(no subject)
So I am canon-reviewing in an attempt to freshen up Usopp's voice and get out of my slump. (Although, posting last week helped me quite a bit already.) As I review, I thought I'd type up any special observations I make as I read. WARNING: I'm awful at text analyzation so don't expect Earth-Shattering Theories.
- I love how the Veggie Pirates like Usopp because of his negative qualities: meddling, being bossy and being boastful. Usopp's not afraid to poke his nose into things, yo.
- I totally forgot the end of the infamous goldfish story is that Usopp chops up the fish and gives it to a bunch of little people. Note to self: you can get a little gruesome with the lies if you want.
- Usopp really, really, REALLY blows up at Khaladore for bad-mouthing Yasopp, seriously flips out.
- I need to remember that Usopp is pretty familiar with the names of the Big Name Pirates of the OP world. He knows about Buggy, who's somewhat a low-level pirate, and Shanks. And he knows of Captain Kuro, enough to know of his reputation as a planner and that he was supposed to have been executed.
- Wow, the panels where Usopp fights against Kaya's guards are pretty good. He bites one of the guard's arms and shoots them with his slingshot before they can shoot their guns at him. Looks like he nails their chin and stomach, although it's hard to tell exactly with the reaction shots.
- Usopp gets shot by Merry and then HIDES it from the Veggie Pirates. That pushes his manliness meter up a notch, at least going by Zoro's standards. It's very noble, his desire to keep the village and his crew unaware of the impending attack. Very stupid, considering how outnumbered he is, but noble. I also love how he hits his legs to try and get them to stop shaking out of fear. He tries so hard. Gotta remember to incorporate that sometime in RP.
- I love Nami and Usopp interaction forever and ever. Behold:
Usopp: Okay, go attack them! I'll back you up!
Nami: What?! Why me?! What can I do against an army of ruthless cuthroats? I'm a girl!
Usopp: You don't expect me to do it, just 'cause I'm a man? Look how scared I am! My knees are shaking!!
Nami: Well, look at me! I'm starting to cry!
Usopp: You're as dry as a desert.
Nami has no problems lying when it suits her. She and Usopp have more in common that one would initially think. - Aaaaaand Usopp totally gets whacked in the head with a stone hammer thing right away during the fight. Poor guy. He always gets hurt so quickly. Now I don't feel so bad for having him get hurt comedically in camp all the time.
- I kinda like that Zoro took Usopp's attack meant for one of the Cat Brothers so that they don't turn against Usopp and Nami. I think it implies that he doesn't trust them at that stage to hold their own in a fight. If this same situation were to happen in current canon? Zoro wouldn't have done it because he knows that Usopp and Nami know enough to know when they can attack.
- Poor Usopp really gets a lot of demeaning poses throughout the series, like when he's slumped on his face before Kuro with his butt in the air. It's one reason why I love him; he'll look absolutely ridiculous, absolutely humiliated, but then he gets up and shows the bad guys what for. What can I say, I like that range.
- As always, I love how Oda emphasizes teamwork in One Piece without making a huge deal out of it. Zoro picks Usopp up to go after Django and while Zoro could make faster time on his own, he'd never find his way through the woods. So even thought Usopp's extremely injured, he's still of important use, he's still needed.
- God, I'm remembering how awful Kuro is. Some of the pirate captains later are cruel to their crews but they usually don't try to cut them up without a reason.
- Some things that Usopp packs in his huuuuuge backpack: a dartboard, a teddy bear, a clock, possibly a book and something that possibly has a bow on it.
- I've always wondered at Usopp's look of utter shock when Zoro and Luffy invite Usopp onto Merry. Usopp's seventeen in this arc and he started the Veggie Pirate crew when he was twelve. The Veggie Pirates themselves were four when he started and nine now. It seems like they are his main friends, which makes me wonder if he had any friends his own age in town. I mean, there's Kaya, but she was stuck in her mansion most of the time and he wasn't telling her tales ever since he was twelve. I suppose his shocked look is more that he's amazed that such awesome people/warriors invited him along but still. It looks like he didn't even entertain the thought that they would invite him to come, despite everything they just went through.
- "I wanna keep dreaming. I'm the son of a pirate." Huge pirate romanticism here, associating pirates with dreams. Of course, One Piece romanticizes piracy in general, so that's not a surprise.