You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story

 You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story (経験済みなキミと、経験ゼロなオレが、お付き合いする話) is a 12 episode romance based on the light novel series of the same name by Nagaoka Makiko.  The anime originally aired during the Fall of 2023.

    Kashima Ryuto is a lonely nerd living through his second year of high school.  The only other people he has meaningful interactions with are his fellow nerd outcasts, Sekiya Shugo and Nishina Ren, force him to confess to the girl he likes due to losing a bet.  To their surprise, he goes ahead with the punishment and confesses to the most desired girl in his class and grade, fashionable gyaru Shirakawa Runa.  In a startling twist she agrees to date Ryuto, purely due to not currently dating anyone else.  Not understanding what else to do, they end up at her house on their first day as a couple, Runa more than willing to have sex with him.  The sudden jump to physical intimacy makes Ryuto pause, rejecting the offer, even though its what he really wants.  He wants to approach the relationship slowly, building their understanding of each other before moving to the ultimate goal.  Runa is surprised by his wholesome approach to their relationship and agrees to not have sex with him until she builds stranger feelings for him.  Unlike her other boyfriends, Ryuto wanting to get to know her instead of using her for her body puts her own priorities in a different perspective.

    No one had ever taken her wants into consideration, just taking advantage of her willingness to have sex with them so easily.  She explains to Ryuto she moves between partners so regularly because the boys she dates quickly grow tired of her.  She has a policy of dating someone as a way to get to know them, feelings that she will have better luck finding the real love of her life this way.  Unfortunately none of the people she has dated have been good for her, many have cheated on her or gotten bored with her in short order, mostly using her as a trophy at first.  She is unsure what to do about this new and different relationship with the shy and average nerd.  Ryuto sees this as a stroke of luck that he can't let slip through his hands.  Even though he regretfully turned down the chance to have sex with her, he hopes they can build something meaningful instead, leaving intimacy to a more worthy point in their relationship.  Now it's a matter of how to get closer when they have nothing on common.  Runa is the typical gyaru type, more concerned with fashion and popularity than anything else around her.  Ryuto is the typical inadequate otaku, who doesn't know the first thing about having meaningful interactions with people he doesn't trust let alone a beautiful girl.

    On the surface this feels like a pandering story designed to be a fantasy for the loser male target audience.  By the end of the first episode it shows a bit more depth than some vapid shonen romance series.  The entire justification from Runa about her prior relationship sets her up as a unique female lead.  She is not some innocent neighborhood figure, a stand in for a little sister/childhood friend.  She has willingly dated many men and had sex with many of them as well.  She is open and honest about her relationship past and why she has been willing to be that way.  It comes from a place of understanding that may not be the most informed but she is honest in her intentions.  She truly feels being close to someone is the best way to get to know them, believing that it allows them to be more honest and open to themselves.  She is willing to be physical with her partners so easily due to her strong desire to please them.  She feels that if their desires and needs are placed ahead of hers it will allow them to be more honest with her.  Unfortunately, as one would expect, its led her to being used and ignored by a revolving door of terrible guys who only wanted her body.  Ryuto, being the protagonist and stereotypical white knight otaku, provides that alternative relationship model to Runa, a model in which she is able to be her self and have her desires responded to.

    The series does have its faults though.  The main characters and everyone around them are literally caricatures of their identities.  Runa is the ditsy girl who is only focused on fashion and loves to show off her curvy body.  Ryuto is the otaku ideal of an otaku, understanding, patient, the good guy.  Yet the word of 2-chan/4-chan show us that those 'good guy' nerds tend to lean into toxicity and contempt.  Ryuto could easily be the fedora wearing incel who say's the hot chicks only fall for bad guys, instead of people like me.  Yet, he doesn't get this chance to express this level of toxicity, he wins the nerd lottery and the idealized woman doesn't bat an eye when he asks her to go out with him.  He isn't sure what to do, but unlike a lot of similar main characters, his indecisiveness doesn't last very long.  He does pretty well to address misconceptions and, while not always immediately so, tends to be quite open with Runa.  Runa also tends to be pretty vocal about her concerns and desires.  One of the biggest strains on their continued relationship is Runa second guessing how long it will last for, given her track record is quite abysmal when it comes to the length of her relationships.  Yet, even with it's more easily digestible tropes, it still checks off a lot of the rote themes, beach episode, firework and festival, school festival, cheating misunderstanding, etc.  But, this was quite a bit more enjoyable than its ridiculous title would suggest.  We are definitely seeing a more substantial shift in the narrative types in modern romance and it looks like we are going to keep seeing better stories.

    The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and the original light novel series is currently being released commercially in English as well.

The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya - light novel

  The Indignation of Haruhi Suzumiya (涼宮ハルヒの憤慨) is the eighth volume in the Haruhi light novel series.  It was written by Tanigawa Nagaru with illustrations by Ito Noizi.  This eighth volume was originally released in Japan in 2006 and in English in 2012.

Click here to read the synopsis of the seventh volume, The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya. This series is 20 years old at this point, but spoilers follow. 

   Kyon settles in for what he hopes will be an event free end of the year as everyone prepares for finals and spring break before the new school year begins.  Unfortunately his desires amount to little...and a new threat to the existence of the SOS Brigade makes it's self known.  But it's not from some unfathomable source that could only exist in the depths of Haruhi's imagination.  The threat is from the recently elected student council president and a declaration to defund and close the literature club due to Nagato being it's only member.  If the literature club loses it's status as a club it will lose its room this depriving the SOS Brigade of it's hijacked meeting space.  The Brigade still exists in a status of unofficial and I recognized limbo that the student council has tried to ignore.  But the new president feels a need to flex his authority and target the unlawful Brigade in an indirect manner that could officially spell it's end 

    Nagato is given an ultimatum related to the continued status of her club as the new year looms.  It hasn't don't anything in the past year that would be considered club activity, therefore forfeiting it's status, coupled with the reality of their only being a solitary member.  The student council had approached Nagato as a way to avoid confronting Haruhi, understanding her brazen attitude.  The attempt failed when Haruhi, sniffing something amiss, bursts into the student council room to confront the president as he was delivering the ultimatum.  She rightfully recognized the immediate threat the ultimatum presented to the continued existence of the illegal student association known as the SOS Brigade and challenged the president to allow the literature club to continue existing if it was able to churn out a story collection, as the club had done in prior years.  The president relented to the demands, expecting them to fail.  With victory in hand, Haruhi set the task into motion, assigning the Brigade members with specific stories to compose.  Unknown to her, the entire incident is a charade put in place by the Agency which Koizumi is a member of.  The president, whether an ESPer or not, is part of the plan and was installed in his position at least partially to give this distraction to Haruhi with the potential for more in the future.

    Knowing the reality behind the ultimatum, Kyon finds it hard to invest himself in his own task of writing a romance for the anthology.  He isn't the only one struggling though, as the others find it hard to meet the critical demands of the self appointed editor-in-chief Haruhi.  She thrust writing assignments onto the others in the club, in a manner she felt fit their personalities.  But her task as final arbiter of the writings becomes the greatest threat to the publications completion, particularly with her continued critique of the works Asahina submits.  She understands that the core of the Brigade won't be able to produce a sufficient amount of material for the publication so she also forces other peripheral members to participate, including Tsuruya and the computer club.  As Kyon struggles to put pen to paper and come up with a romance story that would fit Haruhi's stringent requirements he wonders if the entire thing is even worth anyones time since Haruhi herself has been more calm than when he met her almost one year earlier.  Koizumi feels otherwise and will do what he deems necessary to stop closed space from appearing anymore.

    The final think the SOS Brigade tackles in the first year of its existence is a second client request for help exploring a super natural mystery.  The first one was at the hands of a gild names Kimidori, who also happens to currently be the student council treasurer...and in Kyon's eyes, connected with Nagato.  At that time she had contracted them to investigate the disappearance on her boyfriend, the head of the computer club.  The resolution of the incident left more questions than answers and Kyon was quite surprised and suspicious of a second request from the student body.  This new request for help was coming from one of Kyons own classmates, a semi-forgettable girl named Sakanaka.  She wants the Brigade to investigate a strange occurrence in her neighborhood that is affecting peoples dogs.  In the past few days all of the dogs that are taken for walks do everything in their power to avoid an area of town, an area that Sakanaka had previously been walking her pure bred dog until it started to actively resist going into.  Rumors began to appear among the neighbors about there being some disturbance of a supernatural nature, potentially a ghost.  She isn't sure if she believes it being a case of a haunting, but is desperate to have the Brigade look into it and find a solution, remembering flyers passed out in the beginning of the year offering such services.  Haruhi eagerly agrees but remains skeptical about it being a haunting and mobilizes the other members to begin the investigation right away.

    The Brigade is stunned when they go to their new clients home, her parents are quite well off and the modern splendor draws a sharp contrast to the traditional wealth and luxury they have experienced at Tsuruya's estate.  Sakanaka readies her dog for his evening walk and everyone heads out to begin the investigation, with Haruhi and Asahnia focusing more on the dog than anything else.  Once the reach a certain point on the usual route, the dog abruptly refuses to go any further and whimpers with worry.  Instead of turning back or forcing it onward, they go around the neighborhood finding other points the dog stops in it's tracks.  Through roughly pinpointing the different locations on a map they can speculate that there is a roughly central location and a circular area around it that the dog refuses to approach.  But that doesn't answer the question or why?  The center point appears to be located near the river that the Brigade is all too familiar with.  It seems to be close by the point that Kyon was supposed to toss the unlucky turtle into earlier in the year.  With not much more to go on the group ends the investigation for the day and heads home.  Things go from strange to bad when Sakanaka's dog becomes unexplainably ill, refusing to eat, drink or move very much.  The Brigade has to re-double their efforts and quickly before its too late to save the little dog they have fallen in love with.  But what is really behind this zone of avoidance and the inexplicable illness that has not only struck Sakanaka's dog but at least one more in her neighborhood.  Is this a new threat or an attack from a rival faction or another plot cooked up to keep Haruhi occupied?

    It took me quite a while to get through this volume.  The first half detailing the plight of the Brigade's meeting space and their attempt at putting together a literary anthology was rather...disappointing.  It was peppered with excerpts from the other members attempts at story writing but seemed more like the authors only way of playing with different ideas for plot lines and oddity in a way that didn't require much commitment.  The only saving grace was the introduction of an actual antagonist in the student council president and the return of Kimidori and increased background on her place in the story.  The introduction of these two can lead to more interesting narrations in future volumes but only time will tell if it amounts to anything.  The second part, the 'ghost' hunt was more interesting an easier to read as it had a plot trajectory.  Unfortunately it didn't stray too far from the basic concepts of the first SOS Brigade investigation into the disappearance of the computer club president.  Though they didn't face off against an ancient manifestation of a virus in this version...well, sort of.  Anyways, even though the second part was way easier to read through out of interest, this volume was pretty disappointing.  I only hope my assumption about the student council president will come to fruition.

    Next up; volume nine, The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya.

One Piece - anime part 14 - Marineford

      One Piece (ワンピース) is the epic pirate themed shonen battle anime based on the manga of the same name by Oda Eiichiro.  The fourteenth story arc of the series, Impel Down, originally aired between July of 2010 and September of 2011 for a total of 35 episodes, between 457 and 516.

    After escaping Impel Down the ragtag band of pirates, lead by Luffy, head into the belly of the beast to save Ace.  The Marines are ready and waiting for them and anything White Beard will muster at their headquarters, Marineford.  The ultimate showdown between the muscle of the World Government and the disparate forces of chaos begins here.

 

    All of the strength of the World Government has gathered at Marineford, the headquarters of the Marines.  The three admirals, seven Warlords of the Sea and a vast flotilla of Marines are prepared to face whatever attack White Beard is planning to rescue Firfist Ace.  What was unexpected in all of the planning was a massive jail break at the nearby Impel Down to occur at the same time.  Luffy failed to reach his brother in time and has now gathered with a large group of powerful pirates to attempt the rescue at the zeroth hour.  Ace is put in position and the world is watching, the World Government is eager to wage this battle, confident in their successful outcome.  They want to put the age of pirates to rest once and for all, killing off the last remnants of the days when Gol D. Rodger sailed the seas.

    Garp, Luffy and Ace's grandfather, is present for the execution of his oldest grandson.  He thinks back to how he came to be the care taker for the only son of the worlds most notorious pirate.  Following Rogers execution, the World Government did everything they could to ensure that he sired no children.  Keeping a watch on every known location he stayed at, for months, confirming whether any children born in that time period were his.  A woman was pregnant and through crazy will power, she forced herself to care the child far longer than conceivable, giving birth to Ace and dying in the process.  Garp is now to caretaker of the baby the world is trying to kill.  He enlists the help of a mountain bandit woman named Dadan in both raising and hiding Ace.  A number of years later Ace meets his adopted younger brother Luffy.

    As Sengoku, the head of the Marines, is giving a speech regarding the execution, word comes in that the Gate of Justice has been opened and the closed without any authorization.  He has been following the reports from Impel Down and is not exactly surprised when it is surmised that the prison escapee's are on the ship that passed through the gates.  What does come as a surprise is the sudden appearance of White Beards flagship, the Moby Dick, suddenly surfacing in the harbor.  The attack was anticipated but the method of infiltration was not.  Using the resin from Sabaody Archipelago, White Beard is able to bring his ship as close as physically possible to the platform on which Ace now waits to be executed.  The attack has begun and there is no turning back from here.

    To show his intent, White Beard uses his Devil Fruit power to create a powerful earthquake, causing everyone to freeze in their tracks.  White Beard announces his intention to rescue his underling and we see a flashback to how Ace joined the White Beard pirates.  Admiril Akiji uses his Devil Fruit power to freeze twin tsunami's caused by White Beards power before the base can be inundated,  The effort to protect the base leads to the creation of a large front for the pirates to attack the island and the charge begins.  Vice-admirals, and some of the Warlords of the sea face off against White Beards division commanders.  Everyone, pulling no punches with their Devil Fruit powers and raw martial prowess.  Yet no matter the ferocity of the attacks by the pirates they struggle to make much headway into the island.

   Out of frustration for the lack of progress and concern for a man he calls friends, the son of the legendary demon Oars, Oars Jr, makes his move.  The massive pile of violence attacks the landing zone head on, determined to reach Ace, even if it kills him.  Oars Jr. is successful at first, helping the rest of the attacking force to make it onto land.  But before he can reach the execution platform he is cut down by successive attacks from three of the Warlords.  Just as Oars Jr. falls a new attack force falls from the  Bsky, Luffy and the escaped prisoners.  Whitebeard recognizes Shanks' straw hat perched on Luffys head and puts the last peices of a puzzle together in his mind.  After introductions and Luffys declaration to take the title of King of the Pirates some day, the young man rushes to save his brother.

    Luffy is immediately set upon by Admiril Kizaru, who is saved by Ivankov who is in turn attacked by Kuma.  Ivankov tries to reason with Kuma, who was once an ally in the past, but something is wrong with the giant man and he does not respond the his old friend.  Luffy runs ahead but faces old enemies who had joined the Marines after being defeated by him.  As Luffy struggles to reach Ace, the White Beard pirates in turn are struggling to fend off hoards of zombies controlled by Moria.  Things are not looking good for the would be rescuers.  In a desperate attempt to save his brother, Ace tells Luffy to go away, that he doesn't want to be saved by a weakling.  As hope seems to be running out, Jimbei arrives and is able to defeat the zombie hoard with blasts of salt water.  Before the tides can turn Sengoku grabs everyone's attention by declaring that Luffy is the son of the most wanted man in the world, the leader of the rebel faction, Dragon.

 

    Sensing a trap about to be sprung, White Beard, convincing Buggy to work with him, orders the remaining pirate fleet to adjust their positions on the water/ice.  Smoker almost succeeds in subduing Luffy but is stopped by an enraged Hancock.  Ivankov continues to try to reach through to Kuma but is told by Don Flamingo that the Kuma they knew no longer exists.  Kuma had recently completed his prolonged process of full conversion to a Pacifista and had removed his brain only a few days earlier, completely erasing the Kuma that used to exist, replacing it with an automaton for the World Government instead.  Hancock secretly gives Luffy the keys to Ace's handcuffs but he is stopped by Don Flamingo before he can reach his brother.

    Buggy and his ragtag followers inadvertently give Luffy an escape route and he reluctantly pulls back from rescuing Ace while he tries to rethink his plan.  Buggy meanwhile had commandeered a transponder snail that was broadcasting the execution and is trying to use it to further increase his own profile.  Sengoku had ordered the feeds to be cut when the situation started to show the Marines in a negative light.  Yet Buggy's attempt at vanity allows for a feed to still spread to the outside world, continuing to show the battle for Ace.  Sengokus trap springs and an army of Pacifista's attacks form the rear.  Whit Beards suspicions and actions stop the attack from being as devastating as it could have been and the call to push forward goes out.

 

   As White Beard is about to begin his assault on the platform one of his one allies stabs him through the chest, briefly persuaded by Aokiji that Whitebeard plans to sell out his allies in exchange for Ace.  The attack force is suddenly demoralized, giving the Marines the upper hand.  But White Beard is unwilling to let his men lose faith that easily.  Shrugging off the attack and forgiving his ally, the old man jumps into the battle and rushes towards the platform.  The Marines, desperate to stop this final push, raise a series of defensive walls, encircling the pirates.  The segment leading to the execution platform is unable to rise due to the massive corpse of Oars Jr. blocking its path.  In death Oars Jr. has been able to help save Ace.

    Admaril Akainu unleashes a fury of meteor blasts, melting all of the ice in the bay, causing the water to boil.  The pirates are thrown into chaos and despair and the Marines renew their attack, determined to kill every last pirate.  Senguko, sensing the need for urgency, gives the order to execute Ace immediately.  Jimbei throws Luffy at the platform, in the hopes that he can get there in time, as the three admirals bare down upon him.  Just as Ace is about to be executed, Crocodile, who has been sitting on the side lines, decides to intervene.  Having been punished for his failings by the World Government, he isn't exactly eager to see the Marines win this battle.  White Beard as well unleashed a surprise attack by having a still submerged ship surface, landing on the platform.  Garp and Sengoku are no the last defenses to stop Ace from being rescued.

    Luffy, overwhelmed from the battle and facing multiple vice admirals at the same time, finally succumbs to exhaustion and his wounds.  Attempts to reach Ace are fended off by Garp, who knows he has to choose his career over his family.  The Pacifistas and Marines are encircling the pirates and everything seems to be failing for them.  White Beard is gravely wounded by Akainu and Luffy begs Ivankov to inject him again with hormones that will allow him to push past his exhaustion.  Reluctant at first, realizing it will more than likely kill him, Luffy convinces him all the matters is saving Ace.  Ace is overcome by the sacrifices everyone is making for him and is determining to survive this battle, his will to live and escape restored.

    Coby and Helmepo attempt to stop Luffy and Ivankov but are brushed away like insects.  Hancock provides protection for Luffy from the Pacifistas, who are unable to attack the Warlord.  Just as the executioners are about to kill Ace, Luffy digs deep into himself and erupts with a powerful haki, knocking out those with weak enough wills and caused those with strong wills to pause for a moment, taking in the incredible spirit in the young pirate.  The Marines able to recover from the haki move to attack Luffy.  White Beard orders everyone to defend him, seeing the future in him and recognizing the possibility of success.  Luffy reaches the platform but has to face his grandfather.  Garp is strong, but Luffy is able to withstand the assault and defeats him.

 

    In a last ditch effort, Kizaru is able to melt the key with his light beam.  Luffy find that Mr.3 has been hiding on the platform who quickly crafts a replacement key with his wax power.  Ace is free at last and the platform collapses as the Marines unleash everything they can on him,.  Not hampered by the sea stone shackles, Ace is able to use his Devil Fruit powers and retaliates with a massive fire attack.  With Ace free at last the pirates only goal is escape.  White Beard knows he is dying and gives one final order to his men...to run away and live another day having succeeded in their goal of rescuing Ace.  he old pirate lord understands that he will be dead soon and uses the last of his strength to hold back the Marines so his men can flee.

    The Marines, whipped up into a fervor, begin to indiscriminately attack the fleeing pirates.  Buggy is able to revive his transponder snail, inadvertently broadcasting the slaughter to the shocked world.  Akainu mocks White Beard as he dies, saying he never amounted to anything and failed to be as powerful s Roger.  This provokes Ace, who turns to defend the honor of his dying captain.  Akainu overcomes Ace's fire power with his own magma power.  Luffy scramble to save Ace's vivre card only to expose himself to an attack by Akainu.  Ace jumps to block the attack on Luffy moments before it lands, causing Akainu to punch a hole clear through Fire-fist.  Luffy understands that his brother is dead and breaks.  Before Akainu can kill the shocked Luffy, Jumbei jumps in to rescue him and escape with the remaining pirates.  Fleeing into the bay and desperate safety.  Enraged by the attack on Ace, White Beard uses the last of his strength to emit a powerful earthquake, almost destroying the entire island in the process.  he quake creates fissures allowing the pirates to be physically separated from the pursuing marines, buying them some precious seconds to escape.

     Amidst the chaos Blackbeard arrives with his crew.  He tells White Beard that the entire point of becoming a Warlord of the Sea was to gain access to Impel Down with a plan to release some of the most dangerous prisoners for his new crew.  The plan succeeded more easily than he expected and he is now on his way to take over the New World.  Blackbeard delivers the killing blow to his old captain and begins a secretive process to absorb his devil fruit power.  Armed with the powers of two Devil Fruit, something that is unheard of due to the fatal result in such attempts, Blackbeard makes his strength known to everyone watching.  The world, through Buggy's broadcast, see's White Beards death and hear's his final words proclaiming that One Piece is real.

    Before Blackbeard can destroy the entire island, Sengoku jumps to fight him.  Jimbei is desperately trying to escape with the useless Luffy in his arms.  Akainu punches through Jimbei with enough force to gravely wound Luffy.  Jimbei dives into the water to keep the admiral at bay.  Recognizing the need to protect the wounded Luffy, the other remaining powerful pirates do everything tney can to distract Akainu and the other Marines.  Before they can figure out an escape route, a submarine surfaces, captained by Luffy's peer, Trafalger Law.  Through Buggy's unwitting assistance, Jimbei and Luffy make it to the submarine and Law agrees to help his rival.

 

    With the retreat in full effect now, the pirates scramble to safety, as the blood thirsty Marines hunt them down without mercy.  Koby begins to have a mental breakdown in the middle of the carnage, receiving the internal dialogue of everyone around him.  Their lust for destruction begins to chip away at his sanity as the trauma of the situation unlocks a latent power within him.  He begins to scream to make the killing stop, before the overwhelming weight of the event destroys him.  As if a god heard his prayer a new person appears on the island, someone able to command others to heed his words.  Red-haired Shanks has arrived and through the shire will of his words convinces everyone to stop fighting.  This allows Law's submarine to make its escape as he begins the intensive surgery on both guests.  The war has ended and the Marines declare victory with White Beard and Ace dead.

    The world celebrates the death of two notorious pirates and the resilience of the Marines.  But the loss of such a powerful and influential element in the world of piracy exposes many islands to more brazen banditry and lawlessness, at the hand of those who feared upsetting the great old pirate.  Is the supposed new found peace worth the sudden increased danger from less scrupulous pirates?  Law was able to save Luffy, but he needs a place to recuperate and recover.  The only option for safety is back at Amazon Lily.  Hancock, still retaining her title of Warlord of the Sea, eagerly agrees to allow Luffy and Jimbei to stay on a neighboring island.  As a surprise to everyone Rayleigh arrives as well, sensing the young pirate may need some assistance.  Rayleigh plans to train Luffy in the ways of haki, to give him more control over this ability that is so powerful in him.  Luffy struggles with the loss of his brother, the loss of his crew and his failure to accomplish any of his goals.  

 

    Luffy agrees to the training and puts off his plans to reunite with his crew at Sabaody.  Instead he concocts a plan to send a secret message to his crew in a way that is sure to reach them, no matter where they are in the world.  He, Jimbei and Rayleigh return to a devastated Marineford.  While the Marines claimed victory they were somewhat weakened and have spread their power throughout the seas, particularly in the New World where Blackbeards actions pose a severe threat to global stability.  The three pirates arrive unopposed, using the power of their identities to stave off any interference from the forces repairing the island.  Everyone is too startled by the sudden reappearance of two of the central figures in the war while being accompanied by the most legendary living pirate.  Luffy rings a symbolic bell to recognize the end of the war and has a code drawn on him, taking full advantage of  crew of reporters also being there.  The plan works perfectly and Luffy, with his hidden message, appears on the front of every newspaper, seen by every member of his crew.  The message, meet again in two years time.  The crew immediately recognizes the message and changes their resolve to focus on getting stronger and then meeting in the designated time.

    This was an incredible end to a story arc that has been building since the Straw Hats entered the Grand Line.  Between the events at Impel Down and the fallout of the war at Marineford, everything Luffy and his crew have encountered and overcome has culminated into this moment that the world of One Piece changes and everyone's attention shifts focus to the New World.  We find ourselves at a crossroad though, the story has reset to something similar to where the story originally started.  Luffy is on his own, without a ship or a crew.  He still has his goal of becoming the King of Pirates in front of him without any really understanding of how that goal will be accomplished.  He knows no more about how to find One Piece than he did in the beginning.  In reality though, he has a ship and a crew and has set a plan in motion to reunite in two years time so they can pick up where they left off.  Luffy has gained so much knowledge and ability in the months following Coby fishing him out of the sea.  He has gained powerful allies, incredible companions and a greater understanding of the dangers that he faces.  For once he has experienced devastating loss with the death of Ace and has to learn to overcome that grief so he can continue to push forward.  et in spite of everything he witnessed his only fear is that he is not strong enough.  He has no doubt that he can overcome the strengths of the people he will face but recognizes he is not yet at a point to ensure his success and it hurts him.

 

    Following the bulk of the arc we get a multi episode flashback about how Ace and Luffy came to become brothers and the ordeals they faced as abandoned children in a cruel world.  Experiences that imprinted them with their particular world view and the motivation it took to push them to the levels they achieved.  In Luffy's case...he still has a ways to go before he can catch up to his brother, who will no longer be able to see that growth.  It will be interesting to see how everyone has grown and changed in the two years they have before they meet up again to resume their voyage and finally head off to Fishman Island.

One Piece - anime part 13 - Impel Down

      One Piece (ワンピース) is the epic pirate themed shonen battle anime based on the manga of the same name by Oda Eiichiro.  The thirteenth story arc of the series, Impel Down, originally aired between October of 2009 and June of 2010 for a total of 35 episodes, between 422 and 456.

    Luffy crashes on a jungle island, the home of the ferocious amazon tribe.  After being brought into the city, mistaken for a woman, his true nature is revealed and his life is forfeit.  He escapes the women, only to return to the village in search of a ship.  Their leader, Boa Hancock, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, has returned with their one and only pirate ship.  He seeks her out to get help in reuniting with his crew.  After surviving another execution attempt by the women, he wins over the hearts of the tribe and Hancock, trough severe love sickness agrees to help him.  Instead of trying to find his scattered crew though, they are on their way to the infamous prison Impel Down, where his brother Fire-fist Ace is set to executed.

 

    Luffy is hidden inside of Hancocks guest quarters onboard the navy ship, as they make their way to Impel Down, preparing to face the full power of White Beards pirates if and when they attempt to rescue Ace from execution.  Hancock continues to petrify any Marines that get close to revealing the stowaway.  Before its too late they arrive at the prison, which is already heavily guarded.  There is a day and a half left until Ace is to be executed at the prison.  Hancock makes a request to talk with Ace before she joins the rest of the Warlords of the Sea.  The request is granted but she must first undergo a strip search, threatening to reveal Luffy.   Before anything can happen, Hancock petrifies the woman conducting the search and freezes the cameras in the room.  Luffy is able to hide himself in the ceiling and when the woman is revived its as if nothing unusual had happened, so far so good.

    Meanwhile, pirate captain Buggy, who had been captured while attempting to find the lost treasure of Captain John, see's his opportunity and uses his chop chop fruit powers to finally escape from his cell on the first level of the prison, the area reserved for the least important criminals. His escape is noticed and the the first level goes on alert, with guards being sent to recapture of kill him if necessary.  Buggy's untimely escape blows Luffy's stealthy infiltration and the two have to team up to evade the pursuing soldiers.  Luffy isn't sure where his brother is being held in the massive complex, but some of the other prisoners have suggested he is on level 5.  He forces Buggy to help him get there, in exchange for the armband he's wearing.  Buggy lets it slip that the trinket is a map to where Captain Johns treasure is.  Luffy is more than willing to exchange it for help getting to Ace, but Buggy will take the earliest opportunity to leave him and resume his escape.

 

    The two pirates destroy their way through the first level, crashing through guard houses and prison cells alike.  hey find themselves in the torture area of the level, the Crimson Forest, where the trees are razors and the grass is spikes.  Using Buggy's powers they easily traverse the hellish landscape and reach an access pit to the second floor.  Luffy jumps down without a second though.  Buggy is about to leave him but is distracted by an attack from a guard which causes his body to fall into the pit as well.  Facing no choice but to follow, he too plummets down to the second floor, the floor of wild beasts.  They soon face the fearsome guards of the second level but they end up being more bark than bite and Luffy easily defeats them.  In a prison brake, orchestrated by Buggy to improve his standing among the other pirates, Luffy reunites with Mr. 3 from the long disbanded Baroque Works (see arc two and four).  He tells them he will be willing to show them the way to level three.

    In preparation for the release of the One Piece movie, Strong World, the story is paused for a four part filler arc that ties in with the events of the movie.  The movie deals with the only pirate at the time to have successfully escaped Impel Down, Golden Lion Shiki, who has cut off his own legs to facilitate his escape.  This small side story takes place after Thriller Bark and finds the Straw Hats landing on an island of friendly inhabitants who are ex-patriots of the East Blue.  Over time they have built their village to be a replica of famous sites in the East Blue...mostly sites important to the origins of the Straw Hats themselves.  They are welcomed like kings and celebrated.  Meanwhile a pirate crew has been instructed by Shiki to retrieve a large beetle named Boss, who is a member of the village.  His capture is payment for them being accepted into his coalition of pirates.

    Luffy and crew are not willing to let their new friends happiness be trampled on by these new pirates and throw everything they have at them to protect the little East Blue.  While at first the pirate captains net making devil fruit power proves too strong for Luffy, Sanji and Zoro, the villagers gain the courage to also fight the invaders.  The beetle, Boss, also arrives after only partially recovering from the fight with Luffy to defend his home as well.  In an moment where the beetle chooses his own sacrifice for their safety, Luffy knocks sense into him and the Straw Hats escape, ready to fight even stronger than before.  The invasive pirates are quickly dispatched and peace is once again restored to this hidden monument to the most infamous rookie pirates from the East Blue.

    We return to the prison break and Mr. 3 has joined Buggy and Luffy.  They find themselves being chased by the revived monsters guarding level two until Luffy gets tired of running and beats them all into submission.  Mr. 3 and Buggy plan to use Luffy as bait and make their way to the exit.  Instead, Luffy and the biggest monster on the floor crash through the ceiling of level 3, dragging the other pirates with them.  The three amigos find themselves wandering the deadly heat of this floor, looking for the way down to the fourth floor.  There is little relief from the oppressive heat and before they can make much progress the guards, on high alert no, capture them.

     All three of them are bound in a net with the Level 2 boss, Minotaurus, surrounded by guard captain Saldeth and a group of guards.  The group breaks free of their bounds and flees again, with the revived Minotaurus hot on their heals.  In their escape, Buggy and Mr. 3 abandon Luffy again, planning to make their way to the surface.  They encounter Baroque Works Mr.2, Bon Clay.  They tell him what Luffy is planning and free him as they try to make their way out.  Luffy is attacked by Saldeth as he nears the stairs, Bon arrives in time to offer his aid, as he wants to continue to support him in his efforts.  At this time Hancock has finally reached Ace and tells him in secret what Luffy is planning to do, bringing the older brother to shock and dismay.

    Luffy and Bon reach Level 4, noticing the boiling vat of blood and the extreme heat.  The warden of the prison, Magellan, finally done with escorting Hancock, can turn his attention to the rapidly growing problems of the prisoner riot on 2 and Luffy's decent towards his brother.  He has amassed the strongest guards on Level 4 and is charging his vice-warden with guarding the entrance to Level 5.  Luffy runs into the dangerous warden soon enough and chooses to face off against him, ignoring Bon's protests.  The warden has the devil fruit power of poison and quickly subdues Luffy who relies on physically touching his opponents.  In the confusion, Buggy and Mr. 3 attempt to escape at the stairs but are stopped by vice-warden Hannybal.  Bon flees in terror, abandoning Luffy once he realizes their death is at hand.

    Luffy is beaten by the overwhelming power of Magellan's poison and is dragged off to a cell on Level 5, were he is left to die.  Bon defeats Hannybal and steals his identity, hoping to rescue Luffy to make up for abandoning him earlier.  Level 5 is a frozen hell and Bon pushes himself to near death trying to save his dying friend.  He is frantically searching for a prisoner who disappeared from their cell years earlier and had been spotted wandering the forests of Level 5.  The next thing he knows is waking up in a strange space and finding a group of people enjoying themselves, a far cry from being prisoners.  His questions are answered when the leader of the group appears and gives a performance explaining their hideouts.  It is none other than the person he is searching for, Emporio Ivonkov.  The enclave of escaped prisoners exists in the hidden spaces of Impel Down and provides refuge for those who find it.  Ivonkov, which their devil fruit powers has made the space a sanctuary for anyone seeking freedom from the constraints of society regarding their gender identity or sexual orientation.  These efforts are enhanced by their ability to change someones hormones, sometimes instigating a gender reassignment.

    Ivonkov has taken in Bon and Luffy at Luffy's request to save the dying Bon, even with his own fatal condition.  Ivonkov agreed to care for Bon as well as Luffy but is uncertain if the treatment will help save him.  Luffy is bound in a sealed room and has spent the past ten hours in agony, screaming in his unconscious state.  Ivonkov imbued him with a potential path to survival, at the cost of shortening his life.  The rest is up to Luffy' body to fight the infection.  Bon is unwilling to leave his side and shouts encouragements at the sealed room until his is spitting blood.  His dedication to his friend inspires the residents of the enclave, who join in the chant.  The support works and Luffy overcomes the poison much faster than anticipated.  He is ready to continue, as time is running out for his brother.  He lets is slip that his father is the infamous rebel Dragon, a man Ivonkov is close to.  This makes them choose to aid Luffy any way they can and the fight is one to Level 6, where Ace is being help.

    The trio of Luffy, Ivonkov and another man reach Level 6 too late though, as Ace is on his way to be transferred to the Marines.  Magellan knows they are there and sets traps to seal them into the Level while he heads to the surface.  The man who shared a cell with Luffy asks him to free him and he will help him get to his brother.  The man is the disgraced ex-warlord fishman Jimbei.  He was stripped of his title and thrown in jail because he opposed the plan to execute Ace.  He wishes to help Luffy free the man he calls friend.  Before they can leave another prisoner asks to be released to help with the struggle.  Another ex-warlord, Crocodile.  Luffy does not want to free him but Ivonkov convinces him to do so, based on secret information they can use against him is he decides to betray them.  Now with their number increased to five, they head off to catch up with Ace.  On their way to Level 5 they regroup with Bon and the rest of the enclave, who join the mission to reach the surface.  It is time for the hidden prisoners to make their move and fight for real freedom.

    The group easily makes it to Level 4, where they begin to release prisoners, in order to create more confusion and increase their strength.  At the same time Buggy and Mr. 2 are releasing prisoners on Level 2 for a very similar reason.  Everyone's efforts may be in vein as Ace is placed on a Marine ship and sets off for Marine Headquarters.  After his ship leaves another arrives, unannounced, containing Black Beard and his crew.  Given the sudden chaos in the prison, the warden elects to release a dangerous prisoner, the ex-prison manager who had been lock up for murdering prisoners, Shinryu.  Magellan tasks him with confronting the warlord and stopping him if necessary.

    Luffy and the rest reach Level 2 where they encounter the demon guards, defeating them, easily.  Shinryu joins Black Beards forces instead of stopping them as the warlord proceeds unopposed with his plan.  Meanwhile vice-warden Hannyabal tries to stop Luffy but only succeeds in delaying him.  In a last ditch effort Hannyabal uses the last of his energy to attack Luffy but is stopped by the arrival of Black Beard.  This is the first time Luffy meets Black Beard since he went to Sky Island.  Black Beard tells him the original plan was to capture Luffy and offer him up to the World Government in hopes of being made Crocodiles replacement.  Instead he was able to defeat Ace first for the same result.  Having achieved his goals, he has no desire to fight Luffy and lets him continue with his prison break.

    Buggy and Mr. 3 reach the first level, followed by an army of escapees.  Luffy and his party are stopped by Magellan, who finally catches up to them.  Two other stay behind to give Luffy and the rest the time they need to keep going, stalling the Warden long enough with their defeat.  They soon meet up with Buggy and Mr. 3 who are trying to plan their next step.  Before they can figure out where to go from there, Magellan arrives, confirming for Luffy that his new friends lost.  While they turn to face the Warden, Jimbei is able to float a door to carry he, Buggy, Crocodile and Mr. 1 out to the Marine flotilla, in order to procure a ship.  The fight with the poison spewing Warden seems impossible.  Ivonkov arrives, after recovering from the beating he took earlier and lends all the power they can to stall Magellan even a little bit.  Time is running out and the ship isn't arriving as fast as they need.  in a last ditch effort, Ivonkov uses one of their attacks to propel the group of escapees out to sea, attempting to bridge the gap from the prison dock to the ship.

    The brazen plan works, and everyone lands on the deck of the stolen Marine ship.  Unfortunately they face the next obstacle.  The Gates of Justice, the gateway to lead them out of the prison, are closed and will require someone to authorize them being opened.  There is little chance of that now, given the situation at the prison is well known by those in charge.  When all hope is thought lost, the gates begin to open, allowing the ship to escape.  Other Marine vessels are chasing after them but find their way blocked when the gates immediately close again.  They have done it!  They have successfully escaped Impel Down and are once again on track to attempt to rescue Fire-fist Ace.  Before we see the arrival of the pirate army to Marineford, we are updated on the status of the scattered Straw Hat pirates.  None of them know the incredible event unfolding at the center of the world government, an event that was started by their captain in order to save his brother.  

    The culminating story line continues to develop at a steady pace.  While much of the success the pirates see is due to plot armor, it doesn't detract from the quality story in general.  Everything is coming to a head and the world will be a completely different place when the dust settles.  Luffy, only focused on saving his brother, doesn't even understand what his actions are doing.  He has no care for making an impact on the world around him or changing things.  Right now his only concern is to save Ace.  He isn't even aware of what his actions are doing to reshape everything around him.  This entire sequence of events cements Luffy's personality.  He has little concern for anything outside of protecting those he cares about.  It's difficult to even fathom why he wants to claim the title of King of the Pirates, when he clearly has little interest in actively being a figure of change.  He doesn't consider the consequences of his actions not does he approach anything with long term goals in mind.  He lets his current situation guide him through his responses with little forethought.

    In general I wasn't a fan of the members of Baroque Works.  Particularly the debacle that was the series of events leading up to the Straw Hats landing on Alabasta, but the inclusion of a few key top members of Baroque Works as central figured in the Impel Down arc worked really well.  It was quite amusing to watch Buggy work so hard to set himself up as a heroic pirate, attempting to put himself in a better position once he makes it back to sea.  The introduction of Jimbei and Ivonkov set up Luffy to get closer to meeting his father, the leader of the rebel faction.  Things are beginning to coalesce quite well around the Straw Hats being at the front lines of the new era in the world and its being done in a way that doesn't feel forces.  Sure they are being introduced to key characters which will help realize that future goal, but its done with a guiding hand instead of a forced narrative.  It will be really interesting to see what all of the set up that has been building since at least the Sky Island arc will lead to.  When we started this journey all we knew was Luffy needed to get to the Grand Line in order to begin searching for the One Piece.  When he got there he seemed to meander about without a clear goal, letting the winds push him aimlessly towards his incorporeal goal.  Slowly things began to reveal themselves for a grander plot, particularly when people began to tell them about the New World, something none of the Straw Hats had even been aware of.  Its fun that the Grand Line represents a barrier of entry to far greater things and acts as a barrier for knowledge as well.  Those that are bound to the lands of their isolated areas only know that the Grand Line is a place of danger and mystery, but understand little about what actually exists there.  Then you ave all of the people who just happen to live in the Grand Line and they don't even know about the things beyond it.  All of the power players in the world are heading into the New World, chasing after glory and adventure, unsure about what is actually there.

    I say it at the end of each arc review, this story has consistently been amazing since the terrible Foxy Pirate segment.  With each new development the struggle for survival grows by leaps and bounds.  In a short period Luffy and the rest have found themselves in the middle of a very dangerous situation and they are all essentially still children!  It feels like we are coming to a point of no return where everything will climax incredibly then pull back to a baseline of normalcy before diving headlong into the next long reaching arc.  Luffy is about to throw himself into the lions mouth to try and save his brother.  He will survive...as the show has gone on for almost 1100 episodes at this point, but he won't be able to escape unharmed.  I know there is a time skip in the near future and it feels natural to occur following the end of the Marineford arc.  Spending time to search for his lost crew mates would be a terribly boring waste of narration since the scale of the story has escalated so much at this point.  The trick will be to resume the story and keep up a respectable pace of threat and danger.  There is no way the next few arcs will be as threatening as what is currently going on, but they will still need to be ones where it is hard for the pirates to truly feel safe.  From here on out, once they rejoin their docked ship, they will be heading into continuously dangerous waters.  I can't wait to see how things unfold and what moving into the New World will mean for their story.

 

   Up next though, we still have to see how the raid on Marineford transpires and if Luffy and his new collection of companions will be able to accomplish, versus the full strength of the World Government.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is an 8 episode original anime based on the comic book Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley.  The series was released on Netflix in November of 2023 and was produced by Science SARU.

 

    Scott Pilgrim is an unemployed slacker living in Toronto Canada.  He is part of an aspiring indie garage band called Sex Bob-omb of which his fake high school girlfriend, Knives Chau, is completely obsessed with.  Scott has been having dreams of a girl with short, multi colored hair, roller-blading through a desolate landscape.  He believes the mystery girl is the woman of his dreams and is becoming obsessed with her, much to his cool gay roommate, Wallace Well's, annoyance.  He and his band mates go to a house party after practicing and Scott see's the girl from his dream standing against the wall.  He can't believe his eyes and does his best to impress her, with obscure video game trivia.  After embarrassing himself, he slinks away in self disgust.  He runs into the woman throwing the party, Julie Powers, who hates his guts more than anything else.  He ignores her verbal attacks and pries the mystery woman's name from her.  He learns her name is Ramona Flowers and she recently moved to the great white north from New York City and is working for Netflix, delivering movies.

    With confirmation that she is real and a clue to meeting her again, Scott uses Wallace's Netflix account to order a movie, expecting her to deliver it, and awaits her arrival at the front door, not moving for a number of days.  Ramona eventually comes calling with the ordered movie.  Scott uses this opportunity to try to ask her out again.  His tenacity pays off and she agrees to a date.  Skip to the evening and the two are casually wandering the empty Toronto streets, enjoying the Spring calm.  They ask each other basic questions only to learn they have pasts they would rather leave in the past.  A sudden blizzard arrives and they seek refuge in Ramona's apartment, taking a subspace highway to get there.  The reason Ramona continued to appear in Scott's dreams was through using a convenience subspace highway that happened to run through his brain, making travel quick and easy.

 

    One thing leads to another and the two end up in her bed, but they both decide not to have sex, instead enjoying their company while they get to know each other.  Scott takes this as the start of a relationship  Desperate to see her again soon he invites her to see a concert his band is performing later that night.  Ramona, unsure about how she feels, but interested non-the less, agrees.  Before the concert Scott gets a letter from a man named Matthew Patel.  Matthew is part of a mysterious organization called the League of Evil Exes, comprised of 7 people Ramona has dated and broken up with in the past.  The League is run by a powerful musical mogul named Gideon Graves and he has decided to send Matthew to deal with Ramona's new boyfriend.  Scott, disinterested in the letter, ignores the bulk of the details and heads off to the concert.  The League of Evil Exes isn't the only thing he has to contend with though as he see's his fake high school girlfriend, Knives, has come to see them perform as well.  Wallace warned him that he needed to break up with her if he is going to date Ramona but Scott struggles with understanding why and tries to avoid it.

    Just as Ramona and Knives are about to share information that might make this problematic, Sex Bob-omb blasts into their first song, causing Knives, who is easily overcome with emotion, pass out from excitement.  The performance is cut short with the appearance of Matthew, who challenges Scott to a duel.  Scott accepts the challenge, after Matthew summarizes his letter to him and the intent of the League.  Much to everyone's surprise, Scott is defeated by Matthew in the first punch.  A punch that hits him so hard it kills him, leaving only change in his place.  Matthew has achieved victory and can now try to win Ramona's love again.  She outright rejects him among every ones shock as to what transpired.  After the bar has closed Knives regains consciousness to find out her fake boyfriend Scott was punched to death.

    At this point, the end of the first episode, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off diverges entirely from the source material and the 2010 live action movie Scott Pilgrim vs the World.  In those stories Scott defeats Matthew and moves on to face Ramona's other evil exes, while avoiding the real struggles he needs to overcome.  The battles are distractions and Scott uses them to ignore the unresolved feelings for his ex, the pretend relationship with Knives and his complexes about Ramona's past and how that will be projected on his relationship with her.  Instead, he just beats up a series of individuals in order to win her heart without really learning from his errors.  Ramona on the other hand goes along for the ride, more a reluctant guide through the process than a participant in convincing him he is doing the right thing.  She is willing to sit on the sidelines to see how things pan out, ultimately not being committed one way or the other.

    But that's the source material and its live action remake.  This time around everything is different.  Scott is dead at the hands of evil ex number one, Matthew Patel, and Ramona has to reconcile her emotions about everything.  She keeps running from one relationship to the other, many only lasting a week or so, not really satisfied with her part in them.  Yet this time something is different, she feels an urge to put in the effort.  She begins to investigate what actually happened, not convinced that Matthew actually killed Scott.  She has to start confronting her past to understand what effect it is having on a future she desires.  Against all odds and everyone approval she wants to reconnect with Scott Pilgrim.  The vast majority of the anime follows that journey.  Where originally the narrative was from Scott Pilgrim's point of view, who is coasting through his existence and only concerned with things on the surface.  It's Ramona's turn in the spot light as she approaches the situation, completely different than the original, reluctantly facing the things she continues to leave behind, hoping to make enough amends to make her desires come to fruition.

    I have been a mega fan of the Scott Pilgrim media franchise since the movie came out.  Obsessing over it, the source comic and the fantastic video game.  When news of a new anime based on the property was announced I was ecstatic.  When it was announced that almost every member of the live action movie was returning to provide their voices and the director of the movie was also involved in the production, I was floored.  All that was left was the wait.  I never have a problem revisiting the story, I greatly enjoy it and made a check list of things that the movie did not cover hoping to see in the anime.  I was a bit skeptical with the first episode.  I wasn't sure if I liked some of the voice acting an the script seemed a little lackluster.  They hit a lot of the important beats and kept some of the quirky charm that was present in both the comic and the live action, but some things just felt off.  There was a very prominent choice to incorporate point of reference focusing in the anime.  Things in the foreground will go out of focus to draw your attention to the back ground and vice a versa.  It seemed unnatural, particularly in an environment such as anime were everything is usually crisp and clean.  It felt like a distraction and a questionable choice in directing.  I was concerned that the script was giving weak lip service to the source material, given how much was being left out over the course of the first episode.  Then Scott died and everything changed.

    The moment when this series takes the original and its replica and throws it out the window you are hooked and in for whatever comes next.  It could be anything and suddenly you are faced with a new set of plot lines for a world that you love.  A set of plot lines that run counter/parallel to what you have obsessed over for years and years and it is amazing.  Suddenly the criticisms go away, criticisms that arose from approaching the well know material.  Criticisms that were not exactly justified.  Sure the continued use of focus perspective can be off putting but you grow into the charm of the idea and accept it as a good call on the direction.  The voice acting smooths out and it's great to enjoy everyone saying new lines as their characters, except for Scott, because he's dead.  You start to notice that the anime is paying homage to details found in the comic, the live action and the video game...lots of references to the video game!!  The creation of the show dug deep into the world of Scott Pilgrim and stuffed a plethora of nods and references to that across all of its formats.  Suddenly you're seeing new stories and recognizing aspects that you are familiar with in the old story and the video game and it makes the world of Scott Pilgrim feel even more loved and comfortable.

    If it isn't obvious, I am incredibly happy with this series.  I went into it expecting a redo of the comic, adding in the side plots that were understandably cut from the movie.  I anticipated it being a different teams look at this beloved story with all of the actors returning to provide the voices.  It was going to be comfortable and well understood.  Instead we are lulled into complacency and knocked off our feet with a twist that no one saw coming,  Suddenly the story of Scott Pilgrim wasn't actually even about Scott Pilgrim any more.  Instead it was about Ramona Flowers and she is a much better character than Scott.  Scott is a terrible person but we love him, or at least root for him to win, because we love Ramona.  Now we get to see a more fleshed version of her along with other sideline characters.  She isn't just Scott's success in life.  She is her own success, she has her own goal and has her own adventures she needs to go through to try and get to her desired end.  And the Scott Pilgrim story is in a much better place because of it.  I miss that some of the fun sub plots of the comic were again left to the realm of the comic but the new stories we got in their place was well worth the loss.  But not everything was omitted, the keen eyed viewer will pick up on subtle nods to plots from the comic.  Now if we can get a new video game based on the events of this new story....that would be perfect!

     The series was released in its completed form on Netflix and is available in a variety of countries in a variety of languages.  So far, I have watched it twice and will probably watch it again shortly.  Could there be more in the future.  Probably not, but time will tell, we had to wait thirteen years for this new material.

One Piece - anime part 12 - Island of Women

     One Piece (ワンピース) is the epic pirate themed shonen battle anime based on the manga of the same name by Oda Eiichiro.  The twelfth story arc of the series, Island of Women, originally aired between July of 2009 and October of 2009 for a total of 14 episodes, between 408 and 421.

    The trip to the Sabaody Archipelago has destroyed the Straw Hats.  The overwhelming strength of both Warlord of the Sea Kuma and Admiral Kizaru was too much for them to overcome.  Kuma, using his devil fruit power eliminated each member of the plucky pirates one by one, intentionally dispersing them far out into the sea.

 

    Luffy finds himself encased in a bubble, flying rapidly through the sky, unable to stop.  He resigns himself to his moving prison, overcome with the destruction of his friend at the hands of Kuma.  His dreams nothing but a memory at this point and he waits.  A few days past, allowing him to sleep and gain a mighty appetite.  His bubble begins to lose its altitude and his crashes into a cliff on the interior of a heavily forested island.  After killing and eating a giant beats his appetite continues to drive him to ravenous consumption, including random mushrooms on the forest floor.  Unfortunately, one batch of mushrooms are more a threat to him than he is to them.

    A group of scantly clad women come across the prone form of Luffy, who is slowly being turned into a new home for the last batch of mushrooms he consumed.  Recognizing the danger he is in, they take him back to their village to attempt to save him.  The save him from the parasitic mushrooms but realize he is a man in the process.  The island Luffy has crash landed on is Amazon Lily, men are forbidden from stepping foot on it and the fierce warrior women protect their home with ruthless efficiency.  Luffy escapes from his prison with most of the village trying to kill him.  In the ensuing chase Luffy and one of the Amazons, Margaret, end up being flung into the surrounding jungle.  The appearance of Luffy on the island becomes complicated for the women with the imminent return of their ruler, Boa Hancock, the Snake Princess and one of the seven warlords of the sea.

 

    As Margaret chases Luffy through the forest, the Snake Princess' pirate ship is returning the the waters of her home island.  Waiting for them is a Marine ship and a vice admiral waiting to deliver a message and ultimatum.  The warlords of the sea are being summoned together in preparation for a confrontation with White Beard.  Luffy's brother, Ace, is going to be executed in seven days and they expect a massive rescue attempt to take place at Impel Down.  The vice-admiral presents the ultimatum of show up to fight for the World Government or be stripped of your title and protection.  Hancock, not wanting to show weakness to her crew, rebuffs the demand and uses her powers, turns everyone on the ship to stone, with the exception of the vie-admiral.  He tells her she has a limited amount of time to given him her answer or face the consequences.  Hancock dismisses him and their ship heads home.

    As the princess returns home, the women hunting for Luffy become more desperate.  Hancock is approached by their previous leader, an old woman named Nyon, who tells the younger woman to accept the demands from the World Government to continue to protect their lands existence.  Hancock throws her out of a palace window in anger and goes to take a bath.  When the princess or her two sisters bathe the entire city is put on alert and the palace is closed off from anyone entering it.  There is a legend that they had defeated a terrifying gorgon but been cursed with the gorgons eyes on their back as a result.  Now if anyone were to see the marks they would be turned to stone.  As she is bathing, Luffy is back in the city, searching for someone he can convinces to let him use their ship.  He ends crashing into the bath as Hancock is enjoying her relaxing time alone.  He sees the marking on her back but it does not turn him to stone.  Luffy also recognized the markings but before he can question her about it her sisters rush in to investigate the commotion.

 

    Luffy once again finds himself a captive of the Amazons.  He is brought to a arena for judgement and summary execution.  His executioner is a monstrous cat, which he quickly dispatches.  In an effort to plead for his life, Margaret reveals that she is the one who initially brought him to the island, not knowing he was a man at first.  For her confession, Hancock turns her and two friends into stone statues, horrifying Luffy.  Hancock then sends her two sisters to put him out of his misery.   They transform into creatures, revealing their Zoan type devil fruit powers to him.  The gorgon sisters use the hika power to predict Luffy's movements, causing him trouble in the fight.  In addition to that their physical attacks do damage to him, even though his body if rubber.  The battle does not last long as Luffy, determined to protect the statues of the women petrified because of him, summons his own battle spirit and busts through the sisters defenses.  He sends one flying towards the crowd, about to reveal the mark on her back.  Recalling they would rather die than have anyone see them he jumps to cover up her markings.  Knowing the danger the mark possesses the crowd flees the arena.

    The sisters admit defeat.  Hancock tells him that he can either choose to have the three woman returned to normal or be given a boat.  With out hesitating he chooses the woman to be saved.  The selflessness of his action moves Hancock to tears and she invites him to share in their feast, marking her return home.  Luffy is taken to the palace where they learn of his attack on a World Noble.  Hancock reveals the nature of their marks as symbols of ownership by celestial dragons.  She and he sisters had been kidnapped ten years earlier and sold into slavery.  During their time they were given devil fruit for amusement and it eventually helped them escape and return to their island.  During the feast, Luffy learns from Nyon that Hancock is one of the Warlords of the Sea and is being summoned to help protect the prison Impel Down while they prepare to execute Ace.  Luffy's only hope of getting there in time is to get a ride with Hancock.  He rushes to ask her to let him join the voyage but finds he suddenly bed ridden.  Nyon realizes it is a deadly affliction that has stuck down previous rulers of their land...Hancock is madly in love with Luffy.

 

    Hancock accepts this 'disease' and finds herself more than willing to help Luffy get to the prison to try and save his brother.  They leave immediately, meeting up with the vice-admiral, who is still waiting outside of their island.  Luffy has wrapped himself around her body and is hidden in her cloak.  Hancock restores all of the frozen Marines and the two pirates board the ship, headed to the worlds most infamous prison.  The place where all of the World Governments power is gathering in anticipation with a battle against White Beard, one of the 4 emperors of the sea.

    Meanwhile, we see short segments of the fates of the other members of the Straw Hat pirates.  Nami finds herself on a sky island that has dedicated its self to studying weather.  While there she learns of a rope technique for controlling wind that she can pair with her normal attacks.  Frankie lands in a frozen land full of more advanced machinery than he can imagine.  Due to the lack of cola, tea is instead supplied to keep his restored body active, turning him from a wild hooligan into a reserved and polite aristocrat.  Chopper ends up on a small jungle island where he has to avoid being eaten by large birds and hungry natives.  Sanji lands on an island filled with beautiful woman only to come to his senses and realizes it is a safe haven for drag queens.  Robin finds her self in a frozen land known as Tequila Wolf.  She is brought to safety bu a young girl who hides her in a work house.  The residents of the island are enslaved and forced to work on a massive bridge that is spanning between islands.  The residents are captives and prisoners of the World Government and the operation has existed for centuries.  Robin can now count herself as one of its residents as she failed to evade capture.  Zoro winds up on an abandoned gothic villa and ends up becomes the plaything of Perona, who was sent to the same place when she encountered Kuma at Thriller Bark.

 

    Resetting the crew and the story isn't a bad thing, given the way the danger for the crew escalated.  This short arc cools off the treat level quite a bit and settles into a ridiculous story.  The story for the most part is pretty rote when it comes to tales of men dealing with an island of amazons.  It didn't really become something that held my interest until Hancock revealed the nature her sisters markings and how that also tied in with Hachi's forehead tattoo.  She tells about a fishman pirate who was similarly branded and lead a slave mutiny, freeing as many of his kind as he could.  The symbol of their pirate crew was a modification of the brand, in an attempt to conceal it.

    Outside of this setting up Luffy's infiltration of Impel Down and what I sense is the coming apex of the series so far...I know a time skip is going to happen, just didn't want to find out when it occurs.  I suspect its coming soon though.  I am excited for the story ahead and it was nice for the relaxed story in this arc but a lot of it was pretty bad in general.  Next up, Luffy faces the World Government alone in his attempt to save his older brothers life, Impel Down!!!