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This right here, is one of my all time favourite moments in One Piece. The energy. The emotions
and the impact it carries are simply fantastic. However I think it takes a quite unique place
in this series. Because, while most of the other iconic moments in One Piece are based on positive,
empowering or sentimental scenes, when Luffy walks up to Charlos to punch him in the face the strong
emotion this moment carries is one of burning rage and anger. This shot works so incredibly well,
because it scratches the sting itch that chapter 502 and episode 396 of One Piece
have built up to that point. And the feeling of helplessness, injustice and despair that not only
the characters, but also the audience experiences is something that is quite unique in Oda’s story.
It is in this chapter I believe, that Oda fully pulls aside the colourful shounen curtain with
which he covers his story and exposes the true, dark dystopia of his story world,
that we otherwise only get small glimpses at.
And so in today’s video, I want to discuss with you why I believe that 502 is the darkest
chapter of the entire story so far with an almost shakespearean level of tragedy and why it makes
Luffy’s punch one of the best scenes in the story. Oh yeah, and if you haven’t already, make sure
to subscribe to the channel. We’re actually getting really damn close to hitting 100K.
The scene takes place in the first half of the Sabaody Archipelago Arc that until today is
one of my favourite Arcs overall. The Mermaid Camie has been kidnapped by human traffickers
to be sold at a salve auction, and the straw hats have entered the auction hall planning to use the
200 million berry of treasure they have to buy her free without causing any major commotion.
Next to the general high society of the One Piece world, dressed in glamorous cloths,
three celestial dragons have joined the auction as well, and so have Eustas Kid and Trafalgar Law.
Before their eyes a young dancing girl is being sold for 7.2 Million Berry.
Meanwhile, a very frustrated Charlos, who wants to buy a mermaid to be chased around in his piranha
tank, kicks another of his slaves. The next candidate is a former renowned pirate captain,
that is now being sold off like cattle. Before anyone in the audience can start bidding however,
his mouth starts filling with blood and he collapses on the floor. As it turns out he has
bitten off his tongue to kill himself rather than become a slave. Next up is finally Camie,
who like all other slaves wears a collar that will explode should anyone try to remove it.
The crew seems confident to get her, however upon seeing the mermaid, Charles immediately bids 500 M
Berries and seals the deal for her to the shock of everyone else in the room. The now terrified
Camie tries to scream out to Hatchan, but her cries can’t reach though the walls of her tank.
When Kid decides to leave upon seeing all this, Luffy and Zoro finally reach the hall as well
in their typical fashion, by smashing through the roof. Upon seeing Camie Luffy starts towards her
tank, but is stopped by Hacchan, who accidentally reveals all of his arms and thus him being a
fishman. This immediately creates panic within the auction hall as the fishmen are not only
strongly discriminated against here, but actually banned from even setting foot on the island.
And so for the very first time the crew gets to witness the true level of discrimination
against their race first hand. The turmoil stops as suddenly as it has started when the
room is suddenly pirced by gun fire. As Luffy turns around, he sees Hacchan falling over,
shot by none other than the Celestial Dragon Charlos, who is excitedly celebrating his kill.
In this moment Luffy’s entire demeanour changes. While the onlookers are relieved that the
dangerous and disease-riddled monster has been killed, he starts walking towards the Tenryubito.
The heavily wounded Hacchan tries to stop him, blaming himself for what happened
and apologising that he could not make up for what he had done to Nami and her village,
fully redeeming his character. This however just seems to harden Luffy’s resolve.
Unstoppable he closes in on Charlos, who fails to shoot him, and Luffy punches him in the face
so hard, that he leaves a permanent imprint of his fist on his face.
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Something I can’t put in the description below, is describe how much I love that scene.
I mean. What a rollercoaster of a chapter. So much negativity, cruelty and immorality building up in
just 16 pages. Emotional storytelling at its best. I think you will probably already have
a good idea what makes this chapter so incredibly dark, even though no-one dies, no-one is betrayed
and nothing is lost. I think Kid summaries it best in this panel here, where he fittingly describes
the auction house as a miniature of the world. What does he mean by that? Well you see, Sabaody
is the first arc that we actually meet the world nobles and see their rule and tyranny in action.
In the world of One Piece they stand on top of the food chain. They are a tiny group of people
that hold most of the wealth and power of the world. Anything that they want, they get. Laws
don’t apply to them, they are made to make their lives better. They have complete control over
the World Government and if a civilian so much as crosses paths with one without bowing down,
they will be shot and killed. They literally see themselves as the gods of the One Piece world,
and they certainly behave and live that way. And so when Kid says that the slave auction
is like the world in miniature it tells us an awful lot about the state of the world itself.
As will be confirmed later in the story, it means that even on a large scale, the
Celestial Dragons simply do what they want with a disregard for human life, morality and humanity.
They dominate everything and everyone and no-one is able to lift so much as a finger against them.
Luffy’s friend Camie suddenly is nothing more than a product that is sold to the highest bidder
to amuse his twisted fantasies. So the scene gives us a first major glimpse at who the
World Government truly represents and what the true cruelty of the One Piece world looks like.
And, just as Kid stated the Human auction House is a wonderful narrative symbol for all of that.
Even though it is the centre of unjust and inhuman slave trade, the Marines euphemistically refer to
it as the Public Employment Security Office. I probably don’t have to tell you that referring
to slave work as employment has happened plenty of times throughout real history as well in an
attempt to soften and normalise the exploitation of humans. It’s not a mere sign of corruption
within the marines, but they literally have no other choice but to look the other way,
as they directly obey the celestial dragons’ rule. What makes the symbolism of the auction house even
more fitting however is the fact that it was owned by none other than Donquixote Doflamingo,
the leader of the Underworld, powerful warlord and one of the cruelest antagonists in the story.
It truly says nothing good about the world if it resembles something run by Doflamingo,
who’s own country that can also be seen as a miniature of the world,
was one of the darkest and corrupt places the straw hats have visited.
Doflamingo being a former Celestial Dragon himself is of course just the the cherry on top then,
as he himself has suffered his entire life under the system of the world nobles.
And so thematically this darkest of chapters fits more than perfectly into the arguably
darkest arc of the series so far. All this stuff with nobles, people being bought and
sold and walked around with collars, people being sold like items in an auction house,
Hachi and Camie having to hide themselves due to long-standing racism that's still
heavily ingrained in the people of the world. And that is only the first part of the arc.
It leaves a quite disturbing and uncomfortable feel on us readers, as we were mostly used to a
more adventure-based story-line with smaller villains in between. Yet here the entire
political system of the world is revealed to be twisted and broken, designed for the pleasure of
a selected few and exploiting the rest. Kid, who I think got a wonderful introduction in this arc,
has a fantastic and incredibly underrated speech about all this. I think
this hits it on the head. As Kid states correctly, many pirates like himself
have done horrendous things. However they are not a unified group like the world government.
And it was the terror, injustice and poverty of the current system that lead to the high
level of piracy in the first place, Luffy’s backstory being a great example of this.
And so I would argue that Oda tries to make clear in this chapter
that the world government is overall the greater evil compared to the pirates,
which is also why true change has come by the hands of pirates such as Roger and Luffy.
So let’s finally talk about that punch, that I think we all immensely enjoyed seeing.
It’s especially nicely done in the anime where the change from black to white, Luffy’s walk,
Charlos’ dropping face as well as the unique sound design really bring the scene to life
and multiply its impact. Based on everything we have discussed so far, I think it’s very easy
to see what makes Luffy’s moment of pure anger so cathartic. Luffy is the only one who dares
to stand up to the true injustice and tyranny of the world, who actually shows Charlos you
can’t just do whatever to people and that actions actually should have consequences, something that
no admiral, no yonko and no one else has dared to do. In that sense, when Luffy punches Charlos
and bursts the bubble that is supposed to keep him from breathing the same air as the common people,
Luffy also bursts his metaphoric bubble of divine and unlimited power. Once again the D
as the natural enemy of the gods. Luffy committing the ultimate sin and declaring war on the gods
themselves. Thus, what makes this scene so special is that it is a moral and emotional island of
light in a see of darkness that is the sabaody arc. Luffy giving us this moment of much needed
justice and courage that allows us to hope for the world to truly change for the better with him.
Which is EXACTLY what so many other people see in him. When the pirate captain bites
off his tongue earlier in the chapter to escape slavery, Sanji in a great moment comments this.
It’s all about freedom. And his captan in this scene is once again proving that he is
the freest of them all, free to actually do the right thing and stand up to the world.
What ultimately makes this moment even better for me however
is how in typical shakespearean fashion it is the catalyst for even more tragedy to happen.
Luffy bravely punching Carlos leads to the eviction of a Buster Call, during which Kizaru
and Shutenmaru completely overwhelm the crew as well as the other supernova. In the end Luffy and
us readers had to witness how one by one each of the straw hats disappears by the hands of Kuma,
resulting in maybe THE most shocking moment of the entire story. The straw hat’s full defeat.
All, set up by this moment right here. This is story telling and tragic writing at its peak.
And speaking of tragic writing at its peak in the next video I want
to talk about one of the most tragic and misunderstood moments after the time skip.
And so we’ll be looking at that in the next video. Thanks guys. Peace.