![One Piece Book Club - [Part 2, Baroque Works]](https://img5.saketami.com/storage/6/uq/al/9a2cd0-019e879d-44c1-777e-8975-76a7a34088a8.jpg)
One Piece Book Club - [Part 2, Baroque Works]
Added 2023-07-01 20:27:49 +0000 UTCHey all! Today is the second installation of the One Piece Book Club. Today Bo is out due to family business, so Aloha and I will be talking about the Baroque Works and Alabasta saga, which is exciting because I honestly might call this the strongest part of One Piece.
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Comments
There is actually an episode based on the cover story Coby of Helmeppo
Loke Ho
2025-01-21 22:11:30 +0000 UTCThe best part of crocodile to me is the fact that his plan is smart and makes sense. Like his plan is so thorough and clever and they just barely foil it.
beau
2023-08-11 17:05:09 +0000 UTCAfter listening to this, I realize that the reason I enjoy Bugsly and Arnold from Epithet so much is because they act similarly to a Baroque Works duo. I don't know what number Bugsy would be but Arnold would be for sure Mr. BOGO.
OK-MK
2023-07-05 03:26:59 +0000 UTCI definitely agree! Given Robin's relation to the crew in the longrun, I actually kind of like how immediately she acts like everything is normal and she's all buddy-buddy with them, especially because Zoro never trusts her. Chopper definitely suffers for this, though. He's getting a lot of good small moments interacting with people (especially Usopp) in Skypeia, but his inclusion in Alabasta feels like such an afterthought, I can't get over it.
JelloApocalypse
2023-07-04 01:26:41 +0000 UTCSomething jumped out to me this segment, and it's really starting to bother me the more that I think about it: After each new Straw Hat's introductory arc is over, they're immediately treated as a regular. We don't see any process of the new member getting used to the crew and vice versa outside of like, one chapter. It's jarring even when you know a character will become a crew member and feels like a big missed opportunity for fleshing out the crew dynamics. Robin is the more blatant case - One chapter, she's the #2 baddie of the arc, and the next she's joining the crew. And while that sudden shift is a lot of fun, it should really take her more than *one chapter* to gain the trust of the crew, aside from like Luffy and Sanji. I know with her it kinda gets circled back to a bit in a future arc, but that doesn't really excuse it now, when first time readers will still be thinking of her as the person who tried to kill the crew on multiple occasions. That said, I'd argue that it's actually Chopper who it hurts more. Chopper was established during Drum Island to be very guarded around humans, having only had positive interactions with a literal handful in his life. And yet, the moment we reach Alabasta, he acts largely the same around the crew as he will for the next few hundred chapters. I want to see a process of him opening up to them over time! Like, he knows that Luffy & co are good people, he's seen that on Drum Island, but it still takes time to overcome experiences like that. Instead, Chopper just immediately fades into the background and doesn't get much focus for several major arcs. I feel like even a few scenes spread over their first 10-20 chapters of the new crew member bonding with one or two other specific crew members would go a long way, but we don't even get that much. I am curious if the anime is an improvement in this regard - I do seem to remember there being a lot more deck scenes. I think this has been bothering me since I really want to like Chopper and Robin, but they constantly get the short end of the stick in characterization. This wasn't really an issue in East Blue, because we got new crew members so fast, and because there wasn't much of an established dynamic for them to try and fit into. I also don't remember it being quite as much of an issue with the next two either, but I'll be interested to compare when we get there.
Baku
2023-07-03 23:44:14 +0000 UTCrude asf, based as hell
iSheep0122
2023-07-02 11:48:31 +0000 UTCI wonder if Chopper would have worked better if he actually was an animal, one that couldn't talk. Like, smarter than a normal reindeer, but still a reindeer. It would still fit the weirdness of the One Piece-world, like "oh yeah, this is my son, he's a reindeer and I taught him how to be a doctor." Because off the top of my head, I can't think of many moments that would lose anything if Chopper was unable to talk, and was genuinely the crew's pet that just happened to be a doctor.
Moff Muppet
2023-07-02 07:55:36 +0000 UTCOh shit. Sorry Marineford
Daniel
2023-07-01 21:54:11 +0000 UTCI'm fully caught up on OP
JelloApocalypse
2023-07-01 21:53:48 +0000 UTCJust for curiosities sake, how much of One Piece have you read prior to book club to say Alabasta is strongest? Not that I think your wrong, I'm just interested.
Daniel
2023-07-01 21:41:24 +0000 UTC
