OMG, the little booger-fight between Luffy and Zoro is the most childish thing ever. Zoro doesn't often stoop to that sort of thing
This made me laugh really hard. My first time through the story, I didn't realize that Zoro was as dumb as the rest of them (excluding Nami, of course), until Little Garden. (At the time, it was so surprising to me that it's still one of my favorite fights.) But on this read-through, I was sort of surprised to see how obvious it is early on (even, as you pointed out, in the first volume when he says he got lost trying to get back to his village).
Sanji is like Usopp's protector/big brother
Aww, now I'm sad that I never noticed this (since the other friendship you mention is one of my favorites). I'll have to watch for it more carefully.
I keep forgetting that it was Mihawk who wrecked Krieg's armada shortly after it arrived on the Grand Line.I had TOTALLY forgotten about this; it makes Zoro's New World introduction make a lot more sense (and/or seem
( ... )
I don't want to get spoilery, [so I won't]but is New World an arc or a...reboot isn't the right word. I'm under the impression that New World is structured narratively like the start of a *new* story, with people talking about "introductions" for the characters that you've known for 60 volumes. Is it a fresh start of sorts? Has a goal been achieved and a new goal been set, and is that even possible if Luffy hasn't achieved his overarching goal of becoming King of the Pirates?
[Let's spoiler protect this whole thing] New World: yes, exactly. I don't know how much you want to know, but it does represent a reboot of sorts that begins at volume 61. (If you don't consider pictures of future crew members spoilers, compare the cover of volume 1 with the cover of volume 61. It doesn't show on the covers, but the title of Volume 1 is "Romance Dawn"; 61 is "Romance Dawn for the New World.") Not a reboot in the sense that anything that went before is lost, but everything is stepped up a notch, so to speak.
The New World is the second half of the Grand Line (literally, the Grand Line is bisected by a land mass at opposite ends of the globe), and only the strongest pirates make it that far. Completing the first half of the Grand Line definitely marked a milestone toward Luffy achieving his goal (which is still the same).
It's also a re-introduction in the sense that the Strawhats are reuniting after a period spent apart training, so they're all much stronger. "Zoro's New World introduction" means the first time we see Zoro after the break. I hope that wasn
( ... )
I have a weird bipolar reaction to spoilers. I don't seek out anything about Korra or Once Upon a Time on the internet because I don't want to spoiled, but I can't think of a single instance where someone revealing a "spoiler" has ever spoiled the text for me (s_vamp, Bleach; w_10_00, FMA...I think she's finally recovered from the horror). If all a story has going for it is surprise, it's not really worth my time.
I would reveal my biggest 1P spoiler just to let you know that you haven't exceeded it, but I think that should be saved for the chapter in which it appears. See you in....120 days? (total guessy math)
What does it mean to be King of the Pirates, anyway? Like, are there powers and authority or is it like Miss America?
minor point but re Sanji and Usopp, I tend to think of Usopp as Sanji's best friend, and Sanji as Usopp's best-friend-who-isn't-Luffy-and-who-is-mostly-sane (well, compared to Luffy). ^_^
SOOO much love for Zoro worrying that Luffy would be disappointed in him. "I'll never lose again!"
This is really touching. It's the one and only time we see Zoro cry in the series so far, I believe. For some reason he seems to be the only one to cry snotless tears - beautiful women included.
Sanji's insistence that a cook's job is to feed hungry people, no matter what
So much love for this. I don't know what the Japanese says, but in the English version, the specific contrast is between feeding people and judging them ("My job is to feed people, not to judge them"). I loved that line, but now that Zeff has dropped the hint there's a tragic starvation backstory for Sanji, it kind of makes less of an impression.
Another Sanji line I loved (there's something so intense about Sanji's delivery) was during the Mihawk battle where he shouts at Zoro, "It's easy! Abandon your stupid dream!" You just know Sanji has a dream he thinks he's abandoned, and that's why Zeff wants him off the ship (and pursuing his dream).
I wonder if Zeff's log book of his year on the Grand Line will crop back up at some point
Aww, I was hoping he would give it to Luffy. You spoiled me sadly.
I like Mihawk's haughty old-fashioned speech, though it's hard to understand.No hint of this in the English translation. At least not for this volume. Maybe
( ... )
Your comments make me so happy! I'm crossing my fingers that you continue to enjoy the reading process.
it kind of makes less of an impression
You will have to tell me what you think about this later. For me, knowing the backstory makes it more moving rather than less. But I see what you mean about it being admirable as pure principle.
You spoiled me sadly.
Sadness! It never occurred to me to think of that as a spoiler. ^_^;; (To be honest, I had forgotten about the logbook entirely.)
Maybe the translator improves with later Mihawk episodes.
I suspect that, like dialect, this sort of thing is better left untranslated. It might have just come across as silly if Mihawk were all "Thou art churlish, young knave." =P (In Japanese, he's using a combination of unusual vocabulary and verb endings that I vaguely recognize as closer to classical than modern.)
I kind of assumed it was a vow to the reader as well
In a way, I suppose it is.
Has Zoro lost any swordfights since this encounter?Swordfights? No
( ... )
Exactly! While I'm sure Sanji's backstory is going to move me to tears (everyone else's has, except Zoro and his stair-tripping girlfriend), it means that his principles are based on experience, rather than his actions being based on principles.
Do you have any other local libraries you can investigate?Once again, I learn that I know nothing about the world. I thought library privileges were limited to one's municipality and academic/professional associations. It never occurred to me that I could get borrowing privileges at any public library in my state
( ... )
I have been pretty impressed with how widely I'm allowed to borrow (any town in the whole of CT? really?) and with the fact that there doesn't seem to be a limit on how many books one can borrow at once. This is definitely encouraging me to make more use of the library. (I have tried using libraries in the past, but have usually run up against the barrier of them not having the books I actually want to read -- my tastes run to books of a sort that are not all that popular, or sustainable for public libraries with limited budgets.)
Sympathies on the lack of parking lots. I am lucky to have a lot of suburban mall rat libraries around me, so driving and parking are easy.
I don't know if this applies in CA, but in CT, not only can you borrow from any library, you can return the books to any town/branch library within the state. Still, you'd have to make the trip to pick them up in the first place.
Volume 14 is neither too cliffhangery nor too critical... though you'd miss the hilarity of Zoro trying to cut his own legs off to escape a
( ... )
I'm on my way to return these volumes to the library, and I realized that I had avoided commenting on Nami.
The combination of cheerful insouciance ("I never said we were nakama!") and poorly concealed wistfulness ("it was fun") in her farewell is kind of heartrending
Her pose on the latter comment certainly signals wistfulness (and then there's her tearful desire to "be free" much later), but at this exact moment I kind of hate Nami specifically for the act of stealing from those two loveable lugs. Correct me if I'm wrong: Yosaku & Johnny are bounty hunters who earned their "treasure" by going after pirates. So how does Nami justify stealing from them? Her actions show no discernment or compassion for others.
I'll need to find her backstory devastating AND she'll need to offer a sincere apology to put Nami anywhere in the neighborhood of my good graces.
I agree, very far from being Nami's finest moment. Even leaving aside stealing from bounty hunters, which is inexcusable even on her own "I only steal from pirates" terms (are bounty hunters somehow fair game because they profit from catching pirates? because their treasure was stolen from pirates in the first place?), how could she steal the Merry, having met Kaya and knowing what the ship meant to Usopp? Gah! Usopp feels personally betrayed by Nami's actions, and with good reason.
But as for her backstory and her underlying motivation... well. Let's revisit this conversation in a future volume (say, around volume 11 or so).
Comments 20
He really is, ugh.
OMG, the little booger-fight between Luffy and Zoro is the most childish thing ever. Zoro doesn't often stoop to that sort of thing
This made me laugh really hard. My first time through the story, I didn't realize that Zoro was as dumb as the rest of them (excluding Nami, of course), until Little Garden. (At the time, it was so surprising to me that it's still one of my favorite fights.) But on this read-through, I was sort of surprised to see how obvious it is early on (even, as you pointed out, in the first volume when he says he got lost trying to get back to his village).
Sanji is like Usopp's protector/big brother
Aww, now I'm sad that I never noticed this (since the other friendship you mention is one of my favorites). I'll have to watch for it more carefully.
I keep forgetting that it was Mihawk who wrecked Krieg's armada shortly after it arrived on the Grand Line.I had TOTALLY forgotten about this; it makes Zoro's New World introduction make a lot more sense (and/or seem ( ... )
Reply
[also spoiler]Does New World start at volume 61?
People who have read the entire series need not fear my spoilers. They are hidden to protect people who want no foreknowledge of broad developments.
Reply
New World: yes, exactly. I don't know how much you want to know, but it does represent a reboot of sorts that begins at volume 61. (If you don't consider pictures of future crew members spoilers, compare the cover of volume 1 with the cover of volume 61. It doesn't show on the covers, but the title of Volume 1 is "Romance Dawn"; 61 is "Romance Dawn for the New World.") Not a reboot in the sense that anything that went before is lost, but everything is stepped up a notch, so to speak.
The New World is the second half of the Grand Line (literally, the Grand Line is bisected by a land mass at opposite ends of the globe), and only the strongest pirates make it that far. Completing the first half of the Grand Line definitely marked a milestone toward Luffy achieving his goal (which is still the same).
It's also a re-introduction in the sense that the Strawhats are reuniting after a period spent apart training, so they're all much stronger. "Zoro's New World introduction" means the first time we see Zoro after the break.
I hope that wasn ( ... )
Reply
I would reveal my biggest 1P spoiler just to let you know that you haven't exceeded it, but I think that should be saved for the chapter in which it appears. See you in....120 days? (total guessy math)
What does it mean to be King of the Pirates, anyway? Like, are there powers and authority or is it like Miss America?
Reply
Reply
This is really touching. It's the one and only time we see Zoro cry in the series so far, I believe. For some reason he seems to be the only one to cry snotless tears - beautiful women included.
Reply
So much love for this. I don't know what the Japanese says, but in the English version, the specific contrast is between feeding people and judging them ("My job is to feed people, not to judge them"). I loved that line, but now that Zeff has dropped the hint there's a tragic starvation backstory for Sanji, it kind of makes less of an impression.
Another Sanji line I loved (there's something so intense about Sanji's delivery) was during the Mihawk battle where he shouts at Zoro, "It's easy! Abandon your stupid dream!" You just know Sanji has a dream he thinks he's abandoned, and that's why Zeff wants him off the ship (and pursuing his dream).
I wonder if Zeff's log book of his year on the Grand Line will crop back up at some point
Aww, I was hoping he would give it to Luffy. You spoiled me sadly.
I like Mihawk's haughty old-fashioned speech, though it's hard to understand.No hint of this in the English translation. At least not for this volume. Maybe ( ... )
Reply
it kind of makes less of an impression
You will have to tell me what you think about this later. For me, knowing the backstory makes it more moving rather than less. But I see what you mean about it being admirable as pure principle.
You spoiled me sadly.
Sadness! It never occurred to me to think of that as a spoiler. ^_^;; (To be honest, I had forgotten about the logbook entirely.)
Maybe the translator improves with later Mihawk episodes.
I suspect that, like dialect, this sort of thing is better left untranslated. It might have just come across as silly if Mihawk were all "Thou art churlish, young knave." =P (In Japanese, he's using a combination of unusual vocabulary and verb endings that I vaguely recognize as closer to classical than modern.)
I kind of assumed it was a vow to the reader as well
In a way, I suppose it is.
Has Zoro lost any swordfights since this encounter?Swordfights? No ( ... )
Reply
Exactly! While I'm sure Sanji's backstory is going to move me to tears (everyone else's has, except Zoro and his stair-tripping girlfriend), it means that his principles are based on experience, rather than his actions being based on principles.
Do you have any other local libraries you can investigate?Once again, I learn that I know nothing about the world. I thought library privileges were limited to one's municipality and academic/professional associations. It never occurred to me that I could get borrowing privileges at any public library in my state ( ... )
Reply
Sympathies on the lack of parking lots. I am lucky to have a lot of suburban mall rat libraries around me, so driving and parking are easy.
I don't know if this applies in CA, but in CT, not only can you borrow from any library, you can return the books to any town/branch library within the state. Still, you'd have to make the trip to pick them up in the first place.
Volume 14 is neither too cliffhangery nor too critical... though you'd miss the hilarity of Zoro trying to cut his own legs off to escape a ( ... )
Reply
The combination of cheerful insouciance ("I never said we were nakama!") and poorly concealed wistfulness ("it was fun") in her farewell is kind of heartrending
Her pose on the latter comment certainly signals wistfulness (and then there's her tearful desire to "be free" much later), but at this exact moment I kind of hate Nami specifically for the act of stealing from those two loveable lugs. Correct me if I'm wrong: Yosaku & Johnny are bounty hunters who earned their "treasure" by going after pirates. So how does Nami justify stealing from them? Her actions show no discernment or compassion for others.
I'll need to find her backstory devastating AND she'll need to offer a sincere apology to put Nami anywhere in the neighborhood of my good graces.
Reply
But as for her backstory and her underlying motivation... well. Let's revisit this conversation in a future volume (say, around volume 11 or so).
Reply
Leave a comment