Straw Hat Episode 18+19

I feel like everyone gets caught up on the Kuina stuff and women v men swordsmen stuff and a lot miss out on the other important part of Zoro's backstory. It shows that he uses his training as an outlet for his negative emotions like anger, sadness, and anxiety. This is shown again later in the show but again most people overlook it and the majority of people I have seen always comment stuff like "it's cool that Zoro is always training". I think its more important to pay attention to the moments Oda shows Zoro training related to recent fights and set backs for Zoro because it shows a pattern that reveals a lot about his character that people don't pick up on, especially the people who say Zoro has no complexity and is just a muscle brain idiot. I mean, he is that too, but that doesn't mean he can't have subtlety to his character as well.

Joseph C Gdaniec

I guess 23 is old now

Justin

also holy shit yeah, had the SAME reaction to Kuina's "Accident". ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT in the moment.

Demon Slayer

sad that she didn't get to see the Woonan movie. Good Scream-Scream Devil Fruit fighting against Luffy.

Demon Slayer

The real one piece is the friends we make along the way

Nugby

One Piece joins the world. Whatever your race, beliefs, age, preferences, etc, we can all be together as one. :)

Xanis

swordsman ship is more about skill, grace and technique rather than brut force. other than the physical strength and endurance to hold and fight with the swords your brut strength is less of an advantage with them than it is with other weapons.

utafoxy

So Alicia, I don't know if anyone has told you this; but there's a meme of Zoro being called a minority hunter because a lot of his opponents are dark complexioned or are of a different species from human and he wears a bandana (Or a durag if you will). Watch a video by a YouTuber named Synsei called Zoro the Minority Hunter, not gonna lie it's f-ing hilarious. It's 100% a meme though, not to be taken seriously. Have a great day.

Matthew Snedden

So about Gaimon since the anime doesn't cover it and it is canon, a long time after this episode there is a cover story which just shows like one page of the story per chapter in the manga of it but there is a girl who is also in a box that eventually ends up on that island with him and they fall in love.

Nikki Atalatne

Some info and definitely not a spoiler. The plant man episode was from a cover series the author did. The anime doesn't cover most cover stories, so it maybe worth looking into once your caught up

Nakama Forever

Alicia making fun of the disabled box Man shame tsk tsk tsk

yyoudothis

Zoro's backstory was changed in the anime. In the manga, he was always part of that dojo run by Kuina's dad. The next part isn't a spoiler, because it's never been revealed in the series itself, but Zoro and Kuina are related. We know they're cousins, but how closely they're related is a bit of a mystery. Zoro's father was killed by pirates when Zoro was 8, which may be the reason Zoro hated pirates at the start of the story, though it's not entirely clear, and Zoro's mother died of an illness. The only reason we know about any of this is because of a recent SBS, which is a kind of Q&A thing Oda does in each volume release of the manga, where he just casually revealed Zoro's entire family tree.

Jay Redmond

Of course my loyal Trivia fan. I endeavor to provide Trivia for every single episode! Thanks for liking it.

Serith

Pls keep giving us more trivia TriviaKing!

Treyvon Smith

Spoiler free, it's spoiler free, I swear guys it's all spoiler free! I'd never tell anyone about the part where Luffy opens a ramen shop! uh-oh! It be STRAW wHAT trivia! Arrrrr! Episode 18 Is this the first episode of filler in One Piece?! Of course its... NOT! The events of episode 18 are actually from chapter 22 of the manga, the chapter just before they arrive at Syrup village and meet Usopp. Upon meeting Gaimon, Luffy initially calls him a boxed son, prompting Gaimon to muse over his "coddled" childhood; this joke is based off the term "boxed daughter", a somewhat archaic description of girls over-sheltered by their families. As the term has little cultural significance outside Japan, each professional English translation adapts it into a different joke: The Viz manga uses the term "boxer". The 4Kids-dubbed anime uses the term "heart of gold". The Funimation-dubbed anime uses the term "Jack-in-the-box" (with Gaimon sarcastically claiming his name "just happens to be Jack"). Episode 19 Well isn't that a coincidence. The events of episode 19 of the anime are actually from chapter 5 of the manga, right after we meet Zoro. The directors of the anime decided that we'd only get a flash of Kuina in the anime where they originally told Zoro's whole backstory. Then they fleshed out the story a bit and put it here in episode 19. Not a bad way to do it I'd say. Kuina's name comes from a flightless bird: the water-rail. This, according to Eiichiro Oda, is a metaphor for her ambitions: "though a bird cannot fly, it does not mean it never will". Real deep Oda boy, real deep. Speaking of names the village Zoro and Kuina are from is called Shimotsuki village. Shimotsuki is the traditional name of the month of November in the Japanese calendar and translates as "Frost moon". Wasn't that neat? It was no way sad or traumatic when Kuina died. Not sad at all. What? I'm not crying... YOU'RE CRYING!!! *sobbing* Trivia's over! (I did seriously tear up when watching Alicia react to Kuina's death. It's one of the most sad moments in the whole series for me to this day. Maybe because I first read it when I was like, 10.)

Serith

I will say when it comes to filler, take note what is filler just so in the future if behaviors or anything from it would change how they would react to things you know it’s actually the first time there coming across it. The is very seldom anything like it but just be aware. I’m all for you seeing every episode. There is even filler that people love so much it recommend to watch for people that skip filler. Looking forward to this adventure with you thanks for being a real one.

Zee Grog

the dad didn't act in any way like he was grieving or upset. he was creepy and sketchy. idk man. i just don't trust it.

Princess Paladin

sure, sure

Princess Paladin

Fan Theory, No Spoiler No one believes Kuina is dead. There are a couple characters that could be her in the future. Some are weirder than other but anything is possible in the One Piece world.

Cole Savoie

I'm enjoying the One Piece binge. If it works for you it works for me.

Cole Savoie

Fun fact about this episode while many people may say gaimon episode may be filler it's really important cause it's the first time that shows Luffy's character and how important dreams are for people even if he barely know them so yeah everything in one piece is important (even skypia people)

christian garcia

I don't think kuina's death have anything to do with her father, but I too call bullshit.

LUÍS FERNANDO GOIS LOBÃO

About the movies; most of them are not really appreciated by the fan base. I think there is some merit in watching most of them, even if it's just for the reaction content. I will also say that movies 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 were directed by the series author so they are much better IMO. (Fun fact: movie 1 was animated using cells instead of digital animation unlike the anime series.)

Hynkka

Regarding the whole man/woman sword thing, yeah you're absolutely right, a guy may have 40% more muscle mass by default but that's nothing compared to real training. The issue here is that her father never said she couldn't be a good swordsman (though he did kinda imply that when he said he couldn't pass the dojo onto her) but rather, she couldn't be the STRONGEST swordsman. See, when you're trying to be the best of anything, being "good" just isn't good enough, you have to be better than every single other person who's also trying to be good. Like I'm sure the best female boxer would knock me out in one punch, but would she win against the BEST male boxer is the real question, and for most physical oriented sports, the unfortunate answer is no, that's why they separate physical sports in the first place. That anatomical advantage may mean nothing compared to hard work, but the top male players in any physical sport ALSO do the hard work too, so a woman would have to work much harder to achieve the same physical result, and you can only train so hard before your body breaks down on you. Now it's worth noting that in the context of the show, her father is ABSOLUTELY WRONG even in saying she can't be the strongest swordsman. Physical strength means jack squat in a world with super powers, and just because her physical ability has a cap, that doesn't mean her sword skill does. A quick enough thinker can make up for any physical drawback if she's just that more skilled than the strongest male, so yeah I think it's definitely in the realms of possibility. I won't go into spoiler territory, but I will say that there's even more gender neutral factors that will eventually become relevant. But yeah, if you live in a closed off village that doesn't even know devil fruits exist and only know of human limitations, I think saying a girl can't be the strongest swordsman is just an unfortunate yet realistic take. It's not one you should say to a girl's face, especially your own daughter, I think you should be teaching her to follow her dreams, but I think at least for the context of his knowledge, what he said wasn't really incorrect.

Justin Payne

Another comment from me but about the slipped and fell down the stairs thing - hate it or not, it just shows how random and tragic life can be sometimes. Sometimes shit just happens that is incredibly sad and horrible. Zoro used her death to spur himself forward into chasing his dream - as he promised her, one of them was going to become the greatest and because she can't, he will. If she'd died by murder, their dream would be tainted with revenge, if she'd died by suicide, their dream would be tainted with the knowledge that she gave the up their dream and broke the promise. This is why I fully believe she just slipped... and fell. Because for her death to be otherwise would mean that their dream was broken in some way, instead of remaining a pure promise to a friend, followed through in the years to be fulfilled eventually by one... or the other. Also the line about being a parent... I'm pretty sure he just meant that like any parent, he made mistakes and his mistake was not believing in her dream. :<

Liberty

Yeah, the thing that pisses me off with the whole "Male vs female" swordman thing here is that yeah, Zoro is going to be STRONGER, but she's going to have technique, speed and drive. Strength is part of it, for sure, but the other three aren't to be discounted and are just as integral as big man muscle. Experience and passion, training and keeping fit (!!!) are also huge parts of becoming the best. Some of these Zoro does great at, some of them not so much and Kuina could have easily gone down the path of taking on those parts that Zoro can't.

Liberty

Soup did actually hit it! Remember that his daddy is the Sharpshooter on Shank's ship, and that Soup is really good with a slingshot. He may be a lier but he isnt incompetent

VJ Sins

@cody raugh Although the anime suggests otherwise Zoro likely never lived that street fighting world before he left the dojo – which is also very likely the only one in the entire region. As usual the anime additions to the story make not much sense when you get additional information (as we did in a recent manga SBS).

F. Carasind

Oda has confirmed that the treasure is something real because he wants a real reward at the end.

F. Carasind

I have a theory brewing on the real cause of Kuina's death, but the evidence is still only in the manga right now. Maybe i can comment about it in 2 years LOL

Dajkenoth

Tbh you've probably chosen the best time to start one piece bc once the one piece is revealed there will (probably) be no place safe from that spoiler, but who's to say it won't take another 20 years lol I'm just glad we all get to enjoy it as intended

GildedGrimoire

It's worth pointing out that sports are generally build and rules are made with men in mind, given the right rules women would and do out preform men.

Kawaii Edgelord

Soup is all I'm ever going to call Usopp now 😂. His full name is now Goo D. Soup!

Jorden Powell

I just remember the Chia pet commercials cha cha cha chia! Lol I chalk Kuinas death to early One Piece. It felt so random. Like just a way to write her out. I never saw her father as evil. I always assumed the time period and culture swordsmen/samurai is that women wouldn't be allowed to have positions like that. I felt bad for her. She needed to understand that skill and talent wins out. If you surpass all other swordsmen male or female no one can deny your greatness. Love Zoro holds her sword in his mouth like she's always with him and he's gonna take her to the top. Check out old japanese stairs. Chest stairs. No railing and steep as hell. I'd probably fall and break my neck too.

Jechtsphere

Oda's generally pretty up front with the dark aspects of the world; this genuinely is just an accident with a tragic result.

Mel

Oda Has not confirmed anything about what the one piece is "YET" 1086 chapters in and they are finally touching on the subject, scratching at its surface. For all wek know, it could just be a silly hat that says "#1" like the hat from SpongeBob good ol "Smitty Werbenjägermanjensen" XD

Astraux

Goomba Chia Pet

Momar

Im very much enjoying the one piece binge, if anything more than the jojo reactions that I originally subbed for

136

Episode 24 is around the corner can’t wait to get there

Brandon Rodriguez

zoro never beat kuina so if he becomes the greatest swordsman then she also becomes the greatest swordsman because she will always be 1 step ahead of him.

Jacob

So with Kuina, i read this somewhere and it explained it beautifully. If kuina had been murdered, zoro's story would just be a revenge story and end there. But since it was an accident there is no resolution other than fulfilling their dreams. I assumed the "Im an ordinary parent" line to be sorta a roundabout way of saying "im not perfect, i made mistakes" but i could be off

lionstooth

i assume her sexist dad had something to do with this too. didn't want a girl to take over his dojo, saw she was getting strong AF and he got worried, so he offed her before she could take over. like, what an absolute scumbag of a parent. god. i don't know if that's the case, but it's the only thing that makes sense.

Princess Paladin

isn't one piece where the joke "the real treasure is the friends we made along the way" started? also didn't Oda confirm the one piece isn't friendship or something like that?

Jacob

So i might be pissing off some people, but i doubt it. The whole gender thing and your ramble were both on point and ""not"". Competitive one on one with rules that male physical difference will always win out, but in story telling, and in street fighting where there are no bars held, it's only a slight advantage. Oda does a great job of showing people of different strengths and making them valued. All the modern "feminists" around anime typically are the types who were raised watching garbage women like the pink banshee of Naruto and well Naruto in general where people lost their value if they weren't OP fighter warlord. Our boy Soup is probably going to be the absolute weakest strawhat, yet he's probably one of the best strawhats to have on your side, similar with Nami. Zoro's girl be raised in that peaceful competitive dojo atmosphere, straight and narrow, there was no way she'd be the greatest. Zoro lived and lives that street fighting world where any skilled and cleaver enough woman could completely negate his power and destroy him if he doesn't hone them skills and always be prepared. She at the rate she was going would only encounter swords and learn too late about the terror of a sling, "pocket sand" (dumb but beloved trope), handgun, complex faints/fake outs, etc and thus she'd eventually be overwhelmed as that regulation (fair competition) atmosphere went on into her adulthood. And thats why there's men's and women's leagues of sports, because they're supposed to be fair, regulated scenarios by which the skill, training and ability of near equals could be put on display. And i think Oda displays that very well throughout One Piece. He more or less makes the women fight something like anime versions of Sarah Conner from Terminator 2 where she was bodying people left and right and was taking hostages, cheap shots, using the terrain, weapons, etc.

cody raugh

Fun fact: The Zoro flashback was shown when we first met him when he was tied up! NO CLUE why they moved it here

Kyle Necker

If Luffy can nickname people so can you ✨ SOUP

Meek

yes, i remember chia pets and there still being sold

jdogus

Love your reactions this series gets better and better with time, super exited about next few arcs

WOW, Alicia, why you did dirty us, i had one that grass haired doll thingy XD

Can Arabacıoğlu

A fan theory that is often said, but I personally can't confirm, is that in Japan people will say "falling down stairs" as a euphemism for suicide. I don't know if that is true or not, but it certainly gives Kuina's death two distinct possible themes. Either it was an accident, a reminder that even the strong and promising can die uneventfully, or she lost to her negative thoughts. Wanting to die undefeated, not wanting to grow up and get weaker, who can say? Both are dark in their own way.

Silent Eric

awesome to hear you feel almost addicted already xD Welcome to the club. And we all love the lil baby versons aswell <3

Aegean

If youre worried about how we're 1000+ episodes in and still dont know what the one piece is, that just means you get to catch up and theorise with the rest of us. Theorising is gonna be a BIG part of the series as you go along I cant wait

Slurp

“What is that… a bunch of bunny rabbits?” You know, as someone who has watched Re:Zero S2, there are few things in anime that terrify me more than red-eyed bunny rabbits (and yes - I’m aware it’s even more terrifying in the book. I’ve experienced that trauma).

jdoggivjc

I told my buddies I started watching one piece and I just met soup they weren't entertained :(

BornUnMotivated

I always thought Kuina killed herself...

Memento Forever

Lmao Alicia. He said Kuina was his daughter from the start of the episode. Seeing that flashback everytime is a reminder to why Zoro will be the world's greatest swordsman.

SHOCK

Also I've been waiting waiting for specifically the episode 19 reaction and you did not disappoint

Gamer Kane

Oh my god thank you for clarifying about the spoilers, I added massive text saying potential spoiler and then pressed space a lot like you said but was still so scared of spoiling something I deleted it, apologised and then ended up deleting the apology just in case

Gamer Kane

Yeah it it ticks me off when people celebrate a minority or a woman or whatever accomplishing something. In France we have that one actor who got a prestigious award, a César (french Oscar, basically) a few years back. Pretty much all the newspapers were like "First black actor to win the prize!" I think the guy said something among the lines of "We'll now we're past racism in the movie industry not because a minority won an award, but the day we stop talking about it".

Royce[

Yea its unfortunate but its true, its why the WNBA only does pickup matches against HS basketball not even college. Its sad though, theres this girl that works for me, she really wanted to play football and she did, she was a kicker and did very good. But one time she ran the ball, just once, got tackled and it essentially amputated her ankle inside her skin. Ruined her sports career in a literal snap. It definitely feels unfair. That said there are more than a handful of sports where women can and do dominate. Ironically for this ep i feel like fencing is one but im not sure

lionstooth

Men and women are different. It doesn't mean, that you have to give up on your dreams. That's what makes women's achivements, so much more impressive to me.

Rat#394

What? He said it was natural for him to be better because he trains more

Ranginald Vagel

I think One piece probably does female representation best out of comparable anime like Naruto and Bleach. Definitely gets even better in the later episodes

Mirza

Alright... I hope you won't see me as sexist or anything. I pretty much have the same views as you when it comes to genders in e-sports commentary and any other non-physical job. But I think you way underestimate how different male and female bodies are, and at the same time way overestimate the gym. I'm gonna talk about how it works in the real world, One Piece is a lot more confusing... First of all, he said "you will never be the best swordsman in the world". In the real world that would be pretty much 100% true when it comes to physical sports, and that's just obviously, provably, true. A woman, any woman, could never beat a male UFC fighter. It's pretty much impossible. A woman can't beat the world's 100 meter (or any other distance) record. The best female basketball team in the world could never compete in the NBA (even if it was allowed). That's just reality. "When you compare someone who trains every day to somebody who's training maybe a few times a week, doesn't matter what gender it is..." No, it doesn't work like that. I haven't gone to the gym in a few month as of now, and I'm still fairly sure that unless you're on a massive amount of steroids, if you're a woman who weighs as much as me, you can't beat me in arm wrestling, doesn't matter how often you hit the gym really. It's really not "just a baseline". If there's a girl in here who actually goes to the gym every day and thinks differently about this, I'd love to hear it. But I really do doubt I'm wrong on this. Anyway, new subscriber, never commented before, hope I didn't just make a terrible impression on you lol.

rando

Down D. Stairs

PsychoHelmet

Im absolutely loving your reactions!

Eli

Yeah, don't put pressure on yourself to pump episodes... you will also risk growing tired of the show and thus non enjoying it, so keep your own pace, even if it varies. We enjoy it if you also enjoy it! However, since YouTube likes scheduled releases, I think it's probably a good idea if you build up a number of episodes here on patreon, and then set a release schedule for YT, so even if there are weeks when you release fewer episodes, you still have a buffer for YT. The Gaimon episode is odd in the grand scheme of things. It's not filler, it's canon even in the manga it was a one-off chapter (so maybe manga filler?) and Oda said that Gaimon was one of his favorite characters. It makes you wonder if he had other plans for him. Alicia: "I used to have the same thoughts back in the day..." Me: "You wanted to be the strongest swordsman in the world!? Damn..." XD For the movie, it depends if you want to stream it "legally", but even if you want to stay away from shady sites, I can pass you the movie directly maybe on Google Drive or something like that. Fun facts: Wado Ichimonji means "Straight Line through the Path of Harmony"

leviathan_13

Zoro sleeps during the day cause he is the one watching over the ship during the night

Morgan Hellström

Congrats! Now you've seen Zoro's Backstory wich is one of the weakest Backstory in this show, not a bad one though. So be prepared It's only getting more eff'ed up from here on out. ;)

Zarad

did usop draw on the sail while the ship was in motion or did they stop and take it down first that's the real question