I gotta be honest, even though I absolutely love emotional storytelling, it actually takes
quite a bit to make me tear up when reading or watching something.
The fact that this scene made be ball my eyes out with a really weird mixture of feelings,
says a lot about impact that the Minks’ furiously loyal sacrifice on Zou had in the
story.
While I would personally say that post-time skip one piece, at least so far, has had significantly
fewer powerful and iconic moments than before the time skip, this one here easily can compete
with them.
Thus, I think it’s no wonder that we have to talk about chapter 816 and episode 767
in our the iconic scene analysis series - trademark.
So make yourself comfortable with some hot coffee, grab some tissues and let’s analyse
one of the two biggest plot twists in the story of One Piece so far.
Oh, yeah and if you haven’t done so already, make sure to subscribe to the channel.
It’s free and you get updates on any of my future videos.
After witnessing all the horrors that Jack, one of the commanders of Kaido, had dealt
to the Minks and their city in his search for Raizo - one of the main antagonists of
the Yonko - , Franky, Robin and Brook learn that Kinemon and Kanjuro have already landed
on the island and met with Momonosuke.
Since all the Minks have sworn under torture, pain and death that there is no samurai Raizo
hidden on their island, the straw hats fear that their arrival will trigger and enrage
the Minks, who apparently have suffered through all these atrocities for some samurai that
they don’t even know.
However the Wano samurai have already been noticed and both Inuarashi as well as Nekomamushi,
the two rulers of the Minks, that had been facing off with Jack, mobilise their troops
in search for them.
At the whale forest, the remaining straw hats together with a confused Luffy try to find
Kinemon and Kanjuro to keep them from encountering any Minks.
Finally all four parties approach each other.
When Nekomamushi and Inuarashi - that have hated and avoided each other for years - meet
each other, the tension between the two immediately rises.
The straw hats meanwhile manage to knock Kinemon and the others out of view before they can
get spotted, as they witness the two Mink leaders exchanging taunts, accompanied by
flashbacks of their torture by the beast pirates put up on crucifixes after Jack used one of
Caesar’s chemical weapons to render the Minks paralysed and unable to fight back.
In the heat of their argument, both Nekomamushi and Inuarashi draw their weapons, but before
they can start fighting seriously, Kinemon steps up and shouts at them to stop.
When the minks recognise the samurai, the straw hats expect the worse and try to convince
Kinemon to flee.
With Momo and Kanjuro by his side he proclaims himself as a samurai of Wano and on the look
for his comrade Raizo.
At the peak of the tension, suddenly, all of the Minks kneel down and reveal that Raizo
is safe.
To the shock of the crew, the Minks explain that the Kozuki and the Minks had a very old
and deep connection and that they would never sell out a friend, even if it meant death.
Told ya guys to get some tissues.
Damn.
Now, there are actually a number of reasons why this moment works so incredibly well.
On a basic level, the basic story beats of the scene are actually quite similar to the
first video in this series: Zoro taking on Luffy’s pain on Thriller bark.
The focus of moth scenes lies on a fierce display of loyalty in the face of pain and
possibly even death.
It is the ultimate display of honour and altruism, with no hopes or expectations of gaining anything
yourself, but a clear conscience.
Just as Zoro is willing to end his own life and dream for Luffy’s sake, the entire Mink
tribe is prepared to sacrifice their entire culture and race for one single samurai.
One could say that they’d be willing to give an arm and a leg for a friend.
Even though, this is quite ideological, it nonetheless works perfectly.
Because Oda has put in the necessary narrative ground-work and foreshadowing to make both
moments feel absolutely natural and organic for these characters.
Through this moment, Oda characterises the minks not only as a tribe of powerful fighters,
but also as a nation that never even thought about betraying their allies.
As we now know, there was no traitor amongst them.
All of them knew that Raizo was there and they even had to restrain him to keep him
from joining the fight and being caught.
For many chapters, Oda made us believe that he really wasn't there and we see them being
tortured, poisoned and suffering for days, for what seemed like no good reason at all
at the time.
Surely no-one would be willing to use a limb or even their life for some random samurai.
And even if they did, surely at least SOME of them would put their lives or the lives
of their loved ones first.
But no.
They all suffered through all of it gladly, which makes the minks not only the most loyal,
but also the most kind-hearted race in the story.
This of course becomes even more powerful in the context of Oden and his backstory with
his retainers.
His ability to inspire this level of commitment and determination in his retainers, as well
as the tragic backstory for all of them, give this moment even more power on a re-read than
it already had in the first place.
A truly inspirational scene.
Now the thing that amplifies this already powerful theme of loyalty and sacrifice even
more , and that differentiates it from the Zoro moment, is the major plot twist that
Oda pulls with the reveal of Raizo’s safety.
I personally think that throughout the first two thirds of the Zou arc, Oda does a wonderful
job of creating the impression that Raizo is really not here and that Jack is either
operating based on wrong information or simply enjoys tormenting the Minks.
Or maybe both.
The conviction with which the Minks lie and denounce the samurai in front of the beats
pirates is portrait quite convincingly I think.
And so the wow effect, that is wonderfully reflected in the straw hats reaction, really
increases the emotional impact of the twist significantly.
Seeing the likes of Zoro and Luffy, both of whom have pulled quite similar moves before
as well, genuinely shocked and moved by this, really drives this moment home for me.
In my opinion, this is actually the best plot twist in all of One Piece, beside maybe the
reveal of CP9 on Water 7.
That however had less of an emotional impact and more of a shock-reaction.
I personally feel like the anime did an exceptional
job with this scene, especially after the disaster of Dressrosa.
In the manga, the double-spread with the minks kneeling and Nekomamushi and Inuarashi showing
their relief at Kinemon's arrival really got me and reading the chapter packed quite a
punch.
But this is one of these moments, where music, dialog and the visuals have the potential
to amplify the scene even more.
And in this case, the animators did a great job of representing all this I think.
The original soundtrack made for this scene in particular is just great.
Even just hearing it outside of the scene gives me goosebumps and you can tell that
it was tailored to this scene, because it works just perfectly.
Combined with perfectly timed silences and the individual close ups of the straw hats
and the minks, it makes for a very emotional viewing experience that actually started a
positive trend in regards to the anime for me, that I had found quite disappointing during
previous arcs.
And going away from the emotional impact of the scene, Oda also integrates quite a bit
of world-building and characterisation into the Raizo reveal.
It gives us a much completer picture of Wano and it’s structures.
For the very first time we learn about Kozuki Oden, one of the most badass characters in
the entire story, that traveled together with both Whitebeard and Roger with whom he set
foot on the legendary island of Laugh tale.
We learn of his death and of Momo’s true identity as his heir and leader of the scabbards.
And when we finally meet Raizo, not only do we get to know the person who the Minks suffered
for, but we also learn about the existence of the road poneglyphs as the sign posts to
Laugh tale.
In general, the Raizo moment forms the centre of one of my favourite arcs.
Zou is quite short, but very powerful in terms of both storytelling AND world building.
Throughout the New World, from Fishman Island until Dressrosa, there was a bit of a lack
of focus on the straw hats as a crew and the arcs were quite lengthy.
With Zou, we get a ton of great straw hat moments and the set-up for the next arc, that
is focused around crew-internal struggles.
It’s short and straight to the point, but full to the brim with information and story
beats.
No matter how strong One Piece will undoubtedly get in the new World until we reach Laugh
tale, Raizo is safe will always stay one of the most iconic moments after the time skip.
And to keep the ball rolling, the next iconic moment I want to talk about is this one here.
In my opinion Corazon’s character and his sacrifice for Law are dramatically under-rated.
And so we’ll be looking at that in the next video.
Thanks guys.
Peace.