Luffy and Nami meet for the first time | One Piece Episode 1

[_.farastuff]

i mean, dont get me wrong.. I watch a bunch of romance anime that have that "sparkle - sparkle gaze" moment..but this one is legendary.. Lmao

[GinFreecs]

LuNa first meeting with eye to eye contact. XD

[Pompom]

What I love the most of this scene is that it’s a romantic scene disguised as a comical one. The music is trying to point into another direction, conveying a sense of adventure/action, but the combo of cinematic diffusion with the increasing of the lightning plus the close up shots (the meeting of their eyes is framed 3 times, each time more closer!) and the water drops scattered all over the frame is telling us that this is the beginning of something romantic. The crew of the anime could have chosen another way to show this first meeting, without diffusion, without enhancing the light, with Nami being shown soaked and shouting to Luffy for the first time… Instead, they crafted and incredibly original, subtle romantic first encounter. This kind of scenes are typical in anime, used to depict romance in any way (character A falling in love with character B at first sight, two characters sharing a romantic moment, etc.). One piece is supposed to be a shounen manga so romance is not a central theme (but it’s present and it’s important for many secondary characters/pairings), so I guess they had to think how to show-not-tell that these two are not also main characters (Zoro is, too, but he doesn’t appear in this bit), but also a potential endgame pair. Also, at 00:04, after Nami is shown looking up to see what’s going on, we can spot one of the hearts of Alvida’s ship. There are only two hearts per side if I can recall correctly, so it wasn’t necessary to show them… but one heart is shown here while Luffy’s boat is descending.

I understand that not everyone likes romance/shipping for different reasons (being aroace, wanting to enjoy a wholesome manga without the romance part, shipping toxicity of certain fans…) but I think that at this point, even if some material doesn’t appear in the manga or isn’t considered canon, there are enough proof that Luffy and Nami could end together. Their dreams kind of converge (he loves sailing and going on adventure and she wants to draw a map of the entire world) and it’s crystal clear to me that if the mugiwara disbanded in the future, Nami is the one most likely to stay by Luffy’s side. This, plus their deep bond (I think they share the deepest bond among the mugiwara), all their shared moments and how manga/anime/movies portray these moments, canon or not (all approved by Oda or even written by him, like the ending of Movie Gold or the entire script of Movie Strong Worlds, which remind me a lot to Naruto The Last) makes me think that they will end up together undoubtedly. This relationship has the foundation for it, and it isn’t necessary to show them kissing, or embracing, or marrying. They can love each other romantically without having to do it in a conventional way. After all, Luffy is Luffy and Nami is Nami.

Edit: One Piece was originally “Romance Dawn”, in case you don’t know. There are two versions, in the first one Luffy meets a girl called Silk, in the second one the girl is called Ann, both resemble too much to Nami, specially Ann. In the definitive version of the manga, Nami had to appear first, before Zoro, but Oda’s editors make him change that. That’s why in the first colour spread only Nami + Shanks and his crew are depicted alongside Luffy.

[arslan]

"The eyes chico, they never lie"

[Lion-cuhl]

Zorro and Nami is Luffy's right and left hand.

[dflame]

I hope it'll be luffy and nami which this scene confirms it

[zellachan]

bruh if they are actually the main couple when One Piece ends idk what to say HAHHAHAH

[shadow_master]

I always loved this scene, not because of a ship. But I just like their friendship the most out of the crew, so the fact that they were the first two in the crew to at least lock eyes is nice.

Edit: and even in the first episode too which makes it better

[Isitdeath]

I wonder why they included this scene that's not in the manga. This is the reason I thought they would be a nice ship...

[codabang]

How ironic meet first mate n future gf in same day lol

[hoh]

Broo everytime I come back to this scene, Im reminded of how good looking Luffy really is lmao

[RobotX]

Little they knew, they would become best friends for life 😁

[thousandyardgavri]

I consider this moment precious. And no I dont ship them... I just like how they just gazed at a stranger soon to become their family

[juanjo]

So they met before Luffy and Zoro. Then Nami is the real vicecaptain

[abigail]

how nice... the first time luffy and nami meet he's already down on one knee 💍

[husariuspl]

Back when Nami wasn't just for a Fan Service. Seriously she looks great but later she became a pencil.

[shinryanrey]

Everyone say first mate
Nah it's soulmate

[sophiebell]

This scene was definitely supposed to be romantic but Oda may have changed his mind (idk tho)

[kingjamesedits]

I've heard their is beautiful girls in one piece

[therealnav]

Bet Nami was just thinking who would be stupid enough to blow up the ship like that and ruin her efforts lol.