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Luffy & the mystery woman finally meet at the end of this episode, and it seems it is almost nothing but pure fate that brings them together. Of course, we can also assume that they are just 2 people chasing the same or a similar goal and it is obvious that their paths would eventually cross on their separate adventures. Both of these interpretations are equally valid, just as the dual belief one can hold about free will and predestination both being important parts of the human experience. Everything is already decided, we are just bits of energy & chemicals acting out a mathematically calculatable reaction that has been unfolding since the big bang, or even earlier, but we all still have to wake up each day and make the choices presented to us, both are true.

She is portrayed with a classic trope of faking being a damsel in distress to manipulate her enemies into underestimating her so that she may take advantage of them to steal their stuff. My personal favorite example of this is the episode of the show Firefly (Our Mrs. Reynolds) with a redheaded woman who traverses the galaxy marrying lustful men to steal their stuff. Within this trope, the woman is always shown to be exceedingly intelligent, just as our mystery woman is able to predict the weather based on cloud patterns, and outsmart both the Marines & Captain Buggy to steal the map she wants.

As a ginger myself, I truly appreciate how often these crafty and intelligent characters are also portrayed as redheads. Even the redheaded member of the evil pirate trio seems to be calmer and more collected than his 2 comrades, having a more observant energy while the other two seem a tad unhinged. And then again, we see that Luffy’s father-figure/hero is also a redhead, and he is cool, intelligent, & fantastic in combat, all traits of most redheads. A direct example of Shanks’ awesomeness is when some sort of legendary beast monster sea dragon serpent thing emerges from the water and is intimidated by a single look from Shanks to swim away.

An interesting duality of Shanks is how is so absolutely calm & unfazed when he loses his own arm, even though earlier he absolutely freaked out when Luffy ate the devil fruit. It is unclear to me if he is upset because of the value of the fruit or because of the danger to Luffy, but it is one of the only times we see him lose his cool at all. The other time we see him become angry is when Luffy is in danger because Shanks is loyal to anyone he considers a friend, and this is obviously where Luffy gains his sense of loyal friendship from. In this flashback, Luffy is noticeably more angry & hyper, immature & reactive, but he assuredly grows to become more akin to Shanks stoic energy.

The serenity upon losing his arm is a solid example of stoicism, my personal favorite school of philosophy. It reminds me of an anecdote I learned in my first yoga class about a person running through the forest from a Tiger, running as fast as they can, unable to see what is in front of them, until they fall off a cliff. They grab a rock & a vine a few feet below the edge, but the tiger is just above them, roaring ferociously. The person then notices a single strawberry on the vine in front of them, which they eat, and it is the most delicious fruit they have ever eaten in their entire life. Then they fall down & die.

An interesting question I am left with after this episode is if Shanks lied to Luffy about the importance of his straw hat. He first states how important it is to him, and how important the person who gave him the hat was to him, stating clearly that he could never give up the hat, but then later casually gives it to Luffy. It is perhaps a manipulative action, but I think it also cements the relationship between the two and instills a strong sense of morality into the young Luffy that he carries for the rest of his life, and for Luffy, the hat truly is something he could never part with, mostly because it reminds him of the mentor who gave it to him long ago. It seems a situation in which reality mimics art.

We also see more mirrors & parallels between Luffy & Zoro in this episode. Zoro doesn’t go into too much detail, but he insinuates that his reputation as a pirate hunter is not as genuine as people believe. He only wanted to go home, and hunts 1 pirate to help his mission, but just keeps going and never makes it home. However, he lets people make those assumptions because, as we see at the end of the episode, his reputation is strong enough to often avoid conflict altogether. This yet another example of valuable manipulation in this episode.

Another curious aspect of this episode is a small detail comparing the bandits & pirates. While many would, and probably do, simply consider them both to be criminals, we are shown that there is in fact a clear distinction, at least between the 2 groups in this episode, in which pirates are more positive characters with a sense of morality & justice, while bandits are colder, evil characters creating conflict for their own entertainment & ego, willing to attack children, and just acting selfish. Now, perhaps Shanks’ crew is simply an exception to pirates being real bad guys, and that’s where Luffy learns his sense of piracy from, because other pirates we have seen thus far have all been pretty rough characters, but even they seem to have more fun vibes than the bandit character in this episode.

Final note, I think this is the first episode with actual curse words, at least in the English dub I watched, anyway. Both the words ‘dumbass’ & ‘bitch’ were used throughout the episode, and I find that an interesting choice, even just as a translation, because it really does identify the content as made for adults, or at least as a more serious & genuine content, than as a silly kids show trying to shelter the viewer from a more realistic story. Including those words is a choice, and while the animation & tone of the show can definitely feel like a children’s show, this seems, to me, to be the first indication that is certainly isn’t JUST for kids, even though I do believe it is a valuable thing for children to watch based on my experience thus far.

This episode opens with another great look into the hubris of the Marines. Captain Morgan quickly identifies the source of Luffy’s power, a devil fruit, and is almost in awe of the strength that such a thing is capable of delivering, seemingly jealously coveting to eat a devil fruit himself, and yet he still rushes headstrong to attack Luffy with supreme confidence that he can defeat a superior rival with his team of Marines. Luffy obviously kills him.

At first, the Marines actually seem embarrassed watching their leader be smacked around, but as the dust settles, they in fact celebrate his defeat, as they are not loyal ideological Marines but actually just local conscripts who have been following orders out of fear of violence or retribution against themselves and their friends and families on the island. Even still, they are real Marines and continue to insist that Luffy and his crew leave as soon as possible, although they grant him some leeway as thanks for getting rid of Captain Morgan. This type of awkward and complicated relationship is truly a deep look into real-world political negotiations and dynamics.

We get a much better look at the person Zoro is in this episode. He has his own high-sighted goal, to be the greatest swordsman in the world, and it is clear that Luffy recognizes this passion and ambition with great respect and is even more excited to add such a passionate member to his crew. There is a very wonderful mutual trust & understanding as both of them want to be the best in the world at something, and they know they have a better chance with each other helping them. What is interesting to me is that Zoro is sort of set up as a pirate hunter, but that actually has very little to do with his true character, and seems to just be his method of learning to be a better swordsman: defeating feared pirates.

Another fantastic parallel between Zoro & Luffy is how ridiculous Zoro’s 3-sword fighting technique looks at first glance, much like how weak & silly Luffy seems at first glance, but both are obviously very effective in battle.

We say goodbye-for-now to Koby in this episode, but, ultimately, his passion to follow his dream also mimics the other 2 characters. Although it seems a tad absurd that a small weak inexperienced individual who spent years serving pirates could rise up and be a mighty Marine, he is still exceptionally committed to trying his best to prove how capable he is. He also repeatedly demonstrates his compassion for others, particularly his friends, which seems to contradict the Marine culture we have seen thus far. Even more interesting is that having seen the corruption and toxicity of the Marines with his own 2 eyes at this point, he still not only wishes to join their ranks but also truly believes that the Marines are a noble & altruistic organization and that Captain Morgan is just a minor exception. I think the final interaction between Luffy & Koby before Luffy & Zoro depart is a fantastic look at the type of people both of them are, with Luffy being able to set aside his own philosophy to help his friend achieve a goal that Luffy thinks is weird & bad, and Koby being willing to do anything to join the Marines, including being assaulted & humiliated by someone he considers a friend.

Final thought, we get some very minor exposition about the Grand Line throughout this episode. Luffy discusses it with the mom who runs the island cafe, but this feels more like folklore than facts, just some things both of them have heard, or are considered sort of common knowledge, but as everyone who has tried to go there has died, I think there is not a realistic way that the average person would have any deep insight into the real truth of the location. However, at the end of the episode, the mysterious eponymous girl who we still haven’t really met is trying to steal a map to the Grand Line from the Marines, finding that some pirates beat her to it, and this seems much more revealing about what it may take to achieve Luffy’s goal: uncommon knowledge and rare information.

A shocking reveal at the start of this episode is that Luffy apparently has zero sailing skills and is fully relying on Koby to navigate their ship. This goes back to Luffy’s undying optimism in the face of difficulty, he wants to be a mighty pirate but has virtually no experience even being on a boat, it seems. The second theme that is quickly confronted is that Koby believes that any person who the Marines would put in prison is obviously an evil person, whereas Luffy just kind of ignores this sentiment towards the person he intends to add to his crew. This mirror between the 2 current protagonists is made even clearer when Koby states the infamous Star Wars line “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” in direct contradiction to Luffy’s optimism.

Upon meeting Zoro, he also seems to mirror Luffy but in a much different way. While they are both very tough characters with a strong sense of morality & virtue, Zoro tries to act rough & mean & independent while, as we know, Luffy is more fun & friendly & open to teamwork. Zoro hides his hunger until the Marines & little girl leave, he doesn’t want to be thanked or appreciated for saving anyone, and often thinks about a childhood event (that we hopefully will get more information about in future episodes) while stating he has no regrets in life even though he is currently tied to a post in a prison yard facing almost certain death.

I think what really makes this a powerful episode is that we are given a deeper look into the Marines culture & such, demonstrating that they are certainly the true evil characters in this tale, sowing chaos with no concern for the people they are meant to be protecting. People think that Captain Morgan’s son is a little nepo baby but his father doesn’t actually listen to him. However, because the Marines are regularly enacting violence against the locals, the locals assume that the son does have the influence to bring about more violence. This chaos is advantageous for the Marines to keep up the illusion that they are unstoppable, but then their own hubris causes them to leave their fortress more or less unguarded while Luffy waltzes in to try to rescue Zoro & his swords.

Koby continues to have an attitude that the Marines are moral & righteous & just, even as he sees the way they act and treat people. Propaganda is very strong and effective, and part of the Marine culture we see is Captain Morgan repeatedly calling any crime, any disobedience, any failure, etc all to be traitorous treason. By consistently referring to any who oppose him as treasonous traitors, it contributes to convincing people less familiar with the situation that his violent tendencies are necessary to maintain order and preserve the status quo. I think we see a lot of the same attitude from the current American federal government administration.

My last note is just noticing the young woman who makes a brief appearance in this episode and also had a brief appearance in the last episode. I have no idea who she is and hope I didn’t miss some exposition about her, but I am excited to see how she fits into the story in the future.

Welcome to the first entry in my One Piece Blog. I have been interested in this show for a while, and I have occasionally watched a few episodes at random just to understand the vibe better, but really have very little overall knowledge about the show besides what I have seen in some TikToks. I also own some of the TCG cards but have never actually played. This blog will be written and produced by me & sometimes by my wife, and maybe our children in a few years. The goal is 1 episode per day.

Due to recent current events, such as multiple international revolutions & protests, we have hung a Straw Hat Jolly Roger on our front porch to show solidarity with freedom fighters around the globe. This symbol has become a recognizable and powerful symbol of hope beyond the anime, which is very inspiring, and a recent poll found that One Piece has had a deeper influence on young people’s personal politics than most other shows.

So let’s get into it: at the beginning of the first episode, we are given a narrative that the pirates are the “bad guys” raiding a party boat or cruiseliner of some sort. The captain of these pirates is shown as mean and ugly and their crew is just as rude and brutish. This sort of contradicts the understanding that I previously held of the pirates actually being heroes of the resistance opposing a tyrannical government, but I guess that changes as the plot progresses. Something that was striking to me was that the first spoken line of the entire series is the captain of this ship demonstrating hubris that his boat is much too mighty to be attacked by pirates, yet the crew immediately acts terrified as soon as they see the first pirate flag on a boat much smaller than their own.

What’s really surprising to me is how absolutely happy & positive Monkey D. Luffy is right from the get-go. Idk why I was expecting some sort of character development there, or that he would eat the devil fruit later in the series or something, but his entire vibe is such a refreshing experience. He is also so trusting of Koby, and supportive of his dream to be a Marine, even though Luffy is a fugitive from the Marines. However, it still made me laugh how direct and rude Luffy was to Koby, just being brutally honest about him being a coward while still trying to befriend him. 

Ultimately, I think the most politically relevant aspect of this first episode is that Luffy is intentionally seeking a very diverse crew for his future pirate ship. I suppose he did have his own boat by the end of the episode, so maybe that will serve as his initial vessel, but in any event, he at no point asks any of the traditional pirates on the other ship to join him, even after defeating their captain, because he is not looking for a traditional crew. He takes Koby with him, presumably because he recognizes the morality and integrity that he holds, or maybe he thinks he will be an obedient crew member or something, yet he sets his sights on recruiting Zoro, a bounty hunter who chases pirates to stop them, simply because he sounds like a valuable ally. 

Without having ever met him, or heard about him before this day, Luffy is again so trusting that this character would be an asset to his crew. Luffy has his sights set on becoming “king of the pirates” and finding the most valuable treasure and I think what will set him apart is assembling a crew of unique individuals who each offer valuable skills or traits to the team. Luffy is able to recognize that simply hiring basic mercenaries or regular pirates is not a suitable route to his goal, and is willing to put in the difficult work to create a harmonic and balanced crew before even attempting to navigate the Grand Line. While this certainly shows insight & perspective, I think the biggest takeaway from this first episode is, again, his commitment to diversity by trying to recruit a pirate hunter, someone with certain skills that no other pirate crew has likely ever had, because it takes a variety of types of people to do interesting & difficult things.

After this first episode, I am really excited to see how things progress. This show has been produced across 4 different decades (so far) and I think part of the magic will be the evolving art styles and content direction as the creators grow and evolve as artists and humans. I just checked the wiki and I am amazed that the very first episode originally aired on my own 10th birthday. I am literally crying as I type these words because this feels like such a serendipitous beginning of a wonderful adventure through this tale.