Wow, that was quite the ride, wasn’t it? The Enies Lobby-Water 7 duo is quite possibly the best moment in the series up to this point. All the twists, the action, the reveals, the plot, the character development, everything was top quality.

The emotional moment of Merry’s death was a harsh blow to the heart, but we made some good friends along the way. Still, that means we are not ready to leave the island of Water 7 behind. We’re back in Water 7 now, taking a good rest after all the battles and just nearly escaping death in Enies Lobby.

But that does not mean that they will get all the time in the world to stay on one island, as we are soon to be chased out of here. Now, with the Going Merry gone forever, how are we going to leave? What’s in store now for the Straw Hat Pirates? Well, since this arc is quite short let’s get right into it and see what’s going on!

Post-Enies Lobby Arc | Summary & Recap

Faces From The Past | A New King’s Ship

After the traumatic experience in Enies Lobby and the goodbye to the Going Merry, the Straw Hats are back at Water 7 to take a small break from their adventures. As the dust settled over the recent chaos, the city showed signs of rebuilding – Galley-La shipwrights fixed storm damage while the Franky Family repaired their house. The reliable giants Sodom and Gomorrah were also patched up and back on their feet.

Meanwhile, at Iceburg’s Office, he and Franky are discussing ambitious plans to pretty much convert Water 7 into a giant ship and set sail across the sea. They were interrupted when Franky got an important call that the cargo he purchased using the money he stole from the Straw Hats had arrived.

The Straw Hats finally wake up from their two days of sleep. Well, all of them except for Luffy who somehow manages to eat while sleeping. The Galley-La swiftly returns all their belongings to the crew having now learned that they were never assassins.

Franky appears to let them know that he purchased the supposed indestructible wood from the legendary Treasure Tree Adam using the money he stole from them and that he plans to build a ship with it. He needs to ask them to crew the ship, as he dreams that this ship should sail the world with a crew he admires, just like his mentor Tom once did when he built the Oro Jackson for Pirate King Gol D. Roger.

Garp’s Fist of Love | Luffy’s Lineage

All the peace is soon interrupted when the shipwrights announce that a Marine ship just docked. But, it wasn’t just any Marine, it was the ship of Vice Admiral Garp, the legendary hero of the Marines known for cornering the Pirate King many times in the past. Garp walks in with two mysterious marines, asking them both to wait outside.

Soon enough Garp breaks down the wall where the Straw hats are resting and punches Luffy, waking him up. The entire crew is shaking as this punch deals damage to Luffy. The Vice Admiral claims that Luffy has been reckless and that there’s no way to dodge his “fist of love.” The Straw Hats learn that Garp was Luffy’s grandpa. The crew was startled, especially when they saw Luffy terrified. He ordered them not to attack him, for the Marine would surely kill them.

Luffy says he was nearly killed by Garp many times in the past. The old man was harsh when training Luffy as a kid to become a strong Marine someday and he wanted both Luffy and Ace to become well-respected marines someday. Well, we can all see how that turned out.

Even though Luffy screams at Garp, telling him that he always wanted to become the King of the Pirates, his grandpa replies by telling him that it was all due to the bad influence of that Red Hair Pirate, Shanks. But as they both argue and fight, they soon fall asleep amid discussion.

After they wake up, Garp updates Luffy on what Shanks has been doing, letting him know that he is now one of the Four Emperors of the Sea, ruling over the New World. They are the strongest pirates in the world and the Marines, along with the Seven Warlords of the Sea, are the only ones that stand against them ruling over the entire world.

Reunited Rivals

Zoro then gets ready for a fight. Garp orders the two marines to wait outside to try to stop him. Zoro ends up fighting the Marine who uses Kukri swords, while Luffy goes after one who fights using the secret hyper speed technique from the CP9 Soru. Of course, Luffy and Zoro easily beat them in battle. It is revealed that the sword-wielding one was Helmeppo, and the fist-fighter was Koby! Everyone's shocked to see how much stronger (and hotter) Koby has become.

When they're catching up, Garp drops a bomb - he ran into Luffy's dad Monkey D. Dragon in Loguetown! Luffy is shocked by this development. He never knew he had a dad. Garp reveals Dragon is the infamous revolutionary leader, blowing everyone's minds.

Garp didn't come to arrest Luffy, since he's his grandson. He just brought Koby and Helmeppo because they wanted to meet the Straw Hats after all this time. Before leaving, he talks about the New World - the brutal second half of the Grand Line, where only the future Pirate King can make it. He challenges Luffy to meet there once he becomes an Admiral and Luffy becomes Pirate King.

Since Garp wasn’t here on any official duty, he’s had to break their reunion short. As accustomed, Luffy and the Straw Hats decide it is time for a big party! The Straw Hats throw a big feast with Franky's crew and Galley-La. Aokiji shows up in secret to chat with Robin - he originally intended for CP9 to end her wandering by capturing her. But he's surprised Robin found a home with the Straw Hats now. Robin confirms she's happy there when Aokiji asks.

New World Plans

Not everything’s fun and games though, as somewhere in the New World, a meeting that would shake the world was taking place. Red-Haired Shanks creates commotion as he boards the Moby Dick, Whitebeard’s ship for a meeting of emperors. The reason behind this meeting, Shanks has an eerie warning for the legendary Whitebeard.

Several revelations are made in this meeting, as Whitebeard reveals that he’s already known Shanks for a long time. Shanks was part of Gol D. Roger’s crew, alongside Buggy, when they were the young lackeys of the Pirate King. Whitebeard was also very curious to know how such a strong pirate lost his arm, even though he used to clash with Hawk Eyes Mihawk and all kinds of strong enemies.

Shanks is here to talk about the pirate that scarred his face, Marshall D. Teach AKA Blackbeard. The evil pirate was once part of Whitebeard’s crew, and Shanks has one petition to make from Whitebeard: Stop Ace from chasing Teach. He warns Whitebeard that Ace is in peril from Blackbeard. When Whitebeard refuses to withdraw Ace, Shanks claims that the world shall be thrown into chaos. Their weapons clash - quite literally splitting the heavens!

Bounties Revealed | New Crew

While the Straw Hats wait for their new ship to be finished, Nami seems a bit confused when Kokoro mentions that the next location, Fish-Man Island, is located underwater. Even though Devil Fruit users can’t get underwater, there’s an even bigger problem: the Florian Triangle, located between Water 7 and Fish-Man Island. It’s a mysterious triangle in the sea where the dense fog and dangers have caused it to be known as a pirate ship cemetery.

The eerie atmosphere is broken here when the new bounties of our crew arrive and they are received with mixed reactions. Here are the new bounties:

• "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy: 300,000,000
• "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro: 120,000,000
• "Demon Child" Nico Robin: 80,000,000
• "Black Leg" Sanji: 77,000,000
• "Cyborg" Franky: 44,000,000
• "King of Snipers" Sogeking: 30,000,000
• "Cat Burglar" Nami: 16,000,000
• "Cotton Candy Lover" Chopper: 50

Luffy and Zoro are excited to have much bigger bounties. Nami hates this, even though she did get an amazing photo for her bounty poster as she was tricked into thinking the photo was for a magazine. The opposite happened to Sanji, as they were unable to get a photo of him, and instead got him a really ugly hand-drawn portrait, and a lower bounty than Zoro’s.

At the same time, Chopper was super excited to get a bounty finally but was incredibly disappointed since they gave him a ridiculously low bounty, portraying him as just the pet of the crew. Another poster for the Straw Hat crew was here, as the Sniper King, Sogeking had his first bounty too.

But one extra poster got a lot of commotion, as the Marines had issued a bounty for “Cyborg” Franky. The Franky Family urged the Straw Hats to take him with them now that he was a wanted man and could be in danger of staying in Water 7. Iceburg presents their new and finished ship to the Straw Hats, a majestic and big new ship full of a beautiful lion as a figurehead, at least twice as big as the Going Merry. Franky wasn’t here to present the new ship, he was hiding from the Straw Hats.

Franky knew he could not reject Luffy’s invitation to join. To get Frank to accept Luffy’s invitation to his crew, Nico Robin uses some ungodly persuasive techniques… By nearly crushing Franky’s “manhood” with her powers to give him the final push he needed.

As the Straw Hats welcome their newest member, they set sail into their new adventure. The Marines are also ready to move on. Vice Admiral Garp, with Admiral Aokiji on board, head out, even though he doesn’t seem interested at all in chasing the pirates.

The Crew’s Back Together | A New Adventure Begins

From an alley in Water 7, Usopp races toward the shore to try and reach the crew, confident his crewmates will celebrate his rehearsed return. However, the Straw Hats had discussed conditions for allowing Usopp back. Though Luffy was eager, Zoro refused - believing Usopp's pride after abandonment meant he didn't deserve easy re-entry. He warned Luffy that Usopp must apologize or Zoro would leave instead. They agreed Usopp could only return through humility.

The new ship departs without Usopp. Garp attacks using his meteor-fast Iron Fist cannonball, an attack consisting of him throwing the cannonballs by hand, much faster and stronger than any canon would, shocking the Straw Hats. Amidst the chaos, Usopp appears to announce he was Sogeking and reminisce about their camaraderie. Focused on defending themselves, the crew pretends not to notice Usopp's words.

Realizing their serious intent to leave him, Usopp screams apologies, tears streaming down his face. He begs to rejoin them. Luffy smiles and stretches to grab Usopp back aboard for a jubilant and teary welcome.

Now that the crew is complete once again, it is time to finally make their escape from the Garp and the Marines. However, there is one important matter to attend to. Before we can continue our journey on this ship, we must first give it a name. Luffy suggests odd animal names until Franky shares Iceburg’s idea - a ship to “sail thousands of oceans like the sun” - thus, the Thousand Sunny. The crew loves it and their maiden voyage begins with Garp attacking with a gigantic iron cannonball.

Luffy bids goodbye to Garp and Koby as Franky activates the Coup de Burst, a special feature of the new ship that allows it to blast into the sky traveling up to 1 km in one leap. Sunny blasts into the sky just as Garp’s payload whizzes beneath them. Franky declares Sunny will outclass Merry in every way and carry on its legacy and spirit hopefully.

Life After Water 7 | A Dark Day

Life in Water 7 returns to normal. Oimo and Kashi stay awhile, having met “Sogeking” before. Galley-La resumes shipbuilding while Kokoro, Chimney, and Gonbe head home. Iceburg offers Franky’s crew shipwright jobs, prompting them to call him “bro.”

Elsewhere, Smoker catches a pirate and is reminded of an upcoming ceremony for the Alabasta incident. He claims the Marines need a stronger pirate crew than the Straw Hats to fight in the New World. He wagers his pride on being the one to crush the Straw Hats himself.

Word of the Straw Hats’ exploits spreads. On the Baratie, Zeff and the cooks laugh at Sanji’s poster. In Foosha, the mayor, Woop Slap, grouses over Luffy’s notoriety. Kaya and the Syrup villagers recognize Sogeking as Usopp. Koushirou tells his students he can’t teach them to become a pirate like Zoro. Genzo blows up Nami’s poster while complaining. The Sakura Kingdom takes note of a certain cotton candy lover.

In Alabasta, Cobra and his subordinates discover the new bounties and that Robin is a member of the crew, even though they knew her as the number 2 in the Baroque Works organization. But, Vivi trusts Luffy. On the revolutionaries’ island Baltigo, Dragon hears of Luffy defeating Crocodile and the failed Buster Call cover-up. Seeing Luffy’s potential, he says their destined meeting nears.

With the Thousand Sunny named and the nakama reunited, the Straw Hats celebrate and set sail for Fish-Man Island!

Somewhere on a not-so-distant island, just as Blackbeard sets sights on chasing Luffy again, Fire Fist Ace arrives seeking vengeance. Blackbeard reveals that he needed to murder Thatch, his crewmate while on Whitebeard’s crew, since he had found the devil fruit Teach had been searching for his whole life. That fruit alone was the main reason he joined Whitebeard’s crew.

A vicious duel erupts between Logias - fire versus darkness. The mysterious powers of darkness are yet unknown, but Ace conjures a perpetual sun technique while Teach boasts about his special power. In the end, Ace's iconic hat lies on the ground...the duel's resolution is unknown.

Yet this clash serves as the spark igniting greater conflict ahead, the fates of their warring crews will collide soon enough!

Post-Enies Lobby Arc | Analysis & Review

Animation and Visuals | 8/10

It’s impossible to claim that the animation and visuals on this arc are bad by any means. However, coming from the amazing Enies Lobby arc, it’s really hard to follow up on that hype. Still, we cannot take away from some key moments here on this arc. At just 11 episodes long, with some of them being filler and thus not mentioned in the summary above, the animation gets little chance to shine.

The highlights on the arc are nice and clean, and the introduction of the new ship, and the chase after Franky are perfectly adapted and presented to show us a great emotional high note. The comedic style present in the Garp introduction as Luffy’s grandpa is simply on point. We can see how similar these two characters are without being the same and that’s just perfect.

The chase near the end of the arc and Usopp coming back to the ship are all beautifully animated to convey all the feelings and excitement the scenes call for. Scenes like Shanks using his Haki (more on this later) when boarding the Whitebeard ship helped us get a better sense of his power, not to mention the skies breaking when the two of them clash swords.

Speaking of amazing conflicts, a brief one gave a lot of excitement to this arc, Ace vs Blackbeard. A character as amazing as Ace facing such a mysterious foe was an exciting moment and a horrific conclusion to the arc.

Character Development | 6.5/10

Even though I personally really like this arc, it’s pretty hard to argue that this is a great arc for character development. We get to know more about Luffy’s family and we also get to see how much Koby has grown since we last saw him, but that’s hardly anything, especially when compared to Enies Lobby. We already knew that Robin had found the place she was happy to.

Probably the strongest part of character development we see in this arc comes from Usopp. He found the strength in his heart to be brave and ask for forgiveness. This is a pretty emotional moment and not knowing if Usopp was going to make it back in time was also thrilling.

The meeting of Shanks and Whitebeard, while thrilling and intimidating, wasn’t all too helpful in getting to know the mysterious red-haired pirate any better. If anything it made him more mysterious.

Even on Ace’s side, we just saw the same stubborn Ace, worried about his little brother as usual, and keeping his word while facing Teach. Overall, this arc was more explanatory and expanded on the story instead of delving into the characters.

Sound and Music | 6/10

The sound and music in the Post-Enies Lobby arc are serviceable but don't particularly stand out. While the soundtrack hits the expected emotional notes during dramatic or action-packed scenes, it lacks some originality and memorability.

So yeah, the audio and music in this arc serve its purpose well, but it lacks that certain spark that could make it stand out. It accompanies the narrative well enough to work, but not enough to make it particularly noteworthy.

Reception and Impact | 9/10

I find it interesting that this arc is so often overlooked. I’ve even seen people ask online if it’s ok to skip this arc or if it’s just some filler. This arc, while not being the best, is key for the development of the story on so many levels.

Even in the basic things, the Straw Hats’ new ship, the Thousand Sunny, is introduced! Not only does Franky join the crew officially, but also Usopp makes his comeback. We are officially introduced to Vice Admiral Garp Luffy’s grandpa and we even get to see Koby and Helmeppo again!

That’s not all! Shanks’ warning to Whitebeard and Ace’s clash with Blackbeard are instrumental moments that will change the story of the series forever in just a few arcs from now. It is a very important and impactful arc as far as powerscaling goes as it introduces the first real mention of Haki by name. Haki being one of the main forces to play a role in the story moving forward, is even more important than Devil Fruits sometimes.

Overall Score | 7.5/10

While shorter in duration compared to some other important arcs, the Post-Enies Lobby arc serves as a crucial pivot point in the whole One Piece narrative. It’s not only a check-in after the events of Enies Lobby and Water 7, it also introduces significant plot developments and laying the groundwork for future storylines

Despite not having huge elements in the character development or audiovisual moments, the arc has an undeniable impact on the series as a whole. From the introduction of the Thousand Sunny and the formal inclusion of Franky into the crew to the emotional return of Usopp, the arc marks key moments in the Straw Hats' journey. Additionally, world-shaking encounters such as Shanks' warning to Whitebeard and Ace's clash with Blackbeard foreshadow the epic conflicts that lie ahead.

Even though it may not receive the recognition it deserves, the Post-Enies Lobby Arc is an essential part of the series and a definitive must-watch. Offering a blend of action, emotion, and intrigue that sets the stage for the next phase of the Straw Hats' adventure.