Episode 135: Infamous Pirate Hunter! The Wandering Swordsman, Zoro
Air Date: 2002-12-01
Opening: Hikari E (3rd Opening)
Ending: Free Will (9th Ending)
Manga Chapters: n/a
Short Summary
A flashback shows Zoro's early days as he meets Johnny and Yosaku for the first time in a bar. Johnny and Yosaku are amazed with Zoro's strength as he demonstrates it on a bandit. Later, the Dick Bandits attack the town, led by a large man named Dick, so Johnny and Yosaku stand up to him. Zoro arrives to save the day, defeating Dick, and Johnny and Yosaku pledge to be Zoro's friend forever.
In-Depth Summary
The episode opens in a flashback of a desert town. In the town bar, a big brute of a man is drinking by the barrel, obviously very inebriated. Sitting in the bar are also Johnny and Yosaku, though a couple of years younger than when we last saw them. Yosaku thinks he and Johnny should take the guy out, since he is worth five million berries and they are bounty hunters, but Johnny refuses. At that moment, Zoro walks into the bar and asks for something to eat. Zoro then says he’ll pay for the meal by taking out the drunken bandit, so the bandit attacks. Zoro easily takes him out with a slash across the chest. Johnny and Yosaku tell Zoro that they claimed the bandit. Zoro replies that he's on a journey to defeat Mihawk and become the world's greatest swordsman, a childhood dream of his, and that he's not actually a bounty hunter, but will just grab a bounty occasionally so he can eat. He apologizes for taking out a marked man and tells Johnny and Yosaku to take the guy to the Marines so they can collect the bounty.
Outside, Johnny and Yosaku notice that people are hiding in their houses and fleeing from the town. They learn that the Dick Bandits have arrived at the edge of town and are looting the place. By the storehouses, a massive man, Dick, is firing his giant pistol and blasting open the storehouses, having his bandits steal the things inside. The townspeople watch helplessly, and Dick is interrupted when a little boy named Harry wearing homemade armor bearing a butcher knife and a small hammer hits him in the knee. This angers Dick, and he sends the boy flying with a kick. Johnny then runs up to Dick and attacks. Yosaku joins Johnny, and Johnny states that they are famed bounty hunters and they're going to take Dick down. Dick and his bandits laugh at them, but Johnny remains confident. He says that just that morning, he and Yosaku took a bandit to the Marines worth five million berries. This causes Dick to stop laughing, and it infuriates him, as the guy from the bar was actually his little brother, Billy.
Meanwhile, Zoro returns to a small shack far away from the town. As he arrives, there is a smithy there forging a sword. Zoro takes back the sword he left, the very sword he received from Kuina, having a flashback to when he fought Kuina and he vowed to become the world's greatest swordsman after she died. Suddenly, there is an explosion in the distance. Zoro asks what it was, and the smithy replies that there is a bandit worth ten million berries attacking the town with a giant pistol. Zoro leaves to check it out. Meanwhile, Johnny and Yosaku try their best to fight Dick, but Dick just keeps knocking them back. He then aims his giant pistol at them, ready to fire and kill them. Johnny and Yosaku then stand up, not giving up. Dick orders his bandits to take them out. They attack Johnny and Yosaku from all sides, pounding them badly. Harry gets up to fight, but Zoro grabs his arm to stop him, saying that before Harry goes to fight, he should wonder what he can actually do. A bandit raises his sword to kill Johnny and Yosaku, but Zoro blocks the blow with his own sword. He puts on his green bandana and borrows Johnny and Yosaku’s two swords. Everyone quickly realizes that this is Roronoa Zoro the Pirate Hunter. Dick orders for the bandits to attack Zoro, and with amazing skill and speed Zoro carves through all of them. However, Dick runs up to him and points his giant pistol right in Zoro's face, firing.
The scene suddenly shifts to the present-day Going Merry as Zoro wakes up from his nap, and Robin walks up to him. Robin says that someone somewhere just heard about the legend of the Pirate Hunter, and Zoro says that he never gave himself that name. Robin asks where that name came from, but Zoro grumpily replies that he doesn't know. The flashback then resumes, and just as Dick is about to fire the giant pistol right in Zoro's face, Harry throws a bucket of water over Dick. This distracts Dick, and Zoro uses Oni Giri to take him down easily. Johnny and Yosaku then declare that they've fallen in love with Zoro's skill, and they jump up cheer, declaring to Zoro, "Aniki!"
Mumbo230's Notes
to be added
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