Summary:
Brook finishes his concert when the Marines arrive to capture him, but he escapes. Usopp, Chopper, Robin and Nami reunited on the Ship and found Franky.
Brook finishes his concert and thanks his fans. He later goes backstage and gets a bottle of water and pours it on himself. Later, his fans call for an encore, which he accepts. The Marines then come and want to arrest him because he is a member of the Straw Hats. Brook begins to sing his final song, declaring that Luffy is still alive. The Marines opened fire, but Brook had already escaped on a flying fish. Chopper, Usopp, Robin, and Nami later reunited in the Thousand Sunny. Chopper and Usopp meet up with Franky again and seem impressed with his body’s new equipment. Franky then reveals that his voice can sound robotic and that he can make several changes to his body parts. His hands are greatly enlarged, but he also reveals a new arm.
The pirate captain Caribou stabbed a marine who was spying on the assembled captains. His design and personality feels very Joker, which doesn’t make him any less creepy.
Marines break into Brook’s concert and out Brook as a pirate. The scene cuts to Nami, Usopp, and Chopper getting on the ship. Usopp and Chopper fanboy over Franky’s new design and features. To everyone’s delight.
Brook plays the last song of his concert, which turns into an entire musical segment, before escaping on a flying fish. Luffy is taken to the fakes while Rayleigh and Shakky tell the rest of the crew about the mobilization of the marines. The crew is about to leave, ending the episode with a proper sense of progression.
I know Oda prefers comedic scenes to overly emotional scenes and I respect him for that. The problem is that I find it hard to believe that they are friends reunited after two years apart. I get too many “Hi, how are you?” vibes, rather than “I haven’t seen you in two years, that’s so awesome!” the atmosphere I would expect. We’ll get more into that when the whole crew gets together, but so far I feel like this isn’t quite the reunion I’d hoped for with all the characters gone for so long.
As readers, we’ve been separated from them for as long as the characters, and it just doesn’t feel right that the reunion isn’t more meaningful.
Not that I don’t love the Franky scenes. He’s like a little kid showing off his new toys. I can honestly say that Franky is one of the best parts of the series, bar none. Would the story have been as good if Franky had never joined? As one, I feel confident in saying: No. No no.
The anime adds the following:
Brook strikes a 45-degree pose during his concert.
Scenes from his past with the Longarm tribe. The anime also shows that his managers regret reporting him to the Marine Corps as they developed a sense of camaraderie during his rise to fame.
Brook sings his song “New World”. He just started singing it in the manga.
Brook is shown escaping the marines.