Mar 31, 2022
There’s something very wholesome about the Going Merry loving her crew even though they knew jack all about how to best take care of her
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There’s something very wholesome about the Going Merry loving her crew even though they knew jack all about how to best take care of her
Oda did say in an SBS that Nami was one of the Straw Hats responsible for haircuts for the crew
I appreciate that none of the people who talk about the Going Merry approach the problem of whether or not to fix her the same way. The Galley La lads make the point that they could theoretically rebuild the Merry, but it wouldn’t be the same ship and the Straw Hats would be better served investing in a better ship for the seas ahead. When Luffy rejects that, Iceburg--the quintessential good leader--points out how irresponsible that decision is for a captain to make.
Then, after seeing the effects of Usopp getting beat to hell and back Luffy realizes he doesn’t want to see his crew be in a position where they might get hurt or die, so he decides to replace the ship. Usopp, projecting his own insecurities and armed with the knowledge that the Merry is somewhat sentient, refuses to abandon a friend in a state of weakness.
Now Franky is saying that any ship that can’t sail isn’t actually a ship. Which maybe is an argument that shouldn’t be extrapolated much farther, but even after hearing Usopp admit he knew about the damage and the klabauterman is able to turn his argument on its head: By holding on so tightly, Usopp’s essentially throwing the Merry’s warning and sacrifice back in its face.
Usopp (and to a lesser extent Luffy) isn’t battered with the same logic over and over again, each person brings a different dimension to the subject that makes sense with their position and world view within the story
Fun fact, the article on the One Piece wiki for Klabautermann is 614 words, whereas the article on regular wikipedia on Klabautermann is only 558, with a decent chunk of that dedicated to its depiction in One Piece
The eyes might not lie, but they can be (willfully) closed, and that’s been Usopp’s problem this entire time
It’s an interesting character beat that Franky’s okay with Usopp going down with his ship, so long as he’s doing it with his eyes wide open. I feel like this stems from his decision to basically do the same thing when he faced off against the sea train after Tom’s arrest
I feel like Usopp immediately going to fix the Merry after Franky shows him how broken it really is is a slight but subtle shift in how he’s been portrayed thus far. During his argument with Luffy Usopp was prideful and argumentative, but right now he just seems...pathetic. You can see how much he’s straining over the weight of his own delusion.
And while it’s not impossible to write a character who’s acting pathetic, it’s almost impossible to keep them sympathetic. I think Oda makes the right choice in not dwelling here, almost immediately shifting into the admission that Usopp knew all along that the Merry wasn’t salvageable. This is his lowest point, and with that bit of acceptance he’s able to make the slow track into positive character development.