I've been extremely excited to see chapter 995 animated because I fell in love with that one Nami scene ever since I first read it a year ago.
Yet, when I saw the episode I felt the scene wasn't as impactful as I remembered it to be. So decided to go over the original panels and share why I love them so much!
1) Nami never denies Luffy's dream.
I know the translation had Nami say "Luffy will never be able to..." to give us the idea she will follow Ulti's demand! But in Japanese, because the negative of a sentence is made at the end, Nami never really says "Luffy will never be-"
Her words are ルフィは 海賊王 には なります... 絶対に/Luffy wa kaizoku ou ni wa narimasu... zettai ni.
What Ulti expected her to say probably was "Luffy wa kaizoku ou ni wa narimasen" which translates to "Luffy will not be pirate king".
In fact, until Nami finishes her sentence Ulti, Usopp, and the reader don't know if she's going to deny Luffy's dream or not!
It's possible she intended to, but simply couldn't bring herself to do it.
She then adds "絶対に" (absolutely; definitly; unconditionally) which emphasizes how certain she is, how much she believes he will do it!
2) Worthless Pride
Throughout One Piece Nami is probably that one main character who isn't bothered by lying about how she truly feels, especially if that will keep her alive.
A good example of this happens during Skypiea - While everyone present challenges Enel and is consequently left unconscious Nami immediately reverts to her old self and asks Enel to take her with him!
While most straw hats would rather die then throw away their pride, Nami is usually shown complaining about their worthless pride, and how those futile feelings will get them killed.
So it's peak character growth for her to have this moment - for her to so certainly declare her belief in Luffy and his dream, even at the cost of her own life.
In this scene, Nami picks death instead of living with the weight of denying Luffy's dream. Nami from 900 chapters ago wouldn't have hesitated to talk her way around this situation, to protect her life over anything else.
But here, Nami has something far more important at stake than her life - Luffy's dream, and that worthless pride.
(masterpost)