#568a talks

This scene is easily one of the most powerful ones in the entire series.

Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs were very dark, serious and hopeless for the most part. The looming fear of drowning in Aqua Laguna, Usopp leaving the crew, Robin leaving the crew, the desperate journey with Rocket Man and Lucci and co. being overwhelmingly strong.

This scene, for the first time in a long time, parted the dark clouds and gave us some hope to hold onto. Straw Hats are finally uniting to bring Robin back, and in an insanely epic way. 

Oda truly is the master of composing panels.

During this arc we also get to see how dark the world of One Piece truly is. The annihilation of Ohara really showed us how flawed the government really is, and how it hunts down one woman who just wants to fulfill her and her loved ones’ goals and dreams. Despite that, she was reduced to wanting to give up and die. 

Luffy might be an idiot, but emotionally the boy is a genius. During Robin talking about her past, he never, not even once, opens his mouth, and instead listens to it quietly. 

I have always absolutely loved Luffys logic in what he tells Robin;

It’s okay if you want to die

But you need to say it when you’re happy and with people who love you.

He’s telling Robin that wanting to die when you’re forced to do it or when you’re not in a good place is not the way to go.

It took me years to actually realize why it was that Luffy waged a war against the world. It wasn’t in order to just get back at Spanda. It wasn’t in order to save Robin.

It was in order to have the same enemy as Robin has.

It was in order to tell her 

“Hey, now the world is our enemy as well. Your enemy is our enemy. Your dreams are our dreams.”

This 17-years-old boy who has seen only a little bit of world, who’s been alive a little over half the time Robin has and is a certified Moron, manages to convince this 28-years-old, extremely intelligent woman who’s been determined to die for a long time, who has always hidden her problems and shunned people away, to live. To admit out loud how much she wants to live.

Luffy might be an idiot, but the way he manages to project his emotions and his will into others is a freaking superpower.

And finally, after such a long time, we see Robin break down her final walls, and admit how much she wants to live and see the world with the people she loves.

She has been hiding for such a long time. She has tried to keep her emotions in check, tried not to hope. She has tried to remain distant and cold to be able to betray and use people in order to fulfill her goals and duty she has given herself.

Finally, finally we see her admit how she wants to live, not just for the poneglyphs, but for herself and her friends as well.

Robin wants to live, and she wants to trust.

Luffy gave her the place where she finally could live and trust.

It might take some time, years or decades even, but as long as you hold on, happy times are sure to come your way.

We first saw Doflamingo in chapter 233, and we finally got to his arc in chapter 700+. It took him 12 years to make his appearance properly.

So Doflamingo is one of those few bad guys we waited years to encounter. He first appeared in way back in 2002, and after that made his appearance at some key points of the story. Everytime we saw him during that time he was potrayed as this extremely ruthless individual, but not much more. We were then slowly shown more and more how dangerous he truly was, and this peaked at the Marineford arc and especially after it. When Doflamingo literally threathens the World Government officials, we finally realized that this man was more terrifying and influental than we had initially thought.

His visual design is just amazing. My god, I never thought I'd be this terrified of a grinning man wearing a huge pink feather coat, and how WRONG I was. His design is so ridiculous that you'd never think this guy was as horrifying as he was, which is an amazing contrast. From the sunglasses to the slightly curved shoes he has, all the details are well thought out, including his impressive height of 3 m/10ft. He is so unnerving when he uses his height to intimidate those below him.

Almost every panel of him smirking is enough to send chills down my spine. His smirk is so hair-raising, and when it rarely dies, you know shit’s about to hit the fan. His Devil Fruit complements him perfectly, and the way fights with it is so beautiful to watch. The way he flies with it, the string clone, the birdcage, the way he fixed his organs. Doflamingo is one of the few who has learned to maximize the use of his fruit, and the fact that he’s so damn good with it makes him all the more dangerous. 

Also the way his past is made up is amazing. We’re shown that even before the torture and loss he suffered, he’s already mad. Like Rosinante said, Doflamingo was born evil. The hardships he went through only amplified his will to do evil and broadened the demographic up to the Tenryuubitos along with normal humans. His past is definitely tragic, and the way it still haunts him to this day makes him so much more spine-chilling than he already is.

I am not afraid of a person who doesn’t love his family and kills.

I am afraid of a person who loves his family and, despite that, kills.

Sure, Doflamingos concept of family is damn warped, but he still cares for them, proven when he gets mad at people laughing at Pica, or gets rid of the people who try to exploit Baby 5′s nature, to mention a few. He cares, and he feels. Being emotional and understanding how emotions work is very important when you manipulate people.

So this man not only feels some level of affection towards his family, and yet still he so cruelly abuses the citizens of Dressrosa, turns anyone into toys, no matter the gender or age, kills Rosinante and allows Caesar to experiment on children.

He full well understands how his actions affect the people, yet he feels no remorse whatsoever doing all these deeds. He is so damn ruthless while looking like a pink, oversized feather duster with legs. 

Depsite him being so utterly despicable and cruel, I can’t bring myself to hate him in the least. I love him as a character, he’s so well written, he’s so charismatic, he’s so damn interesting and terrifying at the same time. 

1. His unique visual design

I mean, seriously? 

A 277cm/9 ft tall skeleton in a suit, an afro and a sword hidden in a cane. The idea of a skeleton with no vocal chords being the singing musician of the crew. A skeleton who can play pretty much every possible instrument with his bony fingers. The idea that a skeleton has still hair, and it’s an afro? Everything about him screams uniqueness and I just adore it. 

2. His loyalty

Brook is, quite possibly, the second most loyal of the Straw Hats, right after Zoro. We don't know the exact amount of time he spent with the Straw Hats before timeskip, but we can assume few weeks at absolute most. After this he spends two years away from them, becoming a world famous artist. We all know that he's ultimate goal is to reunite with Laboon, and I can imagine that he could quite effortlessly use his newly gained wealth and fame to make someone take him to Laboon.

Despite this, he decides not to do anything of sort, and instead returns to the Straw Hats, with whom he spent only mere moments of his life. I mean when Franky was born Brook had already been sailing alone for 14 years. 

So not only did he return, but he dedicated his two years to train for Luffys sake. For the sake of a man, whom he had known for barely weeks. He even selflessly protects the crew members by throwing himself in Kumas way.

In addition to this, he is the only Straw Hat to kneel in front of Luffy when he joins the crew and he is the only one who vows to lay his life down for Luffys sake(When joining, mind you), which I hold in very high regard. This scene shows his dedication and fierce loyalty to Luffy, the man he has known for barely a day. 

3. Experience and wisdom

Brook is 90 years old and has been a pirate longer than many others in the series. Granted that he spent 50 years alone, that age has still given him wisdom and experience like no other. Brook pledges his life and existance to the 19-year-old boy who suddenly showed up because he can see Luffy is like no ordinary pirate. His years have made him become a good judge of character(seeing how Sanji is kind, seeing how prideful Zoro is etc. despite knowing them for quite a short time). He knows when to act mature, and when to play goofy. The way he During Whole Cake Island he delivers one of the best lines in the entirity of the series, serving Big Mom some real wisdom that comes with age;

(CoughTrafalgarDWaterLawCough)

4. Strength of heart and mind

This man spent 50 years alone, surrounded by the remains of his late crewmembers. He spent every day for fifty years in the very place that he himself and his precious friends died a slow, painful and horrifying death. And the place of his grave was still none other than Grand Line, the place known from its dangerous climate.

The willpower and mental strength of this man is on an entirely another level, and how he values his promises and the people who are dear to him is overwhelming. Despite being lonely and definitely scared, he keeps his head up, his eyes focused on his goal. A lesser man would’ve been broken years before, but Brook kept going, which is yet another reason to love him.  

4. Kindness and compassion

While I believe that by a landslide the kindest Straw Hat is Sanji, Brook is, to me, the second kindest. Friendly by nature, he more often than not puts the others in front of him. During his flashback, he was the one who communicated with baby Laboon. He was being sentimental about seeing the same sky as Laboon, only to be mocked by his captain. During Fishman Island arc he protects his enemies who are being attacked by their own side. When Pedro died he cried bitter tears, cursing he wasn’t strong enough. When Jimbei was the voice of reason and told them to stop crying, Brook lashed out at him for being cruel and unsentimental.

This skeleton Grandpa is way more kind than people give him credit for, and he is not afraid to show his emotions to the world.

5. Skull jokes and running gags

I love how Brook interacts with Zoro the crew, and the way he jokes around with them. His skull jokes are seriously funny (fight me) and make me laugh. I love how much of an idiot he is, and how you can see that he is a different brand of an idiot when compared to Luffy or Zoro. The way he runs on top of water because he is just so light. They way he is a messy eater, the way he gets depressed when someone messed up his skull jokes. The way he acts like the younger members of the crew even though he is at least 4 times their age. There’s too many things to love about Brook that it’s difficult to mention them all.

It was way back in Davy back fight arc Sanji told us that one should not underestimate the soul power of an afro, and years later, Brook indeed is the Soul King we don’t deserve.