#i know oda said zoro would kill a crewmate if luffy asked but that is literally just not in luffy’s nature

[monkeydlesbian]

when zoro’s loyalty is discussed and someone brings up the “zoro would kill chopper if luffy asked him to” thing like BOOOOOOO 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[iocity]

Still searching for the SBS where Oda said Zoro would kill a crewmate if Luffy asked but I very easily found the one where Oda says he is a big ol’ softy for them and tries to communicate how much he cares but doesn’t know how.

VERYYYY SUSPICIOUS METHINKS.

[holykillercake]

Strawberry and Cigarretes

pairing: Sanji x Reader

word count: 2.6k

highlight: ¨Everything hurt, and for the first time, you wished to forget what the ocean sounded like.¨ 

warnings: slight angst

notes: This was a request from @vemuabhi​! <3 Very special because it was my first ever request! I wanted to doge the obvious path (which I almost took) and do something that didn´t involve Whole Cake Island, so maybe it is not the biggest angst (hats off to Mr. Oda cause he is Father angst) but I did my very best! I hope you all enjoy and Happy Birthday, Sanji-kun! <3

𝕃𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤, 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤, 𝕠�� 𝕘𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤!

Do you remember when you were a kid, and you´d find a shell laying on the sand? And you would pick it up and put it on your ear, hoping to listen to the ocean? It´d always make a smile grow on your face before you tossed it aside and jumped into the water.

That time was different. When you heard the ocean share its endless secrets and tell its adventurous stories, you just wanted to sit there all day and listen. 

This specific event happened a couple of months after you joined the Strawhats. Chopper had borrowed you his stethoscope cause you thought it was cool, and in the middle of thousands of things you´ve already heard in your life, good and bad, the heartbeat was something that you were oblivious to. 

Some would think that asking to hear someone else´s heartbeat was weird, but inside the Thousand Sunny... well, those guys put ¨weird¨ on another level, and you would have to work your ass off to surpass that. 

Chopper got all blushed when you leaned closer to his tiny and furry torso, Usopp told you stories about a war he once won but had to have his heart replaced by a lion´s, Franky said that if you wanted to see a heart he could simply pull it out for you, Brook invested on the same ¨Oh, I don´t have a heart. Yohohoho¨ joke, Zoro let you listen to his wrist, Nami and Robin almost had you sinking into their generous breasts, and Sanji... you left him for last because you didn´t know how to ask him. So you just tiptoed quietly inside the kitchen, sneaked behind him, and tried to listen to his heart through his back. You feared that your nose would start bleeding if he faced you while you were doing it. 

That was exactly what he did, by the way. He poured more water into the stew he was cooking and turned around, putting out his cigarette so ashes wouldn´t fall on you. Immediately you began to sweat, your breath quickened, and hold the stethoscope with a steady hand became a herculean task. 

His lean fingers moved to the collar of his blue shirt and started to unbutton a few, enough for you to have better access. At that point, you believed that the reason why you weren´t bleeding yet was that you were slowly having a stroke, and Sanji´s action was God´s gift to you for being a good person while alive. 

Then he didn´t do anything else, just put both hands in his pockets and waited while you listened to every single bubble popping inside his chest like you were afraid to miss one. In the end, he tucked a lock of hair behind your ear and went back to his stew.

But that was all about it. The following months were just like any other, the crew kept acting as weird as their minds allowed, and you kept shutting whatever your stupid heart was yelling at you. Although... if you could be honest for one moment, deep down you were hurt. 

Maybe you scared or crept him away with your childish curiosity. Maybe he had noticed your feelings for him and got disgusted. Well, not disgusted, he probably didn´t like you the same way and didn´t know how to tell you, so keeping words to a minimum was his way to go. 

He stopped singing and twirling around you, he´d rather call your name respectfully; when you shared the night watches, he just remained quiet by your side, answering briefly to your questions or comments; he even stopped trying to sneak into your baths or make suggestive comments - which you didn´t love before, but you know, you only miss something when it's gone. 

The whole crew had noticed the change in both of your behaviors, but they too were not sure how to address it. Whenever someone asked something about it you would say ¨Really? I didn´t notice anything.¨. Either too proud to confront him or too afraid of the truth. 

~

¨Oi, you ok?¨ Zoro asked, breaking into your personal bubble of sadness. 

You knew it was Zoro because you two were taking the night watch, but you didn´t expect him to show interest or concern about your upset state. 

The night was chilly, so you were sitting on Sunny´s grass, arms around your knees, holding them close to your chest to keep the warmth. 

¨Why do you care?¨ you answered bitterly, but he didn´t mind since he was the king of freaking Bitter Land. 

¨I don´t. But I´ll go crazy if I hear you sigh one more time.¨ he sat close to you, not too close, just enough for you to listen to each other.

A chuckle left your mouth involuntarily, you never expected his grouchy temper would come in handy in times like this. Then your frowned expression came back, and you let out another sigh. 

Before you realized Zoro had pushed you with his Sandai Kitetsu scabbard, making you fall to your side with a squeak. 

¨I told you.¨

You sat again, taking some grass off your leg ¨Yeah. Can´t deny it.¨

¨Yeah, you´ve been doing that a lot lately.¨ 

He didn´t look like he was teasing you, his eyes focusing on the line where the sky met the ocean, where the stars disappeared and became blurry white brushes on the water. 

¨I... I don´t-¨

¨I think you can do better than the stupid cook.¨he kept his usual tone ¨ But I guess we don´t get to choose these things.¨ 

You were taken aback by his words, and despite you trying to fight your lips from trembling and tears from falling, it was useless. You had been crushing these feelings inside you for too long, and it killed you the more you ignored it. 

The swordsman wasn´t saying those things because he loved you or anything like that, but because the entire crew - except for Luffy - had already noticed and began acting weird about it. And despite being the captain´s duty to solve any problem or an uncomfortable situation, your captain was a bit too oblivious, so he had to step in. 

Besides, his nakama was getting hurt. He didn´t care about the ero cook. 

¨If you want me to beat him up... just let me know.¨ 

He said it to cheer you up - not that he didn´t mean, he´d do it for much less - but nothing seemed worth smiling for now. You just bit your lip in order to avoid an embarrassing whining, since you were unable to stop the painful tears from rolling down your cheeks. 

Everything hurt, and for the first time, you wished to forget what the ocean sounded like.

¨W-What should I do?¨

¨That´s not my problem to solve, Y/N.¨ he stood up beside you ¨But sometimes, when I have a difficult problem that I can´t solve my way...¨ his gaze still locked with the horizon ¨... I think about what my captain would do.¨ he left without any further words, leaving you not only sad but confused as well. 

You slept on it for the next couple of days, still not understanding what he meant. Maybe he just wanted to leave the conversation and said whatever came to mind. But even that didn´t fit right. If he didn´t want to be stuck in an uncomfortable conversation, he wouldn´t have started one. 

So you took as a personal mission to observe your captain until you learned how to think like him, hoping that figuring that out would solve your problem. 

You had joined the crew as a historian, the person responsible for writing down every adventure meticulously, every tiny detail of every battle, and every glorious victory along the Strawhats journey. So in one dusk, when you were in charge of the night watch with Robin and the moon was full and bright, you took your journals and began rolling through the pages, looking for a pattern, something that anticipated every major decision of your captain.

You even borrowed old diaries from the time you were not part of their crew. The stories lacked details, but they served to paint a picture. Basically:

Luffy insults an ugly lady, saves a kid, eats something, finds Zoro, beats the crap out of a crazy marine, saves the day, gets his first crewmate. 

Luffy gets eaten by a bird, then vomited in a town, finds Nami, eats something, is put in a cage, beat the crap out of some pirates, saves the day.

 Luffy wants a new ship, meets Usopp, eats something, gets thrown from a cliff, beats the crap out of some pirates, saves the day, gets Going Merry and a liar. 

Luffy wants a cook, explodes a restaurant, becomes a waiter, eats something, meets Sanji, beats the crap out of some pirates, saves the day, gets a cook. 

Luffy eats something, finds the fishmen, goes for a walk, is thrown in the water, beats the crap out of some pirates, saves the day, gets a navigator.

Luffy wants a doctor, eats everything, fights some crazy ass bunnies, climbs a mountain, meets Chopper, beats the crap out of some pirates, saves the day, gets a doctor. 

Luffy eats something, wants to fix Going Merry, meets Franky, loses Robin, beats the crap out of some world government agents, saves the day, gets an archeologist, a shipwright, and Thousand Sunny. 

Luffy hears a ghoulish singing, finds a speaking skeleton in a busted ship, has his shadow stolen, beats the crap out of some Warlord of the Sea, gets a musician.

When you finished the last journal, the weight of your body pushed you to the floor, and you laid on your back for a couple of minutes, overwhelmed by the amount of information in your head.

¨I know what to do...¨ you took a deep breath ¨... I´m gonna eat something.¨

You mumbled something to Robin, telling her that you´d be back in a few minutes, and wandered to the kitchen. 

As soon as you entered the room a sweet and comforting aroma like whipped cream and strawberries invaded your senses, making your head turn to the counter immediately. 

¨Y/N-chan...¨ the cook said.

You opened and closed your mouth a couple of times, looked at him, and then to your feet, your fingers fidgeting as a sign of your anxious state. 

¨D-Didn't know you were awake.¨ you marched to the table and helped yourself with some sugar cookies.

¨Oh... It won´t take much longer...¨ you heard his muffled voice somewhere in the back of your mind, all you could hear was the blood pumping in your ears ¨... cake because today is my birthday and I thought we...¨ your vision was focused on the cookie jar, crushing the granular biscuit with your fingertips ¨...and I...I didn´t know if-¨

¨What would Luffy do?¨ you whispered to yourself.

¨W-What?¨ 

¨What would Luffy do?¨ 

The question wasn´t for him, it was for you. You felt something growing inside your chest, like the blood that pumped in your heart was boiling and burning, giving you the strength and courage you needed. 

¨I have been trying to find answers to a lot of things, you know?¨ you stood up to face the cook, palms spread on the table, ¨I ... do you hate me, Sanji?¨ 

He stopped what he was doing and let the knife rest on the cutting board. When his gaze found yours, there was no way back. That is what Luffy would do. He´d eat something, do whatever came to his mind, and deal with the consequences. No need to go back. 

¨Y/N-chan... why do you...¨

¨I mean, I ask this because...¨ you clenched your hands, cursing yourself for feeling the need to cry ¨I can´t take this anymore, Sanji! If I did something to offend you or if I said something...¨ your voice was broken and weak, and you were a mess of tears and sobs ¨You don´t have to love me back, that´s not what I am saying, but... I can´t stand-¨

¨Y/N-chan... why do you think I hate you?¨ he wiped his hands with a towel and made his way towards you, slowly.

¨Oh, come on, Sanji... You treat me differently, you´re cold and distant, you don´t say a word to me even when we share night shifts! If you don´t hate me, then this must be a sick game you´re playing.¨ your legs felt wobbly, and you sat back in the chair, not being able to face him anymore.  The courage and strenght you had minutes ago was gone.

You just watched him get closer and kneel in front of you, his cold fingers gently brushing away the hot tears on your cheeks. 

¨I could never hate you, Y/N.¨ he said softly ¨I am sorry I made you feel like this, I am sorry I made you cry...¨ his fingers touched your trembling lips. 

¨Then why...¨

¨I didn´t want to scare you away like I always do, Y/N... I know I can be too much sometimes, with the nose bleeding and everything. But that´s how I am, and I didn´t want you to think of me as an idiot... so I prefer being silent, then say something stupid and... ¨ 

¨You don´t have to say this. I don´t need pity talk...¨you spoke as more tears fell, giving him a chance to take his statement back.

¨I have to, Y/N. But not because of pity talk.¨ he gently pressed his forehead against yours, like bunnies do when they apologize. 

¨Then why?¨ 

¨Because I love you, Y/N.¨ the blonde closed the space left between the two of you, kissing you passionately. 

He helped you get up without breaking the kiss and leaned you against the kitchen table, his hands holding your body close while yours ran through his golden hair. His mouth tasted like strawberries and cigarettes, a flavor to which you could easily get addicted. 

You parted the kiss just enough to get some oxygen, your noses were touching, and you could feel his heavy breathing against your skin. 

¨I didn´t know today is your birthday...¨ you whispered, afraid that this was a dream and you´d wake up alone again. 

¨Yeah, I was hoping to get a Happy Birthday from you, you know.¨ he chuckled.

¨I think you´ll be getting more than that.¨

You stared into each other´s eyes for a moment before he pulled you to a hug. When you leaned against his warm chest you heard it again, the same babble of the ocean, only this time you smiled, knowing that it wanted to listen to your stories and secrets as well. 

¨Sanji?¨

¨Hm?¨

¨Happy Birthday... I love you.¨

¨I love you too, Y/N.¨ he kissed you again.

¨Please, don´t have sex on the dinner table.¨ you jumped when Robin spoke.

 When you turned, you saw all your crewmates dressed in pajamas and messy hair staring back at you with sparkly sleepy eyes. You spot Zoro back in the crowd, you smiled and gave him a silent ¨Thank you.¨. You couldn´t help but wonder how the guy who manages to gets lost walking down a straight path was able to guide some sense into you. 

In any way, you´ve found it. Inside of his chest, inside of his heart was the All Blue you heard so much of. Maybe that was the thing with it, and why only a few people found it. Everyone assumes that it is a place, where the four Blues meet, but it´s easy to forget that when you´re a pirate the ocean becomes the essence of who you are.

Little did you know that Sanji had found his All Blue too.

[randomshitwhenimhigh]

CHAPTER 1000 BABY

First of all, the hype, my heart, it's too much, the minks letting Luffy through is a testament of the true power he holds, getting allies and people on his side because he's cool. Marco gives me LIFE, he just grabbed King and Queen by the neck and told them to stop being bummers and let Zoro through, then, he proceeds to yeet Zoro into the distance, just like Team Rocket on every Pokemon episode, I love this pineapple turkey, i want to see him fight more.

There are only supernovas up there to fight Big Mom and Kaido, the other pirates might stay down to keep that fight isolated, it's a fight at night isn't it? It will be a nice new dawn on Wano, I don't doubt Luffy and company will win, first because it's Luffy, second because he has great friends and third he's the protagonist of a shonen, although one piece is atypical, Luffy wins for him and his friends, he faced enemies way stronger and won thanks to team work and his own will, the will of the fucking D and here I start talking about Yamato, wasn't that a nice transition?

Yamato is a national treasure, he's kept that old diary for so long and he's now giving it back to it's rightful heir. Toki must have protected the diary, or maybe Hiyori while escaping. Omg I completely forgot Momo was on both Whitebeard and Roger's ships, he was born on the first, and I also remembered that motherfucker Orochi, hungry for power, stabbing Oden in the back with such strength, I'm surprised his little arms didn't fall off, and the worst part is I'm SURE that piece of shit is still alive. RAYLEIGH KNEW WHO LUFFY IS, I mean he knows his significance, I shall re read one piece once it's over to rejoice on all that foreshadowing, when I fucking read it to my nephews and nieces I'll be laughing hysterically inside my head as I tell the tale.

I'm still salty about Ace, he ended up dying and was still a symbol of the old era of pirates as Roger's son, he just wanted a family, adventures and to make his existence valid, and he was so much like Roger, they get drunk all the same and Yamato is right, they'd have gotten along, Roger will have to get used to the co parenting thing with Whitebeard on the after life, and they both would have to get used to Ace favoring his mom. Someone tell me if there's fan fiction about this and I'll read it.

I'm super random today, anyways, it's confirmed both Luffy and Roger shared a dream and the will of, probably, Joyboy, my man, the legend, the myth. What the fuck is his dream, maybe to join all the seas? All Blue I'm looking at you, or to make an intricate system to rule the world in a peaceful way, under the watch of Meat McMeaterson, humanity's hope for law and order?

I adore Yamato, he has quickly climbed the stairs to my heart, he is just a nerd wanting to watch the end of his favorite book, his dream is to sail and go on adventures, and he's protecting the most important thing on Wano right now. I love how Oda shows that Yamato is the one who gave Ace his vivre sheet, he was hoping to sail with him in the future and I really hope Ace can fullfil that promise through Luffy, no loose ends in Oda town.

Kaido and Big Mom think they are so hot but Luffy is here to put them in their places, I love Luffy, he's the fucking sun and I'll follow him, go Luffy. They must defeat Kaido in order to open Wano's borders which seems to be the key to start the end, I think they'll have a stop at the island of giants since it was discussed all those chapters ago at Little Garden, how the fuck can I remember the names of islands I read years ago when I started one piece so easily and I can't remember what I ate for breakfast unless I try really hard, why. Anyways, I meant to say that Oden wanted to open Wano and knows that in order to do it Kaido must be defeated, he and Big Mom are remains of the will of Rocks who was also a D if I'm not wrong, although Blackbeard is the real threat here, he seems to be the final boss and the way he was foreshadowed during Oden's flashback, Buggy said he doesn't sleep at all and we know he was with Whitebeard all that time to find the yami yami no mi, he probably wants the same thing Rocks wanted, to be King of the World, and isn't it a fitting contrast to Luffy, he wants to be King of Pirates but not because of the title but because he thinks that the freest man on the sea is the one who holds that title, and let's not forget his real dream, Meat McMeaterson must ascend and become president.

Back to the story, Luffy just passed by those clowns as if it was nothing, power move, and the way Kin'emon asked for his help, that scene always happens and it always pumps me up, Luffy is helping them because they are his friends first, also he saw the horrors up close, he promised Tama she would never be hungry again, and it's so fucking beautiful, as I said Ace's promises are being fulfilled through Luffy. Look at Law receiving orders, good for him, if I remember correctly he doesn't appreciate being ordered around. Big Mom and Kaido shouldn't underestimate the supernovas, I mean both of them are probably stronger, but their abilities and TEAM WORK will save the day, for all the power they hold together they're not stronger, due to what we know about their story as crewmates in the past, they can't work as a team.

Luffy punched him right in the face, he had his power up during his stay in prison. All the flashbacks from all the suffering Luffy witnessed in Wano makes the whole panel come out beautifully, that punch was charged with the anger that was born in Luffy from all of these experiences, and when he turned back and told them right to their faces that he was going to be the pirate king, Luffy you're already King in our hearts.

I hope we get more revelations during 2021, Oda is no longer beating around the bush, he is finally revealing more and more, including that flashback with Oden which I can't wait to watch animated. I can't finish this rant without saying I'm blessed, Killer is here, hope there's a cure for smiles, maybe Law and Chopper will come up with something, but hey at least for now we have Killer, hope he gets to ratatattatatatata yeehaw slash slash both Big Mom and Kaido, go get them you beautiful bastard.

To sum up, all this lore will kill me, i just wanna know the truth, give me the truth Oda, I'm ready.

[supernovaken]

Why I don’t like Sanji - One Piece Discussion

Sanji used to be one of my favourite characters up there with the other two-thirds of the monster trio, mostly because of his calm attitude, debonair persona and strategic thinking. A lot of people enjoy the swagger he brings to the Straw-Hat crew’s dynamic, and the way his personality compares and contrasts with everyone's favourite swordsman Roronoa Zoro.

Don’t get me wrong, this post isn’t a Sanji bash, and it certainly isn’t the Sanji vs Zoro toxic rant that we have in the fan base, so if that’s what you came here looking for it may be best to click away now. Hopefully I still get the click bait credit hahahaha [laughs in evil].

All I'm trying to do here is delve into Sanji as a character; from his introduction into the storyline through to his current state of characterisation, along with how my impression of Sanji has changed over the course of the so far 1000 One Piece chapters GOda has blessed the world with.

I work on the rule that once a chapter is animated it is no longer considered spoiler territory and my main focus will be on the Whole Cake Island Arc and the character nuances presented leading up to that. I’ll be avoiding discussing anything happening in Wano mainly due to the fact that I haven’t seen much in terms of new characterisation for Sanji - so before anyone jumps down the comments with the argument that it all makes sense during Wano, i’d say just give that one a miss.

Anyone who isn’t caught up with the anime, here’s your fair warning…

Let me tell you Why I Don’t Like Sanji

Throughout the story Sanji has always been the more aloof, somewhat guarded character in the crew - at least on a surface level. His introduction was as the charming pirate restaurant chef that had a way with words and a ferocity when it came to his food. The Baratie Arc is where we were introduced to the rough and tumble fighting chef and most importantly where we were shown his passion; for women, family, life and of course food. Skip forward an odd 800 chapters and although we are shown moments that may have seemed slightly off putting for the character (don’t even get me started)... where I really lost touch with Sanji was during the Whole Cake Island Arc (WCI).

Caveat

Now I've had a few back and forths over this online so I want to make a few things clear from the offset. The issues that I will be delving into are all from a character and characterization point of view.

I have no issues with the plot of WCI but I did feel that Sanji wasn’t being himself (or at least the version of Sanji as a character that I along with many other fans had gotten to know up til this point).

I’ll be breaking down my understanding of the plot as best I can going off all the information we have on it and I'll be evidencing what I say with Manga panels to reduce the amount of dispute I'm likely to get from this.

Saying that, I will ask that as you run through this you allow a little room for perspective. I will be commenting on Sanji and the decisions he made at the point in time that he was making them, this means that we’ll need to come from a perspective of understanding all the information that was available to Sanji at the time, not just what the audience knew or what other characters were planning or doing. In order to comment on Sanji's behaviour we have to go off what he knows in the moments he takes action.

Whole Cake Island

Before I go into Sanji's character throughout the story here's a quick synopsis of everything that happens in the WCI

After arriving at Zou and dealing with a few Beast Pirate stragglers, Sanji was essentially taken hostage; physically through the Power of Bege’s Castle-Castle Fruit, then later with the use of the exploding cuffs, and taken hostage emotionally through the threat made on Zeffs life and the immediate threat Bege posed on the members of the Straw-Hat crew that were there at the time.

The plan was to use Sanji in a political wedding to unite the Charlotte Family/Big Mom Pirates with the Vinsmoke Family. Being a political wedding there were motivations on boths sides to attain the power offered by the other; and thanks to an underlying conspiracy plot led by Big Mom, the plan was to kill Sanji along with the Vinsmoke family and take their technology.

Fortunately the plan was ruined by non-other than our very own Straw-Hat Luffy and his pals (after an initial skirmish with Sanji's Black leg), and Sanji returned to the crew as they escaped a rampaging Big Mom.

My issues with Sanji that crept up over the course of the arc:-

Sanji left the crew (albeit to protect Zeff but more on this later)

Sanji attacked his Captain

The timing for when Sanji returned to the crew (AFTER he discovered pudding was gonna betray him)

For that third point I'd like to put heavy emphasis on ‘timing’. I don’t have any issue with the fact that he returned, I love Sanji as a member of the Straw-Hat Pirates and it’s clear the dynamic is not the same without him. I also don’t have an issue with how he returned to the crew as the way he broke down in front of Luffy was one of the most heart-string pulling, tear-jerking scenes of WCI (although I will be getting into his apology/ lack of one in that scene). But the timing of his decision to return to the crew really irritated me as a long time fan of the character, all I could ask was, after everything that’s happened, why now?

Leaving the Crew

Pre timeskip the story addresses a lot of themes surrounding the topic of what it meant to be a Straw-Hat pirate. All the way back in East blue where the story of the Straw-Hat crew was born we were given storylines around the value of friendship (NAKAMA!!), the important roles each member had, their individual struggles against adversity up to the point Luffy came to save their spirits and ignite their dreams. And we had all that both for Sanji and with Sanji as he experienced the emotional battles every member of the crew faced when they came into contact with their soon to be Captain, (including Usopp's turmoil at Water 7).

He knew what it meant for each member to join Luffy and he knew what it meant to leave the crew. He experienced first hand with Nami, Luffy didn’t believe Nami would steal from them and kill Usopp even though she had only been with him for a short time. And he waited for her response to challenge Arlong.

When Usopp clashed with Luffy at Water 7, Sanji was there knowing what it meant for a crewmate to clash with his captain and the weight of leaving the crew. He lashed out at Luffy when he was about to say something reckless,

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji lashes out at Luffy's reckless speaking, Chapter 331 page 15]

and after showing he understood Usopp's feelings of inadequacy within the crew he made it clear that everyone has something they can do best when supporting Luffy and the crew. Even still he later agreed with Zoro's reasoning in the epic speech given to Luffy about the importance of respecting your Captain as these are not Pirate games they are playing.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji agrees with Zoro, Chapter 438 page 5]

When Robin left the crew Sanji saw how Luffy responded and without hesitating he was there to challenge an entity as great as the World Government (WG) just to bring her back. He wasn’t even patient enough to wait for the crew on the Sea Train because as Luffy said to Zoro, would any of them have been able to sit back and wait.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji impatient to challenge the World Government, Chapter 367 page 12]

These moments, for me, shaped a character trait in Sanji showing how much he values his crewmates but also shows how relentless both he and Luffy are when it comes to getting someone back. So I couldn’t reconcile this character that we’ve been shown across the story with the one in Zou who thinks it's ok to leave the crew on a false promise to return and think no one in the crew would challenge that decision. A lot of people say that he was planning to come back but even in the moment it was clear to the crew that Sanji was lying.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji’s lie, Chapter 813 page 17]

Nico Robin

I want to compare Sanji’s plan to leave and save the crew against Robin's plan during the Water 7 arc. My aim is to show how similar their reasoning is but why the decision only makes sense from Robin's perspective as a character at the time of her decision and not for Sanji during WCI.

When Robin left the crew it really was to protect a group of people she only just became acquainted with so understandably would not want them facing a power as huge as the World Government or alternatively resenting her for staying with the crew as she’s experienced in the past. Her sacrifice was to protect a crew of 6 people from the full power of the World Government. She had seen their power destroy her home ISLAND in the past so it is very understandable to assume the crew wouldn’t have a chance in hell of surviving an attack.

Robin didn’t know the capability of the Straw-Hats and their willingness to challenge a huge organisation like the World Government. What she did know was the power of the WG and that a normal crew would not survive the immediate threat of a Buster Call along with the power of the CP9 at Water 7.

Robin's wish was for them to be able to leave Water 7 safely which is why Lucci spared them during their battle in Icebergs mansion. Some fans question if the WG would have actioned a Buster Call on Water 7 because without it there was still an option to escape, plus the CP9 were on the island undercover. Why would the government destroy it? Why wouldn’t Robin just run from Water 7 and let the Straw-Hats escape?.

Enies Lobby is a much more important location to the WG than Water 7 due to its position in the world as the Judiciary island. It’s a symbol of the World Governments power. CP-9 were in Ohara when a buster call was actioned which goes to show the lack of hesitation the government had during these attacks, even when its own personnel are on the Island. Also CP-9 as well as a number of government officials, and their families that lived on the island, were on Enies Lobby at the time and in both cases they still attacked without hesitation, they still attacked the island indiscriminately. They had no reason not to attack Water 7 if a buster call was issued, so I don’t see how calling one on Water 7 would have been impossible.

At that time Robin was already aware of that scary power and it had haunted her her entire life, so if it were called on Water 7 assuming the Straw-Hats didn’t chase her (she wouldn’t have accounted for this at the time) it makes sense for her to want to save them from it. Let’s not forget that they really only escaped the Buster Call thanks to a massive Deux Ex Machina. I can suspend disbelief long enough to say a worn down ship was able to traverse ‘Aqua Laguna storm level waves’ and reach another island with no crew or navigator thanks to the power of friendship but damn, lets just call it what it is, Shonen Magic.

CP-9 weren’t on Water 7 to get Robin, they were there on an undercover mission to get the Pluton blueprints from Iceberg, so I’m guessing rather than snatching her and potentially blowing their cover too soon, they met with her to explain the threat they could be to the Straw-Hats and pressure her into coming with them peacefully which was an added benefit of their mission. A well calculated move from Lucci. Also remember that they had recently just lost to Aokiji, who was the shadow behind the threat since a buster call can only be issued on his authority as an Admiral (he gave permission to Spandam after encountering the Straw-Hats). In the end they had to escalate the plan and force Iceburg to give them the blueprints rather than wait for him to hand it over to an apprentice, they assumed if they threatened his life he would hand it over sooner to Paulie, then in the middle of their attack deduced that he had already handed it to Franky years beforehand. (Off topic but basically they had a plan and Robin landing on Water 7 was just a perk they took advantage of).

The bond she got with Luffy and the crew came from having nowhere else to go after Luffy saved her from killing herself at Alabasta, then was reinforced when she realised her dreams weren’t dead in Skypiea with the revelation that the true history of the void century does exist and she only needs to follow the log to the end of the grand line to find it. Even though it was a small timeframe she was able to build that bond with them, but even still it was clear that not enough had happened for her to ever think the Straw-Hats were any match for the WG.

In-world no one would believe that, this is why the Straw-Hats are the only pirates to ever attack Enies Lobby. Even Yonko crews don’t attack the WG without reason or backup of more than a 6 person crew. Even though they survived in the end, at the time it was a deal to protect the crew at the cost of her life so it made sense.

We can see afterwards that she’s grown out of not believing in them as when they got to Zou, Neko and Duke said she’d be a target for being able to read the Poneglyphs - to which she replied it’ll be fine because she had her crew to protect her.

Her deal made all the sense in the world.

Sanji on the other hand benefitted from a much longer, much deeper experience with Luffy and the crew by the time it came to his ‘ultimate sacrifice’. He was there at Water 7 when the entire crew rejected Robin's reasoning (even Usopp) for leaving the crew. He chased her onto the Government filled Train with no guarantees, no background and no hesitation with the greatest takeaway from that arc being to believe in Luffy. That belief in the captain wasn't there when it came to facing off against a member of the Yonko and protecting his extended family - a huge character step back I think.

Sanji's downfall here was not believing in his crew even after experiencing the other side of things with Robin. Why wouldn’t Luffy come for him? He’s never experienced Big Moms power (not that he needed to) in the same way Robin was traumatised by the WG’s display of power in her childhood. He knows enough about his captain to know Luffy would still challenge Big Mom as Luffy had already said he was planning to challenge each member of the Yonko. He had already challenged Big Mom on Fishman Island and the plan to challenge Kaido was already in motion. I understand challenging both at the same time might make him think it’s a bit much, but I disagree with him not bringing the issue to his crew considering all they had been through. It shows the biggest problem of Sanji not believing in Luffy and the crew.

His Faith Wavered

Protecting Zeff

At the time Sanji made the decision to leave the crew he thought Zeff was in danger, a threat delivered by Big Mom. He also believes Big Mom herself would be an added threat too difficult for the Straw-Hats at this time.

I don’t want us to get bogged down in the details of Big Moms plan. I very much agree with the point that she truly didn’t care about Zeff at the Baratie, she only threatened Zeff to get Sanji to the wedding (A Big Mom Tea Party Invitation Standard) in order to lay the trap for Germa.

But character moments all come from the decisions they make based on the information they have at the time. At the time Sanji made the decision to leave the crew, the threat on Zeff was real enough to him so in Sanji’s mind if he ran from the wedding or challenged Bege and Big Mom she probably would have actioned the threat. To Sanji, his only option here was to go along with the wedding.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Vito informing Sanji about the threat on Zeff, Chapter 813 page 9]

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Baron Tamago of the Big Mom pirates giving Judge the leverage they have over Sanji, Chapter 839 page 12]

Battling Luffy

Sanji understood that by getting married he’d automatically force the Straw-Hats into being subordinates of the Big Mom crew. Initially he thought saying he’d handle it himself would be enough to stop Luffy from coming and by officially leaving the crew he’d absolve them from a fate as underlings similar to the portrayal of Bege at the time. (Going back to my initial point I think this reasoning doesn’t make sense as we all know Luffy's character). This is why after Luffy came after him he tried to make it clearer that he'd left the crew and Sanji did this by fighting Luffy and telling him to leave.

When he battled Luffy (who didn’t fight back) it wasn’t over a huge disagreement and insecurity in his own strength like Usopp's battle with Luffy. In fact if we compare this to Usopp's moment when both he and Luffy got heated and ended in a similar battle of pride/ clashing views I see no reason why Sanjis isn’t as bad.

The Luffy vs Sanji clash came about due to a lack of understanding which came about because Sanji had not been clear in explaining his position and why he made this choice to leave the crew, instead he kicked sand in the face of his crew and captain.

I believe he went too far here, although he deep down had good intentions, I see it as a clear showing disrespect. It was all an act with a brave face from Sanji's point of view and Luffy could tell straight away.

Comparatively, Usopp also put on a brave face with an understandable battle for him to establish his place as a pirate, but it was the challenge of Luffy’s authority in itself that was a showing of disrespect to the captain.

In essence it was a clash of pride where Sanji challenged his captain’s abilities, with the belief that his method of dealing with the issue was right and Luffy’s was wrong.

His Respect Wavered.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji vs Luffy, Chapter 843 page 19]

Returning to the Crew

Redemption is a huge part of character development and usually always comes from a lie the character has told to themselves they battle to make a reality. Any story worth its ink will give us characters with strong traits and equally strong flaws that they later resolve within themselves and grow from.

Sanji had a lot of character development during the WCI arc including accepting his past/background, dealing with the trauma caused by his father, his siblings and the death of his mother, and probably quite importantly, believing in himself, his crew and his captain. But there was one character moment that I feel was flawed enough to reduce the impact of his redemption moment and therefore reduce his standing as a character for me… His reconciliation with Luffy.

During the Arlong Park arc Nami lied about her feelings toward the crew and her village. Her redemption came in the form of saving Usopp from death at the hands of Arlong by stabbing through her hand and facilitating his escape, this showed how much she cared about the crew. And her lie towards the villagers was resolved when her backstory was established and showed her intentions to protect them, the redemption here came the moment she asked Luffy for help and also established her belief in her new Captain.

At Enies Lobby Robin lied about her desire to die so as to not live in a world where no one cares for her and see her as a burden. Her redemption came when she acknowledged she does have a place in the world and had finally found people who care about her. She immediately screamed from the top of her lungs that she wanted to live and in doing so established her new found belief in her crew and Captain.

The segmented parts of Water 7 displayed Usopp's lie about being too weak to be part of a crew of ‘monsters’ along with his fear of being discarded due to his lack of belief in his own abilities and the strength of his friendship/place in the crew. His redemption came when he acknowledged that everyone has something they can do that makes them strong even if it's not physically, and his unyielding resolve to save his crew mates when he tagged along for the mission to rescue Robin. Notice that Usopp's flaws never included losing faith in Luffy, his flaw was always pride and the redemption note for his pride was different to Nami and Robins. Usopp had to apologise, direct and on his knees before he could be fully redeemed as a character.

Sanji's storyline in WCI came with a double whammy. Not only did he show a lack of faith in his captain, he also allowed his pride get in the way of showing respect to his captain. A pirate no go area.

Before overhearing Pudding he was resolved to getting married and living his life with her, but when he found out it was a lie why did this change his resolve of protecting the crew and Zeff. I’d say all other factors *at this point* are exactly the same for Sanji and he had already accepted his death (or a version of it through his freedom and his cooking being taken away).

First, technically Zeff was still in danger as far as he knew. ReijI didn’t say Zeff was safe, she asked him to escape, let Germa die and figure it out [what to do about Zeff] afterwards, her reasoning was Big Mom had no interest in Zeff as long as she got Germa, but Sanji wanted to save both. So in Sanji's mind Zeff is still in danger, but now he has an added problem as he wants to save Germa.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Reiju explains the threat on Zeff still exist unless Big Mom gets Germa, Chapter 852 page 16]

Secondly the crew still can’t challenge Big Mom head on. If he had continued with his plan to go through with the wedding, whether they got married or he was killed, his plan still would have worked. Zeff and the Straw-Hats would be safe. The same way Robin would have died at Enies Lobby and Nami would have given her freedom to forever be part of Arlong's crew. At the cost of Sanji’s life his plan would have worked and made sense.

So should I now take this to mean that he really wasn’t resolved to dying for his ideals. (I’m not saying he should have, the entire point of Luffy’s character is a challenge to this statement, believe in Luffy and he’ll fix it)

But for some reason, the moment he discovers the wedding is a sham and Germa is doomed he decides out of desperation that now is the time to return to the crew and ask Luffy for help. It’s not only hypocritical but it’s shameful and damaged Sanji as a character for me.

During his reconciliation with Luffy I’m sure Sanji acknowledges these points when discussing why he can’t go back but he isn’t held accountable for it.

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji 3 reasons Chapter 856 page 12]

[Eiichiro Oda 'One Piece' (1997) Shueisha Weekly Shonen Jump - Sanji 3 reasons Chapter 856 page 13]

Sanji’s redemption, like Nami and Robin, included a moment where he had to re-establish his belief in Luffy and the rest of the crew. But I argue that his cause for losing faith in Luffy was, in the first place, unwarranted and a step backwards for the character.

And unlike Usopps, his redemption did not include a moment of humility where he would need to swallow his pride and apologise to Luffy for putting his own ideals before his captains.

I know in the end everything worked out but at the time Sanji’s actions didn’t make sense for the character I had come to know throughout the story and there was not enough impact in his redeeming moment to allow me to see the character as he once was. Now he’s just that badass monster fighter on the crew and he’ll forever be removed from my list of favourite Straw-Hats. Black Leg Sanji.

[monkeydluffy19920]

Respond: Is Sanji a pervert?

In reference to/inspired by [x] @cruising-on-pirate-dreams

It’s always been an interesting topic to see how people interpret Sanji’s character, in general. Usually, if he is not liked in fandom, he is seen as a hardcore pervert who thinks nothing more than that and all the arguments are based on his will to peep women and his nose bleedings. Then, there are other thoughts, that consider that his ero- kappa side is partly an exaggerated gag made by Oda-sensei.

Ever since the beginning, it's been fun to ponder the reasons behind the characters’ behavior and Sanji is not an exception. Actually, he was one of the characters I didn’t completely like in the beginning, because back then, during the elementary school, it was hard to understand why would someone fall in love with (almost) every lady they meet. Then slowly his characteristic started to open more to my blind eyes and the more I saw the soft side of Sanji and how much he puts effort on his friends, the more reasonable it was to see why he is so popular among fans. It seems like the hate he gets is mostly because people pay attention to his lust-side and examine it only from one point of view.

There was a very interesting analyze written by @cruising-on-pirate-dreams about Sanji’s personality and tendency to be called pervert. In comparison, the fellow fan used Absalom and there were good points to be lifted up:

Absalom without a shame used his devil fruit skills to lurk on both Nami and Robin and never gave a rat’s eye whether Nami or Robin liked his forceful style to approach them. Both of them were clear objects to him that he licked and touched without permission, he even said openly that he likes Nami more because she is weaker in his eyes and later he kidnapped her and made her unconscious so he could marry her by force.

Sanji has a tendency to put himself into the submissive position, especially when it comes down to interacting with women. Yes, of course, he has this “I need lady~!”-kind of side but it’s remarkable how the more familiar/closer the woman is, the more submissive he actually is, in other words, he never puts himself above the ladies, especially when it comes down to interacting with Nami and Robin.

Before the Whole Cake Island arc was published, I’ve written in Reasons to love Mugiwaras - Sanji - post that I actually do believe that despite the reputation and what he gives out of himself in public (being tough and ladies man), deep inside he is actually very broken and vulnerable and once more of his past was revealed after the time skip, the more sense all the headcanons and speculations started to become logical.

The flashbacks in the Baratie arc showed that he was on edge of dying after the shipwreck which gave a little pieces of information about him but after the Germa66 and Sanji’s links into it were revealed, it was even more clear that he indeed had a terrible and traumatic childhood and suffered from great amounts neglection and abuse by his biological family until he escaped. The new supplement/update of the background story finally gave a further and more detailed explanation of why Sanji doesn’t see self-worth in himself and always puts others in front of him. He has put himself under the target line for his nakamas many times without caring how his own life and his dreams of finding All Blue would be thrown into waste if the worst-case scenario happened.

Thankfully, there was someone from the family standing by his side and therefore Sanji grew very close to his mother. Unfortunately, she passed away early due to the illness (that actually protected Sanji to become an emotionless killing machine like his brothers) and then he was again left all alone in his personal hell.  Sora’s death might’ve left a certain gap in his heart. Perhaps the reason he treats women kindly (especially the ones he really adores) has roots in Sora’s way to support Sanji and maybe inside his core, he decided to continue sharing her mother’s legacy of kindness. He might appear like a tough guy who swears like a sailor but only the fact that he has saved an enemy from starvation tells that Sanji truly has a heart of gold, just like Sora.

It’s highly likely that behind the scenes and below the surface,  Sanji could be actually looking for similar acceptance and unconditional love he got from his mother. But why then do all that ero-kappa stuff and womanizing when being around women? Mainly I still believe that it’s a continuous character gag just like Zoro’s poor sense of direction or Nami’s greediness but somehow it feels that there might be logical reasons behind this behavior.

Of course, it’s easy to interpret and only think that he is just a lustful pervert from the fact that his locker is full of girl magazines and that especially during the crew’s reunion after the time skip when it felt like Sanji couldn’t control himself with his nose bleedings.

However, if one takes a look to past 20 years One Piece has existed, it’s remarkable to see how much Sanji actually does pay respect to women, especially towards his crewmates. He doesn’t only give compliments on their appearance (i.e how cute they look) or use polite suffixes (”chan” and “san”) while communicating with them, he also praises openly and sincerely their skills and how strong they are. So, it’s obvious that Sanji definitely sees more than just their bodies.

Then to body swap, what @cruising-on-pirate-dreams wrote as well in another post. It’s easy to be seen that Sanji was happy that Law happened to swap his and Nami’s bodies and yes, he took peeks and adored the body features. However, because of this ero kappa-gag, one perspective is easily being left out of the spotlights (if readers didn’t pay enough attention): He did take good care of Nami’s body and he was aware how his actions can affect on her body and reflected on them many times. He smoked in her body but felt bad for doing that. Now it could be easily argued: “If he cares about Nami, why did he smoke in the first place?” but the answer is simple, he is a chain smoker and besides, Nami herself did give him the permission and the cigarettes in Punk Hazard.

Well, despite Nami’s warnings, he did take her jacket away when she wasn’t looking but he had a good reason (Kinemon’s torso was underwater and he happened to be the best swimmer out of the options) and besides, he apologized, just like he apologized for harming her lungs with his cigarettes. He also kept constantly worrying whether the diving would be too much for Nami’s body under the circumstances.

So, if Sanji really does only see Nami as a sexual object he wouldn't have feel an urge to apologize for things he did when their bodies were swapped. If she’d only matter to him for lustful reasons and for good looks, he could have taken the advantange on her by taking everything away and do more exploring (if he was alone) but he didn’t because obviously, they were busy solving the mess Caesar made but mostly, (putting aside the comedy-reasons) he knows that going further would have been way too disrespectful and would have violated their nakamaship (and would be against the fact that he has protected her purity back in Thriller Bark and tried to avoid to stain her) especially if he later got caught somehow and it would anyway make no sense if he wanted to hurt her in any way intentionally. 

So, at least for me especially Punk Hazard was an arc that proved that despite the comedy, Robin and Nami are clearly not objects for Sanji and although he surely has felt some lust towards them, he respects the boundaries treats them well and speaks with much softer tones to them and even uses certain suffixes while addressing them. 

Someone asked the reasons behind the suffixes and whether there are any deeper meanings  Oda’s response was that he was basically inspired by his older staff members who wanted to be treated as they were younger. Zeff taught Sanji chivalry and perhaps this detail of the story was really based on Oda’s real life.

Back to the previous topic, why is Sanji portrayed as a pervert? Well, mainly for sure to make balance with comics on heavy storylines and because being interest in opposite-sex openly seems to be part of who he is but then thinking below the surface, what if those wild nosebleeds and dreams about peeping women are all actually just a mask of him? Yes, he does have a crush easily on women he meets and flirts with them but what if there is more than that?

Actually, one of the headcanons I’ve had for years is that Sanji has experienced a traumatic loss that has given him the deep fear of losing the others he holds dear (and that’s why he'd be so sacrificial) and Whole Cake Island sort of supported that thought. It can be possible that because he was strongly bullied by his siblings and despised by his own father (being called a weakling and so on), this all has stained his self-confidence below zero for good and it still will take time to see that he is worthy. Hopefully, Luffy’s words back in Baratie and the retrieval team’s efforts and experiencing his lowest point before the tea party opened his eyes for good and gave his character the chance to grow.  

Like many fans agree, the only place where Sanji has complete confidence is anywhere that is related on his profession, cooking because Zeff convinced that the “chibi-Nasu” really does have potential in becoming a chef, otherwise, he can be surprisingly insecure although he doesn’t show it up openly, perhaps he hides it with this kind of actions.  On top of that, Zeff raised Sanji to respect women so if he really was a pervert and didn’t care about what his foster father taught, then perhaps he would act more like Absalom. However, (again setting the comical aspects aside), I think Sanji himself knows where to cross the line when it really comes down to women. Most likely Zeff wouldn’t approve if Sanji really thought that women are just objects of lust and Sanji probably doesn’t want to disappoint (even unconsciously) someone who saved him from certain death and raised him as his own child. 

Only Oda-sensei knows completely his character and knows the answers but Sanji’s behavior makes me wonder that what if actually at some point he has created kind of an “alter ego” to protect himself? What if he built himself a personality full of confidence so no one would see that deep inside, there is a fragile boy and a wounded man? Well, this is all just speculation so it’s hard to say whether there is any truth behind these thoughts or not but shortly said, Sanji is a great character and there are definitely reasonable reasons for his behavior, in general. However, he indeed is stuck in these ero kappa- gag and it’s sometimes a shame indeed that some (potentially shippy) moments are ruined by those weird faces or when he goes too lustful but on the other hand, it might be just Oda’s way to keep the series’ focus on the main points instead of romance

It’s really hard to believe that Sanji would actually be a pervert as in the term is officially described but once again, it’s all about interpretation. However, if one takes a closer look to the comparison between Sanji’s and Absalom’s interest in Nami (and other women) and comparing it to the facts of what perversion is in terms of human behavior,  it can be easy to tell that out of these two, Absalom is the true pervert.

[darthchic]

Character War: Zoro vs Sanji

Trying to put my own bias aside, and because I’m bored here in quarantine, I was thinking about how I could fairly break down parts of Zoro and Sanji’s characters and compare them. I want to see if I can analytically decide which character is more well realised or well written (just because there’s always that rivalry between both the characters and the fans, you often can’t help but ask yourself these kinds of questions).

EDIT: OH, and SPOILERS if you wish to read this and are not up to date

If the question was “Who’s the more popular character?” though, Zoro wins hands down, no contest.

 So, I broke the two characters down into categories:

–    Design

–    Fighting Style

–    Fights/Achievements

–    Coolness

–    Backstory

–    Gag

–    Development

 Design: Neither Zoro or Sanji have designs that particularly stand out to me, not within their own universe or in anime in general. Seriously, think of some crazy-ass looking characters you've seen in other anime and Zoro and Sanji simply pale in comparison. Heck, they pale in comparison to some of their fellow crewmates (Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook etc.) and over time their designs have probably been... how to put this... made more attractive as time goes on? Cause you know, you gotta let the female fans have some eye candy too. And with attractiveness tends to come more “normalness” (not a word but whatever) cause you can't go too crazy with the overall design in case it becomes off-putting. The only thing that really stands out for Zoro and Sanji respectively is hair colour and eyebrows.

–    Still if I had to declare one of them the winner... I'd have to say Sanji, just for his more 'unique' eyebrows. We've seen plenty of anime/manga featuring characters with hair colours that match every colour in the rainbow, so it's commonplace for someone to have green or pink hair and no-one really bats an eye. Peculiar eyebrows however are less common, although not rare (as far as I can tell), but for anime fans, it's something I think people still instantly notice more so than a character's hair colour. So.... point to SANJI! But barely, and it’s not much of a win.

 Sanji 1/0 Zoro

 Fighting Style: Again, neither a sword fighting style or kicking fight style is exactly uncommon, but I am edging towards Sanji's fighting style and I'll try to justify why, even if it is due to my own personal preferences. To me, sword fighting is often the go-to 'bad-ass' method of fighting, cause, come on, SWORDS ARE COOL (can't help but think about the overwhelming popularity of Pokemon Sword vs Pokemon Shield for example). Sword fights/fighters are iconic and that’s the issue at times for me because I feel like I've seen enough sword fights at this point, and not just in anime. So, while they're fun, their overexposure makes me appreciate something different a lot more.

–    To me, Sanji's style has a bit more 'kick' to it (oh yes!) and his reasons for using a kicking style are a bit more unique and interesting as well (being that he’s a cook and can’t damage his hands, the tools to his craft). His style is fun to watch, requires a bit more imagination when designing his moves, but it also has a strange kind of elegance to it which I appreciate. Not that sword fighting can't look elegant (Hello, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’), but I love that people often joke that some shots of Sanji make it look like he could be a dancer which I find amusing, because it’s true. Plus, I admire the fact that he's the only Straw-hat that fights without either a magic power/devil fruit or a literal weapon (though he has now grown accustomed to the raid suit, so…). But, for the majority of the story so far, the dude has just used his legs and that’s it. And is the 3rd (or fourth if you count Jinbei now) most powerful member of the crew, and still impressively strong overall amongst a massive cast of crazy powerful characters. Also, dude can fly. Actually fly. He can fight in the skies, sing “Walking in the Air” and it would not seem completely ridiculous. So, people reading this may not agree, but, point to SANJI!

Sanji 2/0 Zoro

 Fights/Achievements: I feel that most fans prefer Zoro's fights as he tends to take on the second strongest villains of each arc (with Luffy obviously taking on the strongest), which is automatic epicness. I know some fans even argue that Zoro would have no problems taking on the strongest villains in Luffy's place anyway, though I would disagree simply due to the fact that if Luffy were weaker/equal in strength to Zoro then why would he even be captain? The guy who's gonna be the Pirate King can hardly be weaker than one of his own crewmates, it ain't right!

–    Anyway, Zoro's battles tend to be straight-up badass one-on-one feats of strength, while Sanji's can be a mix of badass and sometimes plain goofy (thinking of Sanji vs Mr. 2 here or Sanji vs Wanze). And I do think Oda makes it clear that Zoro is the more powerful of the two, making his wins a lot more impressive, awe-inspiring, and show how physically far he’ll go in order to succeed (man should really have no blood left in his body). For me personally though, I often found many of Zoro’s fights a bit dull, like his fight with Mr. 1 for e.g. (ha, ironic), and when I watch his big battle with Kaku, while I like Kaku as a character, I had a hard time taking the image of Zoro fighting a sword-wielding Giraffe seriously. Sanji fighting a wolf with a moustache often looks goofy as well, but at least wolves come across as a bit more threatening (unless you have been on a scary Safari tour o__O…).

–    Alas, I would give Zoro the point for fights simply because I know how much the fandom appreciates them and the effort he puts in, BUT.... as for achievements... Maybe I'm being sneaky with this, but for me, while Sanji's fights maybe aren't considered as iconic as Zoro's, his actions towards helping the crew solidified Sanji's usefulness to the crew as not only a fighter but a tactician, and without him at a certain point, there wouldn't be any epic Zoro fights to appreciate. Sanji's rescue of the crew in Alabasta was pretty damn awesome, the fact they wouldn't have even reached Alabasta in the first place if Sanji hadn't gotten a hold of the Alabasta eternal log pose is hilarious, his saving of Usopp and Nami in Skypeia, his enabling of the Merry to escape without being blown to smithereens in the Enies Lobby arc, it's all just undeniably awesome. And to me, just as equally iconic and important as Zoro's fights, sooooo... I'm calling it a TIE!

 Sanji 3/1 Zoro

 Coolness: HAHA! Ok, come on, I love Sanji, but Oda's portrayal of him can get a bit ridiculous at times and sometimes rob him of his dignity, whereas with Zoro, Oda really doesn't humiliate him that much. He's usually always cool and epic and never seems to leave a negative impression in the eyes of fans. So, no question about it, point to ZORO!

 Sanji 3/2 Zoro

 Backstory: Ok, maybe it's just me, but I don't think many are gonna argue that Sanji has the better backstory? There's just more of it, it's better fleshed out, it establishes his character relationships and motives far better, it's just... better? Zoro's backstory perhaps is still to be further developed, but as it stands...

–    Zoro = Wants to become the greatest swordsman because of a promise he made to his dead rival/childhood friend. Nice, but doesn’t feel very original or special. Where did he come from before all that? Where/who is Zoro's family? Why did he want to be a swordsman in the first place? Cause it's cool? It just leaves me feeling annoyed because there’s these gaps and things left unanswered within his story and I can't tell if Oda's even going to give us any answers! But with a possibility that Zoro is from Wano, maybe something is eventually going to be explained? Still, I feel like Oda needs to be careful he doesn't make a repetitive tragic backstory, cause I worry that at some point he's going to run out of ideas on how to make each new backstory more uniquely depressing than the last, to the point where it's gonna be a 'been there, done that' kind of deal. Or maybe he’ll actually reveal that Zoro has a DUN-DUN-DUN living mother. I mean, that’s rarely done in this series, so that would be pretty shocking.

–    Sanji = Born as a quadruplet (still so weird to me) to a royal family, kind mother but douche-bag father. Mother dies saving Sanji's humanity because said douche-bag father violated mother and children by tampering with them before birth in order to make his children into sociopathic weapons. Sanji grew up emotionally and physically abused by father and brothers because he had kindness and compassion, and the abuse got so bad that he was even locked in a jail cell with an iron mask on his face because his father was ashamed of his existence. Mother, of course, dies, leaving Sanji with only an older sister to turn to, who could only be nice to him in secret and laugh at him in public. He decided to become a chef during imprisonment due to his mother giving him the only praise he had ever received and he enjoyed making her happy. Finally escapes douche-bag family thanks to decent sister freeing him, but only after promising to never admit he was related to his douche-bag father, further destroying him emotionally. Next, the ship he worked on was destroyed in a tidal wave, killing all his friends at the time, and left him alone on a rock with little food and a pirate who recently kicked the crap out of him. Went months without food only to find out that the pirate he hated had given him all the food, forcing him to cannibalize himself to survive. And all this happened before he was just 10 years old. So, from then on Sanji grew up with a fixed dedication/appreciation for food, but a clearly messed up self-image due to years of abuse and being told he was a failure by his biological father. Not to mention the man who saved his life, while a good man at heart, kinda has a messed up moral compass of his own, and kinda f**ked up Sanji's head in his own way (seriously, Sanji can't bring himself to hit a woman to save his own life cause he can't bear disappointing/disobeying Zeff, the man who actually loved him like a son? Jeez).

–    For real, Sanji's story is a doozy, and Zoro's just doesn't compare (at least not at the moment). Sorry, but clear point goes to SANJI!

 Sanji 4/2 Zoro

 Gag: Possibly debatable again, but I honestly do prefer (and the fandom majority seem to prefer) Zoro's whole getting lost gag to Sanji being a looney tunes pervert (some of the faces Oda draws, I swear!) I don't mind anime perverts so long as they have some substance to their character, but Oda places ‘Pervert Sanji’ in some situations where you're left screaming, “NOW'S NOT THE TIME DAMMIT!” Some moments can be thrown off kilter by the perverseness and/or fanservice to the point where you're just left face-palming. Arguably, the same can be said for Zoro, especially with his wandering off and getting lost in Wano right before Luffy faced off against Kaido (not that Zoro could do much about that anyway if he hadn't gotten lost), but just how easily he gets lost is so ridiculous that it veers right around from being annoying and returns straight back to being hilarious because of how mind-boggling it is. xD So, point to ZZZZZORO!

 Sanji 4/3 Zoro

  Development: Once again, another debatable one. Too debatable! There's no way around it; some may say Sanji's ‘self-rediscovery’ arc in Whole Cake Island made him the better developed character (or didn’t develop him at all) and some will say that Zoro's “Nothing happened” moment is the pinnacle of character development in One Piece, and to me, too much of it comes down to preference and I find it hard to justify why one is potentially better developed than the other. Especially when there could still be further development for them to come. So.... yeah, another TIE!

 Sanji 5/4 Zoro

So, there it is, I killed some great time in quarantine with this(!) Maybe there’s more ‘categories’ I could have added, but with what I came up with, I really did try not to be bias here. I do think it’s important to have a character that can hit ‘all the beats’, deliver in terms of action scenes, comedy and the emotional hard-hitting moments too. I can’t help but appreciate the male characters who are more in touch with their emotions and show vulnerability, which is what I appreciate with Sanji, and why I probably don’t connect with Zoro as much as I’d like to?

Going through all of this however has made me think that I'm actually fairer than I thought I was. No? Yes? Close call anyway.

[xruffyx]

I WANT KATAKURI TO BE MUGIWARA, BUT...:

DISCLAIMER! Before I say anything, please keep in mind that these are my personal subjective observations. I am not stating anything. 

I just wanted to say some of the things that I thought about one of the greatest characters so far -- Charlotte Katakuri. In particular, whether he would make sense being a part of the Mugiwara crew. 

So first, Katakuri’s past perfectly matches to be one of the crewmembers. Growing up in the anti utopic world the second Charlotte’s son was greatly mentally abused and bullied by others for having a scary mouth. While at first, he did not care how people treated him, he later realized that his beloved people, like Brulee, could get hurt! However, taking into account that he is the second son and the strongest man, why would Kata still hide his mouth? I think that he is traumatized by being horribly treated that he cannot just simply reveal his “true” self to other people. That being said, all Mugiwaras had a tragic story. He never really did anything evil in his past because... he is not evil.

Secondly, Katakuri’s personality fits for Mugiwaras -- he is generous, loyal, caring, noble...and funny. Usually, whenever Oda would show an asshole, he would make a character kill/kick others for a no valid reason. Katakuri, even though his personal cooks brought him a cold tea, just calmly accepted it. The only reason why he killed those servants is that his privacy was violated by Luffy and he got out of himself. The proof is that Luffy could attack him because he was not calm to see the future! Though that does not make him evil (Franky also beat Usopp really badly).

Katakuri wants to protect his family, despite how he is treated (ex: Flambe), and that is the only motivation he needs. He cares for everyone’s safety. Then Katakuri does not like fighting dirty; when he found out that Flambe cheaply helped her brother to hurt Luffy, despite how much he cares about his fragile true self, he was not afraid to even everything, by stabbing himself and revealing his look. Katakuri is not selfish and shows respect to those who deserve it. 

I can even imagine this scene between Luffy and Katakuri, which could be identical to the one between Pudding and Sanji. Katakuri, telling Luffy that his mouth is scary, but the Mugiwara instead says that it is cool. Eventually, they could become friends...

BUT... why doesn’t it work?

The most obvious thing I can think about is that each member of the Straw Hat crew has a specific role: Luffy - the captain, Zoro - the captain’s right hand, Nami - the navigator, Sanji - the cook, etc. Katakuri is the general of Charlotte’s family, which probably means that, besides being strong, he probably has some leadership and tactical skills. Though this is Zoro’s place; the swordsman always protected his captain’s honor and sometimes he would be the voice of truth (ex: after Ennies Lobby it was Zoro who told everyone that Usopp must apologize to return). If Katakuri would join, then Zoro would lose his value as a Strawhat member.  - Since the beginning, Zoro was always second to Luffy in terms of the power. I don’t think that there is a huge power gap between the two of them (I even think that Zoro is stronger than Luffy in certain situations and vice-versa). Zoro is basically the muscles. If Katakuri joins, it is most likely that he is as strong or even stronger than Zoro. Hell, he even has the same type as Zoro -- both of them appear very serious but in reality, they have their quirks.  Also, Sanji is weaker than Zoro for the simple fact that he is a cook; mostly he spends his time cooking and sometimes training, while the swordsman constantly trains. There is no way for Sanji to catch up on Zoro’s pace of training. Plus, Sanji’s primary objective is to feed everybody, not to protect his melorine crewmates.  - Katakuri is simply as dominant as Luffy. I cannot really imagine Katakuri being submissive nor Luffy. I do not even think that Luffy is actually stronger than him? He was lucky that Brulle was nearby so he could chill for 10 min to restore his Haki powers. Seriously, Katakuri could’ve killed Luffy many times. Even when he fell on his back, Katakuri probably did this on purpose. Why would he ask if Luffy would come back to defeat Big mom? Either because he wants Luffy to become stronger and fight him again some other time or he does not fully agree with what Big Mom does (he has experienced the flaws of her “utopia”) and perhaps Luffy would change that. 

The other reason is that all Mugiwaras have their own motivation to join Luffy. We do not really know what Katakuri wants. Thinking about new crewmates - Jimbe and Carrot (possibly) - both of them are perfect. Jimbe knows how to best sail (Franky is only good at building ships and maintaining Sunny! That does not make him a good sailor!) and he wants Luffy to become the pirate king. Carrot never saw the world outside (her objective) and she could be a... “squire”?

To conclude, Katakuri has the potential to become a Mugiwara due to his backstory and personality. However, he still lacks any reason why would he want to leave Big Mom and what he wants to do for himself. If Katakuri would join, then it would mess Zoro’s role in the crew and bring chaos, rather than support and additional aid to them.

I really do like Katakuri. I love his wonderful relationship with complicated dynamics with himself and his family. Seriously, I never really liked secondary characters (there are some but I do not tend to think much about them). Katakuri is really well made detailed. I wish I could get more of him in the future. 

[guilty-lights]

Straw-Hat Pirates Death Headcanons

So someone on one my fics took up on my enthusiastic invitation in my end-author notes to ask me about my death headcanons for the Straw-Hat Pirates. (Shoutout to Jeanne-Crab on ao3 for that comment!) I was typing out my answer to that question and realised that I had Way More To Say About It Than I Thought, so I thought i might as well put it up as a post on my tumblr! 

I’ll split this into two parts; my headcanons for SHP’s deaths as I think it could happen in canon, and then specifically in how it would happen in the universe as set in my fic, like the seas, you live on (in me). (Shameless plug here: If you like zosan, and also appreciate angst and hurt/comfort, read my fic? It’s zosan-but-kind-of-not-but-also-kinda-is, it’s complicated, but it’s 30k and I worked Super Hard on it and I personally think it’s pretty good so if please give it a shot! Do Read The Tags Before Reading It, Though, because I would never want to cause people unnecessarily extreme distress. And read my other fics too if you want WHOOP)  Anyway, without ado, here’s my headcanons for Straw-Hat Pirates’ deaths. This is a very very Very Long post, so buckle up: 

AS PER CANON

First off: Everybody, by the time of their death, has achieved their life’s dreams, because of course they have. (I won’t hear of anything otherwise, go away!!) 

Luffy: Luffy dies in the war on Raftel, or wherever the final battle for being Pirate King happens. He definitely becomes Pirate King, don't get me wrong, but he dies very soon after because of his injuries and because of the amount of his lifespan he has traded in using his Gears. This is the one headcanon I think (FEAR) will happen - Oda's constant allusion to Luffy's lifespan in his use of Gears and things like that just feels so suspect to me in this regard...

Luffy is buried near where Ace is, because that's what he would've wanted and so that's what the Straw-Hat Pirates did. Not right next to Ace (because that would mean Luffy’s also buried right next to Whitebeard and that doesn't feel right to me for some reason), but somewhere close by, either on the other side of the same island or on an island very, very close by. His emblematic pirate flag is erected on his grave, and its symbol flaps ceaselessly in the wind, always in the direction of where the sea is closest to. (And next to a village called Foosha, however, deep in the heart of a mountain called Mt. Colubo, a monument to a boy is erected posthumously by the mountain bandits and villagers who live there, at the base of a tree where a dilapidated treehouse still stands despite all the years.)

Luffy is the only one to die so young; the rest don't die until years later. By that time, though, they've long stopped sailing together as the Straw-Hat Pirates. Think of it like how Gol D. Roger's pirates split themselves off after the death of their captain; they're still friends for sure, and they hold each other as very precious, but there is no point or need to sail together as pirates anymore after the death of their captain, whom they have rallied themselves with.

For the rest, I'm not sure who will die first, because within the One Piece canon literally So Many Things can happen, but here’s their burial arrangements:  

Brook: Brook was interesting to figure out, because he's technically already died once before. I was trying to work out what the implications of his devil fruit is (is he immortal? But given the reverence given to Law's Immortality Surgery, that doesn't seem likely), and I decided that users of Brook's devil fruit will go once they decide it's time to just...go. So that's what Brook did. He lived until Laboon finally passes on, to make sure Laboon is never left behind again, and then he gathers the rest of the Straw-Hat Pirates in one place, says his goodbyes, and simply...leaves. His bones collapse on the ground with no spirit to hold them up, and per his request his bones are scattered over West Blue. His violin and sword cane are erected as part of a monument next to Luffy’s grave. 

Robin: I’m not precisely sure HOW Robin would die, but probably for her she would die quite peacefully, of old age. Frankly speaking, after all she’s been put through from childhood to adulthood, she deserves a little peace at least at the end of her life. Robin’s monument next to Luffy’s grave is a simple pair of crossed arms made of pale marble (one of the hands holds a book). Her body isn’t buried there, however; in the West Blue, on a barren stretch of scorched land that people say used to be called Ohara, a singular grave can be found in the centre of it.

Franky: His monument next to Luffy’s grave is of his blue metal forearms (one of which is holding a little hammer). Franky's grave of his human parts, however, are buried on Water 7, at the spot where him and Iceburg and Tom used to work on trains together. A mini replica of Sunny shaped out of metal is on top of it, to tell everyone that the shipwright that built the second pirate ship that ever sailed to Raftel lies here. 

Usopp: Unlike everybody else, Usopp asks to have his burial place split into two places. To make this easier, he’s cremated. One half of his ashes is buried in Syrup Village, next to his mother’s grave, and the other half of him is buried under a monument next to Luffy’s. On his monument are the words, “The Bravest Warrior of the Sea, Sniper Usopp, A Giant Among Men” (or words to that effect). His crewmates chose those words for him. His Sogeking mask is hung on his monument. His grave in Syrup Village, however, is much simpler; his original green slingshot is fastened to it (and will slowly wear down, over the years, to an unrecognisable sun-bleached stump), and on it are the words “The greatest liar of Syrup Village that has ever lived”. 

Nami: Nami also gets a monument next to Luffy’s grave. (Okay right at this point just assume that every Straw-Hat Pirate has a monument next to Luffy’s grave!!) However, like Robin and Franky, her monument doesn’t have her body. Nami is buried at Cocoyashi, at the cliff overlooking the sea where her mother Belle-mere was (and where her sister is/was buried too, depending whether Nami dies before or after Nojiko does). With her in the grave is the original copy of the world map she has made, her greatest triumph.

Zoro: Zoro probably dies the most second most violent death after Luffy, what with being the world’s greatest swordsman and all. Probably he is killed/ mortally wounded by someone who comes to take his title, as he probably did to Mihawk before him. He’s cremated, and his ashes are buried next to Luffy’s as Luffy’s first mate and right-hand man (Zoro is first mate even if it was never officially stated!!!). His swords, however, are a different story; Wado Ichimonji I believe Zoro requests to be brought back to Shimotsuki, and put next to Kuina’s grave. As for the other two swords, I don’t know HOW precisely it will happen but it’s left out in the wide world for whoever is worthy to wield them again, because I think Zoro wouldn’t believe in keeping the blades for himself post-mortem. 

Sanji: He also gets a monument next to Luffy. His body, however, is not there; when Sanji dies he is cremated and his ashes are scattered throughout All-Blue, where a floating restaurant called the Baratie now stays; the most famous restaurant there is in the entire world, and it’s unique in that no matter who you are, if you are hungry and come through the door, you get to eat. 

Chopper: He’s probably the last one to die, I think. Not only because he’s the youngest but also because he’s a doctor, I’m sure he knows how to heal himself up whenever he gets sick. His body is buried next to Luffy’s grave, but on Drum Island, there is a monument with a distinctive hat design erected underneath the base of a sakura tree; the tree, despite the wintry climate of the island, blooms pink and full all year round. (Chopper worked with Usopp on genetically developing a sakura horticulture that could do that, before their deaths). 

Jinbe: Jinbe buried underneath the sea, but close to where sunlight will always shine bright because that has always been the fishmen’s dream. His underwater grave bears his past as a Sun Pirate and all the contributions and sacrifices he has made for his people, but his monument on land, he is noted (like all the others), as a most dearly and beloved member of the Straw-Hat Pirates, one whose loyalty never wavered, up until the end. 

Monuments of Going Merry and Thousand Sunny are erected, because ships are crewmates too.  

AS PER MY FIC’S UNIVERSE

In terms of burial arrangements, everything I said about all the Straw-Hats above are applicable here (unless stated otherwise below), PLUS what I will say here below: 

Robin and Franky: I think in my fic, Robin and Franky would be the first to die, because they're the oldest (save for Brook). In my fic’s universe it is Never Mentioned but Franky and Robin are as good as married, and had spent their whole lives together (I'm sorry but Frobin is Real to me and you can pry it out of my cold dead hands). Their monuments are side-by-side next to Luffy's. On top of their monuments holding their respective items, their monuments' hands hold each other's. 

Chopper: Chopper has yet to die at the time of my fic, but when he does, whatever I described above will apply. At the point of the fic he has already worked out the horticulture of the ever-blooming sakura tree and it has already been planted in Drum Island, and has been growing steadily for years. 

Zoro and Sanji: Zoro and Sanji have yet to die at the time of my fic. Their burial arrangements would be the same, however. As for HOW they might die, I recommend you read my fic to find out! (I can’t give away all my cards, obviously.)

That’s all! This has become an awfully long post, and I commend you if you managed to reach this far to the end. Let me know what you think of this: do you agree? Disagree? I would love to discuss this with people, it would be very fascinating, no matter how thoroughly sad. In the meantime, if you’d like to read any one piece fanfiction, feel free to check out my ao3 :)

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

THIS FIRST NIGHT

One-shot #: 8

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot. PWP (not the M one).

Rating: T (Suggestive. Slightly.)

Note: This was supposed to be an entry for a challenge but RL got in the way as usual. I’m trying to get writing back in my system, so bear with me.

Summary: The swordsman and the navigator and their first night as a couple.

​​“Hey,”

Nami glanced up from the map she was currently working on. Her move was so sudden that her eye glasses slipped down to perch precariously at the tip of her nose.

Peering over their rim, she turned and stared at the tall figure of their swordsman as he stepped away from the ladder of the Sunny’s bathhouse.

How he was able to get inside the library and the bathhouse without her knowledge is way beyond her. But then again he IS Roronoa Zoro. He can be stealthy when he wants to… despite being a large man standing almost six feet tall.

That or she was just too engrossed with her maps and measurements to the point of being oblivious.

"Staying up late?" He asked as he casually strode towards her mapping desk where she spent the last three hours hunched over, drawing. 

Nami nodded, watching him approach while lazily running a hand through his still wet hair.

She felt her hand twitched slightly as the urge to replace it with her own coursed through her.

The corner of her lips quirked up at the familiar sensation she felt. Oh, she was used to this sudden compulsion of wanting to touch him at random moments. He had that effect on her for quite some time.

She replaced her quill on the ink bottle before lifting a hand, beckoning to him to come closer. 

He responded by reaching out to clasp it on his own before planting a kiss on it. 

“I’ve got maps to finish,” she murmured. The smile never left her face as she looked up to him. He was now standing beside her with one hand resting behind the chair while the other remained holding her own.

“So I’ve been told,” Zoro mumbled against her hand, his breath tickling her skin.

“By who?” 

“Usopp,” he answered, nonchalantly leaving another kiss on her palm before releasing her hand.

“Oh?” Nami chuckled, resting her elbow on the desk and cradling her cheek on her hand. “I take it you were looking for me then?” She asked in an amused tone.  

Zoro nodded his head in assent. “Yes,” he answered, moving his face closer to hers. “But he said you’ve holed yourself up here and no one was to disturb you. Or interests will sky rocket.”

She leaned back on her chair with a laugh; mindful of the bare skin of her back touching his hand lightly and sending pleasant warmth all over her body. “Yes, no one,” she lifted her head a bit to plant a kiss on his chin, the one place she can easily reach. 

“Not even the boyfriend?”

This time her laugh was full of delight as her eyes twinkled with mirth at the word she never, ever in her wildest dreams thought would come out from the mouth of one Roronoa Zoro. 

“Well it seems to me that the boyfriend was just as busy,” she countered. “You were holed up in the Crows’ nest yourself, I’ve been told.”

A corner of his mouth lifted slightly at that. “And who told you? Usopp?”

“The one and only.”

“Looking for me too?” He straightened up to lean against the mapping table, folding his arms across his ever delectable chest.

“Yes,” she admitted. She reached out to play with the knotted string of his pants, touching the bare skin above it absentmindedly. He was only wearing his favored dark green sleeping pants and to Nami, nothing was more enthralling to look at than her half-naked swordsman. 

He looked—undoubtedly—amused, both in what she said and what she was doing. “I was training woman,” he explained. “You were busy with your maps.” 

“And you busied yourself with your weights.”

He chuckled at her come back. “Well we both have things to do.”  

She nodded in agreement. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Zoro scratched the back of his head. “So...” he began, looking a bit uneasy. “This feels a bit weird…”  

Nami swore she could see a red tinge on his cheeks as he looked away. She removed her glasses and set it down the table carefully, frowning. “How so?”

Zoro opened his mouth to speak only to clamped it shut again. He can’t seem to put his thoughts into words.

It was so much easier when they were both still unsure of what they were feeling for each other; even when they finally realized it and were both trying to figure out what to do with it. They could just easily hide behind their constant fights and disagreements or the endless bickering and shouting matches.

Well that was until that unexpected kiss in front of Nami’s mikan trees after a long and loud argument. About what, he can’t remember. But it was worse enough to drive some of their crewmates away from the Sunny for a few good hours just to escape them (though the cook had to be dragged away forcefully to prevent him from adding fuel to the fire); and almost prompted their captain to intervene when he got back with the doctor and the sniper and saw that they were still going at it. 

A gentle reminder from Usopp was the reason why Luffy chose not to be involved. Zoro might relent but surely Nami won’t. Not when they started fighting from the Crow’s Nest and miraculously managed to locate themselves at the upper deck of the ship while still shouting at each other. Nami is in for the kill and surely Luffy has this goal to achieve, ne?

So their captain and the others left them alone in hope that they will eventually tire out. After ten minutes, the yelling suddenly stopped and silence reigned in the Sunny. Usopp and Chopper glanced at each other in dread. If a fight like that suddenly went into a standstill someone probably—NO—definitely got maimed! Even Luffy had an unreadable expression on his normally goofy face. 

There was loud bang that almost made them jump out of their skins. A few seconds later, a totally pissed off and red-faced Nami emerged from the kitchen, stomped down the stairs and marched across the lawn deck towards the girls’ room as the others held their breaths, trying not to make any sound. When Nami slammed the door close, the three youths exchanged concerned glances but no one moved to approach the navigator’s room to inquire what happened. They like their heads attached to their necks after all. 

Zoro was still on the upper deck, rubbing a hand on his face exasperatedly. Well that ended it. 

Honestly he wasn’t sure what possessed him to kiss her. All he could remember is how radiant she looked with the setting sun glinting against her hair and her cheeks flushed red from anger and shouting. He barely registered what she was yapping about. At that moment it did not matter.

She looked irresistible—angry and exasperated—while chewing his head off. And then he realized a normal person should not find enraged people who are in the middle of their tirade endearing in anyway.

And that was when he immediately knew.

He had taken a step towards her and in one sudden move he had both of his hands on each side of her face, his lips pressed against hers in a light kiss.

That shut her up. Shut her up for a good number of days because she absolutely refused to talk to him. It took almost three weeks, a crazy adventure in a random island and a bit of man-handling before they were able to find a common ground. All because she stubbornly refused to acknowledge what happened and what she was actually feeling for him.

And now here they are. Together. Officially.

And… truth be told, he doesn’t have any idea what to do from here on. 

Nami suddenly flicked his nose to get his attention. She had stood up from her desk and was right in front of him. 

“Oi. What was that for?” He complained, rubbing his nose and glaring at her.

She had the gall to smile cheekily. “You were spacing out. Getting lost in your own thoughts?”

“I was just thinking you witch.”

“What are you thinking about Zoro?”

He made a gesture between them. “This,” he replied.

“This?” She repeated, pointing at herself, then at him and back again. “Us?” 

“Yeah.”

Nami’s brows furrowed at that. “What about it?” She stared at him as he gazed back at her so seriously. The mapmaker drew back a little with a look of apprehension on her face. “Don’t tell me you are having second thoughts?!” She almost shrieked.

“Huh?” Zoro dumbly reacted to her outburst.

“Do not give me a damn good reason to electrocute your ass right now,” she snarled at him.

“What?!” The ex-pirate hunter looked at her incredulously. “The hell Nami!” He let out an exasperated sigh. “I was just thinking—”

“Are you thinking you don’t want this?” She cut him off, glowering at him with hands on her hips.

“Oi!” Zoro retorted immediately. Talk about jumping to conclusions. “That’s not what I was thinking.” The navigator glared daggers at him. He reached for her hands so he can pull her closer to him.

“I want this Nami,” he stated firmly. His hands rubbed up and down her arms in an attempt to pacify her simmering temper. “Don’t get me wrong. This is new for me alright? I just... don’t know how to...” he seemed to be searching for the right word to use. “How to... be a boyfriend.” He finally admitted albeit glumly. 

The clenching feeling in Nami’s stomach loosened and her hand flew to her mouth when she realized what he meant. Oh Kami!  It was not easy for a man with an immense pride as Roronoa Zoro to admit his faults or insecurities. Heck, he would rather be dead than outright confess on how pathetic his sense of direction is. 

But here he is... willingly voicing out how clueless he is when it comes to relationships. 

He wrapped both of his arms around her waist. “But I do want this. I would not have dealt with all that trouble if I didn’t.”

Nami felt relief wash over her after his revelation. She cupped both of his cheeks in her hands, looking straight into his unscarred eye. “Oh Zoro,” she murmured. “You are such a lost boy. You are getting lost even in this.”

The swordsman scowled at her obviously teasing remark and released his hold on her.

The orange-haired in turn, stood on tiptoes to plant a kiss on his scowling lips. “Don’t worry I still like you,” she smiled at him affectionately.

“Hmph!”

 Nami sniggered. Can he be any cuter than this? And Kami, cute is not a word you associate with Zoro. But somehow seeing this formidable man turn to a naïve, 21-year-old who is still on his first brush with romance… it was just too hard to resist.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Though to be honest,” Nami whispered. “I’m kind of expecting this is what being with you is gonna be like. Complete with awkwardness, uncertainty and getting lost somewhere.”

“Really?” Zoro asked, sarcasm evident in his tome. “I think you don’t know what to do either.” He callously pointed out.

Nami smirked at his statement. “Well, it’s not like I have time for romance, pirate hunter. I was busy surviving and stealing in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t.”

“But I, at least, have an inkling somehow,” Nami continued, tapping a finger on his chest. “While you are absolutely zilch. Besides what’s important is, I do know what I want to do to you,” she murmured suggestively, winking at him and making his face heat up at the insinuation.

“Na-MI,” he growled with warning in his tone.

“Well, since you are this clueless, why don’t we ask Sanji-kun for tips?” She suggested flippantly, looking too mischievous for his liking.

“Hell NO!”

She laughed at his reaction.

“That ero-kappa’s not allowed anywhere near you from now on,” Zoro snarled. Trust the swordsman to lose his cool at the mention of his rival’s name.

That only served to make Nami laugh harder. Kami, so the usually stoic Supernova can get jealous after all. “Sanji-kun’s not a threat and you know that.” Nami assured him.

Zoro gritted his teeth. That shitty cook may not be as Nami was his now, but he can’t help but think that when it comes to wooing, attending and flattering women with flashy gestures and flowery words, that stupid swirly brows takes the cake.

The navigator decided that that is enough teasing seeing how Zoro’s jaw was clenched tight. “Relax Zoro,” she murmured. She planted a kiss on his chin, making sure to let her lips linger longer. “I chose you. Even if you made me think that you are thinking twice about us.”

Zoro leveled his gaze at her. “When did I ever made a decision half-heartedly Nami?” He asked with so much seriousness that it stopped her.

When did he ever? He was always so strong-willed and steady. And she admired and respected those traits of his. She knows that once he makes up his mind, nothing can stop him. And he doesn’t make any important decisions out of whim. When he finally decided to pursue her, she realized that he seriously wanted to be with her, if she was willing to take him.

She stared into his lone, grey eye. He was looking at her so intensely that she can feel delicious shivers running up and down her spine.

A smile appeared on her lips and she softly ran a thumb on his lower lip, tracing it before answering. “Never,” she murmured looking deep into his unscarred eye. “You were always so decisive Zoro.”

The corner of his mouth lifted at her answer—just right where her thumb rested—before he pulled her close for a kiss to which she eagerly responded. His mouth moved gently against hers; taking his time to enjoy the softness of her lips, the taste of her mouth. It was a far cry from the usual brash and dominating way he’s been subjecting her to during their previous encounters.

Drawing back a bit, Zoro raised an eyebrow at her. “I hope that ends those weird thoughts you are having,” he muttered. He had known Nami long enough to be familiar with her uncertainties and insecurities. And he had realized a few weeks back that sometimes, the navigator needs assertion to put those to rest.

He tucked an orange strand that escaped her ponytail behind her ear and Nami wrapped a hand around his wrist. “I could say the same regarding Sanji-kun,” she countered. “Remember who I chose.”

“It’s not like you really have a choice in that matter,” Zoro answered back with his trademark smirk.

She quirked an eyebrow at that.

He stooped down a little to whisper on her ear. “You are already way deep into this,” he said smugly.

The navigator bonked him on the head.

“Damn it Nami!”

“You deserve that,” she huffed. “You are so full of yourself.”

Zoro rubbed his head, saying nothing. But the cocky smirk that reappeared on his lips again says a lot about what he is thinking.

That would have earned him another knuckle on the head but Nami decided that that would enough for tonight. She can always whoop his ass some other time. For now…

“Say, it’s quiet tonight don’t ya think?” Zoro suddenly pointed out.

Nami blinked, processing his observation. “Now that you mention it, yeah it is.”

“Probably why it feels a little bit weird for me… no noisy nakama around.” He muttered while looking at her a bit suggestively.

“Come to think of it, this IS the first time that we’re alone together. Our very first night alone together.” Nami sing-songed winking at him.

Zoro’s grin was huge. “Then maybe we should drink to that?”

Nami snorted at his answer. “Good to know that some things don’t change and that we’ll keep on doing the same things as before.”

“And some more,” Zoro whispered nudging her towards him. He planted a quick kiss on her lips.

“So what do we do now,” Nami murmured against his lips. “No nakama around?”

“Whatever you want.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to just randomly jump you.”

“Why not? Feel free to do it. I’m not gonna stop you.”

This time her amused laughter echoed around the Sunny’s library. She didn’t know he had it in him. Heck, from now on, she’s gonna see a different side of the swordsman and the thought exhilarates her.

She hooked a finger on the waistband of his pants and pulled him closer to her as possible.

“What a greedy witch,” Zoro said with a sneer.

“Why yes I am.”

She squealed in surprise when he suddenly lifted her up in his arms effortlessly and guided her legs to wrap around his waist.

“Zoro!” She yelped out his name in a chastising tone, though her arms automatically wrapped themselves around his neck.

“What?”

She opened her mouth but no words to rebuke him came out. He was looking at her with one eyebrow raised, waiting. She merely settled into sticking her tongue out at him childishly.

He laughed, albeit lowly, his chest rumbling against hers. It was always amusing to get under the navigator’s skin. Old habits die hard after all. Just because they’re together now doesn’t mean they’d stop grating at each other’s nerves.  “So what do you want to do now Nami?” He asked his breath tickling her ear.  

Nami bit her lower lip to keep herself from answering you. A chuckle escaped Zoro. He must’ve realized what she was thinking. She grinned and kissed the tip of his nose. “Well we can do something that we enjoy best.”

“You mean, drinking?” Zoro answered with a shark-like grin. “Or fighting each other?”

“Ha-ha,” Nami responded sarcastically. “I can’t believe you! Is that why you always get on my nerves?!”

“That and you are actually a bitch sometimes.”

Nami turned her nose up at him. “I beg to differ we do have moments when we are not on each other’s throats. Like tonight.” 

Zoro stared fondly at her. “Heh,” he replied. “Tonight’s different.” He said capturing her lips with his. 

And she closed her eyes, delighting at the sensation of his lips on hers. She wrapped her arms more tightly around his neck as his hands lifted her up a bit to deepen their kiss. 

When they pulled apart for air, he pressed his forehead against hers, while she hummed a bit in contentment.

“Just stay here with me Zoro,” Nami murmured. “I just want to be with you.”

He smiled at her. An unspoken understanding passed between them as they gazed at each other’s eyes. For now they will just bask in this rare, quiet moment where they can finally be spend time together and revel at their newly found connection.

Zoro brushed a kiss on her temple. “How about you go finish your maps?” He suggested. “I can clean my swords while I keep you company.”

Nami’s smile is unrivaled. They are still first and foremost the swordsman and the navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates. She’s got her maps, he’s got his swords. And the thought of doing what they both take pride in while so near to each other is somehow just as intimate as any other physical interaction they can share with each other.

“Then maybe after that we can…”

There was a sudden, impatient knock outside the library door.

“Uh Zoro? Nami?” The unmistakably shrill voice of their sniper called out.  “Can I use the bath now? I’ve been waiting for my turn for like an hour!”

Nami and Zoro stared at each other with wide eyes. So much for no nakama around. It seems like they would have to kiss their first night alone together goodbye.

“I hope you two are done with whatever you’re doing in there.” Usopp’s voice was a bit loud for their liking. “I don’t want to see anything that will defile my eyes!”      

[sparda3g]

One Piece Chapter 913 Review

The good news is we are back with more One Piece after a week break. The bad news is there’s another break next week. In Oda’s defense, it’s due to a holiday week and this chapter is released in a double issue. He knows how to time his fans’ patience, that’s for sure. With that said he did leave a fun chapter for us to enjoy as well as another reunion inbound.

Right from the start, I’m reminded that Luffy and Zoro are about to fight against Hawkins and his crew. You can bet I was interested to see Luffy using a sword, which we will get to that in a moment. Hawkins asks if they are aware of the ruler of Wano Country behind the scene. Zoro lies, claiming he does not, but not only Luffy yells yes, but he bluntly say he will kick his ass with firing determination. I got a good laugh at that, especially when Zoro corrected him, he redo the scene with a no. Only Luffy.

I recalled Hawkins to be the guy who uses the cards to determine fate and use it as ability. He reads the chance of Luffy’s survival by the end of the month, which is 19%. That’s not too bad. At least Oda isn’t going to pull a total miracle, like “Amazing! Luffy broke the determined fate like breaking the future prediction! It’s a miracle!” I’m fine with this realistic chance. Before the battle breaks out, Zoro takes notice of Luffy’s sword. I thought this is where Zoro will get the sword and use it throughout the arc, but instead, comedy ensues.

I got a good laugh with this segment with Luffy hyped up to use the mighty cursed sword. He’s so hyped, he threw the sheath away. If a sword could cry, they would. Just looking at the panel makes me laugh at the stupidity. What’s even funnier (worse) is his first strike is Pistol Punch; fist to the enemy’s face with a sword happened to be held. Zoro’s reaction made me laugh as well. I imagined the anime version will be hilarious. Fun fact: Zoro is voiced by Kazuya Nakai, who also worked as Hijikata from Gintama. You could imagine the comedy execution already.

Luffy takes down a lizard with a toss; still holding a sword like its doing wonders. He knows how to make a sword unnecessary. Hawkins, on the other hand, knows how to make it useful and what way to start than an unusual ability that is Warabide Sword. It’s so weird that his sword is basically straws or something; nothing like a blade. Pretty harsh he used it on the lizard, who was only coming because of the toss. Even Luffy didn’t understand why he would do that.

Zoro strikes from afar and lands a hit right across Hawkins’ face. That was pretty damn cool. Sadly, it was a fake, but it’s not just a fake. It’s one of Hawkins’ men that takes the fall. His Straw Straw Fruit (Wara Wara no Mi) ability allows him to disguise one of his men, up to ten he claimed, as himself. So on one hand, that’s an impressive move to deceive anyone. On the other hand, that’s foul play to use a person to take the hit or kill for your benefit. What a terrifying technique.

Speaking of terrifying, he summons a death reaper-like creature out of nowhere, made out of straws no less. Oda and his imagination continues to astound me. Apparently, he wants to play a game with them for this is their end. I guess he’s channeling Jigsaw. The game is simple but freaky. He draws a card and whatever it represents, it will happen. When he draws a fool card in reverse, it’s a friendly-fire move that forced his men to attack each other. In other words, in his game, literally no one is safe. It’s sadist to even have a card that harms allies, and believes that he will draw a better card next time. Cool?

He then draws the Hierophant card in reverse, which means his summon can attack now. This sounds straight out of RPG gameplay with a powerful summon, but the cost is gamble. It mimics the movement of Hawkins, so if he swings, so does it too. Zoro blocks barely since it’s really strong. It even shoots nails from the mouth. Get it? Straws, nails. Oh Oda. But it won’t be for long until Zoro attacks with Nigiri Toro Samon. Now I’m hungry for one. As usual, Zoro is impressive enough to cut it down with ease. Before the battle can continue, Hawkins draws the Hierophant card, which means someone will aid them; thus, the battle ends here. That was fun while lasted.

A woman names O-Tsuru who mimics the Japanese cultural art design, which needless to say amusingly charming, appears behind them. It turns out that she’s the same woman who Zoro saved a chapter ago. I remember saying that maybe she is relevant later on, but who knows. Now we do. Oda and his ways to make every moment counts never cease to amaze me. She was just hiding in the dog’s tail. Luckily for them, she has the cure with the medicinal herb tea as well as a safe haven for them to stay. Funny how Zoro thought drinking normal tea is the cure, which made him livid. Hey, tea is a wonderful drink.

We are introduced with new area, Okobore Town, the town of leftovers. That sounds so sad. O-Kiku is being flirted by a sumo wrestler, Urashima. He looks like if Jinbei was a human. I’m not sure what this will lead to, outside that Kiku is the helping hand for Tsuru to save Tama. All I know is the town is literally filled with leftovers materials, including the recipe.

The chapter ends with another reunion inbound, but it’s not with Strawhats crew. Instead, it’s Law’s crewmates which includes Bepo, now portraying like a Samurai. The image kills me on how silly he looks. Standing out is right. It doesn’t specify on where exactly they’re at other than they’re at a top of a certain mountain, so it’s hard to say if they will approach to Luffy and Zoro immediately or continue to wait.

Overall, this chapter was amusing with a fun action, funny moments, and more exploration of the country. I’m saddened that Luffy didn’t use the sword correctly, let alone even use it, but the comedy made me forgive. I wonder if he will continue to use it and that’s being generous. Hawkins got some interesting ability; once again surpassing the limit of imagination with a concept of a straw. The art is pretty good with its continuous use of Japanese cultural art implements.  We are set for another cooldown time, but I am fine with more build-up. Not fine with a break, but what can you do…

[jollyinha]

Soooo... I saw an One Piece tag in Reddit, and for some reason I really like doing tags, even though no one gives a fuck about it. Since I have nothing better to do, LET’S ANSWER IT!

1 - Who is your favorite character and why? (Additionally, who is you fav Straw Hat?)

Most people would guess that it’s Sanji, since I’m crazy for this boy literally since I put my eyes on him... But my favorite character is Luffy, because without him, I wouldn’t stay interested in One Piece for much time. I kept watching the anime because I thought he was a funny and interesting protagonist, and it changed my life.

Besides, he is everything I love in a character (Especially in a protagonist): Dreamer, determinated, funny loyal and dumb. He inspired/inspires me in many, many ways, and I just love this strawhat boy.

2 - Who is your favorite villain and why?

That’s a tough one... Arlong impacted me the most (I hate, haaaaate his guts!) and Lucci akuma-no-mi is pretty cool. But I’m saying Crocodile. I mean, c’mon, the guy tricked an entire kingdom, defeated Luffy TWICE (I think it was twice, correct me if I’m saying shit), had an entire organization... And had banana crocodiles and a cool casino. And his akuma-no-mi is badass too. I kind of hope that he appears again in these recents arcs, even if it’s very unlikely!

3 - What is your favorite quote or statement? 

Oh man, there’s so many of them... Screw that, I’m making a small list.

-  "When does a man die? Does he die when he's been shot? No. Does he die when he's ravaged with disease? No. Does he die when he's been poisoned? NO! A man dies when, and only when, he is FORGOTTEN! “

-  "A man's dream will never die!"

- “The government says your existence is a crime, but no matter what kind of weapons you may hold, just being alive isn't a sin! THERE'S NO CRIME IN LIVING!!!''

-  “Don't start a fight you can't finish.”

4 - Who is your favorite female character?

Urgh, I love all my girls! I love Robin, Vivi and Nami nearly equally, but I’m saying Nami. Her backstory was the first one that actually made me cry. It’s amazing to think that he was stealing from pirates that could kill her, even though that she was just a child! That moment when she asked for help... Damn, it brings me chills. 

And I also love how even though she was already extremely important for the crew while being only the navigator, she still wanted to become stronger, and asked for Usopp to create the Clima Tact. She uses her intelligence to fight, fights for her friends when it’s necessary and still saves everyone’s butts by being the amazing navigator we know!

5 - What is your favorite fight? 

I gotta say the fight against Lucci. Not only was a very intense battle and it was the first time Luffy used a Gear, but I love its meaning. If he needs to kick the World Government’s ass to save a crewmate, he will absolutely do it. Nothing shall stand in his and his nakama’s way!

6 - What is your favorite episode? 

Well, I don’t ACTUALLY watch the anime since Alabasta. After that, I’ve only watched a few loose episodes, so I don’t know a lot about the anime. But I’m saying the episode that Brook joined the crew. The expressions and the voice acting are just on point!

7 - What is your favorite One Piece opening?

We Are!, of freaking course. It’s the only opening that I never skipped while I watched the anime. Although We Go! comes in a close second. Believe in Wonderland is good too.

8 - What is your favorite movie, special or "episode of"?

I did enjoyed Strong World and 3D2Y a lot, but Gold was amazeballs, starting with that freaking catchy song in the beginning. The animation is GORGEOUS, Tesoro is very interesting in my opinion, the outfits are amazing, and the final battles were pretty cool too. I didn’t liked Carina very much, tho

9 - What is your favorite arc in One Piece?

Alabasta, without any doubt. Baroque Works was freaking charismatic, the scenarios were interesting as hell, Vivi was an amazing character in general, the battles were intense and fun, and it’s such a funny arc! I really like the filler were Ace spends a while with the Strawhats too. Water 7 comes in a close second place.

10 - What is your favorite One Piece videogame? 

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3. It’s so much fun to play with characters like Hancock, Ace, Law and Tashigi! The story log is very nostalgic and the dream log is addicting as hell.

11 - If you were in the One Piece universe, who's crew would you join and why?

What kind of question is that? Strawhat Crew, of course! They all have this sense of one for all and all for one, and they really look like a family, and this is very heart-warming to me.

12 - What is the saddest One Piece moment?

Weeeeeeell... I’ve been stuck in Dressrosa for a while, and the saddest moment in my opinion is at Whole Cake. I took EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE SPOILER of this arc, though. Without hesitation, it’s Sanji’s backstory. I feel like crying when I only see PICTURES of his backstory... I don’t even want to think what I’m going to feel when I actually get in Whole Cake. Sanji occupies a very special place in my heart, so it hurts a lot to see that this was his past. Congratulations, Oda, you completely broke my heart once again. Also, Pudding can stick her finger in her third eye and go to hell

13 - What is the most shocking moment? 

The third scene that made me cry in One Piece: Usopp VS Luffy in Water 7. These two are such good friends! That’s why I remember that I was freaking out when they began to fight. 

14 - What is the funniest One Piece moment and who is the funniest character?

There are plenty of funny moments in this beautiful story, so I’m going to say more than one. Zoro getting lost, Luffy’s impressions, Robin’s imagination and all the “Can you poop?” moments. And of course that Luffy is the funniest character.

15 - What is the most memorable moment? 

That moment when Luffy gets Zoro’s swords, and he defends his captain for the first time. C’mon, it’s the beginning of the crew!

“Nice, Zoro!”

“It was no trouble, Captain.” 

16 - What is your favorite ability in One Piece?

Hana-Hana No Mi. It’s elegant, has many uses and it can be powerful as heck. I totally want it! Emperor’s Haki is a close second, tho... 

17 - Do you own any One Piece merchandise? (Official or not)

Many of them! All the mangas that were/are being released on Brazil, the special editions (Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Wanted!) an giant wallpaper, plenty of posters, many figure actions, an Sanji cosplay, a flag, a strawhat, a keychain and a notepad (The last two actually came from Japan!), a necklace and a shirt.

18 - Do you prefer watching One Piece in sub or dub?

As I said up there, I’m brazilian... So I never actually had acess to the english dub, and the portuguese dub (It’s a very good dub, btw) came out before I knew One Piece. So, it’s sub.

19 - What is the #1 thing you love the most about One Piece?

I’m a sucker for this kind of thing: The whole dreams, freedom, friendship and bravery message that it passes. I keep the lessons that One Piece gave me deep in my heart. They give me hope and happiness in hard moments.

20 - What is the #1 thing you hate the most about One Piece? 

There’s two of them: The brazilian fandom and what they did to Sanji after the timeskip. Brazil’s fandom is full of toxicity, arguing, homophobia and sexism. And Sanji was so smooth and serious before the timeskip, but I feel like he became a gag after the timeskip. Where’s the suave Sanji, goddamnit?!

21 - Does One Piece take your number 1 spot in your top 10 animes? (If not, where?)

Absolutely yes. One Piece saved me from dispair countless times. Its jokes, its lessons, its characters... And if it weren’t for One Piece, I wouldn’t have known half of my friends, and honestly, I don’t know where I was going to be nowdays if I didn’t had them. In many aspects, One Piece saved my life. I’m eternally grateful to Oda. One Piece is a huge inspiration to me in both emotional aspects and in a writer’s point of view. Watching One Piece was the best choice I ever made, because that silly strawhat boy changed my life and took me out of the darkness many times. I love this masterpiece with all my soul.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE SERIES: My Favorite One Piece Arc with Greg Werner

  I love One Piece and I love talking to people who love One Piece. And with the series going on 23 years now, there is a whole lot to talk about. As the series is about to publish its 1000th chapter, a true feat in and of itself, we thought we should reflect upon the high-seas adventure and sit down with some notable names in the One Piece fan community and chat about the arcs they found to be especially important, or just ones they really, really liked.

  Welcome to the next article in the series "My Favorite One Piece Arc!"

  My next guest in this series is Greg Werner, the official One Piece columnist for Shueshia and Toei. For my chat with him, he chose the Arlong Park, in which Luffy and his crew take on Arlong and Nami officially joins Team Straw Hat.

  A note on spoilers: If you haven't seen the Arlong Park arc yet, this interview does contain major plot points. Watch the Arlong Park arc starting RIGHT HERE if you'd like to catch up or rewatch!

    Dan Dockery: Sell me on Arlong Park, in one sentence. Let's say that I'd gotten to the end of the Baratie Arc, and I decided "You know what? I don't think this is for me." What would you say to convince me to keep going?

  Greg Werner: I don’t know if I could sell a bottle to a milkman, but I’ll give it a shot ... Can it be in the form of a question?

  Yes.

  Do you want to know Nami’s backstory? And that seems so facile, but you’re coming off Baratie with the knowledge that Nami has betrayed the crew, she has left the crew, and she has stolen the ship. But it seems like she’s not acting freely, and she mentions the name “Bellemere.” So if you’ve gone through One Piece and you’ve come to that point, that’s simple enough. 

    So, you have Luffy who wants to go get her, an injured Zoro, Usopp, who's gotta be in a weird state, and Sanji who finds her extremely attractive and cool. It's a fun dynamic.

  Zoro and Usopp are an interesting combination, they always are. Usopp always feels like Zoro’s little brother and Zoro kind of has to take a back seat due to injuries here. But I always find their interactions to be very sweet, and you get to see a kind side of Zoro, which is the antithesis of how he interacts with Sanji. And you’re getting hints of the rivalry between Zoro and Sanji here, one that ramps up to the hunting contest in Little Garden, at which point they cease to call each other by their names and just insult one another. And between Luffy and Sanji, you get these kindred spirits due to their dreams. Usopp and Zoro are a little more straight-faced about their dreams, but both Sanji and Luffy utter their dreams with these big smiles. So even though Oda has his pieces all over the map, it’s nice to see the freshness of all of them working together, which is something you won’t find in anything but the best shonen action series.

  When you meet Arlong, he's kind of a jerk. He doesn't seem very nice. But he's one of the first One Piece villains who seems like a complete character. He's mighty but underhanded and deceitful. What does his introduction do for One Piece?

  So I bought the first ten volumes for a co-worker because he’d seemed interested in it, and I said “There, you’ve got the first ten volumes. Now you have no excuse not to get into it.” And we’ve been talking about it recently, especially the little details, and we found something very interesting about Arlong. There’s one aspect of Arlong that is completely different from every villain up to this point and it’s how he treats his crew. Buggy starts off beating up one of his crew members. Part of Kuro’s plan is to kill his crew. Krieg only sees his crew as numbers and will gas them. Arlong, though, to members of his crew, he’s extraordinarily loyal. When he finds out that Zoro has beaten up his crew, Arlong is pissed. In some ways, he’s very similar to Luffy, but he’s despicable and terrifying and he’s one of my favorite villains. 

    That's a great point; Arlong is the first bad guy to have pride in his crew. Speaking of Arlong's crew, this is the first time we get the classic 1v1 where a Straw Hat member matches up against an antagonist crew member. When you first read this, because it's electric every time I watch it, how did you feel to watch it go full-on battle manga?

  Zoro’s a beast. Sanji’s a beast. But Usopp? Facing down this insurmountable force? How is he gonna do this? And I think that’s the moment that got me. The others are awesome, and I love them, and they’re great, funny battles. But with Usopp fighting Chew, it showed Oda’s ability to shine in a certain way. Like Toriyama and Dragon Ball, Oda’s been very influenced by Jackie Chan, because Jackie Chan fights are awesome, visually stunning fights, but they’re funny. And that’s what Oda strives for sometimes. When you combine the action with the gags, you get something very special. You’re not just excited, but you’re laughing, too. And I think Usopp’s battles represent the pinnacle of that. It clicked for me there and it became a page-turner. It feels like what a shonen action series should be. And I enjoy Oda’s different takes on it, but he does it so well here.

    I’m glad you bring up Toriyama and Dragon Ball because if you read any interview with any Shonen Jump author, they praise Toriyama. And it’s deserved. The man’s battle scenes and pacing have never been beaten and probably never will be. He’s the master. But one of the things I like about Oda is that he doesn’t try to copy them. Rather, he takes bits and pieces and spins it off into his own thing. Do you remember the Oda interview with Toriyama where he was like “I really liked Tao Pai Pai …”

  From Color Walk 1.

  And Toriyama was like “I ... drew that?” It’s the funniest thing in the world to me. 

  I think his exact words were “Now you’re getting into the minor characters.” And Oda’s like “MINOR CHARACTERS?”

  He nearly killed Goku! But I dig that kind of reverence and inspiration. So Nami’s backstory — it’s heart-wrenching. Bellemere’s awesome. Makes you wish she was still around in the series.

  Isn’t that perfect? That’s exactly what he goes for. 

  In the end, she refuses to say that she doesn’t have children, even after a bad spat with Nami. This flashback is one of my favorite ones. What did you get out of it and how did it take the story to another level? Because to match it, every flashback to come had to do some heavy lifting.

  Every detail in this flashback builds on itself. There’s no excess. And maybe outside of the Chopper backstory, I can’t think of another backstory that is so full of necessary information that weaves into a single narrative. Every event evokes an emotion in the reader and pushes the story forward. Bellemere has the fight with Nami, makes dinner to reconcile with her, a Fishman crew member sees the cooking smoke from her house, the Fishmen find her, she refuses to discount Nami as her family, and she’s killed. It all comes together so neatly in three chapters, I think. Oda sets a reeeeeally high bar for himself, but to be able to match that through nearly a hundred volumes of story takes a special kind of manga genius. It’s also the very first time I cried while reading manga. 

  Next, we run through basically a Greatist Hits collection of One Piece moments: Nami asks for help, Luffy gives Nami the hat, the march to Arlong Park, Luffy slugs Arlong, the fights happen, Luffy brings down the Gum Gum Battle Axe, Arlong’s spine gets turned into clam chowder, etc. So much of what we think about One Piece is distilled into the final chapters of Arlong Park. So do you have a favorite moment from this climax? I honestly can’t pick.

    I didn’t realize this when I first read it, and it took me several years to understand the importance of the giving of the hat. It’s one of only two times in the series that Oda uses five exclamation points in a row. The other one is when Luffy comes swooping in to save Vivi from Crocodile. Even the famous “dreams of mankind will never end” doesn’t get five. Luffy’s pissed and the best part about this is that he doesn’t have a single reason to be. He knows nothing about Nami’s history and actively refuses to listen to it. He takes a nap instead. He’s just ready to be a tool for her, so when she asks him to help her? YOU GOT IT. And then, the next thing he tells her, after the fight with Arlong, he tells her that she’s his crewmate. Nami has held this by herself for so long, she’s so strong, and she finally opens up to accept help from someone else. And it tells us that Luffy knows what kind of person you are, even if he doesn’t know that much about you. He might be dumb and reckless and strong, but there’s a spark there. He can read you. 

  One thing I like in the anime is that Nami is the first Straw Hat introduced in the story. She’s at the boat party that gets attacked by Alvida, and her showing up there and then being the main focus of Arlong Park bookends East Blue and kind of turns it into her saga. But as they leave this arc and head to Loguetown, what is new about One Piece? What's there that wasn't around before?

  That’s a good question.

  Because I hear many people say “Arlong Park is what made me a One Piece fan.”

  You get to see their daily routines onboard their full ship. You have the established East Blue crew in one location and we get a slice of life. In just a few scenes or panels, you finally get to watch the crew relax. You get a window on their lives and there’s a sense of completeness. It’s a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

    ONE PIECE LIGHTNING ROUND!

  Favorite character?

  Luffy, Franky, and Zoro.

  Favorite villain?

  Arlong.

  Favorite fight scene?

  Luffy vs Bellamy. It’s so satisfying.

  One Piece island that you’d want to live on?

  Skypiea.

  What Devil Fruit would you eat?

  Flower-Flower fruit that Nico Robin uses. I’d get so much work done.

  One Piece moment that made you cry the most?

  Bellemere’s death.

  One Piece moment that made you cheer the loudest?

  The defeat of Lucci. That was remarkable.

      Stay tuned for the next installment of "My Favorite One Piece Arc" as we speak with Aggretsuko and The Black Mage writer Daniel Barnes about his favorite One Piece arc: Marineford!!

      Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features.

By: Daniel Dockery