Episode Special 1

Adventure in the Ocean's Navel is the first TV Special of the One Piece anime. It was aired after Episode 52 of the anime.

As with all of the anime's TV Specials, this story is considered non-canon with the main storyline of One Piece. Chronologically, it can be placed anywhere after the Arlong arc and before the Warship Island Arc.

Short Summary
The Straw Hat Pirates stumble upon an enormous hole in the ocean, at the bottom of which lies a mysterious island known as the "Ocean's Navel". The Straw Hat Pirates resolve to find the island's treasure, which can supposedly grant any wish, but the island's inhabitants possess agendas of their own for their new guests...

Long Summary
It is another peaceful day on board the Going Merry. Nami yells at Luffy for urinating in the ocean, as it'll just contaminate the fish that are swimming. Luffy is on fishing duty, but he is using sponges for bait, which he sees them to look like hamburgers. Nami can not believe how naive Luffy is, until he catches something big, and it drags the ship backwards instead of forwards. The fishing line ends up at a rocky crater with a chest being chained to it.

Luffy is disappointed that it wasn't something to eat, but Nami is more interested in finding out what's inside the chest. She opens it only to find just a skull inside. Usopp reads the back of the skull, which engraves about a treasure that can make anyone's dream come true. It lies deep in the ocean's naval. Then a large hole begins to form near the crater they crashed into, so Usopp, Nami, and Sanji prepare themselves in a diving barrel to explore the cavity in the sea. Luffy is put in charge of the rope crank.

It is a smooth ride, for the trio in the barrel, right until Luffy gets side tracked and finds a flying message in the bottle, which he becomes disappointed that it wasn't a drink. Then the diving barrel begins to fall faster into the naval. Usopp uses the hose communicator to warn Luffy that they're in danger.

Luffy manages to get hold of the rope, and the barrel barely crashes into the surface of the naval. Usopp, Nami, and Sanji find themselves in a ship graveyard, and are greeted by a laughing bat who says he will guide them to the treasure - the treasure that Captain Joke tried to steal one decade ago. Then Nami and Usopp realized that a huge monster was after them, which terrified them. Fortunately, Sanji started fighting the monster, but he didn't manage to kill it. The monster was finally killed when the Going Merry fell on it. After that incident, Nami and Usopp decided to try to find the treasure while Sanji stayed behind because he was unable to move due to his fight with the monster.

Elsewhere, a kid, Hamu, was sending letters in bottles but he was told to stop by Meroie because even if somebody received a letter, he wouldn't go down there to save them. Despite that, Hamu refused to stop because he needed friends in order to save his village. Suddenly, their bell rang and when they opened the door they saw Zoro trying to save Luffy, who had already fainted due to his weakness to water. They are about to welcome the men but a monster attacks them. Zoro gather all his strength and stops the monster with a polearm and he later attacks the monster with it.

Then Hamu and Meroie give them food and Hamu asks them about his letters and the reason why they are there. Luffy replies that he can't read they latter and he explains that they are there because they fell while looking for a treasure, admitting that they are pirates. That made Hamu angry and disappointed because he thought that they were the friends he was waiting for. Then Hamu leaves the house and visits his mother's tomb while Luffy and Zoro ask Meroie about the village's past. She explains that captain Joke and his crew came there ten years ago and destroyed the entire village till they finally decided to go to the Mountain of God where all their wishes would come true. She also explains that Hamu's mother was killed by Joke when she tried to stop them all by herself. After her death, Meroie looks after Hamu.

She asks the men if, even though they are pirates, they will help Hamu avenge his mother and protect his village. The straw Hats replied that they will and they decided to go to the Mountain. As soon as they reached the end of the village, the monster they had encountered before attacked them. Zoro immediately started fighting the monster and he told Luffy not to fight but to go find Nami and Usopp. Meroie stayed with Zoro while Hamu run towards Luffy's location. Zoro kept fighting the monsters with rusty swords that were provided by Meroie till Sanji showed up and gave the finishing blow. Zoro was glad Sanji was there but was annoyed at Sanji's behavior towards Meroie.

Back at the top of the mountain, Luffy finally reached the top and that's when he realized Hamu was following him. Then Nami and Usopp asked him to help them and Luffy used his Gomu Gomu no Mi techniques to hold the monster till the Straw Hats have left the cave. However, Hamu could not move and Luffy explained to him that if he wants friends, he must show them his strength. Hamu then realized that they were his friends and he was not alone anymore. Luffy then started breaking the monster's legs until it died.

In the room where Joke's body is, Joke is very pleased that his body is coming back and he despises his former crew members that are standing there dead, in front of him. The Straw Hat and Hamu then go into that room but Luffy was already too tired to fight Joke so he fought Nami, Hamu and Usopp, but he easily won. Despite that, Hamu kept fighting back and Joke kept mocking him. Then Joke realized who Hamu's mother was and he showed him her death on the hands of Joke's crew. Joke told him that he is weak like his mother and they should end their fight. But Hamu declared that he was not alone anymore and suddenly he gained his mother's spirit and willpower and attacked Joke, whose hands and legs could not move since the Straw Hats were holding them. While Joke was dying he said that he wished he had so trustworthy friends.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Joke
 * Monkey D. Luffy
 * Roronoa Zoro
 * Usopp
 * Sanji
 * Nami
 * Meroie
 * Hamu

Anime Notes

 * The events of this TV Special can be viewed as taking place after either the Arlong arc or the Loguetown arc. Most likely, however, it takes place directly after the former.
 * Nami and Sanji are both part of the Straw Hat Pirates, placing it squarely after the battle at Arlong Park.
 * At one point, Luffy makes a joking reference to a "Namu-Hamu-Melon", a dish that he first heard of in Episode 44, strengthening the idea that this story takes place in close proximity to the Arlong arc.
 * Zoro is not seen with either the Wado Ichimonji or the two blades he had received at Loguetown (Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri). All of his battles are fought with spare weapons found lying around in the Ocean's Navel.
 * No references are made to Luffy's first bounty, or to entering the Grand Line.

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