Christian Ashley and Liz Clyde dive into the Zou arc of One Piece, where they unearth the secrets of this unique island perched atop a colossal elephant. The duo kicks off the episode by exploring the intriguing dynamics of the Mink tribe and their interactions with the Straw Hats, highlighting the tensions and alliances formed amidst the chaos. They reminisce about the arc's key events, shedding light on the backstory of Sanji and his unexpected connections to the powerful Vinsmoke family, which adds layers of complexity to his character. As they banter about the various twists and turns, they also critique the pacing and memorable moments of the arc, questioning its overall impact compared to previous storylines. With a blend of insightful discussion and light-hearted humor, they set the stage for what lies ahead in the One Piece saga, leaving listeners eager for more.

The hosts take listeners on an exhilarating journey through the Zou arc of One Piece, unraveling its rich narrative and character dynamics with a casual flair that makes the podcast a joy to experience. Christian and Liz kick off the episode by sharing their recent geeky fixations, seamlessly transitioning into a discussion about the arc's captivating events. Christian's enthusiasm sets the tone as they delve into the crew's adventures on the back of a colossal elephant, Zou, and the challenges they encounter with the Mink Tribe and the threat of Jack from the Beast Pirates. The conversation flows effortlessly, with the hosts exchanging witty remarks and personal reflections on their experiences with the arc. They explore the themes of loyalty and sacrifice, particularly through the character of Raizo, whose noble intentions resonate with the overarching narrative of camaraderie among the Straw Hats. Liz engage in light-hearted banter, recalling their initial reactions to the arc and the character dynamics that make One Piece so compelling. As they wrap things up, the hosts reflect on the deeper implications of Sanji's backstory, revealing the complexity of his character and the challenges he faces as he confronts his family's legacy. This episode not only captures the essence of the Zou arc but also leaves listeners with a sense of anticipation for the adventures that lie ahead, reminding them that in the world of One Piece, every twist and turn adds to the grand tapestry of storytelling.

Takeaways:

1. Christian and Liz dive deep into the Zo arc of One Piece, revealing its secrets and intricacies that often go unnoticed by casual viewers.
2. The Zo arc introduces the mysterious Mink tribe, showcasing their unique culture and the ongoing conflicts they face against the Beast Pirates.
3. Luffy's encounter with Zunisha, the giant elephant, highlights the emotional connections characters establish, demonstrating the series' blend of adventure and heart.
4. Sanji's backstory unfolds dramatically in this arc, revealing his noble lineage and the complexities of his character as he faces family expectations.
5. The discussions about the relationship dynamics between the Straw Hats and the Minks emphasize themes of loyalty and camaraderie amidst adversity.
6. Christian and Liz share their personal thoughts on the pacing of the arc, critiquing the anime adaptation while celebrating the storytelling strengths of One Piece.

.

Be sure to check out our merch, find extra content, and become an official member of Systematic Geekology on our website:

https://systematic-geekology-shop.fourthwall.com/

.

Listen to all of our One Piece episodes:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/a4274c3e-c3d9-4961-9615-11a46c1aee84

.

Check out all of our other anime episodes:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/ff4343b3-82e0-4173-a884-1608a49eec5b

.

Check out other episodes with Liz:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/b4feaf6c-e817-4e86-b6f3-e13c0abc7147

.

Listen to every episode with Christian:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/ebf4b064-0672-47dd-b5a3-0fff5f11b54c

Mentioned in this episode:

Join our Facebook group and Discord Server

Find our Facebook group, "Priests to the Geeks", then join our Discord server with this link to continue on the conversation with us!

Discord

Get Your SG Merch now!

Check out the link to see all of our different t-shirts, backpacks, drinking glasses, pajamas, and more!

SG on Fourthwall

Anazao Podcast Network

Our show is part of the Anazao Podcast Network and you can find other great shows like ours by checking out the whole network with this link!

Anazao Podcast Network

Become a member of Systematic Geekology on our Website!

Check out the link to become a member of Systematic Geekology! All member get exclusive extras and shout outs on the show! Some of the paid tiers of membership get store discounts, free merch, and more!

SG on Fourthwall

Systematic Geekology

Our show focuses around our favorite fandoms that we discuss from a Christian perspective. We do not try to put Jesus into all our favorite stories, but rather we try to ask the questions the IPs are asking, then addressing those questions from our perspective. We are not all ordained, but we are the Priests to the Geeks, in the sense that we try to serve as mediators between the cultures around our favorite fandoms and our faith communities.

Anazao Ministries Podcasts - AMP Network

Check out other shows like this on our podcast network! https://anazao-ministries.captivate.fm/

What are the secrets of Zo? We're gonna be asking this question and a lot more on today's episode of Systematic Geekology. We are the priests of the Geeks.

I'm your host, Christian Ashley. As we're continuing on through our one piece series.

This time we'll be in the Zo arc and I say we because it's not just me, it's also my co conspirator, the co leader of the rebellion against Joshua Noel and. And everything that he stands for. Elizabeth Pangalangan and Clyde. How's it going? Pang?

Hello. It's going well. How are you?

I'm all right. Yeah, it's a good day. It's a good time to talk about some one piece, you know.

But before we actually head that way, why don't you go ahead and tell me what you've been geeking out on? Pang.

Gosh. Okay. It's own Crunchyroll. It's called Pass the Monster, my lady. It's one of those cute. See, I know, I know.

It's one of those cutesy little romance animes. So you. It's. It's very, it's very fun. I suggest you go watch.

It's airing this season, right?

Yes. Yes.

Okay, that's what I thought. Yeah, I haven't watched it yet, but I've heard it is kind of cutesy. So that sounds like fun.

Me, I finally, finally finished the first book in the old the High Republic series, Light of the Jedi that came out forever ago. I've tried multiple times to read it. And you know what I finally said shut up and just do it. I did it. It was okay.

And now I can take that one off my list. And I know that some people are more big on it than I, but you know what? It's a fine introduction. I'll say that.

It's not my favorite thing I've ever read, but it is what it is.

So if you guys want to hear more of these conversations like this, you want to help us out, you can go down to the link in the description down below and hit that. And if you want to become an official supporter, you can head that way.

We do have a free tier on the website that we use, so if you're interested in that, head that way. And we'll be mentioning some sponsors along the way as we go through this. So thank you very much for all you do. But you know what, Pang?

It's time to get into back into some one piece. We're going to be in the Zo arc, so why don't we go ahead and discuss the events of this arc? You ready?

Let's do it.

Okay. So your memory is as bad as mine, and that's why we remember.

Yeah, I remember it. Like, once we start talking about, I'm gonna be like, yeah, yeah. I feel like this. This arc didn't capture my attention like previous ones did.

It's also fairly short. I mean, for a One Piece ARC. This is 23 chapters, 29 episodes of the anime, so you can imagine how long those were stretched.

But this is post Dressrosa. The Straw Hats are on their way to regroup with everyone else.

And we see that as they're doing their thing at Marine Headquarters, Kizaru gets some news that one of the new warlords of the sea, Edward Weevil, is proclaiming that he is the son of Whitebeard. And he's massacred a fleet who was associated with Whitebeard.

And you know, his mother is trying to spread the same news that she used to be Whitebeard's lover. So therefore, he carries on the legacy of Whitebeard.

And after hearing that Doflamingo just got beaten up by Luffy, he's going to go after him because he thinks that's a way in. Since Luffy did work, albeit very shortly, with Whitebeard, maybe he might know where Marco is at.

So as that is happening, we see our crew end up at Zou, which is a nation state on the back of a giant elephant that traverses through the seas. And this, when Kanjiro, one of the samurai accompanying them, mentions that this is the homeland of of the Mink tribe.

Then they are supposed to be this animalistic group of people who aren't very big on humans for reasons not known at this time.

So they end up docking alongside the elephant leg, and they try and get up there and fail miserably until Kondro is kind of able to draw a very poor looking kind of dragon. And I think they name him Ryunosuke or something like that.

And they go up and through some shenanigans, get kind of mixed up together, not able to figure out what's going on, and Luffy gets hit by this monkey guy who is one of the minks. Yeah, yeah, I think that I'm remembering correctly.

And before, actually, before that, he had kind of asked why Kinemon and Kanji wanted to go there, and they said that they were trying to meet up with their old pal Raizo, who was a ninja, as opposed to them being samurai. That's when Luffy gets Hit by the monkey who turns out to be one of the mink tribe. I think his name is Barryette.

And that's when they kind of panic and everyone kind of gets separated for a bit, and they end up on top of the elephant's back, and they start exploring, and that's when they find this rabbit, anthropomorphic rabbit girl named Carrot, surprisingly enough, who ends up kind of meeting up with them. And they see that there's another mink there who's more kind of a dog in appearance, and she's wearing Nami's clothes.

So they kind of like freak out over that. They find out that Carrot was there looking for an intruder. They see that it's them, and they kind of clash with each other, fight a little bit.

And then the. The dog mink kind of steps in and says, look, my name is Wanda, and we're not here to fight you.

And we just got attacked, so that's why we're on high alert. We got attacked by Jack, who was a member of the Was Beast Pirates or something like that. And that's why we're very upset.

So, all right, what do you remember for here?

I remember. Yeah, they. The, you know, they felt like dogs and cats. And I remember they got attacked by. Was it Jack?

Yes.

Okay, so they get attacked by Jack. I'm not sure if that's it. Was that the one who originally attacked the dogs?

Yes.

And so he's looking for the ninja. And I was like, we don't know where he at. We don't know where he's at. And so did the. The Straw Hats, they defeated Jack, right? Or did Jack?

Well, that's part of what will happen a bit. What? They, they. They fought the ones that were with them on the island. Excuse me. On. On Zo helped them fight back against Jack's forces.

And that's where, you know, Sanji was kind of helping him out. Caesar Clown was with them. Chopper was with them, Nami was with them. I can't remember who else was with them off the top of my head.

And this is when they. They see that the island is kind of ruled at different times of the day and night between two different people. You got.

Yeah, I'm going to butcher this one in you. Inura, Inua, Rashi, and sure. And Neku Mamushi. So you got a dog and a cat. Obviously, I had odds with one another.

So Inu rules during the daytime, Neku at night. Excuse me, Neko at night. And that's when they were attacked. I think it was when Necco was in charge.

And so since they weren't united, they got beaten up a lot. Jack then left Zo behind, saying he left a couple of his guys behind. Just be like, look, I'm looking for Raizo. You're going to give him to me.

And he was going to go and rescue Doflamingo. But the Straw Hats had already beaten by that point in time, so eventually he has to come back. Then. Oh, and the.

The Mink tribe had been gassed by an invention of Caesar clowns. And that's why they weren't.

One of the reasons why they weren't at their peak physical capacity is because they're kind of, you know, kind of weakened by that gas. And I think that happened about 17 days before Luffy and the gang arrived. Then this is when we get. Oh, sorry. Yeah. We learned that they're also.

The pirates are also working with Big mom, who we still haven't seen yet as far as, like, her capabilities and everything. And she's trying to get Sanji for something. And Caesar's like, look, I owe them money.

I don't want nothing to do with this except, you know, if we team up, we can go and kill her and them and we'll be saved. But Capone, one of the guys working with Big mom, ends up shooting one of the underlings. Like Pekoms. Pekoms.

P E K O M S I can't remember how you say his name. And this is when we learned that Sanji is not just some guy.

Sanji is the third son of the Vin Smoke family, and he's going to be marrying Pudding, who is one of Big Mom's kids. And they're as a. This is all unfolding. It's like, you got to come back with us. There's some.

Some friction between Sanji and the rest of the crew, and he just leaves saying, I'm not coming back. I'm going to have to deal with this. Don't come after me. And that's where we get to the present.

When they all work together against Jack, figuring out what's going on, we can learn a little bit more about the island. Kinemon and Kanjuro return. We learned that Raizo is alive and that they were keeping him safe.

And they had gotten beaten up and abused all this time for his sake because they didn't want to give him up to the pirates.

And also, they had, if I remember correctly, they had actually chained him up to prevent himself from exposing himself and being caught because he didn't want them to suffer. Yeah. And we learn that we've got that Raizo was working with people of the Kozuki family.

And this is when we learned that Momonosuke is not actually Kinemon's son. He is in fact part of the Kozuki Odin's family. And Odin used to be the leader of Wano. But now that is no more. Has been killed.

And Momonosuke is the rightful lord of the region of Wano. And they want to prop him back up as king. But they need allies for it. And Ryza was one of them.

So they're allying with the Straw Hat crew as well as the Mink. So we create the Ninja Pirate Mink Samurai Alliance. But it's a cool and stupid name at the same time. It just works.

Yeah, it was like very rewarding. But we talked about. We talked about what? What the city is on. Right? Because I think that's one of the coolest things.

Oh, I'm back at the elephant. Yes. Traveling through the ocean. Apparently at some time this elephant created had committed a crime.

And that's why it's cursed to wander around like this. But also unable to attack other people without being directed by others. Which is what happens when the Jack pirates. When Jack's pirates attack.

And the elephant can't fight back because of the preconception that it has a rule. It can't do anything unless someone orders it. And that's when both Luffy and Momonosuke hear the elephant whose name is Zunisha in their heads.

Look, I need your help. I need you to be able to tell me what to do. Otherwise they're going to get on me and kill everyone.

So eventually, Momonosuke gathers up the courage, speaks to Zanushia. Excuse me, Zunesha. And he just goes ham on him. Kills a bunch of Jack's crew. More than likely. This is one piece. We don't focus too much on that.

And they are soundly defeated. Luffy reunites with his crew minus Sanji. And they have started to figure out, okay, he's turned his back on us. This very un. Sanji.

Like, what's going on? Well, we're going to go after him. So they create the Sanji Retrieval team to then go after him.

See what's going on with all that business before they even go to Wano. And that's when this arc kind of ends with the main story. We get other things, like Vivi going out and searching the world.

She's got questions she wants answered. See other people reacting to Doflamingo going down and Jack going down and a couple things like that.

And Carrot has ended up joining the ship, but not a part of the crew. We'll get to that in a little bit.

And to help them out with what's going on, we also see Kaido kind of dealing with some of the after effects of this, and that's kind of where we end. So. Is there anything I forgot? Anything you want to add?

No, no, not. Not too much.

Okay. Well, with that in mind, what were your initial thoughts when you read or watched this arc forever ago?

I don't know. Maybe it's because I really just don't, like, maybe I'm racist towards, like, people or something like that.

I just, like, I. I usually don't vibe with, like, the other species of animal, but same thing if, like, there was, like, an alien population, I usually don't vibe with. With that either. So I was not my favorite arc.

Aang says humans first.

Right, Right, right. And even then, like, you know, Sanji booning over Carrot, I'm like, listen, like, let's. Let's stay in on, you know. Yeah.

I will say I'm more.

When it comes to the anthropomorphic animals, I'm more on the side of those when you have, like, human, like, for the most part, except for some animal characteristics, like maybe like dog ears or a cat tail or something like that. Not going full furry, shall we say? Not really big on that. So I'm with you there.

Right, right, right. Yeah. Not if you're a furry. Listening. No hate towards you.

I just, you know, I felt the same way growing up with people with mascots and like, those, like, mascot. Not the biggest fan either.

I have a picture of me posing with a taco, and you don't realize it at a time, but, like, he's definitely putting hands where he's not supposed to put hands. I'm like, ever since then, I'm kind of like, oh, you know, I'm gonna just avoid. And it could have been completely innocent.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I'm like, you know, I'm gonna just avoid all stuff like that.

So.

Yeah, you know what?

That's fair.

Yeah.

In regards to this arc, this is one of those. I think I stopped watching the anime around here because I was just getting annoyed just with the. How.

I mean, props to them for being able to stretch one chapter into a long episode after like, five minutes of exposition of what happened the last time in flashback, and then maybe 16 to 17 minutes of actual story with added scenes in. Because you know they have to do it because that's what the schedule One Piece is on. Not their fault.

I stopped caring about the anime at this point in time, and this arc not being the greatest ever, didn't really help either. So I remember my initial reaction being like, okay, this is some fun world building. I like that we're getting more about our samurai.

We're learning about this Wano place. And, oh, I want to know more about Sanji now, because he's kind of been this.

He's been a mystery, but he's not been like, nobody's been actively asking the question, who is Sanji in the series? Pretty much. And now I'm asking that question. I was like, okay, yeah, I like this. And this leads into what I would say is a better arc.

But, yeah, it's fine. Very forgettable certain parts of it. Like, you see how we were struggling to remember some things, but, yeah, I think that's where I stand.

Anything else you want to add?

I liked when Luffy and Chapu go nee nee to the the ninja. They were so enamored by. By him.

So I. I do love how equally childish they both are. Like, you would expect it more. I mean.

I mean, they're not that terribly far away in age, considering everything, but, I mean, it's nice to have two children, one of whom is allegedly supposed to be an adult, doing things together and just, like, reacting to the weirdness around them. And it's cool. What do kids do when they see a ninja or a samurai? Oh, my gosh, that's cool.

Same way they see, like, a soldier or a Viking or what have you. That's what kids do. Yeah, I'm with you there. All right, so in this very short arc, Peng, do you have a favorite moment?

And why would you say that it's your favorite in this arc?

Favorite moment besides the Nin. I mean, I guess it was really cool when Raizo was trying to sacrifice himself. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Well, there's a huge nobility to something like that.

And because he knows it's not going to end well for him, especially when we learn more about Wano and how that's being handled. Like, he's definitely. He's not going to end up alive if he gives himself up. And yet at the same time, he can't bear the suffering of these people.

So they have to, like, put him in a spot where he can't escape and can't reveal himself because they know what's going to happen to him. So you can see both Sides of like, why would he want to give himself up? Why would they want to keep him safe? Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

Well, and that. And then I don't think we mentioned it, but like, one of the own zoo or Zo or whatever it's called. There is a pony glyph.

Yes.

So Robin was geeking out over that. So that's always a fun time. Because you don't see Robin break her full character, but she.

Yeah, yeah. And I think it's also there, we learn. Triggered a memory that the Odin family knows something of how they were made.

And I think Zuki Odin was the last one who was capable of doing that. Something like that. And that kind of gives Robin more of an instinct of that. Well, we definitely need to go wano.

You know, we were already going to go that way at some point, but my gal needs to figure out those poneglyphs and what better place to go in there, so. Yeah, that's a good one too. Yeah. I'm actually going to say the moment when Zunesha. Zunesha, however heck you pronounce it.

We got all over the place with these names.

It makes contact with Luffy and Momonosuke, and you kind of realize that's because of their hockey and their kind of how tied they are to the world around them. And Momonosuke actually being the one to break through instead of our main character.

I appreciate it because it made me look at Momonosuke in a new light. Like before, he was just this kid who was tagging along and he's being protected. He doesn't really get. He's kind of a coward.

And, you know, he's also fighting people against who are way bigger than him. So I can't really be that mad at him. But to give him this moment of how he can contribute.

And that's the decisive way of ending this battle against a fleet that's trying to climb up this giant elephant.

To give the elephant a way to defend itself since it can't do it anymore, based on whatever it did a thousand years ago, which I don't think it's been revealed. I. Yeah, I think it's great for him. And it's great for Luffy too, in that he's growing in his training, whether he realizes it or not.

Other people around them didn't hear the voice. It was just the two of them, if I'm remembering correctly. And it's a nice moment for them.

All right, so which character stood out the most to you in this arc that has not Excuse me. That has previously appeared before this art. So no new characters. Someone who came before stood out to me.

Stood out to me. Let me think, let me think. I mean, I did talk about how Robin broke her composure, but also, Nami was like, super attached to the mink.

That was kind of weird. Usually she's like, I'm all for myself. Let's rob this place and leave.

But she was, like, super empathetic with the minks and caring about their suffering. So that was nice. We need people like Nami because I'm not always the most empathetic people when it comes to, obviously me.

Well, it shows some growth in her compared to where we made her at the start of the series.

That Nami of, you know, the first couple chapters definitely wouldn't have done this, but the Nami who's gone through this with her crew and has gained an appreciation for them and an appreciation for others, sees the needs of these people and denies herself. And that's. That's really good to have in a character. I mean, she's still Nami, don't get me wrong. But it's. It's a changed Nami.

One who makes sure that. Because eventually they do cure them to an extent and make them able to fight again and protect themselves.

But she stood by them for days instead of just leaving the first chance she got, like she would have originally. Yeah.

Also, it was fun seeing Chopper kind of feel at home with some of the people, you know, because Chopper has been like the in between for so long. So I'm like, he found his other half, I guess.

Well, officially on the bounty posters, he's still just their pet. Like, they don't give him credit, and that's why his bounty is so low. And this is no doubt just infuriating him. But yeah, you're right.

Getting to interact with a species that looks more similar to him in some respects. Yeah, that's a good opportunity for him, I'm gonna say.

For me, actually, Sanji was mine for this arc because I really appreciate it because he's still Sanji, he's still protecting people. He's still his gruff self. He'll talk down, talk smack to other people, but we see something change.

And when information is revealed about himself, he kind of does this 180 of sorts and just leaves. And like, you know, there's a reason why he doesn't explain himself that much, but.

And obviously we know because we've, you know, read ahead why he does what he does. But there's something that's Very compelling because I didn't stop to think, oh, who is this guy?

I just accepted the backstory at the very beginning where he was just his kid. He was with was this father, and, you know, what happened between the two of them and say, oh, well, he just started somewhere.

Well, obviously he had parents, so he had to come from somewhere.

And now we get a little bit more more, and he is now this important figure who's not the top son, but he's in the running there, and he's going to be marrying into the big mom pirates. We're finally going to get a confrontation with him, and he's leaving his own crew behind to do it. Why would he do that?

And so that leaves me some compelling questions to ask, and I appreciate where they go with that.

Yeah. Look at you giving Sanji some love.

Is it. Is it this arc or the next arc where. I think it's the next arc where they mentioned that his bounty has always said alive instead of dead or alive?

I think it's the next. They haven't really.

Yeah, that was a huge moment of, like, oh, I never noticed that. I just.

I think I kind of filled in the blank and just assumed dead or alive was there, but it's always been alive, and we learned later on there, so not to spoil that. Yeah. All right, so those are characters previously introduced. What do you say about new ones?

There's not that many, but Is anyone out there kind of, like, screaming at you?

Yeah, I mean, I'm a dog person. I'm gonna say the dog leader.

So Wanda.

Yeah. And the ninja. No, no, Wanda's not the dog leader. Dog.

Oh, oh, oh, you mean, goodness gracious. Inu. Whatever his name is.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The struggle between the two of them was fun. It's seen their conflict, but also recognizing, you know, they're better when they work together.

You know, it's a classic shonen, you know, kind of conflict there. But you know what? It works. That's a solid choice. I am going to go. I want to go with Raizo.

As discussed before, like, the idea of this ninja who is trying to help his country, but at the same time, he's stuck in a position where if he gives himself up, the people will be, you know, not under the threat of being harmed, and at the same time, they're willing to do it, but you don't want to see them go through it. So you're going to deny yourself and do something ultimately that would be stupid and giving yourself up.

I get the Nobility behind that sentiment a lot.

And I really appreciate it because it makes him more of, like, he'd be a lot more callous if he just said, well, they just doing what it was supposed to be doing. They're supposed to protect me. It's like, no, no, no. They are doing what they're supposed to be doing.

But he knows the cost of it, and that really hurts him. So I can appreciate it when a character can see beyond themselves and go, man, they're really sacrificing a lot just to make sure that I'm okay.

All right, so Jack is our main villain here. What do you think about him? Is he one of the best One Piece has to offer? Is one of the worst. Somewhere in between. Where do you land on Jack?

I mean, I like that he wasn't so flashy coming from, like, dopamine, where you're kind of like, you know, I mean, he was just still dang flashy. Fine. I mean, he was just more like. Like a brute villain, if you will. Just follow orders and doesn't really ask questions.

I don't think we got a backstory from him, you know, not like we did a flashback and learned his tragic tale.

I don't think so. Yeah, I think you're right.

So either. Which I appreciate. Let a villain be a villain. You know what I mean? I don't. I don't need to sympathize with all these villains.

Do it when it's appropriate. But not everyone needs to have.

Right. Not everyone needs a freaking backstory. We need some bad guys. Right?

Yeah, I'm fine with that. Yeah. He's kind of the definition of middle of the road villain for me. He's like. He serves this purpose.

He is generic bad guy who is causing problems because he works for other bad guy and wants bad guy to get his way. So he does bad things to good people. Bad guy. And he gets what's coming to him at the end. No, it's fine.

He's not the deepest One piece villain out there, but he serves the role that he's meant to play at this point in the Goodness Gracious story. That's the word I'm looking for. All right, so one of the good things about One Piece, I think, is just how fantastical it gets at times.

You start off all the way back, you know, this boy with rubber powers and going through the sea from island to island, but it grows and, like, you learn more about devil fruits and the different Ra that are on this world. Like the. The power system of hockey and all that. So, like, what is. Do we. What do we like about that?

I know it's kind of a general question for all of these things, but, like, what do you like about the fantastical part of One Piece? It makes you go, yeah, I really appreciate Odo put that in there.

Yeah, I mean, I do appreciate. Because it seems like each island is its own nationality, right? So that's really fun because that's literally.

If we look at all the countries around, that's what we are. And even like the giants, we have some like, nationalities that are like taller. You know, the Samoans and stuff like that.

But, man, I just can't get down because I think down to interspecies, you know what I mean? Like, maybe if like, there was aliens already and like, we were in that world of different species, you know what I mean? Not different cultures.

So when it went from different cultures now what in speech species and kind of like, that's kind of weird, but it does well in showing, you know, the look down upon. Mistreat them. And so Bill has a really great.

I think it helps. We've already had like, Fish man introduced way early on. We get like, mermaids.

Fish man was fine, but I don't know. But I guess ocean and stuff like that because.

Because they look more animalistic. That's when it kind of goes.

They're like mutated, like in planted. But yeah, yeah, that's. I forgot about this. I guess I'm just like, racist to people and maybe I should repent before that if I feel convicted.

Well, you know what? If they were real, I think you would have to. But, you know, the first step is acknowledging. So I'm glad you're there.

Thank you. I mean, please don't come to me in a furry costume.

Yeah, I'm going to say. Yeah, I'm with you there. Yeah.

One thing that makes One Piece different from other shonen manga and just stories in general, is it embraces the fantastical. And there are other series that do that out there. I'm not saying they don't, but what it does is like, okay, here's this wacky concept.

We've got this guy who has rubber powers. And that's one thing Oda made him the way he did because he always wanted there to be something funny, even if the series got darker.

So there'd always be a guy with these rubber band powers going around punching people in the face and acting goofy. But that's also augmented by different other Devil Fruits out there. We show how their powers work compared to Luffy's.

And then you get into the hockey system and showing, here's how this works. Here's how it can also be countered by someone with the devil fruit. And how someone with the devil fruit could be countered with hockey.

And I appreciate someone who puts the work into something like that. And yet the different species too. I think it adds to the depth of the world because you could just have a generic Everyone be Human series.

And there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But I think what Oda does here is he puts other species out there. Okay, how do we as humans relate to them?

If these actually existed, what would we do? You know, because minks a little more superior strength, wise survivability compared to a human.

And yet humans outnumber them and are typically going to be ones who take Devil fruits and stuff like that and be in charge. So there's some friction there. Like the Fish Men, too. We get into giants when we get to the giants.

But I like how he brings these fantastical elements in there.

And yeah, it's not everything's going to work for everyone, but it works for me a lot because it helps build up a world and makes it even more magical.

Yeah, especially. I mean, we'll learn about their special technique a little later. But they do have power.

All right, so we did kind of focus on this. I don't know if we have anything else to add.

Do you have anything else to add on the idea of the loyalty shown by the Minx and Rhizo towards each other?

No. I mean, it's just crazy how, like, even through the them one being a ninja, human one being like.

And they notoriously, in the past don't like each other. It's. They went across cultures, across races, and still kept that bond despite everything that, you know. Gotta respect that. Yeah.

Second that, because I think he is.

Oda is trying to say something here, you know, in the midst of all this craziness of, like, look, if you really love other people, you're willing to do things that brings harm to you just so they're safe. And he's not saying, like, be stupid about it. He's not saying just be.

Lie down and just accept being, you know, have your head chopped off or whatever. But there's something to be said about someone who doesn't give up someone else or. And someone who would give up themselves to protect other people.

But I don't know if I have anything else to add beyond that. All right, so, Sanji, reveal. We talked a little bit about it.

But what else do you want to say on that in regards, you know, as he's your boy, I want to hear what are your reactions?

I mean, it's okay.

I, maybe because I'm, you know, I've always liked Sanji or the culinary thing, but like I really enjoyed learning about his backstory, you know, because we thought he think about it. Not many people get two backstory.

Yeah, I already got his backstory of like the chef being stranded and how he came, you know, to where he was with the restaurant. But then we get a whole nother backstory. You're like, what? Sanji's like an onion. He has. You guys got that reference.

There you go.

But I mean like, I mean you, you see, he had a toxic family, but wasn't any toxic. They've been smoke family which is like they created weapons and like are big political figures. And so they are very well known.

And so for him to come from a very well known family, but no one knows about him, says volumes of how his childhood could have been.

I really appreciate this because what this does is it complicates the story. Not in like a bad way, but in the fact that you were heading one way, you wanted to get this objective done.

But then something came up and complicated things where you have to refocus, you have to wing wing it and plan against something you weren't prepared for. Because no one in the crew thought this was a thing.

Not even like Robin, the smartest person there, had any inclination, if I'm remembering correctly, of Sanji being anything else than other what he said he was.

And now they learn that he's this noble of sorts high ranking family and now he's getting married into the big mom pirates who are people they've been working up to eventually fighting. Oh my gosh, that's great.

I mean, as a reader, this is something, like I said, I appreciate from this arc is going, okay, that's a complication that makes it to where they don't get what they want. But I can see where they're going to fix that. I can see where they're going to learn more. Why would Sanji leave that family?

Why would he want to marry this girl he's never met compared to all the other women that he's attempted to be with? Why would he just say, okay, I'm done with flirting, it's time to get serious? Or is he thinking that way?

So those questions lead me with, okay, I gotta find the answers, which does hype me up for the Next arc, which, speaking of, I mean, we are drawn into a conflict with the Big mom pirates now. Like it was going to be a thing anyways.

But now that complication has arisen where Sanji is more than likely going to be part of their numbers now that he's marrying into the family. So without actually saying what happens in the next arc, beyond what we've already said and spoiled, what do you think?

What were your expectations when you were reading this for what would have happened next?

My expectation would be Sanji was just trying to save the crew, you know, and I would think he would have an ex. A plan to escape or to kind of put someone in their place and then come back. The straw hat.

That would be my expect if I was just watching the first time.

Did you have any ideas what you thought, like, what his family might be like or anything?

I knew they must have been bad if he ran away to do the lifestyle he chose as a book.

Yeah, yeah. I was more of the same. It's seeing him knowing Sanji as we do.

This was a whole shock to our systems, learning all this new information about him, sure. But it didn't sit with me like, no, he's not doing this because he wants to. He's doing this because he wants to keep the crew safe.

He wants to make sure they don't follow him. And he actually means it when he says that because it would make things worse for them, make things harder.

And no, he loves them and he doesn't want them to go through any of the things they would have to do if they confronted one of the biggest pirates out in the sea. And then beyond that, his family, who are doing these atrocities and causing all these terrible things too.

So, yeah, and in learning about whose family was, I kind of figured, I thought, okay, they're all going to just be bad. And some of that is proven right, others are not, and we'll see that when we get there. But this was a good. What's the word I'm looking for here?

Not starting point.

A good shift, a good segue.

Segue, thank you. Into what the next arc would be like, what I want to see out of it, what we want to see out of it, what could possibly happen.

It's always good to be asking, having your readers ask questions that you know are going to be answered versus just throwing out questions without actually ever giving a satisfying answer.

And yeah, ODA has asked many, many questions over the thousand plus chapters we've been here, but we know he has a proven track record of Answering questions. So I want to see what's next. All right. Well, Peng, do you have anything else you'd like to add before we start wrapping things up today?

No, nothing to add. I am just excited for everyone to learn the next arc.

Somehow some crazy person has just been following just what we've been saying and have not been watching one piece. Can't wait to tell you what happens next.

You know, that does astonish me because it's not like we cover everything, and so we're throwing out all these proper nouns and stuff. It's like, I have no context for that. Like, even people, if they've just watched the Netflix show, it's like, well, we're way beyond that.

If that's you, let us know on Facebook or somewhere.

We want to mail you an award.

That's like, discord. Whatever.

An award as a thank you and an apology that you are getting your one piece experience like this because, you.

Know, and I listen to other, you know, episodes we do, and I'm not on them, and it's something I've never watched or read or whatever, and, like, I get lost in the weeds sometimes. It's like, I. I don't know what that means. So I can't imagine covering a story that's a thousand plus chapters long. Right.

And we haven't even gotten to a thousand yet. You know what? You keep on keeping on if you're doing that. So paying out of 10, what are you rating this arc?

I'm gonna say a five.

Five. You know, I think that's fair. I'm giving it a 6. 5. Because it does. It wasn't the 6. 5 is more for how it ends than the beginning and middle.

But there's enough happening here to be interesting. We learn a little more about the world, we get some great character interactions, and then future character interactions will happen because of this.

So I'll give it a six. Five? Yeah. Five is not a bad one either, because it's not the best.

Yeah, it literally only Sanji's backstory and then them going all the time is what made it a five. Nothing else. Like, it could have gone higher, but.

All right.

What?

Do you have a recommendation for the audience to try out?

No, my gosh. I'm trying to think, I guess. Watch past the monster. Me. I am re watching because I needed something fluffy.

Not fluffy, but something I wanted to watch. But it's been a while. Was aku. Is that how you say it? The volleyball anime? Yeah.

I don't know why I put that on the other day and I was like, I forgot how much I like this. So maybe go do it. Go do it. I just wanted something in the background while I cooked. Something I didn't have faith into. Fantastic.

I'm also choosing an anime, fortunately one that never really got a proper ending, anime wise. But the manga has ended. Kenichi, the Mightiest Disciple. It's about a kid who's not the greatest ever at anything.

He kind of gets beaten up a lot at school. Then he joins this dojo with like the greatest martial artists of all time who do all these insane things to get him up to snuff.

And it's really fun seeing seeing him grow his little love interest he has. That's also a part of the dojo and just some really good fights there too. So that's our recommendation.

So I'd like to shout out some supporters real quick. Thank you to Russell Gentry, Justin Vaughn, Annette Noel, and Jeannie Mattingly. You guys are the best. But remember. Oh, sorry.

Remember, we're going to be doing a bonus question that I forgot to mention earlier because I'm so very good at what I do. And that bonus question is. Now we have Carrot introduced here and we're going to ask ourselves, should she have become a straw hat?

So if that's something that interests you. Among the other bonus questions that we do the other episodes we do that only our supporters can find. Head that way.

Once again, we do have a free tier on fourth wall, as well as many other things there. So check it out. But after that, remember, we all are chosen people. A geek dungeon of priests.