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Marineford is my favorite arc in all of One Piece. Whitebread, Ace, Garp and Luffy were great in the arc. Nice to see some returning characters do interesting stuff.
#AJPIECE on akainu and luffy I have to point out that dogs and monkeys are natural enemies in japan folktales plus akainu and luffy have a red color theme.
Ace, the Symbol, the son of Roger, died in a tragic manner. Ace, the person, the son of Whitebeard, died with a smile on his face, finally finding closure in his life. The duality of man
A better translation for the last line in Doffy's quote might be "Justice will prevail you say? But of course it will. Whoever wins this war becomes Justice!!"
"And it's not Ace fighting Akainu straight on that causes him to die, but it's Ace protecting his little brother." It's incredible how many people skip a whole ass step from this process/statement, and they spread it around without that second part.
Yeah it's one of the most annoying things ever. Ace probably would have died but who's to say Marco or any other commander wouldn't have come to help? Ace was at least strong enough to defend himself for a period of time. Luffy wouldn't be able to.
@@AstroSully If he wasn’t worried about Luffy, getting obliterated he probably would have turned up the heat literally by using armament haki, and maybe even using conquerors to knock out people so nobody assisted Akainu.
#AJPIECE Regarding Crocodile's arc as a character throughout Marineford. The way I see it is Luffy has reignited the flame of ambition within Crocodile. He came to this battle, swearing vengeance upon Whitebeard, but instead of the unbeatable legend he once lost to, he sees a vulnerable old man. He says, "A weakling like you could never be a man that beat me ." Note that Luffy beat Croc. Crocodile does not think Luffy is weak. There's an interesting respect Crocodile has for WB despite wanting his head. So seeing WB put all his hopes on, Luffy also wakes Crocodile up to the fact that Luffy is someone that can't perish here today. So Croc saved Ace from execution to help Luffy advance. He saves Luffy's life from Akainu because "you can't let them have their way." Them being the World Gov. They already took Whitebeard, robbing Crocodile of his vengeance and taking away the man he strangely respected immensely. All that's left of that man is the kid that he put his hopes in, Luffy. In Alabasta Crocodile, when he impaled Luffy, he talked about how rookies like him are a dime a dozen. Are not ready for the Grand Line. Crocodile speaks from experience because we since learned that Whitebeard defeated him. There was also a cover story around Enies Lobby that showed that Croc's dream was to become the Pirate King. He sees himself in Luffy essentially. A version of himself that didn't lose his way. Crocodile is from the generation that directly followed Roger, and he failed to inherit that will. He was gatekept by Whitebeard. He's now watching as Whitebeard, in his last moments, just embraced Luffy as the next generation to inherit the will. Edward *Newgate*. A new gate for a new era. One that Crocodile now sees worthy of protecting.
I personally think he just doesnt want to feel like he owes Luffy something (he also kinda likes him). Luffy essentially saved his life by freeing him from Impel Down so he had to return that favor for them to be even. After all you cant talk shit to people when you owe them your life and Crocodile really likes to talk shit to people. And as for why he isnt mad that Luffy got him in there in the first place i think he doesnt hold a grudge for what happened in Alabast because to him that was a business matter only. Messing with each other is just what pirates do so no hard feelings there. Just like he wasnt mad at Robin for her betrayal. I think if anything Crocodile is more mad about himself underestimating Luffy as a serious opponent than he is at Luffy for beating him up. I mean he tried to overthrow an entire country so obviously people will get mad. He did expect some people to come at him, he just didnt think they could change anything.
There might be an aspect of that to it, but I read his actions as more, as much as he wants to get revenge on Whitebeard, he also just wants to screw over the Marines simply out of spiteful 'screw you!". It's pretty much the "I don't care if he (Whitebeard) wins, just so long as you (the WG) lose!" meme.
Very good analysis, I had never thought that deeply about Crocodile's part in Marineford before. General (and justified) hatred that pretty much all pirates have for the marines and the World Government certainly also played a big role in helping Luffy, though.
#ajpiece Whitebeard in this arc is so perfectly written. My favourite aspect of his characterisation is how he takes the stereotype of what a father is and takes every aspect to eleven. A father has children: He adopts his entire crew. A father is tall: He is over 21 feet. A father is strong: He's the strongest man in the world. A father is forgiving: He immediately forgives Sqward, who literally stabbed him. A father loves and protects: He is willing to do everything and even die for his sons against impossible odds. A giant of a man in every respect, but ultimately a father above all.
#ajpiece I haven't seen this talked about a ton, but I really liked how, in Ace's final moments, he frowned and then beamed (smiled) in two small panels that mirror the happy and sad faces on his hat, symbolizing how despite the pain, his life really was worth living and he's thankful for it.
I logged into my Uni's computer cuz just for this comment lmfao In an interview, Oda’s comment about Ace’s expression before his death: “As for Ace’s expressions before his death, I had this idea of transition while trying to read what was happening in his heart. And, honestly, he’s hurt, he’s hot, he’s suffering, he’s mad at himself and does not want to die. That’s what says his first expression. But I thought he would probably also want to transmit to Luffy that he does not regret the life he lived, hence this smile. After all, we smile to crying babies to calm them down, don’t we ? It’s kinda the same. I see his grin as the ultimate expression of his love to those who are still in this world.” Sht is so beautiul, and the best part is can be interpreted in so many ways because Oda develops a character's personality enough for the reader's to infer their own understanding. God I love OP
#AJPIECE Speaking of legends I think it's important to think of how Luffy at this point has already built up a number of legends that can fly a bit under the radar. Sure we have moments like in Loguetown that have meaning for Smoker and Luffy surviving a public execution is already cool, but think about how Luffy comes off in the Grand Line. Because of Laboon, now every pirate that enters the Grand Line sees a massive deformed Straw Hat flag on a mountain sized whale who looks heavily scarred. He's partially destroyed an entire government island, led a prison break on their second heavily guarded institution and survived a war on their headquarters all within the span of a few weeks after punching a celestial dragon. And of course over Mocktown, the center of pirate cynicism that made fun of him, Luffy literally appeared as a giant godlike figure in the sky over them like some supernatural force. Luffy is already building up quite the legend just by being who he is and it makes it fun to imagine what everyone else has done to create their own legends.
#AJPiece In regards to Ace's death, almost every "good guy death" in One Piece has been on their own terms. Almost always in a way that we could call dumb, just to stick to their principles. Bellemere refusing to lie, Hiruluk bombed the castle instead of dying to disease, Tom gave himself up for Franky, etc. And in this case, it's an important distinction that Ace did not die by execution, but escaped and then chose to die to save Luffy. It's probably also the reason Garp reacts so strongly to his death while he seemed to control himself well when it was a formal execution.
If Garp had been an active participant in the war it would have been a lot more one sided. Garp is more comparable in strength to Whitebeard than he is to Luffy... so yes, he 100% let Luffy punch him. He wasn't trying. His dilemma was indeed real during the war. A person with such immense power but choosing to be more of a non participant due to his conflicting interests.
#AJPiece I think the crucial difference in the decision of Luffy to listen to some backstories is who is telling them. In the case of Nami she clearly didn’t want to reveal that vulnerability to the crew and hearing it through nojiko would have subverted her will. Luffy is all about self-determination and therefore he listens to people when they share their own stories.
#AJPIECE a lot of people are giving Ace a hard time for defending Whitebeard’s name but forget where he is coming from. Ace grew up with the biggest self loathing and insecurities questioning his value and his existence up to the last moments of his life due to how how the WG and people, even those who have never met him, portrayed Roger his biological father. Knowing what the WG is capable of and how much one’s legacy can be twisted Ace wouldn’t let these people tarnish Whitebeard’s name, his chosen father, like they did with his biological one. This era should therefore be called Whitebeard’s era, a man who saved and touched so many lives.
I very much doubt Ace rationalized it in this way, it was a spur of a moment decision, he is a man of heart after all, like Luffy. Also him defending Whitebeard's honor was the reason he was in that situation in the first place, despite everyone's warnings and even against Whitebeard's orders, so its not surprising that he reacted to Akainu in the way he did, it was 100% in character.
@@Killerbee_McTitties it’s not just that little moment Ace cared about Whitebeard’s legacy. Ace wanted to make WB the pirate king instead of become himself. Ace also went for BB because the latter violated WB’s principles and ideals. WB’s dream was to have a family so in a sense BB not only hurt a family member but also WB’s dream. Sure, Ace was always hot-headed as we also see in the post-war arc and later on, but his hot-headedness takes over when we wants to protect something, be it Luffy or WB’s legacy. It’s the consequences that of these actions that bring him down.
#AJpiece A cool parallel between Luffy and Blackbeard is in the way that they both recruited their swordsmen. Both were recruited while imprisoned, and both were recruited from a seemingly opposing side.
I don't have any AJPiece worthy comment but I much prefer the AJPiece section at the beginning because you are talking about the past arc, putting it in the end sort of make the video all around the place
Great video as always! Special shout-out to the great Ed Blaylock, the iconic English voice actor of King Bradley who also killed it as Sengoku in Marineford
I love your reviews and I'm so glad you enjoyed Marineford. It really is a masterpiece of an arc. Completely agree with your thoughts on Garp. I absolutely love him. And he definitely let Luffy hit him. If he actually chose to stop Luffy, that boy would be a smear of paste on the ground. I always saw it as Garp putting on a show for the world as the hero (aka symbol) of the marines. Whitebeard is absolutely the show stealer for this arc, though. AND SHANKS!!!!! ohmygod I love that man. Happy you're enjoying the adventure! ps. Fisher Tiger was confirmed dead when Boa was telling her backstory.
Adding to the praise given to Oda in 2:04:00 his writing of Hancocks trauma; I find that he really decided to focus on a serious topic when it came to an island inhabited only by women and it shows his concern and knowledge of complicated social dilemas and oppression. It really shows his growing consideration of everyone in every community and you can slowly see it grow and mature as One Piece continues.
Perfect thumbnail. I'm so pumped for this review. I consume all things One Piece but as far as reviews I look forward to yours the most. I literally just stopped watching one to see what you have to say. Thank you sir!
I love Shanks' line when he arrives. How Coby bought a few seconds of time which changed the world. But he explicitly states that he doesn't know if it was changed for better or worse. Just that it did.
#AJPIECE Regarding your mention of Smoker not being as prevalent in this arc, while still being present, I personally believe this to be a good thing. Smoker was only a Commodore at the time of Marineford, which in terms of ranks makes him almost a simple soldier on the battlefield. We saw many characters who, based on their rank in the marines should've been way stronger, clash with the whitebeard crew, and be either on par or subpar to them. This would've meant that he himself wouldn't really have been able to make a real difference in this battle. While I do like him as a character, and while his place within the marines and his views aren't as black and white as Akainu's, I do think he shares quite a bit of his motivations with Coby and/or Garp, which makes his lack of screentime in the arc less of a bad thing, or atleast, it does in my opinion.
I think more page time would have been good, not because he should be impacting the war, but so that we can see how this war affected his mentality surrounding justice, pirates, and marines. It seems like a little bit of a missed opportunity to highlight a step along his character arc
#AJPIECE About what you said about Ace still dying because of his blood. One thing that i felt when watching that scene, or reflecting on it later, is that Luffy did in fact save Ace. Maybe he still died in the end, but rather than dying as the son of Gol D. Roger, he died as the brother of luffy. Rather than being condemned and executed for the blood in his veins, he died protecting his found family, it was his choice. And in the end, isn't that what being a pirate is all about? Loving the reviews, you're a great analyst!
I absolutely love that from the beggining of Marineford the narration is on the WG's side since, as we can see by the end, they did win. And that means they get to write history. It's honestly such an insanely good choice by Oda and made me tear up when I finally realized it after Ace's death.
#AJPIECE Nuance of Akainu & Blackbeard's ruthlessness & intelligence. In the name of his justice, Sakazuki destroyed Moby D, WB pirates' home & their means of escape, much like he destroyed the ship full of Ohara evacuees while they were escaping from their collapsing home. As he did with Squard & Ace, Akainu always strikes where it hurts the most & tries to be as efficient as possible to indulge his illusion of a more fair world. We already saw Oda's depiction of Sakazuki as an extremely poor & likely orphaned child in SBS. It makes you think & possibly understand why he's unable to feel empathy towards pirates/criminals. But there's also tragic irony in it, since WG is probably what perpetuated his home to end up that way in the first place. He's unknowingly prolonging his own suffering & repeating the cycle, making more children relive his pain. Kid Blackbeard appeared similarly poor & sad in SBS. More often than directly, Oda makes his villains experience sadness, pain & loss subtly. Without Luffy & by causality Shiryuu, Blackbeard would've been dead from Magellan's poison. But just like for Luffy & Koby in Marineford, fate smiled upon him, despite BB clearly not being HIM! So if he's not HIM, who is he & why did destiny still choose to protect him?!
HUGE agree about Smoker not doing much, I felt pretty disappointed with Tashigi not having much to do either. But the rest of the arc completely overshadowed that mini flaw
Two things to be brought up! 1. With Garp's perspective of knowing who their fathers are, what they do/represent and how the World Government view them, we can see why He purposely force them to be marines since he knew the corrupt WG will burden this with them. 2. Shanks was battling Kaido a day prior because Kaido was taking advantage of the Whitebeard pirates' turmoil about Ace and harassing/attack the crew on the way to Marineford
can't believe I'm late to THE video of this entire video series because it was uploaded at 2 AM for me 💀 can't wait to hear your thoughts on this amazing arc though!!
15:55 Ace being a pirate himself is WG's fault, had they not try to kill every baby on islands Roger has visited born in within 1 year is horrible, Garp wouldn't have to hide a kid from WG and may have a normal upbringing. Why nobody got punished for that, if thet are so on the side of Justice.
I'll always be sad about Ace dying, but not because he (narratively) shouldn't have. And yeah, he should'nt have responded to Akainu's taunts, but he's Ace, so of course he did. It was a sad death, but Ace died a free man, protecting his brother. And he died achieving his dream. And there's not much sad about °that° imo.
#AJPiece I wanna talk about fire and how it’s imagery in both the manga and particularly the anime version of this arc is used for both the big themes of inherited will and family which are sooooo prevalent in this arc and how it connects to that ongoing symbolism of the sun and freedom. Really I think it’s one of the things the anime version improves on though I do agree that there is definitely a lot where the manga just hits harder when it comes to this arc. Anyways getting right into it, all the way back in saboady, when Rayleigh explains how rogers execution “lit a fire” in everyone to pursue to one piece, the anime shows this very specific scene of a fire in darkness. A spark of hope of you will that has been imparted to the people listening and many even after that who will hear the tale of rogers last words. In short: inherited will of taking up a pirate adventure Later we see garp and Roger talking in their cell with one small lantern light, that flickers on and off, in the anime they cut to it several times for close up shots. It seems to grow stronger when Roger talks, especially when he gets closer to garp’s face to talk about why he trusts garp with the life of his unborn child despite their positions. Only for the light to go out as garp turns his face away, and then for it to come on as he turns back to face Roger. This light representing roger’s lesser known will: the survival of his child, and how it was inherited by Roger. After this we see rouge in the flashback. In most of the scenes we see her in, it is either night or sunset. The sun of her life (Roger) and the freedom that she had (in the sense that her actions became restricted to protect ace) fading away before leaving completely. However there is this one shot, can’t be more than a second or two of her crouched over a table, a single candle lit on it in a dark room as she says “not yet” in reference to her prolonging her pregnancy. It’s a light similar to the one during the one with garp and Roger but not exactly the same. The flame this time is representative of ace himself, how he is literally made and survives because of the combination of Roger and rouge’s wills. Not to mention how rouge does her best to keep that flame, keep her child and her husbands last private wish alive. Garp arrives for the delivery in darkness, bringing with him a lantern that looks just like the one from that moment with Roger. He brings that other part of rogers will into her life and together they are able to fulfill that dream. When ace is born, it is morning and the sun coats over the three of them, both in the anime and manga (the rouge scenes up to this point I believe are anime only). Rouge may have had to sacrifice her own freedom, but she has imparted it to her son. And there’s just this gorgeous golden hour of blue sky with orange clouds that appears and she holds her son and then rest of the space fades away until it’s just the two of them. Just a mother, her son, and the endless possibilities of a life left for him to live. As the sun sets on rouge’s life, aces own life begins and a new flame is born with it. We don’t see this flame imagery again outside of ace having the mera mera no mi and physically being representative of that inherited will in a way not scene before in that it is biological. In part, ace fulfills that will by being alive and in another he rejects it by not wanting to be pirate king. Full credits to the piece meal podcast (which is a wonderful one piece podcast where they read a volume per episode and then discuss it which I highly recommend) on this next thought as they bring up how much ace is the chosen one in a story where the chosen one isn’t the main character. To most everyone, it would make perfect sense for him to be the next king of pirates because of his heritage, but he refuted that, those furthering the idea that inherited will must be taken and given freely instead of passed down and that only grows stronger when you take into account his own very complex feelings about the worth of his life. Said worth tying back into that first bit of inherited will in making sure he survives. The next time we really see this imagery that (I remember clearly at least) is during aces death in the anime. It’s right after luffy is saying how ace promised he would never die. A promise which sounds easily similar to roger’s last words to Rayleigh (even if they had a more hiriluk esque meaning) which where “I won’t die.” Though oda firmly shows the importance of chosen family there’s a bit of an inescapable aspect to blood family when it comes to these two men. The parallels of these lines and then the imagery of their executions not going unnoticed. It’s an imagery only further as ace stares off into the distance, reflecting on the treatment he received in childhood and how it affected his outlook on his own life as the very same fire I spoke off back In the anime version of that scene in sabaody appears on the scene once more, coupled with aces words “do I even deserve to be born” Though it is the same flame, it has a different will. And in a way there is nothing that connects these two more than that. More than this pair of father and son imparting their will to other people with their last words, even if that will was different because they are different people. Rogers will being that of freedom, pirate hood and the one piece, while aces being that of family, of luffy succeeding in his dreams, and in ace’s little brother always being protected (ace’s last words to the the straw hat crew and that will being imparted to jinbei in impel down) However, these another parallel here too. As ace proclaims that he knows luffy can fulfill his dream because he is ace’s brother, much like that scene of rouge and ace after his birth, everything fades away, until it is just the the two brothers and the sky which this time is a light blue with the sea crashing slowly beneath it. It’s the freedom they found of being pirates, of sailing beneath that sun, and fulfilling what they set out to do so long ago. Ace dies with no regrets, having lived his life to fullest therefore having completed the wish for him to live which was passed down by his parents to him. Though he didn’t impart any new dreams or wills to his brother, he affirmed it and made sure he would not fall on this battle field and never see it fulfilled through the sacrifice of his own life. There are more stuff I could get into with this fire imagery and how it entangles with ace being burned to death, jinbei being stuck by akainu and burned after taking on aces will, and some things seen in the next arc but I think that would take a bit more time than I’m comfortable with since this is such a long comment already. Either way I hope this information is interesting as, like I said earlier I really do think it’s a good example of the anime using its medium to its advantage and furthering the themes already present in the source material without directly changing those already existing. Been loving both these reviews and the streams (ffxiv included bc I physically can’t not include it when I mention your streams). Hope you have a good rest of your day or night and keep up to good work!
#AJPIECE One of my favorite narrative parrallels in this arc starts with the line ace says to akainu during their clash, "the name of this era is whitebeard". The great pirate era which was birthed with the death of Gol D. Roger also being the era Whitebeard brings to a close with his own death was truly symbolized by the presence of whitebeard. When he was first introduced to us whitebeards was on life support symbolizing that the great pirate era was in its twilight years and that a new era would come with the passing of whitebeard, which he seemed incredibly aware of and worried at the same time to not know what a world without him would mean for his sons/his family. Whitebeard's passing on of his will that luffy will be the one to define the next era is very telling of luffys character that the man seen as Rogers greatest rival and competition would endorse him to this degree. Whitebeard adopted the great pirate era (and son) from roger and made sure that under his watch it would prosper as much as it has. The name of the era truly was whitebeard. Keep up the great work
#AJPiece I think my favorite thing about Marineford is that it help emphasizes that Luffy and more importantly the Straw Hat Pirates are not prepared for the New World. That Luffy saw first hand how powerful and dangerous the Yonko are, how relentless and clever the Marines are but most importantly; that if the Straw Hats went to the New World during that time, they will die and be thrown away to the winds without much of a thought. That it helps enhance that message from Sabaody Archipelago. But it also helps emphasize that the Straw Hats can be at that level one day. That they will be ready and the importance of a character like Luffy. That his drive, his grit and will to move heaven and earth in order to achieve his dream, and that drive is enough to move people and have them come together to help other. That the world needs more people like that in order to help cause an effective change to the world. That through the simple desire of someone wanting to see his brother again and save a life that didn't deserve to die simply for existing.
#ajpiece So I mentioned this during one of your disco elysium streams, but I'd like to hear some more thoughts. So at this point in the series I think that Shanks is really proving to be a symbol of positive masculinity. Knowing how strong he is, with being able to stand up to Whitebeard, and Akainu, and uses his strength to threaten the Navy, but this threat is intended to prevent violence, and not to cause it. His appearance on Whitebeard's ship was to have WB call back Ace so that Ace wouldn't cause more trouble by involving himself with Blackbeard, and even back to his first appearance he refused to beat the mountain bandits, despite the fact that he likely could have easily beaten them all singlehandedly. Shanks is clearly strong, but he only has used his strength for the purpose of defending those who are weaker than he is. Also lastly on the positive masculinity thing, his monologue to Luffy about how is okay to cry and to let the pain get to him, but to still overcome the pain in the end.
Keep in mind he has ambigous connections to the WG. I don't think Sengoku would have accepted any other Emperor's request. Like he said "only because it's you". Shanks is a person who's possibly acquainted and connected to multiple factions of the world of OP. He isn't what he seems like at face value. And yes my favourite Shanks line is definitely his monologue to Luffy saying "It's okay to cry. But you have to move on"
I love this arc so much, my favorite theme was justice. Oda in a interview was ask why do the marines jackets not fall when they are hit or just running around, and he said because” justice never falls” or something on those lines and at the end of MarineFord when white beard falls the last panel is his coat laying on the ground because his version of justice was beaten
i have this weird thing about liking videos on youtube, i know it helps the creator but i sometimes feel hesitant unless i genuinely liked the video, i never have to worry about that with your videos. Your videos actually earn my like every single time, like i feel compelled to like them as opposed to doing it just because its the right thing to do ya know? anyway i appreciate the effort you put it, and the analysis you provide
20:00 even without the themes of heart over reason, emotionally imagine how he feels after being on death row awaiting death for over a day, watching all this chaos unfold just to save him, watching his father get brutalized, get successfully rescued thanks to his efforts, and then Akainu dares to insist that man is a decrepit loser... Ace's will had been through enough
Oh wow, I just checked your twitch and saw that you just finished playing Outer Wilds? Please say you'll make a video about your experience, I played that during the initial COVID lockdowns and the existential hope I got out of it was irreplaceable
#ajpiece short one from me, I like how they consistently personify Luffy and Blackbeard as the “give and take” of living life as you see fit and being a pirate. Luffy gives hope, wonder, joy, the idea of dreams shouldn’t just be dreams, and as Blackbeard believes the same things, he takes them for himself and his outlook in life. One of the more broad “yin/yang” character rivalries but also being they’re connected in that they rarely interact (making it that they’re just forces of nature that cross and sometimes affect each other and the world around them) whereas traditional ones have their actions affect themselves and the world BECAUSE they consistently interact with each other and the world surrounding moves to “contain” them or keep up.
When I was younger I first started watching One Piece from whatever episodes were currently coming out, and that was Marineford. I figured if I liked it, I'd go back and watch it from the start. I actually dropped the arc halfway through because I thought it was too predictable. I thought that Ace would be saved, Whitebeard would be killed, and Crocodile would take Whitebeard's spot after his death. A few years after dropping it I got spoiled that Ace died and I thought that was so surprising that I decided to watch all of One Piece
WAIT I JUST NOTICED THE SERIES OF OMORI PHOTOS IN YOUR BACKGROUND That is amazing, Omori had very quickly become one of my favorite games of all time. Oh also one piece is cool, i guess. Haha. EDIT: Oh man, he even got a shirt. Awesome.
Hi, i like the AJPiece comments section at the end, more because when i click on the video, i wanna rush to get to the arc review, but after it’s done, i will still want to listen to more light hearted content after the intense arc analysis.
Regarding the AJPiece comments, on a personal note I prefer them in the beginning because they talk about topics from previous arcs. It makes more sense in my head; But if it performs better in term of engagements or watchtime like this then leave them at the end ! Amazing review! I has so much fun listening to all your thoughts I didnt see the time pass
Hey, my comment got mentioned! You're right about Brook and Laboon, and Luffy also gets interested in some stories like when Rayleigh was talking to them in Sabaody. To me those always felt different than the sort of tragic backstories we tend to get for people, but maybe its just that the latter is usually just shown in a flashback instead of having someone talk about it. I'm always a little confused about those actually, like for example we know all about Robin now from her flashback but did she ever actually explain any of that to the gang?
37:10 I don't know if you're very perceptive or i was dumb when i first read the arc (i was 16/17 so give me a break) but i didn't realize this and how important this would turn out to be
If memory serves, Oda had to fight tooth and nail with his editor and JUMP itself to keep Ace's death as he intended. Because the editor and JUMP didn't want to kill off such a popular character, and Oda wouldn't budge because how much of Luffy's growth and the world's change going forward is built upon the foundation of Ace dying.
One Piece's greatest strength, to me at least, is the number of characters people want to follow, to see how they will interact with and impact the world.
Btw, the panel before the Garp punch, if you look, he does close his eyes so I definitely think he took that punch on purpose. And as for Whitebeard, might be my favorite now in One Piece. And PS. I can’t wait for hopefully whenever Akainu gets a fucking beat down.
#AJPiece When they're trying to figure out how Blackbeard could possibly have two devil fruits, Marco makes a note of how Blackbeard's body is abnormal and implies this abnormality is common knowledge to the Whitebeard crew. This is not the first time this is referenced, but due to translation issues the previous time is entirely missing from the official Viz version. All the way back when Ace caught up to Blackbeard after Enies Lobby, Ace says that Teach has "lived twice the life" of an ordinary man, which makes very little sense considering he's not that old, and because it made no sense the official translation changed this to "you've been around for a long time", but the literal translation is a crucial piece of the puzzle Oda is constructing with Teach. Speculate at your leisure.
I say this every time someone brings up Ace's decision to stay back and fight Akainu. Was it logical? Hell no. But Ace was 20 years old. How many 20 year olds in the world choose logic over emotion? Not many lol. As someone who's absolutely been through it like Ace has for his lineage and one of the only people in this massive world to actually give a shit about him as a person (Referring to Whitebeard) get his name dragged through the mud, it makes PERFECT sense that he would go back and fight. Also very fair point that the series champions emotion anyway. It all fits.
Marineford is one of those arcs that's so epic and great it's crazy to know how much happens in such a short time chapter wise anyway, but seeing Whitebeard Big Daddy of the Moby Dick battle and fight so damn hard for his son was amazing along side so many other dope characters which unfortunately Ace still died giving Luffy the most despair ever also Koby having that great moment too not to mention Blackbeard getting 2 DFs showing off his new badass crew but still not putting a single scratch on Whitebeards back what a Chad lad plus to top it off Shanks coming through wanting the smoke but no one wanting to go more.
#AJPIECE A lovely analysis of this arc, and one that still only grows better with time and looking back on it. I think there's something to be said about what Mihawk says about Luffy that also applies to Whitebeard, and while the full details of it are still to come, Shanks. All of the four emperors are incredibly powerful, but the strongest are Shanks and Whitebeard, which possess the same power Mihawk saw in Luffy, they also gather people about themselves, not because of their incredible strength of body, but their character. This is what sets them apart and above from the other emperors, as we will later see. Whitebeard is a character who only grows greater the more you learn about the other emperors, especially Big Mom. It's going to be a while before you get her arc, but when you do, look back at Whitebeard and understand how these two characters reinforce each other so much.
And about Whitebeard’s democracy, no , he didn’t let ace go after BB because he is an adult lol , that’s not how pirate crews work , and there is something that will happen that contradicts this , So i hope people stop pushing these things because it will only disappoint AJ when he reaches it
Wait a second. I've watched this a million times in the anime and never realized Jozu lost an arm. Is that why his arm is diamond? Did it happen off screen or did i miss it?
#AJPiece I think there is this misconception that because Luffy lived and Ace didn’t, that means that thematically Ace was wrong and Luffy was right. But In the end, both are very willing to die on the hill they stand on, as you said it’s one of the driving themes since the start of One Piece. It’s part of why I love Luffy’s arc so much. It’s not so much about a grand change, but him reflecting on where he needed to improve. It was smart to run back at Saobody but as shown with Kuma; the Straw Hats won’t always be able to run if they truly want to go on this journey and fulfill their individual dreams. Zoro had acknowledged his own weakness and grew stronger, which is why he was able to stop Kuma back at Thriller Bark if only temporarily. But Luffy went to hell and back before being willing to admit that he was just too weak, too afraid to accept loss Luffy pushed his body to its limit and once his losses became irrefutable he broke down completely. But should that mean that Luffy shouldn’t have done the things he did? I don’t really think that question matters because much like Ace, Luffy would have always done the things he did regardless. And even if he hadn’t he would’ve been crushed all the same by Ace’s death. The ultimate point is that if Luffy wants this grand adventure and to live by his own standards of freedom, he needs to be stronger. So for me, I don’t hate Ace for the decisions he made, and think in the end he had valid reasons for what he did. Yes, it was foolish, but Ace wanted to live his life without regrets. Whitebeard wouldn’t just want Ace to live, he’d also want his son to be happy. Now that’s not to say One Piece is trying to glorify sacrifice as it’s a series that always spits in the face of that notion. Nami tried to sacrifice her life to protect her village, yet all that did was give Arlong more power over her. Robin tried to sacrifice herself to save the other Straw Hats but that just put them in further danger by having to save her. Sanji sacrificed his own ambitions to stay with Zeff, which essentially just left Sanji trapped in a birdcage of his own creation. Chopper attempted to sacrifice his autonomy to become a monster and defeat Kumadori, and while he may have succeeded he also ended up becoming an uncontrollable force that the others had to stop. The difference between their attempted sacrifices and Ace’s was that Ace’s sacrifice was his own decision he could truly be happy with. Him protecting both Whitebeard’s honor and Luffy’s life, yet while it killed him, yes while it was foolish, it was nonetheless a decision he could be happy with. One Piece doesn’t glorify sacrifice in a way that leaves you unhappy, but rather the optimistic series it is promotes living a life you want to and the way you want to. If Luffy wants to live life as a free pirate constantly chasing a big dream while carrying an entire crew with him, then he needs to be strong enough to see this through. Of course, he will be crushed by the death of Ace and his sorrow is completely valid, I think just about anyone in Luffy’s shoes would react the same way he did. But the beauty of Luffy’s arc is he bounces back not completely the same and yet not completely different. But rather he’s better prepared for the obstacles ahead.
This parralel of ace and luffy is put in full force while observing whitebeard. You put it right there. Luffy reignited whitebeards hope. Ace was essentially the guy wb beted on. Since he died he realized that luffy was the one to carry the torch. Garps dilemma is truly tragic. Duty over family. You perfectly realized thst garp had to think of the bigger picture. If he helped ace the marines moral would be devastated and the world at large would fall apart. I dont want to go into great detail becauce of spoilers but this arc in hindsight gets even better. You are without the doubt my favorite reviewer of one piece despite not being up to date. The way you understand the themes and dont indulge in pointless powerscale debates speaks to me. Keep them coming ❤
48:00 just a little correction: The meeting is only between Akainu and Squard, Sengoku probably is aware of his plan tho. I don't wanna spoil nothing so Imma just say that this distinction of character between the two is important for future events.
And for a side note on Whitebeard's death. I sincerely believe in the future, the death of Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate will be seen on par with some of the classic legendary scenes of Greek, Roman and Norse myth. His death IS legendary, a true warrior's death. And it is also a great tragedy. The Paramount War and deaths of Whitebeard and Ace are great examples of a tragedy. Ace died because of his tragic flaw, the flaw he shared with his birth father and his adoptive father. His refusal to let insults to his loved ones go unpunished. And that is what makes this perfect.
How strong are the Red Haired Pirates? Kizaru froze and put his hands up when Ben Beckmann pulled up with a gun. Granted he moved at the speed of light away later on and continued his assault on Luffy. But at first he was genuinely scared knowing that a crew member of an Emperor could mess him up.
Idk at this point honestly. Either oda is trolling us or kizaru is actually op. I can actually never tell if he's serious or not, its like hes on weed and high all the time.
@@rookeyji5177 Kizaru is OP he handled the entire Super Nova's without taking his hands out his pockets. He's just lazy and dumb but he still moves at the speed of light. And Ben Beckmann had him shook
I think he is trolling, kizaru is as much a jester as doffy, he is ist more lawful. See how he does deliberately target luffys key, not him. He better be shown as strong and most of the time just trolling, because he is that strong.
About the AJ piece, the tiger and the dragon are a japanese proverb about class conscience and responsibility and its the base for A LOT of interactions between anime characters, the Dragon symbolizes Strenght, Talent, Power, Wealth, Status, the high class, the nobles, the bosses, the leaders but because they have this power they are corruptible, so is the job of the Tiger, that represents The weak, the effort, the struggle, the hunger, the working men, the everyman, the commoner, to keep the dragons power in check so it cant be corrupted and to kill it once it has gone too far...youve probably seen this dynamic in a lot of shonen and sports anime in one way or another specially when it has dual protagonists or rivals
#AJPiece the theme of the symbol is not only about the characters and the person behind the symbol , but also the people who believe in this symbol . Sengoku's Plan regarding sqward was to make the whitebeard pirates lose faith in their symbol , they wanted to prove that he is a false legend , after that the allied pirates will lose faith in themselves then they will flee ,but Whitebeard made a comeback. the WG started the war for the same reason , to kill Whitebeard who is the current symbol of pirates, like crocodile , but Whitebeard managed to make another comeback and die the same way as roger , encouraging pirates to go to the sea again , not only that , but also making sure that they know that the One Piece is real , it is no longer a dream that may or may not exist
Garp let himself get hit by Luffy. he was stronger than Luffy here. his indecisiveness and emotional turmoil about the whole situation led him to leap down and fulfil his role as a Marine, but his heart wasnt in it, he gets defeated without putting up a fight. he "tried", so to speak. he helped luffy by not putting up a fight here and i think Sengoku definitely understood the subtext of that as well.
Great video and analyze! I personally prefer AJP at the end of the video. I'd like to see the content that's in the title (the content I came for) first.
