Just A Chaos Person

I feel like I'd be doing a disservice by not covering this episode, frankly. Also, happy One Piece day!

I actually started this episode yesterday, but had to pause it midway to have dinner, and then never got back around to it till today lol

Works out, though, because now I can rant all I want about how AWESOME Shanks is! I mean, he's a Yonko, who fought with Kaido a DAY before stopping the War in Marineford, and Sengoku STOPPED THE WAR JUST BECAUSE HE ASKED? That's so cool!!!

Also I love his theme, and it is immediately being added to my anime Watchlist on Spotify (mostly so that the last song on the list ISN'T the one that will give me the most emotional damage right now)

Ngl, Law saying the operations on Luffy and Jimbei would be "fun" is... A little concerning, but not out of character (even if I don't know why yet bc I'm not in Dressrosa, I can at least acknowledge that now lol). Still love him, though - I've always had a soft spot for edgelords.

I did watch 484-86 already, but honestly, I couldn't find anything really interesting to talk about until now, so I'll skip those thoughts in this series.

For 487:

I KNEW LAW WOULD SHOW UP EVENTUALLY! Granted, he's past late at this point, but better late than never - and it does help that he's both captain and doctor of his crew, in the absence of Chopper!

It's been almost two days since I've seen 483, and turns out I still have thoughts about Ace's death.

He wanted to live. Up on the scaffold, he had his "I want to live" moment. He realized that right as he was about to die, life was worth living because of his brothers and the bond they shared.

And he had a choice. He could run away with Luffy and the Whitebeards after he was freed, choosing to live, or he could fight Akainu, with the very real possibility of death. It was a likely possibility, even.

Knowing this, he WILLINGLY CHOSE to stay back and fight to protect Whitebeard's honor, even telling Luffy to stay out of the fight so he wouldn't get hurt.

And when Akainu plays dirty and goes for Luffy, who has absolutely nothing to do with the fight other than the fact that he's Ace's brother and he's in a vulnerable position, Ace CHOOSES TO DIE so that Luffy lives.

He would rather die than have to watch as he loses his younger brother (again), even if he knows he's just pushing that same pain onto Luffy.

We all know which episode this is.

And let me tell you, I am not ok. Not in the slightest.

I knew this was coming, and I'm STILL NOT OK - THAT'S HOW GOOD THIS SHOW IS.

For those who don't know, Ace is - was, now, I guess - my favorite character of all time. And he will forever be my favorite character of all time. Nothing can nor will remove him from that post in my heart.

I have so many thoughts about it that I can't even put them into words this time. The fact that Ace lived his whole life wondering if he deserved to be born, wanting to find that reason to live, and finally finding it in Sabo and Luffy right before it all ends? Oh my god. The fact that his last words are, to summarize, "Thank you for loving me"? OH MY GOD.

I thought I'd felt the full spectrum of human emotion, but this... This is something else entirely.

The next updates will be MUCH more inconsistent, I'm thinking around 3-5 episodes per update, now that I've hit my goal. I enjoy doing this series, I really do, but... I'm gonna need a minute. Or an hour or two.

That was a DIABOLICAL cutoff.

I have never gone from such a high to such a low so fast.

Honestly, I understand now why I don't like Akainu in the slightest. That man deserves whatever Luffy gives him moving forward.

I ALMOST lost it at the vivre card. I haven't begun crying yet, but my eyes are on FIRE.

I am literally shaking writing this. I'm so close, it's gonna happen today, and I don't know if I'm ready for it but I have to keep going.

OH MY GOD ACE IS SO FUCKING COOL THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE GET A LOOK AT HIS FIGHTING STYLE AS HE WINS A FIGHT AND JUST - OH MY GOD!!!!!!!

Whitebeard. Just... Just Whitebeard. 😭

Squard is kind of an idiot, thank goodness Whitebeard stopped him before he wrecked their getaway ship (though I bet that keel's still not ok)

2 episodes.

You know it's getting good when there's 5-6 minutes of recap right before the episode lmao

Oh my god the flashbacks... Words cannot possibly express how much I adore kid Luffy

He knocked Garp out with one punch, holy shit!

So glad Mr. Three still had some use, and at the most pivotal moment, too!

THE SCREAM I SCRUMPT WHEN ACE WAS FREED OH MY GOD I LOVE HIM SO SO SO MUCH

3 episodes.

I don't know what's better: Luffy having Conqueror's Haki, and it showing up before he ever even steps foot in the New World, or him NOT EVEN KNOWING WHAT THAT IS.

Whitebeard choosing to put his hopes on Luffy's shoulders oh my GOD

Seeing Inazuma come out even though he was hurt pretty badly was nice, I honestly think he's (they're?) a really cool character!

The way the triumphant music was playing as Luffy ran up the makeshift bridge only to be abruptly cut off by Garp's appearance literally gave me chills.

I love it every time Luffy's uses Conqueror's Haki - it's just so COOL!!!!!!!!

Whitebeard's not dead, thank the gods... But it doesn't look like he'll last much longer, and even if I already know the eventual outcome of Marineford, it still worries me because I don't know the ORDER in which things will happen.

Is Law gonna show up? I kinda hope so, but it looks less and less likely with each passing episode - though that's to be expected if he's trying to join the fray so freaking late.

With any luck, today will be the day!

Man, it makes sense to me that Ace was a hot-headed kid (see what I did there?)

I love how Ace and Robin's "I want to live" moment is almost exactly the same - really shows the power of the Luffy effect on everyone he meets, no matter when he meets them

Whitebeard's... Whitebeard's not dead, is he? Ace didn't just lose his only real father figure, right? RIGHT??

Coby running into the fray gives me the distinct feeling that this... Won't end well for him.

6 episodes.

This is probably gonna be one of the last posts of today, I'll do maybe one or two more but I wanna save the bulk of the journey left for tomorrow so I can cry my EYES out at The Episode.

Whitebeard protecting Luffy is just so awesome. I dunno why, but I get the feeling he'd 100% adopt Luffy if he could.

Ace biting his lip so hard he drew blood 😭

But first: Some forgotten thoughts about 474!

How can people still say One Piece isn't political if they've seen Marineford? Government censorship is LITERALLY STARING THEM RIGHT IN THE FACE AT 474!

Is Law gonna help? Please tell me Law's gonna help. Please let Law help. He would help IMMENSELY right now.

Back to 475:

Ah, so their trump card was a fifth ship. That's one hell of a trump card, honestly.

I was so scared when Ace was about to be executed, my eyes were like dinner plates, and then...

Let me tell you, during Alabasta? I HATED CROCODILE. With a burning passion and a vengeance. But I have never cheered louder than when Crocodile stopped the executioners. I want my boy to LIVE!!!

If Sengoku makes it out of this ALIVE, never mind UNSCATHED, I'm gonna be PISSED. I really don't like him.

Man, am I glad I started watching One Piece... The amount of effort it took me to log on to Tumblr instead of watching the next episode right off the bat is crazy.

But I promised episode-by-episode now that I'm in single digits, and I will deliver!

Remember four episodes ago, when I was asking how many twists Marineford had? I'm still asking.

Oars is alive - woohoo! I knew he went down way too easily in the beginning of the war! But how long will he stay alive is the question?

Whitebeard has a trump card (that I won't say anything else about since that's next episode)?

Luffy asked Jimbei for a favor, and I was like "is he gonna ask to be thrown?" Imagine my pleasant surprise when the answer was yes!

Honestly, Luffy has scared me before (namely when such a happy, goofy character turns stone-cold serious), but seeing Luffy, who loves his brother more than anything else in the world, basically IGNORE ALL THREE ADMIRALS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM BECAUSE THIS IS THE CLOSEST ANYONE'S GOTTEN TO ACE AND IT'S HIM is more than a little terrifying.

Did Luffy... Plan for Aokiji to freeze the mast he was carrying? Was he banking on Aokiji doing that? Based on the length of the log, my assumption is no, he meant to take all three admirals out at once with it, but I'm honestly still not sure since it looks like the ice is also working in his favor.

Just... Wow.

Whitebeard has CLEARLY earned his title, oh my god. Making the island AND THE SEA tilt... What an incredible power.

The fact that Marco says Oars is "still fighting" to Squard... Man, they really are a tight-knit family!

Honestly, it really doesn't look good now, but I can't WAIT to see what comes next!

10 episodes.

Man, how many twists does this arc HAVE?!

Honestly, I watched 470 and most of 471 yesterday, so I really don't remember much.

But the Pacifistas are back, and frankly that scares me. The rookies managed to defeat one (barely), but now seasoned pirates are up against a whole pack of them and losing pretty badly... Oof.

And the end of 471? Squard? I was NOT expecting that! Holy crap!