Kira Nightshade

I think this also explains the way Zoro acted in Water 7 when he says that while Luffy is an idiot, he is still their Captain and should be treated as such. He is the person that made Luffy a Captain after all when he had nothing but a dream to his name, and if he could respect him at that moment then everyone else should respect him when he's proven he's worthy of it even more.

Oda's View of Masculinity Through Zoro

The number of times that Zoro has been injured, collapsed, and essentially needs to be taken care of is kinda astronomical. I see people ignore it a lot because right before is a really cool fight where he has a lot of aura, but I think that those parts where he is so injured are super important to what Oda is trying to convey in this series.

Zoro is like the personification of strength. Fans treat him like he's untouchable. The crew thinks similarly of how could anything go bad when Zoro is with them. But he actually constantly needs help eventually, and I think that shows that strength/masculinity to Oda doesn't mean being untouchable and without needing assistance.

The character of Zoro still gets to be cool, awesome, and a man's man while still being able to be hurt and needing to be helped constantly. It doesn't take away from that which is why I have issue with people ignoring it in favor of his cool fights.

Sanji Survived What Zoro Essentially Couldn't And That's Important To Showing Their Mutual Respect

I wrote about this in my wings of the pirate king parallel post, but I think it's important to this chapter as well obviously. Zoro knows like 1/6th of what Sanji went through as a child, he admits it was hard and doesn't deny what Luffy says about not being able to survive it.

The guy Zoro fights alongside, the one he trusts with his life and the life of the people they care about, the one who carries the weight of protection alongside him, went through worse than that. I think that matters so much even if the two of them never talk about it.

They both walk around with the memory of that feeling of hunger in them. They both walk around knowing what it feels like to be without basic needs. I think that that mutual understanding shapes them both and even if it's never said outright that it does help that connection between them because real recognizes real you can say.

Koby and Luffy Vs. What It Means To Be A Hero

Koby calls Zoro and Luffy heroes in this part and doesn't include himself in that. What fascinates me about this is how later on we get Luffy outright saying he doesn't want to be a hero, and he doesn't go into situations wanting to be heroic.

He wants to be a pirate. Which is what he's known as throughout the world. It doesn't matter that he does save people constantly, when people see his wanted poster they go oh a pirate not oh it's that hero guy.

Koby wants to be a hero. He wants to help people as the main goal of his life. He ends up becoming known as "The Hero of the Rocky Port Incident" and is trained personally by "The Hero of the Marines". When people look at his photo they see a "hero" first not knowing how he breaks the rules and is soft on someone like Luffy.

Koby Already Making The Marines Better Through Example

Ah I love this little scene! Koby outright thanks and shows Luffy respect by saluting him even though he was so worried about making the marines distrust him. This comes right after he says he needs to depend on himself and be stronger. This IS him being strong and doing something through his own decision/own making.

Then all the other marines follow suit, properly showing respect to Luffy and Zoro for freeing them from Morgan even though it's against protocol. Koby inspired them to do the same which we will see him do with so many others throughout the series.

They Say Pirates Should Be Hated And Then They Never Do That Again

This literally made me laugh out loud because this literally never happens again. They literally get parties in their name going forward over and over again.

So what does that say about them as pirates?

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