Analysis: Constructing a Potent Relationship
It’s not hard to notice One Piece success as a manga, especially if you live in Japan. This success can be attributed to several factors. One of them being the massive and highly creative world-building One Piece had, and how such a vast world is fit for near endless possibilities for fantastic adventures.
We could also mention how over-the-top the action/adventure can get. And how the story gradually escalates, greatly exceeding many readers/watchers expectations. Or the the obvious focus given to “Romance”
Confused? Don’t be. The series itself works with a less known concept of “Romance” related to dreams and adventure. Or to put it in other terms: the emotional appeal of adventure, idealism, heroism, and virtue. In fact, an insightful reader once perceived that One Piece works as an “adventure novel”, taking some of the best elements they have to offer. And Oda himself once stated he wanted his readers/watchers to get excitement from his work, something he pulls off by means of the crazy yet highly creative situations that arise throughout the story, along with the fun and/or drama they bring to the plot.
So naturally One Piece encompasses a wide variety of themes and subjects: comedy, tragedy, companionship, and even love in several of its forms. All of this strengthens the story and draws the attention and interest of readers/watchers.
Yet, another factor makes this manga so popular:
Despite the fact One Piece is a plot-driven story, Oda had made a great effort to establish his characters with very solid backgrounds, motivations, and personalities. The sense of depth he adds to his character turns them into one of the elements that breathes life into the story.
Not everyone is capable of appreciating this since some people focus too much on how crazy and amazing the plot gets; along with the carefully put and well done action scenes (the manga often does this great; the anime has varying degrees of success in their attemps to capture what Oda conveys).
Nonetheless, the characters are one of the factors many readers/watchers greatly enjoy. And one thing that adds depth and substance to a character is how and why they form bonds with others, as well as the emotional narrative behind their actions. This makes them more relatable and helps readers/watchers to be more invested in their struggles.
In this regard, all the SHs share strong bonds. But we’re going to highlight one in particular, because of how much build-up and emotional development it got throughout the series, as well as the deep roots of this connection: Luffy/Nami.
Before elaborating on their bond, I must address one “obstacle” that prevent people from fully appreciating the amazing job Oda had done in this regard. This “obstacle” not only clouds the view on One Piece emotional development; at times it even encourages some people to seek and even expect a twisted version of what the story can actually offer, while making more reasonable fans and critics dread how this trend could negatively impact the story: “The General Shipping Mindset”.
This isn’t the first time such issue had been addressed. As it had been explained before, “shipping” proves to be poisonous to the way relationships and emotional bonding are to be written. But why does this happen?
While there are a few shippers who find enjoyment in the direction the story goes, many others promote ideas and delusions that could potentially ruin or at the very least damage its integrity and consistency.
This is something some people already heard or noticed. While there’s nothing wrong with fantasizing about something you like, It can still be seen how shipping motivates many fans to push their corny/clichéd fantasies into the story in spite of them being incompatible with the author’s works.
They rely on poor “logic” contrary to what natural development as well as emotional chemistry really are, by blowing out of proportion insignificant showings or even gags that neither the series nor the author take seriously. Sometimes they overhype what they perceive as “sexual tension”, in spite of the story never elaborating on such exaggerated ideas. They even promote premises that depend on the characters going full OOC
A fine example of unrealistic shipping expectations
There are shippers who while being fully aware of this, still promote their delusions over anything that the manga has to offer, just because they’re aesthetically pleasing. Other shippers use the characters as self-inserts for their fantasies, some even go as far as selling the image of one or more characters whoring themselves to the highest possible number of “partners”. And there are those who only focus on characters’ personalities, while ignoring who they share with most meaningful moments and greater stress in their relationship.
Needless to say, there are many reasons why “shipping” is considered “toxic” by many non-shippers and regular fans
So, when we take the “general shipping mindset” away, when we discard what strays away from One Piece, we get to see a well-written and solid relationship. But just so people may clearly understand how this emotional connection had been developed and still holds the potential to grow stronger, we need to use something I posted before: The “Tiering System” for pairings:
When an author seeks to build a compelling well-written relationship he stablishes a “foundation” and later keeps building upon this very same “foundation” by means of meaningful moments, emotional build-up and development. Such premises must blend in both the story and the characters. By taking into consideration these factors we have…
* Crack impossible: Pairings that contradict other pairings with well-established canon material, and has zero context that can be most logically interpreted as romantic. And zero development and/or stress in their relationship
* Crack Possible: Pairings that do not contradict well-established canon material, but have none-the-less zero context between the characters that can be most accurately be defined as romantic and no meaningful moments
* Impotent Pairings: Pairings that do not have a high chance of developing into cannon, but nevertheless had some type of stress on their relationship at some point of the series. Romantic attraction can be a joke or comedic element of plot. This kind of pairings had become stagnant as the story (and possibly the author as well) doesn’t bother to develop them any futher. This kind of pairing is constantly overshadowed by the next category
* Potent Pairings: Pairings with a high chance of developing into canon, supported by multiple logical arguments, high degree of intimacy between characters, and significant/meaningful moments. This kind of pairing has constant development and stress on their relationship
* Canon Pairings: Exactly what says on the tin. While the pairing does not have to be dating, or married, or whatever, the existence of romantic love must be there.
For a Potent Pairing I’d like to add that a natural growth must be there. It’s a gradual yet consistent development. And as I tried to convey before, a likeable chemistry that must be based on a series of impactful moments
Some people might argue against this by claiming traditional “Romance” isn’t conveyed in One Piece. Well, to get that out of the way I’ll clarify a couple of points:
1) One Piece already conveyed traditional “Romance” without using clichés or corny stuff
2) The principles of this system can be applied to deep companionships; bonds potent enough to keep evolving within consistent writing
3) The person who created this system did it while having a male-oriented story in mind
Now onto the subject: there are several key lines I highlighted there to show how relationships based on gags or comic relief become less potent. That’s something that makes sense given that chemistry is built through significant moments and details along with constant development, not through mere jokes and gags. The next line I highlighted is the “stress in the relationship”. Even impotent pairings (and some cracks) had some sort of “stress” or “moments” at some point of the story. Their problem is: neither the story or the author keep building up said relationship. They remain “stagnant” in that regard
But this is where a potent pairing becomes different. Because it has constant stress and/or development in their relationship, by means of moments both large and impactful or small yet meaningful. This is something worth noting: both impotent pairing and potent pairings have moments. The difference would be the sheer amount of moments, the “stress on their relationship”, what does the story builds upon such major interactions, and how the following moments continue what prior showings started complementing them likes pieces of a puzzle
To illustrate this, we could use the metaphor of a building process
An architect could intent to build either a house or skyscraper, depending on his vision, resources, or many other factors
Before he starts building the structure, he must lay the foundation. He can lay shallow foundations for small projects or deep foundations for more complex projects
In this case the foundation would be the impactful moments that solidify the chemistry of the relationship and serves as a base for futher development
Laying the foundation isn’t just tracing a few lines in the soil; it actually means working the ground! So in a similar way, an author who’s writing a relationship starts this building process by setting bases for emotional chemistry
How do we do this? The fastest way is through “conflict”. Through opposite beliefs, opposite interests, and sometimes clashing personalities, we get the perfect scenario to build a likeable chemistry. Nami’s character had a very clear distate for pirates and didn’t trust people so much. Her viewpoint on life conflicted with Luffy’s idealism when it came to dreams, adventure, companionship and the meaning of being a pirate. Yet, Luffy actively sought to overcome all of this and reach out to her; by means of his actions and his convictions, Luffy managed to gradually kickstar a change on Nami…
Despite getting many reasons not to trust her, Luffy put a blind faith on her. He didn’t doubt her not even once (while he doubted Zoro during Whiskey Peaks and doubted Robin during W7). Here we have a progression that slowly lead us to a moment that catalyzes their developement. And this is where another aspect of “chemistry” comes into play: “emotional support”. When a character helps their partner to regulate their emotions; when the distressed partner is willing to open up and express their anxiety and/or helplessness while their partner provides with strength, hope, and/or comfort. It was something strong, personal and touching. The resolution of this “conflict” and/or “challenge” turned Luffy into Nami’s “emotional anchor”.
Notice this is far more powerful and meaningful that giving roses to a woman or praising her beauty, like many clichéd corny stories; instead we get Nami’s first major development as character: she realized she needed to rely on someone else; and once she hitted her lowest point, when she finally lost all hope, she relied emotionally on Luffy. After all his struggle, he finally earned Nami’s faith/trust in one of the most memorable and impactful moments of the series
But this is merely the “foundation” of the structure. And a potent bond doesn’t rely only on a foundation. A constant stress on that relationship is needed to deem it as a potent bond. What would the architech do?
Keep building his project upon these showings. This can be acomplished by continuing the same themes highlighted for their bonding through meaningful details…
I know this is the movie version but the scene played out just like it appears in the manga
…and more impactful moments
In this sense, following scenes, interactions and moments, are born from those prior showings, adding up to the base already set by that very first catalyst from AP. They become the materials used to construct the “building”. And the more material is provided and processed, the taller and stronger the structure gets. In such regard, this bond becomes a combination of several elements as well as meaningful details
How much material we got? Orange Town arc, Kuro Arc, AP, Drum Island, Skypiea, Water 7; where we got to see several nice details and a moment when Nami, while displaying her determination to save Robin, still pours her heart to Luffy to express her anguish and her distress and she tells him the truth behind Robin’s actions. A subtle display of the emotional chemistry between them
We also got that jewel known as Strong World (written by Oda himself)…
…where we got to see more of the same “conflict” that catalyzed their emotional bonding, as we see how strongly Luffy feels about Nami sees him, and how much he values her trust/faith. As well as several other showings scattered all over the following arcs, adding up to the construction:
What most of those moments and details (that followed major showings) have in common is that they were built up from the structure that was constructed upon the foundation laid at AP. This is what means “stress on a relationship”. When an author decides not just to establish a strong bond but he chooses to keep stressing that emotional connection throughout the story. And this is what impotent bonds as well as cracks lack; a long chain of meaningful moments (as well as nice details) building up to something greater:
A metaphorical skyscraper
This is what makes the Luffy/Nami relationship a beautiful skycraper. While most impotent bonds and cracks barely have some pieces of wood lying around an unworked ground; there’s not a solid well-developed structure there. Some having a shallow foundation but no structure built upon it. And there are even some ships that are merely blank territories while shippers could say to each other: “Couldn’t you imagine having a nice house here?”
However, none of the moments I highlighted or explained are anything explicitly “romantic” in the traditional sense of the word. But “romantic love” and a “deep companiship” share a base on the same principles of affection, mutual faith/trust, support, and so on. It’s not like we’re saying LuNa will be canon, but it’s the pairing with the highest chances to become endgame as it blends perfectly in the story without altering the characters and possesses an unmatched amount of stress on their emotional bonding
Does it make sense for Luffy and Nami to be so close to one another?
Given what Oda originally planned for Romance Dawn, indeed it does. I briefly mentioned this in other analysis but there’s a constant for Luffy’s story in all versions of the Romance Dawn:
And as we already know thanks to some interviews and suplementary information, Nami was supposed to be the first one to join Luffy in the final version of “Romance Dawn”. Making her the person who would’ve bonded the most with Luffy. But her debut was postponed by Oda’s editor at that time; and yet the Luffy/Nami relationship gets the larger development and the greatest amount of significant moments
What makes this different from what other shippers promote?
Well, many shippers insist on this line of logic: “If the guy saves the girl, the girl should totally fall for him”. But that’s not how chemistry between characters works. For a likeable chemistry it should never be shown or implied that a character owes the other a relationship because of favors done. So merely saving someone is not enough to build a potent bond
Some even say that bickering is a sign of “sexual tension” and if there’s not enough bickering, there’s no potent relationship there. But mere bickering is not the kind of “conflict” that helps to build a good chemistry. Although Luffy and Nami do bicker several times:
Real chemistry between characters happens when they affect each other in big ways. Luffy being Nami’s “emotional anchor”, and how much he values Nami’s trust/faith as well as her perception of his strength and capabilities, are factors far more powerful than just bickering quite often
So after considering all of this, what should we expect? Will the architech finish the structure he’s been working on? Will he keep delivering great moments to nourish this relationship? Will he keep providing with meaningful details like the one from GOLD?
(Parallel between Tesoro & Stella [Lovers] and Luffy & Nami situation at the climax; this little bit was confirmed to be Oda’s idea)
Will we have what an insightful reader described as a “final decisive interaction”?
Only time will tell. For now, I’ll just end this with a simple conclusion: LuNa is that potent bond that’s nourished by the biggest amount of significant moments and meaningful details, while having room for further growth… and I wholeheartedly support it
