@@GavinReadsItAll Never trust the internet. Except me right now. Sanji's character gets better later and as far as I remember, there isn't any other transphobia in One Piece.
I think Sanji's issues with the denizens of the Kamabakka Queendom has less to do with them being biological men "with the hearts of maidens" and more to do with them continuing to pursue and tease him when he has made it fairly clear that he is not interested. Further, Sanji is obviously girl crazy, and to be denied being able to see someone who appeals to his aesthetic preferences but instead being surrounded by those whom he finds specifically unappealing for two years has sorta put him into withdrawal, especially when previously he was so close to two women he considered world-class beauties. Also, let's remember that Fishman Island was published around a decade ago, and Oda himself has grown a bit in his take on trans people. It's obvious that he doesn't hold any ill will towards trans folks, as he made both Bon Clay and Ivonkov incredibly likeable, sympathetic, and heroic characters in their own rights. However, the Japanese culture has a LOT of transphobia baked into it, including its humor, and is somewhat slower to recognize trans rights and how harmful certain stereotypes can be. This is especially true over a decade ago, as the issue of trans rights has only seen major traction in the public majority within the last several years. That said, I think Oda has gotten better concerning trans issues over the last few years, even including a couple trans characters in the Wano arc who aren't stereotypes, who don't make the fact that they're trans the defining aspect of their character/personality, and who are absolutely accepted for who and what they are by everyone. Not even the villains misgender them. I'll say that it isn't perfect (Sanji and Brook still simp over the trans man who doesn't "pass" as a man physically and therefore still has a feminine physique, though admittedly he is quite attractive) and the trans woman does indeed "pass" for a woman physically (and yes, Sanji does simp for and plays the white for her as well), it's still a major step in the right direction while coming from a culture that remains largely conservative about such issues.
I wished that by being harassed by those trans would've taught Sanji something about his own behaviour, but no, he continues to be an annoying piece of shit by being like that towards women over and over, specially with Nami and Robin. Definitely one of the worst gags in One Piece, along with the invisibility one and the shitty representation of trans people before Wano. The panties gag is a close one, too.
I agree that Sanji can be insufferable at times and I won't say it's ok to shame the Okama for being different. But we also shouldn't ignore that the Okama on Kamabakka island literally assaulted Sanji every day for two years and tried to make him a crossdresser against his will. Sanji's nosebleeds have gotten worse because he didn't see (what he considers to be) a "beautiful woman" for two years. He's basically on withdrawal mixed with ptsd... .
EXACTLY!! Sanji spent 2 years as a victim of constant harassment. Had it been Nami and a bunch of jocks nobody would even consider saying she is "menphobic" or "jockphobic". Gender orientation, as it usually happens in One Piece, is anecdotal. Bon-chan is an amazing to us, and to the crew (except to Nami when they first met), but to the little kid in Alabasta he almost killed I'm pretty sure he is an abomination as well. Buggy D. Clown, what a great guy, right?? Go tell that to the people of Orange Town
The okama trying to force Sanji to become a crossdresser is by itself an awful stereotype. It's not really a justification. Let's just agree it was bad but the queer representation gets better moving forward.
@@dripsoup6639 You are right. Regardless, the point stands, Mr 2 was the guy impersonating the King and, in the kid's eyes, the one to blame about the revolution, still worthy of being called abomination, as many people he cherished surely died because of it
@@33amra33 It never says "all queers do that." In the same story they don't do that to other people. They did it to Sanji, but that's not the rule. If you want to believe that one action done by one small sample of people is actual representation, that's on you. If that were the case don't ever watch a movie where they kill someone, or everyone belonging to the race/gender/age-group of the person committing the killing should be complaining about bad representation. I'm Argentinian. According to lots of Hollywood products, no nazi died during WWII, they are all here, and that's based on propaganda issued by the US government (the blue book on Argentina) to overthrow a democratically elected president because they wanted the military regime that came before to come back (and then they financed its comeback). Should I set Hollywood on fire for "bad Argentinian representation"? But not all Hollywood products referencing Argentina say that. Not all queers in One Piece try to force people into crossdressing, and those very same queers don't try to force everyone into crossdressing. If anyone for a second believes that all queers do that to everyone from reading One Piece, those people should not be allowed to waste oxygen. You can never right anything if every character needs to be perfect or someone will get offended. Or does minority representation need to be always as perfect and immaculate people? Why don't we realize that they are people first, so they are allowed to be as good or as shitty as they please, instead of focusing of a secondary characteristic to segregate them? It's not "queers force people to crossdress" but "this particular group of people was shitty to Sanji and they tried to force him, assaulted him, and harassed him for 2 years." You could even argue that it was because he arrived by Kuma Paw, and since there are clear ties between Kuma and the Kamabakka Queendom, perhaps there was a pre-established agreement between the two parts to treat that way those who were sent by that method. But people choose to focus on gender instead, as if gender defined everything of who you are.
Btw, the thing sanji said to jimbei doesn’t translate well. Sanji tells jimbei to commit seppuku if he wants to atone, which is a thing in japanese culture to atone for their sins. It doesn’t happen now obviously, but it means something different than it would in the west.
2:28 Merphy absolutely hates Caribou XD 3:30 The nosebleed gag is a common gag trope in Japan. In general, the "perverted" gag character is/was quite common. It didn't age well, especially in the west, and many find that gag annoying if not uncomfortable. So don't worry about having misgivings about Sanji, his character is probably at the lowest point in this saga for a big chunk of the fandom. 6:10 Roger having the hat before shanks was revealed in that chapter. 12:10 I believe Sanji is purely judging by aesthetics (remember how he treated old lady Kokoro from water 7?). Yes, it's probably transphobic by our standards, but I don't think it's really about gender identity and it is more about him treating like sh*t anyone who is not a cute girl (think how he treats Zoro for example). Plus, remember that he was thankful to Iva when he left Sabaody, so I don't think there is any bad blood between them, on the contrary. Unfortunately, this is another side of his whole "gag" with women. It's unfortunate that this did not age well, but I do think One Piece has an unique way to deal with this topic because it depicts the queers with the absolute worst of stereotypes, but also make them an important group in-world and makes you LOVE those characters. I don't think exist anyone who doesn't like Mr. 2 or Iva, and they are loved inside the story as well. So I take that as Oda turning the stereotypes on their heads and saying "if you like the worst representation of these characters, surely you have no excuse to dislike them now?" 46:00 Yes, you knew already that Jinbe was the reason that Arlong was "released" in the East Blue, but you didn't really know the circumstances behind it yet. 1:01:32 In that page, in the panel with all the crowd there are two easter eggs: you can see Kamie and Pappug as children and you can see a "mermaid" that looks like a fish with hands that it's identical to the sketch Luffy drew back at arlong park when he was trying to imagine how mermaids/fishmen looks like. 1:02:09 I think the princes are dancing to calm down Shirahoshi, not for the queen.
TL;DR: First paragraph: Read Second paragraph: Gender in One Piece Third paragraph: Me ranting against victimhood culture It's not transphobic by any standards. Follow this exercise, change the characters. Change Sanji for Nami, change the Okama for a bunch of jocks. Nami said "no", so the jocks tried to force her. For two years she was on the run, and hiding, she even learned to run through thin air to escape. When she is free of them, she addresses the people that harassed her for 2 years as abominations, and has PTSD upon seeing jocks later on. Is that "menphobic" or "jockphobic"? Then why is it transphobic if the perpetrators are trans? Sanji did say no, the harassment did take place. One thing that has always been a constant in One Piece is that the gender does not define the character, and it's just an extra piece of the description, like height/weight, and it applies to everyone from the main cast to the background characters alike. The same way it should be for everyone of us IRL. Your own gender bias might make someone seem whateverphobic, but that's on you and your personal agenda (that sometimes you don't even know you have as it's been instilled on you without you even noticing). In One Piece gender has always been irrelevant, and the same way the denizens of this world have no reaction to a character being [insert whatever gender/sexual orientation you want], we should not care about that either. People are people first, and everyone is capable of being amazing (using One Piece trans examples, Bon-chan to the crew since the end of Alabasta and when they first met, the residents of the Kamabaka Queendom to the Revolutionary Army), and everyone is capable of being an abomination (Bon-chan to the kid from Alabasta who discovered he was framing King Cobra, Bon-chan to Nami when they first met, the residents of the Kamabaka Queendom to Sanji after they harassed him for 2 years). Assuming someone of whatever sexual orientation will surely or can never be the perpetrator on a harassment situation, that's whateverphobic, as you are assuming based on their gender, making that secondary/tertiary characteristic be more important than the fact that they are people first. And in many cases, specially with people around 20, they do that to themselves, they make their sexual orientation, the color of their skin, the place they were born, etc, the core of who they are, so through their lens, everyone interacting with them is basing their actions/reactions solely on that characteristic. There's been a social experiment conducted in London, IIRC. They gave people fake scars on their faces and sent them on job interviews, to see if they got discriminated against for their blemishes. What they didn't tell the participants was that just before they were sent to the interview they removed the make-up from them pretending to add some final touches to it, so they went with clean faces. After the interviews they were asked if the interviewer had said anything that was discriminatory or derogatory due to their non-existent markings. Like 90% of them had lists of alleged offenses that never happened, because the fake scars were removed before the interviews.
@@AnyMEmdq The way trans people have been presented in the Sanji story is _extremely_ transphobic, playing to all kinds of anti-trans tropes with how they were drawn and how they were behaving.
@@sertaki I strongly disagree. Yes, those in particular and specifically in that moment (not in others) are stereotypical, but Sanji's reaction has absolutely nothing to do with their gender, so there's no negative/phobic message about their gender in the story. You can say it's unhappy, ridiculous, wrong, even offensive, as most stereotypes usually are, but there's no phobic message in it whatsoever. Plus you cannot take one page out of a 1000+ chapters story and talk about transphobia. It's like calling someone racist because they studied Spanish and said the Spanish word for black while doing so. Hitler talked in Mein Kampf about "The art of reading" and then proceeded to set a gazillion books on fire. If you are not willing to look at the whole picture, if your own personal lens sees them as trans first and as people later, then that's a you problem, and you alone should have to deal with it, instead of trying to inflict it onto others.
@@AnyMEmdq Even regardless of any character's reaction, the art on the page and how the behavior and intentions of trans people are depicted is a bunch of extremely harmful tropes played straight. You really have to deliberately ignore a bunch of horrible shit to come to the conclusion there is nothing wrong here. And are you seriously quoting Hitler to defend bigotry?
I've never seen someone who understood the Fishmen Island Arc so perfectly like you. Thank you Gavin! By the way, whoever told you that Merphy loves Caribou lied to you, she absolutely hates that guy.
Fishmen not being allowed into Sabaody Park due to racism really shines a different light on Arlong naming his base of operations Arlong Park. The deep connotations are very sad (doesn't excuse his actions though). Oda always shows two sides of the coin.
This arc is quite controversial somehow. I am very happy that you rate it so high. While it it not in my top arcs (because there are just too many good ones), it's extremely well written in regards to its theme. I actually think how racism is handled in this arc is Oda's best depiction of a theme in all of One Piece. And the last few pages of chapter 648 is one of my top 5 favorite scenes. Sadly a lot of people have some problems with those arc that are kinda dumb imo. For example a very common complaint is that the villains are really bland and the fights boring. But as you pointed out, them being bland and hollow WAS THE POINT and obviously fights are not challenging after a 2 year training time skip. Had the strawhats struggled, that would have actually been disappointing. So basically people don't like the arc because not enough action or whatever (which is fine, you don't have to like everything) and then equate it with "arc bad". You will actually hear this a lot about some post time skip arcs. Oda tries something new and even if he manages it well, a lot of people will call it bad, because it is not what they expected. Just have to learn to ignore them.
I think a large part of post time skip criticism is also attributed to week to week readers and anime watchers. As someone who didn't start week to week until Wano, I kind of experienced whiplash with how much hatred there was for Dressrosa, and even Whole Cake Island. I really loved both arcs, especially Whole Cake Island, it's easily one of my top 3 OP arcs, so I was shocked to hear that people didn't enjoy it. But reading Wano each week quickly exposed what was going on, regardless of whether people have read weekly since pre time skip or just started reading weekly, the fact is that One Piece arcs have gotten longer and longer with each new arc, and it isn't because Oda's becoming worse at writing, but rather because he can no longer just introduce a hundred new plot threads every arc, he now has to ANSWER all of those plot threads while introducing a hundred more. Because of this the story is expanding exponentially, which is necessary because the events the Straw Hats are partaking in are increasing in worldwide political relevance. So basically, the time it takes for things to happen in the manga is a lot longer now, because Oda has to fill in and answer so many things he doesn't have time to highlight the non-story related scenes like fight scenes, casual crew interactions, and so on. One Piece is no longer a casual adventure romp with some high emotional stakes, it's now a complex political web with highlights of comedy and complex emotional stories. Which from an overarching view is still just as intriguing and One Piece as always, but zoomed in week to week feels much slower and less consistently energetic in terms of pacing. And then there's the anime. I will forever hold a grudge against Toei for insisting on the money making weekly release instead of going for the healthier seasonal release option. The One Piece anime post time skip is atrocious and besides a few good moments and episodes directed by animation gods, it's mostly terribly paced, terribly animated, and the only thing keeping it alive is the amazing voice actors. I can't blame anyone for hating the fishman arc, punk hazard, dressrosa, and whole cake because of how painfully slow and repetitive it is. I even rewatched some of the anime recently and even pre time skip draws out events so much that it actually hurts to watch. Little Garden used to be an arc I remembered fondly but after rewatching it in the anime I now never want to experience it again. There was an entire episode where the straw hats are stuck in the wax and do literally nothing about it besides yell for 15 minutes straight. So I'm conclusion I do think people often misunderstand or just totally gloss over Oda's complex thematic writing because they want to see cool Shounen action, but I think two other major factors of post time skip complaints are people suffering through the anime and people waiting an entire week to see Luffy move from one side of a floor to another side of a floor, and a few dialogue lines between side characters. When binge reading you just move on, but from a weekly perspective people call it a bad chapter. (I didn't even touch on the whole weekly readers jumping to conclusions and making extreme judgments on those usually false conclusions). My motto as a weekly readers is, "Trust in Oda". He makes mistakes, but he's still one of the most consistent writers of literally all time. It's highly unlikely that this story he's planned for decades and proven that he's planned for decades is going to just jump off the rails and become bad for no reason.
Yay! A two hour long One Piece review from Gavin! I've missed these. Good job as always. You're one of my favorite One Piece reviewers. And now on to something heavier: Sanji and Kamabakka. As for what the residents of Kamabakka Queendom might have done to Sanji, the biggest thing I can think of is that made it very clear he didn’t like the flirting, and really didn’t want to be feminized in any way but they continued to do both. When they initially got him in a dress, he liked it, but once he was out of it he never wanted to do it again. I never put that as being in denial. I think it’s more like someone going to a club and getting pissed drunk for the first time and having fun doing it and then deciding afterwards that that kind of lifestyle isn’t for them, despite having had fun. There’s also the idea that he was coerced into it. He said he didn’t want the dress (very firmly and without any doubt) and they chased him around the entire island until they got him into it. Not the best experience. And again, when Iva got back to the island and made the deal for the recipes, there was the threat of the dress, which still shows a fundamental lack of respect for him. It’s clear that while he respects their abilities and is grateful for their help over the timeskip, he did not really enjoy his time on his island as much as the other Strawhats did on theirs. Basically, I think it’s complicated. He displays transphobic attitudes that don’t seem entirely warranted (as though such attitudes ever could be), yet they forced him to cross boundaries he didn't even want to approach by, essentially, having little to no respect for his cisness. None of these excuses the transphobic vibes and comments, of course, especially calling them ‘abominations. I’m not making excuses for him. Some things are inexcusable. Just explaining what I think was happening. And worst of all to my mind, I think it’s all supposed to be a gag. Not one of Oda’s finest moments. I'd actually say it's one of his worst. And kinda weird given the mostly respectful way he (both Oda and Sanji) had always treated Bon-chan. Sanji didn’t show disgust when he fought Bon-chan in Alabasta. He respected Bon-chan as an opponent to be taken seriously, even if there were gags about turning into Nami so Sanji couldn’t attack. And he, like the rest of the Strawhats, viewed Bon-chan as a genuine and loved friend afterward. But that history is what makes me think that the whole Sanji-and-Kamabakka-Kingdom-trauma is a horribly tasteless gag. Fortunately, there is much better trans representation later in the manga. There's a reason so many people think that Sanji's character took several huge steps backward after the timeskip.
Thank you for your insights into Sanji and his time on the island - it really does help me put him into perspective and realising I need to keep an open mind with him moving forward. I think my biggest issue was the word “abominations” so I’m sure Sanji does get better as the series goes on. It’s a really complex topic, more so than I first realised, so definitely need to delve into it more.
Another thing to remember is that Sanji's never exactly had the best attitude toward cis women he finds unattractive, either. Kokoro is the first to come to mind, but she's not the only one. I think Sanji's just a pig, straight up. If you're pretty, he likes you; if you're ugly (by his reckoning), he wants nothing to do with you. Also most (though certainly not all) of the residents of Kamabakka are Okama, which isn't a trans woman, but a gay (often transvestite) man. Sanji's attitude toward them still isn't okay, but it's a different not-okay.
@@GavinReadsItAll Just to clarify, when looking at my Japanese version, the literal sentence was "走って・・・走って！悍ましい者達から逃げ回り続けた2年間". "悍ましい" directly translates to disgusting or repulsive, but you can also translate it to fierce, intimidating, ruthless, or ferocious. It is likely, based on the context, that the sentence refers to "those fierce people" who had been all over Sanji in the Kamabakka Kingdom. Also, it seems the translator has made a mistake here as "abomination" is not the right translation. If Oda had used the word "abomination," he would have used the word "忌まわしい". Hope this helps to clarify a few of your gripes with that interaction.
About Sanji most people have issues with him in the early part of post time-skip so its not just a you thing. I also felt uncomfy with Sanji’s behaviour here but I do remember a theory that people who go to the Kamabakka Kingdom wish to live freely or may be looking for help with accepting themselves and transitioning. We see in chapter 544 cover story Sanji is dressed as a female so some people think that the Okama were mistakenly trying to help/force him to transition and thats why he has a bit of an attitude towards them. Additionally he was there to train so he spent 2 years fighting with them and getting beat up by them as they're quite strong. That being said even if this was the intent its not very clearly explained so it does leave most people feeling uncomfortable about it.
This is the best explanation because I was watching the anime, I was like, "WTF is going on?" They literally forced him to dress and made suggestive comments (that would be, I guess endearing if he was actually trans) that were borderline harassment because he wasn't. I thought it was kinda funny how he ran from them for 2 years straight that he walked on air. It really feels like a gag but also kinda off wrong 🤣
This video was so carthatic to watch. You are one of the only people i have seen who understood hoody and understood this arc so well on their first read.
This is such an excellent review of this arc. Every step I was so glad you'd picked up on the details you had. I've been looking forward to this video and I'm so happy to say it was even better than I expected. Watching you talk through the points you did that made you convince yourself were spot on
Yay! I finally caught up. I love your enthusiasm when you talk about One Piece. It’s infectious and fun to watch. While Fishman Island is not my favorite arc, I’m very happy that you enjoyed it and understood the point on hatred. It’s very good thematically. I don’t know if anyone mentioned this, but the true cause of Otohime and Tiger’s deaths is actually hatred. Tiger died because he was unable to let go of his own hatred of humans and accept their blood to save his life. Otohime died because of the hatred that was festering in the Fishman District, passed from generation to generation. Hody was the symbol of the very thing Otohime was trying to prevent. And while they had different approaches, Otohime and Tiger contribute to the message of the arc. With Tiger, we see that even if you can’t let go of your own hatred, you shouldn’t pass that hatred on. Let the hatred end with you. With Otohime, we see that choosing to forgive and understand can bring a brighter future, though it may take time, and it’ll free the minds of the next generation from adopting the hatred and fear of the past. She worked tirelessly to build bridges between the fishmen and humans, and her efforts are finally seeming to pay off. Can’t wait to see you react to the next arc. One of my personal favorites is coming up, though if I’m being honest, I’ve really enjoyed all of the New World arcs (that I’ve gotten to) so far.
2:00:30 The box they stole the Energy Steroids from (and that was later rigged with a bomb, and now offered to Big Mom by Luffy, oops) is called Tamatebako, which means "jewelled hand box". It comes from the Japanese folk tale of Urashima Tarō. In the tale, the fisherman Urashima Tarō saves a turtle, and is invited to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū) by the princess Otohime. He spent some time there, but in the outside world, many years passed, his parents had died, and everyone he knew was old. He had been warned never to open the tamatebako, but in the distress he forgot and opened it. With a white puff, he suddenly became a white-haired old man. Tamatebako is a play on words on its own. We established it means "jewelled hand box" but while "tama" does mean "jewel", it also means "soul" or "life essence". The princess Otohime had stored that time he would've lost in the tamatebako, and when he opened it, that fraction of his "soul" came out, making him the old man he would've been.
This is so cool, I love OP and I always wonder just how much I’m missing out on by reading a translation. Always nice when I see someone explain those kinds of references or jokes 🙌
@@garretbell9915 Oda loves pulling references from everywhere, from history, to Dante, to Wonderland, to Japanese folk tales, not to mention his puns and goroawase (puns with how the numbers are read in Japanese). He makes really want to speak Japanese and to know everything he's ever read, so I can get all the references
I really loved the reviews and analysis on this video. The community is mixed on this arc, similar to skypeia and all. But I love the themes in this arc and how Oda tackles them from different points of view. And although he is positioning the hatred of Hodey Jones as negative since he is the villian, a lot of the other fishman have a spectrum of reactions to humans. And Oda just shows the spectrum, he doesn't really say which approach is right or wrong. Fisher Tiger or the queen, both has pluses and minuses. I just like the dialogu of this arc. And I really feel like you nailed the review and tying things into real world ideas and experiences. Great review Gavin and definitely looking forward to your progress through the new world :)
What I like about this arc is that it's a surprisingly nuanced view of hatred. It's not just "oh hate is bad", which, duh?, but it questions the different sources and effects of it. I think the Fisher Tiger story is an important part - it shows that not all hatred is unreasonable and sometimes it just can't be helped that the person feels that way (because it's natural to think badly of people after getting abused and betrayed by them again and again), but ultimately, you can't move forward as a society while steeped in that (shown by how in the end, he died to his own inability to look past what had been done to him, and it falls to a new generation not marred by these terrible experiences to not hold a grudge for what happened to their forebearers and begin a new chapter instead). That's kind of how I choose to view the Sanji part too, and why I don't think it necessarily contradicts the message of this arc: Sanji DID experience something traumatic to him - the entire gender reversal thing was forced onto him too while on the island, something he very specifically DID NOT WANT. In that sense, he's quite similar to Fisher Tiger as someone who has a legit negative experience with a certain group of people, making his hatred of them somewhat understandable - but just like Fisher Tiger, holding onto that mindset and wallowing in that trauma isn't doing him any favours (he almost bled to death due to his excessive nosebleeds after all).
LOVED your interpretation of the meaning of this arc. It's a pretty commonly held belief that Fishman Island arc is bad, because Hody isn't a strong or complicated villain, which I find so annyoing since that is the point of this arc, exactly as you said: "The hatred in Hody was just passed down to him ... he's just empty". I like how this ties into the themes of inherited will, how we can really be ignorant and hateful to other people for no good reason, that strength is being able to sympathise and forgive, etc. Im glad the community has gained another Fishman Island enjoyer :)
I would never call this arc perfect, but it has its moments. The crew's trip underwater is absolutely magical. The feeling of scale and wonder just well up inside me in a way so few other things can do. Perhaps me being a SCUBA diver contributes to that 😂. Too often Oda just skips past the travel phase, but he absolutely nails it here. The visuals throughout the entire arc are great, but in particular the Ryugu Palace and Sea Forest are among the most magnificently illustrated locals I've ever witnessed. The Sea Forest's serene view of the whales, among colorful coral and ship wrecks makes for the perfect backdrop to gather up the crew and listen to Jinbei's story... And holy shit what a story it is. I'd been feverishly waiting on more Fisher Tiger stuff at this point in my readthrough, but Otohime was the character I never knew I needed. It all came together beautifully with her drunken, impromptu speech to all the citizens of Fishmen Island, and her exit from the story is just heartbreaking. In these instances, I believe the arc is perfect. A lot of the stuff going on outside of that though... its a mixed bag.
1:02:05 They were singing and dancing to prevent their sister from crying so that she wouldn't summon the sea kings, it's heartbreaking to see them pretend to be cheerful while holding back their tears
Ok, I had to say this in way too many replies so I will put it in a comment of its own. It will be long, but this is what happened to Sanji: --First of all, the "abominations" part. To explain this, I will invite you all to do a little exercise with me: a) Forget about the characters. Person A is stranded in an island for 2 years. The inhabitants of that island want person A to do something, person A says "no". The inhabitants of the island proceed to assault and harass person A for two whole years. When free from them, person A refers to the people who enacted that assault and harassment as "abominations". After that, seeing someone who reminds person A of their assailants triggers a really mild PTSD (in the form of minor aversion) on person A. b) Now let's change the characters: Nami is stranded in an island for 2 years. The inhabitants of that island, a group of jocks, want Nami to do something, Nami says "no". The jocks proceed to assault and harass Nami for two whole years. When free from them, Nami refers to the jocks who enacted that assault and harassment as "abominations". After that, seeing more jocks triggers a really mild PTSD (in the form of minor aversion) on Nami. c) Now let's review the OG case: Sanji is stranded in an island for 2 years. The inhabitants of that island, a group of okama, want Sanji to do something, Sanji says "no". The okama proceed to assault and harass Sanji for two whole years. When free from them, Sanji refers to the okama who enacted that assault and harassment as "abominations". After that, seeing more okama triggers a really mild PTSD (in the form of minor aversion) on Sanji. If a) and b) are not anything-phobic, nor "clumsy", why would c) be regarded as such? --Now, the nosebleeds. First let's establish this: Nosebleeds in manga/anime are a visual representation of horniness. Now, in Sanji's case, these are entirely unrelated to the harassment and assault he was victim of, and closer to relapsing on an addiction, thought that's a bit of a hyperbole. Instead of something you are addicted to, let's go with something you love, but are not addicted to: Chocolate (and if your reply is "but I don't like chocolate" then a) there's something really wrong with you, seek help, and b) that's not the point, so pretend you do) One day you wake up, turn on the TV, and see that on every channel they are only talking about the one thing: Chocolate has magically disappeared from your country. There's no more chocolate anywhere, there's no cacao trees, there's not even artificial chocolate flavours or anyone who remembers how to make them. Also, your country has been surrounded by a magical barrier, there's no way to go to another country to eat chocolate, or to import it, but you know there's chocolate in other places, lots of chocolate. You spend 2 years in the magic chocolateless bubble, with constant reminders that the only difference between your country and the rest of the world is that they do have chocolate, they mention it every single day on the news, several times, actually. And again, one day you wake up, and reality changed again: You are not in a chocolateless bubble with constant reminders of your chocolatelessness, but in Willy Wonka's factory. You are likely to proceed to gorge yourself to death, and die happy with chocolate coming out of your eyes and ears, aren't you? Ok, not let's move that to Sanji. Sanji's chocolate would be what he deems "beautiful women". It's been previously established that he's always dreamed of mermaids, and he considers them the epitome of beautiful women. He spent 2 years in a place filled to the brim with only women, but not one woman he deems beautiful. He is locked in that place, with no "chocolate" but there are lots of women to act constant reminders of chocolate existing everywhere else in the planet. Suddenly he arrives at his Willy Wonka's factory, a place filled to the brim with what was previously established to be his favourite chocolate ever: mermaids. He "hornies" himself to death
And if you want my opinion, if you needed this to understand what's going on, you should review your biases, as you might be thinking gender orientation is a defining characteristic of people, even above the fact that they are people. It's a pretty common issue, mostly in the last decade or so, and it's previously happened (and continues to happen) with other secondary/tertiary characteristics, such as ethnicity or religion. If those secondary/tertiary characteristics, that in many cases are private and you shouldn't even be aware of, outweight the fact that whoever is in front of you is a person first and foremost, then you are part of the problem, whatever that problem it is, even more so if the person in question is yourself.
I said the same thing! One Piece is one of the best pirate stories I've read, since pirates of the Caribbean. Luffy using Conquerer's Haki and knocking out half of Hodys army, is one of my favorite scenes in the manga.
You have made the best OP related videos I can remember, since the old days and I mean it. What you say about people needing to take supplements in order to be strong, made me so happy and so 😭 looking at our world
1:56:14 Bro is really asking if Big Mom is a "bad" person. Maybe because we are always following Luffy's journey, but you have to remember that almost all pirates are bad. Even Blackbeard has protected territories, Big Mom whilst being the Fishman Island "protector" demands payment. This just highlights that she is protecting the Island because of her agenda, not by the goodness of her heart. Good video, keep it up.
thank you for the extensive analysis and interpretation, Gav. I was a bit nervous when you started the arc but I'm glad you liked it. I remember once I went to an action figure store. there I saw A GENERAL FRANKY action figure but I did not have much money to buy it. then I just starred and admired the figure like a fool for hours because damn it it was SUPER cool 😂😂😂
Oh I’ve been WAITING for this arc for awhile since it’s honestly up there with Skypeia as the most indecisive arcs in the series! I’m really 50/50 on it though will absolutely say this, the arc has my all-time favorite scene in the whole series with 648’s transfusion scene(if you get the chance watch how the anime handles it it’s honestly gorgeous)!
I have to say, you've changed my opinion on hordy. I didnt like him as a villain BECAUSE he was so shallow... i still dont realy like him but now i do look at it a bit differently because of you, thanks!
Yeah I don't like the representation but to me it's clear oda thinks he's being funny with this and this is unintentionally harmful rather than deliberately malicious. He was best friends with the real person who Ivankov was based off and luffy and stuff are totally fine with the trans people but with Sanji oda thinks he's making fun of him but it's a poor joke all through. But yeah it gets much better
@@GavinReadsItAll Considering Sanji's hate-love for Zoro, he might be a closeted bi. Zoro is the man he cares the most for. Remember, Sanji DID leave Nami's side to protect Zoro back when they were on the run in Sabaody.
@@patricklatham3897 Oda is friends with Imamura Norio, the other person Iva is inspired on, he is a drag Queen good friend with Oda. Oda even got him the role to play Iva's role in the anime.
In Sanji's defense, his reaction is quite genuine. Many times the relatives and friends of someone who suffered are the ones who find it more difficult to accept healing the wounds of those who suffered without someone paying the penalty for them.
So, an explanation for Sanji: This was written back around 2013? And while we had Ivankov (who was based on a real friend of Oda's, who an "okama"), there still wasn't a lot of people in Japan who understood LGBTQ+ issues, including gender. Plus those issues and topics aren't 1 to 1 as we know them in America and other English speaking countries due to cultural differences. In Japan, men who dress as woman, drag queens, gays, and trans people all kinda fall under the term "okama," which... Isn't exactly a good term iirc? And often, men in dresses are taken as jokes in media. Oda has had an interest in this stuff since back with Bon Clay, but he still just wasn't well informed, and so his presentation of Kamabakka land reflects that. There has been a lot more development in Japan regarding LGBTQ+ issues (for example, in Soul Eater, a character who was introduced over a decade ago, who's gender was always in question, was officially described as non binary by the author, years after it ended, because they only just found out about the term, and recent republications of the series use "they/them" for the character now.) But overall there's still some kinks and issues along the way. In OP, the stuff with Ivankov's kingdom is the worst offender, and in the most recent finished arc of OP, we've had two canonically trans/gender nonconforming characters who were both beloved and well written, and neither had their gender identities questioned or mocked by the audience. The only time it comes up is when Luffy acting as an audience surrogate and asks "Huh? I thought you were a man/woman?!" And said characters responding with "Yes, but my heart is female/I decided to be male!" And Luffy referring to both by their chosen identity afterwards. Fishman Island is by far the worst it gets with it's portrayal of certain LGBTQ+ People, but I genuinely think it's because Oda didn't really understand, and has since learned from then.
He doesn't hate them. He hates that he was stuck on an island with what he thinks is unattractive woman(not great but better than full hatred). That they wanted to convert him as well, and even briefly seemed to. His return to the regular world with his attractive ladies is like full blown addiction overwhelming him. As for turning to stone, it's a call back to Boa's ability since shirahoshis beauty is said to rival the pirate empress.
Thank you for the video! I love getting to see your reactions and analysis chapter by chapter! It makes me remember everything and experience it again almost like the first time =) P.S. I am pretty sure Merphy liking Caribou is a joke and she actually hates him as a character.
Also fun fact, when we're introduced to Hachi back in Arlong Park, he introduces himself as the 2nd best fishman swordsman (the fishman that Zoro fights in Fishman Island being the best one).
Personally, I think the reason Sanji hates trans women is because he hates himself. Like, in the manga, the first thing he does when he finds himself on the island of maidens is wear a dress, he VERY clearly has had some very toxic ideas about masculinity beat into him from a young age, Kuma chose to send him to Newkama Land for his training, and Ivankov challenged Sanji to a trial specifically designed to force Sanji to kick women, yet he completed it with nothing but stealth and evasion. Someone who doesn't see trans women as real women wouldn't go that far out of their way to avoid kicking them. IMO, he's 100% a comphet egg. That said, I absolutely hate the scenes the anime added.
1:21:30 I definitely agree they were meant to be weak. It’s been 2 years of hard training for the crew, how pointless would it have been for them to be overly challenged on their first adventure?
I am glad you like FI arc. Just like Skypeia arc, its very underated and some fans love to hate them. Those are also the same people that like to boast about OP world building, setup and foreshadowing but ironically they always hated and complaining about any arc that focus on world building, plots, foreshadowing.. less fighting and powerlevel.. Certainly this kind of arc destroy so many of those fans their headcanon and fanfiction. Powerlevel stuffs certainly
I've made a new tradition where I keep a bottle of wine handy and celebrate whenever you post a new One Piece video. Judging by the amount left in the video I'm gonna need a refill!
Context for the nosebleeds: It's an old manga/anime trope that occurs when a character falls in love or feels lust. It's very annoying but a lot of anime used that trope that I just got used to it. I believe One Piece is the only manga that used this trope as a plot device and had a serious consequence which you can see with Sanji.
I'm so glad you understand the themes Oda is trying to convey. A lot of readers gloss over Fishman Island cuz its paced kinda bad in the anime or because Hordy is a terrible villain, but thats completely the point. His motivations come from empty hatred rather than a personal grudge or greedy ambitions. He is a litteral representation of racism and Luffys' answer is to punch him. The whole "racism is bad" lesson has been done many times but damn, ya gotta love the way Oda does it.
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Fishman Island so much. I also really enjoyed it. The themes are so good and the fight at the end was just so cool. Unfortunately I really disliked Sanji in this. He wasn't great in Thriler Bark, his strife with Duval in Sabaody was fun. Then we didn't see him for a long time and we get this. He does get better, but I hope you like him again faster than I did.
Okay, so, the issue of "trans" characters in Japanese stuff tends to be..uh..off. There's a major reason for this, as what you're seeing on Kamabakka Queendom and through Bon Clay are what are called "Okama" - basically just "men who dress like women". These are technically _not_ considered "transgender" by any stretch of the imagination by the Japanese people, as its been a sort of culture that's existed for hundreds of years that has a lot of history behind it that I can't really elaborate on as I don't know _that_ much about it. Now, Ivankov is _definitely_ meant to represent the transgender community based on everything they say, so they stand apart from what the okama are. Ivankov leads them, but the okama themselves aren't considered transgender, unlike the hidden floor in Impel Down which was intended to be a sort of haven for Ivankov's transgender ideology. It's _really_ splitting hairs, but that's just how it goes with that kind of culture. Think of it kind of like this: Okama are sort of the Japanese equivalent to "men in women's clothing" that you'd see in Shakespeare's plays back in the day - and even now if they're strict about the performances. Except okama _live_ that life as opposed to English actors putting on a performance. They really are "men with the hearts of maidens", but it is _never_ suggested that the okama think that they are gender-identified women; they are men, through and through in their minds. Just with the bonus of enjoying crossdressing. If you asked an okama if they were transgender, they would answer in the negative. EDIT: Odd sidenote on depictions of okama in general: They tend to be shown as very muscular, strong men in almost all cases. While they're not shown like that in One Piece, it's more an internal strength for those okama. I'm not 100% sure of the rationale for this, but I do know that body-building and the like isn't really looked at as "attractive" for Japanese men, the exact opposite being the case. I think it may have something to do with the "gap" of being a muscular man while crossdressing, but I'm not sure - I just know the stereotype.
If you realized this in the video already I apologize for missing it but, Fisher Tiger was the one who refused human blood. He was ambushed and was dying of blood loss, the sun pirates was about to use human blood of the same type for blood transfusion but he couldn't stomach it. Even if yes he wants to make humans and fishmen co-exist, his trauma is still there. He will help humans any day but his pride and trauma will not let him accept help from humans.
Incredible how you still remember that koby moment from the beginning. Reminds me how ace treated luffy when he was little and the tuff love is what helps them stop being wimpy
Sanji's behavior doesn't bother me lol that may be an unpopular opinion here. Sanji absolutely loves women who appeal to him. He would also rather die than kick any woman. On the flip side, he doesn't like getting help or compliments from another man. It has been shown time and time again his respective feelings on men and women throughout the series. It's not out of character for him to view a man who crossdresses as a woman as not aesthetically pleasing. Everyone is assuming the Kamabakka Kingdom is one of just transgender women. They range from drag queens to actually changing their biological sex with the use of Ivankov's devil fruit. Another example of Sanji finding someone unappealing is Kokoro and it severely tainted his view on mermaids until he met Camie. Ivankov told him he had to beat all 99 chefs in order to get all the recipes he wanted, while simultaneously avoiding them fawning over him and trying to dress him as a woman constantly (and you think he wouldn't throw hands with drag queens?). Having someone he finds unappealing chasing him around 24/7, trying to hug or kiss him, or crossdress him against his wishes made him utterly unhappy. Whether it's because they were men dressed as women or not doesn't matter because "no means no" applies for everyone. Sanji was literally in a version of his own hell, but he stuck it out for his crew. I can agree that he is old-fashioned to a fault. But I accept it as part of his character, whether good or bad. He's also entitled to his own feelings, and the Kamabakka don't seem to care about his dislike for them, they still adore him lol and Oda has made some very strong, dependable gender fluid characters that have a profound impact on the story and he's best friends with a drag queen in real life. I feel some people are just far too sensitive sometimes.
He's entitled to his own feelings, sure, but that doesn't make him any less wrong about it. And with people being too sensitive, people are also entitled to feel disappointed with how Sanji acts. If anything, Sanji's the sensitive one here with his blatant disgust, which he could otherwise just kept to himself (assuming that his boundaries for consent weren't crossed) I am pretty aware of the late arcs, and Sanji continues to be my favorite character since I was a kid. It's just pretty disingenuous to ignore these faults he has.
@pivad1388 No one said he doesn't have flaws as a character and no one is ignoring them, including myself (the fact he won't attack a woman and would let himself die instead is a great one). No one has to like his behavior, but you can't slander a character who has literally shown you exactly how they feel about these things from the beginning. That has been his character quirk from day 1 (each of the Straw Hats have them, and all of Oda's characters in general). My main point is he is not being transphobic at all, because they are not transgender characters. They are Drag Queens and Sanji is not attracted to Drag Queens as they are men portraying women (not transitioning into them, like I said if they wanted that they would just use Ivankov's DF) and them chasing him down relentlessly trying to kiss him/dress him up/hug him/etc. IS Sanji's hell and rightfully so. For some to complain or say it "brought his character down" makes no sense to me. Even Robin in Wano shows she understands him and doesn't fault him at all for who he is because that's his character.
I have such a love/hate relationship with Sanji because sometimes he is literally the most loyal, loving person and other times he is just a huge fucking creep and it really only gets worse in that regard. Like he gets some of the best moments moving forward and some of the worst LOL
Of course! I’ll move Fish-Man Island to its rightful place after a few days, but wanna keep the newest video at the top for a little bit so people don’t miss it 😄
It wasn't just the queen; Hody Jones is what Fisher Tiger was afraid of too. He knew he couldn't let go of his own hatred, but even despite that he didn't want to pass it on to the next generation because he knew how destructive it was.
Youre the second youtuber ive seen this week get mixed up by Sanji calling FMI the All Blue. XD It's very much not it's just a joke because Sanji is now surrounded by beautiful mermaids and hes basically going "is this heaven". Im surprised thats mixed up two people now
I also think it's **theory that doesn't contain spoilers, but might need time to be developed** ...foreshadowing. Madam Shyarly predicted Luffy will destroy Fishman Island, and she is always correct with her predictions, that's why she hates them and broke her crystal ball. Marie Geoise is just above Fishman Island. Luffy destroying the Red Line below Marie Geoise would a) destroy Marie Geoise, ridding the world of the Tenryuubito, b) destroy Fishman Island as the debris would fall to the bottom of the ocean, and c) create the All Blue right there
12:08 Yeah this is pretty indefensible. You'll be happy to know though that later in the series Oda clearly realised that he'd made a mistake, and eventually this plot point drops out of the story and we get better trans representation. This arc was written 13 years ago, and it's pretty clear from the current story that Oda's views are a lot different now than they were then. People change, sometimes for the better.
I heavily disagree I just think people often misinterpret the intention with them. They could easily be "fixed" by Ivankov's hormone fruit but they don't need to be because they're proud and confident in their identity. They're amazing rep for that reason and the majority of trans people I've spoken to regarding this have had the same opinion. I know a lot of people seem to take it the wrong way in the beginning but Oda never changed in this regard he just made the concepts that were always present more pronounced and obvious
@@kingambrose9919 they are walking transphobic tropes and caricatures. And I don't know a single trans person who likes the way the trans people in Sanji's arc were depicted. It's utterly horrendous. Ivankov and the Impel Down queer rep is much better, even if it still comes with a lot of "Oda clearly has never actually talked to a trans person before writing this". But at least it's funny, has a lot of heart, shows them as actual humans and isn't a literal depiction of the "man in a dress" trope combined with trans panic and the idea that all trans people are inherently predatory.
There's a Japanese superstition that you get nosebleeds when you're horny. You see it a LOT in anime, like when a guy walks in on a girl naked and blood will start gushing out of his nose. But I'm sure someone in the invisible comments has already explained that.
I'd say the whole Kamabakka Island is pretty transphobic. Not in a in-universe way, but from the meta perspective. Like, the thing isn't real, Oda made it that way. The denizens there, the men with the hearts of maidens, who look like caricatures, who are predatory towards our good friend Sanji, made to be a butt of a joke - that's pretty bad of Oda, I'd say
Of course it takes the Strawhats all of 5 minutes into their FI journey to run into a face from their past, Momoo's back. Anyone can get a call back in One Piece. Just wait, we will see the monster that took Shank's arm again at the final island.
I'm sure everyone told you everything you need to know already, so I'll tell you something you need to remember for future. 1. Fisher Tiger was a slave so how did he get out of that situation and helped others along the way as well. Thats all for now, I'll do this every arc from now, so you'll have a better experience. Because some things are easy to miss and I'll make sure you don't when you get there.❤
I forgot how sensitive this part of the story could be for other people.. but that's just how Oda works.. extremities of the stereotypes.. which perhaps maybe he wants people to reflect as he wants to show this is how other people perceives who you are.. in a sense, it can also be taken as an eye opener, so that people would change their behaviour not actually their preference.. There are wholesome Okamas that we all love and hold dearly..and then there are those who are out of control, which are the citizens of Kambakka kingdom.. i believe, what Oda was trying to tell here was have a little restraint, show the good in you and people will respect and accept whoever you are. Sanji is a complicated character..much like what a real typical teenager could be, led by their thirst for pretty/sexy ladies but without restraint.. like he's as transparent as a clear water.. and he's firm of what he likes and what he wants.. though its not a promotion, some people takes it against his character and I'm like, isn't he allowed to be flawed? Anyways, i get those people who says it should've been handled better.. or at least in a more sensitive manner.. but then, if that happens, wouldn't it make Oda not free anymore to write what he wants? I mean, we all should remember that this person is trying to tell a story the way he wanted to tell it to basically everybody who wants to listen or learn what its all about.. He's not doing it for a cause or anything.. he just wants to tell everything about it..❤
That doesn't excuse him from criticism though. And no, Oda wasn't always free with what he wants to write, otherwise Marineford would've been expanded (his editors actively stopped him from writing subplots and character arcs). What he chooses to write and show can indicate his worldviews. It's unfortunate, but it's the environment and generation he grew up on, so I don't blame him as much.
I was about to type a comment, because I feared you missed the strawhat on Roger 😬 Btw. it wasn't common knowledge that he had the hat until now in the story. But I love the reveal, it's so subtle that it's easy to miss. Edit: Okay, I finally had the time to finish the video! As always: I love your reactions, predictions and analysis! So fun to watch. One thing that you might not know yet: The japanese title for the emperors is "Yonko" which is literally "four emperors". That's why it's usually "oen of the Four Emperors" or something like that. I'm happy you enjoyed the arc, the themes are great and deep. My biggest criticism is Sanji. He's never been one of my favourites, but this puts him down so much for me. Also I didn't care for van der Decken at all. The arc is good, I just like others better overall.
I don't think Sanji to be transphobic, I think he has been arased for two years (highly deserved) and being a big pervert as he is he suffered consequences. At the end, he is an insufferable idiot in this arc.
Imagine being chased by a bunch of people you don't find attractive, as they want to molest you and force you to wear the clothes they wear, and act like they do. No wonder Sanji is so scarred by the "kamabakka kingdom" events. But it's not really the focus - I think possibly that Kuma knew that Sanji's power was driven by his extreme emotionality (to be continued in a future arc...) and sent him to a place that would rile his emotions. Not just because of Okama Kempo, which is compatible with his fighting style (see his fight with Mr 2), but that helped.
i love how you just talk whatever is in your mind without being afraid of beeing wrong. It's much more funny to watch someone who actually told us what he thinks is gonna happend or is not gonna happend even if it doesn't make any sense. Because all of us do that at some point, and that's a fact! By the way, when you say about the problems if luffy knows that jimbei was the one who release arlong i just kinda enter in a loop in my brain... To me luffy couldn't care less about someones past, he see in a person what's he can literally see. In fact, he goes to sleep if some of his friends is talking about his/her past because he doesn't care. They are already his friends. PS: Joy boy is okay, it's actually the oficial name.
1:24:36 Imagine you are stranded in an island with no escape, and the inhabitants of that island keep chasing you, trying to force you to do something you are against. Imagine being 24/7 on the run, and being pushed to the limit of learning to run through thin air just to be able to get away from them. Wouldn't you call your assailants "hideous monsters"? 1:49:25 Again, something similar here. That technique is called "Hell Memories". For him, those two years, he was in hell. Why? Because he was deprived of what he loves, and chased by people trying to assault him with no respite for two whole years. It's not hatred, it's PTSD at most. Forget for a minute they are okama (and I use okama here, becuase I'm not certain if they are cross-dressers, transvestites, transgender), and replay in your head exactly the same sequence he's lived through while he was there, but swapping the okama to just any random group of people. Would you be happy in that situation? Or would you believe it's hell on Earth?
My theory re Sanji and Kamabakka Queendom is that he refuses to unpack his feelings about his own gender and the pedestal he puts women on (like, it's ok Sanji, you can both like women romantically and want to be one). The way he acts towards the residents of Kamabakka Queendom feels like projection to me, anyway. It can be read other ways of course, but this is the way that I think makes the most sense for his character.
We know why Sanji has a thing for women. It's because the two people who treated them nicely were women and secondly because of Zeff who made sure that Sanji would grow up to respect women. It has nothing to do with gender lololol He is allowed to have his own opinions just like you are allowed to have yours.
@@potatorisa You don't really have to be rude about it. And it's not really an opinion at this point that Sanji has his own flaws. It's already a generous interpretation of Sanji's behavior, so it makes me curious why you felt the need to respond that way.
My favorite part of this arc is the small speech that luffy gave about heros like he does what he wants to do but i don’t praise for it. I am who i am and nothing will change me (unless it’s for meat.)
I also love jinbeis reaction to this whole speech just being: do what I tell you and I'll give you meat. It's just so smart and kinda diplomatic, like jinbei gets Luffys reasoning and instead of trying to argue him out of it, he just adjusts his offer so that it aligns with what motivates Luffy. And it's incredibly funny, as well
My theory is that at some point Luffy will be responsible for the destruction of Marijoa and fishman-island which lies right beneath it. The arks purpose would then be to bring merfolk and fishpeople to the surface. This would also fulfill both Madame Shirley's and the Noah's prophecies.
![Method Writing: The First Four Concepts - Jack Grapes [FULL INTERVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ba9jAVzADY0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Method Writing: The First Four Concepts - Jack Grapes [FULL INTERVIEW]](/img/tr.png)
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
"I hate Caribou, why does Merphy like him so much?" Lmao 😂
I messaged Merphy myself and got to the truth after so many people telling me she loves him 😂 I need to stop being so gullible
@@GavinReadsItAll Never trust the internet. Except me right now. Sanji's character gets better later and as far as I remember, there isn't any other transphobia in One Piece.
Sanji is one of my favorite strawhats mainly because of whole cake island arc
@@GavinReadsItAll our job was successful then gavin xD
Would've been funny if we could've continued this till the collab
I think Sanji's issues with the denizens of the Kamabakka Queendom has less to do with them being biological men "with the hearts of maidens" and more to do with them continuing to pursue and tease him when he has made it fairly clear that he is not interested. Further, Sanji is obviously girl crazy, and to be denied being able to see someone who appeals to his aesthetic preferences but instead being surrounded by those whom he finds specifically unappealing for two years has sorta put him into withdrawal, especially when previously he was so close to two women he considered world-class beauties.
Also, let's remember that Fishman Island was published around a decade ago, and Oda himself has grown a bit in his take on trans people. It's obvious that he doesn't hold any ill will towards trans folks, as he made both Bon Clay and Ivonkov incredibly likeable, sympathetic, and heroic characters in their own rights. However, the Japanese culture has a LOT of transphobia baked into it, including its humor, and is somewhat slower to recognize trans rights and how harmful certain stereotypes can be. This is especially true over a decade ago, as the issue of trans rights has only seen major traction in the public majority within the last several years.
That said, I think Oda has gotten better concerning trans issues over the last few years, even including a couple trans characters in the Wano arc who aren't stereotypes, who don't make the fact that they're trans the defining aspect of their character/personality, and who are absolutely accepted for who and what they are by everyone. Not even the villains misgender them. I'll say that it isn't perfect (Sanji and Brook still simp over the trans man who doesn't "pass" as a man physically and therefore still has a feminine physique, though admittedly he is quite attractive) and the trans woman does indeed "pass" for a woman physically (and yes, Sanji does simp for and plays the white for her as well), it's still a major step in the right direction while coming from a culture that remains largely conservative about such issues.
I think you are right.. I think that sanji wasn't runnig away bocause he thinks that they are men. It's just because he thinks they are just ugly
That was my impression too. He respected bon chan in alabasta
I think you did a great job explaining this. I typed something up and immediately after reading this realized I did a poor job.
I wished that by being harassed by those trans would've taught Sanji something about his own behaviour, but no, he continues to be an annoying piece of shit by being like that towards women over and over, specially with Nami and Robin. Definitely one of the worst gags in One Piece, along with the invisibility one and the shitty representation of trans people before Wano. The panties gag is a close one, too.
This is the best explanation of Sanji's current mentallity
I agree that Sanji can be insufferable at times and I won't say it's ok to shame the Okama for being different. But we also shouldn't ignore that the Okama on Kamabakka island literally assaulted Sanji every day for two years and tried to make him a crossdresser against his will.
Sanji's nosebleeds have gotten worse because he didn't see (what he considers to be) a "beautiful woman" for two years.
He's basically on withdrawal mixed with ptsd... .
EXACTLY!! Sanji spent 2 years as a victim of constant harassment. Had it been Nami and a bunch of jocks nobody would even consider saying she is "menphobic" or "jockphobic". Gender orientation, as it usually happens in One Piece, is anecdotal. Bon-chan is an amazing to us, and to the crew (except to Nami when they first met), but to the little kid in Alabasta he almost killed I'm pretty sure he is an abomination as well. Buggy D. Clown, what a great guy, right?? Go tell that to the people of Orange Town
@@AnyMEmdq Mr 1 was the one who almost killed the kid in Alabasta, not Bon-chan.
The okama trying to force Sanji to become a crossdresser is by itself an awful stereotype. It's not really a justification. Let's just agree it was bad but the queer representation gets better moving forward.
@@dripsoup6639 You are right. Regardless, the point stands, Mr 2 was the guy impersonating the King and, in the kid's eyes, the one to blame about the revolution, still worthy of being called abomination, as many people he cherished surely died because of it
@@33amra33 It never says "all queers do that." In the same story they don't do that to other people. They did it to Sanji, but that's not the rule. If you want to believe that one action done by one small sample of people is actual representation, that's on you. If that were the case don't ever watch a movie where they kill someone, or everyone belonging to the race/gender/age-group of the person committing the killing should be complaining about bad representation.
I'm Argentinian. According to lots of Hollywood products, no nazi died during WWII, they are all here, and that's based on propaganda issued by the US government (the blue book on Argentina) to overthrow a democratically elected president because they wanted the military regime that came before to come back (and then they financed its comeback). Should I set Hollywood on fire for "bad Argentinian representation"? But not all Hollywood products referencing Argentina say that.
Not all queers in One Piece try to force people into crossdressing, and those very same queers don't try to force everyone into crossdressing. If anyone for a second believes that all queers do that to everyone from reading One Piece, those people should not be allowed to waste oxygen. You can never right anything if every character needs to be perfect or someone will get offended. Or does minority representation need to be always as perfect and immaculate people?
Why don't we realize that they are people first, so they are allowed to be as good or as shitty as they please, instead of focusing of a secondary characteristic to segregate them? It's not "queers force people to crossdress" but "this particular group of people was shitty to Sanji and they tried to force him, assaulted him, and harassed him for 2 years." You could even argue that it was because he arrived by Kuma Paw, and since there are clear ties between Kuma and the Kamabakka Queendom, perhaps there was a pre-established agreement between the two parts to treat that way those who were sent by that method. But people choose to focus on gender instead, as if gender defined everything of who you are.
Zoro calling the octopus a FROG is a great callback to when Mihawk also called him a "frog at the bottom of the well" when they first met.
Also Queen Otohime's line "Lower your weapons, children are watching." is one of the hardest lines in the entire series.
Btw, the thing sanji said to jimbei doesn’t translate well. Sanji tells jimbei to commit seppuku if he wants to atone, which is a thing in japanese culture to atone for their sins. It doesn’t happen now obviously, but it means something different than it would in the west.
2:28 Merphy absolutely hates Caribou XD
3:30 The nosebleed gag is a common gag trope in Japan. In general, the "perverted" gag character is/was quite common. It didn't age well, especially in the west, and many find that gag annoying if not uncomfortable. So don't worry about having misgivings about Sanji, his character is probably at the lowest point in this saga for a big chunk of the fandom.
6:10 Roger having the hat before shanks was revealed in that chapter.
12:10 I believe Sanji is purely judging by aesthetics (remember how he treated old lady Kokoro from water 7?). Yes, it's probably transphobic by our standards, but I don't think it's really about gender identity and it is more about him treating like sh*t anyone who is not a cute girl (think how he treats Zoro for example). Plus, remember that he was thankful to Iva when he left Sabaody, so I don't think there is any bad blood between them, on the contrary. Unfortunately, this is another side of his whole "gag" with women. It's unfortunate that this did not age well, but I do think One Piece has an unique way to deal with this topic because it depicts the queers with the absolute worst of stereotypes, but also make them an important group in-world and makes you LOVE those characters. I don't think exist anyone who doesn't like Mr. 2 or Iva, and they are loved inside the story as well. So I take that as Oda turning the stereotypes on their heads and saying "if you like the worst representation of these characters, surely you have no excuse to dislike them now?"
46:00 Yes, you knew already that Jinbe was the reason that Arlong was "released" in the East Blue, but you didn't really know the circumstances behind it yet.
1:01:32 In that page, in the panel with all the crowd there are two easter eggs: you can see Kamie and Pappug as children and you can see a "mermaid" that looks like a fish with hands that it's identical to the sketch Luffy drew back at arlong park when he was trying to imagine how mermaids/fishmen looks like.
1:02:09 I think the princes are dancing to calm down Shirahoshi, not for the queen.
TL;DR:
First paragraph: Read
Second paragraph: Gender in One Piece
Third paragraph: Me ranting against victimhood culture
It's not transphobic by any standards. Follow this exercise, change the characters. Change Sanji for Nami, change the Okama for a bunch of jocks. Nami said "no", so the jocks tried to force her. For two years she was on the run, and hiding, she even learned to run through thin air to escape. When she is free of them, she addresses the people that harassed her for 2 years as abominations, and has PTSD upon seeing jocks later on. Is that "menphobic" or "jockphobic"? Then why is it transphobic if the perpetrators are trans? Sanji did say no, the harassment did take place.
One thing that has always been a constant in One Piece is that the gender does not define the character, and it's just an extra piece of the description, like height/weight, and it applies to everyone from the main cast to the background characters alike. The same way it should be for everyone of us IRL. Your own gender bias might make someone seem whateverphobic, but that's on you and your personal agenda (that sometimes you don't even know you have as it's been instilled on you without you even noticing). In One Piece gender has always been irrelevant, and the same way the denizens of this world have no reaction to a character being [insert whatever gender/sexual orientation you want], we should not care about that either. People are people first, and everyone is capable of being amazing (using One Piece trans examples, Bon-chan to the crew since the end of Alabasta and when they first met, the residents of the Kamabaka Queendom to the Revolutionary Army), and everyone is capable of being an abomination (Bon-chan to the kid from Alabasta who discovered he was framing King Cobra, Bon-chan to Nami when they first met, the residents of the Kamabaka Queendom to Sanji after they harassed him for 2 years).
Assuming someone of whatever sexual orientation will surely or can never be the perpetrator on a harassment situation, that's whateverphobic, as you are assuming based on their gender, making that secondary/tertiary characteristic be more important than the fact that they are people first. And in many cases, specially with people around 20, they do that to themselves, they make their sexual orientation, the color of their skin, the place they were born, etc, the core of who they are, so through their lens, everyone interacting with them is basing their actions/reactions solely on that characteristic. There's been a social experiment conducted in London, IIRC. They gave people fake scars on their faces and sent them on job interviews, to see if they got discriminated against for their blemishes. What they didn't tell the participants was that just before they were sent to the interview they removed the make-up from them pretending to add some final touches to it, so they went with clean faces. After the interviews they were asked if the interviewer had said anything that was discriminatory or derogatory due to their non-existent markings. Like 90% of them had lists of alleged offenses that never happened, because the fake scars were removed before the interviews.
@@AnyMEmdq The way trans people have been presented in the Sanji story is _extremely_ transphobic, playing to all kinds of anti-trans tropes with how they were drawn and how they were behaving.
Thank you, finally one who gets it.
@@sertaki I strongly disagree. Yes, those in particular and specifically in that moment (not in others) are stereotypical, but Sanji's reaction has absolutely nothing to do with their gender, so there's no negative/phobic message about their gender in the story. You can say it's unhappy, ridiculous, wrong, even offensive, as most stereotypes usually are, but there's no phobic message in it whatsoever.
Plus you cannot take one page out of a 1000+ chapters story and talk about transphobia. It's like calling someone racist because they studied Spanish and said the Spanish word for black while doing so. Hitler talked in Mein Kampf about "The art of reading" and then proceeded to set a gazillion books on fire. If you are not willing to look at the whole picture, if your own personal lens sees them as trans first and as people later, then that's a you problem, and you alone should have to deal with it, instead of trying to inflict it onto others.
@@AnyMEmdq Even regardless of any character's reaction, the art on the page and how the behavior and intentions of trans people are depicted is a bunch of extremely harmful tropes played straight.
You really have to deliberately ignore a bunch of horrible shit to come to the conclusion there is nothing wrong here.
And are you seriously quoting Hitler to defend bigotry?
I've never seen someone who understood the Fishmen Island Arc so perfectly like you. Thank you Gavin! By the way, whoever told you that Merphy loves Caribou lied to you, she absolutely hates that guy.
I love the reading of Otohime and Fisher Tiger as analogous to MLK and Malcom X
I can totally see that
Joy boy isn't an English translation thing, in Japanese they say the words Joy boy in English
Fishmen not being allowed into Sabaody Park due to racism really shines a different light on Arlong naming his base of operations Arlong Park.
The deep connotations are very sad (doesn't excuse his actions though).
Oda always shows two sides of the coin.
This arc is quite controversial somehow.
I am very happy that you rate it so high. While it it not in my top arcs (because there are just too many good ones), it's extremely well written in regards to its theme. I actually think how racism is handled in this arc is Oda's best depiction of a theme in all of One Piece. And the last few pages of chapter 648 is one of my top 5 favorite scenes.
Sadly a lot of people have some problems with those arc that are kinda dumb imo. For example a very common complaint is that the villains are really bland and the fights boring. But as you pointed out, them being bland and hollow WAS THE POINT and obviously fights are not challenging after a 2 year training time skip. Had the strawhats struggled, that would have actually been disappointing.
So basically people don't like the arc because not enough action or whatever (which is fine, you don't have to like everything) and then equate it with "arc bad". You will actually hear this a lot about some post time skip arcs. Oda tries something new and even if he manages it well, a lot of people will call it bad, because it is not what they expected. Just have to learn to ignore them.
I so glad I found someone that understands as well.❤️
I think a large part of post time skip criticism is also attributed to week to week readers and anime watchers. As someone who didn't start week to week until Wano, I kind of experienced whiplash with how much hatred there was for Dressrosa, and even Whole Cake Island. I really loved both arcs, especially Whole Cake Island, it's easily one of my top 3 OP arcs, so I was shocked to hear that people didn't enjoy it. But reading Wano each week quickly exposed what was going on, regardless of whether people have read weekly since pre time skip or just started reading weekly, the fact is that One Piece arcs have gotten longer and longer with each new arc, and it isn't because Oda's becoming worse at writing, but rather because he can no longer just introduce a hundred new plot threads every arc, he now has to ANSWER all of those plot threads while introducing a hundred more. Because of this the story is expanding exponentially, which is necessary because the events the Straw Hats are partaking in are increasing in worldwide political relevance.
So basically, the time it takes for things to happen in the manga is a lot longer now, because Oda has to fill in and answer so many things he doesn't have time to highlight the non-story related scenes like fight scenes, casual crew interactions, and so on. One Piece is no longer a casual adventure romp with some high emotional stakes, it's now a complex political web with highlights of comedy and complex emotional stories. Which from an overarching view is still just as intriguing and One Piece as always, but zoomed in week to week feels much slower and less consistently energetic in terms of pacing.
And then there's the anime. I will forever hold a grudge against Toei for insisting on the money making weekly release instead of going for the healthier seasonal release option. The One Piece anime post time skip is atrocious and besides a few good moments and episodes directed by animation gods, it's mostly terribly paced, terribly animated, and the only thing keeping it alive is the amazing voice actors. I can't blame anyone for hating the fishman arc, punk hazard, dressrosa, and whole cake because of how painfully slow and repetitive it is.
I even rewatched some of the anime recently and even pre time skip draws out events so much that it actually hurts to watch. Little Garden used to be an arc I remembered fondly but after rewatching it in the anime I now never want to experience it again. There was an entire episode where the straw hats are stuck in the wax and do literally nothing about it besides yell for 15 minutes straight.
So I'm conclusion I do think people often misunderstand or just totally gloss over Oda's complex thematic writing because they want to see cool Shounen action, but I think two other major factors of post time skip complaints are people suffering through the anime and people waiting an entire week to see Luffy move from one side of a floor to another side of a floor, and a few dialogue lines between side characters. When binge reading you just move on, but from a weekly perspective people call it a bad chapter. (I didn't even touch on the whole weekly readers jumping to conclusions and making extreme judgments on those usually false conclusions).
My motto as a weekly readers is, "Trust in Oda". He makes mistakes, but he's still one of the most consistent writers of literally all time. It's highly unlikely that this story he's planned for decades and proven that he's planned for decades is going to just jump off the rails and become bad for no reason.
Yay! A two hour long One Piece review from Gavin! I've missed these. Good job as always. You're one of my favorite One Piece reviewers.
And now on to something heavier: Sanji and Kamabakka.
As for what the residents of Kamabakka Queendom might have done to Sanji, the biggest thing I can think of is that made it very clear he didn’t like the flirting, and really didn’t want to be feminized in any way but they continued to do both. When they initially got him in a dress, he liked it, but once he was out of it he never wanted to do it again. I never put that as being in denial. I think it’s more like someone going to a club and getting pissed drunk for the first time and having fun doing it and then deciding afterwards that that kind of lifestyle isn’t for them, despite having had fun. There’s also the idea that he was coerced into it. He said he didn’t want the dress (very firmly and without any doubt) and they chased him around the entire island until they got him into it. Not the best experience.
And again, when Iva got back to the island and made the deal for the recipes, there was the threat of the dress, which still shows a fundamental lack of respect for him. It’s clear that while he respects their abilities and is grateful for their help over the timeskip, he did not really enjoy his time on his island as much as the other Strawhats did on theirs.
Basically, I think it’s complicated. He displays transphobic attitudes that don’t seem entirely warranted (as though such attitudes ever could be), yet they forced him to cross boundaries he didn't even want to approach by, essentially, having little to no respect for his cisness.
None of these excuses the transphobic vibes and comments, of course, especially calling them ‘abominations. I’m not making excuses for him. Some things are inexcusable. Just explaining what I think was happening.
And worst of all to my mind, I think it’s all supposed to be a gag. Not one of Oda’s finest moments. I'd actually say it's one of his worst.
And kinda weird given the mostly respectful way he (both Oda and Sanji) had always treated Bon-chan. Sanji didn’t show disgust when he fought Bon-chan in Alabasta. He respected Bon-chan as an opponent to be taken seriously, even if there were gags about turning into Nami so Sanji couldn’t attack. And he, like the rest of the Strawhats, viewed Bon-chan as a genuine and loved friend afterward.
But that history is what makes me think that the whole Sanji-and-Kamabakka-Kingdom-trauma is a horribly tasteless gag.
Fortunately, there is much better trans representation later in the manga.
There's a reason so many people think that Sanji's character took several huge steps backward after the timeskip.
Thank you for your insights into Sanji and his time on the island - it really does help me put him into perspective and realising I need to keep an open mind with him moving forward. I think my biggest issue was the word “abominations” so I’m sure Sanji does get better as the series goes on. It’s a really complex topic, more so than I first realised, so definitely need to delve into it more.
Another thing to remember is that Sanji's never exactly had the best attitude toward cis women he finds unattractive, either. Kokoro is the first to come to mind, but she's not the only one. I think Sanji's just a pig, straight up. If you're pretty, he likes you; if you're ugly (by his reckoning), he wants nothing to do with you.
Also most (though certainly not all) of the residents of Kamabakka are Okama, which isn't a trans woman, but a gay (often transvestite) man. Sanji's attitude toward them still isn't okay, but it's a different not-okay.
@@GavinReadsItAll Just to clarify, when looking at my Japanese version, the literal sentence was "走って・・・走って！悍ましい者達から逃げ回り続けた2年間". "悍ましい" directly translates to disgusting or repulsive, but you can also translate it to fierce, intimidating, ruthless, or ferocious. It is likely, based on the context, that the sentence refers to "those fierce people" who had been all over Sanji in the Kamabakka Kingdom. Also, it seems the translator has made a mistake here as "abomination" is not the right translation. If Oda had used the word "abomination," he would have used the word "忌まわしい". Hope this helps to clarify a few of your gripes with that interaction.
About Sanji most people have issues with him in the early part of post time-skip so its not just a you thing. I also felt uncomfy with Sanji’s behaviour here but I do remember a theory that people who go to the Kamabakka Kingdom wish to live freely or may be looking for help with accepting themselves and transitioning. We see in chapter 544 cover story Sanji is dressed as a female so some people think that the Okama were mistakenly trying to help/force him to transition and thats why he has a bit of an attitude towards them. Additionally he was there to train so he spent 2 years fighting with them and getting beat up by them as they're quite strong. That being said even if this was the intent its not very clearly explained so it does leave most people feeling uncomfortable about it.
In the anime it does clearly show that they were trying to mistakenly force him; because to them like you said why else would he be on the island.
@@josephreeves103 no shit people really think sanji wants to be a women or like men
This is the best explanation because I was watching the anime, I was like, "WTF is going on?" They literally forced him to dress and made suggestive comments (that would be, I guess endearing if he was actually trans) that were borderline harassment because he wasn't. I thought it was kinda funny how he ran from them for 2 years straight that he walked on air. It really feels like a gag but also kinda off wrong 🤣
I love that this was a high rated arc for you. Fish man Island was a wild ride for me and a great introduction into what is to come
This video was so carthatic to watch. You are one of the only people i have seen who understood hoody and understood this arc so well on their first read.
This is such an excellent review of this arc. Every step I was so glad you'd picked up on the details you had. I've been looking forward to this video and I'm so happy to say it was even better than I expected. Watching you talk through the points you did that made you convince yourself were spot on
I'm excited to be caught up with your series! This is the first episode I've had to wait for the release haha.
Yay I’m glad you’ve caught up and can join the adventure 😄
Yay! I finally caught up. I love your enthusiasm when you talk about One Piece. It’s infectious and fun to watch.
While Fishman Island is not my favorite arc, I’m very happy that you enjoyed it and understood the point on hatred. It’s very good thematically.
I don’t know if anyone mentioned this, but the true cause of Otohime and Tiger’s deaths is actually hatred.
Tiger died because he was unable to let go of his own hatred of humans and accept their blood to save his life.
Otohime died because of the hatred that was festering in the Fishman District, passed from generation to generation. Hody was the symbol of the very thing Otohime was trying to prevent.
And while they had different approaches, Otohime and Tiger contribute to the message of the arc.
With Tiger, we see that even if you can’t let go of your own hatred, you shouldn’t pass that hatred on. Let the hatred end with you.
With Otohime, we see that choosing to forgive and understand can bring a brighter future, though it may take time, and it’ll free the minds of the next generation from adopting the hatred and fear of the past. She worked tirelessly to build bridges between the fishmen and humans, and her efforts are finally seeming to pay off.
Can’t wait to see you react to the next arc. One of my personal favorites is coming up, though if I’m being honest, I’ve really enjoyed all of the New World arcs (that I’ve gotten to) so far.
2:00:30 The box they stole the Energy Steroids from (and that was later rigged with a bomb, and now offered to Big Mom by Luffy, oops) is called Tamatebako, which means "jewelled hand box". It comes from the Japanese folk tale of Urashima Tarō. In the tale, the fisherman Urashima Tarō saves a turtle, and is invited to the Dragon Palace (Ryūgū) by the princess Otohime. He spent some time there, but in the outside world, many years passed, his parents had died, and everyone he knew was old. He had been warned never to open the tamatebako, but in the distress he forgot and opened it. With a white puff, he suddenly became a white-haired old man. Tamatebako is a play on words on its own. We established it means "jewelled hand box" but while "tama" does mean "jewel", it also means "soul" or "life essence". The princess Otohime had stored that time he would've lost in the tamatebako, and when he opened it, that fraction of his "soul" came out, making him the old man he would've been.
This is so cool, I love OP and I always wonder just how much I’m missing out on by reading a translation. Always nice when I see someone explain those kinds of references or jokes 🙌
@@garretbell9915 Oda loves pulling references from everywhere, from history, to Dante, to Wonderland, to Japanese folk tales, not to mention his puns and goroawase (puns with how the numbers are read in Japanese). He makes really want to speak Japanese and to know everything he's ever read, so I can get all the references
I love your One Piece vids. It has reignited my love of reading manga. I will be reading One Piece soon. (Have all the vols in anticipation)
I really loved the reviews and analysis on this video. The community is mixed on this arc, similar to skypeia and all. But I love the themes in this arc and how Oda tackles them from different points of view. And although he is positioning the hatred of Hodey Jones as negative since he is the villian, a lot of the other fishman have a spectrum of reactions to humans. And Oda just shows the spectrum, he doesn't really say which approach is right or wrong. Fisher Tiger or the queen, both has pluses and minuses. I just like the dialogu of this arc. And I really feel like you nailed the review and tying things into real world ideas and experiences. Great review Gavin and definitely looking forward to your progress through the new world :)
What I like about this arc is that it's a surprisingly nuanced view of hatred. It's not just "oh hate is bad", which, duh?, but it questions the different sources and effects of it.
I think the Fisher Tiger story is an important part - it shows that not all hatred is unreasonable and sometimes it just can't be helped that the person feels that way (because it's natural to think badly of people after getting abused and betrayed by them again and again), but ultimately, you can't move forward as a society while steeped in that (shown by how in the end, he died to his own inability to look past what had been done to him, and it falls to a new generation not marred by these terrible experiences to not hold a grudge for what happened to their forebearers and begin a new chapter instead).
That's kind of how I choose to view the Sanji part too, and why I don't think it necessarily contradicts the message of this arc:
Sanji DID experience something traumatic to him - the entire gender reversal thing was forced onto him too while on the island, something he very specifically DID NOT WANT. In that sense, he's quite similar to Fisher Tiger as someone who has a legit negative experience with a certain group of people, making his hatred of them somewhat understandable - but just like Fisher Tiger, holding onto that mindset and wallowing in that trauma isn't doing him any favours (he almost bled to death due to his excessive nosebleeds after all).
LOVED your interpretation of the meaning of this arc. It's a pretty commonly held belief that Fishman Island arc is bad, because Hody isn't a strong or complicated villain, which I find so annyoing since that is the point of this arc, exactly as you said: "The hatred in Hody was just passed down to him ... he's just empty". I like how this ties into the themes of inherited will, how we can really be ignorant and hateful to other people for no good reason, that strength is being able to sympathise and forgive, etc. Im glad the community has gained another Fishman Island enjoyer :)
You have been trying to get to fishman island since post ennies lobby. Kokoro mentioned it as our “next” island lol. So yes, months good sir
It is really funny to read old posts in forums from back in Post Enies Lobby 😂
Yikes you guys have no cluen😅
I would never call this arc perfect, but it has its moments.
The crew's trip underwater is absolutely magical. The feeling of scale and wonder just well up inside me in a way so few other things can do. Perhaps me being a SCUBA diver contributes to that 😂. Too often Oda just skips past the travel phase, but he absolutely nails it here.
The visuals throughout the entire arc are great, but in particular the Ryugu Palace and Sea Forest are among the most magnificently illustrated locals I've ever witnessed. The Sea Forest's serene view of the whales, among colorful coral and ship wrecks makes for the perfect backdrop to gather up the crew and listen to Jinbei's story...
And holy shit what a story it is. I'd been feverishly waiting on more Fisher Tiger stuff at this point in my readthrough, but Otohime was the character I never knew I needed. It all came together beautifully with her drunken, impromptu speech to all the citizens of Fishmen Island, and her exit from the story is just heartbreaking.
In these instances, I believe the arc is perfect. A lot of the stuff going on outside of that though... its a mixed bag.
1:02:05 They were singing and dancing to prevent their sister from crying so that she wouldn't summon the sea kings, it's heartbreaking to see them pretend to be cheerful while holding back their tears
The setting of this arc is fantastic and I love it so much. Catching up now
Ok, I had to say this in way too many replies so I will put it in a comment of its own. It will be long, but this is what happened to Sanji:
--First of all, the "abominations" part. To explain this, I will invite you all to do a little exercise with me:
a) Forget about the characters. Person A is stranded in an island for 2 years. The inhabitants of that island want person A to do something, person A says "no". The inhabitants of the island proceed to assault and harass person A for two whole years. When free from them, person A refers to the people who enacted that assault and harassment as "abominations". After that, seeing someone who reminds person A of their assailants triggers a really mild PTSD (in the form of minor aversion) on person A.
b) Now let's change the characters: Nami is stranded in an island for 2 years. The inhabitants of that island, a group of jocks, want Nami to do something, Nami says "no". The jocks proceed to assault and harass Nami for two whole years. When free from them, Nami refers to the jocks who enacted that assault and harassment as "abominations". After that, seeing more jocks triggers a really mild PTSD (in the form of minor aversion) on Nami.
c) Now let's review the OG case: Sanji is stranded in an island for 2 years. The inhabitants of that island, a group of okama, want Sanji to do something, Sanji says "no". The okama proceed to assault and harass Sanji for two whole years. When free from them, Sanji refers to the okama who enacted that assault and harassment as "abominations". After that, seeing more okama triggers a really mild PTSD (in the form of minor aversion) on Sanji.
If a) and b) are not anything-phobic, nor "clumsy", why would c) be regarded as such?
--Now, the nosebleeds. First let's establish this: Nosebleeds in manga/anime are a visual representation of horniness. Now, in Sanji's case, these are entirely unrelated to the harassment and assault he was victim of, and closer to relapsing on an addiction, thought that's a bit of a hyperbole. Instead of something you are addicted to, let's go with something you love, but are not addicted to: Chocolate (and if your reply is "but I don't like chocolate" then a) there's something really wrong with you, seek help, and b) that's not the point, so pretend you do)
One day you wake up, turn on the TV, and see that on every channel they are only talking about the one thing: Chocolate has magically disappeared from your country. There's no more chocolate anywhere, there's no cacao trees, there's not even artificial chocolate flavours or anyone who remembers how to make them. Also, your country has been surrounded by a magical barrier, there's no way to go to another country to eat chocolate, or to import it, but you know there's chocolate in other places, lots of chocolate. You spend 2 years in the magic chocolateless bubble, with constant reminders that the only difference between your country and the rest of the world is that they do have chocolate, they mention it every single day on the news, several times, actually. And again, one day you wake up, and reality changed again: You are not in a chocolateless bubble with constant reminders of your chocolatelessness, but in Willy Wonka's factory. You are likely to proceed to gorge yourself to death, and die happy with chocolate coming out of your eyes and ears, aren't you?
Ok, not let's move that to Sanji. Sanji's chocolate would be what he deems "beautiful women". It's been previously established that he's always dreamed of mermaids, and he considers them the epitome of beautiful women. He spent 2 years in a place filled to the brim with only women, but not one woman he deems beautiful. He is locked in that place, with no "chocolate" but there are lots of women to act constant reminders of chocolate existing everywhere else in the planet. Suddenly he arrives at his Willy Wonka's factory, a place filled to the brim with what was previously established to be his favourite chocolate ever: mermaids. He "hornies" himself to death
And if you want my opinion, if you needed this to understand what's going on, you should review your biases, as you might be thinking gender orientation is a defining characteristic of people, even above the fact that they are people. It's a pretty common issue, mostly in the last decade or so, and it's previously happened (and continues to happen) with other secondary/tertiary characteristics, such as ethnicity or religion. If those secondary/tertiary characteristics, that in many cases are private and you shouldn't even be aware of, outweight the fact that whoever is in front of you is a person first and foremost, then you are part of the problem, whatever that problem it is, even more so if the person in question is yourself.
I said the same thing! One Piece is one of the best pirate stories I've read, since pirates of the Caribbean.
Luffy using Conquerer's Haki and knocking out half of Hodys army, is one of my favorite scenes in the manga.
You have made the best OP related videos I can remember, since the old days and I mean it. What you say about people needing to take supplements in order to be strong, made me so happy and so 😭 looking at our world
1:56:14 Bro is really asking if Big Mom is a "bad" person. Maybe because we are always following Luffy's journey, but you have to remember that almost all pirates are bad. Even Blackbeard has protected territories, Big Mom whilst being the Fishman Island "protector" demands payment. This just highlights that she is protecting the Island because of her agenda, not by the goodness of her heart.
Good video, keep it up.
thank you for the extensive analysis and interpretation, Gav. I was a bit nervous when you started the arc but I'm glad you liked it.
I remember once I went to an action figure store. there I saw A GENERAL FRANKY action figure but I did not have much money to buy it. then I just starred and admired the figure like a fool for hours because damn it it was SUPER cool 😂😂😂
Thank you for actually understanding the message of to the arc. So many people push their wants on the arc.
I just found your channel and I'm so thankful I found it!! So amazing videos❤🌊
Oh I’ve been WAITING for this arc for awhile since it’s honestly up there with Skypeia as the most indecisive arcs in the series! I’m really 50/50 on it though will absolutely say this, the arc has my all-time favorite scene in the whole series with 648’s transfusion scene(if you get the chance watch how the anime handles it it’s honestly gorgeous)!
I have to say, you've changed my opinion on hordy. I didnt like him as a villain BECAUSE he was so shallow... i still dont realy like him but now i do look at it a bit differently because of you, thanks!
Reaching the new world was so much hype in terms of the adventurous feeling, just like when they reached the grand line. And their entrance is so cool
Right?! Entering the Grand Line is a high I’m still riding, but entering the New World now? I’m gonna combust
@@GavinReadsItAll get ready for a wild ride hahaha
The depiction of the people in Okama land is very disturbing, but there’s some super amazing trans representation later on. Oda gets a lot better.
I have every faith Oda will do that, it’s really just Sanji and his prejudices so I don’t take issue with the writing of it, I just hope Sanji changes
Yeah I don't like the representation but to me it's clear oda thinks he's being funny with this and this is unintentionally harmful rather than deliberately malicious. He was best friends with the real person who Ivankov was based off and luffy and stuff are totally fine with the trans people but with Sanji oda thinks he's making fun of him but it's a poor joke all through. But yeah it gets much better
@@GavinReadsItAll Considering Sanji's hate-love for Zoro, he might be a closeted bi. Zoro is the man he cares the most for. Remember, Sanji DID leave Nami's side to protect Zoro back when they were on the run in Sabaody.
@@Hellbioy101 WHOA-WHOA-whoa! Oda is friends with Tim Currey?! AWESOME!!!
@@patricklatham3897 Oda is friends with Imamura Norio, the other person Iva is inspired on, he is a drag Queen good friend with Oda. Oda even got him the role to play Iva's role in the anime.
Been wonderful to watch all of your reactions in a new sort of format for these types of reviews
Ay thanks so much!
In Sanji's defense, his reaction is quite genuine. Many times the relatives and friends of someone who suffered are the ones who find it more difficult to accept healing the wounds of those who suffered without someone paying the penalty for them.
Thanks for uploading again, I truly truly am entertained watching you go through this journey, Thank you!
So, an explanation for Sanji:
This was written back around 2013? And while we had Ivankov (who was based on a real friend of Oda's, who an "okama"), there still wasn't a lot of people in Japan who understood LGBTQ+ issues, including gender. Plus those issues and topics aren't 1 to 1 as we know them in America and other English speaking countries due to cultural differences.
In Japan, men who dress as woman, drag queens, gays, and trans people all kinda fall under the term "okama," which... Isn't exactly a good term iirc? And often, men in dresses are taken as jokes in media.
Oda has had an interest in this stuff since back with Bon Clay, but he still just wasn't well informed, and so his presentation of Kamabakka land reflects that.
There has been a lot more development in Japan regarding LGBTQ+ issues
(for example, in Soul Eater, a character who was introduced over a decade ago, who's gender was always in question, was officially described as non binary by the author, years after it ended, because they only just found out about the term, and recent republications of the series use "they/them" for the character now.)
But overall there's still some kinks and issues along the way.
In OP, the stuff with Ivankov's kingdom is the worst offender, and in the most recent finished arc of OP, we've had two canonically trans/gender nonconforming characters who were both beloved and well written, and neither had their gender identities questioned or mocked by the audience.
The only time it comes up is when Luffy acting as an audience surrogate and asks "Huh? I thought you were a man/woman?!" And said characters responding with "Yes, but my heart is female/I decided to be male!" And Luffy referring to both by their chosen identity afterwards.
Fishman Island is by far the worst it gets with it's portrayal of certain LGBTQ+ People, but I genuinely think it's because Oda didn't really understand, and has since learned from then.
He doesn't hate them. He hates that he was stuck on an island with what he thinks is unattractive woman(not great but better than full hatred). That they wanted to convert him as well, and even briefly seemed to. His return to the regular world with his attractive ladies is like full blown addiction overwhelming him. As for turning to stone, it's a call back to Boa's ability since shirahoshis beauty is said to rival the pirate empress.
Thank you for the video! I love getting to see your reactions and analysis chapter by chapter! It makes me remember everything and experience it again almost like the first time =)
P.S. I am pretty sure Merphy liking Caribou is a joke and she actually hates him as a character.
Also fun fact, when we're introduced to Hachi back in Arlong Park, he introduces himself as the 2nd best fishman swordsman (the fishman that Zoro fights in Fishman Island being the best one).
Personally, I think the reason Sanji hates trans women is because he hates himself. Like, in the manga, the first thing he does when he finds himself on the island of maidens is wear a dress, he VERY clearly has had some very toxic ideas about masculinity beat into him from a young age, Kuma chose to send him to Newkama Land for his training, and Ivankov challenged Sanji to a trial specifically designed to force Sanji to kick women, yet he completed it with nothing but stealth and evasion. Someone who doesn't see trans women as real women wouldn't go that far out of their way to avoid kicking them. IMO, he's 100% a comphet egg.
That said, I absolutely hate the scenes the anime added.
1:21:30 I definitely agree they were meant to be weak. It’s been 2 years of hard training for the crew, how pointless would it have been for them to be overly challenged on their first adventure?
I am glad you like FI arc.
Just like Skypeia arc, its very underated and some fans love to hate them.
Those are also the same people that like to boast about OP world building, setup and foreshadowing but ironically they always hated and complaining about any arc that focus on world building, plots, foreshadowing.. less fighting and powerlevel..
Certainly this kind of arc destroy so many of those fans their headcanon and fanfiction. Powerlevel stuffs certainly
It’s brings me joy seeing one price bringing you joy
I've made a new tradition where I keep a bottle of wine handy and celebrate whenever you post a new One Piece video. Judging by the amount left in the video I'm gonna need a refill!
Context for the nosebleeds: It's an old manga/anime trope that occurs when a character falls in love or feels lust. It's very annoying but a lot of anime used that trope that I just got used to it. I believe One Piece is the only manga that used this trope as a plot device and had a serious consequence which you can see with Sanji.
I did like how it tied into the blood transfusion storyline and it turned out to be relevant, that was so smart
Technically it is also used in DB as a story device... to reveal an invisible enemy.
I'm so glad you understand the themes Oda is trying to convey. A lot of readers gloss over Fishman Island cuz its paced kinda bad in the anime or because Hordy is a terrible villain, but thats completely the point. His motivations come from empty hatred rather than a personal grudge or greedy ambitions. He is a litteral representation of racism and Luffys' answer is to punch him. The whole "racism is bad" lesson has been done many times but damn, ya gotta love the way Oda does it.
1:38:20 allowing the Noah to WHAT!?!?
PPFFFFTTTT omg not that kind of manga 😂
2 hour video, Now THIS is a One Piece Review, can't wait to watch the deep dive.
I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Fishman Island so much. I also really enjoyed it. The themes are so good and the fight at the end was just so cool.
Unfortunately I really disliked Sanji in this. He wasn't great in Thriler Bark, his strife with Duval in Sabaody was fun. Then we didn't see him for a long time and we get this.
He does get better, but I hope you like him again faster than I did.
@1:52:45 AAANNND the new kama ladies that Sanji got blood from were happily helping an innocent man in need
Okay, so, the issue of "trans" characters in Japanese stuff tends to be..uh..off. There's a major reason for this, as what you're seeing on Kamabakka Queendom and through Bon Clay are what are called "Okama" - basically just "men who dress like women". These are technically _not_ considered "transgender" by any stretch of the imagination by the Japanese people, as its been a sort of culture that's existed for hundreds of years that has a lot of history behind it that I can't really elaborate on as I don't know _that_ much about it.
Now, Ivankov is _definitely_ meant to represent the transgender community based on everything they say, so they stand apart from what the okama are. Ivankov leads them, but the okama themselves aren't considered transgender, unlike the hidden floor in Impel Down which was intended to be a sort of haven for Ivankov's transgender ideology. It's _really_ splitting hairs, but that's just how it goes with that kind of culture.
Think of it kind of like this: Okama are sort of the Japanese equivalent to "men in women's clothing" that you'd see in Shakespeare's plays back in the day - and even now if they're strict about the performances. Except okama _live_ that life as opposed to English actors putting on a performance. They really are "men with the hearts of maidens", but it is _never_ suggested that the okama think that they are gender-identified women; they are men, through and through in their minds. Just with the bonus of enjoying crossdressing. If you asked an okama if they were transgender, they would answer in the negative.
EDIT: Odd sidenote on depictions of okama in general: They tend to be shown as very muscular, strong men in almost all cases. While they're not shown like that in One Piece, it's more an internal strength for those okama. I'm not 100% sure of the rationale for this, but I do know that body-building and the like isn't really looked at as "attractive" for Japanese men, the exact opposite being the case. I think it may have something to do with the "gap" of being a muscular man while crossdressing, but I'm not sure - I just know the stereotype.
If you realized this in the video already I apologize for missing it but, Fisher Tiger was the one who refused human blood. He was ambushed and was dying of blood loss, the sun pirates was about to use human blood of the same type for blood transfusion but he couldn't stomach it. Even if yes he wants to make humans and fishmen co-exist, his trauma is still there. He will help humans any day but his pride and trauma will not let him accept help from humans.
Incredible how you still remember that koby moment from the beginning. Reminds me how ace treated luffy when he was little and the tuff love is what helps them stop being wimpy
ohh the fishman island video is here :D and I am about to go to bed again! but I will watch a few chapters now, and return tomorrow!
Hope you enjoy!
There only called Neptunians in the 4kids dub & Viz manga. there called Sea Kings.
Ooo thanks for telling me that!
the 4kids dub only got to alabasta do you mean funimation?
I mean they go back and forth with the name soo same thing
@@miciceeff6464sea kings were introduced in chapter 1 and named in chapter 92 💀
@@SUPERP22 forgor 💀
Sanji's behavior doesn't bother me lol that may be an unpopular opinion here. Sanji absolutely loves women who appeal to him. He would also rather die than kick any woman. On the flip side, he doesn't like getting help or compliments from another man. It has been shown time and time again his respective feelings on men and women throughout the series. It's not out of character for him to view a man who crossdresses as a woman as not aesthetically pleasing. Everyone is assuming the Kamabakka Kingdom is one of just transgender women. They range from drag queens to actually changing their biological sex with the use of Ivankov's devil fruit. Another example of Sanji finding someone unappealing is Kokoro and it severely tainted his view on mermaids until he met Camie. Ivankov told him he had to beat all 99 chefs in order to get all the recipes he wanted, while simultaneously avoiding them fawning over him and trying to dress him as a woman constantly (and you think he wouldn't throw hands with drag queens?). Having someone he finds unappealing chasing him around 24/7, trying to hug or kiss him, or crossdress him against his wishes made him utterly unhappy. Whether it's because they were men dressed as women or not doesn't matter because "no means no" applies for everyone. Sanji was literally in a version of his own hell, but he stuck it out for his crew. I can agree that he is old-fashioned to a fault. But I accept it as part of his character, whether good or bad. He's also entitled to his own feelings, and the Kamabakka don't seem to care about his dislike for them, they still adore him lol and Oda has made some very strong, dependable gender fluid characters that have a profound impact on the story and he's best friends with a drag queen in real life. I feel some people are just far too sensitive sometimes.
I agree
100%
He's entitled to his own feelings, sure, but that doesn't make him any less wrong about it.
And with people being too sensitive, people are also entitled to feel disappointed with how Sanji acts. If anything, Sanji's the sensitive one here with his blatant disgust, which he could otherwise just kept to himself (assuming that his boundaries for consent weren't crossed)
I am pretty aware of the late arcs, and Sanji continues to be my favorite character since I was a kid. It's just pretty disingenuous to ignore these faults he has.
@pivad1388 No one said he doesn't have flaws as a character and no one is ignoring them, including myself (the fact he won't attack a woman and would let himself die instead is a great one). No one has to like his behavior, but you can't slander a character who has literally shown you exactly how they feel about these things from the beginning. That has been his character quirk from day 1 (each of the Straw Hats have them, and all of Oda's characters in general). My main point is he is not being transphobic at all, because they are not transgender characters. They are Drag Queens and Sanji is not attracted to Drag Queens as they are men portraying women (not transitioning into them, like I said if they wanted that they would just use Ivankov's DF) and them chasing him down relentlessly trying to kiss him/dress him up/hug him/etc. IS Sanji's hell and rightfully so. For some to complain or say it "brought his character down" makes no sense to me. Even Robin in Wano shows she understands him and doesn't fault him at all for who he is because that's his character.
I have such a love/hate relationship with Sanji because sometimes he is literally the most loyal, loving person and other times he is just a huge fucking creep and it really only gets worse in that regard. Like he gets some of the best moments moving forward and some of the worst LOL
2:28 Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.
Thanks gave for for fixing the one piece playlist
Of course! I’ll move Fish-Man Island to its rightful place after a few days, but wanna keep the newest video at the top for a little bit so people don’t miss it 😄
It wasn't just the queen; Hody Jones is what Fisher Tiger was afraid of too. He knew he couldn't let go of his own hatred, but even despite that he didn't want to pass it on to the next generation because he knew how destructive it was.
Youre the second youtuber ive seen this week get mixed up by Sanji calling FMI the All Blue. XD
It's very much not it's just a joke because Sanji is now surrounded by beautiful mermaids and hes basically going "is this heaven".
Im surprised thats mixed up two people now
Oh I knew Sanji was joking! I just commented how Sanji stated “this is the all blue” but I kinda got that he didn’t mean it, he’s just in heaven
I also think it's **theory that doesn't contain spoilers, but might need time to be developed**
...foreshadowing. Madam Shyarly predicted Luffy will destroy Fishman Island, and she is always correct with her predictions, that's why she hates them and broke her crystal ball. Marie Geoise is just above Fishman Island. Luffy destroying the Red Line below Marie Geoise would a) destroy Marie Geoise, ridding the world of the Tenryuubito, b) destroy Fishman Island as the debris would fall to the bottom of the ocean, and c) create the All Blue right there
12:08
Yeah this is pretty indefensible. You'll be happy to know though that later in the series Oda clearly realised that he'd made a mistake, and eventually this plot point drops out of the story and we get better trans representation. This arc was written 13 years ago, and it's pretty clear from the current story that Oda's views are a lot different now than they were then. People change, sometimes for the better.
I heavily disagree I just think people often misinterpret the intention with them. They could easily be "fixed" by Ivankov's hormone fruit but they don't need to be because they're proud and confident in their identity. They're amazing rep for that reason and the majority of trans people I've spoken to regarding this have had the same opinion. I know a lot of people seem to take it the wrong way in the beginning but Oda never changed in this regard he just made the concepts that were always present more pronounced and obvious
@@kingambrose9919 they are walking transphobic tropes and caricatures. And I don't know a single trans person who likes the way the trans people in Sanji's arc were depicted. It's utterly horrendous.
Ivankov and the Impel Down queer rep is much better, even if it still comes with a lot of "Oda clearly has never actually talked to a trans person before writing this". But at least it's funny, has a lot of heart, shows them as actual humans and isn't a literal depiction of the "man in a dress" trope combined with trans panic and the idea that all trans people are inherently predatory.
There's a Japanese superstition that you get nosebleeds when you're horny. You see it a LOT in anime, like when a guy walks in on a girl naked and blood will start gushing out of his nose. But I'm sure someone in the invisible comments has already explained that.
There's a lot of cool info in the SBS sections, assuming you're reading them on every volume it would be nice if you commented more about them.
I'd say the whole Kamabakka Island is pretty transphobic. Not in a in-universe way, but from the meta perspective. Like, the thing isn't real, Oda made it that way. The denizens there, the men with the hearts of maidens, who look like caricatures, who are predatory towards our good friend Sanji, made to be a butt of a joke - that's pretty bad of Oda, I'd say
Jimbei was first mentioned at the start of the Arlong Island Arc
I forgot that fishman island was the first introduction to joy boy. Well welcome to that mystery too gavin
Really love your videos, Gavin! Do you intend on watching the Movies? There's a good handful of really spectacular One Piece movies out there.
I absolutely want to watch the movies, I own the first 9 now haha
Of course it takes the Strawhats all of 5 minutes into their FI journey to run into a face from their past, Momoo's back. Anyone can get a call back in One Piece.
Just wait, we will see the monster that took Shank's arm again at the final island.
3:04 I find this hearteningly relatable.
2hours and I love it
this is one of my favourite arcs but a lot of people do dislike it heavily. I think Hody as a villain is phenomenal
I'm sure everyone told you everything you need to know already, so I'll tell you something you need to remember for future.
1. Fisher Tiger was a slave so how did he get out of that situation and helped others along the way as well.
Thats all for now, I'll do this every arc from now, so you'll have a better experience.
Because some things are easy to miss and I'll make sure you don't when you get there.❤
Oh! Also - one of the fan favorite chars gets a lot of screen time in the next arc, so look forward to that! ;)
I forgot how sensitive this part of the story could be for other people.. but that's just how Oda works.. extremities of the stereotypes.. which perhaps maybe he wants people to reflect as he wants to show this is how other people perceives who you are.. in a sense, it can also be taken as an eye opener, so that people would change their behaviour not actually their preference..
There are wholesome Okamas that we all love and hold dearly..and then there are those who are out of control, which are the citizens of Kambakka kingdom.. i believe, what Oda was trying to tell here was have a little restraint, show the good in you and people will respect and accept whoever you are.
Sanji is a complicated character..much like what a real typical teenager could be, led by their thirst for pretty/sexy ladies but without restraint.. like he's as transparent as a clear water.. and he's firm of what he likes and what he wants.. though its not a promotion, some people takes it against his character and I'm like, isn't he allowed to be flawed?
Anyways, i get those people who says it should've been handled better.. or at least in a more sensitive manner.. but then, if that happens, wouldn't it make Oda not free anymore to write what he wants? I mean, we all should remember that this person is trying to tell a story the way he wanted to tell it to basically everybody who wants to listen or learn what its all about..
He's not doing it for a cause or anything.. he just wants to tell everything about it..❤
That doesn't excuse him from criticism though. And no, Oda wasn't always free with what he wants to write, otherwise Marineford would've been expanded (his editors actively stopped him from writing subplots and character arcs).
What he chooses to write and show can indicate his worldviews. It's unfortunate, but it's the environment and generation he grew up on, so I don't blame him as much.
I was about to type a comment, because I feared you missed the strawhat on Roger 😬 Btw. it wasn't common knowledge that he had the hat until now in the story. But I love the reveal, it's so subtle that it's easy to miss.
Edit: Okay, I finally had the time to finish the video! As always: I love your reactions, predictions and analysis! So fun to watch.
One thing that you might not know yet: The japanese title for the emperors is "Yonko" which is literally "four emperors". That's why it's usually "oen of the Four Emperors" or something like that.
I'm happy you enjoyed the arc, the themes are great and deep. My biggest criticism is Sanji. He's never been one of my favourites, but this puts him down so much for me. Also I didn't care for van der Decken at all. The arc is good, I just like others better overall.
I don't think Sanji to be transphobic, I think he has been arased for two years (highly deserved) and being a big pervert as he is he suffered consequences. At the end, he is an insufferable idiot in this arc.
When i was much younger I had such a huge crush on Shirahoshi. I actually used to get annoyed at luffy being so mean to her early on in this arc lmao
Imagine being chased by a bunch of people you don't find attractive, as they want to molest you and force you to wear the clothes they wear, and act like they do. No wonder Sanji is so scarred by the "kamabakka kingdom" events. But it's not really the focus - I think possibly that Kuma knew that Sanji's power was driven by his extreme emotionality (to be continued in a future arc...) and sent him to a place that would rile his emotions. Not just because of Okama Kempo, which is compatible with his fighting style (see his fight with Mr 2), but that helped.
i love how you just talk whatever is in your mind without being afraid of beeing wrong. It's much more funny to watch someone who actually told us what he thinks is gonna happend or is not gonna happend even if it doesn't make any sense. Because all of us do that at some point, and that's a fact!
By the way, when you say about the problems if luffy knows that jimbei was the one who release arlong i just kinda enter in a loop in my brain... To me luffy couldn't care less about someones past, he see in a person what's he can literally see. In fact, he goes to sleep if some of his friends is talking about his/her past because he doesn't care. They are already his friends.
PS: Joy boy is okay, it's actually the oficial name.
Luffy did asked Camie if Mermaid poops, before Camie could answer the question, Sanji flat out said no!👌😂🤣👍
I love sanji when he is not talking
Sanji was sent to that okama island because they also specialized in cooking, so best place to send the crew's cook.
ALSO!! I SUUUUPEERRR LOVE THE HYPE FOR FRANKY
1:24:36 Imagine you are stranded in an island with no escape, and the inhabitants of that island keep chasing you, trying to force you to do something you are against. Imagine being 24/7 on the run, and being pushed to the limit of learning to run through thin air just to be able to get away from them. Wouldn't you call your assailants "hideous monsters"?
1:49:25 Again, something similar here. That technique is called "Hell Memories". For him, those two years, he was in hell. Why? Because he was deprived of what he loves, and chased by people trying to assault him with no respite for two whole years. It's not hatred, it's PTSD at most. Forget for a minute they are okama (and I use okama here, becuase I'm not certain if they are cross-dressers, transvestites, transgender), and replay in your head exactly the same sequence he's lived through while he was there, but swapping the okama to just any random group of people. Would you be happy in that situation? Or would you believe it's hell on Earth?
2 hours one piece video on my day off, yeayy🎉
My theory re Sanji and Kamabakka Queendom is that he refuses to unpack his feelings about his own gender and the pedestal he puts women on (like, it's ok Sanji, you can both like women romantically and want to be one). The way he acts towards the residents of Kamabakka Queendom feels like projection to me, anyway. It can be read other ways of course, but this is the way that I think makes the most sense for his character.
We know why Sanji has a thing for women. It's because the two people who treated them nicely were women and secondly because of Zeff who made sure that Sanji would grow up to respect women. It has nothing to do with gender lololol He is allowed to have his own opinions just like you are allowed to have yours.
@@potatorisa You don't really have to be rude about it. And it's not really an opinion at this point that Sanji has his own flaws. It's already a generous interpretation of Sanji's behavior, so it makes me curious why you felt the need to respond that way.
My favorite part of this arc is the small speech that luffy gave about heros like he does what he wants to do but i don’t praise for it. I am who i am and nothing will change me (unless it’s for meat.)
I also love jinbeis reaction to this whole speech just being: do what I tell you and I'll give you meat.
It's just so smart and kinda diplomatic, like jinbei gets Luffys reasoning and instead of trying to argue him out of it, he just adjusts his offer so that it aligns with what motivates Luffy. And it's incredibly funny, as well
sanji has uglyphobia is the most accurate way to describe him
I thought Joyboy was mentioned first in Skypiea, but I might be remembering wrong.
Hated arc but I love it!
Gavin is gushing about General Franky. Its confirmed guys, Gavin is a real boy
My theory is that at some point Luffy will be responsible for the destruction of Marijoa and fishman-island which lies right beneath it. The arks purpose would then be to bring merfolk and fishpeople to the surface. This would also fulfill both Madame Shirley's and the Noah's prophecies.