If you ever get the chance watch melontees videos, one of her perspectives on this that I loved was that the whole Sanji Luffy interaction was proof that he learned from his mistakes with Usopp. Usopp’s self esteem was rock bottom and he was seeing himself as disposable just like the merry, and maybe if Luffy had told Usopp how much he meant to him and the crew and how valuable he was than maybe things could’ve gone differently. Luffy made sure there was no chance of that same misunderstanding with Sanji. Luffy made damn sure Sanji knew how valuable and important he was to Luffy and the crew.
If we go back to the scene in Thriller Bark where Sanji flashes back to him reading the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia we can see that he's wearing his 3 shirt from when he was growing up before he hit puberty and before Zeff beat the "no hitting women" rule into him. This is where and when he developed his desire for the Clear Clear fruit. He didn't want it so that he could spy on girls, he wanted it so he could hide from his abusive family. The perv stuff was an excuse.
Do you know what chapter is it? I just went and looked at 463 and 464 (Absalom fight) and I couldn’t find anything. We see him reading it in 840. Am I missing something?
I think one thing that wholecake perfectly touched on was how no matter how strong or big you get, your abusers know how to make you into a scared little kid all over again.
Watching Sanji backstory you can have a better understanding of why he was so protective of Usopp in Water 7/Enies Lobby. Sani grew up being called useless and weak, and he didn't want to Usopp to feel the same way
Both in the manga and the anime, this feels like a moment where post-timeskip one piece comes into its own, where it feels functionally, and in some ways thematically, distinct from the first half. It was magical to witness for the first time, and the setting probably helped with that feeling!
I'll state the obvious and say that thematically, the difference is easier to spot. Oda got into Game of Thrones in the five microseconds of free time he gave himself every month, had doffy call the new era the "throne wars", and made a red wedding arc.
Eiichiro Oda always reminded me of Terry Pratchett. In fact, they're my two favorite fantasy authors. They have the same mastery of puns, absurdism, and worldbuilding off of said absurd puns. This arc feels summed up by this Terry Pratchett quote: “Why does the third of the three brothers, who shares his food with the old woman in the wood, go on to become king of the country? Why does James Bond manage to disarm the nuclear bomb a few seconds before it goes off rather than, as it were, a few seconds afterwards? Because a universe where that did not happen would be a dark and hostile place. Let there be goblin hordes, let there be terrible environmental threats, let there be giant mutated slugs if you really must, but let there also be hope. It may be a grim, thin hope, an Arthurian sword at sunset, but let us know that we do not live in vain.” This quote was how I described Sanji felt to me even before we learned of the Vinsmokes. (Because of the hope and James Bond bit, Sanji's Mr Prince and closing the gate at Enies Lobby moments were what sealed it for me.) And with Wholecake it's even moreso.
No he didn't. He murdered them. Homies have a will of their own like how Zeus went to Nami. Either Brooke needs to save Zeus from Nami keeping him as a slave or Zeus as his own person happy to be with Nami and Brooke killed the homies instead of freeing them.
I love that Whitebeard is the opposite side of the same coin to Big Mom. One being found family and unconditional love, while the other is biological family and very conditional love.
I love how Luffy learned from his fight from Ussop. During that fight he nearly said something he would have regretted which pushed Ussop so far when what he should have said was: "without you I can't be pirate king"
I took Judges decision to remove his children's emotions as a reaction to whatever trauma he probably has. I think a rash decision or emotional attachment led to something horrible for Germa66 and he was the survivor. Maybe the purge that pushed them to the sea. He grossly overcompensated trying to make his children invulnerable in all ways. It's the only way I can see Sanji's mom being with him, he must have turned into this horrible man over time.
as someone who recently became an American citizen the life cost of Tottoland is reminiscent of the fact American citizens have to continue to pay those taxes even if they leave the country if they want to stay a citizen
There's a lot I could say about whole cake but one of my favorite things about it is that it really verified Brooke to a lot of people that for some reason still hadn't fully accepted him into the crew, I think part of the issue with Brooke was them separating immediately after thriller bark, it ease tensions in the anime by having that filler in between but like if you were reading just the manga and like however many chapters that we get this new character he's gone you know I can see why after the times get people just didn't have as much fun with them, so out of everything he's done this Arc has probably been his best showing as a character overall, I wish he had more of a role within the one piece film red movie but that's an entirely separate topic
I think it says a lot that the main examples of people who are willing to go against Mama are women of the Charlotte family. The men like Peros, Oven, and Cracker are all stuck in Toto Land, if they're married their wives are there with them. But Praline went with the Sun Pirates when she married Aladin, Lola went out on her own, and Chiffon went with the Firetank Pirates when she married Bege. All of them found communities outside the abusive Charlotte family and their husbands and crews genuinely care for them. They saw that there's more to life and experienced men who were kind to them, who love them, and the way they were raised was wrong. It may not be in all cases, obviously Smoothie, Amande, Brulee, etc are still there, but there is a pattern of those who get away from Toto Land turn out better, and most of them are women.
Because they have their own family to take care of now. A lot of the men are single, and characters like Katakuri take a fatherly role over their siblings and also sort of try to steer his mom towards the goal. Its very much her sons and younger daughters trying to basically take care of their mom who’s stuck in a child’s mentality, while the older women who are married and/or have husbands don’t really feel like dealing with their mom’s bullshit.
Still working my way through this arc with the limited free time I have at the moment. Looking forward to coming back and seeing this once I'm caught up! But I'll still give mama drawk a like and a subscribe, cause y'all deserve it!
I just gotta say I love all these vids I’ve been listening for a while and I’ve recommended so many of my friends, ,some of the ways mama drok describes stuff actually brings me to tears, love this channel!!!
44:46 Big Mom naming her first homie Prometheus makes a lot of sense to me. He is the fire that she herself took from Mother Carmel, whom she reveres almost like a god several decades later. One could even go one step further and argue that killing Mother Carmel is Big Mom's cardinal sin for which she is not punished for having her liver eaten out eternally - but she infuses edibles with her own soul and eats some of them!
I’m so glad y’all discuss Luffy’s readiness to give up his dream if he has to do it alone. He will give his life for the pursuit of his dream, but he would rather surrender his dream than a single one of his friends. “Without you I won’t… I can’t become the Pirate King.” One of my favorite lines in a series full of great lines. I’ve never read this as Luffy not believing he has the strength to do it without Sanji, but as Luffy declaring that he simply isn’t willing to do so. His life is a cost he can accept but he will not and cannot surrender his friends. Up there among my favorite moments and vastly under appreciated imho.
The real question is, is the existence of the mirror dimension contingent on the active use of the fruit? Like, if the user dies, does the dimension and everything in it cease to exist until a new user comes about? There's a thought for ya.
When you were talking about Germa being Nazi inspired that was really interesting because a lot of the biggest superhero comics were created in response to the Nazis.
@@DANCERcow they aren't literal Nazis but they are a fascist military state with an obsession with weapons and eugenics. Oda uses pun names/etc to layer additional themes and aesthetics onto his ideas not to just make a single analogy. There are WAY to many comparisons to be coincidence
@DANCERcow Germa is one syllable away from Germany, the 66 is a parallel to the SS, complete with eugenics, warmongering, and national military conquest. Judge has a Kaiser Wilhelm mustache. The throne room has the German War Eagle, and several skulls (Like the Nazis used to use a lot). Germ certainly comes from science/germ theory as well, but that science is just something to tie it to Germany during WW2 even further. They're evil science eugenics guys trying to make an Ubermensch. So, Nazis.
I've been waiting for Mama's take on WCI, it's one of my top favorite arcs. I was naive enough to completely fall for Pudding's trap and I was shocked at her reveal (that made it 100 times better). I loved the political discussion here because I admit I didn't see those topics (I was thinking more about the environment, and the morality of Judge, Katakuri, Pudding, Bege and Chiffon - that was a big theme for me), and it was great that you guys showed me something I didn't notice or I didn't think about more deeply - and I also agree with this analysis. Oda is truly a genius.
The name “Germa 66” is Oda playing with the fact that Super Sentai in the English versions are called the Power RanGERs and GERmany. So they are Super Sentai Nazis. The way I’ve looked at it, Gear Four’s three different modes is like if Luffy was able to shift his D&D stats. Bound-Man is an equal distribution, Tank-Man is putting all of his points in the defense stat, and Snake-Man is him putting all of his points in the attack stat.
Couldn’t agree more with the top 5 number 1 spot. This may be sanji’s arc, but the moments that come to mind when I’m thinking about what I love in this arc are most certainly Brooke’s
I have seen Drawk fans recommend this series in the comments of many different videos! They are always really nice, and it feels like recognizing somebody you know in a crowded place! We are growing!
I was suspicious of pudding, but she had a lot of opportunities to screw them over and she didn’t, so I began to believe the lie, and then it was revealed that she was just playing the long game.
Bege's Castle-Castle fruit gave me the idea of a Jail-Jail fruit, a sort of lesser version(think Mr. 1 to Baby 5), not sure what the other differences would be(possibly being able to drag someone in even if they are unwilling, though I don't know if Bege can do that or not)
@@Mamadrawk yeah I seen you where at egghead part 2, I'm anime only because my friend wants to see my reactions so I couldn't watch the stream lol. Glad that you are caught up tho and don't need to worry about spoilers anymore. I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Katakuri and just Wano in general. Plus can't forget about season 2 of the live action next year, so exciting.
24:33 As someone from the United States I will just say, the US isnt really one nation, in my personal opinion, it is 50 separate nations PRETENDING to be one cohesive nation because they treid to do the separate thing at one point and realized they couldn't AFFORD it, thus the pretense of being a unified nation while still retaining most of their autonomy.
Listening to this reminded me of something I think would be a fun topic from a literary perspective - Luffy as a foil to all 5 emperors in the series and how being a foil is why he can be the King of the Pirates. You guys talked a lot about that with Blackbeard, but there are also things like in this section Big Mom being controlled by her hunger while Luffy controls his etc makes it fascinating imo.
I was on about Thriller Bark when your mom entered Alabasta, and got super excited when I heard how intelligent her takes were. Before I knew it, I was on Punk Hazard and she's in late Whole Cake Island 😭😭😭
I feel like the door door fruit is wildly underdeveloped for the world- changing connotations it has so if it were to work as it does in the mirror universe it would just let you run around in an untouchable state inside the mirror universe
One thing that I'm a bit surprised wasn't touched on more (maybe it got cut for RU-vid) was Luffy declaring to Sanji that he'd starve before leaving. Luffy may not know Sanji's whole backstory, but he *does* know how big of a buzzword starvation is for him. He was there when he fed Gin and explained that no one should ever go hungry. He knew Sanji *could not* leave him to starve, and he knew Sanji was aware of how absurd it would be for Luffy of all people to give up food. It's an even bigger escalation of their initial recruitment - "I refuse to join your crew!" "Well I refuse your refusal!" - only this time, it's "I refuse to come back!" "Well I refuse to let you not."
Hey, I've been enjoying your great analysis. I had watched several of them in the last few days and then saw this one just got posted. I'm curious if you have any plans on doing any more analysis of Manga/anime/shows once you finish one piece. Fullmetal alchemist might be a great next step for you 2.(though way shorter than One Piece)
We have One Piece plans and next manga plans. We are trying to find a manga that is new to both of us. So that we are both in the dark. I want to read FMA because so many of my manga loving students recommend it and I like consuming narrative they are consuming. I’m so excited about being caught up because of have so many things I want to talk about and get into.
@@Mamadrawk Thanks I obviously don't know what manga/shows Drawk has watched and am out of the loop on any Patreon Manga discussions but Frieren might be a fun newer one. However, personally I actually tend to go to the anime for things based on Manga, but go for books when they are originally light novels/ actual novels/ other text based things. My favorite Japanese stories in that pattern are Stein's Gate, Re-zero, and Ascendence of a Bookworm.
the memo memo fruit made me wonder if paramecia devil fruit can function differently based on the user in some way, like when pudding shoves her hand into a persons head it splashes like a fluid (like pudding?) it seemed a bit too perfect for her, unless she was planned to be given it since she was born but then why would her name match a strange visual effect of the power and not a name that references the power itself? I'm probably way over thinking this but it seemed like an interesting thought to follow
If I had a nickel for every time Nami had to watch a crewmate try to remove their own limbs, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t many, but it’s odd that it’s happened twice.
The political talks is my favorite thing about this channel, right after cork board corner, because all of it usually goes over my head. It gives me a much deeper understanding and insight into Oda's work. Though I can understand why some people might dislike it. But the people who says that One Piece is not political though, that's a special kind of moronic.
39:33 I like the Sanji vs Luffy thing, but I was also like, "come on Sanji... didn't you get the message with Robin in Enies Lobby? Or with Usopp in water 7? Or with Vivi up to Alabasta? Or when Chopper joined? Or even back as early as along park when Nami did the EXACT SAME THING?!" My guy, you're supposed to be the smart one...
What are your choices mate?.. You're being blackmailed and you can't tell to your friends. So fighting is only his choice especially we know how Luffy will behave. He's just trying to shoved them off.
@jedexentry I know he didn't have a choice, and the execution of the story beat is well done. While I love everything surrounding this moment, and it was very important to the plot and themes... this confrontation still feels like retreading ground to me.
You said Disney, Arabian Nights, German Fairy Tail and then Oz, like, are you deliberately trying to make me go crazy not mentioning Lewis Carrol? ALICE IN WONDERLAND? THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS? The Queen of Hearts, she had some tarts?
Loved this episode and all your takes! I know I've said this before, but do not censor yourselves regarding the politics talk...it is so good! You have made me see so many new things that at my first reading didn't pay that much attention. Can't wait to see all the remaining videos and VODs...(I'm watching it all), and to share in the excitement on being caught up.
I'm a bit late to the party due to vacation reasons and have to catch up from this video so I'm not sure if this will even be read but Imma go for it anyway; Drawk! For someone who I am genuinely impressed by how thorough the both of you analyse the arcs I am surprised that you think that there is an actual three eyed tribe! If you go back and read all of Pudding's interactions with Big Mom it becomes quite evident that the tribe thing and their powers are something she manipulated Moma into thinking so that she would suffer less abuse (changing her Moma's perspective of her from ugly and useless to super useful). This is why Pudding is so insistent on pointing out that the abilities "might never surface", because she knows they won't due to being a lie. Sure, the tribe thing is mentioned again in the future but that is just Big Mom spreading this false belief.
The theme of the arc is royals having a lot of children to secure alliances. One of the most successful royal families in Europe was the Habsburgs, based in Austria, who had so many children and marriages that it led to a lot of inbred royalty. Austria is a country very famous for its cakes. Marie Antoinette was a Habsburg, but I don't think whole cake island is a reference to the French Revolution. Goa Kingdom and the revolutionary army are a much more clear reference.
I don't think the French Revolution specifically at all, but the social values of Neo Liberalism. But now that you're saying this, I think there's an element to the monarchical side. But I don't think I'm wrong ether, since most of the social observations we made map on one to one. I think there may be an intentional comparison to oligarchical meritocracies and monarchical families, because there is enough of that there that I think you're onto something.
I think its meant to show how all of these systems and factions can combine. Powerful forces and people are interacting with each other and the common people are forced to go along for the ride.
@@thedrawkshow I don't think it is purely one thing or another. But if I thought there was going to be a direct criticism of neoliberalism, I would think there would be more of a show of talking about the free market, and the "government getting out of people's business" while still heavily favouring the strong over the weak. If anything, The Wizard of Oz angle suggests more of a tie in to the sort of American populist politics with its base in the farming communities.
In the anime when bege explains gastino's role in this by referencing him as a dumbass had me laughing so hard. It's worth watching. I rewatched it many times
been watching these videos since the first video. realizing we are no longer in early one piece and shes getting close to suffering the pain of weekly one piece.
First member was luffy who went one on one with both akagami and buggy if not counting the captain you can say zoro as he went one on one with buggy and luffy
To be honest I like the layout for this artwork best without Luffy in it, like at 1:00:00 ish, I think it has better balance that way and I love the way the Samurai Jack-esque style comes together and I think the perspective on Luffy's face doesn't quite work but still one of Drawk's better pieces so far. Love it!
I remember when I first read Luffy saying he won't eat unless Sanji gives him food and being disturbed because it felt a lot like emotional blackmail. Emotional manipulation? Not a good thing. But as time [asses and I watch more of these videos I've grown to see it as it was intended to be viewed lol.
Completely unrelated but as i am not a native English speaker I can’t seem to find what accent makes mama say ‘’again’’so differently that I am used to hear it in other American accents
It’s not that I think one piece is apolitical, it’s that I think oda is more concerned with feeling and general themes, values on an individual level, I don’t think he’s intentionally specific political statements meant to be applied to the real world, kinda like how Tolkien talked about history vs allegory, like he just wanted to create a fictional narrative he wasn’t like specifically picturing Hitler in his mind when he was writing Sauron, you can still apply stuff from his stories in your own life but that wasn’t his intention
And the issue is when people apply their interpretations of one piece and treat it as fact and as Oda's intentions. Leaves a bad taste in the mouth when trying to just enjoy the series for what it is. O'Hara library comes to mind when taking things in this direction
@@DANCERcowtotally agree that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I agree with your reply but after thinking about my original comment more I think fish man island alone destroys my argument because I do think that arc was clearly a political allegory, but I also think that for the most part when people are trying to make political interpretations of one piece they’re reading too much into it, which don’t get me wrong they’re entitled to interpret a text however they want but I think much of the time they are reaching pretty far and also projecting their own views onto something that I don’t think was intentionally done by Oda, I definitely think Oda is more focused on generalized ideals and values than how those manifest in the political machinations of the real world Like yeah he is intentionally applying the themes of freedom and oppression to the politics within the one piece universe itself, but I don’t think his goal is to make political statements about the real world with the exception of fishman island, I don’t think doflamingo is an intentional allegory for Franco, I think he just represents manipulative people trying to control others more generally, I think you only come to the conclusion that he’s Franco when you assume that because he’s an “evil totalitarian ruler of a Spain themed country” and then you apply your own political bias from there, the real world Franco was not of royal blood, he did not overthrow a king he overthrew a republic, these are not minor quibbles it is crucially important to doflamingo’s character and worldview that he had a divine right to rule due to his royal blood, Franco was by no means the only Spanish ruler to exercise absolute power and foster a cult of personality, nor is he the only such ruler to erase dissidents to his rule, dressrosa is clearly a monarchy through and through, not a fascist dictatorship, the fact that fascist dictatorships have similarities to monarchies doesn’t mean they’re interchangeable, I think the allegory is only there if you want to see it When you pull back from a narrow perspective on modern politics and view all of human history it becomes harder to justify these particular comparisons and it becomes easier to view these as simplistic and more flexible themes of power and the right to rule rather than any specific allegory to specific historical events Also big mom is basically just a warlord with a tribute system, I don’t see any way in which she is a liberal or neoliberal, she is concerned with the diversity of her populace but she has no concern for individual rights or freedoms, what she says goes and that’s final, just because Genghis khan mostly let conquered territories administer themselves as long as they paid tribute does not make him liberal, that’s not what makes a society liberal
Gotta disagree @Whobgobblin, I think it's explicitly political, but we're all so used to political media shoving the message down our throats we've forgotten (or never experienced) genuinely good political media, which is what I believe One Piece is. The fact we can disagree about this is a kind of evidence for this point since good political media makes the politics seem invisible and doesn't shove opinions down the audience's throat.
@@Whobgobblinsorry, didn't see this comment before I made mine. I see where you're coming from, but if Oda made Doflamingo exactly like Franco it would be bad writing. The whole point of good political media is to mix and match different pieces to explore a larger point. Explore, not judge. That said, you are right that many people will be inflexible in their interpretation, and that is truly sad because we have so much to learn from conflicting interpretations and the discussions they spawn.
@@Whobgobblin She doesn't represent Liberalism as its intended, she is somebody who has vague ideologies related to Liberalism.... but is unwilling to compromise their authority or wealth by fulling committing to those ideas. She desires a perfect liberal society, but because her motives and actions are selfish its impossible for her to truly achieve that goal. To me that seems like a perfect criticism for authority figures that currently claim to be liberals.
Love the content but sad to see you move the political stuff to the end. If people can't take one piece's politics and an honest discussion of them, that's a them problem, and they need to deal with it however they see fit. The idea that fans can or should control the content is absurd to me. I say, do it however you want because it's what you want, not what makes the fans happy.
I agree. I think we held off more here in tongue in cheek. Mostly cheek honesty. And to build up. We just really liked having time to talk about the story separate and have air for both. I love your take though. ❤
I think the main problem is that politics bring toxic people and discussions to the table. Thats why many people do not like it when they are brought up.
@@furorteutonicus9045 I agree with you. I think one of the smartest things politicians ever did was coin the idea that you don’t talk about politics in polite company. It has taken us on a path of polarization and ignorance. Politics govern your existence, learn from the past and help design the political present.