Can we take a moment to talk about chapter 912??
Can we talk about this panel ?? ↑ ↑ ↑
This chapter 912 is really important because it’s the first time someone talks about Ace without any context and so Luffy is unprepared, he wasn’t expecting to hear his brother’s name here and I always wondered how he would react to it. I’m really glad to see that he clearly overcame the pain and is able to keep his composure in such situations. That’s a good thing because there’s no doubt that future enemies will use his brother’s death as a pressure point to break him.
But this is not the point I’m trying to reach here, he straight up tells her that Ace is dead so she don’t keep hoping for nothing. He’s dead and there’s no point anymore in waiting for him, that’ll hurt her but this was the good way to get over with it. Pain is temporary.
The most important part of this dialogue, in my view, is that he don’t tell her that he’s Ace’s brother. There’s no point in doing that.
Look at Tama’s reaction when she wakes up:
She’s clearly sad and upset but Luffy never stops or contradict her. It’s quite the opposite in fact, he just acts as if she was the only one to hurt between the two. Because, let’s be honest, surely Tama met Ace and he became quite important for her, but it’s nothing compared to Luffy and Ace’s relationship of litteral brothers. And Luffy knows that. But he don’t want to lessen the importance of the two’s (Ace & Tama) relationship by revealing his filiation with Ace.
If he confessed it to Tama, she would immediatly feel bad, who wouldn’t? Because she claims that he can’t understand what she feels. And we all know that it’s false. But Luffy don’t want to make her feel more bad that she actually is, so he don’t say a word. He don’t want to minimise Tama’s pain by bringing his own up, because who is he to decree that someone’s pain and feelings are less important than his? It’s not in his nature to complain about his life and if Tama wants and needs to be sad and express it, then so be it. He’ll gladly shut it and hide it as long as he can.
And last but not least: He let Tama wear his hat! Which, we all know, is something that hardly ever happens. To me, it feels like he “accepts” Ace’s legacy on her and silently promise to take care of her instead of his brother. “If Ace can’t do it anymore, then I’ll do it.” This is what I feel when I see that. He trusts her and, as they both share the same pain, he’ll always consider her as trustworthy and important. I feel like Tama will be a really important character in Wano Arc, not only in terms of help/guide on the island but also on an emotional and spiritual level.
To conclude: Luffy is an incredible, thoughtful and attentive character and has a gift when it comes to understand someone and their feelings. He’s not as stupid as some thought and is very clever when he wants to!
