You can watch my review for the next arc (Skypiea Part 1) RIGHT NOW on Patreon here (5$+): www.patreon.com/Aleczandxr To follow the readthroughs on stream, you can follow me on Twitch here: www.twitch.tv/Aleczandxr/ Link to AJ's Discord server: discord.gg/Ekhz7PNuJd CURRENT TWITCH SCHEDULE: Mondays @ 10am EST: A Blind Playthrough of AI: The Somnium Files Wednesdays @ 10am EST: A Blind Playthrough of Xenoblade Chronicles 3/Haikyuu Discussions Sundays @ 11am EST: One Piece Chapter reads SOME FRIDAYS, I do full One Piece reading streams as well, starting from around 10-10:30am EST.

Just a reminder that saying "Pay attention to this aspect of the story going forward" is a spoiler! Anything that tries to influence AJ's way of reading and his expectations is a spoiler. If he misses something, he misses it, and like he has said before, he would rather miss something genuinely than catch on to things artificially.

People who say Skypiea is filler dont understand One Piece at all

One of the best and most fundamental arcs in the series The Blackbeard moment is legendary

"This arc was not short, it was almost 20 chapters!" (1:45:46) What a surreal thing to hear in a One Piece review

#AJPiece You even mentioned this little moment in the review and I wanted highlight it as one of my absolute favorite moments for Usopp. When looking for the South Bird and that tarantula crawls onto Nami she gets spooked and skeeved out, Sanji also gets the frightened and shies away from it. Meanwhile Usopp casually picks it up mentioning he used to play with spiders like it back home. He explains how if they don't scare it the spider wouldn't bite them. He knows it isn't venomous so even if it did bite them, no big deal. This part is a gag, but it also illustrates Usopp as a man of rational fear. Nami made a career of stealing from dangerous criminals, Sanji can kick a sea-cow so hard it flips over. In the last arc they were fighting a crime syndicate led by one of the most dangerous pirates on this side of the planet yet this tiny spider scares them? Usopp isn't just scared of everything, he's scared of the absolutely insane things that Sanji and Zoro don't bat an eye at when Luffy gets an idea. Though still susceptible to the occasional superstition-fright (though considering what the world of One Piece makes possible, may that isn't all that irrational) Usopp's fears are mostly grounded in reality and that handful of panels with the spider illustrate that beautifully to me.

I’m really glad to see you’re paying attention to Nami. I know from your livestreams you’re pretty deep into Skypeia at this point, but I think you should really keep in mind the Nami you see through Jaya/Skypeia as the story continues. I think Oda does some really incredible work with her that’s very understated and not often discussed.

Luffys reaction to Blackbeards speech has always stood out to me. Luffy is said to not have an internal monologue because he’s so straightforward he just says what he’s thinking aloud, but it almost seems like he was definitely thinking something about Blackbeard in that moment that he doesn’t really say. The “them” statement is still a mystery to this day, but I’m curious what else you think Luffy may have been thinking in that moment? #AJPiece

Blackbeard is so well introduced in this arc. From the moment he has his ridiculous argument with Luffy, he's shown to clearly stand alongside Luffy on a certain level. After Luffy utterly destroys Bellamy, Blackbeard steps up right away to present an actual threat to the Straw Hats. All of these oddballs we see around town are suddenly put into the spotlight; the loud, raucous jeering of the dreamless pirates gives way to the more silly, but also more chaotic and dangerous antagonists. Luffy only escapes them through sheer luck, or fate, as well as help from Cricket. Cricket and the Saruyama Alliance make the journey to Skypiea not only possible, but also more personal. They entrust the Straw Hats with their own dream, and get them to the Knock-up Stream in time to escape Blackbeard. An adventure, an escape and a promise all coincide and they make their way to the sky. It's also salt in Bellamy's wound that his philosophy brought him such a net loss. Nami embracing the adventurous spirit and taking command as everyone else is losing their minds is also just one of the best moments in the series. Somehow I never considered Noland's name as "No land" and I'm just wondering how I totally missed the pun so many times. #AJPiece

Vivi was fairly strong before the story as well, infiltrating Baroque Works and getting away with it for the longest time. Even finding out who the leader was when nobody in the organization even knew.

#AJPIECE I love how the tale of Noland seems to inform the rest of mocktown. It's a deliberate parallel to Roger, who of course started the great pirate era with his last breath, but in Jaya we see the flip side of that. The real takeaway for someone like Bellamy or the rest of the townsfolk was that following dreams like that is a fantasy and in the end gets you killed. In his defense, that's actually a perfectly rational takeaway. But in refusing to give into a sense of romance, he's reached his limit in the world. I interpret his insistence on crushing rookie's dreams is just a cope for his own cowardice.

#AJPiece I can't remember if you mentioned this during your review of Logue town, but I'm going to mention this here since you remarked that Sanji being from North Blue is new information! It is indeed new information but back in chapter 101 when they were entering the reverse mountain, Sanji seemed to know something about it already. And if you look at the map, it is impossible to go from North Blue to East Blue without crossing the Red Line! I.e. Sanji must have crossed the Red-Line before and hence wasn't as amused! The continuity is actually insane!

My favorite part about this arc is that it highlights the lyrics from the first opening “that legendary place, that the end of the map reveals! Is only legendary until someone proves it real!” That first opening really is special for a good reason, also because it’s an ear worm.

Jaya is one of the best setup arcs I've ever seen and the epic speech from Blackbeard still gives me chills also #AJPIECE how did you like the callback to Shanks in the bar getting drinks spilled all over him when Bellamy does the same to Luffy with Zoro I personally loved how it was handled especially how Luffy gives one of the most satisfying punches ever to Bellamy later then looking up after Sarquess asks him where he's going such goosebumps

For anyone wondering, early access for the next video review for Skypiea Part 1 is up on Patreon and it's 2 hours and 4 minutes ^_^

I love this Saga because it's pure adventure! The crew doesn't know what their goals are going forwards and it's exploring the unknown, which is always fun. Plus it expands the world to where there really are no limits to what this world has to offer, be it interesting locations and mysteries to ponder over.

Your comment about Jaya being a small-scale version of One Piece itself really reminded me of Nux Taku who shares the same sentiment about the entire saga. He also gushes a lot about the Bellamy fight because of yet another symbolism aspect that I believe wasn't mentioned here. He loves that the fight was over in 1 punch, which symbolizes how easy it is to shut off these peanut gallery people. Those people who like dragging other people's dreams down are loud, and boisterous but their "belief" and words, even they themselves carry so little weight that one punch is enough to put them all down.

The octopus fritter cannibalism is pretty funny bc i remember oda mentioning in one of the prior SBS's that Fishmen look down on sea life and humans while Mermaids get along with them

Speaking of luffy’s “intuition” on people, I believe it’s more of the fact that luffy sees others solely through their actions. When robin asks to the join the crew, the rest of the straw hats understandably exclaim how she literally just the Vice President of baroque works a couple days ago, how she’s a trained assassin, how strong she is and how much of a threat she can be, etc. which luffy brushes off becuz those details don’t matter to him. There’s also a few instances of this in the first few chapters when nami ties luffy up to hand over to buggy. Luffy exclaims (though humourously) in betrayal and petty stuff like “as if I’d let her in my crew!” but when she gave him a piece of food his opinion of her immediately changes into her being a good person and invites her again despite their positions, and also he doesn’t care that she blatantly admitted to being a thief that *steals from pirates.* As him and koby are sailing to shellstown, koby is constantly barraging him with rumours of zoro being demon-like, and even when the townspeople are terrified of zoro and morgan’s names, luffy just proposes that “maybe they just like to do that” and doesn’t hold any opinion of zoro or morgan as luffy just observes zoro at first as he tries bribing them until the scene when he eats the onigiri and states his ambition to survive where he assumedly concludes zoro is a good person. It’s not like luffy has any innate sense that lets him judge people on a whim. He just has the ability to view everyone without any prior bias or skepticism to their motives, like how he happily accepts the money and food without understanding their quite obvious tone. It’s an admirable trait to have, though it can be very naive.

1:02:30 Decompression Sickness (DCI), commonly known as Diver's sickness. When you go too deep, pressure makes gasses like nitrogen saturate your body tissues. The deeper you go, the more it happens. As you ascend, you slowly clear it out, just by normally breathing at a lower pressure, but if you ascend too fast, it can supersaturate your tissue, form bubbles and interfere with your blood flow and oxygenation

I love how Blackbeard, from this introduction, is set as a parallel and at the same time fully opposite to Luffy. The same drive within, the same belief in dreams, but, Luffy hates the pie and loves the drink, Blackbeard loves the pie and hates the drink. Luffy follows the road and makes himself through it, adapting and growing, Blackbeard is trying to forcibly make a road that would fit him, looking for someone noisy to catch and sell to the World Government in exchange for a position among the Warlords. Luffy would happily give his life for anyone in his crew, Blackbeard killed a crewmate and bolted. And there's more parallels to come

I love how you point out the parallel between starting the arc with a ship falling down and ending the arc with a ship going up. Oda does like his bookends and symmetry

I'm so glad you're doing these videos. I keep looking forward to each one. I've been watching One Piece since 2010 and have caught up multiple times but watching these discussions of each arc is bring up a new appreciation of the story I didn't have before and a lot of nostalgia as well. There are so many moments I can't wait for you to talk about. I've started reading the manga from the beginning because of these videos as well. Keep up the great work I'm absolutely loving the videos.

I've been following OP for about 20 years now. This is the first time I've heard that Haki was mentioned in Jaya.

It is now, a great Friday with this upload

#AJPiece Now that you are way further in the story, did you notice the change in the art? I recommend you comparing some early chapters panels vs now, it’s always fun to see the evolution!

Ahh the first question was kinda trying to seek your insight into how those *types* of powers will be dealt with in the future. For example, crocodile was defeated using water, so that his sand would clump together instead of being untouchable. So, the question is more asking, how do you think other such powers could be defeated? Water attacks seem like a good way to fight someone like ace, but how would you counter smoker's smoke? And, moreover, if there are other elemental type powers, what would it take to defeat them? I like this question because it was burning in my mind for so many chapters ever since loguetown. How can you beat a smoke man?

Great discussion, I was surprised that it was this long for a relatively shorter arc but it's all merited. This is, to this day, one of the most underrated arcs and that moment you discussed is part of why.

Love the use of the amazing spread as a thumbnail.

Love your discussion on the bar moment and what it represents. Love seeing a cultured Jaya lover. This is a special arc in a lot of ways and still one of my favourites.

Most smaller arcs like this before and after big arcs are just so damn good for world building you love to see it.

You always make the best reviews. Great video.

Glad to see you tackle this arc in such a thorough manner (as usual). Jaya's one of my favorite arcs in the series to this day largely because of Bellamy, which you already made excellent points for with regards to Idealism and cynicism. Even in just his epithet "the hyena", plays into jaya's themes super interestingly regarding it's symbolism. How they're a despised species in most cultures (don't hesitate to cheat and steal), and originally feed off others' corpses (chasing pirates with lower bounties and lower grade than him). Alongside just an overall motif for rudeness and cowardice, how his speech comes off as very repetitive throughout jaya. Bellamy's character's super dogmatic and fixed on the idea that a new age doesn't exist as you said, just like a hyena's included in a binary system. His thoughts are based on a manichean way of viewing things where he's 100% certain his values are right so therefore that's what his identity's solely constructed on. I think he's great set up for Skypiea, as I find Jaya as a whole great being more of a comprehensive setup for the concept of dreams. I don't often tune in frequently for reviews but I consistently listen to these whenever I can and appreciate the dedicated time and effort that goes into sharing these experiences with your fanbase. #AJPiece

16:48 that’s a great summary of what Jaya arc represents and I’m glad you picked up on that.

Not sure whether these videos gets the views it deserves.. but man as a long time fan these videos really do hit home 😊 feels like im reading this for the first time just listing to this. keep up the amazing work good sir.#AJPIECE

I knew that up to this very day you already finished Water 7/Enies Lobby arc, but it really amazed me that your theory about Robin was on point! (Idk if it was only me who didn't paid attention to it but yeah 👍) I'm now binge watching all your OP reviews!

Jaya is one of my favorite arcs in the series and one I feel like not enough people appreciate. So obviously I was thrilled to hear your thorough take on the themes and ideas presented in it.

i've been reading One Piece (currently at chapter 476) and after it when i have some extra time watching these videos about the arcs. Your explanations, added bits of information and reviews elevate my experience which makes me love this story so much more. I'm obsessed with One Piece, i never thought i would ever say that but part of it is thanks to you, so thank you! I will probably thank you again once i'm caught up with both One Piece and your videos😁

#AJPiece Another significant aspect about Luffy and Blackbeard's first interaction was pointed out to me: They order a drink and a pie but while one likes the drink, the other hates it and vice-versa with the pie. Importantly, they order the SAME things, but enjoyed different aspects of it. I think this scene establishes Blackbeard as a character that has the SAME ideals or philosophies as Luffy. BUT maybe he'll go about it in a completely opposite manner? They want the same thing but appreciate different aspects of it and if that "thing" is freedom, then maybe Oda will explore the negative consequences (or approaches) of Freedom through Blackbeard? Those being Chaos and the problems they bring and how, in a chaotic world, strength becomes authority and the only people who're truly free in that kinda world are people with strength. But if that "thing" is the pursuit of dreams, then my theory is that Blackbeard will pursue his dreams single-mindedly without any concern for the harm done to others. We've seen in Luffy, in case of Vivi for example, that he will not only concern himself but also actively help the people around as he continues his journey. But if this theory about Blackbeard and Luffy is correct, then my expectations of how Oda will handle Marines and the world government are so high - I want to see these two sides reflected in the Marines as well. One representing the good aspects of regulations and order (Smoker?), while the other demonstrating the bad consequences of them (like in the very first arc of One piece but maybe someone who's way more significant to compare to Smoker lol).

Thanks for this. Some great reaction and few new details for me, as I switch to the manga far later than this.

I think you misunderstood the first question. He wasn’t referring specifically to Ace or Smoker but the type of power they posses, being immune to basically almost every attack

Figured I'd say thanks for getting me into Haikyuu. Just finished it and I enjoyed it greatly, especially the final arc. What was interesting to me was the clear One Piece influence throughout and how the vibes of OP transferred over to a sports anime with that desire to be the most free on the court and a few cheeky references. At first I thought i was going crazy with it up till Hinata used One Piece to bond with his roommate. Perfectly in character for his favorite to be Zoro, since he's the most like Luffy there and he's gotta support his first mate. Thanks again for the great content and getting me into another great series. #AJPiece

Thank you!

I Love BIRD D. ARM and ACE D. LUFFY

Great video.

Gotta watch fast!

That South Bird stream moment with arms was hilarious. lol Great analogy. I love how you realize the depth of Bellamy too. Blackbeard is one of the most interesting characters, but Bellamy is underrated.

Caught up damn this series is awesome i missed out on all the nuance cause i was kinda young when watched but was engrossed as a kid and engrossed now

As far as I know the line about Blackbeard being "they" still hasn't been explained. I always thought that it was just that Luffy and Zoro noticed his crew hanging around, or maybe just thought he had the vibe of a leader and guessed he had people following him. But people do like to speculate about what else it could mean.

1. There was some foreshadowing that Sanji was from the north blue. He knew the only way to get to the grandline was traversing the redline some how. 2. Cricket passed out from the bends which is a real thing that happens if you dive really deep then come up fast.

#AJPiece one part that made me fall in love with peace as a person who started reading it earlier this year is how one piece treats women, especially with Nami, from my limited experience with anime and manga, women usually get sidelined and are not as important to the story as the male cast, one piece on the other hand presents equality under the themes of family, for example, Nami's role as the navigator, where the crew put their undying trust in her to lead them through the grand line, their reactions to her going sick that led to drum island, and in this arc, where luffy's promise to her to not cause any problems is used masterfully to strengthen his connection to shanks, might be uninteresting to you, but I just find it fascinating and beautiful that in this dog eats dog world, in this very crew genders do not matter and everyone is equal

What I love about Blackbeard's introduction is that we first see him in what another KZfaqr (Savage Books) would call an "Antagonist at Rest" scene. Really unusual for a manga.

I love Jay so much. Its got a nice, tight, thematic story and introduces my favorite character and villain - Blackbeard. Immediately establishes him as a foil to Luffy.

I watched One Piece in german until e400 and then switched to the manga... So I am very surprsied that HAKI was name dropped so early in the series! Transled in German language it never was obvious to me. Ode is such a master!

Regarding Luffy's intuition, I think you could say that it's not on point if you focus on his encounter with Bellamy. I for one had the complete opposite feeling when I read that scene bcs Bellamy, even though an antithesis to Luffy and the Crew, didn't pose a real threat to him hence Luffy wasn't on alert. But even after what Blackbeard said about dreams, Luffy just listens, didn't become friendlier or anything. So, I do think his instincts told him that this man is dangerous and/or has different values than himself. Luffy also quickly noted that BB is not alone (the "them" part), which I always interpret as a reference to BB crew, that his and Zoro's intuition sensed that BB had crew mates with him. Another point, Zoro follows Luffy('s order) and sure, Luffy is the captain but I strongly believe it was due to Zoro's trust in Luffy's gut feelings (and probably his own as well, since he also noticed that BB wasn't alone). The way Luffy and Zoro's relationship is shown here is so beautiful, just pure trust and deep understanding of e.o. Zoro is the first mate, Luffy's right hand you could say (e.g. when he told Zoro to rescue Smoker). I wonder how the others would have reacted in the bar, but I do believe that Nami represents them and their reaction would be similar to hers (except for Robin, who seems unfazed). For me, this highlights these two Strawhats beautifully, who are the most vocal about their dreams (which isn't to counter what you said, but just another interpretation depending on the focus). Hope you get my points, sry English is not my first language >///< #AJPiece

Jaya is beautiful. Favorite hype arc

#AJPiecejust a few smaller details I find interesting I'd like to mention. 1. The bar scene is obviously a call back to the Shanks/bandits scene, but it's interesting that Luffy and Zoro did get minor injuries when Shanks didn't. Which I take as while the pirates are hollow, they went to sea and risked their lives in a way the bandits never did. 2. As someone mentioned the spring fruit is very opposite to the rubber fruit, but also it means that Luffy really can't be hurt from Bellamy uses blunt force which basically doesn't work on Luffy. 3. In the forest Zoro says he feels no pity for killing the caterpillars because they "challenged" him, but he later says he pities Bellamy who also "challenged" him. An interesting little bit of hypocrisy from Zoro.

The arm thing was hilarious!

56:46 *Do not worry Good Sir, you didnt miss anything.... But it is quite "Interresting" , something to not forget.* [ Saying any more would be far too much about *Kurohige/Blackbeard.* ] - Anyway, thank you very much once again for this beautiful review Sir Aleczandxr

56:56 Two major camps formed around that phrase at that point in time: 1. They noticed the rest of the crew around, and they knew the whole crew was keeping an eye on the interaction. Blackbeard looked alone at that precise moment, but he wasn't alone at all. 2. There's something fuckingly weird about Kurohige

The more I think back to the Blackbeard scene, the more I love it. Genuinely phenomenal

that moment when luffy and zoro called marshall D teach a "they" is one of the most enduring mysteries of one piece and it has always kept building up to this very day .. i really can't wait for your take on that .. i only know that the pay off will be legendary in caliber ...

#AJPiece carving holes in the skulls of living people was actually a practice performed by real life prehistoric humans. it's called trepanning and whether medical or spiritual, not much is known about it's purpose but seeing as similarly trepanned skulls have been found all over the world across a multitude of cultures, it's safe to say it was seen as effective or important to early humans. apart from that i always liked how jaya sets up the theme of faith that oda explores going forward into this saga. nami, being smarter than most, is skeptical of the sky island at first but is willing to have a little faith for the sake of her crewmates. it shows when she is laughed at in the bar. her reaction isn't one of anger or indignation, it's embarrassment. she knows it's kinda ridiculous but she's willing to have a little faith in her captain. i find it fitting that this arc begins with a quote from a fictitious author "anything man can imagine is possible in reality"

Time for one of my few comments on Aleczandrs channel, around 1:19:00 you talk about the people that shout the loudest being the most insecure, but that is actually not just something people do because they are unsure, it is actually a tactic used in discussion (I know it from philosophy). Basically, you find something you want to believe, but before you believe in something you try your best to put holes into whatever theory, position or believe to ensure the position before you might take over that position yourself. Or in terms of the manga you could say that Bellamy, in his subconscious, might have wanted someone to prove to him that dreams can get true, so he targets those dreamers to prove to him that there is more to it and until Luffy (btw, fun fact, in the German version he is called Ruffy, which kind of makes sense as 'L' and 'R' have no distinction in Japanese, but still) hammers him into the ground no dreamer could beat him and show him that another way existed.

#AJPiece I'm not making any statement on the history or role of the Emerald City in One Piece, but in literature the Emerald City is the home of the Wizard in Wizard of Oz, a fable like El Dorado In regards to the "it's 'them'" comment from Luffy and Zoro in regards to Blackbeard, I once again am not implying anything about its narrative significance, an alternative translation of Zoro's comment is him saying "There's more than one, I think". Another interesting thing to note is Blackbeard's pirate flag seen when chasing Luffy, instead of a single skull and crossbones his emblem is 3 skulls on 6 bones. I genuinely don't know that these are literal, related or have anything to do with the narrative at all, but I think they're fun things to chew on and theory craft. It's also been noted that Blackbeard doesn't always have the same number of teeth in every panel during Jaya, but that could just be Oda's artistic license too. Regardless, you now have the same clues we do, and thank you so much for great content. You're the first analysis I've seen to look at One Piece so earnestly rather than the power scaling shonen bubble that normally exists on KZfaq and I'm enjoying all of your reviews so much :)

Emerald city might be a reference to wizard of oz!

I'll be honest, I used to watch the sub, I now read the manga,but I absolutely love the dub moment of luffy vs bellamy, Bellamy's voice actor absolutely smashes it "there's no city of gold, no island in the sky, just oceans and ships and the men who sail them" combined with him bouncing around the screen, I love it

Love the AJ piece comments fr fr ❤

Jaya is has the best introduction to an arc and is for me the best when it comes to funny moments and crew dynamics! South D. Bird sends his regards 😂😂😂

#AJPiece Whenever Robin uses her ability you can see petals floating around as a reverence to it being the hana hana no mi, which translates to flower flower fruit. Just thought we should let you know ;)

#AJPiece Not sure if this has been touched on by anyone yet, if it has just ignore this. On the note of the town being called Mock Town being directly related to how the crew was treated in this arc we have seen a location's name take similar significance before. Looking back to Loguetown using "Logue" as in the Epilogue of Roger's journey and the end of the Prologue of Luffy's journey. Drawing more attention to this is Chapter 100, in which the crew leave Loguetown behind, being titled something akin to "The Legend Begins" based on what translation you read. Pretty interesting that Oda chooses to label this point as the beginning and establishing all of east blue as this sort of a preamble almost. Anyways keep up the great reviews, sharing the experiences of this story that has stayed with so many of us throughout our years reading it is always such a blast for the community.

the whole clip that he thought the bird had arms was hilariously great XD

Catching beetles in Asia is very popular, bro👌👍

15:58 I thought he was gonna say “and you guys know how much I like crack”

The "It's not he, it's them, I think" moment could not be referring to Blackbeard's crew, because there is no way to tell if he even has a crew (trust me, even late in the series there is no equivalent scene where a crew's presence can be known just by looking at a Captain), so here is my guess on what happened: Luffy and Zoro recognize the face of the man in front of them talking about dreams as being similar/same as the guy in the bar with opposing tastes than Luffy, yet also sense a difference in the presence (there is a ways to sense presence, which I argue both Luffy and Zoro aquired a primative form of during the war at Alabasta) of the man in front of them, and therefore there must be at least two men with similar/same faces in town right now, but because their senses were still so primative they can't be sure of that conclusion, and thus "not him, but them, I think".

When Zoro says "it's not him, it's *them* " he's implying that he's now aware that their crew was under the eye of that dude's crew all day: from the moment van Augur shot the seagulls, to the apple guy, to now their captain, the strawhats have been followed. This is confirmed at the end of the arc, when we see those random characters as a whole crew. They have been marking their territory the whole time. Of course fans read more into it and theorize about it. Don't look for those theories. But even if the theories will be true one day, this would just be a cool foreshadowing, because Luffy and Zoro now are not strong enough to perceive whatever the theories suggest about that *them* . There have been theories since the time the chapter came out, but for now the only clear and logical explanation is what I told you

The Bellamy Punch is still in my top 5 One Piece Moments. Not only does he deserve it, making it impossibly cathartic. I love how it shows just the kind of respect bounties give people. Like its a street cred level, but also that those bounties mean something. Even the pirates of the world understand that the Marines don't just give people bounties for no reason. It also puts sharply into context that Luffy is NOT one to be messed with, and despite his sunny disposition, if you set him off, nothing will save you from him. As much as I love Luffy's happy side, I love when he gets serious and scary.

The people who say to skip arcs are missing the whole point of them. This is a story about people coming together to live for their dreams. Simply trying to get to a sky island required tons of effort and luck, as well as coming to understand a bitter old man's heart. Jaya and Skypiea show marked growth on everyone's part, especially Luffy and Nami. Even if the events of Skypiea never affect the main plot, the fact that the crew all put their hearts and minds toward this crazy goal (even the reserved and pragmatic Robin) and FOUND SOMETHING THERE is indicative of Oda's message. The people they meet there and the interactions they have, have value even if they're never seen or talked about again. It took me a reread to really appreciate this saga myself (besides the conflict surrounding Bellamy) but the wonder of it, as well as the horror it belies, are a reflection of the story up to this point. Skipping arcs to get to the "good ones" ironically hollows the heart and thematic weight of the "good ones". I remember you said in your 3-arc video that that stretch was not amazing for you, but imagine having skipped them to get to Drum Island, or Alabasta? There would be so much less to Alabasta, and the progression of the arc itself would be so confusing. And those are just setup arcs, not the culmination of a saga! I know you've finished Skypiea by the time I'm writing this comment, and I know you're not going to skip other arcs. I just think it's ironic that this is a story where information, and how people manipulate it, is key to so many crucial plot points, and some readers try to tell newcomers to leave parts out.

Blackbeard's first appearance with luffy notes that he does not like the drink while luffy does. The second time when he says the quote about dreams, he talks in a different way compared to the way he talked in the bar, also says he likes the drink. Almost as if he has a second personality. Not he, them. That is what I get out of Luffy's and Zoro's statements.

don't know if somebody already made you notice it, but the five elders all resemble physically some of the great leaders of our times (for example, thu guy in the white dress looks like ghandi)

28:35 we dont breath out pure carbon dioxide, out of the oxygen we do breath in, only a portion of it is used up and turned into carbon dioxide, so yes, masira breathing out does work

#AJPiece Watching your videos, I am starting to see how much I underappreciated a lot of what this manga talks about. Perhaps I got a lot of the stuff on a more subconsious level, but I definitely didn't read in such a slow pace to really ask myself too deep of a questions about the characters and the topics. I admire your ability to be able to see through so many of those elements. I remember that we were asked to analyse different literature at school and what the author thought when they were writing them and I always hated that subject, because I wouldn't be able to express it verbally as well as I feel it. Watching these videos makes me want to take my time a bit more whilst reading different manga I enjoy, rather than blasting through it, just to get the outline of the story. I think it's that what makes the general reader say that "This arc was boring" or "This arc was filler", because it required a more subtle look. My question is, I believe Oda said himself, if I am not mistaken, that he has fun with the story, because he himself doesn't know what the characters will do next, and so do you think that authors like him are actually kind of learning about the topics you discuss by drawing and seeing how their characters would act in those situations, rather than already having an idea that they want to write about "freedom" or "dreams" or "fate", etc.?

Super late comment but only just started watching your videos. I think the "them" is just referring to the fact that all the weird people they've been seeing around town are actually part of Blackbeard's crew. I think that's why Nami also asks if he has a crew or anything - I feel like it's meant to be foreshadowing as 10 chapters later they show BB's whole crew.

Glad you liked this arc! About how Robin is addressing the crew, I imagine she is still afraid to get too attached even though she likes them. Since you noticed that, you will definitely notice when she will begin using their names. So Sanji was born in the North Blue. This together with the panel of him that you mentioned in 1:04:52 are the fourth hint that there is more to him that we already know. I think you mentioned Bellamy 's flag somewhen. Without revealing anything, it's not actually his, he is operating under someone else 's authority. Thank you again for the video! It's always lovely to hear your thoughts.

1:02:47 geography is everything

That moment where "luffy's intuition was wrong of Bellamy" is so wild... knowing what happens in dressrosa

The Blackbeard comment regarding "he vs them" thankfully can't be spoiled because it's still an ongoing mystery as to Blackbeard's true nature! So any explanation you get from someone regarding that is just fan theories until we get hard confirmation from Oda in the series proper.

This phenomena that plagued Cricket is known as "The Bends".

FINALLLLLLLYYYYY🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Arm D. Bird moment

#AJpiece I always translated the "it's not a he, it's a them" line as Blackbeard's crew. That the rest of them are all observing out of direct line of sight. Luffy and Zoro with their battle trained situational awareness notice them but Nami doesn't. And this bit of the arc is more Nami's POV than anyone else's

Could someone tell me where in the jaya arc haki is mentioned?!??

#AJPiece Whitebeard didn’t find the letter disrespectful, not exactly, he views shanks as a lower human , so he hated the fact that he treating him as equal and sends a letter to him , it is just Oda’s way to give every character some flaws to make them feel more human

#AJPiece after the skypia arc there is a filler arc the "G-8 Arc" (anime only.) highly regarded as one of the best one piece arcs... i really wonder if you are going to watch it and make a small video about it ??? i know right now you do manga only but it would be really nice to see what you think about it and how well it fits into the story ...

Don't get me wrong, these videos are really good but having the chill Xenoblade music in the background still makes them 10 times better somehow.

Jaya is incredibly fun

The black beard scene with They/Them is widely debated. Due to later moments that I won’t spoil. Some believe it’s because the crew of black beard are nearby others have crafted theories because of this scene and future events. It hasn’t been confirmed either way. #AJPiece

Yes! While it has never been directly confirmed, it has been speculated that Jaya is based off the island of Tortuga, though not the Pirates of the Caribbean one, but rather the actual real life Tortuga from the golden age of piracy, which was a lot more sinister and seedy than its movie counterpart.

where is your shirt from?? is that a volleyball kirby? why is he red? looks sick but i have so many questions

FINALLYYYYYY