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Episode 31 and 32 highlights: ​https://youtu.be/ThhvMTla5i0

Episode 31: The Most Wicked Man of East Blue, Fish-Man Pirate Arlong

Short summary: The crew chases after Nami, who stole the Going Merry, and Yosaku takes
time during the trip to explain about Arlong and the fish-men to Luffy and Sanji. Meanwhile,
Usopp, Johnny, and Zoro arrive at the island Nami docked at.

Note: Patrons have told me that "mermen" is not an accurate translation and it should be
"fish-men". It didn't bother me at anyway because I know there are many interpretations among
literature of what "merpeople" look like anyway! And I like how Sanji had the same idea that I
had, whereas Luffy's interpretation was way more accurate lol!

I feel like this will be really important for future episodes/storylines: "The reason why the grand
line is called the pirate's grave, is because there are 3 superpowers that exist there."

Yosaku mentions this and talks about the first superpower - the Shichibukai. I wonder if by
"three superpowers" he just means three main powers, like, 3 types of powerful things/groups
that make surviving the Grand Line very difficult. Three superpowers sounds like something
different when you compare it to the first "superpower", which is the Shichibukai, which seems
to be a group of really strong individuals that work for the government. Saying "superpower"
makes it sound like they have the same kind of power, but for some reason that doesn't sound
accurate to me. I'll have to wait and see, because Yosaku only mentions the first power and not
the other 2.

Shichibukai: "They are 7 pirates who are acknowledged by the government. The Shichibukai
would give a fixed percentage of the treasure they get to the government."

It's interesting that he says that to the other pirates, the shichibukai are just like government
dogs, considering that one of those "dogs" is Mihawk himself! "Jinbei" is also referred to as a
Shichibukai, someone that Arlong worked alongside? So we know 2 out of the 7 Shichibukai's
names at this point.

Arlong is seen handing a lot of money to a marine officer that looks like a mouse. What kind of
deal do they have going? Is he bribing them so that they don't come after him? Looks like it to
me, since Arlong calls him perceptive for being his comrade… The mouse marine looks scared
of Arlong though, definitely doesn't look like he's the one "in charge here", so to speak.
Arlong: "You can only live a good life if you've got the dough (money)" - hmm… this seems to be
something that Arlong believes in strongly - interesting because Nami is so obsessed with
money and it seems to be because that's the only way you can work with Arlong. If he believes
"money makes the world go round" how else would you get something from him or work with
him if money is not somehow involved. "Money is the best. Nothing is more dependable than
money".

I'm not going to lie, of course I think money is awesome. Of course I think having money helps A
LOT in life - when you have money, you feel independent and most importantly, you feel safe.
You know you can pay for a place to stay, you know you won't be going to bed hungry, you can
treat your friends, you can treat yourself, you can take a day off work without stressing out about
not being able to afford medicine when you need it. Thinking money is important is not bad in
and of itself, it's a system that was put into place in the world because we ​can ​all benefit from
having that system. Not that everyone does, but it is ​supposed​ to help the world move forward.
When you think money is what's ​most i​ mportant - that's when it starts being a problem. This is
another topic I could literally write a book about, but for now, I want to see where the story goes
with it. I don't want to start talking about things that end up being totally irrelevant to One Piece.

Arlong also talks about hating humans - although it's obvious he will make one or two
exceptions when it benefits him.

It's ironic how the octopus guy laughs at the marine for resembling a mouse a little, but just a
moment ago I was laughing at Arlong's nose… And he (Arlong's underling) literally looks like an
octopus! The marine also talks about how ​disgusting ​they look to him - but it doesn't matter,
because they have the greens (money). I feel like it's normal to be intrigued when someone
looks ​different t​ o what you're used to. I know of a person who travelled to somewhere in Asia
and got stopped on the street to be taken pictures with often because they had blonde hair -
which was unusual since most people there had really dark hair. I don't think it's such a big
issue if you are surprised by how someone looks or dresses or whatever, the problem comes in
when you ridicule them for it, or look down upon them.

More on Arlongs hatred for humans: it seems at this point that the hatred does not necessarily
stem from something humans did to Arlong (so it's not like Nami's hatred for pirates stemming
from the fact that pirate fishpeople clearly did awful things to her village) - it's more so a product
of his belief that fishpeople are superior to humans, because he sees himself as an evolved
being who can breathe underwater - something humans cannot do. This kind of makes me think
how we see ourselves as superior to animals, because we think animals are not sentient. I'm
not saying they aren't of course! This is just based on the arguments I have read on why people
justify eating meat.

It's pretty obvious to most that animals definitely do have feelings, and can definitely think and
possibly even reason, to some extent (obviously this differs from one animal to the next). But
still we continue to eat animals, saying that ​it's natural​, because even animals eat each other
(like how lions eat buffaloes or zebras, for example). Just because someone else does
something, though, that does not make it right (just pointing this out because in general this is a
pretty shitty argument "oh they do it so it has to be fine"). But think about it: our only real
argument for eating meat is "well, we're stronger than them, we're smarter than them, they can't
ask us not to eat them, so we do" - this sounds similar to what Arlong is saying… He sees us
like we see animals. He's more evolved, therefore, he can use us to his benefit as he chooses.

I'm just pointing out the thoughts that come up for me while editing and reading Arlong's words -
I'm not saying us eating meat is anything like what Arlong is doing and I'm not saying it's nothing
like what Arlong is doing. I'm just mentioning whatever comes to mind as I watch… I'll talk about
it more as the anime delves deeper into Arlong's ideas/motivations.

Here's a fun fact about me: I don't eat red meat or pork, but I do eat poultry and fish
occasionally. The reason for this is because when I was about 19 or 20 I started eating
according to what's good for my blood type (my blood type is A). I believe that's when I started
getting really skinny - because I was just eating foods that my body (apparently) found easy to
process. I prefer fish over chicken, but if I could stop eating meat altogether, I would. I didn't
stop eating meat because I felt sorry for animals or anything… But I have been getting
nauseous nowadays when I think of the ​animals t​ hat I'm eating (when I'm eating chicken for
example). It's not that I necessarily think it's ​evil ​to kill chickens and eat them. It's just that what
I've heard about the meat industries and how they treat animals before killing them - that,
admittedly, bothers me a lot.

How is this relevant to Arlong? Well, maybe on some level I am thinking if we are okay with
eating animals because we see ourselves as ​higher on the food chain​, is it that crazy for Arlong
to think along those same lines… Of course I can clearly see he's the bad guy and I would
never be okay with what he's doing in real life (or even in the anime for that matter), but it's just
making me question myself and why I eat chicken and fish without knowing how they may have
suffered before they died. Some people have chickens and pigs and fish as pets. I have a cat
and of course I know my cat can think for itself and feel. How do I know a chicken is any
different?

The only thing that makes humans different is many of us can think to such an extent and
communicate our thoughts to put rules in place and systems (including currency) so that we
don't end up eating one another and living like animals - but even with all these rules and
systems that apparently make us believe we're so evolved, and despite our opposable thumbs,
we end up pretty much bound to our carnal nature… Clearly this conversation has drifted a bit
further than I initially intended for it to, and I'm not at all trying to justify Arlong's behaviour (just
in case anyone thought that). I'm merely wondering if we ourselves are not very similar to Arlong
and his way of thinking… He does mention the "laws of nature" and such - which sounds similar
to the articles that I read long ago about why people say it's okay to eat animals and yeah this
just made me more curious…
Nami mentions at the end of the episode "Our brain compositions are different, so it's obvious
why I can" when referring to why she is such a good cartographer, compared to them? …
Hmmm, does this mean there are no fishpeople who can draw good maps? Why is that? Or is it
just that none of Arlong's underlings are good cartographers? AAAGGGHhh so much I still don't
know… I hope more information is given on this topic.

LAST THING about this episode: So.. Nami hates pirates, but she is (technically) a pirate??
HMMMMMM

Episode 32: The Witch of Cocoyashi Village, Arlong's Female Officer

Short Summary: Zoro is captured by the Fish-Men after Usopp and Johnny ditch him, and it is
revealed that Nami was part of Arlong's crew the entire time. When a group of Fish-Men attack
Cocoyasi Village, Usopp comes to the rescue.

In this episode we are introduced to ​Nojiko​. We did see her in the last episode, but this is when
we first learn her name. At first I guessed that her and Nami is somehow related. It turns out that
she and Nami are foster sisters. They were raised by the same mother, but their mother died.

I absolutely love Nojiko's character design. I love her tattoos, her hair colour and her VA is really
nice to listen to (I might be comparing her to Nami's VA whose voice, ​for Nami's character​, is a
little grating, in my opinion). But I did get the impression, at least when dealing with that kid, that
she's a little mean/harsh. I can understand why Nami assaulted the kid to get him to leave (for
his own good). I mean, she couldn't really be seen being nice to him, otherwise she would blow
her own cover. But I don't understand why she would give him money then, because that kind of
defeats the purpose of assaulting him in the first place? Anyway, like I said, I understand her
chasing him away for his own good if she didn't want him to get near Arlong, because that would
get him killed. But I don't really think it's necessary to tell a kid he might as well die, because he
doesn't have the resolve to live in these hard times. I get that she's not sugarcoating it and that's
fine, we need people like that in the world too, I'm just saying that I thought she was
unnecessarily harsh ​with a kid​.

As a viewer, I just watched Zoro challenge Mihawk a couple of episodes ago. Zoro didn't want to
back down even though he knew he could get killed, but he's not willing to back down, because
he wants to achieve his goal to become the world's greatest swordsman. That dream and Zoro's
determination is fueled by Kuina's death. This kid was essentially also willing to put his life on
the line to avenge his father who was murdered. I just find it would be hypocritical as a viewer to
respect Zoro's resolve to put his life on the line for his dream and not also respect this kid for
doing something similar. That's why I feel I kind of have to "stand up" for the kid against what
Nojiko said. There's really no point to this other than… Well, I feel she was unnecessarily mean.
She could have found a way to say what she meant without telling the kid he should die.
Ugh I thought that would be the last I said about that but now I keep editing and she says "then
drop dead, but keep this in mind, thanks to that witch at Arlong Park, your life has been spared
twice". As if the kid is supposed to know what Nami is doing and appreciating it. All he knows at
this point, is that she is working with Arlong and Arlong killed his dad. I kind of resent Nojiko for
getting mad at him for calling her a witch and telling him to drop dead - this is a fucking kid, how
is he supposed to know better if you don't teach him better? No matter how I look at it, she is
taking her anger out on the poor kid. She knows something he doesn't and yet she's expecting
him to feel the way she does or have respect for the "witch" that hit him in the face - like, how do
you expect him to?? She says she hates people like that kid who simply want to "go off and die",
because she knows someone who's choosing to live a difficult life. But seriously, how can you
hate a kid for being hurt and confused about his father being killed? How is he supposed to
know better? I'm sorry, this is rambly and repetitive but I don't like her attitude… At least when
he asks, "Then what should I do?" she kindly tells him to go back to his mother. But honestly
that really doesn't make it okay to JUST have told him he should go die because she hates kids
like him who can't read people's minds and see that Nami was obviously just hitting him in the
face for his own good, and just working with Arlong, ​the fishman who killed his father​, because
she eventually wants to buy back her village. How DARE he not know that!?!?!?

Usopp said: "so she betrayed her mother and friends to join Arlong's crew?" and Nojiko says:
"Yeah, that's about right. Isn't she just the witch?"

Clearly, though, Nojiko knows the truth… And she's just playing along with Nami's charade to
not blow her cover. Hmm, I really wish I didn't know at this point that Nami is going to get a
"redemption arc"/her backstory told, because I would've liked to know how I would've interpreted
all of this if I didn't know Nami wasn't really a bad person.

Now, about the part where Arlong says that Nami would even forget about her mother's death
for the sake of money. I love how quickly Zoro picks up on her facial expression and decides to
risk his life to prove that she isn't who she says she is (she's actually a good person). I said that
if she does save him, then I will love her, because if that proves to Zoro that she is a good
person, that's good enough for me. She didn't hesitate very long about whether to save him or
not, so I guess from here on out I will love Nami, because she saved Zoro even at the risk of her
own plan… I still haven't forgotten about a lot of what she has done, especially during the
Orange Town arc. But despite what she did there I will trust she is a good person at heart who
has just done wrong things out of desperation.

Arlong said he has 20 towns under his control. ​I don't know if this is important, but generally I
like to remember numbers and time periods that are mentioned.

As you could all see, I was quite shocked about the anime using the word "racist" as I have
never seen an anime deal with the concept of racism so openly. Assimilater, one of my patrons,
did point out the following alternative translation though:
We find out that Arlong wants to build an Arlong Empire and essentially dominate the whole of
East Blue as a Fishman Empire.

I just laughed out loud at this part with Zoro sitting in the cell, looking at the cut ropes, after
Nami had just freed him - because my mind immediately jumped to the scene where he was
sitting on Arlong's chair, wearing a new shirt, after having defeated all the fishmen that was
there… I don't know why, but thinking of these two scenes side by side just made me laugh.
The man called Gen, later says to the people standing up for him, "If we were to resist them with
our fists, we would have done so 8 years ago. But we swore to each other, let's fight with
patience. For our survival." From this I can conclude that Nami has been a pirate for probably a
little less than 8 years. And also that these people had some kind of plan to save themselves
that didn't include fighting with their fists… I wonder if they knew what Nami was doing or not?
Are they working together with her? If not, what was their plan then and do they believe Nami
really betrayed them and is one of Arlong's crew?

When she arrives in town, people call out to her "Nami! Na-chan!" but they turn around and
slowly walk into their homes… is this also because they don't want to blow her cover? But
Nojiko said she had a bad reputation… Do they not know about her plan? I can't know for sure
until I watch more… Hmm wait, when Nojiko says her reputation is bad… does she mean
because of that kid and Usopp? Maybe just a few of the townspeople know about her plan, but
not all… Or maybe just her town knows, and the kid is from the town that got busted up. I'm still
not sure.

Note: Nami needs 7 million beli more before she can buy the village which Arlong wanted 100
million beli for. One of my patrons, after watching these two episodes with me, commented the
following:

They probably said this in response to me saying I still haven't forgotten everything that Nami
did… especially during the Orange Town arc, as previously mentioned, despite having found out
a little about her reasons for doing everything she does. To me, if a kid gets bullied at home by
their older sibling, and they come to school and take their hurt out on other kids and bully
someone weaker than them, that doesn't make it right. I'm not going to excuse their actions just
because I can understand them. It's not okay to treat someone poorly, just because you got
treated poorly. Nami is technically a pirate, right? She even said so herself:
Just because Luffy said he was a pirate, she decided it's okay for her to sacrifice him to get
what she wanted from Buggy. She decided since he's a pirate, she can treat him poorly, but she
herself was a pirate, for her own "good reasons". So she was blinded by her hate for Arlong -
and although I can ​understand​ that, it doesn't excuse her actions. I've already said though, I've
pretty much put that behind me by now since Zoro tested her and I can admit she is a good
person at heart, who did bad things out of desperation. But it just irritates me that people can't
be okay with me, not agreeing with her actions.

I can disagree with a character's actions even while being open to understanding their reasons,
but you have to be open to the possibility that even if someone's reasons can be understood,
that doesn't necessarily make their actions good. I feel like I'm eventually going to have to stop
reading the comments, because I don't want it to be another Attack on Titan case, where people
argue with my opinion and then end up spoiling the future events for me. I mean, it's already
happened. I said my opinion on Nami and her actions, and people already told me I can't say
that about her because I haven't seen her backstory yet and I'll understand when I see it. So
that has already spoiled this whole arc for me, since I know how it will turn out at the end…
Once again, I know the few people who actually end up listening/reading to the end of my
reviews - it's not you guys who argue with my opinion anyway, but yeah I do vent about this
quite a lot since it's not nice to have your anime experience compromised. I just want this to be
the last time I even feel the need to defend my opinion, the majority of opinions are positive and
informative so honestly I don't want to stop reading through them. But yeah it's hard to "hear"
people telling me how I should be reacting to a character and their actions when I'm here to give
my honest thoughts and feelings.

OKAY THE END!!! <3

Episode 33 and 34 highlights:​ ​https://youtu.be/8BPKYvVz_MA

Episode 33: Usopp's Death?! Luffy - Yet To Land?

Short Summary: After Zoro escapes with Nami's help, she tries to prove her loyalty to the Arlong
Pirates by appearing to kill Usopp. Meanwhile, Luffy's group finally arrives at the island.

Arlong is a very interesting character. He seems to have a very bad temper. But then other
times (if I have to be honest) he looks like a pretty cool guy. NOT taking into account the fact
that he's basically the Hitler of the fishmen. I was actually super shocked about the way he
reacted when he found his men beaten up by Zoro. He was so dramatic and actually looked like
he cared about them - this is very different compared to the last villain, who was Don Krieg
(literally shot his men for questioning him).

The villains so far have actually all been really interesting. In the last notes file I started a list for
the weirdest One Piece villains, but I think I should list all of the villains from "best" to "worst".
Best just means the most interesting/compelling villains. Worst just means, hmm, I don't know,
they're weird? LOL what I'm trying to say is I don't think there is something like a good or bad
villain in real life, this will solely be based on them as ​fictional characters​ and my personal
opinion of the characters.

OP Villains

Django
Buggy
Arlong
Kuro
Gin
Chew
Hatchi
Morgan
Mohji (Beast Tamer)
Cabaji (the acrobat)
Alvida
Don Krieg
Helmeppo
Mouse Marine
Nyaban Brothers
Pearl the shield dude
When the fishmen are talking about Nami possibly betraying them I was surprised that they
hadn't already thought of this at some point, since Nami's specialty is literally betrayal. But the
more I see the situation and see what Nami and Arlong are like, the more I realise there was no
way that was going to happen. There would be no way for Nami to betray them, since she says
not even Luffy and them can fight real monsters, even with their monster-like power/strength.
The only choice she had was to work with Arlong and make a deal with him. ​But that made
me think… well, what if Arlong doesn't stay true to his word?? He's a bad guy after all, how can
she even trust that he will do what he said. But he did say “I would rather kill myself than break
a promise over money.” I find it difficult to believe that, but it seems to be the kind of person
Arlong is. At least, he has no reason to keep saying it amongst his comrades if it weren't true…
I'm not sure if I will ever find out if he would have really kept his word, since she hasn't saved up
enough to buy the town yet and now Luffy and them are here. It will probably end up in a fight
and as long as they are fighting on land, I believe Luffy, Zoro and Sanji can defeat Arlong and
his crew.

I find it really strange how much Arlong and his crew respect Nami - they treat her well and even
call her intelligent. I know she has an important skill that they need, but she's (in a sense) lucky
they pretty much see her as a comrade. I don't know much about history, but there are many
examples of racism from humanity's past and I've never seen extremist racists (like Arlong and
his men clearly are) who treat someone of the race they hate like an equal.

Then again, he does work with the Marine that looks like a mouse. I guess as long as someone
can be of benefit to him (like Nami bringing him a lot of money), it doesn't bother him what race
they are. Hmmm, a little confusing but let's see where the story goes with it.

Just noticed Nami's choice of words here, I find it kind of funny looking back:
This expressions is iconic:

I can't wait to read the comments explaining why Nami couldn't have allowed Usopp to escape,
because obviously there's a huge chance Arlong would've caught him again and killed him
immediately. Her plan (faking killing him) was clearly a great decision, because he gets away
without being pursued, plus she clears her name. Obviously I didn't realise it was faked until I
saw the bandage on her hand, but I'm looking forward to see how many people get mad at me
for calling her a bitch and saying she could've easily let him escape BEFORE I knew what really
happened. I might be wrong though, maybe the Nami fans aren't that vindictive and will give me
a chance to figure things out for myself before commenting their ​helpful explanations​.

Questions I have after the episode:

Why is that map of Cocoyashi village suspicious? Wouldn't it be normal to have a map of the
place you want to buy?

If Nami was going to buy the village, would Arlong have left it alone? Would it have been like an
independent state in Arlong's Empire or how was that going to work?

Does Chew say "chu" because his name is Chew or is Chew named Chew because he says
"chu".

I wonder why Nami keeps saying “Just like Arlong. You Understand.”? She also told Nojiko that
Arlong is the only one that understands her (or said something like that). For some reason it
feels like they have this weird father/daughter/captive relationship. It makes me think of
“stockholm syndrome” (feelings of trust or affection felt in many cases of kidnapping or
hostage-taking by a victim towards a captor).
Episode 34: Reunited! Usopp Tells Nami's True Story

I feel like Luffy reacts very harshly to poor Johnny trying to tell him what he saw (and he literally
saw exactly what Nami wanted him to see - so it's not like he's lying or making it seem worse
than it was, because she literally intended it to look like she killed Usopp). I was kind of shocked

😮
by Luffy's reaction. Not believing Johnny until he heard from Nami himself, or saw Usopp's
body, would've been one thing. But he grabbed him by the collar and made this crazy face
so yeah I was just kind of shook and I wonder why he reacted this way.

I mean, it's pretty clear that Luffy is a good judge of character (at least I think so). So maybe he
knows that Nami would never do such a thing. But why react so strongly? Why not just brush it

😂
off in his nonchalant way and just find out for himself the truth? Hmmm… Then he just decides
to take a nap now THAT is the nonchalant Luffy I know!

I'm currently laughing at myself for laughing at the moment when Chew spat water at the
purple-haired marine captain. I laughed out loud and then stopped laughing, because I didn't
want to laugh at the guy that was actually coming to save the people who were basically being
held captive by arlong.

Chew, Hatchi and the other guy didn't even need to fight those marines. They literally just sunk
their ship using their knowledge of the sea and the map Nami gave them. That's why I said
earlier if Luffy and them can just fight Arlong and his crew ​on land I​ think the fight would be
difficult, but they will win. If they were to fight from a ship (like those marines tried to) - I don't
think there would be a way for Luffy to win, since he can't swim. If they just sank their ship, there
would be no way for Zoro and Sanji to fight either. Anyway, I'm pretty sure a fight is going to
happen at some point and I'm actually really excited for it.

Hatchi says: “With our power and knowledge, we have no adversaries on the sea.”
Hmm… They also talk about how the map Nami drew for them helped them to win more easily. I
wonder if this is foreshadowing another battle on the sea, maybe Luffy and them will actually
defeat them ​on their turf (​ that will for sure be an amazing turn of events!) or it's foreshadowing
that Nami's expertise will be used against them in the “final battle”.

They talk about how Nami's maps could help them to be kings of the sea forever, but Arlong
sighs heavily and recalls the deal he made with Nami long ago. The deal is, if she saves 100
million beli, she gets Cocoyashi village and is free to go. Arlong ​repeats ​the words he said in the
last episode… “I keep my promises made over money, even if it means my death”. Whenever
something like that gets repeated I always have to make a note of it - because it has to be
important or will come into play again in the “height” of this arc. A good writer never writes
something just for the sake of writing it… You think about every word you use, every sentence.
What does this mean for my character? How would they say this? Why would they do that? This
is definitely highlighting a very important part of Arlong's character, and it wouldn't be for no
reason.

I believe this is a very revealing visual:

I think it is a little peek into Nami's backstory and her reasons for working with Arlong. I got a
sense earlier that she had no other choice but to work with Arlong. I think I might have
mentioned this too, but I'm not exactly sure what my words were.

I think the moment when Nami was with Nojiko, and she had messed up the whole house, was
when I related to her the most. Or when I related to her for the first time, let's put it that way.
Before that, there were times I didn't like her, and times I could ​understand ​her actions, but
didn't necessarily condone them or relate to her in any way. But that scene made me relate to
her as an individual.
There are millions of people all over the world. There is no way we could ​like​ every other
person. Whether they are good or not, some people just don't get along/sync up, because their
personalities are too different. I always say that you don't have to like everyone, but you have to
respect them as a person. I don't expect everyone to like me, there will be people in this world
that I just rub the wrong way. Maybe they don't like my voice, the way I talk, my beliefs or
whatever - have you ever had that feeling where you think “omg that guy just has a face that I
want to punch” LOL. Of course, that's meant as a joke. But there really are people who just
gives off a vibe that doesn't blend with yours. I think Nami was like that for me. I don't like her
character all that much because maybe I'm like oil and she's like water, we just don't mix. Of
course part of the reason was because I didn't like some of the things she did. But (for example)
​ bout her character is better - she's
I also didn't like how Nojiko treated that kid, but how I ​feel a
more likeable ​for me.​

Anyway, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. I did, however, in this instance, really
relate to Nami.

When she said: “For an instant... I forgot the fate I brought upon myself” that increased my
respect for her ​a lot.​ To me that says she at least understands that what she is doing is wrong
and she takes ownership of the consequences of her actions/decisions.

I wonder why Nojiko says “Nakama? To her, that's the most difficult word of all.”
The way Sanji acts around girls is super funny, but I would really dislike someone like that in
real life. That just gets all enamoured with any girl that walks by. Bleehhhh XD

One of my patrons tried to explain to me why they think Luffy just walks away when Nojiko
wants to tell them about Nami's past and why she is the way she is/why they should leave her
alone. I have to admit that I didn't read the whole message, because I honestly didn't think about
it much. I thought the same thing Zoro said: “Don't mind him. That's just what he's like.” I didn't
think about that reaction, or “mind it”, so to speak. Because for me that reaction makes perfect
sense, because that's just what he's like.

A comment from William Suva, a Patron:

At the end, Nezumi arrives (finally I read his name again and now I don't have to call him the
mouse marine). I wonder why the village people were not suspicious of him at all (or didn't seem
to be). Maybe they never saw his ship come in and out of Arlong Park? It seems to me like it
happened often though, since Arlong bribes him. So it's just weird that no one noticed it (Nezumi
did say in a previous episode he didn't want to stay because it would look suspicious if a marine
ship was docked at Arlong Park). Then again, I'm not sure how long he and Arlong have been
working together.
Conclusively, these were two really good episodes and I'm really looking forward to see how the
story unfolds.

Episode 35, 36 & 37 highlights:​ ​https://youtu.be/3oEHWWmOR8A

Episode 35: The Hidden Past! Female Fighter Bellemere!

I want to start my notes by saying I really like Hatchi and I'm going to be putting him above
Chew on my OP villains list. So the top of the list now looks like this:

OP Villains

Django
Buggy
Arlong
Kuro
Gin
Hatchi
Chew

Once again, I would just like to reiterate that the list does not mean I approve of these villains'
behaviour, it's just listing which characters, that are identified as villains in One Piece, do I find
most interesting. The reasons vary, since "interesting" is a very ambiguous term and you can
find characters interesting for very different reasons.

In this episode we learned part of the reason why Nami steals. It is because growing up, they
were very poor and she wanted to have things that she knew Bellemere couldn't afford. I think
it's very sweet that she thought about Bellemere and their financial situation at such a young
age, but I would just like to point out that not all kids who are raised by poor parents or in a poor
environment are automatically thieves/would steal things. Neither would it be okay if they did - it
is up to the parents or parental figures to teach children that stealing is wrong.

Growing up, my family was pretty average in terms of financial well-being. But I had a couple of
friends who I knew were from families who could barely afford their school fees. I just have to
point out that they never stole anything from me or got in trouble for stealing at all - for some
reason I just really feel the need to mention that poor kids do not ​have ​to fall into the stereotype
of being kids who steal.

Also, once when I was a kid, I stole a piece of candy from my babysitter's house, just because I
was too shy to ask if I can have it. Like I said, we weren't poor. So once again just saying this to
make sure people don't stereotype poverty as the reason why people steal - of course it can be
a reason and it is, ​often.​ Especially in cases of extreme poverty. But I just think that's a very
dangerous stereotype to entertain, so I want to make it clear that it's not something I feel is fair
to project onto others just because of their financial situation. The reason I'm taking this a bit too
seriously is because I know how easy it is to do this (project a stereotype on to someone) and I
just want us to be aware of it because some stereotypes are not all that dangerous and it
doesn't really matter if you do it every now and then, but yeah, this is the kind of thing I think we
should be very aware not to project into real life.

Not entirely sure how I feel about Bellemere joking about using her body to pay for the book in
front of Nami. It clearly had a big influence on her, despite it being a (probably often made) joke.
But I don't really want to talk about not agreeing with this kind of behaviour about a character
who is clearly very loved and who is now dead so yeah I don't want really want to go into too
much detail about this for fear of being more disliked for not liking something about a popular
character XD

haha but to be honest I think talking about the parents in One Piece would be very interesting
down the line once I know the characters better! We already got to know who raised Usopp and
Nami up until a certain age, then they were supposed to kind of figure out their own way from
there (I don't think Arlong can be considered a parent but I mean in a way her living with them
for so long definitely influenced the way how she went about things in her life). Luffy, as far as I
know, wasn't raised by Shanks and them, only spent time with them for about a year, which also
greatly influenced him obviously. But I don't know who his parents are and neither do I know
who Zoro's parents are. I hope the story goes more into detail about their past at some point.
Sanji was raised on a ship, not sure where his parents were or if he was an orphan up until
then, but thereafter he was basically raised by Zeff so the majority of his personality/character
will have been shaped by him. Not that a parent is the only thing that influences a child's
personality and behaviour. I believe it's a mix of nature VS nurture (as opposed to some people
thinking it's ​either ​one or the other). Anyway, I think the characters in OP are ​amazingly ​complex
and very interesting. I would love to do a character study on each once I am more caught up.
And of course I would take into consideration how they were raised and by whom when doing
said character study.

When Bellemere hits Nami in the face, it's obvious that it was more serious than other times
when she just bopped them on their heads for being naughty. What triggered this strong
reaction seems to be the fact that Nami said Nojiko is not her real sister. This obviously bothers
Bellemere a lot, because Bellemere is not their real mother. I think this scene is very important
in Nami's development, and not only for that, but an important scene for the tone of the show as
a whole… I believe it's teaching us, too, that just because someone isn't blood related, doesn't
mean they are not family (obviously not in the literal sense of the word).

Bellemere turns away from Nami and says "If you really hate this house so much, go and get
lost wherever you want". As a parent, clearly this is a very bad way to handle the situation. The
"perfect parent" (which does not exist, of course) would have reacted more calmly and dried
Nami's tears, explaining clearly why what Nami said was wrong and why it was so important for
them to treat each other like "real family", since ​that is what they are.​ A perfect parent would not
have let her run away and instead would have had a perfect little chat with her and made sure
she understood the severity of her words. But Bellemere is not perfect, no parent is, and I think
that is why later she chose to rather give up her life than deny the fact that she had a family. It
was her way of making up for how she handled this situation, and maybe many other situations.
Most parents do that. They make mistakes, since no one is ever really ready to be a parent,
they have to learn along the way and of course they are only human, then they try to make up
for where they are lacking in other ways. For example, my parents recently got divorced and my
mother blamed herself and saw herself as not being a good mother, so she tried to "make up for
it" in other ways, like supporting my dreams even when I was being reckless about them. What
I'm trying to say is that despite Bellemere's mistakes, she too tried to make up for them in a way
that makes her very human, very relatable, and I finally understand now (I didn't understand
while watching the episode) why she chose to rather give up her life than deny, even for a
moment, that she had a family.

In the reaction during the mid-episode break I talked about a topic that came up for me which
was disciplining kids using physical punishment. The fact that Bellemere slapped Nami was a
one time thing, but her bopping them on the head sometimes could maybe be considered
physical punishment like giving a kid a spanking when they are naughty. I don't believe in
physical punishment, because I turned out to be a really good kid despite never being spanked
or anything like that. But I am aware that some kids were raised that way and they feel like it
actually ​did ​help them grow up to be better people (not sure if that's the right way to put it).
Personally, I just don't see the value ​at all​ in using physical pain to adjust a child's behaviour,
because this is ​not ​something that is accepted in the adult world. So why teach a child this?

I am not judging Bellemere as a character for doing this - this topic has moved away from the
anime and I'm just chatting about my real life thoughts on this.​ I felt interested to talk about it
because I know different cultures discipline children differently. One of my patrons talked to me
about being raised by Indian parents and how they were beat up and locked up by their father,
because they didn't maintain their notebooks for homework. This made me think of a thread of
tweets I once read by someone who was abused as a child and though they tried to seek help,
they were told that "it's part of your culture, you are just going to have to accept it" (here is a link
to the tweets if you wanted to read more about it:

https://twitter.com/jdebbiel/status/1125809595014758402?s=21​ ). Anyway, this is another one

of those topics that we can discuss for hours, write many books about and never really come to
any specific "correct ​conclusion"…​ But I thought it was worth bringing up and talking about for a
bit and anyone is welcome to comment their own thoughts/experiences in the comments or
even DM me about it on ​Twitter​ or ​Discord​.

There's a scene showcasing the town’s little market which I found to be very sweet. This may be
giving us an idea about Cocoyashi Village's method of commerce that I will talk more about
later.
When Gen is telling Nami about Bellemere's past, he mentions this quote (it's in air quotes, so
I'm assuming it's something Bellemere told him): "Pirates who kill innocent people are
unforgivable.'' The distinction that it makes between ​pirates who kill innocent people (​ and not
just saying pirates who kill are unforgivable) is very important to the story in general, I think.
Well, the distinction is very important to me. That's why I got so worked up about Nami judging
Luffy ​just for being a pirate​ when she first met him. Once again, I ​understand why ​she did now,
so please don't explain it again, but still I'm saying this is the reason why I didn't agree with her
actions​ back then, because I believe this is an important distinction. It's not "pirates are
unforgivable" and it's not even "pirates who kill are unforgivable"... it's "pirates who kill ​innocent
people"​ are unforgivable.

This phrase is important, but also still restricting in a way… I'm pretty sure (for example), that
Zeff had killed innocent people in his life. After all, he was almost going to let his men kill Sanji.
So if we applied this phrase to that situation, Zeff wouldn't be a forgivable character
(technically). But is there anyone who would think that, after seeing what he did for Sanji??
Clearly, that changed his life and he was not the same person after that experience… So should
he still be held accountable for what he did ​before ​then? In the real world… probably… But I
would ​not b​ e able to bring myself to do that. I love Zeff.

Absolutely loved this visual:

It really made me love Bellemere a lot. And Nojiko is sooo sweet omg, I can't believe she went
through that as a kid and probably still has those memories :( Nami was a cute baby and she
still had that adorable laugh even when she was like 10 or 11 (not sure how old she was when
Gen told her the story).

Then… Arlong came along.

So each adult had to buy their life ​every month ​for 100 000 Beli. Each child cost 50 00 Beli.

Misushi, one of my patrons, sent me the following image:

Misushi: "In appearance and denomination, the beli closely resembles the Japanese Yen The
characters Yukichi Gaikotsu, Ichiro Kumaguchi, and Hideo Usaguchi portrayed on the belly
banknotes are a pun on Hideyo Noguchi, Ichiyō Higuchi and Fukuzawa Yukichi portrayed on the
corresponding yen banknotes. "Gaikotsu", "Kuma", "usa" mean skeleton, bear and rabbit
respectively. So, both the appearance and denomination of the beri closely resembles the
Japanese Yen.Therefore, it is safe to say that Oda based the One Piece currency on the
currency of his home country, Japan 1 yen = 1 berry. Means the villagers had to pay 100 000
Yen per adult which would be around $ 930. Bellmere [would have had] to pay around $1860
each month. And Nami had to collect $ 930 000 in total for Arlong's deal."
At the end of episode 35 I wondered about how the town would earn enough money to pay
Arlong each month. A few of my patrons commented some theories, so I'm going to post my two
favourite ones here:

One patron felt: " I think it's much simpler than all the above theories. I think oda went for a
simple but effective route rather than making sure the entire story makes sense."

To be honest, I have to disagree with this. I think Oda is too good of a writer to not have had a
good explanation. I think the reason it's never addressed in the manga is more likely "because
every manga panel is incredibly important (especially since Oda originally imagined One Piece
as a 5 year story). There's just no room for anything that doesn't advance the story. It's entirely
possible Oda originally had an explanation, but his editors decided it was either ruining the flow
of the flashback or just not important enough to include" (commented by Phantom on Patreon).

Anyway, even if the explanation was never given in the manga, I still enjoy theorising about
things like this :) it's really fun.

Episode 36: Survive! The Mother Bellemere and Nami's Family!

I wonder if Bellemere had shot Arlong when her gun was in his mouth, if she had just shot him
with no hesitation/giving him time to destroy her gun, would that bullet have killed him? I mean,
he caught a bomb in his mouth before, so there is no guarantee it would have killed him even if
she did shoot, but the gun was lodged in his mouth already so I'm just curious to know how
much damage it would have made if she had shot him then.
"Don't waste your life on something trivial. There are fights without meaning, too! This can be
solved with money."​ - Gen

I really love and respect Gen as a character for the lengths he went to, to help Bellemere and
the kids. The things he said too, it all just makes me really like him a lot. I also really love
Bellemere after doing my notes in the last episode and coming to understand her actions
more… Don't I have a list of characters in One Piece that I love? Need to revisit that list…

Favourite OP Characters

Zoro
Luffy
Usopp
Zeff
Mihawk

That's the list… I need to add Gen and Bellemere to it now. And well, Nojiko and Nami too. The
revised list looks like:

Favourite OP Characters

Zoro
Luffy
Usopp
Zeff
Mihawk
Gen
Bellemere
Nojiko
Sanji
Nami

There we go!

"Don't lose to anyone. Girls have to be strong too. It doesn't matter if you're not complimented.
Don't hate the era you were born into. And always remember the strength to continue laughing."
- Bellemere

Absolutely love this quote so much.

I think this is quite a revealing scene:

Nami ​asks for help​ and immediately after sees this:

She was faced with someone she loves getting ​seriously hurt, ​just because they tried to help
her.
You can see by her reaction (above) she saw it happen and maybe (I almost want to say
definitely) ​this is why it was so hard for her to ask Luffy's help. She knew what Arlong is capable
of and she didn't want to see someone she had grown to care for also get hurt, because she
asked for help… That's probably why she was so adamant that Luffy and them leave the island,
she wasn't sure that they could defeat Arlong at that point. But when all the people from the
village were on their way to sacrifice their lives, she couldn't ​not ​ask for help any longer. She
loved them too much.

"As long as you continue living, good things will come your way."​ - Bellemere

Just noticed this while editing:

So I think I was right about that scene where she asked for help and Gen got hurt - she saw it
and it left a big impression on her, which is why she didn't want to ask for help again.

A question I am left with after watching episode 36, that may just keep me up every night until I
find the answer is… WHY DOES GEN-SAN HAVE A PINWHEEL ON HIS HEAD!?

Episode 37: Luffy Stands Up! End of a Broken Promise!

In this episode we found out that Arlong sent the mouse marine (I keep forgetting his name) to
claim Nami's stolen money so that she can't pay him to buy the village. This way, Arlong keeps
​ oes not lose Nami, who is obviously
his promise, gets two thirds of the money anyway ​and d
invaluable to him, because of her map drawing skills.

I KNEW ITTTTTTTT! I KNEW HE COULDN'T BE TRUSTED! I figured from the start it's
suspicious that he kept saying he would keep his word, when​ clearly he is a bad guy a ​ nd why
on earth would a bad guy like him keep his promise? By "like him" I just mean that he's not
you're average "run of the mill" villain, he's much worse than that. I knew that him repeating the
fact that he wouldn't break his promise was important, and now we see why… it was basically
setting up for us viewers this betrayal… Arlong actually found a ​loophole ​in his deal with Nami.

Also, can I just say this is the third time we see the marines portrayed in quite a negative light...
First we got introduced to the marines through Axehand Morgan, who was a complete dictator
(although later we found out why he was the way he was - partly because he was hypnotised by
Django, right?). Then there was Fullbody, who was a complete asshole (hmm, I wouldn't say he
was a bad guy, but he definitely didn't do much good for my image of the marines). Now there's
THIS GUY (referring to the mouse marine). One could argue that he's not necessarily portrayed
as a bad guy, since some people would say he had no choice but to work with Arlong, because
otherwise Arlong would just have sunk his ship like he did with the other marines that came to
safe Cocoyashi village… But I think the fact that he seems to be ​taking pleasure in​ carrying out
Arlong’s absurd request to confiscate Nami’s money, is proof enough that he's not a good guy.
So conclusively, all I'm saying is that right now the marines have a ​pretty bad reputation i​ n my
mind.
Random thought, but Nami has some of the ​best f​ acial expressions in the anime (that I've seen
so far).
There is one part in the reaction where I look a little put off by Sanji. When he says he'll be the
one to take away all Nami's suffering. I'd like to explain a little more about that, since some of
my patrons seemed to think I was put off because I had thought he meant something different
when he said “I'm cherishing this happiness”. That's not the part that put me off, it's not like I
thought he was happy for Nami's suffering so that he could take it away.

To all the Sanji fans out there, please ​do not ​feel the need to defend him. I mean you can if you
want, but this won't change my opinion on/interpretation of what he said. It's not that I'm
critiquing his character, I’m just sharing my thoughts on what he said and how I feel about it. It's
just my personal taste. Some girls would love for a guy to be like that, and some wouldn't. Just
like some guys want a girl who isn't very career driven, so she can be a housewife and raise
their kids. There are girls in the world who really dream about being a mom and don't want to
have a job that takes them away from their kids. What I'm trying to say is there is nothing wrong
with being a certain way, because there is someone who is going to love you for exactly the way
you are. Like some people love Sanji for exactly the way he is. I'm just saying ​for me personally
his “womaniser” side kind of puts me off.
I absolutely love how the whole damn village was willing to sacrifice their lives for Nami's dream.
BITCH YESSSS this is what it means to be a good person. They were not willing to make Nami
suffer for the rest of her life, even if that was her choice, knowing that Arlong would never let her
go free. They were like “we're going to die anyway and we’d rather die fighting for Nami than live
just for her to keep suffering for our sake”. Village of the year award goes to… COCOYASHI
VILLAGE!

I love how Nami thinks of the time when Luffy said “don't touch my treasure” when referring to
his hat. Because it touched her that he was willing to put his treasure on her head, maybe in an
attempt to comfort her in some way. I really love the idea of that. Luffy is amazing.

Okay so I feel like this is a good time to address something that I already mentioned before. I'll
talk about it briefly again, because despite me mentioning it already, there will always be people
who comment stuff like this:

This was a recent comment on another One Piece reaction. And I'm sure I'll get a few more,
since this episode was particularly heartbreaking ​and omg I didn't cry!?!?!? ​Sigh.

I'm not here to force myself to cry when I don't feel like crying. I'm not here to tell you that I love
a character or an anime when I don't. I'm not here to jump up during a fight ​if I don't feel like
jumping up during a fight. I​ am here to share my honest reactions and thoughts.

I have mentioned before that ​I do not cry easily. I​ 've only ever cried during ​one a
​ nime and that
was episode 6 of Dororo. I cried a ​little d​ uring a few other anime like two or three times in Attack
on Titan and once or twice Fairy Tail and Re:ZERO. But that's because I was really deep into
the anime and really attached to the characters. This is only the beginning of One Piece. If there
are viewers that are just here to see me cry… Well, I can't make any promises, because I can't
fake it. I just want to point out that just because someone doesn't ​cry ​doesn't mean that they are
not sad. Of course I felt sad for Nami. Sad is not even the right word, I felt horrified seeing her
stab herself, over and over again. But I don't feel like I need to cry to prove to anyone that I felt
way.

The last thing I want to say about this specific scene is that once again, I am just absolutely
amazed by Oda's talent for storytelling.
Episode 38 & 39 reaction highlights​: ​https://youtu.be/eoRYXN8W068

Episode 38: Luffy in Trouble! Fish-Men vs. Luffy Pirates!

Opening 1 reaction: ​https://www.twitch.tv/videos/430041336

I have barely even started editing and I already have something to write in my notes, but to be
fair this isn't necessarily about these episodes. I asked in my Discord, if I was spoiled on
something, when should I say it? In other shows I watched, I'd usually bring it up when it
happens. Like "heads up fam, I knew this was coming so that's why I wasn't shocked" or
something like that. Tiago Silva, one of my patrons, was online at the time and said "I think it
would probably be best to let everyone know some time beforehand if you were spoiled on
something". I thought it would be best then to bring it up now. A notification came through on my
phone once (I don't get a notification for every comment, but I don't know why some comments
make a notification pop up on my phone - I need to figure out how to turn that off completely).
The notification said "wait until you see why Arlong is the way he is". Something along those
lines. So I'm assuming Arlong also has a ​backstory ​and a reason why he not only thinks
Fishmen are superior to humans, but actually treats them (well, the majority of them) very
poorly. I don't consider this a very big spoiler, because the truth is, almost every bad guy in
anime ever has some kind of ​reason ​for being the way they are.

The only difference I believe is, most anime (or even mainstream/western shows and movies)
only briefly mention something critical that happened in a villain's past to cause them to become
evil. I'm expecting One Piece to go into a little more detail, especially with a villain as interesting
as Arlong. However, I'd just like to give a fair warning, there are some things I will not forgive,
regardless of your backstory. If you take innocent lives, no matter your reason, you will not be
redeemed in my eyes. Whether I feel ​sorry f​ or what happened to someone in the ​past​ depends
of course on what happened to them. But if they choose to walk the path of evil, because of
something bad that happened to them, there are certain things I will not forgive. Killing innocent
people is one of those things. There are too many people that suffer in real life and remain good
(or at least does not kill innocents for example), for me to think "oh well shame they suffered a
lot so it's okay for them to make others suffer". Ignorance is also not an excuse "oh sorry I didn't
know it was wrong to torture innocent people for my pleasure". Madness is not an excuse (for
example if someone is bipolar and they kill people while they "are not themselves"). Such a
person is a danger to others and themselves and although I could feel ​sympathy ​for that person,
it does not excuse their actions.

Furthermore, people who commit evil ​in the name of something good o ​ r in the name of their
religion or beliefs or whatever will also not be forgiven. ​These are my beliefs​. Examples of
things I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive:
 - Killing or torturing innocent people
- Killing an innocent animal (with the exception of euthanasia if the animal is critically sick
or wounded)
- Torturing ANY ANIMAL
- Rape

These are the first things that come to mind. I don't believe in the death sentence, but I believe
someone who commits these crimes should be put away for life. Arlong has killed many
innocent people, so I doubt I'd even feel sorry for his present self at all, regardless of what
happened to him in the past that caused him to decide to be the way he is "today" (when I say
today, I'm referring to the arc I am currently watching).

Now that I've talked about this as briefly as I could (I'm sure the story will give me more to talk
about on this topic as it progresses), I can actually start editing my video.

This expression rivals my previous favourite facial expressions which were both from Nami (the
one before she “killed” Usopp and the one where she was mad at Arlong - I did post
screenshots before).

I am really curious as to why when Arlong talked to Mohmoo, Mohmoo seemed to be

hypnotised in some way. Arlong said "Well, if you wanna run away, I won't stop you… Would I,
Mohmoo?" At first I thought Mohmoo was just so afraid of what Arlong would do to him if he
didn't fight, he decided to fight Sanji and Luffy even though he knew he couldn't beat them. But
Mohmoo's eye transformed from scared (with pupils), to angry (with no pupils). In my
experience, whenever an anime character has no pupils (their eyes are just white), it usually
represents that they are "out of their mind" or beside themselves in some way. That's why I'm
thinking Mohmoo was hypnotised in some way, because how else did his mood change this
quickly? I wonder if Arlong has some kind of power… He is from the Grand Line, after all.
Also, Luffy has blown air out of his knows in anger (kind of like a bull) twice now in the episode. I
wonder if Luffy was born in the year of the bull?? ヾ(^ω^*)

Kind of unrelated but every time I watch One Piece (or any anime for that matter) I mentally
prepare myself beforehand to kind of "enter the world" of that anime and totally immerse myself
in the story and characters. Often afterwards, while editing my reaction videos, I am surprised
by my own reactions to some things, because I just remember the content of the episode, I don't
remember what I did or said while watching. While editing episode 38, I was laughing at myself
reacting to Sanji's amazing kick/leg power:

Zoro and Sanji are incredibly cool when fighting and their moves are so impressive. Luffy's
fighting style is the most entertaining and bizarre and Usopp's "fighting style" is the most
hilarious XD Overall in this episode I think I laughed the most at Usopp - or the loudest! He's
definitely the one I remember most for making me laugh in general.
Random note: Chew says "chu" and Hachi says "nyu". I kind of like these little word quirks when
it comes to anime characters.

In the reaction I said "there's no such thing as too many badass moments" when referring to
Sanji and Zoro as badass characters, but I'm pretty sure I could understand someone not liking
a character, because they are "too badass" or "too anything" for them. It's definitely a valid
reason not to like a character, I was just saying ​for me ​"there's no such thing as too many
badass moments", but I was mostly just kidding haha.

I have to say, episode 38 should be marked as one of the episodes that made me laugh the
most!! I'll make a note of that on my anilist. I think it's actually a really good idea to mark
episodes as "funniest", "favourite", "saddest" etc. in the future, so that I can make a list and
rewatch these.

I mentioned briefly in the reaction that I think if anyone is bipolar in this story so far, it's Arlong (I
said it this way, because someone once described Luffy's behaviour as bipolar). But let me just
point out, I don't ​necessarily think he's bipolar,​ I just meant to say that mentally, there is
definitely something ​off a​ bout him. His laugh in this scene (above image), makes me think that
even more. It goes beyond an evil bad guy laugh and sounds like it's hinting at a little mental
instability, to say the least…

Episode 39: Luffy Drowning! Zoro vs Octopus Hatchan!

Anime VS Manga: In the manga, Zoro broke Hachi's swords with Oni Giri and then finished him
with Tatsumaki, while in the anime, Zoro just used Tatsumaki.

I mentioned before wanting to make a list of all the moves I've seen. I asked a few people on
discord if they could help me out and Purematty, Assim and Ryz rose to the occasion!
LUFFY (moves)

Gomu Gomu no Pistol

This is Luffy's signature attack; he stretches his arm back then throws a devastating punch. In
other words, it is a standard straight punch, augmented with stretching.

Gomu Gomu no Rocket

Luffy's main method of traveling long distances fast. He stretches out one of his arms or both
and grabs a handhold, then retracts them, projecting himself high into the air at high speeds,
over great distances, or even into an opponent.

Gomu Gomu no Bazooka

Luffy stretches both his arms far back, and then hurls them forward, striking his opponent with
both instantaneously with a double open palm strike with both hands, that frequently sends the
recipient(s) flying off the other direction.

Gomu Gomu no Gatling (machine gun)

Luffy uses his stretching ability to bring his fists forward repeatedly in a blurry, rapid barrage of
strong punches that creates the illusion of him having multiple arms, however he does not
actually grow more arms

Gomu Gomu no Muchi (whip)

Luffy stretches his leg and kicks in a wide circle, striking multiple foes.

Gomu Gomu no Bullet

Luffy stretches one arm, far behind him while running, then snaps it back to deliver a
short-distance, one-fisted powerful blow to an opponent.

Gomu Gomu no Tsuchi (hammer/Mallet)

Luffy stretches out his arms while twisting them, and then takes hold of his opponent. He then
untwists them, rapidly spinning his opponent, while bringing him crashing to the floor.

Gomu Gomu no Kama (sickle)

Luffy grabs an object behind his opponent and pulls himself towards them. He then stretches
out his other arm and clotheslines his opponent.

Gomu Gomu no Yari (spear)

Luffy holds his feet together (with the bottom of each touching each other) and kicks with both
simultaneously via his toes (giving off the image of an actual spearhead).

Gomu Gomu no Ogama (scythe)

Identical to Gomu Gomu no Kama, but he uses both arms for the rocket and the clotheslining.
Gomu Gomu no Ono (Axe/Battleaxe)
Luffy stretches one leg high into the air, then brings it crashing down via a high-gravity stomp on
an opponent or structure, for massive damage, strong enough to destroy large buildings and
ships in a single hit.

Gomu Gomu no Ozuchi (Big Mallet)

Similar to Gomu Gomu no Mallet, but he performs it using the feet and legs instead of hands
and arms while in mid-air.

Gomu Gomu no Fusen (Balloon)

A technique where Luffy inflates himself rapidly through his mouth, further increasing his
resistance to blunt attacks. With his inflated body, Luffy is capable of deflecting projectile attacks
back at his attackers.

Gomu Gomu no Kane (bell)

While latched onto an enemy, Luffy stretches his neck backwards, then snaps it back for a
devastating head butt to the opponent's face.

Gomu Gomu no Kazaguruma (pinwheel)

ZORO (moves)

Oni Giri (鬼斬り Oni Giri?, literally meaning "Ogre Cutter")

Zoro's signature technique. A three-way simultaneous slashing attack. Zoro crosses his two
swords across his chest and places the blade in his mouth horizontally behind them. Zoro then
approaches the target (usually at high speed) and cuts through by swinging the swords across
his chest, resulting in a descending diagonal-crossing slash from both swords while the mouth
blade performs a horizontal cut from either the left or right, depending on which side of his
mouth he positioned the sword's main blade at. The pun in the name is that onigiri is also the
name of a Japanese rice snack (known as fantuan in Chinese), while an oni is a type of
ogre/demon in Japanese folklore (also read as a type of "ghost" in Chinese which ties into its
on'yomi/pinyin reading).

Tora Gari (虎狩り Tora Gari?, literally meaning "Tiger Hunting"):

Zoro puts his hand swords over his mouth blade and swings forth a forward descending slash
with them. At close-range, this can incapacitate at least two average foes at once. When Zoro
uses this attack, the aura of a tiger's head is shown behind him. The pun in the name is that
"Tora Gari" is also a type of Mohican haircut.

USOPP (moves)

Namari Boshi (鉛星 Namari Boshi?, literally meaning "Lead Star"):

Usopp fires a small lead ball bearing or pachinko ball from his slingshot.
Kayaku Boshi (火薬星 Kayaku Boshi?, literally meaning "Gunpowder Star"):
Usopp fires a highly explosive pellet filled with gunpowder.

Tamago Boshi (卵星 Tamago Boshi?, literally meaning "Egg Star):

Usopp launches a rotten egg at the target's face in order to blind or distract them.

Kemuri Boshi (煙星 Kemuri Boshi?, literally meaning "Smoke Star"):

Usopp fires a smoke bomb to confuse his enemies

Kaen Boshi (火炎星 Kaen Boshi?, literally meaning "Flame Star"):

Usopp fires a flame pellet. (what he used to lure Chu away from the villagers)

Since we're speaking about Usopp, I think a lot of viewers underestimate him at the start, based
on a few comments I've read, since he is such a coward. But Chew specifically mentions that
Usopp's "speed and stamina are incredible", so I think we shouldn't forget he's got his strengths,
too! I didn't even realise he had so many moves until Ryz sent me that list of the moves I've
seen up to now. As amazing and bizarre as Luffy, Zoro and Sanji's powers are, Usopp is a little
closer to "realistic" in terms of what he can do, so I really appreciate that about his character.

Really loving Nojiko's VA. I just noticed it again when she asks Gen-san to take her with him to
help Luffy. Her VA is:

She also voices characters such as Ran Mouri (Case Closed), Benkei (Air Gear) and quite a few
characters in a couple of Sailor Moon works. I've never watched anything she's been in though,
so this is my first time hearing her voice acting work.
I thought this scene (above) was really cool. Sanji was just level 40 punched and he just lies
there, takes out a cigarette, takes a deep breath and walks it off. #badasspoints (omg maybe I
should give points for Sanji and Zoro's badass moments and then see who ends up being the
most badass??). I didn't mention it looked cool in the reaction, because in one video someone in
the comments seemed to be ​very o ​ ffended when I said that my ex-boyfriend used to smoke to
help him calm down/center his mind. I said that this was the reason why I don't judge people for
smoking at all, because in some way it can help them. So yeah, this person was really mad that
I would ​condone smoking a ​ t all, because it's so unhealthy. As far as I remember, I did say "don't
smoke kids" or something like that, but more in a joking tone, because I don't think my story
would actually inspire anyone to smoke ( -.- ) but any "bad habit" is a coping mechanism and
can ​actually help you in a lot of ways and I say this from very personal experience… Wish I
could tell y'all this story, but I don't feel like I "know" the fandom well enough to share something
so personal with so many people

Love Zoro's words here: "Normally? That's a major miscalculation. Three swords… Six
swords… Numbers don't matter! I may only have three swords, but yours will never be as heavy
as mine!"

What was driving him in that fight with Hachi, adding to the weight of his swords and pushing
him to fight despite being critically injured, was "his rival, Kuina's death, the greatest swordsman
in the world, Mihawk, and the desire to protect his nakama". This is what pushes him beyond
the limits of a normal man.

Another memorable quote: "To face one who is extraordinary, Hawk Eyes… I can't allow myself
to be ordinary!" I love the determination in his voice and expression.
Episode 40 - 42 reaction highlights: ​https://youtu.be/tyMyf0aj0NM

Episode 40: Proud, Tall Warriors! Dramatic Battle of Sanji and Usopp

Episode 40 starts off with Kuroobi keeping Sanji back from helping Gen and Nojiko save Luffy.
Kuroobi's moves are definitely more badass-looking than Arlong's (in my opinion), but they're
still not nearly as entertaining as the main characters' moves. That reminds me, I made ​another
Google document that lists my ​updated ​One Piece lists. It's difficult to find the memorable
quotes, list of moves I've seen up to now and each updated "favourite characters" list. That
document will contain my updated lists, but I'll still post the progression/new additions in my
notes, because then when someone reads it back, they can see how it changed over time. The
updated list won't show that, so it's good to have both. (Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g8OHWVktSTVYvU9UqwMvHUr2VYFn9sweP90pqADtYp
U/edit?usp=sharing​).

When Kuroobi dived down with Sanji and his body started being crushed and blood came out of
his mouth, I thought to myself that this is actually quite violent. I also read previously that when
Arlong shot Bellemere, the gun was pointed at her head, not her chest… Maybe I can
understand them sensoring Zeff eating his leg (not that they even had to SHOW that, but they
could have kept it truer to the original without having to show too much), but some of the
censoring seems a bit pointless considering other stuff they ​do c​ hoose to show. I'm not
complaining about the violence, more so saying that some of the censoring doesn't make sense
to me XD I'm just curious as to how do they go about deciding that they can show Zeff breaking
off his own leg and Sanji's body getting crushed by the pressure, but they choose to have
Arlong's gun pointed at Bellemere's chest and not her head… Hmm.
Thought this scene/image was really good (5 badass points for Sanji lol):

Sanji's moves used in this episode​:

Collier (首肉コリエ Korie?, literally meaning "Neck")​: A kick to the neck which Sanji does whilst
still on the ground.

Collier Shoot (首肉コリエシュート Korie Shūto?, literally meaning "Neck Shoot")​: Collier
enhanced version. Sanji jumps high into the air and lands a powerful kick to the opponent's
neck. This was first seen as a named attack against Momoo.

Épaule (肩肉エポール Epōru?, literally meaning "Shoulder")​: A downward kick targeting the
opponent's shoulder, meant to knock them off balance or drive them into the ground.

Côtelette (背肉コートレット Kōtoretto?, literally meaning "Rib")​: Dropping down into a

one-handed handstand position, Sanji kicks the opponent hard in the ribs, this attack is usually
followed by Selle

Selle (鞍下肉セル Seru?, literally meaning "Lower Back")​: Commonly used as a combo attack
with Côtelette, using the momentum from the Côtelette attack Sanji (still in a handstand) spins
around in the opposite direction to deliver a fast kick to the opponent's lower back or lumbar
region.

Poitrine (胸肉ポワトリーヌ Powatorīnu?, literally meaning "Breast/Chest")​: A stabbing kick

straight into the opponent's chest
Gigot (もも肉ジゴー Jigō?, literally meaning "Legs")​: Running at the opponent Sanji delivers a
sweeping kick to the knee caps, the opponent is either send flying or slammed to the ground as
a result.[11] Used as the last kick and a named kick against Kuroobi before Sanji finished him.

Mouton Shot (羊肉ムートンショット Mūton Shoto?, literally meaning "Sheep Shot")​: One of
Sanji's strongest attacks, and a common finishing move.[13] He starts by jumping or flipping into
the air and then channels all his might into one leg to deliver a flurry of kicks so fast that it
seems to hit simultaneously, creating the illusion that Sanji's leg is shaking (this is not properly
shown the first time in the anime as in the manga); sending the target flying. Sanji usually aims
to the opponent's midsection, or sometimes their head.

In the reaction I called Arlong a zealot. I'm actually not entirely sure if he can be called that, but
in some sense I think he can. A zealot is ​a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in
pursuit of their religious, political, or ​other​ ideals. I think since it says ​other i​ deals, that means I
can apply the term to Arlong. A zealot is person who has very strong opinions about something
(to the point where it is ​fanatical​), and tries to make other people have them too. I think that
could be applied to Arlong's racist beliefs.
I love how they show Usopp's character development in this episode. He may not be as
strong/powerful as Sanji, Zoro and Luffy, but he chose to fight for those he loves, too, despite
the overwhelming fear he was feeling. That made me think of this quote: "Bravery is not a
quality of the body. It is of the soul." His body (physical strength) may not be as strong as the
others, but his soul certainly is.

"They face hardships every day and they laugh like they're really having fun!! [...] I want to laugh
'til I cry too. But if I don't fight with everything I've got, there's no way I deserve to be on the
same boat as them. There's no way I can laugh with them!"​ - Usopp

I like how I said (at first) "there's no way he even stands a chance" (I didn't think he should
compare himself to the others). But in the end he defeated Chew! Possibly by comparing
himself with the others, not out of jealousy, but because he was inspired by them, he went
beyond what anyone thought was possible and defeated one of Arlong's strongest men! Just
like Zoro and Sanji did. Granted, Zoro had a life threatening slash across his body and Sanji
started the fight underwater, but still… I believe Usopp is keeping up quite well and I'm so proud
of him.

New Usopp moves: ​Ketchup Boshi ("Ketchup Star"), Usopp Wagomu (literally meaning "Usopp
Rubber Band"), Usopp Hammer

I definitely believe part of the reason why Usopp was able to defeat Chew was because Chew
severely underestimated him. The fact that his opponents doesn't see him as much of a threat
(because of him running away or acting stupid) will come in handy more in future fights (at least
that's what I expect). ​I'm literally laughing out loud again while editing, because of his repeated
USOPP HAMMER! USOPP HAMMER! USOPP HAMMER!!
The part where Usopp is lying on the ground (after just defeating Chew) he shouts "See that,
loser? I CAN DO IT. You see that, you jerk? Don't look down on me, dammit!". One could
assume he's screaming at Chew, but I wonder if in some sense, he's also saying that to the
viewers who underestimated him. I have read some of the SBS (one of my patrons, Zagrash,
sends me which ones are safe to read) and Oda isn't afraid to call some of his fans idiots or
make fun of their ideas and stuff. So I wouldn't be too surprised if Usopp's words are just as
much meant for the viewers who thought he was lame, just because he's not as strong as the
others.

Episode 41: Luffy's Best! Nami's Courage and the Straw Hat

Love the symbolic imagery in this episode.

"You can never kill me, and you can never run away from me." - Arlong (spider)

"Are you my nakama, or theirs?"

The butterfly, symbolising Nami, flying towards the spider's trap. The trap is Arlong saying he
will spare the people of Cocoyashi village if she chooses him. ​The butterfly (in the episode)
gets caught in the trap​. But then the image switches to a scene of the villagers shouting at
Arlong "You bastard! No matter what you say, you just want to keep her!". This is very
important, I believe, because I think Nami would've chosen to save the villagers (most people in
that situation would've chosen that), if they didn't (essentially) remind her they were there,
because they weren't willing to live anymore, if that meant that she had to suffer for them. The
people of Cocoyashi village marched up to Arlong Park knowing they were going to die, after all.
Nami continues to think about Luffy and what he had said to her after the people of Cocoyashi
village left to fight Arlong. She thinks "I can't doubt what he said!" and the butterfly in the
imagery starts fluttering wildly, trying to escape from the trap. The spider scuttles towards the
butterfly quickly, but just before he reaches it…

"Everyone, I'm sorry! Will you die with me?" This symbolises the
moment that the butterfly breaks free from the spider's web.

The following was an image from the manga, shared with me by Chandler (a patron):
 "It may not be that big a deal, but there's one "scene" from the manga they didn't bring to the
episode 41 (dunno why), that I liked. That thumbs down gesture from Zoro. I see it as him telling
Nami that Arlong will now lose."

I wonder why Arlong gets offended by the phrase "half-fish bastard". It may have something to
do with the distinction between fishmen and mermen (the importance in the distinction was
pointed out to me by a few commenters - and yes I am aware that it's technically a spoiler but
whatever I know now so…).

Zoro's facial expression here is kind of hilarious lol

I didn't notice in the moment because it was an intense/serious scene
 ​ ut how it's drawn that makes
It's not necessarily the ​expression b
it funny (exaggerated shocked eyes)

I'm using a lot of images in the notes for this episode but I kind of need to. For example the
following can best be shown with screenshots:

The above image is the subtitles that was included in the episode I was watching. The ​emphasis
made me think Arlong meant something different than he did. I thought it looked like he was
almost respecting Zoro too much to kill him, and he was trying to convince himself to do it
anyway. The BELOW image was sent to me by a patron (Assimilater). The difference in
subtitles make it apparent that Arlong did not respect Zoro in that sense, but he did think it was
very important ​to kill him as soon as possible, because of how dangerous Arlong realised he
was. If Zoro could fight the way he did with this wound (5 badass points for Zoro!), imagine what
he would be capable of at full health. That was more likely what Arlong meant. Note: I cut this
discussion (about what Arlong meant) out of the reaction highlights, because the different
subtitles (that I found out about afterwards) already cleared it up for me.
Episode 42: Bursting Out! Fish-Man Arlong, Fearsome Attack From The Sea!

The Arlong VS Luffy fight finally (really) begins. I have to say, even though Luffy's fighting style
is more "entertaining" than badass (compared to Sanji and Zoro in my opinion), his ​attitude i​ s
ABSOLUTELY badass and for that I'm going to give him 5 badass points :P at the end of
episode 41, his attitude was actually better. But they "replayed" what he said at the start of
episode 42, but it wasn't the same scene or tone or anything. I found that kind of strange.

"I know that I need others to help me if I want to keep on living!"​ - Luffy

Fun facts about shark teeth (since Arlong's teeth can grow back so fast!):

- Sharks’ Mouths Are Basically Teeth Factories. Shark teeth grow in conveyor belt-like
series and rows, with the biggest teeth facing outwards. Over time, the smaller teeth in
the back grow and move up, replacing the ones in front. Because shark teeth aren’t
attached to gums on a root like ours, they lose on average a tooth a week. Also unlike
humans, each lost tooth can be replaced within a day.
- All sharks are born with teeth. They need them to survive their brothers and sisters, who
will gobble each other up in the womb. Talk about sibling rivalry!
- Unlike most animals who have upper jaws that are firmly attached to their skulls, sharks
bite with both their upper and lower jaws. Bad news for quick swimmers: that upper jaws
also detaches, allowing sharks to thrust their entire mouths forward when attacking for a
bite with a bigger reach.

I wonder how much of this (or other facts) Oda took into account when designing these
characters (e.g. Hachi the octopus, and Chew the… well, I'm not sure what kind of sea creature
Chew is to be honest XD). I believe their designs and skills were definitely inspired by the real
life creatures they are based on, but obviously altered for better/more lethal characters. For
example, shark teeth can grow back within a day, but ​Arlong's t​ eeth grow back within a few
seconds! He's a ​fishman ​after all.

Arlong's face thinking he's mutilating Luffy (or so he thought)

 Arlong's face realising he's been mutilating one of his own men

I read someone's comment saying "at least Arlong cares about his men". I don't "get" that at all.
Are you saying, "despite all the innocent people Arlong has mercilessly killed and despite him
forcing people to buy their own lives for crazy amounts of money, we shouldn't forget that ​he
cares about his own men"​ as if that somehow makes him a good person? I would understand an
argument like "Nami steals from people, but at least she only steals from pirates and she does it
for a good reason (to save the people of Cocoyashi village)". That makes sense. "Stealing" in
and of itself is not an ​evil​ act, and even if someone steals, that doesn't make them a bad person
automatically. ​But saying "well, at least Arlong cares about his men" as if the same principle
applies? Uhm, no, I don't think so. There is no ​at least ​in my eyes. He's killed many innocent
people (among other evil things), therefore ​at least ​nothing. Period.

Luffy mocking Arlong's laugh is EVERYTHING XD I love him!!!

Arlong ends up biting hard into Luffy's elbow. If Luffy's arms can stretch, it means that his bones
are rubber too. Of course, sharp teeth can still cut ​into ​rubber, but his bones can't technically
break, right? Not sure how that works. In the SBS, I did see Oda say to someone that Luffy's
penis can stretch, too (LOL). And in a more recent SBS (Zagrash sends them to me every now
and then when I've reached a certain part in the anime) I saw someone also ask about Buggy.

When Arlong made this face, Sanji said that these are the same eyes the
Deep Sea King has when he attacks. I half said (in the reaction) "hmm so
he is getting serious now", but I don't think he hasn't been serious until now.
I think he's just ​really ​losing his cool and becoming more animalistic.

The episode ends with Luffy and Arlong in the map room of Arlong park. Despite fishmen
"knowing the sea like the back of their hands", apparently they can't draw maps (which doesn't
entirely make sense to me but okay Arlong). Luffy ends the episode by saying "Nami is OUR
NAVIGATOR!"

I'm really looking forward to what's coming next. I'm hoping to see Nami finish Arlong off, but it
doesn't really matter who finishes him off. I'd just like to see some "poetic justice" after the 8
years of hell he's put her through. I'll see if I can do 3 episodes again, but I'll probably take 2
days (again) to finish the editing, notes and review. I still have other videos to record every day
for patrons, so that's why I can't fit all of that + edit 3 episodes ​and​ do my notes and review all in
one day.

Reaction Highlights Episode 43 - 45: ​https://youtu.be/wSxnwzVmyCE

Episode 43: The End of the Fish-Man Empire! Nami is My Nakama!

"Inferior race, but still a smart woman. If the rest of the human race are little rats, then she's a
cunning cat." - Arlong (racism at it's "finest")

What is racism? Definition: ​the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics,
abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior
to another race or races.
I used to get really frustrated when people said ​only white people can be racist.​ To say that a
specific ​belief (​ if you think of racism as a belief ingrained into a person's mind) can only be
attributed to one race, is (essentially) racist.

I was pretty shocked that the anime was so ​obvious a ​ bout showing a racist villain, and although
there is a lot I'd like to say on this topic, I have to admit that it has more to do with the concept of
racism and the cycle of suffering. Therefore, it may not be entirely relevant to the story right
now. I guess I will have to discuss that some other time… I will, however, make a guess (which I
may have mentioned before) and say that it's very likely that Arlong lost his family or friends at a
young age, by the hands of cruel humans. He was definitely not born with his disdain for the
human race.

Do not confirm or deny this theory based on your knowledge from future events please.

The scenes where Luffy is destroying the map room on the top floor of Arlong Park has to be
one of my favourite moments in the anime so far. That reminds me of something I wanted to talk
to you all about.

I started this channel last year, and at the end of the year I "hosted" my own ​Animaechan
Awards​ ​(just for fun). From all the anime I had reacted to, we chose winners for categories like
"best girl of 2018", "best boy of 2018", "most reaction worthy moment" and so on. At the end of
this year, I hope to do that again. Since I am so far behind on One Piece I didn't think I was
going to include it this year, but I realise there is no way I could do that, because I am spending
so much time on this anime compared to all the others. How could I leave out One Piece in the
Animaechan Awards 2019? After it is making such a big impression on my year.

I've decided to add separate categories for One Piece, because the anime has been running for
20 years and it's literally ​always airing​. It's in a league of its own. Categories I thought about
having so far (for this year) is:
Strawhat of the year (2019)
Best OP Villain of 2019
Best OP Moment/reaction of 2019

These polls will be based on ​where I am in the anime this year.​ All my subscribers will get to
vote on polls I post (I will start posting the polls around December or January 2020 - the video
with all the winners will be posted at the end of January). The reason I'm sharing all of this right
now is so that you all can nominate a few best moments/reactions so far (from the videos I've
posted). Here is my OP playlist if you need to refresh your memory:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVlrwi1bk6kZtmNCz9LnZQ5LThI2_LGKu

Please comment your suggestions on the video.

After Luffy defeats Arlong, the music that plays alongside the collapse of the building is really
"victorious". Nami screams Luffy's name (just before the break) and it made me worried for a bit,
but then that background music started playing and it made me feel so happy… Like the battle
has finally been won! And Luffy will be a-okay.

I was completely shocked by this moment XD poor Zoro

After Zoro wakes up (see image above), he looks around and then up at the sky, and says
"Luffy?" almost as if he sensed the end of the battle. I really love the connection that Luffy and
Zoro have - and it's been apparent since the first day they met! Or at least since their first fight
(against axe-hand Morgan). They really were meant to find each other (​fate​).

When Luffy emerges from the rubble, I said he needs to shout out in victory (because it looked
like something the moment was building up to). He does call out to Nami, and says "YOU ARE
MY NAKAMA!!!". Considering Arlong called Nami ​his n ​ akama before, this could be Luffy's way
of saying HE won over Arlong. It could be his way of saying, he won this fight for her. At least,
that's what I choose to think.

Finally, Nami is free to choose to be with Luffy and them. Not that that was her ​only ​choice, of
course. But by this time they had already bonded in their hearts, so there was no way she was
​ oing to choose to be their nakama after the emancipation of Cocoyashi village.
not g

"Who would have thought that we'd be saved by pirates? What's the world coming to?"​ - Gen

I actually think this quote is really important, because it emphasises the theme apparent
throughout the anime - pirates aren't always bad and marines aren't always good… The quality
of "goodness" and "badness" can not be attributed to a person by worldly appearances. Just
because someone is a pirate, does not mean they are bad. Just because someone wears a
marine hat, does not make them good either. The world uses these labels to quickly identify and
objectify what is bad and good (in some cases it can be helpful, but it's dangerous to get stuck
in stereotypes). However, in reality it's not always so simple. It's not what someone is called (or
what the call themselves) that's really important, it is the ​actions that they carry out ​that
determines whether they are good or bad people.

Episode 44: Setting off with a Smile! Farewell my Hometown, Cocoyashi Village!

At the start of this episode Luffy was eating a lot and shown to be looking for more meat to eat
("Niku?! Niku?!"). I asked whether he was blood type O, but Zagrash (a patron) let me know that
Oda confirmed Luffy to be blood type F (which in our world is similar to blood type B,
apparently). I wonder why he decided to change this? Probably to emphasize that this is a
different world, where people can eat fruits and their bodies can take on strange properties like
stretching and splitting.

The reason I thought Luffy was blood type O, is because when I was younger and I wanted to
lose weight naturally, I started eating according to my blood type (which is A). I didn't want to
exercise a lot, but I wanted to be able to eat a lot so this blood type diet was PERFECT for me
lol. I did a lot of research on the best diets for each blood type and I knew that those with blood
type O require a high protein diet - lots of meat. That's why I thought Luffy might be blood type
O.

At Bellemere's grave, Nami wonders whether Bellemere would have stopped her from becoming
a pirate. Gen gives one perspective "She'd never let her precious little girl become a pirate", and
Nojiko the other "She wouldn't stop ya". In light of what I previously discussed, at the end of the
notes for the last episode, it's becoming more apparent to us viewers that what makes a person
good or bad is not ​the label ​that the world has given them. It's their actions. That's why (I
believe) Gen says Bellemere wouldn't approve at first, but then he realises that Nami would only
be "bad" from the world's perspective (branded as a pirate, pirates are "known to be
bad"/branded as the bad guys). Bellemere wouldn't mind Nami being ​the kind of pirate t​ hat
Nami is choosing to be (just like Luffy). She might be choosing to be a pirate, but she is not
choosing to be a bad person. I like that Gen says "Nami, you've made up your mind already,
right? So just do what you feel is right." He trusts that, just like Bellemere, Nami is a good
person, although she may not always do ​good things. H ​ e knows that in the end, she will always
do what is ​right.​

Interesting note: Zoro doesn't seem to be much of the "party" type, whereas Sanji does, and
Usopp too. Although they enjoy it in very different ways ＼(≧▽≦)／
Luffy is mostly just there for the food hahhahaa!

The different kind of partygoers:

The Zoro: Having a drink, chilling by themselves.

The Sanji: hitting on girls/guys
The Usopp: entertaining everyone with songs and games
The Luffy: STUFFING THEIR FACE

I thought this would be a funny little cartoon and if I ever get time to draw again I hope I can
draw it ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡ I guess I would be like Nami: Doesn't even go to party and chooses to do
other more productive things LOL

Oh, one of my patrons, Legewien, sent me a picture of Nama-Hamu Melon:

"Parma Ham and Melon, mediterranean plate, really popular for a summer party"
 Also, Chabo is a really good kid.
I really enjoyed the interaction between him and Nojiko in this episode. Nojiko is definitely one of
my favourite characters and I would've loved to hear a bit more about her and what ​her ​dream
is. Maybe we'll meet both these characters again in the future. I hope so.

It might be that Nojiko tends to Bellemere's tangerine grove for the rest of her life and although
there would be nothing wrong with that, I really would love to hear more about her hopes and
dreams for the future. Whether it's to start a family, expand the tangerine grove or whatever… If
we never get more information on that, I'm going to write my own fanfiction! (i'm kidding, i
wouldn't have time for that, but I would really love to dream about it and chat about it in future
livestreams - this won't be for a long time though… I'll only do One Piece related livestreams
once I'm caught up… see y'all in 3 years! lol)

I have a question… how is it Luffy ends up UP THERE looking for nama-hamu melon XD earlier
he was looking for Nami and he was told (by the Doctor), maybe she's ​there​. Granted, this
seems to be much later, but could it be that Luffy was always looking for Nami during the party?
He asked the Doctor where she was and then got distracted by food and looking for nama-hamu
melon, then just so happened to end up at Bellemere's grave (the "there" that the doctor was
referring to earlier). I mean, I know he's bad at directions and everything, but there is no way he
walked out of town ​away from all the food ​and just ended up there by accident… or did he?
Hmmm… maybe he just wanted to share a meal with his (now ​official​) navigator.

Anyway, I love how Gen is like Nami and Nojiko's father figure and he's the one essentially
"giving Nami away" and telling Luffy "if you ever take her smile away, I'll kill you". Just like a dad
would when his daughter gets a serious boyfriend or something.

Luffy said, "Well, I don't plan on stealing anything, so..." which makes me curious and excited
about what it means for ​Luffy ​to be a pirate (because generally a pirate is "a person who attacks
and robs ships at sea"). Many people have said for him being a pirate is being free, but I'm
looking forward to ​seeing/learning that for myself ​instead of being told.
"[...] happy times will come again. They'll definitely come."​ - Bellemere

I love the scene where Nami takes a deep breath, opens her eyes, turns around and "sees"
Bellemere sitting at the table. Nami says that it's finally over and that everyone is finally free.
She tells the image of Bellemere (that I believe she chose to "put" there/imagine is there) that
she has decided to leave the island, but with really good and strong people, so she'll be okay… I
love that she declares her goals, to see the world with her nakama and draw maps for herself.
On some level, she may feel a little guilty, or scared (because she knows she's not leaving to
come back again soon with more money… it's not guaranteed that she will come back at all this
time…), but that's what makes the "push" from Bellemere even more impactful. It's a
reassurance that she doesn't have to feel guilty. Was it really Bellemere's spirit that gave her
that little push? Maybe Nami's focus on the thought of Bellemere invited her spirit there that
night… Or could it have been Nami's own self-conscious, giving her that encouragement? The
person Nami is, is greatly thanks to Bellemere, after all… So even if spirits don't exist in this
world, and it was Nami's own self-conscious giving her that push, at the end of the day we know
Bellemere would have done the same. Nami's laugh at the end could be interpreted in many
ways… Did she laugh at herself for "feeling" that push after just stumbling a little at the door? Or
did she laugh because she was happy to feel her mother's presence? It doesn't really matter.
What matters is, she straightened her back, held her head high and left with a smile on her face.
 I love how the anime quickly shows Nami is pick pocketing
all the villagers - we could have easily picked it up if we were
looking closely - but just like they did, we totally missed it!

Absolutely love their reaction to Nami's exit!! HAHAHHAHAH

 This symbolism was absolutely beautiful <3

I wonder if Bellemere and Gen-san would've ended up together had she not died… As far as I
am aware, she died at the age of 30 and Gen was 38 at that time. That's just an 8 year
difference… Of course, just because Bellemere is Nami's mother and Gen became like a father
figure to her and Nojiko after Bellemere's death, doesn't mean that they would've ended up
together, but it ​kind of ​could hint towards that… Especially considering the joke Bellemere made
in the flashback ("I'll pay you with my body" - or something like that) and how flustered Gen got!
I thought that was setting a really bad example for Nami at first, but now I'm thinking there might
just have been flirting going on between the two! We could never know. But in a perfect world I
believe she would have survived and her and Gen would have ended up together (I can dream
can't I?? I told you guys I like shipping people XD or should I say… I just like romantic ships -
NO not the ​physical s​ hips! I mean relationships). I'm an incurable romantic - when it comes to
stories, at least!

As we now leave Cocoyashi village behind, I thought this would be a fun fact: "Cocoyashi is
Japanese for coconut". Coconut Village is a really cute name for a village (*≧ω≦*)

Episode 45: Bounty! Straw Hat Luffy Becomes World Famous!

Nami reads in the newspaper "there was another coup-de-tat in ​Villa​". Thanks to Attack on
Titan I know what a coup d'etat is! But I'm going to Google the official definition of it anyway, for
my notes: "a sudden decisive exercise of force, in politics especially. The violent overthrow or
alteration of an existing government by a small group a military coup d'état of the dictator". I
would be so impressed if this little snippet of information comes up again in the future… I hope I
remember it if it does!

Buggy's Bounty: 15 million beli

Krieg's Bounty: 17 million beli
Arlong's Bounty: 20 million beli

Luffy's Bounty: 30 million beli!!!

The marines… the "heart of justice"

We've seen both good and corrupt marines… It looks like they are at least ​supposed to be v​ ery
just characters… what is justice, precisely? According to Google, justice means "just behaviour
or treatment". Which is not helpful at all… what is considered JUST? Ah, here we go: "based on
or behaving according to what is​ morally right and fair​". Justice, then, could be different based
on the culture/environment you are surrounded by. But isn't it kind of scary that ​your ​justice
might not be ​everyone's​ justice? What's fair for ​you ​might not be fair for everyone?

"The concept of justice differs in every culture". Some people argue that justice issues from
God, others believe there is a natural law that governs what is just and what is not (I hope that
this is the right way of saying it, I'm not sure). There is despotism and skepticism, utilitarian
arguments for justice and so many other variations… I am looking forward to discovering how
the anime handles this theme through characters like the marines and pirates.

In one of the previous episodes, the Doctor at Cocoyashi village told Luffy and Zoro they need a
doctor for their ship (Luffy, of course, mentioned that they need a musician first, because pirates
love to sing!). In this episode, Kaya mentions that she is studying to become a doctor (at the
end of the Syrup village arc, she had said that she wanted to do this). Right after she says this,
she also says "My dream and Usopp's dream… the day will come when they'll meet again and
become one will arrive someday, I'm sure of it". COINCIDENCE?? I HOPE NOT! I know that at
some point there is a time skip, but I don't know how many years it skips… it could be that what
she said here was a hint that they really could end up together one day (their dreams aligning),
but that doesn't mean we'll necessarily get to see it happen. I don't think it's likely that we would
but I like holding on to the idea that even if we won't get to see it, they'll end up together. I
already mentioned most of this in my reaction, but I wanted to write it in my notes too, because
I'm more likely to reread my notes than rewatch my own videos lol.
 Pretty sure this is foreshadowing a reunion between Luffy
and Koby! Looks like Helmoppo in the background - seems
like he's in the marine business even though his father is
in jail. He's either going to become the exact opposite of his
dad, or follow in his dad's footsteps (and try to avenge him?)… hmm

When they showed Kuro's ship, for a second I thought maybe Django was captain… But I forgot
that Kuro didn't die and couldn't return to Syrup village, so obviously he retook his position as
captain. We didn't get to see Django at all this episode, unlike many other characters… I wonder
what happened to him!

I was wondering why Fullbody got demoted. I asked my patrons in our private chat on Discord
and Zera told me:

This makes sense. I guess it could be attributed to the fact that he lost a fight with a waiter,
acted unfitting of a marine captain and lost the respect of many of his men.

Also, my patrons let me know Kuro's poster is crossed out, because he faked his death (which I
forgot about). Since the villagers at Syrup village was never told about what happened, I guess
news about Kuro never got out.
Not only did Zoro impress me A LOT when he hoisted up an anchor with his bare hands (in the

👏 👏
last episode)... but he also sliced this cannonball in half, and finished it off with "You shouldn't
bug people trying to take a nap". Bad ass

I wasn't sure how many points to give him, so I posted a poll to my YouTube community tab.
There's almost 1000 votes now and 71% says 4 points. Madfake said "nearly anyone can stop a
cannonball, it should get 1 point max", but badass points are not necessarily given for ​what ​you
do, it's about ​how y​ ou do it. Being badass is an ​attitude​, more than it's ​physical action​. At least
in my opinion. For example, Luffy's attitude in the final stretch of his fight against Arlong won
him some badass points before, even though he's not really your typical "badass" character.

Another thing to consider is ​when ​something happens. For example, this is quite early in the
game. It could get 4 points now, but if he did this, let's say, 400 episodes from now after I've
seen a lot of other badass moments, at that "level" in the game, something like this might now
be worth any points at all. For now, I'm going to give him 3 points. Remember, everyone is
welcome to play along! You can give badass points for other characters too, even when I don't
(this might be easier for my patrons who watch the full episode with me). The reason I'm saying
this is because it's just a game I'm playing - it's for fun! And my concept of badass won't be the
same as yours, but I'm definitely enjoying this points system (⁀ᗢ⁀)

Oh! I just got to the point where Sanji had a great one-liner, for example. He said to Fullbody,
"We're not serving soup today. You wanna lick the deck?" now ​that's b ​ adass too and I'll give
him 1 point for it.
 Attitude + cool one liner = badass

When I realised the pirates on the island Hawk Eyes stopped at was Shanks and his men I
totally freaked out. And I got goosebumps while editing, when Shanks said "So you've come,
Luffy!". For some reason his expression and voice makes me SO EXCITED!! I can't believe we
only saw Shanks and his men for a couple of episodes and I already feel like… so ​in awe ​of
them! The anime really does a fantastic job of setting up characters and their ​prestige (​ not sure
if that's the right way to say it, but I hope you get what I mean).

hmmm I am curious about who the barlady is? And a little curious about luffy's town and
backstory in general to be honest.

The barlady and the elder have an interesting conversation back in Luffy's town. He said "a
pirate is a pirate", and she said, "but it's his dream". To which the elder replied,

"A dream? Or Fate?"

I feel like this could be another important theme the anime is going to explore. How much of our
lives are governed by our own volition, and how much of it is dictated by fate? Are our lives
entirely dependent on one or the other, or maybe a mix of the two? And if it's a mix of the two,
how much ​can you change/affect your own fate, and how could you go about doing so?
 Nami pointing at Loguetown. Gold Roger (the pirate king) was born and executed here.

Next part of my notes: ​click here to read​.