I first want to talk about the burger, or maybe just a sandwich, that Luffy eats. Throughout the beginning of the episode, he repeatedly complains of hunger, even when his physical well-being is in danger, and finally satiates this hunger with some sort of sandwich that looked like a delicious hamburger to my western eyes. I love burgers, including some novel ones I enjoyed while living in Asia, and I think the concept of any sandwich is a very culturally significant entree. Not only does it hit different food groups, and thus macro/micro nutrient profiles, but it is a food that can be easily packaged, eaten while moving or without proper furniture or dishware, a symbol of the working class, and it appears to me that they broke into the home of a stranger to eat this meal. I think this makes a strong statement about the type of people in this island village we find ourselves watching.
Later in the episode, when Buggy uses a buggy-ball to level a city block, I think it is especially emotionally impactful because those are homes & businesses belonging to regular working class people. These are decidedly not rival pirate crews or Marine outposts or something cold & neutral, which I think contributes to the emotional state of Nami after witnessing such a horror. She has certainly seen death & murder before, but seeing this pirate destroy a mass of ordinary people is even more horrifying.
We continue to see Nami use her clever manipulations to lie & steal to get her way, such as setting up Luffy as her boss to distract the pirates chasing her, but we also see Luffy display some cold selfishness when he openly insults Nami (a thief is a thief) until he realizes she has a map to the Grand Line and then tries to recruit her to his crew. As a pirate with morality, he is not impressed by her stealing from anyone, but even as a bold thief, she considers herself morally superior to any pirate. This truly shines a light on a crucial element of the human condition in which we often justify our own actions while judging others more harshly for the same choices. I don’t think this particular quality makes a person bad or evil, and I think it absolutely has socially-culturally-mentally advantageous benefits for the individual, but it is certainly a concept deserving of reflection & discussion due to its prevalence & impact in society on macro/micro scales.
Although they see each other as very different from each other, and in a rather condescending manner for both of them, we, the audience, can easily tell how many similarities they share, even beyond just trying to use each other to achieve their own goals. Both Luffy & Nami are very self-confident in their own ability to complete their goals, and they both set very ambitious goals to be confident about completing. Even more, they both have very strict personal moral codes that they are unwilling to compromise on, regardless of context or the actions of others. While the two practice stoicism using vastly different methods, the parallels between both of their survival skills providing them with invaluable, and oft intangible, benefits in a difficult world full of interactions with difficult people cannot be ignored.
Zoro’s reputation now has the opposite effect as in the previous episode: Buggy specifically wants to kill the pirate hunter to boost his own reputation as being a pirate killer killer. Buggy is very much a more competent nemesis than some previous antagonists, and is shown as pretty clearly evil by his choice to stab Zoro in the back while he is distracted rather than engage in anything resembling a fair fight, even ignoring the advantage of the devil fruit. I personally detest this type of evil clown trope, but I understand the entertainment & proverbial value the choice brings to the show. I believe we will see a lot more Buggy in the future and I look forward to hopefully witnessing his character develop more nuance.
During the climactic battle, we are shown that Luffy & Zoro have already developed a trusting affinity for each other and the ability to quickly & subtly communicate. While Zoro is bleeding out profusely, Luffy still knows he still has strength left in him, and with nothing but a glance, is able to communicate a plan to Zoro, which seems to work quite well. All in all, it seems a crew is coming together, slowly but surely, and while Luffy doesn’t have much of a plan, his optimism and willingness to go with the flow and try hard is a lesson we can all use more of.