@Charagon:
There is no single word in the English language that properly substitutes Nakama in every context it's used. That's why K-F decided not to translate it. Not because it's 'magical'. Not because it 'trancends English'. But because Japanese is a different language and not everything has 1:1 counterparts.
They decided that rather than translate Nakama into a one of a dozen different words depending on context, destroying the consistency of its useage, they'd just leave it as is. Using nakama bridges the connection between Luffy's speach at Arlong Park, to Vivi's tearful good-bye, to the Davy Back Fight, to Usopp's leaving, to Saul's advice to Robin. From a narrative standpoint that's a perfectly valid reason to not translate it.
Uuuuugh…
That's the PROBLEM!
It gives the false impression that every time this word is used, it has the same Weight.
When Kaizoku says "It means Much More than that" and then proceeds to use Nakama WHENEVER the word is uttered, even when some throwaway character is using it, or It's being used in the Davy Back Fight, where you can literally Force someone to be your "Nakama" and Nobody on the Straw Hats Goes "I May be in your Crew, but I'll NEVER be your Nakama!" You have a problem.
No, it has no 1:1 Conversion, but it's PRETTY DAMN CLOSE.
Crew/Crewmates works in almost every single situation. The only time it definitively doesn't is Robin's Saul scene, and MAYBE the Arlong Park scene, but properly Worded, it could work there too. "NAMI! YOu'RE IN MY CREW NOW!!"
In the Saul scene, it works perfectly to just use "Friends" as a Plural. People who say that Nakama needs to be used to preserve the "Meaning" don't seem to understand that these scenes are powerful because of the circumstances around them. The Nami scene is powerful because a Tyranical dictator who killed this girls Adoptive mother and forced to practically be a Map-making Slave has just been taken down, and the one person who has believed in Nami all this time is declaring definitively that She's in HIS Crew (Or She's "ONE OF US", or She'll always be his Friend, depending on which version you see)
It's not the Word. any of the synonyms I've mentioned before will work well here. (Crew, "One of Us", Friend if done right) as long as the REST of the circumstances are presented right. You don't need that word there as long as Nami has traveled with Luffy all this time, then breaks down crying and asks Luffy to Help her.
The Vivi scene was powerful because she was traveling with them all that time, and they asked her to Join the crew, so she tearfully tells them that she can't, because she needs to stay in the country, but asks them if they ever meet again, will they still consider her a part of their crew.
Usopp leaving the crew was exactly that. "I'm Leaving the Crew" is how that scene should be translated, not "We're No longer Nakama". Usopp had been traveling with them for 200+ Episodes, and then he And Luffy have that BITTER argument where Luffy almost says "You should Just Leave". So Usopp does, he Leaves the Crew, the Straw Hats even CRY Over this. The reason all these scenes are so powerful are the circumstances around them, not the word AT ALL!
The major argument is that "Nakama doesn't have a 1:1 Conversion, so it needs to be left untranslated" but that's actually the reason it NEEDS to be translated. The thing is, if it doesn't have a 1:1 Conversion (even though it's really close, there's literally only a handful of scenes it doesn't.) then you need to translated it differently based on the context. Leaving it untranslated ALL THE TIME implies that every time the word is used it has the same meaning and weight. It doesn't. Sometimes it's referring to Just an offhanded remark about another pirate's Crewmates, Sometimes Luffy is referring to his Friends (In which case "Friends" works) and in some Case, Saul is telling Robin she won't always be alone, and she will eventually find Friends. to ALWAYS use "Nakama" after telling people that Nakama means "Much More" than "Crewmates or Companions" is implying that WHENEVER it's used it has that weight. And if you're gonna only use it sometimes (As K-F is doing NOW), then you are no longer sticking to a 1:1 conversion anyway, so what's the problem with just swapping the word out for a stronger ENGLISH word?