Warship Island Arc

The Warship Island arc, sometimes referred to as the Apis arc, is a story arc in the fictional anime One Piece. It is the first story arc of the series not to be based on any content from the manga by Eiichirō Oda. It is followed by the Laboon arc in the anime. It was left out of the American dub.

Episodes 54-61 (N/A)

Summary
This arc takes place just after Luffy receives his bounty of 30,000,000 Beli at the end of the East Blue Saga, and before the Straw Hat Pirates enter the Grand Line.

The Straw Hats find a young girl named Apis floating in the ocean. She has a Devil Fruit ability that allows her to talk to animals, and she's used it to befriend a dying Sennenryu, a type of dragon species thought to be extinct. She wants to return this Sennenryu to his homeland, but they run into two problems:
 * A Marine fleet is after the dragon also, because it can be used to make a powerful, and valuable, medicine. Their commander (Commodore Nelson), has hired the mercenary Erik the Whirlwind (A Devil Fruit user with claws so sharp, that he can cut the air) to help him get the Sennenryu, but Erik may have his own agenda.
 * They don't know where the Sennenryu's homeland is.

This arc chronicles the Straw Hats' efforts to return the Sennenryu to his home, make Apis happy, and stay out of Erik's way.

Scenes Fitting With the Manga
Despite the Filler status of the arc, the anime manages to incorporate some parts from the manga into it. Most notably the crew accidently sailing into the Calm Belt. In the manga after finding themselves on a Sea King's nose it sneezes them back into onto the main course, the crew nearly lose Usopp during the flight but Luffy catches him. In the anime the scene is reversed and Apis is the one who nearly falls off after the sea kings reveal themselves. After Luffy catches her, he swings Apis into the sea king's (the one the ships on) nose allowing her to pluck a nosehair. Causing it to sneeze and the crew to fly back into safe seas. Also the crew entering Reverse Mountain is incorporated at the end of the arc in which Erik comes back at the last minute to try and take his revenge on the crew as they go up the slope. Nami however trips him off the railing of the ship and knock him into the water.

Controversy and Plot Holes
While filler is often hated by fans, many have mixed feelings of enjoyment and dislike about this particular arc. However, even with this distinction the Apis arc manages to create multiple plotholes that come to light later:
 * When the Straw Hats find themselves surrounded by a Marine Blockade connected by steel-chains, Roronoa Zoro says that he can "cut anything" and proceeds to slice through the steel chains. However, later in the canon Arabasta arc, Zoro reveals he cannot cut through steel. This plothole greatly reduces the value of this arc in the eyes of many fans, but there are those who enjoy it simply for what it is.
 * Another plot-hole is revealed during the Thriller Bark arc. Zoro at one points out to Ryuuma that he does not believe in dragons, a line that doesn't make sense after seeing Ryuji

In the English dub of the anime, produced by 4Kids Entertainment, these episodes were cut completely from the series. No explanation was given, and nothing (other than their irrelevance to the main plot of the series) would seem to be just cause for dropping them from the show entirely. Since their content is much more "kid-friendly" than the rest of the series, many fans actually expected 4Kids to heavily promote the arc, but the exact opposite happened. The precise reason for their deletion from the run of the English-dubbed anime remains unknown.

54. Foreboding of a New Adventure! The Puzzling Girl, Apis

55. The Holy Beast! Apis' Secret and the Legendary Island

56. Erik's Raid! Great Escape from Gunkan Island!

57. Lone Island in a Distant Sea! The Legendary Lost Island

58. Duel in the Ruins! Strained Zoro vs Erik

59. Luffy, Completely Surrounded! Admiral Nelson's Secret Plan

60. Those Who Soar in the Open Skies! Revival of the 1000 Year Legend

61. Angry Finale! Cross the Red Line! (Half filler)

Trivia



 * Like other fillers,the Warship Island arc received an own manga adaption in the form of a "novel".