Written by: Tiffany Greshler & Ian Stokes and Allison Weintraub & Lindsay Gelfand
Directed by: Josef Wladyka
With the aid of Buggy, the crew sales to Coco Village to track down Nami. Meanwhile, Arlong plots to keep his navigator under his employ.
- Arc incorporated into the episode: Arlong Arc
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: When Nami snarks at one of the Fishman's intelligence during a poker game, the other Fishmen end up chuckling.
- Adaptational Context Change:
- Originally, Nami stole the Going Merry at the Baratie and Usopp, Zoro, Johnny, and Yosaku went after her, then the latter came back for Luffy and Sanji to tell them where Nami is going, so the crew spends most of the first half of the arc split up before meeting up once Luffy, Sanji, and Yosaku get to Conomi Islands. Zoro and Usopp both separately get captured briefly by the Arlong Pirates, and Nami has to try to protect her friends from them without blowing her cover. This whole subplot, and Johnny and Yosaku themselves, have been Adapted Out; the whole Straw Hat crew except for her left Baratie together on the Merry, and arrive at the island together as well, while Nami herself gets a ride with Arlong at the climax of his Adaptational Early Appearance.
- In the manga, after killing Belle Mere, Nami was forcibly taken by Arlong and his crew after they found her maps, with him dangling the prospect of buying back the village over her the whole time. Here, Nami willingly goes to him to make the offer directly, with the condition of giving her the chance to buy back the village.
- In the original story, Nami quickly told Nojiko the truth about her joining the Arlong Pirates, and Nojiko told Genzo and the other villagers in turn, which led to them being Secret Secret Keepers, pretending to hate her to make it easier for her to ditch the village if she so chose. Here, she doesn't tell a soul, leading to Nojiko and the villagers being fooled to the point of genuinely hating Nami until the truth comes out.
- Adaptational Location Change: In the manga, Nami kept her cache in her family's tangerine groves; here, she kept it beside her mother's grave. This leads to a brief confrontation with Nojiko who thinks she's defiling their mother's resting place.
- All for Nothing: Nami gave up her freedom, her life, the respect of her sister, became an outcast for her town, betrayed her friends, put up with years of Arlong's abuse, all as part of a long game to get the money to buy the town's freedom...and in one moment, it's all taken away as a crooked captain steals the money and she realizes Arlong was never going to honor the deal.
- Armor-Piercing Response: After hearing Nami's and Nojiko's backstory from the latter, Luffy and Zoro have a conversation about it, with Zoro still inclined to leave Nami be and pointing out that she explicitly told them to leave. Luffy points out, "So did you," referring to Zoro originally rebuffing him when asked to join his crew.
- Bawdy Song: Buggy starts to sing one about Nami only for Zoro to toss him into a barrel to shut him up. The impact causes a Curse Cut Short.
- Big "NO!": Nami yells "No!" repeatedly when Nezumi confiscates her money at Arlong's behest towards the end of the episode.
- The Coats Are Off: Or rather, The Hat Comes off. Luffy takes off his precious straw hat to console Nami after her breakdown at the hands of Arlong while promising her that Arlong will go down for what he did.
- Couch Gag: Nami's original jolly roger replaces Luffy's in the title shot.
- Deal with the Devil: A young Nami makes one with Arlong: she offers to join his crew and draw maps for him after showing him one to prove how good they are, in exchange for being able to buy back Coco Village's freedom from the Fishman forever. Arlong names the price at 100 million berries, and Nami has finally scrounged it all up, only for Arlong to betray her by having Nezumi confiscate it.
- Didn't See That Coming: Helmeppo is genuinely surprised to learn Garp is Luffy's grandfather, admitting to Koby that of all the things he expected Koby to blab about, that wasn't even on the list.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Nezumi finds Nami and Nojiko with the stolen money.Nezumi: A hundred million berries? How did you come by that?
Nami: How did you know it was... Arlong put you up to this, didn't he? - Face Death with Dignity: As in the manga, Belle Mere calmly tells Nojiko and Nami she loves them before Arlong fatally shoots her.
- Forced to Watch:
- Like in the source material, Nojiko and Nami are forced to watch Arlong fatally shoot Belle Mere.
- Later, the Marines restrain Nami and force her to watch as they confiscate her cache of berries from Belle Mere's gravesite.
- From Bad to Worse: Nami's prospects of freeing Coco Village from Arlong's grasp backfire when the latter has the Marines confiscate her stolen 100 million berries from Belle Mere's gravesite. Seconds later, Nami realizes Arlong was never going to honor their eight-year deal just as the Arlong Pirates burn down the village.
- Gory Discretion Shot:
- Belle Mere's death cuts away before the gunshot this time around.note
- Just like the manga and anime, this is averted in the scene where Nami repeatedly stabs her own arm where her Arlong tattoo is before Luffy grabs her wrist and stops her.note
- Heroic BSoD: Like in the original manga, all Nami can do is slump to the ground in shock seconds after realizing Arlong has betrayed her.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Like in the original, Belle Mere holds off the Arlong Pirates to let her daughters live, but at the cost of her own life.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: While discussing the relationship between Garp and Luffy, Koby downs multiple shots in order to steady his nerves and generally deal with the stress.
- Internal Reveal: Koby reveals to Helmeppo that Garp is Luffy's grandfather in the episode.
- Ironic Echo:
- After Arlong gives Nezumi his double payment, the latter says he's smarter than people give him credit for, prompting Arlong to coolly ask if it's because he's a Fishman, leading to a long string of Digging Yourself Deeper for the Marine captain. By the end, Nezumi feels he can only take most of the original amount, and Arlong then turns the Marine's phrase right back on him.
- When Buggy won't shut up inside his bag, which Sanji is carrying, the latter tries to pawn him off to Usopp, who refuses by saying "New guy carries the clown head." Later, Buggy is intentionally annoying Usopp at Nojiko's home, trying to psych him out, and Sanji silences him by stuffing a tangerine in his mouth, stating "New guy shuts up the clown head."
- Make an Example of Them: Arlong gives a speech to his fellow crew mates about the humans' mistreatment of the Fishmen and to make an example of them, the crew burns Coco Village.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Genzo and the Coco Village citizens panic when they realize Arlong and his gang are going to enter the village.
- Mythology Gag:
- Sanji tosses his trademark "moss head" insult at Zoro.
- In Nami's flashback, Arlong flips a village house upside down. In the manga and anime, Momoo flipped the Gosa Village's buildings since the villagers couldn't pay their monthly tribute to Arlong.
- Name Drop:
- Jimbei is mentioned as being one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
- Zeff mentions the island of Jaya during his conversation with Garp.
- Non-Dubbed Grunts: Nami's final Big "NO!" when Nezumi confiscates her money is left undubbed in the Latin American Spanish, European Spanish and European Portuguese dubs.
- Oh, Crap!:
- As expected, the younger Nami and Nojiko can only watch in shock as Arlong's about to shoot Belle Mere.
- Nami has a small panic when Nojiko discovers she's taking the cache of berries out of Belle Mere's grave. Seconds later, she has another one when Nezumi and the Marines arrive to confiscate the berries and later when she realizes Arlong has betrayed her.
- Usopp gasps in shock as the Arlong Pirates are about to burn down Coco Village.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The episode's title is an obvious reference to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
- Power Walk: Subverted, and put off as a Cliffhanger: The sequence of events is interrupted when the Straw Hats see the flames from Coco Village being bombarded by Arlong's crew. This is where the episode ends.
- Saying Too Much: When Nezumi shows up to confiscate Nami's money, he comments on the exact amount—100 million Berries—even though he should have no way of knowing this as he'd only just seen the chest containing it. Nami thus realizes that Nezumi is acting on Arlong's orders.
- Shovel Strike: After discovering Nami has been taking the cache of berries out of Belle Mere's grave, and not fully understanding the situation, Nojiko grabs her shovel and tries hitting her.
- Single Tear: Upon realizing Arlong's betrayal, Nami sheds a tear a few seconds before she stabs her own tattoo with her dagger.
- Smash the Symbol: Like in the original, Nami uses her dagger to stab her shoulder where her Arlong Pirates tattoo is located. Fortunately for her, Luffy intervenes.
- The Snack Is More Interesting: Subverted. While he and Zeff do talk a lot about other things, Garp frequently focuses on his mission. And is also diverting while Koby and Helmeppo butter up a bartender for information on Luffy's whereabouts.
- Spiteful Spit: Nojiko spits on Nami's shoe when Nami comes to collect payment for Arlong.
- Spotting the Thread: Arlong barges into Belle Mare's house seconds after she's hidden Nami and Nojiko to demand tribute in exchange for not killing her. After she pays him, he's seconds away from leaving... until he notices the two extra plates on the table.
- Watching Troy Burn: By the end of this episode, the Straw Hats can only watch as the Arlong Pirates attack and burn down Coco Village.
- You Are Not Alone: After Nezumi steals her plunder, Nami realizes in horror the village will be targeted by Arlong in further retribution. She races to save it, only to collapse in despair and starts stabbing her tattoo. It is at this moment Luffy shows up, stops her from harming herself, and promises to help her simply because she is his friend. The other Straw Hats have been silently watching and without hesitation comply with Luffy's order to move out and attack Arlong for these actions.
