Chapters · Summit War › Marineford

Chapter 555: Oars and the Hat

Arc: Marineford · Saga: Summit War · Released: 2009-07-13

Summary

The Summit War rages on at Marineford. Little Oars Jr — the colossal descendant of the giant Oars and a captain allied to Whitebeard — charges the Marine line crying out to save Ace, smashing through cannon fire and the giant Vice Admiral Lacroix to clear a path into the bay. Whitebeard’s forces pour in behind him. Boa Hancock openly breaks with the Navy in the middle of the fight — petrifying and shattering rows of Marines with Slave Arrow, Perfume Femur, and Ursa Shock — and declares that, although she has “fulfilled her promise” and fought, all men are the same to her “except him.” A flashback reveals that Ace once wove Oars Jr a Wano-style straw hat (learning the craft from “the Wano people,” burning the straw up three times before he got it right); Oars uses the hat to shelter his crew from sun and snow. As Oars closes on the plaza, Doflamingo slices off his leg with a string attack (Spiky Shadow Lizard) and claims the giant’s corpse for himself — but the maimed Oars Jr drags himself onward, almost to Ace. The cover opens a new series, “Nami’s Weather Report,” with Nami on the sky island Weatheria.

New reveals

• Little Oars Jr spearheads the Whitebeard assault: his bulk (“more than twice the size of our giants”) lets him smash a corridor through the Marine cordon into the Marineford bay; the allied crews are ordered to “support Oars from behind” (pp. 2-7).
• Vice Admiral Lacroix — a giant officer of the Marines — is named and shown, and is bowled over by Oars Jr (pp. 6-7).
• Boa Hancock publicly defects from the Navy line mid-battle: “Consider my promise to the navy fulfilled… but that doesn’t mean I am on your side.” Her stance toward men (“all men are the same to me… except him”) points, unspoken, at Luffy (pp. 8-12).
• Flashback — the hat: Ace made Oars Jr a Wano-style straw hat, “learned how to make this from the Wano people,” and it took him three tries because his flames kept burning the straw. Oars wears it to stay cool (“so close to the sun”) and dry, and shelters his crew under it (pp. 14-17).
• Doflamingo cuts off Oars Jr’s leg with a string construct (“Spiky Shadow Lizard”) and announces that “Oars’s corpse will be mine later” — even maimed, Oars crawls into the plaza toward Ace (pp. 15, 18-20).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

(None resolved on-page this chapter.)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Little Oars Jr., Oars (referenced as ancestor), Ace, Whitebeard (“Pops”), Hancock (Pirate Empress), Doflamingo, Vice Admiral Lacroix, Luffy (unnamed “him”), Nami (cover)
• Locations: Marine Headquarters (Marineford — bay & plaza), Wano Country (mentioned), Weatheria (cover), Amazon Lily (via “Pirate Empress”)
• Powers / fruits: Mero Mero no Mi (Hancock — Slave Arrow, Perfume Femur, Ursa Shock), Doflamingo’s strings (Spiky Shadow Lizard; fruit unnamed on-page), Ace’s flames (in flashback)
• Groups: Marines, Whitebeard Pirates, Seven Warlords of the Sea, Giants (Marine giants; Oars Jr; Lacroix)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page. Cover: Limited Cover Series No. 16: “Nami’s Weather Report” Vol. 1 — “The Business of the Legendary Sky Island Weatheria.” Nami stands among Weatheria’s elderly weather scientists beneath a floating weather-orb (1-page cover). Opens a new Nami cover serial.
• Pages 2-5 — Oars Jr charges and “clears a path into the bay”; Marine giants fire on him.
• Page 6 — Vice Admiral Lacroix named; battlefield map labels the “PLAZA,” “WARLORDS OF THE SEA,” and “OARS.”
• Pages 8-12 — Hancock’s petrification rampage: Slave Arrow (p.8), the shatter mechanic (p.9), Perfume Femur (p.10), the “except him” declaration (p.11), Ursa Shock (p.12).
• Pages 14-17 — The hat flashback; Oars shelters his crew under the Wano straw hat from sun (p.14) and snow (p.16); “So much fun! Heh heh heh!” (p.17).
• Pages 18-19 — Doflamingo’s “Spiky Shadow Lizard” severs Oars Jr’s leg; he claims the corpse.
• Page 20 — SBS Question Corner (Vol. 57): Whitebeard’s birthday set to April 6 (4/6 → shi-ro → “white”); Urouge’s weapon confirmed a pencil; Oda explains why the Straw Hats avoid saying “kill.”

Open questions raised

• Whose side is Hancock truly on, and who is the “him” she exempts? (Heavily implied: Luffy.)
• Will Oars Jr reach Ace before he bleeds out?
• What is Ace’s history with Wano and “the Wano people”?
• Why does Doflamingo want a dead giant’s body — what does a Warlord do with corpses?