In this final episode of the Record of East Blue Podcast, we wrap up the Arlong Park arc and East Blue saga with observations about Luffy’s emotional intelligence, Tashigi and Zoro’s entertaining (though still unresolved) meet-cute, the Navy’s mounting portrayal as a dictatorial force, and Loguetown’s parallels to the imagery and thematics of French literature. We close off the show with some final thoughts about One Piece as a whole, from its art style to its execution and surprising readability, even over the course of 100 chapters and beyond.

Josh, Astrid, and Reid are covering One Piece's series-defining Arlong Park arc, starting with the Straw Hats' arrival on the island. We discuss Oda's sudden shift into political storytelling, a surprisingly touching depiction of poverty, the Grand Design that Oda's been setting up since the beginning, and what it means "to live" in an era marked by opportunism and exploitation.

Josh, Astrid, and Reid are back covering One Piece volumes 6-8, meeting Sanji, Zeff, Don Krieg, and Dracule Mihawk in the Baratie Arc. We cover boys-will-be-boys masculinity in Nami's absence, how "power scaling" works in One piece, and the role of shounen fight scenes in One Piece vs. its contemporaries.

Josh, Astrid, and Reid are back covering One Piece volumes 4 and 5, giving their most generous possible read of the Syrup Village arc. On the docket today is Usopp's character breakdown (and whether he's actually interesting or not), the surprising poignance of the Usopp pirates, half-baked race themes, subtle character development, and Sanji's oh-so-delicious pilaf.

Josh, Astrid, and Reid are back at it for the Orange Town arc, covering One Piece volume 2 and 3 on this episode. This time we're talking about characterization through backstory reveals, big fight pacing, circus freaks, personal treasures, and, of course, Chouchou the Dog.

In this inaugural episode, Reid, Astrid, and Josh break down the opening volume of One Piece. We give our initial impressions of Luffy and cover: recurring disconnects between fantasy and realism, Oda’s command of framing and action, manga vs anime, blurred lines between the factions of pirates/bandits/marines, One Piece as picaresque novel.

It's the end of the series and the end of Kentaro Miura's Berserk. On this episode, Reid and Gareth discuss "Great Gurus" to "Teardrop of Morning Dew" (chapters 345 to 364 from volumes 39 to 41). Though we're mainly interested in talking about the end of Berserk in general, we also get into Casca's "recovery," a reference to the literal idea of evil, how far the characters have come from their initial portrayal, and one last hurrah for eyeballs exploding out of heads. Thanks everyone for listening. Rest in peace, Kentaro Miura.

Gareth and Reid are living peacefully in an ancient Roman metropolis on this episode and extending a not-at-all ominous invitation for you to join us here as we talk about "Shooting Star" to "Village of Witches" (chapters 328-344) from volumes 37 to 39. As our series on Berserk nears its end, we get into what comes after the achievement of Griffith's dreams, an excellent flashback, the difficulties with bringing a decades-long work to some kind of conclusion, and Kentaro Miura's rocky transition to digital illustration.

Reid and Gareth may be a bit at sea in this episode, but, to be fair, so is Berserk itself in this stretch of the story. Hop aboard to join us as we cast away into the Fantasia Arc, starting off with an episode covering "Ghost Ship" to "Surfacing" (chapters 308-327) from volumes 35 to 37. Will the waters remain as choppy as they are in this section, which just sort of flounders around for a while without finding its bearing? Or will we enjoy a pleasant remainder of our voyage as we steer this series onward toward the safe harbour of Berserk's final chapters?

Gareth and Reid are tossing this podcast into the local demon womb and becoming a towering affront to reason itself on this episode of our Berserk podcast. Listen on as we cover "On Board" to "Falconia" (chapters 286-207) from volumes 32 to 35, wrapping up the Falcon of the Millennium Empire Arc by talking about the incredible scale of the series' vision of a world-rending apocalypse, Kentaro Miura directly confronting his artistic influences, demonic manifestations of human evil, and a whole lot else besides.