I never truly realised this - I know I never put this into words - but the way you analyse Luffy's smile makes such good sense, and goes so well with his first reactions and wanting to live (which I've always really liked - especially how he's not too proud to beg, despite how as you point out he doesn't put his heart in it).
But what does it mean?
Why is he smiling like this?
Is it because he’s unafraid of death?
I’m not sure if that’s the case. Yes he will risk his life and court death and accepts the fact that he might die in the process. But we’ve seen him flinch when he thought it was coming. We’ve seen him ask for his life (insincere as the attempt was). So what is going on? What has changed?
Well, simply put, Luffy realizes he’s not alone.
All up to this point, he’s been gathering people to sail with him because he found them cool or fun or wanted to save them (in the case of Zoro) or needed their services (in the case of Sanji and Nami). Of course he liked them, too. But now it’s the realization that they care for him as well. That they are with him as he is with them. That they are crew.
<333333
But now Zoro and Sanji have come for him completely out of the blue for his sake. For his life.
So but in order to get the full picture, let’s back up a step and look at what he says. He calls out to them and apologizes and says that he’s dead. Why does he do this?
I think because he’s telling them that he sees/knows their concern for him and that they are doing their best for his sake and fighting their hardest. That he knows that he’s not alone because he sees them there. He’s accepting his death because it’s unavoidable and apologizing because he couldn’t take them that far.
But for Luffy? Oh, what a ride. Note, his last words were not about him being Pirate King. His last words were toward what he treasured even more than that. His nakama. For Luffy it’s knowing he has nakama. That he’s come even this far. And if that’s as far as he can go? It’s enough that he did his best. He can die without regrets. Moreover, he can die knowing that he’s loved. That people care about him. So, in that way, he’s happy.
Brilliant.
I think your point why about Alvida might not care so much if Luffy dies because she's so admired since her "beauty upgrade" seems plausible. Also, her whole attraction to him is about strength, maybe subconsciously a way of coping with getting defeated even - and so she might think that if Buggy can get him killed, Luffy is too weak to be worthy of Alvida's obsession after all?? (Interesting contrast with Boa Hancock, who is strong, even more universally adored for her beauty, and from a culture where strength=beauty - but who only falls for Luffy after he's shown her kindness.)
In the Swedish translation Dragon says about Luffy's career choice, "Why not?"
...Ah, the Loguetown arc is so unusual in this series, and such a cool little mini-arc! (Despite the lack of Usopp's story in the actual manga.) These final scenes is where we truly start to feel the epic beats of the world around them (Mihawk was a forerunner, but now it's so much closer to all of them), and here big concepts like Fate and History stomp through with heavy feet. And the "unnatural" (in Nami's words) storm and the way Oda draws the wind really feels like the wind from a larger world full of danger and grand importance is sweeping through the scenes.
Most of all I love the barrel scene. This is where I fell in love with the series for real and knew I just wanted to stick with these people and discover the world with them.
(How can anyone look like panels like the final one in your post - the "CRUNCH! OFF TO GRAND LINE WE GO!!" and still claim with a straight face that One Piece has bad art and that Oda can't draw??)
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Date: 2015-08-12 07:39 pm (UTC)I never truly realised this - I know I never put this into words - but the way you analyse Luffy's smile makes such good sense, and goes so well with his first reactions and wanting to live (which I've always really liked - especially how he's not too proud to beg, despite how as you point out he doesn't put his heart in it).
But what does it mean?
Why is he smiling like this?
Is it because he’s unafraid of death?
I’m not sure if that’s the case. Yes he will risk his life and court death and accepts the fact that he might die in the process. But we’ve seen him flinch when he thought it was coming. We’ve seen him ask for his life (insincere as the attempt was). So what is going on? What has changed?
Well, simply put, Luffy realizes he’s not alone.
All up to this point, he’s been gathering people to sail with him because he found them cool or fun or wanted to save them (in the case of Zoro) or needed their services (in the case of Sanji and Nami). Of course he liked them, too. But now it’s the realization that they care for him as well. That they are with him as he is with them. That they are crew.
<333333
But now Zoro and Sanji have come for him completely out of the blue for his sake. For his life.
So but in order to get the full picture, let’s back up a step and look at what he says. He calls out to them and apologizes and says that he’s dead. Why does he do this?
I think because he’s telling them that he sees/knows their concern for him and that they are doing their best for his sake and fighting their hardest. That he knows that he’s not alone because he sees them there. He’s accepting his death because it’s unavoidable and apologizing because he couldn’t take them that far.
But for Luffy? Oh, what a ride. Note, his last words were not about him being Pirate King. His last words were toward what he treasured even more than that. His nakama. For Luffy it’s knowing he has nakama. That he’s come even this far. And if that’s as far as he can go? It’s enough that he did his best. He can die without regrets. Moreover, he can die knowing that he’s loved. That people care about him. So, in that way, he’s happy.
Brilliant.
I think your point why about Alvida might not care so much if Luffy dies because she's so admired since her "beauty upgrade" seems plausible. Also, her whole attraction to him is about strength, maybe subconsciously a way of coping with getting defeated even - and so she might think that if Buggy can get him killed, Luffy is too weak to be worthy of Alvida's obsession after all?? (Interesting contrast with Boa Hancock, who is strong, even more universally adored for her beauty, and from a culture where strength=beauty - but who only falls for Luffy after he's shown her kindness.)
In the Swedish translation Dragon says about Luffy's career choice, "Why not?"
...Ah, the Loguetown arc is so unusual in this series, and such a cool little mini-arc! (Despite the lack of Usopp's story in the actual manga.) These final scenes is where we truly start to feel the epic beats of the world around them (Mihawk was a forerunner, but now it's so much closer to all of them), and here big concepts like Fate and History stomp through with heavy feet. And the "unnatural" (in Nami's words) storm and the way Oda draws the wind really feels like the wind from a larger world full of danger and grand importance is sweeping through the scenes.
Most of all I love the barrel scene. This is where I fell in love with the series for real and knew I just wanted to stick with these people and discover the world with them.
(How can anyone look like panels like the final one in your post - the "CRUNCH! OFF TO GRAND LINE WE GO!!" and still claim with a straight face that One Piece has bad art and that Oda can't draw??)