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One Piece 3-in-1 Omnibus #16
One Piece. Omnibus, Vol. 16
As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, an enchanted Devil Fruit that gave him the ability to stretch like rubber. Its only drawback? He'll never be able to swim gain-a serious handicap for an aspiring sea dog! Years later, Luffy sets off on his quest to find the 'One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world...
A mysterious floating treasure tempts Luffy and his Straw Hat crew into the treacherous waters of the Florian Triangle. Before they know it, they’ve sailed into the maw of Thriller Bark, an extremely creepy zone populated by ghouls and ghosts and an awful lot of zombies. Soon the crew has lost their shadows to a very nasty enemy—Gecko Moria, one of the seven warlords of the sea. Will Moria make zombies of the Straw Hat crew?!
A mysterious floating treasure tempts Luffy and his Straw Hat crew into the treacherous waters of the Florian Triangle. Before they know it, they’ve sailed into the maw of Thriller Bark, an extremely creepy zone populated by ghouls and ghosts and an awful lot of zombies. Soon the crew has lost their shadows to a very nasty enemy—Gecko Moria, one of the seven warlords of the sea. Will Moria make zombies of the Straw Hat crew?!
640 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2016
About the author
Eiichiro Oda
2,547 books5,054 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 63 reviews
May 11, 2026
Now, this is where I get controversial and take off my objective thinking hat. I really dislike the beginning of Thriller Bark. Whilst there are some interesting concepts to keep the world fresh and exciting, it's about 50-50 when it comes to panels of interest and importance. It also has the misfortune of being sandwiched between two very heavy hitters, and that only serves to highlight the problems when compared to its direct predecessor and successor.
April 28, 2026
꒰ 🏴☠️ ꒱ one piece [ omnibus . 16 ]
› chapters 441 - 470
⭑ ⭑ ⭑ . 85 — rounded up!
・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･┊͙✧˖࿐ ･｡・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･𝜗𝜚˚⋆ ゜゜
RUNDOWN OF VOLUMES :: 💭
⤜ ៸៸ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ VOLUME 46:: 𓌜☠︎︎ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
⤷ We’re introduced to the new town called ”Thriller Bark” which is basically an entire “Ghost Island” being carried on the Worlds Largest Ship owned by Gecko Moria; one of the Shichibukai and where he resides! The new setting is much more gothic and ‘eerie’ which makes me so excited, there’s ghosts and zombies everywhere, I can’t wait to see who the spooky new characters will be! Our first interaction is with a talking skeleton with an Afro by the name of “Brook” who ate the Yomi Yomi Mi No” devil fruit which resurrected him when he ‘died’. Since then he’s been completely alone in the dark sea, with ghost ships to accompany him. He cannot be in direct sunlight, or he will disappear, apparently a man ‘stole his shadow’ and therefore he cannot live in a world with light, until he gets back his shadow, he can’t leave the foggy Devil Sea and go back to the normal sea. Nami, Usopp and Chopper get separated from the rest of the crew, and have to escape from a Cerberus they encountered along the way. Whilst hiding, they meet “Hildon” who leaves them stranded in a graveyard, the team aimlessly run around and soon find themselves at Dr . Hogback’s Mansion … who is known to be a “genius surgeon”. Once welcomed inside, strange encounters start to take place and the three of them try to find a way to escape from the mansion but find themselves in Dr . Hogback’s Secret Lab! They find out his weird assistant ‘Cindy’ who has stitches all over her face and hates plate, actually died 10 years ago, and has most likely been revived like all the other zombies on the island. On the other side, Luffy’s team (remainder of crew) encounter these weird ghosts who keep repeating the word “negative.” And when you come into contact with the ghost, your will becomes weak! An old man with injuries stops the crew and begs them to help him beat Gecko Moria (who Robin knows is part of the Shichibukai and tells the rest of the team) because he stole the old man’s and many other victim’s ‘shadows’, similar to what Brook experienced… Luffy obviously agrees to “beat his ass” and save the old man, so now they’ve set their goal on finding this Gecko Moria and fighting him, however it not be easy knowing he’s part of the Shichibukai. Back to Usopp’s team; they secretly watch Dr . Hogback and Cindy experimenting on a corpse saying “It’s near completion…! It’s a geniuses work!!” The common theme with all the zombies on the island is their numbered armbands meaning Dr . Hogback is behind the resurrection of all the zombies in ”Thriller Bark” … Suddenly a figure approaches from behind and spooks them, revealing their hiding spot to Dr . Hogback, who doesn’t seem to care that they’ve now found his secret lab because “It’s too late … The Night Attack will start soon!”
The Night Attack: When the guests who have wandered onto the island (Luffy’s crew) are hunted down
But, by what …?!
Absalom seems to be the Leader of the ‘Soldier Zombies’ in the graveyards, he urges them to get up and prepare to to attack! We get a short glimpse of Perona who is the Surprise Zombie General and Ghost Princess of “Thriller Bark”, therefore she’s the one in charge of the ghosts who attacked Luffy’s team and weakened their will when they came into contact on their ship. Both new characters prepare their ‘subjects’ to welcome the Strawhat crew … but what will happen when they meet…?
❝ Here you can hear the haunts of the dead …
“THRILLER BARK” BAD DREAMS WILL COME TO YOU …! ❞
៸៸៸ This is so different to the other islands the crew has previously been too, it’s terrifying but I’m already intrigued to know more about this Shichibukai!!
⤜ ៸៸ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ VOLUME 47:: 𓌜☠︎︎ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
⤷ As Usopp’s team tries to escape Dr . Hogback’s Secret Lab, they realise the spooky figure, called “RYULIM” who was a Master Fencer in his last life, which outed their hiding spot, has the same exact laugh as Brook, later on in the volume we find out this is because Brooke’s soul is actually in the Master Fencer’s zombie body! I wonder how Brook is going to retrieve his soul, will he have to kill the zombie? How will he be able to put his soul back inside? Will he become a human again after this process or is it too late? I have so many questions that I hope will be answered by the end of this arc. The Master Fencer is infant quite strong as he came from ”Wano”: A place in The New World meaning he’s been to the latter part of the Grand Line! I’m sure once the crew is able to reach The New World they will find out what “Wano” is, but for now we know that this zombie is strong for making it that far into the Grand Line. The team unsuccessfully attempt to escape and are quickly attacked by this mysterious zombie fencer: “Those who are cut by the Master (Ryulim) … they hum three meters oblivious, and only then do they realise they’ve been cut! It’s called… HANALITA SANCHOU!! Meaning that they didn’t realise they’ve had been cut until it was too late. They wake up awhile later being carried in coffins by these adorable zombie squirrels, created by Perona. They’re finally able to get out and are immediately surrounded by multiple different zombie animals, greeting them: Welcome to Perona’s “Wonder Garden”!!!. Lola, one of the animal/human creature wants to be Absaloms wife, however he doesn’t share the same sentiment, Lola continuously tries to convince him but he runs away. Just before the team is about to be attacked, Absalom, the Leader of the Soldier Zombies kidnaps Nami, adamant about making her his wife, saying she is the perfect person for him after his “evaluation”, Lola is enraged when she sees this and charges after Nami! One of Perona’s zombie animals stops Absalom, behaving like Sanji by saying “it’s a crime to hit women…!” This makes me wonder if Sanji’s soul has already been taken and put into the body of this creature because the rest of the animals have said that “he’s one of the new animals” therefore he’s only recently joined… and now that both Zoro and Sanji have disappeared since Lufyy’s team entered the mansion it seems like the only explanation! After the team has evaded Absalom, Lola takes this as her chance to defeat Nami and take her spot as “wife”, however Nami is able to “tame” her and make Lola lead them to Perona’s room, where they’re able to hide in the zipped up stuffed animal that is Perona’s assistant: “Kumashii” to avoid being found out by any of the villains on the island. On Luffy’s side, as stated, Zoro and Sanji have disappeared, however they can look after themselves, so Luffy isn’t worried. He is unaware they’ve already been taken, had their shadows cut off and been placed in zombie animals… The remainder of the team come across these zombie animals in armour and agree to fight them and meet up at the courtyard, however, only Robin and Franky make it out successfully …! Luffy has been captured into a coffin and is sent straight to the “Master” which I assume is Gecko Moria and his assistants, Robin and Franky ( a great duo ) try to rescue Luffy however a giant Spider Monkey gets in the way, losing their chance of saving Luffy they attempt to kill the Spider however, it isn’t that easy. Suddenly, Brook falls out of the sky and kills the Spider Monkey with his sword that’s disguised in his cane, he then begins to recount the events of how he ended up in ”Thriller Bark” 5 years ago as he was desperate to escape the “Florian Triangle” he was fooled like the crew into entering the building and had his shadow cut off. He remembers seeing the process of it happening to “Mario” the cut off shadow was placed into the corpse of “Mario” and suddenly he could move. The man responsible for this is Gecko Moria who has eaten the Kage Kage No Mi Devil Fruit, which allows him to create zombies from the shadows he’s stolen, with extra help from Dr . Hogback he can make even stronger zombies. The reason the crew is being hunted is because the stronger the “shadow/soul” and the stronger the corpse, the stronger the zombie soldier will become, therefore Moria has taken those in the crew with high bounties. Brook reassures Robin and Franky that even if their Nakama’s shadow is taken, they will not die, only pass out for two days and sent back to the ship without their shadow. In order to get back their nakama’s shadows, Franky and Robin, and Usopp’s team cannot allow their own shadow to be taken, so then they’re able to retrieve it and place it back in their nakama when they wake up in 2 days! Back to Usopp’s team, they watch from inside the stuffed animal, Gecko Moria cut Luffy’s shadow off his body and put it in the Special Zombie known as: “The Mad Warrior”, Named after the Devil: OZ. He’s been keeping this giant corpse for years in order to create the strongest zombie and claim the title of “Pirate King” (in his dreams). From shock, they fall out of the stuffed animal and are caught by Absalom, he recaptures Nami and disappears, right as Franky and Robin come in and save Usopp and Chopper from the zombies approaching to capture them and send them back to Gecko Moria. Franky and Robin have found the zombies weakness, salt, and when sprinkled into their mouth, the soul residing in the corpse is let free! OZ awakens and frees himself from the shackles, he’s now free from the frozen prison and is no longer able to be tamed by Gecko Moria … the crew all go back to the Thousand Sunny and there they find Luffy, Zoro and Sanji unconscious as their shadows have been taken and put into different zombies. Franky retells the story of how Brook used to have a Nakama called “Laboon” who the crew have already come across when entering the Grand Line. Brook’s crew were the pirates who promised Laboon that they’re come back so Brook keeps fighting the Master Fencer for his shadow, so he can leave the lonely foggy sea and fulfill his promise by going back to see Laboon. The crew is heartwarmed by this story and decided that it’s definite that Brook will become their Nakama, so they can take him to see Laboon I assume plus Luffy has wanted a musician since East Blue and can finally get one! By the end of this volume, the crew are now back together except for Nami and prepare counter attacks on Thriller Bark and decide how they’re going to get their shadows and Nami back!
❝ THE NAME OF OUR NAKAMA, WHOM WE SWORE TO RELINITE WITH ON THAT COAST, IS... LABOON. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW BIG HE'S BECOME BY NOW....!! I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK HE ALWAYS BELIEVED WE'D COME BACK. HE'D THINK WE'D PLAY OUR CHEERFUL MUSIC LIKE ALWAYS... AND WOULD COME BACK BY WAVING OUR HANDS. I DON'T THINK HE'D EVER FORGIVE US FOR DYING IN VAIN. "DEATH DOESN'T COUNT AS AN APOLOGY!" BECAUSE A MAN PROMISED TO HIM THAT HED DEFINITELY COME BACK!!! ❞
៸៸៸ And the fact that Luffy made another promise to Laboon, that they’d settle their fight the next time he visits, and now he can bring Brook along and they can reunite even if the rest of his crew are long gone, Laboon and Brook never gave up on each other!
⤜ ៸៸ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ VOLUME 48:: 𓌜☠︎︎ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
⤷ As soon as Sanji realises the severity of the situation: Nami has been kidnapped and will be married in only a few moments, he instantly sets his sights on Absalom. Everyone but Zoro and Franky ( I love this duo aswell, Franky seems to work well with everyone he joins up with hehe ) head towards Moria’s dance hall where they will split up and focus on their own fights. However, Oz, the Mad warrior whose taken Luffy’s shadow, smashes the castle, breaking the bridge, seperating the group once again: Sanji and Usopp join Zoro and Franky’s level whilst Chopper, Robin and Luffy continue on ahead to the dance hall. But our new carpenter, Franky, quickly rebuilds a temporary bridge to get them across, because he’s SUPERRRRRR amazing! They’re intercepted by Persona who has taken the ”Horo Horo” Devil fruit, which allows her to make ghosts from parts of herself and “make anyone’s heart empty” with this ability she can weaken the will of the crew and prevent them from attacking, but what she doesn’t know is Usopp is ALWAYS NEGATIVE, he’s our depressed king, so this is nothing new for Usopp and therefore he’s not affected by her ghosts! Perona is unprepared for this fact as she’s never encountered someone who can surpass her will weakening ghosts … this gives Usopp the advantage in the battle, he tells the rest of the crew to continue on and find their opponents and he’ll be fine dealing with Perona on his own. However, with Persona’s stuffed assistant: “Kumashii” joining in, he quickly loses the upper hand. But he doesn’t give up quickly, he places on “Sogeking’s” mask and it gives him a boost of courage and strength to fight back harder, he’s able to calm down and thoughtfully process a way to combat Perona and Kumashii’s attacks, in the end, Usopp is able to win the fight and reunite with some of the crew!
Brook is slowly losing the fight against Ryulim and his hope of reuniting with Laboon dwindles:
❝ Laboon, I need to apologise, I need to apologise for being so unlucky… I was in the dark sea for 50 years … it was so long … but now it appears there’s no reason for my being. ITS LONELY! MY LIFE … HAS BEEN SO LONEY…!!! ❞
៸៸៸ All his nakama have been killed, he’s been drifting in the dark sea for 50 years, he held on for the sole hope seeing his last living nakama one more time, being able to go out into the light and go see Laboon, but without his shadow, he cannot accomplish that…
But, our goats Zoro and Franky arrive just in time, Franky keeps Brook company, ensuring they’re out the way of danger whilst Zoro begins his battle with Ryulim the Master Fencer whose physical strength is equal to Zoro’s! Ryulim uses one of the “21 Great Swords”: SHUUSUI Which Zoro wants to have for himself, he promises to take it from his corpse when their fight is over. They have a very close fight however Zoro comes out the champion, and Ryulim decides to give the sword to Zoro as he believes the sword would love for him to be its master! After 50 years, Brook’s shadow finally returns to him after, the Master Fencer falls, Zoro thanks Ryulim and tells him “Let’s pretend this match never happened, Samurai from Wano Country!”
Sanji finally encloses on Absalom as he’s about to kiss Nami and seal the contract, Sanji reveals that he’s angered because of all the opportunities he’s gotten to peep at Nami (weirdo!) but also, reveals that they share a secret connection: Absalom ate the “Suke Suke” Devil Fruit, allowing him to become invisible and anything he touches becomes invisible aswell. When Sanji was younger, there was one item that “moved his heart” when he looked at the illustrated devil fruit book and it was the devil fruit Absalom has consumed, and because there’s only one type of each devil fruit, Sanji can never obtain the same abilities. His dreams have now been crushed and he’ll never be the invisible man, therefore this rage pushes him further to defeat Absalom and save Nami from his marriage contract!
Chopper expresses his hurt and anger towards how Dr . Hogback treated his assistant “Cindy”:
❝ A HUMAN WHOSE HEART AND BODY AREN'T CONNECTED ISN'T A HUMAN ANYMORE!! YOU ARE JUST CREATING MONSTERS !!! FOR EVERY ZOMBIE YOU MAKE, YOU LEAVE A HUMAN IN MISERY!!!! BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THAT, I CAN'T ALLOW YOU TO DO THIS!!! ❞
៸៸៸ It reminds me of that one scene in Attack On Titan, where Eren is holding Ymir in the paths and tells her she doesn’t have to be a slave anymore, that she can break the chains and finally be free again, I feel as though Cindy is going to refuse Dr . Hogback and with choppers motivation, break free from the curse and die happily, chopper tells her she’s nothing more than a robotic soldier listening to every single one of Dr . Hogback commands and that her family wouldn’t want her to ‘live’ like this!
When Dr . Hogback relies on Cindy to help, she can no longer move, as if her original soul is refusing to comply and listen to his commands any longer! Oz finally steps on Dr . Hogback, whether he’s alive or not is unknown right now but Cindy for the first time, smiles, this gives Chopper and Robin hope that Cindy will be released from her shackles and go back to her original dead state, because although she’s dead, she’s no longer controlled by
Dr . Hogback and can be happy wherever she is!
Because of Gecko Moria’s Devil Fruit ability, Luffy is yet to make a fatal attack on him, he continues to chase him throughout the castle, however now Oz, the Mad warrior with Luffy’s shadow stuck inside, is on a rampage and has set his sights upon The Strawhat Crew after Gecko Moria demanded he kill them all with no mercy, the rest of the crew have to find a way to kill the giant and allow Luffy to defeat Gecko Moria because in order to let everyone’s shadows free, he must:
❝ Face all the shadows as their current governor and command them to go back to their masters. But that’s only possible if you make me weak enough…! ❞
៸៸៸ Therefore, if Luffy doesn’t defeat him and force the shadows to go back to their original bodies, he cannot go into sunlight or fufill the old man’s wishes! He has until dawn to beat Gecko Moria and for the crew to defeat Oz, only then will they be able to leave ”Thriller Bark”!
・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･┊͙✧˖࿐ ･｡・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･𝜗𝜚˚⋆ ゜゜
꒰ ⚓ ꒱ :: Thank you so much for keeping up with me on this journey, If you’re thinking about starting One Piece, I hope these reviews further encourage you to do so!! ✦
・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･┊͙✧˖࿐ ･｡・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･𝜗𝜚˚⋆ ゜゜
— King of the pirates ! ⚓︎
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
› chapters 441 - 470
⭑ ⭑ ⭑ . 85 — rounded up!
・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･┊͙✧˖࿐ ･｡・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･𝜗𝜚˚⋆ ゜゜
RUNDOWN OF VOLUMES :: 💭
⤜ ៸៸ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ VOLUME 46:: 𓌜☠︎︎ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
⤷ We’re introduced to the new town called ”Thriller Bark” which is basically an entire “Ghost Island” being carried on the Worlds Largest Ship owned by Gecko Moria; one of the Shichibukai and where he resides! The new setting is much more gothic and ‘eerie’ which makes me so excited, there’s ghosts and zombies everywhere, I can’t wait to see who the spooky new characters will be! Our first interaction is with a talking skeleton with an Afro by the name of “Brook” who ate the Yomi Yomi Mi No” devil fruit which resurrected him when he ‘died’. Since then he’s been completely alone in the dark sea, with ghost ships to accompany him. He cannot be in direct sunlight, or he will disappear, apparently a man ‘stole his shadow’ and therefore he cannot live in a world with light, until he gets back his shadow, he can’t leave the foggy Devil Sea and go back to the normal sea. Nami, Usopp and Chopper get separated from the rest of the crew, and have to escape from a Cerberus they encountered along the way. Whilst hiding, they meet “Hildon” who leaves them stranded in a graveyard, the team aimlessly run around and soon find themselves at Dr . Hogback’s Mansion … who is known to be a “genius surgeon”. Once welcomed inside, strange encounters start to take place and the three of them try to find a way to escape from the mansion but find themselves in Dr . Hogback’s Secret Lab! They find out his weird assistant ‘Cindy’ who has stitches all over her face and hates plate, actually died 10 years ago, and has most likely been revived like all the other zombies on the island. On the other side, Luffy’s team (remainder of crew) encounter these weird ghosts who keep repeating the word “negative.” And when you come into contact with the ghost, your will becomes weak! An old man with injuries stops the crew and begs them to help him beat Gecko Moria (who Robin knows is part of the Shichibukai and tells the rest of the team) because he stole the old man’s and many other victim’s ‘shadows’, similar to what Brook experienced… Luffy obviously agrees to “beat his ass” and save the old man, so now they’ve set their goal on finding this Gecko Moria and fighting him, however it not be easy knowing he’s part of the Shichibukai. Back to Usopp’s team; they secretly watch Dr . Hogback and Cindy experimenting on a corpse saying “It’s near completion…! It’s a geniuses work!!” The common theme with all the zombies on the island is their numbered armbands meaning Dr . Hogback is behind the resurrection of all the zombies in ”Thriller Bark” … Suddenly a figure approaches from behind and spooks them, revealing their hiding spot to Dr . Hogback, who doesn’t seem to care that they’ve now found his secret lab because “It’s too late … The Night Attack will start soon!”
The Night Attack: When the guests who have wandered onto the island (Luffy’s crew) are hunted down
But, by what …?!
Absalom seems to be the Leader of the ‘Soldier Zombies’ in the graveyards, he urges them to get up and prepare to to attack! We get a short glimpse of Perona who is the Surprise Zombie General and Ghost Princess of “Thriller Bark”, therefore she’s the one in charge of the ghosts who attacked Luffy’s team and weakened their will when they came into contact on their ship. Both new characters prepare their ‘subjects’ to welcome the Strawhat crew … but what will happen when they meet…?
❝ Here you can hear the haunts of the dead …
“THRILLER BARK” BAD DREAMS WILL COME TO YOU …! ❞
៸៸៸ This is so different to the other islands the crew has previously been too, it’s terrifying but I’m already intrigued to know more about this Shichibukai!!
⤜ ៸៸ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ VOLUME 47:: 𓌜☠︎︎ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
⤷ As Usopp’s team tries to escape Dr . Hogback’s Secret Lab, they realise the spooky figure, called “RYULIM” who was a Master Fencer in his last life, which outed their hiding spot, has the same exact laugh as Brook, later on in the volume we find out this is because Brooke’s soul is actually in the Master Fencer’s zombie body! I wonder how Brook is going to retrieve his soul, will he have to kill the zombie? How will he be able to put his soul back inside? Will he become a human again after this process or is it too late? I have so many questions that I hope will be answered by the end of this arc. The Master Fencer is infant quite strong as he came from ”Wano”: A place in The New World meaning he’s been to the latter part of the Grand Line! I’m sure once the crew is able to reach The New World they will find out what “Wano” is, but for now we know that this zombie is strong for making it that far into the Grand Line. The team unsuccessfully attempt to escape and are quickly attacked by this mysterious zombie fencer: “Those who are cut by the Master (Ryulim) … they hum three meters oblivious, and only then do they realise they’ve been cut! It’s called… HANALITA SANCHOU!! Meaning that they didn’t realise they’ve had been cut until it was too late. They wake up awhile later being carried in coffins by these adorable zombie squirrels, created by Perona. They’re finally able to get out and are immediately surrounded by multiple different zombie animals, greeting them: Welcome to Perona’s “Wonder Garden”!!!. Lola, one of the animal/human creature wants to be Absaloms wife, however he doesn’t share the same sentiment, Lola continuously tries to convince him but he runs away. Just before the team is about to be attacked, Absalom, the Leader of the Soldier Zombies kidnaps Nami, adamant about making her his wife, saying she is the perfect person for him after his “evaluation”, Lola is enraged when she sees this and charges after Nami! One of Perona’s zombie animals stops Absalom, behaving like Sanji by saying “it’s a crime to hit women…!” This makes me wonder if Sanji’s soul has already been taken and put into the body of this creature because the rest of the animals have said that “he’s one of the new animals” therefore he’s only recently joined… and now that both Zoro and Sanji have disappeared since Lufyy’s team entered the mansion it seems like the only explanation! After the team has evaded Absalom, Lola takes this as her chance to defeat Nami and take her spot as “wife”, however Nami is able to “tame” her and make Lola lead them to Perona’s room, where they’re able to hide in the zipped up stuffed animal that is Perona’s assistant: “Kumashii” to avoid being found out by any of the villains on the island. On Luffy’s side, as stated, Zoro and Sanji have disappeared, however they can look after themselves, so Luffy isn’t worried. He is unaware they’ve already been taken, had their shadows cut off and been placed in zombie animals… The remainder of the team come across these zombie animals in armour and agree to fight them and meet up at the courtyard, however, only Robin and Franky make it out successfully …! Luffy has been captured into a coffin and is sent straight to the “Master” which I assume is Gecko Moria and his assistants, Robin and Franky ( a great duo ) try to rescue Luffy however a giant Spider Monkey gets in the way, losing their chance of saving Luffy they attempt to kill the Spider however, it isn’t that easy. Suddenly, Brook falls out of the sky and kills the Spider Monkey with his sword that’s disguised in his cane, he then begins to recount the events of how he ended up in ”Thriller Bark” 5 years ago as he was desperate to escape the “Florian Triangle” he was fooled like the crew into entering the building and had his shadow cut off. He remembers seeing the process of it happening to “Mario” the cut off shadow was placed into the corpse of “Mario” and suddenly he could move. The man responsible for this is Gecko Moria who has eaten the Kage Kage No Mi Devil Fruit, which allows him to create zombies from the shadows he’s stolen, with extra help from Dr . Hogback he can make even stronger zombies. The reason the crew is being hunted is because the stronger the “shadow/soul” and the stronger the corpse, the stronger the zombie soldier will become, therefore Moria has taken those in the crew with high bounties. Brook reassures Robin and Franky that even if their Nakama’s shadow is taken, they will not die, only pass out for two days and sent back to the ship without their shadow. In order to get back their nakama’s shadows, Franky and Robin, and Usopp’s team cannot allow their own shadow to be taken, so then they’re able to retrieve it and place it back in their nakama when they wake up in 2 days! Back to Usopp’s team, they watch from inside the stuffed animal, Gecko Moria cut Luffy’s shadow off his body and put it in the Special Zombie known as: “The Mad Warrior”, Named after the Devil: OZ. He’s been keeping this giant corpse for years in order to create the strongest zombie and claim the title of “Pirate King” (in his dreams). From shock, they fall out of the stuffed animal and are caught by Absalom, he recaptures Nami and disappears, right as Franky and Robin come in and save Usopp and Chopper from the zombies approaching to capture them and send them back to Gecko Moria. Franky and Robin have found the zombies weakness, salt, and when sprinkled into their mouth, the soul residing in the corpse is let free! OZ awakens and frees himself from the shackles, he’s now free from the frozen prison and is no longer able to be tamed by Gecko Moria … the crew all go back to the Thousand Sunny and there they find Luffy, Zoro and Sanji unconscious as their shadows have been taken and put into different zombies. Franky retells the story of how Brook used to have a Nakama called “Laboon” who the crew have already come across when entering the Grand Line. Brook’s crew were the pirates who promised Laboon that they’re come back so Brook keeps fighting the Master Fencer for his shadow, so he can leave the lonely foggy sea and fulfill his promise by going back to see Laboon. The crew is heartwarmed by this story and decided that it’s definite that Brook will become their Nakama, so they can take him to see Laboon I assume plus Luffy has wanted a musician since East Blue and can finally get one! By the end of this volume, the crew are now back together except for Nami and prepare counter attacks on Thriller Bark and decide how they’re going to get their shadows and Nami back!
❝ THE NAME OF OUR NAKAMA, WHOM WE SWORE TO RELINITE WITH ON THAT COAST, IS... LABOON. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW BIG HE'S BECOME BY NOW....!! I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK HE ALWAYS BELIEVED WE'D COME BACK. HE'D THINK WE'D PLAY OUR CHEERFUL MUSIC LIKE ALWAYS... AND WOULD COME BACK BY WAVING OUR HANDS. I DON'T THINK HE'D EVER FORGIVE US FOR DYING IN VAIN. "DEATH DOESN'T COUNT AS AN APOLOGY!" BECAUSE A MAN PROMISED TO HIM THAT HED DEFINITELY COME BACK!!! ❞
៸៸៸ And the fact that Luffy made another promise to Laboon, that they’d settle their fight the next time he visits, and now he can bring Brook along and they can reunite even if the rest of his crew are long gone, Laboon and Brook never gave up on each other!
⤜ ៸៸ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ VOLUME 48:: 𓌜☠︎︎ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
⤷ As soon as Sanji realises the severity of the situation: Nami has been kidnapped and will be married in only a few moments, he instantly sets his sights on Absalom. Everyone but Zoro and Franky ( I love this duo aswell, Franky seems to work well with everyone he joins up with hehe ) head towards Moria’s dance hall where they will split up and focus on their own fights. However, Oz, the Mad warrior whose taken Luffy’s shadow, smashes the castle, breaking the bridge, seperating the group once again: Sanji and Usopp join Zoro and Franky’s level whilst Chopper, Robin and Luffy continue on ahead to the dance hall. But our new carpenter, Franky, quickly rebuilds a temporary bridge to get them across, because he’s SUPERRRRRR amazing! They’re intercepted by Persona who has taken the ”Horo Horo” Devil fruit, which allows her to make ghosts from parts of herself and “make anyone’s heart empty” with this ability she can weaken the will of the crew and prevent them from attacking, but what she doesn’t know is Usopp is ALWAYS NEGATIVE, he’s our depressed king, so this is nothing new for Usopp and therefore he’s not affected by her ghosts! Perona is unprepared for this fact as she’s never encountered someone who can surpass her will weakening ghosts … this gives Usopp the advantage in the battle, he tells the rest of the crew to continue on and find their opponents and he’ll be fine dealing with Perona on his own. However, with Persona’s stuffed assistant: “Kumashii” joining in, he quickly loses the upper hand. But he doesn’t give up quickly, he places on “Sogeking’s” mask and it gives him a boost of courage and strength to fight back harder, he’s able to calm down and thoughtfully process a way to combat Perona and Kumashii’s attacks, in the end, Usopp is able to win the fight and reunite with some of the crew!
Brook is slowly losing the fight against Ryulim and his hope of reuniting with Laboon dwindles:
❝ Laboon, I need to apologise, I need to apologise for being so unlucky… I was in the dark sea for 50 years … it was so long … but now it appears there’s no reason for my being. ITS LONELY! MY LIFE … HAS BEEN SO LONEY…!!! ❞
៸៸៸ All his nakama have been killed, he’s been drifting in the dark sea for 50 years, he held on for the sole hope seeing his last living nakama one more time, being able to go out into the light and go see Laboon, but without his shadow, he cannot accomplish that…
But, our goats Zoro and Franky arrive just in time, Franky keeps Brook company, ensuring they’re out the way of danger whilst Zoro begins his battle with Ryulim the Master Fencer whose physical strength is equal to Zoro’s! Ryulim uses one of the “21 Great Swords”: SHUUSUI Which Zoro wants to have for himself, he promises to take it from his corpse when their fight is over. They have a very close fight however Zoro comes out the champion, and Ryulim decides to give the sword to Zoro as he believes the sword would love for him to be its master! After 50 years, Brook’s shadow finally returns to him after, the Master Fencer falls, Zoro thanks Ryulim and tells him “Let’s pretend this match never happened, Samurai from Wano Country!”
Sanji finally encloses on Absalom as he’s about to kiss Nami and seal the contract, Sanji reveals that he’s angered because of all the opportunities he’s gotten to peep at Nami (weirdo!) but also, reveals that they share a secret connection: Absalom ate the “Suke Suke” Devil Fruit, allowing him to become invisible and anything he touches becomes invisible aswell. When Sanji was younger, there was one item that “moved his heart” when he looked at the illustrated devil fruit book and it was the devil fruit Absalom has consumed, and because there’s only one type of each devil fruit, Sanji can never obtain the same abilities. His dreams have now been crushed and he’ll never be the invisible man, therefore this rage pushes him further to defeat Absalom and save Nami from his marriage contract!
Chopper expresses his hurt and anger towards how Dr . Hogback treated his assistant “Cindy”:
❝ A HUMAN WHOSE HEART AND BODY AREN'T CONNECTED ISN'T A HUMAN ANYMORE!! YOU ARE JUST CREATING MONSTERS !!! FOR EVERY ZOMBIE YOU MAKE, YOU LEAVE A HUMAN IN MISERY!!!! BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THAT, I CAN'T ALLOW YOU TO DO THIS!!! ❞
៸៸៸ It reminds me of that one scene in Attack On Titan, where Eren is holding Ymir in the paths and tells her she doesn’t have to be a slave anymore, that she can break the chains and finally be free again, I feel as though Cindy is going to refuse Dr . Hogback and with choppers motivation, break free from the curse and die happily, chopper tells her she’s nothing more than a robotic soldier listening to every single one of Dr . Hogback commands and that her family wouldn’t want her to ‘live’ like this!
When Dr . Hogback relies on Cindy to help, she can no longer move, as if her original soul is refusing to comply and listen to his commands any longer! Oz finally steps on Dr . Hogback, whether he’s alive or not is unknown right now but Cindy for the first time, smiles, this gives Chopper and Robin hope that Cindy will be released from her shackles and go back to her original dead state, because although she’s dead, she’s no longer controlled by
Dr . Hogback and can be happy wherever she is!
Because of Gecko Moria’s Devil Fruit ability, Luffy is yet to make a fatal attack on him, he continues to chase him throughout the castle, however now Oz, the Mad warrior with Luffy’s shadow stuck inside, is on a rampage and has set his sights upon The Strawhat Crew after Gecko Moria demanded he kill them all with no mercy, the rest of the crew have to find a way to kill the giant and allow Luffy to defeat Gecko Moria because in order to let everyone’s shadows free, he must:
❝ Face all the shadows as their current governor and command them to go back to their masters. But that’s only possible if you make me weak enough…! ❞
៸៸៸ Therefore, if Luffy doesn’t defeat him and force the shadows to go back to their original bodies, he cannot go into sunlight or fufill the old man’s wishes! He has until dawn to beat Gecko Moria and for the crew to defeat Oz, only then will they be able to leave ”Thriller Bark”!
・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･┊͙✧˖࿐ ･｡・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･𝜗𝜚˚⋆ ゜゜
꒰ ⚓ ꒱ :: Thank you so much for keeping up with me on this journey, If you’re thinking about starting One Piece, I hope these reviews further encourage you to do so!! ✦
・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･┊͙✧˖࿐ ･｡・゜゜・．｡･ﾟﾟ･𝜗𝜚˚⋆ ゜゜
— King of the pirates ! ⚓︎
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
August 1, 2022
Finally some ghost ships and nautical curses!!
I really enjoyed this arc, and it's more gothic take on pirate folklore and adventure! But...can Brook just Thanks. Especially because his backstory is one of the most emotionally beautiful moments in the series so far, I want to like him but everytime he opens his mouth around Nami I just- no.
I really enjoyed this arc, and it's more gothic take on pirate folklore and adventure! But...can Brook just Thanks. Especially because his backstory is one of the most emotionally beautiful moments in the series so far, I want to like him but everytime he opens his mouth around Nami I just- no.
December 25, 2023
4.5/5
This set of volumes focuses on the Straw Hat’s adventures on Thriller Bark, a creepy ship the size of an island. Video essayist Melon Teee pointed out that one thing that gives ‘One Piece’ a lot of freedom of genre is that each island is kind of its own world - and this one allows us to get “pirates + gothic horror”, which is really fun!
After a short detour to see a showdown between Luffy’s brother Ace and Blackbeard, which will set a lot of future large-scale events in motion, we rejoin our crew as they start to traverse the Florian Triangle. They almost immediately encounter a spooky “ghost ship” which is inhabited by a musically-inclined living skeleton with an afro named Brook, who is really glad to see them because he hasn’t spoken to anyone in decades! Luffy, of course, immediately invites Brook to join the crew, much to his nakama’s annoyance!
While a devil fruit accounts for why Brook can walk around and talk even though he’s just bones, the fact that he doesn’t show up in mirrors and can’t go out in the sun proves to have another cause – someone stole his shadow! And when Thriller Bark looms up out of the fog, with its dark forest and spiky towers, Brook says that THAT’S where his shadow and the man who stole it are…and advises the Straw Hats to run while they can. Luffy, however, is already demanding a pirate lunch box from Sanji so he can go try and catch ghosts; Robin, the spooky archaeologist, presciently dressed like “grown and sexy Wednesday Addams”, replies: “I got the lunch boxes…I love a good thrill.”
Of course, it ends up being Nami, Usopp, and Chopper who encounter the island and its dangers first: The “scaredy-cat trio”, as I like to call them! The common fan term of “weakling trio” isn’t accurate, because they are actually pretty strong - they just have a normal fear of mortality, unlike the other Straw Hats! So, seeing them encounter various spooky stuff, and then seeing how the “monsters” on the team deal with it, is a really funny contrast. For instance, they meet a zombie Cerberus and naturally run away and hide up a tree. But then:
“Sanji: Oh, it’s Cerberus. It was probably safer in hell.
Robin: My, how cute!
Franky: Is that thing picking a fight with us?
Zoro: Cheeky little thing, isn’t it?
Luffy: Do you think it tastes good?
Cerberus: (Confused shiver)”
I love all the allusions to stories like ‘Frankenstein’, ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’, and other gothic classics here! One thing that knocks this arc down a half-star, though, is the amount of perviness mixed in. Now, from the villains, that’s fine. As another YouTuber, Mugiwara No Goofy, noted, when calling this the island of sex offenders, there are some dark implications to the idea of reanimating corpses as compliant zombies…and Oda takes one extra (though still PG-13) step with that: However, even some of the characters we’re supposed to like are acting a little creepy, and it’s one of the (admittedly surprisingly few) places where the way ‘One Piece’ deals with serious subjects and its generally humorous tone clash. Because Oda clearly knows that none of these behaviors are really OK but, because sometimes it’s part of a joke and sometimes it’s not, the waters get muddied.
For example, when Nami gets attacked in the bath by an invisible man, you can see how traumatizing that is, and so are extra ready to cheer when she manages to kick him in the invisible balls. But then, while Sanji is – reasonably! – very upset about that and the other stuff this guy tries to pull, including trying to marry Nami while she’s unconscious (all of which I can confidently say Sanji would never do)…he admits he’s also pissed because he once wanted the clear-clear fruit, in part to peep on women in the bath. And just…why, man? You seem to understand why that’s bad when other people do it! (I generally like Sanji as a character, but sometimes I just want to beat him with a bell hooks book). Or there’s a zombie warthog lady in a wedding dress that Nami befriends, who is obsessed with trying to force the invisible guy to marry her, and…I guess you could say they deserve each other? Maybe?
I initially wasn’t sure either about the bit where Nami gets the warthog lady to stop attacking her by claiming to be a man in drag. Really, though, it was good quick thinking on her part, because Lola was not in the mood to listen to more subtle arguments such as: “I don’t WANT your perv would-be boyfriend!” or even (according to my theory!) “I’m not interested in men at all!”. And it is adorable how Chopper is immediately ready to roll with the “Nami was always a man” idea!
The “scaredy-cat trio” actually do a little better than the others, at least initially, because Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy are a bit over-confident and all manage to get their shadows stolen in quick succession. This is a problem not just for their ability to sail the seas (because they’d burn up in sunlight) but because . Practically worth it, though, for this demonstration of how to efficiently wake the “monster trio” from a coma-like sleep:
“Usopp (yelling) Look, there’s a beautiful lady swordmaster carrying lots of meat!
“Sanji: Beautiful lady?
Luffy: Meat?
Zoro: Swordmaster?”
Cracks me up every damn time! Usopp knows what his nakama are about! The sniper also turns out to have an unexpected super-power when it comes to dealing with the depression ghosts controlled by Perona (the kawaii goth princess)…
This set of volumes focuses on the Straw Hat’s adventures on Thriller Bark, a creepy ship the size of an island. Video essayist Melon Teee pointed out that one thing that gives ‘One Piece’ a lot of freedom of genre is that each island is kind of its own world - and this one allows us to get “pirates + gothic horror”, which is really fun!
After a short detour to see a showdown between Luffy’s brother Ace and Blackbeard, which will set a lot of future large-scale events in motion, we rejoin our crew as they start to traverse the Florian Triangle. They almost immediately encounter a spooky “ghost ship” which is inhabited by a musically-inclined living skeleton with an afro named Brook, who is really glad to see them because he hasn’t spoken to anyone in decades! Luffy, of course, immediately invites Brook to join the crew, much to his nakama’s annoyance!
While a devil fruit accounts for why Brook can walk around and talk even though he’s just bones, the fact that he doesn’t show up in mirrors and can’t go out in the sun proves to have another cause – someone stole his shadow! And when Thriller Bark looms up out of the fog, with its dark forest and spiky towers, Brook says that THAT’S where his shadow and the man who stole it are…and advises the Straw Hats to run while they can. Luffy, however, is already demanding a pirate lunch box from Sanji so he can go try and catch ghosts; Robin, the spooky archaeologist, presciently dressed like “grown and sexy Wednesday Addams”, replies: “I got the lunch boxes…I love a good thrill.”
Of course, it ends up being Nami, Usopp, and Chopper who encounter the island and its dangers first: The “scaredy-cat trio”, as I like to call them! The common fan term of “weakling trio” isn’t accurate, because they are actually pretty strong - they just have a normal fear of mortality, unlike the other Straw Hats! So, seeing them encounter various spooky stuff, and then seeing how the “monsters” on the team deal with it, is a really funny contrast. For instance, they meet a zombie Cerberus and naturally run away and hide up a tree. But then:
“Sanji: Oh, it’s Cerberus. It was probably safer in hell.
Robin: My, how cute!
Franky: Is that thing picking a fight with us?
Zoro: Cheeky little thing, isn’t it?
Luffy: Do you think it tastes good?
Cerberus: (Confused shiver)”
I love all the allusions to stories like ‘Frankenstein’, ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’, and other gothic classics here! One thing that knocks this arc down a half-star, though, is the amount of perviness mixed in. Now, from the villains, that’s fine. As another YouTuber, Mugiwara No Goofy, noted, when calling this the island of sex offenders, there are some dark implications to the idea of reanimating corpses as compliant zombies…and Oda takes one extra (though still PG-13) step with that: However, even some of the characters we’re supposed to like are acting a little creepy, and it’s one of the (admittedly surprisingly few) places where the way ‘One Piece’ deals with serious subjects and its generally humorous tone clash. Because Oda clearly knows that none of these behaviors are really OK but, because sometimes it’s part of a joke and sometimes it’s not, the waters get muddied.
For example, when Nami gets attacked in the bath by an invisible man, you can see how traumatizing that is, and so are extra ready to cheer when she manages to kick him in the invisible balls. But then, while Sanji is – reasonably! – very upset about that and the other stuff this guy tries to pull, including trying to marry Nami while she’s unconscious (all of which I can confidently say Sanji would never do)…he admits he’s also pissed because he once wanted the clear-clear fruit, in part to peep on women in the bath. And just…why, man? You seem to understand why that’s bad when other people do it! (I generally like Sanji as a character, but sometimes I just want to beat him with a bell hooks book). Or there’s a zombie warthog lady in a wedding dress that Nami befriends, who is obsessed with trying to force the invisible guy to marry her, and…I guess you could say they deserve each other? Maybe?
I initially wasn’t sure either about the bit where Nami gets the warthog lady to stop attacking her by claiming to be a man in drag. Really, though, it was good quick thinking on her part, because Lola was not in the mood to listen to more subtle arguments such as: “I don’t WANT your perv would-be boyfriend!” or even (according to my theory!) “I’m not interested in men at all!”. And it is adorable how Chopper is immediately ready to roll with the “Nami was always a man” idea!
The “scaredy-cat trio” actually do a little better than the others, at least initially, because Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy are a bit over-confident and all manage to get their shadows stolen in quick succession. This is a problem not just for their ability to sail the seas (because they’d burn up in sunlight) but because . Practically worth it, though, for this demonstration of how to efficiently wake the “monster trio” from a coma-like sleep:
“Usopp (yelling) Look, there’s a beautiful lady swordmaster carrying lots of meat!
“Sanji: Beautiful lady?
Luffy: Meat?
Zoro: Swordmaster?”
Cracks me up every damn time! Usopp knows what his nakama are about! The sniper also turns out to have an unexpected super-power when it comes to dealing with the depression ghosts controlled by Perona (the kawaii goth princess)…
July 20, 2024
soooooooooo ugly 🥰😍
June 6, 2024
Ugh, god damn, man. Read this before of course, so I wasn't expecting to cry as much when it's revealed Brook knows Laboon...!
Motherfuck. I just realized why I don't own so much One Piece manga: I can't fucking stand this "Zolo" shit. Well, whatever, I own a lot of JoJo and they fuck up more names there.
I've had this plan for a year or so. Genuinely can't recall when I came up with it. But basically the idea was to purchase the Thriller Bark omnibus collections to re-read in October for Halloween. You know, because of the monsters and shit. I kept slacking on actually buying them. Or, rather, I hadn't yet caught up with the manga all the way, so I didn't actually want to re-read anything yet. Especially since Wano was kind of a fucking slog, and I felt it would be rude to undermine Oda's effort by taking a detour to re-read Thriller Bark, lest I realize just how much better pre-timeskip is than post-timeskip (because... it definitely is). Well, anyway, I did catch up to the manga a brief ways into Egghead, so I'm free to re-read earlier stuff (and will probably only re-read pre-timeskip...). Since the initial plan was to get Thriller Bark out of context of the manga's chronological sequence, I did so. Even though it is June rather than October. Will I read these yet again in four months? We'll see. (For whatever it might be worth, I'm planning on getting Alabasta next. Well, Drum Island into Alabasta. So it might be ideal to go as far back as Little Garden, since that works best with these 3-in-1 books. Will likely carry into Skypeia as well, then jump back to Sabaody and through the end of the Summit War, before hitting Water 7 / Enies Lobby, and finally finish up East Blue. I love the Baratie Arc, but I just do not give a good god damn about Arlong Park and I'd rather read literally everything else before returning to it lmao. Especially since I saw the live-action show rather recently.)
The first time I read the volumes collected here, I was doing this thing where I'd read at work and type out a bunch of quotes and things that I enjoyed from the volume. I don't feel like doing that here because a) I already have, and b) it takes too long. I'll probably throw some minor notes at the end, but otherwise the main idea will be to do my newer thing of writing a bit about what happens in each volume, so I'll be able to look back later to remind myself...:
Volume 46: Blackbeard defeats Ace with his Yami Yami no Mi. We meet Brook, and soon enter Thriller Bark itself. Hogback, Absalom, and Perona are seen. We learn of Moria's presence and his status as a Warlord, we see his body but not his full face. There are some skirmishes in this volume, but no true fights, unless we count Blackbeard versus Ace. Mostly just Usopp/Nami/Chopper running from Cerberus and the zombies, then Luffy/Zoro/Sanji/Robin/Franky fighting the same creatures. This is more a Comedy and Adventure volume than necessarily an Action one.
Volume 47: More setup. More mob fights. Brook starts a 1v1 with Ryuma. The Pirate King and his Wings all get their shadows stolen by Moria. We see Moria's face. Luffy is put into the giant body of Oars. Nami is kidnapped by Absalom. Usopp and Chopper reconvene with Robin and Franky, then the four return to the Sunny to get the shadowless Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. Everyone shares intel. We learn Brook is friends with Laboon, and his afro is a symbol to make sure Laboon will recognize him as a skeleton 🥹
Volume 48: Brook, despite being the newest addition to the cast, doesn't get a full fight for himself. Sanji defeats Absalom. Usopp defeats Perona (one of my favorite fights in the series tbh). Zoro defeats Ryuma after taking over from Brook. Chopper and Robin kind of defeat Cindry and Hogback, but technically Oars is the one to defeat Hogback. Oars then defeats all the Straw Hats (except Nami, who has been kidnapped by Absalom again) by the end of the volume.
****
Perona looking tight as fuck on the back cover...! 🥵
It's so wild seeing something like the 600 Million Berry Jackpot two-page spread. Just look!, a two-page spread where the image is a single panel! It's not a large panel taking up about 40% of the spread, surrounded by a border of reaction faces! It's just a clean picture of five Straw Hats hitting a bunch of zombies. So simple, not cluttered in its composition... Oda, what the hell, guy!?
Really enjoyed the breakdown of the Thousand Sunny throughout Volume 46. I'm assuming there's something similar for the Going Merry, which I'd look forward in whatever volume that might be.
Motherfuck. I just realized why I don't own so much One Piece manga: I can't fucking stand this "Zolo" shit. Well, whatever, I own a lot of JoJo and they fuck up more names there.
I've had this plan for a year or so. Genuinely can't recall when I came up with it. But basically the idea was to purchase the Thriller Bark omnibus collections to re-read in October for Halloween. You know, because of the monsters and shit. I kept slacking on actually buying them. Or, rather, I hadn't yet caught up with the manga all the way, so I didn't actually want to re-read anything yet. Especially since Wano was kind of a fucking slog, and I felt it would be rude to undermine Oda's effort by taking a detour to re-read Thriller Bark, lest I realize just how much better pre-timeskip is than post-timeskip (because... it definitely is). Well, anyway, I did catch up to the manga a brief ways into Egghead, so I'm free to re-read earlier stuff (and will probably only re-read pre-timeskip...). Since the initial plan was to get Thriller Bark out of context of the manga's chronological sequence, I did so. Even though it is June rather than October. Will I read these yet again in four months? We'll see. (For whatever it might be worth, I'm planning on getting Alabasta next. Well, Drum Island into Alabasta. So it might be ideal to go as far back as Little Garden, since that works best with these 3-in-1 books. Will likely carry into Skypeia as well, then jump back to Sabaody and through the end of the Summit War, before hitting Water 7 / Enies Lobby, and finally finish up East Blue. I love the Baratie Arc, but I just do not give a good god damn about Arlong Park and I'd rather read literally everything else before returning to it lmao. Especially since I saw the live-action show rather recently.)
The first time I read the volumes collected here, I was doing this thing where I'd read at work and type out a bunch of quotes and things that I enjoyed from the volume. I don't feel like doing that here because a) I already have, and b) it takes too long. I'll probably throw some minor notes at the end, but otherwise the main idea will be to do my newer thing of writing a bit about what happens in each volume, so I'll be able to look back later to remind myself...:
Volume 46: Blackbeard defeats Ace with his Yami Yami no Mi. We meet Brook, and soon enter Thriller Bark itself. Hogback, Absalom, and Perona are seen. We learn of Moria's presence and his status as a Warlord, we see his body but not his full face. There are some skirmishes in this volume, but no true fights, unless we count Blackbeard versus Ace. Mostly just Usopp/Nami/Chopper running from Cerberus and the zombies, then Luffy/Zoro/Sanji/Robin/Franky fighting the same creatures. This is more a Comedy and Adventure volume than necessarily an Action one.
Volume 47: More setup. More mob fights. Brook starts a 1v1 with Ryuma. The Pirate King and his Wings all get their shadows stolen by Moria. We see Moria's face. Luffy is put into the giant body of Oars. Nami is kidnapped by Absalom. Usopp and Chopper reconvene with Robin and Franky, then the four return to the Sunny to get the shadowless Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. Everyone shares intel. We learn Brook is friends with Laboon, and his afro is a symbol to make sure Laboon will recognize him as a skeleton 🥹
Volume 48: Brook, despite being the newest addition to the cast, doesn't get a full fight for himself. Sanji defeats Absalom. Usopp defeats Perona (one of my favorite fights in the series tbh). Zoro defeats Ryuma after taking over from Brook. Chopper and Robin kind of defeat Cindry and Hogback, but technically Oars is the one to defeat Hogback. Oars then defeats all the Straw Hats (except Nami, who has been kidnapped by Absalom again) by the end of the volume.
****
Perona looking tight as fuck on the back cover...! 🥵
It's so wild seeing something like the 600 Million Berry Jackpot two-page spread. Just look!, a two-page spread where the image is a single panel! It's not a large panel taking up about 40% of the spread, surrounded by a border of reaction faces! It's just a clean picture of five Straw Hats hitting a bunch of zombies. So simple, not cluttered in its composition... Oda, what the hell, guy!?
Really enjoyed the breakdown of the Thousand Sunny throughout Volume 46. I'm assuming there's something similar for the Going Merry, which I'd look forward in whatever volume that might be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2023
Series: One Piece #46-48
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
In this volume we meet the skeleton pirate Brook and head to Thriller Bark. The Thriller Bark arc is one that I remembered enjoying from the anime but remembered none of it. I completely forgot Brook’s backstory and why there were zombies in Thriller Bark. I am really enjoying this one because all the villains are interesting and have very unique abilities. Also all the zombies.
The battles in this one are very interesting because of the abilities the Straw Hats are up against. I also like that while the battles are serious there are still a lot of ridiculous parts that just make me laugh, like Usopp being immune to Perona’s abilities because he is pessimistic about himself. I am very interested in seeing how the team defeats Oars and Moira Gecko.
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
In this volume we meet the skeleton pirate Brook and head to Thriller Bark. The Thriller Bark arc is one that I remembered enjoying from the anime but remembered none of it. I completely forgot Brook’s backstory and why there were zombies in Thriller Bark. I am really enjoying this one because all the villains are interesting and have very unique abilities. Also all the zombies.
The battles in this one are very interesting because of the abilities the Straw Hats are up against. I also like that while the battles are serious there are still a lot of ridiculous parts that just make me laugh, like Usopp being immune to Perona’s abilities because he is pessimistic about himself. I am very interested in seeing how the team defeats Oars and Moira Gecko.
May 6, 2021
Pre-Read: This seems even more up my alley than all the previous volumes! Can't wait to read! :)
***
Post-Read:
3.5 stars.
Ahh. The beginning of a new One Piece arc; always a moment of both trepidation and anticipation! (Especially after the world-changing last arc!)
While a solid read (I love the inclusion of horror and unsettling moments into a generally straight-forward action saga), this didn't initally blow me away. The presenation of the villians was decent enough (I love the way they were presented!), it felt a bit underwhelming in comparison to the last arc. (Maybe if I had given it a bit of break between arcs? I may try that going forward.)
My anime watch continues apace; it's interesting to see how the two compare, though I'm trying not to let the anime watch get ahead of the manga reading. (I only just started watching the Skypiea arc, so I may need to slow it down even further.)
***
Post-Read:
3.5 stars.
Ahh. The beginning of a new One Piece arc; always a moment of both trepidation and anticipation! (Especially after the world-changing last arc!)
While a solid read (I love the inclusion of horror and unsettling moments into a generally straight-forward action saga), this didn't initally blow me away. The presenation of the villians was decent enough (I love the way they were presented!), it felt a bit underwhelming in comparison to the last arc. (Maybe if I had given it a bit of break between arcs? I may try that going forward.)
My anime watch continues apace; it's interesting to see how the two compare, though I'm trying not to let the anime watch get ahead of the manga reading. (I only just started watching the Skypiea arc, so I may need to slow it down even further.)
March 16, 2023
Took me a while to get into this and it’s nowhere near Water 7, but still a good and entertaining read. I’m halfway through!
November 8, 2023
Thriller Bark tem o começo mais lento e chatinho da saga até agora, na minha opinião, mas o fim desse volume compensou BASTANTE.
Ansioso pra ver a resolução de tudo!
Ansioso pra ver a resolução de tudo!
December 5, 2023
LOVING thriller bark 😍
February 23, 2024
Definitivamente, o arco mais fraco até agora…
March 21, 2024
BROOK!!!!
April 20, 2026
Yo ho ho
February 29, 2024
This might be my favourite arc yet 💀🧟🪦🩺
April 24, 2026
"Because when a man promises to return, he must return!!!"
May 20, 2026
I’m a sucker for ghost/spooky-themed stories, so the whole vibe of this volume works for me. There are some great fights too: Usopp actually gets a chance to shine and be useful, and Zoro’s proper swordmaster duel (plus picking up a new third sword) was a standout moment. Oars also comes across as a genuinely intimidating enemy, which raises the stakes nicely. On top of that, the comedy hits really well, especially Usopp being immune to the negative ghosts simply because he’s already so pessimistic. This volume also introduces Brook and his connection to Laboon, which was a really strong emotional hook for the new character.
That said, this volume has the unfortunate job of following Enies Lobby, which is arguably one of the best arcs in the entire series, so it was always going to feel like a bit of a step down. It also doesn’t do much to push the larger world plot forward, focusing more on a contained adventure. While I enjoyed the Halloween style tone, I can see it not landing for everyone.
Overall, this volume is a spooky adventure with strong character moments and comedy, even if it doesn’t quite reach the highs of what came before. It also sets up for an epic climax in the next volume!
That said, this volume has the unfortunate job of following Enies Lobby, which is arguably one of the best arcs in the entire series, so it was always going to feel like a bit of a step down. It also doesn’t do much to push the larger world plot forward, focusing more on a contained adventure. While I enjoyed the Halloween style tone, I can see it not landing for everyone.
Overall, this volume is a spooky adventure with strong character moments and comedy, even if it doesn’t quite reach the highs of what came before. It also sets up for an epic climax in the next volume!
June 6, 2023
I've been hearing the words "Thriller Bark" every time I have been looking up one piece and I know that this has something to do with Brook and the spooky adventures that come with it.
This arc has always been interesting because it sets a different tone and vibe.
This arc has always been interesting because it sets a different tone and vibe.
August 18, 2018
Another great adventure with Luffy and his team of pirates. I can't say enough of about this series. It is consistently good.
December 4, 2022
Well... this was fun. Not as wholesome and compelling as the entire Water 7 saga but it was still a fun ride. Of course, the Thriller Bark arc is not over yet but I think I only have a bit more than one volume left of it.
Anyway, I also really liked the conclusion to the Post Enies Lobby arc. But since it was just one chapter I will only write one paragraph about it in the spoilery section. Regarding Thriller Bark though... it honestly feels like a Halloween special of One Piece so I think I actually might enjoy it even more if I read it in October. However, I am still excited and I love Brook. The new villains are interesting and so is the whole shadow zombie thing.
Overall, these were 3 enjoyable volumes but they were just not quite on the Water 7 level so I cannot give them the same rating. Still, I'm giving them 4 stars because the stakes are there and I'm excited for what follows.
I must warn you that SPOILERS will follow!!
First, I must mention that one chapter which concluded the Post Enies Lobby arc because for some reason the author couldn't put it in the previous volume. I love Ace as you might have guessed and that's why I loved this chapter. It showed how powerful (and also stupid) Ace can be. Unfortunately, nothing good is coming out of his fight with Teach. And honestly... I just found that caption that said something like this fight triggered something bad very amusing. Because unfortunately I got spoiled what fucking happens in Marinefold and of course Ace being stupid would trigger it.
Anyway... let's move on to the Thriller Bark arc, shall we?
Let me start with Brook because he seems cool. I like him so far but I just find it so weird that we went through all that shit with Franky for him to join the crew and now Luffy just asks Brook to join because why not. At least they still need to do something in order for him to join. When he appeared again later... I actually started liking him even more. I love his entrance and he's smart so that's cool (we need more characters with brains on the crew). I love that he was a part of the crew that Laboon is waiting for and his shadow counterpart is really cool. I love how he then just gave Zoro his sword when he got defeated.
Speaking of Zoro... Let's talk about Zoro and Sanji. God, I love their banter with all these nicknames they're coming up with. Anyway, I was worried for both of them when they disappeared... they're my favorite Straw-hats. Luckily, they're okay now upon hearing "A beautiful swordsman has come with meat" when all three of them (including Luffy) woke up. Though I'm not sure who let Zoro and Franky go somewhere on their own later because we all know how terrible Zoro's direction skills are. Sanji on the other hand... his fight with the invisible dude was funny as shit. Like... Sanji hated him because he was jealous and because the dude took away his dream to be invisible and peek on naked women. And then he got angry because the dude did this exact thing to Nami. I just can't.
Okay now to the serious things... let's just talk about this weird ass ship island, because oh boy is there a lot to talk about. First of all, there are freaking zombies. Like, dude, am I reading One Piece or what? I mean... I kinda love these zombies who are just like yeah no we didn't scare them... well he did but I didn't. It's just so funny. Also the doctor whose name I forgot... he's like the Frankenstein doctor. He's bringing things back to life like what the fuck? That's not what I signed up for but you know what... it's actually kinda interesting. The Moria dude is kinda lame because he doesn't fight but let's the others do the dirty thing for him, but I guess that he has cool shadow powers. The girl with ghosts was interesting and her fight with Usopp was amazing. No, seriously... Usopp was just amazing here. The way he could resist her ghosts because he's always so negative... and then when he found her real body and trapped it. Just wonderful. I love this dude more and more.
Not to mention Luffy's attitude towards all of this. For him this is all normal and he's not even worried about his crew-members. He literally befriends Cerebrus and even pushes a zombie back into the earth. He's honestly just so stupid and I wonder how no one found a way to kill him because of it. Luffy's shadow clone though... why didn't they just give him meat with a bunch of salt on it? That is just the best solution I can think of but of course they're too dumb to think of it. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
Anyway, I also really liked the conclusion to the Post Enies Lobby arc. But since it was just one chapter I will only write one paragraph about it in the spoilery section. Regarding Thriller Bark though... it honestly feels like a Halloween special of One Piece so I think I actually might enjoy it even more if I read it in October. However, I am still excited and I love Brook. The new villains are interesting and so is the whole shadow zombie thing.
Overall, these were 3 enjoyable volumes but they were just not quite on the Water 7 level so I cannot give them the same rating. Still, I'm giving them 4 stars because the stakes are there and I'm excited for what follows.
I must warn you that SPOILERS will follow!!
First, I must mention that one chapter which concluded the Post Enies Lobby arc because for some reason the author couldn't put it in the previous volume. I love Ace as you might have guessed and that's why I loved this chapter. It showed how powerful (and also stupid) Ace can be. Unfortunately, nothing good is coming out of his fight with Teach. And honestly... I just found that caption that said something like this fight triggered something bad very amusing. Because unfortunately I got spoiled what fucking happens in Marinefold and of course Ace being stupid would trigger it.
Anyway... let's move on to the Thriller Bark arc, shall we?
Let me start with Brook because he seems cool. I like him so far but I just find it so weird that we went through all that shit with Franky for him to join the crew and now Luffy just asks Brook to join because why not. At least they still need to do something in order for him to join. When he appeared again later... I actually started liking him even more. I love his entrance and he's smart so that's cool (we need more characters with brains on the crew). I love that he was a part of the crew that Laboon is waiting for and his shadow counterpart is really cool. I love how he then just gave Zoro his sword when he got defeated.
Speaking of Zoro... Let's talk about Zoro and Sanji. God, I love their banter with all these nicknames they're coming up with. Anyway, I was worried for both of them when they disappeared... they're my favorite Straw-hats. Luckily, they're okay now upon hearing "A beautiful swordsman has come with meat" when all three of them (including Luffy) woke up. Though I'm not sure who let Zoro and Franky go somewhere on their own later because we all know how terrible Zoro's direction skills are. Sanji on the other hand... his fight with the invisible dude was funny as shit. Like... Sanji hated him because he was jealous and because the dude took away his dream to be invisible and peek on naked women. And then he got angry because the dude did this exact thing to Nami. I just can't.
Okay now to the serious things... let's just talk about this weird ass ship island, because oh boy is there a lot to talk about. First of all, there are freaking zombies. Like, dude, am I reading One Piece or what? I mean... I kinda love these zombies who are just like yeah no we didn't scare them... well he did but I didn't. It's just so funny. Also the doctor whose name I forgot... he's like the Frankenstein doctor. He's bringing things back to life like what the fuck? That's not what I signed up for but you know what... it's actually kinda interesting. The Moria dude is kinda lame because he doesn't fight but let's the others do the dirty thing for him, but I guess that he has cool shadow powers. The girl with ghosts was interesting and her fight with Usopp was amazing. No, seriously... Usopp was just amazing here. The way he could resist her ghosts because he's always so negative... and then when he found her real body and trapped it. Just wonderful. I love this dude more and more.
Not to mention Luffy's attitude towards all of this. For him this is all normal and he's not even worried about his crew-members. He literally befriends Cerebrus and even pushes a zombie back into the earth. He's honestly just so stupid and I wonder how no one found a way to kill him because of it. Luffy's shadow clone though... why didn't they just give him meat with a bunch of salt on it? That is just the best solution I can think of but of course they're too dumb to think of it. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.
August 19, 2024
The Straw Hats are seeking the underwater land of Fishman Island, but the mysteries and secrets of The Grand Line have other ideas. A deep, dense fog has descended, and they have been trapped in a large vessel known as Thriller Bark. This is a ship the size of an island and home to Gecko Moria one of the seven warlords of the sea.
Moria seeks to own Luffy's shadow, with the powers of the Shadow-Shadow fruit he has captured many shadows and has grown an army of fiercely loyal and strong zombies. Leaving the original owners cursed and unable to be out in sunlight ever again.
With strong gothic and horror themes, Thriller Bark has the protagonists facing off against the misguided machinations of Gecko Moria and his crew of selfish pirates.
Ussop gets some time to shine as well as Chopper. With Frankie and Robin showing how their powers and skills are a great addition to the crew.
Moria seeks to own Luffy's shadow, with the powers of the Shadow-Shadow fruit he has captured many shadows and has grown an army of fiercely loyal and strong zombies. Leaving the original owners cursed and unable to be out in sunlight ever again.
With strong gothic and horror themes, Thriller Bark has the protagonists facing off against the misguided machinations of Gecko Moria and his crew of selfish pirates.
Ussop gets some time to shine as well as Chopper. With Frankie and Robin showing how their powers and skills are a great addition to the crew.
September 8, 2025
3.5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Any arc following Water Seven is going to pale in comparison. However, Thriller Bark is definitely an ideal arc to read in the fall/spooky season due to the goofy zombie aspects and ghosts. Luffy and Co are hilarious as ever, and it's been fun seeing how our new member Franky fits in with the Straw Hats. Plus, we met our next newest member Brooks and also Perona (I believe?) becomes a main later even tho she's a villain now? Idk idk.
Admittedly, the whole Nami bath/unconscious marriage thing is cringe as hell, but it's classic Oda at this point. Sanji is SO fun and cool when he's not simping. And I guess our new Brooks character has a weird panties thing, so that's great 😵
Certainly don't wanna end on a negative note, so I'll just say that the Laboon plot payoff was not at all expected and very heartful. Excited to see the conclusion of that arc with Brooks and the reunion he'll have with the whale friend who waited 50 years for him to return.
Any arc following Water Seven is going to pale in comparison. However, Thriller Bark is definitely an ideal arc to read in the fall/spooky season due to the goofy zombie aspects and ghosts. Luffy and Co are hilarious as ever, and it's been fun seeing how our new member Franky fits in with the Straw Hats. Plus, we met our next newest member Brooks and also Perona (I believe?) becomes a main later even tho she's a villain now? Idk idk.
Admittedly, the whole Nami bath/unconscious marriage thing is cringe as hell, but it's classic Oda at this point. Sanji is SO fun and cool when he's not simping. And I guess our new Brooks character has a weird panties thing, so that's great 😵
Certainly don't wanna end on a negative note, so I'll just say that the Laboon plot payoff was not at all expected and very heartful. Excited to see the conclusion of that arc with Brooks and the reunion he'll have with the whale friend who waited 50 years for him to return.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2025
Somehow I managed to choose the best time of year to read "Thriller Bark." I love the spooky, yet not quite scary, Halloween aesthetic and how different it is from the intense saga of "Water Seven." "Thriller Bark" feels like a comical interlude, although Oda peppers it with moments of genuine heart and emotion, like in so many other "One Piece" story arcs. Of course, I wish that Nami had more agency, and it bothers me how popular Sanji is (according to the various popularity polls featured in between chapters) despite the way that he leers at and objectifies the women he supposedly loves. He is all obsession and no respect, and when I thought that he had been transmogrified into a penguin-dog in this volume, I thought, "Yeah, I'm OK with this. Good-bye forever, Sanji." Then the same process happened to Zoro and Luffy, too, and I thought, "Boo, now they'll have to find a way to reverse it!" At least Franky and Robin continue to be awesome.
October 29, 2023
I heard many people don't like this arc very much, and I can see why, in some ways - It's a lighter, less pretentious arc, after the huge Enies Lobby arc.
But... I feel quick, funny and unpretentious is exactly what the series needed right now. There are some fun new characters, some good (and some terrible) jokes - this is more a more comedic arc after the previous still comedic but more serious arcs.
And hopefully, it also appears to be short. It's always better when an arc doesn't overstay its welcome.
But... I feel quick, funny and unpretentious is exactly what the series needed right now. There are some fun new characters, some good (and some terrible) jokes - this is more a more comedic arc after the previous still comedic but more serious arcs.
And hopefully, it also appears to be short. It's always better when an arc doesn't overstay its welcome.
August 16, 2019
Solo bajo una estrella porque Water Seven fue demasiado bueno. Estamos frente a una isla de horror en donde los zombies toman la personalidad de los personajes, y son los zombies más divertidos y originales que vi en cualquier medio. Thriller Bark por ahora no es muy intenso, pero si se pasa de divertido y el tomo 48 deja picando para la conclusión que se viene. One Piece, aún cuando afloja un poco, no defrauda.
May 3, 2024
Thriller Bark just has great vibes. Is it peak fiction as a story? No. Is it bad? No!! So many fun concepts exist in this part, even if it doesn't build massively on the lore all the time. After the extraordinarily stressful Ennies Lobby, we needed enemies we know full well the crew can defeat, we needed silly gags, and we needed fantastically gothic characters and buildings. Oh, and a talking skeleton.
November 30, 2025
the story did not go at all how i was expecting but once it started going i became so invested, i love how imaginative oda-san is!! truly his mind is unmatched.
HOWEVER. i have to say some of the "jokes" throughout the series so far have NOT aged well at all and are very distasteful (especially in regards to nami/women in general) and hopefully it changes a bit as i go towards the more recent releases
HOWEVER. i have to say some of the "jokes" throughout the series so far have NOT aged well at all and are very distasteful (especially in regards to nami/women in general) and hopefully it changes a bit as i go towards the more recent releases
August 13, 2020
El volumen que mas me ha costado, en términos de One Piece me parece un poco flojo y tedioso (Hay personajes insoportables), tal vez me equivoco... Ojo, One Piece es una obra maestra, mi critica en realidad tiene que tomarse como una queja personal, no como una a la maravillosa historia. One Piece me ha puesto a llorar en varias ocaciones y esta no fue la excepción.
Simplemente es una maravilla.
Simplemente es una maravilla.
February 11, 2024
My feelings on Thriller Bark are a mix of enjoyment of the arc and a feeling of a side quest in the major story. I do enjoy it a lot and introduces Brook, best skeleton boy. But I dunno re-reading it I feels like it was missing something along the way. maybe the second half will answer some questions
February 13, 2024
Essa é uma resenha padrão para a minha leitura de one piece já que o app só conta como lidos os livros com resenha vou deixar esse texto aqui. Perdão a qualquer pessoa que queira ler uma resenha sobre o mangá, mas está sendo uma boa experiência e eu recomendo que leia, vale muito a pena.
Law meu amor comecei isso apenas por você.
Law meu amor comecei isso apenas por você.
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