Arlong Park Arc

The Arlong Park Arc is the fifth story arc of the East Blue Saga. After Nami steals the Going Merry, Roronoa Zoro, Usopp, and later Monkey D. Luffy and Sanji (along with Johnny and Yosaku) set after her and wind up in Cocoyasi Village, Nami's hometown ruled by the tyrannical fishman Arlong. It is here that Nami's past and true motives come to light.

In Pursuit of Nami
The Arlong arc begins with the end of the Baratie Arc, starting off with Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku heading for Arlong Park in a small boat. To pass the time, Yosaku tells them about the Shichibukai and how this relates to their current destination Arlong Park. When Sanji doubts that Nami is heading there, Yosaku explains that they were able to estimate her course after he and Johnny had suspected the connection between the two before they were thrown off the Going Merry. The two had noticed that Nami had been interested in their copy of Arlong's wanted poster and her behavior quickly became suspicious when they told her that Arlong recently had become more active. Meanwhile, Nami arrives at Arlong Park in the Going Merry. Once she arrives at the park's gate, a boy confronts her, trying to fight Arlong for the death of his father. Nami slaps him however and gives him some money to make him go away. After this, they are introduced to Arlong and his crew and discover that Nami is part of Arlong's pirates.

Usopp, Zoro, and Johnny arrive at the island, but Usopp and Johnny freak out once they discover the island and, seeing that two fishmen have spotted them, abandon ship leaving Zoro (who was tied up by the two to, ironically, prevent him from fighting the fishmen) to be captured by the fishmen. Usopp and Johnny find themselves in the remains of Gosa Village with all the houses upturned. One of the fishmen from earlier spots the two and starts chasing them. Johnny manages to escape and hide while Usopp ends up getting attacked by the same boy from earlier, because he thought that Usopp is a fishman; however, a woman manages to stop him. Seeing the real fishman getting closer, Usopp readies to fight him but gets knocked out by the woman who claims it not a good idea to fight one of the fishmen.

Meanwhile, Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku continue sailing, and just as they take a break to eat, they encounter a giant sea cow monster that is attracted to their food. Luffy punches it at first prompting Sanji to reprimand him for it. But when he realizes the sea cow sees them as food, he quickly subdues it with one kick. The three then strap the boat to the sea cow and use it to tow them to the island.

Meanwhile, Usopp awakens in the woman's household who introduces herself as Nojiko. After convincing the boy to give up on his quest for vengeance, Nojiko reveals to Usopp that she is Nami's sister and the island is her hometown as well as Nami being part of Arlong's crew. Usopp then panics after he realizes what he has gotten Zoro into. Meanwhile, Zoro is brought to Arlong Park where he finds out about Nami's allegiance to Arlong. After some banter, in which Arlong proudly states that Nami is the type of person who would betray even her own family for the sake of riches (which visibly disturbs Nami), Zoro throws himself into the water to test Nami's allegiance. She saves Zoro but beats him to reassure the fishmen that she is still part of Arlong's crew.

The Navigator's Tragedy


Arlong then heads to Cocoyasi Village, where he confronts Genzo, the village sheriff, for simply collecting a new weapon. It is here that Nojiko reveals to Usopp, both of whom are watching, about the monthly fee the villagers have to pay Arlong in order to survive. Just as Arlong is about to kill Genzo, Usopp saves him, and runs as some of the fishmen come after him while the others drag Arlong off before he goes berserk. Nami arrives sometime later, but the villagers treat her coldly and leave, save for Nojiko and Genzo. The three later visit the grave site of Nami's adoptive mother, Bell-mère, where Nami reveals she's almost finished paying Arlong's fee to buy back Cocoyasi.

At Arlong Park, Zoro has busted free from the dungeon (with some help from Nami, who cut his bonds) and defeated all the fishmen. He meets the octopus fishman, Hatchan, who is oblivious of what happened at the park, and thinking of Zoro as a corrupt Marine, tows him to Cocoyasi. However, after landing, he overhears some villagers talk about Usopp's attack on the fishmen and quickly tries to rush back to the park to save him. However, it is already too late, as the fishmen have captured Usopp and threatened to kill him. Nami happens upon the scene and threatens to kill Usopp herself. Usopp tries to get away with a smoke bomb. But Nami intercepts him and stabs him with a knife before kicking him into the ocean to drown, convincing Arlong and the fishmen that she is indeed one of them, while from afar Johnny looks on in horror.

Back with Luffy's group, who have finally arrived on the island and run into Zoro, Johnny arrives and tells the group what happened to Usopp. Nami soon meets them and reminds Luffy that she just partnered up with him for the treasure. She then tells the group to take their ship back and get off the island, but Luffy refuses, causing Nami to angrily walk away. Johnny and Yosaku also split off, not wanting to be killed by the fishmen. It is at that moment, Usopp is shown to be alive and well, as Nami had stabbed her arm instead of him and he merely fainted. He comes across Luffy and the others and tells them of what really happened. Nojiko finds the four and agrees to tell them the reason behind Nami's motives. Though, Luffy and Zoro do not hear it, Sanji and Usopp (as well as an eavesdropping Johnny and Yosaku) listen to the story of Nami's past.

When Nami was younger, she and her sister Nojiko lived with their foster mother, Bell-mère. Although they were poor, they were happy, before Arlong came. Upon his arrival, he demanded that the citizens of the island pay him for their lives - 100,000 per adult, and 50,000 per child. Needless to say, Bell-mère could not pay this fee. She could only come up with 100,000. And, although the two children were hiding, she decided to sacrifice her own life so that they could live freely. Arlong agreed to Bell-mère's terms, and killed her in front of the two children. Not only that, but Arlong decided to take Nami with him, deciding her cartography skills would be useful. Later, Nojiko finds Nami at Bell-mère's grave. Nami reveals to Nojiko that she has made a deal with Arlong to buy back Cocoyasi village for 100,000,000.

Later, some Marines, led by a captain named Nezumi, land on the island. Nezumi has Genzo take him to Nami and Nojiko's household, where he accuses Nami of harboring illegal money. Nami tries to stop them, but the Marines find the money. Genzo reveals to the Marines that the money is for the repurchase of the town, and admits to a startled Nami that he and the town always knew what she was doing after she "joined" Arlong. Nami tries to prevent the Marines from taking the money. However, she fails, and Nojiko is shot in the arm when she tries to protect Nami. Nami runs back to Arlong and accuses him of sending the Marines to look for her money. However, Arlong denies it, claiming he never broke their deal and tells her that if she wants her village back, she will just need to start again from scratch. Nami runs off as he laughs.



Back in the village, Genzo rallies the villagers. He wants to attack Arlong for going back on the deal he and Nami brokered. Nami tries to halt them but their minds are set and they head for Arlong Park. A furious and upset Nami stabs herself in the arm where Arlong's tattoo is, only to be stopped by Luffy. After his interruption, Nami finally asks for Luffy's help. He places his straw hat on her and agrees. With that, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji head for Arlong Park.

Straw Hats vs. Fishmen
Johnny and Yosaku, who tried to take on Arlong and failed, stop the villagers at the gate and tell them to wait for "those guys" to show up (meaning the Straw Hat crew). When the crew arrives, Luffy breaks down the door and slugs Arlong for making Nami cry. The rest of the fishmen attack, along with Mohmoo, the sea cow from earlier. However, Luffy takes care of them by grabbing Mohmoo and spinning around like a pinwheel using his rubber powers. This leaves Arlong and his three subordinates: Hatchan, Chew, and Kuroobi the only ones left standing. The last attack, however, left Luffy's feet stuck in the ground, which Arlong notices and takes advantage of by uprooting the gravel around Luffy's legs and throwing him into the ocean, proclaiming that it is a "game" and the other Straw Hats must beat the fishmen to save Luffy. Zoro takes on Hatchan despite his wound and fever but manages to win against Hatchan's six-sword style (with some help from Johnny and Yosaku).



Sanji fights Kuroobi, almost being defeated when he goes into the water to rescue Luffy. However, seeing that Nojiko and Genzo are helping Luffy, Sanji bring Kuroobi up to dry land and defeat him. Meanwhile, Usopp fights Chew outside of Arlong Park. At first, he fakes his defeat so Chew will leave him alone. However, remembering the others fighting for Nami's sake, Usopp gains the courage to take him on and eventually beats Chew by drenching him with alcohol and lighting him on fire, then repeatedly bashing his head with his hammer until he is knocked out.

Nami arrives in the midst of the battle and sides with the villagers to fight Arlong. Luckily, Nojiko and Genzo revive Luffy and Sanji frees him of the rock on his feet to finally fight Arlong one on one. A rough battle ensues as Luffy and Arlong trade blows around the park until Arlong forces Luffy to escape into a room at the top of the tower where Arlong reveals that it is where Nami slaved on making maps for him. When Arlong pronounced that Luffy cannot use Nami the way he can, that proves to be the turning point as Luffy begins to destroy the room that has brought

Nami grief through the years (with Nami thanking him as she watches furniture she worked on fall from the tower). Arlong tries to stop him with a final attack but Luffy is takes the attack and smashes Arlong through the tower, finally beating him. The impact also destroys the park in the process.

The Navigator's Last Laugh
At first everyone believes Luffy is dead, but he emerges from the wreckage yelling "NAMI, YOU ARE MY FRIEND!!" to which she wholeheartedly agrees. The village then celebrates their freedom, though it is almost spoiled by Nezumi who tries to claim Arlong's money for himself. Some swift beatings from Nami and the rest of the Straw Hats convince him otherwise. Nezumi retreats, telling Luffy he will make him pay. He reports Luffy's victory at his Marines base. As a result, the Marines place a 30,000,000 bounty on Luffy's head.

In the aftermath, the village has a party celebrating their heroes. Luffy finds Genzo at Bellemere's grave site, where Genzo makes Luffy promise he will not take Nami's smile or else he will hunt him and kill him himself. Also, Nami gets a new tattoo of a tangerine and a pinwheel merged together to replace her Arlong one. The next day, Johnny and Yosaku leave the Straw Hats since they are bounty hunters and it would not look good to be traveling with pirates, thus bidding them farewell. As the crew gets ready to leave, they realize Nami has not arrived yet. Nami then yells for them to cast off as she runs for the docks. The confused villagers try to stop her so they can say goodbye but she runs past them and jumps onto the ship. She pulls up her shirt to reveal that she stole all the villager's wallets as she ran past causing all of them to yell "YOU LITTLE BRAT". Despite their disbelief and anger, they wave goodbye to her and the Straw Hats as they leave the island. As she watches them go, Nojiko realizes Genzo does not have on the pinwheel. Genzo wore the pinwheel on his hat to make Nami laugh when she was a baby, and to make her feel better as she grew up. When asked, Genzo tells Nojiko that he does not need it anymore. It then goes to reveal the pinwheel on Bellemere's grave as the Going Merry sails off to the Grand Line.

Anime and Manga Differences

 * In the anime, two flashback scenes were added that showed some of the good times Nami had with the Straw Hat Pirates, one where Luffy, Nami, and Usopp were playing cards, and another when the Going Merry sprung a leak.
 * In the manga, Nojiko was shot by three marines ordered by Nezumi. However, in the anime, Nezumi himself shot Nojiko; he intended to hit Nami, but Nojiko got in the way.
 * In the anime, Luffy encounters Chew, Kuroobi, and Hatchan while on a walk who are examining the remains of a boat that recently crashed around Cocoyasi village. Hatchan happily sends Luffy on his way after he answers a few questions, though Kuroobi is surprised that Luffy was not intimidated by their appearance. This encounter would later cause Hatchan to recognize Luffy after he went to face Arlong.
 * In the manga, Bell-mère is shot in the head, however, this is edited in the anime, and she was shot in the chest.
 * In the manga, after Zoro healed over the first time from his injuries, Hatchan attempted to finish him by punching down a pillar and let it fall on the swordsman, though instead it would fall on Hatchan. He would then later burst out of the rubble with the swords. In the anime this did not happen, instead Hatchan showed off his skill in Rokutoryu to whip up a small twister.

4Kids English Dub Edits
Most of the arc was cut for either length of time or violence (such as Nami stabbing her arm). Near the final battle with Arlong, many major cuts took place, quickly jumping to the Loguetown Arc without much reason. Here are the major cuts from the U.S. dub.


 * Arlong's racism against humans is kept, but in the dub, he claims humans stink, calling them "P.U.mans".
 * Half of Nami's past is shown. One of the main changes was that instead of killing Bell-mère in front of Nami, Arlong is said to have taken Bell-mère as a slave and kept her in a dungeon. She however, is never mentioned again, implying either that she died in the time past, or that she is simply forgotten by Nami.
 * The fight at the top of Arlong Park tower where Luffy destroys most of the room in a fit of rage.
 * Redoing the footage for many of the battles which includes merging Zoro and Sanji's fights against Hachi and Kuroobi into a single episode
 * Most of the fight between Usopp and Chew was removed to avoid referencing Usopp's bluff of using ketchup to pretend he's bleeding to death. The alcohol Usopp threw at Chew was changed to oil, but strangely, Usopp setting Chew on fire was not changed.
 * An entire episode showing the aftermath of the battle and the villagers celebrating their freedom from the fishmen was cut. Plus Nami "talking" with Bell-mère about becoming a pirate and leaving her hometown.
 * The two episodes showing how Buggy reclaimed his body parts and his crew were also cut.

Story Impact

 * Nami permanently joins as the Straw Hat navigator, making them ready to reach the Grand Line. It also explains her unusual behavior in the previous arcs (her hatred of pirates in the Buggy arc, and one of her warnings to Zoro at the Baratie when she manipulates Sanji).


 * The first non-human race of the series is presented with the fishmen. The fishmen's racism against humans seems to stem from their own discrimination from past treatment as it is revealed in the Sabaody Archipelago, Amazon Lily, and Fishman Island arcs. Jinbe's name is also revealed, although he will not appear until the Impel Down arc (i.e. 459 chapters after being mentioned).


 * Some time after this story arc, prior to the Whitebeard War saga, Hatchan would star in the manga mini-arc Hatchan's Sea-Floor Stroll, which would reveal how he escaped from the Marines and how he opened his takoyaki stand which the Straw Hats visit in the Sabaody Archipelago arc. This manga mini-arc also introduced several characters that are included in the Sabaody Archipelago arc, including the Macro Pirates, and their grudge against Hatchan.


 * In addition to mentioning Jinbe, Yosaku also reveals the existence of a group of 7 pirates hired by the government: the Shichibukai. Also, because of Yosaku's information, Sanji is able to tell who Jinbe is from the newspaper coverage after the Battle of Marineford, and is able to recognize him 2 years later during the Fishman Island arc.


 * Nezumi's report, as well as Luffy's defeat of Buggy and Don Krieg would later give Luffy his first bounty.


 * This arc introduces Mohmoo who gets hurt from Luffy and Sanji's attacks and will later fall under the command of the Caribou Pirates during his next appearance into the far future in the Fishman Island Arc (i.e. 522 chapters after last appearance). Also, after defeating the Arlong Pirates, the Straw Hat Pirates eventually gain a bad reputation amongst the New Fishman Pirates.


 * Hatchan states that he is the second best swordman on fishman island, forshadowing the appearance of Hyouzou later on in the series.

Trivia

 * When Yosaku speaks of the Shichibukai, seven silhouettes are shown of seven lean figures with swords. Though it is arguable that Mihawk fits his, the others are drastically different in shape and height.
 * A two-hours remake of the arc is been announced under the name of Episode of Nami: Kōkaishi no Namida to Nakama no Kizuna (Episode of Nami: The tears of the navigator and the friendship tie). It'll be on air the 25th August 2012.