One Piece a day - chapters 51-100
I'm reading one chapter a day and recording my thoughts as a kind of diary. Please no spoilers for anything I haven't read yet, but I'd greatly appreciate pointing out anything I may have missed/that is worth re-reading! This is a follow up to my previous post on chapters 1-50 which can be found here (this one is a little late).
To update the spoilers I know list a little:
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!After reading past chapter 100 this past week I watched some of the live action (having been told it only covered up to the end of chapter 100), Unfortunately, I did not realise there would be a reveal of Garp's relationship to Luffy so I'm aware of that now unfortunately. I'll not be watching any more of the live action till I'm caught up entirely with the manga now, though I'm feeling like watching One Pace to see some of the arcs so far animated!!<
I was initially reading online, but switched to reading physical copies (in the triple volume collections thanks to a local library) around chapter 90 which I am much preferring; it's great to be able to flip back and reread sections easily. The only real downside is that, since the pages are small, it is harder to make out the smaller details of each frame (where a surprising amount of information is!) so I often go online to reread parts of chapters. Also, one thing that's odd is that Zoro is now spelled as Zolo (and so I'm not sure if it is meant to be Loguetown or Roguetown, but going by this I think it's the former) in the physical copy I'm reading; does this get fixed?
The covers of each chapter giving side plots are really cool, great way to run stories parallel to the main story taking place. Was very nice to have the context for how Alvida and Buggy made it to Lougetown, I'm curious to see where the Coby and Helmeppo story goes!
Can't wait to see more of Mihawk and Shanks. Curious that the mayor of Windmill village said it was Luffy's "fate" rather than "dream" to be the pirate king, I wonder if this means there's more to Luffy's origin than we are currently aware of (this wouldn't surprise me, though I'm curious to see how Oda ties it into the narrative!).
Crew:
- Luffy: His energy and drive is infectious. I have to highlight his decision to destroy Nami's cartography room, which was an incredibly emotional moment (hence the attached picture). What he seems to value in his crewmates is a hunger for pursuing their own dreams, whatever they may be, and will stop at nothing to ensure that happens (indeed the lack of feeling betrayed by Nami was refreshing to see!).
- Zoro: This guy does not quit! From getting destroyed by Mihawk (the promise to Luffy to never lose again was incredible) to immediately taking out the entire court of fishmen was insane. Great stoic counterpart to Luffy's goofiness.
- Nami: After seeing her backstory I can see why she's so jaded... brutal childhood, but her strength and smarts are unreal. Hopefully she can fulfil her dream now knowing that Cocoyashi village is safe!
- Usopp: So glad he's building in confidence by fighting the fishman, great moment for him! Provides a great comedic relief during the more intense moments, I'm hoping he gets a larger role to play in the adventures to come.
- Sanji: Incredible backstory with Zeff on the island (was a close second to have Sanji looking out at the sunset as the attached picture), and his kicking fighting style is very funny. His relentless drooling over girls might get old, but for now it is quite amusing!
Arcs:
- Baratie: This was my favourite arc so far, I really liked the backstory for Sanji and the supporting characters involved throughout. I'm generally not a huge fan of long battles, but I particularly enjoyed the ones here (maybe due to the interesting techniques of each of the characters). Only downside was the lack of involvement of Nami + Usopp but this was more than made up for at Arlong Park!
- Arlong Park: The backstory for Nami (and Nojiko) was gut wrenching (RIP Bellemere), but was masterful storytelling. I really got the sense that Arlong was brutal, especially compared to some of the other goofier villains, and was pleased to see Luffy crush him along with Arlong Park. My favorite character in this arc had to be Hacchan however, I wish the other henchmen were as well utilised. The sequence with him giving Zoro a lift and then realising he'd killed his friends was hilarious (the fight after was great too).
- Loguetown: My main question is whether Tashigi is meant to be Kuina (I guess we will see...)? This feels a little too obvious of a reveal though, and maybe the point is that Kuina was wrong in the sense that a woman can go toe to toe with a man in combat! Glad to see Buggy and Alvida back (where did she get her devil fruit!?), but the divine intervention with the lightning strike as Buggy tried to execute Luffy fe a little too convenient... I wonder if some other (higher) power is at play here (or maybe it was the guy Dragon?).
I'm enjoying the story even more at this point, it seems to keep expanding out with more and more connections between characters being introduced all the time. Just as I said last time, it would be great to hear any (spoiler-free) thoughts and or comments. Super hyped for the crew to get into the grand line, see you all at chapter 150!
Posted Aug 12, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC