#one piece meta

[twenty-qs]

I love that Usopp is the only straw hat who interacts with our main girl in One Piece Fan Letter. Because Usopp gets it. He’s been there. Of all the Straw Hats, I feel like he’s the closest one to a “normal” person. Even now with all the insane skills he has—the portrayal of the other Straw Hats on Sabaody felt like celebrity cameos, giants spotted in the wild…whereas Usopp is portrayed as just a guy. Bending down to help a girl pick up her things, checking if she’s ok, giving her terrible advice on how to sneak into a bar. Part of this is because at this point Usopp doesn’t have a bounty under his own name, so nobody would know him. But it’s notable that for all the little fandom jokes and Easter eggs the episode sprinkles in, nobody mentions Sogeking. It would’ve been so easy to drop even one quick joke about it. But no. Because with Usopp, we don’t love him for the persona. We love him for the goofy, insecure, empathetic guy that he is. So of course the Straw Hat with the most speaking lines in an episode about regular people is Usopp. Of course he’s the one to see our girl, actually see her, and reach out to her. Of course.

[thymechaos]

i just can't believe that oda fucking create sanji, a stereotypical ladies man who simps to an embarrassing degree for women while having his hackles comically raised around everyone he perceives as a man - and most notably butting heads with the more obvious ~manly man~ of the crew. haha, classic anime running gag, the kind that gets obnoxious at times but still makes you laugh.

AND THEN, like a billion chapters later, motherfucker steeples his fingers and goes "soooooooo... what makes a person Like That?"

and the answer is that he grew up in fucking Toxic Masculinity, The Kingdom. the answer is that he was always Different, in a way other guys instinctively perceived as weak, and that made him the target of visceral scorn and violence. the answer is that he was sensitive, sweet, caring, nurturing - feminine-coded traits which are only valued by patriarchy insofar that they're performed by women in service of men. the answer is that in a kingdom comprised almost entirely by violent men, the only ones who were ever kind to him, the only safety he ever had, were a girl and a woman.

so cooking is for women and servants, it makes you less of a man. only women will ever really value you for your passions and dreams. women are also actively hurt by the way the world works, they are unsafe unless they comply with men's violence, and you have to protect them.

(men will always know what you are, and they will hurt you if you let them.)

and even after he leaves... at baratie he is cherished and respected, but even that is an extremely masculine environment. we don't talk about our feelings, we don't let our guard down, the only love is tough love. when he tries to express his artistry and express himself through his cooking, rather than just filling orders and making money, he gets mocked.

so here is a man who will not raise a hand to a woman, because he rejects the masculinity he was raised with and refuses to become yet another man subjecting women to violence. he is desperate for women's attention and affection because it's SAFE, it's the only kind he can trust. other men are potential threats and must be treated as such. he must at all times be snarky, tough, Not Feminine, because to be perceived otherwise is to be powerless, to be hurt.

like y'all. the queer coding of it all? the overtly feminist themes? the active rejection of toxic masculinity and the way it's shown to be directly tied to imperialism? what the fuck.

[raconteur-wanpi]

THE "ZORO MIGHT BE SANJI'S MIRROR / RIVAL / SHADOW, BUT USOPP IS HIS FOIL" META.

[contactlessdrivethru]

there is something unique and deeply special about monkey d luffy as a protagonist. he’s overwhelmingly ADORED by the fandom. he’s consistently the most or at least top 3 most popular characters in the whole series. peoples takes about him are gushingly positive. and that’s… really uncommon.

a LOT of fandoms i’ve witnessed or been in have a tendency to favor characters other than the main character. especially in anime. the main characters are often written as a blank slate for readers/watchers to project onto, but that makes them not as interesting and so they don’t get the fan attention.

but luffy is so far from that. and he’s ALWAYS been this way. we love him so much. he’s the heart of the story and the heart of the fandom in every single way. and i think that speaks to how well-written he is as a character. he’s fun and charming and complex and interesting and he makes us laugh and cry and cheer and hope and love. he’s able to inspire so much joy in people, both in his world but also in this one. and i think that’s really special. i feel so grateful to have found this story that means so much to me, and i’m so grateful that luffy exists.

[starrynightarchive]

say what you will about zosan as a ship but you would be fool if you think they hate each other. they are undeniably best friends.

they get on each other's nerves. they wash dishes together. they are baring their teeth at each other every day. they fight together and it feels like a dance. it feels like breathing. it feels like they have known each other forever. they both think the other is the worst person to ever exist on this planet. they trust each other with their lives. every step, every sprint, every fight. they don't have to look back to see if the other is keeping up because of course he is. he is the most infuriating, head strong, insane bastard in the world. of course he's keeping up. how annoying.

it's unspoken, this bond between them. they could be at each other's throats but when the marines or the world government or even the fucking devil is in front of them to bring them down, they're on their feet. legs blazing, swords unsheathed. they know their way around each other like the back of their hand. one call of the other's name and he's already there, ready to bring the whole world down. they are the wings of the pirate king. they are the pillars that hold up the home that their captain built. they are two sides of the same coin. sanji and zoro, zoro and sanji, sanjiandzoro.

plates always filled with food that smells like home. hands always searching, always reaching out to pull him back to the right path with an obscenity or two or a million more. but for all his whining, he still comes to get him, every single time.

i will keep you safe. i won't let you lose your way.

eyes always watching. grin sharp and mad, words puling him out of the hell that is his mind with a taunt. silent nights spent in each other's company. the back of a sword jabbed at his ribs. silent determination. steady, solid, under your hands as you lose consciousness.

i will keep you safe. i won't let you forget your worth.

they've never known love that doesn't tear out of them, snarling, spitting, biting. they've never known tenderness. the crew teaches them love in their strange, gentle, loud ways and it's beautiful, it's confusing, it hurts in the best way possible. but with each other? they don't have to hold back. there's something so intimate about holding someone by their collar, dragging them close and yelling look. look. this is how i love. i will kick your face in and make you the best meal you've ever had. i will spend all my time thinking of stupid names to call you. i won't ever say you matter to me, but i will die for you. i will trust you with all that is important to me. look at this fucking mess. this is how i will always love. with teeth and nails and intent to kill. are you afraid yet? only to have the other lean closer with a grin so feral and say, do your worst, asshole.

they are nakama. they are rivals. they are friends. what they have cannot be put down in one word but in the end, the word will come down to something close to love.

[maximumqueer]

Luffy still not realizing that he is who the Iron Giant is talking to when it is calling him Joyboy is very funny

but it also reinforces the themes surrounding Luffy and the concept of Joyboy and Nika.

Because while Luffy in gear 5 looks similar to how Joyboy has been depicted, he is not literally a reincarnation of Joyboy. He is not the second coming of a god, he is - first and foremost - Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be King of the Pirates. And him still not acknowledging that he could (even potentially) be the "Joyboy" that the robot is referring to solidifies that.

And what is particularly impressive to me about this thematic throughline, is that it is able to coexist with the belief of characters like Bonney, Kuma, the giants etc. that Luffy is the second coming of Joyboy, of Nika. Because Luffy isn't that. We the audience know that Luffy awakened his devil fruit, and that his resemblance to the Nika and Joyboy of history is because they both had/have the same fruit. We know that Luffy is still Luffy. He has not been possessed by a god (hell, we don't even know if deities actually exist in the would of One Piece, as we have only ever seen the worshipers of them), or by the previous wielder of the fruit. Luffy is still Luffy. If anything, his awakening has amplified who he is, not changed him. And it is in this way that Luffy sort of becomes a Schrodinger's Chosen One.

Because the narrative of One Piece does not present him as a chosen one. He awakened a devil fruit, but not because that was his destiny, or because he knew of some greater prophecy surrounding it. Luffy's actions are for no one but himself and his friends (as in he is not making his decisions with the knowledge of a prophecy, whether it be to fulfil it or avoid it). He is not guided by fate, and anytime we see Luffy follow in the footsteps of another by inheriting their will, it is his own choice. Luffy chose to pursue being the next pirate king, and chose to keep Ace's promise to Tama (and the people of Wano). But certain characters within One Piece do view him as this pre-ordained return of Joyboy. And they are not treated as idiots for this, their faith in the return of their god is treated seriously, and with respect. And their faith IS rewarded, just not necessarily in the way they were expecting. They DO get Joyboy, but not as a reincarnation or a possession, but as a person who can choose to take up the mantle of Joyboy, if he so wishes. And even if he doesn't, Luffy cares enough about freedom (both for himself and others he cares for) that they will still get Joyboy, even if that isn't his name.

[sailing-ever-west]

Zoro fascinates me as a character because like. He's insane. This man does things on a daily basis that scare me. And yet somehow I get the feeling he's the most stable person on the strawhat crew, at least where I'm at. Like Luffy is his own entire ball of wax I'm not even gonna touch, Sanji has every mental illness and his only recourse is to flirt, Nami copes with severe trauma by looking as cute as possible and being the ship's resident loan shark, Usopp can't deal with reality so he just makes it up, and Chopper is like eight and short circuits to screaming when shown affection. Zoro has trauma for sure, but his trauma is like...he lost someone, so he's protective and often reckless with his own life. So compared to the rest of the strawhats he's like the chillest guy ever. Man just wants to take naps and then make sure nobody else dies so he can get back to napping again. He's an alcoholic but this is never like,,, a problem. He's just there. Walking around like ok what are you nutcases up to today. I'm gonna go take my shirt off and swim in an icy river. This will have less crazy results than what everyone else decided to do today.

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law on touching and being touched

It won't be a perverted post despite the title lol. But I won't stop your imagination, be free!

There's this funny theme going on with Law and Luffy in particular that picked my interest.

Luffy touched him first.

And he later returned the gesture, much more awkwardly.

Again, Luffy grabbed him angrily first.

Law made sure to return the gesture. (btw he also does it with Zoro, who was the first one to wrap an arm around him at post-Dressrosa feast. In Wano Law has no problem grabbing Zoro and shouts at him angrily. Again, it was Zoro who initiated the touch first).

Law grabbing Luffy to teleport them makes Luffy react in a curious way, you wanna know why?

Because it totally feels like this moment. Both Law and Ace, right after getting uncuffed, grabbed Luffy in same way to get him to a safer place. Ace-Law parallel in relation to Luffy kills me. The whole Dressrosa arc's plotline between Luffy and Law is just Marineford Went Well This Time. Ngl I kinda hated Oda at first for that. Now i dig it.

He didn't seem to like that. Luffy says "Let's all get along well!", but Law thinks alliances don't have to "get along".

Mistranslation here. What Law says here, being so surprised, is "nakayoshi ka?!" which means "you two get along?!" or "you two are buddy-buddies?!". It's a callback to Luffy declaring that Law and Strawhats crew should get along (he uses same word then, nakayoku-get along), Law learns here that Luffy's crew indeed "gets along well". You can interpret it whatever way you wish, but I will use it this time to put this scene into context:

The same gesture Luffy did to him before, but Law didn't return it to Luffy - that's because they're not crewmates. But he takes the lesson to heart and "gets along" with his own crew. Omg I can't believe i'm writing it, I make Law sound like this completely awkward adult who doesn't know how to be friends with people.

But bear with me, the shit is only starting. If you don't want to have feels I reccommend you just laugh at it and stop reading here. I digged up a feels landmine by accident. In-depth study starts below!

It's also a possible callback to the "reassurance" Law got from Cora-san. "I'm counting on you to escape" and Law did. He counts for his crew to steer the submarine well in similar manner.

Law's family didn't seem very touchy-feely, so please keep that in mind as well. He's got limited experience with touches and the few touches he did get familiar with were either taken away from him or brutalized.

Law getting patted on the head lovingly by his parent.

Next time this loving gesture happens, he gets thrown from like two-floor building into a pile of garbage.

And then he gets lied to that everything will be fine. We all know it wasn't.

Do you still wonder why he hates being touched on the head?

The sister touches his face gently while showing child Law support and compassion, reminding him not to despair, someone kind will help him.

Corazon doing the same gentle touch to the face while crying for him, thinking of all the pain Law had to experience. Indeed, the world sent Law someone kind. And Law lost him and blames himself for that.

Law holding Lammy's hand while lying to her that it will be alright. He never does that gesture again to anyone.

The sister holding Law's hand.

"Don't come closer! Don't touch us! We will get infected!" even doing the barrier gesture (I guess that's why Law doesn't get along with Bartolomeo). I used only few examples, there is much more, I just couldn't bear posting them all. Anyway, Law's got the message, his touch is unwanted. The body and mind remembers this.

Similar shit said at the auction in Sabaody about Fishmen, we don't see Law's reaction to that, but we can guess already that it was for sure triggering. Those people talking are sitting not that far away from him.

Ever wondered why Law throws people when teleporting? Besides the fact he avoids making contact with anyone unless they initiate it first, because that trauma is still strong in him ("Stay away! Don't come closer!"), there is one other possible reason:

Wonder no more! He does it to people because that's how people treated him as well, even people who apparently loved him.

Now that I have ruined the "Law is just an awkward unsocial nerd" joke for you, let me offer something to warm your heart a bit in exchange:

Corazon made sure to touch Law a lot and hold him in his arms, despite being often clumsy about it. I think he understood Law's trauma about being touched and his fear to touch or approach anyone, and tried to help him overcome it.

Being hugged and trying to return the gesture. Corazon's efforts did bring some results! But it only works for very few people, Law is still wary of people he doesn't know well. He expects to be unwanted and acts uneccessarily cold, distant and unapproachable because of that. But if you scroll back to the beginning of this post, you can see that he is trying his best to overcome it as well, one step at a time. Some things just can't be rushed.

And hey, at least he seems to be actually relaxed and almost like he *enjoys* being carried around. You think it makes him look uncool? Definitely. But suddenly it feels like Something Important, kinda intimate in a way and not just a silly comedy moment. It's a sign Law relies on people when he lets them carry him and that's why he doesn't protest.

Sanji is like "Why are you relaxing like that?! Get off!!" Finally, it makes sense why Law makes such a sour face here. Sanji should be grateful for the rare privileage after all! Anyway, this is anime-only extension, in manga Sanji actually doesn't tell Traffy to get off and Law chooses to scramble by himself, which doesn't taint the fragile trust those two just shared.

For those who made it to the end of this post, have I ruined Law's comedy moments for you forever? Because I sure just did that for myself.

I could also add one more cute thing from One Piece World Seeker Law's dlc, but I will let those interested to discover it by themselves!

I'm also amazed by the consistency of this theme. Both manga and anime never forget that touch is seemingly a big deal for Law.

[1000sunnygo]

An old observation from a japanese youtuber that I've been withholding for this episode's release,

The difference between Law getting bloodied up until now and his loss against Teach is that this time, Law is completely silenced.

Law's cheeky pride is usually full on display when he's down and on the brink of death. Because everything would still be under his control - his plans in motion and his important people away and safe. But this time, Law had no comeback to Teach's taunts. His comfort place and comfort people were taken out in his presence.

It's his first physical and psychological defeat.

[kacievvbbbb]

Sabo really got that serial killer rizz about him

Like look at those eyes. Those are the eyes of a man that has several things wrong with him and he's about to make each and every one of them and this rusty pipe, your problem.

Fucking two steps away from "you wanna know how i got these scars", ass look.

He goes from so adorable, bending so koala can put on his hat, to I have not a single polite gene in my body and I will destroy you mentally before I destroy you physically to Just straight beating people's asses with a pipe like a thug

I'm obsessed with him.

[sanjiafterhours]

Thriller Bark really showed us how much sanji and zoro value each other. The moment when zoro knocks him out, sanji desperately turned to him trying to clutch zoro with his weak hands in the last moments before losing consciousness and dropping to the ground. He really thought he was never gonna see zoro again after this since the last thing he heard was zoro offering his head :(

[patientwasabi]

I was thinking about Luffy not wanting to be a hero when I realized something.

His very simple yet insightful line, "heroes share their meat, I want all the meat", very clearly shows that heroes make sacrifices. He doesn't want to make sacrifices. Perhaps it's because he's been the sacrifice himself.

Garp is a hero. He's cool too. But he was hardly present in Luffy's childhood. No matter how much he'd get beaten by his grandpa, I bet he'd still rather have him around than not ("being alone is worse than being hurt."). Yet Garp very clearly makes a sacrifice here. Being a marine being a priority over his grandson in the absence of the child's father.

Later, after Enies Lobby, he finds out that Dragon is a revolutionary. Literally a hero of the people. What's he done? The cost he paid for a greater good? He sacrificed Luffy.

So, while Luffy loves really deeply and fights for this love, he would rather have a death grip on his precious ones by being a pirate than let go and sacrifice and become a hero.

This may very well just be me looking too deeply into it, but the idea of Luffy being the sacrifice just did something to my insides that is hard to explain.

[kuroananosanji]

One aspect of ZoSan that Westerners may not get the full nuance of is the concept of “うちの”, literally “of our/my household”. There’s a reason why the EA fandom (mainly Chinese from my POV) disproportionally ship ZS over other ships, to the point where even dudebros hop the joke.

So there’s this Chinese saying that means “be strict to yourself but lenient towards others” which is seen as model behaviour for respected individuals. I don’t know if there’s an equivalent idiom in Japanese but both Koreans and Japanese hold similar attitudes towards treatment of self vs treatment of others in society. Here’s the fun part: thanks to collectivist culture, one’s “self” extends to your immediate family too. Since you’re seen in conjunction with your family, if you’re head of the house and your “inferiors” misbehave in public, it reflects badly on you as a person. That’s why strict parenting is more normalised in EA culture, because controlling how your kids behave is more or less the same as controlling how you yourself behave. This is also related to how tough love is a more common form of affection in EA families, there’s a sentiment of “being able to be mean to you means we’re close, being too nice means I see you as a stranger.”

You might now see how this relates to the Strawhats in general (see: Nami beating up members for acting out of line). Sanji is a funny one coz he was sort of a maternal figure secondary to Nami early on in the series. Women aside, there’s a difference in how he treats men on his crew and “outsiders” (e.g. Ace). He’s actually not rude towards men, it’s just that we predominantly see his interactions with the crew! Since his crew is his family, he can be strict with them like how he’s strict with himself.

How does this relate to ZS in particular? Well, it’s because Zoro is closest to him on the self—others sphere. Luffy is his captain so despite the usual bickering he has to obey him to some degree. Usopp and Chopper are younger and weaker, so Sanji has a responsibility to take care of them and show generosity as an “elder”. Franky, Brook and Jinbe are way older than him so there has to be some degree of respect when interacting with them. Nami and Robin are Women. This only leaves Zoro, who is his equal in both age, power and hierarchical position on the crew. Essentially, Sanji has every right to hold Zoro to the exact same standard as he would himself. And given that Sanji is extremely harsh to himself, he’s harsh to Zoro too.

This is why there was virtually no discourse over the “Sanji calls Zoro a liability” moment in the EA fandom. The unspoken context was that Sanji was apologising to Jinbe for Zoro, who wasn’t performing his best. And since Jinbe is relatively new to the crew and also much older than Sanji, it feels like a mother/wife apologising for her son/husband?? It’s giving “I’m sorry my Zoro embarrassed us”?? It’s giving “Zoro is my responsibility”?? On the flip side Zoro absolutely does this to Sanji too. I can’t name a specific anime moment but in one of the mobile game collabs he said something like “sorry our cook caused trouble for you”. The specific wording was うちのコック. (They both think they’re managing the other lmao I hate them)

Tldr: Zoro and Sanji see themselves as one household unit 😭 hence the bickering and bluntness and lack of pretences in general.

[raconteur-wanpi]

Actually, speaking of the whole Sanji & Usopp Meta again (I won't shut up about it ever) and the common complaint of "why wasn't Usopp in WCI?", the more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that it IS because they are foils.

It's kind of a joke I've seen around that "WCI wouldn't have happened if Usopp was there" but I actually genuinely believe that. Do you think Sanji would have the guts to lie out of his teeth (the whole pretending he was a cruel haughty prince this whole time) to drive away his crew during that carriage scene, if the Certified Crew Liar who Lies to Protect Himself and Others was there? To call him out? To immediately recognize that behavior? Do you think Sanji would have it in him to FIGHT LUFFY, if Usopp, who was deeply scarred by his own brawl with Luffy, was there to watch them? When Usopp reminds Sanji of his past self? Would Sanji find the strength or the courage to make Usopp relive Water 7 in that scene? Would Sanji find it that easy to lament about his weakness compared to his powerful siblings during the entirety of the arc if the "guy that survives being the Weak Human in a world of Monsters" was there to remind him it IS possible to survive? Especially when you accept the help of your friends?

Usopp wasn't in WCI cause it would have been over like ten times quicker lmao. Sanji needed to feel isolated and desperate in his solitude for the arc to work, and the best way to do that is to separate him from one of his major foils. And I think it's the same reason his other two parallels, Zoro and Robin, weren't in it either.

[mochiajclayne]

Call this as my way to pickup my Japanese lessons or another One Piece meta post but I find it fascinating that Doflamingo consistently describes Law's motivations for fighting him in Dressrosa as resentment and revenge. On the other hand, Law uses several terms to encapsulate why he was truly there.

Doflamingo says 逆恨み (sakaurami) which means unjustified resentment or unreasonable grudge. Law, in turn, denies this and says he is there to fulfill that person's 本懐 (hon'kai) which means (one's) long-cherished desire.

What is that desire, you may ask? Corazon shared it when he spoke for the first time with Law: His purpose/motivation/goal is to stop Doflamingo's 暴走 (bousou), which is translated as rampage.

(Later on, it was further revealed in the flashback and confirmed by Doflamingo that Corazon was trying to save Dressrosa--and the ever manipulative little shit hoped to rattle Law's feelings about screwing up in passing the message that Corazon asked him to do 13 years ago but he was able to keep his calm.)

The next time that Law thought about his motivation, specifically, the moment that he will be truly free is the time that Corazon's 思い (omoi) will be fulfilled/granted/come to fruition. 思い (omoi) could be translated differently depending on the context. For this one, it refers to desire or wish--a nod to Corazon's purpose, to stop Doflamingo.

Doflamingo didn't even scrimp with his descriptions as he used both 恨み (urami) which means resentment, grudge, malice, bitterness​; and 復讐 (fukushuu) directly translated as revenge. He even says that Law is acting like Corazon's vengeful ghost. He views Law's persistent defiance to carry out Corazon's wish as pointless, even going through the effort of saying that Law has been overtaken with his feelings--however, when he saw the Corazon at the back of Law's coat, he riddled him with bullets and even saying that both Law and Corazon's curse have ended.

Lastly, and I think this is where Law's motivation reached its reveal in full circle. He says that he lived for the past 13 years to do this and he used 討つ (utsu) which, in this context, can be translated as to attack, to destroy, to defeat, and surprisingly, to avenge. This part is up for interpretation, really.

(My two cents on it is Law's main focus on wanting to take down Doflamingo stemmed from wanting to carry out Corazon's purpose, however, I am not necessarily dismissing the part of wanting to take responsibility and avenge Cora's death.)

Ending this self-indulgent meta post with Law giving the middle finger because Toei decided to not include this badass moment. LMAO.

[elluminis]

fascinating to me that up until he’s eight years old, the only positive role models in sanji’s life are women. and the only people who are nice to him are the cooks and wait staff. like it’s absolutely no wonder that he idolizes women and wants to be a chef—until he meets zeff, only women have shown him kindness and only his cooking his inspired positive attention. and under the tutelage of people who understand using violence to protect as opposed to project, he becomes even stronger than his brothers, next to whom he had been considered a failure. just…sanji, guys.