- "Being on this ship, sure makes you lose the will to even worry..." "Yes, It is quite relaxing."
- To be a man is to live a life with your honor untarnished, to fight with pride as though every fight will be your last, as eventually, while one's life and all their treasures will go away, their pride forever stays. ( )

This volume runs from everyone being put to sleep with just Zoro fighting to when they get to the dinosaur island and meet the giants. Vivi officially joins the crew. Robin makes her first appearance.

This is a relatively low point between major arcs, and there's a slow build before the proper share of the Alabasta arc. However, the story moves ahead with its hints of danger bigger than anyone thinks the crew is ready for and there's the usual comical sibling-like interaction between Zoro and Nami and bizarre minor characters to mock, so it's still entertaining. ( )

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Title: It's All Right!
Series: One Piece #13
Arc: Baroque Works #2
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 188
Words: 8K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_One_Piece_chapters_(1_186)

"A Question of Duty"

"The Night Isn't Over"

"The Secret Criminal Organization"

"Luffy vs. Zoro"

"It's All Right!!!"

"The Course"

"Little Garden of Adventure"

"Big"

"Dorry and Broggy"

Zoro fights the four remaining bounty hunters as a far-greater threat enters the village: the high-ranking Baroque Works agents Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. Their target is not the Straw Hats but Miss Wednesday, whose true identity is Nefeltari Vivi (princess of the kingdom of Alabasta). Vivi runs for her life; Nami (who had feigned sleep) makes a deal to save Vivi's life with Mr. 8 – who is actually Igaram, captain of the Alabastan Royal Guard. Nami then forces Zoro to take on the agents. Out of immediate danger, Vivi tells the Straw Hats that Mr. 0 (in charge of Baroque Works) plans to use the organization to overthrow her country and reveals his true identity: Sir Crocodile – like Mihawk, a member of the government-sanctioned Seven Warlords of the Sea pirate group. The Straw Hats agree to bring Vivi to Alabasta. They reach the jungle-covered island of Little Garden, where the giants Dorry and Broggy engage in a hundred-year-long battle.

My Thoughts:

Oda, the manga-ka, makes it really obvious from the get-go just how fragile Baroque Works is. With each paired teir looking down on those below them and despising them, coupled with the secrecy and mystery, everyone but Mr Zero is expendable. Oda also does a fantastic job of showing how Luffy doesn't take someone fighting against him as a personal insult. He can be fighting someone one minute and then trying to be friends the next. That is quite a seesaw to balance and I'm impressed with how smoothly it happens, time and again.

The rest of the crew gets a very good showing in this volume. Zoro ends up fighting some of the higher up from Baroque Works. Nami gets involved with Princess Vivi and blackmails her to get their help to free her kingdom. Usopp and Sanji get the short end of the stick in regards to the plot but they do make for great foils for the others.

I've included the picture below because it perfectly illustrates the characteristics of the 4 crew members. Zoro and Sanji are always trying to one up each other. Nami and Usopp are always trying to stay away from danger. And Oda brings his unique humor to the whole situation. I just laughed at the last panel :-)

I've been including the story arc info in the info block because I find it helps me to focus on the story at hand and not to be wishing I was still reading about the previous line. Luffy and co have moved out of East Blue and having a different name for the arc just helps me keep that straight. It also helps my expectations. I think that will make a bigger difference in future volumes.

We also meet Miss All Sunday, Mr Zero's counterpart. She makes it clear she holds the crew no personal grudge, which just makes my point about how fragile Baroque Works is. I seem to remember Miss Sunday plays a bigger part in the series than just as Miss Sunday, but I might be mixing her up with another character. Oda isn't exactly making his female characters super distinctive, unlike say Usopp and Zoro.

★★★★☆ ( )