It is easy to see Luffy as a simple guy. In a lot of ways he is simple in that he is straight forward and easy to understand. One of the great things about him is he says all that is on his mind and he’s honest.

You always know where you stand with Luffy and he always stands by his word. He expresses his likes and dislikes clearly, and his goals.

Famously, he doesn’t have thought bubbles in the manga because man literally says what he thinks.

However, in Marineford’s aftermath we really got to know more about him. It was then that I realised, this happy go lucky guy is actually prone to depression.

Garp was not a great father figure for Luffy and left man alone a lot. All he had was Ace and Sabo, he needed Ace and Ace needed to be needed.

So when he lost Ace man went catatonic. It was like wow, my anchor is gone. The first person who made me feel like I am not alone is gone.

We watch Luffy crumble in a way we had not seen before and the thing that brings him back out of the pit of despair is Jimbei reminding him, hey, you’re not alone.

I was so emotional reading that arc! When Luffy was counting each of his friends I was like, “Yes, that’s right! You’re not alone!”

He gained eight reasons to live (at that time as Jimbei had not joined yet).

He truly cherishes his friends because they are his world. In that way I related to Luffy. When you experience loneliness and then make good friends it makes the world of difference.

They say blood is thicker than water but I don’t think so. Rather I think that, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.

Luffy calls his crew friends instead of crew members. He has a really small crew compared to other crews on the Grand Line and it is because he values friendship and quality (sometimes also weirdness) over quantity.

When Sanji left and man was like, “Er nope, I will never eat again if it is not you cooking.” Sanji is another character that needs to be needed and has a lot of love to give.

Luffy saw that and was not willing to let Sanji go and also trusted that he left for a good reason because after Zoro, Sanji is one loyal mofo.

Luffy valued Sanji in a way his sperm donor never could. He saw all the negative traits his sperm donor saw as good traits. He saw that from the beginning and has never failed to show how much he appreciates Sanji, the crew member with bad self-esteem.

He sees people in a pure and honest way, and in a pure and honest way he is able to help them.

I could honestly wax poetical about each Strawhat and what they mean to Luffy, how he has helped them and how they have helped him, but I won’t as that will take forever.

(I’ll save that for when the series ends)

It annoys me when people only see the fun and don’t see the depth in Luffy and One Piece. It is a fun pirate adventure story, sure, but it is also a story about liberation, freedom and friendship in its purest form.

Platonic Love is not as valued as Romantic Love in our society. However, in One Piece Oda has shown why and how Platonic Love is just as important, if not more so.