One Piece Vol 27
I find I'm able to appreciate the development of the Skypiea/Shandia plot much better this time through. The first time I read this arc, I think I was just hopelessly confused.
Enel and his agents remain tedious, alas.
Volume 27
D'aww, the volume (as a whole) opens with a panel from Norland's story. (I love Norland!)
Until the day he died, Norland never stopped lying.
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Luffy tells Sanji and Usopp to go after the ship. He'll deal with Satori.
Satori is able to stun Luffy long enough to go after Sanji and Usopp.
びっくり玉突き: surprise billiards, hee. Satori is knocking balls around in the sky like balls on a pool table. (Viz: "Let's see how they handle my surprise ball.")
Luffy recovers and chases after them.
Luffy's gomu-gomu pistol attack sends the balls flying in every direction. Every time one hits, something weird pops out.
Usopp tries out his new weapon, the "Usopp AAAAAAA". (George, George, George of the Jungle…)
It works perfectly -- until he realizes he failed to build in a belt release, and misses the ship completely.
Sanji, to Usopp and Luffy, who are both swinging around aimlessly: "A WORD, PLEASE?" Many lumps later, he's attempting to explain his plan to them.
Satori takes out Sanji with a punch and turns to Luffy and Usopp.
Flashback to the ship, where the Strawhats were arguing about who should have Gan Fall's whistle.
Nami, Usopp, Luffy and Chopper are all arguing about who's the weakest (except Luffy, he just wants to blow the whistle). "I'm the weakest!" "No, me!" (LOL, Usopp: 一番弱えのは俺様だ! [ichiban yowee no wa, oresama da!] I don't think you're allowed to call yourself "oresama" in a sentence like that.)
Robin: "Weird argument."
They finally agree to hang the whistle on the main mast, where anyone who's in trouble can grab it and summon help.
Back on the ship (in the present), Chopper hangs the whistle around his neck. Just in case.
The next moment, he's blowing for all he's worth when one of the shinkan shows up to take him out.
248
Conis and Pagaya are hiding out at Gan Fall's house.
Gan Fall says これはサービスだ so often, it becomes his catchphrase. (Maybe "consider it a bonus"? The literal "this one's free" doesn't always work in context.)
(Sigh… I'm starting to think that the Viz translator just didn't know what to do with this phrase at all. This time it's translated "Rest while you can." What?)
He comments that Enel's mantra doesn't extend this far. (Where is Gan Fall's house, anyway?)
To stop Pagaya from apologizing every other word, Gan Fall changes the subject to his other favorite topic, agriculture. His hobby is growing pumpkins (kabocha) and making pumpkin juice.
Gan Fall tells Conis about the "pirates" who roam the Blue Sea (she doesn't know what pirates are). Pagaya is shocked to realize that the Strawhats were already criminals in their own land.
Gan Fall: "Well, outlaws, anyway. They'd stick out in any world."
Gan Fall points out that Pagaya and Conis are outlaws themselves, at the moment. Circumstances change. Those who in war are called "heroes" may be regarded as mere killers in time of peace.
He had friends who were pirates, once. They came to Skypiea over twenty years before, while he was still Kami. It was hard to say goodbye when they left.
Skypiea is a land afflicted with incessant war, between the "people of the sky" and the guerrillas called the Shandians. Even now, the Shandians are at war with Enel.
Pagaya comments that when Gan Fall was Kami, they enjoyed a temporary truce with Shandia. There was even talk of a permanent peace.
Gan Fall apologizes for the fact that all that came to nothing when Enel drove him out and seized the position of Kami in his place.
Gan Fall tells Pagaya an ancient legend about the day Upper Yard was created. A beautiful song (島の歌声 - literally, the singing voice of the island) rang out over the land, and at that moment, the war between the people of the sky and the Shandians began. Legend has it that the war will end on the day they hear that song again.
Pierre begins to squawk frantically, telling Gan Fall that someone is in trouble. (Do birds have supersonic hearing like dogs? Obviously he can hear the whistle.)
Back on the ship, Chopper is desperately trying to put out the flames set by the enemy.
Shura the Sky-Rider and his flame-breathing bird mount Fuza introduced.
Poor Chopper, all he cares about is protecting the ship because the others left it in his care. T_T
Shura explains that normally, Upper Yard is divided into four zones where the shinkan each rule over one zone and make it a rule not to interfere with each other, but this one spot is a free-for-all; any of the shinkan can operate in it. But only after those who are undergoing the "trial" are dead. If those undergoing the trial successfully reach the altar, the sacrifices are free to go -- provided they can avoid the attacks of the shinkan as they flee.
In this case, however, the three who left broke the rules, and now Chopper's life is forfeit (as the only remaining sacrifice).
Gan Fall arrives in the nick of time to rescue Chopper.
Gan Fall knocks Shura off his mount in the first round.
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Gan Fall and Shura square off anew.
Shura prepares to attack using his "Thread Trial" (紐の試練).
Change of scene: Shandia's "hidden cloud village", where a little girl (Aisa) is sneaking home from an expedition.
A sunglasses-wearing warrior, Kamakiri, asks her if she's been to "God's island" again. He knows she has Vearth in her bag. She's just asking to throw her life away.
Aisa is defiant. ("I'll do as I please! Not like you guys can defeat Enel anyway. Behhh!")
Inside the tent, a council of war is meeting.
Wiper reports that for some reason, Gan Fall has returned to Upper Yard. "That old man" thinks that the island can be ruled as one in peace, but Wiper is convinced that only victory in battle can resolve the dispute.
He lives according to the words of the great warrior Calgara: "Light the flame of Shandora!" (シャンドラの灯をともせ!)
(I fail to see how that translates into a command to wipe out all your enemies in battle rather than negotiate, but whatever. People have a way of making tradition mean whatever they want.)
He doesn't care if the Kami is Enel or Gan Fall; nothing will change as long as a kami controls Upper Yard.
Laki points out that this is the first time in the all the six years of Enel's rule that someone has defied him openly, leading to a direct clash between Enel and the former kami Gan Fall.
Wiper tells her to stay out of the battle if she has any hesitation in her heart. She'll only be in the way.
A little later, one of the men who was in the tent (Braham) warns Aisa not to go in.
"The man who bears the blood of the great warrior Calgara in his veins… is in a foul temper."
Aisa: "Yeah, that's scary. Scarier than God."
(Aw, the statue of Calgara in the background. T_T)
In the forest of Upper Yard, Robin is examining a well which has been overgrown by the roots of the great trees, indicating that nature has overtaken the ruins of an ancient civilization.
Zoro just wants to find a way to conquer the Milky Road so that they can find Enel.
Nami, gazing out over the island through binoculars from a high tree-branch, is shocked by something she has discovered.
Chopper, back on the ship, is watching the battle between Gan Fall and Shura.
Back at Gan Fall's house, Pagaya proposes that he and Conis find some way to rescue the Strawhats.
Gan Fall realizes that his body is becoming sluggish and refusing to respond. Shura deduces that his "thread trial" is working.
Gan Fall is stabbed and falls into the water below.
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Chopper dives into the water to save Gan Fall, even though he himself is a devil fruit user. (Shura: "Hey, aren't you a Zoan-type? What are you, stupid?")
Shura stabs Pierre, telling him to follow his master (Pierre, too, as a devil fruit user, will be helpless in the water).
Unfortunately for them, he comments, this lake has a bottom. They won't be able to save themselves by falling through to the other side.
Shura leaves to hunt down the other three fugitives.
Satori is gloating over the beaten bodies of Luffy, Usopp and Sanji, who are still trying to fight him.
(Poor Usopp: "My heart can't take any more surprises.")
Luffy attacks, and Satori sends the "Tama-Dragon" after him. The balls that make up its body contain gunpowder, knives and fire. Hit the fire ball, and the whole thing will explode.
Usopp sneaks off -- he has a plan. He's figured out where the exit to the forest must be, and knows the boat will have to pass through it. All they have to do is catch it as it approaches the exit.
Luffy turns the Tama-Dragon back on Satori himself, but manages to survive the explosion by clinging to Satori's back.
With Luffy holding Satori immobile, Sanji tells Satori to prepare for the "Trial of Love." (He wants revenge for what they did to Nami, Robin and Conis.)
Satori's ability to read their movements is useless as long as they can keep him from dodging their attacks.
Satori warns them by defeating an agent of God, they'll be committing the highest-level crime in Skypiea and declaring war directly on Enel himself. (Ha, like Luffy cares.)
Sanji takes Satori out with a full-power kick.
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Clinging to Laki's skirts, Aisa tells Wiper that her "mantra" sensed the disappearance of two life forces around the same time -- apparently those of Gan Fall and one of the shinkan. She can no longer "hear" them.
Wiper rejoices - this is the perfect opportunity to attack the other shinkan.
Laki complains that Aisa is still afraid of Wiper, after all this time.
Aisa tells Laki that she doesn't think the shinkan was defeated by Gan Fall. Somebody else was responsible, someone scary. "Please be careful!"
Laki whispers to Aisa to give her her bag -- she'll get some more "treasure" for her. Wiper notices their conversation.
Back in the forest, Usopp calls Sanji and Luffy to help him recover the ship.
Usopp uses his "Usopp AAAAA" to lasso and recover the ship successfully… sort of. (They all get pretty banged up in the process.)
The Crow-Maru emerges successfully from its first trial in the "Forest of Wandering."
Elsewhere in the forest, Nami refuses to tell Zoro and Robin what she saw until she can confirm it -- she's having difficulty believing her eyes.
The other agents, waiting in their own territories, have sensed Satori's defeat, as well as the defeat of Gan Fall. They also know the Shandians are preparing an attack.
Wiper is rallying the army of Shandia, including his followers Braham, Kamakiri, Genbou, and Laki. The three remaining shinkan are immediately aware of their approach.
Back on the altar, Chopper (to his amazement) discovers that he, Gan Fall and Pierre are all alive. Someone pulled them from the water.
Chopper hears a strange but familiar bird-cry.
On the shore, Nami, Zoro and Robin discover the other half of the house Cricket was living in in Jaya, ruined and overgrown.
Robin correctly concludes that Upper Yard was originally an island in the sea below (which explains why it alone is made of earth, not island-cloud). The island they are standing on is the other half of Jaya.
Chopper gazes in amazement at a flock of enormous south birds.
On their raft, Luffy is entertaining Usopp with his Zoro impression (much to Sanji's exasperation). (LOL, what is the point of this interlude?)
Zoro, Robin and Nami arrive at the obvious conclusion: Norland's lost city of gold didn't sink into the sea -- it was lifted into the sky, 400 years ago.
(I have to say, this is one of the better "reveals" in One Piece. Such a great moment in an otherwise mostly dull arc.)
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Cover arc: The best part of the opening of Wapol's slightly creepy toy shop is the eyes on the patched tin roof. And the crown!
Nami is convinced that the gods are rewarding her for her virtuous life by allowing them to discover the lost city of gold in the sky. (She makes no connection between the "kamisama" she was just thanking and the "god" they're up against on Skypiea.)
Luffy's team enters the area of the second trial. The meadow is filled with stakes with skulls on them.
Suddenly Wiper's Shandian army flies overhead.
Spotting Luffy, Wiper fires at him. When the bullet bounces off Luffy's stomach, Wiper identifies him as a Paramecia devil fruit user.
[I was wondering when this was going to come up! Kanji: 超人系 ("superhuman type", normally pronounced choujinkei); katakana pronunciation: パラミシア, paramishia. This is usually rendered "paramecia," but I suspect the Greek original Oda had in mind was "paramythia", meaning roughly "legendary." (I fail to see why a unicellular organism would be a more relevant model, unless Oda is on record as commenting on this somewhere. The fruit classes of Zoan-kei and *spoiler*-kei are both based on Greek word roots.) Paramecia fruits are the most common type, including all fruits that give the user some extraordinary power that does not involve transformation into an animal or a pure element.]
The people of Skypiea seem to have fairly wide knowledge of devil fruits; Shura instantly recognized Chopper as a Zoan-type devil fruit user.
Sanji recognizes Wiper as the masked guerrilla who attacked them in the White Sea.
Wiper tells Luffy to go back to the Blue Sea and quit causing trouble in Skypiea, or he'll wipe him out along with Enel. (Interesting that he immediately identifies the danger Luffy presents as the overturning of settled ideas and assumptions. In his own way, Wiper is a traditionalist.)
Sanji is only slowly figuring out where the guerrillas stand in the political landscape. ("Wait, the guerrillas and kami aren't on the same side?")
The Shandians are losing their battle against the shinkan, badly.
Meanwhile, the Crow-Maru sails on toward the altar. (I guess the shinkan are too busy with the Shandians to bother with their trial.)
The setting sun is disappearing behind the clouds.
Zoro, Nami and Robin are shocked to return and find the Merry in ruins, and Chopper nowhere to be found.
(Robin: "Maybe he was torn limb from limb?" Nami: "Will you STOP imagining horrible things!")
A terrified Chopper finally ventures out.
Luffy and the others arrive in the Crow-Maru around the same time.
Aw, Usopp's first concern is that Chopper didn't get hurt when the Merry was under attack.
Gan Fall is still unconscious, recovering from his life-threatening injuries. Pierre is in better shape.
(LOL at Chopper's horror when Luffy tugs curiously at Gan Fall's beard.)
Since night is falling, they agree to camp out on the shore of the lake. (Luffy is ecstatic. Party!)
They spend the evening catching each other up on the latest news. (Aw, Pierre looks so sad, watching over the sleeping Gan Fall.)
Luffy decides that their next priority is to look for the city of gold.
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As night falls, Wiper calls for a temporary retreat to base camp.
Ohm (the guy with the dog) is about to pursue him, but Gedatsu (Medusa-guy) says Enel is calling them.
Back at the Strawhat camp, Luffy is bored (he's actually watching water boil, LOL, Sanji apparently set him the task of purifying water for the next day).
Chopper and Zoro return with ingredients for Sanji's stew. (Chopper brings herbs and garlic. Zoro brings mice and frogs. Nami: "I don't like the sound of those ingredients." Sanji: "Oh, sorry, you don't like garlic?")
Robin comes back with giant salt crystals.
Poor Zoro, no one wants his frogs. Not even Chopper, for his medicines.
Sanji makes Zoro use his swords to generate sparks for the fire, hee. (Zoro objects, but Sanji tells him "Defy the cook, and starve!")
Sanji is making stew with hot rocks in the pot (I'm sure there is a better name for this). Luffy: "Rocks? Do they taste good?"
Nami summons a strategic meeting.
Nami reasons that the split of Jaya must have occurred in the brief period between the time Norland first discovered Jaya and his return a few years later.
Zoro is puzzled by the difference in the wildlife of the two "Jayas," but Robin says the same ingredients which fed the growth of island-cloud must have accelerated the pace of biological change on the island. (Yeah, right. I'm not sure even kairouseki could manage that, but whatever.)
Rapid growth would also explain the ruins of civilization having been swallowed up by the growth of the forest, and the size of the south birds that rescued Chopper.
Chopper says he doesn't know why the south birds saved them, but they kept calling Gan Fall "kamisama."
LOL Luffy: "Kami? Then can I kick that old guy's ass?" Usopp: "NO! You ignoramus!" Poor Pierre, stretching out his wings to protect his master.
Pierre feeding Gan Fall, d'aww. (He's blowing on the food to cool it!)
Nami finally understands Norland's last words, that he saw "gold in the right eye of the skull."
Putting together the map of Jaya and the map of Skypiea reveals a land mass in the shape of a human skull.
(I LOVE the fact that "Mouth Bay" wasn't given that name for the reason we originally thought. It looked like it was named for the open mouths of two dragons facing each other, but actually it's the mouth opening in the skull. The name presumably predates the split of the island in two.)
The next morning, they plan to head directly to the "right eye" of the skull, the location of the golden city. They'll need to split into two groups, one to stay with the ship and the other to go after the gold.
When it gets late, Robin says they should put out the fire to avoid alerting enemies to their position. Luffy and Usopp laboriously explain to her the importance of the CAMP fire. ("It's not her fault, she's been living in the criminal underworld. She doesn't know about these things!" Poor Robin, underprivileged child.)
Nami tries to explain to Luffy how many dangers there are in the forest.
LOL, Chopper - of all people! - is terrified by the suggestion that there might be monsters (bakemono) in the forest.
They build an even bigger bonfire, and all the wolves in the forest show up to join the party. (This was in the anime, and I thought it was a joke, BUT NO. Seriously? Dancing wolves? Aww, but Robin's smiling. Robin!)
Gan Fall wakes up and joins Robin and Zoro by the fire. (Love Pierre hovering behind him protectively.)
Scooping up a handful of dust, he explains why the island of Upper Yard is called "holy land." Soil was once a virtually unknown substance to the people of the sky. Plants don't grow easily in island-cloud; they can be cultivated, but the seeds have to be germinated elsewhere. In the eyes of the sky-people, the soil of the island that was once Jaya is the most precious treasure imaginable. They call it "vearth" (大地, "great earth"), and worship it above all things.
In the overnight camp of the Shandians, Wiper seizes Aisa's bag from Laki. He blames her for the fact that Kamakiri was injured while Laki was distracted with collecting the vearth she promised to bring back for Aisa.
Kamakiri (who is recovering) steps in to stop the fight. He says after tomorrow, no one will have to cling to a bag of dirt and call it their "treasure."
Tomorrow, the Shandians will win back the homeland they lost, 400 years before.
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LOL, Usopp pestering Zoro to go with him because he's afraid to go pee in the dark. ("How old are you, anyway? You want to go, go!")
Aw, Luffy sleeping curled up with the wolf.
In the darkness, Usopp sees a shadowy figure on the ship holding a mallet.
Hearing him scream, Zoro shows up and is baffled to find Usopp passed out in the woods.
Outside God's "shrine," the three surviving shinkan have gathered in response to his summons.
Ohm, the master of the Iron Trial (guy with the dog), and Gedatsu, the master of the Swamp Trial (Medusa-guy), are finally formally introduced.
Enel shows up, does a bunch of acrobatics (knocking out all three shinkan) and lands on his throne. He tells the shinkan they need to train harder.
(Yeah, still the presumptive winner of the Most Tedious Villain Ever award.)
Enel knows that the Strawhats are after the city of gold.
He announces that tomorrow, when both the Strawhats and the Shandians attack, all of Upper Yard will be open territory for all to compete in.
"Maxim" (マクシム) is almost complete. It's time to wrap things up on the island. Soon, they will begin their journey to the land of dreams.
The next morning, the Merry has mysteriously been repaired and restored to its former state (no chicken wings).
Usopp tells anyone who will listen that he saw someone the night before (he was sure it was a ghost).
They don't know who could have repaired the Merry, surrounded as they are by nothing but enemies. And who would have known what the Merry's original appearance was?
I love the quiet moment when Usopp is left alone with the Merry. "Na, Merry… who was it?"
The Strawhats prepare to split into two teams: the search team (to head for the ruins), and the other team to guide the Merry back down the Milky Road and out to sea, around the coast. They will meet up on the coast nearest the ruins.
Nami, Usopp and Sanji will be on the "ship" team; Luffy, Robin, Zoro and Chopper are on the search team headed for the ruins.
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LOL forever at the frame where absolutely everybody is confused about the direction they're going in except Robin.
(I think this is the first time anybody officially uses the term 方向音痴 for Zoro (houkou-onchi, deaf to a sense of direction).
Chopper's cuteness is KILLING me. (Running around looking for a stick like Luffy's. Talking big and confident because he's secretly so glad the strongest members of the team are with him. Trying out his "manly laugh." Gahahaha!)
Just as Luffy is commenting that he's kind of disappointed by the lack of challenges, a giant snake shows up.
Meanwhile, the Merry is chugging along on dial-power (the Crow-Maru is pushing them, good heavens, it's amazing they can move). Usopp is torn between bossing people around, bragging, and demanding that Sanji project him. (OMG, I cannot translate the adorableness. "Make sure you stay by my [oresama no] side. Your captain is afraid of these woods." (!!!) Sanji: "Shut up. Nami-san's the only one I protect.")
Why is Pierre sitting in that undignified position? With his legs hanging over the rail!
LOL, Nami is now calling Gan Fall hen na kishi, "the weird knight." (Luffy is catching, but she's mixing up his titles; Luffy calls him hen na ossan.) Gan Fall: "My name is Gan Fall. Gan Fall!"
Gan Fall begins telling Usopp a little bit about the country's history.
Until six years before, Gan Fall was the "kami." (Pierre - in pegasus form! - doesn't appreciate Usopp questioning Gan Fall's sanity at this statement.)
Up until the period 400 years earlier, Skypiea was a peaceful country. Very rarely, a few objects from the Blue Sea would be thrown up by the Knock-up Stream. That was how they obtained the very small amounts of vearth they had.
When an entire island appeared, everyone treated it as a miracle from god, and acclaimed the island as "holy land." But a war soon arose between the former inhabitants of the land, and the people of the sky. The original inhabitants were known as the Shandians. Presumably they were thrown up into the sky along with their land. Eventually, they were driven out. The people of the sky and the Shandians have been at war ever since.
Usopp and Sanji point the finger of blame at Gan Fall (since Gan Fall is himself one of the people of the sky, and a former kami). (Both of them get their heads eaten by Pegasus-Pierre, this time. Don't mess with the bird, you get the horns.) To their surprise, Gan Fall readily accepts the blame.
Six years ago, Enel appeared out of nowhere, amassed an army, and drove out Gan Fall after defeating his heavenly warriors (神兵, shinpei) and the Shandians.
Most of his heavenly warriors ended up performing manual labor under Enel's command. As for the Shandians, nothing has changed; they are still fighting to regain their homeland, just as before.
The Shandians attack random ships because sometimes, the heavenly warriors enslaved by Enel try to commandeer a ship and escape. The Shandians still regard them as enemies and hunt them down.
Gan Fall became a "sky knight" so that he could help those escapees make it safely to other sky islands.
Sanji comments that it sounds like Enel rules by fear. (This terrifies Usopp, who is afraid that Enel can hear them. Sanji: "Since when did you become a Skypiean?" Ironically, Usopp is correct: Enel can hear them.)
Gan Fall corrects him -- Enel is worse than that. He rules not by crude fear, but by implanting a sense of guilt in the people of Skypiea. When foreigners come to Skypiea, he sets them up to become criminals (recall Amazon's ambiguous instructions), and then forces the Skypieans to cooperate by turning them in to authorities. He knows that people who feel a sense of shame and guilt are weakened and will follow like lost sheep. His rule is a mockery of divine rule.
(Out of curiosity, I wonder if this is meant to be a criticism of the Judeo-Christian religious system in general from an outsider's POV, seeing it as a system unduly reliant on the idea of forgiveness of sin in order to exalt the godhead, or if the point is that Enel perverts what ought to be a healthy relationship of sin/forgiveness, protector/follower, god/worshipper? Maybe the answer is in the eye of the beholder/reader.)
By the way, Gan Fall has been wondering… why do they all keep talking about a city of gold?
Meanwhile, in the forest, Luffy, Zoro, Robin and Chopper are desperately trying to escape the attack of the giant snake, whose venom destroys everything it touches.
(Is it me, or does it look like that snake just wants to play?)
When the dust settles after a lot of running and screaming, all four find themselves separated.
Robin is the only one who actually manages to return to the true course. She decides to go on ahead and wait.
Chopper is utterly lost and utterly terrified. (Poor Chopper! He's the real maigo [lost child] of the four.)
Zoro is annoyed with all the others for getting lost, but figures they'll manage. Fortunately he has the map in his head: all he has to do is keep going right.
Luffy is annoyed with all the others for getting lost, but figures they'll manage. He knows they're supposed to go due south, so all he has to do is go in the direction that feels warmest.
(Oh dear.)
Enel and his agents remain tedious, alas.
Volume 27
D'aww, the volume (as a whole) opens with a panel from Norland's story. (I love Norland!)
Until the day he died, Norland never stopped lying.
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Luffy tells Sanji and Usopp to go after the ship. He'll deal with Satori.
Satori is able to stun Luffy long enough to go after Sanji and Usopp.
びっくり玉突き: surprise billiards, hee. Satori is knocking balls around in the sky like balls on a pool table. (Viz: "Let's see how they handle my surprise ball.")
Luffy recovers and chases after them.
Luffy's gomu-gomu pistol attack sends the balls flying in every direction. Every time one hits, something weird pops out.
Usopp tries out his new weapon, the "Usopp AAAAAAA". (George, George, George of the Jungle…)
It works perfectly -- until he realizes he failed to build in a belt release, and misses the ship completely.
Sanji, to Usopp and Luffy, who are both swinging around aimlessly: "A WORD, PLEASE?" Many lumps later, he's attempting to explain his plan to them.
Satori takes out Sanji with a punch and turns to Luffy and Usopp.
Flashback to the ship, where the Strawhats were arguing about who should have Gan Fall's whistle.
Nami, Usopp, Luffy and Chopper are all arguing about who's the weakest (except Luffy, he just wants to blow the whistle). "I'm the weakest!" "No, me!" (LOL, Usopp: 一番弱えのは俺様だ! [ichiban yowee no wa, oresama da!] I don't think you're allowed to call yourself "oresama" in a sentence like that.)
Robin: "Weird argument."
They finally agree to hang the whistle on the main mast, where anyone who's in trouble can grab it and summon help.
Back on the ship (in the present), Chopper hangs the whistle around his neck. Just in case.
The next moment, he's blowing for all he's worth when one of the shinkan shows up to take him out.
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Conis and Pagaya are hiding out at Gan Fall's house.
Gan Fall says これはサービスだ so often, it becomes his catchphrase. (Maybe "consider it a bonus"? The literal "this one's free" doesn't always work in context.)
(Sigh… I'm starting to think that the Viz translator just didn't know what to do with this phrase at all. This time it's translated "Rest while you can." What?)
He comments that Enel's mantra doesn't extend this far. (Where is Gan Fall's house, anyway?)
To stop Pagaya from apologizing every other word, Gan Fall changes the subject to his other favorite topic, agriculture. His hobby is growing pumpkins (kabocha) and making pumpkin juice.
Gan Fall tells Conis about the "pirates" who roam the Blue Sea (she doesn't know what pirates are). Pagaya is shocked to realize that the Strawhats were already criminals in their own land.
Gan Fall: "Well, outlaws, anyway. They'd stick out in any world."
Gan Fall points out that Pagaya and Conis are outlaws themselves, at the moment. Circumstances change. Those who in war are called "heroes" may be regarded as mere killers in time of peace.
He had friends who were pirates, once. They came to Skypiea over twenty years before, while he was still Kami. It was hard to say goodbye when they left.
Skypiea is a land afflicted with incessant war, between the "people of the sky" and the guerrillas called the Shandians. Even now, the Shandians are at war with Enel.
Pagaya comments that when Gan Fall was Kami, they enjoyed a temporary truce with Shandia. There was even talk of a permanent peace.
Gan Fall apologizes for the fact that all that came to nothing when Enel drove him out and seized the position of Kami in his place.
Gan Fall tells Pagaya an ancient legend about the day Upper Yard was created. A beautiful song (島の歌声 - literally, the singing voice of the island) rang out over the land, and at that moment, the war between the people of the sky and the Shandians began. Legend has it that the war will end on the day they hear that song again.
Pierre begins to squawk frantically, telling Gan Fall that someone is in trouble. (Do birds have supersonic hearing like dogs? Obviously he can hear the whistle.)
Back on the ship, Chopper is desperately trying to put out the flames set by the enemy.
Shura the Sky-Rider and his flame-breathing bird mount Fuza introduced.
Poor Chopper, all he cares about is protecting the ship because the others left it in his care. T_T
Shura explains that normally, Upper Yard is divided into four zones where the shinkan each rule over one zone and make it a rule not to interfere with each other, but this one spot is a free-for-all; any of the shinkan can operate in it. But only after those who are undergoing the "trial" are dead. If those undergoing the trial successfully reach the altar, the sacrifices are free to go -- provided they can avoid the attacks of the shinkan as they flee.
In this case, however, the three who left broke the rules, and now Chopper's life is forfeit (as the only remaining sacrifice).
Gan Fall arrives in the nick of time to rescue Chopper.
Gan Fall knocks Shura off his mount in the first round.
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Gan Fall and Shura square off anew.
Shura prepares to attack using his "Thread Trial" (紐の試練).
Change of scene: Shandia's "hidden cloud village", where a little girl (Aisa) is sneaking home from an expedition.
A sunglasses-wearing warrior, Kamakiri, asks her if she's been to "God's island" again. He knows she has Vearth in her bag. She's just asking to throw her life away.
Aisa is defiant. ("I'll do as I please! Not like you guys can defeat Enel anyway. Behhh!")
Inside the tent, a council of war is meeting.
Wiper reports that for some reason, Gan Fall has returned to Upper Yard. "That old man" thinks that the island can be ruled as one in peace, but Wiper is convinced that only victory in battle can resolve the dispute.
He lives according to the words of the great warrior Calgara: "Light the flame of Shandora!" (シャンドラの灯をともせ!)
(I fail to see how that translates into a command to wipe out all your enemies in battle rather than negotiate, but whatever. People have a way of making tradition mean whatever they want.)
He doesn't care if the Kami is Enel or Gan Fall; nothing will change as long as a kami controls Upper Yard.
Laki points out that this is the first time in the all the six years of Enel's rule that someone has defied him openly, leading to a direct clash between Enel and the former kami Gan Fall.
Wiper tells her to stay out of the battle if she has any hesitation in her heart. She'll only be in the way.
A little later, one of the men who was in the tent (Braham) warns Aisa not to go in.
"The man who bears the blood of the great warrior Calgara in his veins… is in a foul temper."
Aisa: "Yeah, that's scary. Scarier than God."
(Aw, the statue of Calgara in the background. T_T)
In the forest of Upper Yard, Robin is examining a well which has been overgrown by the roots of the great trees, indicating that nature has overtaken the ruins of an ancient civilization.
Zoro just wants to find a way to conquer the Milky Road so that they can find Enel.
Nami, gazing out over the island through binoculars from a high tree-branch, is shocked by something she has discovered.
Chopper, back on the ship, is watching the battle between Gan Fall and Shura.
Back at Gan Fall's house, Pagaya proposes that he and Conis find some way to rescue the Strawhats.
Gan Fall realizes that his body is becoming sluggish and refusing to respond. Shura deduces that his "thread trial" is working.
Gan Fall is stabbed and falls into the water below.
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Chopper dives into the water to save Gan Fall, even though he himself is a devil fruit user. (Shura: "Hey, aren't you a Zoan-type? What are you, stupid?")
Shura stabs Pierre, telling him to follow his master (Pierre, too, as a devil fruit user, will be helpless in the water).
Unfortunately for them, he comments, this lake has a bottom. They won't be able to save themselves by falling through to the other side.
Shura leaves to hunt down the other three fugitives.
Satori is gloating over the beaten bodies of Luffy, Usopp and Sanji, who are still trying to fight him.
(Poor Usopp: "My heart can't take any more surprises.")
Luffy attacks, and Satori sends the "Tama-Dragon" after him. The balls that make up its body contain gunpowder, knives and fire. Hit the fire ball, and the whole thing will explode.
Usopp sneaks off -- he has a plan. He's figured out where the exit to the forest must be, and knows the boat will have to pass through it. All they have to do is catch it as it approaches the exit.
Luffy turns the Tama-Dragon back on Satori himself, but manages to survive the explosion by clinging to Satori's back.
With Luffy holding Satori immobile, Sanji tells Satori to prepare for the "Trial of Love." (He wants revenge for what they did to Nami, Robin and Conis.)
Satori's ability to read their movements is useless as long as they can keep him from dodging their attacks.
Satori warns them by defeating an agent of God, they'll be committing the highest-level crime in Skypiea and declaring war directly on Enel himself. (Ha, like Luffy cares.)
Sanji takes Satori out with a full-power kick.
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Clinging to Laki's skirts, Aisa tells Wiper that her "mantra" sensed the disappearance of two life forces around the same time -- apparently those of Gan Fall and one of the shinkan. She can no longer "hear" them.
Wiper rejoices - this is the perfect opportunity to attack the other shinkan.
Laki complains that Aisa is still afraid of Wiper, after all this time.
Aisa tells Laki that she doesn't think the shinkan was defeated by Gan Fall. Somebody else was responsible, someone scary. "Please be careful!"
Laki whispers to Aisa to give her her bag -- she'll get some more "treasure" for her. Wiper notices their conversation.
Back in the forest, Usopp calls Sanji and Luffy to help him recover the ship.
Usopp uses his "Usopp AAAAA" to lasso and recover the ship successfully… sort of. (They all get pretty banged up in the process.)
The Crow-Maru emerges successfully from its first trial in the "Forest of Wandering."
Elsewhere in the forest, Nami refuses to tell Zoro and Robin what she saw until she can confirm it -- she's having difficulty believing her eyes.
The other agents, waiting in their own territories, have sensed Satori's defeat, as well as the defeat of Gan Fall. They also know the Shandians are preparing an attack.
Wiper is rallying the army of Shandia, including his followers Braham, Kamakiri, Genbou, and Laki. The three remaining shinkan are immediately aware of their approach.
Back on the altar, Chopper (to his amazement) discovers that he, Gan Fall and Pierre are all alive. Someone pulled them from the water.
Chopper hears a strange but familiar bird-cry.
On the shore, Nami, Zoro and Robin discover the other half of the house Cricket was living in in Jaya, ruined and overgrown.
Robin correctly concludes that Upper Yard was originally an island in the sea below (which explains why it alone is made of earth, not island-cloud). The island they are standing on is the other half of Jaya.
Chopper gazes in amazement at a flock of enormous south birds.
On their raft, Luffy is entertaining Usopp with his Zoro impression (much to Sanji's exasperation). (LOL, what is the point of this interlude?)
Zoro, Robin and Nami arrive at the obvious conclusion: Norland's lost city of gold didn't sink into the sea -- it was lifted into the sky, 400 years ago.
(I have to say, this is one of the better "reveals" in One Piece. Such a great moment in an otherwise mostly dull arc.)
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Cover arc: The best part of the opening of Wapol's slightly creepy toy shop is the eyes on the patched tin roof. And the crown!
Nami is convinced that the gods are rewarding her for her virtuous life by allowing them to discover the lost city of gold in the sky. (She makes no connection between the "kamisama" she was just thanking and the "god" they're up against on Skypiea.)
Luffy's team enters the area of the second trial. The meadow is filled with stakes with skulls on them.
Suddenly Wiper's Shandian army flies overhead.
Spotting Luffy, Wiper fires at him. When the bullet bounces off Luffy's stomach, Wiper identifies him as a Paramecia devil fruit user.
[I was wondering when this was going to come up! Kanji: 超人系 ("superhuman type", normally pronounced choujinkei); katakana pronunciation: パラミシア, paramishia. This is usually rendered "paramecia," but I suspect the Greek original Oda had in mind was "paramythia", meaning roughly "legendary." (I fail to see why a unicellular organism would be a more relevant model, unless Oda is on record as commenting on this somewhere. The fruit classes of Zoan-kei and *spoiler*-kei are both based on Greek word roots.) Paramecia fruits are the most common type, including all fruits that give the user some extraordinary power that does not involve transformation into an animal or a pure element.]
The people of Skypiea seem to have fairly wide knowledge of devil fruits; Shura instantly recognized Chopper as a Zoan-type devil fruit user.
Sanji recognizes Wiper as the masked guerrilla who attacked them in the White Sea.
Wiper tells Luffy to go back to the Blue Sea and quit causing trouble in Skypiea, or he'll wipe him out along with Enel. (Interesting that he immediately identifies the danger Luffy presents as the overturning of settled ideas and assumptions. In his own way, Wiper is a traditionalist.)
Sanji is only slowly figuring out where the guerrillas stand in the political landscape. ("Wait, the guerrillas and kami aren't on the same side?")
The Shandians are losing their battle against the shinkan, badly.
Meanwhile, the Crow-Maru sails on toward the altar. (I guess the shinkan are too busy with the Shandians to bother with their trial.)
The setting sun is disappearing behind the clouds.
Zoro, Nami and Robin are shocked to return and find the Merry in ruins, and Chopper nowhere to be found.
(Robin: "Maybe he was torn limb from limb?" Nami: "Will you STOP imagining horrible things!")
A terrified Chopper finally ventures out.
Luffy and the others arrive in the Crow-Maru around the same time.
Aw, Usopp's first concern is that Chopper didn't get hurt when the Merry was under attack.
Gan Fall is still unconscious, recovering from his life-threatening injuries. Pierre is in better shape.
(LOL at Chopper's horror when Luffy tugs curiously at Gan Fall's beard.)
Since night is falling, they agree to camp out on the shore of the lake. (Luffy is ecstatic. Party!)
They spend the evening catching each other up on the latest news. (Aw, Pierre looks so sad, watching over the sleeping Gan Fall.)
Luffy decides that their next priority is to look for the city of gold.
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As night falls, Wiper calls for a temporary retreat to base camp.
Ohm (the guy with the dog) is about to pursue him, but Gedatsu (Medusa-guy) says Enel is calling them.
Back at the Strawhat camp, Luffy is bored (he's actually watching water boil, LOL, Sanji apparently set him the task of purifying water for the next day).
Chopper and Zoro return with ingredients for Sanji's stew. (Chopper brings herbs and garlic. Zoro brings mice and frogs. Nami: "I don't like the sound of those ingredients." Sanji: "Oh, sorry, you don't like garlic?")
Robin comes back with giant salt crystals.
Poor Zoro, no one wants his frogs. Not even Chopper, for his medicines.
Sanji makes Zoro use his swords to generate sparks for the fire, hee. (Zoro objects, but Sanji tells him "Defy the cook, and starve!")
Sanji is making stew with hot rocks in the pot (I'm sure there is a better name for this). Luffy: "Rocks? Do they taste good?"
Nami summons a strategic meeting.
Nami reasons that the split of Jaya must have occurred in the brief period between the time Norland first discovered Jaya and his return a few years later.
Zoro is puzzled by the difference in the wildlife of the two "Jayas," but Robin says the same ingredients which fed the growth of island-cloud must have accelerated the pace of biological change on the island. (Yeah, right. I'm not sure even kairouseki could manage that, but whatever.)
Rapid growth would also explain the ruins of civilization having been swallowed up by the growth of the forest, and the size of the south birds that rescued Chopper.
Chopper says he doesn't know why the south birds saved them, but they kept calling Gan Fall "kamisama."
LOL Luffy: "Kami? Then can I kick that old guy's ass?" Usopp: "NO! You ignoramus!" Poor Pierre, stretching out his wings to protect his master.
Pierre feeding Gan Fall, d'aww. (He's blowing on the food to cool it!)
Nami finally understands Norland's last words, that he saw "gold in the right eye of the skull."
Putting together the map of Jaya and the map of Skypiea reveals a land mass in the shape of a human skull.
(I LOVE the fact that "Mouth Bay" wasn't given that name for the reason we originally thought. It looked like it was named for the open mouths of two dragons facing each other, but actually it's the mouth opening in the skull. The name presumably predates the split of the island in two.)
The next morning, they plan to head directly to the "right eye" of the skull, the location of the golden city. They'll need to split into two groups, one to stay with the ship and the other to go after the gold.
When it gets late, Robin says they should put out the fire to avoid alerting enemies to their position. Luffy and Usopp laboriously explain to her the importance of the CAMP fire. ("It's not her fault, she's been living in the criminal underworld. She doesn't know about these things!" Poor Robin, underprivileged child.)
Nami tries to explain to Luffy how many dangers there are in the forest.
LOL, Chopper - of all people! - is terrified by the suggestion that there might be monsters (bakemono) in the forest.
They build an even bigger bonfire, and all the wolves in the forest show up to join the party. (This was in the anime, and I thought it was a joke, BUT NO. Seriously? Dancing wolves? Aww, but Robin's smiling. Robin!)
Gan Fall wakes up and joins Robin and Zoro by the fire. (Love Pierre hovering behind him protectively.)
Scooping up a handful of dust, he explains why the island of Upper Yard is called "holy land." Soil was once a virtually unknown substance to the people of the sky. Plants don't grow easily in island-cloud; they can be cultivated, but the seeds have to be germinated elsewhere. In the eyes of the sky-people, the soil of the island that was once Jaya is the most precious treasure imaginable. They call it "vearth" (大地, "great earth"), and worship it above all things.
In the overnight camp of the Shandians, Wiper seizes Aisa's bag from Laki. He blames her for the fact that Kamakiri was injured while Laki was distracted with collecting the vearth she promised to bring back for Aisa.
Kamakiri (who is recovering) steps in to stop the fight. He says after tomorrow, no one will have to cling to a bag of dirt and call it their "treasure."
Tomorrow, the Shandians will win back the homeland they lost, 400 years before.
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LOL, Usopp pestering Zoro to go with him because he's afraid to go pee in the dark. ("How old are you, anyway? You want to go, go!")
Aw, Luffy sleeping curled up with the wolf.
In the darkness, Usopp sees a shadowy figure on the ship holding a mallet.
Hearing him scream, Zoro shows up and is baffled to find Usopp passed out in the woods.
Outside God's "shrine," the three surviving shinkan have gathered in response to his summons.
Ohm, the master of the Iron Trial (guy with the dog), and Gedatsu, the master of the Swamp Trial (Medusa-guy), are finally formally introduced.
Enel shows up, does a bunch of acrobatics (knocking out all three shinkan) and lands on his throne. He tells the shinkan they need to train harder.
(Yeah, still the presumptive winner of the Most Tedious Villain Ever award.)
Enel knows that the Strawhats are after the city of gold.
He announces that tomorrow, when both the Strawhats and the Shandians attack, all of Upper Yard will be open territory for all to compete in.
"Maxim" (マクシム) is almost complete. It's time to wrap things up on the island. Soon, they will begin their journey to the land of dreams.
The next morning, the Merry has mysteriously been repaired and restored to its former state (no chicken wings).
Usopp tells anyone who will listen that he saw someone the night before (he was sure it was a ghost).
They don't know who could have repaired the Merry, surrounded as they are by nothing but enemies. And who would have known what the Merry's original appearance was?
I love the quiet moment when Usopp is left alone with the Merry. "Na, Merry… who was it?"
The Strawhats prepare to split into two teams: the search team (to head for the ruins), and the other team to guide the Merry back down the Milky Road and out to sea, around the coast. They will meet up on the coast nearest the ruins.
Nami, Usopp and Sanji will be on the "ship" team; Luffy, Robin, Zoro and Chopper are on the search team headed for the ruins.
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LOL forever at the frame where absolutely everybody is confused about the direction they're going in except Robin.
(I think this is the first time anybody officially uses the term 方向音痴 for Zoro (houkou-onchi, deaf to a sense of direction).
Chopper's cuteness is KILLING me. (Running around looking for a stick like Luffy's. Talking big and confident because he's secretly so glad the strongest members of the team are with him. Trying out his "manly laugh." Gahahaha!)
Just as Luffy is commenting that he's kind of disappointed by the lack of challenges, a giant snake shows up.
Meanwhile, the Merry is chugging along on dial-power (the Crow-Maru is pushing them, good heavens, it's amazing they can move). Usopp is torn between bossing people around, bragging, and demanding that Sanji project him. (OMG, I cannot translate the adorableness. "Make sure you stay by my [oresama no] side. Your captain is afraid of these woods." (!!!) Sanji: "Shut up. Nami-san's the only one I protect.")
Why is Pierre sitting in that undignified position? With his legs hanging over the rail!
LOL, Nami is now calling Gan Fall hen na kishi, "the weird knight." (Luffy is catching, but she's mixing up his titles; Luffy calls him hen na ossan.) Gan Fall: "My name is Gan Fall. Gan Fall!"
Gan Fall begins telling Usopp a little bit about the country's history.
Until six years before, Gan Fall was the "kami." (Pierre - in pegasus form! - doesn't appreciate Usopp questioning Gan Fall's sanity at this statement.)
Up until the period 400 years earlier, Skypiea was a peaceful country. Very rarely, a few objects from the Blue Sea would be thrown up by the Knock-up Stream. That was how they obtained the very small amounts of vearth they had.
When an entire island appeared, everyone treated it as a miracle from god, and acclaimed the island as "holy land." But a war soon arose between the former inhabitants of the land, and the people of the sky. The original inhabitants were known as the Shandians. Presumably they were thrown up into the sky along with their land. Eventually, they were driven out. The people of the sky and the Shandians have been at war ever since.
Usopp and Sanji point the finger of blame at Gan Fall (since Gan Fall is himself one of the people of the sky, and a former kami). (Both of them get their heads eaten by Pegasus-Pierre, this time. Don't mess with the bird, you get the horns.) To their surprise, Gan Fall readily accepts the blame.
Six years ago, Enel appeared out of nowhere, amassed an army, and drove out Gan Fall after defeating his heavenly warriors (神兵, shinpei) and the Shandians.
Most of his heavenly warriors ended up performing manual labor under Enel's command. As for the Shandians, nothing has changed; they are still fighting to regain their homeland, just as before.
The Shandians attack random ships because sometimes, the heavenly warriors enslaved by Enel try to commandeer a ship and escape. The Shandians still regard them as enemies and hunt them down.
Gan Fall became a "sky knight" so that he could help those escapees make it safely to other sky islands.
Sanji comments that it sounds like Enel rules by fear. (This terrifies Usopp, who is afraid that Enel can hear them. Sanji: "Since when did you become a Skypiean?" Ironically, Usopp is correct: Enel can hear them.)
Gan Fall corrects him -- Enel is worse than that. He rules not by crude fear, but by implanting a sense of guilt in the people of Skypiea. When foreigners come to Skypiea, he sets them up to become criminals (recall Amazon's ambiguous instructions), and then forces the Skypieans to cooperate by turning them in to authorities. He knows that people who feel a sense of shame and guilt are weakened and will follow like lost sheep. His rule is a mockery of divine rule.
(Out of curiosity, I wonder if this is meant to be a criticism of the Judeo-Christian religious system in general from an outsider's POV, seeing it as a system unduly reliant on the idea of forgiveness of sin in order to exalt the godhead, or if the point is that Enel perverts what ought to be a healthy relationship of sin/forgiveness, protector/follower, god/worshipper? Maybe the answer is in the eye of the beholder/reader.)
By the way, Gan Fall has been wondering… why do they all keep talking about a city of gold?
Meanwhile, in the forest, Luffy, Zoro, Robin and Chopper are desperately trying to escape the attack of the giant snake, whose venom destroys everything it touches.
(Is it me, or does it look like that snake just wants to play?)
When the dust settles after a lot of running and screaming, all four find themselves separated.
Robin is the only one who actually manages to return to the true course. She decides to go on ahead and wait.
Chopper is utterly lost and utterly terrified. (Poor Chopper! He's the real maigo [lost child] of the four.)
Zoro is annoyed with all the others for getting lost, but figures they'll manage. Fortunately he has the map in his head: all he has to do is keep going right.
Luffy is annoyed with all the others for getting lost, but figures they'll manage. He knows they're supposed to go due south, so all he has to do is go in the direction that feels warmest.
(Oh dear.)