Episode 579

"Landing! The Burning Island, Punk Hazard" is the 579th episode of the One Piece anime.

Short Summary
The Straw Hats have arrived at a volcanic island that does not show on the New World Log Pose. Luffy in his enthusiasm votes to go to the island, though most of the crew were reluctant to go because of the sea of fire blocking their way. The crew then receives a distress call from someone on the island who is being attacked by a samurai. They then draw sticks on who will go with Luffy and who will stay on the ship, with Zoro, Robin and Usopp coming with Luffy. With the help of Nami's clouds, the scouting group arrived safely at the main entrance which Zoro cuts down with ease. The group wanders the area seeing the whole place being constantly on fire and wondering what happened here. Their exploration is suddenly interrupted when they encounter a Dragon looking hungrily at them.

At Raijin Island, Smoker and Tashigi intercept the distress call that Luffy picked up and order the G-5 Marines to set a course for Punk Hazard.

Long Summary
The Thousand Sunny sails forward into the New World. The crew approaches an unknown burning island; however, none of the three needles of the new log pose points to the island. Nami suspects that there is an anomaly but Luffy still insists on going to the island.

The crew then receives an emergency call, Robin warns them that most of these calls are a trap setup by the Marines to track down pirates, to which Luffy ignores and still answers the call. It is revealed that the distress call is coming from a man in Punk Hazard. After begging for help, the man on the other line has been murdered by a samurai.

Luffy suspects that there is a foul play to which he was hit by Usopp after stating the obvious. Chopper is seen scared while Robin retains her composure. Zoro comments about what the man said about a samurai to which Brook tells a short story about Wano Kingdom. Zoro reminisce on how he got Shusui on his fight with Ryuma. The crew then realizes that the call must have been from the burning island through a baby Den Den Mushi phone. Luffy decides that he wants to save that man and go to the burning island. Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Brook are seen terrified.

At Raijin Island, Smoker and Tashigi are seen intercepting the conversation between Luffy and the unknown man. Some G-5 marines are seen torturing pirates. Smoker orders the marines to prepare to sail and heads out for Punk Hazard.

The Straw Hats then decide who will accompany Luffy in the island. Nami decides to make each member draw straws. Zoro, Robin and Usopp are the ones chosen to go with Luffy. Nami uses Milky Road and creates a pathway for Mini Merry to avoid the sea of fire and arrive at the island safely.

Upon arriving at the island, it is revealed that the burning island is really Punk Hazard, an island restricted by the World Government. Zoro immediately cuts the gate to make an entrance to which Luffy and Robin are grateful for. Usopp is seen complaining all throughout the way. They notice that the island was previously a government facility.

At Thousand Sunny, the remaining crew members enjoy a dessert prepared by Sanji. Nami wonders about the clouds on the other side of the island that look arctic to which Franky replied that it is not possible.

Luffy and the others continue to explore the island but were interrupted when a dragon appears before them.

Anime Notes

 * This is the first episode of the Punk Hazard Arc and the Pirate Alliance Saga.
 * This episode marks the first appearance of Usopp's New World eyecatcher.
 * The music played during the eyecatchers is remixed, with more emphasis on trumpet instruments.
 * The following scenes are added in the anime:
 * When Brook talks about the Samurai of Wano Country, Zoro has a small flashback to when he received Shusui from Ryuma.
 * The scene where the Straw Hats decide who will accompany Luffy to Punk Hazard is expanded. In particular, comical scenes with Usopp betting his luck on one of the sticks are added.
 * Usopp jumps over a small crack with lava.
 * In place of the deep sea fish, which was lost in the Z's Ambition Arc, Sanji makes lunches with the giant shellfish given to them by Panz Fry.
 * The G-5 Marines were not shown scorching their captive pirate like in the manga. They only held their torches close to him. It also does not show the scene of other pirates being tortured with spears.
 * In the manga, Smoker predicted the Straw Hats' destination to be Raijin Island based on his knowledge of Luffy's personality and love for dangerous situations and talked about the first three islands of New World. In the anime he no longer talks about the three islands, and instead seems to predict that they would go to Punk Hazard after the events of the Fishman Island Arc and the Z's Ambition Arc, but is still seen by Raijin Island.
 * The We Go! opening contains a preview for One Piece Film: Z, which replaces the battle scenes of the Straw Hat Pirates fighting the Marines until it returns to the normal opening to show Luffy using Gigant Pistol on a warship.
 * The preview for the next episode is very brief, only having Luffy state the title of that episode.