- Family is not just by blood. Family is those that care for you and recognize you as family no matter what.
- Money is not what makes a good household. It's love.
- "Don't let anyone beat you!... no matter what happens, don't ever hate the world you were born under! It's alright if people don't praise or compliment you! Don't ever lose the strength to smile no matter when... Because if you continue to live on, you'll surely come across fun times as well...!"
- Your friends will always help you! No matter how scummy you behaved!
- Don't endure the pain in hopes of a better future. Fight! Fight for your dreams! Fight from your hell! Never resign! Always fight! ( )

As someone who's rating these a few years after reading them, having a volume titled "Tears" sends a clear message. I remember the scene and vaguely the lines that went with the images. It's one of the most emotional moments in the series. It solidifies the utmost level of trust between Nami and Luffy, and the way the rest of the crew, without words directed to them, know what comes next and the utmost level of steadfastness that they give to the collective cause. It's the best part of all of my favorite manga and anime. The funny part is that when Luffy does fight the entire town rallies and watches as he makes dumb mistakes that his team has to rescue him from and fight several opponents at once...Yup, that's normal One Piece boss battles. Somehow Oda takes that framework and applies it uniquely to each major battle. ( )

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Title: Tears
Series: One Piece #9
Arc: East Blue Part 9
Author: Eiichiro Oda
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Manga
Pages: 207
Words: 8K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_One_Piece_chapters_(1_186)

"Proper Living"

"Monsters of the Grand Line"

"Business"

"Of Maps and Fish-Men"

"Sleep"

"The First Step Toward a Dream"

"Belle-Mère"

"To Live"

"A Thief is a Thief"

"Tears"

To save the life of the villager Genzo, Usopp angers Arlong by shooting at him. Zoro (freed by Nami and told to run away while he still can) defeats Arlong's low-ranking crews at Arlong Park and meets gullible octopus fish-man Hatchan, who brings him to Nami's hometown. Usopp is captured and brought to Arlong Park, where Nami is accused of hiring Zoro to kill Arlong. To increase the crew's mistrust and save Usopp's life, she apparently kills him and kicks his body into the sea. Luffy and Sanji arrive; although they want to help, Nami turns them away. In a flashback, Arlong's crew arrives and extorts protection money from the island's inhabitants. Nami and Nojiko's foster mother, Bellemere, who cannot pay for all three of them, gives up her life to save her daughters. Nami joins Arlong's crew as their cartographer, and they agree on a price for which she can buy her village back. In the present Arlong breaks the agreement, and Nami accepts Luffy's help.

My Thoughts:

This had ALL THE FEELZ, just as the manga-ka intended. A huge part of the book is Nami's backstory and the revelations about her past, her interactions with her adopted mom and adopted sister, how the village was everything to her but most of all, how she became the completely self-reliant woman we have seen so far. It was pretty good stuff but it setup the scene perfectly for when she asks for Luffy's help. Below is that one page scene.

I think part of why it is so moving to me is that it reveals someone beyond the end of their rope. Nami has been betrayed by Arlong the pirate in a way she never saw coming and realizes she's in perpetual slavery to him and her plan to buy the village is an impossible hope. So she's lost all hope but she realizes there IS somebody who can help her. And she reaches out to ask for that help, revealing all her own weaknesses and inability to deal with the situation. It is a moment of complete vulnerability. That type of thing always gets me.

On the flipside of the emotional coin is Arlong the fishman pirate. Ohhhh, he's bad. He's the kind of badguy you just want to see turned into clam chowder. He's the kind of badguy who is so tough that you EXPECT him to be a badguy and he fulfills those expectations 100%. He goes on about the superiority of the fishman race and how humans only deserve to be enslaved, etc. It's really uncomfortable stuff. So the book ending with Luffy getting ready to do battle with him is splendiferous!

★★★★★ ( )

A dynamic of one sacrificing for many, while the many then sacrifice for the one. ( )

Mange forsøger at redde byen Kokos fra Arlong. Genzo forsøger at tækkes Arlong. Usopp forsøger at bluffe. Nami puger penge sammen for at kunne købe byen.
Okta og Zorro mødes. Broder Yosaku, Ruffy og Sanji møder søkoen Muhko, et uhyre fra Grand Line og får den til at hjælpe dem til Arlongs ø. Arlong opdager at det var Lorenor Zorro, de havde taget til fange og at det har kostet mange af hans mænd livet. Nami lader som om hun slår Usopp ihjel. Imens kommer Ruffy og de andre i land. Marinen nærmer sig også under ledelse af kontreadmiral Buddingeknæ. Johnny fortæller Ruffy om drabet på Usopp og Ruffy lægger sig til at sove. Buddingeknæ besejres med lethed af Arlongs kaptajner Kiss, Sorte Bælte og Okta. Usopp kommer tilbage og kaptajn Rotte fra marinen dukker også op igen. Nojiko møder Ruffy og de andre og fortæller Namis historie. Bellemere, Nami og Nojikos plejemor, dyrkede appelsiner og havde ikke mange penge. Nami tegnede søkort. En dag kommer Arlong og hans bande og vil have 100000 dubloner af hver voksen og det halve pr barn for ikke at slå dem ihjel. Bellemere dør og Genzo lægger sig imellem, da Arlong vil bortføre Nami og Nojiko. Derfor er Genzo så arret.
Nami sluttede sig til Arlongs bande for at tjene 100 millioner dubloner og købe byen fri.
Nu dukker kaptajn Rotte imidlertid op og vil konfiskere de tæt ved 100 millioner dubloner som Nami har sparet op. Det sker naturligvis på ordre fra Arlong.
Til sidst beder Nami Ruffy om hjælp og selvfølgelig vil han hjælpe.

Godt tænkt og skrevet mangategneserie ( )