#ch319

Water 7 has two main dramatic and narrative thrusts--the eruption of Usopp’s inferiority complex and Robin’s assassination attempt on Iceburg. Both storylines have some thematic similarities and end up with them leaving the crew. 

But where the Usopp storyline is peak melodrama, the truth surrounding Robin’s actions and motivations are a straight-up mystery. These two twine together to make the closest One PIece has to a thriller. And the mystery portion of that thriller starts here. 

(it actually started in Alabasta as Aokiji repeats some information we already knew, but this is Oda really bringing it to the forefront)

I believe I mentioned it when Robin joined the crew, but when laying out Robin’s past Oda never lies. Everything Aojiki says here is true, it’s just colored by the perspective of a marine agent. 

He says it best, Robin’s bounty was placed because of her danger to the World Government. On the surface that makes her seem like someone who is genuinely awful, that she’s a threat not to a single nation or ocean, but the entire world, but that’s because Oda has been careful not to reveal just how terrible the World Government is. We’ve gotten hints here and there of local corruption, but have yet to plumb the depths of how fundamentally broken the power systems of the world are.

At this point we are Tonjit. We’ve been conditioned to believe that, generally speaking, the Lawful Authority is good and the Unabashed Criminals are bad. The facts, as they stand, do not change. 

Aokiji goes into more depth about his reasons for taking out Luffy next chapter, but it’s interesting to me that to start the two traits Aokiji lists for why Luffy should die are that he’s wild and out of control.

Aokiji’s personal justice is something I wish were a expanded on a little more within the manga, but Oda has said in that prior to Ohara his motto was “burning justice”. It’s understandable to see how his enthusiasm might have cooled (pun totally intended), but what Aokiji is doing here is pretty responsible. After blindly following directives to destroy an entire island, he’s taking the time to gather intel first hand (can imagine how he might be wary of trusting cipher pol) and make his own decision based on what he sees.