#ep 438

As soon as I heard the OP kick in, I felt right at home again. Back on the Thousand Sunny like I’d never left.

Though I was grateful for the recap, I remembered more than I thought I would. Magellan had defeated and poisoned Luffy, and Bon-chan, who couldn’t help fight due to his crippling fear of the Warden, had dragged him across the icy wasteland of floor 5 in search of an antidote.

I had forgot what Buggy and Mr 3 were up to.

These two are hilarious, I swear. Creeping round Impel Down like Solid Snake under a box. Except if you call stealth being followed everywhere by a pack of wolves like a neon sign that says: HERE BE CRIMINALS! A pack of wolves that are smarter than them.

What is the deal here, though? I thought Buggy could fly? Why isn’t he able to at the moment? He could let Mr 3 jump on and they could leave the wolves on the ground. Have I forgot something important?

Honestly, if these doofuses survive, never mind break out, I’ll be impressed.  And they are doofuses. lovable doofuses. Accident-prone, lovable doofuses who attract trouble like the American mid-west attracts tornadoes. Thanks for the laughs, guys. It’s nice to have comic relief when the other two are dealing with more serious stuff.

Oh, I loved this moment. I don’t normally like shounen main characters but Luffy is an exception. Gon from HxH is the other. They’re similar, actually. Like most shounen characters, they’ll dredge the depths of hell for their friends, but Luffy and Gon both have a selfish, morally grey streak that I like.

Here’s another instance of Luffy fighting tooth-and-nail for a friend. He’s been beaten, poisoned (dat red eye) and can barely stand but when Bon-chan is about to be mauled by wolves, he finds strength - just enough - to fend them off. Luffy used the ability (Emperor’s Something? King’s Something?) that only certain pirates have that can make lesser beings keel over on sight (I forget what it’s called). Luffy’s intensity in these moments is pure gold. You really feel his exhaustion and fury here. Good job, animators.

Got to say, though, that some hero points must be given back to Bon-clay. I totally understand his fear of Magellan now. Really, he was being sensible. The guy beat Luffy. If Bon-clay had rushed in, they might both be dead right now, because what could he have done to help?

Bon-chan is blaming himself, though, because - even though he’s not as strong as Luffy - he’s an honourable person and fierce friend. Hence hauling Luffy across a frozen wasteland in a Left Hand of Darkness/Captain Scott-style trek in search of Ivan-san (Emporio Ivankov?) It’s a pretty brutal level, tbh. That shot of the inmates abandoned and frozen in their cell was harsh. Oda’s good at adding those little details.

Now... Ivan-san.

I took a lot of notes on Ivan-san because there were loads of obvious cultural references going on here. Even then, I’ve probably missed a lot.

The inmates kept talking about prisoners going missing, being ‘demoned away’, being taken to hell. Turns out, the missing ones aren’t dead. They’re having the time of their lives in New Kama Land: a secret paradise in the middle of Impel Down hell carved out by Ivan-san, whose design is an obvious homage to Tim Curry’s Dr Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror.

Ivan-san had been referred to by other inmates as ‘that queer’, ‘that weirdo’, etc. so I’m guessing homosexuality and gender fluidity on the Grand Line is received in pretty much the same manner as in RL with varying degrees of acceptance (Sanji isn’t keen, now I think about, it but then he’s as flamboyantly straight as Ivan-san is gay. Is Ivan-san gay? I’m not actually sure. Bon-chan mentioned the God of Queens and the Queen of Kamabakka Kingdom, so I guess?)

Anyway, I saw New Kama Land in Impel Down as something like an underground gay club that nobody else knows about: a little slice of heaven where queer people can be themselves, hidden from the harsh eyes of society. Like in RL, the prisoners have carved a little space of their own and formed a community within it.

Interesting that Bon-chan doesn’t feel like one of them (he called them ‘perverts’ hentai(?)) I kind of like that Oda did that. Just because Bon-chan has a flamboyant personality, it doesn’t mean he’s automatically attracted to that kind of scene, or that he approves. Everyone’s different.

Can’t wait to see where Oda goes with Ivan-san. A miracle worker in hell? Sounds intriguing...