I think apart from Luffy getting mad because of his precious straw hat, this is the first time we see him so mad about something. Great way showing it in his eyes, and of course the telltale use of bold lettering. I think a lot of people would recalibrate their understanding of the crew and of the dynamic between Luffy and Usopp if they remembered this scene and understood what it means. It’s true that Usopp’s a coward at times, but his bravery never fails to show when the time comes. We see this trait of his many many times! Usopp’s more the brave warrior of the sea than what he believes!
If I’m correct I don’t think this gimmick of Zoro asking Luffy if he has a problem with something remains for a while. I like it, it’s very characteristic of the conditions he gave Luffy to join his crew: never get in his way. I think this dynamic serves the first few chapters immensely and shifts after the fight against Mihawk. How convenient of Zoro to have joined a guy who just agrees with him almost completely…no, Luffy doesn’t seem to have any problem with what he does!
This reminds me of the SBS I posted just previously. Oda clearly explains that losing a fight is equivalent of losing in the face of your dream, and having to have said dream and ideals shattered, which is equivalent to death. I’ve questioned myself a bit on this answer from Oda— the question clearly mentions Helmepp, and since Oda points out that a defeat means the negation of one’s belief, you’d think this defeat would automatically point to the disappearance of a character in the storyline. It doesn’t happen to Helmepp though, and many many antagonists come back to have major roles even after getting defeated by Luffy. This puts this on the table: the shattering of one’s beliefs isn’t enough to stop them. This is a clear opening to question the characters who come back in the story and the validity of their beliefs. This might not be clear so I’m gonna use Helmepp’s example: his « ideals » can be summarized to profiting off of his father’s reputation to be a little tyrant, AKA, power means everything and being an oppressor works. By beating him, Luffy shatters those ideals. Helmepp comes back to the storyline with, one could believe, different ideals, or rather a different way to achieve them. This either brings up a narrative of resilience, or instead introduces the idea that not all beliefs are equal, and the way they are achieved certainly deserves to be challenged. This theme is explored through many characters, off the top of my head I’ll use Eustass Kidd as an example: he’s often used to be compared to Luffy, in the sense that they have the same dream of becoming pirate king, but take very different routes in achieving said dream. Having a story where the main character’s gauge for good and evil is heavily discussed and where his involvement in said evil is based on his own beliefs means that that kind of system needs to be thoroughly explained, and I think Oda does that pretty well in the story. This brings us back to this panel, where Luffy affirms that protecting Usopp’s village is enough to put his life on the line for, AND at the same time that he’s convinced he won’t die. According to what Oda said in the SBS, this could mean that Luffy’s convinced of the righteousness of his beliefs, especially when pit against someone as rotten as Kuro (who denied the pirate’s way of life, which is a big no no). A clash between pirates means a clash between beliefs (and the reasons behind risking getting your beliefs shattered matter), and Kuro’s lame ass beliefs stand no chance against Luffy’s iron faith in the pirate way of life.
