#ch393

Another thing I really appreciate about Robin’s characterization throughout this flashback is that she feels like a little kid. Yes, she’s incredibly intelligent and was motivated enough to teach herself a dead language before reaching double digits, but then you get these moments like this where she’s just so...young. Like, later on the reason she gives for not going to the evacuation ship is that the people there are mean to her. It doesn’t matter how smart she is, she doesn’t have the experience to fully understand what’s really going on here

W WH NO

Once Robin realizes the Straw Hats won’t abandon her, she says she wants to go to sea with them. The use of the sea as a metaphor for freedom isn’t unique to One Piece--it’s seeped in the Romantic tradition that Oda pulls so heavily from--but leaning into that tradition is part of the reason it works so well. It’s a very human thing to yearn for what lies beyond the horizon, and Oda taps into that yearning to help give a sense of humanity to the grand and impossible dreams his characters often have.

Also, I appreciate the inclusion of a card catalogue. I bet keeping track of 5000 years worth of books was a miserable experience