random thoughts about random things

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Chapter 502 was again about things that’re wrong. Things that’re very very wrong. Not nail-polish being in the wrong colour, the wrong tone, or whatever the hell I can spam this sentence with. No, nothing like that. To freely quote myself in a previous post about chapter 502:

This time around it’s about slavery and oppression, abuse and discrimination. Topics that really whips my chords around until there’s a knot in my stomach.

One Piece picks up human suffering and shoves it in your face, pointing out that there’s something wrong, and that this kind of shit happens. Does injustice happen in the real world? You can bet your ass it does, we just do like the ostrich supposedly does, shove our heads as far into the ground as possible - hoping to never know.

One Piece rips our heads out of the ground to point out that there’s crap going on, injustice happens, and the further you get the more shit you see, the deeper you come the deeper the pile of shit. That description’s depressing as hell, it really is, and the manga wouldn’t really amount to much if it was depressing 24/7, if every single issue spent all it’s time shoving your head full of depressing abuse of commoners and everyday people trying to get by.

Here’s where One Piece goes from a gritty tale about unfairness and injustice to downright awesomery and kickassing, where it makes fanbois jump in joy because asses are getting kicked (almost literally). It’s awesome to see Luffy kick ass in the most impressive and spectacular ways, it really is. It’s so gratifying to see your hero whip out his arm (literally) to smack the bad guys right where it hurts the most, in complete righteousness. Fighting for justice, avenge the wrongs that’ve been done, pony up some hurt in return to those who would hurt and exploit the weak.

That’s where One Piece really shines. It dares to show that the world sucks in strangely realistic ways. Rich people abuse the poor, the strong prey on the weak, the weak banding together to be strong, then preying on the weaker, things like that. Then it shows us that there’s hope and a bright light at the end of the tunnel through Luffy and his crew.

Luffy and the crew’s travelling through their world in a crusade to gain fame, notoriety and fulfill their dreams, however weird or awesome they are. From Luffy’s famous dream of becoming the Pirate King, to Usopp’s dream of becoming the bravest man in the world. They’re dreams, childish, simple, and so easy to relate to in so many ways. It’s hard to explain, it really is, but every one of their dreams can seem ever so ridiculous in the beginning, until you see the determination that Oda’s portrayed in their eyes.

See, the crew has dreams. Simple dreams, awesome dreams, impossible dreams (read: Usopp… ). They’re not afraid of pursuing them either, and they support each other in the quest. Support and friendship being one of the most important aspects of the series, an ongoing theme about relating to those you cross paths with, befriending new people - as well as protecting new people, new friends. Even going as far as declaring war for their friends. Friends who have been wronged in some way, because they’re weak, too kind, or just unfortunate. I suppose it doesn’t matter since it’s a friend in need, or just someone in need of help.

That’s when you get to watch Luffy and his crew turn from the jolly gang that can’t stay serious for a moment into a manifestation of righteous fury that makes your knotted guts unwind because justice will be served, that the wrongs will be right. You get to watch their vaunted abilities come to light, see the awesome and impressive moves and whatsitnots that comes romping through the issues.

The fights are spectacular, awesome, well thought out, and most importantly; meaningful. I could go on and on about all the details in the fights, their abilities, weaknesses and so on. I don’t see the point in that, you’ll see it for yourself if you pick it up, and you can run around talking about all the abilities at any time you want. What really matters to me in the end is that the stories and themes in One Piece are meaningful, they invoke feelings, they matter.

To me, that’s what makes One Piece epic and it’s the reason I’m a huge fan. One Piece tells a compelling and serious story about amazing and funny characters that’re willing to walk through fire and fun for that which matters and doesn’t in a world that feels all too real despite it’s surreal setting, invoking glee and sadness like no manga has ever managed to do for me before.

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