One Piece : The Ka Shichibukai

One Piece ワンピース : The Ōka Shichibukai

“The reason the Grand Line is called the ‘Pirates’ Graveyard’, is because of the Three Great Powers that rule over it. One of them, is the Ōka Shichibukai. They’re seven Pirate Warlords that are officially authorized by the World Government. The Shichibukai inhabit wild regions of the seas and as long as they give a cut of their loot obtained from marauding & pillaging, the World Government sanctions their actions. Other pirates may look down on them and call them ‘Government Dogs’, but they’re among the strongest the Grand Line has to offer!!” 

Thus ends my journey with the Shichibukai. It was fun & arduous while it lasted and I had a hell of a great time re-reading some of the most epic and sad moments in One Piece. I’ve compiled all the gifs into a short video in the order of the manga’s storyline, so enjoy this final treat me buckos! Oda has given us so many fantastic characters & memories it’s hard to wait a week for each chapter but it is always worth the wait. I can’t wait to see what else the sensei has in store for us!! 

☠  Hoist the Colors

Strange Bird

Am I the only one that thought Mihawk was like a Spaniard like how luffy is Brazilian, and Zoro is Japanese. Am I the only one that thought he looked like a conquistador?!?!!. Because I was reading a Reddit thread and they all thought he was like French and I was shook.

Like I live who they cast as Mihawk and I love all the accents for the characters (like seriously A Scottish accent for Garp is inspired) but the only one I felt kind of let down by was Mihawk because I thought it’d be cool if he had like a Spanish accent. Just to learn that a lot of people apparently thought he was more French based. But yeah I was just vaguely disappointed still love the performance tho. Also I love the difference between Mihawk’s more proper sassy British accent and Shanks’ one of the lads accent. Another accent I wasn’t quite expecting but ended up loving.

The thing is despite shanks outward appearance off a hedonist man living it up in the moment. He is in actuality a man torn between a tragic past and a hopeful future. He only stopped running from the past when he started preparing for the future. Up until recently everything we’ve seen shanks do in present day canon is ready the way for a new era. He has forfeit being King to become a Kingmaker. He carries himself like a Regent just waiting for the next generation to come of age. He is a deeply tragic man stuck between times. Haunted by the ghost of a captain it wasn’t his destiny to save and the dreams of a boy he helped inspire. OPLA Buggy really was right when he said “you’re just a sad lonely little boy wearing another man’s hat” he just wasn’t talking about Luffy.

And despite outwards appearances of a calm and calculating man. Outside of the battle field Mihawk cannot, refuses too, exist anywhere else but the present. He’s a man that lives one day at a time, not because he’s just surviving but because why concern himself with the past or the future when there is now. when there is nothing there that can hurt him anymore and nothing he is scared to face. It’s in the way he went about getting his title, unlike Zoro there wasn’t some guy he was biding his time growing stronger to face. No he went out of his way everyday looking for stronger and stronger opponents to face until he was all that was left till there was no one that could face him, till he was without a doubt the Strongest swordsman there was. That dogged pursuit of anyone and anything capable of putting up a fight with a sword isn’t the Machiavellian calculations of a man capable of planning in the long term. It’s the single minded pursuit of someone only capable of living day to day, opponent to opponent.

And that’s why they fit so well together, Shanks reminds Mihawk that there’s a future out there and it’s gonna be new and interesting and Mihawk reminds shanks that he has a life here and now in the present and he should live it. It’s also a source of contention because Mihawk can’t understand what Shanks is hurtling towards and Shanks can’t understand how Mihawk can stand to stay still when the past is constantly licking at his heels threatening to consume him.

They are playing a game of chess and Shanks is already planning his moves for a play, 10 games ahead while Mihawk is trying to get him to focus on the one right infront of him lest he lose.

One of my favorite movies of the year.

Something I personally love in JJK is Gege staying committed to jumping dudes. Like not once has anybody tried to go out of their way to fight a villain alone (except gojo but he is God’s exception) because of honor or some kind of code or strength test (except nanami but that’s more because they are kids and honestly if they already in the fight and helping/holding their own he’s not gonna tell them to go home). Yuuji only fights alone when he has no other option too or because he is soooo desperately scared of anyone else getting hurt because of him but despite that he will still gladly pair up with anybody that comes to help. I think this is the best way to deal with antagonists that have been built up as being this all mighty force of nature like Sukuna, without unreasonable power ups or ass pulls. Just have six of those dudes jump him. Like throw everything you have at him, don’t play fair, don’t fight with “honor” just take that mfer down by any means necessary.