Alright dude, this is the last post I'm going to make on this very askew discussion. Would be happy to take it to PMs, since it seems like no one else is jumping in here. I know for a fact you like to argue because you're arguing me into a different conversation. Now this is a "Prove to me that Nami/Robin have character development" versus a "Nami and Robin have better character development than most shounen females". Whether the character development satisfies you or not is truly besides the point, because I could spend all day posting evidence for you (which I'll do just this once) only for you to disagree with me. I'm gonna post chapters and you can do your own research.
I think you should have asked me to actually provide examples from other shounen instead, which would have been a better argument than trying to make me prove that Nami and Robin have decent character development. But I suppose you haven't read some things, so idk how that would have played out.
Saying that it needs to happen in some big showy way vs small, imperceptible ways is a false dichonomy. Something inbetween is also possible. But the problem with Nami's character development is that I don't perceive any meaningful change.
What? You were the one who told me I can't have both and I have to pick either one, thus insinuating a dichotomy.
And here is the crux of where this conversation diverged: "meaningful" is entirely subjective.
No, because with the giant children atleast, Nami was specifically the one who convinced the rest of the crew, who were concerned with other matters, to save them. That's plot relevant. However...
I agree with you. It's obviously relevant to the situation at hand.
Fair enough. The Giant Children example applies to the plot, but that doesn't discard my point. Whether plot relevant (which we are defining as moving the actual story along) or not, you can see instances of character development in a character with the situations they are placed in.
It is not, however, evidence of what your talking about. I provided numerous examples of what it could have been just as easily without resorting to 'cats and bunnies'. It could be uncertainty, it could be discomfort, it could be anger at hachi, anger at arlong, anger at the cruelty of the world in general. She's obviously reflecting on her experiences and you can read into that as you wish, but you're acting as if it's proof of racism or hatred and it just isn't.
Why can't it be more than one thing? In that specific example I don't really think you can argue she isn't thinking about her past when the scene right fucking before it is Robin
explicitly stating how fishmen are
beneath humans in that place. If my entire childhood and teenage years were about fishmen killing my fellow humans and emotionally torturing me then I'd probably be like "..." too as I thought about it. Not really impossible, and clearly insinuated with the preceding discussion.
Okay, I want you to prove it with actual evidence then. You've been bringing up the whole "It's obviously there, you have to have seen it" rhetoric and it's been what I sensed the antagonism from, because at this point you're saying my inattentiveness is to blame for our disagreements rather than how we read what, to my mind, is far more ambiguous.
Sure.
Nami is introduced as a compassionate (lol) young girl that fucks people over for money:
Chapter 9
Nami being a dick: Chapter 50
Nami's reason for being a dick (Nami's entire flashback): Chapter 77-80
Nami bring a dick still, but not really: Chapter 111 and 113
Nami reflecting on her past (the ONE thing we focused on):
Chapter 492, she decides to save Camie after thinking about how Hachi is not as big a dick as Arlong.
Chapter 496, Nami eating the Takoyaki away from the group with "...". I wonder what she's thinking about, Veelk?
Chapter 500, "Even those strong fishman?" aka holy fucking shit fishmen can be minorities!
*keep reading for Nami getting emotional at the Auction House with "I don't care what the price is!" Wow! I don't think old Nami would ever give a fuck about spending all that money, would you?
Chapter 617, What's she thinking about here...hmm....("Holy fuck there are fishmen like Arlong?! Remember that time I was fucked over by Arlong? I'm shocked there are fishmen that believe his shit!")
Chapter 618: Just in case you were doubting that's what she was thinking. Further still, she's actually realized something! (minoritiesgettingfuckedoverforyearscreatesbadpeople)
Chapter 620: HERE YOU GO VEELK
Chapter 627: End of flashback, Nami accepts her suffering as a part of her identity. Forgives Jimbei.
*Enter stage where Nami is more cognizant of how hatred can fester and create something*
And now we have Punk Hazard, and Zou where Nami's first instinct is to save people. Is it to get money from them? Nope.
Well how about that? Assuming you actually checked out all these chapters I'd say the
character development is pretty evident.
Do you need some more? Let me know in PMs. Some stuff we never discussed was her whole relationship with Usopp and how she views being weak. There are more examples of those categories that I can look up if you pay me a salary, but this should do.
Remember, if you reply with "well that's not very good character development" that's not what I'm arguing for.
Because as far as I remember, Nami has never not helped those around her when she could. It always seemed to me that she was a just bleeding heart. If she hasn't saved a large group of random innocents, she didn't really seem to have an opportunity to. But apparently, there is a ruthless side of Nami I missed in two read throughs.
See the examples above, but there is a difference between helping someone out because of passion and helping out someone to get money. Cat Burglar Nami, my dude. Further, I never said she was ruthless, which is not the entire opposite of being compassionate which you seem to think needs to be shown in order to prove my point. She can be a dick without wanting to straight up murder someone (if that's what you mean by ruthless).
Well, I should point out this whole conversation started with me going "MHA is awesome" and it just evolved to this point. But your right, I do like debating and arguing and talking about stories. I said before, for the purposes of talking about a story, the particular story in question doesn't really matter. And while I don't like OP overall, there are parts about it I like. That's basically the gist of why I stay. And I don't think that's too horrible of a reason to do so.
Hey that's fine. I think most people take "I don't like One Piece" to mean you can't see past its flaws. But given this post you clearly do enjoy some things about it. I think it's fine to dislike something but to say to people here that you dislike One Piece makes them think you're being a tosser (no offence). I have no beef with you at all, and these drawn out conversations always seem to imply that we are fighting rather than having a conversation.