Chapters · Water Seven › Water Seven

Chapter 365: Rocketman!!

Arc: Water Seven · Saga: Water Seven · Released:

Summary

Aboard his speeding kidnap train, Spandam gloats to his pet elephant Funkfreed: Admiral Aokiji has cleared him for a Buster Call (five vice admirals, ten warships), and both Nico Robin and Cutty Flam — “the only two humans who have the key to reviving that ancient weapon” [Pluton] — are riding straight to him. In the rear cars, Sanji punches his way forward, frees nothing but finds Franky bound in the freight car (Car 6), and grabs a transponder snail to reach Nami; meanwhile a Marine warship under Captain T-Bone bears down on the train. At Water Seven, Kokoro leads Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper to an abandoned brick warehouse behind the garbage dump and reveals the ROCKETMAN — a flawed runaway Sea Train Tom built before he finished the Puffing Tom. Iceberg has helped prep it. Nami arrives, the crew boards with Chimney and Gonbe, and the Franky Family rushes up begging to come save their abducted “bro” — Luffy tells them to get on. The Rocketman roars out of Water Seven for Enies Lobby.

New reveals

• Buster Call authorized. Spandam crows that “Aokiji giving us the okay for a Buster Call” has secured “five vice admirals and ten warships from Navy Headquarters” — “enough military force to destroy the world, coming straight to me!” (pp. 2-3).
• Funkfreed named. Spandam addresses his elephant on-page: “Isn’t that right, Funkfreed?!” (p. 2) — first on-page naming of the elephant.
• The two keys to Pluton. Spandam states Nico Robin (chased by the World Government for 20 years) and “Tom’s disciple and the holder of the Pluton blueprints… that detestable Cutty Flam” are “the only two humans who have the key to reviving that ancient weapon,” both en route to him on the Sea Train (pp. 2-3).
• Sanji finds Franky. Sanji clears the last car (Car 7) and the freight car (Car 6) of disguised officials, finds Franky tied up, and grabs a transponder snail to call Nami (pp. 4-7). They trade insults and recognize each other.
• Crew composition note. The Water-Seven chase party shown is Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, Nami, plus Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe — Usopp is absent (he split from the crew after the Ch. 0332 duel and is not present in this chapter).
• Captain T-Bone. A bone-thin Marine captain in a justice (正義) coat commands a warship pursuing the kidnap train; a subordinate hails “Oh! Captain T-Bone!!” (p. 8).
• The Rocketman. Behind the brick warehouse’s garbage dump, in a basement, sits a shark-headed steam locomotive — “the Runaway Sea Train… we call it Rocketman.” A “flawed specimen, from before Puffing Tom was completed,” whose engine speed “is uncontrollable” — Tom built it (pp. 9-12).
• Iceberg and Kokoro’s prep. Iceberg appears (“Ice Guy!”); he and Kokoro have filled the water and coal stores and built up steam so the crew can give chase (pp. 11-13).
• The chase party. Nami boards last; Chimney and Gonbe are aboard; the Franky Family arrive begging passage to rescue their boss, and Luffy admits them (“Get on”) — they’ll hitch their King Bulls to the train (pp. 14-18). The Rocketman departs Water Seven for Enies Lobby (pp. 18-19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• On-page: Spandam (pp. 2-3), Funkfreed (the elephant, p. 2), Nico Robin (pp. 3-4), Sanji (pp. 4-7), Franky (pp. 6-8), T-Bone (p. 8), Luffy (pp. 9-19), Zoro (pp. 9-18), Tony Tony Chopper (pp. 11-18), Nami (pp. 14-18), Kokoro (pp. 9-18), Iceberg (pp. 11-13), Chimney (pp. 11-18), Gonbe (pp. 11-18), Franky Family (Kiwi, Mozu and members, pp. 15-18), Sea Train (pp. 10-19).
• Named, not shown: Aokiji (credited for the Buster Call okay, p. 2), Tom (named as Rocketman/Puffing Tom’s builder, pp. 2, 12).
• Locations: Water Seven, Enies Lobby (the destination), Sea Train.
• Cover (side-comic): Mr. 5, Miss Valentine — “Ms. Golden Week’s Big Plan, A Baroque Reunion, Vol. 6: Great Escape from the Island of Giants.”

Notable panels

• Page 1 (cover): Side-story splash — Mr. 5 rides a pteranodon carrying Miss Valentine, fleeing a horned giant below (Little Garden callback). Cover-story Vol. 6.
• Page 2: Spandam clutches Funkfreed’s trunk; “five vice admirals and ten warships” panel establishes the Buster Call force.
• Page 4: “Car Seven (last car)” / “Car Six (freight car)” labels as Sanji advances; silhouette of Franky bound on the floor.
• Page 8: Captain T-Bone in a flowing justice coat (大書 “正義”), bone-thin frame — Marine pursuit introduced.
• Page 10: Full panel reveal of the Rocketman’s shark-head locomotive — “It’s the runaway Sea Train. We call it Rocketman.”
• Page 16-18: Luffy’s “Get on.” and the Franky Family piling aboard / hitching their King Bulls.
• Page 19: Full-page splash of the Rocketman bursting forward, “HOOO-NNK.”
• Page 20: SBS “Question Corner” (Vol. 38) — Oda draws Enel with a perm; the Straw Hats name their preferred island seasons.

Open questions raised

• What is Funkfreed really? (Named here as a plain elephant; nature unrevealed.)
• Can the brakeless, “uncontrollable” Rocketman actually catch the kidnap train and survive Aqua Laguna’s surge?
• Will the Buster Call be triggered at Enies Lobby, and what does Aokiji’s involvement signal about his stance toward Robin?
• How will Captain T-Bone’s warship factor into the dual chase (Straw Hats vs. CP9’s train)?