#ch344

[pardon-my-scifi]

He looks like if Aizawa and a ninja had a kid. I like Shinsou's costume the most, I think. It's the most feasible. It doesn't limit movement, it has armor and protection on all his vital points, and everything has a purpose. It's perfect for what he needs. It's lightweight and slim so he can get in and out of places quickly and quietly. It's not loud and in your fave so he can hide in the shadows.

[opbackgrounds]

This exchange between Iceburg and Robin goes a long way in showing some of the more insidious evil of the World Government’s propaganda machine. Iceburg is a good dude, he has personal reasons not to trust the WG, and yet he believes the story of the Ohara devils. Probably, in part, because Tom was also worried about the potential danger Robin was to the world, but still. Ohara was known as one of the greatest academic institutions in the world, only for that reputation to go up in smoke just because the Government said so.

After all, what but the most terrible criminals could justify destroying an entire island? They had to be searching for the weapons, or else the display of force doesn’t make sense. 

[ushijimaenthusiast]

poor asahi he just can’t escape his mature looks

[opbackgrounds]

Another thing Oda does a really good job of this arc is filtering character’s actions through the lens of their individual beliefs and values. Iceburg’s opinions on weapons and weapon systems is something he believes in very strongly even as a young man, with the death of Tom only solidifying his view on the matter. Franky, obviously, has always felt very differently, and in the end turns himself into a human weapon. What trips Iceburg up is then he goes so far as to say that Robin should forget learning about history if there’s even a chance of the Ancient Weapons being revived, when that’s never been her intention.

Also, the symbolism of Iceburg literally pointing a weapon at Robin as he says this is very on the nose, but nonetheless very effective. I would be remiss to not pointing out the parallels of the Ancient Weapons to nuclear technology, with the backup blueprints the shipwrights of Water 7 have kept essentially the “mutually assured destruction” option of military defense. 

[opbackgrounds]

When evaluating Robin’s choices during Water 7, I think it’s important to point out she didn’t actually know CP9 was going after the blueprints to an ancient weapon. She cooperated with the World Government fully knowing she’d be arrested, tortured, and executed, but not knowing that after years of killing anyone with any connection to the weapons, the WG had switched policies and was trying to awaken them for themselves. 

Robin makes it very clear that she’s willing to put the lives of the Straw Hats above literally everyone else in the world, but in the beginning I don’t think she realized that’s what she was actually doing.

[opbackgrounds]

She’s not wrong

[opbackgrounds]

Is Robin sticking her hand in the hammer to keep the gun from firing?

[opbackgrounds]

Why, he-llo foreshadowing!