#ch527

[opbackgrounds]

It's funny, because Buggy tried so hard to betray Luffy so many times. It's like the universe itself wouldn't let him not help after Luffy gave him the treasure marker.

Mihawk will make it explicit during the Marineford arc that Luffy's greatest strength isn't his physical prowess, but his ability to make allies. It's interesting to contrast the way in which Luffy wins people over compared to other thematic foils like Blackbeard, who gains equally enormous influence through violence and coercion. Luffy's guileless faith in characters like Buggy (which later shows up in his alliance with Law) is on its surface stupid in the cutthroat world of pirates, but it's because not despite Luffy is who he is that he influences others to his cause.

Cynical characters like Buggy and Mr. 3 will try (and fail) to take advantage of him, but by mere proximity Luffy will in turn inspire them to grow beyond their base instincts, and he's rewarded by the narrative for his trouble. Mr. 2 comes back to save him after being terrified of Magellan. Mr. 3 unlocks the keys to Ace's cuffs. Buggy saves his ass repeatedly through the saga. It's like Luffy is a gravity well that people can't help but fall into, and it's that charisma and ability to almost instantly create bonds with other people that will cause him to eventually become the Pirate King.

[opbackgrounds]

Oda's commitment to making One Piece accessible and affordable for his readers is admirable

[opbackgrounds]

I feel like Oda had Buggy carry around one of the bulgori's axes purely to make the logistics of Luffy flying around on his back easier

[opbackgrounds]

Buggy has so many great faces this arc

[opbackgrounds]

It is very funny to see Buggy try (and fail) for three whole pages to defeat one bulgori, only for Luffy to knock out four of them off screen. Our boy has come a long way from the East Blue.

Going over this arc, it is shocking how blistering fast things progress compared to modern One Piece. Oda knew this was a blip on the radar compared to Marineford and didn't dwell on any one thing for very long.

It makes sense. These early floors are for low bounty prisoners. Luffy should be stronger than any of the guards here, just like it makes sense for him to be completely outclassed by characters like Magellen. Oda upholds both Luffy's reputation as a Supernova while keeping Impel Down scary as hell.

And despite Luffy's strength, he wouldn't have gotten anywhere near Ace without help from Buggy and the rest. It's a true collaborative effort.

[opbackgrounds]

I love how nonchalant Luffy is. Like, yeah. Good luck escaping the supermax security torture prison stuck in the middle of the sea.

[opbackgrounds]

You know the world's upside down and backwards when Luffy's acting as the voice of reason

[opbackgrounds]

All of Impel Down is terrible, but this is my specific nightmare floor, and it's only level one.

Also, I find the wild shifts in tone throughout the Impel Down arc to be both impressive and kind of insane. Pound for pound, it's got to have the largest shifts between sickeningly horrific to goofy in the series.

Since this isn't the climax of the Saga, Oda is saving emotional bandwidth for the Marineford arc. The only way to make a place like Impel Down even remotely palatable is for it to also be funny. Sure, there's an entire level made of knives and venomous spiders, but the Head Warden is a funny diarrhea man, so it all balances out.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this overall. It does help with the emotional pacing of the Saga and makes Impel Down easier to read, but some things shouldn't necessarily be easy to read.