#ch361

19 days - old xian ch.360 “Your happiness.” - English translation

previous 360 - 359 - 358 - 357 - 356 - 355 - 354 - 353 - 352

I really like what Oda does with this little motif of Robin and her reflection in the train window between this chapter and the next. Chapter 360 and 361 both have a lot of cuts between the various groups as Oda builds the tension of the train’s departure. But unlike characters like Nami and Chopper, the little snippets of Robin are of a single moment drawn out over two chapters. Firstly Oda establishes the reflection in the window in chapter 360, then in 361 Robin actually looks at her reflection, which then transitions into her reflecting about her past with the Straw Hat Pirates

She’s smiling. These are good memories with good people, but Robin very obviously covers her eyes. Symbolically, she’s blinding herself. She can’t stand seeing her own reflection, or those memories. Maybe she’s trying not to cry, but we never get a good enough view of her eyes to know for sure. I think there’s a part of her that knows that the Straw Hats would fight for her, but she just can’t stand to see them hurt. She can’t allow herself to be hurt by them. 

And as the train departs we get this juxtaposition of Nami desperately trying to reach her while Robin chooses not to see, comforted by the lie that she’s told herself that if she allows herself to do this one thing that the Straw Hat Pirates will be safe from harm.