One Piece: Volume 78 manga review

Manga
One Piece: Volume 78 manga review
By Leroy Douresseaux
May 9, 2016 - 19:36

Viz Media
Writer(s): Eiichi Shimizu, Joe Yamazaki, Stan!
Penciller(s): Eiichiro Oda
Letterer(s): Vanessa Satone
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8584-0
$9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K., 208pp B&W, paperback
Rating: T (Teen)

One Piece Volume 78 cover image

Rated “T” for “Teen”

A kid named Monkey D. Luffy ate the enchanted “Devil Fruit” and gained the ability to stretch like rubber, but lost the ability to swim. Undeterred, Luffy set out to sea and, in time, became known as “Straw Hat” (because of his straw hat). Gradually, he enlisted a motley crew, and Luffy and company became known as the “Straw Hat pirates.” The Straw Hats sail the high seas aboard their ship, the Thousand Sunny, searching for the legendary treasure known as “One Piece.” And Luffy still wants to be the “King of the Pirates”

The Straw Hats and their erstwhile ally, Trafalgar Law (one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea), force a deal with Don Quixote Doflamingo a/k/a Joker. The Straw Hats and Trafalgar Law arrive on the island of Dressrosa, which, until recently, had been Doflamingo’s kingdom. However, he has set a trap for his enemies, and despite misinformation, Dressrosa is still Doflamingo's kingdom.

As One Piece, Vol. 78 (entitled Smile; Chapters 776 to 785) opens, Luffy ally, Kyros, defeats, Diamante, one of Doflamingo's allies. That leaves only Doflamingo, Pica & Trebol, and Bellamy the Hyena of the Don Quixote family still raising Hell. But even as his lackeys fall, one by one, the formidable Doflamingo still seams unbeatable. To defeat him, Luffy will have to unveil and amazing brand new power.

THE LOWDOWN: The One Piece manga continues to roll through the New World story line (Part 18). Since the beginning of the “Punk Hazard” story arc, One Piece has been at its best.

One Piece Volume 78 continues the race to the end of the “Dressrosa” arc. It is hard not to be impressed by One Piece creator, Eiichiro Oda. Even with this story pummeling its way to a conclusion, Oda remains as imaginative as ever. He would never give us nothing but battle manga in our battle manga. That is why we can call One Piece “the legendary pirate manga.”

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Readers looking for the ultimate pirate manga/comic book will find it in the Shonen Jump title, One Piece.

A-

Rating: A-/10