Chapters · Sky Island › Jaya

Chapter 234: Please Remember

Arc: Jaya · Saga: Sky Island · Released: 2002 (Vol. 24/25 boundary)

Summary

A two-thread interlude chapter that widens the world far beyond Jaya. At “Sacred Marijoa” (Mariejois), Marine HQ has convened a meeting of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, attended by Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Tsuru, and Warlords Doflamingo, Bartholomew Kuma (silhouette), and Dracule Mihawk — only two of six Warlords actually show. The smooth-talking ex-sheriff Lafitte crashes the gathering to nominate his captain, “Blackbeard,” for the seat vacated by Crocodile. Cutting to the Grand Line, the Red-Haired Pirates’ rookie Rockstar delivers a letter from Shanks to Whitebeard, who refuses to read a letter from a “brat” and tells the boy to summon Shanks in person — prompting Shanks, on a snowy winter island, to resolve to go to Whitebeard’s territory himself over the matter of Blackbeard and Ace. Finally, in present-day Jaya’s Mock Town, the Blackbeard Pirates are revealed in full as Teach declares he hunts only heads worth a hundred million, and the crew sets out to hunt — the same Mock Town the Straw Hats just left.

New reveals

• The Blackbeard Pirates roster is shown for the first time as a named crew (pp. 18–19): “Supersonic” Van Augur (sharpshooter), “Champ” Jesus Burgess (helmsman), “The Grim Reaper” Doc Q (doctor, on his horse Stronger), and “Blackbeard” Marshall D. Teach (captain) — confirming Dalton’s “five pirates” report from Ch. 133.
• Bartholomew Kuma first appears (p. 5), shown only in silhouette, captioned “Warlord of the Sea, former bounty 296 million berries.”
• Doflamingo is captioned “Don Quixote Doflamingo, Warlord of the Sea, former bounty 340 million berries” (p. 5).
• Sengoku “Buddha,” Fleet Admiral of the Navy, attends with a pet goat (pp. 4, 6).
• Tsuru, Vice Admiral of Navy HQ, attends and reins in Doflamingo (pp. 2–3).
• Lafitte — a former West Blue sheriff banished for brutality, now Blackbeard’s crew — appears to recommend Blackbeard for the open Warlord seat (pp. 8–9, 16).
• Rockstar, a “newbie” of the Red-Haired Pirates with a 94 million bounty, delivers Shanks’s letter to Whitebeard (pp. 10–13).
• Whitebeard (Edward Newgate, “strongest man in the world”) appears bedridden with IV drips and nurses, and refuses the letter (pp. 11–14).
• Shanks resolves to go to Whitebeard’s base personally over Blackbeard and Ace (pp. 14–15).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Sengoku, Tsuru, Doflamingo, Kuma, Mihawk, Lafitte, Crocodile (named, absent — vacated Warlord seat), Shanks, Rockstar, Whitebeard, Blackbeard, Ace (named, absent), Van Augur, Jesus Burgess, Doc Q, Stronger (horse — folded into Doc Q’s note, no standalone note yet), Bellamy (named only — “Bellamy got beat!!” town gossip)
• Locations: Mariejois (Sacred Marijoa), Marine Headquarters, Jaya / Mock Town, Grand Line, a winter island (Shanks)
• Groups: Seven Warlords of the Sea, Blackbeard Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates, Red-Haired Pirates (Shanks’s crew), Marines

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title splash “Please Remember”: a diving-helmeted figure rides a whale shark, harpoon in hand, amid a school of fish and a sunburst (Jaya/Skypiea salvage-diver aesthetic). Black-and-white splash, not a color spread.
• Page 4 — Sengoku “Buddha,” Fleet Admiral, full reveal with his pet goat; coat reads “JUSTICE.”
• Page 5 — Kuma (silhouette) and Doflamingo captioned with former bounties; first Kuma appearance.
• Page 7 — Mihawk’s dramatic doorway entrance to the Warlord meeting (“Hawk-Eye!!”).
• Page 9 — Lafitte’s full-figure reveal, a top-hatted, balletic ex-sheriff.
• Page 13 — Whitebeard full reveal in his sickbed, captioned “the strongest man in the world.”
• Page 15 — Shanks full-page hero panel (“But we’re going anyway”), the Red-Haired Pirates roaring to set sail.
• Pages 18–19 — Two-panel full reveal of the Blackbeard Pirates: Van Augur, Jesus Burgess (p. 18), Doc Q on horseback + Blackbeard (p. 19).
• Page 20 — SBS Question Corner (text column; confirms Vira is a small Grand Line nation, smaller than Alabasta).

Open questions raised

• What exactly does Shanks’s letter say, and why does Whitebeard refuse to even read a warning about his own division commander?
• Will Blackbeard actually be granted the vacated Warlord seat that Lafitte petitions for?
• What is the full power/Devil-Fruit roster of the four-man Blackbeard crew shown here?
• Why does Shanks consider the Blackbeard–Ace situation grave enough to seek out Whitebeard in person?