| | |  | POKEMON | Home » » » One Piece, Vol. 31 | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | Please note: book reads right to left (Japanese style) As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming the King of the Pirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretch like rubber…at the cost of never being able to swim again! Now Luffy, with the help of a motley collection of pirate wannabes, is setting off in search of the "One Piece," said to be the greatest treasure in the world! | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Eiichiro Oda | | Paperback:
| 200 pages | | Publisher:
| VIZ Media LLC | | Publication Date:
| February 02, 2010 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 1421534479 | | Product Length:
| 7.48 inches | | Product Width:
| 5.1 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.66 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.39 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.4 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.0 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.9 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.4 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 3 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 3 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
 A break for the main action, but a fascinating look into Skypiea's past.Jun 07, 2011
By Gene
Volume 31 is mostly a flashback volume that takes place hundreds of years before Luffy and his crew reach Skypiea's fluffy shores and tells the story of Montblanc Noland and his expedition to the same island. What's here is, in my opinion, a well told story of two cultures who struggle to meet eye to eye.
Without spoiling much else, this flashback adds some depth to the Skypiea arc and gives Luffy's battle much more weight to it. The execution is done with tact and the past's trials and tribulations as told in this volume make the ending of the Skypiea arc that much sweeter.
The other review brings up that this tale isn't integrated into the arc very well, and I can't say I completely disagree with his opinion either. While it's still enjoyable to see all of this backstory at once, I do wonder if it would have been possible to sprinkle bits and pieces of it throughout the entire arc. Anyway, just like the fictional book in One Piece, "Noland the Liar", volume 31 reads a lot like a story book and held my interest from beginning to end. I definitely recommend reading this entry in the One Piece saga.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Vol. 31 - We'll Be HereNov 13, 2011
By A. Richter
As other reviewers have noticed, volume 31 is primarily a flashback. As is typical of Oda, this flashback serves to bring new and important meaning to the main story arc. Without this look 400 years into Skypiea's past the actions of its current inhabitants would lack much of their depth and impact.
Not only that; this "side story" is so well written with such emotional impact that I tear up every time I read it. (The same goes for volume 32 after it, where the past adventures in this volume play out in the present.)
1 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 The Past Is PresentApr 13, 2010
By Simon
The sky is falling. Eneru has set into motion his final plan to destroy Skypiea. While the citizens of the white sea attempt an evacuation, Luffy races up the Giant Jack for one final confrontation with the self-proclaimed god - and to find a Golden Bell that could bring salvation to a country. While all this happens, Wyper watches destruction rain down on his homeland...and remembers.
Yes, we've come to the flashback section of the story arc, and this one takes up most of the volume. With Eiichiro Oda, flashbacks are always a lavish production - you're not a certified member of the Straw Hat crew until your traumatic childhood has been laid bare for all readers to witness. Unfortunately, this is one instance where the use of a flashback falls flat. I'm not convinced the saga of Mont Blanc Noland and the Great Warrior Kalgara was worth 8 chapters of my time, especially at such a pivotal point in the story (remember, this would've been about 2 months worth of serialized publishing during the original Japanese run, or 2 months while readers sat around and waited for Luffy to finish climbing that beanstalk). If this was Wyper's personal flashback and he was about to join the crew, then I might feel differently. But Wyper's not joining the crew and it's not even his story, it's Wyper recalling a great legend passed down from generation to generation. And while there is ultimately a beautiful tale of friendship to be told, you can't help shake the feeling that Oda needed a little more editorial restraint here. If the point of the flashback was to give readers a stronger emotional crux to the arc, then it comes at the very last second and it's too little, too late - all we want now is for Luffy to do his thing. If it's purely a delaying tactic to milk another volume's worth of sales out of Skypiea, then that's cheap. At the very least this flashback might have worked a lot better had it been delivered in bits and pieces throughout the arc instead of at one big chunk at the very end where it throws pacing completely out the window.
If you're reading One Piece volume by volume then you'll probably end up reading this anyway, but with the exception of the last few moments, this is one of the rare instances where the saga gets a little over-indulgent and ends up spinning its wheels, and that's too bad.
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