English Professor’s Thoughts on Enies Lobby and Post Enies Lobby Arcs (Water 7 Saga - One Piece)

I want to live four words that for me sum up the spirit of One Piece beautifully four words that affirm how in the company of our nak and in pursuit of our dreams life has meaning four words in defiance of those who in their fear and their Greed for power often disguised behind words like justice and the greater good would take me leaning away from others these four words are words of Courage of Love of affirmation they insist despite loss and sorrow on the Beauty and The Wonder of Life they give voice to the Eternal yes that underlies existence I want to laugh I want to cry I want to live me too Robin me too let's talk about the enny lobby and post enny Lobby arcs of the water 7 Saga let's talk about one piece on the way to en's Lobby we see Frankie and Robin still captive and Frankie's joy and Defiance are still evident he is such a beloved character for me because of this Saga I really enjoyed Frankie a lot and I really love his affirmation to Robin when he simply tells her existing is not not a crime what a moment and of course we proceed to en's Lobby which is formidable and bizarre a product of oda's fertile imagination uh it is ringed with Peril and it is also of course where the world government asserts its right to dispense Justice an important symbol of power to bring about the consent of people around the world and we also here meet the rest of CP 9 and we see the colorful Alliance of the straw hats the Frankie family and the galaw crew and there is of course sniper King there with his cape his heroic cape and uh everyone except for Luffy and Chopper it seems and of course many of us fans as well uh realize that U sniper King is actually us up but uh Luffy is just such a lovable idiot and maybe he is not very perceptive sometimes in in ways that are conventional but he is still very perceptive and Brilliant in other ways in that he asserts in an almost prophetic way in this moment that Robin doesn't want to die and true to form he ignores the plan and just leaps out ahead of everyone to find and protect his beloved friend and here we see the Loyalty of Luffy and the straw hats once again now I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail about all the fight scenes and everything but it is of course crazy overthe toop delightful hysterical chaotic and of course there are incredible odds facing our friends uh you have Giants uh you have a devoted frog you have new Devil fruits and so much more in all this epic action and it all showcases oda's wonderful imagination and missst it all of course you have spandam or as I like to call him spandex because spandex is really not my style you have his continual assertion that in perpetrating violence and oppression uh in other words sacrifices as he calls them he is working for justice and peace and how 1984 can you get you know you also have Luchi insistence that murder is Justified and you have the symbolism of the threaded Baskerville the Chief Justice of Lobby and this of course I feel has to be a nod to Monty Python go and watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail uh where there is a three-headed giant uh which is just absurd and silly but I think the symbolism that Oda brings to this is just brilliant uh you have uh a an assertion of just how contradictory and Whimsical and inconsistent and self-serving Justice can be in the world and it turns out in the end to be a sham that these three this three-headed giant is not what it seems that it's actually three individuals playing at being a chief justice when you we sort of have the curtain removed almost like in The Wizard of Oz you have the curtain removed and there you see how things are really working behind the scenes and you realize this is a sham uh so that's a really powerful moment there I think that uh Oda is just brilliantly weaving into this statement and his exploration of Justice and where it comes from and its consequences in the world and you have this beautiful determined Alliance to save Robin and Frankie and I just love every moment of it and amidst it we continuously see the impossible which Oda often symbolizes with flying even a sea train can fly I mean you've got you've got it all right there you've got a train that runs on the sea and it's flying uh just brilliant uh but there is this refusal to give up the will to keep on fighting to keep on living to the end even when everything seems hopeless this is the beauty of One Piece it's not just about the power that the friends use to defy the villains here it's also about the forming of bonds it's about all kinds of touches here and there of cleverness as well such as the moment when Usopp wins over over the Giants and brings them over to their side there are just so many heroic moments in all of this uh there also great new insights into some of the Beloved characters such as zoro's demon summoning with his uh with his sword and the assura that is invoked the asuras being figures of opposition to the dvas in the Hindu Pantheon and you also see Luffy with his new gears I mean uh he risks everything to save his friends here and I think that's a cool thing that we're seeing here with the development of these new powers uh that they dig deeper and deeper within themselves to call these forth but there's also a danger in that there's a danger into tapping into so much power and it's a little bit ominous and I think perhaps a bit of a foreshadowing that of something that may be coming in the future in one piece as our friends tap more and more into their powers uh there may be consequences that are not so welcome and a lot of this reaching for more power is often accompanied by some delightful comedy such as the moment when uh Frankie expands his his his butt uh in in order to help Robin one one piece definitely leaves you laughing and crying simultaneously uh the paos of Robin wanting to die in order to spare her friends uh but also this is coming from her despair the despair of a life which I'm going to talk to a little more detail later but this despair is contrasted with Luffy's nose-picking reaction and this and his stubborn refusal to abandon her telling her he's going to save her now and she can die later if she wants to he is a true nakama uh and the straw hats all of them line up to let Robin know that they are there for her in such a beautiful moment I did a a lot of laughing and crying while reading this and just so many great highlights that I could uh shout out here but Robin's anguish is given full expression through her flashback when we learn about the tragedy of her youth the loss of Ohara and the use of weapons such as the Buster call by the powerful to annihilate entire populations erasing the humanity of such people by reducing them to other to abstractions on a map the cowardice and heinousness of slaughtering people from afar with overpowered weapons that's what we see here Belling the loud claims of those committing such atrocities that they are doing this in the name of justice and peace we see the loneliness of Robin's youth but also where she deres her passion for knowledge her ideals her belief that knowing the the past is crucial to making the present and the future better those from the past have a message for us a warning to heed and this is symbolized beautifully by the poneglyph and we see od's brilliant symbolism again the place where the scholars gather on Ohara in Pursuit Of Truth is the tree of knowledge this of course has a very biblical resonance and those like Professor Clover uh Robins mother olvia and Robin herself those who defy the powers that be in seeking knowledge to shed light on the void of History are punished because they threaten the control and The Narrative of those who are in power which of course they will enforce with terrible violence to keep their power this of course relates to oda's exploration of religion backed authoritarianism in the skypia Saga you certainly do though have some who work within the system with Integrity like the giant Saul who sees the humanity of the oppressed and ultimately he chooses empathy over obedience he chooses Humanity over power and of course he pays a price we also learned that aiji and thank you for those of you who uh helped me with the pronunciation uh we learned that aliji uh or as Kuan as he was was known uh before becoming aiji uh we learned about his complex relationship with Robin he is both an ally of A Sort and a threat uh and of course his interpretation of justice is something that seems to be an interesting one he does not agree with those he works alongside at times when they go in his eyes too far in their pursuit of Justice at any rate Robin survives a small Light Of Hope as the world government destroys Ohara and Slaughters its people in the name of controlling the narrative and retaining power burying the secret of the Void in history that occurred when the world government Rose to power I found the development of Robin's character and her backstory so compelling she was probably already my favorite character in one piece uh but now we get such a a closeup of her personal tragedy the destruction of her home in the Buster call in the name of Justice the separation from and loss of her mother her years of survival uh her trauma and the Betrayal that she experiences by those who should have protected her her isolation and the exploitation of her by those with ambition like crocodile no wonder she's found it difficult to form bonds she fears for those that she loves but also we see her determination to honor the past and thus also the future to uncover and preserve the truth to be a light in the darkness with the promise of Saul's words that she will one day find a family again that she will not always be alone she has trouble accepting this message uh of feeling worthy because she fears being a burden and a danger but that family that she's going to have is of course the straw hats and they won't let her deny it Luffy defies the darkness and the overwhelming power of the world government when he tells sniper King to shoot down the world government's flag it's of course tapping into the symbolism of the flags here you see it all the time with the the pirate flags uh but this is a Defiance of the inhumanity and power of the idea that Justice doesn't involve sentiment this is an affirmation of sentiment and the value of the individual Luffy urges Robin to confront her value and her desire to live and she does it and one of the most beautiful moments my favorite panel of this entire the entirety of one piece so far has to be when Robin asserts that she wants to live and she wants to go to see with her family to continue the adventure of life to pursue her dreams that give her meaning this is of course when the outcome of this entire thing is decided but how's it going to go down and uh we're going to have of course a lot of fun seeing how it does uh so there's just epic action that follows from here uh with so many moments of hilarity uh some endearing absurdity uh unabashed silliness and of course win if it kills you heroism such as Frankie's destruction of the blueprints for the pluton or the several duel between the straw hats and cp9 where Frankie is already acting like one of the crew I got that one right one of my predictions I actually got right so I'm pretty happy about that uh we also see the the hunt for the key to unlock Robin and the crew reaching the limit and Beyond and like when Chopper transforms into ironically a monster because of course he had been called a monster and we know Chopper is not a monster but there is this level apparently of Choppers and this is again tapping into uh more power but there are consequences to tapping into this and I really love that Oda I I believe is this is something that he's going to follow up on but I love that he's including it here uh I think as a kind of force for shadowing of what's to come of course I wish I had time to relive every one of those moments uh in this video but I don't but here are a few that really made me laugh and cheer such as when Frankie Frankie's moment when he says no one calls me panties or zoro's nose storm the killer blade when he's got poor O up on his sword and he's using it as as a weapon oh my goodness or sanji's back uh as the Hunter and his recognition of his teammate strengths while he is affirming usopp's Place among the straw hats and how necessary he will be in this quest to save Robin you have Luffy's ability to bounce back again and again for his friends and Robin's determination to live and of course usopp's heroism while singing the sniper King theme song what a glorious moment uh it's just wonderful to see all the straw hats working together and the final scramble to avoid the destruction and the inhumanity of the Buster call as everyone digs deeper to survive and to save their friends and I'd one big shout out to kakora the mermaid here for her moment as well for saving her friends from drowning and the reunion I love a good reunion in storytelling and there were some Beauties here uh there's nothing like an emotional reunion uh to get the tears flowing and to affirm the value of family you have Nami and Chopper swatting Sanji aside in order to embrace Robin uh you have Luffy's final battle against Luchi while his friends are waiting for him and rooting for him and Usopp urging Luffy to fight on so they can all go back together and you had the survival of the Frankie family and the gala crew that was a beautiful moment and I was very happy for Frankie when he realized that uh his his Bros were okay and then of course you have the final escape the last escape from the world government forces thanks to some cleverness from Sanji in closing the gates of justice and thus throwing off all those cannons aimed at the the straw hats and their friends and also of course the incredible navigational skills of Nami in finding the winning path through it all but most of all the final appearance of their home and their fellow crewmate the going Mary now did I cry over the fate of a ship I am not ashamed to say that I did uh it was such a beautiful moment uh for me uh when uh the going Mary turns up and calls her crew mates to her one final time and we learn how Iceberg shows up of course he shows up and he he informs the straw hats how uh he helped the going Mary to give her all one last time for them like a true member of the crew and it is the end of a splendid life it is also I think a moment of of real reflection about yes this is is a story about never giving up about pursuing your dreams but death is also an important part of life and this is a moment of acceptance uh there is of course at uh the going Mary's funeral uh a fire funeral at Sea uh you do have a touch of comedy with Luffy still not realizing that the sniper King is Usopp uh thinking oh gosh it's a good thing usopp's not here he'd be taking this really hard uh you have these just gorgeous use of flashbacks this is something that Oda does a lot I realize uh but I love it here so much the gorgeous use of flashbacks that just rip your heart out as all the crew say goodbye uh at the during this funeral is just so beautiful and so poignant and afterwards there are new beginnings and Promises of new adventures and a bigger world you have Frankie's dream and the uh Jewel tree called Adam this is a name that of course is very suggestive of Origins and the result of Frankie's dream is uh his his ship of Dreams uh his and his desire of course to have the straw hats be the ones to sail it it's interesting to see how Frankie went from a ship Builder uh ships with weapons when he was young uh to a point where he was traumatized because someone used exploited his ships in a way that was destructive uh and then finally he becomes a dismantler as a result of that trauma as a result of that experience it's like he's trying to take apart the thing that earlier he had built in order to elay his guilt uh from that uh what he regards as his betrayal in a way of course it's inadvertent but his ships were used in the plot to uh incarcerate and kill Tom his mentor but it's so beautiful how he goes from ship Builder to dismantler to again a ship one who builds ships here uh so he's gone full circle here and I really love this moment a lot and then of course there's GARP Luffy's grandfather okay there's a ton of and especially in the post and's Lobby just a ton of Revelations here and Oh I thought I felt like I was getting hit left and right with all these big bombs uh but GARP is Luffy's grandfather whoa okay and of course there's the four Emperors we learned about the four Emperors of which one is Shang Shanks my buddy Shanks I'm I'm looking forward to some more Shanks here uh and of course these four Emperors are in opposition to the world government and the world government's seven Warlords so I feel like there's some just epic huge stuff out there on the horizon here uh and of course you have Kobe and Helo can't forget helppo and of course they have their dreams and there's this whole all this talk about the new world and and oh wow how what a promising Horizon that is uh and of course there's this rivalry rivalry friendship between Kobe and and Luffy something that I'm I'm sure we're going to be seeing uh much more of in the future and then I can't forget Monkey D Dragon uh Monkey D Dragon uh a revolutionary and Luffy's father uh I one question I do have is does Monkey D Dragon also pick his nose like Luffy and GARP he seems a bit too serious to be picking his nose but I don't know uh and of course we have to have a party uh Oda as everyone has been telling me loves his parties and here we have another beautiful one but the moment at the party that I loved the most was when aii gets uh Whispers to Robin and uh uh quite apart from the rest of the Gathering you have this like this reminder of their rivalry SL friendship and this final affirmation that Robin has indeed found a family and that she will make her life meaningful so I thought that was a really nice parting there and another big thing we get in here is the meeting between Whitebeard and Shanks uh there are huge implications here also some history and backstory including mentions of gold D Roger uh but Shanks fundamentally he's there to ask Whitebeard to call off Ace from his search for black beard uh so this is uh there are implications here for this new era that we are entering upon and it looks like it's going to be an era of chaos a descent into madness and grabs for power with increasing stakes and with the straw hats making a very big impression with their new bounties I thought it was so funny how Sanji reacted to his picture and of course you have poor Chopper uh not not feeling so great about being worth only 50 berries so even there there's some comedy uh but there are amidst all of this big reactions to the the straw hats and their exploits uh there are two more really emotional uh and also just hilarious moments one is of course Frankie joining the straw hats being goated very publicly uh through the Abduction of his Speedo the chase through the streets of water 7 uh by the Frankie family with with uh with Luffy playing a role in all of that as well uh the urging of Iceberg I thought that was a beautiful moment these two brothers uh Iceberg urges Frankie to forgive himself and to pursue his dream and of course uh a final role in all of this is Robin's very firm hand or I probably should say firm hands urging on Frankie as well uh so yes you have the straw hats who finally do get their ship right and I got that one right I'm so happy you know I got that right and I also kind of sort of got the return of the going Mary it was a brief return but uh she did come back for a little bit there and the other moment that made me laugh and also made me cry at the end here and it just I just love odo's ability to do that uh to simultaneously make me laugh and cry and sometimes I don't know which to do first uh but of course that moment is the return of op to the crew while GARP is attacking them in accordance with the orders he doesn't really want to do it but he's following his orders but not of course without cheering them on when they escape but I love how you have this scene with Zoro insisting that Usopp must apologize for his earlier infraction for his earlier uh Disobedience uh his Defiance of Luffy as the captain uh you have to function as a crew is what Zoro is trying to emphasize and teach in this moment and of course the others do accept that and Luffy does accept that um but you this leads to the the emotion of usopp's eventual apology which is matched by the emotion of Luffy's response just beautiful stuff there Luffy and uh Usopp are friends Luffy is his captain too uh and I thought that was just a wonderful reunion once again and a healing of the family and thus the straw hats unified once again and even expanded as a family set sail on the Thousand Sunny their new ship built by Frankie which with its flight promises camaraderie and new adventures ahead even as it echoes the Flight of the going Mary with a little bit of a nod there uh to their Old Ship so I'm excited to see where the crew is going to be going on the thousands sunny and I'm sure there are some incredible Adventures ahead and while the world hears about the exploits of the straw hats The Saga ends with the confrontation between Ace and Blackbeard it's a bit of an ominous ending I have to say uh there is this confrontation between darkness and fire this is an ominous promise promise that uh this new era is going to be one of great danger uh and greater challenges and troubling times times that will be a perhaps a lot to go go through for the straw hats and we'll test their Bonds in ways that uh have not happened here to for so those are my thoughts for the most part on this incredible journey I am just thoroughly immersed thoroughly enjoying this uh this series that is one piece and I appreciate all of you who have been following along uh giving me wonderful comments of encouragement helping me with pronunciations giving me tips staying away from spoilers I'm going to be continuing this journey of course until I catch up with everyone until I catch up to where Oda is hopefully later this year I'm also going to be talking with some friends here on YouTube uh about one piece because I'm eager to have some discussions now that I'm pretty far into the series it's time for me I think to have some discussions with folks so hopefully that's something I'll be lining up very soon but yeah that is it for me for now until next time

Channel: Philip Chase

Views: 62,981

Keywords: One Piece, Water 7 Saga, Enies Lobby, Manga, Eiichiro Oda

Id: uz9YIZR2nQs

Length: 27min 53sec (1673 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 03 2024