Written by: Matt Owens & Damani Johnson
Directed by: Emma Sullivan
With their ship springing a leak, the Straw Hats arrive in Syrup Village in search of a new vessel. With the aid of local prankster Usopp, they visit the young owner of the shipyard, only to be caught in a sinister murder plot…
- Arc incorporated into the episode: Kuro Arc/Syrup Village Arc
Tropes:
- Adaptational Context Change: Originally the heroes were chased off from the mansion and later overhear Kuro talking about his plan at the shore. Here they are invited to stay overnight for Kaya's birthday and find Merry's corpse in the cellar.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Arlong and Kuroobi only appear in the Arlong arc of the original story, but here they make an early appearance to capture and potentially kill Buggy for encroaching on "their turf" through his pirating in the East Blue.
- Adapted Out: Most of the Black Cats Pirates, and the Usopp Pirates, are removed from this version.
- Ascended Extra: However, on the flipside, Sham and Buchi—who originally only showed up with the rest of the Black Cat Pirates when they came to attack Syrup Village—are two of the few Black Cats who are not only not Adapted Out, but have been undercover with Kuro at Kaya's family mansion for the past few years as the maid and cook, respectively.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Kuro has Zoro—a known, infamous, dangerous bounty hunter—completely at his mercy when Sham knocks him out from behind. Rather than finishing him off, inflicting any kind of further wounds on him, or even checking to see whether or not he's dead, Kuro just has Sham and Buchi dispose of Zoro's body along with Merry's, and they just dump his body and his swords into a well without checking, either.
- Catch-22 Dilemma: When observing Buggy's wanted poster Zoro bitterly says they should have stuffed his head into a bag and sold it for the bounty. Luffy of all people has to point out that Zoro wouldn't be able to cash in on that bounty anyway because he is also a wanted man and tells him not to worry about it.
- Chekhov's Gun: Soon after coming to Syrup Village, Luffy notices and peers down into a deep well. At the end of the episode, Merry's body and an unconscious Zoro are dumped into this same well.
- Couch Gag: Usopp's jolly roger replaces Luffy's in the title shot.
- Crying Wolf: Since he was a kid, Usopp would run around town yelling that pirates were coming. He was believed the first couple of times but by seven years later, the townspeople just ignore him. Guess what happens when Usopp tries to tell the townspeople a murderous pirate has his new friends captive...Usopp: Why won't anyone believe me?
- Death by Adaptation: In the anime and manga, Merry survives Kuro's attack, albeit barely. In the show, he is not so lucky.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- One of the background news posters at the village says "Actress tragically dies on stage, Victoria Cindry", who in the original series is introduced in the Thriller Bark arc.
- Another poster says "Gold Roger's shipwright caught and executed", which gets elaborated in the original series during the Water 7 arc.
- Another poster mentions "War continues on Broc Coli Island", which is only mentioned in passing during the Whole Cake Island Arc.
- Gender Flip: Sham is a woman in this version.
- Hates Rich People: Having grown up in poverty, Nami doesn't have a high opinion of the rich, speaking disparagingly about them (including Kaya's family) to Luffy and Zoro and having no problem with looting the mansion for valuable items (such as silver candlesticks) that no one will miss that she can sell. However, Nami does start feeling a bit bad for it when Kaya shows that she's Spoiled Sweet and treats her with nothing but kindness, complete with letting her keep the stuff she's stealing, and seems to consider Kaya an exception, even returning one item she stole.
- I Am What I Am: Once Nami accidentally wanders into Kaya's room and the latter figures out that the pillowcase she's holding is full of stuff she's been stealing from around the house, Nami admits that while she's not a pirate, she is a thief, and she's not going to apologize for that, saying this word for word. Kaya doesn't actually mind all that much, since she already has far more than she could ever need and is happy to share it.
- Just Friends: What both Usopp and Kaya separately tell members of the Straw Hats (Luffy and Zoro for the former, Nami for the latter) that they are. Though it seems like at least Usopp sees Kaya as more than a friend, asking the guys if they think she may have feelings for him and if he has a chance with her. (Not that Luffy and Zoro are much help in that regard.)
- Mythology Gag:
- At the start of the episode, Luffy holds up a horrendously drawn Jolly Roger that is identical to his first attempt in the manga and the anime.
- Luffy mistakes Usopp's voice for Going Merry talking, which in the original becomes relevant at the end of the Enies Lobby arc.
- In the original, Usopp handled the repairs on the Going Merry until the Straw Hats manage to recruit a dedicated shipwright, but the fact that those repairs ultimately boiled down to amateur patch jobs resulted in some issues down the line. Here, Usopp was introduced in a shipyard providing technical details of the Going Merry to Luffy, suggesting that he actually is a trained shipwright in this version... until he admits that his job is just cleaning the ships, not building them.
- Kaya's garden is decorated with bushes designed after animals from the skipped Island of Rare Animals.
- When trying to place where he's seen Klahadore before, Zoro suggests they met on Mirror Ball Island. This is where Jango's cover story takes place and where he struck up his friendship with Lieutenant Fullbody.
- Pet the Dog: After their late night conversation, Nami basically has Kaya's blessing to keep the expensive items that she was stealing from around the mansion to sell. Nonetheless, clearly touched by Kaya's kindness to her, Nami returns one of the trinkets back to where she found it.
- Smart People Play Chess: We see a variant of this here when Garp and Koby are both shown to have a talent for strategy via their game of Go.
- Tap on the Head: Sham knocks Zoro out just by hitting him in the back of the head with a wine bottle. He stays out cold for long enough to be put on a cart, wheeled out to the well in town, and dumped in.
- Wham Shot: The final shot is Usopp going into a breakdown, and seeing the one person who will listen to him... while also showing that Garp is practically on Luffy's tail.Koby: I believe you.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Zoro has this reaction when he realizes that Buggy had a 15 million berry bounty on his head and bitterly notes he should have stuffed his head into a bag and sold it to the nearest Marine base.
