Summary
- Impel Down is an underrated arc in One Piece that deserves more attention from fans.
- The 6th level is strange as it lacks the expected torture; it houses powerful figures and guards fear it.
- This secret holding layer is for important enemies, making torture unnecessary to keep them in line.
Impel Down, for many fans, has always been an underrated arc in One Piece. Often overshadowed by Marineford, which directly follows this fairly short arc, Impel Down has always seemed like it deserved to get a bit more attention from the community. With the introduction of interesting characters, important development from Luffy, and the return of plenty of fan-favorite villains, Impel Down is a strong arc that doesn’t get the credit it deserves.
One of the most important parts of Impel Down is the prison where the arc takes place, fittingly named Impel Down. This massive structure is one of the most interesting places Luffy has had to explore so far and features some fairly unique world-building designs. However, the prison itself has one interesting flaw that leaves many fans scratching their heads; Floor 6, which is supposed to be the most dangerous and torturous floor for the worst of One Piece's criminals, is the nicest floor in the entire prison.
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The Impressive Structure Of Impel Down
The Deeper Down The Worse The Criminals
The prison of Impel Down is a World Government owned facility that houses a majority of the most dangerous prisoners in the series. The prison itself is a massive sprawling tower that spans down to the bottom of the ocean, with only a small entrance layer and massive walls visible on the surface. Overall, due to the geography of the prison, and the guards on the inside, only two prison breaks have occurred from Impel Down.
You're all doomed to rot here till you die! - Blackbeard
Specifically, the structure of the prison itself is split into layers, each with its own distinct theme and form of torture for the prisoners there. Starting from the level, Crimson Hell, this layer is simply full of a bladed forest that prisoners are forced to run through. This theme continues down, with each layer becoming more and more deadly and painful as they go along, reaching Level 5, Freezing Hell, a location so cold that most prisoners kept here freeze to death not long after arriving. However, underneath this is a secret 6th layer of Impel Down, Eternal Hell, where only the worst of criminals are kept, including former Warlords, like Jinbe and Crocodile, as well as Ace himself.
Why Is There No Torture On Level 6 Of Impel Down?
The Worst Criminals Should logically Have The Worst Time
- Impel Down Level 6 May Be Too Dangerous For Guards
- Powerful Figures Already Keep Them In Line
However, compared to the other layers, there seems to be no torture going on in this layer. In fact, Level 6 of Impel Down seems like a nicer place to be than even the first level of the prison. While this may seem odd, logically, it does make sense when considering the type of Impel Down prisoners that are kept in this layer.
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Mainly, it is stated that many of the guards who work at the prison are afraid to even enter the 6th layer of Impel Down due to how dangerous and notorious the criminals there are. Since no guard is willing to go down there, there is no easy way to make sure that the proper torture is being administered. As for the characters that do go down there, like the former Warden, Magellan, they often have more important things to do than torture important criminals. Additionally, on this layer, they are allowed to execute prisoners at any time, meaning there may be no need for torture in the first place to keep them in line.
Many Political Prisoners Are Held On Level 6
It's A Secret Holding Layer For Only Important Enemies Of The Navy
At the same time, this layer of the prison, outside of housing dangerous criminals, often holds important figures in the political landscape of One Piece. For example, this level of the prison once held Ace, a high-ranking member of the Whitebeard Pirates, a character whom the Navy and World Government were trying to use against Whitebeard and didn’t want to be hurt until the execution. Due to this, it wouldn’t make sense to have an automated torture device, like the Freezing Hell of layer 5, as they would then need to make special exceptions to the many prisoners that they bring there.
You mean other prisoners from Level 6 have escaped? - Sengoku
In the end, while it seems unfair that the worst level of Impel Down is the least dangerous, it makes sense in terms of the story. In reality, nobody wants to go down to this layer, making it nearly impossible to run. However, since it has been mainly cleared out by Blackbeard’s own prison break, One Piece fans won’t need to worry about this level of the prison nearly as much, save for Doflamingo.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Writers
- Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
- Franchise(s)
- One Piece
- Creator(s)
- Eiichiro Oda
