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goingbuggy · 9 months

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Sacrifice as an Act of Love in One Piece

Been thinking recently about how Oda uses character sacrifices in One Piece so often. Ace’s death is probably the most obvious example, but you can argue the same for so many others: Zoro taking Luffy's pain, Shanks losing his arm, Bon Clay staying behind at Impel Down... Corazon, Bellmere, Whitebeard, Tom, Pell, Pedro, Zeff, Rouge … it just goes on and on. But why do we see characters make sacrifices for the sake of others? Why are these moments so significant?

In the world of One Piece, sacrifice is a means of protecting someone else's freedom.

It has been established time and time again that freedom is the driving force of life itself. People cannot dream without the freedom to do so. And without dreams, of course, no one has the willpower to achieve anything at all. As a result of this ripple effect, the world's collective future would implode. After all, who creates destiny — the series of events which dictate the world's future — if not people with the willpower to achieve their dreams, interconnecting?

Fate and the willpower One Piece characters have to achieve their dreams is a bit of a chicken-and-egg relationship. (e.g. Did fate lead Luffy to his dream, or did Luffy's dream create his fate?) But regardless, Oda clearly shows us that these three aspects of a meaningful life are all dependent on freedom.

This is why I think Roger's quote is so pivotal to the series at large:

“Inherited will, the destiny of the age, and the dreams of the people. As long as people continue to pursue the meaning of freedom, these things will never cease to be!"

As long as you have freedom, you can dream and do just about anything; the world is your oyster. So, when Ace sacrifices his own life, he protects Luffy in a physical sense, sure. But he also protects Luffy's freedom to live — and by extension, Luffy's dream (whatever it may be).

In One Piece, sacrifice is not the act of valuing someone else's freedom more than your own. It is the act of treasuring someone's freedom so deeply that it becomes equal to yours. Characters like Corazon and Bellemere put their lives on the line without regrets, without expecting anything in return, because of love. Simple as that.

Nothing highlights this idea more than the conversation between Sengoku and Law at the end of Dressrosa. Law believes Corazon saved his life because of his ties to the Will of D., but Sengoku denies this and delivers one of the most beautiful quotes in any piece of media:

"Don't try to find a reason for somebody's love."

True sacrifice is an act of love in its highest form: unconditional, selfless, and entirely free.

#we could also talk about how oda distinguishes love from self-hatred through character sacrifices #sanji and robin are two great examples #they both sacrifice their lives because of how little they value themselves #but they are not rewarded for this behavior narratively #in thriller bark both sanji and zoro are prepared to sacrifice themselves for luffy and the rest of the crew #the only difference is zoro knows his worth and sanji does not #that character growth is saved for whole cake island #long post #one piece #one piece meta #op meta #portgas d ace #donquixote rosinante #corazon #trafalgar law #monkey d. luffy #bellemere #bon clay

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danwhobrowses · 4 years

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One Piece Chapter 990 - Initial Thoughts

Well, okay then!

The new chapter FINALLY gets translated so I get check it out, both sides are teasing, pleasing and treasoning Something big is bound to happen in 10 chapters time though, OP1K is closing in on us quick and fast. Spoilers for Chapter 990, Support the Official Release

YES POUND, the receipts are enough to bring him on the ship, the family is complete!

Sasaki’s loose though, mainly thanks to BM’s Delphinium, it’s interesting though, their friendship seemed legit so this cuts deep for Sasaki - he’s not bothered about the Wano stuff as a whole, he just wants payback for himself

Thankfully, the Su Long Minks are able to kick most of the Ass, only Jack is really holding them off thanks to his durability as the Scabbards and Kaido still stare each other down (bit of an odd tactic, especially since Su Long has a time limit until death)

The Teases though! Inu and Neko stop Kin’emon from attacking, in shadowed out Su Long forms, so they could have the honors of taking on Jack

King just echoes my concern about Queen screwing up so much, but interestingly Queen doesn’t think that Babanuki was swayed, Tama’s DF still allows a wildcard to come into play

King though is rallying the Flying Six, meaning this will be some of the bigger fights

I TOLD YOU HAWKINS WAS ALIVE! Though shame he’s not the guy with Law, his buddy though Drake is there with him and there is a note that Hawkins could easily bounce since he doesn’t want to be here.

Here’s the interesting part though, 1% - that’s the probability of ‘that man’ being alive by the morning. But who is that man? Drake could easily think it’s Luffy (or ‘Stealth Black’) but what if it’s not, what if it’s Kaido? or Jack, or Queen or King? Maybe the 1% is Luffy but that’s his chance of Dying? The odds are nondescript, but Hawkins should know how Luffy’s avoided death, even in Marineford his cards would not be certain of Luffy’s death after all

Also gotta talk about that BIG ASS HELMET behind Hawkins, first the sword now this helmet, was there some Ancient Giant Shogun or something?

Back with the enjoyable Ulti/Pay-Pay stuff though, I really hope we see them again. But seems that the Yamato bounty has been called off for them and all focus is on the raiders.

Pay-Pay just give her the damn Piggyback ride!

Who’s Who is making his moves though, asking Drake to take down his primary target: Queen. Hawkins looks at his cards though, did his predictions change?

The Oniwabanshu do provide a proper challenge for the samurai prisoners and yakuza but old Mega Forehead leaves the battlefield, and it is noticed

Good on the raiders to at least try and pave the way for Luffy against a Number, but Zoro and Jimbei are quick clean up crews

Thriller Bark mentions again, I feel like Moria is still set to show because of this

Zoro being a bit bloodied seems a bit worrisome, given how the rest are unharmed, including Sanji who was drilled into a building by King

LUFFYWHYAREYOUINGEARFOURTHYOUSAIDTOCONSERVEENERGYNOTWEAROUTYOURHAKIFORANOTHERTENMINUTES!

I had to look at Myo-o (Fudo Myoo) for a reference and...I kinda see it? I guess Hyou isn’t used to this much Haki coating and steam emanating from the body

Alas the twist belongs with Drake, Who’s Who led him straight to Queen because they knew he was a traitor

I’m conflicted by Hawkins as well on this, it seems he’s testified information that points to Drake being the one that freed Law - and he would be sore about that given how he got cut up - but surely this’d also be an out for him? Maybe he’s playing a longer game, making sure he knows what Drake’s plans are before joining in on them?

I still don’t think it was Drake though, the guy was wearing a kimono and the wooden sandals wasn’t he? Sure it could be a disguise but why hide that from us after we knew he was in SWORD?

X Calibur, yes. Just, yes. I was hoping he’d have an attack like that. Though it is a shame that Luffy couldn’t take out 2 Numbers alone

Drake sees his opening though, another unlikely ally declaring themselves! This one though thanks in part to Coby, who’s pro-Luffy dialogue convinced Drake to make a gamble on it.

‘Pirate Alliances and Betrayal go and in hand’ was the theme that carried over into Wano as we (still) fear the stability of Law and Kid’s working with Luffy, as well as whether the Straw Hats will be forced to sacrifice the samurai to defeat Kaido. But right not the treachery is unravelling for Kaido’s forces with Drake. It’s interesting that Drake thought he could escape Wano but decided to stick to the mission, Hawkins as glad as I am that he’s alive does make me concerned, is it just bitterness or observation. I hope the latter partly because of my 5 Captains theory. The pace of the story is jam packed because this whole chapter is just moments after the last, the battle is still in its infancy as Inu and Neko have just turned Su Long - and they refuse to show us STILL! No Carrot this chapter but the focus has mainly been away from the crew as a group aside from Zoro and Luffy, looking more at the enemy side as we prepare truly for the tower climb, the Flying Six will have to fight the rest of the crew if they are to push their way up to Kaido, who’s basically just chilling, but Jack’s about to be wiped out so if Oda does show it that may be a little cathartic Painfully, another week break, it was only 2 weeks since our last one D: Oda I know you’re giving space for the Volume Release as we feast on the juicy SBS content and whatever Sanada says, but the 1000th Chapter is so in sight it hurts to delay!

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