Civilians suffering at the hands of the marines, again! If I remember correctly, this kind of behavior is next portrayed by…Arlong! Now what kind of parallel does that create? The reasons behind their motivations are completely different, and yet they come to the same conclusion: oppressing the weak for their personal gain. Now, this negative portrayal of the marines is entirely put on Captain Morgan’s shoulders, with the only source of nuance being the cowardly marine officers’ obedience to their cruel leader, with a few exceptions. This doesn’t serve as a critique of their entire organization, and such critique won’t appear before much later in the manga, but remembering that this is our first experience with the marines is key to understanding the nature of their corps - sure, their mission is grand and a character with a pure heart such as Koby can believe in it, but this kind of power can easily lead to abuse.
First manga mention of regret! If I remember correctly, in the anime, or at least in the French dub, Luffy is actually the one who mentions living without regrets first. But in this manga translation, it’s Zoro! This serves to show how complementary these two are. Truly a great fit. Also, Luffy’s own kind of hard headed is portrayed here…what a persistent guy…
This one’s here to remind us: the theme of treasure is extremely present in those first few chapters. It’s a theme that is somewhat lost in the future, or diluted I should say, as the lore becomes more complicated and the story takes many turns…but treasure is extremely important, after all, Luffy’s dream is to find a specific treasure. I find it interesting here that Zoro mentions that his dearest treasure is his life. This is gonna be important for many events in the future, in particular his sacrifice in Thriller Bark. This reminds me of a certain post by @opbackgrounds that touches up on the subject of Sanji’s attempt at taking Zoro’s place against Kuma’s attack. Truly, Zoro’s value of his own life plays a big role in that major event.
It is so great to see how strongly Koby believes in Luffy’s dream. It’s even more heartwarming when you remember that Luffy believes in Koby’s dream as well - he even shows a great deal of motivation in dismantling Morgan’s operation for making Koby’s dream of joining the marines « look bad ».
Again, on the subject of making dreams « look bad » : Zoro scolds Kuina for saying that she’ll grow weaker as she ages, because it implies that he’ll naturally beat her one day, instead of beating her through sheer will and strength. He even says that beating her is his dream, and that she’s making him look bad. The importance of dreams remains. Additionally, the weight of promises is introduced…Zoro’s promise to Kuina, which he plans on fulfilling with his life on the line VS Helmeppo easily breaking his promise to release him. Good guys keep their promises!
