#ch 499

The Celestial Dragons all speak respectfully to each other and use extremely respectful titles for each other- for example, Shalria and Charloss both call their father お父上様/o-chichiue-sama, which is something along the lines of ‘great honorable father.’

Likewise, all the normal civilians also speak very respectfully to the Celestial Dragons, using ください/kudasai and sometimes even polite forms even when the Celestial Dragons are committing atrocities against them- for example, the nurse that Charloss decides to make his wife and her fiancé are extremely respectful and humble in begging for mercy, which is super fucked up.

Y’all made me dig out the Sabaody volumes for this, cause I couldn’t not go check for myself after looking on the wiki.

Anyways. Found the source of the confusion, I think.

Presuming this is the panel referenced on the wiki, Zoro is referred to as the 二番手/niban-te, literally ‘second hand,’ or just ‘second person/number two,’ of the crew. 

It does not, technically, literally mean ‘first mate.’ The word used for first mate as used to introduce for example Sarkiss and I believe Jango as well is 副船長/fuku-senchou, literally ‘vice-captain.’ 

Hey, if you’re still taking panel submissions, I’ve always wondered what Apoo and Urouge say exactly about Zoro here (chapter 499). In the official English translation Urouge calls Zoro the first mate but I’ve seen people say this translation is too liberal. This line in particular is a little controversial because there’s always been debate among the fans regarding who the first mate of the crew is lol

Thank you! - @marspiter​