One Piece, Volume 7: The Crap-Geezer
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Publisher: Viz Media
American
release date: July
6, 2005
Format/Genre/Length:
Manga/Shonen/200
pages
Publisher/Industry
Age Rating: Teen
Overall
Personal Rating: ★★★★★
Sanji shows that he’s more than cook when
he defends the Baratie with a tremendous kick, deflecting the fish-head, to the
amazement of his crew! His action re-energizes the sea cooks, who vow to fight
for their floating restaurant to the end against the scurvy knaves that
comprise Don Krieg’s pirate crew. So of course Krieg has to throw them a
curveball—in the form of his second unit commander, Invincible Pearl.
Synopsis:
Pearl, as his name implies, is a huge
fellow covered in shields with pearl centers, and wears a pearl on his head. As
he leaps onto the Baratie, he takes down two of the cooks with his Pearl
Surprise move. One of Krieg’s men attempts to take the knife from one of the
dying men but Sanji puts a stop to that with a swift kick. “A chef’s knife is
his soul,” he tells him. “A crap-bum like you had better not touch it.”
Pearl boasts to Sanji that he’s been
invincible in 61 battles to the death; in fact, he’s never even been injured,
and has never lost a single drop of blood in battle. Meanwhile, Luffey is
clinging for his life to a mast—if he drops into the ocean, he’s a dead man;
since eating the devil fruit, he can’t swim a stroke and would sink like a
stone. Luckily, Krieg’s maneuver drops him onto the Baratie, right on top of
Pearl, drawing blood, to the pirate’s surprise. When Krieg’s crew see the
blood, they immediately try to calm Pearl down, fearful of the consequences.
Because of experiences as a child, when Pearl feels threatened, he sets himself
aflame. Under the circumstances, being on a ship, afloat at sea and all, this
is not a good idea.
The sea cooks back down from the human
wall of flame, but not Sanji. “Moron,” he says, “you can’t be a cook if you’re
afraid of fire!” Things are starting to
look up when Sanji finds himself on the wrong end of a gun barrel, being
pointed at him by Gin, the pirate whose life he saved when he was starving!
Gin offers Sanji the opportunity to get
off the ship, but he refuses, even when Chef Zeff taunts him, calling him
eggplant head. Luffy tries to intervene,
but to no avail. He certainly doesn’t understand Sanji’s attitude, and neither
does anyone else. Especially when Pearl pounds him with some of his best moves.
Still the stubborn chef refuses to go. But there is method to his madness, and
he finally explains why he refuses to let the Baratie be taken away from the
ornery one-legged Chef Zeff. It all began nine years before…
When Sanji is done with his tale,
everyone understands the debt he owes Zeff, and why he won’t allow anything
else to be taken from him. Still, Luffy thinks Sanji is being ridiculous, and
he sees only one way out of the situation—he intends to sink the Baratie
himself. He tells Sanji it’s not worth dying over, and what use is Zeff saving
his life if he’s going to just throw it away?
Don Krieg steps in and he and Luffy get into a battle of words, Luffy adamantly proclaiming himself the best pirate there is. Finally it comes down to Gin and Sanji. Can Gin kill the very man that showed him incredible kindness? Well, he is a ruthless pirate, after all…
Commentary:
The battle over the Baratie continues as
we meet yet another of Krieg’s crew in the form of Invincible Pearl. Despite
his record, Pearl’s a blowhard and not very likeable, but he’s an interesting
villain. The backstory involving Chef Zeff and Sanji explained a lot about the
latter’s loyalty to the crap-geezer, as he calls him. Sanji is a very
interesting character, one I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot more of in the
future. In this volume, Luffey doesn’t play as big a part as usual, but when he
does, he’s generally very brave, but often in the way, in misguided attempts to
assist.
This is a fun series for all ages, and
there’s lots more fun ahead. Sticking with it for the long haul!
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