#opla meta

[lostsometime]

Thinking about it, the fact that Kuina's death was such a senseless, pointless tragedy really explains a lot about the way Zoro treats death.

If death could claim the strongest, most skilled girl he knew from something as stupid and ordinary as an accidental fall, then it doesn't matter if you live a safe, cautious life or an extraordinarily dangerous, violent one. It's arbitrary, it doesn't care how tough or how careful you are - it's a constant, looming threat and nothing you do is going to change that. So you might as well live like you're invincible, right? Death will wait, and it'll come when it comes, and in the meantime, you've got shit to do.

"You really don't fear death."

"No, I just don't fear you."

[assiraphales]

to nami, who was used to making self sacrificing choices based on the common good n protecting people, luffy's decision to let zoro fight mihawk seemed unbelievably stupid and reckless. zoro was going to get hurt, and probably die. but for zoro, it was the right and possibly only move to keep him on the crew. because if luffy had tried to convince him not to duel, showed any hint of uncertainty, zoro would never be able to believe luffy had faith or trust in him again. he would doubt himself and his position as luffy's right hand man. he was badly injured, and his ego was bruised, but instead of leading him down a path of insecurity it turned into a motivator. to become better and to prove luffy's confidence in him right.

[twenty-qs]

Underrated things I liked that were unique to OPLA:

Luffy high-key projecting his own conflict with Garp onto Sanji’s conflict with Zeff during their convo on the Baratie. My boy was way angrier at Zeff than was actually justified.

Sanji and Zeff both offering food and conversation as a means to defuse tension (with Nojiko and with Garp). It shows their father-son connection and also explains where Sanji learned his warmth and charm, despite how he and Zeff seem to always be insulting/yelling at each other. I really like how live action Sanji gets to show off more emotional intelligence, having worked in customer service for so long haha. And it demonstrates why a cook is such a valuable asset to have on your crew. It’s not just about the food; it’s about being able to connect with people.

Garp and Zeff talking about the new generation; a really neat contrast and a way to set up Garp’s larger character arc. He has really cool themes about when the older generation should protect and guide the youth, and when they need to get out of the way. Especially in light of recent manga chapters.

Coby telling Garp that Luffy has always been and will always be a pirate. Idk about you but knowing that Coby’s actor is trans, this little speech hit especially hard.

Luffy’s tangible distress and guilt—yes, that was guilt—after Zoro got injured and Nami left. Luffy has never been a captain before, and he’s afraid he fucked it up. I really love that the live action allowed Luffy to show some of this more human vulnerability. It made it even more beautiful when Zoro told him he did nothing wrong and then swore allegiance as his first mate. That’s why Luffy needs Zoro. Luffy does believe in himself (as Zoro has pointed out). But after the two big losses against Mihawk and Arlong, Luffy’s confidence was genuinely shaken. “My gut isn’t doing so great” not only refers to his appetite, but also to his gut instinct. He’s doubting his own decision making. He needed Zoro to believe in him before he could believe in himself again.

Rearranging the timeline so that Season 1 could have book-ends: Coby and Luffy, Alvida return, Shanks seeing that Luffy is a pirate now, and finally getting the straw hat flag. Just some really tight storytelling; their character growth feels so satisfying.

[igottayellsomewhere]

From Episode 5

"sometimes when I try to look ahead, all I see is back"

back where sanji

like, you could think about this line on a surface-ish level and say back to germa and all that angst ect, sure, but then what is back? what could there possibly be to go back to that he'd want to go to?? and that begs the question, what is forward?

so, at this point in opla they show that he's getting increasingly frustrated with zeff and that is the conflict thats set up to be a push forward, but it also really feels like the characters could have been at this crossroads before. Like, this is a repeating pattern but it always ends the same, sanji is frustrated then zeff let's him back into the kitchen then creativity and the need to be Free strikes and theyre at it again. And because sanji has decided to dedicate himself to zeff and repaying a kindness he could never imagine *there's nothing to look back or forward to*. This is the best scenario. He needs to fulfill zeffs dream before he can think about his own and There's No Other Option. So what is back?

Back is repaying zeff. A debt he can *never* repay

And though they do share the same dream and sanji still wants, yearns, for the All Blue, he can never give himself permission to do so. So forward is Here, at the Baratie, and he daren't dream because it's impossible to wrap his head around why zeff would do anything for a person like sanji, scratch that *just* sanji.

And then you gotta take into account that zeff is purposely squashing sanjis potential at the Baratie cause zeff wants sanji to realize that that's Not the path for sanji. If zeff gave sanji the responsibility he craves that would be like zeff putting the final blow on both their dreams. Zeff is begging sanji to want more but for sanji thats unfathomable; again, This is the Best Case Scenario and he can't bring himself to believe there's more.

So thinking forward or backward is just a moot point, which is why it's so jarring for Luffy to come in and say both that he doesn't do regrets or 'complicated' cause that's what sanji's dream is. When presented with the idea that it could be so simple, when Luffy says join us, there's a long pause. The idea has sprouted but the roots must be crushed. Like always.

I guess here would be a good time to compare the live action and the anime, like, zoro's dream having a big part in the anime/manga, ect. It's true that the only interaction opla zoro had with opla sanji before joining the crew officially was the dinner scene but I don't think the influence of zoros dream on sanji is as lost as some might say.

Opla sanji sees the aftermath of The Fight clearly, sees how many lengths Zoro would go to. He sees Luffy defend Zoro's dream vehemently, when Nami asks why Luffy didn't stop Zoro. In this moment it's reiterated that a person's dreams are Important and that Zoro was *right* to go after them, was *right* to be selfish and try to take something he wanted. Nami's was the dialogue sanji has been telling himself all his life, keep those you care for safe no matter what, no matter if it hurts to do it. Luffy's was a dialogue of I will not keep people from doing what they want, no matter what. No matter how much is "owed" to someone, a dream is Worthy, even if it makes those you're close to disappointed and sad. Which. Is one of many things sanji has been trying desperately to avoid. There's the tiniest crack of light trying to shine through, that maybe one can follow their dreams and have people care about you.

If this moment between the crew had not happened I'm not sure opla sanji would have joined the straw hats.

In this moment, sanji sees someone (zoro) who is willing to go forward, no matter what, and witnessing there are still people that care for that person even in that decision (Luffy, Nami, Ussop). The last time sanji Left there was a severance and no one to help him. He was on his own. Mustering up that courage Again would be... well, it'd be impossibly difficult. Seeing that there were people *for* the fool who followed their dreams was just as important as seeing someone follow their dreams, but Zoro needed to have a dream in the first place. Not one that could be squashed down, but one he was willing to and nearly died for. Someone could do anything for a dream and still be, well, worthy.

So he sees this crew, sees a chance, sees a worldview he's never dared hope for. And it's kind of the perfect opportunity but he darent hope quite yet. All he can do for now is feed and take care of these incredibly kind people and appreciate who they are while theyre here. So he does.

And then the Fishman show up. Sanji is Needed and he Can't abandon his home he needs to be there, end of story. Then Luffy offers to help and the world shifts. Again, sanji is facing a kindness he can't fathom deserving and the guy offers it enthusiastically, without hesitation. Sanji allows this kindness cause maybe its a way to be even, to allow someone to be kind is a kindness kinda thing. But either way he's gotta Go so let's not think on this too much and help zeff.

In the restaurant, sanji keeps his promise. He fights for zeff without hesitation. But then he gets thrown into a table (ouch) and can barely move. What now??? It's probably Panic City but then Luffy is there. Luffy is *defending zeff's dream*. Sanji takes a moment to recover and then we don't see him until he dives into the water after Luffy. But can you imagine????

This random boy is going head to head for zeff's dream. The thing Sanji *has* to protect. The other two fishmen are standing watch at the baratie entrance but as soon as they're gone sanjis out there, and what is out there? This random boy getting thrown to his death. And this random boy has a dream. And if he can save this random boy's dream, maybe sanji can have a dream too. But not now, later. Now we gotta help zeff rebuild.

And so sanji faces a final Forward. Zeff can see how much sanji cares and knows he has to break this boy's heart. There's no other way. We don't explicitly see zeff hearing that luffy offered sanji a place on his crew but a bit ago luffy got right in zeffs face and defended sanji, told him outright sanji is the type of person zeff hoped he would be. If this is gonna be the final push zeff can push him to somewhere he knows sanji will be valued. So he does, in the only way he knows sanji can accept.

This makes their final farewell even more heartbreaking. We can see there's a moment where both parties consider not saying anything. Theres Too Much but also Not Enough. And then they do, they say "take care", sanji says thank you, "thank you for putting up with my shit" and "I owe you my life". There's a thank you for the Past and a thank you for the Forward. Thank you for what is about to be.

"sometimes when I try to look ahead, all I see is back"

And now there's Both. A past to fondly remember and grow from and a future to look forward to.

back where sanji? What is back now?? Forward. Ahead. Back to a life of adventure on his terms.

[pagingdoctorbedlam]

Okay, I am only through half of Live Action One Piece, but...hot damn? I am really enjoying it! Like, I figured I would, but it is RAD.

Plus, the changes made so far to the story adds a lot to the adaptation, especially character interactions. I'm glad it's not an exact replica, and instead tying things in a fresh way 20+ years after Oda wrote the original.

[lostsometime]

this scene is so important to me because like - he doesn't want to stop being pissy with sanji! he doesn't want to be this guy's friend! but he likes luffy so much that he can't hate a guy who reminds him of luffy even a little bit! he has to resign himself to liking sanji against his will as soon as he sees the echo of luffy in him!!!

1.1 // 1.8

[dykealloy]

i keep going back to this moment. obviously there's the palpable devotion from zoro towards luffy which is all very insane, elicits the urge to chew through drywall etc etc. but I can't help but get caught on the way this is phrased. suggesting maybe zoro isn't the only one mihawk is talking about here. as in, I'm getting opla shuggy rant energy, i.e.

which is about as blatant and transparent as it gets in terms of the older wiser figure with a connection to shanks speaking about his own experiences (under the weak veil of this being about Luffy). but back to mihawk talking about zoro whilst also talking about himself. I'm having to extrapolate a fair bit here given my limited knowledge of his history, but here's what we do know - mihawk never belonged to a crew, was a "rival" of shanks before he "lost interest" in killing him at some point after he lost his arm ("it's always for the sake of another" - given how powerful shanks still is at this point - one of the four emperors - i'd like to think there's something more to this).

when zoro falls to his blade outside the Baratie and he tells luffy "that's a more treacherous path than even mine" after hearing his main goal is to become king of the pirates, do you think perhaps there's a chance he's projecting some old buried anxiety/fear from his youth about the thought of facing shanks, standing by his side and falling. It's giving "I am not worthy until I prove I'm the best", which if true, was followed after many years by "Now I am the best and it's hollow and empty and I regret all those days I could have had with you".

luffy gave zoro direction - a greater purpose and a family. luffy enables his aspirations, but he also provides zoro the freedom to have something more than just this obsessive structure where the only thing that matters is becoming top dog - something beyond years and years of endless relentless training fueled in part by his loyalty to kuina but also the grief of her loss. without luffy, zoro could very likely have followed mihawk's path, something @joyish-little-boy pointed out in one of @assiraphales' posts.

despite being recognised by the world at large as the greatest swordsman alive, and supposedly having achieved all there is for him to strive for, mihawk has never struck me as a man awfully satisfied with where he is.

[lostsometime]

When I was younger, I read an article that suggested that, if you wanted to make friends with someone, a good first step is to ask them for a minor, super-easy favor. Like a 'can I borrow a pencil' kind of favor. When you know that they have one, even. Something so small that they will almost definitely do it for you.

This is because, the article opined, getting someone to do you a favor is actually a more effective way to get them to like you than you doing them a favor. It feels counterintuitive, but it works because you generally don't do favors for people you don't like - so once you've done this very minor favor for someone, your brain has slotted them into the spot of "oh this must be my Friend because i helped them out."

All this is to say, I think a big part of the reason why OPLA Sanji seems to like Zoro so much more easily than anime/manga Sanji is because he was instrumental to saving the guy's life. He did it as a favor to Luffy, but the part of his brain that says "oh this guy is a Friend" does not really distinguish that. It just says "oh hey i helped him out i guess i must like him!"

zoro does not remember this, but that doesn't actually matter! because the point is just that zoro is being prickly and unfriendly as usual, but OPLA sanji is just kind of amused by him because his brain has already labeled him Friend-Shaped.

[bobabisch]

I often hear the argument that Luffy is dumb, and I can't help but be ticked off every time I hear someone say it, because Luffy isn't dumb, he's simply carefree. And I mean that in the literal sense of the word. Luffy truly does not have a care in the world. Luffy chooses not to complicate things. He does things for the simple fact of wanting to and he purposely refuses to learn about people, situations, and the nuances involved with both because the nuance just pollutes the true nature of the subjects. Luffy doesn't choose to do these things out of ignorance or selfishness, but because in the grand scheme of things, all the information that he chooses to ignore is wholly unimportant both by Luffy's own standards and to the development of the story as well. What Luffy deems unimportant does not matter at all to how things play out in the anime.

Luffy, at his core, is an incredible judge of character. Luffy's relationship with Tama is a perfect example of this. By all accounts Luffy's first impression of Tama should have been negative. She came off as a little bit mean and stand-offish. However, Luffy in his natural Luffy-fashion is unbothered. He didn't need Tama to tell him or show him explicitly the kind of person she was to understand her as a person. Despite the fact that she was a little girl, Luffy treated her with basic respect right off the bat. Luffy didn't see her as child, but rather as the self-sufficient human she was. Of course his fondness for her was only furthered by the food that Tama gave him. Luffy didn't need to know anything more about Tama after he heard that she had given him her last shares of food. He didn't need to hear Tama's sad story to understand her. She treated him with kindness, like she would a friend, even though they had just met. Luffy would go to the ends of the earth for her over that simple fact. He had no desire to learn of Wano's history to better understand how Tama got to this point in her life. All he needed to do and all thay he wanted to do was return a kindness. And that he did.

The same can be said for the part Luffy plays in Nami's story. When Nami 'betrayed' Luffy, he'd simply brushed it off. Once again, Luffy knew who Nami was without having to ask and without her having to show him explicitly. Luffy saw her 'betrayal' yet did not take it at face value. Luffy refuses to leave her behind because everything Nami had said/done in that situation muddled Luffy's inherent and instinctive understanding of her character. This next bit is ironic to say because Luffy often makes decisions with his stomach rather than his head, but its clear that Luffy would rather trust his gut feeling than try to understand Nami's actions which appeared entirely contradictory to Luffy's perception of her personality/character.

This theme rings true throughout the whole anime. This happens when Luffy chooses to trust Law on Punk Hazard over Law's rather dubious choices without needing or wanting an explanation from him. This happens when he rescues Zoro at the very beginning of the anime and he simply trusts this well-known pirate hunter not to cut him down right of the post. I beg of you all, please do not dilute Luffy's complex character design down to something so trivial as him simply "being stupid".

Sorry for the tangent, I have just always felt people who say this about Luffy sell him and his whole character design short. There is so much more that I could say about this too. I could go into detail about the ways in which Luffy is as smart as the rest of the crew (in different ways than them obviously), but that would call for several more paragraphs, so I'll just cut it here I think.

Anyways tell me what y'all think, I'm curious.

[ms-all-sunday]

i feel like it comes down to people dont believe a practical person like zoro could believe in luffy, which comes also down to infantalization of luffy despite him being a fully fledged little freak. but like zoro is too? and thats why they get eachother.

zoro is out of the two of them the only one who cares about not coming off as completely weird but theyre both weird and they get eachother. luffy is a very practical person he just does it in such an offbeat way that people go "ohh he must be god or something or zoro must be obsessed with him" to respect his opinion even a little.

I feel I’m in the minority here, but I don’t think that Zoro’s loyalty to Luffy is blind. I feel he assessed the situation. I also feel that he’d be the last character to worship an individual as a god, and that it undersells his character and the equality between Luffy and Zoro to put Luffy on such a pedestal, whether it be in Nika form or average Luffy form, to set Zoro up as the number one acolyte of the Luffy cult. Although that sometimes feels what some of fandom’s relationship with Luffy is.

I dig the devil/angel art, don’t get me wrong, but I think that Zoro’s personality is strong enough to not get completely consumed by another. Although I like OPLA, and the boys in canon are devoted for sure, I think that OPLA in particular cut Zoro’s character development short, and maybe it’s now being reflected in interpretations of the same.

He is headstrong, though, for sure, and maybe he is Peter to Jesus, but I like something a little more down to earth, even though they’re both obviously extraordinary.

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

Mhhm, the thing about opla Mihawk is that he's extremely expressive most of the time, but in a way that's subtle and unique to him, so he comes off as a stone-cold-bitch even though that's patently not the case. Every scene he's in he's expressing shit, but almost in an uncanny valley type of way. A lot of that comes from the fact that he tells and not shows, but what he tells is taken at face value. See; Woke me up from my nap - he's annoyed and making it an entire fleet's problem My apologies (to Garp) - It's in the air whether or not he's genuinely apologizing, but he's taking the time to maintain politeness all the same I'd very much like to meet your captain - he's amused here by Usopp's antics/stream of consciousness he's been listening too I like your hat/head tilt - hinting at whatever the fuck he has going on with Shanks, and he does indeed, genuinely like the hat His entire speech to Zoro - he's expressing magnanimity and interest to an alarming degree I'd still do precisely what I want - He's just being a brat here Maybe you grandson will be the one to find the one piece - He's still halfway being a brat here, but he's actually tickled by that idea, enough to tease Garp with it Something that might be of interest..a boy you mentioned long ago - he retained enough information and interest in Shanks' interest in Luffy that he dragged his goth ass across the sea to tell Shanks about one of Luffy's milestones I suppose a drink wouldn't hurt - the one time he's fooling precisely nobody It's just simply fascinating how actually expressive he is compared to how he's seen from the outside. But you can bet that's intentional too.

[hxpefull]

[beaulesbian]

I keep thinking about episode 2 and its whole structure revolving around Luffy's straw hat.

Even the title already - The Man In The Straw Hat.

When we saw Nami throw it off, in the beginning of the episode, it was one of the first times Luffy looked angry and serious.

Then Nami says: "Why do you care so much about that old thing anyway? It looks like you fished it out of the trash."

and Luffy explains "One man’s trash is another man’s treasure."

Then throughout the whole episode there's small moments that actually show how important that hat is to Luffy, including being relieved Buggy's pirates didn't take his hat (as they did with Zoro's swords and Nami's bag with navigator things - both incredibly rare and precious possessions of theirs.)

Buggy starts to mess with Luffy because he sees what the hat means to him, because of his connection to Shanks.

and because Buggy wants the map, which Luffy has, well, close by on himself.

"Of course, you could always give me my map if you don’t want to die alone in this tank."

and after Luffy gets free from the water tank and throws up the map, he lands close to his hat,

and even with the map being just beside Luffy, (he could have taken it again), all he could see was his hat.

and only after that, when the hat was safely in his hands, on his head, he could focus on getting the map back and win against Buggy.

it was like he couldn't think about following his dream (to which the map was the only clue to lead him to the Grand Line), until his straw hat was back with him, because his dream is also returning it to Shanks while becoming the King of the Pirates.

Just - Luffy reaching for his hat instead of the map, which the map almost began the whole adventure in episode 1 - it seems so interesting.

He always goes on about his dream to go to the Grand Line, but once his hat isn't on his head, he panics.

Something about that moment tells more about Luffy as a person than even his words about his dream, it shows where his heart is. It's so good.

and,

at the end of this episode,

I love that it goes back to show how Nami fixes and repairs the hat for Luffy, it makes the full circle with that connection between them.

"You fixed it. Thanks."

"Well, you said it was your treasure, right?"

[jaynovz]

The thing I was sleepily trying to underline last night is that One Piece as it was originally written bears the scars of serialized fiction. Meaning that there's gotta be content every week, right, and it's gotta have some kind of Interesting Conflict or Drama at the end of each chapter to keep up hype. (Also, important to know how Old Anime was in the Sponsor Format when it was converted, which meant it benefitted them to stretch the story out as long as possible as to not overrun the manga)

What this usually means is that there are a lot of shounen battles thrown in the middle of the actual storytelling (and that then gets converted veryyy slowly to anime) to keep the action going. So, in retrospect, once you see where the story is going, the live action is able to take advantage of that future knowledge and restructure the first few arcs for the better as far as character bonds, resonance, pacing, etc.

And so, we get the bits with Garp and Luffy and their familial struggle in the very first season, even though that's not revealed at that point in the original animanga.

The same thing with, the entirety of the Black Cat Pirate and Captain Kuro fights are now held in the mansion under lockdown with this full horror thriller vibe. That would have been pretty hard to draw, all those fights in such a small space, so it originally happened on a slope at the bay. But with the live action, with special effects, with more time for production, they can do bigger things! The fights can be moved indoors, we can have two main Black Cat pirate crew (Buchi and Sham) instead of the like 100 random guys, and give those two more fun screentime and personality! We can have them be poisoning Kaya with weird blue soup and Luffy to drink that said weird blue soup in the middle of the night! Neither of these events happened in canon but they are SO in character that it. It just FEELS like it should have happened.

We are in what is very faithful to the spirit of the show alt-canon territory and it's delightful (

I just. I love adaptation and I especially love when it's done WELL and CARES about the og subject material IMMENSELY. Good adaptation fidelity is less about doing a one-to-one map over from the original and more about bringing the spirit of the original to life in a way that this new medium excels at! (obv Oda was very involved in this process so I would have expected nothing less, it's just so fun to talk about)

I will keep gushing about this occasionally...

(I uh, I wrote a thesis about this, and about intertextuality, in undergrad, it's kind of my thing lol)

Just ranting into the void but now that I'm rewatching the anime some changes that OPLA made that I really appreciate--

Having Nami be there for the Mihawk fight, the entire way the new Baratie arc was handled. Luffy dealing with an existential crisis after Zoro is defeated, Zeff helping save Zoro's life, telling them to read/talk to him to keep him tethered, Nami being a part of that. Luffy so fucked up about it all that he can't eat, Sanji being there and sharing his own story as a way to comfort Luffy and commiserate that sometimes we have to make hard decisions and live with them. Usopp encouraging Luffy to just talk to him, offering emotional support while he thinks of what to say and being there for The Speech.

The OPLA had less time to solidify resonant bonds between our first few Straw hats and it creatively shifted and condensed the events of the original in order to do so in a way that was just masterful adaptation

And goddamn it's exceedingly hard not to love that version of events more even as an animanga fan

[ambafaerie]

Buggy sure does love to wear red for someone who constantly proclaims his undying hatred and resentment towards Red Hair Shanks

Sure, it can be argued this is part of his clown motif to go with his red nose, but if Buggy truly hated Shanks like he claims he does, he would have done all he can to avoid the color red because it would remind him of his best friend.

Buggy incorporating red in his wardrobe reveal a subconscious desire to be with Shanks again because their younger days were the times he was truly happy, even when he believed himself to be in Shanks’ shadow.

Because no person who wears their partner’s signature color every day and grabs at any chance to talk about them and turn vulnerable so many years after their separation would truly feel nothing for someone they spent almost half of their life with.

Buggy still loves Shanks just as Shanks still loves him, even if he is in denial and won’t admit this fact to himself or anyone else anytime soon.

[goingbuggy]

What is your favourite and your least favourite buggy moment?

AH! I love this question. My personal favorite moment is the scene in Impel Down where Luffy gives Captain John's armband to Buggy. I made a whole thread on Twitter breaking down exactly why I love it so much; it's such a criminally underrated moment for his character and reflective of all the potential he has.

As for my least favorite, I guess I'd have to say... the scene in Loguetown where Buggy stages Luffy's execution? It's not out of character for him to act the way he does -- not at all -- it's just that, with what we know now, revisiting that arc leaves much to be desired. Loguetown is such an important setting for Buggy: it's where he parted ways with Shanks, lost his captain, and solidified his life's direction. However, watching Loguetown Arc, we don't see much of a reaction from him besides his desire for revenge, which I find strange. Luffy's almost-execution in particular is what leaves me semi-frustrated.

Oda might not have had everything worked out about Buggy's character at the time of that arc's initial release in 1999, but in hindsight, it just feels chock-full of missed opportunities. Considering OPLA has yet to delve into Buggy's backstory, I think the upcoming Loguetown Arc would be a great way to retroactively give Buggy's presence more weight. Loguetown could easily trigger his memories of the past; then, instead of info-dumping, the flashback could double as both exposition and further insight into his character. Perhaps it comes to him as a traumatic flashback, in bits and pieces. How would he feel, being on the same exact execution platform where his captain died, this time being the man holding the sword? Would he hesitate, realizing what he's doing? Would he recognize the parallels?

I think Buggy ultimately giving in to his desire for revenge against Luffy would demonstrate how he always holds himself back. OPLA's whole "map-MacGuffin" ordeal twists Buggy's character in a different direction by implying that there's only one map to the Grand Line that he could get to start his journey (seriously, how is there only one map everyone is fighting over), but in the manga, it's clear that Buggy already had a map. He says he planned to start doing business in the Grand Line, but considering how much time he spent in East Blue, it makes you wonder... why wasn't he doing that years ago? The Doylist answer is, of course, that our protagonist needs to find him first, but narratively speaking, Buggy certainly did not need to wait as long as he did. Luffy is the one who truly gave him the push he needed; Buggy was wading in shallow waters because he couldn't bring himself to take the plunge. His grudges, his insecurities: they weigh him down. He believed he had no potential, but that was always an excuse, a self-fulfilling prophecy -- it was because of that lack of faith in himself that he limited his own potential.

And where does that all lead him? To Loguetown: the same place where he started. How stifling that is for his character -- how eye-opening. Ironically, Loguetown Arc feels similar to Buggy himself; it could be so much more, but it feels restricted by the time in the narrative in which it was placed. I don't dislike the scene at all, but it's frustrating to have such a perfect moment for his character and yet no substantial takeaways. It's good foreshadowing for Buggy's past, sure, but it could be even better if we saw a wider range of his emotions. His entire past doesn't have to be revealed in Loguetown, but his actions and dialogue should better reflect what it means for him to be there.