Loguetown Arc

The Loguetown Arc is the sixth and final story arc in the East Blue Saga of the manga and anime One Piece. The Straw Hat Pirates stop at the island that the city of Loguetown is on, the birth and death place of Gol D. Roger, to get supplies before heading to the Grand Line.

Summary
Luffy's First Bounty

The arc starts off with the Straw Hats lounging around on the Going Merry's deck when a flyer slips out of the newspaper Nami is reading, showing the 30,000,000 bounty on Monkey D. Luffy's head. Luffy is more than overjoyed with it, though Nami tells him it will be more stress for the crew now that people will be after him. Zoro then spots an island, and Nami points it out to be Loguetown, the last stop in East Blue before the Grand Line, as well as the birth and death place of the famous pirate, Gold Roger. The crew decides to stop off there to grab supplies.

Meanwhile, the bounty poster reaches Luffy's hometown and the villagers are more than happy that Luffy is fulfilling his dream, though the mayor, Woop Slap, who has always been against Luffy becoming a pirate, thinks it is more destiny then a dream. Meanwhile, Dracule Mihawk also delivers the poster to Shanks, who celebrates Luffy's coming with a party.

New and Old Faces: White Hunter Smoker and Buggy the Clown
Back in Loguetown, while shopping for new swords to replace the ones Mihawk destroyed, Zoro has his first meeting with Tashigi, shaken that she looks like his childhood friend Kuina, who helps him pick out two new swords. Sanji buys a gigantic fish for the crew, Usopp, some more supplies, ammo, and new goggles, and Nami, a bundle of clothes. Luffy, meanwhile, goes to check the execution stand where Gold Roger was executed. While he climbs and admires the view from the stand, a woman calls out to him, seemingly recognizing Luffy, though he has no idea who she is. When part of the fountain in the town square breaks off and hits her, the debris just slides right off her. She then reveals herself to be Alvida, the first pirate Luffy came across on his trip. Only now, she has eaten the Sube Sube no Mi, causing her figure to change dramatically. She is not alone either, as another familiar pirate makes himself known: Buggy. Cabaji ambushes Luffy on the platform and puts him in shackles, while Buggy's pirates hold the town square hostage. Buggy then explains that this is Luffy's execution.

At the Marine base in town, one of the men reports to his captain about the pirate ongoings in town. It is here where we meet Captain Smoker, who never lets a pirate leave his town uncaptured. He decides to wait for Luffy to be executed before moving in. The rest of the Straw Hats also get wind of what's going on and split off, Zoro and Sanji to go rescue Luffy, while Nami and Usopp ready the ship to leave, as Nami detects a storm approaching the island.

The Unexpected Rescue: Enter Monkey D. Dragon
Zoro and Sanji reach the execution area and try to plow through Buggy's pirates, but it does not look like they will make it as Buggy begins to bring his sword down on Luffy's head. With all seeming lost, Luffy smiles and tells his two friends that it looks like the end. However, a bolt of lightning hits Buggy's sword at the last second, and destroys the platform, freeing Luffy with not a scratch on him. He, Zoro, and Sanji then make for the Going Merry, while Smoker, who was looking on, seems disturbed that Luffy laughed in the face of death. He realizes that it was very similar to Gold Roger before he was beheaded.

Buggy, Alvida, and Buggy's crew, after recovering from the shock, try to make their escape, but are quickly captured by the Marines. Nami and Usopp reach the ship and quickly take down Mohji and his lion Richie, who were trying to burn down the Going Merry.



The other Straw Hats also run into opposition in the form of Tashigi, angry that Zoro "tricked" her, causing him to stay behind and duel her. Smoker confronts them as well, and Luffy and Sanji cannot even strike him due to his Devil Fruit abilities.

However, the two are saved by a mysterious figure, allowing Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji to reach the ship unhindered. Smoker and Tashigi decide to abandon their posts to chase after them. Buggy and his crew, also freed, decide to head for the Grand Line to chase Luffy.

The Journey Continues: To the Grand Line!


With the storm guiding them and a lighthouse in sight, the Going Merry is soon nearing its long-awaited destination. Each of the Straw Hats perform a "ceremony" of sorts by placing their foot on the barrel and revowing their dreams as the ship nears the entrance to the Grand Line.

Anime and Manga Differences
This arc received a lot of major changes from what is displayed in the manga. Other than changing around the timeline of events from the manga, it is also the first arc in the anime series to feature full-fledged filler episodes.
 * Mihawk's encounter with the Red Hair Pirates takes place before the Straw Hats' arrival in Loguetown instead of after their arrival.
 * The Straw Hats encounter Fullbody on their way to Loguetown, which contradicts a few canon elements from the manga, such as Zoro being able to slice a cannonball (due to his inability to cut steel at the time), and Fullbody having been demoted with the reasons presented that contradict the events of the manga mini-arc Jango's Dance Paradise.
 * Luffy encounters a bartender who tells him about Gol D. Roger's exploits.
 * Instead of learning about Luffy when he is about to be executed by Buggy and Alvida, Smoker learns about him earlier, and also fights Luffy earlier at the execution stand, where Luffy manages to accidentally send himself flying into another part of town. Smoker does not use his Devil Fruit powers during this encounter.
 * Buggy, Alvida, and Buggy's crew spend more time searching for Luffy during these events.
 * In the manga, Luffy manages to find his way to the execution platform in one go. In the anime, he gets lost several times.
 * In the anime, when Zoro meets Tashigi, he accidentally breaks her glasses and has to work at the Marine base for a while to repay her before he goes sword shopping. However, Tashigi ends up having to pay for them herself due to Zoro having to leave the base after knocking out two Marine officers who recognize him and know he is a member of Luffy's crew.
 * In Episode 50, Usopp and Nami encounter Daddy Masterson, a former high-level Marine turned bounty hunter, who now only hunts low bounty heads. He forces Usopp to duel him when he gets his daughter, Carol Masterson, angry. Although Eiichiro Oda had planned for this story to be part of the manga (to explain how Usopp received his new goggles), it had to be cut so that Chapter 100 began the Grand Line adventure. This episode is cut from the 4Kids English dub, probably because it has a heavy emphasis on gun play.
 * In the manga, Sanji merely buys the tuna at a regular stand. In the anime, he finds a large group of people exclaiming over the fish on a beach. The man who caught it (and mans the stand in the manga) gives all of the explanations present in the manga. When Sanji offers to buy the fish, the man refuses, saying that it will be the prize for a cooking contest. Sanji then joins the contest, competing against his newly-met rival Carmen.
 * In the anime, during the race back to the Going Merry, Luffy fights Smoker alone and the Marines attack the ship, forcing Nami to pull the Going Merry away from the docks.
 * In the manga, during the fight against Smoker, Sanji also fights before Dragon interferes. In the anime, Sanji runs on ahead from the beginning.
 * Rather than simply making it to the ship as in the manga, in the anime the Going Merry gets washed out to sea with Nami onboard. Luffy then uses his Gomu Gomu no Rocket to throw himself and the rest to the crew to reach it.

4Kids Edits

 * The filler episode of Usopp's duel against Daddy Masterson is skipped.
 * Smoker's name is changed to Chaser. Any reference to his smoking is removed as well. His two cigars in his mouth are removed, giving him the appearance of breathing smoke. The cigars on his coat are also removed.
 * Mihawk visiting Shanks is shortened due to the excessive drinking.

Story Impact

 * After Luffy defeated Buggy several arcs ago and separated him from his crew, Buggy has reunited with his crew and has also recruited Alvida, who was defeated by Luffy at the start of his journey, though it is not revealed that she is the same person due to the Sube Sube no Mi she had eaten. After the scuffle in Loguetown, the Buggy Pirates set off for the Grand Line. Buggy's past with Roger is foreshadowed, and he becomes a recurring enemy for the Straw Hat Pirates on the Grand Line.
 * Smoker is also introduced as the first Logia-type Devil Fruit user in the series.
 * Just as Buggy is about to execute Luffy in the same spot as Roger, Luffy has the same reaction as the Pirate King 22 years ago when he was executed, smiling.
 * Seastone is also introduced in this arc, though only as a minor reference, which is used to capture the Devil Fruit users Buggy and Alvida. It was not until the Alabasta arc that more details on it would be revealed.
 * Just as Smoker is about to capture Luffy, he is stopped by a mysterious man named Dragon, and Luffy is allowed to escape to the Grand Line. Although Dragon's true intentions are not fully understood at this point, it foreshadows Dragon's revolution against the World Government, which is slightly elaborated in the Drum Island flashback and in the Post-Enies Lobby Arc. Luffy's grandfather, Vice Admiral Garp, reveals that Dragon is Luffy's father and the world's most wanted criminal.
 * This is the first time a giant is seen in the series, although it is not shown to be a giant. The race is not revealed until the Little Garden Arc.
 * During the Dressrosa Arc, it is revealed that Bartolomeo was present in Loguetown to witness Luffy's rescue by a lightning bolt. After this event, Bartolomeo becomes an admirer of Luffy and follows every report on the Straw Hats, eventually inspiring to set sail and become a Super Rookie. After meeting and helping out his idols, he even becomes part of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.

Trivia

 * This is the first arc to have more anime episodes than manga chapters.
 * This, the Reverse Mountain Arc, and the Return to Sabaody Arc, with five chapters each, are the shortest arcs in the manga.

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