One Piece ch 643
Thoughts:
What have you been making of the Fishman Island arc and the mer/fishmen vs. humans conflict? Analogous to history of race relations in America? Or closer to enemy nation-states?
I can't help but be reminded that Africans and black people are stereotypically drawn, in both western cartoons and manga, with wide, staring eyes and thick-lipped mouths. To me, the fishmen, and Hody in particular, seem to coded "black." And I can't help wondering if Hody's physical transformation, under which his true, blatantly racist "face," is revealed, deliberately tries to change that coding to "white."
It's always shaky territory when race is discussed in manga, I feel - most works tow the "everyone's a little racist" line - but Oda is doing some unnexpectedly nuanced and provocative things in this arc.
ETA: it is also somewhat sad and hilarious how Robin has completely lost her lady-boner for Frankie XD
What have you been making of the Fishman Island arc and the mer/fishmen vs. humans conflict? Analogous to history of race relations in America? Or closer to enemy nation-states?
I can't help but be reminded that Africans and black people are stereotypically drawn, in both western cartoons and manga, with wide, staring eyes and thick-lipped mouths. To me, the fishmen, and Hody in particular, seem to coded "black." And I can't help wondering if Hody's physical transformation, under which his true, blatantly racist "face," is revealed, deliberately tries to change that coding to "white."
It's always shaky territory when race is discussed in manga, I feel - most works tow the "everyone's a little racist" line - but Oda is doing some unnexpectedly nuanced and provocative things in this arc.
ETA: it is also somewhat sad and hilarious how Robin has completely lost her lady-boner for Frankie XD