One Piece Vol 31
[Cut to spare anyone who would consider my reaction to this volume a spoiler]Damn you, Oda, this is stealth heartbreak. Skypiea is all dial technology blah blah, Enel boring boring, fight fight yawn fight, all of a sudden FLASHBACK CRYYYYYYY. I call foul!
Actually I love this volume a lot. Light the flame of Shandora!
Also, Luffy, feel free to kill Enel ANY DAY NOW.
Volume 31
286
Cover arc: Aw, I like that Ace blew his cover because he got mad when someone was talking smack about Whitebeard. Not always very bright, that Ace, but always loyal.
It amuses me that Amazon-san is still trying to charge everyone an exit fee while the world ends - and taking pictures! (I don't like her enough to care whether she listens to the others' warnings and escapes instead of being a creepy gatekeeper for Enel.)
[From the Decks of the World]Although, come to think of it, I guess we do know that she escaped in the end, since she's taking tickets at Rubber Band Land later on.
After Nami leaves to chase after Luffy on the waver, the others (at least Wiper, Zoro and Gan Fall) start to recover from their shocked state.
The others are eager to get back to the ship as soon as possible, but Wiper just keeps staring at the lightning bolts falling on Upper Yard. He flashes back on the story the village elder told him as a child - the reason why Calgara wanted so desperately to recover their lost homeland.
Once upon a time, four hundred years ago, Calgara had a dear friend. His name was Montblanc Norland.
(I LOVE how Oda weaves the thread of Jaya right back into the narrative here. One of the pleasures of re-reading Skypiea has been seeing how carefully the elements of the narrative are constructed to bring everything together at the climax.)
Flashback to the fierce warrior Calgara, who defends his island against impious intruders and steals their treasures. (Aw, he goes around saying "I will eliminate you!", just like little Aisa - tradition is strong.)
Based on what Calgara says later, the island of Jaya at that time had a closed-door policy against outsiders - shades of Japan during the closed border years?
Elsewhere, at sea, Norland's ship is battered by storms and nearly out of provisions (until Norland single-handedly catches a giant fish for them to eat).
Also LOVE: that Norland is so super-awesome in contrast with the grinning idiot he was in his picture book (and so like Cricket). His memory deserves more respect.
Note - Norland's men all call him teitoku, "admiral." They respect him, at least!
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Norland is calmly writing in his logbook (while everyone is freaking out about the storm around him).
He comments that they've been at sea two years, much longer than his two previous one-month expeditions to the Grand Line.
Norland is the only one who can hear the tolling of the great bell.
[Speculation]Possibly some relation with with Roger and Luffy's ability to hear the voice of the sea?
Jaya: May 21, 1122 kaienreki.
The villagers are gathered around the chief priest (shinkan) of the village, Pantori, who is dying of the plague that is killing their people and their crops.
Before dying, he tells them they must offer tribute to the God Kashi (Kashigami), by sacrificing the life of the most beautiful woman in the village on the great altar - a young girl named Mousse.
A young boy, Seto, is terrified to discover the distinctive bruise that marks the onset of the disease that has already killed over a hundred people. They regard the disease as the curse of an evil spirit.
Mousse is calm in the face of her mother's tears, saying that she is proud to be of use to her fellow villagers.
Seeing Calgara returning with his war-booty, Seto says he always wanted to grow up to be a "brave warrior" just like Calgara. (Aw, shades of Usopp.)
Norland's ship arrives on Jaya by following Norland's directions.
(Hee, in the background, one of the men is mocking another for his complete inability to master the waver.)
Apparently Norland was following the sound of the bell; he's baffled that no one else can hear it.
They are all startled by the call of the south birds. Then, all of them can hear the tolling of the bell.
When Seto stumbles across them, they immediately recognize his symptoms as being those of the plague called the "tree fever" (kinetsu). Norland quickly gives orders for the entire crew to be vaccinated using their small supply of "conine," just in case.
They discover that the village is full of sick people. All the healthy villagers have gone to attend the sacrifice.
The great river-serpent arrives to consume the girl on the altar.
To everyone's shock, Norland beheads the serpent and frees the girl.
Mousse finally breaks down crying (aw, brave girl).
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Cover arc: disguise attempt #2 (with a promotion, no less). The mustache is KILLING me.
The villagers are howling for blood, terrified that they'll be cursed because Norland is a god-killer.
(I love Norland's men standing around outside, going "Oh GOD what has he done now." They're obviously used to him.)
Calgara charges at Norland ("I will eliminate you!"). Norland is able to hold his own against Calgara, much to the Shandians' surprise.
Calgara throws a knife to the girl, telling her to kill herself (she should be ashamed, crying and wishing to live when she could die and save her people).
Norland knocks the knife away, but is stabbed in the back by Calgara.
Calgara says one death isn't atonement enough - he demands 100 lives, all Norland's crew. (Like ancestor, like descendant…)
Norland says talk of "sacrifice" and "blood" is an insult to "us" (all explorers, scholars and scientists like himself) - and to the gods, too.
("Aren't you giving them too much credit" is a complete mistranslation, wtf. How did お前たちの神にとっても!! これは侮りではないのか!! turn into "giving them too much credit"?)
(Side note on this story as a whole: I am not sure how I feel about the transparent invocation of the enlightenment vs. barbarism/colonizer vs. colonized debate. I mean, of course I'm sympathetic to Norland's point of view, but I wonder if Oda buys a little too easily into the belief that the scientist who goes around extinguishing "barbarous" customs is always right. Then again, the people of Shandia are hardly one-dimensional, and Norland makes mistakes, so there is some complexity to the presentation.)
Norland asks for time in which to prove he can save the village from this "evil curse".
The village headman agrees to give him one day. If he fails or runs away, all his crew will be sacrificed in his place.
Both Norland's crew and Mousse are locked in separate cages to await the next day. (I kind of love all Norland's crew sitting around and grumbling, but trusting their leader. They seem like a good lot.)
When Mousse asks, Norland's men explain that their commander is a famous plant scientist and explorer. (But a total pushover [お人好し] - he just can't let stuff like this go.)
Meanwhile, the villagers are protesting to their headman - why didn't he let Calgara kill Norland on the spot? The headman says it won't hurt to give them one day.
One of the Shandians comments that they're ignoring the last wishes of Pantori, "who could talk with the gods" (some kind of mantra ability?). The village headman doesn't have that ability (apparently, neither does anyone else).
Outside, Calgara meets Seto, who is recovering from his illness (Norland's men presumably gave him some of their small quantity of antidote).
Norland finds the "cona" tree he was looking for in the forest.
The next morning, the island is shaken by an earthquake which creates a split in the island. (The villagers are terrified, thinking that the wrath of the god has come upon them.)
Calgara goes to find Norland and kill him, but discovers him pinned in a crack in the earth.
Calgara sits down to mock Norland while Norland is (as he thinks) dying. "Go ahead, let's see you free yourself."
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Calgara continues to mock Norland's efforts to free himself as evening draws closer.
In the village, people are dying so fast from the plague that the urn-maker can't keep up with the burial urns.
The enraged villagers want to kill the prisoners without waiting, but Seto protects them.
As night approaches and the prisoners are led to the sacrifice, Calgara is grudgingly impressed by Norland's vain efforts to free himself.
When Norland accuses him of "lightly" sacrificing human lives to appease their own groundless fears, Calgara is furious. He tells Norland that the girl who was being offered for sacrifice is his own daughter.
(Argh, can't say I'm loving the "warrior who will sacrifice his own daughter" machismo, but you have to respect the man's integrity and stoicism… I guess?)
A snake, similar to Kashigami but a size smaller (his son?), shows up, apparently interested in making a meal of Norland. Calgara says the god has come to judge him.
Norland finally tells Calgara about the medicine he is carrying. His own people suffered from the same plague 60 years before, until a cure was discovered by a scientist from the South Blue.
Calgara kills the serpent.
"Tell me, what did I just kill?"
(I love that he still fully believes that he killed a god, but was willing to do it if there was even a tiny chance that Norland can save his people.)
The sacrifice is called off, and the village rejoices over the healing of the sick.
Aw, Calgara and his daughter hugging each other and crying.
Together, the villagers and Norland's men watch over Norland as he recovers; together, they feast and celebrate. (Love Norland smiling in his sleep.)
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OMG CUTEST SNAKE EVER. (The baby serpent, grandchild of the great god Kashi, kills me with its cute. Its facial expressions!)
Norland and Calgara are now best friends. Calgara's own people comment that they've never known him to connect so well with anyone before. Even between two such divergent cultures, like minds can recognize one another.
Calgara takes Norland and his men to see the city of gold, the ruins of Shandora (with the great bell-platform in its proper place, in front of the tower of gold).
Calgara says they can take as much gold as they want; protecting the ruined city itself is all he and his people care about. They owe Norland more than they can ever repay.
He shows Norland a stone with poneglyphs written on it (built into the bell-platform). They can't read the poneglyphs, but they know their ancestors died to protect that stone.
They revere their ancestors like gods.
Calgara says that the ringing of the bell is a tradition, to reach the wandering spirits of their ancestors who have gone to heaven. It is a way of signaling "We're still here," to let the ancestors find their way back.
They call that bell the "flame (灯) of Shandora."
Norland agrees, saying that the bell called to him in the middle of the storm and guided them safely to Jaya, just like a torch-fire burning.
The snakes likes the sound of the bell.
(BAWWWWLL why does the snake always make me cry, it's a SNAKE WTF)
Norland says one day he'll be a great anaconda, too, but Calgara laughs and says that's a hundred years in the future.
Calgara invites them to stay as long as they like. Norland says he'd like to explore the woods to look for plants, and to eliminate the last traces of the plague on the island.
Norland's followers show up (bedecked in gold!) carrying an eternal Log Pose pointing to Jaya, and a map (showing the skull shape of the island, with Shandora in the right eye - the name Shandora means "right eye of the skull.")
Montage of fun times on the island. (They're dancing around a bonfire, just like the Strawhats! And Calgara and Norland each catch a big fish, but they don't fight over them like Dorry and Broggy did.)
Aw, I just noticed the small golden south bird statues in one of the frames - they adorn the bell-platform. That was one of the statues Cricket found.
About a month after Norland arrived on the island, a bitter falling out occurs.
The Shandians are furious about a crime that has been committed, but unwilling to tell Norland why they're so angry, so they just give him the silent treatment. (WHY. ;__;)
Calgara won't even look at Norland, for fear he might kill him in a rage.
Norland's men are bewildered and sad, and even more so when that day, they don't hear the bell ring.
Norland tells his men they will leave in a few days, as soon as they've finished making a complete circuit of the island.
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Cover arc: Gotta love the marine ship with "SUPER SECRET!" written in huge letters on its flag.
Flashback to happier times, when Calgara urged Norland to stay on the island and marry his daughter. Norland laughs, saying he's got a family of his own back home, and kids as old as Mousse.
Flashback ends with Seto saying to them "Isn't it about time you just went home?"
Norland comes to the city of gold, shouting to Calgara to come out and explain himself. He doesn't want to sail away and leave things between them like this.
Calgara throws a spear at him. "Did you come here to die?"
The next day, the Shandians are still gritting their teeth and waiting for Norland's ship to leave.
(Snake all bewildered and crying because they're not ringing the bell, OMG T__T)
Calgara says the bell has no meaning any more.
On the last night, Mousse sneaks out to tell one of Norland's men the truth. She knows the quarrel can't be mended, but thinks they deserve to know the reason.
Calgara is brooding over a field of cut trees. "Some plant scientist!"
Mousse explains that the grove of white trees was considered the sacred home of their ancestors, housing their spirits whenever they would return to the island. They protected those trees as carefully as they protect the ruins of Shandora.
The warriors were so angry that they wanted to take up weapons on the spot, but they owed Norland too much, leaving them with no outlet for their rage (hence the silent treatment).
(Not a good enough reason, grumble grumble.)
The next morning, when he learns the truth, Norland is deeply saddened. As a gesture of repentance, he orders them to leave all the gold behind.
Mousse runs back to the village to tell them what she learned from the ship's doctor (the one she told about the trees).
The doctor told her that the reason they cut down the trees was that the grove had been infected by the plague, and if allowed to live, would eventually have re-infected the island and its people, destroying everything. But now they can rest assured, because Norland and his men have completed their work of examining the entire island to remove every trace of infection.
(Love this moment when you realize that they're not just scientists oblivious to the concerns of the native population, but genuinely trying to help.)
Aw, the poor Shandians' faces when they realize the truth.
Norland's ship sets sail for Mariejois and home, in the North Blue.
(Does that mean you can enter or leave the Grand Line via Mariejois? Didn't realize that, although I suppose it makes sense, since it's on the opposite end from Reverse Mountain.)
Calgara races to the shore to say goodbye, while the villagers hurry to the bell-tower to ring the bell to bid Norland farewell.
Calgara calls out to Norland, telling him to come again anytime. They'll be waiting, and ringing the bell to let him know, "We're still here."
The moment when Norland crumples and says "It's ok to come back…?" is what really makes me cry. ;__; Like I haven't been crying for the last chapter and a half.
They wave goodbye, swearing that one day they'll meet again.
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The "storybook" tells how once upon a time, there was a man named Norland who told fantastic stories. Everyone loved his stories, even though they weren't sure if they were true or not.
One day, he returned telling tales of a great city of gold.
(I don't like that king. I'm sorry for what happened to Norland, but part of me is glad that king never found his gold.)
Haha, the palace looks kind of like the "front" that Cricket put on his half-of-a-house on Jaya. Cricket has a black sense of humor.
Five years later, the king tells Norland that they've finally received permission from Mariejois to enter the Grand Line.
(Mariejois is in charge of telling people when they can go to the Grand Line? Is this a reflection of how things used to be 400 years ago, or a reflection of how things work normally in the North Blue?)
The king insists on leaving Norland's old crew behind and staffing the expedition with his own men. (Your mistake, sucker.)
They have a miserable journey, thanks to the inadequate training of the king's soldiers.
When at last they arrive in November 1127, nothing remains of the city of Shandora but a broken coast.
Six months later, on the execution platform, Norland is allowed to give an account of his own defense. He still insists that the city of gold exists.
Some nobody from nowhere is dragged out to "testify" that he was a member of Norland's crew, and that Norland is lying.
Norland's real crew is outraged, but no one listens to them.
(I'm glad his men never abandoned him! I hope they didn't get executed, too.)
Norland's last thought is to pray that Calgara and his people are safe.
One year before Norland's return, the Shandians were enjoying an ordinary day on the island.
Seto accompanies Calgara on his daily journey to ring the bell. The snake they named "Nora" (Nola?) has by now settled in and made the ruins its home.
(Aw, they named it after Norland, didn't they? In Japanese: ノーランド.)
Suddenly the island is shaken by an enormous earthquake, and the land separates and begins to lift.
(I really like the perspective shot where you can see the shape of the Jaya that remained over the edge of the land mass that is flying into the sky.)
High in the sky, the land mass is pierced on an enormous beanstalk. The bell-tower detaches and flies up into the air.
Everyone on Skypiea can hear the beautiful sound of the bell tolling.
Distant perspective shot of Upper Yard with two much smaller masses higher up on the beanstalk.
Ugh, nasty Kamisama, grabbing all the Vearth for himself. (He looks a lot like Yama, the big jerk.)
As the wounded Shandians are picking themselves up, Kami and his forces arrive to drive them out. They fight back, but in vain (the warriors are struggling just to breath in the upper atmosphere).
Norland's tear-stained prison diary. ;_;
As they fight, Calgara wonders what will happen if Norland returns and finds them gone. He vows to send the message - "We're still here."
He has so much he wants to tell his friend. How well the plants Norland gave them grew. How Seto married his daughter.
Calgara's war cry: "Light the flame of Shandora!"
*digs out another box of tissues*
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Still in Wiper's flashback to his childhood, Wiper remembers how the village elder told him that Calgara was desperate to ring the bell, just once. He believed that if he could only ring the bell, Norland would be able to hear him.
But the bell never rang.
Later, from a ship that came to them from the North Blue, they learned the truth - how their great benefactor was executed as a liar. Even under threat of death, he refused to deny the existence of their city, Shandora.
(Is this a reference to the St. Briss two hundred years later? I assumed it was, but the Japanese is vague - 船乗りによって.)
Calgara had long since died in battle, fighting to the last to tell his friend where they were. It was his greatest regret.
Young Wiper wonders if maybe, if they found the bell, if they could still ring it, whether it might still reach Norland.
Perhaps, says the chief. They are close to heaven, after all.
Back amid the crumbling ruins of Upper Yard, Wiper is still hurling defiance at Enel's departing ship while the others are pleading with him to flee.
(I feel for Usopp: "You are relentless!" i.e. "Give it a rest!")
In the ark above, Enel is gloating over the prospect of total victory.
(Luffy, please KILL HIM NOW.)
He drops a thunderbolt on the Shandians' hidden cloud village, congratulating them on their happy return to the blue sea of their birth.
The abandoned village explodes, leaving only the statue of Calgara standing. The Shandians watch sadly from their fleeing ships.
McKinley, trying to evacuate the last of the people of Angel Island, hopes that Conis is all right. They owe their lives to her warning.
A burst of fire explodes right on top of him.
(Sniff… no one dies in One Piece, right? Right? McKinley's not dead, right?)
Conis is still waiting on the Merry.
Enel gloats over the frantic motions of the "angels," like a column of ants. He blasts a hole in the white-white sea, through which some of the fleeing ships tumble.
High above, he blasts what's left of the God's "shrine."
(I like the perspective in which you can see clearly the half-skull shape of Upper Yard from above.)
Then he begins to destroy the remains of Shandora below. (Get out of there, Nora! There's still time!)
The only thing Enel still wants is the bell-tower.
Robin and Wiper are discussing the golden bell. She believes that the only place it can be is somewhere in the vicinity of the very top of the great beanstalk.
Enel senses the presence of two "voices" (Luffy and Nami).
Luffy is determined not to let Enel have that golden bell.
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When Luffy is almost high enough up the stalk to reach Enel, Enel blasts the stalk. Luffy falls, but manages to catch himself.
Wiper wants to climb the stalk to reach the bell, impossible though it is in his condition. (So poignant, him thinking that the bell his ancestor so longed to find is right there above his head.)
Nami catches up with Luffy on the level where the ruined shrine was.
The cloud above Angel Island is changing shape, forming itself into a ball.
As the ball drops, it forces Angel Island down into the clouds and destroys it completely. Nothing remains but a great hole in the white-white sea.
Luffy tells Nami he can't leave yet - he still has business with Enel.
When he starts talking about the golden bell, Nami says life is more important than gold. (Yay, Nami!)
What Luffy is obsessed with is not the gold itself, but proving that the golden city exists. He's determined to prove that Diamond-head Ossan's ancestor was no liar.
If he can ring the bell, he's sure that Cricket and the others will be able to hear him. He won't let Enel take that away.
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Aw, flashback to Luffy giggling to himself in the woods because he thought of "something good." (We saw part of this conversation before - he's with Zoro and Robin and Chopper, before they got split up.) He's been plotting to ring the bell all this time.
I kind of love that Luffy's crazy idea is the same as little Wiper's crazy idea. It makes me like Wiper more.
Down below, Robin has just finished explaining Luffy's plan to ring the bell to Wiper and the others. They know he won't come back even if Nami asks him, not until he beats Enel (since what he wants is also what Enel wants).
The terrified refugees realize that they can't escape, since the route down to the White Sea was vaporized along with Angel Island. All they can do is wait helplessly to be eliminated.
Enel finally discovers the bell tower, high in the clouds.
Nami drops a message written on a giant leaf: "Fell the trunk to the west."
She refuses to flee, because Luffy can't control the waver without her help. He needs her to take him to where Enel is.
Zoro has figured out the plan: chop down the beanstalk so that the top falls near the ship, and escape along the body of the stalk.
LOL, Zoro knows there's no changing Luffy's mind, so he's on board with the "chop down the giant beanstalk" plan. (A variation on Sherlock Holmes' "the impossible, no matter how improbable, must be the truth": "When all else fails, do the impossible.")
He trusts Luffy and Nami to reach Enel before Enel can carry out his plan to destroy Skypiea.
Actually I love this volume a lot. Light the flame of Shandora!
Also, Luffy, feel free to kill Enel ANY DAY NOW.
Volume 31
286
Cover arc: Aw, I like that Ace blew his cover because he got mad when someone was talking smack about Whitebeard. Not always very bright, that Ace, but always loyal.
It amuses me that Amazon-san is still trying to charge everyone an exit fee while the world ends - and taking pictures! (I don't like her enough to care whether she listens to the others' warnings and escapes instead of being a creepy gatekeeper for Enel.)
[From the Decks of the World]Although, come to think of it, I guess we do know that she escaped in the end, since she's taking tickets at Rubber Band Land later on.
After Nami leaves to chase after Luffy on the waver, the others (at least Wiper, Zoro and Gan Fall) start to recover from their shocked state.
The others are eager to get back to the ship as soon as possible, but Wiper just keeps staring at the lightning bolts falling on Upper Yard. He flashes back on the story the village elder told him as a child - the reason why Calgara wanted so desperately to recover their lost homeland.
Once upon a time, four hundred years ago, Calgara had a dear friend. His name was Montblanc Norland.
(I LOVE how Oda weaves the thread of Jaya right back into the narrative here. One of the pleasures of re-reading Skypiea has been seeing how carefully the elements of the narrative are constructed to bring everything together at the climax.)
Flashback to the fierce warrior Calgara, who defends his island against impious intruders and steals their treasures. (Aw, he goes around saying "I will eliminate you!", just like little Aisa - tradition is strong.)
Based on what Calgara says later, the island of Jaya at that time had a closed-door policy against outsiders - shades of Japan during the closed border years?
Elsewhere, at sea, Norland's ship is battered by storms and nearly out of provisions (until Norland single-handedly catches a giant fish for them to eat).
Also LOVE: that Norland is so super-awesome in contrast with the grinning idiot he was in his picture book (and so like Cricket). His memory deserves more respect.
Note - Norland's men all call him teitoku, "admiral." They respect him, at least!
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Norland is calmly writing in his logbook (while everyone is freaking out about the storm around him).
He comments that they've been at sea two years, much longer than his two previous one-month expeditions to the Grand Line.
Norland is the only one who can hear the tolling of the great bell.
[Speculation]Possibly some relation with with Roger and Luffy's ability to hear the voice of the sea?
Jaya: May 21, 1122 kaienreki.
The villagers are gathered around the chief priest (shinkan) of the village, Pantori, who is dying of the plague that is killing their people and their crops.
Before dying, he tells them they must offer tribute to the God Kashi (Kashigami), by sacrificing the life of the most beautiful woman in the village on the great altar - a young girl named Mousse.
A young boy, Seto, is terrified to discover the distinctive bruise that marks the onset of the disease that has already killed over a hundred people. They regard the disease as the curse of an evil spirit.
Mousse is calm in the face of her mother's tears, saying that she is proud to be of use to her fellow villagers.
Seeing Calgara returning with his war-booty, Seto says he always wanted to grow up to be a "brave warrior" just like Calgara. (Aw, shades of Usopp.)
Norland's ship arrives on Jaya by following Norland's directions.
(Hee, in the background, one of the men is mocking another for his complete inability to master the waver.)
Apparently Norland was following the sound of the bell; he's baffled that no one else can hear it.
They are all startled by the call of the south birds. Then, all of them can hear the tolling of the bell.
When Seto stumbles across them, they immediately recognize his symptoms as being those of the plague called the "tree fever" (kinetsu). Norland quickly gives orders for the entire crew to be vaccinated using their small supply of "conine," just in case.
They discover that the village is full of sick people. All the healthy villagers have gone to attend the sacrifice.
The great river-serpent arrives to consume the girl on the altar.
To everyone's shock, Norland beheads the serpent and frees the girl.
Mousse finally breaks down crying (aw, brave girl).
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Cover arc: disguise attempt #2 (with a promotion, no less). The mustache is KILLING me.
The villagers are howling for blood, terrified that they'll be cursed because Norland is a god-killer.
(I love Norland's men standing around outside, going "Oh GOD what has he done now." They're obviously used to him.)
Calgara charges at Norland ("I will eliminate you!"). Norland is able to hold his own against Calgara, much to the Shandians' surprise.
Calgara throws a knife to the girl, telling her to kill herself (she should be ashamed, crying and wishing to live when she could die and save her people).
Norland knocks the knife away, but is stabbed in the back by Calgara.
Calgara says one death isn't atonement enough - he demands 100 lives, all Norland's crew. (Like ancestor, like descendant…)
Norland says talk of "sacrifice" and "blood" is an insult to "us" (all explorers, scholars and scientists like himself) - and to the gods, too.
("Aren't you giving them too much credit" is a complete mistranslation, wtf. How did お前たちの神にとっても!! これは侮りではないのか!! turn into "giving them too much credit"?)
(Side note on this story as a whole: I am not sure how I feel about the transparent invocation of the enlightenment vs. barbarism/colonizer vs. colonized debate. I mean, of course I'm sympathetic to Norland's point of view, but I wonder if Oda buys a little too easily into the belief that the scientist who goes around extinguishing "barbarous" customs is always right. Then again, the people of Shandia are hardly one-dimensional, and Norland makes mistakes, so there is some complexity to the presentation.)
Norland asks for time in which to prove he can save the village from this "evil curse".
The village headman agrees to give him one day. If he fails or runs away, all his crew will be sacrificed in his place.
Both Norland's crew and Mousse are locked in separate cages to await the next day. (I kind of love all Norland's crew sitting around and grumbling, but trusting their leader. They seem like a good lot.)
When Mousse asks, Norland's men explain that their commander is a famous plant scientist and explorer. (But a total pushover [お人好し] - he just can't let stuff like this go.)
Meanwhile, the villagers are protesting to their headman - why didn't he let Calgara kill Norland on the spot? The headman says it won't hurt to give them one day.
One of the Shandians comments that they're ignoring the last wishes of Pantori, "who could talk with the gods" (some kind of mantra ability?). The village headman doesn't have that ability (apparently, neither does anyone else).
Outside, Calgara meets Seto, who is recovering from his illness (Norland's men presumably gave him some of their small quantity of antidote).
Norland finds the "cona" tree he was looking for in the forest.
The next morning, the island is shaken by an earthquake which creates a split in the island. (The villagers are terrified, thinking that the wrath of the god has come upon them.)
Calgara goes to find Norland and kill him, but discovers him pinned in a crack in the earth.
Calgara sits down to mock Norland while Norland is (as he thinks) dying. "Go ahead, let's see you free yourself."
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Calgara continues to mock Norland's efforts to free himself as evening draws closer.
In the village, people are dying so fast from the plague that the urn-maker can't keep up with the burial urns.
The enraged villagers want to kill the prisoners without waiting, but Seto protects them.
As night approaches and the prisoners are led to the sacrifice, Calgara is grudgingly impressed by Norland's vain efforts to free himself.
When Norland accuses him of "lightly" sacrificing human lives to appease their own groundless fears, Calgara is furious. He tells Norland that the girl who was being offered for sacrifice is his own daughter.
(Argh, can't say I'm loving the "warrior who will sacrifice his own daughter" machismo, but you have to respect the man's integrity and stoicism… I guess?)
A snake, similar to Kashigami but a size smaller (his son?), shows up, apparently interested in making a meal of Norland. Calgara says the god has come to judge him.
Norland finally tells Calgara about the medicine he is carrying. His own people suffered from the same plague 60 years before, until a cure was discovered by a scientist from the South Blue.
Calgara kills the serpent.
"Tell me, what did I just kill?"
(I love that he still fully believes that he killed a god, but was willing to do it if there was even a tiny chance that Norland can save his people.)
The sacrifice is called off, and the village rejoices over the healing of the sick.
Aw, Calgara and his daughter hugging each other and crying.
Together, the villagers and Norland's men watch over Norland as he recovers; together, they feast and celebrate. (Love Norland smiling in his sleep.)
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OMG CUTEST SNAKE EVER. (The baby serpent, grandchild of the great god Kashi, kills me with its cute. Its facial expressions!)
Norland and Calgara are now best friends. Calgara's own people comment that they've never known him to connect so well with anyone before. Even between two such divergent cultures, like minds can recognize one another.
Calgara takes Norland and his men to see the city of gold, the ruins of Shandora (with the great bell-platform in its proper place, in front of the tower of gold).
Calgara says they can take as much gold as they want; protecting the ruined city itself is all he and his people care about. They owe Norland more than they can ever repay.
He shows Norland a stone with poneglyphs written on it (built into the bell-platform). They can't read the poneglyphs, but they know their ancestors died to protect that stone.
They revere their ancestors like gods.
Calgara says that the ringing of the bell is a tradition, to reach the wandering spirits of their ancestors who have gone to heaven. It is a way of signaling "We're still here," to let the ancestors find their way back.
They call that bell the "flame (灯) of Shandora."
Norland agrees, saying that the bell called to him in the middle of the storm and guided them safely to Jaya, just like a torch-fire burning.
The snakes likes the sound of the bell.
(BAWWWWLL why does the snake always make me cry, it's a SNAKE WTF)
Norland says one day he'll be a great anaconda, too, but Calgara laughs and says that's a hundred years in the future.
Calgara invites them to stay as long as they like. Norland says he'd like to explore the woods to look for plants, and to eliminate the last traces of the plague on the island.
Norland's followers show up (bedecked in gold!) carrying an eternal Log Pose pointing to Jaya, and a map (showing the skull shape of the island, with Shandora in the right eye - the name Shandora means "right eye of the skull.")
Montage of fun times on the island. (They're dancing around a bonfire, just like the Strawhats! And Calgara and Norland each catch a big fish, but they don't fight over them like Dorry and Broggy did.)
Aw, I just noticed the small golden south bird statues in one of the frames - they adorn the bell-platform. That was one of the statues Cricket found.
About a month after Norland arrived on the island, a bitter falling out occurs.
The Shandians are furious about a crime that has been committed, but unwilling to tell Norland why they're so angry, so they just give him the silent treatment. (WHY. ;__;)
Calgara won't even look at Norland, for fear he might kill him in a rage.
Norland's men are bewildered and sad, and even more so when that day, they don't hear the bell ring.
Norland tells his men they will leave in a few days, as soon as they've finished making a complete circuit of the island.
291
Cover arc: Gotta love the marine ship with "SUPER SECRET!" written in huge letters on its flag.
Flashback to happier times, when Calgara urged Norland to stay on the island and marry his daughter. Norland laughs, saying he's got a family of his own back home, and kids as old as Mousse.
Flashback ends with Seto saying to them "Isn't it about time you just went home?"
Norland comes to the city of gold, shouting to Calgara to come out and explain himself. He doesn't want to sail away and leave things between them like this.
Calgara throws a spear at him. "Did you come here to die?"
The next day, the Shandians are still gritting their teeth and waiting for Norland's ship to leave.
(Snake all bewildered and crying because they're not ringing the bell, OMG T__T)
Calgara says the bell has no meaning any more.
On the last night, Mousse sneaks out to tell one of Norland's men the truth. She knows the quarrel can't be mended, but thinks they deserve to know the reason.
Calgara is brooding over a field of cut trees. "Some plant scientist!"
Mousse explains that the grove of white trees was considered the sacred home of their ancestors, housing their spirits whenever they would return to the island. They protected those trees as carefully as they protect the ruins of Shandora.
The warriors were so angry that they wanted to take up weapons on the spot, but they owed Norland too much, leaving them with no outlet for their rage (hence the silent treatment).
(Not a good enough reason, grumble grumble.)
The next morning, when he learns the truth, Norland is deeply saddened. As a gesture of repentance, he orders them to leave all the gold behind.
Mousse runs back to the village to tell them what she learned from the ship's doctor (the one she told about the trees).
The doctor told her that the reason they cut down the trees was that the grove had been infected by the plague, and if allowed to live, would eventually have re-infected the island and its people, destroying everything. But now they can rest assured, because Norland and his men have completed their work of examining the entire island to remove every trace of infection.
(Love this moment when you realize that they're not just scientists oblivious to the concerns of the native population, but genuinely trying to help.)
Aw, the poor Shandians' faces when they realize the truth.
Norland's ship sets sail for Mariejois and home, in the North Blue.
(Does that mean you can enter or leave the Grand Line via Mariejois? Didn't realize that, although I suppose it makes sense, since it's on the opposite end from Reverse Mountain.)
Calgara races to the shore to say goodbye, while the villagers hurry to the bell-tower to ring the bell to bid Norland farewell.
Calgara calls out to Norland, telling him to come again anytime. They'll be waiting, and ringing the bell to let him know, "We're still here."
The moment when Norland crumples and says "It's ok to come back…?" is what really makes me cry. ;__; Like I haven't been crying for the last chapter and a half.
They wave goodbye, swearing that one day they'll meet again.
292
The "storybook" tells how once upon a time, there was a man named Norland who told fantastic stories. Everyone loved his stories, even though they weren't sure if they were true or not.
One day, he returned telling tales of a great city of gold.
(I don't like that king. I'm sorry for what happened to Norland, but part of me is glad that king never found his gold.)
Haha, the palace looks kind of like the "front" that Cricket put on his half-of-a-house on Jaya. Cricket has a black sense of humor.
Five years later, the king tells Norland that they've finally received permission from Mariejois to enter the Grand Line.
(Mariejois is in charge of telling people when they can go to the Grand Line? Is this a reflection of how things used to be 400 years ago, or a reflection of how things work normally in the North Blue?)
The king insists on leaving Norland's old crew behind and staffing the expedition with his own men. (Your mistake, sucker.)
They have a miserable journey, thanks to the inadequate training of the king's soldiers.
When at last they arrive in November 1127, nothing remains of the city of Shandora but a broken coast.
Six months later, on the execution platform, Norland is allowed to give an account of his own defense. He still insists that the city of gold exists.
Some nobody from nowhere is dragged out to "testify" that he was a member of Norland's crew, and that Norland is lying.
Norland's real crew is outraged, but no one listens to them.
(I'm glad his men never abandoned him! I hope they didn't get executed, too.)
Norland's last thought is to pray that Calgara and his people are safe.
One year before Norland's return, the Shandians were enjoying an ordinary day on the island.
Seto accompanies Calgara on his daily journey to ring the bell. The snake they named "Nora" (Nola?) has by now settled in and made the ruins its home.
(Aw, they named it after Norland, didn't they? In Japanese: ノーランド.)
Suddenly the island is shaken by an enormous earthquake, and the land separates and begins to lift.
(I really like the perspective shot where you can see the shape of the Jaya that remained over the edge of the land mass that is flying into the sky.)
High in the sky, the land mass is pierced on an enormous beanstalk. The bell-tower detaches and flies up into the air.
Everyone on Skypiea can hear the beautiful sound of the bell tolling.
Distant perspective shot of Upper Yard with two much smaller masses higher up on the beanstalk.
Ugh, nasty Kamisama, grabbing all the Vearth for himself. (He looks a lot like Yama, the big jerk.)
As the wounded Shandians are picking themselves up, Kami and his forces arrive to drive them out. They fight back, but in vain (the warriors are struggling just to breath in the upper atmosphere).
Norland's tear-stained prison diary. ;_;
As they fight, Calgara wonders what will happen if Norland returns and finds them gone. He vows to send the message - "We're still here."
He has so much he wants to tell his friend. How well the plants Norland gave them grew. How Seto married his daughter.
Calgara's war cry: "Light the flame of Shandora!"
*digs out another box of tissues*
293
Still in Wiper's flashback to his childhood, Wiper remembers how the village elder told him that Calgara was desperate to ring the bell, just once. He believed that if he could only ring the bell, Norland would be able to hear him.
But the bell never rang.
Later, from a ship that came to them from the North Blue, they learned the truth - how their great benefactor was executed as a liar. Even under threat of death, he refused to deny the existence of their city, Shandora.
(Is this a reference to the St. Briss two hundred years later? I assumed it was, but the Japanese is vague - 船乗りによって.)
Calgara had long since died in battle, fighting to the last to tell his friend where they were. It was his greatest regret.
Young Wiper wonders if maybe, if they found the bell, if they could still ring it, whether it might still reach Norland.
Perhaps, says the chief. They are close to heaven, after all.
Back amid the crumbling ruins of Upper Yard, Wiper is still hurling defiance at Enel's departing ship while the others are pleading with him to flee.
(I feel for Usopp: "You are relentless!" i.e. "Give it a rest!")
In the ark above, Enel is gloating over the prospect of total victory.
(Luffy, please KILL HIM NOW.)
He drops a thunderbolt on the Shandians' hidden cloud village, congratulating them on their happy return to the blue sea of their birth.
The abandoned village explodes, leaving only the statue of Calgara standing. The Shandians watch sadly from their fleeing ships.
McKinley, trying to evacuate the last of the people of Angel Island, hopes that Conis is all right. They owe their lives to her warning.
A burst of fire explodes right on top of him.
(Sniff… no one dies in One Piece, right? Right? McKinley's not dead, right?)
Conis is still waiting on the Merry.
Enel gloats over the frantic motions of the "angels," like a column of ants. He blasts a hole in the white-white sea, through which some of the fleeing ships tumble.
High above, he blasts what's left of the God's "shrine."
(I like the perspective in which you can see clearly the half-skull shape of Upper Yard from above.)
Then he begins to destroy the remains of Shandora below. (Get out of there, Nora! There's still time!)
The only thing Enel still wants is the bell-tower.
Robin and Wiper are discussing the golden bell. She believes that the only place it can be is somewhere in the vicinity of the very top of the great beanstalk.
Enel senses the presence of two "voices" (Luffy and Nami).
Luffy is determined not to let Enel have that golden bell.
294
When Luffy is almost high enough up the stalk to reach Enel, Enel blasts the stalk. Luffy falls, but manages to catch himself.
Wiper wants to climb the stalk to reach the bell, impossible though it is in his condition. (So poignant, him thinking that the bell his ancestor so longed to find is right there above his head.)
Nami catches up with Luffy on the level where the ruined shrine was.
The cloud above Angel Island is changing shape, forming itself into a ball.
As the ball drops, it forces Angel Island down into the clouds and destroys it completely. Nothing remains but a great hole in the white-white sea.
Luffy tells Nami he can't leave yet - he still has business with Enel.
When he starts talking about the golden bell, Nami says life is more important than gold. (Yay, Nami!)
What Luffy is obsessed with is not the gold itself, but proving that the golden city exists. He's determined to prove that Diamond-head Ossan's ancestor was no liar.
If he can ring the bell, he's sure that Cricket and the others will be able to hear him. He won't let Enel take that away.
295
Aw, flashback to Luffy giggling to himself in the woods because he thought of "something good." (We saw part of this conversation before - he's with Zoro and Robin and Chopper, before they got split up.) He's been plotting to ring the bell all this time.
I kind of love that Luffy's crazy idea is the same as little Wiper's crazy idea. It makes me like Wiper more.
Down below, Robin has just finished explaining Luffy's plan to ring the bell to Wiper and the others. They know he won't come back even if Nami asks him, not until he beats Enel (since what he wants is also what Enel wants).
The terrified refugees realize that they can't escape, since the route down to the White Sea was vaporized along with Angel Island. All they can do is wait helplessly to be eliminated.
Enel finally discovers the bell tower, high in the clouds.
Nami drops a message written on a giant leaf: "Fell the trunk to the west."
She refuses to flee, because Luffy can't control the waver without her help. He needs her to take him to where Enel is.
Zoro has figured out the plan: chop down the beanstalk so that the top falls near the ship, and escape along the body of the stalk.
LOL, Zoro knows there's no changing Luffy's mind, so he's on board with the "chop down the giant beanstalk" plan. (A variation on Sherlock Holmes' "the impossible, no matter how improbable, must be the truth": "When all else fails, do the impossible.")
He trusts Luffy and Nami to reach Enel before Enel can carry out his plan to destroy Skypiea.