One Piece Volume 17: Hiriluk's Cherry Blossoms by Eiichiro Oda

The fight at the castle on Drum Island continues, and the former King of Drum Island, Wapol, wants his castle back. As Luffy mocks them, Wapol becomes incensed and vows to destroy the Straw Hat Pirate Gang.

As Luffy goes for warm clothes, Tony Tony Chopper, the blue-nosed reindeer, asks Sanji about Luffy. Sanji tells him that Luffy is a monster, a rubber man, and Tony Tony Chopper, who also thinks of himself as a monster, is inspired to fight Hiriluk in the name of Luffy and Tony Tony's mentor, Dr. Hiriluk. But one of Wapol's men fires hairballs at Sanji that stick to him like glue. Even Tony Tony can't pull them off, but before Kuromarimo can do so, Luffy comes back and Sanji fires him at Wapol. Wapol's men come to his aid, but Wapol is even more angry now. He decides to unleash the power of the Munch Munch Factory.

What is the power of the Munch Munch Factory? Simple. Anything Wapol can eat or consume, he can make his body into. And as he has eaten cannons, a bomb and a house today, he turns himself house-shaped, with cannons for arms. He then eats his men and combines them into one, Cheesmarimo! He then fires on the pirate flag flying from the top of the castle, saying it is undignified and ruins the look of the castle. But Luffy won't let him get away with defiling the pirate flag, and the battle is joined.

Meanwhile, back in the village, Dalton's life is saved by an army of doctors formerly imprisoned on Wapol's ship. Usopp agrees to carry Dalton to the castle on his back, but he's too weak, so Zolo carries him instead. Meanwhile, Wapol tells Tony Tony that he's a freak who has no friends, but Luffy disagrees. *He* is Tony Tony's friend. Wapol fires on Luffy, but since Luffy is made of rubber, he's only dinged a little.

Tony Tony eats a rumble ball. As a Devil fruit eater himself, he is normally limited to three changes in form. With the aid of the rumble balls, however, he has seven, and he takes down Chessmarimo in only three minutes, as long as the rumble ball lasts. In the ensuing chaos, however, Wapol has gotten inside the castle, where Nami is recovering from her fever.

Luffy follows him, and an enormous fight ensues that ends with Luffy Gum Gum Bazookaing Wapol so far and fast across the sky that he resembles no more than a speck. Then the others arrive at the castle, and when Usopp sees Tony Tony, he thinks the blue-nosed reindeer is a monster, so Tony Tony hides and won't come out despite Luffy doing his best to recruit Tony Tony. Finally, as they are getting ready to leave, Tony Tony approaches Dr. Kureha, and says he made his decision- he is going with them to be a pirate. But Dr. Kureha refuses to let him go, which only makes Tony Tony more determined. Eventually, he flees the castle in reindeer form, and brings the others down the mountain on his sleigh.

Then it turns out that Dr. Kureha only drove him off because she hates sentimental goodbyes. As a farewell to the pirates, she shoots a special powder into the air that will turn the snowflakes pink, making them look like cherry blossom petals. As the pirates sail away, they are treated to the beautiful sight, and Luffy throws a party to welcome Tony Tony to the crew. But one of the doctor's men reveals that Luffy is being searched for by a man in black named Ace, and that if Luffy wanted to see him, he should go to Alabasta in ten days, and the man, whose name is Ace, will be waiting for him.

Meanwhile, in Nanohana, Sir Crocodile, one of the seven lords of the sea and the leader of Baroque works, saves Alabasta from another pirate gang set to plunder. Though Sir Crocodile is really a pirate himself, he masquerades as Lord who hates pirates and fights them, gaining the people's love. But he is also Mr. Zero, who is the president of Baroque works, and his vice-president is his associate, Mrs. All Sunday. He has also indebted the king, Nefeltari Cobra, Princess Vivi's father and the King of Alabasta, to him. And since the goal of Baroque Works is the takeover of Alabasta, soon all the agents will be coming together. Luffy wants to fight him, so they make for Alabasta as quickly as they can.

I like this series. It's fluff, but it's *entertaining* fluff. You can never take Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates too seriously, even in the middle of a fight or because of their sad backgrounds. Luffy spends a lot of his time acting like an idiot and indulging in the favorite pasttime of many comedic manga characters: eating and drinking. Even the battle scenes aren't very intense because of the very comedic-ness of the saga.

But it does make me smile and chuckle, so I will continue to read it... it's just not worth buying the books at $10 a pop. I'll simply read it from my library, for free. If you like comedic manga with an overarching storyline and aren't satisfied by one page gags, this might be your speed. Liking pirates is a plus, although it helps to forget that pirates generally preyed on the helpless, as Luffy's targets seem to be other pirates, most often. In fact, to read this book, it helps to discard a lot of your previous ideas about pirates, but the resulting laughter is well worth the trouble.