Two years have past since the Straw Hat Pirates broke up temporarily as Luffy focused on his training. But now they are back and fighting for their lives as they take on Captain Hody Jones and the New Mer-Man Pirates. Find out who gains the upper hand in volume 65 of “One Piece: New World”!
Image courtesy of © 1997 Eiichiro Oda. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: One Piece: New World Volume 65
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 November 6, 2012
The Straw Hat crew are the only ones standing in the way of the New Fish-Man pirates taking complete control over Fish-Man Island. And when Hody puts his diabolical plan into action, only Luffy can stop him. Luffy may have become much more powerful thanks to his training, but how can he hope to defeat a Fish-Man at the bottom of the ocean?!
The Straw Hat Pirates had previously went different ways for specialized training for the last two years. Having mourned the death of his older brother Ace, Luffy has undergone training to make himself a better fighter.
And as the Straw Hat Pirates have come together, this time they have embarked in the New World and this time, they are in the bottom of the ocean.
But Captain Hody of the New Fish-Man pirates are trying to take control of the Fish-Man Island and because most people in the island think that all humans are their enemies, Luffy and friends are put in a difficult situation.
But Luffy can’t let these innocent people get hurt by Hody and the Fish-Man Pirates and if actions speak louder than words, to show that these non-sea dwellers are on their side, that time is now.
The battle begins in Volume 65 of “One Piece: New World”!
What is “One Piece”?
“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.
So far in “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.
As the Straw Hats were ambushed by Captain Hody Jones and his New Fish-Man Pirates, Hody has planned for the destruction of the Ryugu Kingdom and to eliminate anyone who tries to make peace with humankind.
Princess Shirahoshi and her brothers want peace and try to make their stand against them. And to come to their aid are the Straw Hat Pirates!
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.
“One Piece: New World” now enters all-action mode as the battle between the Straw Hat Pirates and the New Fish-Man Pirates begins.  But all of a sudden Noah’s giant arc is about to land over Fish-Man island and pushing the bubble that protects the town. But willing to sacrifice her life, Princess Shirahoshi hopes Hodi would take her life, not the life of her people.
Seeing the Princess risk everything, Decken has now switched sides in order to protect her and join Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates to fight against Hody. Leading to battles such as General Franky vs. Ikaros Much, Brook vs. Zeo, Daruma vs. Usopp and Dosun vs. Chopper.
Torn by their hatred towards the humans, some under the sea are starting to realize that not all humankind is bad, if Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates are trying to protect them from death.
This leads to an all out war between those who will support Luffy and friends versus those who are unable to get over their prejudice towards humans.
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 but also, if they can fight underwater.
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. But for the most part, volume 65 is the major battle between the Straw Hat Pirates vs. the New Mer-Man Pirates. Who will gain the upperhand?
Find out in “One Piece: New World” volume 65. Recommended!