Orange Town Arc

The Orange Town Arc, also referred to as the Buggy the Clown Arc, is the second story arc in the East Blue Saga of the manga and anime One Piece. The arc finds Monkey D. Luffy and Roronoa Zoro unwittingly crossing paths and butting heads with the pirate clown Buggy and his crew, as well as meeting their future navigator, Nami.

The Thief and the Red-Nosed Pirate
The arc begins with Luffy and Zoro out at sea, lost and starving, due to the fact that neither of them have any sense of direction. Luffy spots a bird in the air and uses his rubber powers to try and catch it so that they can eat it. However, the bird turns out to be much larger than he thought and flies off with Luffy in its mouth. Zoro rows after him but comes across three pirates struggling in the ocean. They jump into Zoro's boat as he passes them (since he cannot stop) and then try to steal the boat from Zoro, only to get beaten up for it. The pirates then apologize for their actions, recognizing Zoro as the famous pirate hunter, and explain to him how their situation came about. They were returning from successfully plundering a ship when they came across a small boat drifting the ocean with a female passenger on board. She asked for some food and water and offered a treasure chest as payment. The greedy pirates decided to check the chest first, only to find it empty and that the girl had stolen their boat. A sudden maelstrom appeared and sunk the small boat along with the pirates, while the girl waved goodbye as she rode off with their boat.



Back in the present, the pirates growl about getting revenge and worry about what their captain Buggy will do to them if they come back empty-handed, while Zoro wonders who Buggy is. Meanwhile, in a small village named Orange Town, a pirate ship designed like a carousel is docked near the town. One of the pirates on the ship spots Luffy and the bird, alerting the captain, who orders him to shoot it down. In town, the same girl who had robbed the pirates is running away from three more angry pirates, who are yelling at her to return a map of the Grand Line she stole. An explosion halts the chase for a moment, and something crashes in the middle of the four. Luffy emerges from the smoke unharmed, wondering what shot at him. The girl suddenly gets an idea and calls Luffy "boss", asking him to take care of the pirates. The pirates crowd around Luffy, one them striking him on the head and knocking off his straw hat. This angers Luffy, and he easily defeats all three. The girl, who was watching, is impressed by his abilities and introduces herself as Nami, a thief who specializes in robbing pirates.

Nami at first tries to form a partnership with Luffy, but when she finds out he is a pirate, she switches to the idea to pretend to turn Luffy in to Buggy as her former boss. She ties up Luffy and gives him to Buggy, who locks him in a cage. Later, Nami pretends to join Buggy's crew so she can steal his gold. This works well, until Buggy orders her to kill Luffy to prove her loyalty. Nami's conscience gets the best of her, and she is compelled to save Luffy. Fortunately, Zoro shows up in time to save them both and fights Buggy. He cuts Buggy into pieces, marveling at how easily he was defeated. However, when he turns around, he finds that Buggy's hand has managed to detach itself, stabbing Zoro in his midsection. Buggy then reveals he has eaten a Devil Fruit giving him the power to detach his body parts, separating into sections, rendering him invulnerable against sharp objects such as swords. However, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami manage to escape by firing Buggy's cannon at Buggy and his crew.

The Town's Last Citizen: Boodle the Mayor


Escaping into the empty town, the three happen upon a dog, Chouchou, and the mayor of Orange Town, Boodle, who explains the dog's situation of guarding his master's pet shop, despite knowing his master is dead. The talk is interrupted by the arrival of Buggy's first mate, Mohji, and his pet lion, Richie. Nami and Boodle escape (Zoro is recovering from his wound in the Mayor's house), but Luffy is still stuck in the cage Buggy imprisoned him in when Nami turned him in.

Richie attacks Luffy, breaking the cage and sending Luffy flying through a house. Noticing the pet store, he then turns his attention toward it. Chouchou defends it to the best of his ability, but is no match for the lion. When Luffy comes back into the area, he sees the pet shop burned to the ground and the dog heartbroken over it. Luffy then confronts Mohji and Richie and defeats both easily, then takes the last box of dog food left from the store and gives it to Chouchou.

Buggy's Flashy Finale: The Crew Departs


Boodle, inspired by Luffy's courage, goes to confront Buggy, but is almost choked to death. Luckily, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami arrive and save him, then knock him out to make sure he does not get in the way. Zoro fights with Cabaji, Buggy's second mate and swordsman, and despite his wounds, defeats him.

Luffy finally takes on Buggy while Nami sneaks off to steal Buggy's treasure. During the fight, Buggy reveals that he is Shanks' acquaintance, as well as how he gained his powers and how he holds a grudge against him. He then sets off after Nami when he spots her taking his loot, but Luffy saves her. As Buggy separates his body parts again, preparing for another attack on Luffy, Nami steals some of them, tying the stolen body parts together. Buggy is left with just his hands, feet and head, vulnerable for Luffy to send him flying. Nami gives Luffy the map of the Grand Line as she thanks him and agrees to partner up with him for the time being.



As the trio starts to relax, the townspeople come back into the town, and, upon seeing their mayor knocked out, demand answers. Luffy replies that the three are pirates, and the townspeople chase them out of town, though the three manage to lose them thanks to Chouchou's intervention.

Boodle wakes up and sets after them himself just as Luffy, Zoro, and Nami leave the island on two small boats, thanking the three from the dock as they sail off. To Nami's surprise, Luffy had deliberately left one of her treasure bags behind that was worth 500,000 to help the people of Orange Town rebuild their homes. She threatens Luffy never to do that again. With that, the three pirates sail off to continue their journey to the Grand Line.

Anime and Manga Differences

 * In the manga, after Luffy and Nami's encounter, while they are talking, Nami mentions that she wants to get 100,000,000 to buy a certain village. In the anime, she mentions her goal to get 100,000,000, though she does not mention why.
 * In the manga, after Zoro picks up three of Buggy's henchman in his boat while he's chasing after Luffy, the three mention in a flashback that a pretty young girl (Nami) tricked them into letting her on their boat, allowing her to steal their boat. In the anime, the theft of the pirate's boat takes place before Luffy is dragged off by the giant bird, and Zoro picks up the three Buggy pirates while he is trying to keep up with the bird to save Luffy. Also, the three Buggy pirates explaining the theft of their boat to Zoro is cut.
 * In the manga, one of Buggy's crew members accidentally says something about his nose. Out of rage, Buggy holds him up with his detached hand (though the hand isn't shown as to hide Buggy's power until it is revealed) and fires a special Buggy Ball at him, killing him. In the anime, Buggy spares that crew member and lets him go instead.
 * In the manga, Nami is revealed to be a strong drinker, as she is confident enough to believe that she can out-drink the Buggy Pirates.
 * When Luffy first meets Chouchou, in the manga he pokes Chouchou directly in the eyes, while in the anime he pokes Chouchou on the forehead instead.
 * In the manga, before passing out, Mohji tries to say that Luffy is a rubber man but could not say the words completely, causing Buggy to get the wrong idea of what Luffy did to Mohji to win the fight. Buggy later throws Mohji for not properly informing him that Luffy had the power of a Devil Fruit, but in the anime, Mohji tries to tell Buggy that Luffy had eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi but could only say the word Gomu before passing out. Also in the anime, instead of Buggy being the one who throws Mohji, Cabaji is the one who throws Mohji instead, after Mohji gets angry at him for his treatment of Richie.
 * The place where the Mayor of Orange Town confronts Buggy is where Cabaji actually makes his first appearance in the manga, while in the anime, he first reveals himself after Luffy deflects the Buggy Ball back at the pirates.
 * When Buggy is choking the mayor, in the manga, Mayor Boodle attacks the hand that is choking him, despite it causing more damage to himself, while in the anime, Mayor Boodle is completely helpless and Luffy has to save him.
 * In the manga, after Zoro mentions that he is tired of having Cabaji attacking his wound, Zoro deliberately cuts himself with his sword to show him that he can fight with a handicap. In the anime, Zoro lets Cabaji cut him instead by standing still to take the blow.
 * In the manga, after leaving Luffy to go after Buggy's treasure, Nami is able to steal Buggy's map of the Grand Line and his treasure offscreen. In the anime, Nami heads to an underground cellar where she finds one of Buggy's men in a drunken stupor and she manages to manipulate him so that she can knock him out and get into the treasure room and steal everything.

4Kids Edits

 * The unnamed black member of the Buggy Pirates's skin is changed to white (due to his seemingly offensive design).
 * Luffy kicking Buggy in the groin is changed to him kicking Buggy in the shin.

Story Impact

 * This arc introduces two major characters: Nami, who will become the Straw Hats' navigator, and Buggy, a former crewmate of Shanks. Buggy's flashback is of particular importance, as it is later revealed that he and Shanks were part of the Roger Pirates, and that the man who punches them during their argument was the crew's first mate, Silvers Rayleigh. Buggy being part of the Pirate King's crew will help him become a leader of the Impel Down escapees before the Marineford Arc.
 * This arc introduces the first Devil Fruit user Luffy meets: Buggy.
 * Buggy being defeated and flying away would start the mini-arc Buggy's Crew: After the Battle!
 * It is the second time that Luffy becomes recognized by the authorities. After defeating Buggy, the Marines take Luffy's actions into account before issuing a bounty. It would not be until after the battle in the Arlong Park Arc that Luffy would receive his first bounty.

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