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One Piece 3-in-1 Omnibus #9
One Piece. Omnibus, Vol. 9
Sky High
Luffy and team must figure out a way to get their ship, the Merry Go, to sail up—the Straw Hat crew’s next destination is an island in the sky. It may seem like an island paradise, but the interesting characters they meet there are hardly heavenly. Soon Luffy and the Straw Hats are on the run…and it turns out they’re on the path to a city of gold!
Contains volumes 25, 26 & 27 of One Piece!
R to L (Japanese Style)
Luffy and team must figure out a way to get their ship, the Merry Go, to sail up—the Straw Hat crew’s next destination is an island in the sky. It may seem like an island paradise, but the interesting characters they meet there are hardly heavenly. Soon Luffy and the Straw Hats are on the run…and it turns out they’re on the path to a city of gold!
Contains volumes 25, 26 & 27 of One Piece!
R to L (Japanese Style)
592 pages, Paperback
First published June 3, 2014
24 people are currently reading
388 people want to read
About the author
Eiichiro Oda
1,866 books4,746 followersEiichiro Oda (尾田栄一郎, Oda Eiichirō) is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the manga and anime One Piece.
As a child, Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's works and aspired to become a manga artist. He recalls that his interest in pirates was probably sparked by the popular TV animation series titled Vicky the Viking. He submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga Kinnikuman. Pandaman was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works.
Please also see:
尾田荣一郎 (Chinese, simplified)
尾田榮一郎 (Chinese, traditional)
As a child, Oda was inspired by Akira Toriyama's works and aspired to become a manga artist. He recalls that his interest in pirates was probably sparked by the popular TV animation series titled Vicky the Viking. He submitted a character named Pandaman for Yudetamago's classic wrestling manga Kinnikuman. Pandaman was not only used in a chapter of the manga but would later return as a recurring cameo character in Oda's own works.
Please also see:
尾田荣一郎 (Chinese, simplified)
尾田榮一郎 (Chinese, traditional)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
January 16, 2021
One Piece dives (or flies?) into its next major arc, SKYPIEA!
Now the thing about this arc is it was one of my favorites growing up. But I do remember people not liking this arc as much. Saying it takes too long to get it going and the side characters aren't nearly as interesting. I'm going to be honest...I kind of agree now that I'm older.
Now that it is a awful arc or anything. Because lets face it. The worst One Piece arc is still solid (not counting anime filler) but this arc feels like it was dragging its feet some. After finally getting the ability to go up into Skypiea is does pick up but some overly long fights, and over talking, started to get on my nerve.
The good part is we do get introduced to Eminem...I mean Enel, the god of electricity! And with that his henchmen are pretty powerful too. Giving Luffy and his gang some trouble. The island itself is pretty fun to look at and it has a "adventurous" type of feel to it which is cool. Also there is a great moment when people act like Tarzan. Funny as hell.
A 3.5 out of 5.
Now the thing about this arc is it was one of my favorites growing up. But I do remember people not liking this arc as much. Saying it takes too long to get it going and the side characters aren't nearly as interesting. I'm going to be honest...I kind of agree now that I'm older.
Now that it is a awful arc or anything. Because lets face it. The worst One Piece arc is still solid (not counting anime filler) but this arc feels like it was dragging its feet some. After finally getting the ability to go up into Skypiea is does pick up but some overly long fights, and over talking, started to get on my nerve.
The good part is we do get introduced to Eminem...I mean Enel, the god of electricity! And with that his henchmen are pretty powerful too. Giving Luffy and his gang some trouble. The island itself is pretty fun to look at and it has a "adventurous" type of feel to it which is cool. Also there is a great moment when people act like Tarzan. Funny as hell.
A 3.5 out of 5.
October 14, 2023
4.5/5
On the island of Jaya, the Straw Hats meet a man seeking to prove his disgraced ancestor’s tales of a city made of gold were true. He spends his time diving, because he believes that the city may have sunk – and has indeed found a few golden artifacts. But what if the truth is connected to the mythical island in the sky that Luffy and his crew are looking for?
Apparently people sometimes ask if they can skip the Skypeia arc (because “the fights are boring”) and…NO! Don’t do that! Besides having (IMO) a lot of fun moments and thematic richness in itself, this arc has a TON of concepts, foreshadowing, etc. that will be very important later.
If the Alabasta arc is the “Bond movie” section (with a dash of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’), this is the ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure, with a lost city of gold hidden in a jungle, boobytrap challenges, and religious legends that may or may not be true. (We also get a running joke of characters swinging on vines and independently deciding to do a Tarzan yell!). However, unlike many of its adventure-movie inspirations, this arc actually acknowledges colonialism as a bad thing!! More specifically, land theft as a problem that needs redress. It doesn’t do this perfectly, but for the genre of “jungle adventure” that’s still remarkably rare. In addition, there’s some really good commentary on how religious fear/guilt can be used to control people, to keep them subservient and willing to snitch on each other.
It's also the first adventure Nico Robin gets to have with the Straw Hats (well, where she’s on their side, that is!) - and the spooky archaeologist is in her element! That means that, while she remains the most reserved member of the crew, she’s building trust and friendships…and THAT will be super important for the subsequent Water 7 and Ennies Lobby arcs.
Unfortunately, I have to knock half a star off the English version of the manga here for ONCE AGAIN having translation failures that mess with the clear intent of the story as much or more as messing up half the indicators of Bon Clay’s gender-fluidity.
For further discussion, see below.
(Note: A story this big and complex can’t really be “spoiled”, I don’t think – spoilery discussions were what sold me on trying it in the first place! But if you’re VERY spoiler-sensitive, bear in mind that the discussion will give away some events!)
So, we start out with the Straw Hats looking for someone who might be able to tell them how to get to the legendary sky island after being laughed out of the appropriately named Mocktown. They find a strange half-a-house and a book…
“Sanji: ‘Noland the liar’. That brings back memories. I read it as a kid.
Nami: You’ve read this, Sanji? But it says it was published in the North Blue.
S: Yeah, I was born in the North Blue. Didn’t I mention that?
Usopp: This is the first I’ve heard of it. I thought you were from the East too.
S: Yeah, I was raised in the East…Well, never mind that. This story’s pretty famous in the North.”
Nice deflection for the second sad backstory about your birth family that we’re not supposed to get yet, Sanji! Damn, I do now actually believe that Oda planned that out 18 years in advance – which is crazy!
The story is about a man named Montblanc Noland, who claimed to have found a city of gold. But, when he tried to prove it to his king, the city had vanished. Noland was executed, still maintaining that the city once existed, and guessing that perhaps it sank into the sea. Now his descendant, Montblanc Cricket, is living on Jaya, skin-diving every day (injuring himself with the bends in the process) to find out if that’s true. And he has actually found some intriguing gold artifacts.
He and his simian salvage diver colleagues make friends with the Straw Hats and agree to lead them to the knock-up stream, a strange geyer-like current that, if you hit it in the right moment, might lift you up to the sky island. Or it might kill you. Luffy, of course, is IMMEDIATELY on board to try this, much to the distress of Nami and Usopp (the ones with a normal fear of mortality).
However, while the pirates are busy trying to catch a south bird to serve as compass, Cricket gets jumped and robbed by Bellamy, the pirate who had roughed up Luffy and Zoro and mocked their dreams in the last volume. Based on Shank’s example, Luffy was willing to put this guy in the “not worth fighting” category. But now that a friend’s life purpose is at stake…he immediately runs into town, punches Bellamy so hard his knuckles leave an imprint, and then sprints back to the ship in time to set sail!
The land of Skypeia at first looks like a heavenly paradise, with a cloud ocean washing up against a fluffy cloud shore, inhabited by graceful people with wings. But this is no calm “beach episode”! Even before they get to the beach, the Straw Hats are saved from a mysterious guerrilla with a bazooka by a strange “sky knight”. And, not long after landing, they are accosted by what’s basically Skypeia border patrol:
“White Beret: If you pay the fine you can become legal tourists right now…70 billion Extols are 7 million Berries…
Sanji (furious): Do you realize how many tons of rice you could buy with that?! We risked our lives to get to this country and now you want us to pay you a fortune to stay here?!”
They do not go along with this, and half of them end up getting whisked away to “god’s land”, while the others are challenged to trials to rescue them, which are meant to have a 10% survival probability at best. After various adventures, the Straw Hats are re-united and pool what they’ve learned to figure out the truth:
Upper Yard, the mysterious chunk of “sacred land” inhabited by God Enel and his priests, was once part of Jaya! It was blown upward by the knock-up stream, taking the fabled El Dorado with it…which is why Noland couldn’t relocate it.
The Straw Hats are immediately down to find the city of gold…because they are pirates, and also broke!
But, there’s more to the story than that! Gan Fall the sky knight tells them he was once the leader (with the title of “god”) to the Skypeians, but he was deposed by Enel, who seems to have truly god-like power to hear what’s happening at a distance and to command lightning.
Gan Fall: “Enel…uses the citizens of Skypeia to pass judgement. Innocence is never even considered. After years of his rule, my people live in a constant state of guilt. When a person cannot act without feeling guilt, he is at his weakest. Enel is well aware of that.”
This is some on-the-nose commentary, and so it is frustrating that the English translation again falls on its face here, as it did with properly conveying Bon Clay’s gender-fluidity*. I do feel like both cases reveal blind spots or nervousness in the (presumably American?) translation team. Here, there are two key spots that muddy the waters: 1) referring to Enel (or “Eneru” here, as Gan Fall is "Ganfor") as kami instead of translating that word as “god”, and 2) calling those who serve him “vassals” instead of “priests”. (Both are fixed by the anime subtitles, incidentally!) But as this goes on, it is VERY clear that Oda is drawing directly from both the Christian and Buddhist traditions – plus references to storm gods from around the world - to make this critique of religion-as-social-control. Even in this volume, he notes in the Q&A that the priests/vassals are named after Buddhist concepts and notes: “I’m not very religious myself…my apologies to all the religious people out there!”
In this, he’s similar to Zoro, apparently:
“Zoro: This god guy’s here somewhere, right? I’ll go have a talk with him…
Nami: Don’t you know better than to anger the gods?
Z: Sorry, but I don’t pray to god, so I don’t owe him anything.
Chopper: Wow!
N (praying): Dear god, I don’t know this guy…”
Going up against people who claim to be gods to oppress others will come back in a BIG way later in the series! In fact,
*Note updating Bon Clay pronoun discussion:
Another odd translation mix-up is using “varse” instead of “vearth” – a term that more clearly links to “earth”…a substance that is highly valued up in the clouds! And that brings us to the colonialism bit. Gan Fall explains to the Straw Hats what the guerrillas with the very obvious Native American coding are fighting for:
“GF: It should have been impossible for a [chunk of vearth] as huge as Upper Yard to make it to the sky. It was a miracle. The sky people naturally revered it as a sacred site bestowed upon us by the heavens…However. It was inhabited! Soon fighting broke out over this miraculous [vearth] with the land’s native inhabitants, the Shandians.
Usopp: The guerillas?
Sanji: Then those guys originally lived on Jaya on the ground?
GF: Yes. They were probably blown into the sky with the island unwillingly.
Nami: And yet, they were forced off the island?
GF: Yes. I’m sorry to say we sky people got greedy and stole their homeland. In the 400 years since, the fighting between our peoples has raged on. All that the Shandians want is to take back their motherland…
S & U: Then you guys are the bad ones!!”
I love that this is the Straw Hat’s IMMEDIATE reaction to this situation. And Gan Fall admits: “Yes, you’re right. It’s exactly as you say.”
Finally, it isn’t super important yet, but at the very beginning of this set of volumes we get this:
“Usopp: That darned orangutan! He almost wrecked the ship!
Zoro: Yeah, it really is in bad shape. Maybe it’s time we got a new one.
U: HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!!
Luffy: Don’t worry, Usopp. The Going Merry’s part of the crew. She’ll be as good as new once we’ve fixed her up!”
That…is a really painful of foreshadowing, if you know what happens in the next arc!
On the island of Jaya, the Straw Hats meet a man seeking to prove his disgraced ancestor’s tales of a city made of gold were true. He spends his time diving, because he believes that the city may have sunk – and has indeed found a few golden artifacts. But what if the truth is connected to the mythical island in the sky that Luffy and his crew are looking for?
Apparently people sometimes ask if they can skip the Skypeia arc (because “the fights are boring”) and…NO! Don’t do that! Besides having (IMO) a lot of fun moments and thematic richness in itself, this arc has a TON of concepts, foreshadowing, etc. that will be very important later.
If the Alabasta arc is the “Bond movie” section (with a dash of ‘Lawrence of Arabia’), this is the ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure, with a lost city of gold hidden in a jungle, boobytrap challenges, and religious legends that may or may not be true. (We also get a running joke of characters swinging on vines and independently deciding to do a Tarzan yell!). However, unlike many of its adventure-movie inspirations, this arc actually acknowledges colonialism as a bad thing!! More specifically, land theft as a problem that needs redress. It doesn’t do this perfectly, but for the genre of “jungle adventure” that’s still remarkably rare. In addition, there’s some really good commentary on how religious fear/guilt can be used to control people, to keep them subservient and willing to snitch on each other.
It's also the first adventure Nico Robin gets to have with the Straw Hats (well, where she’s on their side, that is!) - and the spooky archaeologist is in her element! That means that, while she remains the most reserved member of the crew, she’s building trust and friendships…and THAT will be super important for the subsequent Water 7 and Ennies Lobby arcs.
Unfortunately, I have to knock half a star off the English version of the manga here for ONCE AGAIN having translation failures that mess with the clear intent of the story as much or more as messing up half the indicators of Bon Clay’s gender-fluidity.
For further discussion, see below.
(Note: A story this big and complex can’t really be “spoiled”, I don’t think – spoilery discussions were what sold me on trying it in the first place! But if you’re VERY spoiler-sensitive, bear in mind that the discussion will give away some events!)
So, we start out with the Straw Hats looking for someone who might be able to tell them how to get to the legendary sky island after being laughed out of the appropriately named Mocktown. They find a strange half-a-house and a book…
“Sanji: ‘Noland the liar’. That brings back memories. I read it as a kid.
Nami: You’ve read this, Sanji? But it says it was published in the North Blue.
S: Yeah, I was born in the North Blue. Didn’t I mention that?
Usopp: This is the first I’ve heard of it. I thought you were from the East too.
S: Yeah, I was raised in the East…Well, never mind that. This story’s pretty famous in the North.”
Nice deflection for the second sad backstory about your birth family that we’re not supposed to get yet, Sanji! Damn, I do now actually believe that Oda planned that out 18 years in advance – which is crazy!
The story is about a man named Montblanc Noland, who claimed to have found a city of gold. But, when he tried to prove it to his king, the city had vanished. Noland was executed, still maintaining that the city once existed, and guessing that perhaps it sank into the sea. Now his descendant, Montblanc Cricket, is living on Jaya, skin-diving every day (injuring himself with the bends in the process) to find out if that’s true. And he has actually found some intriguing gold artifacts.
He and his simian salvage diver colleagues make friends with the Straw Hats and agree to lead them to the knock-up stream, a strange geyer-like current that, if you hit it in the right moment, might lift you up to the sky island. Or it might kill you. Luffy, of course, is IMMEDIATELY on board to try this, much to the distress of Nami and Usopp (the ones with a normal fear of mortality).
However, while the pirates are busy trying to catch a south bird to serve as compass, Cricket gets jumped and robbed by Bellamy, the pirate who had roughed up Luffy and Zoro and mocked their dreams in the last volume. Based on Shank’s example, Luffy was willing to put this guy in the “not worth fighting” category. But now that a friend’s life purpose is at stake…he immediately runs into town, punches Bellamy so hard his knuckles leave an imprint, and then sprints back to the ship in time to set sail!
The land of Skypeia at first looks like a heavenly paradise, with a cloud ocean washing up against a fluffy cloud shore, inhabited by graceful people with wings. But this is no calm “beach episode”! Even before they get to the beach, the Straw Hats are saved from a mysterious guerrilla with a bazooka by a strange “sky knight”. And, not long after landing, they are accosted by what’s basically Skypeia border patrol:
“White Beret: If you pay the fine you can become legal tourists right now…70 billion Extols are 7 million Berries…
Sanji (furious): Do you realize how many tons of rice you could buy with that?! We risked our lives to get to this country and now you want us to pay you a fortune to stay here?!”
They do not go along with this, and half of them end up getting whisked away to “god’s land”, while the others are challenged to trials to rescue them, which are meant to have a 10% survival probability at best. After various adventures, the Straw Hats are re-united and pool what they’ve learned to figure out the truth:
Upper Yard, the mysterious chunk of “sacred land” inhabited by God Enel and his priests, was once part of Jaya! It was blown upward by the knock-up stream, taking the fabled El Dorado with it…which is why Noland couldn’t relocate it.
The Straw Hats are immediately down to find the city of gold…because they are pirates, and also broke!
But, there’s more to the story than that! Gan Fall the sky knight tells them he was once the leader (with the title of “god”) to the Skypeians, but he was deposed by Enel, who seems to have truly god-like power to hear what’s happening at a distance and to command lightning.
Gan Fall: “Enel…uses the citizens of Skypeia to pass judgement. Innocence is never even considered. After years of his rule, my people live in a constant state of guilt. When a person cannot act without feeling guilt, he is at his weakest. Enel is well aware of that.”
This is some on-the-nose commentary, and so it is frustrating that the English translation again falls on its face here, as it did with properly conveying Bon Clay’s gender-fluidity*. I do feel like both cases reveal blind spots or nervousness in the (presumably American?) translation team. Here, there are two key spots that muddy the waters: 1) referring to Enel (or “Eneru” here, as Gan Fall is "Ganfor") as kami instead of translating that word as “god”, and 2) calling those who serve him “vassals” instead of “priests”. (Both are fixed by the anime subtitles, incidentally!) But as this goes on, it is VERY clear that Oda is drawing directly from both the Christian and Buddhist traditions – plus references to storm gods from around the world - to make this critique of religion-as-social-control. Even in this volume, he notes in the Q&A that the priests/vassals are named after Buddhist concepts and notes: “I’m not very religious myself…my apologies to all the religious people out there!”
In this, he’s similar to Zoro, apparently:
“Zoro: This god guy’s here somewhere, right? I’ll go have a talk with him…
Nami: Don’t you know better than to anger the gods?
Z: Sorry, but I don’t pray to god, so I don’t owe him anything.
Chopper: Wow!
N (praying): Dear god, I don’t know this guy…”
Going up against people who claim to be gods to oppress others will come back in a BIG way later in the series! In fact,
*Note updating Bon Clay pronoun discussion:
Another odd translation mix-up is using “varse” instead of “vearth” – a term that more clearly links to “earth”…a substance that is highly valued up in the clouds! And that brings us to the colonialism bit. Gan Fall explains to the Straw Hats what the guerrillas with the very obvious Native American coding are fighting for:
“GF: It should have been impossible for a [chunk of vearth] as huge as Upper Yard to make it to the sky. It was a miracle. The sky people naturally revered it as a sacred site bestowed upon us by the heavens…However. It was inhabited! Soon fighting broke out over this miraculous [vearth] with the land’s native inhabitants, the Shandians.
Usopp: The guerillas?
Sanji: Then those guys originally lived on Jaya on the ground?
GF: Yes. They were probably blown into the sky with the island unwillingly.
Nami: And yet, they were forced off the island?
GF: Yes. I’m sorry to say we sky people got greedy and stole their homeland. In the 400 years since, the fighting between our peoples has raged on. All that the Shandians want is to take back their motherland…
S & U: Then you guys are the bad ones!!”
I love that this is the Straw Hat’s IMMEDIATE reaction to this situation. And Gan Fall admits: “Yes, you’re right. It’s exactly as you say.”
Finally, it isn’t super important yet, but at the very beginning of this set of volumes we get this:
“Usopp: That darned orangutan! He almost wrecked the ship!
Zoro: Yeah, it really is in bad shape. Maybe it’s time we got a new one.
U: HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!!
Luffy: Don’t worry, Usopp. The Going Merry’s part of the crew. She’ll be as good as new once we’ve fixed her up!”
That…is a really painful of foreshadowing, if you know what happens in the next arc!
May 8, 2020
Marathon buddy read with the siblings and I think we’ve all lagged a bit on this one. Skypeia is my least liked part of the series so far. I’m hoping to get past the next one quickly.
July 7, 2024
Loving the vibes
July 8, 2025
Logging for the Skypiea arc
February 11, 2025
Love Jaya. Arguably the best single punch in the series vs Bellamy. Love how whimsically and adventurously Skypiea starts.
Read
January 3, 2025Aquests senyors no trobaran mai el One Piece
July 25, 2025
"’Well, it all looks the same once it’s in your belly.’
‘QUIET, YOU UNCOUTH RUBE!! FOOD SHOULD APPEAL TO ALL THE SENSES’"
I liked this, but I don’t love that Skypiea’s so tribal. it’s looking up, though
‘QUIET, YOU UNCOUTH RUBE!! FOOD SHOULD APPEAL TO ALL THE SENSES’"
I liked this, but I don’t love that Skypiea’s so tribal. it’s looking up, though
July 10, 2019
(Very mild spoilers if you have not read these volume) Luffy and the rest of his crew have made it to the island in the sky known as skypiea I can’t wait to see what adventures await the straw hats in there quest of upper-garden I am so thrilled to see what trouble Luffy and his crew cause next so I’ll give it 5 stars
May 26, 2025
this is definitely one of the more convoluted volumes thus far, there was the set up for about 3 different side arcs within a few chapters where if i hadn’t watched the anime i definitely would’ve been confused
January 5, 2022
One Piece if my life
May 29, 2022
For some reason I am not as invested as I was in Baroque works… I hope it gets better.
April 12, 2023
Skypiea tá okzinho, mas bem enrolado... Tô interessado, mas não vejo a hora que acabe kk
December 12, 2023
My favorite parts of One Piece is when it dives deeper into the world building, and it was no different in this volume. It was interesting to meet some of the other Warlords, the Blackbeard Pirates, the World Government, and even a glimpse of Shanks (I'm intrigued at the hints that everyone seems to be very familiar with Shanks and vice versa). Now that we've gotten into the Sky Islands, I'm interested to see how that storyline plays out, especially with the added aspect of the social commentary.
October 26, 2025
por qué cojones la gente en el cielo son tan hijos de puta
January 4, 2024
I’m having so much fun. Hilarious and so much fun. Loving the Skypeia lore ☁️
December 8, 2025
meh, kinda struggled with this, which is funny bc when i first watched one piece, i stopped at this arc too.
January 23, 2025
Interesting way to begin an arc, but quite confusing too
April 4, 2024
Chapter for chapter thoughts here: https://youtu.be/srh4wDwPQi4
December 14, 2025
2025 -----------------------------
rating: {★★★★☆: 4.5/5 stars}
Favorite moment: upcoming baddies and big dawgs mentioned and casually hold a conversation
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First time reading I wasn't super excited but looking back and rereading, I think this arc is really fun. It doesn't have as much build up like Alabasta did and I forgot a lot of what happened here, but I'm having a great time rereading.
A lot of future plots are being started and that's super exciting
2022 -----------------------------
#25: The 100 Million Berry Man - ★★★☆☆
#26: Adventure on Kami's Island - ★★★☆☆
#27: Overture - ★★★☆☆
oh oh oh
i've heard of doflamingo blackbeard and enel
super excited for shanks and the other higher ups that are being introduced
rating: {★★★★☆: 4.5/5 stars}
Favorite moment: upcoming baddies and big dawgs mentioned and casually hold a conversation
[image error]
First time reading I wasn't super excited but looking back and rereading, I think this arc is really fun. It doesn't have as much build up like Alabasta did and I forgot a lot of what happened here, but I'm having a great time rereading.
A lot of future plots are being started and that's super exciting
2022 -----------------------------
#25: The 100 Million Berry Man - ★★★☆☆
#26: Adventure on Kami's Island - ★★★☆☆
#27: Overture - ★★★☆☆
oh oh oh
i've heard of doflamingo blackbeard and enel
super excited for shanks and the other higher ups that are being introduced
September 8, 2024
This new arc has been a blast so far. A whole new environment filled with mystery and wonder, completely unmotivated by a set plot but pushed by the thrill of adventure instead. The enemies are unique and interesting with a great story as the backbone.
November 3, 2022
This is probably the easiest decision for the overall rating yet. Since I gave all 3 volumes 4 stars... Well, 2 stars it is.
I'm kidding (obviously), but anyway. Let me just say that these were some really solid volumes but they didn't live up to their predecessors. With some exceptions there weren't many great character moments and the concept of a land in the sky hasn't been explored well enough (in my opinion).
The following part of the review might contain SPOILERS.
Volume 25; 4/5
This volume was not the best. It wasn't bad (which of course it wasn't... it's One Piece), but it just doesn't reach the highs of the best volumes. I'm not a fan of this jungle environment... we already had one a few volumes ago so I don't see a reason for it now. The monkeys didn't work for me and I just overall didn't find the story in this volume interesting. However, there where a bunch of things that I did like, like Shanks's appearance which I have been waiting for for so long. We also got Buggy and Ace which was great and I loved how Luffy decided to fight the entire town of people on his own. That was sick. We got introduced to the flamingo guy and I heard that he's a good villain so that's great. But hey, they are finally going to the sky island and I feel like the good stuff of this arc are gonna happen there.
Volume 26; 4/5
Now this was a bit better but still not quite on the level of some Alabasta arc volumes. I really like the concept of these sky islands and it would be really interesting to see that explored instead of being in that forest infested by some fake gods or something. I sensed pretty early on that this might be a trap since that woman just let them pass without paying money. I was right (kind of) since they are now wanted trespassers but hey, they always get out of sketchy situations so I'm sure they'll be fine. Not to mention that I love how no one was angry that the angel girl betrayed them and they were mad that she told them about it. It was wholesome. I'm also excited for the ball challenge and I think that they'll have to go through all challenges.
Volume 27; 4/5
Well... This was good. Not quite there yet but pretty close if you ask me. I actually really liked it but it's missing that wow factor that was present in some of the previous volumes. Let me just say that I love how Chopper remembered the whistle and also that he jumped into the water to save the knight guy. I still don't know how he survived but who cares. What's important is that my baby is okay. Also... Can we comment on Usopp's remark that they can replace the mast but not Chopper. That was really sweet and wholesome. The concept of that island being split up and one half ending up in the sky is cool and I really hope my straw hat gang finds the treasure. The dancing wolves are funny as heck (I love them) and that's it. I hope that everyone getting lost won't have terrible consequences.
I'm kidding (obviously), but anyway. Let me just say that these were some really solid volumes but they didn't live up to their predecessors. With some exceptions there weren't many great character moments and the concept of a land in the sky hasn't been explored well enough (in my opinion).
The following part of the review might contain SPOILERS.
Volume 25; 4/5
This volume was not the best. It wasn't bad (which of course it wasn't... it's One Piece), but it just doesn't reach the highs of the best volumes. I'm not a fan of this jungle environment... we already had one a few volumes ago so I don't see a reason for it now. The monkeys didn't work for me and I just overall didn't find the story in this volume interesting. However, there where a bunch of things that I did like, like Shanks's appearance which I have been waiting for for so long. We also got Buggy and Ace which was great and I loved how Luffy decided to fight the entire town of people on his own. That was sick. We got introduced to the flamingo guy and I heard that he's a good villain so that's great. But hey, they are finally going to the sky island and I feel like the good stuff of this arc are gonna happen there.
Volume 26; 4/5
Now this was a bit better but still not quite on the level of some Alabasta arc volumes. I really like the concept of these sky islands and it would be really interesting to see that explored instead of being in that forest infested by some fake gods or something. I sensed pretty early on that this might be a trap since that woman just let them pass without paying money. I was right (kind of) since they are now wanted trespassers but hey, they always get out of sketchy situations so I'm sure they'll be fine. Not to mention that I love how no one was angry that the angel girl betrayed them and they were mad that she told them about it. It was wholesome. I'm also excited for the ball challenge and I think that they'll have to go through all challenges.
Volume 27; 4/5
Well... This was good. Not quite there yet but pretty close if you ask me. I actually really liked it but it's missing that wow factor that was present in some of the previous volumes. Let me just say that I love how Chopper remembered the whistle and also that he jumped into the water to save the knight guy. I still don't know how he survived but who cares. What's important is that my baby is okay. Also... Can we comment on Usopp's remark that they can replace the mast but not Chopper. That was really sweet and wholesome. The concept of that island being split up and one half ending up in the sky is cool and I really hope my straw hat gang finds the treasure. The dancing wolves are funny as heck (I love them) and that's it. I hope that everyone getting lost won't have terrible consequences.
March 5, 2024
After a small break I realized how much dialogue is strewn across One Piece. There’s no arguing quite a bit of it is dedicated towards humor and nonsense. I still feel like I get more mileage out of One Piece than I do in most other manga that match it in dialogue. I might be saying that because I just came off of reading Yu-Gi-Oh and nothing strings a narrative together there, not even the heart in the cards.
I stopped watching the anime at Skypiea because there was a change in English voice actors (back in Alabaster) for Luffy. It felt weird continuing after that. So, I simply stopped watching the show, although I did see an episode or two at random. I have to say, it probably woulda` been worth the time. Skypiea is a change of pace. I think it’s bold storytelling, creative, and still as exciting with a new cast of villains. The setup is a little copy and paste from Alabaster, however the rest of setup is new enough that I can’t find myself caring.
It might be a bit til` I grab the next volume. You can find the beginning and end of One Piece easily, everything in between is up for grabs.
I stopped watching the anime at Skypiea because there was a change in English voice actors (back in Alabaster) for Luffy. It felt weird continuing after that. So, I simply stopped watching the show, although I did see an episode or two at random. I have to say, it probably woulda` been worth the time. Skypiea is a change of pace. I think it’s bold storytelling, creative, and still as exciting with a new cast of villains. The setup is a little copy and paste from Alabaster, however the rest of setup is new enough that I can’t find myself caring.
It might be a bit til` I grab the next volume. You can find the beginning and end of One Piece easily, everything in between is up for grabs.
March 24, 2025
[3.5 Stars ✨️✨️✨️✨️]
And so finally I begin Skypiea after many long months of waiting for my library to fulfill my hold request! Despite fun sky adventure/Indiana Jones vibes, I can see why some wouldn't like Skypiea so much, wondering what impact this arc interlude would have on the rest of the story. But hey, then you have to question, what DOES matter along the journey? And One Piece certainly isn't one about the destination but the journey itself! I do wonder how Oda will balance even more new characters getting added to the ship since it's hard to give everybody due attention in each panel and give everyone a line. Plus, these villains aren't as memorable to me so far. Reminds me of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn a little 😅 Still, excited to see how he finishes this arc n' get to the really good stuff that I've heard about later.
Nico Nico Robin is dope tho. Love her inclusion as the newest member, she emanates badassery.
And so finally I begin Skypiea after many long months of waiting for my library to fulfill my hold request! Despite fun sky adventure/Indiana Jones vibes, I can see why some wouldn't like Skypiea so much, wondering what impact this arc interlude would have on the rest of the story. But hey, then you have to question, what DOES matter along the journey? And One Piece certainly isn't one about the destination but the journey itself! I do wonder how Oda will balance even more new characters getting added to the ship since it's hard to give everybody due attention in each panel and give everyone a line. Plus, these villains aren't as memorable to me so far. Reminds me of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn a little 😅 Still, excited to see how he finishes this arc n' get to the really good stuff that I've heard about later.
Nico Nico Robin is dope tho. Love her inclusion as the newest member, she emanates badassery.
October 7, 2023
One Piece gently applies the brakes after the action on Alabasta. I think it’s a mistake for the Skypiea arc to revolve around a politically-minded conflict given how the main cast start off in the dark on everything. I get that the fun of the story here is that this is a process of discovery, but hiding the motivations of all the new characters really grinds the pacing down. That being said, it is very cool to watch the details unfold, especially the way the island links back into Noland’s story. Favourite stuff from this omnibus goes to the Bellamy action, which plays out like a great deleted gag from One Punch Man, as well as the sudden expansion of the government and its infrastructure. Seeing Shanks again was a thrill - a feat doubly impressive given how long it’s been since he last appeared.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2018
volume 25: first half was a little underwhelming but then all of a sudden you have bellamy! you have the gorosei! more shichibukai! you have whitebeard! red haired pirates! so many STRONG PEOPLE coming after the strawhats..... but what do they (the strawhats) do??? FLY INTO THE SKY! classic. thats right! to conclude, although all those things were happening i felt like it went by a bit slow, so 3.5/5 (fave moment were the “noland the liar” jokes with usopp)
volume 26: PARTY DONT START TILL GOD WALKS IN (or more like, is introduced cause we havent seen him yet) this is shaping up to be very tense & high stakes. sky island is a really cool concept, good job ooda. 4.5/5
volume 27: EVERYTHING ESCALATES SO DAMN FAST 4.5/5
rounded it’s 4 stars for these vols!
volume 26: PARTY DONT START TILL GOD WALKS IN (or more like, is introduced cause we havent seen him yet) this is shaping up to be very tense & high stakes. sky island is a really cool concept, good job ooda. 4.5/5
volume 27: EVERYTHING ESCALATES SO DAMN FAST 4.5/5
rounded it’s 4 stars for these vols!
June 16, 2024
The Straw Hats are on the hunt for El Dorado - the fabled lost city of Gold - which has led them to Jaya. A small port village and notorious pirate refuge upon The Grand Line.
Building up a sizable bounty they soon catch the attention of hunters and fellow pirates with the likes of Bellemy and Marshall D. Teach who seek to capture and subjugate the growing talents of Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro.
Luffy and the gang meet and create more allies and through this reach the fabled land of El Dorado which is in fact the Kingdom of Skypeia.
Having read the entire East Blue Saga and Baroque Works arc, I have now returned to Eiichiro Oda's work this year and look forward to the antics of Luffy and his crew of misfits.
Building up a sizable bounty they soon catch the attention of hunters and fellow pirates with the likes of Bellemy and Marshall D. Teach who seek to capture and subjugate the growing talents of Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro.
Luffy and the gang meet and create more allies and through this reach the fabled land of El Dorado which is in fact the Kingdom of Skypeia.
Having read the entire East Blue Saga and Baroque Works arc, I have now returned to Eiichiro Oda's work this year and look forward to the antics of Luffy and his crew of misfits.
January 13, 2023
Series: One Piece #25-27
Rating: 3 stars - I liked it
In this collection the gang figures out how to get to Skypia with the help of Mont Blac Cricket. Skypia is not as peaceful as they expected though and now they have been branded as criminals by Kami Eneru and have to fend off his vassals. Skypia is very interesting. This was a bit slow because they had to give us all the backstory on Skypia, Eneru, and the treasure. I still enjoyed it though. Also, I didn’t really remember any of the Skypia arc this so I am excited to see what happens.
Rating: 3 stars - I liked it
In this collection the gang figures out how to get to Skypia with the help of Mont Blac Cricket. Skypia is not as peaceful as they expected though and now they have been branded as criminals by Kami Eneru and have to fend off his vassals. Skypia is very interesting. This was a bit slow because they had to give us all the backstory on Skypia, Eneru, and the treasure. I still enjoyed it though. Also, I didn’t really remember any of the Skypia arc this so I am excited to see what happens.
August 17, 2024
Welcome to Project One Piece! I’m officially declaring this a recreational project of mine in between academic reading these next two semesters.
Reading this following Alabasta is a bit of a bummer because that entire arc was way more fleshed out and interesting. Skypeia feels rushed in points to the action without the emotional and narrative commitments that we found in Alabasta.
Still enjoying the action and seeing where this goes but I’m hoping now that we’re finally meeting the big bass of this saga, we’ll get more in the next batch of volumes.
Reading this following Alabasta is a bit of a bummer because that entire arc was way more fleshed out and interesting. Skypeia feels rushed in points to the action without the emotional and narrative commitments that we found in Alabasta.
Still enjoying the action and seeing where this goes but I’m hoping now that we’re finally meeting the big bass of this saga, we’ll get more in the next batch of volumes.
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