#and then i was like 'well in what universe would i be invested in sanji and nami? what would make this compelling to me?'

[riot-control-camp]

writing sanji/nami canon divergence where luffy doesn't assemble the crew until they're at their timeskip ages and nami got her money stolen by arlong multiple times and reiju never helped sanji escape from germa so he's still there at 19, reiju just helped his cells become more accommodating and shit.

and nami, who's taken to trying to get all 100 million berri in one go so arlong can't take it from her, is trying to steal from monarchs/warlords that no one will be upset by (because maritime warlords are basically the same as pirates, right?? right????) is planning on stealing from germa and infiltrates the fleet via the prisons, meets sanji, and hahaha no she definitely doesn't relate to feeling trapped because of circumstances outside of her control and odds that will never be in her favor at all

and then she ends up befriending sanji on various thieving trips, and when judge tries to set a trap for her using sanji, she takes him as a hostage, not realizing that judge won't give a fuck and won't give her any money even if she did return his son

so now sanji and nami are sailing and she tries to find an island to dump him on with a little of her private stash, but before she does, he cooks her a meal and holy fuck okay nevermind she's keeping him

and sanji, who has never heard of the baratie, uses nami's ship as the basis for a traveling food-truck-style business where he distracts people by cooking them the best food they've had in their life while nami robs all the island's nobility blind. and eventually, they fall for each other.

(listen. we've all seen how sanji is when he's calm around women and i think, without zeff, while he would really value treating women well because of his mom and reiju, i highly doubt it would manifest with the same desperation and spectacle that it does in canon)

nami is trying to ignore the fact that her progress towards her goal has slowed down noticeably, even with their partner act, all because she can't get her fucking priorities straight. after mutual pining with an added layer of "oh god this isn't safe i can't afford to feel like this what the fuck do i do i'm getting attached" sanji tries to confess.

nami tells him to get the hell off her ship. he does so, but not before giving her the key to a trunk of his in his room; inside is the profits from his side of the business. he's been saving it to try and combine with her own efforts so she can buy back cocoyashi.

after she discovers it, she runs back on deck to try and find sanji, but he's already left in her boat's dinghy. hence she's trying to chase him from island to island so they can makeup and he can come with her to free cocoyashi, but sanji has made a beeline for the baratie and demanded a job there, since he's more than qualified due to...basically running a miniature version of the baratie all on his own. zeff's found it funny that there's basically a mini-him running around the east blue doing the same damn thing he's been doing, and lets him join up as a line cook.

while nami's been looking for sanji, she meets luffy and zoro, who have joined forces like in canon. she agrees to let them use her ship until they find sanji--after that, they'll part ways. freeing cocoyashi has always been her dream and her dream alone. sanji's the only other person she really feels comfortable letting see it.

this plan lasts all of 1 island before they go to the baratie, nami and sanji make up, and luffy meets sanji and now LUFFY wants to keep SANJI

and sanji's like "well, i'm afraid i'm already spoken for as the cook on someone else's ship. if she'll have me?"

and nami is like "oh my god you stupid bastard i'm going to fucking kill you you can't just say shit like that. also i didn't clear out your room yet so i guess there's space, that's the only reason i'm letting you back onboard."

and luffy's like "that's not true! nami's been going to islands trying to find you. that's why we teamed up!"

and zoro's like. "yeah, it was mushy. don't care for it but the witch doesn't get to lie about it and play cool"

nami promptly punches them both and somehow in the chaos of sanji quitting the baratie after only being there for two weeks, nami and sanji don't notice their stowaway (luffy) and then zoro tries to fight mihawk and it's not like nami can just leave him there to bleed out, maybe nojiko can help patch him up or something after she hands arlong the cash.

the rest of the arlong arc ends up similar to canon with some allowances for the changes in nami and sanji's relationship--while i'd love for sanji to kick arlong's ass, i genuinely luffy needs that moment to solidify his and nami's relationship. however, i do think sanji is there when nami delivers the cash to arlong, who tries to spin it like nami had to earn all of it herself and if it was a collaborative effort, then the funds collected are rendered moot. sanji holds off arlong long enough for luffy and zoro to arrive from town with usopp in tow, managing to destroy nami's map room before bringing the fight back to the terrace and passing it off to luffy and engaging with arlong's henchmen back-to-back with nami instead.

anyway, in the aftermath of the arlong arc, sanji and nami both decide to join up with the strawhats, and canon moves on from there.

[quinloki]

(I-uh-I saw the Reverse Self-Ship post you made via a mutual and I noticed you were cool and also an adult One Piece fan so-uh-I'mma leave my lil infodump if you don't mind. Also if you have any pronouns you prefer let me know so I can use the proper ones!)

So as of last week I'm now holding hands with the entire Monster Trio from One Piece. Zoro was an immediate infatuation (and the reason I started watching it aside from just finally having time to invest), meanwhile Sanji and especially Luffy I thought were platonic but I was proven wrong pretty quick.

Uh-I headcanon Sanji as a closeted bisexual and in my little self-insert AU I end up being his kind of "bi-awakening" I guess or at least the first thing that makes him ask the important questions. Uh-I have one self-insert that has a good amount of plotting but I've been primarily using an isekai trope for self-inserting. And since it's already an AU for the isekai and the self-inserting itself-and because I'm really attached to the concept of magic(*cough*andimstillnotoverowlhouseending*cough*)-I made my self insert a descendant of the nearly extinct species of magic users aka witches. So I'd have to figure all that out along with the universe itself and Bi panic.

I think the isekai concept came along as I got a lot more attached to the Straw Hats in general since I'm always a sucker for friendship and found family tropes. And when I got into One Piece life had been taking a bad turn so this is kind of an escape for me.

Back to the self-ship though-I'm still not sure how the relationship would start-but I'd end up being just this 5'4 pink-haired autistic male who ended up being the boyfriend to 3 big strong (but also lovable) pirates. And since I'm shorter and they're also a lot stronger than me, they pick me up a lot out of nowhere just because I was there. I'd take cooking lessons from Sanji, I'd nap with Zoro, and I'd teach Luffy some drawing. But I can't have one without the others now, I love them too much now.

I have little nicknames I'd have them call me, some even pre-relationship. Sanji would call me "Cotton-Candy Head" because of the pink hair (but with a lot more affection than when he started calling Zoro Moss-Head) and then "Little Prince". Zoro would call me "Pinky" for the hair and then after I broke out of my shell a bit he'd call me "Puppy" because once I get comfortable around people I got big ol' golden-retriever energy. Luffy would probably call me "Nugget" and "Squishy" (I have a round face and also I can see Luffy looking at me and having a moment kinda like that one of Dory from Finding Nemo where she goes "I Shall Call Him Squishy And He Shall Be Mine. And He Shall Be My Squishy")

And then I have nicknames for them:

Zoro- Matcha Boy/Man, Teddy Bear (I feel like considering the naps and stuff, he would give good snuggles. I mean-the plush I have of him is nice to snuggle with.)

Sanji- Honey Bun, Sweetums (Because he's the biggest sweetie, his hair is a shade of yellow like honey, and honey buns are good!)

Luffy- Sunshine, Cap' (He's the captain of the thousand SUNNY and he's a bright ray of sunshine in my day and Cap sounds cute to say for him as the Captain of the crew)

And I'mma leave it at that. Uh-thanks for the opportunity to talk about my selfships! Take care of yourself and drink water!

ah! \o/ I love this - my friend has an OC story where the OC is a witch - but not an isekai style. I love isekais. LOVE them, I don't give a heck what anyone else thinks of them, I love them. (I mention this because I love the witch idea, and you both did it very differently too! Similar concepts don't bother me because people always end up with different details and that Delights Me <3 )

I've got notes for my own self-insert via isekai for a few different titles cause my blorbos don't mesh well. It was quite a good idea to fall for the monster trio cause they're all already all there and together XD

The pet names are sending me \o/ they're so cute xD I love little pink-haired masc witch from another world!

Thank you very much for sharing ❤️

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

The Voyage So Far: Alabasta (Part One)

east blue (1 | 2) || alabasta (1 | 2) || skypiea || water 7 || enies lobby || thriller bark || paramount war (1 | 2) || fishman island || punk hazard || dressrosa (1 | 2) || whole cake island || wano (1 | 2)

(this is a repost, i deleted the first version of it by accident cause im Idiot)

the entry into the grand line is such a great sequence. it feels like such an ending- a triumph after they’ve spent pretty much all of east blue struggling to make it here, and at the same time the beginning of a new adventure, the biggest yet, one that has yet to end a solid two decades later. they all look so happy to have made it here- it makes me smile.

whiskey peak is one of my very favorite short arcs, and i think of the whole first half of the baroque works saga its the one that hits and maintains a tone best (almost certainly because its so short, admittedly, but still). i love the repeated shots of the moon, the reveal that the cactuses are actually covered in graves, the way everything seems far too good to be true at the start and the sense of suspense that creates.

zoro’s extended fight scene in whiskey peak is so great- it’s so creative and so dynamic and the odds are stacked so high against him and yet he’s clearly having so much fun. i do miss this sort of scrappy, improvised fight, cause its largely absent from later one piece but its SO much fun to read- zoro cutting holes in rooftops for people to fall through or shoving ladders to the ground as bounty hunters try to climb them.

i’m a huge fan of fight scenes that use the environment to their fullest, and this is such a perfect example of it. it makes the fight feel a lot more real and exciting, in my opinion.

i’ve never liked zoro and luffy fighting at whiskey peak, its always struck me as frustrating and contrived and kind of out of character for both of them, but i will say that i do like how on the same page they are even when they’re trying to kill each other.

the entire first half of the baroque works saga basically serves to introduce and endear us to vivi so we’ll be invested in the alabasta conflict, and that starts here in whiskey peak, when we get our first glimpse of her actual personality rather than the act she was putting on as miss wednesday, when she bites her lip hard enough to bleed in order not to break down at igaram’s apparent death.

watching robin’s actions with the added context of later one piece is one of the great joys of rereading alabasta. she does a fantastic job of appearing to be crocodile’s most dedicated and capable and dangerous employee while quietly but consistently sabotaging his efforts; saving luffy, sparing pell, sparing igaram, not telling crocodile anything about the strawhats despite meeting them here at the very start of the saga.

little garden has some really cool and striking panels that really put the scale of things on the island, the dinosaurs and giants alike, into perspective, and i love it.

i’m a huge fan of the depth of in-universe lore one piece has. just having little details like this, quotes from books written in-universe, go so far towards making the world feel like a real and wondrous place with mysteries to be solved and details to be uncovered.

i still think sanji is firmly at his best when he’s being a sneaky bastard, and i will never cease to be delighted by how thoroughly he manages to fuck crocodile over with nothing but a phone and some quick thinking not once but twice.

i really like dorry and brogy! for minor characters who’ve only appeared in one relatively minor and inconsequential arc so far, they’re not only very fun and memorable but also leave a hell of an impact on the story, not only in usopp’s new dream of eventually visiting elbaf but also in how they and their crew just keep coming up, first in enies lobby and then even further down the line in dressrosa and whole cake island.

i’m really excited for when we eventually get to reach elbaf, because this plot thread has been so thoroughly and subtly built up over such a long time that i can’t wait to see how it ends.

this is one of my favorite little moments to really drive home how much the strawhats care about each other. they all fell asleep on the floor rather than leave nami alone.

the whole introductory scene to drum is a really good summary of who vivi is as a person and how she contrasts with luffy, and it’s something i’ve written extensively about in a past meta. here ill just settle for saying, vivi is chronically selfless, and always the sort of person to sacrifice herself for others, and these traits which save the strawhats here are the exact same ones that bring her and luffy to blows later on in alabasta.

a good thing to remember when writing characters is that traits aren’t really inherently good or bad, they’re just traits and can have positive or negative consequences depending on the situation, and i think oda is really good at this. vivi’s selflessness, usually a positive thing, becomes reckless self-sacrifice when she’s pushed to her breaking point.

‘kindness begets kindness’ is a pretty consistent theme throughout one piece, though luffy is most often on the other side of it. someone (rebecca, law, tama, etc.) does something for him without really expecting anything in return, and gets paid back a hundred times over. this is a case of the opposite- luffy helps someone offhandedly, and is later saved by their gratitude.

i think luffy wearing his fingers bloody as he climbs the drum rockies is the only time one piece has ever made me cringe back from the page. this sequence is absolutely brutal, and it’s so well-done.

the way luffy decides chopper should be his crewmate is precious, and also reminds me a little of his recruitment of sanji (ironically, given he’s talking to sanji about chopper here). in both cases he sees someone do something good without even really knowing the full extent of their abilities and makes a snap decision that they are awesome and are gonna be part of his crew, no matter what they have to say about it.

i really, really enjoy the way the drum island flashback is set up, with the cutaway right as luffy is about to punch wapol’s lights out. the cut back to that punch finally hitting when the flashback ends is by that point infinitely more satisfying, since you’ve just read chopper’s backstory and therefore have a deep and abiding desire to see wapol eat shit.

hiriluk’s final speech is definitely one of the best and most memorable quotes from one piece, and effectively the crux of one of its biggest themes. one piece is all about inherited will. all of our main cast and a solid percentage of the supporting cast bear the legacy of at least one forebear on their shoulders, from kuina to corazon to otohime. the entire setting of the story is defined by roger’s legacy.

all those people are dead, but they’re sure as hell not forgotten- how can they be, when their legacies are actively shaping the world as a direct result of their lives and influences?

i really, really like the use of flags in one piece. flags are how you declare loyalty or war in equal measure, and flying a pirate flag is a declaration that you’re choosing freedom, come what may, over the laws of the world government. it’s just a really excellent running motif, and a great symbol of what one piece’s definition of piracy means.

this scene is also one of the ones that gets even more extra weight behind it when you know luffy’s full backstory with sabo, which i love.

chopper’s recruitment scene sums up one of the reasons luffy is really great. he just doesn’t care about a lot of things other people would normally take notice of. occasionally that gets him in trouble, but other times it leads to him responding to a situation exactly right, like here. chopper is listing off all his insecurities and reasons he can’t go with the strawhats, and luffy just flat doesn’t care. he wants chopper on his crew and he knows chopper wants to be on his crew, so as far as he’s concerned, there’s no issue at all.

it really is wild that the will of D is named this far back in the story, and has consistently been referenced and built up ever since in very slight ways, through comments by characters like robin and corazon, and yet we still know basically nothing about it.

and a toast to a new crewmate!!

continued in the next post, which covers alabasta arc proper.

[darthchic]

Whole Cake Island Arc - 7.5/10?

Felt like rating and writing about this arc, just to get it straight in my head how I feel about it. 

I wanna give it a higher rating, just from the pure emotions it gave me, especially since Luffy and Sanji are my two favourite One Piece characters, and I’d never really appreciated their relationship this much until now, but I’m with a lot of other critics who were displeased with the torturingly (that a word?) slow pacing in certain chapters. That really hurt (probably still not as bad as Dressrosa’s pacing though). To be fair, the pacing was really only bad during some sections of the Seducing Wood chapters, and then during the chapters 871-886 (til they finally got that damn cake moving!) The Seducing Wood chapters were saved by the Sanji backstory/family reveals, that stuff was great, but I never really cared about the Luffy vs Cracker fight. For me, anime fights can be pretty hit or miss since a lot of the time you feel like you already know who’s going to win, and since this fight occurred quite early on in the arc, it was a foregone conclusion that Luffy was going to win. I mean, what, he’s gonna lose, die and not meet Sanji? Pffft! I just wasn’t invested, but the Sanji stuff = Awesome. Everything between Chapters 844-870, I really loved/enjoyed, but then all the running away, making the cake, running away, and still making that damn cake!!!! ….Feels like that could have been shortened down somewhat, just saying. And I’m pretty sure a lot of other fans got frustrated in the same way as well.

I wasn’t even comforted by the Luffy vs Katakuri fight. I don’t know why. I like Katakuri, really like him, emphasis on like, but I didn’t get into the major hype of his character. I couldn’t tell you why, but I do wish I loved him as much as other fans do. It’s not fair!!! T_T

But maybe this is why I’m not too bothered by the outcome of their fight either, lack of investment. People seemed really angry over the way the fight ended, but I was just glad that it didn’t drag out much longer. I am pretty happy though, after reading Chapter 902, that there’s an implication that Katakuri may have slightly let Luffy win. (Seriously, I really do like Katakuri, the guy’s cool and I respect the dude.) A part of me did want Luffy to either lose or have the fight end ambiguously cause there’s only so many times in fiction where you see this supremely badass character get super hyped up, made to seem undefeatable, only to have the protagonist beat them through sheer willpower or friendship. That’s something that turned a lot of people off ‘Fairy Tail’ after all. Oda can usually pull off these kinds of fights without us rolling our eyes, and the Luffy vs Katakuri was decent, I guess I’m saying that if I had a chance to change things, I would have the fight play out mostly the same but to have the victor be a mystery (and eventually revealed in a later chapter), just to avoid too much major salt. Or, have Katakuri about to win, having Luffy at his mercy, only to let him leave because he really does know (or hint to know) that Luffy will become Pirate King, and he doesn’t want to interfere with that particular awesome future! But only I’d probably be satisfied with that ending.

I do like, for the most part how the arc ended. I’ve seen some people say that there’s a lot of loose ends left, but the only one that really bugs me is the threat against Zeff’s life/The Baratie. Are we to assume that they’re safe now? I don’t know why. All the way back in Chapter 852(?) I was scratching my head when even Reiju was telling Sanji that he doesn’t need to worry about Zeff or the Baratie, but why not? Big Mom was the one threatening Zeff’s life, right? And as we’d seen from a later Chapter (860 I think?), even some small time criminal that had been invited to the Tea Party and couldn’t attend had his father’s decapitated head sent to him (the scene was made into an even bigger deal in the anime), so why did anyone think that Sanji, the groom, running away from the wedding, wouldn’t have to face repercussions? And especially now that he was involved in an assassination attempt on her life, why would the extremely petty Big Mom let this go? Like for real, this all bothers me!!! Maybe it will still get brought up, and result in Sanji going to see Zeff again? Telling him to go into hiding or something? If this little thread is picked up again in any way, I think I’d be happy, cause I clearly can’t just sweep this under the rug.

One other major thing that a lot of people seem pissed about this arc is Sanji himself. Of course it’s the usual shebang: “Sanji is Lanji”, “Sanji be taking more Ls!”, “Sanji didn’t do anthing this arc!”, “Sanji was useless”, and so on and so forth. It’s annoying yet also hilariously ironic. To me, I would not be surprised if Oda based Vinsmoke Judge and Sanji’s brothers on all the fans that constantly rag on Sanji’s character. Look at Chapter 899 for Gawd’s sake, Judge says things like, “Sanji is worthless!”, “Sanji is weak!”, “All he does is cook!”, “He’s good for nothing!” and I swear these are the exact negative things that people have been saying about him. And they can’t see the bloody irony! For me, this arc, or the year of Sanji, was a tribute to Sanji’s character/values, not his fighting ability. We already know he’s an awesome fighter, why does he need to prove this again? Besides, he’s a Love Cook first, a fighter second. If he were given the choice between never cooking or never fighting again, which do you think he’d choose?

And besides, I don’t understand why anyone thinks that Sanji did nothing useful. Or didn’t achieve any wins. Here’s a list: Saved his friends from Bege & Co. (This may have happened before the arc officially started, but I’m still counting it), Discovered he’s in fact the ‘Success’ of his family rather than the ‘failure’ that his shitty family (and shitty fans) labelled him, Using just his sheer ‘Sanji-ness’ to prevent a bloodthirsty girl from murdering him, Saving his family/abusers and proving he’s a better man than his father (which we already knew anyway), Pioneering a cake that stopped Big Mom from completely destroying the Sunny, killing his friends and killing islands of people, and thanks to him being awesome and saving his family in the first place, he and Luffy got away from the Big Mom Pirates with their lives. Germa couldn’t have had their moment and swooped in to save the day if he hadn’t swooped in and saved them to begin with. To me, it feels like Oda really wanted to show Sanji’s kindness and passion for cooking saving the day, instead of him just using brute force/fighting ability, which someone like Judge prized above all else, but it’s Sanji’s ‘weak and useless’ qualities that come in the most handy in the end. So again, just seeing these certain fans act like real-life versions of Judge…. You just gotta facepalm man. Well done you guys (you know the ones), you would make great best friends with a man whose chin looks like a set of testicles.

So yeah, it’s really frustration that brings the rating down for me on this arc, and also wishing a few things here and there were written a little differently. It’s definitely an arc that everyone has differing opinions about, it’s not a universally loved arc like ‘Ennies Lobby’ or ‘Marineford’, or even a rather hated one like the ‘Fishman Island” arc. I’m still hoping we’ll get more discussion between the Straw-Hats about the Sanji beating Luffy incident, and I wanna know if Sanji’s face has healed or if he’s still wearing that mask. Only time will tell. Well, perhaps around May-time will tell, since we are technically on break now, right?

[cardamomoespeciado]

Researcher of Japan Institute of International Affairs and Researcher of Future Institute of Technology who published “Why Japan's“ Rightness ”does not pass on to the world” (Wedge), Assistant Professor of Kyoto University Resilience Practice Unit ○ This is the second part of a dialogue between Kyoko Hara and Former Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs, currently Ritsumeikan University visiting professor Sanji Yabunaka.

In the first part, we talked about public diplomacy, which is gaining importance in diplomacy today, and about the public diplomacy over the new coronavirus in China. In this second part, we will discuss the strategies of Japan, China and Korea in the United States, and the public diplomacy that Japan should aim for (interview date: March 16).

-Last time, you mentioned that the United States recognized Chinese media as a publicity agency. The central topic of this book is that Japan, China and Korea are competing in the public diplomacy in the United States. I would like to ask about the situation, but what kind of activities are you doing about China first?

Yabunaka: In the United States for the past two years, alertness to China has become extremely strong. As a public diplomacy, China has become a part of the American community by distributing advertisements called China Watch (edited by China Daily, which is run by the Chinese government and has almost the same composition as newspaper articles), and by opening Confucius Academy. I have been active. In contrast, parts of the United States, especially the State Department, are working fairly violently throughout the United States as propaganda, not public diplomacy.

○ Hara: The US government has recognized five Chinese state-run media as advertising agencies, and the State Department has announced that it will limit the number of Chinese employees working about 160 to a maximum of 100. Take advantage of the retaliation battle between the United States and China over the new coronavirus.

Regarding Confucius Institute, the FBI has been investigating whether it is spying. In addition to education, the United States has become increasingly cautious about China in various categories, including media, information and communication technology.

In 2015, we interviewed Prof. Yabunaka for an expert and conducted an interview survey in the United States. At that point, they said, "I don't see China Watch. I know it's a propaganda and throw it away. Some people, such as these intellectuals, may know that China Watch is a propaganda, while others may read it as a regular newspaper rather than a propaganda.

Confucius Institute is managed by the Chinese Ministry of Education under the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and is set up at universities around the world. Many local students can learn Chinese and Chinese culture there. Chinese dialects will also pay out for students studying in China, and students will learn Chinese and Chinese culture through Confucius Institute, and hopefully they can use their Chinese language skills and experience in business in the future. It seems that there are many cases.

Yabunaka: As a matter of fact, more than 300,000 students study abroad from China to the United States each year. Japan has less than 20,000 people. Considering 10 years, there will be considerable differences during the day. If half of the Chinese students stay in the United States for employment, the impact is immense.

Why the comfort women issue was accepted in the United States

"Why Japan's" rightness "doesn't reach the world? Japan-China-Korea fierce image battle" (Wedge, Kyoko Hara)

--What kind of activities are you doing in Korea?

○ Hara: Korean Americans are forming communities in various parts of the United States. However, each group is not connected systematically, there are groups of progressives and conservatives, each of whom has a purpose of activity, such as setting up comfort women.

Yabunaka: Korean Americans are more politically conscious than Japanese Americans. Japanese Americans lived with the desire to be "good American citizens" and had little political activity. Koreans form a community in the region and engage in political activities, which may affect elections. That is why we succeeded in building comfort women statues all over the United States. Moreover, the Chinese women and the comfort women statue worked well together.

像 Speaking of the comfort women statue, it was also great to catch the current trend of what is valued in American society. In other words, in the American community, public opinion on sexual offenses against women has become extremely severe, as evidenced by the fact that movie producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual assault. I think it's great to match that trend.

Hara: As with the comfort women issue, no matter how correct Japan's claim is, it cannot be effective unless it is in accordance with the society, public opinion, and interests of the partner country in which it wants to work.

――If you think about it, it is difficult to figure out how comfort women can be, no matter how much Japan argues, because the point of sexual violence against women has been removed. Why was the point shifted?

Yabunaka: If you are in Japan, you can only think with Japanese standards. For example, with regard to the new coronavirus, it was a major concern in Japan whether the Olympics would be held as planned (edited: it was later decided to hold them in 2021). However, from the world's point of view, the fear of infectious diseases and what will happen to their lives in the future are of greater concern than the Olympics.

At the time of the comfort woman statue, it was the idea in Japan that the Asahi Shimbun wrote a false article, so it was time to make a mistake and make a correct claim. However, it is a theory in Japan and does not work abroad. In the world, the eyes of sexual crimes against women were extremely severe.

Effective public diplomacy requires a good understanding of the world's movements and flows. There is criticism that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is bearish, but I think I have to win.

Hara: Liberal media, such as the New York Times, have a relatively severe tone in Japan, whether it's the comfort women issue or the coronavirus. In response, the Japanese government has filed a counter-claim in the name of the government if it determined that the article reported an incorrect fact. I don't often hear opinions in the U.S. when interviewing or asking stakeholders that such a post is effective, but what do you think of Yabunaka?

Yabunaka: Basically, it is the attitude of journalism that views things critically. In addition, the New York Times is a media that favors liberal thinking, and criticizes Japan for its conservativeness.

日本 Also, Japan may not yet understand what kind of public diplomacy is effective. If Japan is criticized or the wrong information flows through the media, it is at the very beginning of the public diplomacy to refute this. Moreover, if you refute in the name of the Japanese consul general, it will be seen as "public relations."

Hara: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has immediately argued in a post about whaling and comfort women in the New York Times. Of course, I understand that mistakes and misunderstandings must be rectified, but from my experience, I am worried that in some cases that would be counterproductive.

Yabunaka: If you make a mistake, it is better to ask for a correction. However, it has been a bitter experience that seeking rectification of criticism is not effective. I have to correct my mistakes, but I also have to positively communicate the goodness and assertions of Japan and increase the number of Japanese fans.

--What kind of public diplomacy did you do when you were a diplomat?

Yabunaka: I was embarrassed, but I had never been involved in such lofty diplomacy, and just fought (laughs). When you think about Japan's national interests, you have to think about what kind of country Japan needs to help in the event of an emergency. When I was at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I mainly worked with the president and lawmakers. But now, the meaning of public opinion has grown. Public diplomacy works on that public opinion.

Hara: Public diplomacy became an important political issue in Japan after the inauguration of the second Abe administration. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been investing about 70 billion yen annually since fiscal 2015 as a “strategic outgoing budget,” or public diplomacy budget.

When Professor Yabunaka came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, how much were you aware of public diplomacy?

Yabunaka: In the early 1980s, the Japan Foundation was established with the United States in mind. Therefore, it can be said that there was a problem awareness from that time.

However, at that time, you had only experienced Japanese traditional tea and flowers at the embassy. Perhaps they didn't know what to do.

-Since the second Abe administration, what kind of public diplomacy has been implemented, mainly with budget?

Hara: For example, Japan House business. As it is said to be "an initiative that is unique in the world," it has the function of disseminating Japan's various attractions and disseminating a base for all Japan. Kenya Hara was appointed as a general producer and Kengo Kuma was appointed as an architect, and was set up at three locations in London, UK, Los Angeles, USA and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Many Japanese people live in São Paulo. Although the generational change of Japanese Americans is progressing, it seems that the purpose of transmitting the charm of Japan and having them cooperate is because of the regional characteristics of pro-Japanese. Los Angeles is an entertainment city with California's first California statue of comfort women, and active Chinese and Korean communities. The west coast is thin compared to the east coast where Washington and New York are located. London is a base in Europe. In Europe, the cultural city of Paris seems to have been set up because the Japan Foundation is already home to the Japan Foundation.

――Lastly, what do you think of the current importance of public diplomacy?

Hara: In the current public diplomacy, we believe that who is wrong and what is wrong is not up to date. Instead, it is important to create a positive image by sending out a positive message that makes Japan think that Japan is an ally of your country as a whole.

Physical presence like the Japan House business is important, but what is particularly important is the training of young researchers who will take on diplomacy and international relations in the future. Not only accepting international students, but also Japanese people are going abroad, speaking out as Dr. Yabunaka says, and gaining a lot of experience. Even if you are ashamed, if you can discuss and impress firmly, you will have to go to the counterparts you met in the locality when they came to Japan and wanted to exchange opinions. You. Then, think tank researchers can interact with each other and have opportunities for joint research. Overseas, think tank researchers are often responsible for the next generation of diplomacy. Ideally, through such efforts, research and exchanges that would affect the relationship and foreign policy of Japan and the partner country would eventually progress.

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How Whole Cake Island Completely Changes One Piece

One Piece recently turned twenty-one-years-old. That means that, if I ever met the physical manifestation of One Piece in a bar, I could legally buy it a drink and not get arrested. “A round for me and my best friend,” I’d say to the bartender, motioning toward the pile of manga that I’ve arranged in a crude human shape on the seat beside me.

However, common pop culture logic says that if something lasts a long time, whether it’s a book series or a TV show, it absolutely has to become bad at a certain point. And with that logic, we should be saying “Oh, One Piece. That hasn’t been good in, oh my, 16 years.” But One Piece has yet to succumb to age. In fact, the Whole Cake Island arc, which is where the anime currently sits, might be the best arc in the entire series. How? Well, because it’s redefined One Piece in more ways than one.

In a series that has always been known for its boundless enthusiasm, Whole Cake Island feels as fresh as early One Piece, and that’s because…

It Subverted Typical One Piece Arc Structure

When Whole Cake Island began, it seemed like it was going to be a lot like the Enies Lobby arc. They both have stuff in common – they begin in the wake of Luffy and Luffy’s punches freeing a kingdom from an evil warlord (as he did in the Alabasta and Dressrosa arcs), events are set in motion after a crew mate abandons the Straw Hat Crew (Robin in Enies Lobby, Sanji in Whole Cake), and they deal with the crew facing near insurmountable odds (In Enies Lobby, the crew declares war on the World Government, and Whole Cake Island is owned by Big Mom, one of the Emperors of the Sea.)

But there are definitely worse things than One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda doing an Enies Lobby Remix Arc, seeing as Enies Lobby is one of the best anime arcs of all time, and the reason why we should have fiction in the first place. But then Luffy punched Big Mom, and Big Mom reacted like someone had thrown a ping pong ball at her. It was then that it became clear that maybe this wasn’t going to end in Luffy triumphantly walloping someone while orchestral music blared and people around the world fist pumped in approval.

  Because while Enies Lobby is about a rescue and a victory, Whole Cake Island is about a rescue and survival. They saved Robin and got the definitive win in Enies Lobby, but when gathering Sanji, they’re just gonna have to settle for the moral victory. It’s like those moments in an open world RPG when you decide to do a quest that is way above your level and you get decapitated before you can say “Wait, LET ME APPLY MY POTIONS.” The Straw Hat Crew was equipped to fight in Enies Lobby, but Whole Cake Island only should’ve been tackled after they had done a few more hours of level grinding.

So I totally understand why the Straw Hats spend so much time running away in Whole Cake. I’ve been knee deep in an RPG dungeon, desperately hoping that my stamina holds up so that I can get far enough away from the monster to heal myself. I get you, Luffy.

The “Boss” Of The Arc Is Unexpected

At this point, Big Mom is basically Godzilla. No one is equipped to stand up to her, meaning that the climactic fight is going to be between Luffy and someone else. And that someone is Charlotte Katakuri, Big Mom’s powerful son and owner of the raddest boots in all of anime.

  I won’t lie, when I first saw Katakuri, I told myself “Eh, I guess Sanji will duel this guy. HE’S NOT CAPTAIN LUFFY MATERIAL.” Oh, how foolish I was. I envisioned Luffy getting that inspirational HAWK ELEPHANT KONG GUN BAZOOKA against Big Mom, while Sanji talked about food and then kicked Katakuri out of his boots with an attack that was named after said food. That’s what I thought, which, in retrospect, is a very “Come on, Daniel. Do you even One Piece?” idea.

But then we learned that Big Mom couldn’t be stopped and that Katakuri was waiting on the Straw Hat’s ship, so it was gonna have to be Luffy versus Katakuri. And that is so much more exciting than Luffy fighting against Big Mom. It sets up Big Mom as an even bigger threat in the One Piece universe (Will anyone ever be able to take her down?) and it also better establishes the overwhelming strength and danger of the foes in the New World, where the action currently takes place.

Luffy is going to have an exhausting fight with Katakuri, who is technically the bigger villain’s sidekick. That’s like if Michael Keaton’s Batman couldn’t beat up the Penguin, so he instead spent hours trying to wrestle one of the clowns.  It’s wonderful is what I’m trying to say, and I applaud Eiichiro Oda for having the patience to not give us that Big Mom defeat satisfaction yet, and instead throw the world into even more chaos by leaving her as an obstacle not yet conquered.

By Being Apart, It Makes The Crew Stronger

I’m like you – I get a lot of joy out of seeing the entire Straw Hat crew all together. And little did I know that when Sanji, Nami, Chopper and Brook all left Dressrosa, that they’d be Luffy’s team in Whole Cake Island. And when Luffy made his team, Sanji wasn’t even on his side at the time. So he chose Nami, Chopper, Brook and the newcomers Pedro and Carrot. Not exactly the Straw Hat A Team. I don’t want to say that they’re the JV part of the crew, and that dudes like Zoro play for the Varsity league, but to be fair, Brook and Nami have had way less moments so far where they’re cutting apart villains that are the size of mountains.

  But with Zoro there, you know what Zoro would do – probably grumble and then slash things. With crew mates like Nami and Chopper, things get way more tactical. For example, recently, Nami began feeding small thunderclouds to Big Mom’s flying cloud Zeus, who ended up shocking Big Mom with a giant thunderbolt. I wouldn’t have even considered that as an option, which means that I’d last about four seconds in the One Piece universe.

  Or when the crew has to rescue Brook who, after having an awesome yet one sided fight with Big Mom, is now trapped in her clutches. Yes, a lot of it is played for comedy, but in a story that’s increasingly about powerful people doing powerful things to one another, you absolutely need moments like that. One of Eiichiro Oda’s strengths is that, no matter how “weak” he makes someone, all of the Straw Hat crew members matter. It isn’t just Luffy And His Amazing, Underwhelming Friends. Whole Cake Island gets you invested in these characters again, despite the fact that they rarely get to throw the knockout punch.

It Makes You Scared For The Characters For The First Time

It’s hard to get scared for the members of the Straw Hat crew. We know that Luffy is probably not gonna kick the bucket before the end, mainly because Zoro would look pretty dumb in a straw hat. That is, it was hard to get scared for them before the Whole Cake Island arc where, for the first time in years, I actually entered into conversations about which crew member was mostly likely to die.

For those that don’t read the manga and only watch the anime, 1) I’m not going to spoil anything, and 2) I respect your decisions. Because in both, there is the palpable sense of dread, the sense that something might go wrong at any time. That’s a hard atmosphere to capture in a shonen series, where many battles take the form of “You beat me, but now I will beat YOU.” I’ve never been so scared of losing one of my Straw Hat pals.

21 years in, and I’m finally starting to worry about the crew. So I guess that’s the biggest reason to keep up with One Piece if you may have dropped out of it – Whole Cake Island forces you to not look at these characters as typical protagonists, but as people that might get stomped to death by Big Mom.

Whole Cake Island makes you care, and that is why the Whole Cake Island arc is wonderful.

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Daniel Dockery is an editor for Cracked.com and a writer for Syfy. He has an absolutely adorable Twitter.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com