Join Monkey D. Luffy and his swashbuckling crew in their search for the ultimate treasure, the One Piece.
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He’ll never be able to swim again—a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the “One Piece,” said to be the greatest treasure in the world…
Big Mom, a fearsome and extremely hungry pirate warlord, bears down on Luffy and his crew in search of wedding cake and revenge. Luffy clashes with her sweet-toothed son Katakuri while the Straw hat crew battles to protect their ship and their lives.
Eiichiro Oda (尾田栄一郎, Oda Eiichirō) is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the manga and anime One Piece.
As a child, Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's works and aspired to become a manga artist. He recalls that his interest in pirates was probably sparked by the popular TV animation series titled Vicky the Viking. He submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga Kinnikuman. Pandaman was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works.
Please also see: 尾田荣一郎 (Chinese, simplified) 尾田榮一郎 (Chinese, traditional)
This set of volumes wraps up the Whole Cake Island arc – and what a ride! – depositing our crew in Wano for their next adventure. Sanji coming back to his true self (badass kickfighting cook with a heart of gold), Nami taking charge (she does scary and direct so well!), Luffy and Sanji both gaining strength for their final challenges from their knowledge that their crew believes in them…great stuff!
*Note: I don’t think you can spoil ‘One Piece’ with just partial plot summary …but I’ve put the stuff below that might play best as a surprise in the spoiler sections. But if you don’t want any further details, stop here and return later.*
Luffy and Katakuri’s fight This one is unusually long and brutal (at least for the story up to this point), but you can also see how Katakuri grows to respect Luffy as an opponent. What’s more interesting is Katakuri himself, and how he fits into the arc’s themes about the prison of patriarchal standards of masculinity. Katakuri looks like he stepped out of a Mad Max movie, with all those spikes and leather: And everyone around him says how he is this perfect, stoic man who not only has never lost a fight but who has never even laid down on his back – in fact, Katakuri is somewhat confused that Luffy isn’t at all ashamed about getting knocked down. But there’s already a certain level of silliness in this fight, in that Katakuri can turn himself into mochi and is fighting a rubber man! Then he buries Luffy in the sticky rice paste and takes a break to have his snack. Luffy, of course, eats through this restraint and busts into the house where – instead of Katakuri meditating or joylessly consuming nourishment, as his chefs think is happening – we see this: It is adorable…but it is also deeply sad that he felt like he had to hide this part of himself in order to be perfect enough to protect his family. And it is rather touching that, when the 1 am deadline to rejoin the Straw Hats comes around .
Sanji and Pudding’s Farewell…thank goodness! I know there are people who ship this pair, but I just can’t – at least not for where the characters are at this moment. First off, even under ideal circumstances, Pudding is too young for Sanji (he’s 21, and I believe she’s meant to be 16, though the text of the story hasn’t specified). I don’t really put any blame on Sanji: They met via an arranged royal wedding, which he did not want. He notices that she’s pretty, yes, but he was having to psych himself up to think that they could work as a couple anyway and then ! Seeing them collaborate to stop Big Mom’s rampage by baking a huge replacement wedding cake is fun, but Pudding is, up to the very moment they part, in an alarming split-personality mode! She realizes that Sanji is both strong and kind, but she doesn’t know what to do with those feelings, so one minute she’s blushing over him and the next lashing out aggressively. It doesn’t mean she’s a bad person – she’s also suffered familial abuse and needs to heal - but Sanji’s been through a lot lately and he deserves better! And, interestingly, he doesn’t respond at all to the fact that she's getting heart-eyed over him– he clearly just wants to finish the job and get back to his crew. I was relieved to discover that they aren’t actually married! I wondered about that in the last set of volumes…but, indeed, Oda pulled a “Princess Bride” and had the priest skip the vows. Which you might as well do if at least one of the parties is under duress, I suppose – you’re just inviting trouble by asking “do you…” or whether there are objections!
After the cake thing, Pudding gives a disguised Sanji a lift to Cocoa Island and he surprises her again: “Sanji: Pudding, when Luffy shows up, this’ll be it for you and me, right here…Boy, it sure was a strange series of events that brought us together, wasn’t it? But our parting will come soon.” (puts out hand) “Thanks for everything!” Pudding: (internally: But I tricked you and tried to kill you – don’t turn around and thank me, Sanji dear! I want to apologize! I NEED to apologize!) Shuddup!! (Internally: Wrong! Wrong!) Sanji: Haha! Right, we’re enemies. But even though the wedding was a trap…If somebody had to play the role of my fiancée, I’m glad it was you, Pudding.”
I’m not 100% sure how I feel about what happens next, because it does have a ‘Casablanca’ bittersweet romanticism to it…but it also kinda adds to the “bullet dodged; run away, Sanji!” impression I have. So, the thing is, Pudding has the power to edit memories… On the gripping hand: well, at least it can’t mess with his head if he doesn't remember, leaving him free to move ahead with his crew.
The Vinsmokes and redemption…or not While I love that the story has flipped from Luffy taking the lead in rescuing Sanji to Sanji rescuing Luffy…they are facing overwhelming odds. So, it is interesting that It isn’t a full redemption by any means, but it is a little bit hopeful for the future. Judge, on the other hand, gets no such sympathetic treatment! Even as his ships form a blockade to shield the Sunny, he continues to rant about how worthless Sanji is:
Judge is a piece of shit, and I like to imagine that, if he’d been there, Zoro would have sliced him up for STILL talking to his crewmate that way…and then long live queen Reiju! But Luffy’s reaction here – total confusion, because all these things that Judge sees as faults are the things he and his crew love about Sanji – is delightfully heart-warming, and probably just what Sanji needed to hear.
Sanji’s future Sanji is a little taken aback by how tearfully delighted everyone is when he offers to cook them something (not realizing what a disaster Luffy’s attempt to do it was)! But he of course gets right to work, and we get a delightful little parallel as Chef Zeff, back at the Baratie, also whips up the same dish to feed some more starving pirates. Both:“You hungry? I’ll feed you! We can talk after that!”
Unfortunately, the legacy of Germa isn’t done with Sanji yet! While he’s initially elated to discover that his bounty has passed Zoro’s, his mood crashes as soon as he realizes his wanted poster lists him as “Vinsmoke Sanji”. And then he realizes that This will have BIG implications later.
Straw Hat Anarchic Teamwork With Zoro off in Wano, and Luffy and Sanji facing their separate challenges, command of the Sunny fell to Nami – and, boy, do I love to see our fearless navigator take charge! At one point she even cuts Luffy off like: Nope - you can’t do plans, so listen to me, because here’s what we’re doing! (And I love how Luffy just lets his crew do that, when they obviously have skills that are more suited than his for a given situation). She works together so well with Jimbei, who shows off his skills as an expert helmsman, as well as Chopper and Brook. And the trickery involved in zapping Big Mom and taking Zeus (her sentient cloud) once and for all? Love it. We also get to see Carrot – the rabbit mink girl – be a bit of a badass when the full moon brings out her sulong (“moon lion”) form. She’s faster and stronger…but just as cute and mischievous.
The sacrifices I gotta be honest…I think I was supposed to cry over Pedro. But I couldn’t, because we’d barely spent any time with him. But the moment where Carrot and Sanji comfort each other with head pats was adorable. Lola and Chiffon’s dad was much more effectively tear-jerking. The poor guy had never even been allowed to hold his twin daughters, but he never stopped loving them at that “fight to the death” level, and he is so happy to catch a glimpse of his grandson, and to see that Chiffon and Bege actually have a strong, mutually supportive marriage. So…oww!
The Reverie This is a big gathering of the leaders of the kingdoms that make up the World Government. It is super cute to see princesses Vivi, Rebecca, and Shirahoshi, along with Dalton and Kureha from Chopper’s home island, get to meet up and swap Straw Hat stories. But it is also nerve-wracking! You know shit is going to go down, because: #1) We just saw the revolutionary army members organizing something from their new base on Peachy Island, and is moving around in disguise during the meeting. #2) That Celestial Dragon asshole who is obsessed with having a pet mermaid just caught sight of Shirahoshi. #3) Bonney is ALSO there in disguise and just realized the Celestial Dragons are using the robotified Kuma as a rotating slave they can abuse as much as they like without consequence. And she is PISSED. #4) Vivi’s dad, King Cobra, wants to raise a point about corruption, which you KNOW isn’t going to go over well! #5) Supposedly the throne surrounded by the swords of the 20 founding monarchs remains empty to symbolize that the nations of the World Government are equals…but, oh look
I loved the classic art references in this set of volumes! Is the outfit worn by Belo Betty of the Revolutionary Army fan service? It does function that way…but that and her pose are a clear reference to the painting of the French Revolution, ‘Marianne Leads the Charge’. In fact, her devil fruit power is literally to wave that flag and get people pumped up to fight. Well played, Oda.
And then, what the Straw Hats sail through on their way to Wano (the feudal-Japan-themed island) is literally just ‘The great wave off Kanagawa’…with some giant koi thrown in.
And we finally see what’s up with the Straw Hats who went straight to Wano. They’re currently undercover as a carpenter (“Franosuke”), toad-oil salesman (“Usohachi”), geisha (“Orobi”) and wandering ronin (“Zorojuro”). They can’t all stay out of trouble THAT long, though, and Zoro has been arrested and ordered to commit seppuku. This does not go as the authorities think it will!
Sidenote: Some people are bothered by the way many of the ladies of ‘One Piece’ are drawn. There’s certainly room for improvement. However, the fact that we get Zoro stripping off the top half of his robe every time he fights now - not to mention Ace’s allergy to shirts or any of the other thirstier-than-it-needs-to-be images of one of the boys – makes it at least feel even-handed to me!
Finally, I gotta rant a little about some fan discourse…so you can click away now if you don’t care. #1: Returning to my earlier “queerness in One Piece” note about Luffy and asexuality…OMG, why are people so weird about that? In addition to Luffy being clearly, canonically not attracted to Boa Hancock (most beautiful woman in the world) and Oda noting that Luffy’s totally lack of reaction to her being naked was his natural response, and Luffy’s further lack of reaction to Cavendish (a beautiful man everyone swoons over) or, indeed, anyone else, we get this Q&A response here: “Q: How does Luffy determine what makes a lady ‘beautiful’? Why does he say that to Alvida but doesn’t make that distinction for other beauties…? Oda:…while most people would say something like that as an obvious compliment, it’s just a categorical description for Luffy. Even Luffy can recognize attractive features on a person, it’s just that he doesn’t particularly care.” But if you look at the comment section on this video entitled “Luffy: The asexual hero we deserve” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS211...), like 40% of the comments are attempts to argue against that reading – and the arguments are all REALLY stretching! “Oh, he’s just too focused on his goal of becoming King of the Pirates to care about romance!” Bullshit! Luffy is one of the most distractible characters I’ve ever seen! One reason ‘One Piece’ is SO LONG is that it is like 80% side-quests! Excellent character-and-world-developing side quests, I might add…but if Luffy was actually focused on the titular treasure, that wouldn’t happen. “He’s just pure of heart!” Look, I love Luffy, and he IS the moral center of the story - but he isn’t a saint! He’s a glutton, and he can be slothful, wrathful, greedy…hell, he says he doesn’t want to be a hero, because that would mean having to share his meat! Is lust the only deadly sin that makes you NOT “pure of heart”? Because that would be weird. Conversely, you can have a very pure, sweet romance…but the scenes where Hancock is envisioning that with Luffy are JOKE because we, the audience, are supposed to know that everything she’s picturing would be very out of character for him! We’re not at the end of the story yet, so who knows for sure…but just let the asexual fans and those of us who want to see more asexual rep at least have this for now, damn it!
#2: No, the Straw Hats other than Luffy and Zoro haven’t abandoned their own goals! I keep hearing people say this, and it is starting to bug me. Yes, Luffy and Zoro still TALK about their goals the most…but that’s because A) Luffy has always just introduced himself to EVERYONE as the future king of the pirates and B) they’re always fighting people, so Zoro has the opportunity to talk about how he is or isn’t progressing toward being the world’s greatest swordsman. But just because the others aren’t talking about their goals doesn’t mean they forgot them! Let’s consider: - Franky built his dream ship and is testing it by going on a grand journey. Check! - Brook got friends after 50 years of isolation and will be on track to reunite with Laboon the whale if the crew make it all the way around the Grand Line alive. - Robin's desire to decipher the poneglyphs and figure out the mystery of the void century is what will let them find the ‘One Piece’ is. She also just wanted to live, have friends and relax her vigilance for like 5 minutes - check! - Chopper wanted to learn to cure all diseases, and has been gaining a lot of experience. - Usopp is arguably already the "brave warrior of the sea" he wanted to be. - Sanji wanted to find the All Blue…but, since no one has any idea where this mythical ocean IS the only plan he had was to travel with Luffy and hope to bump into it. Since the Straw Hats are always catching fish for him to cook, he’d presumably notice! Plus, he just had this whole arc confronting his childhood trauma, which is important personal stuff! - And as for Nami, besides clearly improving her navigational skills, Oda just confirmed my guess about her primary personal goal: “Q: Nami’s dream is to draw a sea map of the entire world…Is she actually drawing that map? Oda: Of course she is. It’s practically a daily ritual that she charts more after dinner. During the day when the story is moving, she has to give navigation directions, so she’s usually on the deck instead.” While it might be nice to see a bit more “slice of life” of that kind of thing happening, like we did in early ‘One Piece’…c’mon, people, this story has been going for almost three decades! Do you want to find out the ending ever, or not?!["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
Anyway... have l already mentioned how much I love this entire Whole Cake Island saga? I probably did but anyway... I love this so fucking much. Again, I'm probably biased because I love Sanji but that is irrelevant.
I love the ending of the Whole Cake Island arc and the Reverie arc is just as entertaining. The characters are as amazing as always and we get so many appearances of the characters from previous arcs which is just endearing.
Overall, these were some great volumes that got me very excited for Wano. Easy 5 stars.
The following part of this review will contain SPOILERS!
Okay... I will start with Sanji again because I love him. I have to mention how my boy recognizes the ingredients of the cake by scent, like, Masterchef contestants could never. Also I love how he saves the day by baring a cake. And not only that but he also doesn't let Bege to put explosives in the cake because Big Mom is hungry and he is there to feed the hungry. And then the scene where germa helped them escape... it was so cool (especially became they were all insulting Sanji while doing it). Anyway, the best Sanji moments come later on when he sees his bounty. I mean... it's higher than Zoro's but it's all because of the name Vinsmoke and Sanji is So conflicted because of that... I love it.
Also Shanks appears twice in one volume so let us appreciate that.
Luffy is also amazing in this arc because af lis fight with Katakuri which is just amazing. And then when Judge dude insults Sanji and Luffy takes it as a compliment... chef's kiss. Also I love how he thought that his bounty went down... and then when they came to Wano and he saw a baboon with a katana and instantly thought " Oh, this must be Wano"... I loved that.
Then we have Pudding who I'm actually starting to like if I'm being honest (I still think she was extremely shady though). I mean... my girl kissed Sanji and then erased it from his memory because she doesn't want him to remember that.
Also Stelly dude appears (Sabo's foster brother that was meant to replace him) and he's just such a brat. Like, I hate that dude and his racist thoughts. The funniest thing is that Garp just verbally abuses him the entire time that they're together. And even Sabo... I mean, my man is disguised as his guard but he's basically mocking him the entire time.
I also really like Bege because he's a very good husband, coming to save Chiffon and all. Also I love the line "Why would I reveal my secrets to the people I'm planning to backstab?" because hell yeah, you're right man.
Some other things that I also loved are: a) Carrot reaching her proper furry form b) the power rangers having the most hilarious attack names (e.g. sparking valkyrie) c) Coby being a captain d) Vivi and Rebecca interacting (also Shirahoshi joining them)
Series: One Piece #88-90 Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
This volume finishes up the Whole Cake Island story arc and ends with the crew landing on Wano. I really enjoyed this arc and the battles that happened. Luffy v. Katakuri was a very intense and interesting battle. I liked that we saw Luffy gain the respect of another enemy. I loved seeing Sanji rejoin the Straw Hats and partner with Pudding and Chiffon to make a cake. Also while Sanji is a lovesick manwhore, I love that he refuses to allow his creation to be poisoned against Big Mom. He sticks to his morals and I like that about him.
One of the things I had forgotten about this story arc was Bege and Chiffon. I had forgotten about their marriage and the fact they are so cute together. It's nice to see that some of Big Mom’s arranged marriages actually work out. I loved seeing Bege come to the rescue of Chiffon and fight to save her. They are sweet and I hope they pop up again some day.
After the Straw Hats leave Big Mom’s territory, we see them make their way to Wano and finally make it. We also see all the royals gathering at the Reverie, including the Ryugu Kingdom and Princess Shirahoshi. I liked seeing all the royals that Luffy made friends with get together and have like a fan club meeting. It made me realize how much royalty he has actually saved over the course of his story. Overall, this was a great conclusion for the battle against Big Mom and I can’t wait to see what happens in Wano.
This is my stand-in review for all of the Whole-Cake Island Arc.
Would give it 4 1/2 if I could. It doesnt drag like the rest of the New World Arcs so far, and like my other favorite arcs (Impel Down comes to mind) it is not a simple Luffy-punches-end boss structure. Oda's dedication to outstanding, outsized panels and his virtuoso handling of scene-sequel action and backstory is in full gear. He also manages to fully resurrect Sanji from the one note gag character he had turned into a few arcs ago.
Since most of the action was in service of rescuing or fleeing, the only real "normal" fights you get are Luffy punching people until they give up (General Cracker and Katakuri). In this sense, the central fights and the continued growth of his skill are a bit of a letdown in presentation compared to Dressrosa or Alabasta, but it does mean the rest of the crew and their allies get plenty of time to be useful and lets Oda play around with their ingenuity in the face of insurmountable odds.
The conclusion is missing the satisfaction of a toppled tyrant or evil defeated of past arcs, but it's as perfectly sweet as always. Nobody does big (plots, characters, emotions) like One Piece.
The end of Whole Cake Island, a lot of Reverie beginning, a tiny intro to Wano. 5 stars just for getting to see some favorites, Vivi and Dr. Kureha , again along with a peek at what the other Straw Hats are doing in Wano. Other highlights of these volumes include more on Katakuri, various royalty interactions, and Pound .
Weird moments include some musical moments that probably translate well to animated sequences but didn't super work for me in static format and anything with Carrot because a sexualized rabbit is just never going to grow on me but I know some people love her so it is what it is.
Ok writing a short review I rly liked whole cake. It was v nice to get more sanji backstory as ive grown to loath him post time skip and im glad that he got some recuperative narrative attention. There was like a triple twist in this saga and that was v fun. Overall the narrative arc subverted my expectations which is impressive this late in the game. Also big mom just feels soo imosing like the fact that the saga ends without them being able to defeat her says a lot. The dramatic irony of the bomb chest and then the payoff of that was excellent as well. Its interesting to get these sections where the crew is broken up.
Notes: The big chase at the end of the Big Mom arc has some rough pacing at times, but the climax (Jinbe’s return + Luffy vs. Katakuri) are tremendous, the set pieces are very cool, and the sheer variety of powers, characters, and stuff going on lead me to not caring that much. The Reverie chapters are terrific and so exciting to reread for the first time in one shot, and a great reminder of how much we still don’t know. Big happenings afoot. Stoked for Wano!
A great end to the WCI arc. A lot of nice moments with Pound, Pudding, Brulee and Katakuri (the real man), the addition of Zeus to the team, the fight against BM etc.
I did feel like there was a lot of very convenient stuff happening to allow the Straw Hats to escape but oh well, a little bit of that is needed too.
The Reverie "arc" (more like chapters) was great too, setting up new plot threads, bringing about interesting revelations and just generally moving the plot forward.
The Big Mom arc is probably the first time since the Timeskip where I have actual hope One Piece might reach the same highs as pre-Timeskip. While it has some of the same problems of the previous volumes - too many characters - it actually has more focus on what is important with less plot threads running at the same time.
One Piece never got bad, but this volume proves it can get really good again.
If you’re ever going to a One Piece trivia night (I’ve seen a flyer in Collingwood and I missed it), this will be a good refresher reference. Whole Cake Island was a trip and a half and the Reverie is uncomfortable because of how closely it resembles real life.
Ready for Wano and individual volumes now because I can’t afford Omnibus Editions all the time!!!
Essa é uma resenha padrão para a minha leitura de one piece já que o app só conta como lidos os livros com resenha vou deixar esse texto aqui. Perdão a qualquer pessoa que queira ler uma resenha sobre o mangá, mas está sendo uma boa experiência e eu recomendo que leia, vale muito a pena.
Vale mira, la escapada me ha parecido simplemente épica, el sacrificio del padre de Lola de lo más triste del manga y, a ver, EL PACTO?!?!? Bueno, diré que la reverie me ha encantado, una buena reunión siempre gusta, que me la corten para meterse en Wano ya no tanto.
Muyinteresantevera personajes que no veímos desde el inicio interactuar con los nuevos. Por lo que respecta al final de Cake island me decepcionó un poco, yo esperaba una victoria más aplastante de lo que obtuvimos y los secundarios no tuvieron tiempo de brillar todo los que podrían.
Incredible ending to the New World arc as the Straw Hats gain more influence and we get a chance to catch up with their past acquaintances. I loved seeing old faces and getting more world building on big events happening outside of the crews current circle. There is so many storylines and characters at this point, the world just feels so alive. Finally made it to Wano, i’m ready.