#ch456

[opbackgrounds]

This idea is so, so important to the series in general, and Brook in particular. There are times in One Piece where people die for noble causes, and others where people act knowing that there's a good chance that they could die, but knowingly choosing death over life is never portrayed in a positive light.

As someone who views One Piece through the lens of Romantic literature, this is really important because historically the Romantics, er, well, romanticized suicide and death and the historic last stand. It's doubly interesting to me as a Japanese story, with Japan having its own long, complicated history with the concept of honorable death.

One Piece directly challenges both of these ideas, with life and living being romanticized instead, even if that means you have to get on your knees and beg for it like Brook does with Ryuma later on.

And it's a tightrope that story has to balance. Nami willingly lived under to boot of the man who killed her mother for years, but there came a time when enough was enough, and both she and the village had to stand up and fight for her freedom. She carried that lesson to her fight with Enel, even though she was hopelessly outmatched and would have been reduced to a greasy smear if Luffy hadn't shown up to save her. Within the context of the story both instances were portrayed positively, with Oda indicating through his writing that she had made the correct decision.

But that's not what's happening here. This is Luffy being willing to run away at Sabaody because he knew the Pacificas were too strong. This is Usopp lambasting the samurai at Wano for rushing toward their deaths rather than living to fight another day.

It's Brook knowing he made a promise to a friend, and doing everything in his power to keep it, even if it meant looking like a sniveling coward groveling at the feet of his own shadow.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #themes threads and throughlines #romanticism #brook #I love him so much #character analysis

[everychojuro]

#NYOOM #chojuro #ch456 #five kage summit arc #mangacap #naruto #mei terumi #ao #everychojuro

[princess-of-purple-prose]

Okay fine I really really like sai

#on naruto ch456 (great number!) and fine. you got me. i adore him #kay talks #naruto

[gradelstuff]

It legitimately hurts me every time they call the half-dragon a bastard. I just want this dude to have a happy ending fffffffff

#blogging #ch456 #it feels like only the kids like him #and that's only sometimes.... #uuuuu I DONT WANT HIM TO DIEEE #will he ever get a name btw atsgsh

[chowleen]

#CH456

[naruto1to700]

Chapter 456

#naruto #naruto1to700 #tetsu no kuni #land of iron #ch456

[opbackgrounds]

A couple things here,

I like how big the panel of Brook is, and the angle used that makes him look even bigger. He's giving essential information with authority, and the art emphasizes that fact

The use of salt is thematically appropriate in a couple of different ways. As Franky insinuates, in the real world salt has traditionally been used to ward off evil, and that fits the vibes of Thriller Bark perfectly. Oda incorporates that real world mythology into the series by finding a way to introduce it into the logic One Piece without feeling like too much of an asspull. It'd be interesting to see if this weakness extended to other similar Devil Fruit abilities, but even if it's not expanded upon it feels right and appropriate for this arc

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #that's how you comic #powers and abilities #Encyclopedia Oda strikes again!

[opbackgrounds]

Brook's too hard on himself. While he didn't accomplish his personal goal, five years ago he had all of Thriller Bark scared shitless, figured out the zombie's weaknesses, and gave a lot of people their shadows back. He went back knowing he was going against a Warlord, and that takes balls of steel, even though, technically, he no longer has any.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #brook #it sounds dirty to call it a bone joke but if the boot fits it fits

[opbackgrounds]

I've bragged a lot about the character designs this arc, but come on. This is just too awesome

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #Character Design #great googly moogly #that's impressive

[opbackgrounds]

Brook remembering being beaten by his own zombie makes me sad. It's amazing how expressive Oda is able to be with a character who no longer has a face.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #thanks Oda I didn't need my heart anyway

[opbackgrounds]

Of all the things Ryuma stole from Brook, the one that upsets me the most is how they drink tea the same way

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #ryuma #brook #the devil's in the details #he's a zombie he doesn't even need to drink! #it's the understated horror of seeing your rituals and idiosyncracies on a person that is not *you*

[opbackgrounds]

I'll keep harping on this point, but look at Moriah's crew being able to interact and communicate effectively like a good, healthy crew. This is a surprisingly rare thing for enemy pirate crews in the series.

Also, Perona would have been about eighteen during Brook's first infiltration. That's not terribly young by One Piece pirate standards, especially since an SBS revealed that Moriah raised her since she was little, but she's been actively participating as a part of his crew for a long time.

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #perona #the power of (villainous) friendship

[opbackgrounds]

Shout out to this random vulture waking up Brook and being the true MVP of this arc

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #miss friday is that you? #devil's in the details

[opbackgrounds]

I don't have any evidence to back it up, but Oars feels like an important part of the One Piece mythos. This is just a lot of backstory if he was going to be just some zombie, while at the same time being vague enough to not outright say in big flashing letters pay attention, this will be important later

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #oars #hello foreshadowing my old friend #maybe #theories and headcanons #I mean come on oars has more backstory than moriah

[opbackgrounds]

Hogback's hairstyle from five years ago is ridiculous, I wonder if he picked it up in Wano

After I went out of my way to compliment how the Thriller Bark crew is great at communicating and working together, it turns out Hogback was too much of a coward to fess up to being the one who told Brook the zombie's weakness

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch458 #dr hogback #a fashion icon #ch456 #there's always one in every group

[opbackgrounds]

Chopper, now is not the time to forget how to properly hide!

#opbackgrounds #one piece #ch456 #chopper #I lol'd #how does dr hogback not see him?