One Piece Diaries #50: Sabaody Archipelago Arc #2

One Piece is one of the most beloved anime in history, but at over 1,000 episodes, it’s tough for those who haven’t been watching from the start to jump on board. One Piece Diaries tracks one writer’s experience with this daunting rite of passage. With hype for the highs and critique for the lows, this column will help you decide whether to take your own One Piece journey – or let you relive the one you’re already on. It will update biweekly every other Thursday.

Episodes Watched: 392 – 397 – Sabaody Archipelago Arc

Hey hey! Sorry that this is a little late. I’ve had a lot going on, ranging from starting a new part-time gig where I run anime clubs in middle schools to my physics genius little brother staying over so he can give a talk at a local university. That and getting really obsessed with The Sims 4. But I’ve still been watching One Piece, and I have some things to say about it!

I know that One Piece deals with some tough content, but this arc is really taking it to another level. This set of episodes introduced the concept of slave auctions. These auctions are totally legal in the Sabaody Archipelago – so much so that they’re attended by the Celestial Dragons from the World Government – people who are said to be descended from the creators of the world, and who are allowed to straight-up murder people if they feel like it.

The Straw Hats discover that their new friend Camie, a mermaid, is being sold off at one of these auctions. They race against time to try and get there in time to save her. But they don’t have the money to buy her freedom, and they can’t simply break her out or the collar around her neck will explode and end her life. Nobody can figure out what to do, and they’re devastated. 

One thing I appreciated was how absolutely horrified and disgusted the Straw Hats were that these auctions even existed. This was a completely reasonable response, but it’s not one that anime characters always have. In certain anime – Rising of the Shield Hero, for example – fantasy slavery is romanticized or made to seem like not such a big deal. Here, the characters reacted appropriately, and it made me like them more. Their reaction was somewhat undercut by the fact that later they were shocked to learn that Fishmen and mermaids faced discrimination even though they’re literally at a slave auction where a mermaid is the star attraction, but whatever.

One thing I’m not super into is the introduction of Silvers Rayleigh. I love that he defended Camie from the auctioneers and Celestial Dragons, but I really didn’t need that to come with a side of perviness. Like was it truly necessary for him to say he “has a weakness for young girls?” Not only is that gross, but it’s also boring – we’ve already had so many characters say things like this. Even if I weren’t bothered by this sort of thing, I’d still find it repetitive. And I am bothered. Also, his chin scares me. But on a positive note, his use of Haki was pretty cool.

The last episode was incredible. Normally, reckless heroism annoys me, but I was thrilled to see Luffy punch the Celestial Dragon who shot Hatchin and was trying to buy Camie. He was one of the most repellent characters I have ever encountered, and he absolutely deserved to have his ass handed to him. Sure, it’s going to cause a lot of problems later, but that’s how you get plot momentum, baby!

I also found it interesting how desperate Hatchin was to obey the rules against going against the Celestial Dragons despite how those rules clearly disadvantage him – the consequences for not doing so will fall the hardest on him, a victim of systemic oppression. Luffy is at risk because he’s broken the law, but he’s not at additional risk because of who he is on a base level. So it’s easier for him to fight and take on the consequences. Hatchin might be happy that Luffy stood up to him, but he’s also flooded with fear and shame from everything else he’s experienced so far – and of course, pain from being shot. I thought this was a fairly complex depiction of the dynamics.

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