Notes

One piece is just for little kids ?


When people ask me why I like One Piece so much most often I find myself giving confusing, incomplete, and not much in dept answers.
You might be thinking , "It's you who do not have clear ideas."
But no, that is not the case.
My taughts are crystal clear, but explaining everything that we feel when we read something that we like is never simple: we need to distinguish what objectively can be identified, and above all, never mention what we like personally.




The problem now is: How do you not talk about something you feel personally about a manga which greatest aspect is empathy ? This, my fellow nakama, is impossible.
Now you're thinking why i made this long and boring intro.
Simple : i will try to explain what i , through the analysis of something objective, perceive and assimilate from reading this manga ( not everthing , otherwise it would be to long ) .
this article might be more helpful to me than you , but it's always good to express someones feelings clearly.


I would like to concentrate on our crew for the moment. The Strawhats could be considered like a “ model “. The crew is like a perfect model of society which works perfectly.
In fact Oda characterized each member to perfection, but if we analyze each member, we can see how every single member has a precise quality, which we can identify them .

1. Luffy >> Wants to be free >>>Respects others freedom

It seems pretty obvious that our captain is a symbol for freedom.
Whatever Luffy does, he does it for two reasons: because he just wants to or because he doesn't want someone else to cause trouble for innocent people.
These two reasons made him kick Crocodile's ass , burned the flag of a corrupt government, punched a celestial dragon and stomped on Doffy's face like it was nothing.
This is wht Luffy is a one of a kind character. A protagonist so free is very cool and interesting because it's the exact opposite of our real world , where society limits that freedom.


2. Zoro >>>> Ambition >>>> Puts himself to serve others

Many think that Zoro isn't characterized that good enough, but that's not true at all.

A character who does not give up on anything and if he really has to do it, he prefers to die. A highly ambitious character, but a fairly wise character (yes, despite being a perfect idiot) to realize that his ambition alone serves nothing.
Just remember these two scenes : when he kneels in front of Mihawk and when he sacrifices himself in front of Kuma.

It's easy to be a Badass character, very crazy and very strong, it's difficult to be and represent an incredibly powerful message: if you know how to do something, whatever that might be, you have to use it for others and not yoursef.
3. Nami >>>>Intelligence>>>>Group organization

Nami is definitely the smartest element of the crew (not that it takes so much with people like Luffy or Zoro) and that her being tedious, fussy, blurry, shrewd, and subtle, does nothing but maintain a group that would otherwise be in ruins without her. She manages the money and makes the boat move ( literally speaking ), and she also speaks up when the crew play for too long. She's definitely not strong like the monster trio but she's a fundamental cog in the system.
Being cynical isn't always wrong.

4. Usopp >>> Courage >>>Not afraid to change

Usopp can be considered the most characterized character of Oda's.
A liar with the power to make any lie real. A man in the midst of a group of "monsters" in a sea of fierce fish.

A man who has given up his fears to change his life, to change himself, to make a decision that sooner or later anyone of us will have to take . And to do this as a simple human, with all the difficulties that life gives you is insane.
To improve yourself you need the courage to change. Chapeau, Oda sensei.

5. Sanji >>>Kindness>>>>Forgiveness


Thanks to the latest arc we can admire how the cook is an exaggeratedly good person. Despite having had a family of assholes, despite being betrayed by the only remnant of salvation left over, despite Gin kicking his ass after asking for some food, Sanji forgives him. And it is the forgiveness the greatest gesture of goodness that a person can do: it's easy to get upset ,but it's difficult to appease the spiral of hatred and violence that a wrong can cause.

6. Chopper >>>>Altruism >>>Duty before all

It seems to me like Chopper gets a lot of hate for being useless,with a cute puffy design and weak. I must admit that i dont' like him either but as i sad before , personal toughts must not condition us.
Chopper is the on board doctor, he is the man/animal holding everyones life in his hands.
He also has a big and precise dream : tu be able to cure every illness in the world, indifferently from the patient facing himself.
The greatness of Chopper can be found in one particular scene. The scene i'm talking about is when he decide to cure Ceasar , when clearly he did not want to because he was the enemy ,but Chopper respescts his own moral code.

7. Nico Robin>>> Culture>>> The power of Knowledge


I think it's fairly immediate to recognize the importance that our archaeologist has in the One Piece world: she is the most feared woman in the world. And the reason is her knowledge.
Knowledge is a burden, but at the same time it is a reason for pride: from this point of view Robin's change in history is almost pedagogical.
An extraordinary character created to understand how each of us can be really important: living to know, knowing to live.

8. Franky >>>Common sense>>>>>Learn from your mistakes

Franky is the wisest member of the crew (not by chance Oda has given him the role of "father" if the crew were a family). His wisdom, beautifully contrasted with his being an exuberant character, derives from his past: he has spent all his life in an attempt to avert the sin of being the cause of his mentor's death, Tom. He had decided to silence his passion, while not risking to build more "dangerous" ships, he had decided to collect all the thugs of Water Seven (as Tom did with him and Iceburg), and decided to suppress himself so he would not do anything wrong. But doing so he harmed himself.
A character who carries the burden of redemption, of guilty feelings, of a message we sometimes take for granted but which actually represents the rock against which each of us will sooner or later go up against.

9. Brook >>>Patience>>>Never give up hope


Let's face it: his flashback is a stab to the heart, an emotional slap with a strong impact. But that's why Brook is a Nakama and not a passing character. He has a role, he has his talents, but above all has a message fo us readers: the promise made to Laboon is still valid and the hope of seeing his friend again after 50 years is not yet dead. Because, in spite of everything, hope is really the last to die. Never, never ever surrender, for it is just when the darkness is thicker than the light shines more.



So, returning to the initial question: why do I like this work of art?
Because I have the opportunity to experience the emotions I know, because empathy is a very powerful means of communication. And the crew is a very empathetic crew: they have a lot of problems, but each one of them is able to fill the gaps of the other, and each of them does it without the slightest hesitation ... exactly how each of us should do in real life.
So is One piece still just for kids ?