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Nov. 9th, 2023 01:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
between_time_and_42I had to call out of work today for being sick, and I want to lie down and do as little as possible, so naturally that means I've continued watching the Marineford arc in One Piece. And THAT means that it's time for some thoughts on it! First, however, let's touch on Impel Down a bit, because I realized I'm probably not going to be able to write a whole post about it, but there ARE some things I just have to talk about because I love it so much.
Thing #1 that I loved in the Impel Down arc: The fact that an army of queer people turned out to be the heroes of the arc. Let's just break down exactly what I mean by that. I mean that when Luffy broke into this maximum-security prison in order to save his older brother, the prisoner who ended up helping him out the most, to the point where he made a heroic sacrifice in his honor, was a queer person, Bon Clay (who seemed heavily coded as a camp gay man to me, but other fans have postulated that he's supposed to be nonbinary). Along the way, Luffy and Bon Clay also discovered a whole bunch of valuable allies, the dwellers of Newkama Land, which was an entire queer paradise hidden away inside the prison, where people are free to be themselves and said to have done away with all gender roles. And the leader of Newkama Land, Iva, was a (probably) nonbinary person called "the queen of all queens/the queen of the queers," who not only can change his/their own gender at will, but can also change the gender of other people, and even got one of the prison guards to help them by sensing that she was a trans woman and changing her body to match her gender, and that wasn't played for laughs!! I honestly never expected to see such positive queer rep in One Piece (well, Iva's introductory scene did show them/him changing a person's gender as a punishment for attacking them/him, which gave off really uncomfortable vibes of "scary trans people are brainwashing the youth into thinking they're trans," but every other use of their powers was not shown in a malicious way and they ended up being shown as a good person who becomes an important and positive ally to Luffy, so... let's just say that one moment was a fluke). I especially never expected this after seeing the way they depicted that island where Sanji ended up after being sent flying away from Sabaody, but... that's something I'll talk about in another post, I think. I also absolutely LOVED that Luffy never showed any signs of discomfort or confusion around the Newkamas- he completely accepted them all for who they were. And I also loved the moment where the prison guards started freaking out about the Newkamas and were like "It's all the prisoners who went missing! They're back and they've gotten WEIRD!!" Like, hell yeah, they got the opportunity to embrace their true selves and now they are out and proud and weird as all hell, and they're not going to take anyone's oppression anymore. <3 I also loved the moment where Bon Clay arrives in Newkama Land and sees everyone partying and thinks "They're all queer like me..." I wonder if he had ever been in that kind of environment before. I wish we could have seen him getting accustomed to and bonding with the Newkamas, but of course I realize that Luffy's predicament was a little more important at the moment, since he was on death's door, and Bon Clay was more worried about him than interested in exploring his new surroundings. But either way... One other thing I loved about Newkama Land was that their very presence nullified the "bury your gays" trope, which Bon Clay's sacrifice could have easily fallen into. Being that Bon Clay wasn't the only queer person in the arc, though, I feel like it sidestepped that issue. It would have much more problematic to kill off the only queer person. (Also, I know that this and the Marineford arc are the arcs where everything gets a lot more serious and characters actually do start getting killed off for real, but on the other hand... I won't believe that anyone truly dies in One Piece until we see Ace's death, and Bon Clay is alive in my heart, goddammit. As the translated line from the subtitled version says (which unfortunately was translated differently in the dub), "Queers never die!")
Thing #2 that I loved from the Impel Down arc: BUGGY AND MR. THREE'S TEAM-UP, OMG I WAS HOWLING WITH LAUGHTER EVERY TIME THEY WERE ONSCREEN. Not only were they hilarious together, but the fact that they kept trying to ditch Luffy and then he keeps coming back like "Hey guys! Glad you're okay!," completely oblivious to the fact that they don't consider him an ally and want him dead, just killed me. I also love that all the prisoners Buggy freed started worshiping him and talking him up, lmao. Buggy is such a fun, goofy villain and I feel like I enjoy his character a lot more than I should.
Okay, so, now onto some brief Marineford thoughts:
-Seeing Ace's anguish as he watches his friends/family throw themselves into battle for his sake broke my heart. *insert heartbroken emoji that doesn't work because it messes up the formatting of the post* I know he must feel unworthy of their love, since he was conditioned from a young age to believe that his existence was a crime and he was better off not being alive/being free. But man, I wish he could see that he's not a burden and that all these people are happy to put themselves in danger, if it means that he'll be spared. UGH I feel like I'm going to be absolutely distraught once the inevitable happens... I don't know when and how it'll happen, I just know that it will not be good, but I do hope Ace manages to find some measure of peace before it does happen. (Also, Ace's voice actor is doing a phenomenal job in this arc.)
-The way that Team Luffy entered the battlefield was hilarious. I actually started fist-pumping the air and wiggling around with excitement.
-Buggy's plan is also hilarious. Dude is really going to livestream a war to make himself look like a badass. I can already foresee this being an unexpected benefit, too, as the World Government doesn't want their actions to be known, and now the world is going to see them thanks to Buggy's antics. I wonder just how bad this is going to be for the World Government.
-I still dislike Hancock's feelings for Luffy, but it's hilarious to see her picture Luffy as her husband, doing romantic things that feel so out-of-character, it's painful. Although I must say, this is one reason why I really, really hope nothing ever actually happens between them, because I don't like that Hancock's dreams are of her being a subservient housewife. She has no model for a healthy relationship and is basing her fantasies on stereotypes, when there are so many more ways to be someone's partner. (Hancock's voice actress is also doing a phenomenal job in this arc.)
I definitely had a lot more to say about this arc so far, but a lot is going on and I'm not feeling super great so I'll stop writing for now and keep watching. Since I have tomorrow off work too (and hopefully I'll be feeling better but who knows), I feel like I might actually end up at the halfway point in the arc by tomorrow. Let's go!!
Thing #1 that I loved in the Impel Down arc: The fact that an army of queer people turned out to be the heroes of the arc. Let's just break down exactly what I mean by that. I mean that when Luffy broke into this maximum-security prison in order to save his older brother, the prisoner who ended up helping him out the most, to the point where he made a heroic sacrifice in his honor, was a queer person, Bon Clay (who seemed heavily coded as a camp gay man to me, but other fans have postulated that he's supposed to be nonbinary). Along the way, Luffy and Bon Clay also discovered a whole bunch of valuable allies, the dwellers of Newkama Land, which was an entire queer paradise hidden away inside the prison, where people are free to be themselves and said to have done away with all gender roles. And the leader of Newkama Land, Iva, was a (probably) nonbinary person called "the queen of all queens/the queen of the queers," who not only can change his/their own gender at will, but can also change the gender of other people, and even got one of the prison guards to help them by sensing that she was a trans woman and changing her body to match her gender, and that wasn't played for laughs!! I honestly never expected to see such positive queer rep in One Piece (well, Iva's introductory scene did show them/him changing a person's gender as a punishment for attacking them/him, which gave off really uncomfortable vibes of "scary trans people are brainwashing the youth into thinking they're trans," but every other use of their powers was not shown in a malicious way and they ended up being shown as a good person who becomes an important and positive ally to Luffy, so... let's just say that one moment was a fluke). I especially never expected this after seeing the way they depicted that island where Sanji ended up after being sent flying away from Sabaody, but... that's something I'll talk about in another post, I think. I also absolutely LOVED that Luffy never showed any signs of discomfort or confusion around the Newkamas- he completely accepted them all for who they were. And I also loved the moment where the prison guards started freaking out about the Newkamas and were like "It's all the prisoners who went missing! They're back and they've gotten WEIRD!!" Like, hell yeah, they got the opportunity to embrace their true selves and now they are out and proud and weird as all hell, and they're not going to take anyone's oppression anymore. <3 I also loved the moment where Bon Clay arrives in Newkama Land and sees everyone partying and thinks "They're all queer like me..." I wonder if he had ever been in that kind of environment before. I wish we could have seen him getting accustomed to and bonding with the Newkamas, but of course I realize that Luffy's predicament was a little more important at the moment, since he was on death's door, and Bon Clay was more worried about him than interested in exploring his new surroundings. But either way... One other thing I loved about Newkama Land was that their very presence nullified the "bury your gays" trope, which Bon Clay's sacrifice could have easily fallen into. Being that Bon Clay wasn't the only queer person in the arc, though, I feel like it sidestepped that issue. It would have much more problematic to kill off the only queer person. (Also, I know that this and the Marineford arc are the arcs where everything gets a lot more serious and characters actually do start getting killed off for real, but on the other hand... I won't believe that anyone truly dies in One Piece until we see Ace's death, and Bon Clay is alive in my heart, goddammit. As the translated line from the subtitled version says (which unfortunately was translated differently in the dub), "Queers never die!")
Thing #2 that I loved from the Impel Down arc: BUGGY AND MR. THREE'S TEAM-UP, OMG I WAS HOWLING WITH LAUGHTER EVERY TIME THEY WERE ONSCREEN. Not only were they hilarious together, but the fact that they kept trying to ditch Luffy and then he keeps coming back like "Hey guys! Glad you're okay!," completely oblivious to the fact that they don't consider him an ally and want him dead, just killed me. I also love that all the prisoners Buggy freed started worshiping him and talking him up, lmao. Buggy is such a fun, goofy villain and I feel like I enjoy his character a lot more than I should.
Okay, so, now onto some brief Marineford thoughts:
-Seeing Ace's anguish as he watches his friends/family throw themselves into battle for his sake broke my heart. *insert heartbroken emoji that doesn't work because it messes up the formatting of the post* I know he must feel unworthy of their love, since he was conditioned from a young age to believe that his existence was a crime and he was better off not being alive/being free. But man, I wish he could see that he's not a burden and that all these people are happy to put themselves in danger, if it means that he'll be spared. UGH I feel like I'm going to be absolutely distraught once the inevitable happens... I don't know when and how it'll happen, I just know that it will not be good, but I do hope Ace manages to find some measure of peace before it does happen. (Also, Ace's voice actor is doing a phenomenal job in this arc.)
-The way that Team Luffy entered the battlefield was hilarious. I actually started fist-pumping the air and wiggling around with excitement.
-Buggy's plan is also hilarious. Dude is really going to livestream a war to make himself look like a badass. I can already foresee this being an unexpected benefit, too, as the World Government doesn't want their actions to be known, and now the world is going to see them thanks to Buggy's antics. I wonder just how bad this is going to be for the World Government.
-I still dislike Hancock's feelings for Luffy, but it's hilarious to see her picture Luffy as her husband, doing romantic things that feel so out-of-character, it's painful. Although I must say, this is one reason why I really, really hope nothing ever actually happens between them, because I don't like that Hancock's dreams are of her being a subservient housewife. She has no model for a healthy relationship and is basing her fantasies on stereotypes, when there are so many more ways to be someone's partner. (Hancock's voice actress is also doing a phenomenal job in this arc.)
I definitely had a lot more to say about this arc so far, but a lot is going on and I'm not feeling super great so I'll stop writing for now and keep watching. Since I have tomorrow off work too (and hopefully I'll be feeling better but who knows), I feel like I might actually end up at the halfway point in the arc by tomorrow. Let's go!!
