Episode 916, "Luffy Tunes vs. Imumé"

Summary

The One Piece Podcast

Episode 916, "Luffy Tunes vs. Imumé"

Date: April 27, 2026
Host: Zach (B)
Co-hosts: Ed (C), Alex (D), Sam Leach (F)
Special Guest: Stephen Paul (translator for One Piece, Akane-banashi, and more) (E)

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Overview

In this episode, the crew dives into One Piece Chapter 1181, "God and Devil," focusing on the epic showdown between Loki of Elbaf and the enigmatic Imu. They explore the nuance behind new powers and themes, discuss Oda’s current author note, and reflect on the evolving direction of the manga. The episode combines in-depth manga analysis, translation insights from Stephen Paul, and trademark banter, all while grappling with the transition from classic One Piece to its high-powered, endgame storytelling.

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Main Topics & Discussion Points

1. Opening Updates & Announcements

• Stephen Paul joins to answer translation and lore questions.
• Patreon updates: Alternate titles, sticker polls, and community involvement.
• Glub Shit Beard Discord poll: Ongoing tournament for fans' favorite forgotten characters.
• No major One Piece news, so the crew jumps right into the manga discussion.

---

2. Oda's Author Note & Mr. Children Reference [06:56]

• Oda attended a Mr. Children concert, reflecting on their influence and noting the band’s long career.
• The crew connects Mr. Children’s “mainstream dad rock” status with Oda’s own generational context.

Quote [07:18]:
Ed: “Greg referred to Mr. Children as like the most mainstream dad rock possible in Japan.”
Zach: “That’s why I love it.”

---

3. Cover Page & Carrot Reader Request [09:05]

• Chapter opens with a reader request: Carrot singing and walking over a line of panda sharks.
• The group jokes about Carrot's “Queen” bomber jacket and the whimsy of the scene.

Quote [10:05]:
Sam: “With a hood that says Queen on it.”
Ed: “Is anyone gonna make the joke from, like, 10 years ago?”
Ed: “Yes Queen.”

Fun banter about the logistics of “Pan Shark bridge” and references to past cover stories.

---

4. Manga Recap — Chapter 1181: "God and Devil" [14:00–38:17]

a. Loki vs. Imu: Setup & Scale [14:00]

• Loki confronts Imu about his father’s death, seeking answers regarding manipulation and betrayal.
• Imu blocks Loki’s attacks with mysterious black flames and reveals their ability to grow giant.

Notable Translation Segment - Steven’s Corner [17:30, [18:35]:
Steven: “So…the Ragna part is Ragnar, like the same kanji used for Ragnarok, but he said Ragna instead. Izuchi means one hammer blow.”

b. Imu’s Power Explained (or Not) [22:17, 41:52]

• Imu claims: "It’s a power that lurks within all things."
• The crew discusses if this hints at lore with “the voice of all things."
• Imu transforms, using “Omen” (Maki/Evil Haki), referencing both military might and dominion over all things.
• The fight’s visuals recall DBZ-like scale with world-shattering blows.

Quote [22:35]:
Steven: “‘All things’ is very deliberate… I translated it that way intentionally, to match.”

c. Philosophical Exchanges [28:51]

• Loki contests Imu’s ideology: "Your power is God’s domination? I think you mean a contract with the devil."
• Imu counters: “God, devil—what’s the difference?” echoing edgy, “Hot Topic” philosophy.

Quote [29:16]:
Ed: “God, devil—what’s the difference?”
Steven: “Mind blown.”

d. Joy Boy Flashback and Luffy’s Response [31:17, 34:10]

• Imu has a sudden flashback to an encounter with Joy Boy. It suggests personal history and rivalry.
• Luffy senses the clash, gorging himself (“Can’t win without a full stomach”), paralleling the growing tension.

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5. Art and Structure: New-Age One Piece [70:11, 84:42]

• The chapter’s scale and art style point to a dramatic evolution in Oda’s storytelling.
• Discussion: Is "epic power creep" a natural outcome for long-running series, or does it risk losing One Piece’s identity?
• The group compares One Piece’s trajectory to other media (Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist, Urasawa works).

Quote [71:36]:
Stephen: “…this is, like, Goku vs. Frieza, and all the other characters are just Kame Senin and Bulma, going ‘oh shit, what’s going to happen now?’”

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6. Translators’ Insights: The “Omen” Power [43:44, 132:22]

• The term “Omen” is Oda’s reading of “maki” (evil chi/aura), essentially an evil or corrupted form of haki.
• Imu’s worldview revolves around a “trinity” of Corruption, Covenants, and the Power of Omen, all serving domination.
• The discussion explores whether this philosophy echoes “the sins,” and how it parallels or inverts Joy Boy’s values.

Quote [44:03]:
Steven: "Glad Oda named it ‘Omen’ because translating Maki could get very Mario/Wario real quick. But basically: ‘Evil haki.’”

---

7. Listener Q&A: Piece Together Segment [103:56]

• Deep dives on Zoro’s “Three Sword Serpent” technique and the pun on style/dragon for his strongest attacks.
• Theories on Imu’s design (true form vs. avatar), their connection to dragons, and what Omen actually does.
• Community jokes about One Piece Reddit memes (Egg McBig) and the ongoing Glub Ship Beard character tournament.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [29:16, Ed]: “God, devil—what’s the difference?” / [Steven]: “Mind blown.”
• [41:52, Alex]: “I just have no idea what the f**k he’s talking about.”
• [44:44, Steven]: “It feels like Oda is being cryptic on purpose—like the word nakama, but for endgame powers.”
• [71:36, Stephen]: "This feels like another inflection point: here’s One Piece before this, after this, and they’re not really the same anymore."
• [84:32, Alex]: "I just want to be in the present so bad right now. I’m scared we’ll enter another flashback and I’m going to be fatigued.”
• [70:11, Stephen]: “It’s the Tao of Imu—his philosophy of control through domination.”
• [29:50, B]: “Loki is 16 in human years, so yes, he’s older. Mentally.”
• [39:16, D]: “I want to see Emu being the emu. Like, I want to see the bird with the horns and the hair."
• [146:55, E]: “It would explain why he has a walk-in fridge in Mary Joa—for all the bodies.”
• [156:08, D]: “Little Urs Jr. beat Nisekoi from Nisekoi 20 to 19.”
  [B]: “That’s 100% Steven’s fault.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:24] - Main introductions
• [06:56] - Oda’s author comment & Mr. Children
• [09:05] - Cover page discussion
• [14:00] - Manga recap begins: Loki confronts Imu
• [18:35] - Translator’s corner: “Ragna Izuchi” explained
• [22:17] - Imu’s powers (“Omen”) and transformations
• [28:51] - Loki and Imu’s philosophical clash
• [31:17] - Joy Boy flashback; Imu’s unstable mindset
• [34:10] - Luffy senses the battle; food as power-up
• [38:17] - Recap ends; group reactions and philosophical musings
• [41:52] - Translator’s insights: Corruption, Covent, Omen
• [70:11] - Discussion: Does this still feel like One Piece?
• [84:42] - Will future flashbacks wear out the reader?
• [103:56] - Piece Together: Listener Q&A starts
• [109:37] - Meme deep dive: Egg McBig
• [125:06] - Best character introductions in One Piece
• [146:55] - Theory: Imu’s forms & avatar speculation
• [156:08] - Glub Ship Beard tournament: Latest results

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

• Analytical & Reflective: The cast deeply interrogates the chapter’s themes, Oda’s choice of language, and the cosmic scale of current storylines.
• Lighthearted Banter: Jokes about “emo Emu,” Hot Topic, and the absurdity of One Piece names punctuate discussion.
• Nostalgic & Critical: A recurring thread debates whether the rapid evolution of powers and scale serves or harms One Piece’s core identity.
• Engaged with Fandom: The podcast features extended listener questions and riffs on memes beloved by longtime fans.

Final Thoughts [98:45]:
Stephen: “To truly satisfy everyone, the answer has to spin the story a little, change our perspective… Millions of people reading for so long, and it’s got to feel like all that time was worth it.”

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Summary

Chapter 1181, "God and Devil," delivers a high-stakes clash and philosophical showdown between Loki and Imu, with the latter’s cryptic notions of power, Corruption, Covenants, and Omen (evil haki/aura) fueling debate. The podcast crew, with translator Stephen Paul, unpacks the translation challenges, the shifting narrative scope of late-stage One Piece, and the tension between old and new storytelling modes. The segment closes with raucous listener Q&A, meme celebration, and a glimpse at the irrepressible creativity of One Piece fandom.

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For more analysis, inside jokes, and wrestling with the big questions of manga endings, subscribe at patreon.com/onepiecepodcast and join the Discord for ongoing community tournaments and trivia!

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

This is the One Piece podcast episode 916 for the week of Monday, April 27, 2026. My name is Zach.

[C]

My name is Ed.

[D]

And my name is Alex.

[B]

On today's episode of the podcast, we have very special guest. You may know him as the translator for One Piece in Weekly, Shonen, Jump and Manga plus, he also does Akane Banashi and the. Oh, what's, what's the name of the last one? Folly Kurumizawa's Folly Kurumizawa's. I don't even know why I tried to do whatever. Stephen. Paul, how's it going?

[D]

I always, I always call it Kurozumi's Folly, which is.

[E]

That's good.

[B]

Yeah, I like that. Stephen, how are you doing?

[E]

Yep, I'm here. I'm. I'm good. I'm ready to presumably to answer for my various crimes. I'm just guessing based on the tenor of the discussion. We'll see. We'll see what we haven't.

[B]

I I. So this has been. I'll make this quick, but this has been like one of the craziest weeks I've ever had at work. So I really have not been in touch with anything happening on the Internet. And it's the greatest thing ever in that, in that one little sliver. We also have our anime recap host, Sam Leach. How's it going, Sam?

[F]

Proletariat. Rise up.

[B]

Okay.

[E]

He's been on a kick lately.

[F]

This is my thing now. I'm a communist.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, okay. That's your thing now. Okay. This week on the One Piece podcast, we're going to go through chapter 1181. What's the title? It's Gods and Devils Right.

[E]

God and Devil.

[B]

Yeah, God and Devil. So Light chapter this week. Obviously nothing, you know, to, you know, serious. We also have some piece together. We have the answers to last week's trivia. I don't know if you want that at the top or at the. We'll do it in a piece together. And more of our Glub Shit Beard poll results on our Discord. If you want to vote for your favorite character that you've completely forgotten about from One Piece, you could join us on Discord. It's free, available for anyone at Discord. The link is on our website. Before we get started with all of that, though, I want to talk about Patreon. I don't know if you've heard about it. It's this website that allows people to raise money for like their independent causes, including the One Piece podcast. This is basically like our entire revenue, so we really appreciate everyone who is a supporter there.

[C]

Yes, please support Majimedia Podcasting concern.

[B]

Yes, well, now you're making it sound suspect. No, but we have alternate titles and alternate images. Kirby had some really amazing ones from last week that are definitely worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Doug. And I'm not talking about Disney's Doug, I'm talking about the original one. And we also have, I think the. Oh no. The latest poll had closed for the sticker crew and it tied between Steve's images of Lego Nami and Luffy's Rita. Give a hoot. Rita Bouk Images so those will be the stickers for the upcoming month for all subscribers. $12 and up. So that's the Patreon stuff. There's really no news this week, so I think we should get straight into the show. Let's do it.

[A]

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[B]

When I found out I was going

[E]

to be a parent, I immediately felt a lot of anxiety and worry. So I went on to BetterHelp to

[B]

try to look for a therapist to help me with that.

[D]

My relationship with my family and with my boyfriend and with myself were suffering. I really needed help. I was ruminating a lot, really getting those thoughts out to a therapist and getting feedback was just life changing.

[B]

Discover what BetterHelp online therapy can do for you. Visit betterhelp.com today. This is the manga recap for chapter 1181. God and devil. You'd be a devil if you didn't subscribe to shonenjump.viz.com or mangaplus Shueisha Co JP the latest chapters come out free, legally, worldwide. That's anywhere in the world. I believe it's in English and other languages on Manga plus, so check that out again. Shonen Jump viz.com or MangaPlus Shueisha Co JP before we get into the COVID page, Sam, first we have to talk about the author. Comment Ed Yes, Oda.

[C]

This week Oda goes to concerts and he likes to tell us about it. So this week he says, why do the words Mr. Children pick help me realize so much? Their live show was the best. And if you don't remember, Mr. Children think maybe during Strong Week think Greg referred to Mr. Children as like the most mainstream dad rock possible in Japan.

[B]

And that's why I love it. He's talking about music a lot. I don't know what he's doing the last few weeks, but I get.

[E]

But I like.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

I wonder if he's like watching the show from like the green room backstage or something. Yeah. Waiting for them to come back so he can hang out with them.

[F]

What if he's in the band?

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I. I think he would do like, what was it? Suzuki song with wrestling where he like kind of hangs out with them at the end.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Suzuki good kun. Sorry.

[E]

Right.

[B]

Suzuki good.

[C]

Suzuki army. The wrestling.

[B]

Oh yeah.

[C]

Got his own jacket.

[B]

Sorry, this is outside my wheelhouse if that's not clear. I was gonna say Mr. Children. I was. I was looking up a little bit to like refresh my recollection about their history. They are as old as I am in that the band started 39 years ago and they also, much like me, haven't released an album since I think 2020. So the play in the Greatest Hits, I assume.

[E]

I thought you were gonna say they're as old as you are. Like, as in they are your age and you're like, wow, no, what have I done with my life?

[B]

I have not been Mr. Children. I've only produced 916 episodes of the One Piece podcast and some if they

[C]

started their band in the late 80s, that means these guys are probably like in their mid-50s at this point, at least.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

At least. Yeah.

[B]

They're Gen Xers. We'll say that for sure. But so is. So is Oda. So they're probably. They're contemporaries of Oda.

[E]

Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah.

[B]

Anyway, enough wasting time. Let's get to the main event. Sam, what's going on? On the COVID page.

[F]

Okay. On the COVID page, there is a big logo that says Nep Ek Sam.

[E]

Good.

[B]

This is good. You're never welcome back on this show again.

[F]

Oh, sor. They do clarify above the logo that it's one piece.

[E]

Yeah, yeah.

[F]

This is chapter 1181. God and devil.

[B]

I said there's a very good reason

[C]

for giving Sam this page.

[B]

We don't know what it is. We'll never know what it is.

[F]

We're looking at the reader request for Carrot Singing and Walking over Pan Sharks lined Up in the Sea, requested by Michi Nakahara. Yes. I love that she has, like, a Lilith style, like, almost bomber jacket.

[C]

It says Queen on it.

[E]

With a hood.

[F]

With a hood that says Queen on it.

[B]

Is anyone gonna make the joke from, like, 10 years ago? Yes, Queen.

[C]

That is Queen.

[F]

I was like, we are the champions.

[B]

Oh, I like that better.

[F]

So she's walking on this, like, bridge of happily sleeping sharks. And there are.

[C]

What makes them Pan sharks.

[B]

I was gonna say these are pandas.

[D]

They're panda sharks.

[B]

Oh, that's what it is. Okay.

[D]

Remember they showed up at the end of Baratie with Yosaku in their mouth.

[B]

I remember. Now I feel really ashamed of myself.

[F]

This, like, street sign brings up some logistical questions.

[B]

Yes.

[E]

When it's in the middle of the

[F]

ocean, only people traveling by Pan Shark bridge would. Would need it as directions.

[E]

Yeah.

[F]

One direction is going to Ningen park, which would be Carrot park, which I guess is the island behind.

[C]

I only know that because of the Usopp pirates.

[B]

That's true, Sam. So is she queen of Ningen park and she's the Duke of.

[C]

She should be.

[B]

So she's like.

[F]

Well, she's just. She's just Queen General.

[B]

Okay.

[F]

Which. Which does supersede. Which. Which does supersede being a duke.

[B]

Yeah.

[F]

But also, one of the signs is pointing towards Zo, which is a famously mobile island.

[B]

Hey, Cinemasins. What are you doing here?

[C]

I like the buildings in Ninja park shaped like carrots. That amuses me.

[B]

No.

[E]

Yeah, it's a very. It's a. It's a very whole cake island type.

[B]

Yeah.

[F]

It does feel like if.

[B]

If Big Mom.

[F]

Like a total land. One of the Totaland Islands.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

Including the one in the Sky Island.

[F]

The park or is the park on the island?

[E]

Good question.

[B]

I'M assuming the park is on the island. That feels more correct to me. Yeah, no, I like the one in the sky. So I'm guessing there's a carrot sky island or ninja and sky island or something. Yeah, that's interesting. Any thoughts besides this? Sam, I know you've been champing at the bed here.

[F]

Oh, this fucking rules. I, like, woke. I like, rolled out of bed breaking the eye crust from my lids.

[B]

Enough detail.

[D]

Thank God it was the eye crust.

[E]

Barely.

[F]

Just squinting at my phone to see what the new chapter of One piece.

[C]

I love the whimsy of it. Or her carrying the basket of carrots like she's traipsing off to grandmother's house.

[B]

I like how she's wearing. Like she's. I guess it is kind of like a little red riding her sort of thing with the carrots and the. And the coat with the, you know, outfit that she usually has. But it's also like that futuristic, like, puffy coat that everyone at Egghead has.

[D]

So it looks like Sugar's coat.

[B]

A little. Well, with the crown. Yeah.

[D]

Yeah. I'm. I'm really glad that we finally found out Sam's pen name. Or should I call you Michi Nakahara?

[F]

Yeah, like I'm. I'm jealous of Ken, who. Who may or may not have been gotten to contribute to that one color spread.

[B]

You could still do that.

[F]

I could, but. But now that they've done a carrot one, like, how many years before they do another?

[E]

Yeah, you missed your chance.

[B]

How many years? Probably two.

[D]

You can always request caribou or Caesar.

[B]

That's true.

[F]

Yeah, I could actually.

[B]

You should. He loves drawing caribou, apparently, because he keeps showing up. So. You got that going for you. Sam, why don't we start the chapter? I know it's not carrot, but we could. We'll power through.

[F]

We begin the chapter with some memories of Harold's, World's most gullible man.

[E]

Kick him. Wife down.

[F]

Harold, Kick him.

[B]

While he's literally been dead for 50 years. But yeah, okay, whatever

[F]

that makes me the worst king in the history of Elbaf. So you must kill me to take the throne. Loki. And then Loki is soliloquising towards Emu, saying he died at the. At the young age of 144. He was just a baby. He was just a child. But giants live to 300 years naturally. What was it divided by three?

[B]

It's like a third of it, I guess.

[E]

He was a very early balder.

[B]

He shaved his head, didn't he?

[F]

Yeah. If that was part of the plot. If we're saying what a human is.

[B]

48.

[F]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Ish.

[F]

So if you. So if I take it you're the one. Oh, so I take it you're the one who manipulated and killed my father. And Loki is he. Loki is blindfolded, so he's not, like, technically looking down.

[E]

But it's.

[F]

That's kind of the idea of the, the scene where the, the camera is kind of angled up at him.

[C]

You can see the contempt, like, in the shape of his mouth. He has her emu.

[E]

Yes. It's a good sneer.

[B]

It's a really good sneer. I. This is, this is a very good preview page. I missed it this week. But, like, I would have been impressed.

[F]

And then imu, like, perfectly level, eye level with, with the, the imaginary camera here, who says the one who suffered the greatest setback was Moo. And then Loki is writing.

[B]

Two possible jokes diverge in a wood. Sam.

[F]

Loki is winding up a big, like, overhead slam with his hammer. You got the, the hockey lightning bolts, some rumbling of the clouds. Loki is saying, tell me. And then more old words of Harold, who's saying, once I'm dead, my reputation means nothing to me. All that matters is Elbaf's future. And we're just getting kind of a collage of the memories of Harald. Loki's continuing to wind up. Imu just kind of seeing what's about to happen here. Isn't that right? And then Loki out loud in the present day, what the hell did you do to my old man,

[B]

Ed?

[C]

Yes. And look, he is bringing the hammer down. And you can see Nidhogg looks like General Zod trapped in the Phantom Zone. The face on the side of the hammer. Ratatosk.

[E]

Ratatoska.

[D]

Right.

[C]

Sorry.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

He looks like he's trapped inside the hammer.

[E]

Like there's a Saran Wrap over it or something. The way that he's pushing against it. Yeah.

[F]

Like a bakery mold.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, God, I would so want to bake cookies that look like this now.

[C]

So, yeah, he brings the hammer down and it's Dragna Izuchi.

[B]

Oh, yeah, Steven. Can we have a Steven Corner?

[E]

Oh, yeah. This is, this is an interesting one, I think. I, I ultimately, because there. There's another attack where I kind of gave a translation of it as well, but this one, because it had, like, such a specific name from Oda, I think I left it with the way that he pronounced it. Yeah, so he does have. So he, he starts out the first half of it, the Ragna part is Ragnar. Like it is the same kanji that he uses to write Ragnarok, but he said Ragna instead. So like he clearly wanted it to be like a, A derivation of Ragnar. And then Izuchi is like one hammer blow or something. And so yeah, the fact that he changed it from Ragnar to Ragna, like I was like, okay, maybe he's doing something there. Maybe he wants. He wants like a specific sound and you know, kind of looks cool.

[F]

Maybe the adjective version of Ragnar.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, something like that.

[C]

Ragnarok.

[B]

You. I thought you were doing the DBZ

[E]

intro, but yeah, okay, so in short, it's. It's just a, you know, big, big Ragnar, you know, hammer blow.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

And yeah. So yeah, as he's bringing the hammer down, evil is just sort of standing there impassively and it looks like a sort of a gobliny looking Pac man or a chain chomp, sort of black flame starts to come out of his back. And over to the next page, next side of the page, where the hammer hits the little gobliny looking thing and makes him sort of splats him. And then there's a big explosion where it hits the. Guess that's Emu's defense.

[B]

I think that's just the. Yeah, I like the space between. Yes. Between it. It's reminiscent of like the Whitebeard. And wasn't it? I think. Yeah, like even the. The sky splitting sort of thing, which should be happening here. I mean, come on, let's.

[E]

It kind of. It kind of reminds me of that like physical property that they, that they always tell you, which is that like. No. Yeah, Atoms actually touch each other. There's always some kind of barrier. Even. Even, you know, solid objects that you're touching, they're not actually touching.

[C]

Yeah, it's the A.T. field.

[E]

Yeah, pretty much. I mean this is kind of EMU's at Field. I think Ken had a really good observation, which is that this little gobliny thing looks a lot like one of those like heartless monsters from Kingdom Hearts. There's like ones that. They're little balls with like horns and a little like ghost detail thing that looks almost exactly like this. So I think that was a good call.

[B]

He's definitely Oda. I feel like for Elbaf in particular and maybe with the, with the Holy Nights has really been taking from video games a lot more than even usual.

[E]

He's definitely a lot of fantasy, you know, fantasy tropes.

[C]

Maybe this is Emu's stand.

[B]

Sure. I mean, I have thoughts that I'll talk about later. Meanwhile, eventually I determined with Sanji flying into. That's Lilith and Bob Nani is, I think, trying to help Sanji incapacitated here from the last chapter, as you may recall. We also have Jim Bay, Frankie's horn and Nami bracing themselves from this enormous impact. And Loki, like the rest of us, is like, are you kidding? He blocked that. What are those black flames? What power do you have?

[C]

Good question.

[B]

Let me explain.

[C]

How about not really?

[B]

But first, don't look down at my fingers because I'm doing. Okay. The joke we made last week. And here come more black flames as his arm seems to puff up and he says, omen is. What was the voice we did? Omen is my military might something Emo Y. I can't. And Loki looks concerned or confused, as presumably, though not in. I'll editorialize not in the best illustrated way, Emu is growing larger and.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, it's very hard to tell

[C]

that flames are getting thicker and Emu is getting larger.

[B]

There it is. And Loki, though, tells the reader, you could turn giant and just probably one of the more mysterious lines of the chapter. It's a power that lurks within all things. What? What all things?

[E]

All things is very deliberate too.

[B]

There is that like the voice of all things. Like the same

[E]

could be. Could. Could be related. Or it might just be, you know, a happy coincidence that Oda is using in terms of poetic language. But I definitely translated that way intentionally.

[B]

Okay.

[E]

To match. Yeah.

[B]

Okay, we'll talk more about translation, I assume toward the end, since, as you said, Simba's very upset with you. And here. And they. They meet head to head. Here you have the chain chomp guy at the end of the spear. Emu has. I'm sorry, I have a. More. Yeah. Emu's lollipop. Emu's devil lollipop.

[D]

Emu tries to pop, but his dentures fall out.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

He is very old, as we know he must be.

[B]

And it looks like Imu ricochets off of Loki's. Of Ragnarok the hammer. And Loki looks above and sees that now he is holding. Oh, what was that? No, it doesn't look like that usually. No. Yeah, okay. It has a. What do you call a hilt, I guess at the end of it now. But the black flame still is at the end of the handle. And what is about to happen, Alex?

[D]

Well, the handle grows a blade from it which uses to impale Loki through what looks to be the sternum.

[C]

Oh, poor guy.

[D]

Or. Or no, I guess it's his up here. One of his upper cut. Like a collarbone or something.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Emu says, blade of Judgment. Nemesis. And like, someone who's just, like, really overworking at Hot Topic. And I noticed that the. His sword kind of looks like the big sword that's in the background of Elbaf, which. Kind of interesting. Maybe a coincidence, but, I mean, maybe I saw that.

[B]

It's like, I want one of those.

[D]

Maybe. Either way does some pretty decent damage to Loki. And Ima starts a bit of a monologue here. And he says, it is the nature of man to crave strength, however, when power so lusted after is too easily gained.

[B]

Corruption.

[D]

And see, he's sort of, like, got

[B]

his getting Kylo Ren energy, if anything.

[D]

A little bit. Yeah. I mean, that's got his wings the same ilk, you know, he's got his wings back. And as an example of corruption, we see the Domi reversed. Dorian Brogy. I'm sort of like a little flashback panel.

[B]

Look how corrupt they are. They're adorable.

[D]

Yes. And then he swings around. His little chain chomp thing has turned into a bit of a mace. And he swings it above his head like a flail. And he says, choosing servitude out of self interest. Covenants. And we see the voice is correct,

[B]

but it definitely takes away from the fact of it.

[D]

That's what we decided on. And covenant. And for the covenants we have, we see Harold as an example. And then. And then he says, and the envy that seeks to achieve one's goals. The power of omen. And Loki winds up for another. For another attack as he lets his chain chomp fly. And he says, these form the Trinity. Oh, and next page of what we call domination. And the flail hits Loki head on. It explodes. Loki's still standing, though, because he's. He's a strong boy, holding Ragnar with both hands, sort of staggered, coughing up smoke here. And Emu continues. And he says, I shall give thee the power of God to step up beyond all others. And Loki doesn't give any. Any here. And. Yeah, let's. Let's loosen with Ragnar. And says, I didn't ask. And. And smashes. Smashes Emu right into the ground here.

[B]

Not far.

[E]

It's a great recovery because he's, like, almost. He's, like, doing a full limbo.

[B]

Yeah.

[E]

And then goes from there straight to, like, swinging all the way back, forward. That's good.

[B]

Also the very cool seeing Emu from the back, that is. Wow. He has a lot going on there. But Cool. Like that definitely feels. I don't know if Evangelion is the word, but it definitely feels like a little bit biblical. Ish. Like, it's definitely a crazy looking thing going on.

[D]

All the eyes, like that's the eyes

[B]

and the wings and the devil.

[D]

Accurate Emu. I was going to say he has a biblically accurate hula hoop on his back. Like that's the.

[B]

Yes, Biblically accurate hula hoop. Correct. Yeah.

[D]

So we sort of pan. We sort of have a full view of the battle happening. Like we kind of zoom out a little bit and we see the giant tree and the big sword in the background and we see just what kind of scale this battle is.

[C]

What's that cracking noise? What is that?

[D]

That's probably the, I don't know, the crackling of the thunder of Ragnar or. Or the trees falling.

[E]

Yeah, the trees, something like that.

[D]

Yeah. Like they're really. Yeah, they're really laying waste to wherever they're fighting.

[E]

And the reverberations of the impact or something.

[D]

Yes. So that took a lot out of Loki. And. And he says,

[B]

Like a grizzled old

[D]

prospector, he says, so your power is God's domination. I think you mean a contract with the devil. And Emu as saying as. As a dumb teenager who is just read Nietzsche. God, devil, what's the difference?

[E]

Mind blown.

[D]

Yeah, that's right.

[B]

That's really good, Steven.

[D]

No other 15 year old is reading Nietzsche right now, I assure you.

[B]

Yes, it's amazing how he's probably the oldest person in the series and stunted at the age of 15.

[D]

Maybe.

[B]

Probably.

[E]

And then the proper response from. From Loki, an adult is I don't give a crap.

[B]

And Loki is 16 in human years. So yes, he's older, you know, mentally.

[E]

Mentally older.

[B]

Yeah, emotionally.

[E]

But this is, this is a very cool like sort of freeze frame panel where Emu is, is much closer to the. The camera and he's, he's doing the hovering. You can see the, the wings and all of the, the details. The hula hoop as, as we mentioned. And Loki is kind of staring up at him from the ground, brandishing the hammer. He continues, no one lords it over me. And Emu in silence, considers this and then says domination. Domination is the only true bliss in the world. And we got it, guys. He has a sudden flashback. Very interesting panel here, which I didn't, I didn't really quite realize what I was looking at first. You could see clearly that Joy Boy is here because you can see the brim of the, the hat and this guy's laughing as he says. Isn't that right? But in the background, the person he's talking to does appear to be Emu in his, you know, his. His shrouded form. Which is interesting to consider that apparently this is a Goes. Yeah. Way.

[B]

I have an answer here. It's. He obviously has one of those plushies that Oda has and he just likes having it.

[D]

He's.

[E]

He's holding it in his hands in front of him like.

[C]

Yes, don't toy with a hug.

[E]

Yeah, yeah.

[F]

But pre crown.

[B]

Pre crown. Yes. That's the. That's the big difference here. Yeah. Sorry, go ahead, Stephen. I interrupted.

[E]

And yeah, there's this, this. This momentary kind of resonance. Suddenly that. That Emu is taken by. As he remembers Joy Boy saying, isn't that right? And Loki is. He's charging up now. You can see the. You know, the. The hammer is crackling and Emu suddenly is. Is he. He's seemingly possessed by some emotion. And he does in kind of the. The classic elongated Oda shouting style. He opens his mouth as he's holding his. His spear sideways, he says, isn't that right, Joy Boy? He's kind of repeating this line that is for some reason resonating with him.

[B]

I thought I told you, boy, he's mentally unstable.

[E]

Yeah. Does. Is a very strange reaction to. Especially considering he was the one who was just talking. And then he pauses and then he's like. Isn't that right, Joy Boy?

[F]

Typing himself up.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[E]

Speaking of domination.

[B]

Stable. Well, actually talking.

[E]

Talking about domination and bliss and. Yeah, so the. This, you know, the force of his shout reverb. You know, it rattles throughout, you know, Elbaf. And the scene as suddenly we. We move over to. To Luffy who does have like a little like split second of. I don't know, acknowledgement or of. Of noticing because he' Spark in the corner. He's like. He's like. And we can see that he is stuffing himself with the gross charred food as you do. And yes, certainly as Luffy does. And he is monologuing. He's talking to himself while he eats. And so it's completely unintelligible to. I wonder what they're going to do in the anime for this subtitles. I. Yeah, maybe. Maybe that's it. That's. That's probably the best.

[C]

Tanaka stuffs her face while she's doing these lines.

[E]

I mean, that would be the, you know, nice method acting. Yes, yeah, exactly. The. The only legitimate way to do it. So yeah, he's scarfing and gobbling and chomping on this stuff as he goes.

[B]

Mmm,

[E]

Wharf chomp munch king. And apparently what he's trying to say through all of this is more. Gotta eat more. Never felt this before. Probably referring to the, the haki or the omen that he is feeling from Imu. Damn, it's so heavy and harsh. What's with that guy's hockey?

[B]

Good 15 year olds at Hot Topic or something.

[E]

Can't win without a full stomach. More.

[D]

More.

[E]

And then he's slorping up the, the giant feast.

[B]

Emo. Emo. That's what he is.

[E]

Nice. That's good.

[B]

Yeah, just think about it.

[E]

And so we go back to Emu and Loki and it looks like we like we're, we're returning just in time to see the aftermath of Loki hitting Emu with the hammer. We don't actually see the impact, but you know, the way that they are arranged in the frame. He's clearly just smashed Emu and he's wondering, he's wondering what's wrong. Got distracted then you don't respect me enough. As he completely blasts Emu across the treetops. And it looks like he hits him into the trunk of Yggdrasil here with a big doom super, super awesome looking like you can see that he's got the, he's got the little like smoke trail line and there. And then there's like rings of him.

[B]

Barrier.

[E]

Yeah, something like that crackling around Emu's path which is awesome. And then just you know, big smoke explosion. And he does leave a little, you know, amygdala fault Emu shape in the tree as he coughs and. Good bro. And he looks Emu as he's recovering from this impact, he looks across the treetops and sees the silhouetted figure of Nidhogg. And he has the recognition Nidhogger as the dragon turns toward him and his, the, the light starts flashing in his mouth as he prepares to blast a Thor hame. But as he does that, Emu does a little hand jutsu with his, with his two hands, his little okay signs. And right before the, the Thorhame hits him on the tree with a gigantic boom. And we, we pull back away again and we see you know, the, the little, the from. From the full height of Yggdrasil, the relatively little blast in the middle of the trunk. And there's, there's you know, smoke and flames all around and we see that Imu has apparently absorbed it as he thinks to himself, so thou art back

[B]

the smirk on his face.

[C]

He's so smug.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Shonen Jump is off next week, but we'll be back in two weeks with the next episode of Dragon Ball Z. Am I the only one who thought that this really felt like a DBZ episode?

[D]

A little bit, yeah. I mean, no, you're the only one.

[E]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

You're not the only one.

[B]

For good or for bad, I guess

[D]

I will say that last attack that. That Loki does is 100% his, like, level three super in, like, Like a grand battle game.

[E]

Yeah, he used up his bars for that one.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

So that does it for the chapter thoughts on this one? Ed, do you want to start?

[E]

Sure.

[C]

I'm loving the characterization of emu that we're getting here with him being this sort of edgy emu kid.

[B]

Emo. Emu. Emo, yeah. Now I'm making the mistake.

[E]

Emo. If it was spelled imo, that would be sweet potato.

[B]

Oh, so if it's emo. Emu eating emo.

[F]

If it was emu, it would be a bird.

[B]

That's true, yeah. Oh, right. Well, okay. So we're making Kirby. So. Wait, we're making Kirby, so. No, I need to write all this down. So Kirby has to draw an emo. Emu eating emo.

[E]

Emo, yeah.

[B]

On, what was the second one while riding an emu?

[D]

Waiting for a Waymo.

[B]

Waiting for a Waymo in Lima. No, that doesn't work.

[F]

I want to see emu being the emu. Like, I want to see the bird with, like, the horns and the hair.

[B]

Okay, this is not. We're not doing, like, commissions.

[D]

He's got the wings, Kirby, and he's hanging out with Judge Ito.

[B]

With Ito. Okay.

[C]

Not really any closer to understanding emu's power, but getting his. Getting more of his sort of worldview about the, you know, domination being, like, the heart of sort of at the heart of his worldview. And. Loki correctly being like, God or devil, who cares? I smack you.

[B]

Any other thoughts on.

[C]

I don't understand emu's power and it bugs me.

[D]

Yeah, me either.

[B]

I don't think anyone does. Yeah, I think. Alex, wasn't that, like, your first take on it?

[D]

My. My. My take is I like Stephen. No offense. I just have no idea what the fuck he's talking about.

[B]

Well, he's 15. He works at Hot Topic. He thinks he knows what he's talking about.

[D]

He's just like, covenant here. Here are three things. Three things that only I know about and I'm not really going to talk about. Really?

[F]

Yeah.

[C]

And he's like, yeah, the fuck is he talking about?

[B]

Steven? Maybe this is. Maybe. Maybe we should have Steven's translation corner. Translation corner here. Do you want to. Well, I don't know what even was.

[E]

Yeah, what do you want me to.

[D]

Okay, so. So here's the three things.

[F]

I think that's interesting.

[D]

All right, so he's basically like, in this. I'm looking at the 8, 9 spread here, and he's talking about basically corruption, covenants, and the power of Omen. And he's basically giving definitions to all three of these things right now. And then he said, these form the Trinity known as Dominion. Now is Dominion, a domination. Domination. Sorry, I did think of Deep Space Nine.

[E]

Yeah, I did think about Dominion too, but I went with domination.

[D]

Okay, so let's. Okay, so let's. Let's sort of break this down.

[B]

Yeah, I agree.

[D]

So, correct. So the three. The Trinity is as. Thus corruption, which is when. Power, when. When. When you get what you want, power wise, like, without. Without having to work for it, without earning it.

[E]

Yeah, right.

[D]

And then you have covenants choosing servitude to better your goals. And then. And then this is the one that, like. And then I guess this is him sort of explaining his omen power. Right? Is that what that. This is?

[E]

Kind of.

[B]

So this last one. Yeah, completely is the.

[E]

The tricky one. Yeah. Part of it is. So the. The Omen thing. I don't know if you guys. I. I literally have been so busy that I have not listened to last week's podcast, and I assume you. You guys wouldn't have known this, but maybe people mentioned it in the. The piece together. But like, the omen, when. When Oda writes omen in the. In these chapters, he writes it with this. With these kanji that are pronounced Maki, and it's like evil key. It's like evil chi. Evil, you know, aura, basically. And so it's kind of like, you know, the demon demonic or magic or dark version. Yes. Yeah, yeah. Or Akuma is like evil Ma. You know, that's. It's part of all these words. And so it is kind of like, you know, and one of the reasons why I'm like, I'm glad that Oda gave it the name Omen, because if I had to call it Maki, it would be very hard to avoid, like, the, like, Mario Wario comparisons where it just gets. It feels very. It feels very goofy, but like, it's like evil hockey.

[D]

It is Evil hockey.

[E]

That's basically what it is.

[F]

Oh, okay.

[D]

Jesus. But that means Hockey is good. Inherently good. I don't.

[E]

No, I don't think so.

[F]

Yeah, it's like light side, dark side, but it is.

[E]

I don't know. That's the. Yeah, that's the thing.

[F]

Or it's correct. It's corrupted hockey. Or it's like.

[E]

It's like something like that.

[B]

I. I think it's okay. Well, that's.

[F]

When you go to the Dark World in Final Fantasy 3.

[B]

Here's my crackpot theory. Like, I've been saying that I think for sure emu is otherworldly, or at the very least we know is that, you know, the devil's fruit. So I think he is pulling on a energy that is outside of, you

[C]

know, if the devil created the devil's devil fruits, who created the devil's fruit? I think I asked last week.

[B]

Yeah. And that's the chicken. And the egg is the devil and the devil God or devil and the devil fruit?

[C]

And the correct answer is, who gives a shit?

[B]

Yes, Loki did have that.

[E]

Right. And so what he did here is like when he does these. These three things where they're bolded in Japanese, it's like daraku keku chikara. And so chikara is power. But he wrote Roger kind of a little bit. I mean, it's the same, you know, it's the. Yeah, you. List. Put three things in a list. But chikara meaning ending with strength, chikara meaning strength. But then he put the maki. He put the omen kanji next to it. So he's talking about the omen. He's talking about these dark flames, this power, you know, this magical power that he has. And he's referring to it as strength, you know, as. You know, in terms of, like, as a. As an elemental force that is part of this trinity of his demonic powers. And so that's why I wrote the power of omen, which, you know, it doesn't pop as well as just saying corruption and covenants. But, um, it was kind of necessary to explain to. To. To both explain what he's talking about and also how he's talking about it.

[B]

Omen power.

[D]

So it seems like it's the.

[C]

The ability to absorb attacks and reflect it back on the person who attacks him. That's. So that's why it's his military might.

[B]

I don't know if that's what it is.

[D]

Maybe so military might in this case. This is. Is this the same sort of like the way it's used, the way that Capone Bege uses the term military might?

[E]

It's A good cr. Which is like. Yeah. Or you're right. Right. Yeah, he's. Oda's used that before. How all those things fit together, I don't know, is. You know, I. I don't think that there's like, necessarily like, Oh, I. You know, you just missed this. This angle in the translation. I. I think this is supposed to be kind of cryptic still in terms of what ODA's intentions are.

[B]

I. I think it's probably pretty safe to assume that Oda knows what he's saying and he's just only giving us a trickle of information.

[E]

Right? Yeah.

[D]

Well, I mean. Okay, so. So those three things out of the way, that's the trinity that we call domination. Now, can you explain I do like you to domination.

[B]

I was gonna say I do like where the hyphen ended up there. Because the domi reverse kind of.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean, that's like, literally it's shihai, which is like to control or dominate. And I do think, if I remember correctly, was that. Was that part of the dummy reverse. It might have been in the kanji that he also used with Domi reversi or something. But it's clearly like his. His theme, right, is. Is domination is being, you know, being able to control others and tell them what to do, obviously, with the Domi reversi. That's. That's like, first and foremost. And so this is kind of him giving his, like, philosophical treatise on, like, how these things fit together to form his power in a way that isn't. I think it's like Oda is doing this so that he doesn't have him go, like, I'm emo. I have the powers of the blah, blah fruit. This is, you know, I can do this because I'm a devil man. Because he obviously doesn't want to do that.

[B]

The four kids version of.

[E]

Right, right.

[D]

He.

[E]

That. That was what he would do in. If Emu showed up in, like, volume eight or something. But right, here we are today, and I think he's. He's tried to move past that. That construction.

[C]

He's got the go to guy fruit.

[E]

Yeah, exactly. Yes, the devil man.

[D]

So. All right, well, first of all, Domination would be the name of Emu's manosphere podcast. But the thing that. But I guess so then, like, going. Going from there. The other thing that I'm trying to parse, and this is probably just confusion due to the fact that we haven't seen, you know, void century flashback shit yet, but this whole this, you know, the 1213 spread where you know, he's like, when he says domination is the only true bliss in the world and then he has his little like. Isn't that right Joy Boy? And he's freaking out like a very

[C]

irritating conversation he had with Joy Boy in the past.

[D]

Sure. But when he says domination is the only true bliss in the world, what now what does that mean exactly? Like translation wise, is it like, is it sort of like Pirate King like that? Who is the most free? Is the Pirate King kind of thing or is it.

[F]

It's like a philosophical end.

[E]

It's like the, I think so. Yeah.

[B]

I guess bliss is the, the question

[F]

here like a goal towards utopia.

[E]

Yeah, so he says, says, he says, he says the, the bliss or the, I don't know what's another word to, to describe this? The happiness, you know, like crocodile use the word utopia. Yeah, but, but he's saying like the bliss of the world. So you'll know Kofuku. So yo would be world and Kofuku is like happiness or you know, I, I sell it as bliss. And he is saying that, you know, it is domination. That, that is, that, that is bliss in, in the world. Now obviously, I think that's, I think he's saying that in a very self centered way obviously of like, you know, you. Everyone is blissful if they just do what I say, like you don't have to think about it anymore. I will tell you what to do. Which I think fits kind of his position in the story.

[F]

He would, he would press the red button.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I guess, I guess at this, in this point, at this is kind

[C]

of what religion is, isn't it?

[D]

Sort of ignorance is bliss and you know, as long as somebody is telling me what to do and I don't have to worry about it, then that's great.

[E]

I mean that is our version of EMU's. That's, that's what he would describe religion as.

[D]

Sure. Okay.

[B]

I guess he is, he is a, you know, cutting edge, very edgy.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Okay, I get, I mean so that's, I don't know all the translation questions I had about that stuff.

[E]

And so maybe it's kind of an

[C]

edgy atheist view of religion.

[E]

Submit and then, and then maybe like what he's thinking about Joy Boy or remembering from Joy Boy saying isn't that right? Is, you know, he was saying, you know, the man who is the most free is, you know, the happiest. Or that's, that's the, that's true. Bliss is being Free or whatever. And so he's like, kind of trying to taunt his memory of Joy Boy by saying no domination is. Isn't that right?

[C]

Joy Boy constructed his worldview around being the exact opposite of what Joy Boy says.

[F]

I interpret it as, like, yeah, like his king. Like, he, like many other people, are trying to fulfill the same. You know, whatever. Whatever Joy Boy represents to them. And. And. And his interpretation is, oh, Joy Boy is dominant. Therefore, dominance is. Is the truth. Is the truth of the universe.

[B]

That's possible as well and would be interesting. Like, we. We don't. I've been trying to imagine what is this flashback gonna look like once we get there. And I think the fact that Emu is a character interacting, you know, on a personal basis with Joy Boy, presumably, it creates a very interesting dynamic and also just opens up narratively a lot. Yeah. I also am thinking that the drums of subjugation may indeed be the drums of domination. Like, everything does seem to be inverse Luffy here in color. And, like, the black flames versus the white. I don't know if they're flames, but

[D]

using the, like, sort of the bone balloon technique to make himself bigger.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[E]

Self inflation.

[B]

Yeah, I was thinking of that as well. It's like. Oh, you know what? It actually works too, because it's like the edgy cartoon versus the Looney Tunes.

[D]

Guys, this is anime. It's not your. It's not your grandma's.

[C]

I'm trying to think of the movie Heavy Metals.

[D]

Hold on. If it's Emu May, then it's also dominant. Dominant animation.

[B]

How do I spell that?

[D]

Japanimation. It's called Japanimation.

[E]

Domination.

[C]

It's Afghanistan.

[B]

So it's Luffy Tunes and. Or like, just something simple like that.

[D]

And yeah, Luffy Tunes versus.

[B]

Versus.

[D]

It's all very funny.

[B]

They're both.

[D]

Oh, my God, this is such a silly.

[B]

It is stupid. But I'm trying to think of what is the most Emu. Apu. God, I'm going to be doing this forever now. What is the most emo, like, badass show that exists? That's, like kind of the opposite of Looney.

[D]

Death Note. Death Note. Death Note.

[B]

I like Death Note a lot. But, yeah, Death Note is pretty close. He would definitely really enjoy Death Note and think that Lightning is a really

[D]

good guy on a chair. Yeah. Sitting weird. Like, nobody sits on a chair like that.

[B]

No, no. He'd be eating the potato chip. An emo chip?

[E]

Yeah, the sweet potato chip.

[B]

We're really going to put Kirby through the ring this week. I feel terrible.

[E]

Just constructed our own mythology around this.

[B]

I'll eat an emo chip.

[D]

Jesus.

[E]

Okay, Ed, was there anything else you wanted to say?

[C]

No, I've had enough.

[B]

Yeah, that. That's. That's right.

[C]

It is just amuse me that Emu seems to have. I don't know if he was. If Emu and Joy Boy were like, were acquainted prior to becoming rivals or enemies. They seemed to like. Isn't that right? Like they were friends at one point in time.

[E]

Friends? Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean, they're laughing at a joke together, they hate each other. But the joke that was told was just a really good, objectively good joke. Yeah, it was something about eating an emo chip.

[D]

A joke that would have got him canceled now, but it was really funny

[B]

back in the 900 years. God, Joy Boy could not tell that joke today. Now what the hell were we doing? Sam, thoughts on the chapter?

[F]

All right. I don't know what the consensus ended up being on Emu's design. I don't think I like it. I think it's. I think there's too much going on. I think it looks a little silly. It looks a little non oda in ways that I don't really like.

[B]

Are you saying it's like someone wearing virtual glasses on a zoom call?

[F]

No. That sounds cool.

[B]

I stand correct.

[F]

I just have a hard time believing that we're gonna leave this arc feeling. I guess I'm sort of leaning on the side of Emu is going to be kind of a deceptively non consequent or he's going to be like a victim of an even larger story than himself. You know, like he's gonna get killed by Blackbeard or something like that.

[E]

That's.

[F]

That's the hill I'm dying on.

[D]

Blackbeard Chow.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. No, I.

[F]

I do think that this relationship with Joy Boy is definitely interesting. I definitely took this as. You know, Emu sees Joy Boy as something aspirational too, except he's. He's seeing the examination. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, like, if.

[C]

If somebody like, constructed his worldview around being the opposite of that.

[F]

Well, like, I. I think the idea, like. Like I imagine somebody like Joy Boy as somebody who is so free that it's kind of like morally irrelevant to put him on that. That on the. On the political spectrum like that. Like, he's just kind of doing whatever he wants and like Luffy just kind of doing whatever he wants and come of it, but, you know, it's sort of up to interpretation to decide if that's if the intent is. Is actually moral or not. So. Yeah. So. So. So Emu sees whatever Joy Boy represents as aspirational, except he's deciding that that power and dominance are like, kind of like the. The path to. To. To true bliss, to true enlightenment, to true joy, if you will. And I am finding the Luffy stuffing his face with food in the middle of a battle, like, as a way of kind of like keeping it off to the side for a. Chapter two is getting very repetitive between the arcs.

[B]

Agreed there. Yeah.

[E]

Yeah, that's fair.

[B]

Yeah. Anything else, Sam?

[F]

I think that just about does it.

[B]

Before I move on Alex, I was trying to think of the DS9 quote and thank. Thank God for the morning quarter.

[D]

That's right.

[B]

For DS9. I keep thinking of the Joy Boy. So this is only for Alex and anyone else out there who listen. Who knows DS9. I was thinking of this dynamic between Joy Boy and Emu as the. When Sisko is having that conversation about taking down the Romulans. I'm sorry, bringing the Romulans into the alliance. And the whole thing is, do you think they'll send you while you keep your chaotic empire right next to their perfect order? And that's kind of how I feel like I see IMU and Joy Boy.

[D]

Like, that's in Pale moonlight, the episode.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. In the pale moonlight. Sorry, it says it right there. I don't know why I didn't.

[D]

With Garrick.

[B]

With a lot of fun. Garrick.

[D]

No. Is he. He's talking to Garrett?

[B]

No, he's talking to. He's talking to Dax.

[D]

The Romulan.

[B]

No, they're doing the role play thing. Remember? Where it's like, I'm going to be. Yeah. Romulan delegate.

[D]

That's right.

[B]

But it's. It's apropos, though, because it's the opposite of domination is freedom. And you're not. If you know you're not going to be if you can't keep your order, which is what he wants. We talked about it. It's a selfish order, much like the

[F]

change, I think, from the. From an Emu's perspective. Domination is how you create freedom. So you guarantee freedom for yourself.

[B]

It's how he creates his.

[E]

Right.

[B]

Which is very different. Like, that's not how. I don't think that's. That's probably not how Joy Boy defined freedom. And that's probably. I don't think anyone else is going to define freedom as your freedom Emu, and no one else's, because that's what domination is. That's what authoritarianism is. That's what that kind of. That's what control is. It's. I want my freedom to do whatever the hell I want.

[F]

But if the military dominated the bourgeoisie, wouldn't that be a type of freedom?

[B]

You mean the Marie Joasi?

[F]

Oh, I like that.

[B]

Well, that's actually.

[F]

I mean, that's what it's based off of, isn't it?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I have to be reminded of that Mary Jersey.

[F]

To me, it's still Mary Joa to me.

[D]

I do hate the way it's spelled, but it makes sense.

[B]

Yes, yes. We should be pronouncing it like that, probably, but no one does.

[D]

I mean, we say Mary Joie, Mary Joo.

[B]

Yeah, but to the bourgeois, I guess you could say that, right? Bourgeois.

[D]

I say bourgeois.

[B]

Bourgeois.

[D]

Bourgeoisie.

[B]

Steven.

[E]

Yeah.

[F]

Bourgeois is like the adjective version.

[E]

Yeah. Did they say. Did they talk about, like, people from Mary Geoise as being, like, very Margie or something?

[D]

Margie.

[E]

Hey, Moogie. Hey, Mooge. I love what you did with your hair.

[F]

Oh, check, check. Check out my new. My new fish bowl. It's like all real muji of you movie.

[B]

Sam, did you have Mookie? Did you have anything else, Sam?

[F]

Oh, I guess I did have a stray thought wanting to connect it back to, like, Crocodile. Like, I think Crocodile was also on a very similar mental capacity. Like, when he lost to Whitebeard, he decided that, you know, his, like, it's like he both did and did not give up on becoming Pirate King. He just, like, decided that, you know, leading a very, you know, strong. Having a very strong military force was going to be his path to it, instead of doing it the traditional swashbuckling pirate way, which he lost at.

[D]

I do think it's interesting you bring that up and we think about, like, oh, yeah, these. This trinity of, you know, domination that Emu's talking about, how, you know, you can take these three things. Corruption, covenants, and I guess, Omen. And sort of power, I guess, is also. Yeah, power. You can sort of glom them onto any character in the series and what their motivations are. And the one, the one character. And I'm sorry that if I'm ceding your time at all, Sam, but the one character that I'm a little worried for now is Zorro. For a second, I thought because he got hit with the Omen thing that, like. Oh, yeah, the envy that seeks to achieve one's goals. Like, Zoro wants to get stronger so he can be, you know, the world's greatest swordsman. And help Luffy become Pirate King. But what. What end will he go to to get there? And what goal and what route has he gone to that we don't know? Because I keep thinking about the fucking Grim Reaper situation at the end of Wano. And this is me. This is me. This is just right now. What I'm about to say is a total result of me buying into apparently what is a very popular fan theory that mihawk's full name is Nerona Mihawk. And what, that this is a popular SAM theory because they have the same eyes or something like that.

[B]

Same eyes?

[D]

Yeah. And so if Zorro trained with this guy, then maybe his eyes fucking. I don't know, corrupted by Moomoo. It's stupid.

[B]

It's very stupid eyes, though. Like, they both have piercing eyes.

[D]

I want. I want to know what color.

[F]

It would be kind of crazy if like that was like. This whole time we're like not thinking about mihawks really familial relationship to anyone at all. Like this far in. It's like, oh, he's.

[D]

He shouldn't be related. That would be better. I mean, that'd be way better. That'd be really great.

[E]

Dracula.

[D]

He is fucking Dracula, man.

[E]

Boy is born in a Dracula factory.

[F]

If not a guy with the devil tail.

[B]

That's right, Sam. Anything else?

[F]

No, I seeded my time like several.

[B]

Steven.

[F]

Several minutes ago.

[B]

I forgot.

[E]

Yeah, I've enjoyed this, you know, our discussions about the kind of, I don't know, the. The Tao of Emu here is the philosophy going on.

[B]

The art of you.

[E]

Yeah, that's. That's been. That's been interesting. I think my. My takeaway on this chapter, and I did kind of mention it too, is that. Which. Which is kind of. I think part of what. What Alex's consternation was, which is, you know, I'm thinking about like, how has Oda kind of delivered a lot of. Kind of basic exposition for the characters and especially for the powers. And you know, early on, yeah, it would be like, oh, I ate a devil. I ate this fruit. And that gives me these powers. And you could tell that after a while, I think he got tired of that construction and he felt like that was too like. I don't know, it was too like elementary, you know, Manga 101. And he wanted to be a little bit more nuanced with it. And then we started seeing a lot of like, oh, here's the Oda box with this character's name. And it just says what the fruit power is underneath. And I Feel like we're getting close enough to the end now where like, every time there's a new character with a mysterious power, he just wants to hold it as close to his chest as possible and you end up with all of these really weird, you know, obfuscations of, like, whose power? Because, like, I don't know, did we even get. Did we get the confirmation with Loki that it was like the dragon Dragon fruit model Nidhogg, or is it just because people keep calling him.

[B]

No, I mean, they didn't. They didn't say.

[F]

Well, because we had that discussion.

[B]

But they had.

[F]

I think they did call it Dragon Dragon fruit.

[E]

Okay.

[D]

Yeah, they narratively, mythically mythical dragon fruit.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Was it a mythical.

[B]

Because Shanks and Shanks and Gaban were talking about it with.

[F]

Because we had that discussion a few weeks ago. Well, like, what's the difference between the. The dragon Dragon fruits and the fish?

[E]

Okay, but we didn't. Oh, that's right. That's right. But we did not get like, is there a devil fruit with ratatoskin and Ragnar?

[B]

Yeah, that has been annoying me. Yeah.

[E]

Right. And. And that, you know, and that goes

[B]

together with like, yes answer for him, though. We don't know.

[E]

Probably. Probably.

[B]

We don't know how much he cares about that.

[E]

And that goes into like. Okay, well, when Loki showed up first, you know, we knew he had some kind of weird lightning related power because he caused lightning. Right. And. And then, you know, it's not until later that we find out, like, okay, we get part of the picture and that's not really the full picture. And then. And then he fills in another part of it too. And so this, obviously, with Emu being such a central villain, Oda is under even, I think, even more pressure to like, to be very coy with the power and how it works and only reveal things in. In dribs and drabs. And, and this like, his explanation of like, well, let me kind of put these things that you've seen me doing into a different context without actually telling you once again, like, how exactly they work. It feels kind of. It felt like, like Vegapunk saying, oh, the devil fruits are just a desire, a twinkle in someone's eye sort of a thing where it's like, okay, yeah, that is true, but it's probably not really the answer that people want to hear, which is like, what exactly is the deal? And how does this compare? How does this relate to other, you know, powers that we've, we've seen in the series and whatnot? And so I feel like that that part is kind of uniquely frustrating. I will also say, too, like, just rereading the. The chapter and stuff, I am reminded that the. The page where he does talk about corruption and covenants and the power of Omen, I remember being like, as I was working on it, being kind of frustrated because, like, even the. The descriptive sentences that he gives, like, I couldn't get them to be, like, the same, like, tense for each one. Like, they didn't. They didn't all fit together into a nice, like, clean pattern. And. And that was partially, like, because of the way Oda wrote them and partially because, you know, again, I'm on the clock. We don't have a lot of time to. To do this stuff. So just as a note to myself, I'm like, yeah, I might. I might. I might, you know, with the. The benefit of hindsight, be able to. To massage that a little bit into something at least that's a little cleaner, because I'm not super happy with how it reads right now. But beyond that, I think the. The tricky part. And, you know, I think, Zach, you were kind of hinting at it already, the Dragon Ball Z aspect of it. Like, I feel like this might be the first time, even more so than, like, you know, Gear five Luffy or something, where, like, seeing Loki and Emu, which at this point feels like, canonically like the two most powerful people we've ever seen in one piece, right? Am I, like, am I alone in. In kind of taking that away from this? It does feel like this is the point where this is, like. It feels like it's Goku versus Frieza and all the other characters that we know and love. That's just Kame Senin and, like, Bulma and everyone going like, oh, shit, what's

[B]

going to happen now?

[E]

We can't do shit about this. You know, it does. It does have that feeling of, like, oh, well, nothing else really matters anymore. And I know that's not true, but it kind of feels that way. And that is something that I feel like up until this point, for. For as long of a story as it's been, Oda's been really good at kind of avoiding giving that impression. And I don't know if that's just because, like, he's.

[B]

He's.

[E]

You know, this is a sign of how close he is to the end, where he's like, well, you know, just needs to get really crazy now in order for it to seem cooler than anything we've seen before or, you know, if he is kind of like, you know, executing the long game that he's been building towards. But it does kind of feel like another one of the, like we're in the middle of one. Another one of those kind of inflection points where it's like, okay, well here's the, you know, here was one piece before this point and then here's one piece after this point and they're not really the same thing anymore. And you know, we've had those before. But this is definitely, you know, kind of like the most extreme version of it, I feel like. So, yeah, I feel trepidatious about like there's a lot of really cool and impressive stuff that's happening in this chapter. But I'm also a little worried where I feel like, you know, I hope this, I hope I don't look back on this and be like, well, this is where it wasn't the one piece that I love anymore. Because we, it could turn into that. We never know.

[B]

I, I feel that same trepidation. I, I know we got, I'm. I will get to it and piece together a little bit more, but someone mentioning whose avatar I could picture, but I cannot conjure the name up. But the fact that this is not that they miss that old one piece and we've talked about this a lot and because it's really felt viscerally true since the end of Wano at least I feel like certainly in Egghead and certainly now Elbaf like in particular, we've had moments of that. I feel like. And you know, I guess you have to do the thought exercise and by you, I mean royal, you, myself included. How if you went in a time machine 20 years ago, how would you have wanted Oda to wrap this up? Would you have wanted something smaller scale or would you know, like how would what is like the best case scenarios you could think up to have ended or wrapped up the story of one piece with or at least what kind of like lore drops, so to speak. Would you, you know, have. Have wanted or not wanted what thing, what questions then would you have wanted answered or not? Oda, I think, did not have all of this in mind. But also, you know, I've been, I have, I've been burned by Lost and I will always be thinking of that as kind of my. What's the opposite of the North Star, the South Star? Like the, it's like kind of like, look, I love Lost still, but there, there's like that last season does have some really fun and it gets really Shoneny in the way that this is like, it's feeling reminiscent, like, not to spoil lost 20 years later, whatever long it's been of 10:15. But, like, it definitely starts getting metaphysical. It starts getting way more sci fi. Not even sci fi, like fantasy. Like, it like goes into a completely different. The thing I liked about that series was the magical realism of it. I mean, this is not one piece. This does not describe one piece. But when you start getting answers, you have to kind of push the envelope of the genre you've been in, which for Oda is a very, very, very broad universe that he's created. But now he's got to, like, it's time for him to knock the walls down.

[E]

Yeah, I think about it a lot too, just in terms of, like, the broader conversation. And I feel like I've mentioned this before, but, like, sometimes there are certain outlets where you can see, like, people's opinions kind of on. On Moss. And so one of the things is like, Amazon reviews, right? Like, if you go on Amazon Japan and you look at like One piece volumes, like literally every single one going back to probably like Marineford or something, is like, you look at it and it might. It might have like four stars or like three and a half stars or whatever, but the top rated comments for everyone, and this is again, going back at least like 15, 20 years is like, old. One piece was better. Like, it's hard. I. I can't tell what's going on. Like, it's so scratchy. Like, he's not. He's not just. Just draw it like the old way. Oda, like, he used to be good and it's not good anymore. You know, who are all these characters? Blah, blah, blah. And I understand, I understand, like, where those people are coming from because, you know, they have nostalgia for like One piece when it was truly, like, ascendant in terms of, like, charting a new path that no one had ever seen before and. And was, you know, at the forefront of the entire nation of Japan's mind in a way that it is no longer. But I think about, like, what would it look like if One Piece, you know, in volume 115, like, if he. If he basically stopped evolving as an artist and like, trying new things and was just dry and it, like, it still looked like NES lobby or whatever. And I feel like it would have become stagnant, like, very easily, you know, it would have felt like every, every introduction would have felt like, I've seen this before. I've seen this character introduced this way before. And I, and I feel like the evolution you're describing. Yeah, yeah, but, like, the, the evolution in Otis style comes from him, you know, experimenting and trying things and having that voice in the back of his head that's like, well, I don't want it to look like this, or I've done this before, and I want to do something that, you know, it's to satisfy that voice in the back of his head that's like, you've done this before, You've done this before. And, you know, so. So I feel like it's inevitable that it would have turned out something like, if not like, exactly like this, it would have been a controversial evolution over time where by necessity, like, he's changed just because, like, he can't go back to the old, you know, mindset that he was in. He can only move forward through, you know, whatever influences he's. He's working with. And, you know, at some point, you know, I don't know if that means, like, it's inevitable that there's going to be a point where people, like the, the, you know, the critical mass of people are like, this isn't cool anymore. Or if it, you know, it becomes like, well, it's still cool, but it's just not the same series. I guess time will tell with that. But, you know, it's definitely something that I grapple with when I'm like, looking at the long run of. Of where one piece used to be, where it is now, and how I feel about it.

[F]

Fascinating.

[B]

Yeah.

[F]

Like viral tweet recently where somebody was, like, sharing around an old, like, forum post from, like, fresh off of Ennis lobby ending in the manga. And it was like. It was like somebody ranting about how one piece isn't as good as it used to be anymore. Like, like they were unsatisfied with Ennis lobby and they were talking about old one piece and new one piece, like, exactly the way people do now.

[E]

Yeah.

[F]

So, like, that really, like, puts it, like, in. In perspective, like, how.

[D]

Sure.

[F]

How elastic that really is.

[D]

A lot of people, like, man, man, dress roast. Remember? Those were the days.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[F]

There are outside of our bubble, like, dressrosa is a pretty beloved dark.

[C]

No, it is.

[D]

Yeah. No, I mean, I know that was a lot of people's first, like, week to week.

[B]

And there are great things about dressrosa. I think we've talked about that to death though, Alex.

[D]

I mean, I mean, I'm like, yeah, I'm not going to talk about dressrosa, but I will talk about Alabasta and how for me, like, alabaster still, like the. For me.

[B]

Well, but that's like the example of the stagnancy kind of thing.

[D]

Platonic ideal. Yeah.

[B]

Because it feels like a redo of that. But we already had that. Why do this?

[D]

Yes. This in particular is the question you pose, like, what would you have liked to see? Like, for me, I'm like, right off the bat, I'm like, I can't answer that, because what I want to see is whatever the fuck Oda had cooked up for the end of one piece. Like, that's. That's all.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I don't care how stupid or derivative it is at this point. Like, I followed the series for over 20 years, week to week, and I'll be damned if I'm just like. I just want to know, like, what that last panel is that he's had in his, like, no matter. No matter what, no matter how we get there, we're going to get to his intended ending, and that's all I kind of give a about.

[B]

I.

[D]

But I'm. I'm not saying that I'm not, like, you know, there. I'm not saying that. That there won't be a point or that there can't be a point where I'm not going to say, man, what happened to this series? Because that could very well happen. Like, to bring up Dressrosa, my. My. One of my most maligned arcs because of where, like, you know, we did this week to week, and I just felt like it was a slog, a retread that had too many. Too many ingredients in the broth. Yeah, that was. That's. That's really my biggest problem with it. Yeah. And it's got great highs and some terrifically bad lows. And, you know, it's. It is what it is. But that's the thing. Like, I'm. I'm always going to try and give Oda the benefit of the doubt to stick the landing, even if it's an arc that I don't necessarily like while I'm in it. Agreed. This stuff. And I'm sorry if I'm seeding your time here, Steven. Okay. My big point that I wanted to make about all of this is that I think at the end of the day, this arc is going to seem like a very disjointed one to me if we're going to get into the whole, you know, arc ranking rigmarole, because

[B]

I think that right now looks like less relevant as time goes on, because it just gets.

[D]

I Mean, this, this arc, Egghead broke it, I think, almost completely. And this arc obliterated it because I think, like, at the, at, at this point. Yes. God Valley. And I think at this point we're going to get, like. It seems like we're on the precipice of getting a Emu Joy Boy flashback. Not. I mean, maybe precipice might be right away.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I don't know. It could. He could very well do it, this arc.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Because. And specifically because of this chapter and how I'm still like, okay, so Emu's making all these references to this and that and the other, and I'm sure it's going to hit pretty, Pretty, like, hard once we get to that flashback and once we put all the pieces together, but until we do, like, maybe this is how he's going to leave, you know, a mystery dangling, like, we're going to finish this fight, you know, I guess it'll be like that little

[F]

glimpse of Kaido's flashback.

[D]

Right.

[F]

As we're beating Kaido.

[D]

Sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Right. Like, I, I'm sure that, like, you know, what could very well happen here is that, like, okay, well, Nidhogger has the upper hand. He's gonna get bodied next chapter and either, you know, get kidnapped or taken over or maybe even killed by. I don't think killed. I don't know if he would kill Loki so soon after introducing him and

[B]

asking him to become part of the crew.

[D]

Maybe his arc is complete, I don't know. But maybe taking away his. His fruit power or something to make him less op. And that way, you know, Emu's got his pet back or whatever the fuck. And then Emu goes off on his merry way and then we start, really start entering the final saga, as it were. And then our crew has to pick up the pieces, figure out who this guy is and how we, you know, what, what their next steps are. And then we get into, I guess, Gunko Brook flashback stuff because that's, that's definitely, I feel like definitely going to happen this arc. We're going to get another little flashback. I don't know how little or big it is, but there's going to be some sort of Emu Brook. I'm not sorry. Emu Gunko Brook reckoning here. Now, if we have Void Century in this arc, I'm sure there are a lot of people who are gonna say Elbaf is the best arc, its peak. It has all this great lore and great fights and yada yada, barely featuring the straw Hats, I might add.

[B]

I disagree with that, but yeah.

[D]

Which is not. Disagree with what barely features the straw hat.

[B]

I think the flashbacks are kind of taking away from the fact that I actually think this arc has done a good job putting the straw hats front and center in a way that's not. Yes. Aside from the flashbacks, obviously. Right now this chapter is actually. This is actually an exception. This chapter. But Luffy's in it.

[D]

No. Yeah, Luffy is poised. Looks like he's poised to fight. To fight, to fight Nemu. But at what. At like, at what point in his power? I mean, obviously Loki's really giving Imu what for here. Like he's made him bleed his own blood. You know, he's. He's going like, you know. And I feel like if we get another long ass flashback, like right now on one hand, I'll be like, great, because we need to see Void Century stuff in order to complete the series. We need all this context as to where the end game is. On the other hand, I'm so. I'm just. I just want to be in the present so bad right now.

[B]

This is mindfulness, I think.

[D]

Yeah. That I'm. I'm scared that we're going to enter another flashback and I'm going to be fatigued. Does that make sense?

[B]

It 100% makes sense. And this like, hits a few points that I really appreciate our like, broader discussion on like the end game of the series. Like, this feels like kind of a fulcrum point to me. Where we are.

[D]

This is all stuff we need. This is all stuff we need for the end game of the series. We need to be able to experience what we just watched. Like Emu vs Loki has been a very cool thing to watch and we definitely need to see these two, you know, juggernauts at their. At their.

[B]

DBZ it out. Yeah.

[D]

Yeah, that's fine. I think it was really fun to watch this, to read this now. What comes after this is, you know, I don't know about anyone's guess, but like it's. There's a couple different ways we can go about that. I've been saying that this is. I think it's Shibandi 2.0 where everybody's going to suffer a great loss and then we're going to have to figure out how we get stronger because it's a shonen manga at the end of the day and everybody's got to obviously be on the level or at the very least, Zora and Sanji have to be on the level where they have to be sort of at least toe to toe with. With this guy. I mean, obviously they can take a hit from him and, you know, land a blow, but it's not enough. I feel like this is the one chapter where I'm like, totally cool about talking about power scaling, by the way.

[B]

Well, because this is the. I'd say this is like the first chapter of One Piece that, like, really? Besides, like that one where they had that stupid power system in NES lobby.

[D]

Doriki, right?

[B]

Yeah, that one.

[D]

Or did they call it something in English? I don't.

[F]

This is power levels, isn't it?

[B]

I don't know.

[D]

It was just called power levels.

[E]

I thought they did say Doriki, but like, he only says it once. Like in the series.

[F]

In the Viz manga, they said. They. They just said power levels.

[D]

Oh, well, it's only used once.

[B]

Anyway, my point is that it does fit this chapter. Like, this is like the only chapter I could think of where it feels like this is just. This is a. This is what I loved about DBZ as a kid, to be honest. You know, Like. Sure, yeah.

[D]

I mean, and they're compelling fights. Like, I'm.

[B]

And it's a fun fight, but it has one piecey elements to it. There's still a chain chomp, squirrel hammer.

[D]

Right. And as long as I'm talking about this, like, I want to talk about the art briefly. Like, yeah, it's this. I feel like the action is pretty easy to follow in this chapter. And it's fun. It's fun action. You get to see the. You get to see the. There are so many wind ups and follow throughs that it's just a fun chapter to read. You can see, like, oh, how he's blocking the hammer shot. You're seeing how he's staggered, but he's already got the hammer wound up. It's very, very cool.

[B]

The giant thing. I don't know if you were gonna say.

[E]

Yeah, I was gonna say the giant. The giant thing. At least he has Loki saying like, you can turn giant to make it obvious. They. But then on that same thing, after, they smash like, they smash their tips. Like. And then there's the. The panel where he's like, is he flipping? I don't know what Emu is doing. He's like.

[B]

He's like doing a quadruple of the.

[D]

Yes, he's definitely flipping because he's doing the. You can see Oda's classic, like, little whirly thing that Sanji usually does.

[E]

I feel like that should have been the focal element of the panel. And I don't. Let's. It's like. It's like the fifth thing that I notice in the panel. I felt that that bit was a little confusing, but otherwise, this is a

[B]

great example of oda, just the issue I think ODA has had. So we talked about, like, the fact that he. We don't want him to be stagnant. However, he. Sometimes you could feel it is rushing through things either because of time, because he wants. He's like, I think, trying to live a life outside his manga a little bit these days, like more so than he did back in the early aughts. And. And you could definitely feel like this should have been a whole page. This should have been an extra page. This part of the fight.

[D]

Well, I. Another thing about this fight that's well. Well, the biggest thing to me about this fight that's like so compelling too, is the banter. I mean, yeah, you have him, you know, talking about the power of the Trinity or whatever, you know, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. But then you have. Yeah, but then, like, Loki's retort is such a cool. Like, like you root for this character. Like, I didn't ask you. I didn't give a shit about.

[B]

That was such a great. Yeah, no, that was when he's like,

[D]

shall I give you the power of God like I gave everybody else? And he's like, no, I don't. Like, why would I. Why would I want to even talk to you? Yeah, like, it's such a cool. Such a cool thing.

[B]

Yeah. Loki is really a great example of, like, the reader come to life. Like, this is what I'm saying.

[D]

Loki is a cool character.

[B]

Yeah. Loki, I think, has definitely been proving him self like the reader, specifically.

[E]

Yes.

[D]

And. And I think to myself, like, what do I like about Loki that I don't like about Trafalgar Law or Sabo? Like, what makes him not. Yeah, what makes him not. What makes him not a poochie? And I think it's. I think it's because there hasn't been any lord. Sort of like there hasn't been anything dangling really with him. It's. Nothing's been really lingering.

[B]

He has more personality. I'm gonna just.

[D]

Just say from the. From the get go, he has. He already had more personality than either of those characters.

[B]

He's fun.

[D]

Well, I will say with the exception of Sabo, because we met him when he was a kid.

[B]

Yeah, Sabo is personality. It's just how he's been used recently. He's fine. I have like no particular qualms about Sabo, except in the amount of merchandise he's on. But that's not his fault.

[D]

He's meant for that. I'm really looking kind of.

[B]

What?

[D]

It's fault?

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

I mean, well, yeah, it's absolutely Oda's fault. Are you kidding? Anyway, that's all I've got. Really. Yeah. I'm glad to read this through again today because it's just like this is such a. This is really a fun one to read. And it reminds me of why I like reading Shonen manga in the first place. Like battle Shonen manga. Because I feel like we haven't really gotten a. We haven't. To me, we haven't gotten a really good fight in a really long time.

[B]

I just realized also that this fight is happening at a school. So that's fun. Or outside of one.

[D]

Well, kinda outside. You can see. Well, it's.

[B]

It's page.

[D]

Well, that is very funny too, because they're both. They're both basically teenagers. They're both like, all right. Outside, like. Yep. And every. And everybody's like gathering outside the lunchroom

[B]

or whatever page that square off is like.

[D]

Like.

[B]

I mean, it's great banter, but it's because it feels so teenagery, which it is a Shonen manga. Like the true definition of Shonen. Like, this feels. I will say this chapter feels more Shonen than almost any other chapter of one piece I could think of.

[D]

So I'm like on the last spread right now, and I just kind of glanced at it and I wanted to bring up that sigh in our discord. Talked about, like, why are you smiling? Imu. Your smile is stupid. And it is a very stupid looking smile because of the weird lips. But I read like, he goes, so thou art back. And I read, thou art so back.

[B]

Oh, Nate Hogger. That was. Anything else, Alex.

[D]

That's it.

[B]

I. The. The one thing I wanted to add to our, like, you know, this being kind of like the. The. The crux of, you know, us heading into the end game. I mean, I feel like we've been heading there for a while, but it really feels like we are moving the dial a lot more. Is that the thing about answering questions and the thing about wrapping up some of these plot lines is it's going to piss someone off. Like you can't, you know, make a decision where everyone is going to be happy. And that kind of decision is boring. That's not why we read one piece anyway. Like it were. That's like something a Big studio does at the end of their movie or something. Like, I want to make the audience happy. I don't want to ruffle any feathers. Oda is just so not that person. So we collectively as a fandom are going to be disappointed by something I don't. I think, I think, Stephen, you were saying something like, you know, at the end of the day, people be like, oh, I missed. Well, someone is going to say, I miss one piece being like this, like X. Or like it was back in. Back in the egghead days long ago, where someone might be listening to this episode in 2046 and saying that as the series is about to wrap up in that year. But like, at the end of the day, I agree with Alex to like, we are in this, you know, whether we like it or not, we are on this ride. I'm gonna see the ride to the end. I'm here, even if I don't end up liking it. That said, I don't want this to sound like I am not liking it. I am very much enjoying it. I think the cryptic aspect that Steven hit on, which I think is like this untranslatable, to be fair, like the word nakama. It's just this like, untranslatable thing because we don't have the full context to it, unlike the word nakama. I, I like, appreciate where Oda is coming from because I think what he is doing as an author to kind of combine these two conversations here is he is trying to keep the reader on his side, like the. The full readership on his side as much as possible by revealing only little tiny bits of things and waiting to like, actually give us a thing that is going to have potentially negative reactions from someone. Like, there's definitely this part of him that's like, it's not people pleasing. It's like he wants to. He wants to live in the moment, I think, for as long as possible. Like, the reason one piece has gone on for 27 plus years is because Oda really enjoys drawing and writing the series. And there's definitely a part of him I have to imagine that's like, I don't really want to end this now. I want. I want to draw this out. But that he also knows that he can't. And that would be, you know, he. He talks about how his characters kind of do their own thing. And Kanabanashi this week, I think is a really good example of probably ODA's thought creative process, like kind of just letting the story do its thing. And I think Oda is at that point where it is. It really does feel like. I don't know if. I don't know if we're at the end of the story. I thought since the beginning of Elbaf, the fact that we got, like, chapter 1138, the three world thing, the Harley thing, the thing with the library, these really big, big items, and no pun intended there with the giants. But, like, the fact that we had all of that set up at the beginning makes it narratively more cohesive. If we do get the Joy Boy Emu flashback at the end of this.

[D]

Like, we should. I mean, I think that if you're. If he's gonna put it anywhere, this is probably the place to do it.

[B]

We're at the very end. Like, is it an epilogue? Like, is that, you know, the very, very, very end? The thing is, he has been really teasing Joyboy bookending this. Yeah, well, like, do we need to know? This is the question. He's probably it. Do we need to know the story of Joy Boy and Emu before we get into the end of this? Like, Luffy isn't going to know or care. We know that. But, like, is. Will it be a cathartic experience for the reader to know that? The answer is probably yes. We don't know for sure, but it's probably yes. But it also might be a good bookend. Like, you know, seeing that previous generation after we have seen these events unfold that have. That have turned the world upside down. Yeah. There's, like. There's just. I expected this to actually be a quick manga recap, which was really on me. I always get tricked by that. I did really enjoy this chapter. It was a lot of fun. It was. It is one of those that felt really quick. The. The power that lurks within all things is probably one of the bigger. That, like, that's the one. I'm like, I want an answer from that sooner rather than later. I was thinking the big mom stuff with, you know, gigantifying. I mean, that's been going on since, like, Punk Hazard. That kind of, like, what is within. What is within the people of this world that creates a power to turn giant. Like, I. I don't. I'm really wondering. It's obviously cryptic and nebulous, but, like, how does that square into the rest of the plot? That one is a really fascinating little drop of. I won't say lore, but of future, you know, of squaring a lot of stuff we've seen thus far into the current arc. I don't know if there's much else I want to say, and I'm sure we got pieced together asking us more questions, so I'm going to leave it there. Any other final thoughts?

[E]

Just to. To go back to something you were saying about the impossibility of. Of pleasing everyone and, you know, like, what. What are the expectations of. Of, you know, older fans or, you know, people who have been around long enough and just to kind of illustrate the impossibility of it is, I think in order to. To truly, you know, if it were to truly be something that satisfies everyone, it. It would have to have something where, you know, the answer has to be in front. Like, he has to just change our perspective some tiny little bit. And all these things, you know, this is talking about, like, what are. What's the d. You know, what. How. What is the ancient kingdom? Like, how do all these. These hints that have been in, you know, throughout the past, how do they get revealed in a way that makes it feel like all of the time spent was worth it waiting to. To find out? And it has to be something that like. Like it's been in under our noses this entire time, and we just never realized it. And he's just opening, you know, he's just pulling the curtain. He's. He's adjusting our perspective some tiny bit. And no one ever guessed it, you know, millions of people reading this story and, you know, all the things that we've been following for so long suddenly take on a new meaning. And like, when you start laying out all of that stuff, it really does sound like that. That focus group thing in the Simpsons where it's like you want the story to be relatable and down to earth while also having magic powers and swarming with crazy robots. And all of that stuff is one

[B]

piece, to be fair. You're describing one piece.

[E]

Yeah, he's getting us there.

[B]

He is getting us there.

[E]

But.

[B]

Well, yeah, I want to ask, is there, without spoiling it, is there a series or a piece of fiction that you're like. Like, you feel it has, like, a universally praised ending and is also, like, artistically, like, adventurous and like. Like it really ping pong is. I don't remember the ending specifically.

[E]

I don't remember the ending either. Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I mean.

[D]

I mean, it's not. It's not anything special. The ending isn't anything special, but it's a very nice one

[B]

specifically.

[D]

Like, what about Fullmetal Alchemist?

[B]

That's the one I was thinking of. It is a little like, I don't want to say what it is. I have to re. I have to read the manga. I think I've only experienced brotherhood.

[D]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. Wow. I know. Isn't that surprising?

[D]

You heard it here, folks. The host of the Full Metal Alchemist podcast. Full Metal hasn't read the manga. Sorry.

[B]

You know what, Urasawa? I feel like probably has, like, monster

[D]

is probably 20th century boys.

[B]

20th century boys. I don't like the ending of.

[D]

Well, hold on, because, Zach, I was. I was in your apartment when you finished Monster, and you were like, what the hell was that?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, but that's like one of the ones you have to sit with, I think. No, it is a. What the hell was that like? No, no, I think I like it because it is one of the ones that you're thinking about. Like, it challenges you. It's not what you expected. I think the thing about some of those kind of endings, it's like, why did I just go on this journey if this is where it ends?

[E]

Like, that's kind of like 2001 or something. Something that really swings for it.

[B]

I don't know. 2001. I like that ending, actually. It's so bizarre.

[E]

That's what I'm saying.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, skip this segment, obviously, if you don't want to be spoiled on all the things we're mentioning. I feel it like Pluto, I feel like, is a perfect ending. That's. That series is like, Pluto is really

[D]

great, but Pluto is also like a remake, you know, so it's hard to.

[B]

I don't know. Very good allegory.

[D]

Still to this day, all of this stuff is. It's all objective, of course. I mean, I'm sorry, it's all subjective.

[B]

You're right.

[E]

There is a truth.

[D]

This is.

[C]

Yes.

[D]

And it's called domination.

[B]

We're going to end it there.

[F]

There's a truth and only one of us knows it.

[B]

And it's Sam. Let's move on into some peace together. When I found out I was going

[E]

to be a parent, I immediately felt a lot of anxiety and worry. So I went on to BetterHelp to

[B]

try to look for a therapist to help me with that.

[D]

My relationship with my family and with my boyfriend and with myself were suffering. I really needed help. I was ruminating a lot. Really. Getting those thoughts out to a therapist and getting feedback was just life changing.

[B]

Discover what BetterHelp online therapy can do for you. Visit betterhelp.com today. When I found out I was going

[E]

to be a parent, I immediately felt A lot of anxiety and worry. So I went on to BetterHelp to try to learn.

[B]

Look for a therapist to help me with that.

[D]

My relationship with my family and with my boyfriend and with myself were suffering. I really needed help. I was ruminating a lot. Really getting those thoughts out to a therapist and getting feedback was just life changing.

[B]

Discover what BetterHelp online therapy can do for you. Visit betterhelp.com today. Hey, everyone. This is the Piece Together segment. We take things real serious here. Like this is some real. Some real dark shit we're gonna have here, you know, in this Piece together. Questions, comments, theories? Forget that. That's just. We're. We're all about Alex. What are we about?

[D]

Hey, we're about Domi Nation. Domi Nation. That's the word of the day on our very professional podcast. Hey, and Disc piece. Oh, disk Piece is the segment. Yeah, dis piece.

[C]

Cool.

[D]

Hey, dis piece.

[B]

Patreon subscribers, questions.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Okay, so we're going to start off with a question that we left over from last week because Steven is here. Hooray. Hooray. Steven, I don't know if you're in Disc Piece currently.

[E]

Yeah, I'm on the channel.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

There's one that was pinned from Wispy. Yeah, Wispy who says. Hey, who Slop. This chapter seems to be the second time Zorro has used a Three Sword Serpent technique with the first one being King of Hell. Three Sword Serpent 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation used against King back then.

[E]

I assume this is talking about last chapter.

[D]

Yes.

[E]

Since he does not appear a single hair of Zorro. This chapter.

[D]

This is from a single green hair.

[B]

This was specific. Specifically, I mentioned that we have to leave this over for Steven.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

What if the color additions come out and there is one corner of a panel where you can see Zoro's green hair that we just can't see now.

[D]

It's a pube. Yeah, I was gonna say not a single green pube. Nice. Wow.

[E]

Perfect. Okay.

[B]

Do I have to write that one down?

[E]

All right, let's.

[D]

Boom. We got it.

[B]

We got the new Bible.

[D]

Anyway, anyway, Whispy continues says back then he also used Purgatory Onigiri in that chapter, but it was written as King of Hell. Three sword style. Are there any nuances to the kanji for style versus the kanji for serpent that you can glean that would inform when he decides to use one over the other? Maybe it's contextual thematic things since it's a little interesting that he pulls out Three Sword Serpent against the two opponents with Lunarian features. Plus there's the angle of the red line being referred to as the serpent of blood by Elbaf giants. And the whole idea of the Lunarians being the original inhabitants of the red line. Thank you. Opposite.

[E]

Yeah. So. So the. The. The thing that Oda is doing there is he's. He's just doing a homonym. He's doing a pun on Ryu. Ryu. So Santoru is, you know, three Sword style. And when he did the three Sword Serpent, he replaced the Ryu for style with the Ryu for dragon.

[D]

Oh, that's dope.

[E]

Yeah, and that's really cool. I don't remember. I don't remember him doing anything either then or in this recent chapter that was actually like dragon style. I don't think it was like a visual motif, obviously, I guess. Was he doing that against that? Was that against. It wasn't against Big mom, was it? Was it against Kaido that. That Zoro did that in one of the. The Three Sword 100 Mercies. 33 Mercies. Oh, no, it's against King. Okay, so it wasn't against Kaido. So. Yeah, I don't. I don't. I think that. I think that Oda just kind of was like, you know what? That would be really badass if, like, he did this and it was like dragon instead of. So obviously, you know, three Swords style. I went with the S sound, you know, to the. The alliteration there to like, I guess try to make it seem like it was, you know, like. Like recognizable as like, oh, this is Zorro's thing. But he's like doing a different thing this time. So that's why I used serpent instead of like three. Three Sword Dragon. I don't know. I mean, your guess is as good as mine as far as, like, what does that mean? I think it's just like, okay, you know, it's like Diablo Jam or something. It's like, oh, he's. Oh, he's really serious this time. Like he's gonna do a super powerful attack. You know, it's the right. It's what Alex was saying. He's doing the. The level three super or whatever instead of a level two super or something. So I don't know if that means it's something that he'll keep doing. I guess I was a little surprised when I saw it used again, but I was like, oh, okay. So I guess that's just like. That's just a thing that Zorro will do now is use three Sword Serpent. Instead. But yeah, I don't know. I gave you the background for it. That's about all I know that I could tell you off the top of my head.

[D]

Well, thank you. That is dope as hell. Zoro is a cool character.

[B]

He thinks he's cool.

[D]

So we've, we're going to start off with a question that was given to us on 420. Blaze it from Zach S. Who says thank you for answering my question last week. So Glup Shitto is like Egg McBig and then proceeds to link to a Reddit post. I'm going to describe this for the listener.

[B]

Do you have to?

[D]

I, I want to.

[B]

Okay.

[D]

This is a, a post from the One Piece Reddit that has gotten 72 or 7.2 thousand upvotes and 372 comments.

[B]

Is that a lot for the One Piece Reddit? I feel like there's a lot of people on there.

[D]

I, I honestly don't know. But the person says, I recently started reading the manga and I legitimately feel like this is what most side characters are like. And this is a character who is shaped like an egg that has basically just two legs, a scar, a tattoo on the side of his body, no arms, by the way, wearing overalls with a medallion for a belt, a hairy chest, a butt chin and a shit eating grin on his face with a curly butt, a green butt cut. And there is a ODA box that says Egg Mcbig, 900 mil bounty. And then a speech bubble of someone talking off screen that says that's Egg McBig. He's the most dangerous and richest man alive. He ate the no arm fruit. He has no arms. And also he was part of The Roger Pirates 28 years ago. So. And then he said, yeah, that's, that's, that's what a Glut shito is. I would say. Yeah. And then he says the other team. The other terms I have trouble with usually come from Team Dark, Blorbal and Snuffy and whatever. I think it's Blorbo, I believe is the ask Team Dark whenever they're back on. Speaking of Egg McBig, have you guys been following the Egg McBig saga on Reddit? It's pretty entertaining to me. What do you think his saga can be found on our Egg mcbig? Why do you guys Reddit, by the way? I also want to point out that this is an Ms. Paint drawing of this character. Well, making it of course, even better, I think. Yeah, no, that's part is we know I have a.

[B]

Rid of that. Do I want.

[D]

Honestly, Honestly. If you are not signed up for the Patreon, sign up for the Patreon and get into the disc piece channel and see this picture because it's very funny.

[B]

Or just Google it.

[E]

He looks like an egg cup.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, my God. This is.

[F]

I posted the animal that this is making me think of in the. In our discord.

[B]

Okay. I hope someone on the Egg mcbig read it. Please let them know that we love them.

[D]

This is very. This is very indicative of, like, I don't know, 2006 era 1.

[B]

This is just such a. Yes. Speaking of stagnation or whatever we want to call it, like, I wish the One Piece fandom were, you know, I wish the One Piece fandom was like, it was back in 2008. Here you go. This is the most. 2008 thing.

[D]

Small and nice. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, how many people are on this 431 weekly video? That's a decent chunk of people.

[D]

That's very funny. All right, we come to.

[B]

He was born, by the way, his birth name was Biggie Benedict Longarm, so.

[D]

Oh, I see. So he was a member of the Long Arm tribe, and then he ate a devil fruit. Now he doesn't have long arms anymore.

[B]

Correct.

[E]

That's. That's. I'm sorry, that's. That's a bleach name. That's not the One Piece name. No.

[B]

There'd be some Spanish influence there. There being N somewhere.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah, go ahead. For some reason, the N in long arm has an enye.

[B]

Until that. Yeah.

[D]

I don't even know how you would pronounce that. Bliss of Long Arm. Bliss of dummy slation.

[B]

Sorry, I don't know why that got me.

[D]

Good. Good job. Slay says hello, my fellow Dominators. Dominator. What a nice chapter.

[B]

I don't know how I feel about that.

[D]

The Joy Boy flashback really stunned me. Is the feud simply that Joy Boy and Emu once went to the same high school and Joy Boy got the lead in the spring musical and Emu got the role of Blob number three?

[B]

That's the God Valley arc. You're describing the God Valley arc, though. That's what that was.

[D]

Who knows? It also seems that Emo Nidhogger have this connection, which makes sense since they're both huge and prominent people. Slash creatures on the Harley. Speaking of, only Frankie has seen the Harley. How do you think each of the other straw hats would react to seeing it? Thank you and have a great week.

[B]

Sorry I know, there's a PS here. Go ahead.

[D]

Sure. That's fine. I'll do the ps, then we can get into it. Ps all this talk of domination. I surely hope with all the effort you put into the podcast, that everyone should become a sub to your patreon. Sincerely. It's really worth it.

[F]

Wow.

[D]

Boom goes the dynamite on that one.

[B]

Wow. No wonder the title.

[D]

How would all the straw hats react to the seeing the Harley? I think most of them would, you know, be like, oh, well, yeah, you

[E]

can already see, like, okay, so. So imagine that the straw hats are looking at it and, like, you're in the position, so they're, like, looking at you in the panel. So they're. You know, they're not. You don't see the.

[F]

The.

[E]

The mural. You're just looking at the straw hats.

[D]

Yeah.

[E]

And Luffy and Chopper and Usopp are all making the same, like, head tilted with their hand on their chin going. And they just have question marks on their heads. Yeah.

[D]

Yes, 100%.

[B]

What I was gonna say is that the. Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not to do it. Well, actually, here. But the mural is not the Harley. It's just the. I guess.

[E]

Right? That's just a kid's drawing.

[B]

Yeah, the Harley. Chopper and Robin were actually reading.

[E]

Yeah, Robin, Remember?

[B]

She was. Well, Robin was reading it to Chopper. A little bedtime story, and that's where we got the actual text in that. So, yeah, actually, the only people who've seen the Harley are Chopper and Robin. Or in some degree, at least, Robin. You know what it would look like? We talk about this all the time. Like, what if the One Piece podcast did a live reaction of something? That's what it would look like. You know, just someone reading something.

[D]

I think it'd be really funny if Robin saw the mural and she's like, wow, look at this shitty art.

[B]

Yeah, her art is. What is her is like of that ilk. I feel.

[D]

I love her art. I love her drawing. Her drawing of Tsudo Maze. So funny.

[E]

Which. Yeah. Which is funny because, like, I'm sure Frankie's reaction after that. That page was he was just, like, bitching, you know, it looks like a van. Like a van drawing or something.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Hey, I've got a van that's got that on the side.

[B]

Yeah, this. This did remind me something I forgot.

[D]

Frankie is totally a van guy. He totally is.

[B]

100%. Sorry. This reminded me one thing I want to talk about in the manga recap, and I'll make it very brief. But that this little flashback convinces me that the form we are currently seeing Emu in is either like a secondary or tertiary form of his. And this is not like his actual form.

[D]

What he really looks like.

[B]

What he really looks like?

[D]

No, I think he looks stupid. I think he looks like big MCEG.

[E]

Yeah, this is his OC.

[B]

Maybe it is.

[E]

He's in.

[D]

Yeah. 100. Like, once it is that big. Once. Once he has like this power, he's just like, oh, okay, now I'm gonna. Now I'm gonna like, turn myself into like what I really want to look like in my body image. Yeah, exactly. No, but I think. I think. I think, you know, Vanilla Emu looks like Egg McBig.

[B]

I think he looks. I think really dumb.

[D]

Like a weevil wobble.

[B]

I think in all honesty, it's probably what he used to look like or

[D]

something until he fucking got shredded and started eating protein.

[B]

No, now he's thousands of years got

[D]

on the keto diet. He's spent thousands of years on the keto diet and that's what happened.

[B]

I don't know. There's lots of different theories about that. That makes sense.

[F]

He ate his twin in the womb and he created a binding vowel on his level and shrine and.

[B]

Okay, what's the next question?

[D]

The next question's from. Or comment. Whatever is from Reverse Lived Dog who says, hey there, Omen Poops perhaps. So it looks like Emu is all about domination.

[B]

It's God. Devil in reverse.

[D]

Yeah, that's funny. That's funny. So it looks like Emu is all about domination and envy, while Joy Boy and Luffy are all about freedom and friendship to the point where both of their powers are reflect those values. Emu probably saw Joy Boy do something cool in that flashback panel and got all ang. I don't know if this is Angie.

[B]

I think it's Angie.

[D]

Angie angry or angsty? Whatever you can.

[B]

No, he is like the cutesy, I

[D]

think Angie and get all Angie. While Luffy could see someone do a cool thing like, and get excited based on this. Do you think all the dots over Amy's body are like little round rabbit poops? Like the ones carrot drops on the way to Ninja and land?

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes.

[E]

It's an engine park.

[D]

Ninja Park.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Ninjin Land literally sounds like the name of like a Shinch is a California one.

[B]

No, no. They're thinking of Namco. Ninja Town is what they're thinking.

[D]

That's so funny. That's so funny. So fucking funny, Sam. I'm looking forward to.

[E]

Yeah, Sam, what is your California adventure?

[B]

Yes. Yes.

[E]

The rabbit poops.

[F]

What was the specific question?

[B]

Are emu's dots rabbit poop from carrot.

[E]

Like the ones that Carrot drops.

[B]

Like the ones that carrot drops on ninja. Similar. So not necessarily carrot. Carrots.

[F]

Yeah, I think it was a different rabbit.

[B]

Yeah, obviously. Obviously it was a different rabbit.

[D]

Nice.

[B]

What's next? Alex.

[E]

She's thousands of miles away.

[D]

Ninja land Sounds like the name of, like. It sounds like the name of, like, a crayon Shin Chan movie. Like cran. Shin Chan because It's Ninja. Yeah.

[E]

Movie 32.

[D]

Yeah. No, really, though. I've been watching all of those, by the way. They're all an hour and a half, which is like. Which seems like, oh, hey, that sounds pretty breezy. But, like, Shin Chan is mostly just like, dick and fart jokes, so it's like, a lot of. It's just, like, awful. It's actually.

[B]

I'd say sarcastically.

[D]

Some of them are really good. Some of them are like, okay, I'm so tired of this.

[B]

That's great humor right there. Let's. Let's lean into that. What's next?

[D]

All right, Sailor Karna says. Hey, Opp, my kid wanted to let you know that we're almost done with the dressrosa arc. And yeah, it was a struggle, but with a skip button and having it on the background helped. Anyways, this week chapter is fuel for so many theories that I'm exhausted. Can't wait to hear Yalls thoughts on it, though.

[B]

I will.

[D]

You have.

[B]

Sorry, we talked about dress. Rosa. I meant to. Sorry, I'm talking a lot. The thing about dressrosa. I guess the thing about dressrosa is that it is probably. I say because it's not my subjective experience, but like, I. It is meant to be consumed in, like, not in a sitting, but, like, marathon. Like, you're supposed to read through the whole thing. It does not work week to week. It just doesn't. Everyone I know who has read it week to week does not not have a very favorable opinion of it. Everyone I know who has read it in one go, except for me. Oh, yeah, you love dress versa. That's true. Everyone who's ready one go loves it.

[E]

I thought they said, hey, Opp, my kid wants to know if we're almost done with the dresser.

[B]

No. No, you're not. You're not.

[D]

Never.

[B]

There's a whole other part after that never.

[D]

I'm gonna, like. I bet I'm gonna hit dressers in my next read through of one piece and be like, actually this is pretty.

[B]

So I. I did the last read through. I remember very specifically the first, like literal half up to 75. Volume 75 is excellent. It's like. It's very fun and good.

[D]

Everything landscape changes. Once the landscape changes, then I get really sick of it.

[B]

Yeah. Like the whole first I. One of my favorite gags in the entire series is Luffy dressed up as the fish and the other. And Zoro and Sanji, I think, dressed up as Kinemon. Kinemon, right. That was it. Like, those stupid costumes is one of the funniest freaking things ever.

[D]

Hey, how do we feel about when Abdullah and Jeet tricked Luffy into going into the cave? How do we feel about that?

[B]

We feel exactly how you think we feel about that. You see, that's like a nothing.

[D]

That's the kind of shit. That's the kind of shit that I remember about Dressrosa. You see Doflamingo string clones.

[B]

That is the symptom of a weekly read through. Like, I think if you were reading through that in one go, you don't really think anything of it because you immediately forget about it because it's such a nothing burger or that.

[F]

But it's also just like, why so many scenes?

[B]

Or that even Sam has these opinions. Sam always disagrees with us on most things. So this.

[D]

That's true.

[B]

Yeah. I'm just surprised about that.

[D]

Let's go to this special.

[B]

Before we got the entire Internet hating us.

[E]

Yep. We reminded us. We reminded everyone of our dressrosa painting. I think we could. There's done and dusted. We've got another episode in the books.

[B]

Let's talk about Popeyes for 45 minutes.

[F]

I think wano is like the arc of Abdullah and Jeet scenes.

[C]

Wow.

[D]

Wow.

[E]

That's an opinion, not elaborate.

[B]

No, no, Sam, you should elaborate because that will make you very popular on Twitter.

[D]

Wow. Sam, I think you should have your own podcast.

[B]

You should call it Domination.

[D]

No, honestly, I think that, like, once we're all said and done with like our, like. Oh, yeah, who. Who guessed the correct amount of chapters in Elbaf? We just give it to Sam anyway.

[B]

Yeah, I think so.

[D]

I think Sam should just have like final.

[B]

Wait, I want to see if all of you are listed on that. I have that from way back.

[F]

I don't think I ever gave mine.

[D]

I think we're totally.

[B]

Sam, you never gave us yours, so you still can. You get. You get a real.

[F]

How many chapters do I think Elbef is from when?

[B]

What chapter do you think it will end?

[F]

Okay, so we're at 1181. 81.

[B]

And then I'll tell you what everyone else said.

[E]

Yeah, yeah. Don't. Don't say yet.

[B]

I'm not going to say it yet.

[F]

So I have to guess first.

[B]

You have to guess. We already did it.

[E]

You're the only one.

[D]

I hope you guys.

[B]

But it's there.

[D]

Because now I really would love a SAM podcast and I think the listeners would too.

[B]

Everyone loves the Sam.

[D]

Add us on Blue Sky.

[B]

Sam, what's your 1208? I don't think anyone guessed that. I'll just do the people here because otherwise it's gonna go forever.

[D]

Sure.

[B]

I did 1227. And that was my. On purpose to not win.

[D]

You fucking idiot.

[B]

Ed said 1175, so he's gone. Alex, you could still get this, but you better get it soon. 1184. Steven has 1195, which possible. Unlikely, I still think, but possible. Steve said 1192. I'll mention him. Yeah, we'll see. Let's see. But this was. By the way, we did this sometime.

[D]

This was before. Like, we knew that. Like, oh, yeah, there's gonna be a fucking God Valley flashback. That's gonna be the long, longest flashback in one piece.

[B]

This was in September of 2024, so to give you an idea of when that was. So. Yeah. What's the next question, Alex?

[D]

All right. Kingdoji says. Hey, Opp. I was listening to Alexandre. Alexandre. Alexandre.

[B]

Alexandre. Mary Schwal. Mary, this guy's a guest.

[E]

You can't. You can't make fun of him.

[B]

Yeah, he was a guest.

[D]

Yeah, I'm sorry, Jes. Of. I was mostly doing a home movies. I was doing a home movies reference. Also, I was listening to Alexander's newest video. Very good. Go watch. He says Emu has arguably one of the most effective character introductions. I would put Kaido and Mihawk on that list as well. Not to draw more similarities between Emu and mihawk. Who else do you think goes on that list?

[B]

Ooh, Kaido and Mihawk are good choices. Kaido's like, dropping from the sky. That's such a fun.

[D]

Mihawk cuts a ship in half. I mean, like, that's pretty fighting Badass.

[B]

One of the best.

[E]

I mean, I know this is like,

[F]

like, like future Trunks's appearance level. Like, holy, dude.

[B]

Yes, yes, yes, Absolutely.

[D]

It's funny because, like, I was like, Blackbeard and Whitebeard are like. They're so understated because the first time we see Blackberries hooked up to IVs and. No, it's. It's Very good.

[B]

I mean, that. I think that's intentional is what.

[D]

I know the first time we see Doflamingo, he's doing his crip walk or whatever.

[F]

Yeah,

[E]

Yeah, I was gonna say that.

[D]

Okay. You know.

[B]

Yeah.

[D]

Aokiji's. Aokiji's is definitely my favorite because I also, I, I just have a distinct memory of when that happened week to week and being totally chilled to the bone. Like, I was.

[F]

Well, yeah, like, at that point where you're just like, man, Luffy's the best. He's gonna win every fight ever.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

I'm just like, what? A Marine?

[E]

A cop? Yeah. Alex, do you remember Communists hate this at the time. Like, was it still too early in the series for everyone to be like, which character that we've seen before is this definitely going to be.

[D]

No.

[E]

Or not.

[D]

Yeah, no, it absolutely wasn't because I think, well, before we see that, before Aokiji shows up, like, he, the first time we do see him is a little silhouette of him on the bike or whatever.

[E]

Yeah.

[D]

That's the first time we actually see him. But then when he shows up. Yeah, no, this was, this was before everybody was like, oh, wow. I wonder if so and so is going to show up again. Again. Yeah, like, that was, that was before that era. I think Duvall was the big, like, oh, I bet it's Don Krieg.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Duval was the big, like. But that also lent itself to that. I think Oda was encouraging.

[E]

He's playing into it. Yeah.

[B]

For sure. Yeah. But I, I, I just want to say, for those who haven't read the manga, Davey Back fights, this. What, What Alex is talking about. This is why you should read it in the manga. It is excellent. It is. It is a legitimately excellent arc.

[D]

Davy Beck fight ends, and then Aokiji just, Just shows up. There's no, like, it's like 20 episodes of filler.

[B]

No. Yeah, no, it is in. It is in Tonjit's house. Right. It's like, it's, like, related to what's happening. Yeah, yeah. He's. He's literally right outside, I think.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah. He definitely deserves to be in that conversation. As does Frankie, I think. I think Frankie has a really.

[B]

Frankie's is fun. Yeah.

[D]

A really awesome intro. And I'm also talking about him just like you. When you see him in the shadows, he's got the funky mask on. And yeah, he totally Usopp. Like, it's, it's crazy. Yeah, those. I think those are probably my list, but yeah. Mihawk. Mihawk is probably number one. Let's.

[B]

I think in the anime, the Frankie just Yao. You know, as Frankie.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Is so iconic that moment.

[D]

What a legend.

[B]

It's just. Yeah. I hope he's doing all right.

[D]

Seems like it. I. He's a Twitter every now and again, so I can see what he's up to. He's on Instagram because he's got a Twitter account. He might be on Instagram. Anyway, Big Mike says in last week's chapter, Emu was able to free Gunko after she was captured by Ice. But can Emu fuck Ice? Very good.

[E]

I'm gonna say it out loud now. I get it.

[D]

Yeah. Very good.

[B]

Oh, yes. You mean, like, sexually?

[D]

So SNP says. Hey, Opp, I really hope Steven is on this week because this really messed with my heads.

[B]

Oh, I think this is what we talked about. Okay, go ahead.

[D]

Okay. I think, you know, we might have. We. Yeah, we might have already talked about this, but. Yeah. Like, when you suddenly have power so easily, you get corrupted, I. E. Corruption. Very easy to understand. Choosing to work for someone in return for something, you may deal with them, I. E. Covenant. Great. But the last one. Let's remove it. That's right. Can't wait for your podcast, Sam.

[F]

Yes.

[B]

Let's domination.

[D]

Let's domination. Let's remove the omensaic combination.

[E]

Yeah.

[B]

Ooh, that's a potato.

[D]

Let's remove the omen aside.

[B]

Yeah, go ahead.

[E]

God, let him talk.

[D]

No, I can sing. Let's remove the omenicai for a bit. Context. For others, host Oda use the same kanji maki as omen, but with different frigana. Before it was omen and katakana, but now it's chika power. So that's probably why Steven is choosing to include omen here to make that connection clear.

[E]

Yep.

[D]

I. I'm not really understanding how is envy that seeks to achieve one's goals related to power or even omen. Unless it's something like envy, a bad trait that will lead to having maki demonic. Or as a joking refer. I'm jokingly referring to as bad vibes when I release a Chinese web novel.

[E]

Yeah, I would say that this might be, like. Of all the stuff around this spiel, this might be the bit that I still don't really buy very well from. From Oda that, like, literally it is so. So if you were to translate. So this is the line. And the envy that seeks to achieve one's goals. The power of omen. If I were to translate it literally just like, okay, what are the words? How do they fit together grammatically? It would be like. Like envy's power to achieve that. You know, whatever that is. I guess that's, you know, getting. Getting power or something. So it's just. It's a lot of. It's a lot of. Of, you know, nouns that go together, that kind of top pile on top of each other. And when you. When you consider that, I also have to, like, like, put in the power of Omen, because it is, you know, a reference to his. To his magical thing that he. That he does. So I don't know if I have a great answer for how Envy fits into there, because it does seem like it kind of. That. That kind of overlaps with the explanation of the corruption of the Domi part. You know, that you're. You're lusting after power, and then you get a. It, you know, it's just given to you without you having to earn it. And that is a corrupting force. I don't necessarily know how Envy works into the Omen part either. So it's a bit of a. A puzzler, I would say. Part of the. The challenge of inter. Interpreting what Oda is doing here by kind of having this, like, little poetic speech rather than, like, just explaining what his stuff does.

[F]

Does.

[D]

Could this be a reference to the sins? I guess because, like, I guess choosing servant, like, there's some sloth here and there's a little bit of. But lust for power.

[B]

And he mentioned that.

[E]

I don't know, maybe that's like the. The thing that he uses to corrupt you or something.

[B]

Yeah, well, when he left Mary Joa. Mary Joa, didn't he say something along those lines? He said.

[E]

He said. Yeah, he. He was listing the sins, right?

[B]

Yeah. Way I'm looking, he was saying something like that.

[D]

The.

[B]

Like, he said sorry to the power of Envy.

[D]

Like, yeah, this is definitely a. If that is. That is. If that is why he's saying all that stuff. It's definitely like. Like, Emu is definitely a hat on a hat of a character in terms of design, in terms of just like, I'm gonna reference everything about Devils and Tell. And, you know, it's. It's very much. It's very much pouring it on, like, hey, this is the most evil character in the whole series. Like, there's nobody more evil than this character by design. And it's almost like. It's almost on. It almost seems on purpose and that.

[B]

Oh, here it is. So they're saying he's Saying this is no longer coincidence. War, Curie, arrogance, sloth, detachment, pride, casteth away these things at once. All is preordained. And then he goes through his flashbacks. It began long before this. He's so.

[D]

Yeah, we're definitely. We're definitely getting some sort of another flashback.

[B]

I think you're probably right. I just don't know if it's in this arc and this arc is, as you said, like, the. The definition of an arc is so.

[E]

Or if it's, like, if it's the flashback or if it's just going to be a. Yeah, a little taste.

[B]

I. I think, though. And we've been seeing it really since the beginning with Emu. It's very interesting how he's just, like, mentally, like, because maybe because of the immortality, he's just mentally in all the different times at once, almost.

[E]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Like, he is living. He's living in the past, almost literally. Like, he really. I think if. I think that speech, if anything, is probably a testament to him and his, like, how he sees things. But we'll see. We'll see. I don't know.

[E]

Yeah, sorry I couldn't give you a better answer, but maybe it's the sort of thing that will make more sense in. In retrospect.

[D]

All right, we've got two more. I don't give a cram. Nice. Good. Good one this week. Ahoy, Opp. Banger chapter, as always. I really appreciate that we're getting goofier expressions from Emu now. I guess that's in. In regard to his, like. Is it Joy Boy that big? Like, elongated? Yeah. I love how there's a dense dialogue with ambiguous meaning while Emu and Loki pretty much hit each other with overpowered attacks that would kill anyone else. Slow, Owen. Poor Emu. No one had it worse with Harold's death than Himu. Mike.

[B]

That's how he was.

[D]

My question. My question this week. Would historians call Joy Boy and Emu roommates and close friends? Oh, man.

[B]

Oh, yes. Just like James Buchanan.

[E]

And the yaoi factory is going in overdrive.

[D]

Yeah. Archive of our own. Look out. Have a great week, Heart. Thanks, Graham. And then we've got Whispy with our last one for this week who says, hey. Oh, who slop who? Slow Peepee. The way Imu talks about the Nidhoggar makes me wonder if the Nidhoggar was their pet during the Void century. That panel at the end especially makes it look like they're looking at him fondly. Could that be why Vegapunk was recreating dragons on Punk Hazard. IMU just wants to bring his old pal back from the farm upstate. Also, if Steven gets a chance to answer my question about the nuances 3 sword style versus 3 sword print from last week, that'd be much appreciated. Well, we did.

[B]

Well, we did, so you better have appreciated.

[D]

Thanks as always, Opp. Yeah, I think we've definitely mentioned the dragon thing, the Vegapunk dragon cloning thing earlier in the arc, especially since the Nidhoggger looks like that second dragon Punk Hazard I liked a lot.

[E]

I think that's another example of some of the stuff that Oda is really leaning heavily on, with the giants being uniquely important and the dragon motif getting brought up again and again where it kind of feels like he's probably going somewhere with this. And it also feels like, okay, is this the important thing? Is this the thing that's going to be central to the story of One Piece? And does that feel like that. Like that extends naturally from the way that the series started? And does it feel like this is. This was the one piece we were waiting for all along sort of thing? I feel like that's a little. That's a facet of the discussion that we had at the end of the manga recap. Because he certainly has been hammering on that. And that's another thing where I'm like, I don't know how I feel about it yet.

[B]

Yeah, no, I. Ditto. Emails. We got emails. Let's start with the piece together. Answers from our trivia questions last week, which I think only. Alex, were you on for that or. No?

[D]

I was. I was on for that.

[E]

Oh, yeah. I didn't listen to the. I didn't listen to the episode. So please just. Just give the answers with no context. So that.

[B]

Sure. Because I remember text, so that's not going to work.

[E]

Fine. Fine.

[B]

Okay, first question. What was the first SBS question ever asked? Why don't Stephen and I'll give you like, Lightning round, try and answer it?

[E]

Oh, you want to give me the.

[B]

I'm gonna give you a chance. Yeah, sure. Lightning.

[E]

Yes. Lightning Round. This will literally, off the top of my head.

[B]

Yes. Was the first SBS question ever asked. Was the question.

[E]

Oh, the first SBS question ever asked was. Is gonna be something like, how. How can we send our questions to the SBS or something?

[B]

No, we thought the answer was the gum. Gum. Like the. How many gum gums is the, you know, like. Or a penis.

[E]

Oh, that's a good.

[B]

More specific. The actual answer. We were wrong. How old are Luffy Zoro nami? And shanks. Boring two. And this one we got right. The COVID Volume 64 was the first time this group was drawn together. Name that group

[E]

64. That would have been. Was that Ace, Luffy and Sabo?

[B]

No, you're thinking of 60. 60. You're thinking of 60. The correct answer is the current Straw Hat Pirates. That's the one with the two Robins. Back to the.

[D]

Oh, oh.

[B]

Fishman Island.

[E]

Post timeskip. Yeah.

[B]

Number three. This character was first mentioned in chapter 159. While they do have a distinctive facial feature, it's not what you think. Given the name. What is the first and last name of this character? I think we did get this one right, but.

[D]

Well, we got it wrong. I found that out. I'm really mad about it, actually.

[E]

Repeat back and forth.

[B]

It's a very, very, very confusingly worded question too. No offense to that.

[D]

Basically, this cap. This chapter. I'm sorry, chapter 150. 159 is when this character was first

[B]

and he has distinctive facial features feature. And it was the first time he was talked about.

[D]

But it's not what you think. The facial feature is not what you think.

[E]

And the facial feature was not mentioned or it was mentioned?

[B]

No, it's mentioned as part of the name. I guess it's not what you think. Given the name.

[F]

Am I guessing too?

[B]

You can't say it if you didn't listen to last week's episode. If you're gonna just tell us that you didn't listen last week.

[F]

No, I didn't listen.

[B]

Oh my God.

[F]

We're not talking about Whitebeard.

[E]

Are you?

[C]

You.

[B]

Steven, what are you thinking?

[E]

Oh, because of the cuz he has a mustache and not a white beard? Yeah, I. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I was going to say, like, it sounds like it would be if you're referring to characters that you haven't seen yet around there. I was like, it's either going to be like Ace or Blackbeard or something.

[B]

I mean, do you have an answer?

[E]

No.

[B]

One of them Someone you guys mentioned?

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

Marshall D.T. whitebeard's first scene in this chapter. First mention is in 157 Evil.

[D]

Wait, really evil?

[B]

Yes.

[D]

So did we get it right? Because we.

[B]

No. Oh, I know. I thought we said teach.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So I think we got it right. We think we got two and five right. So we'll see. I don't think we got the rest of these right. No, we definitely didn't. So that was it. I think those are the two we got Right. Two and three, four. This one's impossible. I'm just gonna say. Say. The title page of this chapter features Luffy having a meal of meat and ramen with a conveniently hidden character with Nami as the waitress. What is the number of this chapter?

[E]

The number.

[D]

Yeah, we definitely got this one wrong. We weren't far off. We kind of.

[E]

It's obviously you're talking about the Naruto chapter, right?

[D]

Yes, it's the Naruto chapter. Yeah.

[E]

I don't. Yeah, that's probably something like 765 or something like that.

[B]

That is insane. One off. One off. 766.

[D]

Yeah,

[E]

I was gonna say that. I was like 760. I'll go with five. But yeah, I. I looked.

[D]

I. Yeah, we like looked that up afterwards and we're like, damn. We were like. I think we said 700 just because we're like it.

[B]

No, I think we ended up doing so 50 because it was.

[D]

Whatever. Whatever. We got it wrong. Gives a.

[B]

That is insane. Give Stephen money. Just send Stephen Money. P.O. box. Stephen Paul.

[D]

Yes. That's. That's the address.

[B]

That's the address. Last one in one piece. Film Red. What is Utah's record in her competitions with Luffy?

[D]

What did we say?

[B]

I think we said 100 to 100.

[E]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was. I was gonna just say like, oh, it's gonna be like 3,000 to 0 or something like that. Cuz that's how we were closer.

[B]

If that. If that's how we're doing it. 184 to 0 says. Thanks for playing. Love hearing the debate every year. Get ready for next year. April 11th and year number 13. I'm definitely gonna forget about this until it happens. Is for my. Is my.

[D]

So we got. We got Blackbeard, right?

[B]

We got Blackbeard, right? And we got the volume 64 cover.

[D]

Okay. Because somebody in the Discord said that it was Whitebeard and that we were wrong.

[B]

Well, that's the thing. Whitebeard's first seen in that chapter. And that's the extra trick in that. But yeah, Blackbeard's first.

[D]

Is he like a silhouette?

[B]

No, I think that I have to look. I don't remember.

[E]

Is that the Rockstar scene?

[B]

No, I think that's later in the 200s, I think. Yeah. Okay. Last one comes from John Kleckner, who says long. Hey, guy. Hey, gang. Gang. Oh my God. I can't talk today. They were fine. This is me. Long time. First time. Sorry if this is a long read or if Anime socialists have already discussed this. Feel free to pare down as necessary. I'll try. I have a theory about Emu that I don't think was discussed on the pod. And I don't think. I don't think we talked about this. Emu's goofy silhouette. We've like had theories about it, but we'll talk about it. Emu's goofy silhouette is their true form. And Nerona Emu is one of their avatars. This week's panel of Silhouette Emu talking to Silhouette Joy Boy appears to reinforce this. Because why would Oda return to Emu's old Silhouette after the true form was revealed? I suspect that in their endeavor for absolute control, Emu betrayed the first 20 families and collected the bodies of their dissenters. Interesting. Leaving their willing subordinates and their heirs to live in Mary Geoa, Emu uses this Rolodex of bodies to visit the surface. Wow. To visit. Totally possible. To visit the surface world in case of an emergency. And for this trip they chose an Arona avatar, a giant ish body suited for Elbaf. This process appears to put Emu in a weakened state, coughing up blood on touchdown, suggesting that the body they are using is rejecting Emu's presence or that said body has long since expired. If true, this reinforces One Piece's theme of control versus liberation and serves as a foil of inherited will if Emu refuses to pass on their will to the next generation. Or maybe I'm full of beans and One Piece's final boss is a Boruto oc. Anyway, thanks for providing such a good weekly digest for all these years. Here's to 17 more. Kidding. Unless you want to. Thanks, John. I. I like that theory a lot. It's been hard for me to like put into words like what I'm trying to. What I'm thinking with when it comes to Emu. So I think that's a. That's a cool theory. I don't know if it's true.

[E]

I think that was the guy who. Who said that Chopper was getting killed by Dio or whatever that we. That we kept reposting in the.

[B]

Yeah, this is first long time.

[D]

First time Joe Man Instagram account.

[E]

No, but he was one who. Who posted that the picture was edited like Chopper Diamond.

[B]

Oh, what a coincidence. Because that's been posted our discord many times.

[D]

It's very funny.

[B]

Yeah. Sorry, I thought that was asked to us for some reason. I'm losing it. I think that's a really good theory. I like it that a lot Very creative. Yeah, yeah. I don't. That doesn't mean I'm necessarily like personally buying into it, but I would definitely buy some shares in it. It's not. It's not. It's not bad. I like it.

[E]

I mean, it would explain why he has a, you know, walk in fridge and Mary Joa. Yeah, Rock and freezer, I should say.

[B]

Oh, yeah, Here we go.

[E]

For all the bodies.

[B]

Yeah, I see. I see him now with the. This picture was added like Jopper died on the way to fight. Have we discussed that joke? Because. Sorry, it's not John's fault. It's that it's been brought up a lot in our group.

[D]

Oh, by the way, chapter 159 is the chapter where Ace like destroys all those billion ships and gives the beaver card to Luffy. Yeah, yeah, same. I'm like, oh, well, the person who mentions Blackbeard is obviously acknowledged Ace and Yes.

[B]

Yeah, we did.

[D]

And I guess we see like a silhouette. We see a silhouette or something of Whitebeard in that one.

[B]

And then we have one blue skypie. A question. I believe just the one comes from Ice Fisher Tenacity, who says high opp. I don't have much to say on this chapter and fight other than I thought it was good and exciting though. On the topic of fights, I was hoping to get your thoughts about seeing a fight. Never put to panel. Since we're going to meet Ace in OPLA season three, not the pilot podcast, but the series, how would you feel if as a season three cold open, we got to see Ace fighting the warlord Hanafuda? Oh my God. First time viewers will get a showcase of his skills before really going getting to know him in alabaster. While longtime fans will geek out and maybe get confirmation that Hanafuda ate the T. Rex fruit. I don't think I'll geek out about Hanafuda.

[D]

No, me either.

[E]

That guy totally Hana Buddha.

[D]

Oh

[E]

yeah.

[B]

And not like Gautama or like Hana Buns.

[D]

I was saying Hana Boo. Yeah, Hanafuda is. I could like maybe like maybe the character that I have given the least amount of a about in the entire series of one piece.

[E]

Considering like the invented like importance of him being a warlord.

[D]

Yeah, like you can just Ulti and

[F]

Page One's dad like that.

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Oh, I forgot about that.

[D]

Hey, you know what? If he want, he can come and fight me. Oh wait, he can. He's dead.

[B]

He got you there, Sam. Okay, that's it for Piece together. Let's round off and see who's winning. In our Glup Ship Beard tournament.

[D]

Oh, yeah. Yep.

[B]

Right after these messages from your local emu at Hotel Topic.

[D]

Hey, guys, it's me again. Look, today's my last day, but I said I would do this commercial, so, like, whatever. If you guys like Rick and Mori shirts, you can come by and get one. We've got, like, a lot in the back. I had to do inventory last month and it sucked a whole lot because, like, I was up all night and, like, I really wanted to go to my friend's show the next night, but I was too tired and I just slept all day. Anyways, we have a bunch of Rick and Mori shirts. We got. We got some Naruto backpacks. We have the. The Nightmare Before Christmas socks and. Okay. Anyway, I just. I'm clocking out. My bud's got, like, a gig at a startup and he said that I could have like an IT job or something there, so peace and. Oh, yeah, you should go to my friend's MySpace page because band camp kicked him off because his music was too edgy or whatever.

[B]

This has been episode 916 of the One Piece podcast. Big thanks to Hot Topic for sponsoring this week's episode episode of the podcast. Not really, but kind of. Thank you all for coming on. Steven, where could people find you?

[E]

I'm over on blue sky. StephenPaul, BSky Social. Check out. Well, you can't check out anything next week because there's no Shonen jump, so don't. I see my time.

[B]

Okay. Kanabanashi was really good this week.

[F]

It was.

[B]

Yeah. This was a good one. I was thinking about it after. If that's not obvious. Alex, where can the people find you?

[D]

You find me at dude. Exclamation On Bisky. You can find weeb simpsons at weebsimpsons@bisky superart fight.com. you know, I'm not having a show anytime soon, but you can check out our [e-mail] superart fight. Join the Patreon and get access to old shows like we are our venue shows. Like, we have video of that. It's gonna be. It's great. You should go there and give us money.

[B]

And our resident communist, Sam Leach. What do you have to promote?

[F]

Well, hopefully someday soon I'll have another batch of anime recap episodes to promote. We are quite far behind. I apologize. It's just the. The longer it goes, the harder it gets to start catching up again.

[B]

Yeah, that's not going to get easier, though.

[F]

Got to be a. Hopefully we'll do like a big catch up episode on one of these. One of these break weeks.

[B]

Well, next week's a break week.

[E]

Oh good.

[F]

Let's make a plan then.

[B]

Let's make a plan. Let's do this. Let's anime recap this up next week. You heard it here first or maybe last actually, because the end of the show, Sam. But anything else going on, any like, you know, merchandise or monetary things that you want to capitalistic endeavors that you would like to promote?

[F]

What do you think the answer to that one is?

[B]

I think you could find [e-mail] One Piece podcast. Subscribe, get stickers if you're at the $12 a month or more. And if you love capitalism, you could also subscribe to us at $5 or more. But it's not really about capitalism, but supporting the good people who do work here like our editor Delaney, our artist Kirby for both for this week. Huge thanks to both of them. You can find me by the way, Zach Logan.com on Blue Sky. You can find us One Piece podcast.com on Blue Sky. We're the One Piece podcast. Wherever you get your podcast podcasts including Apple Podcasts, YouTube.com One Piece Podcast and Spotify and the rest. You could also find us saying to ice but not in the other connotation. Just the one you would think. Let's see how the Glup Ship Beer tournament is going. How is that glove Ship Beer? Did you post it, Steven? You did, right? Oh no, Ken.

[D]

Ken did. Shall I?

[B]

Please. Because I've talked too much this episode and that's objectively true.

[F]

All right.

[D]

For the end of the show, Ken says Whoopslab beat Bonk Punch 21 to 16. Red King beat Pomsky 24 to 12. Or Lumbas beat Kinderella 26 to 11. Lime Juice beat Stefan Sad Face 19 to 17. Chuji beat Rockstar 24 to 13. Moosey.

[B]

Sorry. A Mouse beat Rock Star. That's just

[D]

Moosi beat Babaru. So Dead Grandma is even deader. 24 to 13. Sar Funkel beat Hamlet 2018. Wow, it's a big one.

[B]

Close. I'm surprised. Yeah.

[D]

King Hamburger aka Burger Ham Lincoln beat Hoykle 25 to 12. Fish Woman Nami beat Bun Baku's Balls 28 to 10. Peak of the Crotch beat 26 to 16. King Bomb beat Lasso Sad Face 22 to 6. Although we love that one here.

[E]

That's a really. That's a tough match. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

King bound. That's. That's a Steven character. It's like specific to our podcast.

[D]

100% Bogard somehow beat Kalakos 22 to 16.

[F]

Wow. Oh, people don't around about Bogart.

[B]

No.

[D]

For some reason he's fine.

[B]

I like his design line.

[D]

He's not Kalakoach. Anyway, speaking of cats, Josh beat Pearl 20 to 19. Wowzers.

[B]

Wow. I'll say I voted for Josh just because I could feel Josh hating me if I did not.

[D]

I mean, I also. I also voted.

[B]

I felt peer pressured and Josh scares me more than Steve. Just gonna be. Just gonna be completely honest here. Please go ahead.

[D]

The Satanists beat Diesel 25 to 13. Little Urs Jr beat Nisekoi from Nisekoi 20 to 19.

[B]

I believe that is 100% Steven's fault.

[D]

I believe Steven had the tiebreaker there.

[E]

Yes.

[B]

To dox him and he was wrong. Nisekoi from Nisekoi should have won the entire thing. It would have been incredible.

[D]

What I didn't know is that that's not the character's name.

[B]

No, it's not even the character's name. That's what makes it extra amazing or for Ken, extra terrible.

[D]

My favorite. And lastly, but not leastly, Charlotte. Charlotte Moscato, Minister of Gelato, beat mom sleep did 20 to 18.

[B]

I keep forgetting who the boss sleep tit is because I'm like, oh, right, it's the. The sleep tit in Elbaf. That looks like a mom. Not Big Mom.

[D]

It's somebody's mom. I forget the character's name. Anyways, that's our. Those are our bracket standings as of now.

[B]

Yeah, the next round. Discord rather, the next rounds. Just so you get your votes. Ready? Whoops. Slap versus Red King or Lumpus versus Lime Juice? Wasn't he up against Bonk Punch before? And now he's up against Lime Juice. I'm seeing what's happening. Chuji versus Moosie. The battle of the animals. Sir Funko versus Burger Ham. Lincoln fish woman. Nami versus Pika the crotch.

[D]

That's.

[B]

That's OTOP1 King Balm versus Bogart. There you go. Josh versus the Satanists. I'm sorry, Josh. That's the end of that road for me. Little or Junior and Charlotte Moscato, Minister of Gelato. Those are your. Was that quarterfinalists?

[E]

I think this is what the Korea Coliseum felt like, because it's like, who

[B]

the hell are these people at block D or whatever? Block C. I think it was boxy, like Bartolomeo. But I mean, reading.

[D]

Reading. Actually rereading through that is not as fun as I wanted it to be cuz it's just like God, there's so many people.

[B]

Yes.

[D]

Yeah.

[F]

You don't with the Funk Brothers.

[D]

So many characters. Oh, you mean the jacket jacket.

[B]

You mean my personal fruit that I got that one time.

[D]

That's right. That was pretty funny.

[B]

The jacket fruit. I have to I'm the spiritual successor to one of the the Funk Brothers.

[F]

Unless. Unless there's some funny business going on. The Funk Brothers are the only people in one piece that I know of whose last name is is second the

[D]

take off your pants and jacket brothers that they're.

[B]

That's the one piece podcast. We'll see you next week for our enemy recap marathon question mark. Yes. My name is Zach.

[F]

For Chitoge Kirisaki.

[B]

My name is Zach.

[D]

And my name is Alex.

[B]

We'll see you next week everyone. Goodbye.

[D]

Bye.

[B]

Bye.

[E]

Bye.

[D]

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