Chapters · Fish-Man Island › Return to Sabaody

Chapter 600: Island of New Beginnings

Arc: Return to Sabaody · Saga: Fish-Man Island · Released: 2010-08-09 (est.)

Summary

Two years after the war, the scattered Straw Hats reconverge on Sabaody Archipelago. At Grove 35 a distraught Chopper — fooled by impostor “Straw Hats” who paraded a fake kidnapped Robin — reunites with Usopp and Nami (“Chopper, you’ve grown!”), and learns the real crew is famous now; the impostors have been impersonating them all over the island (pp. 2–4). At Grove 41 Zoro announces he’s going fishing and bickers with Sanji about who’s in charge (“You’re not my boss”) and Sanji’s “No. 7” cooking ranking (p. 6). At Grove 46, the impostor crew’s fake “Luffy” rallies ~100 rookies as his “vassals,” citing the real Luffy’s havoc at Enies Lobby, Impel Down and Navy HQ; among the answered super-rookies are Wet-Haired Caribou and his brother Blood Splatter Coribou of the Caribou Pirates, plus ‘Gashed’ Albion and ‘Lip Service’ Doughty (pp. 7–11). Caribou, the hypocritical “Soldier Killer,” prays over a man he murders and orders Coribou to bury him alive (pp. 8–9). At the Sabao Dome (Grove 33) the Navy storms the concert of world-famous rock star Soul King Brook — whose 33,000,000-berry poster ties him to the Straw Hats — but Brook plays one last song, proclaiming “Straw Hat Luffy the pirate is ALIVE!” and dedicating “The New World” to Luffy (pp. 12–15). At Grove 17, Franky reunites with the others beside the coated Thousand Sunny in a huge new “Armored” cyborg body (pp. 16–17). Silvers Rayleigh and Shakky arrive: with the Navy mobilized against the impostors, Rayleigh will teach Nami coated-ship navigation, has warned Brook by Transponder Snail, assures everyone “Luffy will be fine” because “he’s already on the island,” and hands Robin a Vivre Card to find the last unfound member. The crew is to assemble at Grove 42 and “start anew” (pp. 18–19). A standalone SBS Question Corner closes the chapter (p. 20).

New reveals

• Post-timeskip reunion underway. Chopper, Usopp, Nami and Robin regroup first, then move to join Franky and the coated Sunny; Zoro and Sanji coordinate by baby Transponder Snail toward the same rendezvous (pp. 2–6, 16–19). Everyone’s appearance and demeanor has changed across the two years.
• “Soul King” Brook. Brook spent the timeskip becoming a chart-topping rock musician; his wanted poster (bounty 33,000,000) reads “Replacement captain of the Rumbar Pirates, also known as Humming Swordsman Brook” (p. 13). His manager betrays him to the Navy (“our company is dissolved”); his fans only learn he’s a pirate — and connected to the “dead” Straw Hat Luffy — at the arrest (pp. 13–15).
• Brook reintroduces Luffy to the world. Mid-arrest, Brook proclaims “Straw Hat Luffy the pirate is ALIVE!” and “He’ll be the king of all oceans!”, dedicating a final song to Luffy: “Let’s go to the New World, Luffy! Listen to my last soul!!” (pp. 14–15). The public broadcast of Luffy’s survival.
• “Armored” Franky. Franky rebuilt himself far larger during the timeskip — “the dream of every man set into motion… Armored Me!” — with oversized hands (Robin: “more hands!!”), a press-the-nose robot-voice gimmick, and switchable hairstyles (pp. 16–17).
• Impostor Straw Hats + Navy mobilization. A fake “Luffy” recruits ~100 rookies as “Straw Hat Pirates,” boasting of the real Luffy’s strikes on the three great WG facilities; the Navy, mistaking the impostors for the real crew, has mobilized (pp. 10–11, 18). The fakes are still hunting the real “pet” (Chopper).
• New super-rookies. Caribou (“Wet-Haired Caribou,” captain of the Caribou Pirates, bounty 210,000,000) and his brother/co-captain Coribou (“Blood Splatter Coribou,” bounty 190,000,000) — Caribou is a two-faced “Soldier Killer” who prays over those he murders and buries them alive (pp. 7–9). Also named with bounties: ‘Gashed’ Albion (92,000,000) and ‘Lip Service’ Doughty (88,000,000) (p. 7).
• Rayleigh & Shakky coordinate the dive. Rayleigh will teach navigator Nami to control a coated ship for the underwater voyage, has warned Brook via Transponder Snail, says Luffy is “already on the island” and “will be fine,” and gives Robin a Vivre Card to reunite with Luffy; the crew assembles at Grove 42 (pp. 18–19).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

(No earlier seed reaches full on-page payoff in this chapter. The reunion-homing Vivre Card and the navy-mobilization tension are set up here for the next chapters.)

Mentions / appearances

• Straw Hats (shown): Chopper, Usopp, Nami, Robin, Zoro, Franky (“Armored” body), Brook (Soul King). Sanji is coordinating by snail off-panel (“he’s with Zolo right now”).
• Straw Hats (referenced, not shown): Luffy — “already on the island,” the last unfound member; world told he is alive.
• Allies: Silvers Rayleigh, Shakky (arrive to coordinate the reunion); Hancock (named, off-page — instructed the mustachioed man).
• New super-rookies: Caribou, Coribou (Caribou Pirates), Albion, Doughty; plus the unnamed impostor “Straw Hat” captain (“big boss”/fake Luffy) and his mob of rookie recruits.
• Crews / groups: Straw Hat Pirates, Caribou Pirates, Rumbar Pirates (Brook’s poster), Marines (the Navy — mobilized, raids the concert).
• Locations: Sabaody Archipelago (Groves 17, 33, 35, 40, 41, 42, 46), Sabao Dome (Grove 33 concert hall), New World (Brook’s song / destination), Fish-Man Island (the underwater route Nami trains for).
• World-building / props: Ship Coating (the coated Sunny), Eleven Supernovas (super-rookie bounty context), Vivre Card (Rayleigh’s card for Luffy), Den Den Mushi (baby Transponder Snail link Sanji↔Zoro; Rayleigh↔Brook), Thousand Sunny (coated, anchored at Grove 17).

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Chapter-title B&W “request corner” illustration: “Zolo mistakes a crocodile for a weight during training and swings it around” (request by Kororu, Kanagawa).
• Page 3 — Chopper’s tearful reunion with Usopp and Nami; “Chopper, you’ve grown!”
• Pages 8–9 — Caribou’s hypocritical prayer over a fresh kill; bounty captions for Caribou (210M) and Coribou (190M).
• Page 13 — Brook’s wanted poster: “Soul King” Brook, 33,000,000, “replacement captain of the Rumbar Pirates.”
• Pages 14–16 — Brook’s farewell concert: “Straw Hat Luffy the pirate is ALIVE!” and “THE NEW WORLD!” splash as the fans rally to the Soul King over the Navy.
• Pages 16–17 — Franky’s reveal in his huge new “Armored Me” cyborg body; the press-the-nose robot-voice gag.
• Page 19 — Rayleigh gives Robin the Vivre Card to find Luffy; “…and start anew!”
• Page 20 — SBS Question Corner (bonus column, not story content): goroawase note on the ch-589 tank top “Bound” (= dog wow-wow + “nd”); the joke “Color of Nausea”; a fan asks why Sanji’s appearance changed and floats the gag that it’s “his twin brother Yonji” — Oda dodges (“Sanji hasn’t changed at all”).

Open questions raised

• Who is the mustachioed man embedded with the impostor Straw Hats, sent on Boa Hancock’s instruction, who already knows the real crew?
• Where is Luffy, and how soon does the reunion Vivre Card lead the crew to him?
• How will the crew slip past a fully-mobilized Navy that believes the impostors are the genuine Straw Hats?
• What threat will the treacherous Caribou brothers pose now that they share Sabaody with the real crew?