Arlong Park Arc

The Arlong Park Arc, also called the Arlong 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 Fish-Man Arlong. It is here that Nami's past and true motives come to light.

In Pursuit of Nami
The 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 and gives him some money to make him go away. After this, Arlong and his crew are introduced, and it is revealed 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 Fish-Men have spotted them, abandon ship, leaving Zoro (who was tied up by the two to, ironically, prevent him from fighting the Fish-Men) to be captured by the Fish-Men. Usopp and Johnny find themselves in the remains of Gosa Village, with all the houses upturned. One of the Fish-Men 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 was a Fish-Man; however, a woman manages to stop him. Seeing the real Fish-Man 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 Fish-Men.

Meanwhile, Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku continue sailing, and just as they take a break to eat, they encounter a giant sea cow 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 house of the woman, 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 Fish-Men 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 Fish-Men 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 is 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 Fish-Men. He meets the octopus Fish-Man 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 Fish-Men and quickly tries to rush back to the park to save him. However, it is already too late, as the Fish-Men 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 Fish-Men 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 Fish-Men. At that moment, Usopp is shown to be alive and well, as Nami had stabbed her hand 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 a little girl, she and her older sister Nojiko lived with their adoptive 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 little girls 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 little girls. 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.

Back in the present, 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 Hat Pirates vs. Arlong Pirates
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 Fish-Men attack, along with Momoo, the sea cow from earlier. However, Luffy takes care of them by grabbing Momoo and spinning him 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, leaves 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 Fish-Men to save Luffy. Zoro takes on Hatchan despite his wound and fever, and 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 brings Kuroobi up to dry land and defeats 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 pronounces that Luffy cannot use Nami the way he can, this 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 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 Marine 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 Bell-mère'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. Nami gets a new tattoo of a tangerine and a pinwheel merged 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. The scene then changes to reveal the pinwheel on Bell-mère's grave as the Going Merry sails off to the Grand Line.

Story Impact

 * Nami permanently joins the Straw Hat Pirates as their 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 Orange Town 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 fish-men. The fish-men's racism against humans seems to stem from their own discrimination from past treatment, as revealed in the Sabaody Archipelago, Amazon Lily, and Fish-Man Island arcs.
 * Jinbe's name is revealed, although he will not appear until the Impel Down Arc (459 chapters after being mentioned).
 * As Sanji found out from Yosaku about Jinbe's connection to the Arlong Pirates, he would later confront Jinbe about this when they met during the Fish-Man Island Arc.
 * In the Sabaody Archipelago arc, some of the Straw Hats would visit Sabaody Park, a park that would resemble Arlong Park. The similarity would be confirmed in the Fish-Man Island arc, where it was revealed that Arlong Park was built in the image of Sabaody Park due to the Fish-Man's desire to be accepted into human society.
 * Some time after this story arc, prior to the Summit 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 introduces 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 seven pirates hired by the government: the Shichibukai.
 * Nezumi's report, as well as Luffy's defeat of Buggy and Don Krieg, would later give Luffy his first bounty.
 * This arc introduces Momoo, who gets hurt from Luffy and Sanji's attacks and will later fall under the command of the Caribou Pirates during the Fish-Man Island Arc (522 chapters after his last appearance).
 * After defeating the Arlong Pirates, the Straw Hat Pirates gained a bad reputation amongst the New Fish-Man Pirates.
 * Hatchan states that he is the second best swordsman on Fish-Man Island, foreshadowing the appearance of Hyouzou later on in the series.
 * This is the first arc to suggest about Luffy recruiting a doctor for his crew when Dr. Nako suggests it around the end of this arc. However, it wouldn't be until the Drum Island Arc that this idea would be taken more seriously, which would ultimately lead to Tony Tony Chopper being recruited into the crew.

Anime and Manga Differences

 * In the anime, two flashback scenes are added that show some of the good times Nami had with the Straw Hat Pirates, one where Luffy, Nami, and Usopp are playing cards, and another when the Going Merry springs a leak.
 * In the manga, Nojiko is shot by three marines ordered by Nezumi. However, in the anime, Nezumi himself shoots Nojiko; he intended to hit Nami, but Nojiko gets 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 goes to face Arlong.
 * In the manga, Bell-mère is shot in the head; however, this is edited in the anime, and she is shot in the chest.
 * In the manga, after Zoro heals the first time from his injuries, Hatchan attempts to finish him by punching down a pillar and letting it fall on the swordsman, though instead it falls on Hatchan. He then later bursts out of the rubble with the swords. In the anime, this does not happen; instead, Hatchan shows off his skill in Rokutoryu to whip up a small twister.
 * In the manga, the injured Johnny and Yosaku mention that they overheard Nojiko earlier telling the Straw Hats about Nami's past, and it motivated them to face Arlong, though they lost by a hair's breadth. In the anime, while their encounter with the villagers is just about the same, it adds an additional scene one episode earlier, which shows them crying after Nojiko finished her story.
 * In the manga, Nami is wearing a shirt when she is being treated by the doctor in her village and receiving her new tattoo. In the anime, Nami is wearing no shirt for this scene.

4Kids Edits
Most of the arc is cut for either length of time or violence (such as Nami stabbing her arm). Near the final battle with Arlong, many major cuts take 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 "Pew-mans".
 * Half of Nami's past is shown. One of the main changes is 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 since then, or that she is simply forgotten by Nami.
 * The fight at the top of the tower in Arlong Park where Luffy destroys most of the room in a fit of rage is taken out.
 * The footage for many of the battles is redone, including merging Zoro and Sanji's fights against Hatchan and Kuroobi into a single episode.
 * Most of the fight between Usopp and Chew is 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 Fish-Men is cut, in addition to Nami "talking" with Bell-mère about becoming a pirate and leaving her hometown.
 * Fish-Men are referred to as "Mermen", which creates a continuity error when the Straw Hats first see a Mermaid in Water 7.
 * A gurgling effect is added to the voices of all the Fish-Men.

Trivia

 * A two-hour remake of the arc was released under the name Episode of Nami: The Tears of a Navigator and Bonds of Friends. It aired on August 25, 2012.

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