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@$;3316042']The scenario of Barto Club requesting Luffy to take Barto like Franky Family did is entirely plausible.
Thats true but for me it would feel like a major rehash of Franky's scenario. I think Barto, since he's so unique, really needs a special and unique circumstance to be able to join the crew properly.
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@$;3315853']And currently the Straw hats are lacking a ship to get out of Dressrosa. Maybe Barto can provide them transportation and in the meantime be fleshed out as a full fledged. nakama. Also his staircase would provide Usopp the perfect high ground required to snipe enemies.
I can definitely see Barto lending them his ship, and then getting more characterization in the meantime. Barto is easily the best thing to come out of Dressrosa, but one thing that's really bothering me about him right now is the Barto Club. He's got a crew of his own, although we've only seen one member I'm guessing there are probably more since he used to be a mafia leader. His current crew is probably made up of his underlings from back when he was a mobster.
With Jinbe, lastly, his crew don't actually want to be pirates anymore I don't think. He's only part of the Sun Pirates under Big Mom to protect them, if there was some way they could live in FI in peace I'm sure they'd stop being pirates. That's what he's going to resolve, and then join the SH's.
With Bellamy, he used to have a crew but now he's obviously on his own. Being on his own like that plus his new developments with Luffy (and ESPECIALLY when you take into consideration their shared history) makes me really, really want Bellamy for the crew. It'll never happen of course, but man I gotta say Bartolomeo's existence and Bellamy's incredible change is really making Dressrosa for me.
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@$;3315638']Archeologist says hi. Also Musician. Also Jinbe. And Barriers are most effective during naval battles with Big Shots. Hell even the recent cover emphasizes the safety of ships.
Yeah I know. Which is why I put Sanji Chopper and Franky in parenthesis. I was trying to point out the absurdity of Bartolomeo joining due to "protecting their ship" when compared to other straw hats who joined out of necessity. The Straw Hats that didn't join due to necessity joined because of circumstances. Zoro was the first one, Oda had to start somewhere. Usopp already had a connection with Luffy due to their shared history with the Red Hairs/Yasopp. Robin came out of nowhere but fit herself into the crew, and Brook was the musician Luffy always wanted. Nami is a mix of both, joining the crew out of circumstances but at the same time they desperately needed a navigator.
So my point is, Bartolomeo won't join the crew cause they need to fill a position. Since that's the case, He would have to join out of circumstances, but that won't happen. At least not in this arc. He hasn't gotten any time to properly build a relationship with Luffy, the poor guy can't even look him in the face without bursting into tears. I'm all for Barto joining, I would love that. But he has to shed his mentality first, and actually become on equal footing with them, and I just don't see that happening this arc.
I don't see how Barto's fanboying could be kept fresh, and honestly I don't like the idea of a cabin boy-like role on the ship. The Straw Hats are a bunch of friends and a personal slave for Robin and Nami seems out of place.
Totally agree with this. Sanji being a slave for Robin and Nami is different, but Barto works because he's given to us in small doses. Having him full time would wear out its welcome. Quickly.
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@$;3315630']His role is not Cabin boy rather it is the ship's Guard, a role which is very much needed since the Straw hats mostly tend to leave some people back to protect the Sunny. This role is even emphasized by Sentoumaru and Robo-Kuma during the Straw hats' training. Barto could encase the ship in a barrier which will mostly protect the ship and in the mean time the crew can complete their business on land and come back.
that's a pretty lame reason to have a whole new crewmember, just to encase their ship in a barrier
I mean other straw hats (sanji, chopper, franky) joined out of absolute and immediate necessity, but yeah let's just have somebody join to put our ship in a barrier. It's just weak.
A real shame so far.
Give it time. People hated the whole Usopp/Sugar thing until Oda had Usopp take down Sugar properly, in the most badass way possible.
There's clearly more to Doffy's backstory than what we've seen so far.
While it is true that Doffy had the "best of both worlds" I think he had to build that back up to be able to reap noble benefits while still being a pirate. At the same time, despite being in that great position, he can still have a very real sting of being denied his birthright, because those are intense feelings he had as a child. Even though he's in a great position now, with everything he wants, that initial sting his dad put him through can still be very real. So for me it makes perfect sense for him to feel this way, to me Doffy seems like a real self made man, the kind of guy who had to build himself back up from greatness from basically nothing. That's what made him so appealing to me, and this falls in line with that.
The way I see it, Doffy definitely went through a number of stages growing up, he didn't start out always wanting to be a pirate or with his current personality, at least from what I figure.
So he grows up pampered as a noble, but since his father's a down to earth guy I think he had a childhood that was separate from the kind of life lived by Saint Charloss and etc, but still very affluent. I'm sure Doffy's father wouldn't go so far as to put on a mask to prevent his family from breathing the same air as the commoners, for instance. I'm sure they just enjoyed the privileges of being a noble like having slaves and a huge house. This makes sense too since Kid Doffy would focus on the actual perks of nobility which is why it would sting so bad for him when those were taken away. We can disconnect his birthright with the other nobles since he didn't exactly live like they did, he just lived as well as they did.
Then his dad makes all 4 of them trade everything away to live in basically squalor, in order to live like normal humans. His mom dies from shitty conditions, he gets pissed with what he's done to them, his mom, and not having what they had before. So he kills him, goes back to Marijoa expecting a warm welcome, but they still don't let him back in.
This is the point I think Doffy's character becomes what we know of him as today. That picture you posted above of him being happy and smoking, I think that represents a point in time after Doffy killed his father and learned that he was unable to go back to Marijoa. Doffy's hopes of returning to the life he loved (as a child, mind you, so his understanding of that life is already kind of biased and skewed) are dashed. So he "snaps", and realizes he's going to destroy everything those nobles stand for.
That's when he decides (probably with his brother) to go and become a great pirate, and from then on everything he does as he's pleased and is happy with everything. This backstory is a little jarring for Doffy based on the understanding that readers have built about his character, but at the same time it also gives more depth to his character. No one can be born like Doffy already happy and pleased with everything, having no regrets (except maybe Luffy). In this way we see what it took for Doffy to become the man we know him as today.
Doffy had always been pushed around, following the whims of others. Even though the intentions were good, he was pushed by his dad out of the life he loved and lost his mom. Then he tried to back, but the other nobles wouldn't accept him. So that's when he realizes he has to start doing what he wants instead of what others want for him and becomes a pirate and the it goes from there.
Honestly Oda leaving out NSCB is the smartest thing he could have done for this arc. This arc is cramped enough as it is, there's very little for them to even do this arc. It also allows us to have more focus on ZURF than we would have otherwise. ESPECIALLY Franky and Usopp. Leaving NSCB out gives this arc more room to breathe and sets up for the next one, just like what he did in Baratie but on a bigger scale.
In my opinion it's only a good thing that Oda's changing up his established pattern, I'm all for having all 9 Straw Hats every arc, but I don't think it's always necessary. I also don't find Law's thing forced at all. It was weird seeing him on PH at first, but the story quickly became focused on him and his beef with Doflamingo. Ever since he made the plan with Luffy to take Doffy down, Law's taken center stage which makes sense given the events that are unfolding. Law had a connection to Doffy even as far back as Marineford when we saw his Jolly Roger on his submarine. It was the same smiley Roger that's normally associated with Doffy, so there was bound to be some kind of connection there.
Amazon Lily exists basically to introduce Haki and that Luffy has conqueror's Haki. After that, it just leads right into Impel Down with him learning about Ace's predicament and then sneaking in there with Hancock's help. There's also the slave thing which was relevant at the time since we just came from Saboady, and comes into play later as well in Fishman Island.
It's not the best arc in the world, but it's far from pointless.
Doffy had Ceaser manipulate Paramecia DFs into logia types. Explains why Trebol, Baby5, Pika, and Doffy's abilities act like Logia types but aren't elements/force of natures.
Doffy said Law would have become the third Corazon.
He was going to turn Law into another String Clone!!!!
A bit of a shiver went down my spine when Oda showed us that panel again when Bellamy talks about "the big waves that are about to engulf us all"
That moment was so big for me when it happened, I think around Chapter 710 or something. It was just so foreboding for him to talk about that, like something huge we don't know yet is about to happen. Even though Bellamy isobsessed with Doffy, I got the vibe that him wanting to be on Doffy's ship so badly wasn't just because he idolized him, but partly because he's so afraid of those "giant waves" and getting on Doffy's boat will help him escape them.
Oda's clearly building up to something with Bellamy's obsession, but I'm hoping the payoff will be more than just Bellamy realizing Doffy's a douche and he doesn't have to fawn over him so much. Maybe something like him realizing he has to take his life and future into his own hands, instead of single mindedly pursuing Doffy. That would tie into the future event he seems to be alluding to, and I'm glad Oda put that panel again, since it reiterates that.
