Chapters · Fish-Man Island › Fish-Man Island

Chapter 614: Too Late Now

Arc: Fish-Man Island · Saga: Fish-Man Island · Released: 2011 (last chapter of Vol 62)

Summary

In the drained throne room of Ryugu Castle, the Straw Hats realize they have panicked their way into occupying the royal palace and taking King Neptune and his guards hostage — an accident none of them meant to commit, and Luffy has vanished. Nami demands the treasure chamber and a fresh ship coating while Zoro coolly opens hostage negotiations by Den Den Mushi with Neptune’s three sons, Princes Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, and Manboshi. Bound by a promise to the former Warlord Jinbei, Neptune relays Jinbei’s two messages for Luffy — “Do not fight Hody” and “I await you in the Forest of the Sea.” Elsewhere, Chopper (Kung Fu Point) and a recovering, lovestruck Sanji resist Coral Hill’s security forces, while Madam Sharley’s ruin-prophecy spreads across the island. Up in the Shell Tower, Luffy convinces the timid, perpetually-crying Mermaid Princess Shirahoshi — caged for ten years because someone keeps trying to kill her — to leave the castle and go to the Forest of the Sea, promising to protect her. Vander Decken IX bombards the tower (now flinging his own pirates at it), and Luffy and Shirahoshi flee the castle inside her giant pet shark, Megalo.

New reveals

• The Straw Hats’ occupation of Ryugu Castle was a blunder, not a plan — they drained the water-filled castle and took hostages while looking for “a chance to run away,” and now can’t undo it (“It’s too late now”).
• King Neptune — the “Great Knight of the Sea,” giant ruler of the Ryugu Kingdom — is held hostage; he reveals he made a promise to Jinbei that obliges him to help the crew leave.
• Neptune’s three princes are named on-page: Fukaboshi (eldest, level-headed, leads the negotiation), Ryuboshi (speaks/sings in operatic “la ti do♪”), Manboshi (sings “Sunfish Mambo! Shake, shake!♪”). They are “the Three Greats” of the kingdom and communicate via Den Den Mushi.
• Jinbei’s two messages for Luffy: (1) “Do not fight Hody,” (2) “I await you in the Forest of the Sea.” Jinbei is called the “former Warlord, First Son of the Sea,” trusted and respected across the island.
• Shirahoshi, the giant Mermaid Princess, has been shut in the Shell Tower (NE sector of Ryugu Castle) for ten years — Neptune: “Someone has been trying to kill her.” She longs to visit the Forest of the Sea but is terrified to leave.
• Vander Decken IX continues attacking the Shell Tower; this time, unable to land axes/knives, he hurls his own living pirate crew at the tower.
• Megalo, Shirahoshi’s giant pet shark, swallows Luffy and Shirahoshi whole to ferry them out of the castle toward the Forest of the Sea.
• World/navigation tells: the crew’s Log Pose won’t stabilize on Fish-Man Island and a “simple Log Pose” can’t navigate the New World; Sunny lost its bubble coating and needs a new one to resurface.
• Zoro’s bounty is restated as 120 million berries (“the Straw Hats’ swordsman… the Pirate Hunter”).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Luffy, Nami, Usopp, Brook, Zoro, Sanji (recovering, Mermaid Café), Tony Tony Chopper (Kung Fu Point, Mermaid Café), King Neptune (hostage; on-page), Shirahoshi (Mermaid Princess; on-page, Shell Tower), Fukaboshi · Ryuboshi · Manboshi (via Den Den Mushi), Megalo (first appearance), Vander Decken IX (named; attacks, not shown in person), Hody Jones (“Hody”; named in Jinbei’s message), Jinbei (two messages relayed; not shown), Madam Sharley (“Shirley”; vision/prophecy referenced), Minister of the Right (Ryugu official; first appearance), Nico Robin & Franky (named in Zoro’s crew roll-call)
• Locations: Fish-Man Island, Ryugu Kingdom (Ryugu Castle — drained, occupied), Shell Tower (NE sector; Shirahoshi’s confinement), Coral Hill, Mermaid Café, Forest of the Sea
• Groups / families / crews: Neptune (royal family), Straw Hat Pirates, New Fish-Man Pirates (Hody’s crew, referenced), Vander Decken’s pirates, Seven Warlords of the Sea (Jinbei, former)
• World-building: Den Den Mushi, Log Pose (won’t stabilize), Ship Coating (Sunny’s bubble coating lost), New World
• Ships: Thousand Sunny (needs new coating)

Notable panels

• Page 1 (cover story): “Decks of the World, Vol. 2: ‘Windmill Village’” — Makino holds an infant amid the windmill-village townsfolk (the mayor / Woop Slap at left). Serialized cover-story art; the baby is an oft-noted detail.
• Page 2: Establishing shot of the drained, chained Ryugu Castle interior — “This is… just too much!”
• Page 5: Neptune names the Three Greats — Princes Fukaboshi, Ryuboshi, Manboshi.
• Page 8: Jinbei’s two messages delivered in large display lettering — “Do not fight Hody” / “I await you in the Forest of the Sea!”
• Page 11: Caption splash — “Shell Tower, Ryugu Castle”; Luffy with the giant Shirahoshi.
• Page 16: Vander Decken’s escalation — “That was the sound of human pirates hitting the tower!”
• Page 17: Climax spread — Megalo lunges (“GO, SHARK!!”) and swallows Luffy + Shirahoshi; ”…?! Megalo!” — “To be continued in One Piece, Vol. 63!”
• Page 18: Special dedication illustration (outside the story) — the Straw Hats cheering “I’m doing great!! …Fight!” dedicated to victims of the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami; originally printed on the volume cover under the dust jacket.

Open questions raised

• Why has someone been trying to kill Shirahoshi for ten years — what makes this princess so significant beyond Vander Decken’s obsession?
• Why does Jinbei specifically warn Luffy not to fight Hody — what does Jinbei know about Hody that Luffy doesn’t?
• What is the Forest of the Sea, and what does Jinbei intend to tell Luffy there?
• How does Vander Decken’s power let him hurl axes, knives, and now living people at a target across the island?
• Where did Luffy disappear to before the occupation — and how will the crew regroup, re-coat the Sunny, and leave for the New World?