Episode 503

"I'm Counting On You! A Letter From the Brother!" is the 503rd episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
Sabo's ship is destroyed by a World Noble. Ace and Dadan return to the bandits house to the relief of Luffy and of the other bandits. Dogra returns from town and informs them about Sabo's death. Later, Ace receives a letter from Sabo, that was written before he set out to sea. The letter told Ace to take care of Luffy.

Long Summary
The Celestial Dragon, Saint Jalmack, shoots Sabo's ship again, destroying it, much to the shock of all the citizens watching. Meanwhile, Luffy and the mountain bandits worry about Ace and Dadan, who were trapped in the Gray Terminal with Bluejam. Soon after both Dadan and Ace return, making Luffy and the other bandits happy. Ace tells everybody that after they managed somehow to defeat Bluejam, they could not return as the fire became too powerful. Dadan ran through the fire making a path for her and Ace to escape but she was severely burnt because of it. Ace took care of Dadan, but couldn't escape with her as the military was there exterminating the remaining survivors, but after a while, they returned. Back at the house, Dadan questions Ace about not running away to protect himself to which he replies that if he ever did, he would always feel that he had left something behind and that he could lose someone close to him. In this case he had to protect Luffy from danger. Dadan remembers Garp words about Gol D. Roger, commenting in her mind on how similar they are.

Dogra returns from town and informs the others about Sabo's death. Ace, enraged by this news attacks Dogra and then sets out to kill the one responsible for it, but he is stopped by Dadan and tied up to a tree.

The next day, Ace receives Sabo's letter asking him to take care of Luffy after which he breaks down in tears at the loss of his brother. After hearing the news about Sabo, Luffy cannot stop crying. Later, Ace consoles Luffy and convinces him to live free without any regrets, something that Sabo was unable to achieve.

Anime and Manga Differences

 * The scene where Sabo's parents look out in horror at to what Jalmack did was not in the manga (although they could be more shocked at what Sabo did on such an important day).
 * The scene in the anime where Ace and Dadan defeat Bluejam and the scene where Ace is caring for Dadan after the fire are not seen in the manga.
 * Dadan and the other bandits talk about Sabo's death more than they do in the manga.
 * In the anime, Saint Jalmack's eyes are shown and there is an additional scene in which Jalmack orders his two bodyguards to keep a lookout for anyone who might interrupt the ceremony.