ONE PIECE, VOL. 37
VIZ MEDIA
CARTOONIST: Eiichiro Oda
TRANSLATION: Taylor Engel, HC Language Solutions Inc.
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jake Forbes
LETTERS: Hudson Yards
ISBN: 978-1-4215-3453-4; paperback (March 2010); Rated “T” for Teen
232pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK
One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 1997. VIZ Media has been publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series, beginning in September 2003, under its “Shonen Jump” imprint.
One Piece focuses on Monkey D. Luffy, a youngster who wants to be King of the Pirates. The enchanted “Devil Fruit” gave him the ability to stretch like rubber, but it also took away his ability to swim. Undeterred, Luffy set out to sea and gradually enlisted a motley crew.
Known as the “Straw Hats,” they are Zolo the master swordsman; Nami the treasure-hunting thief; Usopp, the lying sharpshooter; Sanji the high-kicking chef; Chopper, the walkin’ talkin’ reindeer doctor; and newcomer, secretive archeologist, Nico Robin. They sail the oceans on their ship, the Merry Go, searching for famed pirate Gold Rogers’ legendary treasure known as “One Piece.”
The Straw Hats arrived in The City of Water on the island of Water Seven in hopes of getting Galley-La, the famed shipwrights of Water Seven, to fix the Merry Go, which is much in need of repairs, especially after the Skypeia adventure. The shipwrights told them, however, that the Merry Go was beyond repair. Luffy decided to get a new ship, which caused a riff between him and shipmate, Usopp.
Meanwhile, the lead shipwright, Mayor Iceberg, is the target of an assassination plot hatched by the World Government and carried out by agents of its covert agency, CP9. The biggest shocker is that Nico Robin is one of them, so the Straw Hats are hunted as the would-be assassins. As One Piece, Vol. 37 (Chapters 347 to 357; entitled “Tom”) begins, Luffy and friends battle to stop CP9. But the World Government’s conspiracy against the shipwrights of Water Seven is an old one, as revealed in the story of the legendary shipwright, Mr. Tom.
THE LOWDOWN: It’s another volume of raucous action and fights that rival what is found in superhero comic books. However, much of the story of One Piece Graphic Novel Volume 37 focuses on the story of Mr. Tom. It is a story of young men and their role models and also a story of good versus bastard.
As usual, One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda is not content with presenting mere shonen thrills. He manages to teach life lessons and spin morality tales that we might miss in this very busy narrative, but we shouldn’t miss
POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Readers looking for top “Shonen Jump” manga will want One Piece.
A
8 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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