I love the last stretch of the Alabasta arc in general, even though in this volume it's still setting up the desert portion of it because this is the first time since Vivi was brought on the ship that the main arc is of immediate importance. It looks like a good stretch of events though--Ace is introduced, and the last chapter has "Luffy vs. Vivi", which I vaguely remember is something beautiful and moving--it propels the emotional tone of the story to catch up to the physical events. I love these kinds of things. I feel the hype just recalling what I can all these years later. Classic One Piece. ( )

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Title: Ace Arrives
Series: One Piece #18
Arc: Baroque Works #7
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 225
Words: 9K

Synopsis:

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

"Oh Come My Way Days"

"Ace Arrives"

"Landing in Alabasta"

"Come On"

"Spiders Café at Eight O'Clock"

"The Green City Erumalu"

"Adventure in the Kingdom of Sand"

"Yuba, the Town of Rebels"

"I Love My Country"

"Operation Utopia"

"Luffy vs. Vivi"

En route to Alabasta, the Straw Hats encounter Baroque Works agent Mr. 2 Bon Clay; naively, he shows them his ability to impersonate the voice, face and body of any person whose face he touches with his right hand. In Alabasta, Luffy goes to find something to eat. He encounters his older brother Portgas D. Ace and Captain Smoker, who chases him through the town. With Ace's help, Luffy escapes. The top Baroque Works agents meet at a cafe in the desert. From there they are brought to a city, Rainbase, to meet Mr. 0. The Straw Hats cross the desert to the oasis of Yuba, where the rebel army reportedly has its headquarters. They find a ghost town, plagued by sandstorms. Vivi tells a story about herself and her childhood friend, Koza. In Rainbase, Crocodile reveals himself and his master plan to conquer Alabasta to his agents. When Mr. 3 reports his failure to kill Vivi and the Straw Hats, Crocodile feeds him to one of his oversized crocodiles. Although Luffy is discouraged, Vivi's passion for the cause inspires him to persevere.

My Thoughts:

It was cool being introduced to Luffy's older brother Ace, who is supporting a pirate captain named White Beard. Ace is pretty strong stuff even besides his devil fruit powers. He's not around very long but it's evident he's being introduced now to make the fight between him and Luffy that much greater whenever it occurs. Now we just need Luffy's Dad and Mom to show up, preferably as Ultra-Powerful world government Agents and voila, more family drama than you can shake a stick at. Of course, I'd be really pissed if that is what actually happens.

Vivi is really getting on my nerves now. She interferes multiple times with how the Crew do what they need to and causes things to be twice as hard. She forbids them from fighting with the rebels and acts like she can just wave her hand and make peace. She is the epitome of a spoiled child who has had everything handed to her her entire life. Thankfully Luffy tells her what she needs to hear, that Sir Crocodile is the real enemy, not the rebels, and that HE, Luffy, is going to beat the ever-living daylights out of Crocodile even she doesn't “like” violence as a solution.

There was more Vivi than Ace overall though, so while I enjoyed this volume, it left a slightly off taste in my mouth by the end. Boooooo!

★★★☆☆ ( )