Summary:
Luffy enters the tournament and Franky asks him not to let anyone find out who he is. However, Luffy was about to write his real name when logging in until Franky interrupted him and now Luffy is ‘Lucy’, registered with the number ‘0556’ on the back of his shirt. Luffy and Franky are separated, Thunder Soldier looks at the board. Much to Thunder Soldier’s surprise, Franky asks Thunder Soldier about the Donquixote family. Franky asks about the factory. Meanwhile, Sanji is seen with Violet wandering around Dressrose.
Luffy defeats the Spartan after trying to punch him several times. Luffy was about to be disqualified until Sai bursts in and says that the Spartan was the one who started the fight. The Funky Brothers argue with Dagama, claiming that he is forming an alliance in his block. The episode ends with Lucy looking for new armor and Cavendish shows up and tells Lucy that there is a weight limit.
As Luffy is about to register for the competition, Franky tells him that he can fight as much as he wants, but he must promise not to reveal his name to anyone. Luffy agrees, but forgets and starts to sign his real name until Franky stops him in time by punching him in the head. Luffy enters the competition as the 556th contestant “Lucy” and is led to the locker room. Franky stays with the Thunder Soldier and starts questioning him about the Donquijote family, the factory, and whether the soldier was born in Dressrose. Thunder Soldier seems unhappy that Rebecca entered the competition.
As Luffy prepares for the tournament, a warrior named Spartan notices Lucy and thinks that his size makes him an embarrassment to the competition and tries to eliminate him. However, Luffy easily defeats him, much to the shock of the others present.
Everyone is stunned after Spartan is eliminated. One of the referees blames the incident on Luffy and tries to kick Luffy out of the competition, but luckily he is defended by the Chinjao family, who inform the referee that the fight was started by a Spartan. Luffy thanks them, but one of the Chinjao family members rejects his apology and tries to attack Luffy, but is stopped by another member.
Then some of the other contestants notice that they are big names from many countries and are surprised that the countries sent their representatives to try to win the rare treasure, Mera Mera no Mi. Big names include: Funk Brothers, Dagama and Elizabello the Second from the Kingdom of Prodence, “Neck Slasher” Suleiman, ex-bounty hunters Abdullah and Jeet, fake massacre adventurer, ruler Oolumbus and “Hyena” Bellamy, Donquijote family support. The first round is revealed as a battle royale with four blocks and over 550 participants, although only four will advance. Luffy discovers that he is in Block C and that he can choose any armor or weapons except weapons. He chooses the Viking warrior look, but finds he’s already over the weight limit and needs to lose some armor.
The episode ends with Lucy emerging as a “pirate prince”, his name is Cavendish.
The anime adds the following:
The scene where Luffy and Franky part ways inside the Coliseum.
Franky meets Thunder Soldier and asks him for information after he mentions Rebecca entering the tournament.
The Thunder Soldier looks at the board with the names of all the notable gladiators and what block they are in. The board shows that Hera, Spartan, and Gambia are all in block D, although the manga doesn’t show which block any of them were in. Also, there is an error in the name Maynard, as he was under the alias “Capman” as Burgess’s “Mr. Store’.
Another scene with Sanji traveling Dressrosa with Violet.
After Sai stands up for Luffy, a crew member asks another gladiator if Spartan was the one who started the fight, which he confirms. Luffy also gives Bo his ax back and thanks Sai.
In the manga, Spartan only tried to throw one punch at Luffy. In the anime, Spartan tried to punch him several times.
After the Spartan is knocked out, he is not shown bleeding like in the manga.
Luffy is shown to spin the Spartan several times before knocking him down, while in the manga Luffy simply flipped him over.
Just after Spartan’s defeat, shadowed images of Sai, Boo, Chinjao, Rebecca, Kelly Funk, Bobby Funk, Hack, and Ideo appear.
In the manga, Sai gave Luffy the middle finger as Boo dragged him away. This was censored in the anime.
Unlike the manga, the anime shows the beginning of block A. Furthermore, the battle royale rules are explained before block A, while the rules were explained during block B in the manga.
Bellamy simply grabs a man’s head when he is introduced, while in the manga he was shown brutally crushing said man’s face.