Blog

Alright, well, in the last couple of minutes, more or less all of my previous questions were somewhat addressed, I really do appreciate the detail of detail in this show, which I guess is why people enjoy it so much leading to me watching it today.

Usopp reminds me very much of a Bard from Dungeons & Dragons. Being able to not only lie, but use his wit to entertain Kaya, and what’s more, giving valiant battle speeches that fill his followers with honor & confidence. There are some of the exact mechanical devices the Bard class has in edition 5.5, and I have always appreciated that the Bard is a class most rooted in adding narrative & story value to a campaign while gaining in-game benefits. That is to say, a genuine criticism of D&D is simply that the elements of exploration & narrative do not, strictly speaking, have any codified rules or game mechanisms associated with these pillars of gameplay. In a show in which most of the dialogue is very straightforward and much of the problems are solved with sheer violence, Usopp using language & charisma to handle a situation is a refreshing splash of flavour that, again, really defines this show as engaging & entertaining.

I love that the trio of children goes straight for Klahadore without any fear because they recognize the true source of power & difficulty in this situation & waste no time bothering with anyone but the person in charge. Children have such an insight & wisdom that adults would do better to heed. I also appreciate that Captain Kuro & Jango are so calm and patient as the children & Usopp speak to each other. There is, of course, a certain sense of condescension layered on top of that, but it is still a fun experience as the big bad guy just allows the kids their time to do their little thing.

Last note, I actually kinda missed a lot of this episode cuz I was feeding my daughter a can of raw garbanzo beans. Her name is Speed Racer cuz no matter what, we are on her team.

We finally get the insight into why Klahadore is so dead-set on not only stealing Kaya’s fortune but doing so legally and without suspicion. It is almost sad, to be honest, that he wants nothing more than a quiet happy peaceful life among these island villagers yet believes that the only way to obtain this is to murder a young woman in cold blood. We can only assume that Klahadore has experienced extreme trauma in his youth which inevitably shook & damaged his entire worldview into a place of extreme violence & isolation. It is pretty clear that Klahadore had already gained the trust of the family & and the island and could have genuinely enjoyed a peaceful life without this murderous plot, which I think is true irony that the failure of his plan is what will take away the possibility of which he dreams so much.

We also gain some insight into the politics of the Black Cat pirate crew, which, to be fair, resembles the sort of generic trope we are often served of pirates or other villains or even tribes without ill intent. Similar to the Sith in Star Wars, or the Wakandans in Black Panther, there is an element of ”might is right” for leadership in which the leader can be justly overthrown by being defeated in combat. In Black Panther, the tribes all join in combat to determine the leader of the country. In Star Wars, the Sith lords follow a ”rule of two” in which there is 1 master and 1 student and when the student is powerful enough to kill their master, they do so and become the new master. In One Piece, for this pirate crew at least, like in many other pirate medias, we see that the Meowban brothers are dissatisfied with the leadership of Captain Kuro and challenge him to a battle so that they can become the new captains of their crew. 

It has been 3 years since Captain Kuro was with his crew, and during this time, Jango served as a sort of substitute captain of sorts, but it is clear that he is still subservient to Kuro & that the crew still sees Kuro as their rightful captain. What is noteworthy to me is that, if the crew as a whole felt that Kuro no longer deserved his station as captain, they could have sailed wherever they wanted to and simply not responded to the call to come to this island to help their captain with his plot to murder Kaya. However, these inner politics of the crew demand that they continue to follow Captain Kuro until either he dies or they stage a successful mutiny against him. Even a pirate has certain codes and creeds they follow, and these types of details helps the One Piece world feel more complete and filled in without unexplained background details.

Last note, I find it somewhat humorous that the crew, upon seeing Kaya, wants to just kill here then and there, more or less oblivious to the actual intent & mission their captain has set out to fulfill. All they know is that she is the woman they are supposed to kill, but they cannot keep straight why & how or the big picture at all. It is also clear that Jango is not much of a side-kick, either, as he was supposed to hypnotize Kaya to sign her will before the pirates made her death appear accidental, and they all just sort of blundered the entire operation because of mostly Zoro, one guy. I honestly think Captain Kuro is right to rid himself of this somewhat incompetent crew, he almost certainly would be more successful on his own, but perhaps that is another glimpse into his true desires for connection.

Attachment to belief is always a difficult concept to broach. Cognitive dissonance is a mental discomfort that happens when 2 of our own ideas conflict with one another. We see this happen to Kaya in this episode when Merry tells her that Klahadore attacked him, and Kaya does not believe him at first because of how strong her belief that Klahadore is a good guy is. Especially after pushing Usopp away for saying the same thing, and now seeing Merry covered in blood trying to warn her, she hesitates to accept this new belief that contradicts a previously held one. This is a very important topic for young minds to become familiar with because an inability to overcome cognitive dissonance is synonymous with an inability to grow and develop as a human being.

In his dying moments, we see a new side of Merry than was previously portrayed, full of deep wisdom and compassion. He urges Kaya to stay calm and think through her options with pragmatism, insisting she give her family fortune to Captain Kuro without a fight in order to ensure her own survival. My immediate thought here is how did he not sooner identify Klahadore to be an evildoer before this when he is apparently such an intelligent and well-adjusted character. I suppose that it simply goes to show the depth of Klahadore’s scheme and his great ability to deceive.

Last note, we get another new twist on the concept of reputation in this episode in which the Meowban brothers pretend to be weak & afraid in order to lull their opponents into a false sense of security. By playing the part of scaredy-cats who don’t want to do battle with Zoro, they are able to get the jump on him and gain the upper hand in the battle. A false reputation can be advantageous if properly curated.

Kalhadore mentioned the crescent moon, so I guess that answers that. I really should have guessed he was some sort of cat or had a cat ability or weapon or whatever those sword claws are, based on the name of his crew, and I guess I will continue to watch out for that type of nomenclature. I find it very strange that he is so focused on inheriting Kaya’s fortune in a legal manner versus just killing her and the staff & looting anything of value to set sail on the East Blue sea. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, where does this wealth & power draw from? Who was Kaya’s father? Is there some sort of deed or noble rite involved that would grant Captain Kuro more than just money by legally inheriting the estate? I imagine we will explore this topic in future episodes.

We do learn that the other staff of the house are not in on Kalhadore’s secret identity & plans. The servant that shot Usopp in the back is not a pirate or villain in any particular manner, just an employee who really hates Usopp & takes his own job very seriously.

I like that Usopp seems to have a firm grasp on the theories of The Art of War, a favorite book of mine. His ideas to use oil & caltrops to ”cheat” on the battlefield are exactly the type of thing Sun Tzu would say about controlling the field & imposing his own will on his enemies. At one point, Usopp makes a joke about hiding during the battle, something Sun Tzu would suggest if the day called for it, and we see the otherwise jolly & lighthearted straw hat crew become irate & furious at even the suggestion. While Luffy is a very fun, silly, & optimistic captain, this scene makes it clear that part of the reason he is so adept in battle is because it is something he in fact takes very seriously.

Something Luffy does not seem to take seriously is navigation skills. He was previously very excited & impressed that Koby could navigate the water so well, and then pretty desperate to get Nami to join his crew as a full-time navigator, because he is self-aware enough to recognize his own lack of navigational ability. He is very easily lost when left to his own devices, Luffy can’t even find North on his own, but this is also why he is so focused on assembling a highly qualified crew of individuals that can each specialize in their own roles, making the entire crew stronger than the sum of their parts.

Last note, I thought this was just a Nami idiosyncrasy, but apparently a ”berry” is a commonly recognized unit of value or currency. This is an interesting fact because they still have gold & treasure in this society, and there is plenty of commerce & business happening, but there has not been any real currency shown or mentioned, in my memory at least. It is not unusual to use a consumable resource with intrinsic value as a form of currency, real world examples include eggs, tulips, bread, & fish, but the One Piece universe’s fascination with berries extends from currency to also the Devil Fruits themselves, and I am left wondering if the impact of the Devil Fruit, either contemporaneously or historically, is why the modern culture puts such a specific value on the more common varietals of the same fruit.

I must say, I do not find Kaya to be a very interesting or compelling character, but I think part of this is intentional & meant to portray her as a very sheltered character without much life experience or depth of character. She more or less believes anything she is told by anyone she perceives as an authority figure, namely her butler Klahadore. Even though she does argue with him, this is mostly shown as her being naive & immature even though he is in fact an evil character. Despite him being somewhat antagonistic towards her goals, she still believes him to be a positive influence on her life, shown by her obtaining a rare & difficult to obtain gift to give to him as a thank you.

However, she is smart enough to recognize that Usopp is a liar. While she typically has a very kind outlook on him, when he tries to warn her of the danger, she is quick to doubt him and even become angry that he thinks she is dumb enough to believe more of his lies. She makes it clear that she has always known that his stories are false but that they made her happy to hear, but now that he is telling the truth, it makes her uncomfortable and she pushes him away. This is a very complicated & nuanced dynamic that often happens in reality and I appreciate how it is shown on the show.

Usopp is clearly meant to be an analogue for the allegory of the boy who cried wolf. As he has repeatedly made false warnings of pirates invading the village, the other villagers simply do not believe him the one time he is telling the truth. This is another look at how reputation affects our lives and the way we interact with others is directly influenced by how they think about us based on previous experiences & knowledge. Even Kaya doubts him & one of her house servants is so angry with him that he shoot Usopp in the back while he is running away, typically a cowardly or evil move but no one really questions it when it comes to shooting a known liar.

I think we are again getting a glimpse of how truly immature & emotionally undeveloped Usopp is when he seems confused about why people don’t believe him. Even after Captain Kuro made a clear statement about how & why the villagers won’t believe him, and then he experiences it firsthand, Usopp still wonders to himself about the reason, which is very clear to the audience. Of course, despite this immature and unreflected personality, he is an honorable soul full of integrity as he desires to singlehandedly fight & defeat the pirate invasion, regardless of how the villagers feel about him. Luffy & his crew are able to pretty easily recognize Usopp’s pure heart and vow to help him defend his village. I think they would probably still try to defend it anyway, but they have a positive attitude towards Usopp nonetheless.

Last note, I noticed that there is a heavenly body in the background sky during this episode that sort of resembles a crescent moon, but it almost more resembles a sun being eclipsed by a moon or other object. I am not sure if this is meant to be an exaggerated moon shape, as the scene takes place around sunset and the object is still very high in the sky, or if in the One Piece world, the dark of night is formed by a daily partial eclipse of their sun, but it is very pretty to look at and adds a fun fantasy vibe to the overall setting.

This episode really shows us more of Usopp being honorable than the previous one. In the end, his inner monologue is so full of integrity as he strives to do whatever he can to save the people in the village where he grew up. He isn’t focused on his own success or fortune or anything but truly wants to help the people he knows to survive the impending pirate attack. It seems that he clings to these people who helped raise him because his father abandoned him and we don’t know anything about his mother. The other villagers likely have a bad attitude towards him but still see him as one of their own. Usopp is very proud of his heritage and his father and shows that he is not just a lying bad guy but a troubled youth with a good heart who.

When I started taking notes for this episode, I googled how to spell Klahadore & got spoilers which I thought would be for much later but it was just for the end of the episode lol. I was pretty sure he was a manipulative bastard before seeing those spoilers and that he killed Kaya’s family, which was mostly true, just because of his cold emotionless responses to Kaya while being intentionally overly emotional to ward off Usopp & Luffy & their crews. He is also very condescending about Usopp’s heritage & ancestry which is almost always the sign of a villain.

I like that throughout the last half of the episode, we are shown a crab who keeps trying to climb up the cliff above the water and keeps falling. I think at first glance, this seems like some comedic relief, but the timing and persistence of the scenes is very metaphorical or allegorical or whatever. We first see it during the speech where Klahadore is revealing his past as Captain Kuro & how he wasn’t executed, in which he failed and was caught but escaped justice to try again, much like the crab that keeps trying. Then, as Luffy reveals himself having overheard their plans, the crab begins climbing again. After Luffy is put to sleep & Klahadore tells Usopp how no one will believe him, the crab climbs again, and so it seems obvious that the crab represents Kuro who is persistent with his 1000 plans to attain eventual victory as a wealthy villain with fortune and power, but at the last scene, the crab falls one more time, hopefully foreshadowing that this butler will fall once again.

The crab clearly symbolizes the plight of Sisyphus, forever pushing a boulder up the mountain only for the boulder to roll back down again. I think this is a stoic attitude presented clearly throughout many One Piece characters, continuing to try despite repeated failure, and I appreciate that we also see this cultural element from the antagonists such as Captain Kuro. I think this is something sorely lacking in contemporary society where people expect things to be handed to them easily without any effort.

Last note, I think the creepiest thing about Jango is just his voice. He is otherwise pretty unremarkable for a pirate on this show & not that weird compared to many other characters.

This episode seemed to go very quick and end on yet another new character cliffhanger. Lots of characters all the time, I wonder how this is sustainable, and how many of these characters are recurring versus being single or double episodes only. I know Koby will come back eventually, and Buggy, but there are just so many people to keep up with. It’s a very diverse and well constructed world, to be fair, they all make sense and add depth to the show. There is also a lot of background world building, like are witch hags a real thing? I also am more and more curious about Shanks, is he still around, why is he so famous?

Usopp is kind of a lackluster character but I think that is another example of how great this world building is, he is a very realistic character and I have encountered similar people before. He is immature and hangs out with much younger people because they are too inexperienced to understand better and they are impressed by him. The children are even sort of skeptical of Usopp but they still go along with his ideas because they feel cool hanging out with an older kid or young adult or whatever Usopp is. Of course, some of his lack of development is because he has been missing his father since childhood and I think this is another valid issue for the show to explore.

I enjoy that Luffy & crew keep fruit on the ship to avoid scurvy, and again Luffy is always hungry, looking for meat this time because he is protein deficient after being on the sea with nothing but fruit for so long. This demonstrates that the show is pretty well thought out and not just handwaving a lot of the gritty realism of pirate life.

My last thought is just how did this mansion get built on this island? There aren’t that many people, but someone had to harvest all these resources and have engineers & architects and such to build such a high quality house, so did they bring a construction crew on a huge ship full of building materials? There is also a full staff which is ultimately the sign of real money because a one-time cost to hire a crew is one thing, but to be able to afford an on-going staff of security & probably butlers & chefs and more, presumably without bringing in any new income after the death of the parents, is truly a giant fortune.

Labour is not cheap, even if they are paying cheap wages, but these employees seem competent which means they could likely find well paying work off the island but still they stay. I wonder how much of their wages get put back into the small local economy on the island or if they are taking leaves to visit other destinations to regularly spend their savings. Do they all live in the big house or what? Another note to think about later after seeing more episodes, I do hope this type of stuff gets revealed on the show and it isn’t just handwaved.

Very curious to see Buggy’s flashback with Shanks and how they were basically friends. Even in the flashback, Buggy was pretty evil & Shanks was pretty kindhearted, so it is interesting that they would still gravitate towards each other. I think there are a few factors that could contribute to this and I hope it gets developed more in future episodes. We see that Buggy immediately becomes obsessed with the map upon finding it, when we don’t even know if it is reliable or actually leads to good treasure. Buggy does not seem to be one to think ahead much but his cleverness & stoicism help him get through, somewhat similar to Shanks. However, when things go very poorly for Buggy, he is quick to blame it all on Shanks and never let the grudge die, even when Shanks had no ill intention & didn’t really do anything wrong.

We see more of the Nami & Buggy similarity in this episode, where Nami hates pirates for stealing but steals from them while Buggy is upset that Nami would steal what he already stole. I think that Nami certainly has a more moral attitude about life, the universe, & everything, but she also makes choices based on self-interest. However, I think this applies to most of the protagonists & is part of what makes One Piece such a powerful show: these characters are very human, they have flaws, and they have grey morality, like most real people. Nami joins Luffy’s crew for her own purposes & goals, but this will also provide benefits to Luffy & the rest of the crew. Luffy has also shown this inclination, as has Zoro when he discusses his backstory, & ultimately, Buggy & Shanks are no different.

I like that Luffy becomes chill & happy & optimistic again after defeating Buggy and getting his hat back. He lost his cool over the hat, just like we saw Shanks do, and then calmed down, again just like Shanks, and I think that is just some good character development & world building. We see that Luffy does feel better when he gets his revenge & I think this demonstrates a strong sense of justice. Luffy is also honest to a fault, sharing details with the townspeople he did not need to share, resulting in them chasing the crew out of town. My interpretation was that Luffy both found this funny and also found it to be useful in helping unite the town against a common enemy after they had been suffering and wanted to defeat the pirates but were too late. Luffy always has positive intentions.

Last note, Luffy keeps just falling into new ships, bigger & better each time. The first ship was the one he & Koby stole from the Marines and now this one that Nami stole from Buggy’s crew. This is a fun dynamic & I hope it continues until he just accidentally winds up with a wholeass bi sailing ship with 3 masts and everything.

People use the word “treasure” to mean a lot of different things. The mayor uses it to refer to the island town he has helped build & now leads, it is what he most cares about in this world, and he also discusses how the dog’s treasure is the pet shop where his old owner used to work before dying. Luffy demonstrates that he has serious attachment issues with the straw hat that Shanks gave him, even though he is otherwise very stoic in his thoughts & actions.

Both of these attitudes are ultimately very similar, particularly in contrast to the attitudes around treasure we see from Buggy & Nami who really only care about gold & jewels & material wealth, so even though Nami is being shown as a protagonist member of the straw hat crew, we also see that her morals do not necessarily align with Luffy in that category. Nami is also very similar to Buggy in the way that she uses other people to protect herself without concern for the risks it poses to those people, as we saw with her lying about Luffy to distract the pirates chasing her in a previous episode, yet she still criticizes Buggy for using members of his own crew as human shields to protect himself. While I don’t think these traits make her evil or an antagonist, I do think they help expose the truth of the nuance of people and how many of us have more in common with one another than we are often quick to admit, and also that we regularly judge themselves much less harshly than we judge others.

Another theme in this episode is pride. The mayor does not want help when he goes to fight Buggy because he believes that it is his fight and his fight alone to defend his town from the pirates. Interestingly, we do not see a single other person from the town join him to defend it from the pirates, and I hope this detail is addressed in future episodes. Do the other islanders not help because the mayor has this prideful attitude, or does the mayor have this prideful attitude because the other islanders never help him with anything? We also see a similar prideful attitude from Zoro in that he tries to fight even when he is gravely injured and very weak from blood loss. Of course, Zoro is a master swordsman and pretty easily dispatches Cabaji, but that doesn’t mean Zoro doesn’t have a huge ego.

Last note, I really appreciate that Cabaji is on a unicycle to stick with the circus/clown theme of Buggy’s crew, and Zoro using “sideshow” as a pejorative was very funny.

I meant to discuss this yesterday, but I enjoy the fact that Buggy’s devil fruit power is a clear nod to traditional pirates who are missing an arm & leg which are replaced with a hook & a peg. It seems to be an especially fitting devil fruit for pirates based on that symbolism alone. I think that is at least partially what makes Buggy a particularly skilled & competent pirate above & beyond just being a clown, and that awesomeness does make-up for him being a victim of the evil clown trope in my personal opinion.

Another interesting thing in this episode is how reputation is mildly subverted a bit. First, Nami has no idea about Zoro or who he is or his reputation for killing the pirates that she so distastes, yet is immediately deeply impressed & almost smitten with him. A high-quality genuine first impression can often be more powerful than a theoretical second-hand reputation. Still more interesting to me is that near the end of the episode, Zoro makes a comment about wanting to uphold his reputation, and I feel like he does not mean it literally but is only seeking an excuse to uphold justice and slay an evil pirate, but then yet again, that attitude is likely exactly what earned him his reputation in the first place.

The mayor is certainly a very cool character, and his speech about the dog staying where it is comfortable to guard its treasure greatly foreshadows the mayor’s own desire to stay in the town where he is comfortable to guard it. I think this attitude applies to many many people who downright refuse to leave their comfort zones or try new experiences or do anything difficult. I do think the first scene with the mayor & the dog is a valid critique of most dog owners, as he yells at a person in a cage being attacked by the dog to leave his precious dog alone.

Lastly, I find the opposing attitudes of Luffy & Mohji towards animals to be reminiscent of how many people feel about animal agriculture. Mohji sees animals as beasts to be tamed to follow his will and does not have any concern for animals that do not serve him, much like people in today’s world who think their pets are cute and should be safe while they never hesitate to eat a cheeseburger or pepperoni pizza, or even dairy farmers & the like who believe they are being kind to animals while simply exploiting them for profit. Conversely, Luffy applies the same caring morality to an animal as he does to a person, being willing to defend and help the dog even after the dog attacked him when they first met.