Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Geek Therapy's anime and manga podcast.
Josué (00:05)
Welcome to Otaku Ryoho on the Geek Therapy Network. Here at Geek Therapy, we believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about. And here on Otaku Ryoho we're all about the anime and the manga. Anime and manga? Anime and manga. Man, you know how you say weird in your brain and then I mean you say it fine in your brain and then it comes out weird with your mouth. My name is Josué Cardona I'm joined by Rae Hoover.
Rae Hoover (00:28)
Mm-hmm. Mood.
Hey-o.
Josué (00:36)
All right, what's up, Rae? What are we talking about today?
Rae Hoover (00:38)
We are talking about One Piece and I'm rubbing my hands together like a greedy little fly, because this is...
Josué (00:43)
You said last time, that's what you said when I talked about
Gundam. You said we're gonna talk about One Piece. Let's do it.
Rae Hoover (00:49)
Yeah, we're just
we're just going to do it. Yeah, One Piece. It's it's my favorite. It's my favorite anything, I think. But definitely anime. Yeah, I'd say so. I keep coming back to it and it's like, yeah, it never gets old. So and also there's literally new stuff all the time. If if if we're lucky, it'll outlast me. At this rate So, yeah, One Piece is fantastic. It's.
Josué (00:57)
Really? Huh.
True.
Rae Hoover (01:16)
a silly haha anime and manga about pirates and obviously has no further depth than that. She said like a liar.
Josué (01:25)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. It's not like you could do like a presentation on it at a mental health conference.
Rae Hoover (01:34)
or two.
And probably more, but at least two so far. So far, yeah. I did last year and then this past year.
Josué (01:37)
You you only did two? You've only done two? I thought yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Got it. Yep.
Rae Hoover (01:45)
you guys keep letting me back in to keep talking about One Piece. So I'm just going keep doing that until someone tells me to stop.
Josué (01:50)
You write a good proposal.
Rae Hoover (01:53)
I can be very compelling when I want to.
Josué (01:55)
One Piece is pretty good. I agree. I also think it is fantastic.
Rae Hoover (02:02)
And the last time it was even mentioned on this podcast with dead to us, former host Gian Yeah. Whatever that guy was. Neither you nor him had even watched one piece. So this, this is the first for Otaku Ryoho
Josué (02:10)
I don't even remember his name.
Yes.
Yes. Yep. Yep. Big difference. I watched it during COVID.
Rae Hoover (02:26)
Mm-hmm. Good time to watch it
Josué (02:28)
Yeah, had a little bit extra time. Just a little bit. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. And ⁓ I'm I am caught up. As of today, I am caught up I am no no, okay. Let me be super specific. I am caught up on what is currently dubbed in English, which is up to episode one thousand one hundred and fifty-five of the anime. I did watch two more episodes in Japanese, but you know, like
Rae Hoover (02:41)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (02:55)
In that context I'm only like three or four episodes behind, I think. I'm not sure. Like you said, every week there is something new. And I and I haven't jumped on the manga. I read it like for after I had caught up the last time. ⁓ but I'm just doing anime now. And then the live action. I've watched the two seasons of the live action, so I'm caught up on that too.
Rae Hoover (03:03)
Exactly.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Josué (03:14)
So I'm caught up. Which is very different
from where we when it was last brought up on the show.
Rae Hoover (03:19)
Yeah, of never seen it at all. ⁓ I'm also caught up, I think with it. I'm also a ⁓ dub watcher. And as far as I know, I'm caught up. At least we're waiting for like the next batch to drop. So if there's a batch I haven't caught up with yet, that might that might be a possibility. But we go through them very quickly. So.
Josué (03:40)
it's a long show. Do you ⁓ and we do you think people will be upset if we don't talk about anything after episode one thousand one hundred and fifty five? Or should we start at the beginning?
Rae Hoover (03:50)
⁓
Which probably started at beginning.
Josué (03:55)
Okay, cool, cool, cool. Or ac actually, I mean, I do I do have a question for you, which is like as an introduction to One Piece, ⁓ like what like I g I guess the the general question is, right? Like what all we've said you said it was a pirate anime, right? without much depth, we're being sarcastic. so so what what is One Piece other than a thousand plus episodes?
Rae Hoover (04:12)
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
That is a good question. Like actually looking at what it is. One Piece is, I mean, it's a shonen. ⁓ But it's about so much more than just, you know, your typical tournament arc, your typical silly ha ha show about pirates. Pirates are about freedom, and you see that in multiple forms of media that focus on pirates.
⁓ People become pirates because they just are like, I don't want to live this life. I don't want to live the life that I've been assigned to. It does not fit me. I want freedom. humans for eras have been drawn to the sea because I don't know, there's no law there. The law is nature. And if you survive, you win basically. So.
At its core, it's show, it's manga about freedom and just living your authentic life, rejecting the things that don't serve you and following your dreams and picking up a bunch of weirdos along the way.
Josué (05:32)
Yeah. And and it does it in a way that is neutral in the sense that in some media it's like, pirates are bad guys, right? Here I think I think your description is ⁓ is very ⁓ appropriate for for the world that we're living like the the world that exists within the story and the show and the manga, which is that there is a world government, there is there
Rae Hoover (05:41)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (06:01)
There are islands and countries, there are rules, and then there are the people who live outside of that system. And those are the pirates. And those can range from a band of singing pirates to clowns to and everything in between. They might do good things, they might do bad things, they might be neutral, they might.
Rae Hoover (06:08)
Mm-hmm.
Yup.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (06:30)
pillage, they might not, they might just fish. Like it's just it's just people who are living off not n not off the grid but in the sense of like outside of normal
the the governmental system in the world. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (06:44)
Exactly, exactly. It's
it's all about just people kind of living living their lives, doing their thing. And that does not it's it's it's a nuanced it's very nuanced take, honestly, like that neutrality is really powerful because it's like, no, every single pirate, every single captain, every single crew has different values and different morals. And the government.
often will try to paint it in that black and white of their pirates, their bad, their evil stay away from them. They're scary. We'll protect you. Give us your money. ⁓ But really, it's yeah, you guess you get some goofy fucking pirates that are just doing their thing. ⁓ You get some ones who are like get reputation for being a little more vicious, but they're really just protective of their people more than anything.
I'm talking about the kid pirate specifically. And if my sibling ever listens to this, they'll be very happy that I gave them a shout out. Yeah, the kid pirates specifically get really like trashed in universe for like harming civilians. And it's like civilians does not equal innocent people. Civilians just means not a government official, not a Marine, not a not another pirate. ⁓ And they get.
Josué (07:44)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Rae Hoover (08:03)
They get the bad rap for being vicious because they're just very, very protective over their people. And so if someone badmouths one person, they'll deck them. They'll kill them. Which like, yeah, respect.
Josué (08:12)
Yeah. Yeah.
And ev every pirate crew has its own ⁓ values, like you said, and they're all also independent of each other. Unless except when they're not. Like some some pirates have whole fleets, but in general, like they're not it's not pirates aren't a a uniform group. Right. Yeah. Even though the government is like against all of them, sort of, they're still ⁓
Rae Hoover (08:19)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Josué (08:39)
Yeah, they're all like doing their own thing for the most part. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (08:41)
I get
the sense that this conversation is gonna be a lot of, yes, but also no. Like, there's no clear cut anything in this show, and that's what makes it so great.
Josué (08:51)
Well, ⁓ like so if if you know the show, right, like I I'm I'm just thinking of ⁓ there's the concept of the
The warlords, right? Which is like government sanctioned piracy. And so it g it gets complicated. I don't I don't think that's like for the beginning of the that for for our intro. ⁓ so there but but in general it is it is the world government and then you did mention the Marines, which I think is important because they are I would say they are like a there's probably f just to paint the picture of the world before we get to our main pirate crew, I would say let me know if you agree.
Rae Hoover (08:59)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (09:26)
There's the world government. There's the people, like civilians who live within that world government, right? Who are just like law abiding citizens. And, you know, like they're like, okay, yeah, this is this is our island. This is our world. This is, you know. ⁓ there's the Marines, who are like the one military force that ⁓ are supposed to protect the civilians and and they work for.
Rae Hoover (09:33)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (09:52)
at the behest of the world government and then the fourth group would be the pirates. I would say like everybody falls into one of those four ⁓ categories and then yeah, like these groups are moving around doing things and very important. But there's one particular pirate crew that we care the most about. Which one's that?
Rae Hoover (09:54)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
That well, I mean, obviously, it's the straw hats. Yeah, obviously, the kid. This episode is dedicated to my sibling. We're talking about the kid pirates no, I'm kidding. Yeah, it's a it's a straw hats and just ⁓ a quick little clarification on the factions there. ⁓ The Revolutionary Army is the other one.
Josué (10:17)
The Kid Pirates. It's your favorite.
Mm. I did forget the revolutionary army. Yes.
Rae Hoover (10:39)
And
they kind of don't come into play like until post time skip anyway. We don't really see too much of them.
Josué (10:44)
Yeah.
Rae Hoover (10:45)
but they're
always there, that's true.
Josué (10:47)
But so they
are a hundred percent another piece of of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a good call. That's a good call. The revolutionary army are is exactly what it sounds like. It is ⁓ a i if the pirates are living free and doing their own thing, the revolutionary army is a reaction to the world government and is trying to free
Rae Hoover (10:52)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (11:16)
the civilians from the the rule of the world government and trying to basically liberate ⁓ the world.
Rae Hoover (11:26)
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, they are directly trying to dismantle the system that the world government has created. ⁓
Josué (11:33)
Whereas the
pirates, that's they're just they're just living they're just doing their thing.
Rae Hoover (11:37)
Yeah, they may align with the RA. They may align with the RA at times, ⁓ but that's not like their main thing usually.
But yeah, getting back to the beginning and the straw hats.
They're our main crew. It starts with what, 17 year old Monkey D. Luffy setting out and, you know, making his incredibly small crew, a band of weirdos. Mm-hmm.
Josué (11:55)
Mm-hmm.
Our our protagonists
are the Straw Hat Crew. Monkey D Luffy. Who else?
Rae Hoover (12:11)
Roronoa Zoro. Nami. Usopp Sanji is now just becoming me reciting all of them. I am. Yeah. Yeah. Chopper, Tony, Tony Chopper, because insanity. OK. Yeah.
Josué (12:15)
Mm.
You You're doing it in order in cr in c in chronological order.
Yep. Stop there. Stop. You can't you kill you keep going. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (12:41)
True,
true, true. OK, so we're kind of focusing more on just like.
Josué (12:45)
Rae said that this person was on the crew, but they're a bad guy. What is it?
Rae Hoover (12:51)
Don't at me, it's been out for 20 years.
Josué (12:53)
And actually this th that that roster covers up to the live action right now. Like if you if you watch that much. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Those are the straw hats, ⁓ which get their name. Right, so so covering a couple of just like ⁓ very general ⁓ concepts, right? Like we've introduced you into the world, kind of how it works. It's also a world that's mostly
Rae Hoover (12:58)
Mm-hmm.
Exactly, exactly. Yeah, I think it's a good place to start.
Josué (13:21)
Like there's a there is a ship culture because people live on islands and so you go on a ship and travel from island to island, right? You're not nobody's I don't there's always exceptions, right? But like for the most part there are ships, right? Like you're not taking trains, you're not taking planes, you're not taking you're not flying, right? Again, I'm making exceptions. And if any of these things exist, they're probably water based in some way.
Rae Hoover (13:28)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (13:48)
Right, everybody lives on islands. Everything is an island, lots of water in between. And that's kind of the world that we're living in. All those factions, and we see the world through the the eyes of this particular crew and their and their adventures. And the straw hat crew, Luffy is the main character and he's got ⁓ a straw hat, which is why they're called the Straw Hats.
Rae Hoover (14:00)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (14:14)
And that's like you you may have seen that ⁓ image of like this really like skinny, thin, rubbery, literally sometimes just stretching out, right? That he has ⁓ this ability and he's he's wearing a a yellow hat with a red ribbon. And ⁓ that is kind of the symbol of the there's a there's a Jolly Roger, right? Like the crossbones with the with the hat on it, and that's their their sigil. Yeah. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (14:41)
Yeah, yeah.
The straw hat itself is loaded with symbolism and meaning. It's very important to Luffy. It's very important to the story overall ⁓ that the hat in the least spoilery way represents a promise. Essentially, it's a promise to, you know, ⁓ another pirate out there that Luffy like idolized growing up.
and knew and ⁓ that pirate shanks gave him the hat and said, give this back to me someday when you're a great pirate. So that's been driving Luffy to do all this. the TLDR is why that's so important.
Josué (15:24)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And he's taken it as him as his symbol and and the entire crew identifies by that name. And the whole world knows them by that name. And by extension, I would say that is it has entered popular culture. Even people who are unfamiliar or or like have never watched the show have probably seen it somewhere or heard it mentioned.
Rae Hoover (15:28)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I mean outside of just like the live action and just the show and the manga being so prolific nowadays. You probably saw the flags, you know, in the news back in October and November, you know, with like the various protests around the world and they all started flying the straw hat. Jolly Roger.
Josué (16:00)
Mm-hmm.
Yep. As a symbol of what would how would you characterize it? As a symbol of what?
Rae Hoover (16:15)
As a symbol of liberation, as a symbol of rebellion and resistance, ⁓ and also freedom, ⁓ I think honestly, it kind of gets conflated with the RA's message, the Revolutionary Army's message, but they don't have a cool flag. Nah, yeah. And also like Luffy does kind of dabble in some of that, liberation mindset.
Josué (16:29)
Yeah, but they don't have a cool flag.
Yeah, we we don't have to get into it now, but I once said to you that Luffy is the hero and you were like
Rae Hoover (16:40)
Mm-hmm.
He would disagree with you.
Josué (16:46)
⁓ He might disagree with me. I think I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (16:48)
He he 100 percent would. He's. Yeah. Oda,
the author, Eiichiro Oda is very intentional about not giving morality to the straw hats or pirates in general. A lot of people are like, yeah, they're the good guys, you know, or they're the bad guys. That's not that's not what this is. That's not the way we look at this.
But like Luffy himself, if someone's like, are you a good guy? You know, he'll be like, that's that's for you to find out. That's for you to determine. I'm just a guy. I'm just a pirate. This has nothing like that doesn't mean I'm good or bad.
Josué (17:26)
Yeah. I think that could be a whole other discussion, probably. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I do think I mean just j I mean just like any media, I I see Luffy as the hero. I think the people in the world that are affected by his heroics would consider him a hero. Right?
Rae Hoover (17:33)
my God, yeah.
Some, some
are probably terrified of him.
Josué (17:56)
⁓ in
well, again, the ones who were like protected or saved by him, I think, right, would consider him that and yes, of course, the people on the opposite receiving end are obviously yeah. But I think I d I agree that he doesn't see himself that way. He sees himself as he's the classic I mean, in a way it's like the cowboy.
Rae Hoover (18:01)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (18:22)
Right. The the old cowboy he was just like, I d I got a code that I follow and that's that's all I'm doing, right? ⁓ that doesn't mean he's not doing good in the world. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (18:26)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm hmm.
Yeah, he's not a traditional "good guy". He's not fighting for, what's right and for truth and justice and everything like that. I think he actually says the words like I'm not a hero because being a hero means that I would have to share my food.
Josué (18:52)
So so what are so what are the the main things you want people to take away from like about Luffy and about the the the crew?
Rae Hoover (19:02)
think the main things about Luffy is, God, there's so much, there's so much to him that, man, the big one there is that he is selfish, but he's not.
He's not like harmful about it. He's focused on himself and his goals and his friends. But he's not going to like. Fuck someone over just for the sake of fucking them over. You know, he makes friends very easily. He he will pack bond with literally anyone. If you give him food, he's like a dog and he's your best friend forever. And he'll destroy the local government for you if you give him lunch. He's pretty simple, but.
I really like Luffy because he shows a very balanced way to be. That you can be selfish without harming people. You don't have to be selfless in order to be... I don't have a better word other than good. ⁓ I wanna pick a different word there. ⁓ You don't have to be selfless in order to be...
Josué (19:48)
Hmm.
Hmm.
Rae Hoover (20:04)
a positive force in people's lives.
Josué (20:06)
Hmm. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (20:09)
Like there's definitely characters who are very self-sacrificial and...
Josué (20:13)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. I've ranted about a few of them in the past couple of years.
Rae Hoover (20:16)
and
Yeah.
Josué (20:19)
Yeah. Okay, what else?
Rae Hoover (20:20)
that's like my big takeaway is that he is a really positive model for how you can be balanced in the world. You don't have to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm. can have your lunch and your friend can have lunch and you can make sure that your friend has lunch without sacrificing your lunch. In a very Luffy metaphor there.
Josué (20:43)
Got it.
Like he likes to eat. He would he would never give you his food. He would he would make sure that everybody had food. He would go out and like do whatever is possible that needs to be done to make sure that everybody eats. Yeah, I think that's a good that's a good characterization.
Rae Hoover (20:46)
Yeah, that's a big thing for him.
No.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I think we see that especially in this is a much, much later arc, Wano. I think that's literally covered.
Josué (21:09)
How is that like
Yeah. How is that like how how would that be applicable? Is that is that like a is that an ideal? You made it sound like it's something that's like a good example to follow. I'm thinking of
Client who comes to you who's a mother, right? Who feels like she's just giving everything to her family and she's got nothing left, right? And you've probably had clients who are literally saying, like, I didn't eat last night because like I gave like I just served everybody and I was either too tired or like there was literally nothing else left, and I just packed it up for their lunch tomorrow and like I went to bed and I didn't eat. And right, it's like so much sacrifice, right? ⁓ and maybe they don't they
Rae Hoover (21:26)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (21:51)
don't see enough characters. Right. Like they in real life they don't have a role model that can show them that like, hey, you don't have to just sacrifice everything. Right. yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (22:02)
Yeah, it can be an and. Like your family can eat
AND you can eat.
Josué (22:07)
Yeah. So you th so you so so you think Luffy could be like an example for a situation like that?
Rae Hoover (22:14)
Yeah, yeah, because often like the word selfish gets thrown around with a very, very negative connotation to it of, selfish means harmful. Selfish means that you don't care about others. And that's not true. Luffy kind of demonstrates that that selfish here just means that you're focusing on yourself also. one of the most important things to Luffy is his friends, his crew, like,
He doesn't want to do anything to hurt them. He also doesn't want to have to share his food.
Josué (22:42)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Rae Hoover (22:43)
He's very dog-coded now that I think about it.
Josué (22:45)
Hmm.
Rae Hoover (22:45)
Like a bit of a pack creature, but also has some food aggression issues.
Josué (22:48)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Hmm.
thinking of how
Yeah, I'm just thinking of like at w at what moments I might think Man, I wish I was more like Luffy.
Have you ever thought that?
Rae Hoover (23:01)
Yeah, think so. Maybe not having like that literal thought of, I was more like Luffy, but I can say from experience, you know, a recovering people pleaser, that seeing Luffy be balanced in not being sacrificial and also like not screwing over the people around him. been that that has been helpful personally to see.
That's like, ⁓ multiple things can be true here.
Josué (23:25)
Yeah. Hmm.
Rae Hoover (23:27)
And also, mean, who doesn't want to punch a billionaire in the face at this point? Like, like Luffy has some hella courage. He does not give a single fuck.
Josué (23:30)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Rae Hoover (23:36)
And if he knows something's wrong, he goes and he just does it. He doesn't even think twice about it.
Josué (23:40)
It's the thing, like he like he he just has a very clear code.
Rae Hoover (23:44)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (23:45)
if he believes something is wrong. For the record I I agree with him. But I'm just saying, right, that it's like who decides what's right or or wrong? He ha he has such a clear moral code and ⁓ it's just Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Hmm. Okay. How else? What else what other what other ways would you ⁓
Rae Hoover (23:50)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (24:12)
Like is there anything else want to add to that piece to it to that piece? ⁓ or or or like a related way of looking at the character and and the themes around him?
Rae Hoover (24:20)
I mean, there's again so much to, like, Luffy is kind of just a simple character in that he has a clear code. He does what he wants. He doesn't want people to tell him what to do. He's gonna do his own thing, but he's also gonna, you know, protect the people around him.
He's simple, but also like there's so much to him at the same time.
Again, with that, well, yes, but also no. That's just, that's going to be the theme of the day. Nothing else I can think of like right at this moment. I might come back to that.
Josué (24:44)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Hmm.
Rae Hoover (24:53)
What about you? what stands out to you about Luffy?
Josué (24:55)
I well he I'm trying to not make this sound like a negative, but like he is he has a singular focus, right? And everything is either in support everything everything is either I I and I think this goes like I don't like the use of the word selfish when when when thinking of him. I think of him as ⁓ again, this is just a like a slight reframing, more how like how I tend to look at it.
Rae Hoover (25:03)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Josué (25:24)
⁓ which is it's it's not so much that it's like I think of he's he's on a mission and that's the number one thing that matters, and something is either in his way or it is but it's either an obstacle or or not. Right? I think it goes in that way. I don't think right, and so he's moving in in the direction of but if if he's stopping along the way.
Rae Hoover (25:34)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (25:54)
I just I I do think that there are things in the story. I think there are things going on. This is gonna be an interesting episode to come back to in the future because I believe that there are things, and I may just be projecting, okay? ⁓ I'm I'm either guessing or I'm projecting, or I'm doing both, of what is going on in Luffy's head. There's a lot that he doesn't say, right.
Rae Hoover (26:05)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Josué (26:23)
And so I think that there's a lot that he does that is it seems like he just has a strong moral code. I think I think his mission is broader than what it seems, and I think it's all aligned. His mission being like he he he says, I'm gonna be the king of the pirates. There is debate on what that means and what he means by that.
Rae Hoover (26:38)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (26:50)
I think that it's crystal clear in his mind what that means and how to achieve it. And I think his actions support that. Similar and I keep I keep thinking of Goku like as a as a point of comparison where Goku isn't also isn't like setting out to be a hero, right? He has in many ways way less conviction. ⁓
Rae Hoover (26:55)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (27:17)
many ways. In in every single way. He has less conviction than than ⁓ Luffy. Goku is ⁓ an even simpler, like he really is a simple character, right? Like all he wants to do is get stronger.
Rae Hoover (27:23)
Mm-hmm.
He is.
Yep, get stronger and eat.
Josué (27:33)
Literally just get stronger. That's all. In and in some ways, I hope it doesn't end up being that way in One Piece, right? Right. But ⁓ in in Dragon Ball, it's all about like, I want to be the strongest person. Not I want to be the strong no no, he doesn't want to be the strongest. I'm sorry, he wants to get stronger. He doesn't want to be the strongest. I think that if he discovered that he was the strongest, he would die. Because he'd be like, But then what's the point?
Rae Hoover (27:40)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah, what do I
do now?
Josué (28:03)
There's no point, right? Like he he he loves he he's he loves getting better at his at at what he does. He likes getting stronger. And so whenever a threat pops up, he doesn't necessarily see it as good or bad. He sees it as a challenge. And it just turns out that mm usually when someone who's more powerful and wants to fuck your shit up
Rae Hoover (28:22)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (28:31)
It's they're usually bad. Someone wants to come and conquer you, colonize you, take over. It's usually a bad thing. And so he it just turns out that, you know, you can't do that unless you have some power. And so Goku's there to step in. Although sometimes people just pull him in to like fight this, do this, right? And he'll do it because he is has a singular focus.
Rae Hoover (28:33)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (28:59)
Right? He's always and so along the way of to getting stronger, he makes friends, he saves the world.
Rae Hoover (29:04)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (29:05)
The fact that he's married and has children is almost like I don't even there's there's this joke that I think is so funny. Like he has two kids in the show at this point when he makes a comment like he doesn't know where babies come from. Right? And and Vegeta's just like you ha you're a f like, what are you talking about, right?
Rae Hoover (29:25)
Where were
you during this process, my guy?
Josué (29:28)
Like like he literally like he got married because Chi Chi wanted to get married. He has kids because Chi Chi wanted him to have kids, right? Like he has no he I don't he doesn't care about any of that stuff, right? He has then a sense of duty of like, no, like you can't hurt my kids, like you can't hurt my wife, and like these are my friends, right? There's like that comes up, but it's not his he's not driven by that.
Rae Hoover (29:41)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (29:58)
And then Luffy is driven by this one goal, and again, he's just constantly moving toward that goal. And then things happen along the way. And so in that sense, it's it's very it's just it's just interesting that he that he can have that singular focus and that he's convinced other people to follow him.
Rae Hoover (30:05)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (30:26)
To to also do this thing. Like they believe that he can do what he says he's going to do, even though he's very vague about what exactly that means.
Rae Hoover (30:34)
As far
as I'm aware, at least my interpretation of what being king of the pirates means is less of like the literal like, we're going to find the one piece and, you know, like that. But it's about being the most free. Like that, I think I think he's literally said those words of, you know, the king of the pirates is the most free. He isn't in it for the wealth, fame or power or any of any of the treasure, any of that. No, he just wants to be on top because that means he's the most free.
Josué (30:46)
Yeah.
Rae Hoover (31:02)
and no one can tell them what to do.
Josué (31:03)
Yeah. I don't again I don't remember exactly, and there and there are many things that have happened along the way that add way too much nuance on that to that for me to even make a cohesive ⁓ discussion point in in in an in any direction. So it it it's funny 'cause like in in in Naruto, Naruto's whole thing is that
Rae Hoover (31:09)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josué (31:30)
He wants to be the Hokage, which is like basically he wants to be the mayor of the town. Right. But the reason his reasons there are very clear from the beginning, which is that he he has abandonment issues, basically. Like l literally his parents died. He was he he's basically raised alone. The adults in this in the town for reasons that he does not understand, don't want anything to do with him, and so he wants to have a role in town.
Rae Hoover (31:34)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Josué (31:57)
Like he sees that everybody respects and admires the Hokage. So he's like, I'm gonna be the next Hokage because then people will see me, then people will understand me, people will care about me. And those are things that I've never had before. Right? Again, we don't there isn't that kind of clarity yet. Eleven hundred episodes in with with with Luffy. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (32:04)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
No, there's there's
other characters in one piece that like popped up in my head when you were saying that. Big Mom
Josué (32:34)
Big Mom Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What what? Mm
Rae Hoover (32:36)
Yeah, Charlotte Lin Lin
Her whole thing is she didn't have a family, so she
literally made her crew all of her 10,000 fucking children.
Josué (32:48)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (32:49)
And also kind
of like the other side of the coin there, white beard.
Josué (32:52)
Hmm. Hmm.
Rae Hoover (32:54)
They're kind of like mirrors of each other.
Josué (32:57)
What is in in what way is ⁓ how is Whitebeard? I don't remember.
Rae Hoover (33:00)
All of his.
So he's like, ⁓ I want a family. And his family is all of the the weirdos he adopts, you know, all of his sons. They all consider him pop.
Josué (33:09)
Got it, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, those are similar. Luffy does
Rae Hoover (33:17)
but it's all found family
for white beard and all biological for ⁓ Big Mom and it's kind of twisted.
Josué (33:25)
Yeah. Luffy's like, I need a navigator.
Rae Hoover (33:29)
I need a musician more than anything else.
Josué (33:31)
I need a chef.
I need a doctor. You wanna join? It would be cool if you joined. I've never had one of you on here before. That'll be cool. It would be fun if you joined the crew.
Rae Hoover (33:39)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (33:43)
Again, I I do think that there's way more going on and I'm and I'm I'm also like hyper focused on this one is this like one scene in the show that's like that's obviously where they're where the characters are he tells them all something and we're not allowed to know what it is. Right? And everybody is like he literally tells him
Rae Hoover (33:53)
Mm-hmm.
that scene, yeah, yeah.
Josué (34:13)
their motivation and it's the first time that he's ever told them this. So even up to that point, they were unclear of his motivation. But it shows that he has a very clear understanding of of why he's doing things and he explained it to the people closest to him. But we don't know what that is. Which again, which allows for it's pretty I mean it's it's a cool sp
Rae Hoover (34:14)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josué (34:42)
a space to play in as well because we don't know and we won't know for a while. I'm sh I'm absolutely sure we will know eventually. But ⁓ but we we don't know now we won't know for a while. And I th I think that's a cool space to to play in about like what is your like what is your mission statement? Like what is your goal? What what would what would things be like for you if you
Rae Hoover (34:44)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (35:12)
Focused around this particular goal, right? Like, could you achieve are you as dedicated to your pursuits as Luffy? ⁓ Like that's a good prompt, I think. ⁓ a good conversation starter. Because I think most people are not. Yeah, yeah.
Rae Hoover (35:16)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, exactly.
Mm-hmm.
No, no, but
there's something about Luffy that is really inspiring. like the flags at the the various protests, I think kind of speaks to that. Also, I can definitely say that I felt inspired by Luffy, like in his sheer will, his sheer determination. He is ambitious, but like not in it for power. He just he wants to achieve this goal. And he like it doesn't matter if you put.
a car in his way, it doesn't matter if you put a boulder in his way, like you could put you could put like anything in his way and he will just continue to punch through it and it might take him some time, but he never ever, ever gives up.
Josué (36:11)
Yeah. I don't do you think I don't think that's a good thing.
Rae Hoover (36:14)
It kind of depends. I think just like most of the topics here around One Piece, it's nuanced.
Josué (36:16)
Yeah.
Yeah. I don't think that yeah. Again, like I'm at a point and this is this has been a running theme where like I don't know if that's good. I it doesn't it does not inspire me to see yeah, it no longer inspires me to see someone the to see that idea of like just sheer will and determination to accomplish ⁓ something.
Rae Hoover (36:26)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Really?
Josué (36:48)
For n for a number of reasons. it also gets more and more complicated as the show goes on because of how powerful he is.
Rae Hoover (36:57)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (37:01)
There's I mean, power creep is real in the show. There were there when I was watching the most recent episodes, I was I was so I was thinking back to the first episodes. And it is such a different show in in in this sense, right? and and you kind of write I think you always write like these stories always write themselves into this situation, right? These show nodes, if they go on long enough, literally like
Rae Hoover (37:05)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (37:27)
I won't I won't spoil anything about ⁓ specifically about One Piece. I will spoil things about ⁓ Dragon Ball, where
Rae Hoover (37:34)
Yeah, Dragon
Ball's the one I really think of when I think of that power creep issue.
Josué (37:38)
Where like liter like and but it it makes sense to me, at least in in like I like the logic of the D B Z world more than I do the the the one piece one because they're like Yeah. You're you're you are the strongest one on earth now. It's like we can bring in a couple aliens.
Rae Hoover (37:48)
Mm. Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (37:59)
We should probably go to other planets and and and and you know, and then it's literally like we should probably check out other universes, right? And we should like and then you have a tournament arc that's literally like among universes, right? Like like the god of this universe is a character, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you have you seen this? Are you are you have you are you familiar with what I'm referring to?
Rae Hoover (38:01)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Fight literal God.
I'm familiar with it. I've never watched super, like it's kind of been on my radar for a long time. But I'm familiar with like the premise.
Josué (38:31)
Yeah.
Yeah. And and Goku is so strong at this point that the god of this world is like wants to play with him. Like like like literally like as a as a like a as a like a play date. Right? Like, hey, will you come and like play with me every now and then? And Goku's like, psh let me find you somebody to play with, right? Like like literally the whole thing. ⁓ but there is like that level of
Rae Hoover (38:45)
Jeez.
Mm-hmm.
No thanks.
Josué (39:02)
power creep. Anyway, right, it's like, okay, so so something else comes up and it's like the idea I th I think it's dangerous when if if you if you go if you start thinking that you will hit the next level of Super Saiyan or that will you will hit the next level of gear or that you will like right like I c I think it can also be inspirational.
But it can also be dangerous, I think, in a in a way. So yeah, so so stories are on like it's and it's not just Luffy, it's like just like in general. Stories like that don't inspire me anymore. Yeah. But I can still see why like if someone does find it inspiring, I think it can be it can be a a source of
Rae Hoover (39:40)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (39:54)
Guess inspiration, I guess. I can't think of another word. And and that's not necessarily ⁓ a bad thing. Just think right that when it what it can get unrealistic. And in the c and and again, in the case of
Rae Hoover (39:57)
Yeah.
Josué (40:08)
Again, I I I have more issues about it with it with it on on this particular piece of it, right? We're like Goku has literally died. Right? Like he is like he's not invincible.
Rae Hoover (40:20)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (40:20)
Eleven hundred episodes in. Luffy's invincible.
Rae Hoover (40:25)
I mean, he's he's died or almost died a couple of times.
Josué (40:29)
He hasn't he's he hasn't died, right? He's he is he alive? Did he go to heaven? Like literally Goku went to heaven.
Rae Hoover (40:39)
Yeah, you know, I'm aware
of that. I'm debating. I'm dancing around spoilers.
Josué (40:46)
Yeah, again, I don't I mean, if you if I need to give you CPR and and right and like and like ⁓ a defibrillator, right? Like, did you die? Or you I I don't know, you're still you're still here. There can we can have a technicality, right?
Rae Hoover (41:03)
A lot of people do
consider themselves to be like, I was dead for two minutes. If something like that happens.
Josué (41:07)
Yeah, I know I mean literally
like Goku's body gets destroyed and they need to he needs a new one, right? Like like like there's the it's very different. There were there are like more risks involved in there. yeah. I c but I guess also that makes I guess it's a brighter much brighter story in like there's there are rare rarely are there deaths on
Rae Hoover (41:12)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We're not going to talk about that. Yeah. ⁓
Josué (41:37)
on on one piece. I can only think of one. ⁓
Yeah. Yeah.
Really nobody dies in this show, right?
Rae Hoover (41:50)
There's a handful. There's a handful of small, like, they're named characters, but there's a handful of them over time. Wano had several.
Josué (41:53)
Shit.
Yeah, there's
Rae Hoover (42:01)
They're not major characters, but they're named characters. That is a, that's a common criticism that, there's no stakes. Nobody ever dies. It's like, well.
Josué (42:01)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I had never
I I swear I had never thought of that until now. Like as I was watching the show, never never had this conversation with anybody. Just realizing it now. I know, I know. ⁓ it's so funny.
Rae Hoover (42:15)
Really?
That's funny.
But yeah, there's a handful of death. Like it's something that Oda uses very sparingly. And could there be higher stakes with it? Yeah, there could be. But he's also not out here just like attack on Titan level, murdering everyone in sight.
Josué (42:44)
That's that's not you can't that's that's different. It's very different.
Rae Hoover (42:47)
Fair, fair.
That's just my perception of Attack on Titan is don't get attached to anyone because they're all at risk. Kind like The Walking Dead, which I never really watched, but it was a similar thing.
Josué (43:00)
Yeah.
Rae Hoover (43:01)
or Game of Thrones is like, yo, no one is guaranteed, no one has plot armor here.
Josué (43:05)
⁓ yeah. Hmm. Okay. Okay. Well that did I answer your question? I don't remember what your question was to me about Luffy. I I I think I've been answering it for the last ten minutes. I'm not sure. Okay. That's and that's my answer to the question that you asked me.
Rae Hoover (43:15)
I think it. Yeah, yeah, I'd say so. Yeah, I think. You. Anyone else can summarize that, but that's the answer.
So what else feels important to hit on right now? It's just, it's such a big fucking show. There's so many different directions to go. like we were saying before we started recording, we could spend hours, literal hours talking about One Piece, the individual characters, arcs, themes, whatever. Like there's so much to cover.
Josué (43:57)
I I think there's a direction that like my mind is going to that I don't want to go to. So I'm not gonna do it. I will tell you after we finish recording because otherwise it'll be it'll be a tangent. ⁓ but I think I think that ⁓ that whole like inspirational and not like in the world, Luffy and the Straw Hats are are like an inspiration and I think that that's really cool.
Rae Hoover (44:02)
Yeah. Okay.
Okay, fair.
You
Mm-hmm.
Josué (44:25)
I do think it has the shonen trope of ⁓ making friends along the way, right? And I always think that that's that's super relevant. in the work that we do. I think that it's it's always good to see that, to see different types of relationships and friendships. I think that in that in that sense, the the crew is a very dysfunctional family in all the good w the best ways, right? They've got a little bit of everything.
Rae Hoover (44:31)
yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (44:54)
They've got siblings who are always fighting, they're always competing with each other, right? some of them are bossy, some of them but like everybody's taking care of each other. There are like all these different personalities, but they still ultimately come together. They're still a crew. I I think there's something about the the gravity of Luffy as an individual, right? That is able to keep all of those people together ⁓ and focused. I think that that's really cool.
Rae Hoover (44:56)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (45:22)
And yeah, as a show goes on, I think the themes, at least the things that to me are the most relevant about the show, are the is the idea of liberation, right? Which there's the the way the show plays with that later on, I think is amazing, both in just in in every possible way, right?
Rae Hoover (45:33)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (45:50)
But the idea that that a figure can
I have I have I have issues with with the word hope, but he does bring hope to people, right? There's like a legend. Like he's like larger than life. He like he's he he cr he's
That type of leadership, that type of example, that type of ⁓ sometimes you need to see something to be able to believe that it's possible. And Luffy allows that to happen. Ignoring what I said before about like whether I think it's dangerous sometimes or not, I do think that ⁓ just having seeing how that affects different people in that world is is is a great ⁓
Rae Hoover (46:15)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (46:35)
is a great thing to play off of. I think it's a great theme ⁓ in there. Because to to go to a point that we were saying before, it I don't think it matters what Luffy's intentions are because he because he's doing good stuff, right?
Rae Hoover (46:54)
Mm-hmm.
It's how it goes about it, not what the end goal is.
Josué (46:59)
And like he really is like in many ways he's just he's pretty basic in the sense of like ⁓ I see someone hungry, I give them food. ⁓ I see somebody who needs help, I just help them. Like what? Like what like why are we even talking about this? It's like his his like default mode. Yeah, his default mode is is like just like, ⁓ he just assumes people are good. Like it like it's not a bad ⁓
Rae Hoover (47:14)
Yeah, we're friends, right?
He can vibe
check people like so well.
Josué (47:29)
Yeah, yeah. Yes. Well but also actually I'm I'm gonna bring this up because earlier today I was at a a game store and two guys came in, they were obviously very high, and one of them just walked in and just like asked a question, kinda giggled and walked out. Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and I was like
Rae Hoover (47:39)
Mm-hmm.
person logic for real.
Josué (47:54)
this guy was just high. And he saw a whole bunch of people playing card games on a table. And he literally just walked in and asked, How much is it to play? Right? Like like literally that's what he said. And then nobody answered him. Nobody answered him. They just kind of looked, right? Every like we kind of just looked at the at him and he seemed like kind of embarrassed and he just walked out. And as he was walking, he was like, I guess my friend will show me how to play. And then he just like walked out, right? Again.
Rae Hoover (48:08)
⁓
Mm-hmm.
Josué (48:23)
Very high, just walked out, and that was it. I saw what I saw was a young guy who saw people playing a game.
Rae Hoover (48:24)
Mm-hmm. Okay.
Josué (48:32)
In on his trip, he was like, dude, I'm gonna go ask. Can we play? Right? The owner of the store went on this entire rant about how such a delinquent and this is what's wrong with the with the world, and this is why like we need more security and blah blah blah, right? Like he's going to this whole thing, right? And like
Rae Hoover (48:37)
Yeah. Yeah.
my God.
Josué (48:59)
Luffy sees a guy who wants to play, right? Is is kind of the point that I'm getting at, right? Like, like, like you're you're saying that you're saying the the vibe check, right? And I think like he does that a lot, right? Where people are like, what is that? And he's just like, it's just a goofball, or like he's just this, right? It's like he just seems hungry to me. I don't know. Let's give him food, right? Like he like it's very he I I think he gives everybody like that in in that sense, I think that that's really cool, right?
Rae Hoover (49:02)
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. See where we're going with this.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (49:26)
Like the there's a there's a ⁓ in the live action version in season two there's a moment where he does a thing that is very he doesn't think twice about comforting someone. Right? He just does it. It's like it's like he's default, right? So in that sense, I think I think you're right, like the the vibe check thing, right? It's like he he is like he's just like he he has a very
Rae Hoover (49:41)
Mm.
Josué (49:54)
positive perspective. I think he I I think the way I see him as a character, I'm sure there there are exceptions to this in the show, maybe. I can't think of any. But he he comes into every situation of like everybody's a potential friend. Everybody's a potential ⁓ even if you're after the same goal as me, right? Even if you're an adversary, that doesn't like that doesn't mean that we have to fight.
Rae Hoover (50:04)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (50:21)
Right. It's
like it doesn't mean that this if we're gonna fight, we're gonna fight, right? Like get out of my way. But like off the bat, it's cool. And he's also like impressed by by everybody and everything, right? It's like even somebody who's trying to kill him, he's like, Whoa, that's so cool, right? Like he could do this thing. he's he's he sounds like he's on a trip actually, now that I think about it.
Rae Hoover (50:36)
Mm-hmm.
mean, have you seen his big bug eyes?
Josué (50:49)
He's the one that's high. And he's actually the guy who came in to the store. You just want to know how much it was to play. yeah. Yeah, yeah. So again, I I think it's really cool to see a character like that. And so I yeah, I I don't think he's
Rae Hoover (50:50)
Yeah.
He jumped out of the timeline. He jumped universes.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (51:12)
I don't think he's selfish. Like I think I think Goku and Naruto are way more selfish than than ⁓ again, if you haven't seen the other shows, it it may not it may not it it's hard to have that discussion, but just those are my points of reference as like some of the biggest shonen in in history. ⁓ I think th they're both super selfish, right? Like
Rae Hoover (51:17)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, yeah, like
negative selfish.
Josué (51:36)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like like yeah, like in the negative context Yeah, but he's like right like he'll he'll just leave his kid, right? Like it doesn't like he's like a negligent parent 'cause like he'd rather do this other thing, you know? And he's kind of not not necessarily in a malicious way, just like in a in a in again, that's singular focus. But I think I feel like Luffy more than either of these other two would stop.
Rae Hoover (51:39)
Goku does some fucked up shit.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (52:04)
And how people I know Naruto people will probably get on me for the for for saying this. Because Naruto's definitely not as bad as as as Goku. But also Naruto is like a child, right? Like like Luffy's a little older and ⁓ and Goku was younger, but like but as he gets older, he's still yeah. There's there's something very like they're all very aloof ⁓ in their in their own way.
Rae Hoover (52:13)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (52:32)
But yeah, there's there's there's so much about Luffy that I think is ⁓
He he may not be as complex as as I w as I as I want him to be. But that's cool. I think that that's great. 'Cause there isn't yeah, it's like it's it's almost like if you asked what would Luffy do, the answer is pretty I think it would be easy to answer that question almost every single time.
Rae Hoover (52:42)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah,
his characterization is solid and like you can think like that pretty easily. Like tap into that, what would Luffy do in this situation? He'd punch the billionaire, but he'd also make sure his friends are okay. He's a great example of dialectics, honestly. And that's so refreshing. Exactly, exactly. And that's so refreshing for a shonen protag specifically.
Josué (53:08)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mm, yeah, yeah. Two things can be true. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, that's a gr that's a great point. I think I think it's it's good to 'cause sometimes we get wrapped up and I can't be this if I'm that. Are you sure those two things are incompatible? 'Cause they're yeah. Can two things be true at the same time? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rae Hoover (53:27)
Mm-hmm.
You know, just think about the protagonists of Goku, Naruto, Luffy and Deku, you know, pulling an MHA. Goku and Naruto are, as you said, definitely like more self-centered, not really caring about other people to various degrees. Luffy's pretty balanced with it. Deku, think, is the opposite end of the spectrum. And he's way more on the self-sacrificing end.
Josué (54:03)
Hundred percent. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (54:04)
that's also kind of obnoxious in some ways. Like that's also not something aspirational.
Josué (54:11)
And and in his case he's he it's so hurtful for him. ⁓ which which is the part that gets to me, right? Because if he was as powerful as the other three, h he would do more maybe, right? like
Rae Hoover (54:15)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. Yeah. If he like took care of himself
for just like a little crumb of time, he could do so much more with it.
Josué (54:34)
Yeah. Yeah. But yes, Deku for sure is on the yeah, is like on that spectrum is definitely on the self sacrificing ⁓ side. He's not yeah, there isn't any I don't know.
Rae Hoover (54:46)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (54:48)
Have I have it it's complicated. I will I'll leave it at that. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (54:50)
Yeah.
Josué (54:52)
Yeah.
Rae Hoover (54:52)
So you hear
that listeners, self care, do it. Take care of yourselves, because then you can actually reach your goals and do the things that you want to need to do.
Josué (55:03)
I mean it with with these situations, I mean you've gotta I I think it's helpful to be specific like on a character arc or a a ⁓ like a like a story arc, I mean. Because these things can be like generalizing that with any almost any legacy character that has so much media is is hard because they
They can't achieve the goal unless they sacrifice everything, unless they put their life in in harm's way. Right. So like almost the self i in many stories, it seems it looks like selfishness if they decide not to self sacrifice, right? Like like take care of yourself first would mean the end of the world, or their family getting caught up, right?
Rae Hoover (55:33)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (55:51)
So but I think that there are stories that are that are like very relevant for different situations where you can kind of see that. I mean there there are so there's a time skip in in in One Piece, which is very much the only time, I think correct me if I'm wrong, where they all take a break to go train.
Rae Hoover (56:07)
Mm-hmm.
Josué (56:21)
Basically, right? ⁓ and like it it is they are protecting themselves in a way they're also taking time to grieve, right? Like they are taking care of themselves to be able to move forward. It's it's ⁓ like that that happens, right? Like I would say that is the example of it in one piece.
Rae Hoover (56:21)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
I was conjuring up a different example in my brain ⁓ that like taking care of yourself, self-care, so you can do the things that you want to need to do. Every time Luffy's in battle, especially in more recent arcs where he's using so much power and then he runs out and then he's like a shriveled up old man that needs to eat. Luffy can't sacrifice a meal. He has to eat and take care of his body in order to actually keep going in the fight.
Josué (57:10)
Yeah, yeah. It's true.
Rae Hoover (57:12)
And as someone
who's very, very guilty of skipping meals because of just trying to get things done, I don't know, that means a lot to see. That's a helpful model, least to me. And I think it resonates with a lot of people.
Josué (57:21)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. It is a literal example of right, like in in the show where he does use up all of the energy that he has and literally, like you said, shrivels up and looks like an old man and can't move. He he he takes himself to that extreme. Like he it's like it's like driving your car until it runs out of gas. It can't do anything after that. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (57:29)
Mm-hmm.
Shriveled up old man. It's horrible. Yeah
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Josué (57:50)
Yeah. Is
Yeah. I was gonna ask, is eating
To avoid death self care. Yes, it is, it is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Rae Hoover (57:56)
It kind of is, like ultimately it is. But also it helps you have like
those advanced functions, you know, whether it be having more brain capacity to do things or emotional capacity to do things or looking literally at one piece, you get that physical capacity to go back into, you know, whatever gear form to go kick some like horrifying person's ass.
Josué (58:20)
I'll give you that. That is that is a very good th th there are very good examples of or those are very good examples of
you do run out of energy, right? Like you're not you may feel like a shriveled up old man. You can't move. You need to sleep, you need to eat, you need to do other stuff so you can keep doing what you're doing.
Rae Hoover (58:33)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Josué (58:38)
I'll give you that without ⁓
Any additional commentary about
Rae Hoover (58:45)
Finally found
it.
Josué (58:47)
And I immediately break my promise. No, I'm not gonna break my promise. I'm done. I'm done.
Rae Hoover (58:53)
Fair. All right. So I think that's a good place to kind of put a pin in it for now. We will definitely come back to One Piece as a topic because like I said, there's almost 30 years of content.
Josué (58:55)
All right.
Feel like we covered it all. I don't know if we'd really need to go back to it.
Rae Hoover (59:06)
⁓
Okay, yeah, yeah, one and done. One shot. Here we go.
Josué (59:12)
Yeah, I was surprised. I didn't think it would it would we would be able to cover it all, but yeah, I think we did.
Rae Hoover (59:19)
So we'll see if Josué allows me to do any more One Piece episodes. That stupid arc. ⁓ The canon arc that everyone feels like is filler and it does feel like filler.
Josué (59:23)
We're just missing like what, Long Long Island and then that's it. And once
Ha ha ha.
Rae Hoover (59:35)
Yeah, yeah, I to talk about G-8 though. The best filler arc. All right, so what are we doing next time? Next time's your week.
Josué (59:38)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
wait a minute. I'm not prepared for this.
Rae Hoover (59:49)
no!
Josué (59:49)
Do I have to commit right now?
Rae Hoover (59:51)
⁓ no, we make the rules.
Josué (59:53)
I have to commit right now. I can't commit right now. If you you you gave me an out. I didn't think you were gonna give me an out. I was setting you up to not give me an out. So since you gave me an out, I'm going to not commit and think about it. And then yeah. This is it. This is the end of us committing at the end of an episode. It lasted three episodes. I'm watching a few different shows and there's there there was something that I
Rae Hoover (59:55)
Okay. Okay.
Okay.
Yeah
Josué (1:00:21)
That I thought would be great to to cover here, but I can't remember what it is right now.
Rae Hoover (1:00:24)
Mm-hmm.
mood.
All right, well, it's a mystery to all of you now. Ha ha. Deal with it.
Josué (1:00:33)
Yep.
Yes. ⁓ look, let us let us know. Did we miss anything when we covered One Piece? No, no, no. What again, ⁓ actually I would love to hear questions about One Piece because it is a huge show. It is an overwhelming ⁓ like a lot of people consider it overwhelming to get into. A lot of people have tried it and don't like it. Like so it but it is a huge property. Not as big as Gundam.
Rae Hoover (1:00:51)
Yes.
Josué (1:00:59)
in the world, but it is a huge property. It is at the peak of its popularity, I would say, right now. And ⁓ I would I would love to hear questions. I think that would be a great thing to to address in the future. So let us know. ⁓ or check out other episodes on Otaku Ryoho or the Geek Therapy Network. Check out geek network dot geek therapy dot org or go to geek therapy dot org. You'll learn more about Geek Therapy, our model. We've got live events coming up this year. We've got tons of cool stuff happening.
Rae Hoover (1:01:04)
yeah.
Josué (1:01:28)
go there and yeah hopefully we'll we'll hear from you in the future. Remember to geek out and do good and we'll be back a couple of weeks.
Rae Hoover (1:01:37)
All right, toodles.