So, I've been getting back into One Piece. It's not that I stopped liking it, after all, life just happened, and it's continuing to happen but now with more free time and I thought hey remember when you put over 1000 episodes of your life into a show? Do you maybe want to find out how that went? And *sigh* Okay, yeah I guess I do.....
And oh my God you guys....
[To the utter shock of precisely no one, I think I might enjoy this character.]
Look at him, this complete and utter asshole.
Here is this legendary beauty, this noble samurai princess with a magical sword—a literal historical relic, the manifestation of her beloved father’s legacy, 20 years of poisoned grief, and the only weapon to ever carve through the indestructible scales of a tyrannical dragon god. It is a moment dripping with cosmic, mythic destiny. Hiyori is practically handing him the keys to the entire future of Wano.
And Zoro looks at this priceless, sacred instrument of multi-generational revolution and immediately calls no backsies.
[No, that's literally what happens.]
I love him so much.
Take a moment just to imagine the staggering amounts of raw audacity required to stand there in that bamboo forest and mentally lock the trade down like a shady marketplace vendor and then remember that all of this is happening while the world burnzs around them.
Just take a second to really think of how this looks from the inside:
Wano: Take this, the ultimate symbol of our fallen king's legacy, a blade like no other, one that can slice through hell, perhaps even through this very hell they're trapped in, finally liberating the country and its people.
Zoro: A deal's a deal. I handed over Shusui, you handed over this purple one. No returns, no exchanges, the receipt has been shredded. If your brother comes back and asks for it, straight up: I don't know you. This is my sword, it has always been my sword as far as they're concerned.
Because you can trick him out of sword exactly one time, and Wano, he REALLY liked Shusui.
To Zoro, it doesn't matter that this moment is taken straight from the oral tradition of epic heroes and world defining quests. He doesn't even register the full emotional weight. The second that sword tried to violently suck the Haki straight out of his arm and leave him a withered husk, his didn't stumble over the weighty realization that, "wow, what a sacred responsibility". He was far too busy with, "Oh, this one has a personality. She's mine now."
[Not HER obviously; that's a human being, she doesn't belong to anyone. Why you gotta be a creep about it? Now let him go back to whispering to this piece of heat shaped metal in the middle of this mediative bamboo forest like a normal person.]
I think we can legally count his Sword Obsession as an addiction
It really highlights the beautiful, unhinged purity of his character design. Anyone else in the entire One Piece universe would be on one knee, delivering a solemn vow to honor the Kozuki clan's legacy, and they would be right to do so. The show would let you know, these are good and honorable people doing the right thing.
But they're not the only ones doing good, and it's not the only way to do so, and so genuinely think One Piece does a brilliant job at showing that, repeatedly, There are multiple paths there are multiple paths to being a good person, it's not a universal truth but an individual journey.
Zoro is a weapons savant. To him, interpersonal relationships, royal bloodlines, and ancient prophecies are just white noise distracting him from his true passion: acquiring heavier, angrier pieces of metal to put in his mouth.
Zoro's combat intelligence is very underrated within the One Piece fandom.
In Alabasta, when the crew realised that Mr.2 could copy anyone's appearance, it was Zoro the one who came up with the idea of all of them having matching tattoos so they can identify the real crew members anytime:
On Dressrosa, he was the one who figured out how Pica's powers worked when he & Luffy faced him:
On the same arc, he's the one who figures out how to slow down the birdcage and thanks to everyone following his lead, they all succeed to their task:
When he fought King on Wano, he realised how his opponent's flames indicated his durability and his speed:
Why Skypiea Is Still My Favorite Arc - Reading One Piece For The First Time
I will find any excuse to talk about Skypiea in anything I post, so please enjoy this post where I do nothing but talk about Skypiea.
The Crew Actually Talks To Each Other
Skypiea does something I sincerely miss in later arcs, it has the crew actually interact with each other in unique groupings and duos that bring out different parts of their personality.
We get Zoro, Robin, and Nami (Plus Chopper for a tiny bit)
We get Sanji, Usopp, and Luffy
We get Nami and Luffy
We get Sanji and Usopp
We get Nami, Usopp, and Sanji
We get Robin, Chopper, Zoro, and Luffy
They all interact with each other and through those interactions we get absolutely amazing characterization, we get to see them use their abilities together in new ways, and we get some really funny bits man.
My favorite thing about One Piece at its core are the Straw Hats themselves and the care they have for one another. This arc in particular gives them so much time to shine and further their relationships with one another.
Characterization Reigns Supreme
Oh some of my all time favorite moments come from this arc and it’s because of how much what we get that encapsulates these character’s best qualities.
I know everyone and their mother loves “Nothing Happened” (me included don’t get me started) but to me we get character moments that are just as good as that here in a similar vein:
• “Nothing Scary Happened” - Chopper
There is actually so much great stuff with Chopper in this arc who literally does pull a "nothing happened" before Zoro did haha
He actually tries so hard to be brave in this one, and we really see him try his best to handle things himself after this moment. So much of Chopper's story is about how him being inspired by the people around him and trying to emulate that, and we get so much of that in this arc.
• “I Needed A Light” - Sanji
This literally is one of many Sanji moments that show his selflessness, his heroism, and also just his coolness. Sanji saves the girl he simps over, saves his friend who he dragged along with him, gets one over on the dude who calls himself God by doing something smart, and still manages to get a killer line out before dropping to the floor. THATS A MAN. And more importantly that's just Sanji's character in a nutshell.
• “I Want A Lot Of Things” - Nami
I've talked about this one before and what an amazing moment it is for Nami. If anyone skips this arc, they are truly missing some of the best stuff she's ever gotten. It truly highlights who Nami is really beyond the gags and her greed (which for the record I love, more women should be greedy).
• “Zoro How Could This Happen” - Luffy
Literally this one Luffy line characterizes Zoro better than half the stuff we get in other arcs. Zoro isn't even conscious for this line, yet it manages to convey the entirety of his character. He is strong, he is dependable, he is a protector, and both he and his captain in himself to do that. Which is why it's so jarring to see him "fail" in this moment.
All of these are standout moments for these characters that are representative of who they are, the roles they play on the crew, and the way they’ve developed since we first met them.
Beyond these bigger moments we get smaller moments too that I think highlight aspects of the characters that get lost sometimes. For example, Zoro catching Robin's body even though he's been the most suspicious of her and least accepting of her from the crew and Nami saying it's her turn to do the protecting after Enel takes out Sanji and Usopp.
Every single one of them get both large and small moments to really shine. I adore looking back at this arc because there's just countless things like that. Like the Nami moment in particular could easily make a favorites list of mine and it's like one panel.
The Crew Actually Gets To Be Pirates
This is something I took for granted when I read Skypiea, but I cherish it even more now in hindsight. The crew wanted to STEAL. They actually wanted to do what pirates do and take some damn treasure.
Let them commit crimes Oda!!
Once again I know the bonfire scene has been made retroactively important for other reasons, but I adore it for what it originally was too just a group of pirates celebrating and reveling in their plans to commit highway robbery of ancient treasure.
Ending party scenes have the weight of them having saved an entire island usually, it's done in thanks and celebration of what they've done for others.
This particular scene is just for them.
The ending bit of them still stealing the gold and thinking that the Skypiea people are after them because they're upset (instead of wanting to give them a giant pillar of gold) is extremely funny, but I appreciate it even more because it's one of the few times we get to see them be a little morally dubious and have some criminal fun.
World Building Is Hot
Look I know now that Skypiea is like one of the most important arcs ever retroactively, but even when I first read it this stood out to me. Skypiea makes the world feel so much larger.
This is the first place we are being introduced to new mythologies, new technology, and new abilities. "Mantra" is such a huge part of what happens during this arc, and it seriously introduces us to a world of possibility for what people can be capable of in this world.
The dial technology adds new challenges and also introduces Usopp to new technology that he will use in the future.
Mantra is obviously something we see by a different name later on and it becomes hugely important to the story, but in this moment in Skypiea it's one of the biggest hurdles the crew has faced. They are adapting to this new ability as the arc goes on and we get to see them improve at fighting it.
There is so much history introduced through the Noland flashback that gives the world so much more weight, we understand even better that there are centuries of history before we even step foot on this island. It makes for a richer world after we leave here.
We also get the first mention of the POSEIDON
Side Characters Actually Rule
I'm not even kidding that Skypiea has some of the best side characters we've ever been introduced to and the themes that are delivered through them are some of the best as well.
Literally the Noland and Kalgara flashback alone deserves a grammy, an Emmy, an Oscar. Give it all the flowers and awards. That is prime storytelling at it's finest.
But, I think characters like Conis, Wyper, and Gan Fall are super amazing too.
A character like Gan Fall who realizes the role he played in a very messed up system and tries to make amends for it with the people he harmed? Dude. Some stories today still wouldn't do that.
The scene of Conis with a bazooka alone is like character defining, but I think it is so impactful how she shows kindness and empathy to people that did not show her the same. She knows she is going to be shunned and ignored, but she keeps doing what is right and needs to be done to help others.
Wyper is literally carrying generational weight on his shoulders and the reveal of that literally does so much to change the perspective of his character. He's hotheaded and stubborn, but you fully understand why. He is faced with the truth of his people's legacy and with trying to help that legacy continue in a better world for them.
These side characters to me are so developed and work wonderfully alongside the Straw Hats to actually convey what this arc is about. That's something that not every arc can manage as well as this one in my opinion.
Overall:
There is so much about Skypiea that in my opinion makes it a standout arc and makes it easily my favorite even amongst other standouts like Marineford and Whole Cake which also rank extremely highly with me.
To me it manages a balance between introducing us to so much lore, technology, and history while still using that to further develop the characters and themes that were already introduced in the story.
It has some of my favorite moments in the series as a whole, and it's the arc that I am most excited to see once I start the anime soon.
I could talk even more about Enel and how formidable and great of a villain he is but like this post is already so long. lol
I really really love this arc, and I am so sad that anyone would want to skip it when there's so much good in it.
Zoro and Sanji dating for like 5 months and the whole time Zoro makes it sound like he's a single father of 3 kids. So Sanji kind of operates on that. He's trying to make himself seem impressive and responsible, showing off how good he is with kids. He REALLY wants to be involved and accepted in every part of Zoro's life.
Then finally, Zoro invites Sanji to his apartment. Sanji is looking around. The apartment is pretty bare bones. Lawn chair instead of a couch. No dining table to be seen. Outdated laptop on top of a milk crate. The kitchen is small and looks barely used aside from the stove top and toaster and microwave. The fridge is cluttered with magnets that he remembers Luffy gifting but that's it. Protein powder and what looks like gummy vitamins sit together on the counter. It's very clean—so pretty much zero evidence of children living here whatsoever. Sanji is confused. Even more so when Zoro says "they aren't usually hiding when I get home. Must've already known you were coming, they're kind of shy." As he's going to a cabinet and shaking a plastic container of tiny brown squares.
And then out runs two cats, another sauntering in. And Sanji is just. He's broken. Because he thought they were human children. Because Zoro would mention how one threw up in her bed and sulked for an hour straight, the other wakes him up every morning by smacking him in the face, and the third one, the youngest, just turned four.
Zoro carries a handful of cats over to the living room floor, Sanji follows mindlessly. And he just sits there. Not even listening to Zoro as he introduces them. His brain is broken right now. Because all this time, his boyfriend is just a dedicated cat person. Well get ready for the next surprise because remember how he said his apartment is a two bedroom? He doesn't have a roommate, oh no. No, the cats all have a room to themselves and it's the most decorated room in the entire apartment. Like Zoro doesn't even own an actual bedframe, it's just an old mattress on a wooden pallet. Meanwhile, there are two cat towers, dozens of plastic springs, several cat beds, designated food bowls and water bowls....
And guess what? Somehow this all just makes Sanji love Zoro more ♥️
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