Volume 61

Volume 61 is "ROMANCE DAWN for the new world".

Cover and Volume Illustration
The colored cover has a pastel blue background. The One Piece logo is colored in a blue gradient, red, and maroon. The author's name is printed in blue.

On the front, the Straw Hat Pirates are all on the deck of Thousand Sunny, and the crew sails out to sea while celebrating and being surrounded by seagulls. In the upper left corner, Franky holds a barrel of cola while Sanji carries a bottle of alcohol and two glasses on a serving tray. On the lower side, Chopper and Nami watch Luffy jumping up into the air, and Usopp joins Zoro holding bottles. On the right side, Brook is playing his instrument and Robin also holds a smaller bottle.

On the spine, Luffy is featured, and the skull on the spine is colored orange.

For the volume illustration on page 3, Luffy stands in his New World outfit with a confident look as he cracks his knuckles.

Author's Notes
(Translator's note: These can all be considered as puns in the Japanese language.


 * One and only to Wun and onwy (唯一無二 to 唯一むにっ♡, both pronounced yuiitsumuni) literal translation is "One and only to One and squish♡"
 * Monument to Monyu♡ment (モニュメント to もにゅっ♡メント) could also be translated as monument to "squeeze with a guy"
 * No breaks the entire year to No breakies the entire yearrrrr♡ (年中無休 to 年中むきゅ〜っ♡, both pronounced nennjuumukyuu) literal translation is "No breaks the entire year to sqeeze hug all year~♡"
 * Mugi yu to Mugyuuuuuuuuuu♡ (麦湯 to むぎゅ〜〜っ♡) literal translation is "Roasted barley tea to Squeeeeeeeeeze~♡"

''Text in image says "Boss, please don't try to stop me!!! I... Even if w'both end up taking e'chother out, I'll make sure to thrust this shank into his abdomen with a 'squish♡'..." [Read in a gangster accent])''

Chapters

 * 595. The Pledge (宣誓): The whereabouts of the Eleven Supernovas are revealed, including Jewelry Bonney who was defeated by Blackbeard. Meanwhile Sanji and Chopper decide to remain in their present locations to train.
 * 596. SPECTRUM: Nami, Robin, Brook, Franky, and Usopp decide to work in their various environments in order to become better and stronger to help Luffy.
 * 597. 3D 2Y (3 2): Zoro had defeated all the Humandrills in the island but returns to the castle and begs Mihawk to train him. He also revealed Luffy's message to his fellow crew members: To meet in 2 years. Luffy also started training with Rayleigh in Rusukaina Island.
 * 598. 2 Years Later (2年後): After two years, the Straw Hats return to the Sabaody Archipelago. They encounter a crew who imitates them and is recruiting more members for their own crew.
 * 599. Nine Pirates (九人の海賊): All of the Straw Hats arrive at Sabaody and begin to meet up at the Thousand Sunny. Some of the crew members demonstrated their new abilities.
 * 600. Island of New Beginnings (再出発の島): The Straw Hats have finally gathered together, except Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Brook, while the Marines prepare to take down the Fake Straw Hats.
 * 601. ROMANCE DAWN for the new world - The Dawn of an Adventure into the New World (―新しい世界への冒険の夜明け―): The Marines arrive in Grove 46. Sentomaru and his Pacifistas came to arrest the pirates. Monkey D. Luffy is revealed to the crowd, and is revealed to everyone that the real Straw Hat Pirates are alive. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji then leaves to Grove 42.
 * 602. Downward Ho!! (下舵いっぱい!!): The Straw Hat Pirates finally set sail for Fish-Man Island. As they escape the Marines, they are seen off by the ones that helped them reach Sabaody. Many of them help the Straw Hat Pirates by stalling the Marines.
 * 603. Keep It in Your Heart (心に留めておけ): The Straw Hats are sail down on their way to Fish-Man Island. Nami reveals the properties of the coated ship and Franky tells the crew why Hatchan was not there to help them.

SBS Notes
Number of fan-drawn SBS Headers featured: 7
 * Oda draws Chopper "removed of all his cuteness".
 * The Florian Triangle is based on the Bermuda Triangle, a place in the Atlantic Ocean where ships and planes disappear mysteriously.
 * Kazuki Yao, Franky's voice actor, makes a guest appearance and answers some of the fans' questions.

HDK! Corner
"H(ai) D(omo) K(onnichiwa)! Corner" (lit. "Alright, hello there! segment") is a unique segment included in this volume, where the author, Eiichiro Oda, explains the reason for his month-long hiatus.

Context
Lets listen for them. ..........?....................?? (There were less voices than I expected : "Please give me a vacation from work. I want to play ar-... I mean, I need time to think of a good new twist. Like 3 weeks or so." What I got in return was
 * Yes, now then, have you all finished reading the third chapter of this volume? Uh-huh. What, what?! That cliff hanger, though!! Like "What the heck is even about to go down in the next chapter, dangit!!". I can almost hear the voices.
 * So. Did you know? One Piece is released every week in a magazine called "Jump". And so, well, I've released chapters up to today for about 14 years now, and finally, the plot is about to take a completely new turn. Yup. Now, since I figured that this would be a good chance, I went to my editor and said this.

"Fine, you'll have to do a colorspread for the resuming chapter, but I'll give you a one-month break."

"Seriously?! That's a lot!!" (Shock)

And so, after promising to do some extra work, I got it- one month!! Seems like all my lovely readers who eagerly wait for the next chapter each week waited patiently for a month. I'm really thankful—sorry for that part, really. I received lots of letters too.

"Please take care and rest a lot" So nice.

"Is it true you had a big fight with your editor?" Oi, oi!!

"Are you sick?" No, no...

Seems like I caused a strange ruckus for the sudden happening, but I am totally fine.

I was HAVING A BLAST!! in Hawaii. I was HAVING A BLAST!! Ok, can I stop now? Anyhow, I do what I love so I don't mind being overworked, but every time, I end up neglecting my family, and since the trip also came along with quality family time, all was very well. I guess you could say I'm thankful for a lot of things.
 * Well, that's that, so to the people who heard lots of strange rumors and became worried, thank you very much for your concern.
 * Well, with all that said, this still all ended up becoming a lot more of a big deal than I was planning for it to be, but in the very end, it's all still the regular old ONE PIECE by the same old me. There are tons more of islands I want to draw. I also am excited to see how Luffy and the co. will grow, who they meet, and what adventures they will have. Please enjoy the new beginning, Saga of the Last Sea, "New World".

3D 2Y Corner
In this segment, also unique to this volume, Oda reveals some of his concept sketches for the post-timeskip appearances of the Straw Hats.
 * Located on Pages 70, 71, and 163.

Usopp Gallery Pirates

 * Located on pages 72-78.
 * Total number of submissions featured: 41 (+2 mailing address posters).

Grand Prize: Tenmaru [てんまる] (Kochi, Japan)

Trivia

 * This, Volume 1, Volume 12, and Volume 90 are the only volumes that contain an entire story arc, with this volume containing the Return to Sabaody Arc.
 * This volume's cover image is a reference to the cover of Volume 1, with Luffy, Zoro, and Nami in the same pose, but with the rest of the Straw Hats and Thousand Sunny added.
 * This volume's title is also very similar to the title of Volume 1.
 * On the inside back cover of this volume, you can find an unnamed easter egg standing on the bottom, and part of Pandaman, who stops running to watch, on the bottom right corner. This is the continuation of an easter egg series that has been featured on the alternate back covers of volumes 25-70.
 * In the 3D 2Y segment of this volume, Brook is not featured (most likely because there wasn't much to change in his appearance).
 * The variant cover for issue 93 of Archie Comics' Sonic Universe series is a direct reference to this volume's cover.
 * In each position:
 * Sonic the Hedgehog as Monkey D. Luffy.
 * Vector the Crocodile as Roronoa Zoro.
 * Amy Rose as Nami.
 * Espio the Chameleon as Usopp.
 * Miles "Tails" Prower as Sanji.
 * Sally Acorn as Tony Tony Chopper.
 * Princess Undina as Nico Robin.
 * Knuckles the Echidna as Franky.
 * Charmy Bee as Brook.

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