"Favorite arc so far" certainly an unpopular opinion that most of the fandom including myself don't share, but hey respect! Thriller bark deserves more love for real so props to you both for loving it! 🎉
Thriller Bark was actually my favourite arc on the first read, but I prefer CP9 on re-read. Both are excellent regardless. Even now, I'd say Thriller Bark competes quite closely as my second-favourite arc with Whole Cake and Dressora.
This arc saved me from depression and a very dark place when I reread it. I have a great deal of respect for it now. Oda wrote a heavy theme of loneliness with brook, and he managed to write it well and add hope as a theme. It is truly amazing, contrasted to a villain who represents the effects of losing and never being able to get back up. Contrasting such heaviness with gags and comedy was a master stroke
@@Datduuudeee Well, they did say they saw hope there. Probably inspiration of some sort too, depending on the situation. I'm glad it was helpful to the OP. I've seen other One Piece fans say similar things about other arcs, too. :)
Everyone I know likes the arc, but they just hate Absalom and Sanji's reaction to the invisible devil fruit. People lost respect for Sanji but they want to like him for his suave cool demeanor.
ive noticed that if an arc is hyped up ur expectations are so high that when the arc doesnt meet them u dont like it as much (eg: Water7 / Ennies Lobby), even end up overly emphasizing on the cons of the arc but if an arc is downplayed like Thriller Bark u go into it with really low expectations and ultimately end up liking it
@josephocenada agreed Sabaody is an amazing arc but its not one thats talked ab much so they probably went into it without any expectations, hence it didnt get in the way of their enjoyment
I think one large aspect for them is just they understand the references a bit more with Thriller Bark. CP9 is full of James Bond references, but they never picked up on any of them; but they did pick up on all the Scooby-Doo tropes in Thriller Bark.
True, I noticed them taking that pattern as well. And fair poin that Sabaody isn't talked about as much. By then, reactors are probably seeing vague comments about Marineford already, which is probably the next most oversold arc they could end up "fatigued" by.
I have to say, I really love how you appreciated this arc as a whole and not just for the portion at the end. This has always been one of my favourite arcs overall as well, and hearing that you take a more holistic approach to enjoying an arc while accepting the apparent flaws solidifies you as some of the best reactors out there, easily. It's not to say that only enjoying an arc for a specific moment is necessarily a bad thing, but I find that looking at the big picture feels more to me that you're truly enjoying One Piece as a whole. Moria tends to get a lot of hate because of his non-confrontational, sort of 'unbecoming of his status' behaviour, but I've always appreciated him as a villain. Not just because he's one of the first villains to hint at having a tragic backstory of his own, but also because he's the first villain that's forced the Straw Hats to all fight together as a team and still almost lose to him. Sure, he got arrogant and overdid it with his 1000 shadows, but even then, and I see a lot of people disregard this, but Luffy's final attack didn't even take him down. Luffy ran out of stamina/energy right afterward, but Moria was still conscious enough to turn around and see that the tower was falling towards him. If that tower hadn't collapsed, Moria would still be standing, and Luffy would be down and out, just in time for the sun to rise and obliterate everyone. It was much more of a close call than people tend to give him credit for, and sort of a premonition of the dangers to come. If a washed up, slacker like Moria could push the entire crew to this extent.... can they really handle someone on this level who hasn't let themself go? Of course, Kuma sort of answers that question immediately, but it really puts into perspective that warning Moria gave them about what it means to be struggling against him at this point when they're aiming for the New World Also, 30:55, it's funny to hear you say this. Technically speaking, this sort of applies to me, but not in the way you described. The first time I watched One Piece was totally out of order, and starting at a random episode in the middle of Thriller Bark. Instead of saying no and jumping to the start to get to that point properly, I watched the arc from start to finish, and then started One PIece from the beginning. It was the comedy and the unique characters that got me hooked on One Piece. So yes, technically speaking, Thriller Bark is the arc that made me a One Piece fan
1:24:21 For Zoro, this moment shows that he understands that there is no point in the title of the strongest swordsman in the world if he cannot protect his friends. power itself makes no sense unless it is used for something
You guys definitely scratch an itch that I have in terms of how you watch/review One Piece. I love all of the theorycrafting and critcism, whether or not I felt the same way. Many channels (which I also enjoy) lack those extra layers of depth that I look for, and are often simply reacting in the moment and moving on.
You're exactly the kind of reactors people want to see! First of all, nobody wants every channel to be the same! It's refreshing to see people respond to each arc differently. Second, watch reactions by some channels lore-heavy moments (esp. later in the series though, so maybe you can't see it as much right now) and see how much flak they get from viewers who are annoyed at major connections they miss because they're just focused on fights or "hype" moments or are maybe watching too many other series to keep everything straight. Probably the number one thing you can do to piss off this fandom is to show a consistent pattern of not remembering key names/events. Authenticity is probably the second most important thing. Nobody wants forced reactions. I know you wouldn't regardless, but nobody is _expecting_ you to force it. At least not the more authentic channels like yours.
I agree, carson and lindsay are kind of smart people that can talk about theory for hours, i like it. They share the same brain and frequency. watching one piece which has so many theories that still mystery is fit for them.
It is definitely not common for people to love Thriller Bark as much as you guys did, but I'm glad! It's mostly because many fans think Enies Lobby and then the arcs after are too tier, so Thriller Bark loses shine. But I agree with all your thoughts on what makes it work
I am also in their boat. Thriller Bark is one of my preferred arcs in OP. Arcs whose engagement clearly depends on some epic fights is not my cup of tea as OP is generally very average in terms of fights. Kudos to ODA he still made 95% of the story engaging for me. He just needs to avoid stuff like Wano Act 3 which was too much fight and ultimately fell flat.
As someone who also enjoyed Thriller Bark more than Enies Lobby (in the anime), I do think that a good amount for that can be attributed to the arc’s whole Scooby-Doo-esque setting for being the perfect environment for all the padding scenes to blend in (somewhat) seamlessly into the story & not diminish the experience like usual. It made it (for the most part) feel like an organic part of the setting, rather than obnoxious stalling (like f.e. all the unnecessary "fighting Marine fodder"-filler) that bogged down Enies Lobby so badly.
Yeaahh, random bonus points for me are: The characters weren't set up in a serious matter and under delivered, even Moria was very clear in how he fights from the beginning and actually getting serious by the end made things spicier. The coward trio going through things was hilarious and a good setup. Even character costumes were great and bold. Small stuff like these complete the theme. The best was seeing the crew fighting together. For the finishing blow on Oars, everyone had a role. It felt like they were a close crew, not just people in a ship. Honestly I'm a bit tired of Zoro and Sanji spearheading multiple fights in an arc.
One Piece may be a bit free in terms of genre, but imo Dandadan's got to be wackier in the genre freedom department if One Piece is still deeper and more thought/planned out imo.
@@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache Meh, dandadan has two genres and they're there from day one: aliens and spirits (I guess mechas now perhaps). One Piece to some extent leans into a new genre every arc and they're all different.
@@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustacheyou would probably like Witch Watch, not as bombastic crazy, but follows and commits to some pretty funny gags on a chapter to chapter basis. As well as having a similar comedy and romance to it! It's a Manga only rn, but in one of the chapters the MC's magic makes everyone turn into legit minecraft shaped characters.
In all honesty, I've loved your journey through this series, the expectations from fans should never deter your experience! I definitely had a different experience and just happy I finally get to join in on discussions and be part of the conversation! The more I watched the more I felt I missed out for so many years!
16:40, I would say that it is crazy, but I was really scared that Thriller Bark would kill your spark for One Piece so I am very happy that you liked it so much.
The reason that Lola's zombie has the same name as her shadow's owner is one of my favorite small deatails in the arc, the zombie body is not a person at all, is just a warthog that Hogback made bipedal, similar the same as the Wild zombies that work for Perona but Lola is introduced as a General Zombie, i mean she is a New World pirate after all it makes sense her shadow is of better quality, and that might even have something to do with her disobeying Absalom as we see the Wild zombies telling Absalom they don't have to listen to his orders. So similar to Sanji, Moria was unaware of Lola's actual strenght and put her shadow in a Wild zombie who would follow Perona's orders but then realized she was as strong as a General zombie so she goes to work for Absalom who can't control her that well.
@@otaviolacerda7790 you are right, i should have made it more clear,most of the zombies use the name of the body but in Lola's case her body doesn't have a name cause it's just an animal corpse, so the name comes from the shadow.
Everything you said at 41:00 is spot on. It was a funny joke that crosses into to creepy because Oda was a nerdy guy in Japan and also it was written 15 years ago. Humor and tastes change drastically over that period of time. Also I think it's a play on the trope of Frankenstein's Monster obsessively looking for his bride.
i feel making Moria so lazy really sells his fall from grace and really highlights how different he is from past big bads, as well as better accentuates Oars and Kuma as the REAL final bosses of the arc.
I know you don't generally read comments on these videos, but anyway… There are people who watch reactions just to confirm their own reaction to a scene or Arc. They're not interested in anything new or different, they just want to see themselves reflected. Then there are others who do want to see a different perspective. That's where a lot of us fall. You do have a different perspective from what is commonly expected. That's why I watch.
I've warned you once and I'll warn you again! Since Water 7, every Arc will be your new favourite Arc! Can't wait for the next one, minds are going to be blown!
18 днів тому+9
As someone whose favorite arc up until this point is W7/EL BY FAR. W/EL genuinely changed my life and me as a person (I want to live and Merry's funeral) and also my perspective on One Piece lore & world with the Ancient Kingdom and all that stuff. I honestly like that you guys are different. Thriller Bark is usually nowhere near the top for the people and I honestly think it's really underrated. I probably put it on par with Drum Kingdom and Skypiea. (Skypiea grew on me retroactively after catching up) I'm also happy that you appreciate all the lore drops in this arc, like with the Emperor Kaido & Vegapunk stuff. Also Moriah, I find him such an underrated antagonist. It's shown multiple times in this arc that he used to be like Luffy. Big ambition, big goals and also big conviction. But Kaido completely broke him by murdering his crew. There's a lot of subtext to him which can easily be lost to people. Also, I can 100% confirm your suspicions. All your pacing/battle problems with EL are anime-exclusive. Manga pacing is so much better.
1:22:50 I think it was more like Kuma lightly threatening Moria with his power, reminding him that he is capable as well as an eerie opening in his character. But I do think he likes to ask before he yeets people. Basic courtesy.
I think reverse mountain is the all blue but only right at the peak. The problem the straw hats have is they have no way to anchor there at present: they get instantly pulled away by the current. I think there is some kind of chamber below the peak of reverse mountain which is the actual all blue, but it's only accessible the other side of the Red Line from the Twin Peak, so we have to wait until they go round the world to get there. Either that or it's at Marijoa.
Yesss, I was looking for a video as I was doing chores! Also, hope you do a short discussion after Sabaody as well. Considering the arcs and how dense it is that might be a good point.
Thriller Bark is by no means my favorite arc (and it’s not even in my top 5), but I really appreciate it getting some love. I think it’s peak One Piece comedy and nice spooky vibes. It deserves more praise than the fandom usually gives it
Loved the discussions Very cool opinions Thriller Bark as your favorite would seem like a hot take but honestly i get it and think more people should realize why it's so good. Some tone deaf elements with Absalom and creepiness but besides that And Toei's pacing It's a fun arc with fun elements And peak throughout
I've been advocating for Thriller Bark for a long ass time, glad to see yall share the same sentiment! I enjoyed the tone of it esoecially after the heavy toned Water 7/Enies Lobby combo! I enjoyed the comedy, the characters (Halloween is my favorite holiday)
Might be my favorite arc to this day, its just so tightly written, lots of thematic setup, and most importantly, so much fun. But...the next saga comes reaaally close.
Even if it was never my fave, TB has a lot of great moments. Other than the few very vocal folks who only want to see fighting all the time and/or lack the sense of humour, I didn't think most people had a problem with it other than Absalom and/or zombie!Lola. (Moria's laziness early on also gets complaints I've seen, but it's thematically relevant.)
Call me crazy but I think Absaloms character makes perfect sense. I would refer to Plato and the Ring of Gyges - Absalom is "shy and all mushy" when he is seen but in the moment he's invisible, you can't make him responsible anymore. Also his whole thing is the general sexualization in the horror genre - which not only he himself carries in this arc. I don't know (and don't think) that Oda let his fetishes run wild, but that horror and sex are very close to each other - like in old and modern movies and books. Did Oda perfectly execute this - in my opinion not but I don't mind it much either.
I think overall in One Piece, every Arc gets better. So maybe there were more emotional scenes in other Arcs but overall Thiller Bark was great. I love Thriller Bark but it’s not my favorite, but I’m glad it’s you guys is favorite. I don’t care if ppl would agree with it or not, as long as you guys are loving and enjoying the show that’s all that matters. Even if other ppl didn’t love this Arc as much compared to others, as long as you guys did, that’s just even better bc you are gonna love future Arcs.
23:59 I can acknowledge that something is silly and cool at the same time. Example A: Sanji being electrocuted by Eneru and thanking him for the light was bad ass in the way he tanked it but also silly that he tanked it and made a joke out of it. I wouldn’t sh*t on you for that, especially since some of Luffy’s coolest moves come from the stupidest ideas.
It's more common than you think this and Skypiea are very similar in that if you love them you will think it is one of the best One Piece arcs since it has all the things that make One Piece: adventure, tension, and comedy.
It so cool that you rated this arc so high unlike most "fans" who can say even skip it like Skypea.... Those must be just used to watch cool fights against cool opponents only. Here in this arc what we got: Franky and Sunny's debut, introduction of new the theme with ghosts, zombies, revived lives, revive-revive fruit, invisibility and shadow fruits. New crew member with his motives and tragic story linked to Laboon, "Bink's sake"(!!!), 2 shichibukais, legendary Ryuma with lore and hints from Wano, Shusui, Oars, Captain John, Lola and her vivre card, news about Ace, Island size ship, Florian triange, and at the end Nothing happened! About characters like Absolom, Dr. Hogback, Moria, Perona - all of them have reasons. Brook, Sanji, Absolom they really love women - Brook didn't met them 50 years or more... Absalom is so musculine and he wants to find and marry real pretty girl, not zombie unlike Hogback with Sindy chan... And he has some ppl's dream ability being invisible - you can see what Sanji would become in some places. Other grown men and pirates have their female companions or childhood love. You can see Oda added it's not men's being pervert thing, Lola is also constantly seeking for her husbando. Moria is actually good. Ppl may dislike him for losing, being that ugly and anime also did him annoying person. But like many antagonists, he is just failure version of Luffy, or other dreaming pirates. Same as Croc, Buggy etc. Only for challenging one of yonko and still having ambitions give hip respects, many would broke entirely.
Evan thought I’ve seen it on patreon. Going to let it play and give it a like to show my support and how much I appreciate the podcast. I know it’s hard work to keep doing it, so I hope my kind words show how much it means to me.
It's interesting how the shadow fruit user was introduced as a shadow of his former self... It is a theme that we've seen with multiple devil fruit users so far, with their fruit revealing or emphasizing character trait or idea
Arcs for me up to now Skypiea (criminally underrated) > Alabasta > Water 7 > East Blue/Thriller Bark (they're both really good too, I wouldn't have kept watching OP otherwise)
ur completely right about zoro and sanji's resolve. they would 100% sacrifice their dreams and theselves for the rst of the crew i dont know why zoro fans want to make it into something its not when he literally knocked sanji out meaning he also values sanji's dream above his. all the strawhats are completely selfless when it comes to each other but i guess zoro and sanji do it in a "cooler" way
did you not read Whole cake island or even baratie???? the reason why sanji sacrifices is completely different from Zoro sacrificing , sanji sacrfices his dream and himself cause he think he's worthless but in case of zoro , it is pride . Zoro sacrifices himself to save his captain cause he thinks that if he couldnt even save his captain then his dream is worthless .
Yeah these questions only work in hindsight so I can see these guys not getting it but readers who have caught up saying it isn’t as deep as it is?? The character writing in One Piece is subtle. Maybe it’ll do you well to pay more attention on a reread.
Every since Foxy ended, One Piece just gets better and better. There are possibly more mysteries than answers at this point, although the breadcrumbs are still great.
im glad you guys loved Thriller Bark. I loved the aesthetic(love me some horror) and Moira is a great foil fo Luffy but apart from that i found it to be super boring until the end. while it isnt the worst arc, still pretty low in my ranking. would put it above Skypeia(which is a super hot take i know hahaha)
Thriller Bark was always a personal favorite arc of mine as well, and that's not even counting the Kuma stuff. It's nice to see it getting some more love purely on its overall merits. 😁
My problem surrounding Absalom is not Absalom himself, he's an antagonist and should do antagonist things to be hated. Him assaulting Robin and Nami is what his character would do. My problem is that later on its revealed that Sanji (a character who we should be rooting for) hates Absalom for stealing the opportunity of doing the things we're hating Absalom for I get Oda wanted to do a surprise joke ab Sanji but maybe he misread how hated Absalom was and why the joke of Sanji wanting to do what Absalom does with the devil fruit doesnt land
On point with the comment about the number of main cast. There really will be times that some characters would have to be offloaded/sidelined. However, the one thing I liked about OP is that when the sidelined character/s do get to shine, they DO SHINE and sometimes that "sidelined" trait plays into it. Excited to hear more of your guys' thoughts on the coming arcs!
What happens to Lola is shown in a cover story. She is never attacked by whatever is conceiled in the Mist. The looming shadows are either a teaser for something yet to come or maybe just a play on the trope where at the very end of a horror movie the monster opens up it's eyes or it turns out the stories where true. That type of thing.
Moria and crocodile are both Soo interesting too in the sense that I'm pretty sure those are the only two characters who have actual instakills, which is a HUGE thing and they're both shichibukai. If during daylight, moria just takes your shadow from you and then while your body is disintegrating, he just teleports away by switching with his shadow which is really far away, you're just gonna be dead. Crocodile can also drain moisture, and he wasn't only the first villain to completely defeat Luffy but he also did that twice and Luffy had a lot of trouble dealing with him cuz he could just absorb water as well which eliminated his biggest and only weakness.
Thriller Bark is one of my favorite arcs of all One Piece. Out of the ones you've seen so far, Alabasta and Thriller Bark are my 2 favorites, with Thriller Bark as number 1. Though it won't be terribly long until you get to some of my other favorites. I do wish people would stop hyping up certain arcs, though.
Oda actually already did the "friend becomes an opponent" trope before in the Kuro arc briefly when Jango hypnotised Luffy, it's just it didn't get terribly far. Also I guess there's Robin early in the CP9 arc and Nami in Baratie/early Arlong Park.
12:45 Nah, I get it It happened to me as well [spoiler ahead] Dressrosa drained me so much that I took a month pause after that, but because of that, WCI felt like the best best experience ever (I love this arc) LOL
It’s one of my favorites as well! The symbolism for this arc is incredible, from depression to the themes of man made monsters- I personally read it due to the censorship, but it’s fantastic!
It's certainly not a fan-favorite, but I'm glad you both enjoyed Thriller Bark this much. I feel like not many others do. I started reading One Piece when the arc you're currently watching on Patreon had just finished in the manga, and up until that point Thriller Bark was also my favorite. The first time I've teared up READING manga was at the end of Thriller Bark when Brook stated how happy he was to still be alive after learning Laboon was still waiting. One thing I like about your reactions is that you both try to look at each part of the story for what it is, and try to imagine what Oda is going for. Trying to get inside his head and what his motivations are when writing certain characters and gags allows you to appreciate everything a lot more, I think. Especially when it comes to the parts most fans don't seem to enjoy.
38:39 Unless it progresses plot, I also don’t like extreme perversion and assault. Sometimes authors need to make these bad types of characters, but Absalom wasn’t needed.
Wow. Glad you enjoyed this arc so much. It's very divisive. I have some issues in the earlier parts but the sceond half after Oars gets introduced more than makes up for it.
For me Thriller Bark only really slacks in the middle. I LOVE the beginning with Brook and how we slowly explore Thriller Bark's spooky setting with two totally opposite groups (the scaredy cats and the weird badasses). However, once we are out of "discovery mode" and stuff just happens, I quickly lose interest in the arc. That stays until we finally learn that Brook is connected to Laboon. From then on until the very end it's REALLY strong again. A big reason the middle part sucks is... Absalom and Moria specifically. Some people might argue Hogback is a creep as well so he should be put together with Absalom but I disagree. Hogback is a very interesting foil to Chopper and it works very well to see Chopper lose his blind idolisation for him very quickly. Absalom isn't bad as a villain because he is a sexual assaulter as well - it's fine to make your villains do unspeakable and dispicable acts, that's why they are called villains. The reason why Absalom sucks is because he overstays his welcome way too much. He would be fine as an enemy that would be done after 3 or maybe 5 episodes at most but it feels like he stuck around for waaay too long and he just didn't have the presence (personality or strength wise) to justify that in any way. Moria is a problem because of his nature, I get that this is by design since he lost his drive ever since Kaido beat him but that doesn't mean it's not boring to watch him stall for so many episodes with his shadow. That said, Moria gets overhated by the fandom and I don't really even hate him. I don't even mind his design, he's just a bit boring in regards to what Oda makes him do overall in this arc. That said, Perona, Kuma and Brook's backstory are total standouts in this arc that really help make Moria and Absalom easier to swallow. Persona is a HUGE fight for Usopp and it's one of his biggest wins in the entire series until this very day. Perona is also just very entertaining and funny to watch (Kumacy deserves better though). Finally, Kuma's appearance and Brook's backstory really helped to leave this arc off on a huge literal and emotional bang respectively. Personal rating... High A tier. I just can't give it S since the middle part just was a bit too much for me to fight through when I watched it for the very first time forever ago.
I will say regarding this sentiment at 30:20 , I did start reading One Piece *after* having seen the 'Nothing Happens' part as clips on youtube well over a decade ago and thinking the drama and action was cool enough to finally give it a chance. So in a way, Thriller Bark (and specifically when Zorro landed the hit on Kuma after the explosion) is the origin of my 'This moment made me a One Piece fan' sentiment.
Enies lobby did have some pacing issues, but it was goated as well. Chopper's monster point, Gear 2nd and 3rd, Diable jamble, Sogeking sniping Spandam on the bridge from the tower of justice, Robin's backstory and I want to live, Ohara and the void century and Gorosei introduction, Franky vs Fukurou was also one of the most underrated fights in the whole show imo, Luffy vs Lucchi ofc, Zoro showing the illusion of having multiple heads and Arms like hindu gods through sheer swordsmanship and murderous intent, Aokiji, Meeting Coby and helmepppo and garp post enies lobby and ace vs blackbeard and shanks meeting whitebeard and monkey d dragon's introduction. There were a lot of great things in that arc.
Now that you've finished thriller bark, 9 Opening Songs have played as well as 18 Ending Songs (as a matter of fact ep278 is the last of the EDs for a while) which has been or has become your favorite so far(now that you can look back with context, lol)!!?
I think most of us watching want to know your perspective on one piece. Please don't feel that you have to be fake to apiese the few who disagree with what you've said. Your indepth reviews are unique to your channel one of the reasons I appreciate you guys. Thank you.
1:31:48 Why does it feel like you guys are shitting on the giant shadows from Jaya like Oda went back on his plans and didn’t deliver? That shit was perfect when we found out it was just shadows. Maybe you expected different but take it for what it was and be fair.
Like I don't understand why they're fixating on it Shit was well done Prob just salty their predictions didn't come true They're not ready for actual threats n stakes
Its not because our predictions were wrong. We make 50 wrong predictions an arc, its not some ego thing I feel like we explained pretty in depth why we felt let down by the fact that these huge imposing figures were just shadows of normal sized people
@@BOLDcastOnePieceWhen you say “set something up and don’t deliver” or “walk two steps back instead of following through” it sounds like Oda went back on his plans or chickened out. But the ending with Luffy’s shadow being reflected on it changing it from something foreboding doom to that of hope is just great setup and great writing. It’s one thing to say you were hoping it would be something scary instead of what it was. It’s completely different when you say he didn’t deliver on the setup. He did. The delivery just wasn’t what you wanted but it’s clear that it was always meant to be the way it was written. Tbf, I don’t think it’s an ego thing.
Listen back to when we talked about that and we were just talking about what we would have preferred, that’s not the same as calling it out as a mistake.
I really appreciated Thriller Bark more after my 2nd time watching it. Like you said at the start, besides from "Nothing happened" it didn't really have much emotional highs, although there is the Brook backstory. For most of the community it's mostly hated (in the anime) for the pacing and because of Absalom. And putting it above Enies Lobby/Water 7 is for sure a hot take. It does mostly shine because of it's comedy and it's brilliant for that.
The shadows at the end is kind of a horror trope. Where the evil is not completely vanquished, or there's some unexplained eldritch horror thing at the end... This is probably never going to be explained because the mysterious nature of it is intentional. Its supposed to be scary, in a 'I dont know wtf is that' kind of way
"Favorite arc so far" certainly an unpopular opinion that most of the fandom including myself don't share, but hey respect! Thriller bark deserves more love for real so props to you both for loving it! 🎉
Thriller Bark was actually my favourite arc on the first read, but I prefer CP9 on re-read. Both are excellent regardless.
Even now, I'd say Thriller Bark competes quite closely as my second-favourite arc with Whole Cake and Dressora.
I love Thriller Bark. The funniest gags, the crew interaction, the very stylized setting.
Also I think overall in One Piece, every Arc gets better. So maybe there were more emotional scenes in other Arcs but overall Thiller Bark was great
It’s not my favourite arc, but it does have my favourite fight: Ryoma vs Zoro
@@Mitchis_Euphoria I feel like your opinion is very much in the minority. For example, very few people think Fishman Island is better than Marineford.
Luffy pushing that one zombie back into the grave is the thing that made me finally watch one piece.
This arc saved me from depression and a very dark place when I reread it. I have a great deal of respect for it now. Oda wrote a heavy theme of loneliness with brook, and he managed to write it well and add hope as a theme. It is truly amazing, contrasted to a villain who represents the effects of losing and never being able to get back up. Contrasting such heaviness with gags and comedy was a master stroke
A dark place saved you from a dark place? Makes sense...as long as you drunkenly stumbled across a positive meaning for yourself haha
@@Datduuudeee Well, they did say they saw hope there. Probably inspiration of some sort too, depending on the situation.
I'm glad it was helpful to the OP. I've seen other One Piece fans say similar things about other arcs, too. :)
Glad that you're ok.
@@Datduuudeeecomedy
You’re gonna have a lot of favorite arcs coming up
Not necessarily, for all we know this could be their favorite arc of all time after catching up. It’s all subjective.
Oda was in his bag during this era
Next 3 arcs are about to be a rollercoaster for these two XD
They're gonna hate them now that you're hyping them up
@@dillchillinI think they are gonna love the hell out of marineford
Thriller Bark is so underrated and underappretiated😥
Everyone I know likes the arc, but they just hate Absalom and Sanji's reaction to the invisible devil fruit. People lost respect for Sanji but they want to like him for his suave cool demeanor.
ive noticed that if an arc is hyped up ur expectations are so high that when the arc doesnt meet them u dont like it as much (eg: Water7 / Ennies Lobby), even end up overly emphasizing on the cons of the arc but if an arc is downplayed like Thriller Bark u go into it with really low expectations and ultimately end up liking it
sabaody is an exemption though, they already agree it's one peak!
@josephocenada agreed Sabaody is an amazing arc but its not one thats talked ab much so they probably went into it without any expectations, hence it didnt get in the way of their enjoyment
I think one large aspect for them is just they understand the references a bit more with Thriller Bark. CP9 is full of James Bond references, but they never picked up on any of them; but they did pick up on all the Scooby-Doo tropes in Thriller Bark.
Just tell them straight: "One Piece from now on is all trash." Done! Best reactions guaranteed
True, I noticed them taking that pattern as well. And fair poin that Sabaody isn't talked about as much. By then, reactors are probably seeing vague comments about Marineford already, which is probably the next most oversold arc they could end up "fatigued" by.
I’m really happy Thriller Bark is getting a lot of love lately.
I have to say, I really love how you appreciated this arc as a whole and not just for the portion at the end. This has always been one of my favourite arcs overall as well, and hearing that you take a more holistic approach to enjoying an arc while accepting the apparent flaws solidifies you as some of the best reactors out there, easily. It's not to say that only enjoying an arc for a specific moment is necessarily a bad thing, but I find that looking at the big picture feels more to me that you're truly enjoying One Piece as a whole.
Moria tends to get a lot of hate because of his non-confrontational, sort of 'unbecoming of his status' behaviour, but I've always appreciated him as a villain. Not just because he's one of the first villains to hint at having a tragic backstory of his own, but also because he's the first villain that's forced the Straw Hats to all fight together as a team and still almost lose to him. Sure, he got arrogant and overdid it with his 1000 shadows, but even then, and I see a lot of people disregard this, but Luffy's final attack didn't even take him down. Luffy ran out of stamina/energy right afterward, but Moria was still conscious enough to turn around and see that the tower was falling towards him. If that tower hadn't collapsed, Moria would still be standing, and Luffy would be down and out, just in time for the sun to rise and obliterate everyone. It was much more of a close call than people tend to give him credit for, and sort of a premonition of the dangers to come. If a washed up, slacker like Moria could push the entire crew to this extent.... can they really handle someone on this level who hasn't let themself go? Of course, Kuma sort of answers that question immediately, but it really puts into perspective that warning Moria gave them about what it means to be struggling against him at this point when they're aiming for the New World
Also, 30:55, it's funny to hear you say this. Technically speaking, this sort of applies to me, but not in the way you described. The first time I watched One Piece was totally out of order, and starting at a random episode in the middle of Thriller Bark. Instead of saying no and jumping to the start to get to that point properly, I watched the arc from start to finish, and then started One PIece from the beginning. It was the comedy and the unique characters that got me hooked on One Piece. So yes, technically speaking, Thriller Bark is the arc that made me a One Piece fan
thriller bark > water 7 is insane XD but glad you guys are having a good time!
Thriller bark more memorable funny scenes
1:24:21 For Zoro, this moment shows that he understands that there is no point in the title of the strongest swordsman in the world if he cannot protect his friends. power itself makes no sense unless it is used for something
Sanji goes deep
You guys definitely scratch an itch that I have in terms of how you watch/review One Piece. I love all of the theorycrafting and critcism, whether or not I felt the same way. Many channels (which I also enjoy) lack those extra layers of depth that I look for, and are often simply reacting in the moment and moving on.
+1
I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH 😭
You're exactly the kind of reactors people want to see! First of all, nobody wants every channel to be the same! It's refreshing to see people respond to each arc differently. Second, watch reactions by some channels lore-heavy moments (esp. later in the series though, so maybe you can't see it as much right now) and see how much flak they get from viewers who are annoyed at major connections they miss because they're just focused on fights or "hype" moments or are maybe watching too many other series to keep everything straight.
Probably the number one thing you can do to piss off this fandom is to show a consistent pattern of not remembering key names/events. Authenticity is probably the second most important thing. Nobody wants forced reactions. I know you wouldn't regardless, but nobody is _expecting_ you to force it. At least not the more authentic channels like yours.
I agree, carson and lindsay are kind of smart people that can talk about theory for hours, i like it. They share the same brain and frequency. watching one piece which has so many theories that still mystery is fit for them.
My favorite professional yappers are back 🥺🤍❤
Fr
It is definitely not common for people to love Thriller Bark as much as you guys did, but I'm glad! It's mostly because many fans think Enies Lobby and then the arcs after are too tier, so Thriller Bark loses shine. But I agree with all your thoughts on what makes it work
I am also in their boat. Thriller Bark is one of my preferred arcs in OP. Arcs whose engagement clearly depends on some epic fights is not my cup of tea as OP is generally very average in terms of fights. Kudos to ODA he still made 95% of the story engaging for me. He just needs to avoid stuff like Wano Act 3 which was too much fight and ultimately fell flat.
As someone who also enjoyed Thriller Bark more than Enies Lobby (in the anime), I do think that a good amount for that can be attributed to the arc’s whole Scooby-Doo-esque setting for being the perfect environment for all the padding scenes to blend in (somewhat) seamlessly into the story & not diminish the experience like usual. It made it (for the most part) feel like an organic part of the setting, rather than obnoxious stalling (like f.e. all the unnecessary "fighting Marine fodder"-filler) that bogged down Enies Lobby so badly.
Yeaahh, random bonus points for me are:
The characters weren't set up in a serious matter and under delivered, even Moria was very clear in how he fights from the beginning and actually getting serious by the end made things spicier.
The coward trio going through things was hilarious and a good setup.
Even character costumes were great and bold. Small stuff like these complete the theme.
The best was seeing the crew fighting together. For the finishing blow on Oars, everyone had a role. It felt like they were a close crew, not just people in a ship. Honestly I'm a bit tired of Zoro and Sanji spearheading multiple fights in an arc.
OnePiece shifting genre in this arc is quite a feat. and so refreshing.
my comment inspired by Melon's quote on OnePiece the Freedom of Genre.
One Piece may be a bit free in terms of genre, but imo Dandadan's got to be wackier in the genre freedom department if One Piece is still deeper and more thought/planned out imo.
@@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustache
Meh, dandadan has two genres and they're there from day one: aliens and spirits (I guess mechas now perhaps).
One Piece to some extent leans into a new genre every arc and they're all different.
Such a hard thing to do and a crazy risk everytime. But I love how he just follows his visions and double downs.
@@NotSomeJustinWithoutAMoustacheyou would probably like Witch Watch, not as bombastic crazy, but follows and commits to some pretty funny gags on a chapter to chapter basis. As well as having a similar comedy and romance to it! It's a Manga only rn, but in one of the chapters the MC's magic makes everyone turn into legit minecraft shaped characters.
In all honesty, I've loved your journey through this series, the expectations from fans should never deter your experience! I definitely had a different experience and just happy I finally get to join in on discussions and be part of the conversation! The more I watched the more I felt I missed out for so many years!
I think you are one of the most interesting OP reactors and reviewers. I like people with a different approach to something. It’s more interesting.
16:40, I would say that it is crazy, but I was really scared that Thriller Bark would kill your spark for One Piece so I am very happy that you liked it so much.
The reason that Lola's zombie has the same name as her shadow's owner is one of my favorite small deatails in the arc, the zombie body is not a person at all, is just a warthog that Hogback made bipedal, similar the same as the Wild zombies that work for Perona but Lola is introduced as a General Zombie, i mean she is a New World pirate after all it makes sense her shadow is of better quality, and that might even have something to do with her disobeying Absalom as we see the Wild zombies telling Absalom they don't have to listen to his orders.
So similar to Sanji, Moria was unaware of Lola's actual strenght and put her shadow in a Wild zombie who would follow Perona's orders but then realized she was as strong as a General zombie so she goes to work for Absalom who can't control her that well.
You didnt explain why they have the same name though
@@otaviolacerda7790 you are right, i should have made it more clear,most of the zombies use the name of the body but in Lola's case her body doesn't have a name cause it's just an animal corpse, so the name comes from the shadow.
Luffy, Zoro and Sanji didn't have their will still
Does she have more willpower?
Everything you said at 41:00 is spot on. It was a funny joke that crosses into to creepy because Oda was a nerdy guy in Japan and also it was written 15 years ago. Humor and tastes change drastically over that period of time.
Also I think it's a play on the trope of Frankenstein's Monster obsessively looking for his bride.
i feel making Moria so lazy really sells his fall from grace and really highlights how different he is from past big bads, as well as better accentuates Oars and Kuma as the REAL final bosses of the arc.
I know you don't generally read comments on these videos, but anyway…
There are people who watch reactions just to confirm their own reaction to a scene or Arc. They're not interested in anything new or different, they just want to see themselves reflected.
Then there are others who do want to see a different perspective. That's where a lot of us fall.
You do have a different perspective from what is commonly expected. That's why I watch.
Why does Lindsey looks like she's living on a Dark Realm🤣🤣🤣
Horo horo horo horo
I love that your takes are unique. That’s why I watch you guys.
I've warned you once and I'll warn you again! Since Water 7, every Arc will be your new favourite Arc!
Can't wait for the next one, minds are going to be blown!
As someone whose favorite arc up until this point is W7/EL BY FAR. W/EL genuinely changed my life and me as a person (I want to live and Merry's funeral) and also my perspective on One Piece lore & world with the Ancient Kingdom and all that stuff. I honestly like that you guys are different. Thriller Bark is usually nowhere near the top for the people and I honestly think it's really underrated. I probably put it on par with Drum Kingdom and Skypiea. (Skypiea grew on me retroactively after catching up) I'm also happy that you appreciate all the lore drops in this arc, like with the Emperor Kaido & Vegapunk stuff. Also Moriah, I find him such an underrated antagonist. It's shown multiple times in this arc that he used to be like Luffy. Big ambition, big goals and also big conviction. But Kaido completely broke him by murdering his crew. There's a lot of subtext to him which can easily be lost to people. Also, I can 100% confirm your suspicions. All your pacing/battle problems with EL are anime-exclusive. Manga pacing is so much better.
I love this take. It's one of my favorite arcs and it deserves the attention
1:22:50 I think it was more like Kuma lightly threatening Moria with his power, reminding him that he is capable as well as an eerie opening in his character. But I do think he likes to ask before he yeets people. Basic courtesy.
I think reverse mountain is the all blue but only right at the peak. The problem the straw hats have is they have no way to anchor there at present: they get instantly pulled away by the current. I think there is some kind of chamber below the peak of reverse mountain which is the actual all blue, but it's only accessible the other side of the Red Line from the Twin Peak, so we have to wait until they go round the world to get there.
Either that or it's at Marijoa.
Yesss, I was looking for a video as I was doing chores!
Also, hope you do a short discussion after Sabaody as well. Considering the arcs and how dense it is that might be a good point.
Thriller Bark is by no means my favorite arc (and it’s not even in my top 5), but I really appreciate it getting some love. I think it’s peak One Piece comedy and nice spooky vibes. It deserves more praise than the fandom usually gives it
Loved the discussions
Very cool opinions
Thriller Bark as your favorite would seem like a hot take but honestly i get it and think more people should realize why it's so good.
Some tone deaf elements with Absalom and creepiness but besides that
And Toei's pacing
It's a fun arc with fun elements
And peak throughout
I love how you guys loved it even tho its the most unpopular arc. Respect ❤❤
I've been advocating for Thriller Bark for a long ass time, glad to see yall share the same sentiment! I enjoyed the tone of it esoecially after the heavy toned Water 7/Enies Lobby combo!
I enjoyed the comedy, the characters (Halloween is my favorite holiday)
Thriller bark is a lot of fun, glad y'all liked it
Might be my favorite arc to this day, its just so tightly written, lots of thematic setup, and most importantly, so much fun. But...the next saga comes reaaally close.
To this day??? Really? Oh boy. Well everyone has an opinion I guess lmfao
@@Nik-md4to It doesn't have any of the pacing issues that most OP arcs have, so yes. I tend to prefer the shorter arcs.
Kinda wild you guys like this arc so much, i like thriller bark but i know it has a lot of hate in the communuty and i never knew why
Probably because it's between two fan-favourites (CP9 and Paramount War, although IMO Thriller Bark is better than the Paramount War saga anyway).
personally i love it too, its pretty udnerrated
It is a good arc but there are better ones
Even if it was never my fave, TB has a lot of great moments. Other than the few very vocal folks who only want to see fighting all the time and/or lack the sense of humour, I didn't think most people had a problem with it other than Absalom and/or zombie!Lola. (Moria's laziness early on also gets complaints I've seen, but it's thematically relevant.)
You guys are great reactions and your insights on one piece r some of the best dont be hard on yourself 27:00
The scary arc only gets scary when the not themed character, kuma, shows up, then it keeps a great tension atmosphere that really amps up the arc
Call me crazy but I think Absaloms character makes perfect sense. I would refer to Plato and the Ring of Gyges - Absalom is "shy and all mushy" when he is seen but in the moment he's invisible, you can't make him responsible anymore. Also his whole thing is the general sexualization in the horror genre - which not only he himself carries in this arc. I don't know (and don't think) that Oda let his fetishes run wild, but that horror and sex are very close to each other - like in old and modern movies and books. Did Oda perfectly execute this - in my opinion not but I don't mind it much either.
Gone for so long, that his hair style have grown to back to normal
I think overall in One Piece, every Arc gets better. So maybe there were more emotional scenes in other Arcs but overall Thiller Bark was great. I love Thriller Bark but it’s not my favorite, but I’m glad it’s you guys is favorite. I don’t care if ppl would agree with it or not, as long as you guys are loving and enjoying the show that’s all that matters. Even if other ppl didn’t love this Arc as much compared to others, as long as you guys did, that’s just even better bc you are gonna love future Arcs.
23:59 I can acknowledge that something is silly and cool at the same time. Example A: Sanji being electrocuted by Eneru and thanking him for the light was bad ass in the way he tanked it but also silly that he tanked it and made a joke out of it.
I wouldn’t sh*t on you for that, especially since some of Luffy’s coolest moves come from the stupidest ideas.
I really enjoyed the absalom discussion
It's more common than you think this and Skypiea are very similar in that if you love them you will think it is one of the best One Piece arcs since it has all the things that make One Piece: adventure, tension, and comedy.
It so cool that you rated this arc so high unlike most "fans" who can say even skip it like Skypea.... Those must be just used to watch cool fights against cool opponents only.
Here in this arc what we got: Franky and Sunny's debut, introduction of new the theme with ghosts, zombies, revived lives, revive-revive fruit, invisibility and shadow fruits. New crew member with his motives and tragic story linked to Laboon, "Bink's sake"(!!!), 2 shichibukais, legendary Ryuma with lore and hints from Wano, Shusui, Oars, Captain John, Lola and her vivre card, news about Ace, Island size ship, Florian triange, and at the end Nothing happened!
About characters like Absolom, Dr. Hogback, Moria, Perona - all of them have reasons. Brook, Sanji, Absolom they really love women - Brook didn't met them 50 years or more... Absalom is so musculine and he wants to find and marry real pretty girl, not zombie unlike Hogback with Sindy chan... And he has some ppl's dream ability being invisible - you can see what Sanji would become in some places. Other grown men and pirates have their female companions or childhood love. You can see Oda added it's not men's being pervert thing, Lola is also constantly seeking for her husbando.
Moria is actually good. Ppl may dislike him for losing, being that ugly and anime also did him annoying person. But like many antagonists, he is just failure version of Luffy, or other dreaming pirates. Same as Croc, Buggy etc. Only for challenging one of yonko and still having ambitions give hip respects, many would broke entirely.
Sanji never being that
Evan thought I’ve seen it on patreon. Going to let it play and give it a like to show my support and how much I appreciate the podcast. I know it’s hard work to keep doing it, so I hope my kind words show how much it means to me.
🙏
Every arc is “the best” every time now 😂😂
Only up until the time skip
@@boboyo3140pacing kills it
It's interesting how the shadow fruit user was introduced as a shadow of his former self... It is a theme that we've seen with multiple devil fruit users so far, with their fruit revealing or emphasizing character trait or idea
Ye Oda prolly thinks of themes first
For now you are in one of the best arcs sabaody which is far more better than thriller bark , this arc is full of great characters
Arcs for me up to now
Skypiea (criminally underrated) >
Alabasta >
Water 7 >
East Blue/Thriller Bark (they're both really good too, I wouldn't have kept watching OP otherwise)
ur completely right about zoro and sanji's resolve. they would 100% sacrifice their dreams and theselves for the rst of the crew i dont know why zoro fans want to make it into something its not when he literally knocked sanji out meaning he also values sanji's dream above his. all the strawhats are completely selfless when it comes to each other but i guess zoro and sanji do it in a "cooler" way
did you not read Whole cake island or even baratie???? the reason why sanji sacrifices is completely different from Zoro sacrificing , sanji sacrfices his dream and himself cause he think he's worthless but in case of zoro , it is pride . Zoro sacrifices himself to save his captain cause he thinks that if he couldnt even save his captain then his dream is worthless .
Yeah these questions only work in hindsight so I can see these guys not getting it but readers who have caught up saying it isn’t as deep as it is?? The character writing in One Piece is subtle. Maybe it’ll do you well to pay more attention on a reread.
very refreshing to see someone whos favorite [so far] is thriller bark! my own favorite arc won't show up until the 600-700s lol
WCI?
Every since Foxy ended, One Piece just gets better and better. There are possibly more mysteries than answers at this point, although the breadcrumbs are still great.
im glad you guys loved Thriller Bark. I loved the aesthetic(love me some horror) and Moira is a great foil fo Luffy but apart from that i found it to be super boring until the end. while it isnt the worst arc, still pretty low in my ranking. would put it above Skypeia(which is a super hot take i know hahaha)
Thriller Bark was always a personal favorite arc of mine as well, and that's not even counting the Kuma stuff. It's nice to see it getting some more love purely on its overall merits. 😁
Respect your choice but upcoming arcs are even better. Can’t wait for your reaction!
Love you guys that you loved the arc as much as I did 😊
we’ve been starving for 8 days straight without a post from you guys
Patreon is ded
My problem surrounding Absalom is not Absalom himself, he's an antagonist and should do antagonist things to be hated. Him assaulting Robin and Nami is what his character would do. My problem is that later on its revealed that Sanji (a character who we should be rooting for) hates Absalom for stealing the opportunity of doing the things we're hating Absalom for
I get Oda wanted to do a surprise joke ab Sanji but maybe he misread how hated Absalom was and why the joke of Sanji wanting to do what Absalom does with the devil fruit doesnt land
Yeah Wanji still goated tho
On point with the comment about the number of main cast. There really will be times that some characters would have to be offloaded/sidelined. However, the one thing I liked about OP is that when the sidelined character/s do get to shine, they DO SHINE and sometimes that "sidelined" trait plays into it. Excited to hear more of your guys' thoughts on the coming arcs!
Ye
Usopp
What happens to Lola is shown in a cover story. She is never attacked by whatever is conceiled in the Mist.
The looming shadows are either a teaser for something yet to come or maybe just a play on the trope where at the very end of a horror movie the monster opens up it's eyes or it turns out the stories where true. That type of thing.
Moria and crocodile are both Soo interesting too in the sense that I'm pretty sure those are the only two characters who have actual instakills, which is a HUGE thing and they're both shichibukai.
If during daylight, moria just takes your shadow from you and then while your body is disintegrating, he just teleports away by switching with his shadow which is really far away, you're just gonna be dead. Crocodile can also drain moisture, and he wasn't only the first villain to completely defeat Luffy but he also did that twice and Luffy had a lot of trouble dealing with him cuz he could just absorb water as well which eliminated his biggest and only weakness.
Croc stocks💹
You're exactly the kind of people I want to see react to One Piece. Most of the other ones don't seem to put much thought into it.
Watch jd
Zoro Nothing Happened & Brook Backstory carried Arc Thriller Bark, My Favorites Arc one piece is still Enies Lobby. 😤👍
Ion know how they can come to that conclusion when arlong park, alabasta, and water 7/enies lobby exists
We here!!
The next coming arc is my personal favourite arc. , my favourite character LAW is introduced.
Thriller Bark is one of my favorite arcs of all One Piece. Out of the ones you've seen so far, Alabasta and Thriller Bark are my 2 favorites, with Thriller Bark as number 1.
Though it won't be terribly long until you get to some of my other favorites. I do wish people would stop hyping up certain arcs, though.
Oda actually already did the "friend becomes an opponent" trope before in the Kuro arc briefly when Jango hypnotised Luffy, it's just it didn't get terribly far.
Also I guess there's Robin early in the CP9 arc and Nami in Baratie/early Arlong Park.
12:45 Nah, I get it
It happened to me as well
[spoiler ahead]
Dressrosa drained me so much that I took a month pause after that, but because of that, WCI felt like the best best experience ever (I love this arc)
LOL
No wonder WCI starts with W
Thriller bark is the arc that got me back into ONE PIECE after Enies Lobby, so I’m glad you liked it too!
Thank god there is a BoldCast OP upload! Withdrawal symptoms already kicked in😂
Yes, Oda is a pervy ass; you’re going to see it in future arcs. 😂 But he is good at storytelling, I’ll give him that.
Edit : 41:17
I wonder if their opinion of Sanji will change after FMI or Wano.
Ofcourse it will, oda used him for whole FMi plot begin with lol. @@szonin1961
@@szonin1961wano?
@@noticedorange2620 the bath scene?
I think Thriller Bark over Water 7 / Enies Lobby is insane but glad you guys are enjoying One Piece
It’s one of my favorites as well! The symbolism for this arc is incredible, from depression to the themes of man made monsters- I personally read it due to the censorship, but it’s fantastic!
It's certainly not a fan-favorite, but I'm glad you both enjoyed Thriller Bark this much. I feel like not many others do.
I started reading One Piece when the arc you're currently watching on Patreon had just finished in the manga, and up until that point Thriller Bark was also my favorite. The first time I've teared up READING manga was at the end of Thriller Bark when Brook stated how happy he was to still be alive after learning Laboon was still waiting. One thing I like about your reactions is that you both try to look at each part of the story for what it is, and try to imagine what Oda is going for. Trying to get inside his head and what his motivations are when writing certain characters and gags allows you to appreciate everything a lot more, I think. Especially when it comes to the parts most fans don't seem to enjoy.
TB above the next?
You gotta love that some people are finally loving thriller bark woooh
38:39 Unless it progresses plot, I also don’t like extreme perversion and assault. Sometimes authors need to make these bad types of characters, but Absalom wasn’t needed.
Wow. Glad you enjoyed this arc so much. It's very divisive. I have some issues in the earlier parts but the sceond half after Oars gets introduced more than makes up for it.
For me Thriller Bark only really slacks in the middle. I LOVE the beginning with Brook and how we slowly explore Thriller Bark's spooky setting with two totally opposite groups (the scaredy cats and the weird badasses). However, once we are out of "discovery mode" and stuff just happens, I quickly lose interest in the arc. That stays until we finally learn that Brook is connected to Laboon. From then on until the very end it's REALLY strong again.
A big reason the middle part sucks is... Absalom and Moria specifically. Some people might argue Hogback is a creep as well so he should be put together with Absalom but I disagree. Hogback is a very interesting foil to Chopper and it works very well to see Chopper lose his blind idolisation for him very quickly.
Absalom isn't bad as a villain because he is a sexual assaulter as well - it's fine to make your villains do unspeakable and dispicable acts, that's why they are called villains. The reason why Absalom sucks is because he overstays his welcome way too much. He would be fine as an enemy that would be done after 3 or maybe 5 episodes at most but it feels like he stuck around for waaay too long and he just didn't have the presence (personality or strength wise) to justify that in any way.
Moria is a problem because of his nature, I get that this is by design since he lost his drive ever since Kaido beat him but that doesn't mean it's not boring to watch him stall for so many episodes with his shadow. That said, Moria gets overhated by the fandom and I don't really even hate him. I don't even mind his design, he's just a bit boring in regards to what Oda makes him do overall in this arc.
That said, Perona, Kuma and Brook's backstory are total standouts in this arc that really help make Moria and Absalom easier to swallow. Persona is a HUGE fight for Usopp and it's one of his biggest wins in the entire series until this very day. Perona is also just very entertaining and funny to watch (Kumacy deserves better though). Finally, Kuma's appearance and Brook's backstory really helped to leave this arc off on a huge literal and emotional bang respectively.
Personal rating... High A tier. I just can't give it S since the middle part just was a bit too much for me to fight through when I watched it for the very first time forever ago.
I'm watching along with you guys , mad right now I'm two arcs ahead , and my favorite arc is the next one after this
FINALLY
From now on you officially are on the best part of OP until the timeskip.
I will say regarding this sentiment at 30:20 , I did start reading One Piece *after* having seen the 'Nothing Happens' part as clips on youtube well over a decade ago and thinking the drama and action was cool enough to finally give it a chance. So in a way, Thriller Bark (and specifically when Zorro landed the hit on Kuma after the explosion) is the origin of my 'This moment made me a One Piece fan' sentiment.
U still liked it before
These next few arcs are all my favorite
Enies lobby did have some pacing issues, but it was goated as well. Chopper's monster point, Gear 2nd and 3rd, Diable jamble, Sogeking sniping Spandam on the bridge from the tower of justice, Robin's backstory and I want to live, Ohara and the void century and Gorosei introduction, Franky vs Fukurou was also one of the most underrated fights in the whole show imo, Luffy vs Lucchi ofc, Zoro showing the illusion of having multiple heads and Arms like hindu gods through sheer swordsmanship and murderous intent, Aokiji, Meeting Coby and helmepppo and garp post enies lobby and ace vs blackbeard and shanks meeting whitebeard and monkey d dragon's introduction. There were a lot of great things in that arc.
Finally 😭
Now that you've finished thriller bark, 9 Opening Songs have played as well as 18 Ending Songs (as a matter of fact ep278 is the last of the EDs for a while) which has been or has become your favorite so far(now that you can look back with context, lol)!!?
Let's be real. You loved it because of one name/word - Laboon..😂
I think most of us watching want to know your perspective on one piece. Please don't feel that you have to be fake to apiese the few who disagree with what you've said.
Your indepth reviews are unique to your channel one of the reasons I appreciate you guys. Thank you.
They know
1:31:48 Why does it feel like you guys are shitting on the giant shadows from Jaya like Oda went back on his plans and didn’t deliver? That shit was perfect when we found out it was just shadows. Maybe you expected different but take it for what it was and be fair.
Like I don't understand why they're fixating on it
Shit was well done
Prob just salty their predictions didn't come true
They're not ready for actual threats n stakes
@@b00g3ysenpai8tru
Its not because our predictions were wrong. We make 50 wrong predictions an arc, its not some ego thing
I feel like we explained pretty in depth why we felt let down by the fact that these huge imposing figures were just shadows of normal sized people
@@BOLDcastOnePieceWhen you say “set something up and don’t deliver” or “walk two steps back instead of following through” it sounds like Oda went back on his plans or chickened out.
But the ending with Luffy’s shadow being reflected on it changing it from something foreboding doom to that of hope is just great setup and great writing. It’s one thing to say you were hoping it would be something scary instead of what it was. It’s completely different when you say he didn’t deliver on the setup. He did. The delivery just wasn’t what you wanted but it’s clear that it was always meant to be the way it was written.
Tbf, I don’t think it’s an ego thing.
Listen back to when we talked about that and we were just talking about what we would have preferred, that’s not the same as calling it out as a mistake.
saying thriller bark is your favorite arc right after the water 7 saga is CRAZY 😭
I really appreciated Thriller Bark more after my 2nd time watching it.
Like you said at the start, besides from "Nothing happened" it didn't really have much emotional highs, although there is the Brook backstory.
For most of the community it's mostly hated (in the anime) for the pacing and because of Absalom.
And putting it above Enies Lobby/Water 7 is for sure a hot take.
It does mostly shine because of it's comedy and it's brilliant for that.
I really enjoyed the comedy in Thriller Bark I think it and a certain later arc that are coming up soon are peak comedy.
The shadows at the end is kind of a horror trope. Where the evil is not completely vanquished, or there's some unexplained eldritch horror thing at the end... This is probably never going to be explained because the mysterious nature of it is intentional. Its supposed to be scary, in a 'I dont know wtf is that' kind of way
1:27:54 well the question was more pointed towards Sanji, than Zoro.
Yea
People shit on this arc, but I think it was pretty decent with moments like: Nightmare Luffy, Brooks Story, 2 Warlords, Nothing happened.