Contents
Cover
Luffy stands (along with strange, cross-striped ostriches) in front of his future Jolly Roger.
Storyline
Luffy, freshly set sail, gets caught in a dangerous whirlpool with his nutshell. He grins and enjoys the beautiful day, although he is sure that his boat will not survive the whirlpool. The fact that he can’t swim doesn’t matter in the situation anyway.
A ship lies anchored off an island, under a Jolly Roger. A well-groomed woman’s hand notices that there is still dust on the railing. Anxious sailors promise to clean the whole ship once more. An eye and part of the woman’s hairstyle can be seen, not unattractive.
Koby, a ship’s boy, stands shivering opposite the woman, of whom one now sees a heavy iron club and a (not quite so slender) profile. She asks him who is the fairest in all the seas, to which Koby says, printing, that she, Lady Alvida, is incomparable. Pan to the woman’s eyes as she demands that her ship be kept as beautiful and clean as she is.
Alvida notes that Koby hasn’t been thrown to the sharks yet only because of his knowledge of seafaring, and then forces him to shine her (big) shoes.
Finally, a long shot of the woman: extremely fat and unattractive. To further humiliate Koby, she sends him to clean the latrine.
On the island: Koby rolls a large barrel into a storage shed where Heppoko, Peppoko and Poppoko, three of Alvida’s pirates, are loitering. The three of them immediately take care of the barrel, which they suspect contains rum.
No sooner is the barrel upright than the lid explodes, and like a jack-in-the-box, Luffy leaps out with fists outstretched. The pirates fall over.
Luffy is pleased to have escaped the whirlpool and a subsequent roll of the barrel, and exclaims that he slept well.
The three pirates have picked themselves up and are about to go after Luffy in the barrel when Alvida’s iron club slams into them from behind as she drives the loafers to work. Luffy’s barrel is knocked over in the process and rolls away. Alvida inquires, snorting with rage, who had been sleeping on duty. The pirates report the intruder, Alvida suspects a bounty hunter, possibly Roronoa Zoro, but he is said to be locked up at a naval base at the moment.
In the forest: Koby keeps Luffy company as he crawls out of the barrel, and enlightens Luffy about Alvida’s island. Luffy tells the incredulous Koby how he ended up on the island, and asks him about a boat. Koby leads him to a coffin-like structure he’s been cobbling together for the last two years of his captivity. Koby recounts how he was captured in a fishing boat two years ago and has been doing menial labor for Alvida ever since. He would like to escape, but doesn’t dare.
Luffy chides him for his cowardice and brags about becoming the next King of the Pirates. Koby flips out and gestures wildly, explaining why that’s impossible – after all, to do that, Luffy would have to achieve wealth, fame, and power, as well as find the legendary One Piece, and rise to the top in the great age of piracy. Luffy interrupts the rant with a headbutt, calmly but firmly confirming his intention even if the attempt costs him his life. Koby then blurts out his dream of joining the Navy.
As Koby fantasizes about turning Lady Alvida over to the Navy, she appears at his back and smashes his homemade nutshell with one blow. She mistakes Luffy for a bounty hunter hired by Koby, and gives him one last chance if he correctly answers her standard question about the fairest of them all. Before Koby can even formulate the lie, Luffy asks who this fat misty crow is, causing Alvida to completely derail.
Koby tries to convince Luffy to take it back, but then changes his mind and agrees with Luffy, despite fearing the beating of his life. Luffy laughs, Alvida flips out and hits Luffy over the head with the iron club. He puts this away unmoved, revealing that he’s a gum man before knocking Alvida out with a gum-gum gun. He then demands a dinghy from the pirates standing around in disbelief from Alvida’s gang so Koby can join the Navy.
Koby and Luffy sail together to the naval base where Zoro is being held. Luffy tells Koby of his plan to include Zoro in his future crew if he is okay. Koby, as usual, paints everything in the darkest of colors.
Oda’s comment
The morning sun seen from my window at work is incredibly beautiful!!! Seeing it first thing in the morning is what I think about just before I go to bed.
| Manga volumes | Romance Dawn Arc (Manga) |
