Episode 396

"The Exploding Fist! Destroy the Auction" is the 396th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
The auction continues, but Saint Charlos arrives and ruins the Straw Hats' plan to buy Camie back by placing an exorbitant bid on her. The proceedings are then interrupted when Luffy and his Flying Fish crash into the Auction House, but he is restrained from rushing the stage by Hatchan, who accidentally reveals his Fish-Man nature in the process. While the nobility recoils in disgust, Charlos shoots him, gloating about obtaining a Fish-Man slave. Luffy snaps and punches Charlos in the face.

Long Summary
Saint Charlos arrives at the Human Auctioning House, glad that the auction has not ended. He kicks his slave repeatedly, blaming him for his lateness which caused him to miss most of the auction. The Straw Hat Pirates notice his arrival and overhear Charlos expressing his desire for a mermaid.

Disco introduces the next slave, Lacuba. However, the slave collapses and blood drips from him to the floor, eliciting screams from the audience. Panicky, Disco orders for the curtains to be pulled. Nami wonders what happened and Sanji explains that Lacuba bit his tongue, deciding to die instead of living as a slave. Camie is enclosed in a tank and the staffs prepare to reveal her to the crowd.

Zoro arrives at Grove 13 and is puzzled because previously he was at Grove 2. The pirates that surrounded him previously cross paths with him again. Zoro recognizes them and gives them a beating, accusing them of giving him fake directions. The pirates make the situation worst as they try to explain themselves. Luffy grabs Zoro as he flies pass and they head to Grove 1 on the flying fish.

Disco tries to cover up the accident by claiming that Lacuba had a nosebleed. Camie is brought onto stage and displayed to the crowd, causing a massive uproar. Nami gets ready to get Camie back and Charlos exclaims excitedly about the house finally selling a mermaid. Before Disco can announce the starting bid, Charlos interrupts with a bid of 500 million belly, shocking everyone into silence. Camie cannot hear anything from her tank and bangs on it, screaming for Hatchan to rescue her. Pappag and Hatchan sob sadly at the change of events. Disco asks for a higher bid while Charlos smiles smugly. Hatchan gets desperate and contemplates rescuing Camie by force before escaping to the seas. Pappag shoots down the idea, reminding Hatchan of the exploding collar. They stare angrily at the unfolding situation while Eustass Kid comments that he has seen enough and prepares to leave with his crew. Disco bangs his gavel to close the deal. Directly after that, there is a commotion as the flying fish that Luffy and Zoro is riding on crashed straight into the auction house. Luffy exclaims that they should have landed better but the rider retorts that it was Luffy himself who told him to crash into the building. Zoro is still clueless about the whole situation, believing Luffy to be headed for the Sunny and wonders where they are now. Trafalgar Law sees them and grins while Kid also recognizes Luffy. Luffy notices Camie and runs towards her. However, Hatchan grabs and tries to stop him by explaining about the collar and the Celestial Dragons, to which Luffy replies that he does not care. In his effort to stop him, Hatchan uses his other hands and reveals the fact that he is a fish-man to the crowd. The audience asks for him to be restrained and starts throwing things at him. Pappag urges Hatchan to escape while Sanji is confused by the crowd’s reaction. Nami informs them that fish-man and merfolk are actually discriminated against on Saboady Archipelago.

A shot meant for Hatchan is fired by Charlos. Luffy halts and turns while Camie looks on in horror as Hatchan collapses. Charlos jumps around, proud of the fact that he shot a fish-man. The crowd is relieved while Charlos revels in the fact that he has just gotten a slave for free. Luffy stalks towards him angrily but is stopped by Hatchan, who reminds him of the promise he made: not to touch the Celestial Dragons even if someone was shot right before him. Hatchan states that he deserves it since he did awful things in the past. He apologizes to Luffy and says that he never wanted things to turn out this way, explaining that he just wanted to make amends to Nami for his past actions. Nami is surprised at this revelation while Hatchan continues apologizing profusely. Charlos is irked by Hatchan and prepares to fire another shot. Luffy stares at him angrily and heads towards him. Pappag shouts for Luffy to stop but his words are unheeded. Charlos fires two shots, which are dodged by Luffy with ease. Within reach, Luffy punches Charlos, sending him flying.

Anime Notes

 * This is the last episode to feature the opening narration focused around Gold Roger's final words upon his execution.

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Episodi 396