Summary
One Piece Season 2 already has a stand-out in “Good Whale Hunting”, a really nice, well-balanced hour full of action, politics, and emotional sentiment.
There’s nothing inherently amusing about being swallowed by a gigantic sea creature, but it’s probably a testament to the quality of One Piece that it sees the funny side of this predicament. The Season 2 premiere was great, but it didn’t have a stand-out one-liner of the kind that Episode 2 throws out for fun, and it didn’t have the sense of sentiment that underpins “Good Whale Hunting”. I can’t decide whether the best thing about this hour is Zoro’s “so, it’s a female whale” blunder or the fact that I now care about a whale more than just about any other character. Funny how that happens.
The hook of this episode, in case it wasn’t obvious, is that a significant chunk of it is set in the innards of Laboon, a gigantic whale lurking on the other side of Reverse Mountain that is waiting for the Straw Hats as they treacherously sail into the Grand Line. But that isn’t the half of it, really. We also get a bunch of touching backstory for the Laboon and the gruff lighthouse keeper who has become responsible for keeping him safe, as well as development in the macro politics involving the Marines and Baroque Works. It’s really nicely balanced and works on multiple levels, making it a strong argument for how good this show really is at a fundamental level.
Shipwrecked
The Straw Hats sailing the Going Merry through Reverse Mountain is an impressive visual sequence, but it’s telling that it’s only the opening to the meat of the episode. It’s also a bit of an advertisement for the Grand Line, where nothing makes sense, and everything is trying to kill you. If it isn’t raging currents, it’s compasses that don’t work, and giant whales that eat you.
Laboon isn’t a bad guy, let’s just get that out of the way. But he is a threat, since he’s gigantic enough to swallow the Going Merry whole, and his stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve it if he doesn’t spit them out in due course. Luffy is able to escape the ship before it’s swallowed and wakes up on Twin Capes, where he meets the local lighthouse keeper, Crocus, but the others go down with the ship.
Crocus is an old navigator whose life now consists of hanging around at the lighthouse and periodically shooting Laboon with a sedative so that he doesn’t brain himself on the Red Line, the ring-like continent that wraps the planet and separates both halves of the Grand Line. To explain why Laboon’s doing that, we need some backstory.
Impatiently Waiting
Back in the day, Laboon – albeit a much younger, smaller version – was technically among the crew of the Rumbar Pirates, who had taken care of him when he was separated from his pod. When the Rumbars made it to the Grand Line, they met Crocus and shared a few drinks together. Out of compassion, Crocus warned that the Grand Line was too dangerous for an innocent young whale like Laboon and drunkenly agreed to take care of him until the pirates returned from their adventures.
Laboon didn’t take this news especially well, though. Since then, he has been growing larger and beating his head against the Red Line in the hopes of breaking through and reuniting with his friends. He’ll eventually kill himself doing that, so Crocus has been periodically dosing him with a sedative, but he has now had so much that it barely works.
When it eventually comes time for Luffy to persuade Laboon to let his ship – and his crew – go, he does so by singing the old shanty that the Rumbar Pirates used to sing to Laboon. This brings him up from the surface and compels him to let the Going Merry out without incident, sparing himself from being stabbed in the mouth by Zoro’s extra-long sword.
Navigation
One of the things we learn in One Piece Season 2, Episode 2 is that the magnetic field in the Grand Line is all messed up, and it can’t be navigated using a traditional compass, which is why Nami’s stopped working. What they need is a Log Pose, a type of specialised compass that locks onto the magnetic field of the nearest island. It’s basically the navigational equivalent of the show’s underlying side quest structure.
Nami doesn’t have a log pose, naturally, nor has she even heard of one when it’s brought up for the first time, which gives her a bit of an existential crisis. Luckily, Crocus has a spare going. He clearly believes in the Straw Hats, a sentiment he even expresses to a picture of him and Gold Roger, whose navigator he seems to have been back in the day.
Before they leave, with the Log Pose directing them to the next island, Luffy even paints a Jolly Roger on Laboon’s head, promising him that he’s a part of the Straw Hats now and they’ll be back for him, so he doesn’t need to keep beating his head against the wall. Aww!
(L to R) Emily Rudd as Nami, In?aki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in season 2 of One Piece. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9
The Straw Hats aren’t the only ones stuck inside Laboon. While Luffy is working out a way to free them, the rest of the gang tries to find a way out from within, and in so doing run into two new characters, Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9, both of whom are agents of Baroque Works.
Even though you hear “Baroque Works” and think “bad guys”, the dynamic here is a little more complex. It’s adversarial at first, obviously, since every episode needs a fight scene or two, but even once Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 have slipped their bindings, they actually help Usopp get back to the ship. Was that to secure their own escape? Yeah, maybe. But they’re going to be guests of the Straw Hats until at least the next island, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
Politics
Several scenes of “Good Whale Hunting” take place in Loguetown, in the aftermath of the premiere’s events. Smoker is determined to set out for the Grand Line on Luffy’s tail, which requires formal approval since the Marines don’t have jurisdiction there, so he’s obviously planning on going rogue. Before he can leave, though, he’s interrupted by Garp, who wants a word. He leaves Tashigi to show Helmeppo and Koby around.
Garp explains to Smoker that there are bigger things for him to consider than chasing Luffy around, including a missing, possibly kidnapped princess in the Kingdom of Alabasta, a burgeoning Revolutionary Army – led by Dragon, who helped Luffy escape in the premiere – and indeed the Baroque Works, a member of which Garp wants Smoker to capture alive. At around this point, Tashigi bursts into the meeting and spots a picture of Miss All Sunday on the screen, obviously recognising her.
Luckily, Smoker can kill two birds with one stone by hunting for a Baroque Works agent in the Grand Line, allowing him to pursue the Straw Hats either way. And Tashigi will be going with him, inspired by Koby and Helmeppo, who impart some of Garp’s lessons about following their own code instead of just following orders. Tashigi wants to complete her sword collection, and that means parting Zoro from his. Should be fun.
RELATED:
