Welcome to History Of One Piece, where I chronicle, review, debate, and analyze the various arcs of One Piece. Today, I finish talking about the character development in the Captain Morgan arc and get ready for the arc overview. That's right, we are almost done with the Captain Morgan Arc!
Welcome back.
ReplyDeleteFor starters good call on the background music. It made your video flow much better and just pain made it easier to listen too.
Now, as for the content itself, I really don't think it's a good I idea to get into such intricate detail of every single character that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. That's why I thought 2/3rds of this video was pointless.
In Hellmeppo's case, you shouldn't have even bothered going into detail on him until you actually have SOMETHING resembling real character development to talk about, and to be fair Hellmeppo DOES develop later on in the series. In fact, it can be argued that he grows and develops more than any character in the entire series. That's why that whole portion of your video just felt harsh, and I kept thinking "Well no shit, Sherlock. Of course the brats' not going to change in a single day without any real positive influence to make him do so. Give the guy a rest."
Rika, while she had her moments in this arc, I really don't think was worth going into detail, especially since there are so many other character in other arcs that do just as much and it will take way way too long and too monotonous to talk about each and every one of them.
Everything on Morgan was pretty good though.
Everything about Morgan
I rather disagree about Helmeppo. He does develop but honestly its not all that much compared to Usopp or the main characters we see a lot of. And he mostly develops offscreen besides the cover story arc which I will get into but a lot of that he still is a pain for a lot of it. I'm sorry but Helmeppo is just one character who I don't care for. As for waiting til he does do something of note, I don't think I could have, since this is an introduction to him. Eh, differing opinions but I don't have a problem with any of the points I brought up about him.
ReplyDeleteRika is the only tertiary character I brought up since she is instrumental in bringing Zoro into the story. It's not like Boodle the mayor, who is a good character but is just there. She actually has purpose. It's not like I'm going to bring up every single character. One Piece has far too many for that.
I'm sorry you feel it was pointless but, to be fair, Linkara has also spent far longer talking about things that people find just as pointless.
You honestly think Usopp has developed more in the series than Helmeppo? Let's reassess that. Usopp, as we first met him on Episode 9, was described as a "Noble Coward." He had a huge heart, was already an ace marksmen as well as quite resourceful when it came to fighting skills, yet was constantly crutched by his own cowardice and refusal to step into any real danger. Now, almost 600 episodes later, Usopp, while stronger, slightly toned down the tall tales of himself, and has had a few fleeting moments of heroism and badassery, is still that same Noble Coward that Luffy met on Surup Village who proceeds to whine and complain anytime he is put in just a moderate amount of danger. Don't get me wrong, Usopp is my favorite character and I see a lot of untapped potential with him, but that doesn't mean I can't be critical of his shortcomings. This supposed "Transformation" he was supposed to have during the timeskip has turned out to be all talk. The second they stepped onto Punk Hazard, he went right back to being the same obnoxious screaming coward he was when they first met him, which is very disappointing.
ReplyDeleteHelmeppo on the other hand, as we met him in Episode 2, was a spineless, spoiled, lazy, heartless dick who was going to, as you put in a previous video so eloquently, break his promise to spare a man's life just because he was bored. He never fought his own battles and had very little regard for the human life. Fast Forward to the Marineford War 450+ episodes later, Helmeppo, while clearly out of his league during that arc, now no longer looks so absurd that you can't take him seriously. He has shown he is willing to work hard and not rely on others to get what he wants. He's egger to get stronger and prove himself so Zoro will acknowledge him as a rival in battle. And most importantly of all, he greatly values human life, and his nakama, to the point where he is brought to tears when Coby is nearly killed.
This...
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130411043929/onepiece/images/4/4b/Helmeppo_Threatens_Coby.png
To This.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QJMeKCBepxg/TRMMSLR9RvI/AAAAAAAAAgc/Il1o8bJQuIw/s1600/Bro+Luv.PNG
THAT is the definition of true character development: When a character no longer resembles who they were in the past. Helmeppo is literally the only character in One Piece that truly feels like an entirely different person, and I honestly think anyone who doesn't clearly see this is just letting their own personal preference of the character cloud their judgment.
And yeah, Linkara can also derail and go off about things that aren't that important, but he's always so quick and well spoken about it, that I never really care.
But that in itself is the problem. First of all, most of Helmeppo's development is done offscreen and in the cover story arcs. In terms of the anime, we get a bit but when we see him again, he isn't just like a different person. He is a different person, to the point that I don't consider future Helmeppo the same guy as past Helmeppo. With Usopp, I can still see that he is the same person, struggling for the same dream and goals and that he has made leaps and bounds of progress to that. In the past, he ran from Arlong. In the Fishman arc, he stood toe to toe with people just as strong, if not stronger, than arlong. I'm not just talking development of character. His strength, intelligence, and everything about Usopp is constantly improving. Also, the fact that he still has some cowardly tendencies gives him something to work towards as a character still. He hasn't hit a wall in his development, which I kind of feel has happened to future Helmeppo. Future Helm is a great guy but I don't know where Oda can take him and most of the time he's sidelined for Coby's development. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate everything about Helmeppo. I hate how he was in the past and I feel it necessary to bring up how he was before showing his complete transformation into a different person. Because, face it, his introduction in this arc is one of the last times past Helmeppo actually appears in One Piece.
ReplyDeleteAnd I may not be Linkara (in fact, I do my best to separate myself from his style) but I script and record everything to my best ability. I can't do more than that. I bring up the things I do for reasons that become more clear in the overviews. I use the overviews as more of a general look and behind the scenes at the whole arc that can be taken by themselves. These character looks and recaps are for the newer folks who may not know these things and may not have time to either watch all the episode or don't have access to the show. If you find them derailing or pointless, well I can't help you there but I try to make them entertaining at least.
I apologize if my previous posts seemed harsh. I know you are doing your best, and I only want this project to succeed. I genuinely do look forward to what you have to say about Luffy's Past, which is what I'm guessing will be what the next segment of episodes are about.
ReplyDeleteThat's ok. I understand and I know you want the best for the series. It can just get a bit hectic producing this series sometimes. I literally have 10 pages written for each script that I break into 3 parts for each video. Each part becomes 10-15 minutes and takes a while to edit. I'm just happy that I'm almost done with this arc. I have the overview next, which is more behind the scenes stuff and then the Shanks/Buggy recap.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you might not know that this is only one of several series that I produce. I have like 6 different series at this point and I don't want to neglect them either. Which is why at times the show disappears for a while.