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My One Piece Fan Speculation on Future Chapters, The One Piece, and my thoughts on the True Name of the Ancient Great Kingdom

/ Jove / 1 Comment

I’ve been looking through several fan theories and I wanted to give my own speculation after re-reading a few chapters, several fan theories online, and thinking over the plot of One Piece. I’ll start with theories I’m least sure of first and then move onto the ones I spent more time pondering over. I know it’s really arrogant and I doubt any of this is true; I suppose I’m just trying to kill time to avoid focusing on how worthless and joyless life feels for me nowadays; I’m likely not the only one who feels like life’s been so disappointing to them so making any complaints is just censured as whining so in the end I’m left with the dismal, negative thinking. I’m pretty sure most of what I come-up with will be laughed at as completely stupid and worthless like my entire life.

Here are the One Piece speculative theories I’ve come-up with, if perhaps you just want a good laugh at nonsense, feel free to read:

 

Sabo’s supposed death is a red-herring

The news of Sabo and the Revolutionaries attacking the Marines is a red-herring to distract away from two events:

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One Piece Theory: What if Monkey D. Garp is Imu-Sama?

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Note: This will obviously contain Massive Spoilers for One Piece.

Onto the Theory:

So, I was daydreaming like usual when living in solitude with no prospects of a good future so far, thinking over the death and funeral of my grandfather who died ten days ago, and thinking over various existential crises that bother me when my thoughts turned to One Piece since it is one of my favorite anime. And then, my mind came to a sudden idea regarding Imu-Sama Theories in Youtube videos that I recalled watching.

The Freest Man In the Sea.

This had popped-up because of Imu-Sama’s name and various lore that many fans associated with him. Many posited Shanks or Mihawk as fitting the bill for this description due to various qualities that seemed to make them similar to the depictions of Imu-Sama that we have thus far. However, the idea of the Freest Man, while sufficiently associated with Pirates and even the Shichibukai/Warlords, doesn’t really comport with the mysterious ruler of the entire world who seems to be doing everything in his power to prevent the world from changing. If anything, this man represents someone who is stuck in his ways and acts as a hidden force . . . but also a pillar for the so-called Justice of the World Government. He is circumspect and doesn’t want the world to know of him while he acts freely enough to snuff out those who seek to change the world.

So, I examined the World Government and Marines instead, and wondered if any of them could fit the bill for Imu-Sama, behaving as a shadowy and knowing hand that pulls the strings and has just enough official authority to do so without being totally obvious to us viewers. I found a candidate who fit the bill hook, line, and sinker . . . and, well, you all will probably sufficiently laugh soon.

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Free Speech Petition Against Sony’s PS4 Censorship Policies

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Please consider signing this protest. The reasons are quoted below:

It has come to my attention that Sony has confirmed that it has a content censorship guideline that disproportionately impacts the Japanese game industry. Evidently, Sony has seen fit to ignore the fact that ESRB ratings exist in the US to help parents distinguish which games might be suitable for their children and has elected to censor content for any game on their system regardless of the rating systems of other countries. This comes at a high cost for developers to rework scenes so that they can get approval to be sold on Sony’s PlayStation 4 platform. They erroneously use the #MeToo movement as an excuse to impose sexist and racist standards exclusively upon Japanese developed games; recent examples include games such as Devil May Cry 5, the Dead or Alive Series, and the Sengan Kagura Series. The latter of which caused the series producer of Sengan Kagura to resign over Sony’s insistence on censorship. There have been talks by Sony about massively censoring Atlus’s Persona 5: The Royal which is expected to release around 2020.

These policies are racist because they exclusively target Japanese developers and aren’t imposed upon Western game developers; the age-old racism of the West is clear to see since anything sexual Japan does is seen as deviant and weird while sexual content by Western developers is seen as a breakthrough and progressive. It is also little more than patriarchal conservatism imposing sexist double-standards upon artistic depictions of female sexuality and has an undercurrent of misogyny as a policy while disgustingly using #MeToo as an excuse to conduct these sexist double-standards. Furthermore, it is against the principles of Free Speech and Free Expression and must be stopped now before it does further damage than it already has on video games that consumers and customers of Sony Entertainment enjoy.

https://www.change.org/p/sony-protest-against-sony-california-s-racism-and-misogyny-against-the-japanese-game-industry

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Captain Marvel Film Review (2019)

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Note: Ignore the hate, this film is a solid entry into the MCU. This review is Spoiler-Free.

I haven’t paid attention to the hate, but from what a friend has told me there’s this general consensus from some people that the film tries to push a political agenda. Going into the film with two other friends, this was his expectation and after watching the film, both of us were confused. The origin story was a fairly solid story arc that was not really different from other story arcs. There was no plot holes or confusing portions either. The Captain Marvel film is a great addition to the MCU and definitely worth watching.

The entire cast does an amazing performance throughout the film. There is no portion that seems exaggerated or unbelievable. And unlike usual Marvel film trends, this film does humor in a balanced and hilarious way with intense action scenes. When scenes are emotional and seem to be threatening the safety of the cast, there’s no forced humor or gaffes that ruin the intense moment. Brie Larson makes a solid performance throughout the film and she does great with what the writing staff gave her. The only really negative portion for me was that we didn’t really get more of Captain Marvel’s personality as either her superhero self or as Carol Denvers. This is not Brie Larson’s fault, but rather the lack of material given to express herself. In fact, all of the side characters felt great and seem to radiate emotion from each scene, but Carol Denvers, despite being the main character, doesn’t seem to get this as much. There’s just this vague “she’s strong” motif but nothing else. This is not to say she is a poor character or that she has no motives or emotions. It just seems like the writing staff didn’t express a definitive personality for her character and Brie Larson was picking up their slack by being as evocative, witty, and emotionally impactful as possible with the vague character that she was given.

Some argue she’s overpowered, but Marvel has had this issue with Thor and even Ironman too. I suspect we’ll see Captain Marvel’s weakness when she faces Thanos in Avengers: Engdame.

Overall, the film gets a 8.5/10 from me. Definitely check it out, if you haven’t already.

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Red Line (2009) Review

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Red Line gives the full experience of a rush with its intense racing moments and puts you at the edge of your seat throughout it all. The Yellow Line race and Red Line race completely take the cake with the amazing experience of this film because they keep you invested for both races. This film succeeds in delivery, characterization, worldbuilding, and the fantasy Sci-fi elements of the story. It really did blow me away. In particular, I really like the character build-up for the two main characters, JP and Sonoshee from their conversations, to their background motivations, and to their goals. The story keeps it engaging enough that I felt I was rooting for both characters during the Red Line race and felt mixed feelings about either one of them losing the Red Line race as the set-up was being shown to the viewer.

The worldbuilding for why the upcoming Red Line will be particularly dangerous compared to its previous races and the government responses felt surprisingly well-written and believable. The film stunned me with its brilliant use of using what felt like realistic politics to then offer some of the most hilarious and fast-paced action sequences from the use of such politics. It had explosive twists in the literal sense of the term within the context of the story and I felt it was done surprisingly well. Each of the background characters have their own goals and motivations so none of the actions feel contrived at all. Most importantly, there’s no stereotypical bad guy in the race so nothing within the race is meant to fit a boring narrative of fighting evil. Nothing is taken away from the utter rush of the Red Line race. I had expected some forced plot point to ruin the flow of the film, but it never happened. Instead, there was a really good and often subtle worldbuilding that offered a massive punch within the framework of the main plot. It was absolutely worth it! The film uses these serious backgrounds and build-ups for some of the most stunning and hilarious Sci-fi conflicts in an intergalactic race. This film is simply Sci-fi speed racing done completely right. The enjoyment of watching the racers go into death-defying speeds of madness are equally as pleasurable to watch alongside government military interventions sending massive armies, insane weapons, and crazy secret weapons at them and unexpectedly opening up dangerous areas that result in increasingly insane stunts and actions within the races. The danger feels real throughout it all as you do see many of the racers pummeled and some even die in shocking ways during the Red Line as you watch each racer relish in the rush of their death-defying madness with the full support of the audience.

The entire film builds up to a berserk race where it’ll be impossible to keep track of everything going on with all the racers, but that’s part of the pleasure of watching the film. The insane maneuvers to overcome each other, heart pumping extreme speeds to outdo each other through extra throttling power, attacks against each other to be in the top spot for the finish line, facing down an government’s entire military to complete the race, and the constant back and forth of car smashes and banter to create a riveting intensity as they all risk everything to win. I honestly loved the entire experience from beginning to end. And, from a simple plot with all its worldbuilding and arguably a cliche ending, I couldn’t help but love it. The build-up and payoff were done so well for the end of the film that I was stunned and happy by the ending because of how the sci-fi elements, the character development, the worldbuilding, and the heart thumping race itself intertwined so smoothly for such a satisfying ending.

 

A 10/10 score for this film from me.

Ninja Scroll (1993) Review

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The film begins relatively strongly and I enjoyed watching it for the most part. The setting is full of gratuitous violence, rape scenes (in the first 9 minutes of the film, no less), and the setting itself comprises of a fantasy samurai period in a similar manner in which Western writers depict settings of magical medieval Europe seen throughout most Fantasy novels and Western films. Samurai and ninja have magical abilities that make them stronger and able to commit otherwise impossible actions. There’s no bellowing of attack names as its just two different sides using powers to kill each other.

The general plot is this Ninja named Jubei getting manipulated by a government spy to fight against a group secretly working to reinstate a fallen Clan, take down the Tokugawa Shogunate (the main government in power), and re-establish their lost glory as an empire. The enemies that Jubei faces have interesting powers and its always engaging to see him and this Ninja working on behalf of another clan, Kagore, fight against these eight different powerful fighters and their unique powers. Its full of gore and nudity, but not without a reason. Even the horrible rape scene contains an important story element that surprised me. The unorthodox ways people use their powers and how many of them, in the context of the narrative, realistically do so because of how fast a person can lose their life in combat is always engaging for the audience. This film doesn’t disappoint in mindless action and violence and the narrative behind the reasons is solid. Each of the main cast has a believable motivation.

Unfortunately, the narrative starts to fall apart by the end. Jubei, while somewhat interesting, isn’t enough to carry the narrative to keep the audience’s attention. He’s okay, but not great. Kagore, the female ninja, is the only character to have any realistic character development, show any semblance of worry or doubt about her positions in society and her ability to accomplish her tasks, and it is genuinely fascinating watching her character as she navigates through a sexist culture where she follows the orders of a Lord as per her commitment as a ninja even when this Lord blatantly has sex with a woman in front of her with no respect given to Kagore or the woman he’s openly having sex with. He doesn’t care how unnerving or inappropriate it is to attempt to have a conversation about a military attack while having sex. Kagore seems to attempt to hold a strong demeanor in a man’s world with her feeling survivor’s guilt from surviving her team getting massacred, to her self-loathing at her own abilities in comparison to her desire to prove herself, and her personal revulsion at what she has to put her body through to kill her enemies due to her unique powers.

Sadly, this narrative and rather intriguing character almost totally falls apart near the end with a nonsensical love plot and the focus being on her wanting to be treated for her femininity and not a desire for equality which completely counters the entire narrative of the beginning all the way to near the end. It’s possible the person stating these things about her is completely lying, but I didn’t get that impression. The finale centers around Jubei and some guy we only vaguely know from his past who has an insane secret ability. The ending honestly felt like a standard hollywood script compared to the relatively interesting beginning to near the end of the film. Overall, I think it is worth a watch for anyone interested in it.

8.5/10.

Royal Space Force / Wings of Honneamise (1987) Review

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Note: Spoilers for the film will be below. PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM.

This film is one of the most boring wastes of time that I’ve ever had the displeasure of looking into. I checked it out upon a recommendation of interesting anime films, some of which I had already watched and held highly favorable opinions of, but this film is worthless crap.

There were some mildly interesting portions with the main character recognizing he’s part of a corrupt system, but the plot twist to his gallant actions towards a priestess that he likes and his motivation for pushing the Space Force to complete the project despite monumental hurdles is that he wanted to impress and have sex with the priestess. He acts out commercialized and scripted events in the media to bolster the popularity of the project at the behest of his higher-ups, but its heavily inferred – and arguably explicitly stated – that his motivation for all of this is to fuck the priestess that he personally knows. The public has a sense of mystery and wonder about his motivations; his pilot associates view him in awe despite thinking he’s also an idiot about important political matters. The constant training montages that are re-cut and utterly boring as most of this film is him going on spiels about his boring, disinterested views while you see shots of people working hard building a plane or a spaceship. All of this is for a disgusting shock twist when he tries to rape the priestess. The priestess understands he’s famous and she’s a poor beggar who needs his fame to grow her Church so she “seeks his forgiveness” showing how utterly vapid her faith is and how the “lunkhead” personality is actively dangerous because he thinks that he’s entitled to her body and to rape her however he pleases — only to act like the typical goofball after the horrid encounter the next day. And, honestly, I’m not sure if the girl’s response is portrayed realistically or not. From the standpoint of her situation, her actions make sense, but I would have liked a scene with her alone to show if there was a difference with how she felt about the wannabe-rapist main character.

The final portions of this dull, boring mess of crap is following the idiotic religious prophecy with him going into the stars as a war is going on. It’s absolutely boring. Despite being the main purpose, I was bored out of my mind for this entire trainwreck of a film. What could have been an interesting conclusion about venturing to space is utterly ruined with this potential rapist spewing a sermon about how humanity does wrong, needs forgiveness, and conducts a prayer so that the “evil humanity” doesn’t ruin space. It was disgusting. The shock twist of his attempted rape of the priestess seems to just be there to be a shock to the audience more than not, as his motives could have been changed to literally anything else. You could still make him a horrible person and imply it in subtle ways. It’s arguable that this film did attempt to do that, but if so it was done poorly. His personality was one of apathy to the suffering around him, but then they change him into an outright attempted rapist near the end. As a result, the final scene of a boring monotone with prayer is incongruous with both the twist and the build-up of his horrible personality. I hated this film and I don’t recommend ever watching it. Trust me when I say that it’s likely a waste of your time.

2/10.

Regarding Vic Mignogna’s accusations…

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Okay so… if there is sufficient evidence proving any of these allegations then I’ll be totally willing to change my mind, but I’ve just been brought two pieces of information from a friend that show its more a Witch hunt than honest accusations of wrongdoing.

https://twitter.com/CreepHeartPa…/status/1100609621784444928

This woman used CreepHeart/Gemma Black’s video to accuse Vic of inappropriate behavior when she wasn’t actually a minor, the girl didn’t find it creepy within the context of her request, and she stands with Vic and is angry people are using her video to smear him.

This other piece is from a woman who explicitly told ANN news media that she didn’t approve of them using her photo, she was old enough and was with her family in a completely consensual encounter with Vic in which they hugged for a photo, and at no point was she bothered nor did she feel uncomfortable.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1094838706207305731

I’m still on the fence and will await any credible accusations to change my opinions accordingly, but it seems like this has already turned into a witch hunt since people’s photos and videos are being misused by others to claim to be victims when the actual people who took those photos and videos are claiming otherwise.

And, to be clear, this not to disparage anyone who has been victimized by abusers or to diminish any future accusations given to others. But the aforementioned are two specific cases of false allegations by people either impersonating someone else or using footage to slander Vic Mignogna by taking the footage out of context without the consent of the people who are the owners of the footage.

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Nietzsche’s Philosophy in Modern Culture

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Very few people seem to be aware of Nietzsche’s influence on contemporary Asian culture which dates back to books being translated to Japan shortly after his death, his profound critique and reverence for Buddhist thought, and his influence on US popular culture. In an effort to bridge this gap and show that the surprising amount of influences that his work has made, I’ve made a short list in orders of magnitude from sloppy critiques to the critiques that are based upon his philosophical ideals and arguments. However, it should be noted that the majority of these depictions center around Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ubermensch philosophical concept from the philosophical fantasy novel, Thus Spake; Zarathustra.

Fair Warning: There’ll be massive spoilers for each of the links for their respective games, anime, and so forth.

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