#ch331

Agpar. Ackbar.

It’s really interesting to see the difference between how Sanji and Zoro react to this situation. As I said before, after making his initial objection Zoro is quite content to let this play out, likely recognizing the argument as something that’s been built up to for a long time that needs to be resolved between Usopp and Luffy. Sanji here doesn’t defend Usopp, exactly, but also recognizes that Luffy’s about to say something he doesn’t really mean in a fit of anger, and much earlier in the chapter was the one physically holding Luffy back so he could at least explain what what was going on to Usopp in a calmer manner. It’s just fantastic characterization done through action, rather than words.

I think ordinarily Luffy wouldn’t have let this devolve into a shouting match so quickly, but as I said before, this hasn’t exactly been his best day, either. He found out his beloved ship isn’t seaworthy, seen one of his best friends get the shit kicked out of him because of his own failure to protect his crew, and had another crewmember go missing with no idea how to find her. Both Luffy and Usopp are pretty emotionally compromised right now.

And I think Zoro senses that, because this is the one (1) time during this entire argument that he intervenes trying to get them both to calm down. Which worked for about half a second, until Luffy was able to explain the entirety of his position and Usopp still refusing to believe him.