Something I’ve noticed about One Piece is that Luffy’s and Nami’s relationship seems to have gotten a lot more focus recently. They've always been a very prominent duo. However, I’d say around the timeskip, Oda started emphasizing their friendship more and more to the point that it got really noticeable from Zou onwards. Going back to Amazon Lily for a bit, Nami was the Strawhat Luffy thought of after he got separated from his crew.
It was also around this time that Oda wrote the script for Strong World, which again focused mainly on Luffy’s and Nami’s relationship. The movie’s plot was about Luffy and the Strawhats saving her from Shiki and the big payoff at the end was when it was revealed that Nami never lost faith in the crew. And also while we’re on the topic of Oda’s involvement in movies, he also inserted the Tesoro/Stella parallel in Film Gold, so there’s that I guess
Of course, this isn't anything too unusual. It happens with all the Strawhats to some extent. But imo it really started to become a lot more notieable around Zou. For example, when the Dressrosa gang reunited with the other Strawhats in Zou, Nami was the one to run out and hug Luffy, and then she was the one to tell him what happened to Sanji. Fast forward to WCI, a pretty sizeable chunk of the arc was just Luffy and Nami exploring the woods. And later Nami was the only other Strawhat present when Sanji tried to leave the crew. It was Nami and Luffy who got captured by the Big Mom Pirates, and they were the ones who first reunited with Jimbei when he came in to save them.
And then in Wano, Nami had two big moments dedicated to showing off her loyalty to Luffy: first with Ulti and second with Kaido. The moment with Kaido in particular stands out to me because Nami wasn’t the only Strawhat on the main floor at the time. Chopper was there too and even though he hadn’t gotten a big moment about being loyal to Luffy that arc like Nami did, Nami was still the one that told Kaido off.
Another thing that I think is worth mentioning is that Oda set up Koala and Sabo as a parallel to Nami and Luffy. Koala being saved from slavery by Fishmen was a very clear and deliberate contrast to how the exact opposite happened in Nami’s backstory. Both of them received a tattoo by their oppressors that they later turned into a symbol of their freedom. And likewise, both Nami and Koala have pretty much identical dynamics with Luffy and Sabo respectively.
Anyway I’m not trying to promote any agenda with this post. Just noticed that Oda seems to really like their dynamic given how he’s written them these past couple arcs.
It was also around this time that Oda wrote the script for Strong World, which again focused mainly on Luffy’s and Nami’s relationship. The movie’s plot was about Luffy and the Strawhats saving her from Shiki and the big payoff at the end was when it was revealed that Nami never lost faith in the crew. And also while we’re on the topic of Oda’s involvement in movies, he also inserted the Tesoro/Stella parallel in Film Gold, so there’s that I guess
Of course, this isn't anything too unusual. It happens with all the Strawhats to some extent. But imo it really started to become a lot more notieable around Zou. For example, when the Dressrosa gang reunited with the other Strawhats in Zou, Nami was the one to run out and hug Luffy, and then she was the one to tell him what happened to Sanji. Fast forward to WCI, a pretty sizeable chunk of the arc was just Luffy and Nami exploring the woods. And later Nami was the only other Strawhat present when Sanji tried to leave the crew. It was Nami and Luffy who got captured by the Big Mom Pirates, and they were the ones who first reunited with Jimbei when he came in to save them.
And then in Wano, Nami had two big moments dedicated to showing off her loyalty to Luffy: first with Ulti and second with Kaido. The moment with Kaido in particular stands out to me because Nami wasn’t the only Strawhat on the main floor at the time. Chopper was there too and even though he hadn’t gotten a big moment about being loyal to Luffy that arc like Nami did, Nami was still the one that told Kaido off.
Another thing that I think is worth mentioning is that Oda set up Koala and Sabo as a parallel to Nami and Luffy. Koala being saved from slavery by Fishmen was a very clear and deliberate contrast to how the exact opposite happened in Nami’s backstory. Both of them received a tattoo by their oppressors that they later turned into a symbol of their freedom. And likewise, both Nami and Koala have pretty much identical dynamics with Luffy and Sabo respectively.
Anyway I’m not trying to promote any agenda with this post. Just noticed that Oda seems to really like their dynamic given how he’s written them these past couple arcs.
