sahugani
January 19, 2008, 03:44 PM
Sahugani’s One Piece Review 485
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/4463/roronoazorobyevilsirenid9.jpg (http://evil-siren.deviantart.com/art/Roronoa-Zoro-57797023)
We all bow to Zoro's greatness
Hiya! I think now I should be getting back to a more normal reviewing schedule, which will be nice. In any case, this chapter was good enough that I wouldn’t ignore this weeks review under any circumstances. Not much else to say this week except that I have found myself running out of good stand-up comedy and find myself rewatching the same ones over and over. If you have any suggestions on which CD or DVD I should get next, post the idea in my “meet the mods” thread. To wrap things up, JuniZorofan (http://youtube.com/profile?user=JuniZorofan) doesn’t exactly have any new AMVmaterial for us as she is apparently sick, but she has compiled a bunch of pieces that she had not yet revealed into a new release, My Crap O-o’ (http://youtube.com/watch?v=VbrMSlWU3eY). The pics in this review are from the IOPC scanlation and the title pic is a wonderful piece by Evil-Siren (http://evil-siren.deviantart.com/) over at DeviantArt, so check out the rest of her stuff when you’re done here.
Demolition
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/936/1arp7.png
Yay!!! Thriller Bark is still seaworthy so others can still sail it
Well last week, the chapter ended with the Strawhats and Lola’s group refusing to give up Luffy to Kuma and thus incurring the wrath of the Ursus Shock from the Shichibukai’s great bear. It seemed at that time that the blast would be powerful enough to compare to the damage giant Moria did in cracking the island. Instead, the attack seems to have been a more concentrated blast. While the damage done near the shockwave’s center was effectively laid to waste, the area outside of a certain radius was seemingly unaffected by it. I guess that makes sense as waves that are emitted radially (in an expanding spherical shape) lose intensity at a pretty rapid rate as distance from the center increases. In this case though, all of the people are well within that radius of mass destruction, so since Kuma’s goal was destruction of those people and not the island itself, it makes no difference. It would have been way too powerful if he really could cause the destruction implied by the end of the last chapter (demolishing an entire island to rubble). In the entire span if the series, there have been only two instances where individuals have held that level of power and neither were in the form of a casual attack that could be used at any time. Enel had to build his arc to amplify his power to that degree and Moria had to absorb 1000 shadows to obtain that degree of strength. Still, the Ursus Shock is quite effective in dispatching large numbers of opponents simultaneously.
Among the Rubble
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9563/2aeu7.png
that is a usefull skill for clearing rubble
Now that everyone has been taken out by the large scale attack, Kuma strolls through the unconscious bodies. We clearly see Lola, many of her men, Franky, Brooke, and Nami knocked out on the ground and many of them are pinned under rocks (which technically should have crushed Brooke’s pelvic bone). Even though he has not accounted for the whereabouts of the entire Strawhat crew, Kuma stops when he finds Luffy. He must know that all of these people are merely unconscious and not dead. It seems that his intention is to fulfill his promise to let the people live at the cost of Luffy’s head even if they rejected his offer before (and this is supported by later events as well). For someone who was known for his ruthlessness as a pirate and who had been given an order to kill these people, Kuma is really going out of his way to let them live. As explained when he offered the deal last time, the World Government would likely care less about the lives of these witnesses if Luffy was captured or killed since the news of a Shichibukai slayer would mean nothing if the person was apprehended. It seems illogical that Kuma would break his usually unquestionable loyalty to the World Government to search for an alternative solution that saves human lives. I guess my original analysis of his character joining the Shichibukai to atone for his past sins seems quite likely. I’m guessing that in most situations where his superiors order him to take lives, he does try to find less violent alternatives. The only flaw with that thought is that if it was the case, the World Government would know better than to order him to perform a mass execution. To solve that, I think when it comes to using Kuma, the orders are mostly for show in those cases. As the entire world knows him only by his reputation as being one of the most violent pirates ever, Kuma’s name and a show of nonfatal force are enough to get most people to submit to his demands. This allows the World Government to get their objectives done while Kuma can follow his own morals. Even though the government would likely prefer a more thorough job, the fact that he follows orders better than the other Shichibukai and can effectively obtain the main objective is more than enough to make up for this pacifist approach.
One Still Stands
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/347/3ats1.png
Bwa ha ha!!! You weren't expecting that
While kneeling down to get Luffy, Kuma is attacked by Zoro, who apparently survived the massive shockwave. This time, Kuma was not quick enough to react and was hit by Zoro’s Shishi Sonson, which is still technically Zoro’s most powerful single attack in his arsenal (in terms of the attacks actual concentrated power, not destructive capability). Unfortunately even this attack that cut Mr. 1’s steel body was unable to do the same to Kuma, who is revealed to have a metallic body of his own. This explains why Sanji’s kick was ineffective. If even an attack by Zoro that is for the very purpose of cutting steel is only strong enough to merely scratch the surface of this body, there is no way Sanji’s kick would be powerful enough to do anything to it. Beyond that, the fact that Zoro can’t cut it with Shishi Sonson is shocking as it means it is a substance harder than steel. Up until now, there have been only two things that are confirmed as being too hard for Zoro to cut through even with Shishi Sonson. The first is kairoseki, which we can assume is not at all a part of Kuma’s anatomy since he is a devil fruit user as well. The other is diamond as Das Bones asked Zoro about this before feinting. At this point I can only assume that Kuma’s metal body is formed of high grade carbon steel, integrating the hardness of diamonds into his body and explaining why he can’t be cut. However, as Vegapunk is later revealed as his designer, I wouldn’t doubt it if this metal is some new fictional alloy equivalent to adamantium in the X-Men universe. In any case, if Kuma is equipped with this metal, there are likely a number of others with it in the marines, so if Zoro hopes to progress, he will eventually need to upgrade his Shishi Sonson to a form that can cut substances harder than steel.
Franky’s Superior
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2208/4avk5.png
future upgrade for our own cyborg maybe?
After Zoro’s attack reveals a metal shoulder and Kuma retaliates with a beam from his mouth, it becomes crystal clear that Kuma is a cyborg or robot of a class far beyond Franky. While Franky is a metallic being crafted by a mere carpenter with scrap metal, Kuma was the product of the world’s leading scientific mind, Vegapunk. This person still shrouded in mystery has abilities that far exceeds Franky’s when it comes to creating a cyborg such as knowledge of human anatomy, unlimited funding for materials, and is the foremost expert on devil fruits (though this applies only to Kuma’s creation, not Franky’s). The first thing to note is that unlike Franky, Kuma is still instantly recognizable as the same person he was before the operation (assuming he became a cyborg upon joining the Shichibukai and meeting Vegapunk), so his existence as a cyborg is still a secret to the world. It is revealed that Vegapunk’s name for Kuma’s class of cyborg is Pacifista, which to me is quite clearly in reference to Kuma’s general set of morals. It is also worthwhile to note that Kuma speaks very proudly of Vegapunk, which is in contrast to his generally quiet and to the point demeanor. I said last week that I believed he joined the Shichibukai for the sake of an individual rather than for the organization’s goals, but I seem to have been very mistaken on who that would be as the types of names I said before directly contrast his now apparent moral values. I think Vegapunk is the person he respects among the military and the reason he chose to atone for his sins as a Shichibukai. If you look at the people who have up till now idolized Vegapunk (Kuma, Koby, and Helmeppo), there is much reason to believe that he is among the noble individuals in the military and he will come into play in an arc or two as an ally to the Strawhats. This takes me back to the first One Piece prediction I ever made on MH, that the next Strawhat will be a devil fruit researcher, Vegapunk’s assistant. After this little exchange, I believe even more strongly that it will be true.
Zoro’s Resolve
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1532/5ade7.png
How many people would stop reading if Zoro died?
With Zoro unable to cut his opponent, he realizes that he has no chance to subdue him by force. He instead decides to trade his own head for Luffy’s. As Luffy is the one the government wants and Kuma was already planning to take Luffy’s head in order to avoid killing everyone, it seems strange that the Shichibukai would even consider it an option. Zoro explains that even if his head is not worth much at the moment, it is the head of the future greatest swordsman, but even with this claim, the government would still have a problem with Kuma’s results. The only explanation as to why Kuma would even consider such an option is if he had talked with Mihawk about the Strawhats. After hearing Zoro’s claim for himself, he confirmed the potential Mihawk saw and decides that it is no mere boast. He asks why Zoro would abandon his own dream to save Luffy’s life and Zoro answers that it is because Luffy is the man who will become Pirate King. Although each of the Strawhats joined for the sake of their own dreams, each of them has taken a great emotional stake in helping the others achieve theirs, which is really one of the strongest bonds among the crew. The only thing harder than to see one’s own dream snuffed out is to see it happen to a nakama’s dream. If that nakama’s dream is proven impossible, it creates a sense of hopelessness amongst the others. This idea has been observed many times through Usopp, but now it is openly shown through Zoro in a rare display of emotion.
Interruption
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7941/6asu3.png
How many would stop reading if Sanji died?
Before Zoro can get a confirmation from Kuma as to whether the deal is accepted, Sanji is revealed to be awake and the cook butts in and says that it is his life that should be taken. After some insulting of Zoro and some self praise to make him seem the worthier candidate to replace Luffy’s head, Zoro knocks him out with a swift blow to the side. Zoro knows that he is the single person on the crew who can replace Luffy in this matter for two reasons. First of all, he knew that Sanji was doing this for the wrong reasons and that Kuma could tell. All Sanji was doing was trying to be noble and that all his talk of future fame was more from his own ego and a desire to look like the better choice for Kuma to take. Zoro knew that Kuma would not take Sanji’s words seriously. The second and more important reason is that Zoro’s role on the ship is the first mate. It is his duty to take over and act in the crew’s best interest when the captain is incapacitated or not thinking clearly. A captain is supposed to fight till his last breath for the sake of those beneath him. A general description of the first mate’s role is to keep the crew together until the captain is again able to. That means that the first mate’s foremost duty is to ensure that the captain can return to duty. This responsibility lies in Zoro alone and he will not allow for any other member of the crew to replace him. Although dying means he must give up his dream, it is preferable to the alternative of failing his duty to the crew, a duty that no other member can bear.
Promise Kept
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/8534/7aqh8.png
behold the great paw of pain
Although it was left unclear as to whether Kuma would accept Zoro’s terms before, the confirmation finally arrives after Sanji is removed from the picture. He has seen the amount of sacrifice Zoro has risked to go through with this deal and to not accept it would mean that he insults the unerring pride he has just witnessed. At this point I am certain that he has either talked with Mihawk or will in the near future since the way in which he makes Zoro pay for Luffy’s safety mimics Zoro’s encounter with Hawkeyes. Hawkeyes saw Zoro’s ambition and delivered the final blow with his black blade so that Zoro would feel the weight and power of his dream firsthand and so he knows what he must overcome. In a similar move, Kuma uses his devil fruit power to separate from Luffy all the weariness and pain from his fights with Oz and Moria (including the immense stress of the combined gears). The idea behind this is that if Zoro wants to make his head equal to Luffy’s in Kuma’s eyes, he must experience the same pain and agony. If he is willing to accept all of Luffy’s pain, Kuma will accept that his resolve is strong enough to make his death pay for the captain’s life. However, as I believe that Kuma has spoken to Mihawk and already accepted Zoro’s resolve, there is another unsaid purpose behind this that mimics Mihawk’s actions. Mihawk dealt a near fatal blow to Zoro using his black blade so that if Zoro survived the wound, he would get stronger and prove his strength at a later date. Similarly, if Zoro survives Luffy’s pain, he proves that his body and will are strong enough to pull this crew’s dreams to completion and that they will continue to change the world for the better.
Admirable
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/5310/8ais6.png
Mihawk doesn't need a crew, but Kuma doesn't even need a boat
After taking Zoro to a more remote location to undergo this ordeal, Kuma simply leaves the island. Although he said he’d take Zoro’s head as a replacement for Luffy’s, he leaves empty handed. I think when his intention was to take Luffy, he was going to take a living prisoner to Impel Down as it is the way to save the most lives and gets the objective completed, which seems to be his general way of doing things. However, Zoro’s head is not the objective of the World Government and was more of a moral deal to keep his conscience clear. Having already given Luffy’s pain to Zoro, doing anything more would break their agreement. If Zoro survives, then the he has come out of the deal on top. If Zoro dies, then Zoro would have paid his price and there is no reason to penalize the Strawhat crew by taking their first mate’s body. As Kuma leaves, he compliments Luffy for his fine choice of nakama and attributes it to being Dragon’s son. This could imply that Dragon could have been a pirate before a revolutionary but in any case built up a crew of supporters comparable to the Strawhats. This means that Dragon was not a one man show as he has appeared to be for quite a while. It is quite likely that as the story progresses, we will either meet Dragon’s present or former nakama or (more than likely) one or two people we already know of will be revealed to be among them. Although we know no details at this point, I’ve got a basic unfounded theory from what we know. Dragon had at one point a crew of nakama similar to his son’s (he might have been a pirate but that is uncertain). At one point, his entire crew was killed by the World Government, driving him to despise them and installing in him the idea of the revolutionaries. This was likely also aided by somehow finding out about the true history (I’m guessing from Nico Olivia), which gave him justification for his hatred and a reason to put forth the revolution in the name of saving the world from the World Government.
Aftermath
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/747/9aqw7.png
On to the next adventure
With Kuma gone, eventually everyone on the island wakes up. Lola is shocked that Kuma apparently disappeared while the Strawhat crew is more perplexed by the fact that Luffy is now completely fine. Chopper fails to find a medical reason how Luffy’s returned energy is possible and Robin gravely thinks that he has simply had so much damage that his brain is simply not accepting the pain signals anymore and he’s basically high on endorphins. The only one not concerned over this fact is Sanji, who remembers his little encounter with Zoro and Kuma. He takes off to find Zoro and eventually does. However, Zoro is covered in more blood than ever and more still is splattered all over the ground. He has survived Luffy’s pain and lived after being dealt more damage than he has ever sustained in his life. When asked about all the blood, he says nothing happened. While this is clearly one on the most painful ordeals any Strawhat has ever undergone, to him, all he has done is his duty to the crew. He does not want the crew to know the details of what happened to him since it would only worry Luffy that Zoro underwent all that pain for his sake. He doesn’t want anyone to feel like they owe a debt to him as it would interfere with the lighthearted nature of this crew that they have all come to enjoy.
Overall
I know I say that every chapter of One Piece is the epitome of perfection, but this chapter really stands out as one of the greatest of all time in my opinion. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about the latter half of this arc is the amount of development we have seen from Zoro as the first mate. Up until this arc, we have seen occasional instances of him taking command of the crew when Luffy is gone or making tough decisions to make sure Luffy does his job as captain (namely the issue of readmitting Usopp). This arc though showed the first instances of Zoro leading the whole crew in a battle situation and now with this chapter we finally see him epitomize his job of keeping the crew together at any cost. This is without a doubt the single greatest moment in Zoro’s development since he fought Mihawk and I am completely satisfied with this chapter thanks to it. In other matters, now that the Kuma issue is settled, I’m guessing we should get some confirmation of Brooke’s status in a chapter or two.
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/4463/roronoazorobyevilsirenid9.jpg (http://evil-siren.deviantart.com/art/Roronoa-Zoro-57797023)
We all bow to Zoro's greatness
Hiya! I think now I should be getting back to a more normal reviewing schedule, which will be nice. In any case, this chapter was good enough that I wouldn’t ignore this weeks review under any circumstances. Not much else to say this week except that I have found myself running out of good stand-up comedy and find myself rewatching the same ones over and over. If you have any suggestions on which CD or DVD I should get next, post the idea in my “meet the mods” thread. To wrap things up, JuniZorofan (http://youtube.com/profile?user=JuniZorofan) doesn’t exactly have any new AMVmaterial for us as she is apparently sick, but she has compiled a bunch of pieces that she had not yet revealed into a new release, My Crap O-o’ (http://youtube.com/watch?v=VbrMSlWU3eY). The pics in this review are from the IOPC scanlation and the title pic is a wonderful piece by Evil-Siren (http://evil-siren.deviantart.com/) over at DeviantArt, so check out the rest of her stuff when you’re done here.
Demolition
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/936/1arp7.png
Yay!!! Thriller Bark is still seaworthy so others can still sail it
Well last week, the chapter ended with the Strawhats and Lola’s group refusing to give up Luffy to Kuma and thus incurring the wrath of the Ursus Shock from the Shichibukai’s great bear. It seemed at that time that the blast would be powerful enough to compare to the damage giant Moria did in cracking the island. Instead, the attack seems to have been a more concentrated blast. While the damage done near the shockwave’s center was effectively laid to waste, the area outside of a certain radius was seemingly unaffected by it. I guess that makes sense as waves that are emitted radially (in an expanding spherical shape) lose intensity at a pretty rapid rate as distance from the center increases. In this case though, all of the people are well within that radius of mass destruction, so since Kuma’s goal was destruction of those people and not the island itself, it makes no difference. It would have been way too powerful if he really could cause the destruction implied by the end of the last chapter (demolishing an entire island to rubble). In the entire span if the series, there have been only two instances where individuals have held that level of power and neither were in the form of a casual attack that could be used at any time. Enel had to build his arc to amplify his power to that degree and Moria had to absorb 1000 shadows to obtain that degree of strength. Still, the Ursus Shock is quite effective in dispatching large numbers of opponents simultaneously.
Among the Rubble
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9563/2aeu7.png
that is a usefull skill for clearing rubble
Now that everyone has been taken out by the large scale attack, Kuma strolls through the unconscious bodies. We clearly see Lola, many of her men, Franky, Brooke, and Nami knocked out on the ground and many of them are pinned under rocks (which technically should have crushed Brooke’s pelvic bone). Even though he has not accounted for the whereabouts of the entire Strawhat crew, Kuma stops when he finds Luffy. He must know that all of these people are merely unconscious and not dead. It seems that his intention is to fulfill his promise to let the people live at the cost of Luffy’s head even if they rejected his offer before (and this is supported by later events as well). For someone who was known for his ruthlessness as a pirate and who had been given an order to kill these people, Kuma is really going out of his way to let them live. As explained when he offered the deal last time, the World Government would likely care less about the lives of these witnesses if Luffy was captured or killed since the news of a Shichibukai slayer would mean nothing if the person was apprehended. It seems illogical that Kuma would break his usually unquestionable loyalty to the World Government to search for an alternative solution that saves human lives. I guess my original analysis of his character joining the Shichibukai to atone for his past sins seems quite likely. I’m guessing that in most situations where his superiors order him to take lives, he does try to find less violent alternatives. The only flaw with that thought is that if it was the case, the World Government would know better than to order him to perform a mass execution. To solve that, I think when it comes to using Kuma, the orders are mostly for show in those cases. As the entire world knows him only by his reputation as being one of the most violent pirates ever, Kuma’s name and a show of nonfatal force are enough to get most people to submit to his demands. This allows the World Government to get their objectives done while Kuma can follow his own morals. Even though the government would likely prefer a more thorough job, the fact that he follows orders better than the other Shichibukai and can effectively obtain the main objective is more than enough to make up for this pacifist approach.
One Still Stands
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/347/3ats1.png
Bwa ha ha!!! You weren't expecting that
While kneeling down to get Luffy, Kuma is attacked by Zoro, who apparently survived the massive shockwave. This time, Kuma was not quick enough to react and was hit by Zoro’s Shishi Sonson, which is still technically Zoro’s most powerful single attack in his arsenal (in terms of the attacks actual concentrated power, not destructive capability). Unfortunately even this attack that cut Mr. 1’s steel body was unable to do the same to Kuma, who is revealed to have a metallic body of his own. This explains why Sanji’s kick was ineffective. If even an attack by Zoro that is for the very purpose of cutting steel is only strong enough to merely scratch the surface of this body, there is no way Sanji’s kick would be powerful enough to do anything to it. Beyond that, the fact that Zoro can’t cut it with Shishi Sonson is shocking as it means it is a substance harder than steel. Up until now, there have been only two things that are confirmed as being too hard for Zoro to cut through even with Shishi Sonson. The first is kairoseki, which we can assume is not at all a part of Kuma’s anatomy since he is a devil fruit user as well. The other is diamond as Das Bones asked Zoro about this before feinting. At this point I can only assume that Kuma’s metal body is formed of high grade carbon steel, integrating the hardness of diamonds into his body and explaining why he can’t be cut. However, as Vegapunk is later revealed as his designer, I wouldn’t doubt it if this metal is some new fictional alloy equivalent to adamantium in the X-Men universe. In any case, if Kuma is equipped with this metal, there are likely a number of others with it in the marines, so if Zoro hopes to progress, he will eventually need to upgrade his Shishi Sonson to a form that can cut substances harder than steel.
Franky’s Superior
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2208/4avk5.png
future upgrade for our own cyborg maybe?
After Zoro’s attack reveals a metal shoulder and Kuma retaliates with a beam from his mouth, it becomes crystal clear that Kuma is a cyborg or robot of a class far beyond Franky. While Franky is a metallic being crafted by a mere carpenter with scrap metal, Kuma was the product of the world’s leading scientific mind, Vegapunk. This person still shrouded in mystery has abilities that far exceeds Franky’s when it comes to creating a cyborg such as knowledge of human anatomy, unlimited funding for materials, and is the foremost expert on devil fruits (though this applies only to Kuma’s creation, not Franky’s). The first thing to note is that unlike Franky, Kuma is still instantly recognizable as the same person he was before the operation (assuming he became a cyborg upon joining the Shichibukai and meeting Vegapunk), so his existence as a cyborg is still a secret to the world. It is revealed that Vegapunk’s name for Kuma’s class of cyborg is Pacifista, which to me is quite clearly in reference to Kuma’s general set of morals. It is also worthwhile to note that Kuma speaks very proudly of Vegapunk, which is in contrast to his generally quiet and to the point demeanor. I said last week that I believed he joined the Shichibukai for the sake of an individual rather than for the organization’s goals, but I seem to have been very mistaken on who that would be as the types of names I said before directly contrast his now apparent moral values. I think Vegapunk is the person he respects among the military and the reason he chose to atone for his sins as a Shichibukai. If you look at the people who have up till now idolized Vegapunk (Kuma, Koby, and Helmeppo), there is much reason to believe that he is among the noble individuals in the military and he will come into play in an arc or two as an ally to the Strawhats. This takes me back to the first One Piece prediction I ever made on MH, that the next Strawhat will be a devil fruit researcher, Vegapunk’s assistant. After this little exchange, I believe even more strongly that it will be true.
Zoro’s Resolve
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/1532/5ade7.png
How many people would stop reading if Zoro died?
With Zoro unable to cut his opponent, he realizes that he has no chance to subdue him by force. He instead decides to trade his own head for Luffy’s. As Luffy is the one the government wants and Kuma was already planning to take Luffy’s head in order to avoid killing everyone, it seems strange that the Shichibukai would even consider it an option. Zoro explains that even if his head is not worth much at the moment, it is the head of the future greatest swordsman, but even with this claim, the government would still have a problem with Kuma’s results. The only explanation as to why Kuma would even consider such an option is if he had talked with Mihawk about the Strawhats. After hearing Zoro’s claim for himself, he confirmed the potential Mihawk saw and decides that it is no mere boast. He asks why Zoro would abandon his own dream to save Luffy’s life and Zoro answers that it is because Luffy is the man who will become Pirate King. Although each of the Strawhats joined for the sake of their own dreams, each of them has taken a great emotional stake in helping the others achieve theirs, which is really one of the strongest bonds among the crew. The only thing harder than to see one’s own dream snuffed out is to see it happen to a nakama’s dream. If that nakama’s dream is proven impossible, it creates a sense of hopelessness amongst the others. This idea has been observed many times through Usopp, but now it is openly shown through Zoro in a rare display of emotion.
Interruption
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/7941/6asu3.png
How many would stop reading if Sanji died?
Before Zoro can get a confirmation from Kuma as to whether the deal is accepted, Sanji is revealed to be awake and the cook butts in and says that it is his life that should be taken. After some insulting of Zoro and some self praise to make him seem the worthier candidate to replace Luffy’s head, Zoro knocks him out with a swift blow to the side. Zoro knows that he is the single person on the crew who can replace Luffy in this matter for two reasons. First of all, he knew that Sanji was doing this for the wrong reasons and that Kuma could tell. All Sanji was doing was trying to be noble and that all his talk of future fame was more from his own ego and a desire to look like the better choice for Kuma to take. Zoro knew that Kuma would not take Sanji’s words seriously. The second and more important reason is that Zoro’s role on the ship is the first mate. It is his duty to take over and act in the crew’s best interest when the captain is incapacitated or not thinking clearly. A captain is supposed to fight till his last breath for the sake of those beneath him. A general description of the first mate’s role is to keep the crew together until the captain is again able to. That means that the first mate’s foremost duty is to ensure that the captain can return to duty. This responsibility lies in Zoro alone and he will not allow for any other member of the crew to replace him. Although dying means he must give up his dream, it is preferable to the alternative of failing his duty to the crew, a duty that no other member can bear.
Promise Kept
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/8534/7aqh8.png
behold the great paw of pain
Although it was left unclear as to whether Kuma would accept Zoro’s terms before, the confirmation finally arrives after Sanji is removed from the picture. He has seen the amount of sacrifice Zoro has risked to go through with this deal and to not accept it would mean that he insults the unerring pride he has just witnessed. At this point I am certain that he has either talked with Mihawk or will in the near future since the way in which he makes Zoro pay for Luffy’s safety mimics Zoro’s encounter with Hawkeyes. Hawkeyes saw Zoro’s ambition and delivered the final blow with his black blade so that Zoro would feel the weight and power of his dream firsthand and so he knows what he must overcome. In a similar move, Kuma uses his devil fruit power to separate from Luffy all the weariness and pain from his fights with Oz and Moria (including the immense stress of the combined gears). The idea behind this is that if Zoro wants to make his head equal to Luffy’s in Kuma’s eyes, he must experience the same pain and agony. If he is willing to accept all of Luffy’s pain, Kuma will accept that his resolve is strong enough to make his death pay for the captain’s life. However, as I believe that Kuma has spoken to Mihawk and already accepted Zoro’s resolve, there is another unsaid purpose behind this that mimics Mihawk’s actions. Mihawk dealt a near fatal blow to Zoro using his black blade so that if Zoro survived the wound, he would get stronger and prove his strength at a later date. Similarly, if Zoro survives Luffy’s pain, he proves that his body and will are strong enough to pull this crew’s dreams to completion and that they will continue to change the world for the better.
Admirable
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Mihawk doesn't need a crew, but Kuma doesn't even need a boat
After taking Zoro to a more remote location to undergo this ordeal, Kuma simply leaves the island. Although he said he’d take Zoro’s head as a replacement for Luffy’s, he leaves empty handed. I think when his intention was to take Luffy, he was going to take a living prisoner to Impel Down as it is the way to save the most lives and gets the objective completed, which seems to be his general way of doing things. However, Zoro’s head is not the objective of the World Government and was more of a moral deal to keep his conscience clear. Having already given Luffy’s pain to Zoro, doing anything more would break their agreement. If Zoro survives, then the he has come out of the deal on top. If Zoro dies, then Zoro would have paid his price and there is no reason to penalize the Strawhat crew by taking their first mate’s body. As Kuma leaves, he compliments Luffy for his fine choice of nakama and attributes it to being Dragon’s son. This could imply that Dragon could have been a pirate before a revolutionary but in any case built up a crew of supporters comparable to the Strawhats. This means that Dragon was not a one man show as he has appeared to be for quite a while. It is quite likely that as the story progresses, we will either meet Dragon’s present or former nakama or (more than likely) one or two people we already know of will be revealed to be among them. Although we know no details at this point, I’ve got a basic unfounded theory from what we know. Dragon had at one point a crew of nakama similar to his son’s (he might have been a pirate but that is uncertain). At one point, his entire crew was killed by the World Government, driving him to despise them and installing in him the idea of the revolutionaries. This was likely also aided by somehow finding out about the true history (I’m guessing from Nico Olivia), which gave him justification for his hatred and a reason to put forth the revolution in the name of saving the world from the World Government.
Aftermath
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On to the next adventure
With Kuma gone, eventually everyone on the island wakes up. Lola is shocked that Kuma apparently disappeared while the Strawhat crew is more perplexed by the fact that Luffy is now completely fine. Chopper fails to find a medical reason how Luffy’s returned energy is possible and Robin gravely thinks that he has simply had so much damage that his brain is simply not accepting the pain signals anymore and he’s basically high on endorphins. The only one not concerned over this fact is Sanji, who remembers his little encounter with Zoro and Kuma. He takes off to find Zoro and eventually does. However, Zoro is covered in more blood than ever and more still is splattered all over the ground. He has survived Luffy’s pain and lived after being dealt more damage than he has ever sustained in his life. When asked about all the blood, he says nothing happened. While this is clearly one on the most painful ordeals any Strawhat has ever undergone, to him, all he has done is his duty to the crew. He does not want the crew to know the details of what happened to him since it would only worry Luffy that Zoro underwent all that pain for his sake. He doesn’t want anyone to feel like they owe a debt to him as it would interfere with the lighthearted nature of this crew that they have all come to enjoy.
Overall
I know I say that every chapter of One Piece is the epitome of perfection, but this chapter really stands out as one of the greatest of all time in my opinion. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed about the latter half of this arc is the amount of development we have seen from Zoro as the first mate. Up until this arc, we have seen occasional instances of him taking command of the crew when Luffy is gone or making tough decisions to make sure Luffy does his job as captain (namely the issue of readmitting Usopp). This arc though showed the first instances of Zoro leading the whole crew in a battle situation and now with this chapter we finally see him epitomize his job of keeping the crew together at any cost. This is without a doubt the single greatest moment in Zoro’s development since he fought Mihawk and I am completely satisfied with this chapter thanks to it. In other matters, now that the Kuma issue is settled, I’m guessing we should get some confirmation of Brooke’s status in a chapter or two.