One Piece Vol 27

[sara_tanaquil]

I find I'm able to appreciate the development of the Skypiea/Shandia plot much better this time through. The first time I read this arc, I think I was just hopelessly confused.

Enel and his agents remain tedious, alas.

Comments

[sara_tanaquil]

Norland's story makes me cry.

Me too. ;_;

I recommend you lay in a store of tissues. In fact, I recommend that in general, but having read this far into One Piece, I guess you already know that.

I love secret treasure maps and split islands and...maps. I love them.

One of my all time favorite maps is in volume 28. ^_^

But, yes. The maps just get increasingly elaborate and hilarious with every succeeding arc. The illustrations! Oda should have made a living drawing medieval maps.

the problem is these aren't my neighbors with their cushy lifestyles who would probably participate in a lot of injustice to preserve themselves and their possessions

I can see where you're coming from, although it doesn't bother me as much. One significant factor might not only be fear for one's own comfortable life (not to mention life and limb), but also an instinctive tendency to submit to authority, no matter how abusive. Pagaya's shock and distress on learning that the Strawhats are "criminals" is symptomatic here, I think. Both he and Conis have been conditioned to obey the law, even when the law is manifestly unjust, and have a discomfort level with defying it that pirates just don't have. I like the fact that they gradually learn to move past this outlook.

Without getting too spoilery, this is a theme/underlying problem in the One Piece universe in general. The Marines and the World Government have benefited from the fact that most people take them at their word that they stand for "justice." They not only control the media of the One Piece world, but they take advantage of the average citizen's craving for an orderly society, even to the point of being willing to overlook evidence that the government is not as honorable as it should be. It wasn't just cowardice and fear that led ordinary, decent German citizens to follow Hitler, or ordinary Japanese to willingly embrace the propaganda of the wartime government's imperialist war machine.

The goal is to get the gold and go home.

This was an illuminating moment for me, as well. Luffy saves the world on such a regular basis that it's easy to forget that in most cases, he's doing it essentially by accident (or, rather, as an unintended side effect to another goal). His only goals are to have adventures (on the way to finding the One Piece), stick by his friends, and eat lots of meat until he gets to be Pirate King. In Alabasta, he had the motivation of wanting to kick Crocodile's ass for hurting Vivi because Vivi was their friend. In Skypiea, that type of motivating factor is absent - at least, at this point. So the adventure naturally takes precedence.

[Fishman Island - too vague to be a real spoiler, but just in case]
There is a hilarious scene during Fishman Island where *spoiler* is lecturing Luffy on how he's supposed to be a hero, and Luffy protests indignantly that he's no hero. A hero would share his meat if there isn't enough to go around. He wants to keep all the meat for himself!

(Of course, he inevitably manages to make himself the official Hero of Fishman Island before he's done. But it certainly wasn't by design.)


(Zoro? Were you not paying attention pre-snake when Robin revealed south, not right, was the direction of choice?

This is the man who thinks you go north by climbing a tower. He's a lost cause. ^_^;;