One Piece Volume 35 cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com

Rated “T” for Teen

Monkey D. Luffy wants to become the King of the Pirates.  The enchanted “Devil Fruit” gave him the ability to stretch like rubber, but it also took away his ability to swim.  Not deterred from his dream, Luffy set out to sea and gradually enlisted his very own pirate crew, known as the “Straw Hats.”  They sail the oceans on their ship, the Merry Go, searching for the legendary treasure known as “One Piece.”

One Piece, Vol. 35 (entitled Captain) finds the Straw Hats in The City of Water on the island of Water Seven.  They are going to use the gold they found during their Skypeia adventure to repair the Merry Go.  The gold nets them 300 million berries, but all that money earns them the attention of the Franky Family, a band of ship dismantlers and part-time bounty hunters.  Meanwhile, the newest Straw Hat, Nico Robin, goes missing, and Luffy makes a shocking announcement that puts him at odds with shipmate, Usopp.

THE LOWDOWN:  At less than 190 pages of narrative, the 35th volume of One Piece reads like a graphic novel twice its size.  Featuring visually potent art, this volume of One Piece has intrigue, superhero-like fights, an assassination attempt, a shocking announcement, and a fight between brothers.  The weirdo characters and outlandish settings are in abundance, and there’s the ever-present cliffhanger that will make you return for more pirate goodness.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Readers looking for top shonen manga (comics for teen boys) will want One Piece.

A-