Author: admin

There are so many layers of bluffs & deception in this episode that it is almost difficult to keep track of them all. Nami is clearly torn between her false loyalty to Arlong in an effort to save her hometown and her newfound love for the Straw Hat crew. Usopp is simply saying anything he thinks will save his life. Zoro persuades Octojohn that he is a guest of the fish people and not their prisoner. Arlong tries to catch Nami in a lie before revealing that he pilfered her private room. It also seems that Johnny is unintentionally spreading misinformation about Nami murdering Usopp in cold blood without understanding the ruse, which is obvious for the audience but clearly convincing to all onlookers.

This level of false communication is indicative of many problems in society when individuals feel they cannot reveal the truth for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is pure survival. Avoiding conflict, or attempting to gain the upper hand in a conflict, often involves less than scrupulous behavior, particularly on the part of who either has the most at stake or who has the disadvantage. Interpersonal relationships are typically convoluted to begin with, but when several parties with a range of goals & motivations are all trying to manipulate each other into specific actions to aid their own cause, these difficult dynamics become even more nuanced & unpredictable.

I personally find Zoro’s interaction with Octojohn to be the most compelling. After escaping his restraints and slaying the guards, he is unsure of his next move until he encounters the octopus guy fishing just outside the gate, but then immediately takes advantage of the situation with quick-witted cleverness. Octojohn’s hubris, believing that no one could escape their captivity or defeat a fishman, makes this gambit easily successful and is an example of misplaced confidence. He doesn’t even check with anyone else or make any effort to investigate the compound before just aiding Zoro in his adventure, assuming that if he is walking free in the fish people’s headquarters, surely Zoro belongs there because everyone knows how dangerous it is and would never enter or hang around unless they had express permission to be there.

Last note, it saddens me that Luffy & crew have not only harnessed the sea cow for their own purposes but also eagerly push it beyond its physical capacity to the point of painful exhaustion before just abandoning it. This mentality that humans hold towards non-human creatures continues to bother me, particularly from the protagonist characters that are typically so committed to freedom & equality. This mirrors reality where the use & abuse of animals for all sorts of purposes isn’t even considered to be slightly problematic or worth discussing, and I still hope we will see these concepts developed in future episodes where the Straw Hats begin to form more meaningful relationships with the animals of their world.

Sanji does not extend his desire to feed hungry people to animals & sea creatures. He appears to offer the sea-cow food, but this is pretty clearly a bluff to lure it into a false sense of security so he can attack it easier. This is a very human-centered way of thinking and I do hope that we see this attitude evolve as the Straw Hats experience character development. While it is very human to differentiate between humans & non-humans, especially when utilizing animals for work, such as when we see them harness the sea monster to tow their ship, it is still an important goal of antifascism revolutionaries to extend the same rights and protections we wish for ourselves to all sentient creatures. This sea-cow likely had wandered off from the grand line looking for an easy meal, and may have attacked the Straw Hats, but it hadn’t shown any violence and deserved the benefit of the doubt. We see this same mentality mirrored by Arlong & the fish people who consider themselves vastly superior to humans and have no qualms about killing them and using them for income. As humans, we have a problem when the fish people subjugate humans, but we don’t have the same misgivings when humans subjugate an animal or other creatures.

The faith that Zoro has in Nami to save him says a lot about both of their character, as well as their already close relationship dynamic. Regardless of how surprised Zoro is to learn of Nami’s background, he is still fully confident that she would not let him die, even to save face in front of these fish people. Furthermore, by testing this in Nami, Zoro is helping Nami reflect on her own choices & attitudes and confront her feelings about the Straw Hats in a more direct manner.

Arlong banning ownership of any weapons and engaging in public executions are both traditional tactics of fascism. He is conquering villages and keeping them under his control to pay financial tributes to his crew so that they can thrive (and pay their own tributes to the Marines) without doing much work of their own. We see them lounging around their estate which is rather luxurious compared to the lifestyles of the villages they dominate. What I find interesting, however, is that there does seem to be some equality amongst the fish people, as we see the crew restraining Arlong and dragging him out of town when the captain begins to attack and destroy the entire settlement. Even though Arlong is letting his temper control him, the crew feels safe & justified to prevent this violent outburst for the benefit of the entire group; if they lose the tribute of Cocoyashi, they will all feel the negative effects of the loss of income, demonstrating that even if these non-humans are violent towards humans, they have respect for each other and their own rules & culture, again mirroring how humans behave amongst themselves contrasting how they treat those they perceive as non-human.

Last note, we witness some anti-tattoo stigma when Usopp is surprised Nojiko is so cool despite her ink. This strikes me as somewhat strange considering the prevalence of tattoos, even on their crewmate Johnny, but isn’t necessarily surprising based on the contemporary attitude of tattoos in the real world, particularly in Eastern culture, in which people assume most people with tattoos are criminals. It also hints at some misogyny in Usopp, as he has never commented on Johnny’s big face tattoo that just says “sea,” which is again common in reality. Some of this can be chalked up to Usopp being inexperienced in worldly matters, having never left his home island before, but the assumptions common in the culture are undeniable, and even in a world full of sailors & pirates, who often have tattoos in the real world, the landlubbers see this as an unfamiliar trait which typically leads to a negative outlook on any behavior.

Today’s lesson on reputation involves the realization that someone else has never heard of something you believe is well-known & important. When Yosaku starts talking about Arlong, he is shocked that Luffy & Sanji have never heard his name before. In a culture where the majority of information is shared organically via word-of-mouth, many people will often not know the same things. It would be difficult, neigh impossible, for people to info-dump their own collective knowledge on every person they encounter, so even meeting people from different regions or life experiences does not fully guarantee a complete understanding of their perspectives and thoughts. Furthermore, it is a fact that many memories are simply fallible & incorrect, in addition to a human tendency to exaggerate & embellish stories.

Even in our own modern world, with more access to communication technology and news sources, there is still an overwhelming tendency for people to assume that other people have access to the same knowledge they do. We tend to operate as social collectives and on a subconscious level, it is not uncommon for people close to one another, be it family, friends, co-workers, or other relationships, to start to erode the boundaries of the self & the group, finding a common assumption that our peers can, in a sense, read our thoughts, or at least are familiar with our own learned experiences, which explains why Yosaku would be surprised to learn that Luffy has never heard of Arlong, especially considering his pirate lifestyle & obsession with the Grand Line.

Learning about Marine-sanctioned privateer pirates in the One Piece world, however, is not surprising at all. We have seen the blatant corruption rampant in this military force previously, and taking illicit income from violent thugs isn’t even really the worst thing we have witnessed thus far. This is certainly an interesting reference & parallel to the real world that elucidates the relationship between genuine governments and the criminal class, but it takes it a step further than the traditional privateer model by merely accepting bribes to look the other way, versus non-fiction privateers who actually targeted vessels crewed by opposing governments and nations. The US or UK politicians paying sailors to attack & raid potential threats still allows for a potentially moral & ethical interpretation of actions, whereas the Marines working with Arlong is obviously dishonest misconduct.

When Arlong says that money is more reliable than people, he is touching on the fabric of “we live in a society” because money is truly a neutral resource that always has value with everyone but also only has value as long as it is accepted. Dealing with a person can be a fluid interaction based on a multitude of factors, as well, but these variables are far more numerous than the typical financial interaction. A commonly accepted currency can be negotiated with, carried around to different businesses or customers, exchanged directly for goods & services, and much more, but as soon as one is in a position where that specific currency is not accepted or understood, it is essentially worthless. Still, this drives home the reliability of it either being accepted or not, which when compared to the endless situations and outcomes inherent in human dynamics, is simpler and more intuitive to utilize.

The realization here that Zoro is as loyal to Luffy as Gin was to Don Krieg is a fun one. Gin has been sailing under Krieg for years, maybe decades, and has seen him through glorious success as well as abject failure, both of which can be magnificent bonding experiences, but Zoro has only sailed with Luffy for a couple of short & sweet adventures. Although they have seen some failure and success, they are both relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, yet Zoro has a precocious affinity to his new captain that cannot be swayed or altered by his fellow crewmates or his enemies. This powerful allegiance is in no small part due to their shared confidence & commitment to their lofty goals, as well as Luffy’s pure heart & wholesome intentions. The culture of Krieg’s crew was at least toxic enough for Gin to ultimately disobey his captain at a crucial moment, resulting in being at least partially responsible for Krieg’s downfall, but we can safely assume that Zoro would never pull such a stunt because of his & Luffy’s shared moral compass. Even were Zoro to disobey an order from his captain, rest assured it would be for the right reasons and Luffy would be understanding, at least eventually.

Last note, meat on the bone, bean sprouts, & red wine sounds like a fantastic meal, especially for seafarers accustomed to nothing but a barrel of apples. While this may come across as a silly luxury, it also indicates a crucial element that Sanji is bringing to the crew in the form of nutrients, energy, & morale. Having access to an advanced diet will ensure that the Straw Hats are physically prepared for adversity & challenges they encounter, and, maybe more importantly, the ability to share a delicious meal with their fellow crew increases their kinship & intimacy so they are more connected and able to function as one unit versus just being a bunch of people on a boat. Eating as a community is invaluable, whether it is a daily family dinner (or breakfast, or lunch), or a weekly meal with a close group of friends or co-workers, or a monthly meal with a local club or church congregation, or any variation on these ideas. Although it may have initially seemed a bit silly for Luffy to focus on acquiring a cook, we now see that it was another brilliant move on his part, demonstrating his leadership skills & insight.

Gin thinking he may die soon is ultimately a very freeing thought for him because he is no longer subject to the whims of Don Krieg and can focus only on what is important to him, whether he dies trying or not. He has a very stoic attitude towards the amount of time he has left to live because he truly will be spending that time doing exactly what he wishes, which in a way makes it more valuable than the potentially significantly longer amount of time behind him. We all must face death eventually, and we never know when it will arrive, so in a certain sense, Gin still has the same uncertain amount of life left in him as anyone else ever does, but it will be more enjoyable for him without the burden of pleasing a captain, so it is better time regardless of how much it is.

This concept greatly reminds me of a Doctor Who episode, The Big Bang (s5e13), in which the Doctor learns that he only has 12 minutes left to live (which is not true but I digress). He utters the quote: “There are fruit flies that live on Hoppledom 6 that live for 20 minutes and they don’t even mate for life.” This again tells us that we should use whatever time we have to find pleasure and joy in our lives, not waste it worrying about when death will come. Gin delivering his farewell speech to Sanji & the cooks reinforces the idea that confidence is not only important to overcome external challenges, but also to feel a sense of internal peace about our own choices and what the future may have in store.

When Zeff says that Sanji looks happy and implies that such a thing makes Sanji an idiot, he is tapping into the other side of the stoic coin. The world is painfully full of misery & suffering, indicated in the old adage “if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.” Even if there is genuine positivity & success on the proverbial horizon, the future will also always bring about more failure and pain into our lives. To experience pure unbridled happiness, then, is to ignore the possibility of losing such a thing and falling back into despair. I think there are a few different ways we can look at this. On the one hand, we may be wasting time preparing for the future so as to reduce our suffering. However, on the other hand, sometimes it does require allowing ourselves some ignorance to find peace in the moment. The reality of a situation may eventually set in and require stern action, but in the meantime, allowing good moments to exist and consume our time is an important part of the human condition.

The relationships that we see between the cooks on the Baratie, including Zeff & Sanji (especially Zeff & Sanji), are ripe with toxic masculinity. Their persistent refusal to compliment each other and live in a cruel work environment with negativity and insults galore is something of a traditional culture in which this sharpens our wits or skills or whathaveyou, but it creates undue tension & a lack of intimacy between friends & coworkers. For all of these years, these chefs could have been sharing their emotions & bonding and excelling in different ways, but they instead focus on very unhealthy competition, trying to outdo each other for spite & hubris, missing out on deeper friendships. Furthermore, the tendency to use violence over minor disagreements is the epitome of toxic masculinity; the strength & battle prowess of an individual does not directly translate to their ability to prepare a delicious meal, so using kicks & punches to settle who is the best cook is misguided at best and harmful to the state of the meal at worst. In the end, we see that this crew does have strong emotions for each other, but for one reason or another, likely traumatic past experiences, they have never shared such emotional bonding until Sanji is leaving and it is too late to really benefit from an intimate personal relationship between peers.

Last note, I guess Luffy lucked into another ship, this time loaded with food. It is unclear to me how this will play out with Nami having their previous ship, but perhaps the Straw Hats will soon command an entire fleet. Knowing that Sanji had his own ship this entire time also further demonstrates his commitment to Zeff, the Baratie, & becoming a master chef because he had the ability to leave at any time with a reliable vessel. His choice to remain was not forced due to circumstance or under duress, it was a conscious choice made with other readily available options before him.

After having seen Sanji’s backstory origins, his line “give up your ambition and live” to Zoro when he is fighting Hawkeye is even more preposterous because not even Sanji would take that advice, as made evident by his actions to try to save Zeff and everyone else. It’s a bit of a “do what I say, not what I do” type scenario because Sanji genuinely cares about these new people he just met, just as he cares for everyone, but does not recognize that they have their own unending desires for success just the same as he does. This story arc is ultimately Sanji learning that the Straw Hats are just like him with complete confidence in their goals, and that shared drive is what bonds them as a crew. Real recognize real I think is the technical term, when you meet someone and instantly feel on the same vibe & wavelength as they are.

The shit-talking between Luffy & Krieg is almost the exact opposite. In a certain sense, the two adversaries see each other as a more or less serious rival, and even though they both have faith in their own victories, the back & forth insults & mockery betray a mild fear, as in one would not speak as such to, say, an ant they were squashing with their boot without a hint of irony. The verbal interactions here not only serve as attempts to squash each other’s morale but also to embarrass them in front of their respective squads. Luffy calling the spear a “toy” belittles Krieg’s use of technology and disrespects his whole crew who trust and believe in their captain’s invulnerability. Krieg calling Luffy a “monkey” is intended to dehumanize Luffy as less than human & incapable of advanced thought ot skill level, but falls short as Luffy makes monkey noises back at him. Krieg shouting “foolish pride is all you got” is an example of an accusation being a confession because, in that moment just before his own armor shatters to bits & pieces, he is still foolishly full of pride & confidence.

Seeing Gin still somewhat loyal to the essence of Krieg’s passion is somewhat similar to Sanji & Zeff. Gin served under Krieg for many years, just as Sanji served under Zeff, and both mentors instilled much of their own culture & beliefs in their respective proteges. Just as Sanji dreams of discovering the All Blue, Gin still wants to find the Grand Line, which he admits is silly and only because of Krieg, but it is his dream nonetheless, and one cannot just change the dreams they hold in their heart. Seeing both sides of this same narrative in the wildly different characters is quite compelling & satisfying to behold.

Last note, I am shocked, shocked I tell you, that Nami was apparently not planning to return the ship to the Straw Hats, but of course her heart tells her she absolutely should find them again. Although she is a competent sailor in her own rite, easily controlling the large ship herself without any crew at all, her emotional need for their companionship is surprising even to her. She clearly has experienced traumatic events in her life, likely abandonment, and copes with this by not becoming too attached to anyone, struggling on her own, and only relying on herself to get by without meaningful connection to other humans. In fact, she seems completely capable to take care of herself and get herself out of any trouble she encounters, but humans are social creatures and regardless of her financial success, her spirit longs to be with her new friends.

I am starting to get anxiety about how careless Luffy is around water with his Devil Fruit curse to not be able to swim. We see him repeatedly running across some very thin wooden pier thing towards Krieg while Krieg shoots him with various projectiles, and Luffy is both taking hits & jumping around to dodge, which just seems reckless in numerous ways, but, of course, that is his Straw Hat style, and he proceeds to just punch Krieg right in the face through the spiked porcupine cape, leaving his hand bleeding & Krieg on the floor. This is precisely what Zeff means when he says Luffy will win because “he does know fear”: a positive attitude mixed with determined courage is more powerful than any other weapon.

The strength of confidence is a recurring theme in the show, and even just in this episode, we get a look at Krieg’s crew losing morale and confidence as the fight progresses. First, they see the way Krieg treats Gin, his longest & most loyal crewmember, with such disrespect, even noting that Krieg needlessly mocks the dying man, and start to realize how Krieg would treat them if they ever made any sort of mistake. Then they see Luffy punch him through the cape and start to realize that Krieg is not invincible but just a guy in a suit of armor; without the confidence that their leader is unstoppable, they are less & less likely to persevere, this being a direct foil to Luffy & crew relying on their neverending resilience & positivity. They even discuss how if Krieg loses to a “kid”, Krieg & his crew’s reputation will never recover, which again goes to show the value of word-of-mouth information in this post-apocalyptic island world, but also applies just to Krieg’s reputation amongst his own crew being tarnished to the point of a failure to continue operating as a cohesive pirate fleet.

Gin is an absolutely fascinating character and I empathize with the two chefs frantically trying to keep him alive near the end of the episode because I want to see more of this guy. He has clearly committed many dark, twisted, and decidedly evil tasks in his time as a pirate, but he still has a strong internal code of honor as well as the trust self-awareness to recognize his own flaws and to objectively see the perspective of others, notably when he agrees that Krieg should kill him for disobeying an order because he would do the same thing if he were captain and his crew followed their emotions instead of their captain’s orders. Not only that, Gin still seems to have a firm respect for his captain even as Krieg is trying to kill him. It seems to me that Sanji feeding him has made Gin realize that there are in fact good humans in the world, which could be shaking his whole worldview at this point if he has been doing these evil actions under the assumption that all people are bad and deserve violence against them in one way or another. Gin’s reflection on the fact that maybe at least some of the people he has killed over the years were also good people deserving of a better life is weighing on his shoulders, filling the pirate with regret and a final death wish to rid himself of suffering, hence disobeying Krieg and accepting his fatal punishment.

Last note, all of the sailors are very good at treading water. We see dozens of them, pirates & chefs alike, almost perfectly still as they float at the surface, far out in the water where the ocean floor must be a kilometer deep or more. As the battle approaches a climax, we even see them cheering in the air without losing any balance. This could simply be lazy animation but I believe it is somewhat intentional to show the high level of swimming ability these sailors hold, spending most of their lives on the sea. They are comfortable in water of any depth, and I think this also holds a mirror to Luffy’s inability to swim by comparing their lack of battle proficiency with Luffy’s; not everyone can do everything but everyone can do something.

We see an example of karma in this episode when Gin does not want to kill Sanji because Sanji fed him when Gin was on the brink of starvation. Having experienced the same thing himself, Sanji makes a point to feed anyone who enters the restaurant, no matter what, and here he is repaid for that by Gin’s sense of honor. It is pretty clear that Gin is not a “good guy” but a violent pirate, yet he still follows his own personal code, which is relatable to many people; very few humans are truly good or bad but instead live in shades of grey, choosing their actions based on their own interpretation of morality. Gin even encourages Don Krieg to kill him for disobeying his orders, stating that he would do the same thing if he were in Don Krieg’s position, demonstrating that he is steadfast in his decision to spare Sanji, regardless of the consequences.

Luffy wanting to destroy the boat so that no one has it is reminiscent of King Solomon splitting a baby in half in a popular Bible story, the idea being that if no one can win, the conflict is over. We also see Sanji willing to die to protect Zeff as another point of honor. In both of these cases, it seems there is an overarching goal to follow their own personal codes of conduct regardless of how it affects other people, which directly contrasts the example of Gin. Gin is making a choice that ultimately will only harm him, but Luffy would harm the entire restaurant staff by destroying the boat, and Sanji would harm Zeff by failing to deliver on his dream to seek the All Blue. In a certain sense, then, Gin is actually the more honorable one in this episode, which likely speaks to their differences in experience: Gin has been a pirate leader for a long time, while Luffy is practically brand new to the sea and Sanji has likely not spent much time outside of Baratie.

Don Krieg’s suit of armor has significantly better technology than a lot of what we have seen on the show thus far, and I imagine that this is a large part of why he was able to conquer so much of the East Blue. In any war or battle, the side with the superior weapons is typically going to be the victor outside of rare edge cases with prolonged guerilla warfare and the like. With defensive capabilities as well as offensive weapons for short-range, long-range, single-target, & area-of-effect attacks, it makes sense that not only would he make short work of most of the sailors we have seen, that many of them would be quick to surrender and join his fleet in the face of an unbalanced fight.

Last note, this was the first time I noticed in the opening animation that Gold Roger had been captured & sentenced to death. I suppose I presumed that he was making some sort of announcement to the world before just going into hiding, or maybe he was old & sick and preparing for death, or he was just a legend, a myth, a rumour altogether, but he was apparently caught by the Marines (or a similar group) and given a public execution, during which he stated his challenge for people to find his treasure to the large crowd that had gathered. This could still be just a story or something, but it does lend more credit to the overall narrative.

Zeff has always been a wise leader & deep thinker, as made evident by his mustache still being much longer than should be possible even when he was much younger. It is not as long as his braided mustache when he is an old geezer, because he gets even wiser as he ages, but it is still more of a mustache than any normal person would ever have. Many traditional & ancient cultures have beliefs that long & well-maintained facial hair represents maturity, knowledge, & respect, so this is an easy trope to identify, and I am happy to see it played out this way with a look to the past.

Another mention of a previous blog post, we continue to see that the cooks of the One Piece world put that identity deep into their self-worth. The group at the beginning discussing how they would risk life & limb to find the All Blue with a variety of rare and delicious sealife shows that even their personal goals & dreams are rooted in their chef identities. Even Zeff, a mighty successful pirate, holds in his heart a vision of a future where he runs a restaurant. This world is somewhat tumultuous with food scarcity and political turmoil, so it does make sense that people would grow their culture in the vicinity of feeding people, and we see it written out very well and believable in One Piece.

Taking it a step further, Zeff is even willing to die to protect Sanji so that his own dream of finding the All Blue stays alive with his young protege. He not only believes in the All Blue but holds it in such a high regard that he would give his life to help someone achieve the goal. Their bond is entirely rooted in this shared passion, making them loyal allies for reasons much beyond self-service or worldly pleasures; they want to improve the world in a specific way and hold each other up to get as close as they can to success, even if most other people find this to be a ridiculous quest. Of course, having a lofty desire that is ridiculed by society is what makes Sanji a perfect Straw Hat, much like wanting to be king of the pirates, or the world’s greatest swordsman, or making 10 million berries, or whatever Usopp is trying to do.

The exploration of why Zeff & Sanji are so dedicated to feeding any hungry person who enters their restaurant is satisfying with the reflections on food waste and realization that gold & jewels are worthless to a hungry sailor stranded on a rock. Sanji was just that morning throwing away food and insulting the other cooks for eating customer’s leftovers, and now recognizes the importance of using every calorie available in the best way possible. The bag of inedible treasure is a subtle callback to the mayor in a previous episode talking about the different types of treasure different people consider valuable, such as friends, locations, memories, and the like. For Sanji & Zeff on the rock, their most valuable treasure is their tiny supply of food.

Last note, watching Zeff save Sanji in the water made me consider for the first time the deeper implications of the Devil Fruit stealing one’s ability to swim. My initial assumptions were just an increased risk if they fall off the ship or something, but swimming is ultimately a crucial element of being a sailor in the first place, between ship repairs, fishing, recreation, and saving crew mates, plus more. In a world consisting mostly of isolated islands, the cost of losing the ability to swim is rather expensive, even compared to the power granted by these fruits. Most, if not all, of the characters we have seen with Devil Fruit power did so accidentally, and I think that is probably not a coincidence.

Don Krieg using manipulation tactics to make his opponents think he is weak before attacking them is in his core as a human being, much less a pirate. His first foray into pirating by stealing a marine ship, using the white flag, showing up to the restaurant very hungry, wanting to sail the grand line in a restaurant ship, and probably more examples I’m forgetting or haven’t seen yet. While this is considered an admirable approach by Sun Tzu in the Art of War, it is typically colloquially seen as cowardly or even evil & cruel. However, we often see protagonists using similar methods and typically align ourselves with them, seeing their deceit as justified. This is an example of the victors defining justice, in which we assign favorable morality to the people we support & agree with, while assigning negative intention to people we don’t like as much.

A starker contrast, however, is the apparent rush that many pirates are in to head directly to the Grand Line to find the One Piece. Don Krieg seems to be under the impression that if he steals Zeph’s logbook & ship, it’s an easy trip to become king of the pirates, never considering that if it were that easy, Zeph would have done it himself. Luffy, on the other hand, never seems rushed to actually do the task, instead focusing on building a proper crew and preparing themselves for a difficult adventure. Hubris vs humility.

Sanji has a lot of great lines, he is essentially the toothpick guy, I guess, dispensing clever insight with witty quotes and quick one-liners. He currently smokes, of course, but I have always assumed most toothpick guys used to smoke, anyway, so maybe he will quit and become a true toothpick guy. I really enjoyed the line “if I was scared of fire, I wouldn’t be a very good cook,” which is a playful twist on “if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.” However, “a knife is a cook’s soul” really sent me because I do think that any artisan is very reliant on quality tools, even though it is true that a great craftsman never blames their tools for a job poorly done. The knife isn’t doing the cooking, and a chef could make a poor meal with good tools, or a good meal with poor tools, but a great chef has their preferred tools that they are accustomed to and allow them to excel at their art beyond most others. They should still be able to perform with any tools, but not as well, or as easily, or as stylishly, as with their best equipment.

Zeph is yet another character demonstrating wonderful stoic ideals. He has much faith and confidence in himself, his abilities, his crew, and the future, as well as a stern acceptance of potential disasters. He is pragmatic and steady in his approaches to problems, and doesn’t seem to waver with fear or insecurity. Much of this comes with age and experience, of course, but Zeph shows a stoicism far beyond many of his peers, and this is symbolized by the long braided mustache. A typical mustache would never grow that long, but it represents Zeph having more experience than would even be possible for most people, regardless of the progression of time and their personal age. This is very clearly demonstrated by his ability to still do his magic kicks even though he is missing his foot. He is simply comfortable with himself and his energy and, even missing his “tool” of his actual foot, he is still able to deliver powerful kicks more advanced than others who do have their feet.

I still think the 2 boys are unreliable narrators and that Nami spoke & acted differently than they present, but the classic Straw Hat confidence is apparent as the crew calmly discusses chasing Nami while Hawkeye chops the opposing ship into pieces. We see some contrast between Sanji & the general crew attitude when Zoro is fighting Hawkeye and Sanji advises him to “give up your ambition and live!” The Straw Hats are almost always confident in battle, no matter the odds, especially if there is an emotional tie such as Zoro wanting to be the greatest swordsman in the world. Additionally, we have seen Sanji express this same attitude when engaging in his own conflicts. Even Usopp tends to have a very supportive outlook despite being personally terrified of almost everything they encounter. This paradigm is directly contradicted by Sanji’s advice to Zoro, but it is relatable as Sanji is new to the Straw Hats, underestimates them, and doesn’t want them to die, hence speaking & acting out of character.

We heard another reference to the East Blue, in the context of 4 great seas, which I assume are the North, East, South, & West Blues. It seems apparent that the show creators had a long-term vision from the start. Hawkeye’s comment that “you don’t know how big the world is” feels directed at the viewing audience who is only just beginning to witness the enormity of this television setting, and his large cross that doubles as a small sword seems to lead to this understanding, as well. I interpreted it as a bit of a romanticization of a foreign mystic symbol to an Eastern audience, similar to how the yinyang is often represented in Western media, ultimately symbolizing a culture distant from this one in both kilometers & tradition.

Last note, Usopp is such a bard with his quick supply & knowledge of first aid supplies, in addition to his other miscellaneous scattered skills.