One Piece Synchromystic Introduction
The series is really amazing, great character development as everyone has their backstory explored in a rich mythical world, there is no black & white evil or good but very nuanced motivations and belief systems, the different story arcs get built up really well until they climax. A buddy of mine made me watch this show by saying “it gets really good after 300 episodes”, haha only 300?! A few months later I had caught up to the 500+ episodes as I couldn’t stop watching. The longer you keep watching the more everything comes together. I’ll go over some of the most interesting synchromystic themes of the show.
if skimming through this post makes you wanna watch One Piece, ignore this post and don’t ever revisit it. Remember the series may start out a bit slow but it’s always very funny and worth it.
The ruthless World Government tries to keep control of the world with its Marine Force, opposed by Pirates of every pursuasion and a revolutionary army. The World Government also raises 7 of the worst pirates in the world to the title of Warlord, which means they are free to do as they please, as long as they help out the Government when they need it.
The greatest warriors in One Piece got their power through eating a Devil Fruit. Devil Fruits are said to be the fruits of the Sea Devil and that the secret to their power is hidden in the Grand Line (An ocean where the most powerful people of the world reside). Because encounters with them are rare (especially outside the Grand Line), a number of rumors about them have risen, making it difficult to tell whether some things are fact or fiction.
One running theme with Devil Fruits, however, is the fact that they taste unimaginably horrible, to the point of making it seem like the user had taken poison. They come in different shapes and colors, and all Devil Fruits have swirl marks or patterns, presumably, on them of some kind. When a Devil Fruit user dies, their ability is reborn into another fruit of the same kind. Instead of growing from a plant, the ability simply regenerates inside the closest appropriate fruit.
With this new power comes a weakness: the sea rejects the new Devil Fruit user and they become helpless while submerged in water (or “becomes a hammer,” in Japanese parlance).
Monkey D. Luffy is part of a great bloodline. Grandpa is Navy Vice Admiral Garp and his father is Monkey D. Dragon, who just happens to be the leader of the Revolutionary Army.
The Navy is initially led by Sengoku (Sengoku means Civil War), a freaking Golden Buddha. Though if that seems like a positive figure, he is quickly succeeded later by a ruthless mofo named Red Dog who wields the power of Lava. Sengoku resigns as leader after questioning a cover-up the World Government enforces. This is not the only cover-up as history and the media are often manipulated by the World Government throughout the show.
Luffy’s Crew’s first real challenging enemies are Fish-Man Mutants who regard humans as an inferior species, as they are taller and stronger than an average human, and exploit an entire island’s people to do their bidding. Later it is made clear this is mostly due to them being looked down upon by Humans where they are from, as fishmen and mermaids are sold into slavery to and for the World Nobles, also known as Celestial Dragons.
| “ | World Nobles… Slaves… Human shops… Against the “purity” of these “upper classes”, the villains of the world look positively humane in comparison. It’s because the world’s in the hands of scum like them that it’s all screwed to hell… I mean, we’re not the nicest of guys, but at least we’re honest about it. | ” |
— Eustass Kid, commenting on the World Nobles.
The quote is no understatement, as the World Nobles casually kill whoever is in their way, no matter how trivial the situation, no matter if they are a woman or child. Including Luffy’s childhood friend. They are the royals of One Piece’s world, the decendants of the 20 Kings who formed an alliance and formed the World Government long ago.
| “ | They seem to have held great power once, but the information about this kingdom has been carefully erased. As they knew of their imminent defeat by the alliance that would later be called the World Government, they carved the truth into stone, to give to the future. Those are the Poneglyphs that still exist today…!!! | ” |
— Clover, explaining about the Ancient Alliance
In the video below you will see Hachi (one of the Fishmen Mutants from the image above now redeemed) being shot by a Celestial Dragon. When you’re in the presence of a Celestial Dragon you do one thing: you bow or face their wrath. Hachi begged the Strawhat crew for their own protection to promise not to interfere with the Dragons as it means certain death, realizing his “inferior” status at their whereabouts. Standing up to a Dragon means a fleet of Navy Ships can be called at their Whim and you will be hunted until the ends of the World. See what Luffy does when his friend is being shot, fully realizing what it means.
Luffy is called Mugiwara, which means Strawhat and his crew are the Strawhat Pirates. Here are some of the other themes explored. They help a princess of a sand-island overcome a revolution instigated by a renegade World Government Pirate called Crocodile. He called this Project Utopia.
They go to Sky Island where they fight a self-proclaimed God whose warriors use powerful devices which are mistaken for special powers or magic at first and mingle themselves in a “war in heaven”. This self-proclaimed God had his own Ark which he would ride while obliterating everything in his path on the road to World Domination.
They are fought by a secret society of the Government, called CP9, who are ruthless in the execution of their orders and have infiltrated an island’s society for years before being revealed. A theme of this island is masquerade clothing. They kidnap Robin, one of the Mugiwara crew because she holds secrets the Government cannot allow to go public. The crew invades a Navy stronghold and when faced with a gruesome choice, the captain, Luffy, does not waver. He declares war on the World Government if this is what they stand for.
The secrets Robin holds involve the Void Century, a century erased from history by the Government for good reason. It involves a Great War and the most powerful Weapon ever. Sprinkles of information about this is recorded on Ponyglyhps, which only Robin, as a descendant of an island that housed the greatest Archeologists in the world, can read. This island, was mercilessly wiped out by the Government in a gut-wrenching series of episodes, and Robin barely escapes as a child.
Can’t spoil it all now can we! So as you can see lots of stuff to sink your teeth in. Remember if you want to start watching this it’s first and foremost a goofy series that you should watch primarily for the humor and action. It occasionally gets pretty serious during character building or story setup or climaxing though. This last vid gives a good idea of what to expect:
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2013-01-24 07:15:35
Source: http://dedroidify.blogspot.com/2013/01/one-piece-synchromystic-introduction.html
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