Lunarian Cupid

Checking through my many, many, saved panels of Skypiea, I noticed something that could have been a potential foreshadow;

This series of events where Zoro finds Chopper in pretty rough shape, and his reactions to it. The sheer horror, the concern, immediately dropping everything to get to him… Then, because he is his dad, the sheer pissed expression. But all this aside, take notice of what Zoro says to Ohm, the guy with funky glasses.

“No, I don’t like to fight with a motive.”

“But…”

“I can…”

“…Feel one coming on!!”

Notice the spacing, the punctuation. It’s like when someone is really mad, but they’re trying to steady theirselves so they just do not explode in utter anger. The double exclamation points, the sheer pissed expression on his face. He’s like a keg of dynamite about to explode, which makes sense given the state he found Chopper in.

I mentioned in my last post about how punctuation can make the difference, and it’s clear to read here how it helps convey Zoro’s emotion in this scene.

“But what could this be foreshadowing?”, you’re probably wondering.

Well, guess what the very next panel is;

”That’s just a transition, the two are not connected!”

“Zoro was merely meaning Chopper in that moment!”

I’m a believer that things are not a coincidence, especially because of the details in this very panel that in itself could be foreshadowing.

Robin appears almost lost, navigating the foreign terrain, all by her lonesome. But then… She sees a literal light at the end of the tunnel.

But wait, what does she find at the end of the tunnel? Here’s how it, heh, panes out;

Zoro is paneled right above her, where she is seen seated, at the end of the tunnel, bathed in a light. She discovers Shandora, and is mesmerized. Once again, I don’t think this is a coincidence.

The way this is paneled, and if you’re doing a revisit from Enies Lobby, it foreshadows Zoro basically saying, “I don’t typically like to fight with a motive, but if you push me (Everything that happened to Robin), I will and you will regret it.”

And because of his fighting, Robin is able to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

While reading Water 7, there is a particular scene that always stood out to me, and it’s this one;

But, it turns out, One Piece is one of those things where the translation can slightly differ sometimes, because I found this;

And, being extra, I even tried to find the Japanese page of this scene, but haven’t had luck, so, with perhaps some inaccuracies, here’s what Google says the Japanese text says;

Robin: 「今日を限りに… 私達はもう二度と会うことはない」 (meaning "With today as the limit… We will never meet again")

Zoro: 「ロビンが…… そう言ったのか？ チョッパー」 (“...Did Robin really say that, Chopper?”)

Chopper: 「うん…」 (“Uh-huh.” / “Yeah…”)

Zoro: 「ーー今日を限りに二度と会えないって事は……」 (“...She said we wouldn't meet again after today...”)

Zoro: 「今日 これから起きる 何事かを…… 更に悪化させる様な 事態を 自分で引き起こすって 意味じゃねェか？」 (“...Which probably means she's going to do something today that will make matters even worse.”)

Zoro: 「おれには そう聞こえるぜ」 (“That's how it sounds to me.”)

But, when I highlighted the text to see how my device would translate it, here’s what I got:

Robin: As long as today… we will never see each other again.

Zoro: Robin… Did you say that? Chopper

Chopper: Yeah…

Zoro: ーーIt means that we can't see each other again for today…

Zoro: What's going to happen today… Doesn't it mean that you're going to cause a situation that will make it worse?

Zoro: That's how it sounds to me.

Now, my device’s grammar is probably horrid, and google may be wrong, but I believe google’s translation is pretty close to the first translation panel. I find it interesting the little nuances that change depending on how you translate the scene. If anyone has the Japanese page and it’s closer enough translation, that’d be greatly appreciated!

Now, why I’m pointing this out? let’s take a look at the second panel of the translation, shall we? Particularly to how Zoro speaks;

She said we won’t ever meet after “today”.

It sounds like she’s announcing that she’s going to…

(Going to what? Die?!)

Do something to make things worse for us.

The way he trails off in the second translation is very interesting to me, because my mind immediately jumped to “oh no, she’s gonna die”, especially when her goodbye to the crew seemed to be coded in that way, and whadyaknow… she later in Enies Lobby chooses to die if it meant protecting the Strawhats (And in general because she feels that she would be a burden to them later on, which we know is not true, but she’s speaking from trauma-) It’s as if it’s a little hint to the future, but it’s even more interesting that this nuance was delegated… to Zoro. The one who distrusted her the most when she first joined.

But, yet, despite it making sense for that distrust to be vindicated and renewed again, since it seems as if in that moment that she did betray them, and with seemingly pining the assassination plot on them no less, that’s not how Zoro reacts at all, strangely enough. He doesn’t show anger, or immediately distrust her. Instead, he calmly and logical considers all the possibilities, actively maintaining that they can’t lean one way or another, since if they do, they won’t be prepared for the truth of the matter, regardless of what they find.

Meanwhile, in this very same arc, he refuses to have Usopp welcomed back to the crew after him leaving, even threatening to quit (The first mate, the very first member of the crew!) if Usopp didn’t make the correct amends for leaving. Technically, Robin left the group, and actively betrayed them (or so it seemed), and yet, he gave more grace to the newbie than the established crew member. Seems a bit strange on the surface, don’t you think?

But, regardless of the translations, though I feel my device’s felt rather romantically coded (like its owner), the basis stays the same; Zoro didn’t immediately fall for the obvious conclusion that they’ve been had, and why is that?

Could it have been what had happened in Skypiea, her actively trying to pull a fast one on Eneru for their benefit? Could it have been the clear panic at seeing Aokiji (who he was the first to protect her from)? Add it up in your mental calculator, and you’ll see that whether he wants to admit it or not, there was a part of Zoro that was hoping Robin wasn’t through with the crew, which is why he wanted so badly to get to the truth of the matter, as if to get closure one way or another on why she would do such a thing, when with others, he definitely did not take that extra time for them, immediately casting judgement on them.

It’s these nuances, even with language, you have to look out for. Remember, everyone, punctuation makes the difference in how a sentence is perceived. It’s the difference between; “Let’s eat, Chopper!” And “Let’s eat Chopper!”. Same words, completely different meanings, and all because of a single comma.

I don’t think we should take either translations for granted with its use of punctuation. It could be conveying a subtle message we might miss the first time around! That, and the words themselves.

Multiple things. First, he decides on Aokiji for the SBS logo. (Has a connection with Robin) Then chooses to start off by answering an asker who goes by the name of Roronoa Robin. Then refers to the asker as “reader in Parisian garb”. As you can kind of see above the logo, Robin is wearing a peculiar kind of hood. Now, I’m no fashionista, but could what she be wearing possibly fall under Parisian garb? Was this a fun tie in with that?

I just find it very interesting that since he chooses who to answer, he decided out of who knows how many people to actively choose someone with that name… A name Robin would inherit should she marry Zoro, since that is his… family name? I know it technically isn’t his last, but you get my point!

The other question has nothing to do with my agenda, I just found it funny-

Hello again, fellow Zorobiners, this is part two to the Skypiea edition of my Zorobin pack, showing some panels I wasn’t able to include in the last post due to the image limit, as well as discussing a very popular dismissing technique, the notorious; “But they don’t even interact!”

As many of you pointed out, and as this post from @kushinauwu pointed out, this is verifiably false, even Post Time-Skip where they try to make their case strongest. When the two are together, they interact quite a lot, though due to their personalities, it may not be as in your face as say Luffy’s shenanigans, especially in Post where lots of things be happening at the same time.

I’m going to start off with sharing more panels of the two, that visually show the two close together. Another technique to shrug this off is by saying, “they’re just standing together”.

This stance doesn’t take into account the whole narrative or the purpose of certain visual choices. For one, why are they so consistently shown close together, especially in the timeframe where Zoro makes it known he “doesn’t trust her”.

Ask yourself this; would you stay close to someone you don’t trust, especially if that person has the power to break your neck and spine with ease? I wouldn’t, especially when it was shown in earlier arcs that Robin could easily slap away Zoro’s weapons should she choose to do so.

And just as we visually see the two together, we are given more subtle visual shows of their actual bond. The man who claims to not trust her, but yet, throws the ship’s doctor at her.

You could just say this is a coincidence since Usopp got Sanji and Robin was the only one with free hands (heh), but why in this arc, and just in general, Zoro and Robin are always the ones taking the most care of Chopper than say any of the other crew members? This visually shows us some form of bond, even if it may not be verbally said.

Robin looks pretty relaxed given the circumstances and being still quite new to the crew, while an older member is clearly nervous. Yes, it’s played for a comedic gag, Ussop is usually cowardly, but multiple things can be true at the same time. Also another interesting thing to note is the doubting bubble is next to Ussop, while the bubble encouraging Zoro is right next to Robin.

Contradictory actions. Zoro claims to not care, yet noticed when Robin left. Also is seen smiling back in her direction. He clearly would not be smiling at Sanji, and behind Sanji is Robin waving. If he is smiling for the thrill of running away, why not look forward to see where you’re going? He is portrayed as kind of a tsundere in personality, so these panels do match that archetype.

Now, let’s get to my favorite section; the interactions.

The ones that apparently do not exist, so you guys might be just seeing a bunch of blank space:

And of course, the famous “She’s a woman” scene, with us getting a frame of it in the latest episode in Elbaf. So much for “insignificance” and “so long ago so it doesn’t matter anymore”.

Since there is a lot of material here, I’m going to be showing general moments since there is a 30 image limit, with some commentary here and there of my observations of certain things while reading this arc.

This is what I’m going to call; The Paneling Section. Where coincidentally, the two are paneled close together or in relation.

Correct me if I’m right, but I think Zoro said the upper top panel, since his arms are gestured like he’s talking. Also looks like he’s talking to Robin. Also are seen together in the other panels.

Looks like Zoro is looking up at Robin, and Robin is looking at Chopper.

Looks like they are connecting each other sentences. Either way, they are in agreement to flee from the deadly snake.

Nami isn’t shown in these panels despite fitting this category.

This I just found interesting when I was compiling all these images while reading Skypiea. Above Robin’s head, it’s says “Happy Return”. We know later on Robin leaves the group in Water 7, planning to never return due to the agreement she made with the WG to spare her friends in exchange for her life.

Robin mentally was at her lowest in that arc, but there were crumbs in this arc that hinted at the mental turmoil she was going through, and that will reach a hitch in Enies Lobby. I raise my evidence:

Look at Robin’s expression here. It’s… solemn… Despite being surrounded by ancient ruins, learning about the bell tower… She looks… sad here. And her thoughts could be interpreted as someone who thought they set out what they wanted to do before they kicked the bucket. Given everything that happened before this moment, this moment strikes me as… Odd. Until we learn in Enies Lobby what she really feels.

If you read my curious patterns post, this ties back to that in a way. I mentioned how a past event in this arc reflected Robin’s eventual future. Well, here, it’s the same thing, since eventually, Robin does have a “Happy Return” back to the group. Coincidence, or craftily planned?…

Robin carried the most vulnerable in the group first (child and old man), then proceeded to carry Zoro and Wyper, with the panels showing emphasize on Zoro and how she did it. I believe the sky knight and Chopper’s lifts were done off-panel, while the first time we see her do this is shown mostly with Zoro.

Robin immediately notices Zoro wake up, being close to him. Zoro appears to be registering he’s not in the same place in his expression, and there could be very few reasons for that. He held her up when she was struck down, she held him up to safer ground.

I ran out of space, so see you in the next post!

Tonight was like most nights. The soft sounds of waves from outside the Thousand Sunny served as the usual ambience, combined with the occasional flipping of pages, the gentle scratching of a quill on paper, the soft clink of a cup being set down on the table after a sip of tea, and of course, the sound of quite sizable metal weights being lifted with exertion, with the occasional grunts from the effort.

It was like a ritual at this point. Robin would quietly read, study her notes from a recent archaeological expedition, enjoy some tea, and occasionally watch Zoro conducting his extreme workouts. A normal man would have surely sprained an arm, leg, or broken their spine performing the exercises he did on the regular.

Given her devil fruit powers, Robin was the ideal spotter should he require one, though it was never necessary.

“So, Robin,” Zoro called out as he was lifting a gigantic weight with his arms, causing the muscles to flex from the action. The veins on his arms looked like they were close to bursting, despite how casually he was acting to such lifting. “What’s the latest?”

Making the occasional short conversation with the archeologist was always pleasant. Robin was always calm, quiet, and kept to herself, so it never felt exhausting talking to her, even when he was training. If anything, it sometimes provided a good distraction when he tried to get through a particularly difficult set of reps.

The tall woman glanced over the tea cup she was currently sipping, before setting it delicately down on a coaster. She uncrossed her long legs, sitting more upright as she recalled her newest discovery out on the field.

“I have discovered that there was a plant in antiquity that was a very popular ingredient in the locals’ cuisine. I found some coins that had a depiction of the plant, as well as some texts that further detail the plant and its usage.” She smiled, her eyes always brightening when talking about her study.

It was that sparkle that Zoro always found fascinating, despite his lack of expertise on the subject. He could respect someone who immersed themselves fully in their craft. After all, he wanted to become the world’s greatest swordsman.

“Before you ask, no, there were no mention of swords in my recent findings.” Robin mused, “But I did find that this plant, which is believed to be extinct, did have the medical benefit of granting more endurance when consumed. If only I could find a fossilized specimen… The drawings on the coins are a bit crude and would not grant me as accurate a depiction of the plant as I would have liked.” She let out a soft laugh.

Zoro hummed at this information as he decided to solely lift the weight with his left arm. “Really? Kind of reminds me of the crap that fishman took to get stronger back on Fishman Island.” He said, slowly flexing his left arm with the gigantic weight. “Imagine if Chopper could get his hands on that plant.” He smiled fondly at the thought. Chopper was always excited every time he found a new plant that he could use for his medicine or rumble balls.

Robin shared his smile, as her usually calm eyes softened. “I’d imagine it’d be very beneficial for his rumble balls.”

Zoro chuckled as he switched the weight to his right arm, continuing to lift it. “That’s what I was just thinking!”

The two shared a soft laugh, before silence fell between them again. This was how their conversations usually went. They either shared something new or interesting, reminiscence on past events, or talk about the rest of the crew. It was never something that was forced, conversation always came very naturally for them.

Several minutes have passed, with the two just doing their own thing in the presence of one another. After one last lift of the weight, Zoro gently went to set it down in his dedicated training equipment corner.

“I’ll be back,” Zoro said, nabbing a towel and swinging it over his broad shoulders. He was absolutely drenched with sweat, taking one of the corners of the towel to wipe his face dry. He let out an exhausted breath, his head dipping back slightly, before he was leaving the Crow’s Nest to take a shower.

Robin would have been lying if she said Zoro didn’t look like absolute eye candy after a workout. From his well defined muscles, to the way the sweat looked on his shirtless body, to the way his handsome face contorted in slight exhaustion from the heavy intense workouts he would do…

She was one lucky woman indeed to be able to bear witness to such a gorgeous sight on the regular.

Robin continued to quietly leaf through her journal for a half hour, making the occasional notes with her quill, before she was greeted to a fresh out the shower Zoro. He wore just shorts as he ruffled his short hair with a towel, still slightly damp from the shower.

She casted him a glance, giving him a knowing smile, before she resumed her reading. “The usual?”

“Yeah,” He nodded.

As Zoro went to lay flat on his stomach on a mat, pink flower petals began to appear around him.

”Dos Fleur.”

Two arms sprouted from his back, and as he settled on the mat, Robin used those extra hands to massage his shoulders.

Zoro sighed in bliss. “Damn, that feels great… You sure you weren’t a masseuse before you joined the crew?…” Zoro asked as he closed his eye in relaxation.

Robin giggled. “I’m quite sure. I merely improved from persistent practice.”

“Do you still deny Sanji your massages?” Zoro asked with a smirk; he already knew the answer.

“Yes.” Robin answered immediately.

An amused chuckle rumbled from his chest as he continued to enjoy the massage Robin was giving him with her extra limbs. She would always start off with his shoulders, then work on his shoulder blades, then his arms, and then his lower back. She would also massage his legs and feet on his leg days, as well.

How could her hands, that so thoroughly massage out the soreness of his muscles, be such deadly weapons that snapped necks and spines? During these massage sessions, she was always so careful with his body.

“Robin… Why do this for me for free?…” He couldn’t help but ask, as he lifted his head to look at the raven-haired woman. One day, after he was feeling quite sore from a workout, she offered him a massage, and ever since then, he requested them on the regular, with her easily obliging him.

Robin went to cast him a sly smile, holding her head up with a hand. “Because,” She turned her body more towards him from her seat.

“The view I get when you workout is payment enough.” She playfully gave him a wink.

Zoro’s face immediately burst to flame from that comment, as his jaw dropped in disbelief, before he glared at her teasing. “O-OI!”

Robin’s shoulders shook as she began to laugh, trying to hide it in vain with one of her hands as Zoro began to scold her. “W-What kinda crap is that?! You’re just messing with me again, aren’t you?! Well, it’s not funny!… A-Are you even listening to me, Robin?!”

She couldn’t help herself; Zoro was too much fun to tease.

Robin knew his words were all bark and no bite, though, since it’ll still be the usual routine tomorrow, just like always.

Zoro:

Also Zoro:

Notices when she left.

Also Zoro:

He clearly isn’t smiling at Sanji, but look at who Sanji’s waving at… Robin…

If Zoro was just enjoying the thrill of running away with treasure, why not look forward to see where you’re going, unless you’re smiling at seeing someone… Like Robin

Zoro really would be the kind of dude to pretend if you aren’t fast enough, he’s going somewhere without you… Only to wait by the door anyway until you’re ready. Bet beris he would have gone to the ship, but still have waited there, pretending not to care, when he cares too much.

Need I present this?

Let me just stand in front of the woman I’d “abandon” and start a fight with an OP guy, just for funsies.

I have came across something interesting that I feel is worth noting, (and if there are other posts who have made this observation, please feel free to share them to me, I love reading them)

Mont Blanc Noland

What was it about his character I noticed? That his character not only parallels a later event, but that he himself is strangely an amalgamation of what would happen if you fused Zoro, Robin, and Chopper together; let me explain.

We get a flashback to the Shandians facing a bout of tree fever, and they believe in order to put an end to the disease, or evil spirit as they believe, they had to make a sacrifice.

We are introduced to the character Musse, who is selected to be the sacrifice that would save the Shandians, as per their tradition. She has to forfeit her life in a ritualistic sacrifice to their Kami, the Kashigami (huge venomous snake), and she appears to accept such a grim fate if it meant saving the villagers. She seems to appear to accept this fate graciously… Only for it to be very clear later on she was terrified and only doing what she thought was right in their culture.

Noland ends up killing the Kashigami, and saving Musse.

Does this sound familiar to you? About a certain woman who made an agreement to forfeit her life to save others she cared about, and appeared to not care if she died in the process, only for the dam to break and show her true feelings?

And look here, a guy with a sword is the one responsible for rescuing her.

Now, don’t get me twisted here. I’m not implying romance between these two characters, only pointing out that this scenario had happened before in the past of One Piece, and that One Piece has an odd habit of showing us that the past tends to repeat itself, though not in the exact same way, of course. Some factors may be slightly different, but the overall theme remains the same.

A clear example of this is the clear parallel between Zoro and Rayleigh. Both first mates to the pirate king, (Luffy eventually will become it), and they even have the same scar on their eye, and use swords to fight. Though Rayleigh obviously doesn’t use the three sword style like Zoro, the two are still very similar. This is the kind of thing that I mean when I’m pointing out this parallel between what had happened to Musse, and what eventually happens in Enies Lobby with Robin.

I feel as an interesting aside, the characters in Skypiea that were brought to the same sacrificial altar Musse was on were Nami, Zoro, Chopper, and Robin.

All these characters, in their own ways, have made “sacrifices” for the good of the crew. Zoro when “nothing happened”, Chopper when he risked himself using monster point when he still didn’t have full control of it, Nami when she defends Luffy’s honor, and of course Robin in Enies Lobby.

But the one Noland best represents out of the four, are strangely a combination of the three; Zoro, Robin, and Chopper.

He fights with a sword, has a problem with the way the Shandian gods do things, is a botanist that uses his knowledge to cure the villagers, and is a researcher who’s an explorer. All these traits are pretty much an amalgamation of Zoro, Robin, and Chopper’s characters… Noland even kind of looks like a human Chopper in some frames,

You can’t tell me this isn’t basically Chopper… Just like you can’t tell me this isn’t basically Zoro:

And that this isn’t basically Robin:

Zoro in this same arc clearly isn’t too keen with the “god” that is Eneru, and Robin in this same arc is furious by what she views as barbarism when one of Eneru’s surbordinates, Yama, destroys ruins.

And in general, Robin never sought to use her ability of reading poneglyphs for destruction, and in fact turned on Crocodile when he tried to use her ability in that way.

The way Zoro so delicately caught Robin in Skypiea, and how in the anime he even gently laid her down. Not necessary, especially when at the time he claimed to not trust her and allegedly held her at an arm’s length (heh-)

Then there is Robin, literally picking him up in that same arc and carrying him. Then there was her catching him in Thriller Bark, trying to get him away from Kizaru in Saboady- Just in the way these acts are performed screams their sentiments towards each other. When it comes to these two, you legit got to be like this to catch on to what’s really going on:

Some people can call it overanalyzing all they want, but you got to always ask the basic questions, even with fiction. Like, if I don’t like somebody, would I consistently be seen close to them instead of keeping my distance? If I don’t trust somebody, I’m not going to want to talk to them much, other than to question their intentions. If I thought someone was a true threat, I wouldn’t be okay with that person constantly babysitting my kid.

When reading or watching One Piece, always ask yourself these questions, since it will help clear a lot of things up. Not everything is going to be spelled out due to how huge the series is, so it’s important to read between the lines, look for consistency, and most of all use common sense and ask simple questions.

As a reward for reading all this, have this cute, funny moment I saw while reading Skypiea

Inspired by many posts I’ve been seeing, I decided to add my own two beris about something concerning Robin: her body language.

There is one particular pose she does that always struck me as interesting: the hands folded behind her back pose.

She doesn’t do it often, but when she does, it usually happens during quite pivotal moments for her character, like when she met (and re-met) Saul, her best friend:

When she was saved in Enies Lobby:

(shown a bit better in anime-)

Annnd, oo, what a coincidence:

talking to ZORO:

“But Luna, that doesn’t mean anything!” Au contraire, mon ami. This moment happened in Skypeia, around the time where Zoro himself says he doesn’t trust Robin, a point he seems pretty adamant about since she joined the Strawhats.

Yeeet trusts her sense of direction-

And of course, this moment where he literally breaks character in a way that can only reasonably be explained by him holding some affection for Robin:

Mr. I treat women the same as men… saying this about Robin… someone he claims to not trust… Catching her quickly without hesitation, as shown by him catching her before her HAT hits the ground.

I would expect this outta Sanji, but Zoro? It appears very out of character explained any other way.

And while I’m reading Skypeia, I noticed they talked quite a lot to each other. I don’t know about you, but if I don’t trust somebody, I’m not exactly enthused to make conversation with them. Yet with them it comes naturally. (I plan to make a seperate post about these moments)

Does the pose again in this panel, by the way

And here’s prior panels:

Quite the conversationalist with the person you claim to not trust, but your actions speak much louder than your words.

Suffice to say, I don’t think Robin doing this pose talking alone with Zoro is a coincidence. It seems as if it’s something she instinctively does when she’s curious about something, or when she’s being vulnerable, like when she let her true self shine in thanking the Strawhats, when she reunited with Saul, etc.

I like to believe Zoro and Robin’s relationship is a slow burn affair that is subtle and mature, like the two. They’re not the type of characters to be in your face, so it’s not expected that their relationship would be.

You could just chalk it up to nothing, or a happy accident, but it’s just interesting to me that instead of just normally standing talking to Zoro, Robin chooses to do that pose… The same pose she does during important moments of her characterization.

Also another interesting thing about the Enies lobby panel I showed, Zoro and Chopper are closest to the reader’s POV. We already know Chopper is very important to Robin, but Zoro is also just as close to our POV, soooo…. Very interesting, indeed.

The place Zoro ends up for the time skip:

Zoro: Hey, you’re back. How was your trip?

Luffy: It was wonderful!

Zoro: Great, what‘d you do?

Luffy: I made a new friend who likes trains as much as I do, I kissed Nami on the lips-

Zoro: *double-takes*

Luffy: And the conductor played his banjo for me. Goodnight!

Zoro: Waitwaitwait, I’m gonna need more details.

Luffy: Oh, my new friend’s name was Eric, um, Nami’s lips tasted like the brownie we had for dessert-

Zoro: *dumbfounded*