#ch488

[opbackgrounds]

I try to imagine what it would feel like for Brook to know that Luffy wants to hear the last song his crew sang. This whole flashback is pure catharsis for him, not just mourning the death of his former crew, but celebrating their life, which I'm sure is why Oda literally called this chapter Song of Life

[every-sanji]

[everychojuro]

[opbackgrounds]

I love the framing of this panel, with the last remaining members of the Rumbar Pirates bracketed on each side by swords, symbolizing their upcoming demise. It's gorgeous and tragic, with great use of negative space that really helps hammer home Brook's question.

The Rumbar Pirates singing as they die reminds me a lot of the musicians on the Titanic who played until the ship sank to help keep the passengers calm as they loaded the lifeboats.

[opbackgrounds]

Out of all the terrible and sad things that's happened this arc, Brook mentioning that he's left playing the accompaniment hits me the hardest. To play the accompaniment by itself lends a song to a very specific feeling of incompleteness. It's always supposed to be in the background, not noticed compared to the main melodies and harmonies, which represents Brook's crew as much as it does Bink's Sake itself.

Togetherness and camaraderie are integral parts of the series, and it's interesting to see how Oda plays with isolation and loneliness in different ways with different characters. Unlike Chopper or Robin, Brook was never rejected by his peers--they were ripped away from him by circumstances beyond his control. And because of that he's left playing one part of a song that he's used to being performed by an orchestra of his dearest friends. That adds a welcome dimension to a theme we've seen explored throughout the entire series.

Brook is eighty-eight years old; he has an entire lifetime of experience and adventure behind him. Despite that, he doesn't sink into the mires of his past, and instead jumps at the chance at new adventures and new friends, knowing that there's a risk that they, too, might die. That takes a very specific kind of courage that the older I get find myself appreciating more and more.

[opbackgrounds]

I don't ask for stuff like this often, but I've been wanting to get to Bink's Sake for ages for this specific reason. I'd love if you reblog with a link or shout out to your favorite versions of Bink's Sake. I don't care the language or the instrumentation. I want to hear them all.

Here are my two favorites:

[opbackgrounds]

There are several different theories out there about how Bink's Sake is important to finding the One Piece, but if nothing else it has become thematically relevant to some of the more recent revelations in the manga.

There's also an interesting SBS at the end of the next chapter where Oda says he had the music written well ahead of the Thriller Bark arc, which I think adds credence that it will be important down the road

[opbackgrounds]

It must be an utterly bizarre feeling to play your own requiem