One Piece, Vol. 26

by Eiichiro Oda

High jinx on the high seas

Reads R to L (Japanese Style). High jinx on the high seas

As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber...at the cost of never being able to swim again Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the One Piece, said to be the greatest treasure in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1421534428
• ISBN13: 9781421534428
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: Viz Media
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.6" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

A Brand New World

After two books worth of build-up, One Piece Vol. 26 marks the Straw Hat crew's official entry into the cloud kingdom of Skypiea. With a fantastic new world to explore, Luffy and gang quickly make new friends and experience new technological marvels. But Skypiea has a dark side, and if the masked raider who attacks their ship early on isn't indication enough, soon the crew become wanted criminals under the watchful eye of the "Kami." Erik Olund's review nicely sums up the more interesting translation notes for this story arc. Yes, "Kami" is used as an alternate for God, and unlike most other Japanese terminology used by Viz, this one never has a direct editor's translation note explaining the meaning. The reader is left to infer, which is passable, but if you thought the use of "dang" and "blast" in place of harsher swearing watered down some of the earlier volumes, there's a similar effect here. Then again, if you've bought all the English volumes despite the use of "Zolo," you'll survive. To play devils advocate - while Skypiea is certainly a fun adventure, a nice change of pace and worth picking up - for an extended story arc that lasts until One Piece, Vol. 32, the overall One Piece saga doesn't advance as much as you'd probably like it to. Yes, in all fairness, Eiichiro Oda is a master of the serialized narrative and Skypiea could be setting up something major we won't see for another five years. But as of this writing, the Japanese publication is up to Vol. 57 and with the exception of a few standout moments, most of Skypiea could be labeled an extended side story. I'm not suggesting you skip the arc at all, but if you feel something's missing after getting to the end, this might be it. Still, Skypiea is a testament to Oda's fertile imagination, and if you want to see a lovingly designed and crafted world nestled within the already detailed world of One Piece, this arc further raises the bar creatively. Check it out.

Welcome to Skypeia.

My apologies for my tardiness in reviewing the new speed-up volumes of One Piece, but college comes first, I;m sure you understand. Anyway, I thank username "Simon" for reviewing the previous two volumes. His opinions pretty much accurately reflect my own, and I really have about nothing to add to them. Here we are at volume 26, the arrival to one of my favorite locations in One Piece, Skypeia the Sky Island. The beginning of this volume contains probably my favorite element in adventure stories: the discovery of a new land. Upon breaching the upper cloud layer, Luffy and crew encounter roads of hard, silky cloud, sea creatures of frightening design, shells called "dials" with endless uses and applications, and a lovely young lady and her father. The entire design of Angel Island, as its called, is quite possibly one of Eiichiro Oda's most desirable due to its ideal and fantastical design. Of course, things go horribly wrong when they are informed that the entire region is under the strangely omnipotent watch of a being known as Eneru, and his law enforcing Vassals. And with the Straw Hat crew being labeled as criminals thanks to a deceptive gatekeeper, they are now forced to brave the Upper Yard, a patch of earth in the sky where Eneru's vassals await to pass their judgment. For those wondering, yes, Viz has mostly replaced the word "God" with "Kami" whenever referencing Eneru. Readers/viewers of the Dragonball series will remember that the Japanese word for "God", which is "Kami" is used as a work-around for the translators to convey the same style of deity without arousing the wrath of the various overtly-sensitive or the religiously extreme alike. Thankfully, not much else is altered greatly from the original scripts. The vassals were most commonly translated as "Priests" in fansubs/scans, and in the Funimation dub of the anime. Also, the vassals tests were most commonly translated as "ordeals", but are know in Viz's translation as "Challenges". I really can't bring any specific praises anymore, seeing as Viz has pretty much abandoned any of the previous 4kids monikers(this IS the arc when they dropped the license), but 4kids still had a little influence as they DID drop the license when the anime reached this point, but 4kids did localize two video games which contained elements from the Skypeia saga. Only one of those monikers is used throughout the whole Viz saga, and its the only one worth keeping(odd, considering it was 4kids). That said, my only gripe for the current releases is the price. It's been raised from about $8 a volume to $10. But, I suppose there had to be SOME drawback when so much is released to us in such little time. I shall conclude with what I suppose could now be my catchphrase, and that's because there truly has never been a better time to be a fan of One Piece. So...what are you waiting for? Adventure awaits.