Chapters · Fish-Man Island › Return to Sabaody
Chapter 602: Downward Ho!
This chapter's foreshadowing ledger — what it plants, what it pays off, and what debuts here. Locked seeds pay off beyond your ⚓ progress; tap one to reveal it anyway.
- Plants
- 2 seeds🌱 chekhov-explicit🌱 chekhov-explicit
- Firsts
- The nine-member Straw Hat crew reunites in full at Grove 42 after the two-year separation and departs Sabaody for Fish-Man Island.
- Coated-ship mechanics expanded: a coated ship has very little buoyancy and is kept afloat by a 'buoyancy pouch' / airbag under the keel; release it to submerge. Underwater a coated ship is propelled by ocean currents (not wind), so the crew mans the sails to steer.
- Each Straw Hat's two-year training is shown buying the escape: localized downpour soaks the Marines' gunpowder, gigantic beetles rout a platoon, sprouted-limb attacks and despair-induced negativity break the cordon.
Arc: Return to Sabaody · Saga: Fish-Man Island · Released: 2010-10-18 (est.)
Summary
The fully reunited Straw Hats make their farewell to Rayleigh and break for the Thousand Sunny at Grove 42 as the Marines close in. Rayleigh blocks the pursuit (“It’s my student’s farewell — I want it to be proper”), and Perona, who helped engineer the reunion, warns of an approaching warship before sending them off. At the gathering point the crew reunites in earnest — Brook gets punched, Sanji suffers a near-fatal reaction to seeing women after two years on Kamabakka, and Chopper ferries the last members in. When a Marine warship opens fire, the Kuja Pirates led by Warlord Hancock sail between them and sink the volley; Hancock winks at Luffy and covers the escape. Franky inflates the Sunny’s coating bubble and Nami/Robin explain that a coated ship is propelled by ocean currents and must drop its buoyancy pouch to dive. With each crewmate’s trained powers holding off the platoons on shore, Luffy roars “Set sail!! Let’s go to Fish-Man Island!!” and the Sunny submerges in its bubble.
New reveals
- The crew of nine is reunited and leaves Sabaody together for the first time since Kuma’s scatter; destination named: Fish-Man Island.
- Coated-ship buoyancy mechanics: a coated ship has very little buoyancy; an inflatable buoyancy pouch / airbag under the keel (“the jelly”) keeps it afloat. Release the pouch and the ship sinks; underwater it is propelled by ocean currents instead of wind, so the sails are manned to steer the descent.
- Perona is revealed to have helped bring the crew (Zoro) back and stayed to see them off; she warns of the warship and uses Negative Hollow on the pursuing Marines (p.13 “I’d rather be moss / I wish I was a flea”).
- Two-year-training showcase: Nami conjures a localized downpour that soaks Marine gunpowder (the rest of Sabaody stays sunny); Usopp fields gigantic beetles; Robin breaks ranks with sprouted limbs; Franky has a rebuilt body; Brook is now a famous superstar; Sanji is comically wrecked by the sight of women.
- Hancock (Warlord, Pirate Empress) overtly sinks a Marine warship’s salvo with the Kuja Pirates to shield Luffy’s departure — “Slave Arrow.”
Foreshadowing seeds planted
Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)
Mentions / appearances
- Straw Hats (all 9): Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Tony Tony Chopper, Nico Robin, Franky, Brook — Straw Hat Pirates.
- Allies/others: Silvers Rayleigh, Perona, Hancock + Kuja Pirates.
- Groups: Marines (an unnamed Rear Admiral leads the pursuit), Seven Warlords of the Sea.
- Ship / lore: Thousand Sunny, Ship Coating.
- Locations: Sabaody Archipelago (Grove 42), Fish-Man Island (destination), Weatheria (Nami’s training island, referenced by its lonely scientist), Amazon Lily (the “island of women,” referenced via Hancock).
Notable panels
- Page 1 — Reader-request ONE-SHOT cover: “Usopp Racing with Otters” by Tea Ceremony Club President (Usopp diving with otters on sleds).
- Page 2-3 — Rayleigh’s farewell; “Go all the way to the top!!” full-face panel; “Dark King Rayleigh” holds the line against the Marines.
- Page 9-10 — The Kuja ship and Hancock cut between the Sunny and the warship; the crew clocks her as a Warlord; “Hey, it’s Hancock!”
- Page 16-17 — Departure spread: Luffy’s “Set sail!! Let’s go to Fish-Man Island!!” and the Sunny submerging inside its coating bubble (visually significant — mirror candidate).
- Page 18 — SBS (Vol 61): “Franky’s Voice Actor, Kazuki Yao!” interview page; previews the final Voice-Actor SBS (Brook / Cho). Specialist SBS-refresh material.
Open questions raised
- What exactly is the route down to Fish-Man Island, and what dangers lie between the coated dive and the island? (Carried into the next arc.)
- Does Perona stay behind, or follow? (She is last seen seeing the crew off at Sabaody.)