#g-8

[k4pp4-8]

The spectrum of pirates under cover

[akwolfgrl]

G-8 is the best arc!

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Pulp Heroes

Art by Francesco Francavilla

[dbphantom]

I'm a OP manga reader, sell me on watching G-8

Sure!

G-8 is post Skypiea filler and starts with the Strawhats landing right in the middle of a walled-in marine base after they fall from the sky island. They have to figure out how to escape this 'impenetrable fortress' with Merry without anyone getting captured or killed.

To do this, most of them go undercover and infiltrate the marines so they can buy time, regroup, and figure out a plan.

It goes about how you'd expect.

(If only Garp could see him now, lol).

The guy on the left in the above picture is this arc's amazing antagonist, Vice Admiral Jonathan.

He is so cool that he cameos in both Stampede and Film Z.

G-8 has some of the funniest jokes in the series, including this iconic scene:

The way it pairs off the Strawhats at the start leads to some great extended interactions between crew members who don't directly talk to each other too often, like Nami and Chopper + Usopp and Robin. They're all very in-character, too.

It also lets the Strawhats show off in their respective areas- Chopper ends up in the medical wing, Usopp works with the shipwright, Sanji is dragged to the kitchens...

[Spoilers in case you're not post Water-7]

It even takes time to emphasize the set-up for the Klabautermann reveal, just to make sure you remember it before the emotional gut punch that is Water-7.

[End spoilers]

It's got a really endearing and memorable cast of side characters as well, who all get roped into the Strawhats' shenanigans.

G-8 also has one of Robin's coolest outfits.

The entire arc is basically a 4D chess match between Jonathan and the Strawhats, except the entire crew is shoveling pieces into Luffy's mouth as fast as they can whenever Jonathan isn't looking.

G-8 is what I show people who want to get into OP, but don't know if they'd enjoy it. It's short (only about 11-12 episodes iirc) and it encompasses everything I really love about early One Piece. I think it's a great litmus test for if you'd like the vibes of the show as a whole. Also, it is so well-integrated into the story that most anime-onlys don't even realize it's filler unless they're told.

Honestly, I would put G-8 on the same entertainment level writing-wise as some of the better movies. It's fun to watch, the jokes are great, and the characters are all enjoyable. I really recommend giving it a go.

[lovely-v]

The G-8 filler arc is awesome it’s like a heist movie where no one is competent or focused on their goal. And I mean this so positively

[krinsbez]

Pulptober Themes Explained, Part Three Days 11-15

Crud, I missed yesterday and almost missed today, I'm gonna have to do two of 'em tomorrow.

Part One

Part Two

Once again, thanks to @maxwell-grant who once again helped me with assembling the lists of alternate examples. Characters who have a plus sign (+) next to their names were suggested by him. Characters with an asterisk (*) are ones where I have not consumed any source material (note that I'm including tie-in or revival media as source material).

I accidentally did the 12th twice, so you get extra options that day, I guess?

11-Carson Napier/Feats of Courage, Despite Feet of Clay: So, yeah the classic Pulp Hero is a paragon, a super-man. And then there's these guys, who for all their heroism and incredible abilities, are much more deeply flawed. Alt. Examples: Moon Knight*, Grim Death,

12-Jack Reacher/Unintentional Pulp: Obviously, most of the old-style Pulp Writers knew that they were writing for the pulps, and most modern Pulp Characters are intended to be so. But not all of them. Sometimes authors create characters that fit into pulp tropes without realizing they are doing so. Today? That's for them. Alt. Examples: Uncle Scrooge, The Ghostbusters

12-Conan/Blood-Stained Smirk. Lots of Pulp Heroes have a lethal setting. Some of them feel bad about it. Others are like the guys featured today, who honestly kinda enjoy it? Alt. Examples: Grendel, Casey Jones.

13-Hellboy/Pulp Survivor: This one is fairly self-explanatory, the Heroes who routinely get the crap beat out of them, but manage to defeat their foes mostly because they are too damn stubborn and/or tough to lose. Indiana Jones, G-8*+

14-Dhalua Strong/Behind Every Hero: Another fairly self-explanatory one. Lots of Pulp Heroes have love interests. Often they live mostly in the the hero's civilian life, or are reduced to being damsels. But these? these get their hands dirty, these get involved in the fight. Nita Van Sloan, Magga.

15-Raffles/Pulp..Hero? Some Pulp Heroes are not, in fact, heroes, but rather villains, or monsters. And there's guys like this where whether or not they are heroes or villains is often ambiguous and difficult to parse. Alt. Examples: Golden Amazon*+, Captain Nemo.

[wyvernslovecake]

Just finished G-8 marine base arc and honestly props to them.

They were by the book and not unnecessarily cruel and even respected the Straw Hats to some degree. Commander Jonathan was smart and really made me respect his branch because of how unified and (I think this is the right word) honorable. He understood the strengths of his base and had Condioriano (I refuse to acknowledge his true name) not interfered they’d catch them I think. They also were human enough to understand that while being pirates they helped them in some aspects but where still professional enough to try and capture them.

All in all I liked the Arc and I hope Navarone never falls.

That's one of my favorite arcs too! The best kind of filler is the kind that fits so seamlessly into the story that you can mistake it for canon and G-8 tics all the boxes. It's even got an episode directed by Mamoru Hosoda, the man who directs some of my favorite movies, so that earns it extra brownie points with me. You can check out this video here that breaks down a lot of the directing choices that are used in episode 199, as well as Hosoda's other television works.

I like to think Navarone is doing just fine. Jonathan even continues to make cameos in big scenes where all the marines are gathering like Marineford and Stampede. He's one of my favorite marine characters next to Koby, Smoker, and Tashigi, so it's always nice seeing him again. Now if we could only get some speaking roles.

[torao-d-water-ya]

One Piece Episode 195

The scenes of the crew on the Merry at the beginning and end of the G-8 arc are probably some of my favourite in the anime. There's something really warm about the idea that even though their adventure is on-going, moments together as a crew on the ship are like coming home from each mini-adventure they've had on each island they visit. Where they get to relax and talk about the things they've seen and have a cuppa, mum's Sanji's got some warm food running on the stove and the kids just lay around bickering, they've made it through the day and they're together at the end of it and that's the most important thing.