It’s not a sake cup, but a bowl of soup is visually similar enough for me to count as a motif given that Ace is talking about family, especially with the prominence of the Asce tattoo in the first panel.
It’s not something I hear get talked about much, but One Piece repeatedly shows the birth of new connections, friends, and family being facilitated through the sharing of food and/or drink. It’s something Luffy puts a lot of emphasis in because he eats a lot, but it shows up enough beyond him for it to feel intentional. Which makes sense, because that’s how it works a lot in the real world, too, but imagine how different all the Straw Hat party scenes would feel if there wasn’t any feasting with newfound friends. It’s very much a part of the series’s identity.
