fan essay!
Oh hey, you know how a while back I said I wanted to do an essay on Nami? WELL, I HAVE DONE IT. It is huge and unwieldy and reveals sloppy methodology and I feel very strongly about it.
Notes: This essay contains SPOILERS for the Alabasta arc, Enies Lobby arc, and Thriller Bark arc, as well as general spoilers for the manga in general, up through recent chapters. I am using two translations: my own and those done by others in scanslations. Because I am using multiple sources for the scanslations, I am not citing them specifically. If you see a work that belongs to you or someone you recognize and think it should be cited separately, please let me know. I cite by chapter, panel, and translator. I use "1" to denote my own translation and "2" to denote a scanlation. So a citation reading "(405.46.1)" means the quote comes from chapter 405, panel 46, my translation. Despite what the tag says, I use the manga exclusively. All links will open in a blank window; it's not necessary to close it each time.
Fun In the Tub?: Nami, Bath Scenes, and Discussions of Autonomy
There are very few scenes that I actively do not enjoy in "One Piece," but Nami's bath scene at Thriller Bark left a bad taste in my mouth. At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Was it the blatant fanservice? Was it the violation of a private moment? Was it the sexual harassment - no, assault? On a hunch, I decided to look at Nami's other two significant bath scenes: when she fought Kalifa and when she relaxed at Alubarna palace. After reading those scenes again, I realized what bothered me so much about Thriller Bark. As the series has progressed, Nami has moved from a character largely free of sexual objectification to one who is heavily objectified. The three bath scenes serve as milestones of Nami's autonomy over how her body is displayed and used.
This essay is mostly a close reading of the three bath scenes and how they reveal Nami's autonomy or lack of it in each. Anything and everything is up for discussion. I don't mean to imply that this is the only way to interpret these scenes, nor do I want to force this reading on anyone. These are just my thoughts and personal interpretations, and they tie in heavily with how I read Nami's character in general. Comments, questions, alternate readings, objections - really any feedback at all is welcome and appreciated.
During the bath scene at Alubarna, Nami and Vivi are first seen washing each other's backs. They are engaged in 'sexy' activity but interestingly not posed in typical 'sexy' positions. Nami is leaning forward, elbows resting on knees - though her breasts are just barely covered, it looks very natural and un-self-conscious. Vivi is covered to her knees by a towel. Moreover, the environment of the community bath removes a layer of transgression - unlike Western (American) bath/shower scenes, this is not a strictly private moment. We have just seen the boys on their side of the bath, running around and goofing off. The public bath is both a practical and social space, the naked body displayed to other bathers as a matter of fact, not as sexual triggers. Which is not to say that the bathhouse is free of objectification. On the contrary, in manga and anime it is a classic setting for voyeurism and a place where the Battle of the Sexes is often played out. Alubarna proves to be no exception as every male character except Zoro peer over the wall at Nami and Vivi. Oda, however, puts a couple of interesting spins on this convention. Oda presents it directly after we have seen the same characters behave ridiculously, with childlike excitement. The act of peeping also carries the same feelings, especially as they are drawn small and in the distance - it is an immature, childish act. Though the set-up is flimsy - Sanji directly asks where the girls' side is (213.80) - his plan is almost immediately foiled. This does not excuse the action or deny Nami and Vivi the right to be free from voyeurism, whatever the motive or nature of such acts. But the men are not threatening, invasive, or furtive. The fact that they are shown from the girls' viewpoint, far away and small, further removes a sense of identification with them. The reader is not looking with them looking at the girls. We are looking with the girls looking at them looking at the girls.
This point about looking back is Oda's other twist. While Vivi is angry and embarrassed, clearly aware of being looked at, Nami reverses the power dynamic by taking control of the situation. She has a towel - she is clothed. She opens the towel in full view of the men - controlling what is seen and who sees it, declaring "Happiness Punch!! 100,000 Beri per person" (213.90.1) - turning the situation into a transaction *. Does Nami plan the effect of her actions beforehand? It's not entirely clear. Maybe she does intend to end their looking with the act of showing, reinforcing the idea of Luffy and Company's immaturity.) Maybe she is serious about taking payment. But whatever her intent, her actions are effective in ending unwanted attention. Most importantly, she is comfortable taking such actions. Nami's back is turned to the reader, hidden by her towel - we see nothing of what the boys see. The reader is not invited to identify with the boys and see through their eyes. The fact that once the scene shifts back to the boys it does not return to the girls reinforces the humorous, not voyeuristic bent of the situation. The reader's gaze aligns with the men's during a silly scene; during the voyeuristic one, where it should have stayed with the men, it switches to align itself with the girls'; it returns to the men when the focus has turned to another topic. The reader, in short, is excluded from partaking in a potential moment of sexual exploitation. The scene is not entirely devoid of fanservice, and it is hard to argue for a bath scene whose motive, however partial, is not fanservice. But Nami is not a passive object in this case. She is a participant, she blocks the ultimate gaze - that of the reader - and resolves the situation to her advantage, on her terms.
In Nami's second bath scene, the situation is complicated. No longer engaged in social, bonding activity, she is instead fighting against a woman in a bathroom setting - this time a private one. Another bathroom, another fantasy: two skimpily-dressed women duking it out, posing suggestively and baring as much skin as possible in the process. Unlike the Alubarna bathhouse, which took all of two pages, Nami spends several chapters trapped in Kalifa's bedroom-bathroom. She is thrown around, trapped, and pinned down, often in poses emphasizing her breasts, bottom, and thighs. What we see here is Nami in the process of being turned into a sexual object for both the reader's gratification and Kalifa's. This is emphasized by her unwillingness: Nami is no longer choosing how her body is displayed or for whom. To a large extent, Oda gives us straight-up objectification and fanservice. But as usual, he throws in some twists. Nami's body is objectified, but she herself is fighting, in a way that is completely in-character: relying on her speed, buying time with the ClimaTact, trying everything in her arsenal. She is always moving, always trying, and while we might deplore the contrived poses, we can still cheer Nami on, as she has not lost the essence of her character to fanservice. This becomes important when we consider that Kalifa intends to render Nami incapable of activity. When she uses her Awa-Awa no Mi on Nami's body, she says, "Isn't it pretty? Anything that I touch takes on a beautiful luster. I'll give to you a radiant skin - from your head to your toes." **(408.42.1).
Kalifa then covers Nami with soap and turns her into a slippery doll. "I can't hold the Clima Tact very well...my body's all slippery...I can't stand up well either...!!" (410.85.1). This is Nami at her weakest, when she is unable to fight back, the point at which we might expect the situation to be at its most exploitative - yet it isn't. Again Oda throws us for a loop. Along with Nami's autonomy, the shape of her body has also been stripped, leaving her without toes or a defined face, but also without the traditionally sexualized curves. Nami's body has become childishly cartoonish, not sexy. It is almost as if Oda is compensating for the earlier objectification of Nami's body. Compare this picture (bottom panel, right) with this one (bottom panel, left). Both are aerial shots of Nami, but while Nami's cleavage is clearly the point of focus in the first picture, in the second it is non-existent. Were the erotic poses of Chapter 407 'justified' by Nami's relative autonomy? Do we now see a reluctance on Oda's part to take advantage of someone who cannot grasp things or stand?
In any case, it is passivity that Nami struggles against. It is the theme of her two big lines once she regains use of her body. Directly after turning back, she says, "If being cute means not fighting back, I'll have to disappoint you!" (411.89.1). Later on, after she has released the Fata Morgana and scored her first real hit against Kalifa, she declares, "I control both the humidity and the temperature. The weather in this room belongs to me!!!" (412.8.1). Once again, Nami reverses the power dynamic, this time manipulating the environment to her advantage. Kalifa's room starts off as a bathroom. Nami turns it into a condensed version of the Grand Line - sudden storms from all directions - that she deals with so well. Not only has she gotten out of a powerless position, but she is controlling the situation on her own terms.
This bath scene, then, sees Nami run the whole gamut. She is active but her body is displayed for the reader's pleasure: compromised autonomy. She is rendered helpless but is spared objectification: compromised passivity. And in the end, she gets back up and takes control. This is Nami at her strongest, most fearless and most confident.
All of that changes with the bath scene at Thriller Bark.
Initially, the set-up is innocent enough. Nami is taking a bath after dinner at Thriller Bark's castle while Usopp and Chopper stand guard outside. But unlike her bath at Alubarna, this is not an occasion for fun and relaxation. Nami doesn't let her guard down, even in such a private space, and by the cutaway scenes to the castle halls, we see that an uneasy feeling still lingers. Even so, Oda does not use this scene as an opportunity for fanservice so long as Nami is alone in the room. Her body is either submerged beneath the water or left out of the frame. The couple of times we see her entire torso, it is from a distance far away enough that Nami's body is indistinct. And the first time Usopp barges in, Oda reuses the trick from Alabasta: the reader's gaze is aligned closer to Nami's than Usopp's. So far, Nami has relative control over her privacy and the display of her body.
Once the Invisible Man shows up, however, Nami is rendered suddenly and completely powerless. She is taken by surprise. She is naked - nothing to cover herself with. The Clima Tact is not in the room, removing the huge source of power we saw in the last bath scene. As the Invisible Man pins her to the wall by the arms, Nami becomes physically immobile, without a way of identifying her attacker. Her last recourse - to call for help - is taken away as the Invisible Man covers up her mouth, rendering her voiceless (466.66). Most significantly, the reader's gaze changes. It is now aligned with the Invisible Man's as he looks at Nami's body, or it is posited to view Nami's body from an eroticized angle. However, this time, unlike in Kalifa's room, Nami is not allowed to retain her autonomy while her body is objectified. She is forced into a passive position, as she was under the effects of the Awa-Awa no Mi, but now she is also being sexualized for the pleasure of an Invisible Man and the reader ***. When Usopp bursts in this second time, we gaze at Nami right along with him (466.68). Oda has never drawn explicit crotch or breast shots, and he doesn't break that rule here. But he comes much, much closer here than he has ever before, and the violent circumstances in which this is taking place only heightens the sense of transgression.
I think it's worth doing one more picture comparison: between Nami in Alubarna and here at Thriller Bark (bottom panel, middle). In both pictures, Nami has her back turned to the reader and is covered with a towel. But now she is slumped on the ground. Instead of opening the towel of her own volition, she is using it to cover herself after being being unwillingly exposed. Between these two events, Nami has gone from full autonomy to none. The question is, Why?
I am used to reaching compromises when reading manga - shounen manga in particular. I accepted Nami's bust increase and skimpy dress with a certain amount of resignation. The increased fanservice during the Enies Lobby - not just of Nami but Robin as well - raised an eyebrow but I waited it out since Oda has always let his women give as good as they get. But I cannot begin to theorize why he would take away all the power Nami has gained up to now, except in the worst ways. It is no secret that strong women in fiction are routinely punished for being strong. During the last bath scene, Nami proved herself a fighting force to be reckoned with, and made the bold claim of controlling the weather - the very thing that makes the Grand Line so terrifying. At the end of the day, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji - the Big Three - are men; Nami has identified herself with the elements. Did Oda feel the need to pull her back, to the point of whittling her down to base sexuality?
A more charitable reading might be that horror and anger are the emotions Oda meant to stir up in the reader. We are supposed to emphasize with Nami's fear and frustration, not eroticize them. If Nami gets a major fight in this arc, and her opponent turns out to be the Invisible Man, the sense of vindication will be that much greater. Taken in this light, Nami's assault in this chapter is just barely explained. Unfortunately, this reading has very little evidence to back it up, in my opinion. Recent chapters seem to indicate that Nami will sit the rest of the arc out, or be matched with another opponent. As for emphasizing with Nami, a small but significant exchange during this scene convinces me Oda wrote this scene with fanservice, not sympathy in mind: Usopp thanking Nami.
Let me say now that I am not offended by the Thriller Bark bath scene. What I feel is worse than offense. The panel of Usopp thanking Nami for showing him her naked body makes me angry that Oda would do this to arguably one of the strongest female characters in contemporary manga. If Nami is being assaulted by an invisible attacker, and if we the readers must gaze with the Invisible Man, at least Nami's nakama should have been on her side. Instead, at the crucial moment when Nami is scared, powerless, and seeking help, Usopp fails her. He cheapens the urgency of the situation and plays the scene for laughs. For me, as a woman, it's painfully easy to identify with Nami in this bath scene. Though she's in a castle filled with zombies and ghosts in the middle of a fictional ocean, her situation is all too realistic. That it can be so easily dismissed is both angering and disappointing. Oda usually does better by his women.
I am more anxious than usual to see where the story goes from here. Nami is seen, in chapter 458, to be unconscious. Will she remain passive and become, for the first time since the series began, a damsel in distress to be saved, totally bereft of resources? I don't think so. I can't bring myself to think that badly of Oda. Nami, I think, will come back roaring. If she doesn't fight the Invisible Man herself, she will fight someone else, and if she doesn't fight anyone, her other skills will prove essential to the arc's outcome. And since the next island is that of the Fishmen, Nami's character will not be left hanging. Nami is a master at turning situations that would make her powerless to her advantage. The harder someone pushes her down, the higher she climbs when she gets back up. If Oda intends to keep the spirit of his own series, Thriller Bark will be no exception. Nothing will ever really excuse the Thriller Bark bath scene for me, but I still have confidence that Nami will overcome it.
Because she's not a cute little girl. Not at all.
*In this specific instance, Nami is comfortable displaying her body, whereas we know the boys don't have much money. We can assume that Nami counts this as an uneven trade in her own favor.
**This line, and later on when she says "You're not cute at all. Even though I made you so lustrous, too..." (411.88.1) echo similar comments by other One Piece women - namely, Paula, Dr. Kureha, and Nico Robin. They have all pronounced Nami "not cute" (or, in the case of Robin, a "bad girl") after she has committed some act of rebellion. Whether said in criticism or approval, the implication has always been the same. Nami is not cute because she does not passively take orders and do as she is told.
*** If you were feeling particularly condemning, you could make the case that since Nami's attacker is invisible, there is not even that thin line of separation between the Reader-Viewer and the (male) Character-Viewer. The Invisible Man is, effectively, synonymous with the reader since we are also gazing at Nami without her being able to gaze back at us.
Notes: This essay contains SPOILERS for the Alabasta arc, Enies Lobby arc, and Thriller Bark arc, as well as general spoilers for the manga in general, up through recent chapters. I am using two translations: my own and those done by others in scanslations. Because I am using multiple sources for the scanslations, I am not citing them specifically. If you see a work that belongs to you or someone you recognize and think it should be cited separately, please let me know. I cite by chapter, panel, and translator. I use "1" to denote my own translation and "2" to denote a scanlation. So a citation reading "(405.46.1)" means the quote comes from chapter 405, panel 46, my translation. Despite what the tag says, I use the manga exclusively. All links will open in a blank window; it's not necessary to close it each time.
Fun In the Tub?: Nami, Bath Scenes, and Discussions of Autonomy
There are very few scenes that I actively do not enjoy in "One Piece," but Nami's bath scene at Thriller Bark left a bad taste in my mouth. At first, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Was it the blatant fanservice? Was it the violation of a private moment? Was it the sexual harassment - no, assault? On a hunch, I decided to look at Nami's other two significant bath scenes: when she fought Kalifa and when she relaxed at Alubarna palace. After reading those scenes again, I realized what bothered me so much about Thriller Bark. As the series has progressed, Nami has moved from a character largely free of sexual objectification to one who is heavily objectified. The three bath scenes serve as milestones of Nami's autonomy over how her body is displayed and used.
This essay is mostly a close reading of the three bath scenes and how they reveal Nami's autonomy or lack of it in each. Anything and everything is up for discussion. I don't mean to imply that this is the only way to interpret these scenes, nor do I want to force this reading on anyone. These are just my thoughts and personal interpretations, and they tie in heavily with how I read Nami's character in general. Comments, questions, alternate readings, objections - really any feedback at all is welcome and appreciated.
During the bath scene at Alubarna, Nami and Vivi are first seen washing each other's backs. They are engaged in 'sexy' activity but interestingly not posed in typical 'sexy' positions. Nami is leaning forward, elbows resting on knees - though her breasts are just barely covered, it looks very natural and un-self-conscious. Vivi is covered to her knees by a towel. Moreover, the environment of the community bath removes a layer of transgression - unlike Western (American) bath/shower scenes, this is not a strictly private moment. We have just seen the boys on their side of the bath, running around and goofing off. The public bath is both a practical and social space, the naked body displayed to other bathers as a matter of fact, not as sexual triggers. Which is not to say that the bathhouse is free of objectification. On the contrary, in manga and anime it is a classic setting for voyeurism and a place where the Battle of the Sexes is often played out. Alubarna proves to be no exception as every male character except Zoro peer over the wall at Nami and Vivi. Oda, however, puts a couple of interesting spins on this convention. Oda presents it directly after we have seen the same characters behave ridiculously, with childlike excitement. The act of peeping also carries the same feelings, especially as they are drawn small and in the distance - it is an immature, childish act. Though the set-up is flimsy - Sanji directly asks where the girls' side is (213.80) - his plan is almost immediately foiled. This does not excuse the action or deny Nami and Vivi the right to be free from voyeurism, whatever the motive or nature of such acts. But the men are not threatening, invasive, or furtive. The fact that they are shown from the girls' viewpoint, far away and small, further removes a sense of identification with them. The reader is not looking with them looking at the girls. We are looking with the girls looking at them looking at the girls.
This point about looking back is Oda's other twist. While Vivi is angry and embarrassed, clearly aware of being looked at, Nami reverses the power dynamic by taking control of the situation. She has a towel - she is clothed. She opens the towel in full view of the men - controlling what is seen and who sees it, declaring "Happiness Punch!! 100,000 Beri per person" (213.90.1) - turning the situation into a transaction *. Does Nami plan the effect of her actions beforehand? It's not entirely clear. Maybe she does intend to end their looking with the act of showing, reinforcing the idea of Luffy and Company's immaturity.) Maybe she is serious about taking payment. But whatever her intent, her actions are effective in ending unwanted attention. Most importantly, she is comfortable taking such actions. Nami's back is turned to the reader, hidden by her towel - we see nothing of what the boys see. The reader is not invited to identify with the boys and see through their eyes. The fact that once the scene shifts back to the boys it does not return to the girls reinforces the humorous, not voyeuristic bent of the situation. The reader's gaze aligns with the men's during a silly scene; during the voyeuristic one, where it should have stayed with the men, it switches to align itself with the girls'; it returns to the men when the focus has turned to another topic. The reader, in short, is excluded from partaking in a potential moment of sexual exploitation. The scene is not entirely devoid of fanservice, and it is hard to argue for a bath scene whose motive, however partial, is not fanservice. But Nami is not a passive object in this case. She is a participant, she blocks the ultimate gaze - that of the reader - and resolves the situation to her advantage, on her terms.
In Nami's second bath scene, the situation is complicated. No longer engaged in social, bonding activity, she is instead fighting against a woman in a bathroom setting - this time a private one. Another bathroom, another fantasy: two skimpily-dressed women duking it out, posing suggestively and baring as much skin as possible in the process. Unlike the Alubarna bathhouse, which took all of two pages, Nami spends several chapters trapped in Kalifa's bedroom-bathroom. She is thrown around, trapped, and pinned down, often in poses emphasizing her breasts, bottom, and thighs. What we see here is Nami in the process of being turned into a sexual object for both the reader's gratification and Kalifa's. This is emphasized by her unwillingness: Nami is no longer choosing how her body is displayed or for whom. To a large extent, Oda gives us straight-up objectification and fanservice. But as usual, he throws in some twists. Nami's body is objectified, but she herself is fighting, in a way that is completely in-character: relying on her speed, buying time with the ClimaTact, trying everything in her arsenal. She is always moving, always trying, and while we might deplore the contrived poses, we can still cheer Nami on, as she has not lost the essence of her character to fanservice. This becomes important when we consider that Kalifa intends to render Nami incapable of activity. When she uses her Awa-Awa no Mi on Nami's body, she says, "Isn't it pretty? Anything that I touch takes on a beautiful luster. I'll give to you a radiant skin - from your head to your toes." **(408.42.1).
Kalifa then covers Nami with soap and turns her into a slippery doll. "I can't hold the Clima Tact very well...my body's all slippery...I can't stand up well either...!!" (410.85.1). This is Nami at her weakest, when she is unable to fight back, the point at which we might expect the situation to be at its most exploitative - yet it isn't. Again Oda throws us for a loop. Along with Nami's autonomy, the shape of her body has also been stripped, leaving her without toes or a defined face, but also without the traditionally sexualized curves. Nami's body has become childishly cartoonish, not sexy. It is almost as if Oda is compensating for the earlier objectification of Nami's body. Compare this picture (bottom panel, right) with this one (bottom panel, left). Both are aerial shots of Nami, but while Nami's cleavage is clearly the point of focus in the first picture, in the second it is non-existent. Were the erotic poses of Chapter 407 'justified' by Nami's relative autonomy? Do we now see a reluctance on Oda's part to take advantage of someone who cannot grasp things or stand?
In any case, it is passivity that Nami struggles against. It is the theme of her two big lines once she regains use of her body. Directly after turning back, she says, "If being cute means not fighting back, I'll have to disappoint you!" (411.89.1). Later on, after she has released the Fata Morgana and scored her first real hit against Kalifa, she declares, "I control both the humidity and the temperature. The weather in this room belongs to me!!!" (412.8.1). Once again, Nami reverses the power dynamic, this time manipulating the environment to her advantage. Kalifa's room starts off as a bathroom. Nami turns it into a condensed version of the Grand Line - sudden storms from all directions - that she deals with so well. Not only has she gotten out of a powerless position, but she is controlling the situation on her own terms.
This bath scene, then, sees Nami run the whole gamut. She is active but her body is displayed for the reader's pleasure: compromised autonomy. She is rendered helpless but is spared objectification: compromised passivity. And in the end, she gets back up and takes control. This is Nami at her strongest, most fearless and most confident.
All of that changes with the bath scene at Thriller Bark.
Initially, the set-up is innocent enough. Nami is taking a bath after dinner at Thriller Bark's castle while Usopp and Chopper stand guard outside. But unlike her bath at Alubarna, this is not an occasion for fun and relaxation. Nami doesn't let her guard down, even in such a private space, and by the cutaway scenes to the castle halls, we see that an uneasy feeling still lingers. Even so, Oda does not use this scene as an opportunity for fanservice so long as Nami is alone in the room. Her body is either submerged beneath the water or left out of the frame. The couple of times we see her entire torso, it is from a distance far away enough that Nami's body is indistinct. And the first time Usopp barges in, Oda reuses the trick from Alabasta: the reader's gaze is aligned closer to Nami's than Usopp's. So far, Nami has relative control over her privacy and the display of her body.
Once the Invisible Man shows up, however, Nami is rendered suddenly and completely powerless. She is taken by surprise. She is naked - nothing to cover herself with. The Clima Tact is not in the room, removing the huge source of power we saw in the last bath scene. As the Invisible Man pins her to the wall by the arms, Nami becomes physically immobile, without a way of identifying her attacker. Her last recourse - to call for help - is taken away as the Invisible Man covers up her mouth, rendering her voiceless (466.66). Most significantly, the reader's gaze changes. It is now aligned with the Invisible Man's as he looks at Nami's body, or it is posited to view Nami's body from an eroticized angle. However, this time, unlike in Kalifa's room, Nami is not allowed to retain her autonomy while her body is objectified. She is forced into a passive position, as she was under the effects of the Awa-Awa no Mi, but now she is also being sexualized for the pleasure of an Invisible Man and the reader ***. When Usopp bursts in this second time, we gaze at Nami right along with him (466.68). Oda has never drawn explicit crotch or breast shots, and he doesn't break that rule here. But he comes much, much closer here than he has ever before, and the violent circumstances in which this is taking place only heightens the sense of transgression.
I think it's worth doing one more picture comparison: between Nami in Alubarna and here at Thriller Bark (bottom panel, middle). In both pictures, Nami has her back turned to the reader and is covered with a towel. But now she is slumped on the ground. Instead of opening the towel of her own volition, she is using it to cover herself after being being unwillingly exposed. Between these two events, Nami has gone from full autonomy to none. The question is, Why?
I am used to reaching compromises when reading manga - shounen manga in particular. I accepted Nami's bust increase and skimpy dress with a certain amount of resignation. The increased fanservice during the Enies Lobby - not just of Nami but Robin as well - raised an eyebrow but I waited it out since Oda has always let his women give as good as they get. But I cannot begin to theorize why he would take away all the power Nami has gained up to now, except in the worst ways. It is no secret that strong women in fiction are routinely punished for being strong. During the last bath scene, Nami proved herself a fighting force to be reckoned with, and made the bold claim of controlling the weather - the very thing that makes the Grand Line so terrifying. At the end of the day, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji - the Big Three - are men; Nami has identified herself with the elements. Did Oda feel the need to pull her back, to the point of whittling her down to base sexuality?
A more charitable reading might be that horror and anger are the emotions Oda meant to stir up in the reader. We are supposed to emphasize with Nami's fear and frustration, not eroticize them. If Nami gets a major fight in this arc, and her opponent turns out to be the Invisible Man, the sense of vindication will be that much greater. Taken in this light, Nami's assault in this chapter is just barely explained. Unfortunately, this reading has very little evidence to back it up, in my opinion. Recent chapters seem to indicate that Nami will sit the rest of the arc out, or be matched with another opponent. As for emphasizing with Nami, a small but significant exchange during this scene convinces me Oda wrote this scene with fanservice, not sympathy in mind: Usopp thanking Nami.
Let me say now that I am not offended by the Thriller Bark bath scene. What I feel is worse than offense. The panel of Usopp thanking Nami for showing him her naked body makes me angry that Oda would do this to arguably one of the strongest female characters in contemporary manga. If Nami is being assaulted by an invisible attacker, and if we the readers must gaze with the Invisible Man, at least Nami's nakama should have been on her side. Instead, at the crucial moment when Nami is scared, powerless, and seeking help, Usopp fails her. He cheapens the urgency of the situation and plays the scene for laughs. For me, as a woman, it's painfully easy to identify with Nami in this bath scene. Though she's in a castle filled with zombies and ghosts in the middle of a fictional ocean, her situation is all too realistic. That it can be so easily dismissed is both angering and disappointing. Oda usually does better by his women.
I am more anxious than usual to see where the story goes from here. Nami is seen, in chapter 458, to be unconscious. Will she remain passive and become, for the first time since the series began, a damsel in distress to be saved, totally bereft of resources? I don't think so. I can't bring myself to think that badly of Oda. Nami, I think, will come back roaring. If she doesn't fight the Invisible Man herself, she will fight someone else, and if she doesn't fight anyone, her other skills will prove essential to the arc's outcome. And since the next island is that of the Fishmen, Nami's character will not be left hanging. Nami is a master at turning situations that would make her powerless to her advantage. The harder someone pushes her down, the higher she climbs when she gets back up. If Oda intends to keep the spirit of his own series, Thriller Bark will be no exception. Nothing will ever really excuse the Thriller Bark bath scene for me, but I still have confidence that Nami will overcome it.
Because she's not a cute little girl. Not at all.
*In this specific instance, Nami is comfortable displaying her body, whereas we know the boys don't have much money. We can assume that Nami counts this as an uneven trade in her own favor.
**This line, and later on when she says "You're not cute at all. Even though I made you so lustrous, too..." (411.88.1) echo similar comments by other One Piece women - namely, Paula, Dr. Kureha, and Nico Robin. They have all pronounced Nami "not cute" (or, in the case of Robin, a "bad girl") after she has committed some act of rebellion. Whether said in criticism or approval, the implication has always been the same. Nami is not cute because she does not passively take orders and do as she is told.
*** If you were feeling particularly condemning, you could make the case that since Nami's attacker is invisible, there is not even that thin line of separation between the Reader-Viewer and the (male) Character-Viewer. The Invisible Man is, effectively, synonymous with the reader since we are also gazing at Nami without her being able to gaze back at us.