Navigating the Waters of One Piece: Insights into the Sabody and Impel Down Arcs

James Demmel: 00:01:10

Foreign.

Christian Ashley: 00:01:23

The straw hats be forced to survive when they're separated from each other. Guys, this is systematic geekology. We are the priests of the geeks.

I'm your host, Christian Ashley, joined today by two of the three other hosts who will be on here. One of them, you'll meet him later on. He's so enigmatic. He's just got other things that are higher priority than us.

But, you know, he is a mysterious man. But until that man joins us, I am joined today by James. How's it going, James?

James Demmel: 00:01:48

Good, Christian. How are you? Doing well today?

Christian Ashley: 00:01:50

All right, man. You know, after I get all these assignment done these week, I feel a lot better. Pang also is joining us today.

Co leader of the rebellion against the evils of Joshua Nolan. Everything that he represents. How's it going, Peng?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:02:01

It's going pretty well. Can't complain. Well, I could, but who wants to listen to that episode?

Christian Ashley: 00:02:07

I don't know. There might be some people out there might even pay for something like that.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:02:10

Ooh, special bonus episode of Just Complaining.

Christian Ashley: 00:02:15

All right, so today, everyone, we're going to be discussing continuing on in the One Piece series. If you're interested in hearing some of the other episodes, there'll be a link down below to hear what other people have had to say.

We've had multiple hosts on for those. We're still waiting on Will to catch up. You know, he just got some volumes for Christmas, and we'll see how that goes.

But for those of us actually able to do so, we're going to be doing three ARCs today. Two really short ones, kind of a shorter one as well, with it put down. So it's sad. Body. Howard. Heck, you want to pronounce that? I'm going to say Sal.

Body. You can say whatever you want. Amazon Lily, and then impel down. But before we head that way, guys, what have you been geeking out on?

James Demmel: 00:02:53

I have been lost in a massive JRPG called Metaphor refantazio.

Christian Ashley: 00:03:00

Yes.

James Demmel: 00:03:02

I don't know if anyone's heard of it or played it, but it is freaking awesome. And I'm like almost at the end, and it's been like a wonderful 75 hours over the last two weeks, and my sleep has suffered.

Christian Ashley: 00:03:15

I just started New Game plus not too long ago.

James Demmel: 00:03:18

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to New Game plus to take some of the stress off because it's like Persona where it's on a calendar system. So, like, you totally miss things and, like, you're just done. You know what I mean?

Christian Ashley: 00:03:27

Yeah. Peng, how about yourself?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:03:29

I Just got done with a trilogy book, audiobook. Because I did so much baking, there was just no time for me to have any pleasure.

And I don't know if I love it or not, but that's just what I've been geeking out on. It's by Stephanie Garbar. It's like, pretty much the last book was like a curse for true love, you know, very. It's about fates.

A vampire came, so I was like, oh, God, I just accidentally did another Twilight thing. But, you know, thankfully the vampire didn't show up very often. It was just one of those things. I'm not even happy.

I geeked out on it because the first book was free on Spotify Premium, and then it didn't end, and then the. The second and third book was free. So then I was angry, and I'm still. Actually, no, I'm still angry, but that's what I geeked out on.

James Demmel: 00:04:14

They got you.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:04:15

They did get me. They really did. Because at that point I'm like, well, I gotta know how it freaking ends.

James Demmel: 00:04:22

Yeah, right?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:04:23

So, I mean, I think if you liked Twilight, like, but, like, it's not as cheesy as Twilight. It's more adept. It's. It's very similar to, like, almost like.

Like an anime could have easily been in this book, you know, like, with the, like, someone with superpowers trying to, like, go on a quest for their. To save their true love, find out that true love wasn't really their true love, you know, of course it's romance. It's me.

TJ Blackwell: 00:04:47

Yeah.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:04:47

Stay on brand. But that's what I geeked out on. I'm not. I'm not, like, proud of it, though.

Christian Ashley: 00:04:53

You don't have to be.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:04:54

I'm not.

Christian Ashley: 00:04:55

Yeah. I recently, for the first time, just watched the Butterfly Effect, which was. Okay. I. Not big on the ending.

I'm still thinking it over, mulling it over, but I did enjoy the film overall. So with that in mind, we've got three arcs to cover people and limited time in order to do so.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:05:13

Buckling up.

Christian Ashley: 00:05:15

Who wants to take it away? First arc, Sabaody. Sabaody. Whatever you want to call it. Yo, mama. Who wants to take that arc?

James Demmel: 00:05:23

Oh, man. So all three of these arcs, Sabati, impel, Amazon Lily, and pull down. Just, like, quick, rapid fire.

Like, so much stuff happens, and that's just like, peak.

Oda is like, you know, you get these, like, long, massive arcs where you're, like, immersed in the characters and the setting, and then in between them, it's like boom, boom, boom. All this stuff with like world shattering implications happens. And so yeah, my.

The first thing that I want to say about Zabati, just to be sure someone mentions it, is the recurring gag where Sanji's wanted poster looks so terrible. And then they show up and they actually meet the guy Duvall who looks like Sanji and Zorro can't handle it.

And it's just one of my favorite One Piece moments that happens.

Christian Ashley: 00:06:13

Just built up for so long. And we get some payback payout on this. Yeah, they get into the red line. Go ahead. Go ahead.

James Demmel: 00:06:23

Yeah, they arrive from Thriller Bark. They get to Sabadi and some nefarious things are afoot because they meet Amy. Right. And then the whole auction house debacle happens. And Luffy again.

Once again, Will of D Workin makes an enemy of the Celestial Dragons with maybe the single greatest punch in all of anime.

Christian Ashley: 00:06:47

Bold words.

James Demmel: 00:06:49

That's gotta be up there. It's gotta be up there. It's at least five. Okay, so Luffy.

Christian Ashley: 00:06:55

Very satisfying.

James Demmel: 00:06:56

Yeah. Luffy punches a Celestial Dragon, which, you know, you also meet these. Some of the other Supernova characters.

Law and Kid Admiral Kizaru gets called in because the Celestial Dragon has been attacked and chaos ensues from there. 1 Bartholomew Kuma makes his debut and subsequently the Straw Hats get separated. Not his debut. He came back for this.

But the Straw Hats get separated and we get some. Some premonitions of time skips to come.

Christian Ashley: 00:07:31

Oh yeah. It's that moment of we've got our team assembled here and then suddenly they're scattered to the four winds. The places.

Some of them that we've never been to before. And we've never seen them this far apart literally from each other. It's so great.

James Demmel: 00:07:47

Yeah. It was like all at once. And it happened so quickly too. Just like the moment where like the world opened up so much more.

I mean, One Piece was already a big world, but like to have them like spread out everywhere instantly. And then two, like the stakes got raised.

Christian Ashley: 00:08:02

Yes.

James Demmel: 00:08:02

Because we, you know, we understood like the Admirals were a threat we had seen. We had met Kuzan before and had that. But like this was like, you're not getting out of this. Implications have occurred.

Christian Ashley: 00:08:15

All right, so moving on from there. Pang, do you want to take away the arc where there's a very one sided romance that kind of starts off.

James Demmel: 00:08:22

Yes.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:08:23

Oh man.

James Demmel: 00:08:24

You have to review the moment too.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:08:26

I'm just so sad that like Sanji didn't get sent to this. You Know, island. Because, like, what a great time. Like, what a great time for him. You know, I'm always rooting for Sanji to find his one true love.

But Luffy also did not find his one true love, even though his, you know, someone who truly loves him found him. So how do you say your name? Boa. Is what?

Christian Ashley: 00:08:48

Boa. Hancock.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:08:49

Yeah, Boa. Hang up. So, pretty much the island that Luffy gets sent to is an island full of Amazon women. Think like Wonder Woman on crack, if you will.

Anime crack. And so she is just so funny because she is the leader and the most feared and revered.

But she becomes a little anime high school girl in front of Luffy. And so Luffy's always like, remind me. I forget how he gets off.

James Demmel: 00:09:14

Blame her. It's hard to blame her.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:09:16

I mean, like, yeah, I don't know. I would be geeking. You know, I sent for Zorro. Me personally. But, you know, if Luffy's your type, Luffy's your type. You can't really. Can't blame her.

But yeah, so she's always trying to make the moves on him. And Luffy, being the asexual man that he is, just does not. Does not reciprocate at all. So it's very short. And he's just always trying.

He's trying to get off the island to get back to his crew, and it's not working out for him.

Christian Ashley: 00:09:43

And it's building up on things too, of, like, her backstory as well. Being a former slave who's adopted into the Amazons there. And then feeling the shame of having lived that again.

And, like, lying to the people around her. You know, all these marks actually mean something else. And also suffering from the. What is it? The love sickness?

James Demmel: 00:10:00

Is that.

Christian Ashley: 00:10:01

That it's something like that of that was being denied by her predecessor and now, like, no, like, no. Succumb to it. Like, this is a good thing. It's unfortunately driven by the one person in the world it couldn't possibly work on.

But going through her backstory as well, her falling in love with Luffy and then like, finding, okay, Ace as well, we kind of know is in huge trouble. And Luffy's always going to look out for his crew, but he's also going to be looking out for his brother too.

Which brings us to impel down where we see Ace there, like, talking to Garp. And Garp's kind of like reminiscing, like, sad as well. It's like, both of you idiots didn't turn out to be marines Like I wanted you to.

And now look at what it's costing us. And you get that? The whole like father son interaction with him. But like he doesn't care about anyone but Whitebeard. That's his daddy, you know.

Not Goldie Roger. Which I don't know if that's disarcing the neck for that field. Spoilers. Not Garp. It's Whitebeard. The man, the myth, the legend.

So Luffy and Hancock find their way to impel down and they it is controlled by this guy. Hanya Ball, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Magellan as well, who keep all the prisoners in line.

These are people who've acted against the world government. You got pirates, you got revolutionaries. People that are seen in the eyes of the world as a scum of society have no place in it.

And especially if you have devil fruit powers. They have a way to take care of you, which is the Seastone, which removes your ability to access your powers.

So being brought into a situation like that makes Luffy find other people that he encountered before and actually unintentionally brought them to prison here. We get Mr. Two. We get Buggy the Clown. We get some new characters in here. Ivankov. Oh, Crocodile shows back up. Yes, of course.

And then all this organizing together being like, okay, we're gonna get a prison break done here. Let's go rescue Ace. Let's get all these people who shouldn't work together.

But now we're gonna have this common goal of escaping and getting out of this situation. I have some difficulty fighting Magellan at first because Luffy's not able to fight off his poison. But then Mr. Two comes in clutch multiple times.

Oh, excuse me. Mr. Three, right?

TJ Blackwell: 00:12:16

Yes.

James Demmel: 00:12:16

Mr. Three.

Christian Ashley: 00:12:18

Sorry. Yeah, yeah. Comes in. Clutch sacrifices himself not to death. Because at this point in time, nobody dies in one piece.

James Demmel: 00:12:27

No one dies.

Christian Ashley: 00:12:29

That may change next episode we cover. But for right here and now, nobody dies in one piece.

James Demmel: 00:12:34

There's a holy moment where it changed anyways.

Christian Ashley: 00:12:38

And it's at this point they actually do succeed in breaking out as a Blackbeard has arrived as well. And Luffy finally learns what his name is. And they get into a little conflict there. But now it's kind of left in a moment.

Okay, can we get there in time to stop Ace's execution? So there's a lot more we haven't covered here, but once again, limited time.

James Demmel: 00:12:57

Yeah. And we haven't even mentioned Jinbei.

Christian Ashley: 00:12:59

Oh, Jinbei the man. Oh, we meet Jim B. Yeah, yeah. A great introduction to him. His like Loyalty to his people and then working together with him to like, get out of there.

Perfect. So what are our initial thoughts about these three arcs?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:13:17

I mean, info down. I felt like I just held my breath the whole time. I think that was so rememberable.

It makes me think like, I can barely remember Sabati and Amazon Lily. Because it's just once you like get into info down, like you don't care about anything else.

James Demmel: 00:13:33

Yeah. It so much was happening so quickly and it all felt like super high stakes.

It was just like especially impel down, which is like a very stressful, like, watch, like Luffy almost died, remember? And then used his hormone powers to like save him. But it like took 10 years off his life or something. I was stressed.

Christian Ashley: 00:13:51

Yeah. That's the major consequences that happen here. Yeah. For like Sabadi, you get that whole thing of the crew is separated.

I mean, like, they've been on different parts of the same island before, doing their own little things. And like, Usopp left for a little bit. It came back. But like, they haven't been separated from each other. Like literally islands away from each other.

And now Luffy's on his own, so he needs some new people. That's why we get Amazon Lily and him like, doing what he does and getting the Amazons kind of on his side. Getting Boa to fall in love with them.

Completely unintentional. And I still feel for that poor woman because, like, could she have fallen for a worse man? Yes.

Because there could have been worse men after someone who's going to reciprocate.

James Demmel: 00:14:34

He won't. He won't mistreat her. He just won't also treat her at all.

Christian Ashley: 00:14:39

Yes. Yeah, it's. It's sad and heartwarming at the same time.

But then we get to impede down and like, as you described it, paying of like, having to hold your breath is what's going on here. That's kind of perfect because, like, how the heck is he going to get out of here?

Like, it's literally designed to keep people like him inside of it, let alone the people who don't have devil fruit powers. And yet he doesn't give up. He's got a goal. He's got to get to his crew. He's got to get Ace saved from his execution. Nothing's going to stop him.

And even when it does, he's got people around him. He's going to inspire. There's a great moment of Ivankov learning that he is Dragon's son. That's just kind of like, throwing out there.

Oh, yeah, that's my dad. We'll get to that in a moment. But I love these arcs. A lot of fun. Impel down is definitely the outlier here, but still just great times.

James Demmel: 00:16:59

Yeah, it was. It's interesting to see what Oda does when, like the moment where it's just we're focused on one character, you know, it's just Luffy for a bit.

And I think that it. Those arcs were. I don't know, One Piece was at its peak in those moments. I think just because, like, the.

It was funny, it felt high stakes, it moved quickly. Right. I think the. The one thing you can criticize One Piece on is, like, it moves slow and the arcs are super long, and I love it. But like, that's.

That's everyone's like, barrier for getting into it. It's just how much of it there is. But these arcs were quick and fast paced and fun and funny.

Christian Ashley: 00:17:36

Yeah. For some of these, we're talking like maybe 12 to 14 chapters. Ish. Compared to like, some of, like 50 plus.

James Demmel: 00:17:44

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:17:44

So it's a breath of fresh air. While at the same time we're also terrified of the results of what's happening here. So it's paced really well.

So do we have a favorite moment from these arcs? Could be one from all three, or just one in general. And why is that our favorite?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:18:00

I vaguely remember Luffy like them with the hot springs on the Amazon thing. And she's just like, making a fool of herself. So I will. I will say that one.

James Demmel: 00:18:09

Just simping for our rubber boy.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:18:12

And he's literally like, pick me. Yeah. Yeah. He's just not down at all. Like, I mean, Zora would at least blushed or, like, have been put off by the advances. You know what I mean?

Like, but Luffy, nothing.

James Demmel: 00:18:26

My favorite moment, besides Sanji meeting Duvall and that whole interaction that was awesome is on Amazon. Lily. Luffy's put in prison because no boys allowed, quite literally.

And so, like, he wakes up and all of these women are surrounding his jail cell because they've never seen a man before, and they just run some practical experiments on his unique body. And it's just a really funny moment of one piece. You know, nothing super lewd happens, but it's just a. It's just a funny moment.

Christian Ashley: 00:19:03

Yes. And ladies and gentlemen and TJ coming in. Right then, it is my pleasure to announce the fourth mysterious member of the cast today.

The one you've been waiting for, who, unfortunately, you can't see visually because this Will not be on YouTube. TJ Blackwell. How's it going, DJ?

TJ Blackwell: 00:19:20

It's going great. Thank you very much.

James Demmel: 00:19:22

Do you remember that one moment on Amazon Lily when all the women discovered Luffy's body?

TJ Blackwell: 00:19:26

Yeah.

James Demmel: 00:19:26

Yeah.

TJ Blackwell: 00:19:27

It's pretty good.

James Demmel: 00:19:27

It's a fun time.

TJ Blackwell: 00:19:28

Actual. It's a classic. All right, so this is where, like, one one piece, like, early one piece humor peaked here, I think.

James Demmel: 00:19:35

Yeah. Yep.

Christian Ashley: 00:19:37

Tj, you just got here. Yeah. It's time to. To get you acquainted with what's going on. We do have a favorite moment from these three arcs.

Oh, I can go to give you time to think since you literally, there's so.

TJ Blackwell: 00:19:51

Oh, my gosh. These three arcs are so good. Like, it. It's incredible, actually. How much of the show is just amazing. Makes moments like this really difficult. I like.

First thing I wanted to say was, like, Luffy covering Boa's back or not Boa. Boa's sister. I remember that one's name. The yellow one. But covering her back so that nobody sees it. And then, like, realizing that Luffy's Luffy.

That's Monkey D. Luffy. That's the greatest man alive. But then I thought about how the straw hats get split up. It's a rough one, and that is just brutal.

That's like just a huge gut punch. And also, like, the surprise of a time skip in one piece is just comes out of nowhere. Like I was expecting it, but.

Christian Ashley: 00:20:35

Okay, yeah, I'm gonna choose the breakout at Impel Down. And the second fight with Magellan requires a group effort in order to get out alone. These people can't defeat him, but, you know, combine Mr.

Three's powers with Luffy's abilities, it manages to give them hope that they can actually get out of here. And of course, Jinbei coming in to save the day, being clutch as always. Such a great moment of action. Such a great moment of character beats.

So once again, nobody dies in one piece. Mr. Three doesn't die here, but it's still like, what it does with this sacrifice means a lot to the story that can help propel us into the next arc.

TJ Blackwell: 00:21:13

Yeah. And also, just like Magellan in general, like, Magellan's so strong for this. This, like, time period of One Piece. Like, that's ridiculous.

James Demmel: 00:21:24

This was still like kind of pre hockey. And you're not beating Magellan without any hockey. Just not happening.

TJ Blackwell: 00:21:29

No, it's just not happening. It's not possible.

Christian Ashley: 00:21:31

All right, so who is the character that stood out to you guys the most that has previously appeared that has previously appeared. Yes. And we'll get to the people who we introduced here in a second. But previously appeared first.

TJ Blackwell: 00:21:45

I feel like previously appeared probably Luffy. Luffy grows a lot over the course of these three arcs.

Christian Ashley: 00:21:52

Yeah, I'd second that.

TJ Blackwell: 00:21:53

Like, he's the main character.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:21:56

I mean, maybe as weird. Maybe Gorp. Because you see a more of that fatherly figure side, you know what I mean?

And because we've at this point just seen him, like, being so strict in, like, the Navy's way or the highway. Like, I'm such a disappoint. I'm so disappointed in you. But, like, you actually see his heart breaks for Ace and, like, his compassion so that.

That sticks out to me.

TJ Blackwell: 00:22:19

Or like, Mr. Three.

James Demmel: 00:22:21

Yeah.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:22:21

Oh, Mr. Three.

TJ Blackwell: 00:22:22

Like, this is. This is the moment that cements Mr. Three as, like, honorary straw hat to me.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:22:30

I don't know if I'm gonna pick any number. Like, we all know whose number I would pick, because that little French dude, he's not. He's not here right now. But you know, Rip, he was in.

Christian Ashley: 00:22:42

The first ark of covering.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:22:43

I know, I know. But that's just saying, like, when I think of, like, the. The numbers, he's my favorite.

James Demmel: 00:22:49

I'm gonna say Blackbeard.

Christian Ashley: 00:22:50

Oh, solid.

James Demmel: 00:22:53

Because, like, when you. When you meet Blackbeard on Jaya, like, he just kind of feels like another rival pirate. I mean, like, we. We get a sense that he's important, right?

Like the philosophical conversation about the cherry pie and that stuff and the confrontation he has Bluefin, all that. But, like, when Blackbeard walks into the bond of Impel down and Luffy has this.

That, like, face off with him, it's like, oh, this is not just another One Piece arc villain. You know, this is not crocodile. This is not an L. This is not, you know, Rob Lucci or Gecko Moria.

This is like something a little bit more actually insidious and evil going on here because all of those other characters, like, yeah. Did bad stuff, but, you know, they got a little bit of plot break with, like, flashback, some of them. Or, you know, they just got. Or they were silly.

You know, there's nothing silly about. About Blackbeard capturing Luffy's brother to give him to the world government as a sacrifice, essentially.

Christian Ashley: 00:23:56

Yeah.

TJ Blackwell: 00:23:57

Blackbeard's the only villain in one piece that I can think of where I'm like, yeah, I. I want him to die.

James Demmel: 00:24:03

Yeah.

TJ Blackwell: 00:24:03

No, seriously, I need him to die.

James Demmel: 00:24:05

But, you know, you know, we're going to get that flashback one day.

TJ Blackwell: 00:24:08

It's going to be a feat.

James Demmel: 00:24:09

There's too much.

TJ Blackwell: 00:24:10

I have a master class of writing to make me change my mind there.

James Demmel: 00:24:15

It might not make you change your mind, but the flashback's coming.

TJ Blackwell: 00:24:18

It is coming for sure.

Christian Ashley: 00:24:20

Yeah, I'm going to go with TJ on this one.

Luffy is my guy for this arc, and normally I'm not a main character guy outside of like certain circumstances, but especially with someone like Luffy. He's great. You know, I'd love to be have someone like him around, but like actually like following his character progression.

It's not to say he's a static character throughout the 500 plus chapters that came before this, but he hasn't grown as much as other people. But these three arcs forced him to grow.

And the next arc especially is going to force him to grow in a very mighty way and to not make him as one minded, you know, even though he is single minded on certain issues still to this day, it's not in the same way that the Luffy before these arcs would have done. Like learning the backstory of the Amazons of Boa and her sisters and being forced to be separated from his crew.

And what does that mean to be a captain without a crew? And then, oh no, my brother's literally going to be executed by the world for the crimes that he's. The crimes that he's committed.

Like, how do I break out of the scariest prison in all of the world in order to get something done here? And I think Luffy grows magnificently as a result of these arcs.

TJ Blackwell: 00:25:28

Yeah, I agree. I hate to be one of those guys who's like, it's Luffy show, you know, but it's Luffy show, you know.

Christian Ashley: 00:25:38

All right, so how about someone who was introduced in this arc?

TJ Blackwell: 00:25:43

I'm a big fan of Magellan. He hasn't had a lot of impact. He's just so awesome. I think Blackbeard should have went tried for Magellan's fruit. I really do.

James Demmel: 00:25:54

Yes.

TJ Blackwell: 00:25:54

But the side effects make a deal with that.

Christian Ashley: 00:25:57

And yeah, that might have given it away too early though. I think it creates more impact when it happens in the next arc.

TJ Blackwell: 00:26:02

Yeah. I mean, definitely. Yeah. But I've all. I've always kind of. This is gonna sound crazy. I've always thought Whitebeard's fruit was a little overhyped.

Like it's. It's cool. It's. It's scary. But what? What? Magellan's just a lot scarier to me.

James Demmel: 00:26:16

I need to see Blackbeard do More with it. Because we. Yeah, we never really got like a peak. Well, I mean, I guess we got kind of a Whitebeard versus Roger flashback. But he did.

I mean, he used it a little bit, but he used it that one time on Kazuki Oden. Anyways.

TJ Blackwell: 00:26:32

Yeah.

James Demmel: 00:26:32

I need to see more. I need to see more.

TJ Blackwell: 00:26:34

I need to see more there.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:26:35

The. The drag queen. I forgot his name. Okay.

TJ Blackwell: 00:26:40

That's a good answer.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:26:41

I was like, E. E, E. Okay. Yeah, that one. So good.

TJ Blackwell: 00:26:45

Yeah. Ivankov is a great answer. Actually, that might be my answer.

James Demmel: 00:26:48

It's probably my answer because.

TJ Blackwell: 00:26:50

Yeah. Not like. Because unlike Magellan, Ivankov is still very much active in the story.

Christian Ashley: 00:26:56

Quite important, especially in the backstory. It's established here that he knows who Dragon is.

TJ Blackwell: 00:27:02

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:02

There's a lot more than you would think. There's a reason Ivankov is in prison in the first place. Is that your answer, James?

James Demmel: 00:27:08

Yeah, I think I'm. I was gonna say Ivankov as well. He just is such a unique character. And it's fun what Oda does with him. Slash her. Slash it. Slash.

Whatever we're defining Ivankov as. And just, you know, just a fun exploration into. I guess I'll use this word because it's used in the show. Into queer themes in one piece.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:36

Yeah. For Ivankov and even Yamato today, there's fighting on all sides of what's the proper one. There's contradictory information everywhere. Just pick one.

James Demmel: 00:27:45

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:46

And just use it.

James Demmel: 00:27:47

Right. All I know is good person. Help Luffy out.

Christian Ashley: 00:27:52

Absolutely. Came in clutch as needed to get out of there. As far as introduced here, I'm also gonna go Magellan.

As in, like, yeah, he doesn't have the most impact in the series as a whole. But as far as a threat in order to overcome, he proved himself multiple times over.

Like, defeating Luffy is no easy feat, but he uses his abilities well. There's a reason he's in charge of making sure these yokels don't get out of there alive. Like there's a reason they're still in captivity. And it.

He is the primary one that. In the Sea Stone a little bit too. But he just performs magnificently. He knows how to counter people well.

And it takes a literal group effort in order to take him out of the equation.

TJ Blackwell: 00:28:33

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:28:33

Pretty hard, I think.

TJ Blackwell: 00:28:35

I mean, if things go a little. Just a little bit differently here, we could have. Luffy could have joy boyed himself a little early.

Christian Ashley: 00:28:42

You're not wrong.

TJ Blackwell: 00:28:43

This is one big scary dude.

Christian Ashley: 00:28:45

Okay. So in the earliest arc that we have today, we find out that both Luffy and Zoro have been upgraded to become part of the now 11 supernovas.

Those are like the rookie pirates, like the best of the best with the highest bounties at the moment. So, like, what does this mean for them in the story and for their personal growth?

TJ Blackwell: 00:29:02

I think it just is a good way for us to know how big they are in the world, because to us, they are the entire world. So it's kind of difficult for us to know, like, how the rest of the world sees them.

But, you know, putting them in the 11 supernovas, we know that, you know, the government sees them as a legitimate threat, and they want people to be aware of them. Like, that's not. That's not the kind of thing where it's just on the bounty board.

Like, only the people looking for the bounties to collect are going to see it. Like, the 11 supernovas. That's a big deal. Like, hey, y'all, watch out. These guys are freaks. They're gonna come eat your babies or something.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:29:38

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:29:39

It's almost counterintuitive to an extent of like, they're kind of creating their own boogeyman by making a system like this. You've also got like, the Warlords as well and the Emperors, because you kind of. You, like, now everyone knows their name.

Like, the intense is to put fear in people's hearts. But you also like, well, why did they get that bounty? Oh, that's how they got that bounty. That's kind of cool.

TJ Blackwell: 00:30:00

Yeah.

And it's like, I do get it for like, the Yonkos, because all the Yonkos, especially at this time, are just pirates that are so strong, the world government really just can't do anything to them.

James Demmel: 00:30:14

And they haven't really been fully introduced at this time. Like, they were more like in the background. Like, looming threats that you didn't really have as much of an appreciation for.

TJ Blackwell: 00:30:23

Yeah. And I really. I love the way you just kind of naturally learn about them. And then you're like, Shanks, that guy, like.

Like the one from the first episode.

Christian Ashley: 00:30:35

Yeah. He still exists.

TJ Blackwell: 00:30:36

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:30:37

Until we get some introduction to you. We got Bonnie and Doflamingo's appeared before right now. And who else? A couple others are introduced. Capone.

It's like, yeah, these are like the up and comers and then spoilers. There'll be a time skip, as already mentioned before, and we'll see where they've gone from here.

But like, starting off, this is kind of Our introduction to a lot of them. So I think that' really well done.

James Demmel: 00:31:01

I mean, it just felt. It was interesting to see Luffy have a rival.

You know, basically what the supernovas do is sort of function as, like, these are the same people, same class as Luffy. Like, these are who are buying for him essentially with. For Pirate King one day.

And so it's good to know that there are other people out there having complex stories.

TJ Blackwell: 00:31:22

Yeah. And they are. They are wrong. They're incorrect. But they didn't know that yet.

James Demmel: 00:31:26

They didn't.

TJ Blackwell: 00:31:26

Yeah. At the time, we just had to accept it.

James Demmel: 00:31:29

Sure.

Christian Ashley: 00:31:29

Okay. How is slavery handled within a story in these arcs? Because it shows up in pretty much all three.

TJ Blackwell: 00:31:35

Oh, yeah, yeah. It's one of those darker things that it's like, easy to forget. And this being on the other side of.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:31:43

Because you think about it too. Because in this scenario, it would just be like if we were back in our day when it was so normalized.

So you don't like, like, almost pay attention to it because it's like, oh, this is a common occurrence. But of course, Luffy is rightfully put off by it. And he's like, those are human. Those are people. Which is good that, like, someone opposes it.

But even in today's society, if you like, we may not deal with actual slavery per se, but what the majority accepts is usually what we neglect is wrong, you know? But I mean, it was handled, I think, pretty tastefully. Like, at least they didn't like, yeah, slavery, good.

Christian Ashley: 00:32:26

Like pretty much every isekai out there.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:32:28

Right, Right.

TJ Blackwell: 00:32:30

But Oda does a good job of making it clear that, like, slavery's bad. This. This young boy who was raised by mountain bandits and also pirates thinks slavery is the worst thing imaginable.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:32:44

Especially when there's so much lawlessness in this type of anime with it being pirates and whatnot we've talked about before.

But like, the Straw Hat Crew, it's usually just a bunch of like, here, almost like heroic vigilantes versus, like actual pirates, you know, like they're like, defending the weak and they're sticking up for it for what's right. And then, like, if they do break in your laws, it's usually corrupt laws.

James Demmel: 00:33:09

Sure. I mean, it's. It's pretty much the antithesis to Luffy's philosophy of I want to be as free as possible at all times, you know? And so it's no.

No wonder that he sort of rebuffs against it upon encountering it immediately. I mean, for a person who like, for him to be a pirate is to be free. Right.

Seeing other people literally in bondage is something that, like, you know, it's interesting too, because, you know, there's, you know, the recurring theme of Luffy's like, I'm not a hero. I'm a pirate. And yet he can. He ends up, like, doing heroic things because he acts always in service of freedom. And so he can't help it.

You know what I mean? Like, he's. He's free, but he's like, because he's free, he chooses the good without thought of reward every time.

TJ Blackwell: 00:33:59

Yeah. Now, I think at this point, like, we still have. We still haven't really seen pirates that do pirate things in the series.

Like, we're not legitimate ones.

James Demmel: 00:34:10

Right. I mean, like, we had Buggy.

TJ Blackwell: 00:34:11

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:34:12

We have our long arlong.

TJ Blackwell: 00:34:15

I guess the Fish man pirates is like the only example. So, like, to us, pirates are just good guys, which I agree with, personally. Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:34:25

Because we're also, like, brought up themes that have been established earlier. We have racial reasons for some of the slavery. We have Fishmen.

We are introduced, I think, in this arc, two members of the Mink tribe who are being enslaved. And of course, we also have the practical reasons of, oh, well, they're there.

They're going to fetch us money in what happened to Boa and her sisters and being branded the way that they did, you know, as a way to demean them, as a way to make them less than. I think it's established right here. It's not like your After School Special guy. Slavery is bad.

But no, it's established in the story why it is because of how people are treated. Because of what it does to them, because it removes their literal freedom from them.

I think Oda does an effective job at this to not be over the top, where he loses the message along the way. All right, so we've talked about it before a little bit, but now we finally get some more confirmation on what the heck this hockey thing is.

How does it work? What is Luffy's relationship to it?

James Demmel: 00:35:22

That doesn't work.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:35:24

Hockey. Good. That's what we got.

TJ Blackwell: 00:35:26

That's true. This episode is sponsored by the NHL. Please tune in to the Four Nations Face Off Thursday for the final.

James Demmel: 00:35:35

That's funny.

Christian Ashley: 00:35:36

Wow.

James Demmel: 00:35:36

I mean, it's like. I guess it's like. I don't know if I can. I don't even know if I want to try to attempt to explain it.

It's like the manifestation of, like, pure willpower, basically, into various forms.

TJ Blackwell: 00:35:46

Yeah. Yeah. That's how I've always thought about it. Like it's an imposition of will.

James Demmel: 00:35:50

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:35:50

Like kind of like a Green Lantern ring to an extent. Without like the. The constructs. Right.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:35:56

Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:35:57

And Luffy is kind of heavily implied at this point in time. We obviously learned later on that he had shared something very similar to what Shanks did very early on in the series where he's.

That giant sea beast is going after me. He kind of looks at it and you go, wow, Shanks is just pretty cool.

It's like, no, he was actually using something that is in the series lore to take down this thing that was obviously more powerful than him at that moment.

James Demmel: 00:36:19

Yeah. It's so crazy to me how Shanks had Conquerors hockey, but not armament hockey.

TJ Blackwell: 00:36:25

But anyways, it was to make a statement. It was to make a statement, you know. Yeah.

He had to get the Sea King know what was up, but he also had to let Luffy know that he would do anything for him.

James Demmel: 00:36:40

Otis wasn't giving it out handouts like that.

TJ Blackwell: 00:36:43

No, no. We had to work for the lore.

Christian Ashley: 00:36:46

Yeah. It's such a fun power system. Like we're still learning about it to this day, but you know, we get the Conqueror's hockey.

Like inflicting your will on someone to the point where later on we're going to see how that affects people who like, kind of like weak minded people with the Jedi mind trick are just super susceptible to it. And it's really just fun.

I love its introduction here, even though it has been foreshadowed beforehand so it doesn't come out of nowhere if you're paying attention. Once again, you were rewarded for following this manga, this anime, as time goes on.

TJ Blackwell: 00:37:19

Yeah. And I just think like getting this little amount of time with Rayleigh and it's really good for the series.

Christian Ashley: 00:37:27

Yeah.

James Demmel: 00:37:27

But.

Christian Ashley: 00:37:29

And as a part of all this going on, we learn about Luffy's heritage to an extent here. Don't learn about Mama Luff, but we learn about Pappy Loof, who is the guy fighting against the world government monkey D Dragon.

So how does this go in the story? How do we learn about it? How much does it explain about our guy Luffy?

TJ Blackwell: 00:37:50

I just, I. I remember like going through the process of like, oh wow, Garp's his dad. That's so cool. I was like, oh, Garp's not his dad. All right, whatever.

They just kind of raised him a little bit. It's like his dad is. Who? Who's this? Is anyone in this guy's family normal.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:38:06

Nope. But also he was like, is there anyone that's actually family though? Because then he. Wait a minute. That's not your brother.

TJ Blackwell: 00:38:17

He's like, hey, Sabo. Like, what do we. You're not related to those people. Luffy.

Christian Ashley: 00:38:22

It's a nice point to make.

TJ Blackwell: 00:38:22

Where's your father?

Christian Ashley: 00:38:23

Like, the found families that get made in this show are super important. It's like, you know. You know, the nuclear families are really good thing. But that is not everyone's story.

TJ Blackwell: 00:38:32

Sure.

Christian Ashley: 00:38:32

Sometimes you have to make your own family. And I like how one piece does portray that.

TJ Blackwell: 00:38:36

Yeah. And it's. I. I want to be oda's greatest defender. But the way it we introduce haki as just straight up a concept, it is kind of quick, I guess.

You know, time skip and then everybody notification. It's another thing.

James Demmel: 00:38:59

I don't think it was fully thought out.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:39:01

He said it.

James Demmel: 00:39:02

That's my theory. Which now I would have figured it out as he went along. Not one thing.

Christian Ashley: 00:39:07

I think he's a guy who plots out a lot compared to a lot of other mangaka. But hey, not everyone is going to plot it out effectively. Or like you suddenly have an idea. It's like, oh, I like this idea.

Wish I'd have thought about 100 or so chapters ago. But now I'm going to introduce it. Is it a little janky? Yeah. But there's enough foreshadowing for me to go, okay, I accept what's happening here.

TJ Blackwell: 00:39:28

Yeah. I do think he just got a little lucky.

And he had happened to write in a couple of moments that he hadn't explained yet, which could have been intentional. And then he just found the right system to use.

Christian Ashley: 00:39:41

All right, moving on from there.

We talked about the breakout, but a lot of the fun in that breakout is that it forces Luffy to ally with previous villains and some newfound scoundrels along the way. So how does ODA build up on these past relationships and create new ones as well?

TJ Blackwell: 00:39:56

Yeah. The relationships forged in Impel down just feel stronger to me because they all have a whole. Yeah. It's like they're trauma bonding.

And at the same time, Luffy's kind of like, I'm not actually a bad guy. I'm just a pirate. But it. It's just good. Mr. 3 and Ivankov. And I love the Zoans. I forget what they were actually called in Impel Down.

Those guys are so goofy. They're guards. But yeah, those guys are so goofy. I love those designs.

As much as we learn later that they are very unfortunate people, but still, the breakout is just good. It's like the Shawshank redemption, but with Mr. Fantastic.

James Demmel: 00:40:43

It's interesting to see all those characters just come together from disparate places in one piece. And I think a lot about the intersection of Buggy and Blackbeard, not Doctor. Excuse me, Buggy and Crocodile.

Christian Ashley: 00:40:58

Yes.

James Demmel: 00:40:59

Which foreshadows some things later on in the series where Oda just doesn't, like, let these characters go. Which is great, you know, because they're. They're fun characters, and he just keeps bringing them back and configuring them in different ways.

Christian Ashley: 00:41:13

Yeah. Because we already have ties with them, so when they do come back, it's like, oh, okay, they're back again. They're doing this. And I don't.

He doesn't have to make a new character to make us care about, like. Like, we already know him. And he's already introducing 20 new characters with every chapter anyways. So it's also nice to have old people.

We go, okay, I know this about you. I know how you relate to Luffy. I know that you hate his guts, Crocodile. You hate his guts, Buggy, for very different reasons.

But when push comes to shove, you're also going to work alongside him in order to get out of this hellish prison.

TJ Blackwell: 00:41:43

Yeah. And it is. So it shows that Luffy really can, in the right scenario, work with anybody. Because Crocodile was like a problem.

Almost killed Luffy, like, three times.

Christian Ashley: 00:41:55

Yeah.

James Demmel: 00:41:56

Question. What do you think the secret that Ivankov knows regarding Monster Crocodile is?

TJ Blackwell: 00:42:04

I've seen the theories.

Christian Ashley: 00:42:07

That's a good one.

TJ Blackwell: 00:42:07

I choose to believe it's one of those.

James Demmel: 00:42:09

Maybe we did meet Mamaloo.

TJ Blackwell: 00:42:11

Maybe we did. That's what I'm thinking.

Christian Ashley: 00:42:15

That is one of them. I don't think it's the right one, but I know why people think that. Given who we're dealing.

TJ Blackwell: 00:42:22

I don't know. I don't know. I think it would be pretty good.

James Demmel: 00:42:25

I'm just saying all the groundwork's laid and. And pill down.

TJ Blackwell: 00:42:28

It would add a lot of depth to the character.

James Demmel: 00:42:31

Yeah. Really give him some.

TJ Blackwell: 00:42:32

We'll see.

James Demmel: 00:42:33

Really give them some great, you know, development over time.

Christian Ashley: 00:42:37

I mean, I don't know.

TJ Blackwell: 00:42:39

It would be an interesting transition for sure.

James Demmel: 00:42:40

It'd be fun to watch that transition. Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:42:45

I think it's got to be like some family member or something that Ivankov knows about. The Crocodile has. It's a reason for what he. Why he does what he does.

Maybe if we're going away from that idea, which is still an interesting idea, don't get me wrong. I just think. I don't know, maybe he hasn't even decided yet.

TJ Blackwell: 00:43:03

Yeah, I think realistically, probably dragon and crocodile are related, and they are both also heavenly dragons or celestial dragons, and.

Christian Ashley: 00:43:18

It'S just resisting the system. And that's the secret.

TJ Blackwell: 00:43:21

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the most realistic and probably least entertaining outcome. We've already covered the best one.

Christian Ashley: 00:43:29

Okay, well, do you guys have anything else you'd like to discuss before we start wrapping things up?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:43:34

Nope.

TJ Blackwell: 00:43:35

If you're listening to us talk about this, just go watch it.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:43:39

Yeah, Start with episode one.

TJ Blackwell: 00:43:41

Not episode one. Just go watch these three arcs. And they are so good. Yeah, like this is.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:43:47

Start with episode.

TJ Blackwell: 00:43:48

I think this might be three.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:43:49

Is that about the episode? Then 400 something. Figure it out. Google it.

TJ Blackwell: 00:43:55

Low four hundreds.

Christian Ashley: 00:43:56

Yeah.

James Demmel: 00:43:57

Everyone says one piece takes a while to get into, but by the time you're here, it's like, oh, this is awesome. And so, you know what? Just if you need some incentive to make the commitment, start at Sabadi.

And then you'll be googling things and then you're basically just watching episode one.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:44:13

Well, I mean, actually, really, the story is right. Isn't that what Oda said? Like, if you started watching it now, the stories just.

TJ Blackwell: 00:44:20

Yeah. At a thousand. If you want to. If you don't like the way old school anime looks, start at episode a thousand.

James Demmel: 00:44:28

It's true.

TJ Blackwell: 00:44:29

It won't take long.

James Demmel: 00:44:30

It's wild how they actually did that when they, like went into Wano and the animation style changed as they were going up the waterfall. That was crazy.

TJ Blackwell: 00:44:37

Yeah. That was awesome. That was so cool.

James Demmel: 00:44:39

That was such a cool moment. Yeah.

TJ Blackwell: 00:44:41

onestly, if you start episode: 1000

Christian Ashley: 00:44:48

Well, if you want to hear us talk more about these particular arcs, we're going to have a special bonus question for our Patreon Captivate listeners. That's going to be, if we were imprisoned and impaled down, what would what our crimes have been that got us there in the first place?

So I'm interested to see what everyone has to say now for these three arcs. You can rate them all together separately. I don't care. Out of 10, what do you think?

TJ Blackwell: 00:45:11

10?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:45:12

9.

Christian Ashley: 00:45:12

10. 9.

James Demmel: 00:45:14

I'm gonna go as well.

TJ Blackwell: 00:45:15

This is such a good three arcs. Yeah.

Christian Ashley: 00:45:19

I'm gonna give 78Amazon Lily about an 8. 5. And I'm definitely giving impel a 9 5. These are solid, solid arcs.

TJ Blackwell: 00:45:30

I just. I don't know what the flaws are. I don't see.

James Demmel: 00:45:33

Yeah, it's true.

Christian Ashley: 00:45:34

So do you guys have any recommendations for the audience?

TJ Blackwell: 00:45:38

One Piece.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:45:39

Yeah.

James Demmel: 00:45:40

Yeah.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:45:40

Make sure you watch the live action One Piece. If since season two is about to.

TJ Blackwell: 00:45:45

Come out that is actually true, is.

Christian Ashley: 00:45:48

Planned to be part of our. One of our future episodes along the way.

TJ Blackwell: 00:45:52

Yeah, I will say if you. There are a lot of faster ways to catch up on One Piece.

James Demmel: 00:45:56

They're doing that remake one.

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:45:58

I can't wait to remake.

TJ Blackwell: 00:46:01

Look up one pace and follow that watch. God, you can do that. The live actions turning out to be a pretty decent way to get the story.

If they did Lego One Piece, that would probably be the best way.

Christian Ashley: 00:46:14

Wow, you're not wrong.

James Demmel: 00:46:15

They actually haven't done Lego collab recently.

TJ Blackwell: 00:46:19

Yeah, they just need a game. Yeah, a Lego One Piece game.

James Demmel: 00:46:23

Oh, that was slap.

TJ Blackwell: 00:46:24

Yeah, because people who have like never played Star wars or never seen Star Wars, I tell them to play the LEGO Star wars game. For sure you'll get the entire story.

Christian Ashley: 00:46:35

Any other recommendations?

Elizabeth (Pang) Clyde: 00:46:36

Nope.

Christian Ashley: 00:46:36

Okay, well, I'm gonna go against the grain, even though I do like One Piece. And I'm gonna recommend the most recent Go Go 13 adaptation. I have not seen the original because apparently they don't exist anymore.

eople can watch them. But the: 2008

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