quite well. The wide variety of the Devil Fruits means he can do just about anything, unlike, say, Rurouni Kenshin which tried to create more realistic powers or Naruto where weapons like guns don’t exist. I’m not sure I really like the idea of inanimate objects gaining Devil Fruit powers. Does this world have any rules or laws? Usopp and a few others seems practically invincible as well…

This post may contain reviews of free products or news featuring products which gave me bonuses. I may earn compensation if you use my links or referral codes. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy here.

2 Comments

  1. The Otaku Judge

    Supersonic Duck > Psyduck… yup the One Piece monster are better than Pokemon.

    Imagine Nico Robin doing the Nico Nico Nii pose with all the hands she can summon.

    Reply
    1. Krystallina

      I can imagine Franky and Luffy happily doing all the dance routines with her.

      Reply

Leave a Reply to The Otaku JudgeCancel reply

%d bloggers like this: