Sillyness Ensues

This idea is so, so important to the series in general, and Brook in particular. There are times in One Piece where people die for noble causes, and others where people act knowing that there's a good chance that they could die, but knowingly choosing death over life is never portrayed in a positive light.

As someone who views One Piece through the lens of Romantic literature, this is really important because historically the Romantics, er, well, romanticized suicide and death and the historic last stand. It's doubly interesting to me as a Japanese story, with Japan having its own long, complicated history with the concept of honorable death.

One Piece directly challenges both of these ideas, with life and living being romanticized instead, even if that means you have to get on your knees and beg for it like Brook does with Ryuma later on.

And it's a tightrope that story has to balance. Nami willingly lived under to boot of the man who killed her mother for years, but there came a time when enough was enough, and both she and the village had to stand up and fight for her freedom. She carried that lesson to her fight with Enel, even though she was hopelessly outmatched and would have been reduced to a greasy smear if Luffy hadn't shown up to save her. Within the context of the story both instances were portrayed positively, with Oda indicating through his writing that she had made the correct decision.

But that's not what's happening here. This is Luffy being willing to run away at Sabaody because he knew the Pacificas were too strong. This is Usopp lambasting the samurai at Wano for rushing toward their deaths rather than living to fight another day.

Name: Boxy

Debut: Kirby and the Amazing Mirror

Ever heard of "box"? "Box" is a container that we can put various things in. In our world, they do not bite us. Thank goodness! Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, however, decided to ask the terrifying question... what if a box COULD bite us...?

I am glad they asked this question, because Boxy is such a wacky creature! A living present, which grants the rare and beloved Magic ability. Presents and magic aren't THAT closely associated, but it still fits very well, I think. A pretty box containing something mysterious, given to You, for free? That is magical!

While not the most STRIKING part of the design, the most FASCINATING part of Boxy's anatomy is its tail. Or should I say its stem? If I had to give a present creature a tail, I would probably make that tail a ribbon, maybe a string ending in a little balloon, but this is an unmistakable PLANT feature! Is Boxy some kind of fruit? A CARNIVOROUS fruit? Maybe it was grown into a cubic shape like those funny watermelons for aesthetic purposes, and is now seeking revenge? One of its attacks is to spit smaller presents. Could these be its seeds?

Nope! That is not a plant embryo, that is a Waddle Dee! What a lovely present! Boxy's gifts contain all manner of things, which I guess ties into the Randomness aspect of the Magic ability. I hope one of the presents contains WAFFLEZ!!!1! lol

Maybe it's not a fruit, but Boxy still does seem to be a carnivorous plant, which is SUCH a delightful thing for a fangly cube to be. Maybe it uses its presents to tempt prey, like a real carnivorous plant's sweet-smelling nectar! Maybe that's the reason for the big ribbon on top, too! Or maybe she just wears it to be pretty. It's working!

You ever get the urge to just-

The idea of shadows being a separate soul in One Piece is interesting because, as we later find out with Big Mom, souls in the traditional sense do exist and associated with a person's life energy, whereas shadows house the personality. The idea of the shadow being related to the soul isn't exactly unique to One Piece--it's a popular trope in fairy tales and made most famous by Peter Pan--but here they're totally separate things that seem to have different functions.

“you’re not helping”