One Piece, Vol. 43

The fight rages on in One Piece Vol. 43. Chopper is on a rampage, Zoro and Usopp are still handcuffed together, and Luffy is locked in mortal combat with Rob Lucci. The Buster Call is on its way, and Nico Robin draws closer to the Gates of Justice. Time is running out. I really appreciate Oda's pacing and planning with this final stretch of the Water Seven saga. At this point he's juggling multiple characters each fighting different battles on different parts of the island. All the characters must converge and somehow escape by the end of the arc, so what you get is a constant sense of urgency and motion as everyone finishes their task or fight and rushes off to the next location. Luffy, who traditionally fares the worst in terms of pacing, does well here. Many previous arcs have saddled Luffy with some cheap delaying tactic so the other Straw Hats can finish their battles first. We've seen him hypnotized, tossed into the water with his feet encased in cement, or randomly take a nap. Here, Luffy spends the entire time engaged in a life-or-death struggle with Rob Lucci, which keeps the CP9 agent from going after his friends. It's a smart move for Luffy and really builds anticipation for the end of the fight, which happens next volume. So yes, all the other fights besides Luffy vs. Lucci are resolved here, making this another action-packed volume. A minor quibble is that Zoro and Sanji's spectacular new attacks, which are used to finish off their opponents, seemingly come out of nowhere. This always raises the questions of "Did they always know this move? And if so why did they wait until now to use it?" At least with Chopper there was a plausible explanation for why he would've kept his monster transformation a secret. I know Shonen Manga conventions don't need to make sense, but Oda has shown he's willing to give it a try on occasion (ie. Zoro figuring out how to cut steel in Alabasta). Another great volume, with the final (and most brutal) fight yet to come.