One Piece and 5 reunions that will make us cry before the series finale

Now it is time to look at the past, present and future of the Straw Hats and congratulate ourselves on being allowed to be an extra nakama. We’ve looked at the past with articles on how to revisit or watch One Piece in order. And now it’s time to look into the future and analyze, for example, which reunions we would like to see until the end of the story. The unfinished business. The flashbacks we haven’t seen. The promises that will be fulfilled. The character crossovers that will have us crying our eyes out and begging for our journey on the Thousand Suns to never end. Here we go.

5. Nico Robin and Vivi

I’m sure you didn’t see this one coming. It’s probably the closest, shortest, and most tense reunion on this list. Still, we look forward to Vivi meeting the new Robin so they can both sign the peace. It’s worth remembering that Robin was Crocodile’s right-hand man during the Arabasta arc, and the Shichibukai tore the country apart, even provoking a civil war. On his orders, Robin kidnapped Nefertari Cobra (Vivi’s father) and blew up Igaram’s ship at Whiskey Peak (the captain of the Royal Guard). In other words, she attacked the people Vivi loves most after Karoo. Can forgiveness really fix everything?

We have already seen some scenes of Vivi reading the news about the Straw Hats in the newspaper and hiding her confusion about Robin’s presence as one of the crew. She encouraged herself and said that Luffy must have a good reason. What would happen in a face to face? All rumors suggest that something has happened on the Levely that poses an imminent threat to Vivi and the Kingdom of Arabasta. Something we won’t know until the Straw Hats get out of Wano and catch up with what’s happening in the rest of the world. Should they have to come to the princess’s aid, there may be no better opportunity for Robin’s reunion and redemption.

4. Jinbe and Koala

It seems like only yesterday that we learned that Koala had been a member of the Pirates of the Sun (and thus traveled with Jinbe’s former crew). Sold into slavery to the Celestial Dragons as a baby, Sabo’s fellow Revolutionary Army officer was freed by Fisher Tiger after the raid on Mary Geoise. Koala ended up traveling on the Gyojin’s ship and soon won Tiger’s heart with her attitude and behavior. The Fish Man eventually gave her the Mark of the Sun to hide her slave mark and recognize her as a Nakama, and even personally arranged for her to return to her home village. The figure of the adventurer, martyr and legend at the same time, unites both characters, and we would like nothing more than to know more about their shared past.

Koala has already coincided with some Straw Hats in Dresrossa, and we have seen several panels of her childhood together with the Pirates of the Sun and characters like Arlong, who was part of the gang at the time. However, there is no information or images about her relationship with Jinbe. A mystery that we are eager to solve and that we will see sooner rather than later, as the paths of the Revolutionary Army and Luffy are destined to cross.

Will they recognize each other, will they embrace, will Jinbe once again let out that unexpectedly happy, folksy laugh that hides behind his tough, cantankerous exterior? Knowing that Koala was trained in gyojin karate, what if the two of them fought side by side in that style? Wouldn’t that be a spectacular reunion?

3. Usopp and his father, Yasopp

Of course, we’d love to see our favorite coward reunited with Kaya once he’s become a brave warrior of the sea (he’s an Elbaf away, you’ll see), but we’re even more eager to see him reunited with Yasopp, his father, who abandoned Usopp and his mother to become a pirate and sail with Shanks the redhead. Far from holding a grudge, Usopp has always been very proud of his ancestor, whose decision he admires and has much to do with his own desire to become a pirate. Both are the respective sharpshooters of their crews and are sure to challenge each other in some way and end up taking pride in each other’s marksmanship. Like father, like son.

We already had an emotional flashback of Yasopp talking about Usopp. “Family is not a bad idea. I haven’t seen my son for years, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love him. There’s just a pirate flag calling me. There shouldn’t be any parents as terrible as me.” If we’re getting misty-eyed now, what won’t happen when the two finally cross paths?

2. Luffy gives the straw hat back to Shanks.

The future king of the pirates has many reunions ahead of him. With Sabo, with Rayleigh, with Boa Hancock? We are looking forward to another voyage around the world, when he will have the dream he fought so hard for. There are three that we are particularly looking forward to: his reunion with Dragon, his father, from whom we have no idea what to expect; his reunion with Coby, now that he has attained the rank of Admiral; and best of all, the hypothetical reunion with Bon Clay, the honorary Nakama who has made us laugh and cry as often as he has demonstrated the power of friendship. As good as all of them are, the one that should be on this list is the one that will allow Luffy to fulfill the promise of his childhood. To return his treasure, his straw hat, to its rightful owner, Shanks, after becoming a great pirate.

Considering that our hearts stop every time we see Shanks looking at a Luffy poster, or that we gasp when we see the redhead asking Ace and Mihawk to tell him how he is, what will happen to us when they finally meet face to face? They came close at Marineford, but the time wasn’t right then. Now the time is closer. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the theories about Shanks changing sides don’t come true, and that there are more tears of happiness and mission accomplished in our eyes than tears of pain and disappointment. Sweet or salty, tears are guaranteed.

1. Brook and Laboon

Maybe you were expecting Luffy’s reunion with Shanks to end this article, but here is an even more tragic and touching story. A reunion that, if it happens, will mean that we have reached the end of One Piece. We refer to the reunion between Brook and Laboon, the whale who has been waiting for his return at the gates of the Red Line for more than fifty years. Both traveled with the Rumbar Pirates and became very good friends. The crew joked that the shape of Brook’s head was identical to Laboon’s, and Laboon spent the day talking to the whale, to whom he played his violin and dedicated all sorts of songs. When their paths parted and the Rumbar pirates asked Laboon to wait for them, the whale did so for years, unaware that his friends had died.

Were it not for the devil’s fruit, Yomi Yomi no Mi, Brook would have perished as well. Now that he is in his 90s, the thing that tortures him the most is to keep his word to Laboon and free her from waiting. Luffy only asked the Soul King to wait a little longer. When they finish their journey to Laught Tale, they will both return and be reunited with Laboon. A sunset, with Brook’s Binks Sake in the background and Laboon’s singing as the perfect backdrop for Eiichiro Oda’s work.