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(1/35) One Piece's Alabasta arc is a perfect early example of how masterful a storyteller Eiichiro Oda is. If you haven't read/watched it, do yourself a favor and do so before reading this. A lot of the ideas I present here come from @mrmorjman on YouTube,..
(2/35) https://youtube.com/channel/UCvohL2eaDa7TAImOJaYl5dQ . Some of the ideas are also my own, but all of these conclusions can be arrived at by anyone doing a careful reading of the Alabasta arc. One of the challenges of One Piece is that Oda intentionally undersells the...
(3/35) complexity and, frankly, the genius of his writing by interspersing it with goofy comedy and dressing it up in silly cartoonish drawings. Do not allow yourself to be fooled. There are many, many layers to this story. Here we go.
The Alabasta arc deals largely with...
The Alabasta arc deals largely with...
(4/35) the concept of trust/faith. The villain Crocodile states that trust in allies is unnecessary. His organization, Baroque Works, exemplifies this belief unwaveringly: strict hierarchy and secrecy, all members are assigned numbers and are not permitted to use real names,...
(5/35) officer agents rarely interact if ever, and only 1 person in the whole organization even knows the boss's real identity. On rare occasions when officers do meet, it's clear that they dislike each other and usually do not have any sort of significant history together....
(6/35) The penalty for failing a mission is often death. Crocodile himself is viewed as a hero by the people of Alabasta, but he is abusing their trust for his own cynical aims. The entire purpose of BW is to overthrow the government of Alabasta through deceit--again, total...
(7/35) opposition/undermining of trust. The whole org is held together not by trust, but by promise of payment or threat of punishment. Crocodile can only rely on his people to do their jobs because he knows they're too afraid or greedy to do otherwise. BW, per Crocodile's...
(8/35) philosophy, has no trust at all.
The Straw Hat pirates are the opposite of Baroque Works. They fight amongst themselves even more often than the BW officers do, but like a true family, they close ranks when presented with an outside threat. It's the classic "I get to...
The Straw Hat pirates are the opposite of Baroque Works. They fight amongst themselves even more often than the BW officers do, but like a true family, they close ranks when presented with an outside threat. It's the classic "I get to...
(9/35) make fun of my brother, but I'll kill you if you try it" dynamic. When the SH's first encounter Princess Vivi, she has been working undercover as a BW officer agent--no trust there, of course. But soon the SH's learn of Vivi's true identity and her mission to get back...
(10/35) to Alabasta to warn the kingdom that their hero, Crocodile, is the mastermind behind all their turmoil. At the start, the SH's agree to help Vivi get home only because they're promised a reward. Speed is of the utmost importance, but when a crew member gets sick, Vivi...
(11/35) sacrifices some precious time and agrees to take a detour to find a doctor. This instance, and other adventures, quickly form a bond of real trust between the SH's and the princess.
Now, this is where things get more complex. On the way to Alabasta, the SH's bump...
Now, this is where things get more complex. On the way to Alabasta, the SH's bump...
(12/35) into a BW officer, Mr 2, who has the ability to shape shift into anyone he's ever touched. Neither the SH's nor 2 are aware of each other's identities until after the fact, so their interaction is friendly. However, when the SH's realize that 2 is a BW agent, they...
(13/35) devise a plan to identify themselves to each other by placing a sign of true friend on their bodies. From that moment forward, each SH (and Vivi) wears an X on their skin under a cloth sash around their left forearm. This is a symbol of trust between them as they...
(14/35) arrive at Alabasta, a group of 7 people and a rideable duck trying to stop a civil war from breaking out between the king's forces and a revolutionary army, all orchestrated by one of the most powerful pirates in the world.
Meanwhile, we learn more about what's...
Meanwhile, we learn more about what's...
(15/35) happening in Alabasta--a desert kingdom that has seen no rain anywhere except the capital in 3 years. The tension of this situation comes to a head when BW agents disguised as the king's men spill a delivery of "dance powder" on the way to the capital. This powder is...
(16/35) an illegal substance that causes rain to fall in one location by stealing all the rainclouds from surrounding areas. (Cue Daniel Day Lewis "I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE"). Although King Cobra has always been a beloved and benevolent ruler, after 3 years of drought this...
(17/35) incident destroys the trust many of his people have in him. They now think he's been stealing their small amount of annual rainfall for himself. This is what you would call casus belli (google, good term). However, deep in the desert, one man has never given up faith...
(18/35) in his king, whom he knew personally for many good years before the rain dried up. This man, Toto, was sent to the oasis of Yuba by Cobra years ago to establish a new town. He is alone now in Yuba, which has gone from oasis to barren wasteland in the past 3 years....
(19/35) Nevertheless, Toto trusts his king, does not believe he is to blame for the endless drought, and spends his days digging away at the sand, searching for the water he knows to be there, even as sandstorms sent by Crocodile undo his efforts. Toto keeps digging. Toto...
(20/35) keeps trusting. Toto has endless faith in his king, which is symbolized by his seemingly hopeless labor. When the SH's stumble upon Toto digging, the old man is impressed by Luffy, who instinctively grasps the nature of Toto's efforts and uses his superhuman strength...
(21/35) to help dig. By morning, Luffy has passed out, but he had given Toto enough of a head start to unearth perhaps a pint's worth of actual Yuba water--which Toto then gives to Luffy. Although none of the characters may be aware of it, this act of water-giving symbolizes...
(22/35) that the hope of Alabasta now travels with Luffy.
Soon after, Luffy has an important confrontation with Vivi. This entire time, the plan has been to tell the revolutionary army that Crocodile is behind the country's drought, and not Cobra, and that would be the end...
Soon after, Luffy has an important confrontation with Vivi. This entire time, the plan has been to tell the revolutionary army that Crocodile is behind the country's drought, and not Cobra, and that would be the end...
(23/35) of the SH's involvement. However, Luffy realizes that this will not be enough--the reality is that Crocodile will not stop regardless of the revolution's actions, unless he is stopped directly. Luffy insists that Vivi is beyond the point of only risking her own...
(24/35) life--she must also be willing to risk the lives of her new friends, the Straw Hats, who are the only ones physically capable of challenging the superhuman threat posed by Crocodile and his sand powers. "People die," says Luffy, and by this he means that he accepts the...
(25/35) fact that he may die facing Crocodile on behalf of his nakama, Vivi. Tearfully, she accepts his offer for the sake of her kingdom. This is the moment that seals the full bond of trust between Vivi and the SH's. What greater bond of trust is there than to risk one's...
(26/35) life for someone else? These young people are as close-knit a group as humanly possible. Full trust.
When Luffy finally does face Crocodile, he is vastly outmatched. The sand powers seem to make Crocodile invulnerable to any attack--each punch goes right through his...
When Luffy finally does face Crocodile, he is vastly outmatched. The sand powers seem to make Crocodile invulnerable to any attack--each punch goes right through his...
(27/35) body. It is only when Crocodile impales Luffy on his hook that Luffy, half dead, realizes the secret: Crocodile is vulnerable to attack when his body becomes drenched in water, in this case specifically, the water that old man Toto had dug up out of the barren ground...
(28/35) with unflinching faith in his king and country. The trust and faith of the people of Alabasta is ultimately what defeats the cynical and untrusting Crocodile, and when Luffy lands the final frenzy of blows, thrusting the unconscious warlord out through the bedrock...
(29/35) beneath the city into the open, the people finally see Crocodile for what he really is in the light of day, his secrets laid bare, and rain begins to fall at last.
In the end, though the Straw Hats are the heroes of Alabasta, they are still pirates, criminals, and...
In the end, though the Straw Hats are the heroes of Alabasta, they are still pirates, criminals, and...
(30/35) they must quickly leave lest they invite the wrath of the World Government upon the whole kingdom. But as they sail away, a tearful Vivi shouts after them, "If we ever see each other again, will you call me your nakama?" The Straw Hats, unable to respond aloud and...
(31/35) incriminate her as the marines close in on them, simply raise their left arms in silent recognition, displaying the X's they had put there to symbolize their trust and undying loyalty to one another.
That, my friends, is how you write a great story.
This is a...
That, my friends, is how you write a great story.
This is a...
(32/35) *beautiful* piece of writing, and I'm very sorry, but you'd have to be lying yourself to deny it if you comprehend it fully. Now also keep in mind that I didn't go into everything that makes this arc brilliant, AND that Alabasta is only 1 tiny fraction of the entirety...
(33/35) of One Piece, and each One Piece arc contains gems as beautiful and mind-blowing as this one does. Just try to fathom that. Alabasta is just the beginning of what makes One Piece the greatest adventure story of all time. You think your writer is better? You think Oda...
(34/35) sucks? You think One Piece is just for kids? Great. Give me an example of a story better written than Alabasta. Go ahead, take your time. Talk to me about any fictional narrative in any medium from any part of the world at any time in human history, give me your...
(35/35) analysis and let me know how One Piece falls short. I'll be waiting here with Toto in the oasis of Yuba, sipping an ice cold glass of water.
