Manga Diaries – One Piece Volumes 61 to 63

If you don’t know what my Diaries are, please go here. Spoilers ahoy!

Otherwise, let’s go!

Volume 61:

This volume is brought to you by the number 2, the official number of years for timeskips. Everyone underwent heavy training, so of course the music of this volume has to be one of these three:

Speaking of training, what was Chopper training for, NFL ref? Although with his observation skills, I don’t think the NFL wants him. He’d be as bad as these replacement refs:

Hey, Oda put a bunch of extras this volume, so I can too. What else is to say but that they just dive right in where they left off – literally. Everyone gets a new look and a fond farewell from their trainers/masters, which they met thanks to Kuma. The end.

Oh, and stop stealing Yuko’s line, Rayleigh. No one can talk about coincidence and hitsuzen/inevitability like her.

Volume 62:

Well, Luffy tames the Kraken, but who cares. I wanted to put this picture in here anyway.

Sanji keeps getting nosebleeds, and Chopper runs out of blood. Sanji’s taking in more blood than a vampire. The Straw Hats are getting captured because of something Luffy may do. It’s funny because just today I heard about a manga called Jigoku no Enra where the heroine is facing having her soul captured because of something she may do. Just a funny coincidence. (Or was it hitsuzen?)

It’s nice to have an antagonist who actually has a brain. Caribou patiently bides his time for a counterattack and even “helps” Luffy to ensure his own survival.

I think this is the first time we’ve seen Usopp’s wanted poster untouched. I never realized his name was “Soge King” in Japanese; I thought maybe it was “Sniper King” (in katakana) or “something no ou”. Shoc-king! (Blame the bad pun on The Seven Deadly Sins.)

Brook really is a major celebrity. He and Pappagu should do a collaboration, just like celebrities and clothing lines do in real life. “Criminal x Skeleton”? “Crimiton”? I know, “Skeletal”! Perfect!

Volume 63:

This volume comes at an eerily apt time. Much of this volume focuses on racism and prejudice, the hate between fish-men and humans. Just the other day, the two candidates running for president of the United States have essentially accused each other of being racist. Racial tensions are running high here in America, and a lot of people need to go through Jimbei’s experiences and have Otohime’s passion.

Anyway, One Piece tends to focus a lot on non-traditional families like adopted children or non-blood brothers. So it’s a nice change of pace in the story to see brothers protecting their sister, a father who loves his daughter but doesn’t know how to protect her.

Sanji also has recovered.

Final Comments:

I’m liking this Part 2 so far. It’s so nice to have the gang back together, even if they are still spending a lot of time apart. Still, it’s so much better than meeting old enemies, especially since the latest villain actually has a brain.