skip this. i mean it. you've been warned.
I realize I have an obsessive personality, and that I always need a distraction to keep me afloat, and I don't think that is ever going to change, and that's fine, because hey, what're you gonna do, eh.
And it makes me happy. So.
One Piece has pirates 8Db
And it's also going on a four week hiatus. Which is very understandable because there is going to be a timeskip (oh shounen manga, never change) of about two years, and Oda needs to take a break/plan accordingly (ad;alda CHARACTER DESIGN CHANGES WHAT omg the possibilities), and two years normally would not be that big of a deal, but despite 598 manga chapters, a year hasn't even passed in the OP-verse yet, so this means that the crew is going to be apart for much longer than they've actually been together, and......... well, damn, birthdays will be missed :(
(Also, the fact that it's been less than a year in the manga since Luffy set sail means that in less than 12 months at sea:
1. Luffy learned Gear Second and Third,
2. Zoro learned how to slice through steel,
3. Sanji learned how to set himself on fire, and
4. the Mugiwara crew defeated two Shichibukai and saved Orange Town, Syrup Village, Cocoyashi Village, the Baratie, Alabasta, Skypeia, Robin, Brook, Caimie, various auctioned slaves, assorted minor characters along the way, and... not Ace. D:
It's ridiculous. I love you, OP.)
I know that a common complaint about shounen manga is the endless power-up/training sequences, complete with determined inner monologues on the reason for getting stronger and evocative flashbacks and getting roughed up for the sake of attaining that one unattainable skill, and you can just hear the Rocky-theme softly looping in the background-- but OP really doesn't have that, because the characters do 95% of their onscreen leveling-up in battle because they work best when they're fighting for each other's lives (except for Zoro, who trains all the time and lifts weights even in his sleep), but I am actually super intrigued by what they are going to be doing during these two years (especially Sanji, oh Sanji what will become of you) and I hope we get to see some of it, because oh the potential for hilarity and, simultaneously, warm fuzzy feelings.
And I hope they are reunited by chapter 600 please please please how epic would that be.
I realize that OP might be a shining example--THE shining example--of Japanese kitsch, with the friendship and the bonding and the working together and the believing in each other and the putting your life on the line for something bigger than yourself and the dreaming always the dreaming and the ambition and the never giving up, us against the world, stand fast, be brave... but damn if I don't love Japanese kitsch. Gets me every single time. (Like that one scene in FFVII:AC where they all take turns catapulting Cloud up into the sky towards Bahamut SIN, putting all their faith in him and then Aeris's hand and then Cure3 and then LIMIT BREEEEEEEEAK: CROSS-SLASH BRAVER CLIMHAZZARRRRRD-- yeahhh. I'm easy.)
So. I really really love OP and already this post is all over the place because LOVE IS LIKE A HURRICANE and I could babble on and on about it for hours and... will.
The Mugiwara crew, I love them all to bits, I do, and I could just sort of weep about them indefinitely and I might, if no one stops me, someone should stop me--
LUFFY. CAPTAIN. PIRATE KING ONE DAY. You can't talk about Luffy without talking about everyone else first, because there's no Luffy without his crew, and Luffy thrives on nakamaship; it defines him, pretty much.
So there's Zoro, who does everything he does, who works as hard as he does, who bleeds more than is humanly possible, who never ever flinches, because he once made a promise to a girl who's now dead, and he's doing this for both of them, "I'm going to be the best! Is that a problem, Pirate King?" ("Not at all!"), and he's gonna make it, even if his sense of direction is worse than nonexistent. But Luffy's dream comes first and foremost, and he'd sacrifice everything, himself included, if it meant Luffy would have a fighting chance.
And there's Nami who just wants to be free, and Robin who just wants to live, and Chopper who just wants to belong, and Franky who just wants to come home, and Brook who just wants to know there's a reason he's still alive when all his crew are long dead (there is a reason, it's Laboon and he's waiting for you, Luffy will take you there).
And oh gosh, Usopp who wants so desperately to be brave and strong, a warrior of the sea, someone his crew can be proud of and rely on, someone to write home about, and he tells these outrageous lies and tall tales because it's like wishing aloud, because he knows, underneath all his bravado, he knows he's just a coward and next to useless, but he tries, and so what if his knees are knocking together and he needs to wipe the snot from his nose and his voice is trembling and he's terribly terribly outmatched, he's still trying and he's still the best sharpshooter in all the Grand Line, make no mistake (or you'll get a Tabasco Star to the face). And yeah, Luffy can smash through the sky, and Zoro can lift 1000000x his own body weight, and Sanji can grind your bones to dust without breaking out of his slouch, but Usopp can do none of that and he still stands and he still fights and he'll watch your back and he'll stand between you and death, and that's what counts.
Not to mention, his alter ego is Sogeking, and. Well. He's mother-effin' Sogeking!
And Sanji. Sanji Sanji Sanji, our trash-talking chef from faraway North Blue, who's got a cigarette in his mouth 24/7, and he smokes like oxygen is poison, like he's afraid his nicotine stream will be interrupted and he'll asphyxiate, yet his lungs are in top condition and his teeth are gleaming white, and he has perfect poise and balance and hips that don't lie and legs that go on forever. 8Db
Alas, that's all he has going for him, because Oda absolutely loves to abuse him, and the poor kid just never gets a break, never gets the girl, doesn't even get a proper wanted poster, and he'll always be second to Zoro (and a centimeter shorter), not to mention he pretty much gets his Man Card irrevocably invalidated on account of getting dolled up by an island full of transvestites out for young blood WHAT.
I know that whenever I talk about Sanji, the first point I bring up is that he never wins at life, which is generally true and it's hilarious, but he's also really, really endearing... for every single reason in the world.
Despite the fact that every other word that comes out of his mouth is usually "shit" or some variation thereof, he's really a Nice Guy (they all are). Potential enemies become his fanboys, and basically, he just enlarges his fanbase wherever he goes (although to his unending distress, they are only ever male). You really do have to like Sanji, because when it comes down to it, he can be your best friend. XD
Because Sanji understands weakness, because he remembers being nine years old and starving to death, stranded with no ships on the horizon, his food supply exhausted despite his careful rationing, and everyday he would fight the encroaching madness and watch and wait and watch and wait and hope. He understands self-loathing because Zeff sacrificed his own chance at achieving his dream so that Sanji could live, and Sanji's spent ten years on the Baratie anchored by his guilt and anchored to this man to whom he owes his life, and he refuses to leave because he doesn't think he has the right, and he grows up thinking if it hadn't been for me, and he won't leave because he has to prove to Zeff that his life was worth saving, even though Zeff never had a doubt and Sanji's the only one who can't see it because he has so much guilt.
And Zeff loves him like a son, and the rest of pirates-turned-chefs on the Baratie are more or less fond of him, because they raised him for ten years, even if he is sort of an asshole and cocky as all hell (self-imposed armor), but he just wants Zeff's approval and some assurance that saving him wasn't a mistake, but Zeff can't do affection and just ends up kicking him (lovingly) in the head all the time, and it's really kind of sad, the miscommunication, and Sanji wants forgiveness and Zeff doesn't know how to tell him it's alright.
(He starts smoking at the age of ten because "it's what grown-ups do, right?" and from now on, he's got to be grown up, because he'll never be a liability to anyone ever again.)
Sanji was the first character to make me want to cry because his farewell to Zeff and the Baratie was so sincere and so honest and so unguarded and for once he didn't care how he looked or how weak he was because he was weak back then and it burned to know it, but now he's leaving, he can finally leave and he'll be strong enough to dream for both of them, and he's on his hands and knees, his head touching the ground, tears streaming, "For as long as I live, I will never forget your kindness!" and he's finally forgiven himself, and goddamnit Sanji, everyone starts bawling, and even Zeff has to wipe away a manly tear or two, and they're all FUCKING HELL WE'RE GOING TO MISS YOU SANJI YOU BASTARD (don't forget to dress warmly you idiot and eat lots of protein you skinny little shit) and Sanji's all SEE YOU LATER ASSHOLES (I know I know Moms get off my back for fuck's sake I'm not skinny I'm lean and mean there's a difference). And he's crying.
(Much much later in the series, Sanji says to Franky, "Yeah, I was raised rough."
.......... ok Sanji. XD)
But gggggh, Sanji. He can kick through walls without batting so much as an eyelash, and he's really very intelligent and intuitive, and he's kind of a Secret Agent Man type, always disappearing to do his own thing, and then shows up just in time to save the day, but so much of his character is steeped in helplessness. He's so captivated by all these myths and legends and stories, like the children's story from North Blue about Montblanc Norland and the disappearing island he discovered, and the devil fruit that turns you invisible if you eat it, and, above all, the myth of All Blue, an ocean where the four oceans merge and in which you can find every kind of fish and marine life. That's what Sanji's gunning for, that's his dream, to find All Blue, this ocean of all oceans, and Sanji's lived his entire life at sea, but unlike everyone else's dream, how do you work towards something like that?
Luffy wants to be Pirate King, so he trains to be the strongest. Zoro wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world, so he trains to be the best. Usopp wants to be a brave warrior of the sea, so he does his best to keep up with the rest. Nami wants to map out all the oceans, so she sails and she makes her charts. Chopper wants to be a doctor, so he studies his medical books. Robin wants to learn the true history of the world, so she collects little tidbits of knowledge from everywhere and pieces them together. Franky wants to be the best shipwright, so he builds the Thousand Sunny out of Adam wood. Brook wants to be reunited with Laboon, so he sails with the crew until they reach the Red Line again.
But Sanji wants to find an ocean that might not even exist. Most of the world thinks it's a myth, no one knows where it is, or how to find it, and all he can do is keep sailing and hope he stumbles upon it someday. And he dreams just as hard as the rest of them, and it's not just his dream, it's Zeff's dream too (Sanji and Zoro should bond about this dreaming-for-two thing when they're both drunk enough to tolerate each other's presence) and he has to find it himself because Zeff can't and it's Sanji's fault, but there's nothing he can do other than stay alive and watch and wait and watch and wait and hope-- SOUND FAMILIAR.
And the whole thing is so out of his control, so beyond his power, and (I think) that's why he's always so formal and dressed up in slacks and dress-shirts and ties and shining black shoes, why he gives so much attention to his appearance and the way he presents himself, though he's still a little kid at heart, because that's something he can control, even if it is a small, negligible thing.
And that's how it goes.
sob
But he's with Luffy, and if any ship is going to find All Blue, it's Luffy's.
Because god, Luffy. On the one hand: what an obnoxious little brat. On the other: he's Jesus. Without him, where would the rest of the crew be? Either dead, enslaved, or forever wallowing in guilt/self-hatred/grief/loneliness.
And Luffy is always so brazenly confident, and he never thinks twice when his nakama are involved, and he'll become stronger for them if not for himself, and he'll tell you you're being stupid if you're being stupid, and he'll never listen and sometimes he'll headbutt you, but then he'll save your life and your country and your little bird too, without expecting anything in return, so you have to forgive him, and he'll just blaze on by.
But then Sabaody Archipelago happened. And then Impel Down and Marineford happened. And then Luffy realizes that he couldn't save anyone, any of his friends or his brother, and that despite all his spirit and determination and ambition and the shounen-manga-ness, he just wasn't strong enough, and they're gone and that hurt a lot.
Ouch.
And there's this theme running through OP, that no matter how much you want something or how much you believe, there are still times when you just can't win, and you have to live with that.
Speaking of ouch, I was going to list all the moments where I cried (manly tears!), but then it just got pathetic, so I didn't.
Also, this got really really long, didn't it. No one's here to stop me, so I'm going to stop myself... now. WHAT AN ANTICLIMACTIC END. My fingers are tired.
P.S. (for those who actually got to the end of this monstrosity) READ ONE PIECE. It's stupid and hilarious and heart-wrenching and tragic and it will be simultaneously the worst and best thing you've ever done to yourself.
<3