I think this volume can be summed up as "getting to know Alabasta" and "meeting Crocodile"--the first meeting of which I remember well and is the first thing I think of for the Alabasta arc. Ton of fun. ( )

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Title: Rebellion
Series: One Piece #19
Arc: Baroque Works #8
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 216
Words: 9K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_One_Piece_chapters_(1_186)

"Battlefront"

"Rainbase, the City of Dreams"

"The Kingdom's Strongest Warrior"

"Beginning"

"Koza, Leader of the Rebels"

"Rebellion"

"Bananagator"

"Mr. Prince"

"Release"

"Rush

Karoo brings news of Crocodile's treachery to the king, who decides to attack Rainbase and sends Pell (the country's strongest soldier) to scout ahead. Smoker awaits the Straw Hats in Rainbase and chases several of them into Crocodile's casino, where they fall through a trapdoor into a cage. After defeating Pell, Crocodile's partner Miss All-Sunday captures Vivi and brings her to the casino; Baroque Works' final plan is set in motion. The king is abducted, and the rebellion supplied with weapons. Mr. 2, impersonating the king, admits stealing the country's rain. In response, the rebels attack the capital. Crocodile leaves the cage surrounded by his oversized crocodiles, while the room floods with water. Chopper lures Crocodile away from the casino, while Sanji enters it and fights the crocodiles. One of them spits out Mr. 3, and Sanji forces him to open the cage by creating a key. Smoker, aware of Crocodile's plan, calls for reinforcements while the Straw Hats head for Alubarna. Luffy, however, stays behind to take on the warlord.

My Thoughts:

Vivi didn't talk as much in this volume so I enjoyed that aspect a LOT more.

Baroque Works finally begin their big plan of destroying Alabastra (I'll admit, I'm still not clear on the “why” or what Sir Crocodile hopes to accomplish by this) and that gives the Straw Hats a concrete enemy. Luffy is as brash and loudmouthed as he's ever been and ends up leading the Straw Hats into a trap. Sanji rescues them and everyone but Luffy heads off to the capital to hopefully prevent a fight between citizens of the country. Luffy stays behind to fight Sir Crocodile.

While I had a decent time with this, circumstances going on around me definitely affected my enjoyment. I was doing my federal taxes and it didn't go well. So maybe this would have been a 4star read at a different time? I don't know. Life is too full to wait for “the perfect time” to read and sometimes a decent book gets overshadowed. That's life.

★★★✬☆ ( )

The action heats up as the conclusion to this arc begins its end. ( )