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Manga One Piece

Rocky Road To God Valley [One Piece 1158]

All roads lead to God Valley.

If, by roads you mean this flashback.

Shanks and Shamrock were born on God Valley. Interesting. No doubt it’s there where the Roger Pirates found Shanks hidden in a chest. I’m no oracle, but it’s safe to say the twins’ Mom tried to save her sons from either extermination from the Celestial Dragons or from Daddy Garling taking the babies to live in Sacred Marijoa with the rest of the evil douche rulers.

Besides booty, what else did Garling find at God Valley?

Whatever it is, he believes Imu would be interested, so that crosses out reality tv and country music. My guess, Garling either discovered a Road Ponegliff or something related to Joy Boy. Maybe God Valley’s where the OG pirate was laid to rest after dying.

Here’s a wacky idea, Rocks: TELL Harald about Imu!

Could that be how Imu eventually got Joy Boy’s straw hat? Hmm…

Continue reading “Rocky Road To God Valley [One Piece 1158]”
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Manga One Piece

Heart Attack [One Piece 1157]

Is this how the Rocks Pirates/Roger Pirates rivalry starts?

Both legendary pirate crews fighting over Shakky like she’s an object to be won? Yeah. It’s Oda we’re talking about. No doubt it’s how it all starts.

If Gloriosa’s in love with Gol D. Roger, why is she apart of Rocks D. Xebec’s crew? Did she just join them because she can’t hang out on Amazon Lily and they’ll eventually run into Roger? Is Gloriosa the eventual mother of Marshall D. Teech? No, wait. Gloriosa’s last name isn’t Teech, it’s… Ooooh! We don’t know yet. Hmm…

Interesting how we see the Rocks Pirates robbing a corrupt charity organization. Did Oda do that to make Rocks a more complicated character? Or, did he do so to keep Edward Newgate (Whitebeard)’s deeds relatively clean?

Maybe both.

All hail Nami w/ Lip Injections!

I find both the how and why Rocks’ trying to takeover the world interesting. How do you defeat such a powerful group as the World Government? And is Rocks doing all of it because he thinks the Celestial Dragons deserve to be dethroned or is he simply doing all of this because he’s a megalomanic?

Maybe both.

How does Rocks know about Monkey D. Garp’s hatred of the top brass? Is it widely known or is there more going on here? Could Rocks have his own double agent working for the Navy? Hmm…

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Manga One Piece

All The Single Kuja [One Piece 1156]

Eiichiro Oda screwed the Kuja Pirates. And not in a good way.

It’s bad enough Amazon Lily’s current head honcho’s known more for her beauty than talent. But, in today’s chapter, we learn that’s always been the case!

The Kuja Pirates aren’t dangerous because of their resources, or skill, or strength. No. It’s because they’re attractive.

That’s it.

If they happened to be gorgeous but still kick ass like Wonder Woman or Xena: Warrior Princess, fine. I’d have no problem with that. They’ll just be powerful fighters who happened to be attractive. BUT! Making Boa Hancock, Glorioso, and Shakky’s beauty their defining trait (and the ONLY reason they win fights) is lazy.

And just plain misogynistic.

Oh, please! Cara Delevingne did the same flip at her photoshoot last month in 12-inch pumps while holding two bouquets of roses. Poser!

Let’s talk about the second, better half of this chapter, shall we?

Continue reading “All The Single Kuja [One Piece 1156]”
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Manga One Piece

Rocks, Caper, Scissors [One Piece 1155]

Rocks D. Xebec is such a vibrant and bombastic character. I can almost hear his voice inside my head.

You hear that? Guess it was just the wind…

Anyway, let’s talk about this chapter.

It opens with Kid Loki getting hurt by Rocks—all to get Harald’s attention so he’d come back to Elbaph—then IMMEADIATELY transitions to another flashback.

The Reverie. Hmm… I wonder what Rocks thinks of the Reverie.

Rocks captured five kings to create a panic so he could sneak into Imu’s Chamber of Flowers. Makes me wonder if he had a chance to pump any of those kings for information.

Inside the Chamber of Flowers, Rocks confronts Imu—whom he seems to already know is the secret ruler of the world—and his female assistant(?) who looks to be Gunko. How the heck did Rocks learn of Imu? Good question. Let me know if you figure it out, because I haven’t got a clue.

I can only imagine what Rocks thinks of Imu.

Looks like Gunko’s no mere Holy Knight. But I guess it makes since Imu has someone tending to his every whim. And that person has to be a Celestial Dragon to help keep things secret.

How’d Rocks get into The Chamber of Flowers? Easy. He found the key hidden under the welcome mat.

It’s mentioned Rocks is a worshipper of Davy Jones. I never really thought about the character since his mention back during the Straw Hats Davy Back Fight against the Foxy Pirates. Seems like there’s more to Mr. Jones than I thought. Could he even had been a member of Joy Boy’s crew?!

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Manga One Piece

Suffering From Loki Self-Esteem [One Piece 1154]

You don’t get much lower than the bottom of a cliff!

Nico Robin wanted to die when at her lowest point. Loki just straight-up tried to commit suicide. This is some serious self-loathing here. It’s no wonder when your own mother called you a monster and wanted you dead. I don’t think Queen Estrid called Loki by his name once before she died! Strike One!

Abandonment issues. Loki’s father, King Harald, constantly leaving on diplomatic missions and repairing relations between Elbaph villages didn’t help either. Did he ever play with Loki? Did they ever do anything together as a family? Sometimes a parent is just a dick and sometimes they’re well-meaning but grossly negligent. In Loki’s case, he got both. Strike Two!

Loki being the curse of Elbaph. Let me go on record saying I think that whole “curse” talk is eight-legged horseshit!

You think that’s bad? You should hear what Estrid thinks about the new Superman movie!

Yeah, I know One Piece is a world where dreams turned into magical fruits that give you superpowers and giant kids drew a mural of someone’s prediction of the final arc of the series. Guess what? I don’t care! I still think it was nonsense drummed up by some gold digging Miss Cleo (Remember her?) inflating her self-importance.

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Manga One Piece

Throw The Baby Out With The Bathwater [One Piece 1153]

All bad men need is a good partner to “fix” them.

Classic Oda. Who needs personal character growth when a fat ass lady is all a guy needs to be set on the righteous path? And what a path it is. King Harald did a complete 180. He’s now kind, empathic, and went to college to get his degree in diplomacy. Thanks Ida!

Can someone explain why Ida just gave up marrying Harald? Seemed a bit too sudden to me. I guess she had to “sacrifice” herself for the good of her lover and Elbaph. For a character who had an interesting introduction, Ida went full basic by the middle of the chapter. I’m not blaming Ida, mind you. I’m blaming Oda. The ole “tough” woman but is actually sweet is Oda’s bread and butter. Throw in a woman being in ♥love♥ and you get the complete average One Piece female character.

Even Shou Tucker’s disgusted by Estrid’s actions. What a waste of a perfectly good test subject.

Estrid was a bit more interesting. Where did all her prophecy talk come from? Is it all just B.S.? Did no one ever call her out on it? It’s clear she’s using that feng shui talk as an excuse to go full gold digger on Harald. Hope it’s revealed one way or another the prophecy is garbage.

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anime My Hero Vigilantes

My Hero Vigilantes, Season One: Just Watch It!

It’s fantastic!

…? Oh! You wanna know why?

Well, it’s a faithful adaption of the manga series. Sure, some .5 (i.e. bonus) chapters were omitted and some scenes were altered or shown in a different order than the manga, but I assume it was to make the season more cohesive, avoid copyright issues (The manga’s filled with one-off or minor characters whose appearance references fictional characters from other companies. Heck, I’m surprised Ichimoku Samazu [Fake Cyclops] and Jube Namimaru [Fake Wolverine] made it into the anime unaltered.), or save time.

The companies behind the series, Toho and Bones Film, had a lot to pack into these thirteen episodes and I think they did a great job keeping the overall feel and heart of the original manga.

Adapting a manga can be difficult when it’s a currently running series. Which scenes are important and what aren’t, making filler so as to not catch up with the source material, and having to budget anime production costs for a series you don’t know how long it’ll last are just some of the problems that creep up. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case for My Hero Vigilantes’ anime.

The manga ended years ago, so the animation team knew exactly how long the series would be and budgeted its cost accordingly. It’s probably a big reason the animation looks so darn good. They know how many seasons they’ll have and can work within that limitation.

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Manga One Piece

Hope You Like Flashbacks [One Piece 1152]

Because you’re getting a flashback within a flashback. A three-minute explanation? Yeah, right.

You know… Thanks to One Piece Live Action, I miss the simpler arcs of One Piece. Where arcs didn’t have the main duty of expositing world and character lore while constantly setting up the final war arc of the series.

Weird, right? I’m all about the One Piece lore, yet here I am complaining about it. But I don’t hate it, not at all! I just want more of the fun stuff that made me fall in love with One Piece too. The Straw Hats interacting with each other, the zany villains, the feeling of a grand adventure instead of constant melodrama p0rn. This is a different manga than what began.

Here we are at the flashback portion of the arc and I’m just going through the motions. Sure, I’m excited about the coming lore dumps, but then it’s back to Basic Bro Imu the Evil and his boring henchmen. The only thing interesting about Imu is the mystery boxes surrounding him. I need more than that for a character to interest me.

Worst part is Loki spent the morning tap dancing inside a barn.
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anime cartoon Hipster Hotline Wakfu

Wakfu: The Animated Series [Season 4 Episode 13 Review] {Season Finale}

This is it! The final episode of the fourth season, and—until the fifth and final season is created and released in a couple years—the final episode of the series.

Will The Brotherhood of the Tofu save the day or will the next season be a animated version of The Walking Dead? Let’s find out!

I’m going to divide my analysis into three parts: The Sadida Battle, The Necroworld Battle, and The Post-War Wrap-Up.

Sadida Battle

Shout-out to Amalia for inspiring the troops after Armand’s death. She and Armand had their many MANY disagreements, but they still loved each other. They’re family and always will be.

This battle feels more dire than Team Yugo’s because they’re more characters at risk of dying. Take Percedal, for example. The Necros did the smart thing and targeted him, seeing as he’s the most powerful physical fighter there. Thankfully, Amalia’s grief power-up saved him.

Retail employees one minute before their store closes.

Holy crap! Ruel did something useful! He and Kamasutar went full Steven Universe and fused into a giant beast man. A cool moment, indeed. Now, leave the show and never come back.

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Manga One Piece

No Demon Kings Protest [One Piece 1151]

Time for Luffy to save us all…*YAWN!*

I get it. I GET it. Luffy’s the main character; he has to save the day. But could all the other Straw Hats have their moment to shine?

No! Because we’re at the classic Luffy-Was-Absent/Disposed-But-Now-He’s-Back-To-Save-The-Day portion of Elbaph’s Arc. Well, it’s not all about Luffy. Can’t forget about Sanji and Zoro. One will fight Killingham and the other, Sommers.

Maybe.

There’s still Loki. No way is he not getting uncuffed at some point. Helping against Imu will probably be that reason. Not now, of course. No way will the Monster Trio think they’ll need Loki’s help. Things will have to get even MORE dire for that to happen. You know…like Luffy losing to Imu.

At least Chief Jarul will get a free gold watch and retirement party at IHOP.

Oh, don’t act so shocked! Luffy losing a round or two to a Big Bad’s nothing new. And since Imu will be the FINAL Biggie, there’s gonna be a lot of plot armor and/or teamwork getting Imu off Elbaph. Loki, Whoever/Whatever’s in Astral World, Brook helping to break Imu’s control of Gunko, etc. Heck, even when Team Luffy wins it’ll be a win against Imu possessing Gunko, not the character’s true body. It’s all building to the final war, kids.

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