The Shot That Shattered My Doubt
Everyone who loves One Piece has that one scene. The moment they realized, "Oh... I would die for this. One Piece has taken my heart, and I am utterly captivated."
For many, it's the Walk to Arlong Park, or the farewell to Vivi, or Luffy's scream, or the sake cup breaking. There are so many iconic moments, later in the story or in a random episode that stuck with you—any moment that suddenly opened up a whole new level of love for this story and its characters.
For me, it will always be the moment Usopp and Franky save Robin on the bridge.
Before that, I could admit that, yes, I liked One Piece. It was a good anime and a wonderful manga, and I enjoyed it... but in that moment... I just... Oh. I love this story. It will live with me forever.
So, let me tell you about it in detail.
Because, unfortunately, I don't see many people giving this specific moment the attention it deserves.
In One Piece is episode 301.
15+ minutes.
The Enies Lobby arc.
The moment when Usopp shoots from the Judiciary Tower and saves Robin.
Seriously.
Let me tell you about it.
Straw Hats are fighting for her, but I think somewhere deep down, she still didn't truly expect them to actually save her.
But she started to fight and resist.
"They are promised" "i should stay here" "they save me". She believed
But Spandam destroys it.
Spandam is dragging her across the bridge. It's a big, empty bridge.
From the Judiciary Tower to the Gates. And we were told many times, here are the Gates, and once you cross them, your life is over, no one can save you.
He's literally dragging her– pulling her along the ground. She's resisting.
She's damn well biting into the stone with her teeth. She wants to live now, but she's in despair, fear, and pain.
She is alive.
All of her Nakama, all the people she wants to live for, are there in the Tower, fighting to get to her.
She's already heard Spandam call out the Buster Call and her Nakama on that island. And Robin is fighting to buy them time to save her. To delay, to stop them. She's sinking her teeth into the stone.
She's fighting. But it's all in vain. And then they cross the bridge.
She thinks, 'they promised to save me.'
Then she realizes she can't fight anymore and just cries from the hurt and resentment.
Because in this moment, she learns that the man who isn't dragging her to her execution is the son of the man who came to burn her home down. She sees the explosion at the start of the bridge, where Franky was following her, and she thinks he didn't survive, that he was coming for her and he blew up. And Spandam laughs..
She feels the inevitability.
Because what's the point of her dream now? If you look at the despair on her face, on her emotions, you'd think she's thinking too much, that this is repeating and she won't be saved. She's in despair and horror.It is the end.
They promised...but.. what if they just can't? It's impossible.
They are not here. They can't save her.
No hope.
They are one step away from the Gates, crossing which means her end.
One step. And there's no one around. She just cries.
No one around.
You see? No save. No hope.
And then a bullet flies past her and Spandam is sent flying. There's no one on the bridge. All the marines around her are shot down. Bullets are flying.
She's a step away from the end. And she's saved.
She stand on her knees, and marins falls arond her. One step from the end.
That look? She looks at the Tower and realizes it's Usopp standing there. From an impossible distance – he saved her.
look at the distance !
(Red lines - usopp bullets)
But again. Look at the distance. You see? It was impossible
it is not far far away... it's far far far far far away.
Please, see it. It was impossible, but ...Usopp did it. He save her.
And she cries from relief.
Before this, she had already come to believe that she wanted to live. That she had a choice and a desire to live. She admitted it. She confessed her dream. She asked for help..
But in that moment, in that moment, she believed that she could be saved. That it wasn't impossible.
She cries and her facial expression is just awful. She smile.
And I think at that moment she truly believed that she could be saved.
Because it's impossible for someone to shoot and hit from such a distance. But here... her Nakama is doing it for her and they are here.
They are here.
it is impossible. And they here.
And she has a flashback of Saul, who told her she would find Nakama.
And look, she's still that same child.
She is still the same. She has the exact same expression on her face as when Saul said his last words.
Saul's last words were, 'Run without looking back. Run. Run towards your Nakama.'
And before, Robin ran without looking back. She ran from Saul and her home. But now?Now she is just as helpless as that eight-year-old girl.
And she sees her Nakama. Their silhouettes. Usopp, Sanji, Zoro. They are there.
She gets up and runs with all her might.
Towards her Nakama.
And marins shoot at her.
And she just stands alone on the bridge. She didn't fall and she froze, because she saw the bullets racing towards her.
And horror and fear, she's about to be shot in the back. And here it is again. An impossible salvation.
Franky literally stands between her and the bullets. The bullets whistle past, land around her, but not a single one touches her. Franky takes them all.
By the way, look at how gigantic Franky's shadow is here compared to Robin. She is so small here.
And she didn't believe that she alive. Again.
look at here. You understand me? Why it hit so hard.
Another moment, Usopp saw Franky just before the shot, and didn't shoot himself. I think, at that same moment, he believed that Franky would protect Robin and decided to throw them the red pouch. I have no doubt that Usopp could have stopped those bullets too, but he decided not to, because he noticed that Franky was already there.
And after that. The Keys. The red pouch, right there next to her. In the haze from the bullets.
Her Nakama found all the keys for her and found a way to deliver them to her. And they freed her. They saved her.
They saved her
They found all keys. And saved her. Look. She didn't believe. Shouk. And this sparkl in her eyes.
They saved her.
She ask for help, she admits that she wants live. And now? It happened.
there's also the Transponder Snail.
And she hears Usopp. And Usopp says. 'Don't thank me, you're our Nakama after all.'
And her smile and that little chuckle in that moment?
That's everything to me.
Literally just five minutes ago she was being dragged in chains to her end.
It was hopeless, but they saved her. They really did it. And she truly believed in this. Here.
Seriously, if I hadn't loved One Piece before, this is the moment I realized, I would die (live) for this story, it's that good.
P.S. The lines are most likely not verbatim, since I didn't watch One Piece in English and don't know the official translations.· I would like to give you screenshots from the manga, but again... I don't have the English version. For reference, it's Volume 43, Chapter 419. And it's not as dramatic there. I like 6 pages?
anime (Episode 301.)