One Piece (Alabasta)

One Piece (Alabasta)

One Piece anime logo
One Piece Logo

Overview

The Alabasta saga is the first part of the One Piece series which takes place within the Grand Line (from what I can tell, the rest of the series is going to take place here). Apparently, in the Grand Line there are multiple paths you can take from island to island, but they all end up in the same place at the end.

In this saga, the Straw Hat Pirates make their way to four different islands. The first is Cactus Island, where they come into contact with a bounty hunter organization known as Baroque Works. Baroque Works is the main antagonist body of this saga.

On this island, the crew meets two temporary crew members, Vivi and Karoo, who were working as spies within the Baroque Works organization.

The second island is known as Little Garden and is an island trapped in time. Here there are dinosaurs and other large creatures that were thought to be extinct. On this island, the crew also comes across two giants who have been locked in a duel for over 100 years.

However, it’s not until the third island, Drum Kingdom, where we meet the true next member of the Straw Hat crew, Chopper. Drum Kingdom is a Winter Island that is always covered by snow. Here, the residents live in constant fear of the king, Wapol, who banished all the doctors from the land.

The fourth and final island of this saga is Alabasta. Alabasta is a Summer island that is covered by a giant desert. Here, the leader of Baroque Works and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Crocodile, is the main antagonist.

Crocodile has been using his Sand-Sand fruit (I think) powers to create a drought across the whole island in order to stir up a rebellion. He then plans to take over the kingdom as his own and find an ancient weapon supposedly hidden somewhere.

New Characters

Vivi is the princess of Alabasta who went undercover as a Baroque Works agent with her pet duck, Karoo, and her bodyguard, Igaram. After the apparent death of Igaram, Vivi and Karoo join the Straw Hat Pirates and together begin making their way toward Alabasta.

Unfortunately, at the end of the saga, Vivi and Karoo choose to stay in Alabasta instead of continuing on with the Straw Hat Pirates even though they had become main characters throughout the saga.

The next new character is Chopper, who the crew meets in the Drum Kingdom. Unlike Vivi and Karoo, Chopper stays on as a member of the Straw Hat crew, which makes a bit more sense since he’s more of a unique character.

Chopper is a reindeer who ate the Human-Human fruit (I think that’s the correct name) and became anthropomorphic. He’s able to speak, and change into various forms thanks to the power of this devil fruit. Further, Chopper is a doctor which is one reason the crew wanted him to join.

Although never a true member of the Straw Hat Pirates, the final character I want to mention for this saga is Lashes. Lashes is a camel who Chopper meets and brings into the group while in Alabasta. He can’t speak, but Chopper is able to communicate with him.

Lashes is a dependable ally for the crew, although he prefers the female members, and even fights with them in the final battle to save the kingdom from tearing itself apart.

Lashes, Chopper, Usopp, and Sanji from the anime One Piece (Alabasta)
Lashes, Chopper, Usopp, and Sanji

Conclusion

The Alabasta saga was much more interesting than East Blue, although it still suffered from some of the same issues. There was a slight increase in animation quality, but still not enough to make this a truly good anime. Because of this, I rated Alabasta as a 6/10 which means the series as a whole averages out to be a 5/10 so far.

I’ve also been keeping a death counter for actual characters of the series, and we have yet to have even one confirmed death. Pell, the strongest warrior in Alabasta, almost, and should have, died, but that wasn’t the case.

As far as OPs are concerned, the second OP from East Blue is the OP for the majority of Alabasta, however towards the end of the saga, we transition to the third OP. Unfortunately, the third OP contains some pretty extreme spoilers for the end of the Alabasta saga which I won’t get into here.

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