#ch526

[opbackgrounds]

Speaking as someone who made a blog about noticing things in One Piece, it's absolutely insane that some people notice these things in One Piece

[everychojuro]

[geranferix-blog]

[opbackgrounds]

Wanted to show this one in color, and I don't think Oda gets enough credit for his ability to mimic a variety of styles. For those who own the color walks, there's a neat interview with a guy who made puppets based on this spread

[opbackgrounds]

Impel Down pulls much from the Divine Comedy, and in that light referring to this intake process as baptism is quite interesting. In Catholic theology, people who die without being baptized are barred from heaven. In Dante's Inferno the first circle of hell, Limbo, belongs to both virtuous pagans and souls who died before receiving the sacrament. One Piece flips this idea on its head, instead not allowing its prisoners into hell without being baptized. Dante's Limbo is likewise a place without direct punishment, whereas this "rebirth" is enough to kill ordinary men.

And you can see insidious bits of propaganda already at work, even though this is obviously inhumane torture. It's a ritual. It sterilizes clothes and prevents disease. It burns away sin. Ignore the screams and the death. They're criminals so they deserve it, and even if they didn't, it's for their own good.

[opbackgrounds]

While Luffy's decision to free the prisoners of Impel Down is often referred to as the key example of his selfishness, what I find more interesting is that to start with he was completely uninterested in helping anyone else escape. If not for Ace, Luffy would be equally okay with leaving these guys to rot.

[opbackgrounds]

It's not an accident that many of the guards are either inhuman or have their eyes covered with sunglasses. The eyes are the window of the soul, and Oda adds that extra bit of distance between the reader and the staff of Impel Down by taking away that feature. In contrast, den den mushi cameras are everywhere, an omnipresent, all-seeing eye ready to hunt down and punish even the smallest infraction.

I would also be remiss not to point out that the base uniform of the Impel Down jailers pulls heavily from the uniforms of the SS, nor do I think it’s a coincidence that one of Magellan’s gimmicks is breathing poison gas. Oda isn’t exactly being subtle with what he’s trying to convey, but it’s saved from true grimdark territory with a pretty heavy focus on humor to balance things out.

[opbackgrounds]

The fact that Buggy even considered this is hilarious. Keep on keeping on, you delusional king