One Piece Diaries #60: Impel Down Arc #4

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 be updated biweekly every other Thursday.

Episodes Watched: 446 – 452

‘Impel Down’ is over and I’m scared to continue on to ‘Marine Ford’ because I know it’s going to be painful. I’m also really excited to see what happens. Before I dive in, I have to process the end of the arc I just watched.

Let’s start by talking about Magellan, the ultimate villain of the arc. He ended up being a lot more serious and menacing than I thought he was going to be. Before I watched Impel Down, all I really knew about him was that he had poison powers and that he got diarrhoea a lot.

Toward the end, they eased up on the jokes and made him seem like a major threat. But they also didn’t really add any information about him. I know he’s the warden but I don’t know what motivates him outside of his job. Once they stopped treating him like a comic relief character, this felt like a bigger omission than it would have otherwise. Also, the jokes about his stomach issues started to feel less like jokes and more like ableism. I found myself thinking less about “haha he eats poison” and more about my friend who has Crohn’s disease. Basically, the vibes were weird.

But One Piece did something really interesting with Magellan in that Luffy did not actually defeat him. He knew from previous experience that he wasn’t strong enough to do so. He also knew that he didn’t have time to try. In the past, Luffy has tried to take on opponents he had no chance of beating. This isn’t the first time that Luffy has made a choice like this, but it still shows growth. I love a protagonist who knows how to prioritize and understands risk assessment!

I loved the actual escape – the visuals of Ivankov’s giant head being used as a volleyball for a bunch of whale sharks controlled by Jimbei were just delightful. This arc has been pretty upsetting overall, so it was nice to have a moment that was just pure fun. It also contrasted well with Bon Clay’s devastating decision.

Bon Clay decided to stay behind so that he could transform his face into Magellan’s and order the gate that the other escapees were trying to get through to be opened, and then shut before the Marines could go after them. This means not just not escaping, but being tortured or even killed as punishment. Still, he was willing to go through with it for the sake of his friend.

That was incredibly admirable. I love Bon Clay so much and I really hope he’s not dead. I’m glad that Luffy took him to task for being self-sacrificing – Bon Clay should care more about his own life!! – but also that he thanked him for it. After all, it was too late to change things at that point, so there was no point in excoriating him.

I’m also really curious about what Blackbeard and his crew are up to. They’ve clearly struck up some sort of deal with Shiryu, but so far I don’t know what that’s all about. I guess we’ll find out in the next arc. I like being left with a sense of mystery.

Overall, this was a good arc. I have my nitpicks – for example, most of Magellen’s underlings were completely inconsequential which was disappointing because they had interesting designs – but I enjoyed it.

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