One Piece 1133 Review: I Want To Live

One Piece, Chapter 1133: Praise Me

This is going to be a bit different than my normal One Piece reviews, where I tend to break down more or less chronologically what happens in the chapter. Not this time. On paper, 'plot-wise', not a lot happened here. People meet other people, Robin gets reunited with Saul. That's it. 

But in a post-timeskip world where a lot of the emotional punches -- particularly to the Straw Hats -- have been very muted, I really appreciate that Oda is giving Nico Robin one full chapter just revolving around her. It really is a moment I saw coming, but the way it's executed -- with Oda very cleverly bringing in some aspects of Robin's history and backstory in the manga we've read years and years ago. History is, indeed, as the archaeologist would say, very important here in contextualizing what would otherwise just be two people meeting each other. Knowing what we know of Robin's character, of her regular unwillingness to be vulnerable, of her struggles, of everything that has happened in Enies' Lobby... those are what builds up and makes chapter 1133 actually a powerful chapter. 

And this also makes me excited to ese other payoffs, since Oda proves that he can deliver these emotional moments post-timeskip for the main characters. One of the worries I've had was always that while the chapters post-timeskip have been emotional, they've mostly been revolving around other non-Straw-Hats. Shirahoshi, Law, Momonosuke, Bonney and Kuma... all great stories, but ultimately in many of these arcs, a lot of the titular Straw Hats don't actually get much development (with the exception of Sanji in Whole Cake Island). This makes me super excited for the inevitable Usopp moment in the future!

Anyway, we start this off with some flashbacks of Robin's terrible childhood, but seen from the perspectives of other people. That asshole Spandine spreading misinformation, and the old 'kindly' couple who took Robin in and all that. Again, while the original version of this flashback focused a bit more on Robin's panic as she runs around, this one really hammers home how oppressively world-changing the misinformation was. How literally everyone hated Robin, the falsehoods that are spread around to justify hunting and murdering an 8-year-old "Devil Child"...

Leading to a surprisingly dark moment with Robin on the edge of a cliff, contemplating suicide. It's not surprising that this was something that would unfortunately befall her, especially with what she's been through, but it's also really sad to see drawn on page as well. Only the memories of Olvia and Saul get Robin to stop actually making the fatal plunge. "LIVE! ROBIN!"

Another very sad scene was Robin looking around in some books, and seeing a geography book, she discovers that Ohara has been expunged from all books. She doodles in Ohara with a pen, right before someone recognizes her and forces her to run. Everyone around her tells her to die, that she shouldn't live, and the only recourse in her life is to run. It's so hard for her to even live. 

Again, it's pretty heartwrenching and while we do know Robin is in a much better spot (after going through hell and back in Water Seven and Enies' Lobby... which, by the way, is the biggest 'fuck no' reason to the idea of Rob Lucci joining the Straw Hat Grand Fleet or whatever) but the flashbacks really does help to hammer home just how much Saul -- no, not even Saul, but the memory of Saul -- is important to Robin. 

Anyway, some other stuff I'll cover below happens in the present day. The Straw Hats meet the New Giant Pirates, and we get a lot of introductions and whatnot. But Robin tries to excuse herself to go and meet Saul. And... it's perhaps a bit of an understated scene, but the entire Straw Hat crew goes with her. I love that she's still in this "I won't trouble anyone" mentality but the Straw Hats are her goddamn family and Luffy in particular has a very nice line about how he has to greet someone who took care of one of his nakama properly.

He turned down a feast for that. Luffy's an airhead, but sometimes he remembers his priorities. 

They arrive at the Warrior Springs, and we get a fun moment where Luffy wants to just charge in and drag Saul to the party... but Nami literally wrestles him down to the ground. God bless these idiots. 

And, of course, we get the cliffhanger from a couple chapters back. Oh no! Mr. Saul has fallen down and he can't get up! The Straw Hats all yell at this as much as the fandom did, but of course it's nothing serious. Of course Oda isn't the type of guy who'd torpedo a moment like this just out of the sake of 'subverting expectations'.

But Robin knows what's up. She sees Saul collapsed on the beach, and she just walks up while laughing. In some perfectly paralleled panels with her original meeting with Saul, Robin walks up to the "fallen" giant on the beach. Saul screams at Robin in a mimicry of their first appearance, and turns out that Saul 'fell' because he's such a dork that he's trying to recreate their first meeting. 

And it's so dorky. We get a little comparison of little Robin's deadpan reaction back then and the grown woman that she is now.

And we get the reunion. It starts off pretty light-hearted as Saul apologizes for her little gag, before lifting Robin up and saying that she looks so much like Olvia. Did anyone ever tell Robin that? Everyone who knew Olvia would've been dead (or, in Saul's case, presumed dead) by the time Robin grew up. It's a nice, understated moment. 

They discuss a bit about Vegapunk's message and Ohara's legacy. We get a bit of a discussion of that, and a bit of a discussion on how Saul survived (the ice attack melted from the Buster Call flames, and through some means Saul made his way to Elbaf). Saul then makes a brief rant about how the world said so much awful things about Robin... but Robin just gives a downcast smile before beaming at him with an open grin, telling Saul not to focus on 'dark stuff' and ask Saul if he will praise her for being alive.

Again, this starts off a bit light-hearted and happy, with Saul hugging Robin (as much as a giant can), laughing and yelling about how Robin was a god damned survivor who stayed alive for 22 years, to survive to reunite with Saul. We get a brief flashback to a crying child Robin. "Why am I the only one who has to live?" "I want to die." Contrasted, of course, against Robin's immortal line at the climax of Enies' Lobby. 

This was a child who was crushed by the world. Driven to suicide, driven to think that no one in the world wanted her. Driven to think that the best way to solve a problem is to let herself die so the few people she cared about in the world would live. Driven off by every person she met, who sold her out. Driven only by the dead phantoms of the past, pursued by those who would want her dead for sins not of her own doing. Driven by the faint hope that maybe one day she'll meet someone who would be her family. 

And she found that family. After more than two decades of running, she found that family. That family said "fuck the world, come with us". And she finally decided that yes, it's okay, this one time, to be selfish enough to say something that everyone else takes for granted -- "I want to live". 

And Robin isn't normally an emotional character. She's a lot more subtle... which she displays throughout all of her meting with Saul earlier. All the slight smiles, the ufufufu giggling, the cute haircut a couple of chapters back... and after Saul yells out all of this, Robin starts ugly crying. This is one of the few times where Robin allows the emotional dam within herself to rupture and for her to acknowledge the gigantic mountain of hurt and suffering that's building up within her... something that she couldn't acknowledge before else it would crush her. 

She's crying. Saul's crying. Most of the Straw Hats are crying. Luffy's happy for them.

These emotional moments with the main core characters have been a bit more rare since I've started reading One Piece. But this was a great chapter. 

Until then, dereshishishishi to all of you. 

Random Notes:

• Yamato Cover Story: The antagonist is revealed to be... Holdem, a.k.a. "one-shot by Red Hawk" guy. Okay? I was expecting one of the Tobi-roppo or Jack or someone. This isn't the most excitement-inducing character, but I suppose the cover story is finally going somewhere.
• Some other non-Robin related stuff that happens in this chapter, because I'm glazing over it:
• We see a 'Svalr', which is a rowboat that can fly using island clouds on the tip of their oars. Lilith identifies it as a mixture of technologies.
• All the Straw Hats and New Giant Pirates reunite, and Rodo is crucified. God bless you, Gerd and Goldberg. I actually wouldn't mind it if Rodo actually gets seriously kicked out of the New Giant Pirates, and Hajrudin seems to be already halfway there with the gag of saying that his crew is four-man strong instead of five. 
• Gerd noting that something that made the Straw Hats super famous was that they took down Big Mom. Gerd also acknowledges that in the past, she and Big Mom used to be friends.
• Some nice world-building around the Owl Library and the Warrior Springs about how they are formed and stuff. Pretty great D&D-style stuff. 
• That said, while One Piece nails the emotional side of things, I do believe that in terms of logical cohesion there are a lot of holes in Saul's situation. While I guess the whole "Saul is faking his death" thing is a legitimate enough issue why the world thinks he's dead, but I'm really not sure why he hasn't tried to contact Robin and bring her to Elbaf in the intervening 22 years. At least send some young giants out to talk to her or something! But I guess Robin is just that good at hiding. 
• Really love the little moment where Nami complements Robin's hair and goes 'ah, of course you will do this'. Little moments like this. More of these little moments of the Straw Hats interacting, please and thank you. 
• Also, that "gotta greet someone who took care of (his) crewmates properly" is totally a Shanks thing, isn't it?
• Among the Straw Hats, Zoro and Jinbe join Luffy in not crying and just watching in silence .I do really like that Oda spends time trying to think what everyone's reactions would be in this situation -- even among those that are crying, the difference between Usopp and Franky's ugly crying to Sanji and Nami trying to cover their faces because they're the type to think of not ruining the moment is a nice character touch. 
• It really makes me wonder if Franky not getting anything in Egghead is because Oda is saving moments for each Straw Hat at some point in the future? A big character moment? Some of them would be obvious (Brook meeting Laboon; Zoro and Mihawk; Usopp at some point in Elbaf) but I do wonder how it would be for some of them. Is Nami going to meet Arlong? Is Franky going to have some huge moment with Pluton? What about Chopper, or Jinbe, or Sanji? 
• Robin's backstory with Saul was published almost 20 years ago. Not quite 22, but still!