Sorry Dude, Tough Break

But more than that Vivi has such strong personal character and conviction. She inevitably influences the Strawhats the same way they influence her.

Her impact on Luffy is also amazing! Think about it? Luffy is only 17, he’s just become the captain of a crew. He’s one of the youngest on the ship, he’s never really had any responsibilities before this and is also the youngest child in his family.

Luffy is all about vibes and having fun. Which serves him well until it doesn’t. I could go on a separate other tangent about how pretime skip is a test of Luffy’s leadership. It’s literally my favourite topic because Luffy is not a character that seeks to change but changes others through his influence and actions. The only area you see a glimpse of personal change is in how he handles his crew and it’s out of necessity to protect them and their adventure together.

Ultimately I’d argue that Vivi is the one that kickstarts Luffy’s journey to learning to be a better captain. She’s his age and has spent her entire life learning how to lead. She’s the one that tells him to consider when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to concede. Which they must do to get Nami the help that she needs in Drum Island.

You see Luffy exercise this during Sabody when he tells everybody to run. After Marineford when he tells his crew they’ll reconvene in 2 years. Even in Wholecake Island when they only take a few people instead of going in guns blazing. Obviously he’s guided by many other people to make these choices but it really shows that what Vivi taught him continues to ring true for Luffy’s position as a Captain.

What’s in a Scar

Chopper’s used to watching his captain’s self-destructive tendencies. To being the one to begrudgingly stitch him back together after his body gives out.

He’s also used to watching Luffy get up like it’s nothing and ignore all Chopper’s careful handiwork in favour of collecting more injuries.

Which is why Chopper finds himself complaining to Robin one afternoon after finishing restitching Luffy’s stomach wound for the fifth time.

“You know, he didn’t recruit me until Nami got sick,” he says to Robin, putting extra force into the herbs he’s grinding. “I think he only views my services exclusively for everyone else.”

Robin is perched elegantly in her lounge chair. She idly flicks a page in her book.

“Healing hands are much harder to accept than you think,” she says, cryptic and beatific. Robin in a nutshell.

“Untreated wounds don’t disappear, they try to heal anyway and without guidance they do so incorrectly and unsafely,” Chopper grumbles. This rant well rehearsed by how frequently he thinks it while treating the crew.

Robin hums. “That’s an apt metaphor.”

Chopper looks up in confusion. “It wasn’t a meta— oh,” he breathes.

Robin’s warm eyes meets his gaze. “I believe our captain is no stranger to the phenomen of healing unguided.”

“Or the rest of the crew,” Chopper sighs.

He thinks of Luffy’s scars, the one under his cheek, self inflicted then crudely sewn together. He thinks of the scar across Luffy’s chest, a symbol of what he’s lost.

He thinks of Zoro, with his scarred ankles and chest. The slash across his eye and the tiny cuts that litter his hands. Wounds collected in pursuit of his dreams, in pursuit of fulfilling his role as protector and first mate.

A captain and his first mate. One leads the other follows.

Suddenly it’s no wonder why they became the foundation of the Strawhats.

He thinks of Nami with her pinwheel tattoo carefully inked over scarred skin. Of Usopp’s endless broken bones and Franky’s cyborg body that he earned through reckless sacrifice.

He thinks of Jinbei’s countless battle scars and Robin and Sanji’s invisible ones. Brook’s skeletal body, a testament to his grief and endurance.

He thinks of his own broken antler, reattached with scrapped metal Dr Hiriluk had scavenged in the snow.

Again he marvels at the similarity they share with their captain.

“The captain often sets the tone of their crew,” Robin muses as if she can read Chopper’s mind.

What do you mean one of the first significant moments in this series is triggered by school bullies? Followed up by *checks note* a Border sanctioned hit against a 15 year old.

But the tyl arc gave me so many questions. Mainly who would Tsuna be in a few years? Because the development from age 14 to 24 is HUGE. None of these characters have come even remotely close to unlocking their personalities.

Ugh my bright eyed and scarred little heroes.

Can we take a moment to appreciate how wonderfully Katsuki and Shouto grew? They were totally different people in the beginning. Like who knew this level of humour and softness was possible.

And Izuku? Still that boy with the notebook and passionately curated Rolodex of heroes. Still always the best hero in the room even if he’s not equipped with all the tools for it.

But also I love chaotic boss fights and that last arc in the anime with the raiders was the funniest thing ever. No sense of urgency from any of the cleaners. Zoldyl was also simultaneously so off putting yet funny. Like why did you just eat a cockroach mid conversation? Surely you weren’t that desperate for extra protein?

This show has also made me super emotional about certain topics like Amo and even overall the climate crisis in The Ground.

I watched season 2 of Wind Breaker a while back and had to pause for a second during the episode where Sakura got a cold. Because they genuinely explained so many profound concepts around how people view help and themselves. Like Kaji’s analogy with the tea and the labels? People pay therapists for that knowledge!

I remember Naruto being such a great example of processing grief and rising above negativity. Or One Piece emphasising the importance of freedom of choice and pursuing your dreams

I actually think a good litmus test for people is how they view his character.

I cannot stress enough how impressive Usopp is given the fact that’s he’s a normal guy. He’s also had zero experience with combat or danger prior to his introduction. Every other Strawhats has either experienced the danger of combat or have witnessed it. Heck most of the crew are trained specifically for those situations.

Usopp should honestly be more scared. I’m surprised he sprung into action so quickly.

Also regarding the Water 7 argument. Don’t even get me started I could go on for days. But I do get upset when people don’t realise that YES it’s devastating that Usopp leaves because they love him.

Usopp arguably contributes so much to the crew. He’s the whole reason they have a Jolly Roger. He literally turned Luffy’s dream into reality with his art skills.

He was their shipwright for a good portion of their journey. He literally built the Clima Tact which allows Nami to protect herself. He gets along with everyone and is so obviously adored by the crew. He got the keys to Robin in Enies Lobby. He took down Sugar!!

Also Usopp has no mentor and yet he’s basically an engineer with how good he is with inventions. His aim is also perfect. I remember there being a scene in Enies Lobby with Kaku where Usopp misses a shot at him. I literally said aloud during that scene “It’s weird he missed” and literally the next moment Usopp says he laughed mid shot and it threw off his aim. He’s that consistent as a sniper that him missing is jarring for the viewer!

He’s not without his flaws but Usopp is so likeable. I don’t believe in cataloguing characters by use, but given his versatility is he not also extremely useful?

I adore this series but I’m also not sure I’d ever recommend it to someone lol.

It’s such an odd experience. It’s a wonderful slow burn but if someone asked if that slow burn pays off, I’d have to say no?

Frankly, I’m convinced the author doesn’t even like Eijun all that much. And with every reread/rewatch I get increasingly more protective of him and madder at the team.

But also that’s my team! I’m rooting for their success. I’ve also never gotten over my rage at them subbing out Eijun during the Yakushi finals? I also think almost everyone has done Eijun dirty at some point. I love the ensemble cast and even when I’m throwing tomatoes at them, it’s done with affection.

I’m also totally satisfied with how Act II ended so honestly the feelings are super contradictory.

Because I watched Good Will Hunting and realised why people were Like That tm when discussing film. I get why cinephiles are a thing.

It was so good that I legitimately stopped and began thinking about how well constructed the screenplay play must’ve been for it to translate like that on the screen.

I heard: “You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you?”

And started dusting the cobwebs off my writer’s brain.

“It’s not your fault?”

Zoro is such a massive dork. He gets lost, fights with animals (south bird, eyelash, Karue etc). His childhood role model was an angsty 12-year-old girl who repeatedly mopped the floor with him during training.

Zoro, without prompting did the Tarzan call before swinging on a vine. He decided to swim in the frozen ocean just for the vibes and predictably nearly died in the process. He’s unbelievably sassy and witty, like please go back and observe his comebacks.

But wow. There’s some pretty big differences. Mainly how Panther and Sena meet is way more unhinged in the manga. Musashi’s return is a totally different game lol. That was a wild realisation. Also the Bando Spiders don’t actually get that much focus and their tragic backstory is anime only? Shocking because I legitimately love that team because of all the anime content.

I think the biggest confusion for me was realising how committed the anime was to making Sena seem like someone with no agency or bravery? I always assumed it was just his character and liked him anyway but after I read the manga from start to finish I started to get annoyed on his behalf. Sena is reasonably timid at the start of the series but once he commits to playing football he is absolutely locked in. He does not give up!

I got so mad at that final Oujo game in the anime because they have him sit sadly during half time while Mamoru and Hiruma figure out a strategy for Sena to use against Shin. EXCUSE ME?? That’s his RIVAL of course he’s going to be fully invested in finding a way to win against him! And that’s exactly what Sena does in the manga.

To anyone on the fence about watching it, do it!! It’s legitimately one of the most satisfying watches (ignore the ending of the movie, not canon!) The pace is great, the characters are funny and grow on you. The sports anime angst is extreme and of course the way they play basketball is dramatic to the point of supernatural.