BON VOYAGE!

THE STRAWHATS! I love their dynamic and ineractions so much! They're amazing, interesting and unique main characters who all feel real.

I think I'll go through each character and say what I love about them, and my favorite dynamics with them!

LUFFY

LUFFY. I don't even know what to say about Luffy. HE'S SUCH A GOOD MAIN CHARACTER. His goal isn't to save people, to be good or anything, and instead it's a purely selfish goal of becoming the next Pirate King. It's a really nice change of the usual shounen main character. I really enjoy getting to see him grow and get stronger, but also mature as a person and learn from others.

ZORO

ZORO!!! he's just like a samurai... Zoro is EPIC. His character progession from 'If Luffy gets in the way of my dream, he'll die' to 'I'm going to sacrifice my dream for his' is SO AHHHHH. And how in Water 7, it feels like he really stepped up to be the first mate when Usopp and Luffy fought... Before that I don't think I ever thought of him as the first mate. He never really took control when Luffy couldn't. But now, he's for sure an excellent first mate to Luffy.

I find it strange how people often joke about him being stupid, though. He clearly isn't, and the moments when he isn't observant, to me it's clear he isn't because he doesn't need to be. He has the rest of the crew to do that for him, like Robin or Nami. The one's who roles are to be observant and smart.

I love his getting lost gag. (sorry not sorry actually.) I love when he gets to be goofy (in Syrup Village when he tells the kids that they ate Usopp) and competitive with the others (like on Little Garden where he and Sanji argue over who's catch is the biggest.) His dynamic with Sanji is just good bruh. The whole thing of the two of them being the wings of Luffy... I like that they can fight and argue but when they need to work together to achieve something, they do. Like in Loguetown when Luffy is about to be executed.

I think about Kuina all the time. *crying emoji*

NAMI

Nami IS SO COOL! I love her A LOT!!! I'm disapointed that over time it feels like she's been simplified but I Simply Do Not See. I love that she generally gets to be strong and fight without being less feminine. Her backstory in Arlong Park was the first scene to make me cry over One Piece and IT WAS JUST SOOO GOOD!! It's sad that for those 8 years she thought she was betraying her village, and that they all hated her but they really knew she was raising money to free them from Arlong, and were thankful.

My favorite dynamics with her is Usopp. They're just like buddies who hang out and gossip fr fr. Also when Vivi was travelling with the crew, I really enjoyed their moments!! I enjoyed when she used to be able to goof off and act silly pre-timeskip. Also really enjoyed that during Saboady, it focused a little on Nami not being scared/not hating every Fishman.

LOOK AT THIS CONCEPT ART OF HER. LOOK!!

USOPP

Usopp might be my favorite Strawhat! (that's pretty hard to decide...) He's the most 'normal' of them all. I LOVE his Water 7 character arc SO MUCH. His whole thing of wanting to be a brave warrior of the sea, but already being one?? He's SO BRAVE!! He acts cowardly, but when he NEEDS to do the scary thing, he does!! He's just a cool guy who would actually be really cool to hang out with, I think. I wanna be just like him fr fr!!

Usopp feels like the center of the crew to me, like he brings together all the others into being a strong crew. So my favorite dynamic is pretty much everyone with him! But particularly his dynamic with Sanji in Water 7 is extra extra good now that WCI happened and gave the viewer more context to Sanji's backstory. Also all of his interactions with Nami. They're such good buddies I love them.

SANJI

I really liked Sanji when he was introduced in the East Blue, something that I had forgotten until I recently started rewatching the show. I liked that his thing was he was overly romantic, and not sexual. I'm very upset that it still ended up sexual. Ignoring that, he is still a very good character than has tons of potential! I love how understanding he is of Usopp in Water 7, while also understanding Zoro's stance. (And how he stops Luffy from saying more things he would regret)

All the instances of him thinking he is expendable throughout the whole show always kept me wondering about his character. When we got the reason for it all in WCI, I was stoked but also SO SO SAD FOR HIM. It had a big impact on how I see him as a character, and just made me happy to get new info that refreshed my outlook on him...!

Like I said above, one of my favorite interactions of his is with Usopp in Water 7, "I'll do what you can't, and you'll do what I can't." but another is him and Zoro against Kuma during Thriller Bark. Where Zoro is going to risk his life and his dream to save Luffy and Sanji tries to instead do it himself. It was a big moment that continued to build on Sanji's self insecurity and his doubt of how important he and his dream are to the crew. *crying emoji* anyway oda treat his character with more respect pls...

Something else I had forgotten, but now that I'm rewatching, I go to see again and remembered, is Sanji, Usopp and Luffy being the goofy trio at first?? WHAT HAPPENED to goofy Sanji?? In the 2nd closing, 'Run! Run! Run!' shows the three of them fighting over the last bite of food, and then at the end they are the three who jump up and get excited!!! I understand why a lot of characters got a little more serious, less goofy, because everything was lower stakes and definitely not as intense, but it's still something I miss.

(I tend to think of Sanji as my least favorite Strawhat, but that' clearly NOT TRUE.)

CHOPPER

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ROBIN

Robin's introduction right after Whisky Peak is SO ICONIC. It happens and you just go 'what... huh...'

FRANKY

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BROOK

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JINBEI

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BONUS STRAWHAT(S)

VIVI

Vivi... OH HOW I MISS VIVI... The fact she was only 16 during Alabasta... SHE IS SO STRONG!!! Her growth and maturity through her whole arc *EXTREME CRYING FACE*

YAMATO

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