One Piece’s Dramatic Crying Is Drawn That Way for a Reason | CBR – CBR – Comic Book Resources

From Zoro's promise to Luffy to Robin's "I want to live!" during Enies Lobby, One Piece never shies away from crying.

When people discuss the art of One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda, two topics tend to get focus: his detailed backgrounds and his unique character designs. One aspect of his artistic ability, however, often gets overlooked, and that's his ability to bring out the best character expressions, especially in how a character cries.

Any longtime fan ofOne Piececould tell you the series is littered with scenes of characters sobbing their hearts out at their lowest moments. From Zoro's promise to Luffy after his defeat by Mihawk to Robin's "I want to live!" during Enies Lobby, One Piece never shies away from the act of crying.

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From a Western perspective, the constant crying in One Piece might seem unusual for an action comic aimed at young boys ages 10-18. We're raised to see crying as displaying weakness; boys are taught it's only for girls and get shamed for crying. The truth is crying is a healthy way to reduce stress, so media aimed at a younger audience should never put down a person for crying. This is why it's so poetic that Oda never holds back when he has his characters cry.

When a character cries in One Piece, they're never an object of ridicule or the butt of the joke. In fact, the scenes in One Piece of characters crying are often the most poignant and well regarded across the manga's history. These are scenes of the character expressing either extreme release of emotional distress or cathartic relief and Oda knows how to use both to its absolute strengths.

One such scene is Zoro's vow to Luffy after his defeat by the world's greatest swordsman, Dracula Mihawk. Zoro feels regret about this loss. At that moment, Zoro lifts up his sword to salute his captain with tears rolling down the side of his face as he promises never to lose again. Zoro is the tough guy of the Straw Hats, rarely the type to lose his cool, but he's still human, and the fact that Oda lets his characters have their moments of weakness helps us empathize with them. Sometimes crying can also be cathartic, and there's no better example of this then the very end of the Drum Island Arc.

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One Piece's Dramatic Crying Is Drawn That Way for a Reason | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero