Don't know what I think of the transformation of Miss Wednesday into Princess Vivi without her expressing any regret on the Laboon issue.
I love that you hold One Piece characters accountable for their sins. <3 (I mean this seriously! I tend to forgive characters all too easily when they do questionable things under duress. I think it's interesting to focus instead on the fact that sympathetic characters in One Piece sometimes do -- or at least have done -- some not so nice things.)
I was wondering -- how much do you remember of your previous encounter with One Piece? I seem to recall (incorrectly?) that you did watch a bunch of the anime back when 4Kids was butchering it, and I thought I even remembered that you knew, at one time, that Miss Wednesday = Princess Vivi. Tell me if I am completely hallucinating this. If you remember anything at all of your previous impressions, I'd be curious to know how the current read-through compares.
To return to the whaling issue, I was struck by the fact that one of the characters (Sanji?) basically says something like "I'm not gonna get involved in talking about the ethics of whaling." I suspect there's a bit of hint there at the fact that whaling is still very much a live debate in Japan -- an essential way of life for some, a cruel abuse of intelligent and sensitive animals for others. Were the people of Whiskey Peak entitled to hunt whale meat to address their food shortage?
She needs to earn the sacrifices everyone is making for her.
I'm curious to see what you think when you've had a chance to get to know her better. (Has your view of Nami mellowed, or do you still have issues with her? Even "redeemed" Nami has good & bad sides to her personality.)
Miss Wednesday/Princess Vivi is interesting in that I think she's the first character to be introduced into a villain before shifting to become a friend and ally (she won't be the last). Nami was morally ambiguous, but never really a villain, even when she was revealed to be one of Arlong's crew; it was always obvious that she was being coerced. Miss Wednesday definitely appears to be one of the bad guys when she first appears in the story. Even her appearance changes when she reverts to her true identity.
(skipping ahead because Karoo & Vivi go together)
I love that Karoo was already waiting on the Merry Go. (Also loved the very early scene in this volume where Vivi wanted to escape from Zoro and Karoo just plopped his ducky butt down. Oh, Karoo.)
Karoo is the BEST. (Love him standing behind Zoro waving.)
There is a running joke in the Miss Wednesday/Karoo/Zoro fight early in the volume that the Viz translation almost completely missed, which makes me very sad, because it is freaking hilarious.
#1: Vivi whistles for Karoo. Karoo quacks loudly and obligingly sticks his wing out. Vivi (Japanese): ’お手’じゃなくて ここへきなさい!!! (Not "shake"! Get over here!!)
(I absolutely cannot look at that panel without dying laughing. Karoo looks so hopeful, waving his wing and waiting for her to praise him.)
#2: Vivi: Show him the powers that put a panther's to shame! Karoo: *plops his butt down* Vivi (Japanese): 誰がお座りって言ったのよ!! (Who told you to "sit" (o-suwari)!)
Vivi's been with that duck for (spoiler) years, and after all this time, she still can't get him to learn the difference between "come," "shake" and "sit"? Oh, poor Vivi.
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Date: 2012-07-16 10:24 pm (UTC)I love that you hold One Piece characters accountable for their sins. <3 (I mean this seriously! I tend to forgive characters all too easily when they do questionable things under duress. I think it's interesting to focus instead on the fact that sympathetic characters in One Piece sometimes do -- or at least have done -- some not so nice things.)
I was wondering -- how much do you remember of your previous encounter with One Piece? I seem to recall (incorrectly?) that you did watch a bunch of the anime back when 4Kids was butchering it, and I thought I even remembered that you knew, at one time, that Miss Wednesday = Princess Vivi. Tell me if I am completely hallucinating this. If you remember anything at all of your previous impressions, I'd be curious to know how the current read-through compares.
To return to the whaling issue, I was struck by the fact that one of the characters (Sanji?) basically says something like "I'm not gonna get involved in talking about the ethics of whaling." I suspect there's a bit of hint there at the fact that whaling is still very much a live debate in Japan -- an essential way of life for some, a cruel abuse of intelligent and sensitive animals for others. Were the people of Whiskey Peak entitled to hunt whale meat to address their food shortage?
She needs to earn the sacrifices everyone is making for her.
I'm curious to see what you think when you've had a chance to get to know her better. (Has your view of Nami mellowed, or do you still have issues with her? Even "redeemed" Nami has good & bad sides to her personality.)
Miss Wednesday/Princess Vivi is interesting in that I think she's the first character to be introduced into a villain before shifting to become a friend and ally (she won't be the last). Nami was morally ambiguous, but never really a villain, even when she was revealed to be one of Arlong's crew; it was always obvious that she was being coerced. Miss Wednesday definitely appears to be one of the bad guys when she first appears in the story. Even her appearance changes when she reverts to her true identity.
(skipping ahead because Karoo & Vivi go together)
I love that Karoo was already waiting on the Merry Go. (Also loved the very early scene in this volume where Vivi wanted to escape from Zoro and Karoo just plopped his ducky butt down. Oh, Karoo.)
Karoo is the BEST. (Love him standing behind Zoro waving.)
There is a running joke in the Miss Wednesday/Karoo/Zoro fight early in the volume that the Viz translation almost completely missed, which makes me very sad, because it is freaking hilarious.
#1:
Vivi whistles for Karoo.
Karoo quacks loudly and obligingly sticks his wing out.
Vivi (Japanese): ’お手’じゃなくて ここへきなさい!!! (Not "shake"! Get over here!!)
(I absolutely cannot look at that panel without dying laughing. Karoo looks so hopeful, waving his wing and waiting for her to praise him.)
#2:
Vivi: Show him the powers that put a panther's to shame!
Karoo: *plops his butt down*
Vivi (Japanese): 誰がお座りって言ったのよ!! (Who told you to "sit" (o-suwari)!)
Vivi's been with that duck for (spoiler) years, and after all this time, she still can't get him to learn the difference between "come," "shake" and "sit"? Oh, poor Vivi.