bimbo pieced (together)

Welcome to my One Piece sideblog’s sideblog. On a mission to try and share some thoughts on Oda’s character writing. @bimbopiece ‘s writing focused sideblog.

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INTRO POST

Hello! I’m the owner of this blog, as well as @bimbopiece ; I go by N.A and I’m a university student. Since this, as well as my main One Piece blog, are sideblogs, I like/follow back from a blog I’ve since moved from. (you’ll know when you come across that notification teehee)

This blog is dedicated to the character writing in One Piece. I will be reading chapters in order, but I’ll be skipping a few chapters/arcs if I deem them less interesting. I will also frequently refer to more recent chapters and future arcs as a form or referencing, so this blog isn’t completely spoiler-free. I have no background in literary studies or anything of the sort, so this blog is gonna be a collection of my opinions and thoughts.

English is my third language, and although I am fluent, sometimes I will mix up my french and English grammar/syntax. FEEL FREE to correct me if I do so. I will be reading chapters in both languages, but I’ll make sure to translate the important lines to English when I do read them in French.

CURRENT ARC : EAST BLUE SAGA— USOPP

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One thing that made the Baratie arc to me almost perfect is the sincerity of its side characters. Patty and Carne’s characterization and this whole new category of pirates that change their ways to follow a dream. This fits nicely with setting the tone of the series, in which the sea’s lawless nature allows for anyone to truly find their place. Criminals at sea are as welcome as anyone else and can make their journey about anything as long as they have a ship.

After Sanji’s easily defeating Fullbody who himself easily defeated Johnny and Yosaku, here’s another power scaling tool: Don Krieg, who’s gonna do a great job in showing how Luffy’s ideals surpasses his (another pirate who doesn’t respect his crewmates much like Kuro, although to a lesser extent) and will set a theme in the Grand Line and how the crew must approach it. Rereading has reminded me that one of the first things that set apart our main character from other pirates is how he approaches his crew and recruits them and how he feels about them. I think this blends in absolutely perfectly with the more recent themes in the series, where we learn that Luffy’s power, amongst many other things, is to rally people to his cause. Surely the drums of libération serve this exact purpose, and reading the early chapters shows that this has always been a structuring storyline. This also serves in showing the importance of food in the story, and, completely unrelated, how absolutely necessary Nami is to the crew in their hopes of reaching/navigating the Grand Line. And also the East Blue truly was the weakest sea because how is Don Krieg the strongest? Come on…

Sanji’s gimmick of using the word crap has seriously been one of the best jokes surrounding his character since the beginning. Also, after reading some of the most recent arcs, rediscovering Sanji’s character truly brings a deep sense of nostalgia in a way; upon first reading, I completely overlooked him and thought of him as another typical shounen character. But now I can’t help but see his deep sensibility in everything he does 😭 Oh Sanji of the true lost potential…don’t mind me thinking of what used to be, and what could have been!

(On a much less serious note, Oda again with the brothers dynamic! He truly is obsessed…sets a tone for how we should see the next brothers that will appear)

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This one was also one of my favorite jokes from the anime. Zeff introduction!! He’s one of my favorites when it comes to the crew mates’ family members. The Baratie arc is also one of my favorites when it comes to the arcs that introduced a future crew mate (Not top 1 but in the top 3)

Extremely funny, I don’t remember if this joke was used in the anime but I hope it was, this is brilliant. (Oh, hey, Sanji intro!)

Oda does a great job at power scaling characters immediately after their introduction. Zoro’s strength was talked about extensively before we met him, and here Sanji is shown easily taking care of the marine that himself easily took care of Yosaku and Johnny. Also, super cool panel I have to admit. Here we are faced with Sanji’s iron beliefs. Before that, in the anime at least, comes the part where he’s crouching in front of the soup and lays his hand in it, on the floor. I think that scene is extremely telling and symbolic and it serves as a great starting point in the buildup of rage Sanji goes through.

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Here. This scene fits in a way with that SBS I pointed out, as well as my little theory about what makes an antagonist worth reappearing in the story or not. This here is the first real time Luffy mentions a real distinction in pirates: since the pirate way of life depends completely on said pirate, there should be an infinite amount of categories of pirates. Therefore the kind of pirates Luffy respects seems to be one, and the others are all in the « other » category. Here you understand that the reason behind this is not only because he turned his back on his life as a pirate, but also because of how he treated his crewmates. Luffy cherishes the people who chose to give up their past life to achieve his dream. Off the top of my head I don’t remember another time where Luffy clearly says he’s never becoming a pirate like another one of his opponents, but I’ll be excited to report on it once I stumble upon it.

I was a little surprised when I saw this! It’s true that Luffy vowed to defeat Kuro’s crew for the village, but I thought seeing their captain attack them would’ve inspired enough pity in him to leave them alone. But then I remembered that Luffy doesn’t operate on pity, ever, and well they deserve what they’re about to get (if they get it).

And here is Luffy stating the precise reason why he could never lose against Kuro, AKA the fight of two sets of beliefs, with the one that is clearly superior, in this case Luffy’s. Once again I can’t exactly remember if this happens again, where Luffy is convinced he’ll win simply because of the superiority of his beliefs over his opponent’s.

Here we understand that Usopp’s way of pirating surpasses completely Kuro’s, because he understands the importance of dreams and teaches his subordinates to, as well.

I loved this page, it’s genuinely beautifully drawn, the expressions are excellent. Also it shows that the disbanding of a pirate crew IS a big deal, regardless of the nature of said pirate crew. This directly mirrors KuroMs treatment of his own crew and how undignified it was compared to this. A pirate crew is sacred and should be treated as such. The use of a full page, the scale of the panel in the middle, trult everything points to the seriousness of this event.

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I think apart from Luffy getting mad because of his precious straw hat, this is the first time we see him so mad about something. Great way showing it in his eyes, and of course the telltale use of bold lettering. I think a lot of people would recalibrate their understanding of the crew and of the dynamic between Luffy and Usopp if they remembered this scene and understood what it means. It’s true that Usopp’s a coward at times, but his bravery never fails to show when the time comes. We see this trait of his many many times! Usopp’s more the brave warrior of the sea than what he believes!

If I’m correct I don’t think this gimmick of Zoro asking Luffy if he has a problem with something remains for a while. I like it, it’s very characteristic of the conditions he gave Luffy to join his crew: never get in his way. I think this dynamic serves the first few chapters immensely and shifts after the fight against Mihawk. How convenient of Zoro to have joined a guy who just agrees with him almost completely…no, Luffy doesn’t seem to have any problem with what he does!

This reminds me of the SBS I posted just previously. Oda clearly explains that losing a fight is equivalent of losing in the face of your dream, and having to have said dream and ideals shattered, which is equivalent to death. I’ve questioned myself a bit on this answer from Oda— the question clearly mentions Helmepp, and since Oda points out that a defeat means the negation of one’s belief, you’d think this defeat would automatically point to the disappearance of a character in the storyline. It doesn’t happen to Helmepp though, and many many antagonists come back to have major roles even after getting defeated by Luffy. This puts this on the table: the shattering of one’s beliefs isn’t enough to stop them. This is a clear opening to question the characters who come back in the story and the validity of their beliefs. This might not be clear so I’m gonna use Helmepp’s example: his « ideals » can be summarized to profiting off of his father’s reputation to be a little tyrant, AKA, power means everything and being an oppressor works. By beating him, Luffy shatters those ideals. Helmepp comes back to the storyline with, one could believe, different ideals, or rather a different way to achieve them. This either brings up a narrative of resilience, or instead introduces the idea that not all beliefs are equal, and the way they are achieved certainly deserves to be challenged. This theme is explored through many characters, off the top of my head I’ll use Eustass Kidd as an example: he’s often used to be compared to Luffy, in the sense that they have the same dream of becoming pirate king, but take very different routes in achieving said dream. Having a story where the main character’s gauge for good and evil is heavily discussed and where his involvement in said evil is based on his own beliefs means that that kind of system needs to be thoroughly explained, and I think Oda does that pretty well in the story. This brings us back to this panel, where Luffy affirms that protecting Usopp’s village is enough to put his life on the line for, AND at the same time that he’s convinced he won’t die. According to what Oda said in the SBS, this could mean that Luffy’s convinced of the righteousness of his beliefs, especially when pit against someone as rotten as Kuro (who denied the pirate’s way of life, which is a big no no). A clash between pirates means a clash between beliefs (and the reasons behind risking getting your beliefs shattered matter), and Kuro’s lame ass beliefs stand no chance against Luffy’s iron faith in the pirate way of life.

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I think Oda usually has a lot of fun writing sibling dynamics in general, especially with brothers. Sibling dynamics are my favorite things to write about and to analyse, so this particular « manie » of Oda to create and explore this sort of relationship between characters is something that works well with me<3 It’s even surprising that he hasn’t explored this more with the main crew until much much later. (& if you know me, you know exactly what this is about).

How selfless of Zoro! The only reason I saved these few panels was to further drive my point that Usopp is perfect the way he is, even in the most recent chapters. The straw hat crew has never been about being the strongest, and it’s members reflect this idea perfectly. Zoro knows of Usopp and Nami’s more vulnerable status and is prepared to put his body on the line to make sure they’re protected. Luffy himself is well aware of the fact and holds his entire crew to the same standard: if you can fight, fight. If you can’t, ask for help, and the more capable members will help. Regardless of strength, this idea is also well represented in Sanji needing help whenever he’s faced with a female opponent.

First mention of Davy Jones! Heavily relevant in the most recent storyline!

Again, this shows that the straw hat crew is a well oiled machine in which every cog has an important role. Although Luffy is without a doubt the strongest member of the crew, he still needs the help of the rest of his mates pretty heavily all throughout the story, sometimes even needing the help of complete strangers (I ❤️ Gatz). This "yonkou crew" concept people have been bringing up more and more since the Rocks pirates reveal always makes me question if we’ve all been reading the same manga…

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I’d completely forgotten that Oda explains this. Oh well! Much 2 think about

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Zoro’s line is great, but I’m more interested in Luffy’s line here! Pity isn’t something often seen in pirates, and Luffy’s no different. I don’t have much to say about this right now, and off the top of my head I don’t have any examples in mind, but this is the kind of theme that comes back often to gauge Luffy’s morals and his approach on being a pirate captain.

(I don’t often comment on chapter covers but this one is so cool, I love it. Look at how Luffy’s hat is basically stapled to his board…)

(Also, why is this guy singled out? I tried to watch out for him in previous and later panels, but nothing really pops out…😭)

Here I just want to point out how absolutely confident Nami is. She’s convinced that Luffy isn’t scared, just lost. I think this faith in Luffy kinda wavers at times, especially in the upcoming chapters, but it’s great to see here that she’s sure he’ll pull through.

This was a great chapter to kinda just sit back and laugh, which is the dynamic these two have going on even in the most recent arcs. It’s so funny to see Nami being a bit stupid too!

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The way the story’s written, we’ve come to have great respect for the pirate’s way of life. It’s important still to remember that being a pirate is what you make it to be, which means being a pirate doesn’t automatically equate living an honorable life. Here though, we are faced with the negation of the pirate life, which is much worse than what the previous captain had going on— sure, Buggy is greedy, deceitful and weak, but he understands the honor of calling yourself a pirate and facing the consequences. Much like when Luffy told Nami that she’d have to be ready to put her life on the line when dealing with pirates, it’s important to be ready to face the consequences of choosing this way of life. In that sense, captain Kuro is a bigger coward than both Buggy and Usopp (parallel again!), since he looks down on pirates, including his old life and his crew.

I wanna point out here that we still don’t know of Zoro’s awful tendency to get lost, and I’m surprised that he used to be at least clever enough to ask for someone to guide him to his destination.

When I first started watching One Piece, as a pre-teen, I used to be endlessly frustrated with many things in the anime. Usopp’s fighting style was never a source for frustration though! I’ve always loved the way he fought, and I know his character brings up a lot of controversy in recent chapters, particularly since we’ve reached a time that is crucial in his character development, but I don’t think Usopp needs a big power-up (despite maybe honing the skill obtained during Dressrosa, which I find super fitting) or a major change in his way of fighting at all. In fact, I’d love it if he kept fighting the same way he always has: by using clever tactics and projectiles.

I love Zoro’s line here soooo so much. Especially after the story evolves and Zoro’s character is revealed more and more, we understand that here, he’s praising Usopp for something he himself would do! I think one of the most important traits in Zoro, besides his unwavering loyalty, is the rigid stance he adopts when faced with a challenge. He’s often, if not almost always, the one who voices the need to make a tough decision. I think this selfless, self-sacrificing decision Usopp just took resonates with Zoro’s way of thinking.

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This was one of my favorite jokes in the anime 😭 it’s still so funny to me after all those years. And I always love to see Nami and Zoro interact, they’re such a fantastic duo. They’ve got this very personal relationship that I wish we could see between other crew members.

At first, I thought this was truly a bullshit excuse that made no sense and was basically a made up reason to make sure Kaya was as alienated as possible. But Oda does a great job in showing how truly sick she is when Usopp does show up and Kaya is panting through their whole conversation.

There is a great parallel between Usopp and Klahadore, in the sense that they are both liars but one uses this « skill » for good and the other for super nefarious purposes. This really sets a trend of a future crew mate being introduced and simultaneously compared to the current antagonist, like we’d previously seen in Nami and Buggy. On top of that, the crew seems really surprised to hear that Usopp’s the son of a pirate! As the story unfurls, it becomes kinda more frequent, but it always remains a crazy declaration, as if pirates aren’t usually known for having children (which makes complete sense). It’s fun to point out that Usopp is the only one directly related to a pirate in the whole crew (that we know of)!

On top of being a really good liar, Klahadore is an excellent actor. Also, this whole sob story really creates a depth to Kuro’s evil. (Not the last time we will see the words Whitewash and Usopp in the same sentence, although I think that’s more of a fandom discussion lmao)

I find it so peculiar and funny how little Luffy interacts with the world around him all throughout the story, and this is one of the first examples: although we don’t know of the extent of Shanks’ reputation and power as of yet, it is kind of crazy that Luffy always gets surprised when someone else knows of him. You’d think he’d be a little less clueless considering that he recognized Usopp’s relation to Yasopp through looks alone. And hey, Usopp’s nose is looking more like it’s supposed to here!

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USOPP INTRODUCTION!! This blog is a big fan of Usopp hope everyone knows. I already cannot wait to have more stuff to write about him. His nose used to be drawn in a totally different way, and since it’s the first time I read the East blue saga, I was kinda surprised by this change of design!

Ah. Zoro…you could’ve at least had a little more tact in pointing out the local pirate crew. Kinda amusing to be introduced to a different dynamic : usually, villagers all hate pirates and nobody even wishes to be associated to them. So it’s worth questioning why Usopp is so set on calling himself a pirate. He’s much like Luffy, in that sense!

Here I want to point out that the first things we learn about Usopp are these: he’s a liar, a coward, but also a very proud man. Character quirks such as these aren’t necessarily introduced as fast for other characters as they are for Usopp. Truly, he wears his heart on his sleeve!

Usopp is also the only crew mate who volunteers in joining the crew instead of waiting to be asked (forced, kinda) to join the crew by Luffy, the rightful captain. This gimmick is kinda forgotten a bit as the story advances, but gets brought up once in a while…I think Usopp would’ve greatly profited in having his middle name be « Captain » like Eustass Kidd does.

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I really like this line here, where Nami says they have to « respect » the sea. Above all I think she’s totally right, and this point she brings up really makes you wonder about her history with sailing and how she’s become so knowledgeable on the subject. Also, I think it creates a nice line of thought re:the devil fruits’ curse. The more the story goes on the less we are reminded of this curse, but it’s brought up almost every time someone meets Luffy in the first few chapters. Respect for the sea VS cursed by the sea? Surely someone like Luffy, who’s eaten a devil fruit, can’t count on respect to make his sailing experience any better! Also, look at Zoro eating that bread…he’s just so cute<33

Another concept that’s stopped being brought up as the story unfurls but remains as important (and almost yet to be revealed) as the Devil Fruits’ nature and their curse: sailing around the world. This also mirrors Shanks’ dream, and he had no other motivation such as finding the One Piece!

We’ve seen this kind of twisted, generous act of kindness from Luffy quite a few times now (in beating Koby up to sever his ties to their pirate crew as well as in rendering the mayor unconscious for his safety, or leaving before he wakes up). It goes to set the tone for what kind of main character Luffy is, and how he goes around treating the people he’s taken a liking to. There will be many more examples of this later, but this one serves as the first strong one imo.

One of the first people to believe in Luffy’s dream besides Koby! This is also gonna be an important theme in upcoming chapters, and it’ll be easy to separate the people Luffy meets into 2 categories: the ones who believe in him and the ones who don’t. Also, I just can’t believe Zoro slept through this whole ordeal…

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Nami here shows us that although she has a very negative view of pirates, she herself isn’t immune to committing crimes…Also we are introduced to her greedy trait. Luffy doesn’t even question Nami’s logic here...great captain. Gives me a sort of « On the sea, pirates are your opponents » vibe to this « When thieving, listen to the thief »

Nothing much to say here besides Nami seems to finally understand what the hat means to Luffy, which is extremely important and gets brought back up every time a new person joins the crew. Nami’s understanding of the value of this hat is definitely the most significant when it comes to all individual crewmates, because she’s the one most expert on the monetary value of things, and manages their expenses. Seeing her fix up his hat later truly cements their dynamic. Also, very funny to see that Luffy enjoyed beating Buggy up: this further shows his status as the not so much a hero of the story.

Nami still doesn’t consider herself one of them here. She truly cannot stand the idea to call herself a pirate. The first alliance of the story…

These two sets of panels do a great job in introducing the Romance Dawn trio dynamic. Enjoy these cute moments between them before we meet our next crewmate…<3

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I’ve already established that I think Buggy is stupid, but seriously though, this was a great line of thinking. What I enjoy thoroughly in One Piece is seeing how every one of Luffy’s opponents challenge him in a particular way, whether it is pertaining to his devil fruit powers or how he utilizes them, or other power systems introduced later in the manga. Every antagonist serves in pointing out a detail about the inner workings of the Gum Gum Fruit, and whether or not it actually poses as a threat to Luffy’s life, it still creates a strong logic to how this power works. I love discussing these kind of things, and if I’m correct I’ll get to go in depth about this around Alabasta (one of my favorite arcs). Here, we get to understand that (despite this being a comic and therefore not being 100% efficient in depicting movement and pacing, which is especially not that good at the beginning of the series) there is a good speed to Luffy’s attacks and the way he moves. At least, he’s fast enough to not let anyone attack him when he’s stretching.

First Rayleigh apparition! As far as the pirate King’s crew is concerned, I believe he’s one of the best written characters. And here we face a situation that forces us to change our view on how we compare Buggy and Shanks. At first, it was enough to compare them both on the basis that they are pirate captains, but now we have even more reasons to do so. It’s kinda relieving in a way to see that Buggy just has always been this way and that piracy isn’t what turned him into a greedy fool. This flashback shows us that piracy is what you make it to be, which is important for the rest of the series, especially when it comes to antagonists.

First Gaban appearance…love the axe, love the hair. Not much there is to say about these few panels except that he’s got a really cool design going on for himself since the beginning.

Now the way Shanks describes his captaincy, in particular how it’s voiced, is something I find suuuper interesting. Especially keeping in mind where the story is currently heading and Shanks’ role in later chapters. It seems like Shanks’ priority, at least at the time, wasn’t to be a "typical" pirate, and I use the word typical very loosely since I’ve previously mentioned that pirating is what the captains makes it to be. Shanks seems more set on just exploring the world than anything else. But again, the basis for the great era of piracy hasn’t been established yet. It seems extremely fitting that a boy such as Shanks, with this very dreamy idea of being a ship captain, would follow the future pirate king until the end of his journey.

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Again, Luffy gawking at how cool Zoro is! This seems to have become a trend…what an endearing trait in Luffy. I can’t help but see this and think about how Zoro’s place as the cool guy is kinda overtaken by Franky…you just can’t really beat a cyborg in terms of coolness, after all.

First acknowledgement of their status, rather, their identity as a pirate crew from Zoro! Nicely highlighted by the big bold lettering and the large panel with perspective to boot. Also Zoro’s large boot in the way serves as an exclamation mark as far as I’m concerned!

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These few chapters make a great parallel between Buggy and Nami. Although Nami doesn’t speak about it outright, and doesn’t argue about whether certain things are or aren’t worthy of being called treasure, she questions it. As I’ve mentioned before, she immediately assumes Luffy’s straw hat contains something tangibly valuable, but when Luffy explains its value, she doesn’t question it. There is also a direct parallel between her and the mayor— he considers this town and it’s people his most prized possession, while Nami’s goal at the time is to acquire a village. This helps ease us towards the fact that Nami also cherishes the people in said village, much like the mayor.

Edit: came back to add that Buggy’s definition of what a treasure is is quite literally based off of Roger’s speech and the premise of the manga: the pirate king is the one who finds the One Piece, therefore finding treasures makes you a king. Not sure the lesson to be learned from being a young sailor on the pirate king’s ship had to be this, but whatever. Adds up.

Composition wise this is truly an excellent panel and I think it’s just important to note that. Also, as opposed to what Zoro had been saying up til now regarding Nami and her stance on joining their crew, he seems kind of indifferent about her mission. You’d think he would be more excited about the newest member of their crew working towards their goal of reaching the Grand Line. I think he’s just excited about getting a fight, though…

Ah, yes, rendering someone unconscious for their own sake. Many such cases.

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This is the only panel I saved from chapter 14 and it’s only because of how funny it is. I wonder what pun they used in the original Japanese script.