#she said it was around arlong park she really started getting invested

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

update about mom2's one piece watching experience:

she's in the middle of skypiea right now and we were talking earlier today about how she initially wasn't into the story at first and that she predicted she wouldn't like sanji or chopper (because my descriptions were very much ass lmao. reindeer doctor and cook who fights with only his legs were not great descriptors)

but she adores these guys, the dynamics, the political themes of the story (don't ask me who her fav character is so far though, she is too indecisive)

heard her singing hikari e earlier today when she was watching an episode and i am looking very forward to when she finally gets to water 7/enies lobby because she is very intrigued about robin's past and her motivations and i know she is going to go insane when she learns about ohara

plus i just want her to finally meet franky

(i also made her watch a video explaining all of the censorship surrounding the 4kidz dub by red bard on youtube. at the very least mom2 does think the pirate rap was an absolute banger and wishes that funimation bought it too lmaooo)

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Maffew

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Maffew, creator of the popular pro wrestling web series Botchamania. For my chat with him, he chose the Alabasta Arc, in which Luffy and his crew not only have to save a desert kingdom but also topple Baroque Works and its powerful leader Crocodile.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Alabasta arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Alabasta arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: So I guess my first basic question is, let’s say for some reason, I got to the end of Drum Island and I said “Well, One Piece ends here for me. This seems like a good finale.” What would you tell me to keep me going into the Alabasta Arc in one sentence?

  Maffew: Well, after Chopper has made all the kids cry, you’ll need pickin’ up.

  That’s pretty good! What was the impetus for you getting into One Piece? What made you want to jump into an anime that’s nearly one thousand episodes long at this point?

  I think I tried watching it on YouTube back in 2009, and I just couldn’t get into it. At that point in my life, I wasn’t ready for a character like Luffy and his adventures, and I couldn’t wait for the villains he fought to kill him. So I dropped it. A year later, I’m in Germany and this wrestler ACH was doing a Q&A panel for this German wrestling organization called WXW. And ACH is a REALLY big One Piece fan, and even dresses up as Luffy in New Japan and Ring of Honor. And I was like “Hey, you watching JoJo?” because that was my thing at the time, and he was like “No, no. Just One Piece.” I said, “What else are you watching?” “Just One Piece.” And I’m like “Wait, what? Just the one?” But he was sellin’ it to me like he was a One Piece ad on QVC. And guys like Steve Yurko are so passionate about it, and if one person tells ya to watch something, you’re like “Eh, whatever,” but if five people tell you, you start to pay attention. So I’m gonna blame ACH and my good friend Steve Yurko for this.

    What do you like about this arc in particular?

  You get so much wonderful worldbuilding. They go to Alabasta, meet up with Mr. 2, and it’s one of those cool interactions where they’re meeting, but they don’t know who they are meeting exactly, like when they meet Blackbeard in Jaya. So later on, they’re like “Oh, it’s THEM!” There’s a real sense of everything not being really pre-determined at this point. It’s building everything through a bunch of pirates just doing stuff. Ace shows up, knocks out some assassins so he can get his royalty checks.

  That’s such a funny way to put it.

  Then we get Kung-Fu Dugongs, and they’re a pretty pure expression of One Piece. They’re all synchronized, they’re adorable, they play their part amid all the serious stuff, and they’re completely ridiculous, but they work anyway. And it’s with Alabasta that Eiichiro Oda starts to perfect the tropes that he puts into place throughout, with the new islands, the new leader who everyone loves but is actually a bad person, the crew having to deal with him and the Navy, them having to help put someone back in their position, etc. And even though, on paper, it reads like “Well, he’s gotta beat this dude and this dude and this dude,” it’s so much more chaotic and less formulaic than you’d expect. It keeps things interesting. 

  I agree. I like how he takes all of these pieces and he’s consistent with them, but Oda always plays around with how he sets them up.

    But it’s all a foot massage before the real reason to watch Alabasta: Sir Croc. 

  Are you a big fan of him? That dude is so cool, conniving and powerful. He’s kinda the perfect villain. 

  Back when I was being miserable and first watching One Piece, I really liked him. I like the design, the sand powers that could actually pose a threat. I always appreciate it when a villain provides actual tension. It’s like why I think Goldeneye is still the best James Bond film. Because Alec Trevelyan is constantly reminding Bond “Remember, I could kill you. I’m from the same place as you. I can take your exploding watch and just, eh, I’ll stop that then. Thank you.” And Luffy loses twice to him in the three-match structure that really works here as it did for wrestling in the 70s.

  How so?

  So you’d have somebody like champion Bruno Sammartino and someone like Ivan Koloff or one of the Wild Samoans or Stan Stasiak. They’d have one match where the hero would beat Bruno by disqualification. Bruno’s still around to fight, but he’s lost. Luffy survives being thrown in the sand, but he’s been beaten. Then they have the second match, where Bruno would win because the villain would just give up and leave and get counted out. Luffy attacks Crocodile with water, but it’s not enough, and Crocodile just kinda leaves Luffy thinking it’s all done. And then Bruno would be like “Oh no ya don’t. Next time, you won’t be able to escape, because we’re gonna be in a cage match.” And then Bruno wins, just like Luffy wins by punching Crocodile up through that giant enclosed space. He escapes the cage.

      It’s just so satisfying and that’s a great way to describe it. So, villains in the series have had extensive crew members before, but they haven’t been as recognizable and colorful as Croc’s crew, Baroque Works. Do you have a favorite member?

  They’re all good in their own way, but at this point, I’m gonna go with Mr. 2. Eh, that’s probably too obvious an answer…

  Mr. 2 is a lot of people’s favorite member. 

  Oh, who cares. I’ll go with Mr. 2. I like how Mr. 2 interacts with everyone, having fun with the boys and fighting Sanji with kicks but respecting him. 

  So, in this arc, there’s a lot of government intrigue and a revolution is about to happen, and everyone’s dissatisfied with their perception of the monarchy. How did you react to all of this political drama in One Piece? 

  Well, it’s great because you have Vivi, and you get to learn her motivations and because she’s on the crew, it gives you a reason to care for the crew and how all of the political intrigue affects them. Without her, you’d just hear about a war and say “Oh, sorry about that. Hope it goes well.” And with all this lore being thrown at you because you have Vivi and that connection, it’s adding to the main conflict, rather than distracting.

  Yeah, Vivi really grounds it all with a personal attachment. Because otherwise it’s just savin’ the kingdom, which is cool and they’re good for it, but it doesn’t have the same impact. So, they did this back in the Arlong Park arc, but what returns here is the kind of 1 vs 1 match structure, where a member or members of the enemy crew are matched up against a Straw Hat or Hats. Mr. 1 has knife body parts, so he’s obviously gonna fight Zoro. Mr. 2 kicks and Sanji kicks, etc. What do you think about that kind of matchmaking, because it’s also a little wrestling-esque.

    Yeah, right, like if you have D-Generation X fighting the Nation of Domination, you can’t just have The Rock fighting Triple H. Ya gotta have D’Lo Brown vs X-Pac and The Godfather vs Billy Gunn. I like it because the characters feel like they have to prove themselves, like Zoro’s a swordsman, and he’s gotta test himself against another swordsman. And Usopp does it when he fights Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas with Chopper, because they have a weird dynamic and they’re fighting two people and they have no clue what they’re up against. 

  So, at the end of the arc, they do the iconic “We can’t let Vivi become associated with pirates so we’ll hold up the X symbols on our arms in solidarity” pose. What did you think about that? Because it’s one of the most famous images in One Piece, and it’s hard to avoid it, even if you’ve never watched the series. Was that your first time seeing it?

  It actually was. And I’m glad you brought this up because I was watching it and I thought “Wait, they’re just going? They’re not even keeping the duck?” And then they do that with the X and the original opening starts playing and I get goosebumps just remembering it. That really hit me. Because it finally got me really emotionally invested in the series. Made me feel a bit cheeky. 

      ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  So, considering you’re such a huge pro wrestling fan, your lightning round is gonna be a bit different. I’m gonna say a Straw Hat that’s in the crew at this point and you tell me which wrestler they’re the most like. You can also tell me what time period they’d fit the most in, since wrestler personalities tend to change. So, Luffy?

  Gotta be Cena. Specifically? With Luffy’s attitude? Probably 2015 defending-the-United States-Championship John Cena.

  Zoro?

  He’s all business, he likes to fight. So I gotta go with Cesaro.

  Sanji?

  Going with Eddie Guerrero.

  Usopp?

  That character is all over wrestling - the underdog who isn’t very good and uses every trick in the book to win. Gonna go with MJF. He had one of my favorite matches of this year against Cody Rhodes and he just had to use EVERYTHING to beat him - brass knuckles, distraction, chairs, everything he could to get that win. But he could be MJF, could be The Miz, could be Mikey Whipwreck from ECW, take your pick.

  Nami?

  Hmmm. Becky Lynch. 

  Chopper?

  KeMonito 

  Robin?

  Oh, she shows up after being booed for ages and you’re supposed to like her, so 2019 Charlotte Flair.

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with One Piece's official English manga translator Stephen Paul on his favorite One Piece arc: Skypiea!!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: Daniel Dockery

[nonbinaryfrillish]

Once More, This Time Without Drowning by ailavyn-siniyash fandom: One Piece words: 1485 AO3 link

time-travelled straw hats take down arlong and confuse a lot of people (nojiko) along the way i wrote this on a whim for @fallingfish and have no context for it but it’s a good time so enjoy yourself (full fic under the cut)

Nojiko wouldn't have known it, but the Straw Hat Pirates arrived at Cocoyashi village half a day earlier than last timeline and four times more united, clustered around the Going Merry's figurehead in frightening solidarity.

All she knew was that Nami had come home, and she looked different, something between at peace and gleefully vengeful.

"Nojiko!" Nami yelled from the deck of an unfamiliar ship, making what was essentially a running leap off the side and landing a foot in front of her sister, thankfully not disturbing the basket of tangerines Nojiko was carrying over to Genzo's. Always a careful one, her sister. Although the jumping ability was certainly new.

"Nami," said Nojiko, pulling coldness over her face to keep the charade up. Nami, we're in public, what gives?

"Don't bother," said Nami, something like vindictive euphoria in her familiar cheeky smile. (She's smiling!) "It's about time to pay Arlong what he's due. Gather the villagers for me, would you? They'll enjoy this, I'm sure."

"Nami?" Nojiko was certain Nami could hear her confusion. This wasn't the simple joy of finally being able to buy back the village. There was something else here. "What's going on?"

"You'll see," said Nami, sticking out her tongue. Nojiko decided that she kind of wanted to strangle her sister. Nami and cryptic went together like Bellemere and quitting smoking.

Before Nojiko could make good on her impulses, though, four unfamiliar people (wait... was that Pirate Hunter Zoro?) launched themselves from the ship and landed next to Nami.

One of them, a lanky kid in a straw hat with a smile vicious as Nami's eyes, tilted his head at the two of them. "Ready, Nami?"

Nami turned to look at him and grinned back, matching the viciousness. "Never readier, Captain."

???

"Seriously, Nojiko, get the villagers," said Nami. "They're not gonna wanna miss this show."

"Who are they?" asked Nojiko, because really. Come on, Nami, at least introduce the people you're going to execute your -- whatever you're doing with.

"Oh, that's my captain, Monkey D Luffy," said Nami, glancing in the straw-hatted boy's direction again. "The long-nosed one is Usopp, our sniper, Sanji-kun there is the cook, and the swordsman is Roronoa Zoro." She looked back at Nojiko and blinked innocently. "Did I not tell you, Nojiko? I joined the Straw Hat Pirates."

Nojiko, again, experienced the distinct urge to strangle her sister. "No, you didn't, actually."

The captain, Luffy, laughed loudly and cheerily. "She's my navigator and my precious friend!"

Nojiko blinked at him, and then decided to just accept this because he was either someone Nami had hoodwinked and therefore was about to get murdered by Arlong, or somehow this was all sincere and he was still about to get murdered by Arlong, so she'd best not get too attached. But Nami looked so happy. Well, under the icy vengeance, anyways.

"Anyways, let's go kick Arlong's ass!" said Luffy.

"Um, what?" said Nojiko. Was he an idiot? She glanced around at the little group of pirates. None of them looked cowed. Not even Nami, who should definitely know better. She decided to just ask. "Are you an idiot?"

"He made Nami sad," said Luffy, firmly, not answering her question at all. "Let's go."

They turned abruptly and walked off, all focused purpose. Nojiko decided that she was out of her depth.

"Don't forget to bring the villagers!" Nami shouted back, cheerfully. "Meet you at Arlong Park!"

Nojiko opened her mouth to say something back, but then noticed that pretty much the entire population of the village had gathered around while she wasn't looking, clearly interested in the newcomers who had arrived with Nami. They also looked perfectly ready to follow after.

Nojiko felt Genzo's hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, but his eyes were glued to the retreating backs of that idiot and his crew and Nami  "Nami believes they can do it," said Genzo, quietly, as though contemplating. "And she knows Arlong best of all of us."

"She looked happy," said Nojiko. "Like, really happy."

Understanding passed between them, and they ran after the Straw Hat Pirates, the rest of the village at their backs.

They arrived at the gates of Arlong Park in good time, a confused mob following safely behind the pirates, who didn't even look back once. It was almost a shock to see them stop in front of the massive doors, so invested had Nojiko been in watching them walk.

Nami looked over at Luffy and grinned that vicious grin again. "I want to see his face when he realizes he's beaten, Luffy. Give him hell."

"Oh, I will," said Luffy, and there was something like a grim promise in his tone.

And then his arm stretched back to an inhuman length (what the hell?) and snapped back, his fist impacting the doors with tremendous force.

They fell.

The fishmen inside turned, gaping, and Nojiko took distinct pleasure in the silence of complete and utter shock.

Just as they were beginning to start up a confused and outraged chorus of shouting, Luffy jumped casually into the courtyard. "So, which one of you is Arlong?" he asked, in the same tone a person would use to make small-talk. "I kind of forgot."

Nami put her hand on her forehead and sighed. "Idiot captain."

"A HUMAN DARES TO PUT A HOLE IN MY WALL?" growled Arlong, from where he lounged in his chair. Nojiko almost jumped back instinctively, even though his glare and his menacing presence as he stood was all focused on Luffy. "DO YOU REALIZE WHO YOU ARE?"

"Ah, it's you," said Luffy, still in that calm voice that Nojiko was beginning to realize meant danger. "And of course I know who I am! I'm the man who's going to be King of the Pirates!"

A flat statement, as certain as anything else he had said so far. Nojiko felt her eyes widen. Nami, what have you gotten yourself into?

"You? A no-name human? Pirate King?" Arlong laughed, loudly, mockery echoing off the walls.

And then suddenly he was choking, falling to his knees as his subordinates collapsed to the ground around him like ragdolls.

What?

Luffy stood at full height in the middle of it all, pride of presence hanging off him like a cloak. He advanced slowly on Arlong, who looked like he was struggling to stay conscious.

"You can use the Conquering King's Haki," Arlong gasped out, shock and horror written all over his face. "In the East Blue?"

"Where did you think Gol D Roger was from, Raftel?" bit back Luffy, sarcastic.

Whatever the force pushing him down was, it seemed to increase, or else Arlong lost his battle against it, because he collapsed suddenly to be spread-eagle on the ground, glaring helplessly at Luffy.

"You made my navigator cry," said Luffy. "This is merciful."

And with that, Arlong collapsed into unconsciousness and Luffy turned away to face his audience, smile bright. "Nami!"

"Yeah?"

"You are my friend!"

"Yeah!"

Nojiko hadn't heard Nami sound so happy in eight entire years.

Luffy's grin as he stared at Nami was wide and satisfied and adoring, and Nojiko, still trying to process Arlong's unconscious body, could glimpse why Nami decided to call this man captain. "Shishishishi. Good!" Luffy turned to stare at the three-story building that was Arlong Park, frowning critically. "Now for that ugly thing."

"Luffy, wait!" said Nami. He turned back to her, questioning. "Usopp, I know you haven't finished putting together my clima-tact, but it's close enough to done that I can call up a storm, right?"

The long-nosed boy dug a couple lengths of metal out of his bag and tossed them over to Nami. "Control might be finicky, but you should be good to go."

"Right," she said. "Luffy, I'll take care of Arlong Park."

"Have fun!" chirped Luffy, plopping down to sit on the ground as Nami advanced to stand near him.

Then, Nami did... something with her metal rods and blue bubbles emerged and floated up into the air, followed by red bubbles. Before Nojiko knew it, a nasty-looking storm cloud had formed above the building. Nami looked very satisfied, and sent several yellow bubbles floating up towards it.

"Thunderbolt tempo!"

And the sky crashed down, a flurry of lightning-bolts slamming into the roof of Arlong Park. It cracked under their pressure, and then crumbled like a sandcastle against the tide into a smoking crater.

Nojiko stared, wide-eyed. Nami did that?

Nami whistled. "Damn, Usopp, I see what you meant about control."

Luffy laughed, carefree as the breeze, and then turned to stare seriously at Nami. "Are you satisfied?"

"My village is free, that asshole is thoroughly humiliated, we're about to go on the most incredible adventure..." She waves her arms as though encompassing the entire world. "Captain, the only way I could be more satisfied is if we weren't practically broke."

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Steve Yurko

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Steve Yurko, co-host of The One Piece Podcast, a podcast with a subject you can probably guess. He's also a former storyboard artist for Rick & Morty and is currently working for Netflix Animation. As a ride-or-die Sanji fan, Steve chose the Baratie Arc, where Luffy and the gang run into an East Blue restaurant with a cool chef that loves to cook and kick.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Baratie arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: So a friend tells you, "I'm done with the Syrup Village arc and I'm not sure if I want to watch this next one. I think I might be tapped out on this whole One Piece thing. In one sentence, how do you get them to stay and watch the Baratie arc?

  Steve Yurko: The Baratie arc laid down the foundation and created the formula of the One Piece arc as we know it.

  That's pretty good!

  Yeah, I’d say that, when I first started it, One Piece was my third favorite. I was more of a fan of series like Shaman King and Naruto, but after Baratie, things shifted. It was a turning point for me. I would hope that it would do the same for anyone who’s, say, previously apathetic towards the series.

    How old were you when you first read it? Or watched it?

  It feels weird to say this, but my introduction to One Piece was Chapter 1. Like Dragon Ball Z, the first episode I can remember watching was, like, Yamcha training on King Kai’s planet, and I’d get Goku and Yamcha confused and stuff, because I had just dived in. So for me to start a story like One Piece from the beginning is kind of rare. I was 15, I think.

  So, we're jumping into Baratie, and we first see the guy with the brass knuckles, Fullbody. He's trying to act cool on a date and he's being mean to everyone else. And then we have Sanji being typical Cool Sanji and Fullbody acts up and Sanji just tears through him. How did you react? Did you know immediately that you'd like this waiter?

  Well, I don't want to alarm you here, but my first thought was “Sanji’s cool!” I’d seen images of him before, and I saw his black suit and blond hair and I figured, “Oh, another crew member, probably. Looks distinct enough.” So I often have to look back and wonder “Did I like him because of his edgy coolness?” but I think now it’s because there were more layers to him. Like, he definitely stands out from the other Straw Hats, but he also has this distinct fighting style with cool reasoning. He’s a cook and he doesn’t want to bust up his hands trying to punch people in the face, so he uses his feet. So, he does like these cool capoeira kicks, which only gets better as they go along because I feel like so many anime characters, the stronger they get, the more they start to fight the same with fast volleys of punches and laser blasts. So Sanji’s kicks are a great way to differentiate himself from the main cast and other anime heroes. 

  So, then we have Luffy, he shows up by damaging the Baratie. Enter: Zeff. Full disclosure: In my infinite naivete when I first watched One Piece, I thought Zeff was going to be the new crew member. And then I thought Gin was going to join the Straw Hat crew. And then when Sanji finally joined, I was like, "This guy? Really? Dark horse candidate over here."

  You didn’t know yet?

    I guess I hadn't watched the first ED yet — when the crew slowly shows up and stands beside one another.

  You saw Usopp’s silhouette appear and thought, “Eh, I’ve seen enough.”

  "That must be all of them."

  It happens.

  So, you meet Zeff, and you learn about Sanji and Zeff's relationship, and we get a big One Piece flashback. What do you think of that? Because it would become a staple of the series to kinda pause, see what happened to an important guy, and then come back.

  Such an incredible story and so gruesome and terrifying. Sanji’s original flashback is so underrated because it could happen to anyone! Like, you’d have to go out of your way to get stranded on an island, but going days and weeks without food or any real comfort? I think people underestimate how traumatizing that would be. And then Zeff losing his leg because he hacked it off for food, it’s brutal. Just thinkin’ about that, I feel it in my shins. Because that almost happened to me with a minor injury. I let a minor injury get infected, and I could’ve been close to losing a leg.

    Wait, what? Gahd.

  I was doing box jumps at a gym, and my shin hit the corner of this wooden crate.

  Yeah, those things have no give in them.

  Absolutely. And at the time, I thought it was just this dark spot on my shin. And I figured it was, ya know a bruise. So I let it be. And then I picked at the scab and I realized “Wow, that’s a little deeper than I thought. I guess I’ll go to the doctor if it gets worse.” And I kept going to the gym, wearing pants over like this open wound. And my left leg is so swollen. So I went to two different doctors, as the first one did tests and then sent me to another one. And when this doctor saw me, the look on her face said “Oh, this is bad.” So I laughed out loud about how dumb I was and the doctor turned to me and said “This isn’t funny. This IS SERIOUS.” It had gotten infected with bacteria and it was spreading, and she just took a sharpie and drew around the infected area, and gave me antibiotics and was like “You have to keep this elevated, and if the redness goes outside of this line, go to the hospital.” But luckily, I recovered, even though the doctors were like “Honestly, we thought you’d go to the hospital.” So when Zeff severs his foot with a rock, how does anyone not feel that? 

  Do you think that's one of the reasons Luffy is fascinated by Sanji at first? His mentor, Shanks, lost his arm and was cool about it. Zeff lost his leg and was cool about it. Basically twins.

  That’d be an interesting conversation that we never got to see. Just two dudes talking about how weird it is that both their father figures did that, with only Luffy thinking it’s cool. 

    Don Krieg's ship gets blown in half by an incomprehensibly cool character, Mihawk, the first Warlord to appear in the show. You see Mihawk arrive — what is your reaction to him? Because it's not a case of "The villain of the villain is my friend," but rather "Oh, he did that to the villain? I hope he does not do that to us, as that would suck."

  It’s almost like the good guys meeting the bad guys, and then a tornado comes in. But here’s the thing: I missed the issue of Jump where Zoro fought Mihawk. So I assumed that Zoro had just won. The greatest swordsman in the world shows up and Zoro beats him. Boom. The climax of his character arc has been achieved. Nothing left for Zoro. 

  He just did it.

  I didn’t find out until so much later that Zoro lost. I wasn’t quite aware of what made for a captivating story yet. At that time, an obstacle appears, an obstacle gets taken out, ya move on. I almost want to apologize to Mihawk. 

  I love how One Piece does this though. They do it with Smoker and Aokiji and the like. It reminds me of The Witcher III when you go off the path a little bit, and you're at a Level 4 and then a Level 39 Gryphon swoops down and decapitates you. It keeps the "power levels" interesting.

  Luffy starts up Breath of the Wild and goes right for Calamity Ganon. But Mihawk is like the analogy for the Grand Line. He represents it, without revealing too much. Mihawk is like a Pizza Hut demo disc of danger.

  I really like that. And no one knows, to this day, exactly how powerful he is. Over 20 years later, and we're still wondering how he matches up against Shanks or Blackbeard or whatever. One Piece has so many characters where Oda hasn't shown his full hand in regards to them, yet we're totally emotionally invested in them. That's good storytelling.

  He’s doing something right. And I love that Mihawk has a little character arc here, too, where he shows up nonchalantly slicing up Krieg’s ships, probably doesn’t expect much, and then he’s taken aback by Zoro’s gusto, because he hasn’t seen anyone like that in a while. And he slices Zoro down. But he respects him, when in the beginning, he clearly didn’t respect anyone around. Mihawk wants to see him be better and try to take him down one day. For him to willingly build someone up like that is rare. Like Frieza wouldn’t do that.

    So, Don Krieg — what were your opinions of him at the time? Because he's a really bad guy surrounded by more morally grey guys like Mihawk and Gin.

  What I like about the East Blue saga is that every main villain is an antithesis of Luffy and what makes Luffy a truly great captain. Buggy is all about treasure. Kuro is about ambition and the fortitude to be a pirate. Krieg is about might and strength, and Krieg thinks he has both of those because of his weapons and armor. But Luffy has willpower and ambition and doesn’t let the world change his views. Luffy is incorruptible whereas Krieg is willing to poison his own crew when stuff starts going south. Krieg isn’t fondly remembered, but he really serves his purpose in the story.

  So, after Krieg is defeated, Sanji turns down Luffy's offer to join the Straw Hat crew. Now, he knows this is a bad idea. He's not gonna find the All Blue floating around on the Baratie. Why doesn't he go immediately?

  Well, he knows it’s a bad idea but he’s completely misinterpreting Zeff’s sacrifice. He feels that since Zeff sacrificed his leg, he has to repay him by working for him indefinitely. But the reason that Zeff did that was because he wants Sanji to live on and chase his dream. That’s why Zeff took pity on him in the first place. He’s an older, worn-down man now, and he stopped chasing his dream. And now he wants to see Sanji or someone get a win. It lifts his spirit to see Sanji and live kinda vicariously through him. 

  So, the second time I ever cried over One Piece was during Sanji's goodbye and Zeff's "Don't catch a cold." The first time was when that little dog was trying to protect his dead owner's shop in Orange Town, but that's a different story. But this shot of Sanji on his knees thanking Zeff with all the cooks surrounding them is so iconic, and Sanji's acting like it's a gift that Zeff gave him that Sanji could never repay, while as you said, Zeff just wants Sanji to be happy. What did you get out of that? I assume that you're a human with human emotions.

  I cry every time I watch that. When I first saw it, I was like “How? How is a series this good?” And there’s so much to that ending sequence. Because the Baratie is built on this rough, angry masculinity. Just these dudes being mean and fighting each other and customers all the time. There’s never a time or a place for lending a shoulder to someone else. No emotional embraces of any kind. Just everyone berating everyone. No one can open up — just stupid man babies. And then you get to this moment where Sanji is leaving and they’re all trying to be cool while playing it off. Especially Zeff, who can’t give a legitimate goodbye, but rather a “Don’t catch a cold.” But there’s so much to that statement and the facade crumbles. All these grown men start bawling. 

    I've never thought about it that way. There's all these little hints of kindness, like feeding the bad guys, and it's a masculinity powder keg. And then Sanji, in an ultimate display of putting his heart out there, bows to the man who saved him and the keg explodes. That's really cool.

  ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite One Piece character?

  Sanji

  Favorite One Piece villain?

  Enel

  Favorite One Piece moment?

  March to Arlong Park

  Favorite Straw Hat Crew pairing?

  Luffy and Zoro

  Favorite moment of the new Wano anime arc?

  Soba Mask’s debut

  If you could eat one Devil Fruit, what would it be?

  Whatever Kanjuro’s fruit is

  Moment that made you cry the hardest?

  Sanji leaving the Baratie

  Moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  Straw Hats at the Tower of Justice standing across from Robin

  One Piece location that you'd like to live in?

  Whole Cake Island. Ya eat well, ya know, you can survive Big Mom

  Favorite fight scene?

  Sanji vs Mr. 2, of course

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Botchamania creator Maffew about his favorite One Piece arc: Alabasta!!

        Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery