One Piece Vol 24

[sara_tanaquil]

Running late because I had company over the weekend.

Moving into the Skypiea arc by way of Jaya. I thought I remembered vol 24 being kind of boring, but a lot more happens here than I thought.

Comments

[mangaroo]

I could just cry. I have been working on a line-by-line response to this over the past 10 hours, but I never saved. Then I did something funky on my trackpad and Firefox seized my whole processor and wouldn't let go. I had to force a reboot. I was at the pie-guy/aitsura passage, and I don't have the energy to write it all again. ;_; So here are my off-the-cuff responses, all out of order:

I loved the cute character moments in this volume, especially Chopper and Luffy playing with being played with by Robin's hands. (And that's saying a lot, since I find Robin's power uber-creepy.) Chopper's little feet go clopclopclop when he pounds them on the deck laughing. Also, Chopper and Usopp going into defense mode when faced with Nami's rage over being ridiculed in Mock Town. (Her blush in the bar made her look so young.)

I don't quite get WHY they didn't fight Bellamy. This really wasn't like Shanks in Luffy's past: they were all charged up and ready to go until Bellamy said "It's not a fight. It's a test." I suspect it's some kind of warrior's code about only fighting when the opponent understands the rules of fight club.

I was sad when Zoro's ambiguous octopus friend got made into takoyaki.

It's interesting that Nami essentially laid a trap for Luffy to lose his chance to go to the Sky Island by telling him he had to give the orders (as captain) yet not reminding him that the log pose would eventually reset if they went to Jaya. (I also love the chapter title, "Why the Log Pose is Dome-Shaped." Which is interesting, because it's a world-building gesture, and I'm on volume 26 right now and hating the endless dial explanations. STOP WITH THE DIALS, ODA!)

Oh, and thank you for explaining the plank joke. That was completely lost in translation.

Mysteries I hope get explained in the future: the look on Sanji's face when he saw the lady's photo spiked through and there being more than one of the pie guy. Is he twins? I mean, even if you had a cloning fruit power, there would still only be one you.

I reserve the right to come back and add comments if I get over my grief and remember something noteworthy. *sniffle*

[sara_tanaquil]

Nooooo! I am very sad, because I would have loved to see your line-by-line commentary... and it just sucks to have all your thoughts vanish into the ether like that.

But now I can ask the question I've been dying to ask, but couldn't because of spoiler fear: when did your recognize that Miss All Sunday was Robin, and/or that she would be a future crew member? Did you recognize her right away, from seeing group pictures or whatever?

For me it was around episode 115 in the anime (I think this would have been vol 21 in the manga), when the opening animation started including Robin as a regular crew member. I remember turning to gnine and saying "SHE'S going to join the crew?" It took me a very long time to learn to like/trust Robin. (I adore Robin, if you haven't noticed. Apart from the awesomeness that is Robin in general, how could I not love the ship's archaeologist?)

Robin's power IS creepy. I think I remember reading somewhere that Oda had to tune it down a bit because it was scaring the kiddies.

This really wasn't like Shanks in Luffy's past: they were all charged up and ready to go until Bellamy said "It's not a fight. It's a test."

When you put it that way, it's a good question. I thought it wasn't so much the fact that Bellamy phrased it as a test, as the fact that they mocked the dream of going to the sky. They weren't worth beating, if that makes any sense, and the low-lifes at the bar who were laughing weren't worth proving anything to. Winning the fight would have accomplished nothing other than squashing bugs who couldn't fight back and impressing people who weren't worth impressing.

By contrast, Luffy is willing to fight when he has a specific goal, to get the stolen gold back. (He won't fight with Sarquis, though, because the goal has already been accomplished.)

there being more than one of the pie guy

The simplest explanation is that Luffy and Zoro sensed he had nakama (the crew that we aren't properly introduced to until the next volume). However, there is some speculation that there might be a deeper meaning. If there is, we've had only the vaguest hints at it up until the present point in the series (Punk Hazard).

I would definitely love to know what Sanji was thinking when he was looking at that picture. I'm convinced there has to be some significance to his North Blue origin, but what it is, we don't yet know.

[mangaroo]

it just sucks to have all your thoughts vanish into the ether like that.

This, exactly. And in the moment it happens, it just seems like too much effort to try to remember them all and jot them down in the same cheerful tone in which they were originally conceived.

Ah! Now I remember. One of my line-by-line comments was that Robin's dream (finding the True History) would be the closest to my own. I can't imagine anyone will join the crew with more knowledge-and-lit based aspirations.

Also, was Luffy given a double-barreled dive suit because no part of him can be submerged in seawater without draining his will?

I was spoiled on Miss All Sunday = Robin = eventual nakama in the comments to your posts in the Alabasta arc, but I also got her roundly confused with Alvida in the Buggy cover arc, so there was plenty of confusion. I like the ambiguous way she joined the crew, though it's possible Oda won't follow up on it. I mean, the way *I* wrap my head around it is that Robin really hasn't been on her own since she was 8. She has always sheltered under/partnered with a strong pirate force in order to survive, and Luffy happened to be the strongest in town. Now, if she was also moved by his attitude toward dreams and shipmates, all the better.

[sara_tanaquil]

Aw, I'm sorry about the spoilers in the comments. I should have done something to protect against that (screened the comments, or something).

I like the ambiguous way she joined the crew, though it's possible Oda won't follow up on it.

Oh, he'll follow up on it. It just takes a while. A LONG while. ^__^

One of my line-by-line comments was that Robin's dream (finding the True History) would be the closest to my own. I can't imagine anyone will join the crew with more knowledge-and-lit based aspirations.

Aw! This is totally true, and probably a big part of the reason I love her. (But only part.) I look forward to your continuing thoughts on her, because I think the gradual shift in her characterization and how she's meant to be read by the audience was very much designed by Oda as an intentional part of her character development. (As opposed to Nami, say, where I think it was supposed to be more evident from the beginning that she was a fundamentally sympathetic character who just happened to have an ambiguous backstory.)

Also, was Luffy given a double-barreled dive suit because no part of him can be submerged in seawater without draining his will?

Exactly. (I'm surprised he could manage as it was.)