Chapter 598

Chapter 598 is called "2 Years Later". It is the first chapter after the timeskip.

Cover
The colourspread is an homage to the orginal Chapter 1 colour spread of Luffy, Nami and the Red-Haired Pirates, with the other Straw Hat Pirates replacing Shanks' crew.

Short Summary
After 2 years spent trainingislands around the world, the Straw Hat Pirates finally reunite at Sabaody Archipelago, which is now much more lawless due to the relocation of Marine HQ to the New World and because of the rise of a crew of Fake Straw Hat Pirates, who are imitating the originals and recruiting members for their own crew.

Long Summary
The chapter starts with Luffy leaving Rusukaina with the help of Boa Hancock. The scene then switches to Sabaody Archipelago where the locals discussed the events that happened there two years ago including the names of Supernovas who were making a name in the New World; the main topic was about the reappearance of the Straw Hat Pirates who disappeared two years ago and have now reappeared at the archipelago, distributing flyers trying to recruit new members with the intention of strengthening their crew and embarking to the New World.

Meanwhile, Brook after two years has become a superstar singer with the Longarm Tribe as his managers, he plans to hold his last concert tour at Sabaody stating that this will be his "finest concert ever".

While on the beach Sanji (his hair parted on the opposite side and sporting a goatee) appears and was overjoyed to see real women on the shores after two years of training and bids the okamas a hasty farewell as he runs to find Nami and Robin first. At a certain bar a female with long hair in a bikini top and skinny pants talks to the bartender about the Marines changing the location of their headquarters when she witnesses the fake Straw Hat Luffy and his comrades shoot and turn away a pirate with a bounty of 55,000,000 beri; the fake Luffy then orders more ale and wants the long haired woman to come join him as well. The locals at the bar thought she would not refuse knowing that the pirate had a reputation and were all surprised when she flat out refused him not once but two times. When the fake Nami went over and tried to make the woman do as they say, a stranger who was apparently sitting beside the woman unleashed plant monsters that grabbed the fake Nami as well as causing an uproar with the Fake Straw Hats.

The man asked the woman if she would drink with him and smiled when the she smiled back and hugged him tightly stating that he has gotten manly, revealing herself as Nami and the man who was Usopp (who looked buffer than his lean build from two years ago), they made a dash for out of the bar when a thundercloud appeared and electrocuted the pirates. Nami said that she also improved and got some new technology. The Fake Luffy cursed after they left and stated to his crew to start finding the ones responsible for going against him and kill them.

At Shakky's Bar in Grove 13, Shakky and Rayleigh were present and she revealed to Sanji that Zoro arrived first followed by Franky and both were on the Thousand Sunny, with Nami arriving third but she went out shopping due to boredom, Usopp and Chopper being the fourth and the fifth then lastly him. Sanji was overjoyed with the news and wondered how much Nami has changed with Rayleigh commenting that the crew arriving together is an incredible feat. Back in the city, Robin was avoiding some suspicious men who were ordered to capture her at all costs. She was wearing a long sari-like skirt with a zipped shirt and sunglasses. Robin read the recruitment flyers of the fake Straw Hats and wondered what was going on.

Chopper meanwhile was following the fake Zoro, Sanji, and Robin who recognized him and decided to bring him back to their crew before the men who were after Robin mistook the fake for the real one and captured her, with Chopper exclaiming that the men were kidnappers. At the Marine Branch G-1 (formerly the old Marine HQ) Marineford, everyone was in chaos after hearing the reappearance of the Straw Hat Pirates on Sabaody Archipelago. They intended to summon a force to go and capture them. The scene switches back to Sabaody where the fake Luffy shot a couple whom he mistook for Usopp and Nami. The locals couldn't go against them because of their tendency to shoot anyone who gets in their way. Soon, a guy bumped into the fake Luffy and simply apologized before leaving. Angered, the fake Luffy shouted at the guy who turned and revealed himself as the real Luffy.

Chapter Notes

 * This chapter marks the beginning of the second half of One Piece.
 * This is the first chapter to take place in the year 1524.
 * For the first time since Chapter 144, Oda colored 3 pages.
 * Luffy is finally aware of Hancock's love for him, but bluntly states he has no intention of marrying her. This doesn't seem to upset her nor change her feelings towards Luffy, though.
 * Luffy has apparently learned everything Rayleigh could teach him in only a year and a half, thus possibly mastering Haki.
 * The colorspread reflects the one from Chapter 1, with Luffy and Nami in the same pose as in that spread and with the Red-Haired Pirates replaced by their own crew.
 * Tone Dials are revealed to be used to sell popular music, similar to CDs or cassette tapes.
 * Marine HQ has been moved to the New World, with G-1 now in its place.
 * It is revealed that a new generation of Supernovas has gathered once again at Sabaody. However, only two so far have been revealed: "Wet Hair" Caribou (210,000,000) & "Blood-Splatterer" Coribou (190,000,000), two brothers, both pirate captains infamous for killing Marines.
 * The Fake Straw Hat Pirates appear.
 * The Straw Hat Pirates arrive at Sabaody after two years.
 * It is revealed that Brook became a world famous soul musician and made the Longarms who captured him into his managers.
 * The Straw Hats have been away longer than they have been together as a crew.
 * This is the second time someone gives someone else the middle finger in the series. Sanji gives it to the Okama who brought him to Sabaody Archipelago. The first time was when Law gave it to Kid at the Human Auctioning House.
 * Zoro looks very much like Rayleigh when he was in the Edd War.
 * Sanji's left eye is finally seen, while his right eye is now hidden.
 * Franky has now become Battle Franky 37.
 * Brook's status as "Soul King" is yet another play on words, as soul can refer to the music genre as well as a person's spirit.
 * Previously, an older Luffy was seen in Romance Dawn, Version 1, though the age of that particular version of Luffy is unknown, Oda has apparently chosen to take Luffy's design in a different direction than that one.

Characters
3: first apparition

Attacks

 * Usopp
 * Midori Boshi: Devil (Verdure Star: Devil) (first time)

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