Anyone else think Sonic is talking about himself here?
When he was little he wanted to fight for justice and be a good leader. He wanted to save those orphans in the village. But then Blast came and killed them all. Sonic couldnāt do anything, and he probably constantly deals with the stress of not being strong enough to fight the true evils.Ā
bangs my head against a wall the small ways aomine treats kise differently than anyone else in the series. aomine talking ab kuroko to hanamiya saying āyou wonāt win; you made tetsu angryā and āas long as [kise] has those eyes; eyes like tetsu, he hasnāt given up.ā kuroko being synonymous with strength to aomine but with kise itās. punches haizaki in the face because kise needs protecting, because āit was for ki-chan so he had to.ā kagami not wanting to accept aomineās shoes and aomine telling him āyouāre playing kise right? iāll kill you if you donāt give him a good game because of improper shoes." aomine and how he doesnāt really bother midorima and how he teases (but like everyone else indulges) murasakibara and he listens to akashi and starts fights with but so deeply respects kagami. but with kise its not just gentleness that comes differently than with everyone else. its a sneered āso you got an older brother figureā when aomine sees kasamatsu and kiseās closeness in the first touou v kaijou game. itās oh yeah why are YOU hanging out with momoi and i at maji burger why are you here in the ova. itās aomineās ādonāt get in my wayā in last game when they take on silver together. ākise whyād you pass the ball to kagami and not me?!ā and āshut your trap, blondie,ā and a hand covering kiseās face.
a gentleness a protectiveness a responsibility aomine doesnāt show to anyone else a harshness a flippancy he doesnāt show to anyone else. itās all very. something between the two of us is different we never talk about it. i treat you differently than anyone else i donāt know why i think i know why i donāt want to think too much about why. soft spot i donāt know what to do with i just know it hurts a little bit to look at you for too long. theres something unsaid something unacknowledged between us. i canāt be what you want you canāt be what i want. i promise theres something in me thats sorry for that. i know you so well. in the end that doesnāt mean anything at all. anyways good game. anyways nice to see you. anyways see you later.
I havenāt done long analysis/meta/essay-style posts in a while, but after seeing a comment that amounted to āevery time Lucciās shown an interest in something that doesnāt have to do with killing, Kakuās involvedā it made me think about whether or not that's true and, more specifically, whether or not thereās been sufficient build-up to justify what happens in Chapter 1111.
So letās explore, shall we?
First of all, basic disclaimer that Iāve been heavily into One Piece since 2008 and Water 7 has been my favorite arc since the first time I read it that summer. Kaku, in turn, has always been one of my top characters in the entire series for various reasonsā¦but this isnāt about him (at least, not entirely), so all of that is just to say that Iāve thought about these characters a lot over the years.
And I think what always struck me about them is that not only are they so fundamentally different, but that realistically Lucci should not tolerate Kaku at all. Heās pretty much everything Lucciās not, and theyāre more-or-less a perfect example of the āsomeone will dieā¦of fun!ā meme in a lot of ways (and honestly itās what I think of every time I see this card, but I digress):
At the same time, what happened in the latest chapter didnāt surprise me, because thereās been hints all along, and Iāve personally been waiting years for it to pay offā¦even though part of me thought it never would, or at least not in the way it did!
Still, how did we get here?
But First, A Bit About ēøę£
So. Why is the fact that Lucci calls Kaku his āēøę£ā (aibou) so significant? Mostly because of theā¦individualistic meaning of the word. It literally translates to āpartnerā, but not in a romantic/life-partner way (not to say that it has never been used like that, but itās not the inherent meaning of the word).
Unlike words such as åäŗŗ (yuujin), åé (tomodachi), and of course, with Luffy, 仲é (nakama), aibou generally only refers to one person. You can have many friends, teammates, crew membersā¦but only one aibou. So by calling Kaku that, Lucciās already placing him on a different level to anyone else in CP9 or CP0 and acknowledging openly that Kakuās important enough to him to have earned that distinction.
Which is why a lot of us were very excited about it, since this is not a common occurrence where Lucciās concerned.
That aside, letās get to the actual canon content.
Water 7
Obviously at the beginning we find out they both work at the shipyard, but that in and of itself isnāt entirely significantā¦until you consider that, since Kalifa is pretty much with Iceburg all the time and Bluenoās running the bar, the two of them are working in much closer proximity to each other than to the other CP9 members in the city.Ā
The first real indication we get regarding their comfort level with each other comes in chapter 327 when Kaku gets back from examining the Merry and goes to sit down to explain what heās discovered. Paulieās the closest to him, but he actually ends up stepping past both him and Lucci in order to sit directly beside Lucci on the same level.
Itās quite a while before we see the two of them alone again, and it doesnāt happen until chapter 339 when theyāre speaking with Robin. Of course at the time weāre not supposed to know itās them, but thereās really nobody else it can be since this is happening at the exact same time that Bluenoās talking with Franky and Kokoro at the bar. So, as will become fairly common, the two of them are again acting as a unit of their own within the larger group.
And then, of course, we get the infiltration of the mansion prior to The Big Reveal (which Iāve spoken about before because for me itās still the single greatest reveal in the entire manga because of how carefully crafted it is, right down to Kakuās limited dialogue in this section being completely devoid of his usual speech quirks in the original Japanese text). Once again, Blueno and Kalifa are doing their own things while these two are working together.
This panel has always been interesting to me because immediately prior to this Lucci says he canāt let Paulie live, and then he decides to just restrain him instead. In Luffyās case it makes sense because they gave their word to Robin not to harm the Strawhats, but he has absolutely no reason to spare Paulie, and the little lines of shock/surprise beside Kaku imply that he hadnāt expected Lucci to do that, either. The āwhyā is still unclear, but itās interesting nonetheless, and itās alsoā¦noteworthy that itās the only thing Lucci asks Kaku to do. All of the actual damage Paulie takes comes from Lucci and he never asks for or expects Kaku to harm him.
I never connected these two panels before but itās obviously very deliberate to have Lucci telling Iceburg that feeling emotions is a sign of humanity followed immediately by Kakuā¦demonstrating exactly that and thanking Iceburg. Itās important to establish that part of Kakuās character, but keep in mind Lucciās lack of a reaction here because itāll come back later.
Again, very tiny moment, but thereās a lot of examples of Lucci deferring to Kaku or letting him take the lead without any hesitation, and I like this because Kakuās noticed something that Lucci hasnāt and Lucci just goes with it immediately.
Iād forgotten about this but Kakuās also the one that decides to take Usopp with them, first by recognizing him as one of the Strawhats and then going through with it even after finding out he doesnāt consider himself a part of them anymore. And Lucci justā¦stands back and lets him give out orders to the others while doing so.
Okay so this is what I was referencing earlier. Kaku shows actual emotions with Iceburg and Lucciās silent, but the moment Kalifa gets even slightly happy about completing the mission heās berating her instantly. Kakuās expression here is interesting too because he looks absolutely haunted and itās very telling.
And also another visual representation of Lucci and Kaku being equal to/on the same level as each other.
I didnāt include the panel but Kaku was āsleepingā when Corgi was giving them all of the information about Nero while Lucci was (seemingly) wide awake, and yet Lucci has no idea who he is and relies on Kaku to have all the information. Which he does.
Kaku being the one to take charge again and direct the others even though Lucciās standing right there. They do this more than Iād realized at first, especially since Lucci always seems to be looked at as the unofficial āleaderā of CP9.
Enies Lobby
Weāve made it to Enies Lobby, which is the first glimpse we get of these two interacting with the full CP9 group outside of any sort of āmissionā environment.
Mostly it entails Lucci being more combative (especially with Jabra) and Kaku being more annoyed, but again I canāt really imagine anyone else taking this tone with Lucci and getting away with it while Kaku does it fairly often and Lucci never retorts or gets angry with him.
And while Kakuās not immune to taking Jabraās bait in the right circumstances, his typical tendency is to de-escalate situations if he can and here heās refusing to engage despite being deliberately called outā¦and Lucci, without being asked, immediately takes his side and defends his choice.
This is practically the next panel and while both Lucci and Jabra are kind of equally at fault for this little display, Kaku only berates Jabra for it while Kalifaās directing her comments at both of them.
Now that Iām actually looking for these sorts of things itās becoming more obvious, but again we have Lucci and Kaku in an equal position to each other at the front of CP9.
This isnāt just to Kaku since Kalifaās there as well, but Lucciās still encouraging them to eat the fruits and I have to believe itās coming from a place of good faith because heād know whether or not being able to swim is that big an issue in their profession. I also want to note that Kaku echoes Lucciās āitāll be funā line when he actually does eat his fruit, so obviously that resonated with him.
Iāve put these two together because they both highlight the same thing, that being in both of these sequences we get almost all of CP9 giving out their individual thoughts/comments on whatās happening but Kakuās statement both times is a direct reply to what Lucci says, so again the two of them are paired off in a way that doesnāt include anyone else there.Ā
The only other thing of note in this section is that while Robinās talking about what happened during the Buster Call on Ohara, Kaku and Lucci are the only CP9 members to kind ofā¦break formation and actually look at her while sheās speaking, which is interesting.
And for the rest of Enies Lobby they arenāt together so thereās not too much more to say here other than Kaku of course being the one to have the actual key to Robinās cuffs, but itās never made explicit who came up with that plan or handed out the keys soā¦if I ever actually do the thing and write a full analysis of Kakuās character we can talk about it then Lark youāve been saying youāll do this for years IF I EVER--
Interlude - CP9ās Independent Report
Besides the fact that this is still one of my favorite cover stories, thereās a couple of noteworthy things here, the first of which is that Kaku again is taking the lead. Even though heās the only other CP9 member other than Lucci to be injured badly enough that he canāt walk on his own, heās still the one directing them where to go.
Other than that, I love seeing all of them justā¦interacting like friends and being very relaxed and casual, and pretty much every panel where Kaku and Lucci are together theyāre directly beside each other so Iāve included a bunch of those here.
Dressrosa & Egghead
The next time we see Lucci and Kaku is at the end of Dressrosa, where theyāve been promoted to CP0 Oda can we please get some explanation of how this happened and let me tell you, I remember this vividly because the spoilers at the time just said that Lucci was talking to āsomeoneā and when the raws came out you can bet I went right to the dialogue to see if it was Kaku because his way of speaking is so telling.
But even in this little scene, we can see theyāre having an equal conversation and thereās a major difference between how Lucciās speaking with Kaku and how he addresses Spandam mere seconds later.
After this we have the Reverie/Levely/what-even-is-this-thing-called arc where they get all of a single panel together and while itās the first time we actually āseeā Kaku after the time-skip, nothing really interesting regarding their relationship happens, so letās move on toā¦
The end of the colored manga! And Egghead.
We start with a very familiar situation: Lucci asking Kaku whatās going on, and while Kaku this entire arc seems more outwardly annoyed with Lucci than he ever was in the past (which is never really explained but then again, Lucci spends a lot of the arc doing things heās specifically been told not to do, so maybe itās understandableā¦), he still has all the information and relays it.
Though Kakuās also much more comfortable letting his real personality show despite them being on a mission while before he was always completely serious after the Water 7 reveal, especially around Lucci. It came through with Zoro and Jabra but during the cover story heās smiling and laughing a lot with Lucci right there so it makes sense heād be more willing to let his guard down even āon the jobā by now.
So hereās the first real instance of Lucci showing concern for Kaku, something which escalates pretty quickly throughout the arc. Itās subtle, and though heās framing it as a suggestion to Stussy, if he didnāt care at all he wouldnāt have said anything.Ā
At this point itās fairly obvious that Lucci and Kaku donāt really have any authority difference between them and Kaku spends a lot of time in this chapter especially telling Lucci to Not Do The Thing. Anyone thatās ever lived with a cat knows how well this works.
Iāve always found this bit of dialogue particularly interesting because Kakuās very openlyā¦praising Sentomaru for choosing his loyalty to Vegapunk over assisting the government, and thereās no way Lucci doesnāt hear him say this but he doesnāt say anything in return. Thereās no real evidence that Lucci knows about Kaku willingly giving up the key to Zoro or how conflicted he was about Paulie and everyone else, but this seems to imply that at the very least, even if he doesnāt share those sentiments, he wouldnāt think less of Kaku because of it.
Putting these two together since theyāre in the same scene but at this point itās not even subtle concern anymore, Lucciās genuinely worried for Kaku and you can tell this caught him off-guard.
Kakuās the first one to suggest working together but Lucci immediately backs him up and goes with the idea. Itās logical in the sense that itāll give them the biggest chance to survive, but willingly working with pirates isnāt exactly the sort of thing that Lucci, especially in the past, would have so easily done regardless of the situation.
So at this point itās becoming clear that this whole 4-v-2 section is supposed to be the mostā¦light-hearted thing going on right now and a lot of it is played to be comedic, including Lucciās inability to lie, but yet again thereās almost nobody else that could get away with scolding him the way Kakuās doing here.
ā¦And then we skip ahead a day and things happen that I really hope get explained at some point because they seem important, but while Lucciās never going to have impeccable bedside manner, heās very concerned with getting Kaku to rest and while Kakuās trying to justify what happened Lucci really doesnāt seem to care about that. Itās a big departure from him being willing to write off anyone he deems ātoo weakā and itās a nice character moment.
Iād mentioned on my liveblog that some of the things Lucci was doing after this point were confusing, but if you look at them through the lens of him wanting to protect Kaku, it makes a lot more sense. Yes, heās deliberately keeping him out of the loop, but Lucci I think has decided that heās going to throw caution to the wind and act alone since if Kaku canāt prove he knew about the plan, heās probably safer being left with the Strawhats, and if the Marines show up he should be safe anyway or so Lucci thinksā¦
When this chapter came out, Iād said something about Lucci being a hypocrite considering what the rest of CP9 did for him when they could have easily just left him at Enies Lobby, but given what happens almost directly after and likely what heās trying to do with this entire fight, these words feel even less genuineā¦
And that brings us to this. The moment that Iāve been thinking about for almost an entire week now. The moment that, looking back atā¦oh, wowā¦almost 3000 words of analysis maybe shouldnāt be as surprising as it was for most of us, but it does feel like the payoff for a long, long buildup thatās taken nearly twenty years to reach. Because really, thereās no other way to describe them other than āpartnersā, and probably hasnāt been for a long timeā¦and Iām so glad that Lucci acknowledged it.
To summarize, I think what surprised me most about re-visiting all of this is how much the manga has framed them as equals since the beginning even though it was never explicitly stated between the characters themselves. Lucciās always been far more lenient with Kaku than with anyone else, and Kaku in turn has never had any fear of Lucci even if he wasnāt really expressing his true self with him for a long time.
The cover story being the turning point makes perfect sense, and the progression throughout Egghead of Lucci being more outwardly willing to show his concern and Kaku not hiding his emotions at all seems like a natural progression of their relationship and their level of comfort around each other.
And the fact that Oda is never reallyā¦hitting us over the head with any of it until that final moment when Lucci says everything so plainly because Kakuās life is the most important thing to him even when faced with a literal monsterā¦ Itās so effective.Ā
I donāt know where we go from here. To be honest, Iām kind of scared of where we go from here. But regardless of the outcome, I hope this little essay has been at the very least interesting and perhaps allowed you to look at these two in a different light.
i know the fandom likes to think that kaku started claiming to like giraffes because that's what he got so he's making the best of a bad situation but me n @bananawanis were talking about how funny it would be if he absolutely LOVES giraffes. his favorite animal was always the giraffe. kaku morphed giraffe and he was like YES! YES! FUCK YES! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! and then everyone started making fun of him. his life is pain.
