Syrup Island Arc- Part V

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Here we have a final look at Kuro, showing just how weak he is, look at one of the most important lines of the series, see the measure of a hero, the measure of a villain and just what being a captain and nakama are not.


We open with the Usopp Pirates, leading the Kaya into the forest.



They’re really brave, even as kids. They’re growing up bit by bit, too, learning how to fight and protect. For the sake of the Usopp Pirate Group. We’ll come back to this later.

Another thing is look at what Carrot says. Jango must be dreaming if he thinks he can catch them in this forest. Why? Because they know the forest a lot better than he does. They know how to hide and how to use it.

Jango is pissed and cutting down trees with his chakram, trying to look for them and getting angry.



Considering how calm Jango has been up until this point, as angry as he is, it’s mostly motivated by fear, which we’ll see later but more importantly. Last part we talked about how Kuro commented on Buchi having no control of his strength? Jango is much the same. Not only does he hypnotize himself half the time, he has to cut trees down in a wide swath because he doesn’t know the forest or how to find them. In a case like this, precision is more effective then random flailing.

Cut back to the slope and Usopp wonders what the noise is. Kuro says it’s probably Jango losing his temper and they can go see if they can get past him.




And here, Khaladore as the person that was created, mixed with truth perhaps, ceases to exist. Kuro is no longer interested in being that person and has dedicated himself fully to the plan. Zoro’s and Luffy’s comments are interesting. I think that Zoro very much knows that people have circumstances, but also that Kuro’s gone beyond any capacity for caring. Luffy, I think, would have kicked his ass whether he cared or not. Since, even if he cared and regretted carrying through his own selfish actions, he’s still doing them.

Usopp thinks to himself he has to help Kaya and the others, and can’t let them get killed and struggles to his feet, trying to power up the slope and past Buchi. Kuro sends Buchi after him but Buchi is nailed by Zoro. He tells Buchi not to get in the way, that they’re in a hurry.



Once again, Zoro is badass, but also kind of compassionate. He gives Buchi a choice. For the most part, Zoro avoids unnecessary killing, once again, giving Buchi a choice in the matter. Possibly because, this time at least, he was sort of fighting because Kuro would kill him otherwise. But there’s also a sense of Zoro showing just how strong he is. He’s strong enough to keep Buchi down without killing him, but also that killing him won’t be a huge problem. In terms of the artwork, I just love the pose he has and the lines around his eyes. Hnn. Also note how the unnamed sword is at Buch’s throat, but the Wado Ichimonji is out, which is the first time we’ve seen this in this arc. Plus his grin and the lines around his nose. [chinhaannnds]

er... /ahem/

Moving on.


Usopp tries to get up the hill and collapses because he has been pretty beat up. Kuro laughs at him and calls him pathetic, saying it’s probably safer for him to lie down because he’s no match for Jango. But it’s not fear that’s keeping him down.



Poor Usopp. He’s really trying his hardest here but hasn’t yet built up the endurance to do what he needs to do. Kuro is a bit surprised by this but ultimately disgusted. Zoro just says Usopp’s name… but I think it implies that he feels sort of bad for him, respecting how hard he’s trying to do this thing. Luffy, of course, is really moved. He’s visibly upset, somewhere between pissed and biting his lip, but almost as upset as Usopp is about all this.
Zoro is distracted again by this, though and is knocked aside by Buchi.




Here, Usopp lying not necessarily because he thinks they will believe him, but is mostly trying to bolster his own courage by trying to convince himself of his own lie. Saying who he is, saying what he’ll do. Of course the jerkass KuroNeko pirates laugh at him and pay for it.



Because, yeah, you do not mock Luffy’s friends. He does not tolerate that shit. This is a core character trait that I think is often left unexplored in fic in the like—He’s always gotten angry when someone speaks ill of his friends, openly mocking them and their dreams and their personality—Ever since we saw him with Shanks. Anyway, the KuroNeko pirates are justifiably terrified because he looks pretty damn scary here.

Zoro gets up. Buchi tries to get in his way again. Zoro’s like bitch, please (paraphrasing) and knocks him out of the way. Even Kuro seems at least a little bit startled by this, at the very least he’s standing at the top of the hill, face unclear and (!) ing at it.

Now let’s take a look at some delicious, delicious teamwork.




Communication, verification to see if it’s okay and the follow through. Compare it directly to the KuroNeko pirates who don’t really seem to cooperate at all aside from Buchi and Sham. True they all attack together, but there is a decided lack of coordinated effort. Also note, somewhat subtly, that Zoro decides to help Usopp on his own. This actually says something very interesting. I think he very much recognizes Usopp’s strength of spirit, unable to get out because he’s pretty much trashed. Here, Zoro’s protecting Usopp’s pride by helping him go out and fight.



Usopp, apologizing like this he realizes he’s a burden. He probably hates having to be carried like this, in deference to Zoro’s obvious strength. And he probably knows he’s slowing Zoro down. Zoro is too blunt and too honest to lie and say carrying Usopp isn’t slowing him down. Though he terms it that he would be faster alone, but he needs Usopp to make it precise instead of just running around and flailing at trees, like Jango is doing. He needs Usopp. Also, putting it like this, much like Usopp did with the kids, he’s giving Usopp legitimacy, about his work being worth something. In this instance, he is not a victim, he is a partner.

And even more teamwork:



Yeah, Kuro, you are no longer in charge of this circus. So Zoro and Usopp can get by, Luffy makes a distraction, flinging a punch at Kuro—with every intention to hit, knowing Luffy as we do. Kuro dodges it as Zoro runs off with Usopp on his shoulder. And Kuro dodges the few other punches Luffy slings in his direction. Then disappears and comes behind Luffy and:



Say what you will about the character design, but fuck me look at that perspective. There’s such energy and action here and it’s so fluid and dynamic. Guhhh There is real talent here. And Luffy definitely fights how Luffy fights, moving in ways all loose and tumbly, unexpected.



But look, he’s thinking on his feet. (or in this case his hands. Haha) He gets an idea while on his hands and moves right into a Gum Gum Spear which we haven’t seen before and maybe has made up right on the spot. For as bad as Lu is at booksmarts and words and common sense, he’s very good at fighting, using his body and always thinking of ways to win whatever tussle he’s in. Kuro disappears and Luffy misses, but dismisses it because Zoro and Usopp have made it into the forest so he accomplished his goal anyway.

Kuro appears again:



Just an interesting note here, that Kuro would ask. He seems genuinely curious why someone would go to the trouble. You get the sense that he’s the kind of guy who just has to know everything. It would make sense given the importance of planning in his fighting style. Even more interesting, Luffy seems to be thinking about it here. A quiet face as if asking himself why. This is because, I believe, while before he was fighting because Usopp needed the help, the situation has since changed. He’s no longer just helping a brave but in over his head guy.



Nope. He’s helping a friend. He’s decided he likes Usopp so Usopp is a friend, whether Usopp has a say in it or not. (isn’t that always the way?) Also I love his grin here. It’s kind of like he just realized/decided this friendship aspect right then and is happy about it and, much like Usopp telling himself he’s a warrior of the sea, Luffy is sort of fine tuning to himself why he’s fighting, setting his course and preparing to sail it, come what may.



Kuro, of course, thinks this is dumb as hell. He’s looking down on Luffy just by his expression alone. Luffy says that it’s okay because he’s not going to die here anyway as he prepares to attack again. Meanwhile:



Zoro is a dumbass. Granted I wouldn’t know which way east was either, but yeah. He has no directional sense whatsoever. We know this, of course, but it’s really the first time we’ve seen of it so worth noting.

Meanwhile meanwhile: Jango is still looking for them and listening for them, but Kaya…



Is still really sick. Yeah. She’s not just a wilting flower. Just sick as hell and all this stress is probably not easy on her. Ever tried doing anything when you have even a bad cold? It ain’t easy. Either way, she tells them to go on ahead. Again, showing her heroic side but also their heroic side. For now they are working together as a group, showing concern for the other’s well-being. Which is more than can be said for most of the KuroNeko pirates, except for Jango toward the crew and perhaps the Nyaban brothers.

The boys notice how sick she is and Carrot says that they have to take her to a doctor. Pepper says they can’t, they’re running for their lives, and Onion says it’s too dangerous to go on. They’ve run as far as they can…



So now it’s time to fight for the sake of protecting someone else. Very much shades of Usopp here. Which is just as well since then Jango shows up.

As we come to the next chapter, Luffy and Kuro tussle a bit though it seems a bit one sided as all of Luffy’s attacks are either brushed to the side or avoided. At one point Kuro hops on Luffy’s arm and charges at him (which I am noting because I swear it comes up again but I can’t remember) kicking him in the face. Which is dumb because he should have slashed at him, but of course Kuro is just playing with Luffy like a cat with a mouse and not taking him seriously since Kuro is so much better than everyone ever. The kick knocks Lu down the hill a bit…




This set of panels for a two reasons. First of all, damn, I don’t know what it is about One Piece boys but they sure look good when they bleed. (Though how is difficult to guess, but I guess he kicked him in just the right way.) Also, the KuroNeko pirates calling him their captain again, just after they said that he wasn’t their captain, and Kuro is not happy about this. Though not because of their changing nature. He yells at them not to call him that and then asks them if they really don’t understand the true nature of his plan.



First, the top panel. Yeah, Kuro is sick and tired of making plans for these idiots. Except, wait a second. He’s not making plans for them. Both his plans, with Syrup and with the past, all revolve solely around him. True, they naturally get some treasure from it, but—

Regardless of who the plans were for, they obviously were carried out effectively. I mean, look, his name became more and more notorious—through his own doing, mind. Whether through his plans or actions—and it’s somehow everyone’s fault but his. He did stuff and now the people have the nerve to come after him and try to stop him like annoying fleas. Of course Kuro being Kuro refuses to take any responsibility for what he doesn’t want to take responsibility for, or suffer the consequences of his actions.

We won’t get into his flashback here, suffice to say that he trashed a crew of marines, hypnotized one of them into thinking he’d caught Kuro, hypnotized one of the men into thinking he was Kuro, and what was done was done. Except wait, he didn’t do it. Jango did.
Regardless, after he spews his motivation:



Yeah, you can tell Kuro is desperate. He’s starting to fight for his plan himself. Attacking Zoro and Usopp, I think, was more to show them that he had control and who did they think they were to have the audacity to go past him when he said they couldn’t. Then he got pulled into a fight with Luffy, first dodging and then defending himself until launching into an attack, and is now doing so specifically for his plans. But the problem with venting backstory that Luffy doesn’t care about anyway, is that it gives Lu time to think.
As Kuro comes charging down the hill, Luffy grabs a rock and catches the blades in it. (Commenting that he’s been in training to be a pirate) and then



Breaks the blades off using the rock. He says:
You said you’re sick and tired? If you’re afraid of your name being known



You tell him, Luffs! Mostly I just like him hitting Kuro with said rock because rofl and his grin in the second panel. We’ll touch on what he says later on. For now, let’s just [chinhands] at it.

Kuro’s crew are surprised that Luffy got a hit on him but:



Are still rooting for him. They even decide to stop calling him captain and stick with a name they figure he’ll like. He’s got a pretty dedicated crew there who only speak out against him really when they think he’s gotten weaker (and he threatens to kill them—and really, can you blame them that much?)




He really doesn’t like being praised by his own men. Significant here is of course, what he says, and Luffy’s reaction, but I also wonder if it’s sort of the same thing as Kaya. He doesn’t want to be praised or encouraged like that perhaps because he thinks they’re idiots, and perhaps partly to put them in the ‘enemy’ camp in his mind. He’ll have to kill them. Himself. At least he’s taking responsibility for that much.

Cut to Jango, the boys have apparently passed out out due to fear and he demands Kaya open her eyes.



And this is pretty strong, too. I mean, there’s not much else she can do in this situation. She can’t exactly fight him. It would be a tough fight even if she was healthy since, let’s face it, Jango is a pirate. Instead she does the only thing she can, which is defy him. He can’t make her open her eyes, and as awesome as his ability is to hypnotize people, here she effectively shuts his most powerful attack down by a simple gesture. He goes to force them open—which I don’t think would have worked because he can’t hold open both her eyes and hypnotize her—also, even if he can do that much, she doesn’t have to follow the swinging chakram.



And Usopp’s pirates spring into action! Utilizing their ‘play dead’ ploy to get Jango’s guard down and then attacking him in various ways in all the vulnerable places. I think this is really awesome, personally, because it just goes to show that in huge scary situations, not even kids are hopeless. Everyone can do something to fight back, especially if they have motivation to do so.

The boys say they were only pretending to be hypnotized and as Jango struggles to get up, abscond with Kaya again to hide once more in the forest. Jango thinks to himself he should kill those kids first… They try to hide Kaya in another part of a forest, since, remember, she can’t go far. Jango gets too close, Onion attacks or tries and is caught because in the end, Jango is not a kid himself—but fortunately, Pepper and Carrot, calling out Onion’s name, helps Usopp figure out where they are.



And, yeah, despite being maybe more soft hearted than Kuro, Jango doesn’t take it easy at all on Onion. He got himself into the situation, Jango is saying, but isn’t strong enough and smacks him stupidly hard against that tree. That is the unfortunate difference between adults and kids.
Cut back to Kuro, whose men are sure he must be joking but nope. He tells them that as long as he leaves their corpses there, he can blame everything on them and, as he can’t risk anyone discovering his plan, they all have to die. Ten-to-one, he was going to end up killing Usopp as well after using him. How hard would it be to claim that the pirates themselves did it? All this could have gone to a really dark place.



Man, when Luffy is calling you dumb—Though I don’t think he’s calling them dumb exactly for being so easily betrayed. More like, they don’t even know their captain well enough to see this coming? Don’t you even know what kind of guy he really is?

Also, to Kuro, what he says—isn’t too wrong. Another translation has it ‘the dregs of society’ and—looking at what we’ve seen of other pirate crews: Buggy, Alvida—and what we do see… It’s pretty much true. Even Yasopp was portrayed as a bit of an outcast.

But um… he’s wrong in the second part because—they can do very well without his plan, thank you, under Jango’s leadership. As the Nyaban brothers said, they attacked countless villages and ships. We’ve no cause to believe they are lying so they are quite capable of acting on their own. They don’t need Kuro as much as he thinks they do. And here is where we see Kuro’s pirate philosophy:




Uh. No. If anyone is a loser pirate, it’s Kuro because really, that’s not how piracy works or how anything works. Even Jango said way back in the beginning of the arc that the only reason they followed Kuro (or at least the only reason he did) was the benefits. They are a pirate group. They aren’t run by any loyalty to a higher organization like the Marines are. They may be run by greed and loyalty to a captain and what he can get them—but that’s it. Here? Kuro loses his temper and says what he probably never told them. Alvida treats her men like shit and they follow her and listen to her out of fear, but even then they get stuff out of it. From what little we’ve seen, she doesn’t send them to die uselessly for her sole benefit though she is capricious and will beat them if she senses disrespect or slacking. Buggy certainly doesn’t send his men to die needlessly, though will shoot at them and is a brutal kind of captain who doesn’t take to failure or imagined insults well. Though he’ll use crew as shields, it’s not the same as telling them to go do this thing for him and then die. Hell, he even parties with them, treating them as people. Kuro can’t even do that much.

Also this is Kuro’s personality. In the end, the only one that exists in the world, and should exist, and counts as a person, is himself. Everyone else are either pawns to move around or annoying flies in the ointment. But this is a personality that he has decided to create himself. He’s made the choice to be this way, through arrogance.

I dislike the translation here so I won’t be showing the snips except for one, though you should definitely read it because Luffy has some awesome expressions.

Anyway Luffy says: Even if you had a hundred men, you can’t defeat Usopp.
Kuro: What?
I am inferior to the playtime pirate captain?

Luffy: That's right.




Yeah, even though Kuro is laughing, there’s very much the sense that he’s pissed off. The situation is out of his control, now, and being said that Usopp is better than he is really gets under his skin. So what does he do? He laughs aggressively and attacks. He’s really a very angry man.

As to why Usopp would make a better pirate captain? Luffy answers: Potential.
(we’ll discuss that a little later)



Kuro’s arrogance is his own downfall. No matter how fast he moves, if he stops, pissed, at someone elses words because, remember words are power. He’s going to get nailed by Luffy. And the funny thing is, Luffy isn’t even using words as a weapon. He’s just saying what he believes to be true and Kuro just can’t stand for that. As much as Kuro uses the could be truth to gain advantage, Luffy just speaks honestly from his heart and gets an advantage.

Kuro goes flying a bit and then gets up and says that Luffy has insulted him. That he will show him what a true pirate is supposed to be and the terror that comes with it.




Now, let’s pull back a bit. All we see of Kuro’s backstory is him being the confident badass that he is. But remember that Kuro uses honesty for the most part and has no reason to lie here. In other words, at some point in his life, he was at the brink of death and came back from that. He’s been through some shit. Moreover, he says that pirates are the dregs and outcasts of society… but yet considers himself a true pirate and a true pirate captain. Of course we don’t know, but let me do some theorizing here:

Kuro was an outcast himself at some point. Perhaps he was born as one. Perhaps he came up from the dregs of society and maybe came from a background very much like Usopp. (Because he is the antagonist to Usopp’s protagonist). In other words, one or the other parent was a pirate or left him to be a pirate. Whatever the case may be, he ended up alone somewhere and the only thing he had was his intelligence, so he built that up, and also his speed, until he was the strongest around—since, lets face it, Kuro isn’t exactly brawny. He relies solely on his blade hands and the ability to move faster than anyone else, both with his feet and with his mind. Though I don’t think he has the knack for brawling that Luffy does. In any case, since he struggled so hard, and was probably used himself, he sees no compulsion against using others, and, in fact, using others is a pirate’s way.

If this is true, it also might explain why he chose the plan as he did. To show the stuck up good for nothing rich people (who were unexpectedly kind) that he was smarter, better, faster than them and that he could make them suffer without even getting his hands dirty—Since I have no doubt he had the same in mind for Kaya’s parents.

However, even if part of this somewhat horrible past is true, it doesn’t make him any less of an asshole. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have opportunities to change his mind or embrace a peaceful lifestyle along the way. Jango’s a pretty friendly guy who could have become a trusted nakama. He could have enjoyed the nakama he’d gathered. Maybe due to one thing or another, he might have had to run from the navy but he didn’t have to attack villages and sink ships. Even beyond that, he didn’t have to leave them.


Though he tricked Kaya’s parents, they were kind to him. He built up a good reputation in the village. A good reputation with Kaya who doesn’t really care all that much about Usopp’s lineage. And I really do think she would have stuck by the person who had cared for her all those years. Furthermore, I think Kuro knows that he could have done it this way and easily remained with her. But he chose not to. He chose to go ahead with all his plans to brutalize everyone around him because he was and is the most superior and wants to make sure that all know it. This is his pride and his honor and rather than letting people see his superiority, he’s constantly shoving it down their throats.



And, once again, the crew reflect their captain. They think only of themselves in this situation. Rather than saying “Spare us” it’s all: “me”. They are individual units in one group who care more for themselves than their comrades. Also note, that begging for their lives like this rather than facing them is something cowardly. Something Usopp could be thought of to do. But not once in this arc has Usopp begged for his life, despite being a coward himself. Instead he stands up and fights against insurmountable odds for the people he cares for and the village he loves. In this way protagonists and antagonists mirror each other.

Also, Luffy knows something is coming but isn’t sure what. Despite having a conversation, he’s still very much in the battle and paying close attention to what’s happening.

We see Nami coming out of the KuroNeko ship with a disappointing amount of treasure (which makes me think that though they may have knocked over villages, only the small weak ones without enough ability to fight back or much worth stealing) and notes everyone standing still. Then Kuro attacks with blinding speed and guys are getting slashed all over the place and Luffy has no idea what’s going on. And let’s just take a full page here:



Firstly, remember how Kuro was so disgusted with Buchi for all the power and no control? Similarily, we see Jango has power, but he can’t find someone in a forest he doesn’t know nor hypnotize someone with their eyes closed—or who are smart enough to see through the trick. Kuro has the same exact damn problem for all his posturing. He doesn’t stop until he gets tired because he can’t see who he’s going to hit. Of course he doesn’t care if he hits crew, but taking that out of the equation, it seems powerful, but it’s highly inefficient. How can you even be sure you can take your target out at all? You can’t. You just have to hope you hit him before you get tired.

And yeah, just really put yourself into the situation here. These men are dying, getting cut up by their own captain, panicking and screaming for help as blood flies everywhere. This is a pretty brutal situation. Nami, who has no idea, is understandably shocked and freaked out by this. Then again, a large scale massacre is always shocking. Luffy can just, take it in, even as they’re screaming for help, watching a captain tearing apart his own crew. You can see him in his three panels come to understand the situation. He doesn’t even really react when he’s hit as he watches these guys get slaughtered. This is a HUGE freaking deal to him in other words. Despite the fact that they are enemies, Luffy is a compassionate sort, and can’t stand to see others suffer like this when they have no ability to fight back. And especially at the hands of someone they trusted.

Luffy says: “Come out, Evil Butler!” and then probably one of the most iconic lines of the early series and probably one of the most important.



That’s a good question. What the hell does he think nakama are, and what are they really? We’ll come to that at the end, but first, this is a new kind of anger that Nami has seen from him. There’s the hot anger of his own treasure being hurt and then this screaming anger at him hurting his own nakama. Of course Nami doesn’t really know the full story but if Luffy is this pissed, she knows the situation is damned serious—plus, you know, massacre.



As we move into the new chapter, we see Luffy angry at what is going on, repeating for Kuro to come out and now he’s just standing there. Or is he? No not really. He’s braced himself. Fists clenched. Expression focused. He can’t see Kuro and he knows that so it’s likely that he’s using whatever sense he can, instead of having any complex plan, waiting to see whatever opening he can take. And he gets one, getting slashed by Kuro, but grabbing his jacket even as that’s happening and twisting to slam Kuro against the ground. Again it’s a really well executed scene. You should definitely read it and check it out.



And look, Kuro is at it again, the same thing he tried to do with Kaya. This thing that I did is all your fault. You hate looking at them bleeding? Well you did this because you didn’t follow my plan. It’s not my responsibility. It’s yours. All yours. Look at what a horrible person you are and look at what you’ve caused to happen. Don’t you feel guilty?



And here he even prompts Luffy. You have something to say? Are you traumatized by this? Are you guilt ridden? Don’t you wish you would have just followed my orders? Listen to their agony as they bleed out.

He wants to manipulate Luffy’s mind. Twist him around to Kuro’s way of thinking.



Yeah, no, not going to work. Luffy has way too much confidence in who he is to be so manipulated. He has confidence in who he is, what he does, what he wants and isn’t going to take responsibility for someone else being a douche canoe. Primarily because Luffy is the kind of person who lets others do what they want and be what they want and while he’s not responsible for their actions, even if it ends in them cutting people up, no one is responsible for his. He’ll kick Kuro’s ass because he wants to. And furthermore, he’s seen what he doesn’t want to be. He’s seen the lowest a captain can sink, AND, he’s seen, in Usopp, the best a captain can be. Yes really, but we’ll get into that later.




Also he’s really super good at reading fights and seeing the disadvantages to other’s fighting styles. No matter how fast you are, you can’t run away from someone holding onto you.
Cut to Kaya and the boys. Jango’s knocking the crap out of them and Kaya says to stop it. That she’ll write the will if he stops hurting the boys.



But man, he’s still fighting. He’s got a baseball bat at the ready, despite having been knocked around and Carrot and Onion in a similar state behind him. But for the most part he is just concerned about Kaya. Jango, still concerned for his own life and that of the men says that they can stop negotiating because Kuro said Jango had to kill all of them, as he kicks Pepper into a tree. And Kaya once again shows her heroic side.



Yeah, suicide is not really an answer to any problem—but here it's more of a bluff than anything. Kaya isn’t stupid, after all. She can read the situation and if she threatens to take away the one thing Jango needs, i.e. herself. Jango has to negotiate or die himself and so he does since, as he figures, there’s no way the kids are going to get away. Still, regardless of whether she was hinging on a bet here or not, she is still sacrificing herself. There’s no doubt that Jango is going to kill her at least after the will is signed. But she has no options left.
Also another case of a weapon getting away from someone and coming back to bite them in the butt.

Anyway, as she’s signing, the Usopp Pirates lie there:



Trying to figure out what the heck to do. Yeah they kind of want to run away—because it hits them that death is a very real outcome for them—and they are just kids. And Usopp is their role model who they turn to when times get tough. He says to run away but actions speak louder than words. Especially in Usopp’s case. Because his actions are bleeding all over the place as he fights his hardest for Kaya. So they, too, must do it, both for the sake of the pride of Usopp and the Usopp pirates, and because he asked them to protect Kaya and had protect them and so they want to do the same and follow in his lead. At no point are they being forced to do anything.

Jango looks over the will and sees it’s all correct. He tells Kaya she has to die because otherwise a will would be pointless. Kaya reminds him of his promise and:



Firstly, I believe Jango. I mean, they’re as good as dead anyway so he won’t hurt them. Though I think it’s kind of a kindness, even in a small sense in his head not to tell her that. No need to worry her about it right before she dies.

And look, Kaya, though she is shaking and sweating from fear and fever… if she is going to die right here and now she’s going to do it with a smile on her face.

Yep.



Fortunately she doesn’t die as Usopp spots her, whacking at Zoro’s wounded chest accidentally to get his attention. Zoro drops Usopp so he can get there in time before Jango kills her. As Zoro is charging, Jango spots him at the distance.



And, BAM! The Usopp Pirates strike again, as hard as they can. Playing unconscious can be a really good card sometimes. Jango is pissed. Kicks them out of the way. Zoro is rushing to do what he needs to do, Jango is about to kill Kaya again and Zoro cuts a branch out of the way.




Gosh darnit, look at how happy those kids are to see him. To them? Usopp is their rescuer and captain. As it should be. Because honestly, Zoro with his swords couldn’t have made it in time. He might have prevented her death but she may have been pretty heavily wounded. But mann, look at him in the lower right, proud as fuck of this guy. (Which I believe is Wado) Essentially, he acted as a first mate, clearing the way for the captain to do what he does best.

Cut back to Luffy and :



Yeah, like he’s going to listen to you, Kuro. Why the hell would he let you go? The KuroNeko crew show their shiftless nature, rooting for Luffy because—in their situation, who wouldn’t? As long as they only care about themselves, the one that wants them dead is someone they’re not going to be loyal to. And they know Kuro well enough to know that he’s fully capable of it and would do it besides. Luffy is pretty annoyed with them saying this though.



He doesn’t like them, he’s not doing this for them, they are not the friend he’s fighting for and Luffy is damn well making sure they know it. Also warning them that he’s gonna beat the tar out of them, too because no way are they going to escape being jackasses.

Kuro is startled and then angry, yelling that his plan cannot fail but:



Yeah, I’d definitely call that some pretty hefty failing right there.

Anyway Kuro is out freaking cold, the KuroNeko pirates are shocked at this and wonder who the hell he is. And since this is near the end of the arc, let’s sneak in another full pager.



Mostly, since you can’t not cap Luffy saying those words (with a Don!) and dat grin.
Though this right here is Luffy’s idea of being a pirate. One who accepts and takes responsibility for the lifestyle he chose and the things he does. Ducking out of that kind of thing makes you a shitty pirate. Luffy is speaking about how a pirate should be, and how about the strongest pirates are. Shanks for instance. Even Buggy to an extent. If you’re going to be a pirate, take some pride in it. Don’t run from your name or your choice but embrace it. But if you can’t even do that, you’re not a pirate. You can’t claim to be one. Kuro can’t have it both ways, he either has to be one or the other.

And here we leave off. As much as I really want to finish the Syrup Island arc, how Usopp ends up going with them and the ending of this arc is super important, and more important than just cramming it all into one. To that end, though, the final part will be up sooner than normal.


Themes:

Precision is better than strength:

Granted, having both is no bad thing. But the person who can make the critical hit purposefully and when it counts is much more likely to win over the person that is strong, but has to flail around and hope they eventually get to who they are aiming at. That’s part of why Usopp is so skilled in this instance because while not as strong as the others, he can certainly pack a punch in the right place. Luffy’s entire style of fighting is actually based around precision, though unlike Usopp, he doesn’t have the luxury of knowing the right spot to pinpoint.

Still, he takes care of the fights one step at a time. If there is a hoarde to get out of the way, he’ll take care of that first, but his real goal is the leader. Which is smart because if the leader falls, the rest of the enemies, if not fallen apart, are severely weakened. He flings out a few attacks to see what will work best, what will stick, what doesn’t and then figures out a way to get in a few super effective attacks to get the enemy down. None of his attacks are wasted because he is always learning. Always retooling.

Kuro can barely even retool his plans, let alone his fighting style.

Tying into that.

Everyone has a weakness:

Here, specifically talking about fighting style. Jango’s hypnosis is good, but only works on people that fall for it and succumb to it. Note, that while Luffy did because he’s weak to emotions like that, Nami and Zoro weren’t though they were staring straight at it. The kids wouldn’t let it happen twice—and who is to say if it would happen to Kaya. It might have because she was so afraid of it but—she knew the precise way to get around the strength of the hypnotism by closing her eyes.

Kuro is fast, not strong but uses claws to compensate for the lack in physical strength, but when he’s fighting at top speed, has little control. And he’s sort of an emotionally unstable guy, especially when he’s losing. He becomes desperate to get that respect, to show how superior he is, to push his plans through so that they work. Luffy’s straightforward nature, his honesty, his confidence—Kuro can’t deal well with confident people—is what drove Kuro into making the first mistake that got him slammed into the ground.

But of course, our protags have weaknesses, too. Luffy is easily tricked by emotional stuff and can be cut, Zoro is distracted by people who need his help, Usopp is physically weak (by comparison) and ends up trashed more often than not, and Nami is as well and moreover, doesn’t want to fight if she doesn’t have to. So what is the difference between the protags and the antags? Well—we’ll get to that in another part.

What is a captain?:

Actually, we can’t answer that quite yet. We will definitely in the next part. But we will look at the negative space. What a captain isn’t. Kuro keeps saying he’s not the captain, and yeah, he’s not. But really, other than telling them what to do and them looking up to him, he never has been. Never has Kuro worked for the benefit of the crew, at least, not in his own head. I can see him stringing them along because he needs them but no more than that. He doesn’t even think they are competent on their own. A captain is not so blinded by his own arrogance that he can't see the strengths of his crew and the weakness in himself.

A captain does not and cannot expect the crew give them everything and then provide nothing in return. If he does so, he’s only shooting himself in the foot. The other bad commander we’ve seen do much the same thing is Morgan. The only difference there was that the men were tied to obey because they had little choice.

Had the KuroNeko pirates stood up to Kuro, they would have had a chance at true freedom. Had the Marines stood up to Morgan, (right off the bat) they would have had a chance at a court martial.


What do you think nakama are?

Again, what do we think they aren’t? Kuro definitely did not see his men as nakama, if he even has any sense of the word. He seriously lacked gratitude for anything they did. Even their very existence was negligible. The men are barely nakama to each other. The Nyaban brothers were the only two who were seen to work as a team, but that was because they were brothers (either blood or because they said so doesn’t matter).

In the end, they just cared about themselves and getting away themselves, not getting killed. They don’t put their lives on the line for each other nor their captain. Nor does he for them, not even a little bit. But think of what would be different if they did consider themselves nakama. If they had all attacked at once, helped their captain and he them, Luffy would have had a much harder damn time of it.
However, I do think you can see some influence of Jango as they carry their comrades away. Jango does care for their well-being, and his own of course, but in the end, Jango knows what a pirate is, as we’ll see.

The Power of Choice: Once again, choice is the dividing line which decides a hero and a villain. Kuro is a villain because he had all the opportunity in the world to change his mind and do the kinder thing. He even had the choice to put a little more faith in his crew. But he didn’t. He deserved what he got, and in fact deserved more than he got probably—Though mostly because made the choice to do this and Luffy isn’t going to let him escape the consequence of it like he did so many damn times before.

Likewise, choice is the dividing line between hero and victim. Kaya could have let herself be hypnotized. It would have been easier than fighting and getting knocked around, but instead she fought, not to save herself, but to save the boys. To do everything she could to make sure that Jango didn’t kill them. Even if the pirates were to attack the village, they would have a fighting chance of hiding somewhere or perhaps warning them. On the same vein, the boys had a choice between fighting for Kaya or playing possum. They decided to fight. She put her life on the line for them and they put their lives on the line for her.

Relationships

Skipping character for now since we’ve about covered Kuro completely and we’ll look at Usopp and the other Straw Hats more wholly in the final part of this arc so let’s briefly touch on:


Zoro x Usopp: Zoro is all about strength. He knows it when he sees it and he knows it when he sees it in Usopp. Never let it be said that Zoro doesn’t understand just how strong, how brave and how determined Usopp can be. Remember that he acted on his own will to help Usopp. No one told him to. Luffy didn’t demand it. Usopp didn’t hint that he wanted it. Zoro saw him struggling and knowing he had the strength to help, did so. (Though even he needed help from Luffy) But he didn’t fight for Usopp. No. He simply made opportunities for Usopp to fight for himself. He just got Usopp to where he was going. In the end, I think, he really respects Usopp’s struggle to be strong and to be a brave warrior of the sea, and will help him if he needs to. Zoro knows the true value of strength and what it looks like, and it is not just restricted to the physical since—hell, as we’ve seen it takes more than physical strength just to get things done effectively.