One Piece Episode 543

Storyline

12 years ago: A few days have passed since Koala arrived on the Sun Pirates’ ship. The pirates have finally managed to get an Eternal port to Koala’s home. Koala doesn’t know what to do with so much kindness and starts cleaning again. Hatchan doesn’t think it’s necessary, but the ship’s doctor, Aladine, explains that one shouldn’t be surprised after a trauma like she experienced. This habit certainly doesn’t go away overnight. Arlong asks Aladine, a former slave, if he wouldn’t actually like to kill Koala because of her race. He says all humans are the same and they’ve all given them the same condescending look for the past three years. Silence falls on the ship in response. Jinbe, however, has a different impression and explains that only a few humans thought they were better. The others, he says, were merely frightened. Jinbe asks Koala if this was because they were pirates. However, Koala explains that she is scared because she doesn’t know anything about fish people. Jinbe remembers Otohime’s words preaching the same thing. The next few days pass peacefully on the ship. Koala grows fond of almost everyone on the crew.

Foolshout: After a long time, the ship finally reaches Koala’s home. Tiger wants to take Koala home personally. Koala says goodbye with a smile and declares she will tell everyone that there are many good fish people. Arlong is sure that Koala will also become as despicable as the other humans. Makro is furious with Arlong and Jinbe settles the small dispute. Arlong then says that Jinbe has changed a lot in the last three years. He explains that Koala’s words will fall on deaf ears just like Otohime’s speeches. In Koala’s village, there is a tearful reunion with her mother. Tiger has to smile, but notices the looks from the villagers and leaves in response. Koala’s mother asks her daughter how bad her past time as a slave was. Koala tells her that while her time with the World Nobles had been bad, her time with the Fish-Men had been fun because they were very nice. Koala’s mother doesn’t want to believe her. Koala then says goodbye to Fisher Tiger, whom she thanks from the bottom of her heart for keeping his promise.

Tiger then moves away from the village and is suddenly surrounded by marines, led by Rear Admiral Strawberry. The latter explains that someone from the village has informed them of the arrival of the pirates. The navy therefore made a deal with the villagers. They would leave the former slave Koala alone if they got Fisher Tiger in return. Shortly after, the soldiers fire on Tiger. The shots are heard by the rest of the pirates, who then notice several navy ships approaching and attacking them. Jinbe decides to rescue Tiger with a squad, while Arlong takes care of the naval ships with the rest. As their own ship is badly damaged by the attacks, Arlong decides to capture a navy ship. Meanwhile, Jinbe rushes to rescue Tiger. The latter was hit by several bullets and eventually goes down. This is followed by an exchange of blows between Jinbe and Strawberry.

At sea: The pirates have managed to escape with Tiger on a navy ship. Tiger has lost too much blood and needs a transfusion to survive. But Fisher Tiger refuses. Since no one in his crew has the same blood type, Tiger needs a donation from a Navy pouch, which comes from humans. Tiger would rather die than have the blood of humans in his veins. Arlong asks what happened between him and the humans. Through tears, Tiger confesses the bitter truth about his last journey before becoming a pirate. Shortly after Tiger set out, he was captured and was a slave on Mary Geoise for many years. During that time he witnessed the madness of man. At one point, he had the chance to escape, but couldn’t forget the rest of the slaves, so he returned to save them. Tiger knows that not all humans are like that, and partly regrets ruining Queen Otohime’s efforts with his actions. The only ones who can make a difference are children of the next generation like Koala, who have not been tainted by prejudice. That’s why Tiger asks his crew not to tell anyone about his past or about today’s incident. Even though Tiger knows about good people, he cannot forgive them. Shortly after, Fisher Tiger passes away.