The Hidden Depth of ZORO | The Anatomy of One Piece

okay I got to be honest when I first read one piece up until that confrontation between Luffy and Usopp in water 7 I didn't really connect with or understand Zoro as a character and if pushed I might have even called him boring how dare you now to put that into perspective Zoro is introduced to and joins the straw hats in volume 1 Chapter 5 and I didn't start to warm up to him until volume 35 or chapter 332 the Z portion of Dragon Ball is shorter than that initially I thought Zoro was like many of the early characters of Dragon Ball who because they were introduced early on lacked the staying power in the story due to their simple personality and character design eventually being usurped by more complicated and compelling iterations on their initial blueprint I was dumb please forgive me Oda and now having taken a closer look not only can I see that I was hilariously mistaken but I was in fact ignorant to a character that epitomizes the subtly brilliant writing Oda would later become known for with one piece I never noticed it when I was first reading but I do now so I guess when I'm saying is there's more to Zoro than what meets the eye here's [Music] why Zoro could be the captain of his own crew this is something anyone who's seen or read the story of One Piece has no doubt heard on countless occasion through his physical strength and levelheaded nature in dire situations virtually everyone in the story who encounters Zoro first eventually finds themselves perplexed as to why he isn't the captain of the straw hats and to be honest it's a rational question to ask he's serious very strong skilled and as we've even seen a natural leader so why isn't he something that's important to understand about all the straw head Pirates is that they all have a specific goal or dream Nami wants to map the world's oceans Sanji wants to find the all blue Usopp wants to become a great warrior of the sea each of these Central characters has an obvious goal and Zoro is no [Music] different he wants to become the strongest swordsman who ever lived and just like every other straw hat in order to understand him we must first understand the origin of his goal so how did Zoro come to have this dream well like all the others it's presented in a flashback when where Zoro is a young student learning to become a swordsman a prodigy in his own right he meets another far greater Prodigy in kuina and after hundreds of losses to her including a jewel with real swords he vows with her that one of them will one day become the world's greatest swordsman and will eventually fight each other for that title tragically Kina meets an untimely end soon after she's introduced but not before her and Zoro share this telling [Music] interaction did you catch that it's that last line that last line that I totally took for granted upon first viewing is vitally important to zoro's entire character promises are something he takes extremely seriously for instance if you cast your mind back to when Luffy first encounters Zoro he's in a bar sticking up for some kid but we don't see this or at least not in the manga so how did Zoro a notorious and very capable name even this early on in the story allow himself to be apprehended by someone as incompetent as helppo I need your help all I have to do is last for a month here then I'm a free man Captain Morgan's idiot son promise me he made Zoro a promise this admittedly minor element might not have been obvious is to some and that's for good reason Oda wrote it to be subtle often times in storytelling a writer will establish a few key elements before emphasizing their worth later on in the tale the order I just presented the information to you here makes zoro's valuing of a promise evident because I started my explanation with the key moment in which it became important to him from there it's easy to see the instances where honesty and Promises matter to Zoro however in the actual order of events we see in the story we see Zoro learn of helo's lie before seeing how much promises mean to him in the kinaa flashback it's a remarkably subtle but very effective means of establishing payoff and this isn't the only part of the story Oda performs this narrative slight of hand it can be seen numerous times across the entire series take the true nature of Luffy's devil fruit for example fans have known for the longest time that he's eaten the gumgum fruit which in turn allowed his body to bend and stretch at will however after being pushed to his limits in wano Luffy awakened his devil fruits latent abilities allowing him to stretch far more than just his own body the hints were there all throughout the story but they only really become apparent thanks to this Revelation and on a more modest level this same technique was used to characterize Zoro here in this instance this is another occasion where the supporting characters in this story offer Luffy the opportunity to shine as a main character he is designed to fight society's flawed structures he doesn't care about consequences the same way others do but what this moment highlights for Zoro is that his life was about to end his dream was about to end in the manga zoro's flashback with Kina takes place as the firing squad is taking aim moments after the flashback ends Luffy flies in and protects him this means that on some level Zoro now owes both his life and his dream to Luffy which makes this next sequence even more interesting Zoro versus mihawk this is the first time Zoro gets his shot at becoming the world's greatest swordsman it's easily the best and most dramatic one-on-one conflict the series had seen up until that point and perhaps what we would see for quite some time however something that will become a running Trend with Zoro is how each and every one of his key moments in this series can be tied back to that first encounter with Luffy the fight between mihawk and Zoro is flush with all the trappings of what makes fights in one piece so entertaining there's an emotional through line and in this case a sense of respect not being handed over out of Charity but instead it being earned one has to remember despite the live action one piece removing his introduction entirely really mihawk's entrance into the story is Haunting in the manga and the anime and it's intentionally portrayed to be this way this is the moment we realize the scope of the possible danger in one piece's world and that sudden and very pronounced shift in tone was enough to make even me as a reader hesitate but Zoro steps up to the plate anyway because as he said before the day I decided to be the greatest swordsman I gave myself up for dead in one piece particularly early on there was a sense that Luffy and those in his dead were merely children with childish aspirations that they would have no choice but to turn tail at the first sign of true Danger but here we are staring down the blade of what is undoubtedly true danger the first of it in the series and moments before certain death after being completely and totally outclassed Zoro [Music] says honor conviction and conduct despite lacking the requisite strength and skill at this time these are the qualities the greatest swordsman in the world must possess Luffy throughout all of this looks concerned for his friend and crew member but more than that aware that he needed to do this alone he was never going to step in or interfere in a matter so important to Zoro but once the jewel was concluded and mihawk spared him we get this scene once again this is a narrative slight of hand speaking to an exchange they shared upon first meeting where Luffy declared his dream and Zoro responded with you talk big this is all to say that to Zoro words are more than a means of manipulation or coercion they literally mean something from the very beginning he established the ground rules of their relationship and he wants Luffy to know that when he said he's going to become the world's greatest swordsman he meant it when he vowed to be part of his crew he meant it and I think that value for someone's word and Promises of conviction speaks to how he handles nami's desertion towards the end of the baradi AR how he deals with Robin and usopp's circumstances later for Nami if you skim through their story from their first meeting through to her leaving with the going Mary she actively goes out of her way to explain that she's not one of the straw hats and least of all a pirate where Luffy is able to read between the lines and SE her for who she really is to Zoro she hasn't made any commitment to them and so when confronted about whether or not they should retrieve her he says Nami hasn't made any promise or done anything to gain zoro's trust at this point and his dialogue reflects that it's wonderfully consistent character writing but it doesn't stop there Luffy versus Usopp is an extremely pivotal moment in the series and is such for good reason it's the first moment that the crew has truly been fractured by forces from within and for Zoro You could argue he's the most important player in this Jewel outside of Luffy and Usopp this is a moment so brilliant that even I on my first pass through the series recognized it as a remarkable feat of dramatic writing in my last video I touched on the importance of characters like Zoro in the supporting role and how those in his position when set alongside the main character can highlight their strengths and weaknesses following the conclusion of their fight Zoro stands by Luffy and offers him Rock Solid support when he was at his weakest when all of them were at their weakest however this was far from the most significant moment for Zoro in this Luffy versus Usopp Dynamic after the Fallout of any Lobby right before the crew are about to set sail on another adventure usapp returns with his tail tucked between his legs unable to bring himself to apologize but desires deeply to return to the crew he loves trying to play it all off as if it wasn't that big a deal Luffy by his nature wants to accept him back with open arms no questions asked but Zoro makes an important observation here he needs usup to say sorry he needs to admit what he did was wrong because Toro by joining This Crew Usopp made a pledge and promise and by going into business for himself due to his own insecurities spat in the face of all the others who take this vow to each other very seriously and none take it more seriously than Zoro does remember when I said earlier that Luffy and his crew were often looked at as childish and juvenile by those they encountered early on when Zoro was the first one to look the big bad world in the eyes and Live to Tell the [Music] tale it isn't a coincidence that he spoke these words at this time it's just another subtle piece of creative writing that takes this already outstanding and compelling scene to the next level if there's anything that Zoro epitomizes in this story it's honor respect and legitimacy and when you look at usopp's disposition and actions during the water 7 and closing moments of this scene you begin to see exactly what Zoro took issue with and why to Zoro again words matter vows matter Zoro does care about USA but in the scene he impresses unui that if they don't hold themselves to any substantial standard and simply accept Uso back without any acknowledgement of wrongdoing then what right do they have to call themselves serious Pirates and you know he raises a really good point having disrupted the order of the crew and what amounted to reasons brought on by his own unaddressed insecurities Usopp challenged Luffy's position as Captain this had been a running gag since Usopp first joined the crew and was in fact one of the first things he said after accepting this position this is perfectly in line with usopp's established character at the time and plays a significant role in his growth over the course of the entire series a young kid playing Pirate with his friends learning to become a great warrior of the sea with his crew mates and In This Moment Zoro forced Usopp and Luffy to grow towards their respective goals [Music] fore speech foreign spee [Music] foreign [Music] in the closing pages of chapter 483 having finally dispensed of Thriller bark Moria one of the seven Warlords of the sea Luffy is left totally out of commission drained from their encounter aptly titled quote the end of the dream this chapter contends with the aftermath of Mora's Twisted control over the inhabitants he's Enslaved the title clearly can be seen speaking to this obvious plot element however for me there's something a little more poetic going on here with that title it's worth mentioning that on a narrative level Kuma's abilities are intentionally framed as terrifying and monstrous totally shrouded in mystery this is to serve and supplement a number of different elements in the story however during this encounter it's to emphasize zoro's bravery nerve and conviction I mentioned that Zoro like every other straw head has a dream he's striving towards at the beginning I even said and seemed to prove that his goal was in fact to in the name of his friend and rival Kina become the greatest swordsman to have ever lived but that wasn't exactly right either what it's true that zoro's primary dream since he was a kid was this and he has made enormous efforts to achieve that since I don't think it's his primary goal any longer and few places emphasize this fact greater than the end of Thriller bark following the arduous Adventure through Thriller bark fighting ores and navigating this area the crew but particularly Luffy is physically spent he gave everything he had and then some to overcome that monster and that's when something totally from Left Field blindsides the entire crew Kuma like mihawk earlier this is yet another moment during the crew's natural and slow progression through the Grand line where the big bad World suddenly shows up to test their metal like much of what makes one piece famous it isn't the artwork action or even necessarily the choreography that elevates this scene to the profound level of Fame it occupies now in the global Zeitgeist it's oda's spectacular writing writing brimming with character history and meaning Zoro is clearly positioned here as the main Straw Hat pirate after Luffy he doesn't react childishly to Kuma's initial backhanded compliment like everyone else did he successfully Dodges attacks unlike many of the others and last the longest while the others are dispensed of much more easily but they all do eventually fall nevertheless Luffy is exposed now lying there without a soul standing between himself and certain death all he can do is unconsciously wait for his destiny the first and only meaningful strike landed on Kuma a strike that reveals animatronic enhancements came from Zoro his curiosity is peaked but there's only one thing on his mind once this happens protect Luffy no matter what even after taking all of that damage throughout Thriller bark taking on or's 1 V one for a while and then taking on Kuma 1 V one Zoro was still the only one to get straight back up after Kuma's big attack presented with an offer of taking all of the pain in place of Luffy who at this point simply couldn't take it told that he would be in essence offering up his own head in place of his captains and even when Sanji pushes him aside to offer up his head instead Zoro once again takes matters into his own hands there's an interesting conversation to be had here concerning zoro's motives to accept this in place of Sanji and I'm excited to discuss it in more detail in a later video but in essence it all boils down to motive Sanji want to do it because he saw less value in himself being alive than his allies Zoro stood up because he felt like he had to like he was the only one strong enough to In This Moment Zoro proves that when Luffy saved him all those hundreds of chapters ago in chapter 5 that every single moment he had after has been a gift one that's been given to him by Luffy Zoro thanks to Luffy is now free to pursue his own dream again but since that day his dream has become second to Luffy's he is indebted to him forever zoro's goal is to ensure that Luffy becomes the king of the Pirates what a wonderful chapter title the end of the dream it certainly was for [Music] Zoro I need in more ways than many might appreciate our grant consideration to Zoro is quite possibly and consistently the single most important asset to Luffy on his journey the quote we aren't children playing Pirates and the subsequent actions that reinforce the sentiment aren't coincidence or pieces of dialogue and action patched into the narrative to make him look cool these are real tangible consequences of the very first interaction Luffy and Zoro ever had together an ongoing development with the straw head Pirates has been that of their growing legitimacy on the world stage an evolution from inconsequential dreamers to Credible threats to the current world order in this story but it's important to remember that way before their growing fleet was ever in the picture before Luffy had even toppled his first warlord of the sea before they had encountered the horrors of this world and even ventured into the grand line itself before Luffy even possessed a crew it was the belief of one honest loyal and inred incredibly skilled swordsman that became the Catalyst that transformed a wannabe pirate with frankly unreasonable aspirations into the one and only captain of the now Infamous Straw Hat Pirates all because he believed in him Zoro granted Luffy legitimacy in that chapter he made him for the very first time a real Captain no longer a kid playing Pirate and Zoro will ensure that remains reality or die true trying there could never have been anyone else up for consideration as Luffy's one and only first [Music] mate thank you for watching everybody there will be more videos dissecting the other Straw Hat Pirates to come in the future if you want to make sure you see those videos make sure to subscribe and hit the Bell icon and if you want to be the first people to see these videos please consider supporting us on patreon it helps greatly once again thank you all so much for watching guys and we will see you in the next [Music] video

Channel: Totally Not Mark

Views: 400,659

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Id: LD0b5u-q9KU

Length: 20min 55sec (1255 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 10 2024