Rick G. Rivera
rickgrivera.bsky.social
Rick G. Rivera
@rickgrivera.bsky.social
Firmly in the pocket of Big Spoon.
My guy, if you're only twelve eps in and already this hyped, One Piece is about to become your religion.

Yes, the pacing sucks, but if you stick with it you are guaranteed an emotional and narrative experience you won't get anywhere else.
June 30, 2025 at 5:10 AM
And, unfortunately, while the live action adaptation is good, there is no way in hell it will last long enough to get to some of the series' real highlights. I mean, it probably won't even be able to introduce some of what have turned out to be the story's core themes.
June 30, 2025 at 4:59 AM
It leaves me with the dilemma of most One Piece fans. I wish my friends could experience the show's brilliant moments (not ALL of which are tragic), but I can't in good conscience ask them to commit to 450 hours of content, a lot of which is honestly a slog.
June 30, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Thing is, series creator Eiichiro Oda keeps doing this. "Help Me." The Going Merry's Funeral. "I Want to Live!" Sabaody and the Paramount War. The series carefully builds long term emotional connections with characters then makes you sit with their pain.
June 30, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Characters like him, and the experience of an episode from a week ago adding resonance to something that aired in 2008 is what makes the series so rewarding.

It's unfortunate that the shows biggest asset is what makes it so hard for new viewers to access.
June 30, 2025 at 4:59 AM
To say nothing of how it's pretty damned likely that he is meant to be a reference to the Christian martyr Saint Bartholomew.
June 30, 2025 at 4:59 AM
How could we have known that the invincible cyborg monster with the ability to literally transmit pain was once a boy enslaved due to who he was born to, or a young man who wanted only to take on the suffering of others?
June 30, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Yay! I got confused by the time change!
June 28, 2025 at 12:23 AM