One Piece 598

One Piece is back after a 4 week break, picking up the story after the two years time skip.

Hey, the new crew member is a seagull!

Summary:
On the harsh island of Rusukaina, Boa Hancock and company arrive to pick up Luffy who has become master of the island's beasts. Two years have passed already since Luffy started training, and Luffy is ready to meet his crew again.

Meanwhile at the Saobody Archipelago, a new generation of pirates is trying to get into the New World, and supposedly the Straw Hat crew is back and recruiting members. Brook is back as a famous music star and he puts on a concert on one of the groves. Sanji has also arrived on another grove, and he bids a not-so-tearful goodbye to the newkamas who gave him a ride to the archipelago. At a bar on another grove, Nami chats with the bartender about Marine HQ moving to other side of the Red Line. Nearby, the fake "Straw Hat Crew" is causing a ruckus and they want Nami to join them for drinks. Nami refuses, prompting the fake Nami to confront her, but the fake Nami is snapped up by a giant plant unleashed by Usopp. Nami and Usopp leave the bar, and on the way out Nami unleashes lightning on the impostors, and this pisses off the fake Luffy who sends his crew out to hunt down Nami and Usopp.

Sanji has arrived at Shakky's shop on Grove 13 and learns that Zoro, Franky, Nami, Usopp and Chopper have already shown up and the Thousand Sunny is in good condition. Rayleigh is also back, having left Luffy half a year to a year ago and finished the coating on the ship. Duval and his gang are also present, but they are in bandages after fending off various assaults by people trying to steal the Thousand Sunny.

On another grove, Nico Robin is trying to evade men in black suits who are trailing her and she is confused by posters about Brook's concert and the Straw Hat recruitment. Meanwhile, Chopper is following the fake Zoro, Sanji, Robin and Chopper (a fox) by mistake. The impostors plan to kidnap Chopper, but the fake Robin and fake Chopper are bagged up by the men in black suits instead.

At Marineford (now the G1 Marine branch), the Marines learn of the "Straw Hat Pirates" presence on Saobody and decide to call HQ to assemble a force. Back on the archipelago, fake Luffy is shooting random people in his search for Usopp and Nami, but he bumps into the real Luffy.

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A four week break is a long time for a weekly series, and so I almost forgot that I blogged the series. Just kidding lol. I'm glad One Piece is back again. The next little while is probably going to be about the crew meeting up together again and demonstrating their new powers against some mid-low level foes (such as the fake Straw Hats and some Marines) before heading out for the New World. It should be fun to see what sort of new skills each crew members has gained in their two years of training. With the new powers also comes some new looks. I have to admit, I love Nami's new look. It definitely looks like she grew up, compared to the others (who showed up in this chapter) who look like more or less the same as before despite the different clothes. Judging by the color spread, Franky has the most dramatic appearance change, although half of his body was blocked out.

The only thing that I'm a bit surprised by in this chapter is about the people guarding the Thousand Sunny. I remember that Kuma (or a Pacifista) visited the ship some time before the time skip, but he must have not attacked as I doubt Duval and Shakky had the power to hold him back.

Anyways, One Piece is finally back, and I'm looking forward to the new adventures, new characters, and bigger and better battles to come.