00:00:00 ⟾ Intro, Progress 00:00:32 ⟾ Format: Moments, Overall 00:00:56 ⟾ Spoiler Alert 00:01:04 ⟾ Jaya Arc - Saruyama Alliance, foreshadowing, setting 00:02:17 ⟾ Blackbeard - Introduction, retrospect, Crocodile power vacuum and Laffitte, Luffy parallels, dreams speech 00:05:57 ⟾ Blackbeard - morality, character 00:06:39 ⟾ The Lost City of Gold, The Emerald City, The ‘One Piece’ 00:06:52 ⟾ Sanji’s past - information 00:07:27 ⟾ South Bird, Usopp time-skip island {Boin Archipelago} 00:08:04 ⟾ Luffy motivations, Zoro understanding 00:09:13 ⟾ Buggy and Ace 00:09:23 ⟾ Whitebeard, Warlords appearance 00:09:42 ⟾ Nami, navigation, Knock Up Stream whirlpool 00:09:52 ⟾ Skypiea Arc - humour 00:10:07 ⟾ Skypiea setting, culture, technology, atmosphere, lore 00:12:12 ⟾ Conis betrayal reaction moment 00:12:33 ⟾ Arc length 00:12:55 ⟾ Challenges, minor villains 00:14:18 ⟾ Fights - Chopper, Luffy, Sanji, Usopp 00:14:38 ⟾ Nami, navigation 00:15:07 ⟾ Usopp moment, Going Merry and Chopper 00:16:31 ⟾ Dancing around campfire scene - Chapter 0300 {*laughs in Chapter 1018 - Looking forward to the Re-Re-Review} 00:16:38 ⟾ Fights - Chopper and Nami 00:17:40 ⟾ Robin - finding ‘The Lost City of Gold’ 00:18:22 ⟾ Comedy - Luffy eaten by Nola, Zoro and Holy, Nami and Zoro strength 00:19:03 ⟾ Enel - powers, game, character 00:21:04 ⟾ Lack of deaths, durability, consequences {Oda successfully killing stakes and tension. Killing anything but characters.} 00:23:20 ⟾ Themes and execution 00:25:10 ⟾ Nami joining Enel, backstory Arlong parallels 00:28:28 ⟾ Ark Maxim 00:28:46 ⟾ Luffy escaping Nola, finding Zoro down 00:29:56 ⟾ Fights - Luffy vs. Enel 00:30:36 ⟾ Nami rescue scene, Sanji and Usopp 00:30:57 ⟾ Arc Climax, Flashback, History, ringing the Shandorian Golden Belfry Bell, prayer, cloud shadow 00:32:07 ⟾ Overview - setting 00:32:38 ⟾ Overview - Blackbeard, Dials, Haki, passing of will, Sea Prism Stone, Poneglyph and Roger, Void Century 00:34:00 ⟾ Overview - references, intentionality, expanding world, Haki, Dials, power structures 00:36:47 ⟾ Overview - Skypiea shortcomings, plot, pacing, removed nature 00:40:13 ⟾ Final Thoughts, looking ahead 00:40:44 ⟾ Outro 00:41:03 ⟾ [Promo] [Credits]

Man, these booktubers talking about narrative and character development instead of powerscaling. I love it.

Merphy noticing that detail about Sanji is so satisfying. I love when someone notice minor details when re-reading One Piece

“What’s going on with Sanji’s past?” -sweats nervously-

While Enel has no problem at all killing characters, Oda has a lot of difficulty with it lol.

"This scene happened. And I don't know what to do with it. " Just happens to be Oda's favorite panel in the entire manga.

Don’t rush your reading from now on. If you need more than one video per arc, that’s ok. They get long from here on.

"I don't know what to do with it" Nobody knows, but Oda said that the entire reason he wanted to write skypea is for that panel, so we keep it in a special place in our memory because Oda is Oda, king of foreshadowing

When it comes to Zoro, there is almost a fan-theory that he has died before in One Piece, multiple times, but when he died he was told to "Walk towards the light."... He got lost and came back to life.

It’s crazy how Skypeia is so underrated but potentially the most important arc in all of one piece

Oda said that if Enel was a pirate on the blue sea his bounty would have been around 500 million which is a testament to his strenght and also his luck to have met the only rubber person in the world

Merphy:points out Sanji's North blue moment The entire One piece community: *sweating intensifies*

Another small detail about Blackbeard I love, is when he first meets Luffy, he doesn't believe that Luffy has a 30 million bounty. At first you think it is because he doesn't believe Luffy is intimidating enough (like Bellamy and his crew). But later it seems like Blackbeard actually expected Luffy's bounty to be higher than 30 million.

Listening to Murph talk about One piece is a true Joy. she GETS it

This woman just unknowingly pointed out Oda's favourite panel. Is she gonna awaken her innate Conqueror's Haki???

Ironic how skypia has such ties to the entire world/story while being such a self contained saga. Oda is brilliant.

Robin brings up how casually the language on the Poneglyphs is used in the lost city of Shandora and I don't know why this isn't discussed more in the community !!

“This scene happened, I don’t know what to do with it” In a One piece magazine, Oda revealed this is his Third favorite panel in the series. In fact, he made the entire Skypiea arc so that he could draw this specific scene.

This is the arc where Chopper became a real pirate!!! And SKYPIEA is...ROMANTIC!!!

"Sanji is from the north blue" "This scene happened." *sweating intensifies*

Merphy: This scene happened. I genuinely don't know what to do with it. OP Fandom: *SWEATING INTENSIFIES*

I think most people will agree with you on the lack of death and the games bring meh. I don't think any singular death was nearly as bad as Pell but I wish some of those deaths weren't fake outs lol.

The climax of Skypeia is definitely one of my favorites for sure, even if the arc itself is more in the middle of the pack for me. But Luffy ringing the bell while defeating Enel in one shot and his shadow cast on the clouds were just perfection after the build up of Cricket, Wyper, and the Noland/Calgara flash back.

I feel like Skypiea's party is easily one of the most heartwarming and iconic in the series, I love how it brings together the two factions that were previously at odds with each other. Also the imagery with the lighting from the giant campfire (which Luffy and Usopp were really excited about earlier on) and the dancing silhouettes and even the wolves. It just looked so fun, man. I wish I were there you know?

I'm re-reading One Piece with my son, we just finish Jaya, he lost his s- when Luffy punched Bellamy lol

Blackbeard's introduction is iconic indeed. Every time I re read that portion, I feel like I learned something

If you notice Robin closely she never say the names of the crewmembers..she calls them like cook,doctor,captain....like that..she will use their names to call them only after enies lobby

One of the moment that makes my re-read of Skypeia significant is when they reach the shore at the Angel Beach, and Robin said something like “I don’t know landing on a new island can be so exciting…”

Merphy:"This scene happened, I dont know what to do with it" People who caught up to One Piece:*Sweats heavily under THE SUN*

I never got why people did not like Skypiea even back in the day (2004 to be exact). It is not among my favourite arcs but it always was an easy 8/10 for me.

Never thought of the Nami seeing Arlong in Enel thing, you're so smart Merphy

"something is up with Sanji's past. I'm looking out for it" The OP community said the same for quite a few years 😂

Ok, a lot of people probably told you this, but I'll say it again: After the timeskip, the arcs will drastically be longer with tons of informations dropped. I can only advise you to take your time, take a lot of notes and divide your review in multiple parts if need be.

Enel : I'm strong. Like, really strong. How can you say that I'm not? Reason : Enel's lightning strikes kill no one. Oda : Sipping his tea somewhere. Bear with it.

Fun little sidenote: You can brush off millions of volts no problem, as long as there aren't any amps behind it.

Truly what speaks the highest volumes for one piece that even the "weaker" arcs and sagas are THIS good. They don't quite live up to the very top of one piece but even the arcs people "hate" they enjoy watching/reading. That hate only comes from their own passion for the series and impossible expectations they place on the series. One piece at it's worse is still better than most fiction at it's best

I’m definitely not the first to say this, but Spypeia really is like a microcosm of the entire story of One Piece. Everything seems fine on the surface, but in reality Enel (Celestial Dragons) is abusing their power and oppressing the people. Luffy is the natural enemy of the antagonist because he’s rubber (pirate with D.) and he’s searching for the golden bell (the One Piece) which is hidden in Upper Yard (Raftel). Luffy even gets the people to rise up and revolt with him, and learns about the Void Century through the poneglyphs.

The saga perfectly encapsulates the inherited will (Kalgara/Wyper, Cricket/Norland), the passing of the ages (Shandora to now) and people's dreams theme in One Piece , ie. Dragons quote in Loguetown.

I must say that I have been a little disappointed with the (lack of) initial thoughts on Blackbeard by multiple people who have reviewed OP. Of course, it does make sense, because some of his scenes might not seem particularly interesting at first and only shine on reread, but I still feel like one of my favourites is normally done dirty lol. Which is why Merph's re-reviewing of early OP is such a delight for me!

in Jaya we see a callback to the "Romance Dawn" arc, with Luffy mimicking Shanks

Skypiea was the first Arc that I owned other than East blue, so I've read it at least 7 or 8 times, and for that it has a special place in my heart. The ringing of the Bell, everytime without fail even as I am just thinking about it to write this, gives me chills, it is just so powerful and emotionally charged by the flashback and by their promise to Cricket. Such a powrful scene without a doubt. The Flashback of Mont Blanc Noland and Kalgara is the main dish of this Arc. It is such a tragic and somewhat romantic story. Noland trying to do the right thing to save Kalgara and his people, his daughter at that too, but inadvertently angering them by unknowingly disrespecting their beliefs and customs. Destroying their sacred forest to save the people lives even tho it almost cost Noland and his crew the friendships they had formed, Kalgara rushing to the shore to see Noland off and inviting them again. Very strong parallels to Vivi and our crew. Such a beautiful friendship is formed between these two men throught hardship and misunderstanding. And then the island disappearance. Kalgara doing all he can in his power to ring the bell to guide Noland back to him, Noland being executed and his final thoughts are for his Friend and his well-being. The flashback coming to an end with such a bitter ending, just hurts me so much. I held back tears just writting and thinking about this flashback. Skypiea is by far in my top 10 arcs, I'd even say top 5. It is just so damn well written.

Skypeia always seemed like a distraction. Almost like a really good filler. But it may just turn out to be the most important arc in One Piece when everything comes together

The re-reviews videos almost feels like a training arc lol Im excited for the New World and cant wait to see Merphy's post-time skip design (?

An interesting point on Skypeia being an arc without pirates: this is the one arc where the Straw Hats are the most pirate-like in their own actions and objectives. "Get the treasure and get out." I agree with the rest of the critique, it does feel long for its purpose and it is easily overshadowed on either side, it feels so disconnected from the rest of the world, particularly in the consequences of the events, but that one point made me take a step back and go "wait a minute tho..." Looking forward to the first steps into the New World.

Since you asked, it's pronounced like poh-neh-glif. Also, any chance you could bully hellofutureme into reading one piece too? I would love if the og avatar gang all got into this story as well

Skypia is where I realize that One piece world know no limits. I love the idea of the islands on the sky and sky sea. I honestly don't get the people who doesn't like this arc or see it as basically a filler (if any arc has close to a filler its Long Ring Long Land arc). Its first time when we encounter haki, though its called mantra here and we found out that the poneglyphs and One piece are tide together and that answers Robin is looking for are part of one piece.

I don't think anyone in the fandom cares about the "villains" this arc aside from Enel. We're usually too busy stanning Wiper.

I weirdly thought that the skypiea saga felt most like a grand pirate adventure compare to most of the arc. For the simple fact of telling the classic tale of the search for El Dorado but the most one piece way. The fact that this adventure took place in the sky and not at sea adds to it even more.

Luffy ringing the bell and declaring that Noland didn't lie make skypiea top 5 arcs to me

The ringing of the bell is probably the most thematically dense moment in One Piece thus far. There is so much packed into that one moment.

Skypiea didn't seem the greatest to me at first . But re reading/watching it makes the experience so much better. This is the most adventurous we get in the story starting from jaya. Like the connecting the maps, finding treasure. This arc also teaches us to dream. I can go on and on . It's really beautiful

Tbf, if Enel succeed he would've dropped an island out of the sky from 10,000ms up high, with the Ark Maxim he basically has ancient weapon capabilities.

Skypiea is still my favorite arc, mostly because of nostalgia. I think the childlike wonder and amazement I felt when they discovered that the sky island was real, and the amazing climax of Luffy hitting the bell at then end makes me cry every time I read it. I don't think I would view it as highly if I had started One Piece now as an adult, but I still think it's a fantastic arc. I think it really is one of the best worldbuilding arcs, and explorations is one of the elements of One Piece that i love the most, which is this arc's strongest point in my opinion. The entire story of this saga is about exploration, which I just love. Finding out that the knock-up stream can be used to go into the sky, realizing that part of Jaya was knocked up by it, finding the golden city, and finally finding and ringing the bell- it just leaves me speechless honestly. I love this arc so much.

New World next week, buckle up amiga. As for Skypeia, it's one I appreciate more over time especially with how much theory fuel it is lol. And just the culture and meaning and the one of the MANLIEST FLASHBACKS IN THE SERIES

Blackbeard has been a very slow build in the series since the beginning. He was first mentioned on Drum Island (Chopper’s Ice Island) as the one that sacked it and kicked out Wapol. It is something that a lot of fans forget about.

I'm convinced now that re-reading One Piece transforms your enjoyment of the show in a very special way. Hunting down the information Oda may or may not have put there intentionally is a very exciting adventure on itself Some of your thoughts sounded very interesting

28:33 That is NOT the ancient weapon Pluton that Crocodile was after , it's just a flying ship Enel build

You know with the "fake-out deaths", I see it as follows: I'm usually really annoyed when the protagonists are the ones in movies/books/series surviving literally everything while everyone around them dies. One Piece is different as in: most people survive most things, but when someone dies, the death usually is very impactful.

"I got through half the series" Fans in current: Yes, half...

The big stone tablets with the ancient writing are roughly pronounced “Pone-eh-glyphs” where glyph is pronounced like hieroglyphs. There’s definitely a better phonetic pronunciation but I think that’s probably clear enough

i love how one piece is being treated where it deserves , alongside the most amazing fantasy stories , there r very few mangas who deserve to be put this high

I love how differently Murphy and Daniel feel about Buggy

My fav little moment in this saga is when the crew is on Cricket's home, Nami told Chopper to dig for treasure, only for him to get yelled at by Nami "Shut Up Chopper! What are you DOING!?"

When you said Nami regressed to her survival mode it was on point, and to add to that, the interesting detail of what gave her that courage back, which was when Luffy gave his Straw Hat to her again, was a little nice nod to how Luffy reminds her of her freedom and how he is her emotional anchor. Another cool thing is that Nami is the only one who can deflect Enel's attacks, which made her way more impressive. Keep up the good work!

The dance with Wolf's were them just having fun. The importance of partying with friends and how it could bring people together. The emotion is much more flushed in the anime in my opinion also Robin getting a feeling of being in a family.

Murphy, volts don't kill, amps do. He was doing 1 million volts with only 1 microamp because he has a micro...

The absolute best panel in Skypiea was when Conis' father pushes Conis away when he realizes Enel's judgement is coming. No hesitation.

"what's going on with Sanji's past?" Merphy you are NOT ready! I can't wait for you to get there, you're gonna love it.

Your One Piece videos are giving me such nostalgia for my old favorite series. And the love for Nami in here is giving me life! She was (and still is) my favorite since Arlong Park and I remember pointing out so many of the things you've touched on back in the day because it felt like no one else noticed them. She's such an amazing and under-appreciated character for how complex and strong she really is. Going on this journey with you is really fun and looking forward to Fridays even more these days. :)

"Jaya is a great setup for things to come!" *Laughs in Dressrosa*

The island Usopp was paw pawed to was Boin Island in a giant man-eating flower island. Also love the fact that Skypiea is really just the crew exploring the world and having an adventure. I think this is the most adventure-y saga ever.

Here's how I reasoned out people surviving Enel's lightning: It's not that he was ineffective, it was that the targets' will to persevere was that strong.

As a diehard fan... When any reactor gets up to the trial part of Skypiea I feel immense dread lol. I also did not like that part very much. This arc has huge ups but a few downs which is why a lot of people aren't a huge fan of it. BUT for some people it's their favourite. It's pretty interesting how an arc can be a least favourite some people while being THE favourite for others. Luffy ringing the bell + the Kalgara/Noland Flashback are so good that they can make people forget the lesser parts of the arc, to the point of it being a favourite arc. Skypia isn't my favourite but it has a special place in my heart for sure

16:36 Oda said that it was his 3rd favourite panel to draw in the entire series qnd you better remember it !

BLOODY HELL MERPHY! You haven’t even caught up and you’re spoiling yourself by being too good at your job 😭😭 you’re literally picking up on everything! You ARE the hero the One Piece community needed!

I finally understand why merph wanted to do the re-read now. Merph did not want to wait for Oda to put the crew back together so she thought what the heck, Ï'll just go back to when they were happy"haha

Yea I think most of the fanbase would pretty much agree with all your complaints the fakeout deaths are annoying

Enel's "real" power is definitely an area of debate among the fandom - but not in the way that you might think. In fact, most people seem to agree that he wouldn't really be that big of a threat to the pirates of the New World. That's because he is lacking one essential thing: Armament Haki. It's the great equaliser for logia-type Devil Fruits, after all - in the New World, most people would suddenly be able to touch and wound Enel. And we see in this arc that that's something he isn't prepared for in the slightest. His lightning would still be dangerous, but he would lose his biggest advantage, and it doesn't seem like he has much of a counter for that glaring weakness.

I like Skypia as a concept because it feels like the first Adventure arc in this pirate adventure. The almost completely exotic land and technology, the backstory with Noland and Calgara leading to the centuries long tensions between the Shandians and Skypians, it felt very big even with how isolated it seemed to be. The antagonists however, do bring it down a lot. The only lieutenant with a memorable gimmick was Gedatsu and the mysteries of the Dials alone overshadow the other three priests. Enel/Eneru's personality really carries the present battle. Him defeating everyone by himself and leaving only Luffy to defeat "God" is an all time climax of the series for me both dramatically and thematically

I knew you were waiting for Daniel to catch up with you! I hope you guys film your discussions on the series and don't leave us hanging!

(PO-ne-glyph) is how it’s typically pronounced and yes Glyph as in the real world writing style of glyphs also have you noticed that noland and rogers stories are mirror images of each other

I feel you on Enel's power. It's like Ussop's 4 ton hammer, from an outside perspective It's like "yeah anyone hit with that is dead" but Ussop knows it won't really kill anyone.

It’s cool that you are picking up on small details like Sanji’s origin because that is really important

I just got to sit back be in amazement at your incredulous ability to pick up foreshadowing clues... wow good job merph

merphy: blackbeard seems to be set up as luffys main antagonist for a while Oda: WORORORORORORORORORORO

Skypeia is one of the most important arcs in the series. It adds so much to the overall story of One Piece and it's history and lore. Definitely something to keep in mind throughout the series and I have a feeling it will play a huge role in the end of the series. Still waiting for Enel's return

Please take you time!!! I love love the fact that your doing this reread and absolutely absorbing everything. OP is meant to take you on a journey the 2nd time is so memorable.

I love your videos. It’s my first time actually watching the series as intended without skipping or hyper focused on the action. I love your analysis it’s just perfect!

Something I love about Skypiea is while it feels isolated, that makes sense, as the whole arc is far above the usual setting. But the isolation means it serves as a time capsule for the world. The Ponegylph, the ruins, the history, all kept away from the World Government. Can you imagine what would have happened if Jaya hadn't been spilt by the Knock-Up Stream and the king of Lvneel saw the city and the Ponegylphs they contained? The WG would have razed it to the ground.

merphy ragging on oda for not killing characters despite knowing how the summit war played out is like watching someone who just survived a bear attack walk into the bear's cave with a stick

"This scene happened..." When you get caught up that scene will hit different.

Merphy! It makes me SO happy that you love One Piece so much. I've been a fan of it for YEARS (Vivi is literally my profile picture) and was hoping that some fantasy booktubers would give it some attention. It's consumed your life just as it has mine! I am so excited for the future of your journey!!!

Even with all its problems, Skypea is still one of my favorite arcs with all the themes, the overwhelming sense of adventure, the comedy, and Eneru as a villian all blends into an extremely fun arc for me to come back to very often

Poneglyph is pronunced Just like hieroglyph, but with pone instead of hiero

I love that you caught up on the foreshadowing of Sanji's past I only really ever realized the specifics of his reactions way later

16:33 Fun fact:This is one of oda’s most favourite panels from the series..

Yeah, Nami's response was a trauma response more than quick thinking, I felt too.

Merphy, could you watch one piece openings 1-14 please? Unless you seen them already

Fav part of skypiea was where sanji broke enel's ship before getting blasted and all he said was "thank you, I was looking for a light"with a cigarette in his mouth and then later saying "get ready to cry" before falling down.

Thank you Murphy. My biggest pet peeve about one piece is the lack of real consequences, like people dying, after being told multiple times that something will kill someone.