LuNa analysis: post-timeskip highlights

After so long without finding something else to analyze, a shallow shipper gave us the idea for this post and its soon-to-follow Fairy Tail counterpart.

When going through the analyses of LuNa as a potent relationship, some may point out most of the highlights come from pre-timeskip works. Is it because there’s no post-timekip material?

Of course there is more material. However, One Piece is a plot-driven story with loads and loads of characters as well as several mysteries that slowly unfold. As such, the characters and their bonds don’t always take central stage unless it is for something relevant to the plot, and after the timeskip we got a lot more to unpackage.

But, that doesn’t mean LuNa doesn’t have moments post-timeskip…

There are small interactions and details that aren’t great enough to warrant a complete analysis, but there are also moments great enough to stand out. One of my favorite moments from Fishman Island was Luffy getting his neck around Nami…

…after that, they bicker about venturing into dangerous places or not. But, not even once Nami expressed discomfort for the way Luffy wrapped himself around her. And we’ve seen a contrast, multiple times, in how she responds when someone else tries to perv on her. They end up eating lightning…

…or feeling the might of her fist

As if Nami becomes superhuman just to yeet some people away lol

It all shows how Nami trusts Luffy a lot more than other people. And take into consideration, this contrast only works in the context of the manga, without factoring anime filler that may contradict the original source, which happens quite often.

Aside from other small interactions, we got some odd moments I rarely mention in Punk Hazard, mainly because they happen after Law pulls a Freaky Friday on half of the crew, and Nami ended up in Franky’s body.

While she trusted Zoro could stop Sanji from, let’s just say, crossing some lines with her body, the one person she trusted to save her from the Yeti Cool Brothers was her captain…

…Nami believed in Luffy to the point she could see the brothers’ defeat as an undeniable fact.

Next, we get a simple yet complex moment, by the time her mind was changed to Sanji’s body. While this scene displays some aspects of the chemistry between these characters, it also shows something interesting…

…by the time Luffy and Law make an alliance that could take Luffy several steps closer to his goal, Nami raised an objection to the plan while presenting an alternative so they can save the Punk Hazard children. Law initially dismissed the idea, and implied she had to stay behind to save the kids on her own. However, Luffy declares he’ll fully support Nami’s proposal instead of following Law’s original idea.

Another reader once explained that this scene is relevant to their dynamic because it shows Luffy drawing a line between his pal, and his companion, as in Nami’s take on this matter holds more weight than Law’s idea.

At the end of the arc we just have another small interaction that doesn’t give us much except for their dynamic involving playing around…

Some people like to joke or tease around using this moment, we could say that it shows how comfortable is Nami with her captain. 

The following arc is Dressrosa, and here you notice the lack of moments partly because the crew splits into two groups. One of the scenes we could get was something similar to the scene from Punk Hazard with Law…

…Nami relaying the plan to split off into two teams so they can keep Ceasar and Momonosuke away from Doflamingo, and Luffy fully supporting her idea. It’s a moment that’s rarely mentioned because it’s more of an intellectual thing; Nami was once deemed by other japanese sources as the “captain” behind the “captain,” the “brain” to the Luffy’s “brawn,” and the way she fulfills such a role here lends credibility to those claims.

However, with Dressrosa being the 2nd longest Post-timeskip arc, the shift in focus to other characters to develop the story, and Nami’s team absence during most of it, we don’t have many moments until we finally get their reunion in Zou, in which Nami tears up after glomping Luffy:

Nami has hugged other characters, by the time of writing this post, she recently welcomed Jinbei as part of a group hug.

But, what makes this one is interesting is the context, which makes it even more consistent with Luffy and Nami’s dynamic, and because several shallow shippers tend to misunderstand the moment and overhype other premises instead, but I digress. But, you only get how deep this moment is to LuNa when you factor previous manga showings. Let’s start by breaking it down:

We find Nami sleeping on Yoma’s (the sheep mink) belly. As soon as Chopper tells her Luffy and the rest finally arrived she’s overjoyed. When they meet, her first reaction is running right into her captain’s arms…

She could’ve ran to Usopp, Robin, or maybe Zoro. But, she went straight to Luffy. But, oddly enough that’s not what makes this moment stand out. She starts happy and ecstatic at Luffy’s return, but it’s only when she’s in his arms that we see a change…

…she breaks down. When we factor pre-timeskip showings we get to see why this is such a good moment between Luffy and Nami: as soon as he was there, she poured her heart out because Luffy is the one who’s been her emotional anchor so far. The person that helps her to regulate and stabilize her emotions while offering hope and comfort.

The next chapter, Nami is no longer crying, she’s shown far calmer and more collected after their reunion.

We now move to the WCI arc, while skipping multiple filler additions, and arrive to another hightlight: Luffy/Nami Vs. Cracker. During this battle we get a bold proclamation from Nami that surprised even Luffy himself…

…what makes this moment great, even before factoring the next chapters, is what we found in pre-timeskip showings. It proves how the characterization and plot of Oda’s works is so intertwined, that leaving out the first half of the story doesn’t let you fully appreciate the weight and actual impact of several scenes.

Fortunately, this scene is not just a call-back or a nice display of character progression. It sets up what comes next. The important thing to take away from this is that for Nami, the prospect of Luffy fulfilling his dream and becoming the Pirate King is a guarantee of success. Even when facing an Emperor’s underling, her faith in Luffy makes her certain of their victory.

This leads us to one of the most memorable moments from the arc: Luffy Vs. Sanji

I made an analysis on this one, but to avoid repeating myself here’s a summary of what happened: Sanji bad-mouthed Luffy and his dream of becoming Pirate King while brutalizing his captain, who decided not to fight back. It got so bad that Nami went as far as to claim they’ll leave just to stop Sanji from attacking Luffy.

While many people, newcomers, and youtubers may focus in this scene after Luffy falls in the ground…

…the story pays attention to two interesting details. First, the famous slap. Contrary to what many shippers believe, Nami didn’t do that out a inch in her panties, and yes! I know I’m borrowing an argument

The context lets us know why she decided to do this. When they were fighting Cracker, Nami’s confidence on their victory was intrinsically tied to Luffy and his dream. Her faith and hope in Luffy gave her courage.

Sanji, in his effort to drive away his crewmates from the island, attacked both Luffy and his dream. And what was the best way Nami found to retaliate? Delievering a physical and verbal blow while mimicking Sanji’s “royal” act

Here, I’ll borrow another argument: instead of following Sanji to save him from the situation that made him kick an already weakened and wounded Luffy over and over again, or begging him to allow her to stay with him and help. She chose to walk away to go to Luffy’s side…

…betraying fans’ expectations, she even questioned Luffy’s refusal to let Sanji go on the basis of how he mistreated her captain. Which Nami took more personal than Luffy did

And we’re still not done!

The manga keeps delievered in this regard, and kept betraying shippers’ expectations. For example, shortly after Luffy declared he won’t give up on Sanji, Big Mom sent an army against Luffy. At first, Nami begged Luffy to hide, but when he decided to take on the incoming forces, Nami, instead of running away…

…choose to fight overwhelming odds alongside her captain and the only hommie they had left.

If we skip other minor stuff as well as several filler additions, we can talk about an interesting moment when Luffy brings Katakuri with him to the mirror world, and destroy the way back to the Sunny. He tells Nami to destroy all mirrors to prevent the enemy from using them to get to the ship, even though that would leave no way for Luffy to return to the ship

Even if it’s a display of leadership on Luffy’s part, it also gives the reader a chance to see how hard is for Nami to follow Luffy’s command due to her concern for him…

…despite being worried about Luffy, Nami ultimately follows his orders and, through her own determination, reinforces Luffy’s authority as captain when the others question her actions.

This dynamic empowers both characters: Luffy proves to be a great leader, while Nami shows how capable she is as an acting commander, which is consistent with Oda’s description of her character’s natural queenlyness.

Now, Wano doesn’t have many moments due to the way it splits the crew again, the plot-driven story focusing on the country itself, and Wano’s connection to major players as well as many things that are way too spoilerish to share here. Point is Wano doesn’t have much LuNa. But, after skipping non-canon additions once again, we get something interesting in the chapter 995

For the context, once again I’ll borrow something from someone who’s been analyzing One Piece on a more regular basis…

After Ulti does a number on her, she gives Nami an ultimatum. The japanese dialogue suggest that Ulti wants to force Nami to state that there’s no way Luffy will become the Pirate King. If Nami doesn’t do as she’s told, she’ll get killed.

But, even when facing certain death, Nami reaffirms Luffy will be the Pirate King in the japanese version, and she ends her response with 絶対に (Zettai ni), a term that means that what Nami spoke was, from her own perspective, an absolute fact.

To fully comprehend this moment, we would have to make a reference to the pre-timeskip set up again, but for the purpose of this analysis that’s out of the question. 

While she had previously stated Luffy is the future Pirate King before, she never did it in such a dire situation. She had no way out, and only if she disavows Luffy’s dream she’ll get to survive… but, even when facing certain death, she’s incapable of renouncing her faith in Luffy, the truth she believes in

The conclusion may sound like a broken record, but it’s a good reminder nonetheless: these moments are not something explicitly romantic. But, they’re the signs of a potent relationship capable of growing within the framework of the series, without filler or any Toei-exclusive material.

And their moments are not only pre-timeskip stuff. There’s a lot of moments and interactions to cover in the span of hundreds of chapters, so much in fact that I found myself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material…

I couldn’t include all of it. So, what you have here are just highlights, but the author’s works offer even more, all without deameaning the characters involved nor taking over the plot.

BONUS

Some of you may heard of One Piece Film: Gold. But, few fans are aware of Oda’s contribution to the movie. According to an interview with the director and the writer, Oda remade the climax of the film, which ended up improving the flow and the pacing as well as including a parallel between the tragedy the villain’s past self and his lover…

…and Luffy and Nami. It’s interesting that Oda’s storyboard had Luffy and Nami’s situation mirroring that of a romantic relationship (confirmed in Volume 777). It’s a nice little detail that’s still technically both post-timeskip and the work of the author himself.