Two years have past since the Straw Hat Pirates broke up temporarily as Luffy focused on his training. But now they are back together in search for the “New World” and this time around, many pirates are wanting to exact their revenge. How will Luffy and crew prepare for their wild adventure to the bottom of the ocean? Find out in the latest volume 62 of “One Piece: New World”!
 Image courtesy of © 1997 Eiichiro Oda. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: One Piece: New World Volume 62
STORY AND ART BY: Eiichiro Oda (尾田 æ „ä¸€éƒŽ)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC
RATED: T for Older Teen
Available on May 1, 2012
Luffy and the Straw Hat crew board their trusted ship and head under the sea towards Fish-man island. However, getting in their way will be fierce pirates, underwater volcanoes, and a humongous sea creature!
The adventures continue in the latest exciting volume of “One Pieceâ€. As the Straw Hat Pirates reunite two years later to venture out to the New World.
“ONE PIECE†is a popular anime series based on the popular manga series serialized in Shonen Jump by Eiichiro Oda. Suffice to say, “ONE PIECE†is the highest selling manga for Weekly Shonen Jump and its popularity has extended to various anime (via the TV series, OVA and films) and video games in America and also worldwide. The series is so popular, the episode count currently in Japan is over 540 episodes, one of the longest running anime series in Japan.
“ONE PIECE†is an adventure anime about a young man named Monkey D. Luffy who gained enormous strength (and stretching abilities) after eating a magical demon fruit. He eventually teams up with a group of pirates and have the name “The Straw Hatsâ€. Luffy’s driven to one day obtain the most sought out treasure known as “One Piece†and eventually become the King of the Pirates.
In volume 62 of “One Piece: New World”, after the death of his older brother Ace, Luffy has since vowed to get stronger and learn more fighting moves. But in order to do that, he had to commit himself to training for two years. And now, the group have reunited in order to get to the New World.
But the New World may be a bit of a challenge since its literally in the bottom of ocean. The first half features The Straw Hats who are being chased by other pirates in order to get down to the ocean floor, while the second half features the Straw Hat Pirates reuniting with the mermaid Camie and being taken to Fish-Man Island. Unfortunately, The Straw Hats have come at the wrong moment as the antagonist Mer-Men known as Hody and Vander Decken have joined forces to crush Neptunes army and bring ruin to the Kingdom of Ryugu.
And as for the Straw Hat Pirates, the have problems on their hands as Sanji is in need of blood after a major blood loss after being surrounded by many beautiful mermaids. Can they get him help before he dies?
The Straw Hat Pirates consists of:
Monkey D. Luffy – A 17-year-old guy who is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and dreams to be a pirate king by getting his hands on the “ONE PIECE†artifact. When he was young, he accidentally ate a devil fruit which made his body rubbery and can stretch and blow up. An airhead of sorts, loves to eat but always believes and fights for his friends.
Roronoa Zoro – A 19-year-old skilled swordsman. A skilled and very strong fighter. Wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world.
Nami – The navigator of the group. The main female crew member and really good at weapons.
Usopp – A 17-year-old marksman. A talented inventor and artistic. Known by his long nose, his marksmanship with slingshots and weapons are great.
Sanji – The chef of the crew. A skilled fighter that uses only kicks in battle and is passionate towards Nami.
Tony Tony Chopper – A reindeer with a blue nose. Ate a devil fruit known as human-human fruit which makes him human in someways but keeping his reindeer look. Able to speak to humans, walk upright and also able to have transformations to become a huge beast. But his talent is his medical skills as he was trained by the Doctrine to become a doctor. Has very low self-confidence because he had been treated badly not only by his kind but also by humans and has not really had a friend but the Doctor and Doctrine.
Nico Robin – The former Vice President of Baroque Works who became a member of Straw Hat Pirates despite some of the crew not trusting her since she was a former enemy. Has the ability to use her body parts and project them elsewhere and other mysterious abilities not yet known.
Franky (aka Cutty Flam) – A cyborg who can rebuild his body using pieces of metal and his dream is to build a ship and become its shipwright and sail to the end of the world.
Brook (aka “Dead Bones”) – A musician and a skeleton who was resurrected by the Revive-Revive Fruit. An excellent musician and fencer.
For “One Piece” fans, the New World storyline is rather intriguing because it has been two years since the Straw Hats have been together and no one really knows what had happened to them within those two years and what new abilities they may have. Especially how far Luffy has gone with his training.
But with volume 62 of “One Piece: New World”, the most entertaining reason why fans will love this volume is that there are so many things going on! Not only is there plenty of action featuring underwater battles, ghost ships and monstrous beings in the ocean below, needless to say, it was going to be intriguing to see how the Straw Hat Pirates would get to the ocean below.
While the first half focuses on the group trying to reach the bottom of the sea while being chased by other pirates who want revenge, the second half is where things get very interesting as the group now find themselves in dire circumstances as their stay in Fish-Man Island, which had been peaceful and like being in Heaven (especially for the men because they are surrounded by beautiful mermaids), all heck breaks loose when two powerful Mer-Men have decided to destroy the kingdom led by Neptune.
So, for those familiar with “One Piece”, you know this is going to be a crazy adventure as the Straw Hat Pirates find themselves in another deadly predicament. But this time around, readers don’t know how powerful the Straw Hats have become within the two years. And the excitement is to see just that…how powerful are they now?
As always, Eiichiro Oda’s pages are like a smorgasbord of artwork. He manages to fill every scene with characters and sometimes plenty of destruction or beauty. He puts so much into his artwork for his manga series and that’s just one of the reasons why people love his work.
Also, with each major chapter conclusion, he answers mail from his fans with a humorous take and if anything, this latest storyline is delightful and fun! There is no doubt in my mind that “One Piece” fans will love this series!
If you have stayed with the “One Piece” manga series for this long, you’re going to love “One Piece: New World”, while those who want an opportunity to jump in to the series, will probably want to check volume 61 & 62 out as it continues two years after the group have temporarily broke up as Luffy focused on his training.
“One Piece: New World” volume 62 is highly recommended!