One Piece Vol 18
The Alabasta arc kicks into high gear.
This volume, I can't even. So much going on. So emotionally powerful, although sometimes it's the sort that creeps up on you and kicks you in the stomach only with hindsight.
Volume 18
156
Five days into the journey from Drum Island to Alabasta, food seems to be running short on board.
(LOL, it took another twenty pages for the penny to drop (for me): they're short on food because Luffy and his co-conspirators broke into the fridge and ate eight days' worth of supplies in the previous chapter. <3)
Vivi beats up Usopp and Luffy for using Karoo as bait when they're fishing, but then she just leaves Karoo hanging there, and two pages later they're back to fishing with him again. I love how Vivi's ditzy side only peeks through from time to time.
Luffy must be hungry. They see a cloud of steam. Luffy: "Is that cotton candy?" Nami tries to explain underwater volcanoes. Luffy: "Who cares, you can't eat 'em."
The Merry and Mr. 2's ships pass each other in the fog.
I forgot they "caught" Mr 2 on their fishing line, LOL.
LOL, "suwan suwan" (= swan) instead of "suman suman," thanking them when they pull him out of the water.
Bon Kurei offers to show off his devil fruit power while he's waiting for his ship to come back and pick him up.
Mr. 2 ate the mane-mane (imitate-imitate) fruit, which allows him to assume the appearance and manner of anyone he touches.
Moreover, he retains the faces of everyone he's ever touched in "memory" and can reproduce them whenever he wants.
I recognized Cobra's face among the random faces this time!
Love how Bon Kurei immediately joins the Usopp-Luffy-Chopper dance line. When Chopper's in the mix, I think their collective mental age actually drops BELOW five.
The instant-bonding between Bon Kurei and the crew seemed very random at the time when I first saw it, but [Spoilers for Impel Down]it's kind of poignant/adorable/heartbreaking now. "Friendship has nothing to do with the length of acquaintance," aw.
[From the Decks of the World (Chapter 666, how appropriate)]I happened to be sitting out on the porch when I read Chapter 666, and I'm pretty sure my neighbors two doors down could hear me cheering when "Bon-sama" turned up as the new queen of Level 5.5. (Don't the jailers in Impel Down notice that all their okama keep vanishing into thin air? Even after the big jail break? Where did they think Ivankov and his/her army came from?)
I find it endearing that Bon Kurei's ordinary-pirate, not-particularly-okama crew is so devoted to him and goes along with all his bizarre dance routines and whatever.
LOL, the first of the "Figure it out sooner!" jokes at Vivi's expense. ("I never met Mr. 2! OK, I knew he was a flaming okama... with a swan coat... that has "Okama Way" written on the back...")
Vivi tells the others that she recognized the face of her father among the faces Mr. 2 had "memorized."
They realize that in future, if Mr. 2 ever figures out that they are enemies, he'll be able to imitate any of them, making it impossible for them to trust their own nakama.
(Meanwhile, back on his ship, Mr. 2's men comment on what a good mood he's in. "I made myself some new friends!")
I like that Zoro is the one who immediately figures out they can use this encounter to their strategic advantage.
157
The Umi-Neko, so random.
LOL, Chopper is the only one who'll listen with rapt attention to Usopp's outrageous stories.
Vivi says that the appearance of the Umi-neko means they're within sight of Alabasta.
When they see ominous ships lining the horizon, Vivi says the Billions must already be gathering (200 agents who serve the Officer Agents, because Billions rank HIGHER than Millions).
(LOL, I almost didn't notice Usopp waving flags of surrender in the background.)
Zoro and Sanji in a rare moment of agreement: this is no time to be worrying about small fry, when their target is the top boss.
Sanji (or is it Zoro?) says "There are only 8 of us." Not only does he count Vivi (and Karoo!), but he actually says 8人, aw. (Chopper obviously, but Karoo is a 人 too?)
The arm-bands!
We're reminded that Sanji was the only one not present for Mr 2's show.
"I have no interest in okama," haha Sanji, oh dear.
Love Karoo in the background getting all tangled up in the bandages.
Usopp's "just do whatever you can" speech to Chopper -- both comical and moving.
[Enies Lobby]Especially since Sanji repeats it back to him at Enies Lobby.
"The mark of the nakama"~! <3
(And there are, indeed, 8 arms/wings/hooves in that picture -- yes, I counted.)
Aw, Vivi hugging her arm.
Arrival in Nanohana, port town of Alabasta.
Smoker and Tashigi! Of course, they followed the Straw Hats to Alabasta.
Ace's hat! Ace's Whitebeard mark! Ace's tattoo! ACE!!
(LOL, the first time I saw this in the anime, I looked at him sleeping face-first in his food with plates piled all around him and said "OMG, he's just like Luffy." I had no idea who he was.)
I love the idea of Ace wandering all over the Grand Line showing everybody Luffy's wanted poster. I know he's looking for Luffy, but you can just see the proud big brother. If he had wallet pictures, he would make everyone look at them.
The confrontation between Ace and Smoker in the restaurant.
You know, I can ALMOST see where all the fanfic comes from. (I always found it kind of baffling. Like "Did they even meet?" I forgot about this whole showdown in Nanohana.)
Portgas D. Ace formally introduced as the second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates.
Back when I first saw the anime with gnine, I was so busy talking, I almost missed the crucial line in the anime, and she had to rewind so I could catch it.
"I'm looking for my little brother."
158
Mr 3's ship (I guess he moored it in a place where it wouldn't be noticed, just like the Strawhats did).
Ace and Smoker's confrontation interrupted by a very hungry Luffy.
Polite Ace never fails to kill me. So hilarious, so adorable.
[Post-Marineford]And make me cry a little, oh, Ace. Learning to be polite just so he could go to thank Shanks!
Luffy takes off, pursed by Smoker, with Ace after them. (And, of course, nobody paid for lunch.)
Poor Chopper, can't take heat or the smell of perfume.
Sanji's distinctive cry of "Mellorine." What the heck does Mellorine MEAN, anyway? Is it just from mero-mero ["to be all goopy over"]?
The plan to head for Yuba and confront the leader of the rebel army (not named, yet, but we get a glimpse of him in silhouette).
It kind of breaks my heart that Vivi refers to the rebel commander simply as "Leader" (in katakana). See ch. 163. (It's all the more moving because the title doesn't seem at all unusual until you know the backstory.)
Ahaha, not only did Luffy manage to get himself pursued all over town by the entire marine army within an hour of landing, but he blew the cover for the rest of the crew, too. "Hey, Zoro! Oh, you're all here?"
"You may be smoke, but I'm fire" -- among the many best Ace moments ever.
(Of course, we don't yet know why Ace can block Smoker's ability when Luffy can't.)
Luffy finally recognizes Ace.
159
Cover arc: Jango to the rescue!
Mr. 11 (still being held captive on Smoker's ship) assassinated by the wannabe Frontier agents (Billions, because Billions rank HIGHER than Millions, god, that will never stop confusing me).
The Strawhats are scrambling to board their ship. Quick flashback to Ace telling Luffy to go on ahead, he'll catch up with them later so they can talk.
Vivi gives Karoo an important mission: go on ahead and deliver a letter to her father.
(I really hope that's water and not alcohol in the cask, this time.)
Luffy explains that Ace is his "nii-chan" (big brother). He's a pirate too, three years older than Luffy, who went to sea three years earlier.
When Sanji comments that it's odd for two brothers both to be devil fruit users, Luffy says Ace hadn't eaten a devil fruit when he knew him. (How did Ace get his devil fruit, anyway?)
Luffy comments he was never able to beat Ace even BEFORE Ace ate his devil fruit.
(Usopp: "Well, it figures that the big brother of a monster (kaibutsu) would be a BIG monster (daikaibutsu)."
Ace catches up with them on board ship as they're about to set sail.
Ace invites Luffy (and his nakama) to join Whitebeard, but Luffy refuses. (Ace: "Figured as much. Just thought I'd ask!")
Usopp recognizes the tattoo on Ace's back as Whitebeard's mark. Ace calls it his "pride" (hokori), aw.
Ace warns Luffy that he means to make Whitebeard the Pirate King, not Luffy, but Luffy doesn't mind. "Good, then we can fight each other!"
Meanwhile, the Marines are trapped behind a wall of fire.
Tashigi shows up after the whole Smoker/Ace fight is over, because she got lost. Oh jeez, Tashigi's sense of direction is as bad as Zoro's.
Smoker's bafflement over what Vivi is doing with the Strawhats. It's great to watch him try to figure out who should be on which side, within the limits of his exacting moral code.
Interesting that he inherently distrusts not only Crocodile but all Shichibukai on principle. It's a good reminder that Shichibukai are fundamentally morally ambiguous figures. In a sense, Smoker's not wrong when he says "Remember, a pirate is always a pirate."
The reason Ace was hoping to catch up to Luffy was to give him a blank slip of paper. (It only takes, what, 400 more chapters to find out what that was about? OK, 330, to be precise).
"A big brother always worries when he's got a screwup of a little brother." Awwww, Ace. T__T
First explanation of why Ace is after Blackbeard. The man now calling himself Blackbeard used to be a member of Whitebeard's crew, Ace's subordinate, until he committed the ultimate crime: murder of a nakama.
The infamous "Summit of Pirates" (kaizoku no takami) line. (For reference: 次に会う時は、海賊の高みだ. Very literally, "When we meet next, it'll be the high place of pirates." Without more context, the meaning of takami is totally unclear, and fans have been arguing about the translation of this line for the better part of 10 years now.)
[Speculation]I can't help but think we haven't yet seen the trigger pulled on that. Ace puts quote marks around "takami" the second time he uses it, even -- it kind of suggests that the term has a significance beyond Shanks' "when you're a great pirate." Might be a reference to Raftel, perhaps? Or at least to the New World?
When the Billions come after Ace, Ace sinks five ships with one blow, so amazing.
"Come, Luffy -- to the "top"!"
160
Nami sews the scrap of paper into Luffy's hat.
(Luffy: "Ace said keep it, so I'm keeping it!", aw.)
Vivi hands out long concealing clothing (to protect against the rays of the sun), much to Sanji's disappointment.
I love Chopper hanging onto the edge of the railing so he can look over it. He's so little!
Alabasta geography lesson (hee, I just noticed Karoo in the picture).
Vivi's distress at Luffy asking if he can kick the rebel leader's ass -- hee and aw.
I love that Zoro apologizes for suggesting Vivi might not be able to stop the rebellion. He has a lot of respect for a fellow warrior.
In Crocodile's headquarters...
Miss All Sunday reviews all the preparations that have been made for the culmination of the plan, scheduled to begin at 7 am in two days' time. A meeting of the Officer Agents will be held in the evening at Spiders Cafe.
Spiders Cafe: the arrival of Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas. (Ugh, more annoying villains.)
Mr. 4's quirk is to speak and move extremely slowly.
Miss Merry Christmas insists on shortening everything she says. "Kono ba~!" (for kono baka, "You fool!") She also tends to repeat herself with a lot of meaningless variation.
She complains that everything makes her "koshi" hurt. (Her back? Her hips? Her butt? You decide.)
The agents are welcomed by the bartender/owner, Paula.
LOL Mr. 2's chorus line.
Mr. 2's favorite drink is a takopa -- apparently, an octopus parfait. (I found a recipe online, wtf. That is just disturbing.) Googling suggests that the more usual meaning of "takopa" in Japanese is "takoyaki party."
Mr 2 dismissing his minions: "And don't forget to practice your dance moves!"
Evidently Mr. 2 doesn't like Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas that much (his nicknames for them are Debuchin - "Fatty" - and Obahan - "Old hag").
Mr. 2 comments that he's looking forward to meeting the "number one" pair, whom he's never met before (I guess none of them have).
Mr 3 is hiding outside the window. He knows he's toast because he screwed up his mission to take out the Strawhats; he doesn't know that Crocodile thinks he lied to him on the phone.
Mr 1 shows up. Mr. 2 is horrified by the fact that Mr. 1 beat up all his men, thinking they were just a bunch of weird okama. (They don't look that drag queen-ish to me. Weirdly dressed, yes, but not drag. Was it because they were dancing?)
Interesting that you can pretty much draw a line between the sympathetic BW agents and the bad ones based on their attitude toward friendship. (Mr. 1 comments that "attachment" is merely a liability, while Mr. 2 is passionate about his friends and his subordinates; Mr. 5 mocked Miss Monday's and Mr. 9's loyalty to their former partners.)
Mr. 2 tries to attack Mr. 1, but Paula stops the fight.
Paula's identity as Miss Doublefinger revealed.
Their orders: to report to Rainbase to meet their unknown boss.
161
Cover arc: "Shall we DANCE?" <3
The Officer Agents pile into the tortoise-stage for the ride to Rainbase.
Like that the Oda box points out that Banchi can operate on land or water (because we've already seen him carrying Miss All Sunday at sea).
Back at headquarters. Miss All Sunday is STILL playing with that crocodile. I think she's playing with the crocodile in every scene she appears in.
The Erimaki Runners... I swear Oda makes up weird sh@# just because he can. (The Erimaki Runners are used by BW to carry messages of particular urgency, in this case, to the Billions in Nanohana.)
Meanwhile, the Strawhats arrive at Erumaru* (where they will leave the ship and begin to cross the desert on foot).
*Even Oda's own romaji legends on the maps can't agree on how this should be romanized, WTH. It's Elumalu here, but Elumaru later. Whatever, I'm going with Erumaru.
Second Alabasta geography lesson.
Erumaru was once known as the "Green City," but is now a desert.
The Kung Fu Dugongs! Luffy's army of disciples.
(Hee, the Kung Fu Dugongs wanted to follow Luffy through the desert, but Chopper talked to them and bought them off with food from the Merry's supplies.)
History lesson: the three year drought that turned Erumaru into a desert, affecting all of Alabasta except the royal capital of Alabarna.
(LOL, Chopper's face when Luffy gleefully pulls a human skull out of the sand.)
The incident two years ago when the king's supposed Dance Powder "plot" was revealed. A wagon carrying a green powder was "accidentally" wrecked, and the drivers ran away after saying that they were just supposed to deliver the powder to the king.
Oh, nice, the guys who are driving the wagon in the flashback are the same Billions who assassinated Mr. 11.
Note the shirt of the leader: it read "half-ripe" in the past, but "fully ripe" in the present. There is a great SBS where someone points this out and asks why it changed. Oda's answer? "He grew."
Love the "illustration" of how Dance Powder works. (The pictures!)
The full explanation of Crocodile's evil scheme, to incite the people of Alabasta to rebellion against their king.
[Impel Down]It's really hard for me to ever forgive Crocodile after he made Vivi and her people so miserable, but Impel Down definitely adds another dimension to his character. Like I said, he's a sick bastard, but he's got flair. (Not to mention the mystery of his connection to Ivankov, what the heck is up with that?)
I like Zoro's reaction to Luffy, Usopp and Sanji kicking the crap out of a building to relieve their feelings after Vivi finishes her story. "What are you, five?"
162
Cover arc: "Dancing Hero Baby!"
The Strawhats set out from Erumaru to cross the desert to Yuba.
D'aww, Zoro pulling Chopper on a sled (and yelling at him for randomly turning big when he gets mad). I adore Zoro-Chopper interaction.
Luffy gets taken in by the mock-birds (warusagi). (Haha, the bird in Vivi's explanation has a thief-headscarf.)
Usopp: "They pretend to be dying? That's sagi!" Vivi: "Right, that's what I said. They're sagi."
LOL, I didn't get the point of the joke at all until I looked up the kanji (all these words are written in katakana). 鷺 (sagi) is a snowy egret. 詐欺 (sagi) is fraud. warusagi = either "bad egrets" or "wicked fraud."
Sanji, yelling at Luffy: "You do realize this makes you DUMBER than a bird-brain."
Luffy goes chasing after the birds... wasn't this where they had about ten episodes of filler in the anime? In the manga, he comes right back with the giant lizard hard on his heels.
This is where the camel is introduced for the first time in the manga (in the anime, they initially met him in Nanohana).
LOL the camel's reaction to the "monster trio" (Luffy, Zoro, Sanji) taking down the giant lizard. (Is this where the term "monster trio" comes from? Nami says "When those three get together, I feel sorry for the monsters.")
The camel that only lets girls ride him -- it's a Sanji-camel! (Ero-rakuda.)
LOL, Zoro making fun of Nami for naming the camel "Eyelashes."
Luffy on mescaline, that's a scary sight.
Or was this where they had a bunch of filler episodes, because Nami and Vivi got ahead of them on the camel? (Very possibly both. I thought the anime filler was NEVER going to end.)
[Checking the anime episode list reveals that there were in fact only a total of 4 filler episodes during the journey through the desert, at two different points, but god, it felt like at least twenty.]
After nightfall, they arrive at Yuba, but something doesn't look right.
(Heh, it appears that somewhere along the way poor Usopp passed out, because Zoro is carrying him slung over his shoulder.)
163
Cover arc: "Friendship, crime and duty." Aw, all the marines sobbing in the background.
Arrival at the (ex) oasis of Yuba, which is in the grip of an enormous sandstorm.
Toto-ojisan! (I had forgotten the old man's name.)
Toto is furious when he thinks they're asking about the rebel army because they want to join it.
The Strawhats learn that the rebels moved to Katorea to escape the sandstorms that have been plaguing Yuba on a regular basis.
Toto recgonizes Vivi's name when Luffy uses it.
Luffy's idea of covering for a slip: "Vivi's not a princess, no sir!" (LOL, did Zoro just hit Luffy with Usopp's unconscious body? Poor Usopp.)
Vivi belatedly recognizes Toto (he had lost so much weight he was almost unrecognizable).
Toto still believes that the King would never betray his own people. He begs her to stop "these foolish rebels."
Vivi gets her own full-scale flashback. (11 years ago, wow, she was only five. How old was Kohza? He looks a bit older, maybe 8 or 10.)
Kohza appears before King Cobra to beg for help for his village.
Toto rushes in to apologize for his son. "Dora-musuko," LOL. (My stray cat of a kid.)
Cobra grants permission for the starving villagers to take shelter in the city of Alabarna. Toto is grateful, but Kohza burst into angry tears and runs out, saying that Cobra doesn't understand the "feelings" of the villagers at all.
Kohza runs into five-year-old Vivi. (Hee, the first thing she ever said to him was "What's your problem, crybaby!")
Aw, baby Karoo!
Igaram <3
Igaram is worried about finding the money to pay for sheltering the villagers, but Cobra says "Just take it out of our household expenses somewhere!" Cobra! <3 <3
Vivi looks so sulky about losing the fight, haha. (Just like little Nami and Nojiko, fighting with the boys.)
LOL, Toto is threatening to commit seppuku with a kitchen knife.
Love Cobra smacking both Igaram and Toto for making such a fuss over a kids' fight.
Vivi challenges Kohza to a rematch.
Aw, Kohza's insulting nickname for Vivi is chibi-suke ("kidlet," "tiny tot").
After the fight, Vivi is declared the deputy leader of the Suna-Suna Clan. Kohza is the "Leader" -- in katakana. All the children call him "Leader" (never by his name).
(Argh, I was just looking through the translation for something else and realized that Viz messed this up. They frequently translated Leader as Kohza or Chief. Really, Viz, how hard could it be? It's an English word!)
OMG, Cobra and Igaram sneaking around in disguise to watch over Vivi is the cutest thing EVER.
Love that Cobra understands the importance of friends if Vivi is going to rule someday.
When kidnappers try to snatch the Princess, the Suna-Suna clan fights them off. Kohza tells Vivi to run.
164
Cover arc: Jango sentenced to death by hanging.
[Enies Lobby]I almost thought that those were the judges from Enies Lobby, but I don't think they are.
The Suna-Suna gang fight off Vivi's kidnappers.
Igaram and Cobra (who were held up fighting over Cobra's insistence on tagging along) discover the fallen Suna-Suna clan members, who tell them about the kidnapping.
Kohza chases after the kidnappers to continue defending Vivi.
Kohza receives a slash over the eye in the battle.
Cobra and Igaram arrive in time to defeat the remainder of the kidnappers.
Chaka & Pell (in silhouette!) join in the clean-up process.
Aw, poor Vivi realizing for the first time that being a ruler might mean having people die for you.
Love Cobra & Kohza bonding over the fact that they both love their country.
Igaram worries that Vivi might be too kind-hearted to make the hard decisions required of a ruler, but Cobra says Alabasta will be just fine.
"I shall serve you to my final breath" (Viz) -- aw. I struggled with trying to decide if there was a better way to translate this line (お供しましょう この命尽きるまで), but in the end I couldn't come up with anything better. I especially love kono inochi tsukiru made ("until this life is exhausted"), so poignant.
Toto & Kohza head off to Yuba to found a flourishing new market center.
Kohza tells Vivi to become a great princess someday.
Aw! Kohza uses the phrase rippa na oujou ni nare. When Dalton was thinking about Vivi in the last volume, he thought rippa ni narareta ("she turned out well").
(End flashback.)
Kohza introduced as the leader of the rebel army at Katorea.
165
Usopp is still out cold, LOL. (Such a serious scene, too, with Vivi vowing to put an end to the rebellion.)
LOL, the pillow fight with Vivi looking on.
(ETA: I kind of love that Usopp is the one coming up with excuses to bean everyone in the head with a pillow. Aside from him being five, he has an instinctive talent for lightening up a serious or frightening situation with silly antics.)
Luffy helps Toto-ojisan dig down to the water table. Toto refuses to give up on the oasis of Yuba, saying that the water is still there.
Love the communal sleeping scenes. I don't know who has worse posture, Zoro or Usopp. And is Vivi sleeping on the floor because Sanji took her bed? That is Vivi, isn't it?
The Officer Agents are gathered at BW headquarters, waiting for Mr. 0 to arrive.
Mr 2 calling Miss All-Sunday "Sunday-chan," hee.
Crocodile's headquarters in Las Vegas Rain Base. (Oda couldn't come up with a better name than "Rain Dinners"?)
Somebody please strangle Miss Merry Christmas and make her SHUT UP.
Crocodile reveals himself! The BW works agents are all shocked, because they only know Crocodile as a Shichibukai.
Crocodile calls his master plan "Operation Utopia." (Well, it's better than Operation Enduring Freedom. Although probably just about as honest)
The more I look at Crocodile, the more I wonder how on earth he got that scar across his face (and the hook, but even more the scar).
[Impel Down + Speculation]
I was surprised at how much Impel Down combined with fan speculation changed my reading of Crocodile this time around. Like Arlong, he's still a hateful bastard, but like Arlong, he has layers, and he's much more mysterious than Arlong. I scoffed at the fan speculation that Crocodile was once female (because of his known connection with Ivankov, and Ivankov's threat to reveal his "secret") when I first read it, but then I started noticing how feminine he looks in almost every panel. It was creepy, because I kept noticing it when I wasn't looking for it.
The other thing I wonder about is whether Crocodile has some sort of traumatic past that hasn't been revealed, but I'll speculate more on that when I get to the particular lines that prompted that line of thought.
Crocodile says that his goal is not money or status (this is presumably true -- he appears to have plenty of both), but "military power." [Looking ahead]And how.
Strategic frame-cut so Crocodile can explain his master plan without us hearing what it is. (Like the four cigars in the ashtray, indicating the passage of time.)
Zero hour is 7 am the next morning.
The Strawhats set out from Yuba.
Toto gives Luffy a flask of water that he extracted from the oasis with much labor. I really love that although Luffy has been shown as being completely reckless and greedy with water in general throughout the trip, he treats Toto's gift with reverence. He promises to use it carefully, and he means it.
Immediately after they set off, Luffy announces that he's had a change of heart.
166
Cover arc: "Tearful Objection DANCE"!! Without doubt, the best cover arc image EVER. (And if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time Fullbody is identified by name in the caption.)
Mr 3 shows up at the Baroque Works meeting. He says he's been trailing them ever since the meeting at Spiders Cafe.
Mr. 3 realized that he would be targeted for assassination by Mr. 2 because he failed to carry out his mission to eliminate the Strawhats. He is completely bewildered when Crocodile demands to know why he claimed on the den-den mushi to have eliminated Vivi and the Strawhats. ("What den-den mushi?")
Crocodile finally realizes that the person on the other end of the line wasn't Mr. 3, and understands why the Unluckies haven't returned. (Seriously, Crocodile? Do all your agents answer the phone "Shitty restaurant at your service?" Also, I think it's weird that he never followed up on the apparent disappearance of the Unluckies. It's been at least a week, hasn't it?)
Crocodile thinks there were only "one or two" pirates, but Mr. 3 reports that there were a total of 4: the three the Unluckies described (Luffy, Zoro and Nami), plus a long-nosed fellow.
When he looks at the pictures the otter drew, Mr. 2 realizes that he met the Strawhats.
Mr. 2 can produce five faces from memory: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Chopper.
Crocodile counts a total of five opponents, including Vivi but excluding the "pets": Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Vivi. (Poor Chopper! I suppose Crocodile counts Karoo under this heading, if he even bothers to notice him. Never underestimate the pets, Sir Crocodile.)
He doesn't know about Sanji at all, which is significant, since it means Miss All Sunday isn't telling him everything she knows (she met Sanji on board the ship when she tried to give them the Log Pose). Apparently she never reported meeting Usopp either. She doesn't volunteer a word to the conversation here.
Crocodile demonstrates his water-sucking power on Mr. 3 (shudder) and tosses him to the crocs.
LOL, the entryways into the crocodile feeding pit have not only decorative heads but little crocodile feet. And are the crocodile heads wearing sunglasses?
The crocodiles are called "Bananawani." (Stop laughing, self. It's a stupid name! And why are there bananas on the crocodiles's heads!)
Crocodile knows that Kohza and Vivi were childhood friends.
Crocodile mentions that they have double agents (Billions) working for him among the rebels.
Mr. 3's coat floats past the window. (No sign of a body... hmm.)
Back to Luffy in the desert, who wants to split up and go in different directions -- Vivi to the rebels, he and the Strawhats to take out Crocodile. (ETA: or, have them all change course and go after Crocodile? Because in the end, they don't actually split up until later.)
In a RARE moment of strategic clarity, Luffy points out that (1) persuading the rebels not to fight won't stop Crocodile and (2) their presence isn't necessary to sway the rebel army; if anything, as pirates, they'll be a liability. (I suspect he just wants to kick some Crocodile butt, but it's so rare for him to be able to articulate an intelligent reason behind it. LOL, every single one of his crew members is as stunned as I am.)
Serious Luffy tells Vivi that there's no way they will get through this without suffering some casualties. (Serious Luffy almost scares me. He's eerie.)
Aw, the fistfight where he makes Vivi admit that she can't pull this off without risking all of their lives as well as her own. This whole scene makes me tear up -- it's so powerful.
As always, Luffy is off to go do what he does best: kick some ass.
This volume, I can't even. So much going on. So emotionally powerful, although sometimes it's the sort that creeps up on you and kicks you in the stomach only with hindsight.
Volume 18
156
Five days into the journey from Drum Island to Alabasta, food seems to be running short on board.
(LOL, it took another twenty pages for the penny to drop (for me): they're short on food because Luffy and his co-conspirators broke into the fridge and ate eight days' worth of supplies in the previous chapter. <3)
Vivi beats up Usopp and Luffy for using Karoo as bait when they're fishing, but then she just leaves Karoo hanging there, and two pages later they're back to fishing with him again. I love how Vivi's ditzy side only peeks through from time to time.
Luffy must be hungry. They see a cloud of steam. Luffy: "Is that cotton candy?" Nami tries to explain underwater volcanoes. Luffy: "Who cares, you can't eat 'em."
The Merry and Mr. 2's ships pass each other in the fog.
I forgot they "caught" Mr 2 on their fishing line, LOL.
LOL, "suwan suwan" (= swan) instead of "suman suman," thanking them when they pull him out of the water.
Bon Kurei offers to show off his devil fruit power while he's waiting for his ship to come back and pick him up.
Mr. 2 ate the mane-mane (imitate-imitate) fruit, which allows him to assume the appearance and manner of anyone he touches.
Moreover, he retains the faces of everyone he's ever touched in "memory" and can reproduce them whenever he wants.
I recognized Cobra's face among the random faces this time!
Love how Bon Kurei immediately joins the Usopp-Luffy-Chopper dance line. When Chopper's in the mix, I think their collective mental age actually drops BELOW five.
The instant-bonding between Bon Kurei and the crew seemed very random at the time when I first saw it, but [Spoilers for Impel Down]it's kind of poignant/adorable/heartbreaking now. "Friendship has nothing to do with the length of acquaintance," aw.
[From the Decks of the World (Chapter 666, how appropriate)]I happened to be sitting out on the porch when I read Chapter 666, and I'm pretty sure my neighbors two doors down could hear me cheering when "Bon-sama" turned up as the new queen of Level 5.5. (Don't the jailers in Impel Down notice that all their okama keep vanishing into thin air? Even after the big jail break? Where did they think Ivankov and his/her army came from?)
I find it endearing that Bon Kurei's ordinary-pirate, not-particularly-okama crew is so devoted to him and goes along with all his bizarre dance routines and whatever.
LOL, the first of the "Figure it out sooner!" jokes at Vivi's expense. ("I never met Mr. 2! OK, I knew he was a flaming okama... with a swan coat... that has "Okama Way" written on the back...")
Vivi tells the others that she recognized the face of her father among the faces Mr. 2 had "memorized."
They realize that in future, if Mr. 2 ever figures out that they are enemies, he'll be able to imitate any of them, making it impossible for them to trust their own nakama.
(Meanwhile, back on his ship, Mr. 2's men comment on what a good mood he's in. "I made myself some new friends!")
I like that Zoro is the one who immediately figures out they can use this encounter to their strategic advantage.
157
The Umi-Neko, so random.
LOL, Chopper is the only one who'll listen with rapt attention to Usopp's outrageous stories.
Vivi says that the appearance of the Umi-neko means they're within sight of Alabasta.
When they see ominous ships lining the horizon, Vivi says the Billions must already be gathering (200 agents who serve the Officer Agents, because Billions rank HIGHER than Millions).
(LOL, I almost didn't notice Usopp waving flags of surrender in the background.)
Zoro and Sanji in a rare moment of agreement: this is no time to be worrying about small fry, when their target is the top boss.
Sanji (or is it Zoro?) says "There are only 8 of us." Not only does he count Vivi (and Karoo!), but he actually says 8人, aw. (Chopper obviously, but Karoo is a 人 too?)
The arm-bands!
We're reminded that Sanji was the only one not present for Mr 2's show.
"I have no interest in okama," haha Sanji, oh dear.
Love Karoo in the background getting all tangled up in the bandages.
Usopp's "just do whatever you can" speech to Chopper -- both comical and moving.
[Enies Lobby]Especially since Sanji repeats it back to him at Enies Lobby.
"The mark of the nakama"~! <3
(And there are, indeed, 8 arms/wings/hooves in that picture -- yes, I counted.)
Aw, Vivi hugging her arm.
Arrival in Nanohana, port town of Alabasta.
Smoker and Tashigi! Of course, they followed the Straw Hats to Alabasta.
Ace's hat! Ace's Whitebeard mark! Ace's tattoo! ACE!!
(LOL, the first time I saw this in the anime, I looked at him sleeping face-first in his food with plates piled all around him and said "OMG, he's just like Luffy." I had no idea who he was.)
I love the idea of Ace wandering all over the Grand Line showing everybody Luffy's wanted poster. I know he's looking for Luffy, but you can just see the proud big brother. If he had wallet pictures, he would make everyone look at them.
The confrontation between Ace and Smoker in the restaurant.
You know, I can ALMOST see where all the fanfic comes from. (I always found it kind of baffling. Like "Did they even meet?" I forgot about this whole showdown in Nanohana.)
Portgas D. Ace formally introduced as the second division commander of the Whitebeard pirates.
Back when I first saw the anime with gnine, I was so busy talking, I almost missed the crucial line in the anime, and she had to rewind so I could catch it.
"I'm looking for my little brother."
158
Mr 3's ship (I guess he moored it in a place where it wouldn't be noticed, just like the Strawhats did).
Ace and Smoker's confrontation interrupted by a very hungry Luffy.
Polite Ace never fails to kill me. So hilarious, so adorable.
[Post-Marineford]And make me cry a little, oh, Ace. Learning to be polite just so he could go to thank Shanks!
Luffy takes off, pursed by Smoker, with Ace after them. (And, of course, nobody paid for lunch.)
Poor Chopper, can't take heat or the smell of perfume.
Sanji's distinctive cry of "Mellorine." What the heck does Mellorine MEAN, anyway? Is it just from mero-mero ["to be all goopy over"]?
The plan to head for Yuba and confront the leader of the rebel army (not named, yet, but we get a glimpse of him in silhouette).
It kind of breaks my heart that Vivi refers to the rebel commander simply as "Leader" (in katakana). See ch. 163. (It's all the more moving because the title doesn't seem at all unusual until you know the backstory.)
Ahaha, not only did Luffy manage to get himself pursued all over town by the entire marine army within an hour of landing, but he blew the cover for the rest of the crew, too. "Hey, Zoro! Oh, you're all here?"
"You may be smoke, but I'm fire" -- among the many best Ace moments ever.
(Of course, we don't yet know why Ace can block Smoker's ability when Luffy can't.)
Luffy finally recognizes Ace.
159
Cover arc: Jango to the rescue!
Mr. 11 (still being held captive on Smoker's ship) assassinated by the wannabe Frontier agents (Billions, because Billions rank HIGHER than Millions, god, that will never stop confusing me).
The Strawhats are scrambling to board their ship. Quick flashback to Ace telling Luffy to go on ahead, he'll catch up with them later so they can talk.
Vivi gives Karoo an important mission: go on ahead and deliver a letter to her father.
(I really hope that's water and not alcohol in the cask, this time.)
Luffy explains that Ace is his "nii-chan" (big brother). He's a pirate too, three years older than Luffy, who went to sea three years earlier.
When Sanji comments that it's odd for two brothers both to be devil fruit users, Luffy says Ace hadn't eaten a devil fruit when he knew him. (How did Ace get his devil fruit, anyway?)
Luffy comments he was never able to beat Ace even BEFORE Ace ate his devil fruit.
(Usopp: "Well, it figures that the big brother of a monster (kaibutsu) would be a BIG monster (daikaibutsu)."
Ace catches up with them on board ship as they're about to set sail.
Ace invites Luffy (and his nakama) to join Whitebeard, but Luffy refuses. (Ace: "Figured as much. Just thought I'd ask!")
Usopp recognizes the tattoo on Ace's back as Whitebeard's mark. Ace calls it his "pride" (hokori), aw.
Ace warns Luffy that he means to make Whitebeard the Pirate King, not Luffy, but Luffy doesn't mind. "Good, then we can fight each other!"
Meanwhile, the Marines are trapped behind a wall of fire.
Tashigi shows up after the whole Smoker/Ace fight is over, because she got lost. Oh jeez, Tashigi's sense of direction is as bad as Zoro's.
Smoker's bafflement over what Vivi is doing with the Strawhats. It's great to watch him try to figure out who should be on which side, within the limits of his exacting moral code.
Interesting that he inherently distrusts not only Crocodile but all Shichibukai on principle. It's a good reminder that Shichibukai are fundamentally morally ambiguous figures. In a sense, Smoker's not wrong when he says "Remember, a pirate is always a pirate."
The reason Ace was hoping to catch up to Luffy was to give him a blank slip of paper. (It only takes, what, 400 more chapters to find out what that was about? OK, 330, to be precise).
"A big brother always worries when he's got a screwup of a little brother." Awwww, Ace. T__T
First explanation of why Ace is after Blackbeard. The man now calling himself Blackbeard used to be a member of Whitebeard's crew, Ace's subordinate, until he committed the ultimate crime: murder of a nakama.
The infamous "Summit of Pirates" (kaizoku no takami) line. (For reference: 次に会う時は、海賊の高みだ. Very literally, "When we meet next, it'll be the high place of pirates." Without more context, the meaning of takami is totally unclear, and fans have been arguing about the translation of this line for the better part of 10 years now.)
[Speculation]I can't help but think we haven't yet seen the trigger pulled on that. Ace puts quote marks around "takami" the second time he uses it, even -- it kind of suggests that the term has a significance beyond Shanks' "when you're a great pirate." Might be a reference to Raftel, perhaps? Or at least to the New World?
When the Billions come after Ace, Ace sinks five ships with one blow, so amazing.
"Come, Luffy -- to the "top"!"
160
Nami sews the scrap of paper into Luffy's hat.
(Luffy: "Ace said keep it, so I'm keeping it!", aw.)
Vivi hands out long concealing clothing (to protect against the rays of the sun), much to Sanji's disappointment.
I love Chopper hanging onto the edge of the railing so he can look over it. He's so little!
Alabasta geography lesson (hee, I just noticed Karoo in the picture).
Vivi's distress at Luffy asking if he can kick the rebel leader's ass -- hee and aw.
I love that Zoro apologizes for suggesting Vivi might not be able to stop the rebellion. He has a lot of respect for a fellow warrior.
In Crocodile's headquarters...
Miss All Sunday reviews all the preparations that have been made for the culmination of the plan, scheduled to begin at 7 am in two days' time. A meeting of the Officer Agents will be held in the evening at Spiders Cafe.
Spiders Cafe: the arrival of Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas. (Ugh, more annoying villains.)
Mr. 4's quirk is to speak and move extremely slowly.
Miss Merry Christmas insists on shortening everything she says. "Kono ba~!" (for kono baka, "You fool!") She also tends to repeat herself with a lot of meaningless variation.
She complains that everything makes her "koshi" hurt. (Her back? Her hips? Her butt? You decide.)
The agents are welcomed by the bartender/owner, Paula.
LOL Mr. 2's chorus line.
Mr. 2's favorite drink is a takopa -- apparently, an octopus parfait. (I found a recipe online, wtf. That is just disturbing.) Googling suggests that the more usual meaning of "takopa" in Japanese is "takoyaki party."
Mr 2 dismissing his minions: "And don't forget to practice your dance moves!"
Evidently Mr. 2 doesn't like Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas that much (his nicknames for them are Debuchin - "Fatty" - and Obahan - "Old hag").
Mr. 2 comments that he's looking forward to meeting the "number one" pair, whom he's never met before (I guess none of them have).
Mr 3 is hiding outside the window. He knows he's toast because he screwed up his mission to take out the Strawhats; he doesn't know that Crocodile thinks he lied to him on the phone.
Mr 1 shows up. Mr. 2 is horrified by the fact that Mr. 1 beat up all his men, thinking they were just a bunch of weird okama. (They don't look that drag queen-ish to me. Weirdly dressed, yes, but not drag. Was it because they were dancing?)
Interesting that you can pretty much draw a line between the sympathetic BW agents and the bad ones based on their attitude toward friendship. (Mr. 1 comments that "attachment" is merely a liability, while Mr. 2 is passionate about his friends and his subordinates; Mr. 5 mocked Miss Monday's and Mr. 9's loyalty to their former partners.)
Mr. 2 tries to attack Mr. 1, but Paula stops the fight.
Paula's identity as Miss Doublefinger revealed.
Their orders: to report to Rainbase to meet their unknown boss.
161
Cover arc: "Shall we DANCE?" <3
The Officer Agents pile into the tortoise-stage for the ride to Rainbase.
Like that the Oda box points out that Banchi can operate on land or water (because we've already seen him carrying Miss All Sunday at sea).
Back at headquarters. Miss All Sunday is STILL playing with that crocodile. I think she's playing with the crocodile in every scene she appears in.
The Erimaki Runners... I swear Oda makes up weird sh@# just because he can. (The Erimaki Runners are used by BW to carry messages of particular urgency, in this case, to the Billions in Nanohana.)
Meanwhile, the Strawhats arrive at Erumaru* (where they will leave the ship and begin to cross the desert on foot).
*Even Oda's own romaji legends on the maps can't agree on how this should be romanized, WTH. It's Elumalu here, but Elumaru later. Whatever, I'm going with Erumaru.
Second Alabasta geography lesson.
Erumaru was once known as the "Green City," but is now a desert.
The Kung Fu Dugongs! Luffy's army of disciples.
(Hee, the Kung Fu Dugongs wanted to follow Luffy through the desert, but Chopper talked to them and bought them off with food from the Merry's supplies.)
History lesson: the three year drought that turned Erumaru into a desert, affecting all of Alabasta except the royal capital of Alabarna.
(LOL, Chopper's face when Luffy gleefully pulls a human skull out of the sand.)
The incident two years ago when the king's supposed Dance Powder "plot" was revealed. A wagon carrying a green powder was "accidentally" wrecked, and the drivers ran away after saying that they were just supposed to deliver the powder to the king.
Oh, nice, the guys who are driving the wagon in the flashback are the same Billions who assassinated Mr. 11.
Note the shirt of the leader: it read "half-ripe" in the past, but "fully ripe" in the present. There is a great SBS where someone points this out and asks why it changed. Oda's answer? "He grew."
Love the "illustration" of how Dance Powder works. (The pictures!)
The full explanation of Crocodile's evil scheme, to incite the people of Alabasta to rebellion against their king.
[Impel Down]It's really hard for me to ever forgive Crocodile after he made Vivi and her people so miserable, but Impel Down definitely adds another dimension to his character. Like I said, he's a sick bastard, but he's got flair. (Not to mention the mystery of his connection to Ivankov, what the heck is up with that?)
I like Zoro's reaction to Luffy, Usopp and Sanji kicking the crap out of a building to relieve their feelings after Vivi finishes her story. "What are you, five?"
162
Cover arc: "Dancing Hero Baby!"
The Strawhats set out from Erumaru to cross the desert to Yuba.
D'aww, Zoro pulling Chopper on a sled (and yelling at him for randomly turning big when he gets mad). I adore Zoro-Chopper interaction.
Luffy gets taken in by the mock-birds (warusagi). (Haha, the bird in Vivi's explanation has a thief-headscarf.)
Usopp: "They pretend to be dying? That's sagi!" Vivi: "Right, that's what I said. They're sagi."
LOL, I didn't get the point of the joke at all until I looked up the kanji (all these words are written in katakana). 鷺 (sagi) is a snowy egret. 詐欺 (sagi) is fraud. warusagi = either "bad egrets" or "wicked fraud."
Sanji, yelling at Luffy: "You do realize this makes you DUMBER than a bird-brain."
Luffy goes chasing after the birds... wasn't this where they had about ten episodes of filler in the anime? In the manga, he comes right back with the giant lizard hard on his heels.
This is where the camel is introduced for the first time in the manga (in the anime, they initially met him in Nanohana).
LOL the camel's reaction to the "monster trio" (Luffy, Zoro, Sanji) taking down the giant lizard. (Is this where the term "monster trio" comes from? Nami says "When those three get together, I feel sorry for the monsters.")
The camel that only lets girls ride him -- it's a Sanji-camel! (Ero-rakuda.)
LOL, Zoro making fun of Nami for naming the camel "Eyelashes."
Luffy on mescaline, that's a scary sight.
Or was this where they had a bunch of filler episodes, because Nami and Vivi got ahead of them on the camel? (Very possibly both. I thought the anime filler was NEVER going to end.)
[Checking the anime episode list reveals that there were in fact only a total of 4 filler episodes during the journey through the desert, at two different points, but god, it felt like at least twenty.]
After nightfall, they arrive at Yuba, but something doesn't look right.
(Heh, it appears that somewhere along the way poor Usopp passed out, because Zoro is carrying him slung over his shoulder.)
163
Cover arc: "Friendship, crime and duty." Aw, all the marines sobbing in the background.
Arrival at the (ex) oasis of Yuba, which is in the grip of an enormous sandstorm.
Toto-ojisan! (I had forgotten the old man's name.)
Toto is furious when he thinks they're asking about the rebel army because they want to join it.
The Strawhats learn that the rebels moved to Katorea to escape the sandstorms that have been plaguing Yuba on a regular basis.
Toto recgonizes Vivi's name when Luffy uses it.
Luffy's idea of covering for a slip: "Vivi's not a princess, no sir!" (LOL, did Zoro just hit Luffy with Usopp's unconscious body? Poor Usopp.)
Vivi belatedly recognizes Toto (he had lost so much weight he was almost unrecognizable).
Toto still believes that the King would never betray his own people. He begs her to stop "these foolish rebels."
Vivi gets her own full-scale flashback. (11 years ago, wow, she was only five. How old was Kohza? He looks a bit older, maybe 8 or 10.)
Kohza appears before King Cobra to beg for help for his village.
Toto rushes in to apologize for his son. "Dora-musuko," LOL. (My stray cat of a kid.)
Cobra grants permission for the starving villagers to take shelter in the city of Alabarna. Toto is grateful, but Kohza burst into angry tears and runs out, saying that Cobra doesn't understand the "feelings" of the villagers at all.
Kohza runs into five-year-old Vivi. (Hee, the first thing she ever said to him was "What's your problem, crybaby!")
Aw, baby Karoo!
Igaram <3
Igaram is worried about finding the money to pay for sheltering the villagers, but Cobra says "Just take it out of our household expenses somewhere!" Cobra! <3 <3
Vivi looks so sulky about losing the fight, haha. (Just like little Nami and Nojiko, fighting with the boys.)
LOL, Toto is threatening to commit seppuku with a kitchen knife.
Love Cobra smacking both Igaram and Toto for making such a fuss over a kids' fight.
Vivi challenges Kohza to a rematch.
Aw, Kohza's insulting nickname for Vivi is chibi-suke ("kidlet," "tiny tot").
After the fight, Vivi is declared the deputy leader of the Suna-Suna Clan. Kohza is the "Leader" -- in katakana. All the children call him "Leader" (never by his name).
(Argh, I was just looking through the translation for something else and realized that Viz messed this up. They frequently translated Leader as Kohza or Chief. Really, Viz, how hard could it be? It's an English word!)
OMG, Cobra and Igaram sneaking around in disguise to watch over Vivi is the cutest thing EVER.
Love that Cobra understands the importance of friends if Vivi is going to rule someday.
When kidnappers try to snatch the Princess, the Suna-Suna clan fights them off. Kohza tells Vivi to run.
164
Cover arc: Jango sentenced to death by hanging.
[Enies Lobby]I almost thought that those were the judges from Enies Lobby, but I don't think they are.
The Suna-Suna gang fight off Vivi's kidnappers.
Igaram and Cobra (who were held up fighting over Cobra's insistence on tagging along) discover the fallen Suna-Suna clan members, who tell them about the kidnapping.
Kohza chases after the kidnappers to continue defending Vivi.
Kohza receives a slash over the eye in the battle.
Cobra and Igaram arrive in time to defeat the remainder of the kidnappers.
Chaka & Pell (in silhouette!) join in the clean-up process.
Aw, poor Vivi realizing for the first time that being a ruler might mean having people die for you.
Love Cobra & Kohza bonding over the fact that they both love their country.
Igaram worries that Vivi might be too kind-hearted to make the hard decisions required of a ruler, but Cobra says Alabasta will be just fine.
"I shall serve you to my final breath" (Viz) -- aw. I struggled with trying to decide if there was a better way to translate this line (お供しましょう この命尽きるまで), but in the end I couldn't come up with anything better. I especially love kono inochi tsukiru made ("until this life is exhausted"), so poignant.
Toto & Kohza head off to Yuba to found a flourishing new market center.
Kohza tells Vivi to become a great princess someday.
Aw! Kohza uses the phrase rippa na oujou ni nare. When Dalton was thinking about Vivi in the last volume, he thought rippa ni narareta ("she turned out well").
(End flashback.)
Kohza introduced as the leader of the rebel army at Katorea.
165
Usopp is still out cold, LOL. (Such a serious scene, too, with Vivi vowing to put an end to the rebellion.)
LOL, the pillow fight with Vivi looking on.
(ETA: I kind of love that Usopp is the one coming up with excuses to bean everyone in the head with a pillow. Aside from him being five, he has an instinctive talent for lightening up a serious or frightening situation with silly antics.)
Luffy helps Toto-ojisan dig down to the water table. Toto refuses to give up on the oasis of Yuba, saying that the water is still there.
Love the communal sleeping scenes. I don't know who has worse posture, Zoro or Usopp. And is Vivi sleeping on the floor because Sanji took her bed? That is Vivi, isn't it?
The Officer Agents are gathered at BW headquarters, waiting for Mr. 0 to arrive.
Mr 2 calling Miss All-Sunday "Sunday-chan," hee.
Crocodile's headquarters in Las Vegas Rain Base. (Oda couldn't come up with a better name than "Rain Dinners"?)
Somebody please strangle Miss Merry Christmas and make her SHUT UP.
Crocodile reveals himself! The BW works agents are all shocked, because they only know Crocodile as a Shichibukai.
Crocodile calls his master plan "Operation Utopia." (Well, it's better than Operation Enduring Freedom. Although probably just about as honest)
The more I look at Crocodile, the more I wonder how on earth he got that scar across his face (and the hook, but even more the scar).
[Impel Down + Speculation]
I was surprised at how much Impel Down combined with fan speculation changed my reading of Crocodile this time around. Like Arlong, he's still a hateful bastard, but like Arlong, he has layers, and he's much more mysterious than Arlong. I scoffed at the fan speculation that Crocodile was once female (because of his known connection with Ivankov, and Ivankov's threat to reveal his "secret") when I first read it, but then I started noticing how feminine he looks in almost every panel. It was creepy, because I kept noticing it when I wasn't looking for it.
The other thing I wonder about is whether Crocodile has some sort of traumatic past that hasn't been revealed, but I'll speculate more on that when I get to the particular lines that prompted that line of thought.
Crocodile says that his goal is not money or status (this is presumably true -- he appears to have plenty of both), but "military power." [Looking ahead]And how.
Strategic frame-cut so Crocodile can explain his master plan without us hearing what it is. (Like the four cigars in the ashtray, indicating the passage of time.)
Zero hour is 7 am the next morning.
The Strawhats set out from Yuba.
Toto gives Luffy a flask of water that he extracted from the oasis with much labor. I really love that although Luffy has been shown as being completely reckless and greedy with water in general throughout the trip, he treats Toto's gift with reverence. He promises to use it carefully, and he means it.
Immediately after they set off, Luffy announces that he's had a change of heart.
166
Cover arc: "Tearful Objection DANCE"!! Without doubt, the best cover arc image EVER. (And if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time Fullbody is identified by name in the caption.)
Mr 3 shows up at the Baroque Works meeting. He says he's been trailing them ever since the meeting at Spiders Cafe.
Mr. 3 realized that he would be targeted for assassination by Mr. 2 because he failed to carry out his mission to eliminate the Strawhats. He is completely bewildered when Crocodile demands to know why he claimed on the den-den mushi to have eliminated Vivi and the Strawhats. ("What den-den mushi?")
Crocodile finally realizes that the person on the other end of the line wasn't Mr. 3, and understands why the Unluckies haven't returned. (Seriously, Crocodile? Do all your agents answer the phone "Shitty restaurant at your service?" Also, I think it's weird that he never followed up on the apparent disappearance of the Unluckies. It's been at least a week, hasn't it?)
Crocodile thinks there were only "one or two" pirates, but Mr. 3 reports that there were a total of 4: the three the Unluckies described (Luffy, Zoro and Nami), plus a long-nosed fellow.
When he looks at the pictures the otter drew, Mr. 2 realizes that he met the Strawhats.
Mr. 2 can produce five faces from memory: Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Chopper.
Crocodile counts a total of five opponents, including Vivi but excluding the "pets": Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Vivi. (Poor Chopper! I suppose Crocodile counts Karoo under this heading, if he even bothers to notice him. Never underestimate the pets, Sir Crocodile.)
He doesn't know about Sanji at all, which is significant, since it means Miss All Sunday isn't telling him everything she knows (she met Sanji on board the ship when she tried to give them the Log Pose). Apparently she never reported meeting Usopp either. She doesn't volunteer a word to the conversation here.
Crocodile demonstrates his water-sucking power on Mr. 3 (shudder) and tosses him to the crocs.
LOL, the entryways into the crocodile feeding pit have not only decorative heads but little crocodile feet. And are the crocodile heads wearing sunglasses?
The crocodiles are called "Bananawani." (Stop laughing, self. It's a stupid name! And why are there bananas on the crocodiles's heads!)
Crocodile knows that Kohza and Vivi were childhood friends.
Crocodile mentions that they have double agents (Billions) working for him among the rebels.
Mr. 3's coat floats past the window. (No sign of a body... hmm.)
Back to Luffy in the desert, who wants to split up and go in different directions -- Vivi to the rebels, he and the Strawhats to take out Crocodile. (ETA: or, have them all change course and go after Crocodile? Because in the end, they don't actually split up until later.)
In a RARE moment of strategic clarity, Luffy points out that (1) persuading the rebels not to fight won't stop Crocodile and (2) their presence isn't necessary to sway the rebel army; if anything, as pirates, they'll be a liability. (I suspect he just wants to kick some Crocodile butt, but it's so rare for him to be able to articulate an intelligent reason behind it. LOL, every single one of his crew members is as stunned as I am.)
Serious Luffy tells Vivi that there's no way they will get through this without suffering some casualties. (Serious Luffy almost scares me. He's eerie.)
Aw, the fistfight where he makes Vivi admit that she can't pull this off without risking all of their lives as well as her own. This whole scene makes me tear up -- it's so powerful.
As always, Luffy is off to go do what he does best: kick some ass.