Uhh, they made it to a snow kingdom. That's all that happens

- Honoring someone's pride deserves to be reciprocated
- Running away form your duties is a disgraceful thing as it hurts many people. ( )

It looks like this volume is the set up for the story on the winter island our dear reindeer friend is from, ending in an avalanche. I remember the avalanche, and in general I LOVE stories that focus on a sick and dying companion that they must save. It's sweet, especially the way Luffy and Sanji work together. Otherwise, this volume is a good example of how painful setting up another small arc in One Piece is, and a part of me considered giving it 3 stars. However, I've happily watched it many times and read through it just to extract any story and character tidbit that didn't make it to the anime, so it can't be a 3 star like as much of a 4 star very much like. Besides, I think Vivi gets bossy in this one, and it's funny how the guys cower--I mean handle it. ( )

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Title: Straight Ahead!!!
Series: One Piece #15
Arc: Baroque Works #4
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 213
Words: 9K

Synopsis:

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

"Snail-o-phone"

"Pirate Pride"

"Straight Ahead!!!"

"Maximum Speed"

"Wapol of Tin"

"See?"

"Adventure in a Nameless Country"

"Dr. Kureha"

"Lapins"

"A Man Named Dalton"

Sanji, drinking tea in Mr. 3's hideout, receives a call from Mr. 0. Pretending to be the agent, he convinces the warlord that he killed Vivi and her companions. Messengers arrive during the conversation; Sanji defeats them and takes their eternal pose compass, intended for Mr. 3. Although Broggy is still grieving his fellow giant's apparent death, after a century of battle his axe had become dull and Dorry is only unconscious. Using the eternal pose, the crew can continue their journey. However, Nami falls ill and the crew must find a doctor. After a hostile encounter with the pirates of the omnivorous Wapol, they arrive at a snow-covered island. The only physician there, who lives in a castle on a mountain, is said to be a 140-year-old witch. Sanji and Luffy, carrying Nami on his back, face the island's dangerous wildlife and bring their friend to medical care and Wapol reinstates himself as king of the country.

My Thoughts:

Another thoroughly enjoyable volume. Luffy and Crew get off the giant island but Nami gets sick, so instead of heading straight for Vivi's kingdom, they have to find an island with a doctor. In the process they run afoul of some pirates and a guy named Wapol. The Straw Hats find an island but there is only one doctor so Luffy and Sanji go after her. The pirates from before land on the island and it turns out the leader of the pirates was the former king of the island. The book ends with an avalanche about to engulf everybody.

My only gripe with this volume was that there were a lot more 2 page spreads than in previous books. It's not a problem when you're reading a paper copy, but when you're reading a digital copy, and only view one page at a time, it's annoying. In previous volumes there's only been 1 or 2 of them, but this time I think I counted 5+. You really lose the “big picture” when you can't view it (easily that is) as one page like it was meant to be.

Storywise, I am liking what Oda-san is doing. Baroque Works is staying in the background and not hogging the “Evil Person of the Issue” spotlight. They are still the big menace but there are enough other powerful pirates out there so that the adventures get split between them. It is striking the right balance between adventures that last just a couple of chapters and ones that cover multiple volumes. What Oda-san seems to be doing is keeping readers on the edge of their seats (or firmly ensconced on the couches, cough, cough, cough) with the smaller stories but providing a stabilizing influence by having Baroque Works give an over-arching framework. It is completely working for me!

★★★★☆ ( )