fannish wailing & gnashing of teeth

[xparrot]

Not the One Piece dub which aired this morning. I actually missed seeing it, to my dismay...what can I say, I enjoy pain. I'm a sub-snob, I openly confess, I do not like dubs period, but a 4Kids production...it sounds beautifully agonizing. I will say I'm the one person on the planet who doesn't mind the Zolo thing (although hearing them actually say it may change my mind) because that change at least makes sense, in the context of not getting sued. But why take the effort to edit all text saying 'Marines' to 'Navy'? And for the love of little fishes, why change the music!? I don't mean just the new rap opening (which I have heard. Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. They couldn't have done worse if they tried.) But the background music? American kids won't get to hear the "Luffy's coming & he's gonna kick your ass!" theme?? That's just tragic!

But that's not why I'm here. Instead I'm looking forward, to the future. To the manga. To all the reasons why...

USOPP IS NOT LEAVING.

Other than the obvious, that it will break my heart if he does. If Usopp leaves in this way, for good, then that damages the whole spirit of the show. His dream is unrealized; he's nowhere near becoming the great warrior he longs to be - or meeting his father again, which may not be a stated goal but is always implied. And since Yasopp is with Shanks, and Luffy is bound to meet Shanks sometime, staying with Luffy is Usopp's best bet. For Usopp's dreams to fail so absolutely ruins one of One Piece's crucial themes.

Story-wise it doesn't make sense to get rid of Usopp. He's got the most potential for development; you don't casually toss aside a character with so many oppportunities for change and growth. And it's been happening; we've slowly been watching Usopp become stronger, learn more skills and actually do the things he used to only talk about. I almost wonder if much of the purpose of Skypiea was to give him the dials, because they certainly seem very useful tools.

And they do need Usopp, for all his various skills. Even if they do get a shipwright at Water 7 (which seems likely; every time Luffy decides they are going to get x for a crewmate, they indeed get x), Usopp still has his inventing - and his art. Can Luffy really use his Strawhat Jolly Roger, without Usopp? Usopp designed it, after all. They left the flag behind...

Then there's the shounen logic reason, which might be most convincing of all. Most of the pirate crews we've seen have a sharpshooter - Shanks has Yasopp, Blackbeard has Van Ogre (or whatever his name is meant to be). Usopp is, we've seen, one of the best sharpshooters out there, will possibly be the best, someday. And the Pirate King needs the best. I'm wondering if one of the points of this arc is to make Usopp realize his place on the ship - not as carpenter, which he often said he wasn't, but now is so determined to be for the Merry's sake. But if they lose the Merry, he won't have that reason anymore. So maybe he'll assume his true role as sharpshooter/ammunitions man (if they get a new ship, perhaps it will have more cannons? With all the Marines coming after them these days, they'd come in handy...) Usopp in the past has been matched with the gunners and explosion experts - Chuu, Mr.5, Mr.4 - and there's bound to be more to come (the Galley-la Co. has a gunman...) The crew will need those skills more and more, the worse crews they go up against.

Besides, for Usopp to leave is against One Piece's other main theme of friendship. The conflict isn't - part of friendship is fighting. But just as important is forgiving, and coming to an understanding. Nami says it outright, that them fighting like this makes everything that happened before seem like a lie. Luffy hasn't been the same since; he hasn't smiled once, and have we ever seen him brood like that before, the way he was on the rooftop? Luffy bounces back from most things pretty quickly, but to let a nakama go like this - I can't see him just letting it pass. They're going to get Usopp back, sooner or later, somehow.

I'm mostly convinced that all this angst is because Oda-sensei loves traumatizing us readers (to say nothing of his characters), and also because he wants to make us appreciate Usopp. It's working, Odachi...bring him ba~~ck!

On a related tangent, because I like torturing characters too, even if I have not a tenth of Oda-sensei's skills - newest chapter of my newest OP fic is up here.

And in completely different news...so Ed's gonna survive after all?

Comments

[sarashina-nikki.livejournal.com]

::clings:: Oh please I hope you're right. Don't leave Usopp!!

::sniff:: Usopp has always been my favorite character. I will be heartbroken if he leaves for good.

[bluepard.livejournal.com]

It has certainly brought the Usopp fans out of the woodwork, hasn't it? We're scary noisy most of the time, but now more than ever.

Anyway, you nailed it on the head. I can't see Usopp leaving. I can see him dying (since I already think he's a great sea warrior) but not leaving. Usopp's probably realizing now that he can't go out for ship-fixing supplies AND guard the ship at the same time. Without anyone else to help him, the GM is just an anchor holding him down.

But I really want to know where this is all going. This is some good crack, man.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes. And helped produce them - I've loved Usopp for a while, but the threat of losing him makes me appreciate him all the more.

And yes, I can sort of see him dying in proving himself a warrior, probably saving his nakama...except that Oda-sensei has yet to kill anyone in the present, so I sort of doubt he's gonna start now. And Usopp hasn't done quite enough yet, he's still got so much farther he can go...

Want to know where this whole story arc is heading! Why can't SJ come out twice a week! or more! C'mon, Oda-sensei, do you really need to eat or sleep?

[bluepard.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know it's not likely he'll die--but I can see him dying and proving himself a brave warrior at the same time, so I consider him the most likely to die if anyone did.

Heh, but after this arc it might not be so interesting. I didn't like Skypedia but this one's pretty damn good. =D

[inu-neko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the arc has turned me into a blubbering Usopp fan. Why wasn't I one before..? Well I didn't dislike him or anything, I liked the entire crew before the arc. Except Luffy was and still is my favorite, everyone else is second place! My lurve for teh Usopp is just more pronounced now. ^_^
I agree that Usopp isn't going to leave, it would turn the series into ... Naruto. o_O You know, with all the pointless angsting and people doing really stupid things and making me pull my hair out non-stop. ^_^;

Oda is setting everything up so that maybe the GM and Usopp will make a comeback: 1.) The aqua laguna thing is coming, so the city will be flooded and devil fruit users cannot swim. 2.) The crew has no ship. 3.) The Galley-la and entire city hate them now, so they are going to try killing them all off. Maybe they'll try drowning them...
In other words, they are stuck on an island full of people that want to kill them, with no means of escape. Gaah!! O_O

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes, this arc really makes us appreciate him! I don't have a favorite, I really don't, but do love Luffy so much...Usopp can't go! Look at Luffy now! He's not smiling, he's not having fun - we haven't even seen him eat since the fight! This can't go on...we need you back, Usopp!

Am dying to know where it's going, yes...the aqua laguna, and the city out to get them...will Usopp come in and save the day? Will Zoro go team up with Usopp? (what the hey is going on with Zoro, anyway? Boy has been acting decidedly odd...) Argh, OP is so unpredictable, I can't guess where this arc is going at all - but man I wanna see it!!

[ex-naye320.livejournal.com]

Ah. I just really want to see Usopp save the day now. I mean, with the Galley-la out hunting all the crew... Oh, but I won't try and predict Oda-sensei. Doesn't work, and it makes my head hurt. ^^;;

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

every time Luffy decides they are going to get x for a crewmate, they indeed get x
Not entirely true-- Luffy wanted a musician at the beginning, but they haven't gotten one yet. ;P

Otherwise, I completely agree. They can't get rid of Usopp. It just isn't allowed, darnit. >.<

Love your 'blessed are the meek' icon, btw.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Luffy wanted a musician at the beginning

Absolutely right - the exception that proves the rule! I'm convinced the final tenth nakama is going to be the musician. Either that or they're all gonna discover their musical talents...

and thanks for the icon luv ^_^

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

Any reason you say the final *tenth* nakama? Not sure I'd heard that there was a specific number Oda-sensei was going for...

they're all gonna discover their musical talents
Lol, reminds me of a picture I saw somewhere with them all in a band... from one of the artbooks, maybe? Or I might just be making that up...

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

2nd to last page of the very first chapter - Luffy says he's going to collect nakama - "Juu-nin wa hoshii na~!!" - "I want 10!" Might just be a throw-away line, but I'm suspicious of anything Oda-sensei writes. ^^

And yep, there's a fantastic Oda-pic of them all playing to an audience of rainbow-striped seamonsters. Zoro on drums, Sanji on the trombone, iffen I recall...

[alessandriana.livejournal.com]

Wow. I haven't read the first chapter in so long, I'd completely forgotten about that. >.< But yeah, Oda-sensei does *not* do throw-away lines. Hmm. So, if one's going to be a carpenter, and the other's going to be a musician, there's still one space left-- any ideas? *puzzles*

Mmk, I knew I remembered seeing Zoro on drums somewhere... it's not in the artbook I have, though. *shrug*

[banal-o-rama.livejournal.com]

Hey, they're making that awesome POP Usopp figure--he can't be gone forever XD.

Personally, I think the Aqua Laguna might be the last straw for the Merry--if the hull's cracked and broken, it probably won't be able to survive being docked when a tsunami hits, and Usopp doesn't know what the report means, if he even heard it. And given all that's going on right now, the sympathetic members of the crew (like Chopper) probably won't be able to get back to him and warn him, or even think of doing so.

Incidentally, I really LOVED how Usopp took Luffy down. He was so...coldly methodical. (And he used the caltrops!) I didn't think I'd ever see such a furious Usopp--Luffy neither. Damn Oda, this is getting really good again.

[julka.livejournal.com]

It was interesting. For a while, Usopp was actually doing quite well against Luffy. He made the fight on his terms, and for a moment, it looked like he might have a chance against his captain.

All of that made me wonder. If Usopp was able to do damage to a powerhouse like Luffy, why wasn't he able to fight back against the Frankies? My guess is it's a self-confidence issue; Usopp has always thought of himself as weaker than his nakama. It isn't until he gets something to really and truly fight for (ie: the Going Merry) that he actually started thinking about how he was going to fight. The same sort of thing happened in the Arlong arc, if you remember back that far.

I agree, I don't think Usopp is going to leave. Rather, I think this arc is going to be a major growth point in his character. He'll stop hiding behind the idea of "I'm weaker than the other Mugiwara Kaizoku", and he'll find his place in the crew.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I actually don't think it was a self-confidence issue with the Frankys. To begin with, Usopp was fighting a big group of them, when he was already injured from them jumping him before (any of the crew can be surprise-attacked, so I don't think that was especially weak of him). And he was fighting the Frankys cold - he had hours to prepare for the fight with Luffy, to plan those traps and such. Not to mention, as he tells Luffy, he knows Luffy very well, his strengths and weaknesses (tho' for all he derides Luffy for giving mercy to an enemy - Usopp did NOT take advantage of Luffy's number one weakness. They were fighting with water everywhere; it wouldn't have been that difficult to blast our rubber hammer into the sea. Usopp didn't. I wonder if it even crossed his mind...)

Also, let's not forget, Usopp was facing Franky himself. Luffy wasn't faring that well against Franky in a one-on-one fight, before the Galley-la turned up. And Usopp was fighting Franky and all his family.

I definitely agree that this arc is a major turning point for Usopp's character, and I do think he'll rejoin the crew stronger than before - I just hope it doesn't take too long; I miss our sharpshooter!

[banal-o-rama.livejournal.com]

Well, I think this fight proved that he's finally a proud, brave warrior of the seas :D. I think the fight with Luffy was different because we finally got to see Usopp fueled by something other than fear; I think this is the first fight he's had where his goal is to Win (as opposed to Not Get Killed, which is his usual motive, at least as I see it). And once your goal is to Win, there's not much that can get in your way--it's almost as though a little Zoro has rubbed off on our poor little chicken here.

And, of course, he was taking on a crew single-handedly that required the four of his badder-assed crewmates to destroy. Though taking on the hundred-belli man isn't too bright either...

[banal-o-rama.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, and I doubt that tossing Luffy into the water crossed his mind--he wanted to defeat Luffy, not kill him. Besides, then he'd lose the rest of his friends, especially Sanji (since it's most likely Sanji would have to go in after Luffy, as this appears to be his primary duty after cooking XD). He wouldn't do something that would ruin his relationship with his other nakama, I don't think.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I was so torn. On the one hand, fighting between nakama, so tragic, so painful. On the other - DAMN what a cool fight! Want to see Usopp go that ferocious on someone who deserves it, so I can cheer him whole-heartedly...