Summary
- Luffy and Usopp have a strong, goofy friendship that pushes them emotionally.
- Robin and Franky share a mature bond and bring out the best in each other.
- Usopp and Nami have an underrated, cowardly friendship with emotional moments.
When it comes to the Straw Hat Crew in One Piece, oftentimes the group feels like more than just a rag-tag group of pirates. Oftentimes, through their goofy shenanigans, casual conversation, and genuine care for one another, the Straw Hat Pirates feel like a family. Due to this, one of the highlights of the series has always been the interactions between this group of close-knit friends. Whether it’s one of the funniest or heart-wrenching moments of the show, the relationships between the Straw Hat Crew are generally the driving force behind it.
However, when it comes to the dynamics of the Straw Hat Pirates, some of the characters are closer than others. While every character in the Straw Hats is friendly with one another, for one reason or another, some characters just happen to get along better than they do with the other members of the crew. Due to this, sometimes it’s easy to see which members of the One Piece Straw Hat Pirates are closer friends than the others.
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What Makes A Strong Friendship In One Piece?
An Element Of The Series That Is Hard To Quantify
Although it’s impossible to directly measure how close a friendship is in One Piece since Oda has never specifically written a chart describing which Straw Hats are closer friends and which ones are not, these friendships will be quantified by a few different elements: how much time the duo spends together, how well they get along, and how much they can emotionally affect the other. Based on these three elements, despite not being a perfect indicator of friendship, this is a fairly strong start.
Friendship is not determined by how much time you spent together! – Bon Clay
For example, although characters like Sanji and Nami spend a lot of time together, albeit often initiated by Sanji, since they don’t get along too well, and don’t push each other to new emotional places, it’s hard to call them the closest friends of the Straw Hat Crew. Additionally, it’s easy to see that their personalities, at the end of the day, aren’t nearly as compatible as other members of the crew. While they are undoubtedly as close as family, being the closest friends is an entirely different concept.
Usopp And Luffy Have A Great Friendship
They’re Goofy Nature Compliments One Another
- Usopp And Luffy Are The Funniest Duo In The Series
- They Have A Great Respect For One Another As Well
Firstly, and arguably the closest friends in the entire Straw Hat Crew are Luffy and Usopp. With both sitting at the same age and possessing the same goofy sense of humor, Luffy and Usopp seem to spend an impressive amount of time together. Whether it be fishing or playing in the snow, One Piece’s Luffy and Usopp seem to have a genuine bond that goes beyond just enjoying each other’s company. In fact, Usopp tends to be someone to push Luffy emotionally, being one of the few members of the Straw Hat Crew that can truly motivate his captain to push past his limits, as the audience saw in Water 7.
Robin And Franky Have A More Mature Relationship
Many Fans Even Ship The Duo
Next, although they aren’t given nearly as many interactions as some of the other Straw Hat duos, Franky and Robin seem to share a fairly close relationship with the crew. Being the original two adults of the Straw Hat Pirates, Robin and Franky both seem to share each other’s company as geniuses in their respective fields and as intelligent adults in general. Plus, the two bring out the best of each other, with Franky bringing out a goofier side of Robin, though occasionally being shut down harshly, and Robin bringing out a more mature and intelligent side of Franky.
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Usopp And Nami Are An Underrated Pair Of Friends
They Share Many Scenes Together And Relate To Each Other
Finally, although Usopp and Luffy are fairly close, it is undeniable that Usopp and Nami also share a close friendship. Being both members of the Weakling Trio, Usopp and Nami seem to have developed a close and cowardly bond, from their time constantly hiding with one another. Outside the frequent nervous jokes they make with one another, the duo have had some emotional moments and candid talks about making up for their weaknesses, especially on Alabasta and Wano, which makes their friendship even better.
Oh, you’re right! We’re fihgting God, remember? – Nami to Usopp
In the end, while each member of the Straw Hat Crew is close friends with one another, these are the closest friendships that the pirate group has to offer. Although the post-time era of One Piece has had fewer moments exploring the day-to-day behavior of the Straw Hats, oftentimes, these friendships that were developed early on in the series are still felt years later. Still, it will be nice to see some more goofy and fun interactions between these duos in the future of the story.
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)
