The Importance of Nakama

 Spoiler Warnings for One Piece, up to the Wano arc.

One Piece is important to me. It has elements I question or wince at, but overall, I like it quite a lot. It’s not just that it’s a very good story (it is) or that it’s about pirates, or that it feels like the kind of thing a Game Master would write if lacking players to explore their homebrew world. What makes One Piece particularly important to me is the specific kind of bond the Strawhat Crew shares.

Let’s do a quick run down of who all the Strawhats are and their goals in life. Luffy, the captain. He’s going to be King of the Pirates. Zoro, the swordsman. He aims to be the greatest swordsman in the entire world. Nami, the navigator. She plans to chart a map of all the oceans. Usopp, the sniper. He aspires to become a brave warrior of the sea. Sanji, the cook. He dreams of finding the All Blue, a place where all the fish of the oceans intermingle. Chopper, the doctor. He intends to make a medicine that will cure all diseases. Robin, the archaeologist. She lives to uncover the true history of the world. Franky, the shipwright. Franky built the Thousand Sunny to circumnavigate the entire world. Brook, the musician. He journeys to reunite with Laboon and play him the Rumbar Pirates’ recording of Bink’s Sake. Jinbei, the helmsman. Jinbei yearns to achieve equality between fishmen and humans.

Each of these people has a drastically different dream. But each of their dreams are actually quite complementary. Through journeying along the Grand Line, each of them are actively working towards achieving their dreams, together. Just by engaging in the journey, Nami, Franky, and Brook are actively making progress on their goals - charting the oceans, ensuring the Sunny makes it all the way to its destination, and returning to Reverse Mountain. Zoro and Usopp face obstacles that force them to get stronger - becoming more skilled with the blade and growing more courageous with each challenge overcome. Chopper and Robin uncover new tools they can use in their pursuits: herbs and medicines on different islands, and new Ponegylphs. Sanji needs to search for the All Blue, and you can’t do that without travelling the seas. And finally, Luffy and Jinbei are both, at their core, fighting for freedom. Not just for themselves, but for others. Jinbei has been fighting against racial injustices for decades, and Luffy always seems to end up toppling corrupt systems of governance in his search to become the free-est person in the world. So, by travelling together, all ten of these people are actually progressing towards complementary dreams. And not only do they journey together, but they fight for one another.

If you lacked the context of the wider story of One Piece, would you suspect that these people would throw hands for each other at the drop of a hat? 

And yet:

This is a crew of very disparate people, with drastically different personalities. They bicker, they argue, they play pranks on one another, they simp, they roll their eyes at the others’ antics. But most importantly, when push comes to shove, they always, ALWAYS have each other’s backs. Without question or hesitation. No matter who’s standing in their way.

The love these people have for one another is profound. And it is made all the more profound, at least in my eyes, because it is strictly platonic. None of the Straw Hats will end up together in canon. (If you don’t believe me, here, here, and here.) They have a bond that is deep and powerful and platonic. They are a found family.

Found family is a trope that is near and dear to my heart, particularly as someone who identifies as aromantic and asexual. I have never experienced sexual attraction, and my bouts of crushes have been short-lived and sparse. Recently, I tried reading a romantasy book that came highly recommended. I found myself wondering if people really get so distracted by the way someone’s shirt rides up to reveal a little bit of skin in the ab region. Or how someone can be driven so wild with desire to smoosh lips together with another person. It just didn’t feel realistic to me - at least, not to my experiences with reality. But a found family? Now that’s relevant to my life. I see myself reflected in that concept of “ride or die” friendship. Of battle brothers. Of those bound together by shared trauma or shared dreams. That is the kind of relationship I understand, value, and desire. My desire isn’t for someone with whom I can interlock parts, or for someone who I place upon a pedestal to say “This person is more important than other people in my life (because society says we’re supposed to interlock parts).” I want a network of friends and family who all lean on one another. Who organize the group tickets to surprise one person with a massive outpouring of support at their play. Who meet up week after week to tell stories together. Who will be willing to drop everything if one person is struggling. Who will respond without judgement if someone reaches out just wanting to talk, because it’s been a difficult day. Who all work together to achieve their dreams and care for one another. I want bonds like those I see in One Piece. 

Because maybe the One Piece was the friendships we made along the way.

~~~~~

I’ll leave you with one final thought:

Nowadays, the Strawhat Crew are fighting entire corrupt systems of oppression and people viewed as gods in exchange for half of a ham sandwich and a kind word. But they didn’t start there. Before they could fight the World Government and liberate entire societies, they first had to free each other. Luffy had to destroy Nami’s desk in Arlong Park and defeat the Arlong Pirates so Nami could chase her dream - to draw the charts she wanted to draw, not the ones Arlong forced her to draw. The Strawhats shot down that flag and declared war on the World Government to announce their solidarity with and love for Robin so that she could envision a world in which she was allowed to want to live. The crew squared up in Thriller Bark to get Brook’s shadow back - because without his shadow, he was trapped and doomed to solitude, never to see Laboon again. Dreams cannot be truly and fully achieved if you are not free. And as Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, “nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” I believe that that's why Luffy always ends up fighting to liberate whatever island they've come across - because he can't fully and truly become the King of the Pirates if the World Government continues to oppress the peoples of the world.

So while we fight the real life versions of the World Government, and as they commit countless horrific atrocities both at home and abroad, remember to find your crew and care for them. That’s where freedom starts.