#naguri

Watched two episodes because it seems like the plot is branching off in another direction. Oda has established the brotherly bond. We know Ace, Sabo and Luffy are tight. Now, he’s throwing Sabo’s parents, the Bluejam Pirates and some Celestial Dragons into the mix.

This cannot be good.

Why do you run, children? I only want to teach you a lesson!

In between episode 496 and 497, Ace, Sabo and Luffy have been up to mischief. Nothing awful. Just childish hi-jinks like digging holes at the front door of Dadan’s shack to catch boar. Invading gang territory in Edge Town. Dodging the sheriff. Harassing Dadan to the point her sanity is stretched to breaking point and she can’t even escape them in her dreams (yes, I laughed at the Luffy Fairy). Still, as long as they keep bringing good food to the table, they are allowed to stay.  (Plus she totally loves them, but let’s pretend so Dadan can save face.)

It was nice seeing Ace, Sabo and Luffy working, fighting and living together. I’m guessing this is a high point in their lives they’d look back at and remember fondly. It was also nice to see Luffy being visited by Makino and the Mayor, who looked after him in Windmill Village. Mainly because it quashed my fear that Luffy has been passed from loveless home to loveless home. Nope. He was raised with affection there.

I liked how Oda showed the different reactions of Sabo and Ace to these strangers giving them gifts. When Makino said: “Free t-shirts, boys! Come and get sized,” Sabo ran straight over, laughing, accepting of the stranger. Here is someone who has been given gifts and has known kindness (even if it wasn’t from his parents). Ace was the opposite. He was cautious, surly, “Where’s the catch?” This is a kid who has always had to watch his back. Maybe he’s never had a gift before. Who would do that? No one on Grey Terminal.

At least Luffy and Sabo were able to talk him round so he had his first ever present. I bet he secretly loved it.

Makino and the Mayor also brought food for all the bandits (they really did think of everything!) At dinner, the boys argued over who would get the best cook first for their future pirate ships. Unbeknownst to Luffy, a grandfatherly man mountain in a Hawaiian shirt loomed behind him.

“PIRATE?”

Welp, I thought. You gone done pushed your grandpa’s berserk button.

At least Garp is... egalitarian with his lessons. Luffy got a punch. Ace got a punch. Dadan got a punch (for... not teaching the boys to be proper Marines even though he had made no such request?) Even Sabo got a punch. Once he was done chasing them through the jungle, Garp cracked his knuckles gleefully and said, “That’s it for today! I’ll be harsher tomorrow!”

I know this is just silly slapstick violence but damn, in another show, Garp could be a villain.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold 

At any rate, the boys had had enough. They ran away and left a note: “We will stand our own feet.” Dadan (who secretly worries about her adorable delinquent boys) was freaking out. “Anyone will try to kill them on sight if they’re not sheltered by us!”

Garp was unfazed (which made me wonder if that was part of his plan? Did he drive them away deliberately to make them even stronger, or was he just being a dick?) Either way, he washed his hands of the situation, as per, said, “My vacation’s over. Educate them to be good Marines by next time!” Then he disappeared again.

Dadan freaked out even more because... they are bandits. How are bandits supposed to raise Marines? Garp was asking too much.

But when the boys didn’t return and the rains came, she changed her mind and told her bandits to go find Ace, Sabo and Luffy. Of course, she said this was because she didn’t to be beaten by Garp (but we all know, Dadan. No one stares out into the middle distance in the rain like that if you are not worried).

So where had the young scallywags disappeared to? With Sabo’s uncanny design skills on their side, they built a hideout atop a huge tree using scrap from Grey Terminal. They planked a massive Jolly Roger on top. Not sure they get the point of a hideout. But it looked good.

Dadan eventually found them. I expected a warm, heart-string-tugging reunion. Nope. She triggered Ace’s Rube Goldberg Trap, got a mallet to the face for her trouble and thought, “Screw this.” I like Dadan. She has taken a lot of crap and knows her limits. At least she knows where they are and can keep an eye on them from a distance.

Luffy Recruits Old Man

Flash forward and the boys have been fending for themselves. Winter has come and the Big Tiger is back, stealing their food. I did feel a bit sorry for Luffy being denied his first ever catch. Nature is harsh, eh? He tried a bit of bravado but Big Tiger just looked at him like, “You are not even a snack,” licked him and batted him away with a massive paw.

I didn’t feel so sorry for him when his fool antics on the wooden bridge lost them their second catch and they had to go to bed hungry. (Still don’t know how Ace and Sabo were so patient with him. I would have raged.) But their late-night hunger chat lead them to make the arrangement that the one to defeat that Tiger would get to become a Captain.

To get in some practice, they fought a Big Bear. (I still think this is kind of weird because in real life, the biggest bears would probably beat the biggest tiger in a fight, but Oda’s Universe, Oda’s Rules.)  Their mistake was not noticing the Big Bear had a massive scar. This is a dead giveaway that the bear is a scrapper.

It was not happy being smacked on the head by a ten-year-old. They were saved only by the timely intervention of Naguri: an ex-pirate captain who now lives in Grey Terminal and happens to be an efficient haki user. 

Luffy was impressed by Naguri’s ability to calm down the Big Bear and was instantly reminded of Shanks staring out the Sea King. How cool! Sabo had met him before. He couldn’t believe it was the same old man who built random stuff, collected junk all day and was teased by the other scavengers. 

Turns out, even at seven years old, Luffy always had that Talent Scout ability. At the campfire, Naguri revealed he was a pirate captain who had fallen on hard times because he challenged Gol D. Roger to a fight and got his ass kicked. His crew split up and everything careered downhill from there.

Ace was disturbed by the mention of his father’s name and walked off. Sabo, being the more observant type, noticed. Luffy was too focused on recruiting this old guy to help train him to defeat Big Tiger. When Luffy had sealed the deal, he finally noticed Ace had gone and asked.

Sabo... now I don’t know why he did this. He told Luffy about Ace’s parentage. That, I understand. But he did it in front of Naguri, who is practically a stranger. For all they know, he could report Ace’s existence to anyone. It also caused a fight because Ace never wanted anyone to know (quite right. It’s his decision) and Luffy isn’t exactly the best at keeping secrets at the moment).

While all this is happening, Sweatychins has commissioned Bluejam to find Sabo. Bluejam is intent on stringing Sweatychins along to wring as much cash as he can from his noble coffers. There is also a visit from the Celestial Dragons on the cards.

I don’t know who I want to win this struggle.

You know it’s bad when you start rooting for a scumbag like Bluejam.