Product: One Piece: Season Two, Seventh Voyage (2010)
Rating: 3.0
Many Mini-Adventures
After their hard fight to win back the kingdom of Alabasta from Crocodile and the Baroque Works, the Straw Hat Pirates have earned a well deserved rest. Apparently Eichiro Oda, the creator of the One Piece manga, needed a rest after drawing the Alabasta arc as what we have here is 13 episodes of anime-only filler. Not that these are terrible episodes, but those who were looking for the earth shattering action of the previous volume won't find it here. These episodes were the last gasp of the much maligned 4Kids dub of One Piece and 7 of these episodes were skipped in that version, so those who are curious about what happened in the skipped episodes can see it here in this string of mini-adventures:*As the rest of the crew gathers food supplies on an uninhabited island, Chopper gets acquainted with newest crew member Nico Robin and reminisces about the first time his medical skills were put to the test.*Nami gets a great deal on some high quality paper from a travelling salesman and begins work on the world map that is her ultimate dream.*Usopp puts his inventing skills to work and helps a orphaned girl and her grandfather put on a fireworks display.*Luffy and Sanji briefly stow away on a Marine ship. As Luffy leads the Marines on a merry chase, Sanji subtlely helps the ship's apprentice cook to prepare a gourmet meal for visiting Marine captains.*Zoro reminisces about the time he first met his boon companions Johnny and Yosaku and battled the bandit chief Mountain Whale Dick.*The entire crew meets Zenny (who is pictured on the package), a retired money lender and hermit who has nearly given up hope of fulfilling his dream of becoming a pirate captain. Luffy and Co. help Zenny's dream to come true and drive off a corrupt Marine captain who wants to steal the treasure on Zenny's island.*The action picks up a bit in the last 5 episodes as the crew arrives in Ruluka, an island much like Miami Beach (or perhaps Bermuda) that lies near the Rainbow Mist, a mysterious cloud where many ships have been lost without a trace. A scientist on the island is trying to find his childhood friends who ventured into the mist 50 years before and Luffy volunteers to help him in his search. I won't give away much more except that the brutal mayor of Ruluka and the Marine captain and his crew who are patrolling nearby have a troubling connection with each other and with the Rainbow Mist.Next volume: A pirate's haven, treasure salvaging monkeys, a man who wants to live down the reputation of his "liar" ancestor, significant events in the larger world, and a thrilling journey to an island in the sky!