Tashigi Rant / Feminism

[silverwolfcc]

After my Sabo rant, this was the one other one I've been itching to do. For months. I usually simmered down enough that I was like "Nah, fans will see and then they can eat crow." Clearly, that has not been the case.

So the claim is: Tashigi is weak
This is often followed by other such claims as: Oda thinks female swordswomen are weak pansies.
or more extremely: Tashigi has gotten even weaker, not stronger.

And this ticks me off. A lot. I'd say, "Don't even get me started," but clearly here I am.

First off there are two things we must look at before the rest. First is Tashigi's characterization, second is the idea of "strength" in One Piece.

I am not Tashigi's biggest fan, which seriously has to be said because I will be seemingly defending the dickens out of her. However, I am a ridiculously huge Smoker fan (don't act like you don't know) and so observing Tashigi is great detail comes with the territory. I don't hate Tashigi. As a character I agree, she could be better, she could have a lot more to her in personality or strength, and compared to my favorite One Piece women (Nico Robin, Miss Monday, Nami, Sweetpea, Miss Goldenweek, Haruta) she falls a little flat. Mostly in personality because she's not as crazy and wild and exciting as the others.

However, I do love that her clutzyness is handled as the real-life flaw it is instead of just a flaw to make someone look cute. I have yet to meet someone in real life who doesn't find my own clutzyness dangerous and unappealing. At best, they must live like my fiance and be a masochist who can handle my accidental abuse. This is an especially added detriment since I do color guard and throw sabres, war axes, rifles and so forth. Usually I bruise myself the most, but rest assured, I accidentally have hurt nearly everyone close to me. Just ask Moosey. So in Tashigi's case, it's a real detriment, to herself, to others around her, and people treat her the way I'd expect such a thing to be treated: with great annoyance and aggravation.

Tashigi is a ditz who gets distracted in battle and notices swords and feeds her sword obsession before or instead of taking note of danger. She had the ocean's most dangerous swordsman right in front of her, all the signs that he was Roronoa Zoro, and still blamed him for her inability to recognized him because "he should have told her who he was." Yeaaaaah because pirates are always telling marines that they're pirates. Right. And while as good characterization flaws, they do not endear her to me personally. Me personally, they irk. If she was my friend I'd be tempted to smack her upside the head. (Or admittedly, I'd probably treat her the way Smoker does.)

Tashigi hears the voices of swords (haki? insanity??) and wishes to free them all from those who would use them for evil. No. Seriously. That is her dream. And admittedly, I have synaesthesia and a tendency to personify inanimate objects (including my sabre. Like... omg so much) and Smoker himself kind of does it when he says his pants ate the kid's ice cream -- but even in such a case, the whole "freeing swords from evil" actually does make me facepalm at the woman. Not Oda (because yes, he wrote her that way, and no he's not perfect) because outside as a writer/director/reader I find that a really funny thing and I can VERY easily imagine meeting someone like that (I live in MA where we have lots of nerds and people who don't want anyone to have guns) but at Tashigi. Why at Tashigi? Because little girl, that's called "theft." And just because you like someone else's swords, doesn't mean you should be stealing it to give to the poor and needy. IDK I personally feel like even pirates should be allowed the means to defend themselves and in the end, even cursed swords with arguable "souls" are still owned by someone. And as we've see a lot of, not all pirates will use those swords against innocent people.

And her biggest flaw, bar none, is her constant belief that men must obviously kill all the swordsmen they defeat. NOW. TO BE FAIR. Kinemon did the same fucking thing. So maybe Tashigi is just a descendant from Wano Island, or something. In any case, it's damned annoying. To people around her, deeply offensive to the people who spare her, and to me as a reader. Why it's so damned annoying: she always assumes they spared her because they're going easy on her for being a woman. And this is offensive to swordsmen because wow, what if they actually had to work hard for that defeat? While I realize it's an extension of her own massive insecurities (of which there are hundreds, I actually do feel she's overbalanced with more flaws than strengths in personality, but feel free to tell me otherwise) it's still insulting. Moreover to assume that all swordsman must kill their defeats? No. VERY offensive. Bad Tashigi. Mihawk left Zoro to get stronger and come fight him. Zoro doesn't always kill his defeated enemies, and in fact, MANY One Piece men don't. Indeed, even the Whitebeard pirates who are infamous for revenge and killing people, left a lot of men alive, so that's a really horrible expectation for someone so otherwise naive of the world. It's too much like a child trying to sound like they're strong and understand how the world works, when they clearly do not. And if I was someone like Law who'd been through hell to get where I was, yeah I'd be freaking irritated by that.

But then I'm like Fujiko. She is, actually, a pretty accomplished swordswoman. Not Olympics level (unlike her martial arts, yes she's arguably overpowered, I DON'T CARE) but not even close to Goemon's level. There is always someone stronger and she doesn't spend all her time focusing on being a swordsman. She spends more time on her other strengths, and that works better for her. Nonetheless, she tried to con Goemon, pretend to be his girlfriend, and steal his sword because well, it can cut anything. (There are some massive similarities to Lupin III in One Piece, so keep this in mind, that even if she had the strongest sword that can cut through everything, she still wouldn't have Goemon's skill, as he outright told her.) Goemon caught on, stopped her, and COMPLETELY trounced her and the small army she was trying to used to steal it. (See also Nami/Zoro bickering. Just saying) After defeat she asked, "You're not going to kill me?" And even when Goemon exactly told her, "I'm sparing your life because you're a woman, now go," she replied with "Thank you!" and ran. That would be me. Screw the reasons why. Fujiko FREQUENTLY uses men's kindness against them and as a questionable strength(?) or at least asset on her part. Whatever the reason. Whether because they think she's hot, weak, stupid or anything else, she knows better. Just because she's hot doesn't mean she'll sleep with them, just because she acts like a ditz, doesn't mean it's not on purpose and indeed purposely using that expectation to fool men. This makes her rather cruel and not a nice person, but that is how she is. Tashigi on the other hand....

Law said that only the strong get to choose how and when they die, and while this (to me) is a pretty clear reference to Whitebeard's death (he chose Marineford, died protecting his family he loved, and died standing) and Ace (yes and no, he didn't actively intend to die at Marineford, though he was certainly prepared to face it, as he told Garp, however he did die protecting Luffy and indeed made the conscious decision to protect Luffy so Luffy could continue his own dream, rather than live his own life with his family and chasing his dream) it also seems to speak to a deeper motivation on Law's part. He steals hearts of his victims, but I really cannot stress this enough, he knows a lot about Doflamingo's slave operations. He recognized Jean Bart who was bought previously at an auction from Doflamingo's auction house. And if Law's crew were killed because of Doflamingo or others, or even just one or two of them were, can you imagine the sheer impact of that statement? Not to mention Tashigi's begging for death. Begging for life is pathetic, in my view, and many others, and I myself, STILL have too much pride to beg for my own life (this is actually a flaw of mine I feel) though I could beg to save someone else. However, begging for death because of pride is also extraordinarily pitiful, and indeed, infuriating. She was defeated and couldn't live with her pride being disrespected and shamed?

AND that is a HUGE point Oda is definitely making. Even if you ignore the Law implications, Whitebeard, and so forth. Seppuku was a long traditional route held as honor. But for many reasons, there is a slow but steady movement in saying "No, there's no honor in suicide for pride." Now let's look at Brooke and his honor. He lives on for his nakama. For Laboon. And that is his honor. Even Luffy when he completely brain-snapped after Ace's death found motivation to live on for his nakama and to protect their dreams. To protect their lives. M*A*S*H called it well: suicide is painless. Life is pain. I say this as someone who has been frequently suicidal from pain. Wow okay actually tearing up asdkljasldkjsd So yeah I won't go into the why the pain or how bad, ask in an IM or comment MY STRENGTH comes in that I will not let myself die or kill myself because my family would be extremely hurt by that. My fiance, my friends, and they matter more to me than even my dream. They are my strength and reason for living.

Dying over pride, to me, should be shameful. I'm Catholic. So let me just say, yes, the anti-suicide thing is VERY strong and VERY true with us. Usually the Catholic argument is that even if you are killing yourself, you're still murdering (yourself) and that is a mortal sin and since you die you can't get redemption. However, in my case, having seen families of people who suicided, to me it's a horrible thing because it hurts people you supposedly love the most. And if you really love them, you do not want to hurt them like that. And it is extremely, extremely tough to have someone you love suicide. I cannot emphasize that enough. I simply cannot.

Yet, that being said, we also come from an extremely long history of martyrs. Most Saints were martyrs. I did a paper awhile back on Catholic Japanese martyrs (back when they were canonized as official martyrs and a bunch of saints were canonized as well.) and believe me, dying to protect someone else or for basically moral grounds is a highly valued thing. (Dying for freedom of faith is a very long-standing reason for martyrdom. See also: lions eating Christians/Catholics -- and yes, I'm aware of the irony when Catholics/Christians don't let others have freedom of faith, deeply aware and yes, the crusades were horrible, and no they aren't following "true Christianity" anymore than Akainu follows "True justice" now back to One Piece) So to me, you are expected to live for the ones you love, and maybe you'll be called on to die for them too. But if you are shown mercy, you do not fight it and spit in the man's face and try to get yourself killed. This goes for wars, instances of rape/murder/mugging/BAD THINGS EVER, and so on. Doing so doesn't make you a martyr (no matter how much the internet and "anons" fuck that word up. Thanks guys.) it is wrong.

So yeah, that really does piss me off about Tashigi. Like I said, were I a friend of hers I'd probably smack her in the head. And back on the Fujiko note; I really do feel like if any man purposely treats a woman like she's incompetent, he deserves to be shown just why that is foolish. In perhaps, even, some Fujiko fashion. THIS is not a good thing on my part. It is very very bad. It's immoral, and it's certainly not something to idolize. This is a flaw in me. Still some of my pride in that yeah, I like seeing men who think someone is too short/fat/weak/useless/female/glasses-wearing/nerd/or anything else get kicked in the nuts. It's not right, logically there should be a better way to teach them, "No, good sir, your thinking is flawed and insults/demeans those people," but I'm a violent person. I punch when mad enough and honestly even if it won't change their minds, I just like to prove it anyway. THIS is why Tashigi's response does irk me. Because if someone thinks you're too weak for being a woman, then GO Boa Hancock's route and use it against them. Good riddance. But yeah seriously, in real life this will get you into trouble (hurr hurr been there myself.)

Ironically, I think this is WHY people so desire Tashigi to be stronger like that. Because they want her to just say "NOPE YOU'RE WRONG, WOMEN KICK BUTTS TOO." And do all sorts of butt kicking. The problem is...

One Piece is too realistic for that. I despise the line of thinking that it's just Oda being sexist himself. There is simply too much evidence to the contrary. Jewelry Bonney for example: how many men did she wreck? And yes, she was defeated by Blackbeard. So was Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world as well as 2 Whitebeard commanders who are used to the New World when she's not. Seriously people. Stop that shit. AND that's the crux. The strong women in One Piece are often defeated by strong men. But so are the strong men in One Piece. And while it's more common to see women defeating women (Nami defeated Califa because Sanji couldn't bring himself to, Nami also defeated Miss Doublefinger) that doesn't mean women don't defeat men. There are however, as of yet, much less one-on-one fights with them like that. But Bonney, Nami, and Robin all took out mass amounts of men. As has Tashigi, and Boa Hancock. Is it sexist that Nami and Robin all get kidnapped and need rescuing? Well so did Ace. Ace had two arcs focused around it. Usopp has also needed to be rescued by Sanji and Nami (and yes, I will definitely get to more on both of those later) and Coby definitely needed to be rescued at least twice. Once by Luffy from Alvida, once by Shanks at Marineford. One Piece is a story about people getting by with a lot of help from their friends. The very concept of nakama is that they are stronger together than they are alone. And yes, that's important on women.

INDEED, the biggest reason Tashigi's attitude pisses me off is she doesn't get that. In an effort to prove herself, she does mistakes I, myself, admittedly, have made in the past which is being blindly independent and stubborn even when help is needed! If One Piece shows anything it's that even the most solo man in the world we've ever met (Mihawk) has friends. Without friends helping you, you're practically a lost cause. Moreover, you earn that loyalty through fighting on their side. They know you have their back as much as they have yours. This is why Usopp's fight and subsequent split from the Straw Hats was so heartbreaking, because of everyone in the crew, he most keenly felt the need to have to earn his place beside them, because he had to fight his constant survival instincts to run and hide. And to me, the Straw Hats always felt he belonged with them, but that he had to realize that they didn't in fact think he was too weak to fight alongside them. Sanji, again, especially tried to imprint this with Usopp, and it's one of my absolutely favorite parts in the series. And I don't even ship them!

Where is Tashigi's backup? She's generally okay with being backup to Smoker, because she is fiercely loyal to him, but where is her willingness to ask say, HINA, who clearly wants to help her (women in the marines, represent) or anyone else when she's in over her head. In general, it doesn't exist. She has constantly picked a lot of fights over her head, and gotten thoroughly trounced for it. She doesn't believe she can ask for help without making herself BE that pathetic weak woman that she FEARS being. And indeed, she is often the top of the group around her, so there is no one to ask for help. She has to protect them. The men. Please keep this in mind. So actually when she mentally begged Smoker to come back and help, I was glad. First of all, she just got through telling Smoker that they must not let their pride get in the way both for the sake of the men, and indeed, the world at large, and so to pull the weak-ass bullshit of "kill me for my pride" I would have screamed at. Secondly, Smoker intended to fight Vergo all along. He told Tashigi not to, and to take the men and protect them and get out alive. He also bickered with Luffy about how he really wanted to be the one to fight Vergo. Literally. With Luffy of all people. So it was nice to see Tashigi a) acknowledging even to herself that she was in over her head, b) showing off that she knows Smoker really well. Because my favorite thing about Tashigi (Just to warn you: I know this is a pathetic favorite) is her over the top love for Smoker. When nearly that whole world hates him and everyone talks badly about him, it's nice that Tashigi stands up for his honor even though he doesn't give a fuck. It's a nice twist, and authentic, okay? It says also that women should protect women and men too, even if they don't need it. Because protecting your loved ones should never be viewed as a bad thing (though see also: protecting vs. enabling. She obviously doesn't enable).

Which brings me up to the good things in her characterization. Among many other things, she is extremely determined, loyal, she has a hugely caring heart (she how she handled those parents of missing children?), her faith in a true justice. The latter is... half something I don't like personally just because she's so naive about it that watching her heart break makes me want to yell at her the same as Smoker. Just like woman, please, the world isn't perfect yet, MAKE IT BETTER, don't cry that you couldn't fix it, get stronger. BUT it is, in fact, to her favor, because it motivates her to keep getting stronger, to work for that justice and it becomes a big turning point in which she realizes, that yeah, the world isn't this way, but maybe that is why she and Smoker are there. Indeed, I'm strongly convinced it's her big motivation for her loyalty to Smoker. Because he keeps on trucking at True Justice no matter how much the rest of the world isn't that way. He's like a light in a murky gross swamp. Though that might be me projecting, I know that's why I like him. (And no one was surprised...)

However, for all her faults, for all her perhaps overbalanced more weaknesses than assets and strengths; does that really mean she's weak?

Allow me a resounding No before going into "What is strength in One Piece?"

First and foremost, true strength (yes, I'm doing this like true justice vs. other justice, deal with it I refuse to believe anyone will even read this anyway, I'm just blowing off steam so I stop snapping at my friends) is not a purely physical "but I can lift the most weights." As is at minimum, seen by Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger. The strongest man in the world, and the man who tied with him and became pirate king respectively. It's determination, willpower, and perhaps above all else: learning from mistakes. (And yes, also, as I mentioned earlier, asking friends for help. Seriously. If you don't think that, go rewatch Luffy's speech to Arlong.) Luffy has repeatedly fallen down and failed to defeat people on his first try. He didn't beat Crocodile the first time, he had to learn to use water to solidify him at the time, he didn't beat Enel the first time, he had to use the gold Enel put on him, drive up there with Nami and then punch him. NONE of the crew were able to defeat Aokiji when they first met him. But they all learned/taught themselves a fire attack so they could protect Robin and each other better! I love that about them. Usopp learned his phoenix star, Sanji learned to set his foot on fire (no really Sanji... wow :|) and Luffy learned Gear 2nd in order to be faster, and hotter.

And Zoro obviously didn't defeat Mihawk on his first try, but what did he do? Kept getting strong. And perhaps my favorite thing about all of Luffy's re-tries is simply that he didn't learn haki and suddenly develop use of it through extreme pressure situations. Think about it. It's not Oda hadn't devised/planned haki yet, we saw Shanks use it right in the start! On this note, this goes into my "Luffy is more clever than he seems" thing and the whole intelligence vs. wisdom and so forth, (Luffy's got wisdom, not so much with the int. Think book smarts vs. street smart) but if nothing else, it shows that getting up when you fall is how you get stronger. You don't become the world's strongest by never falling down. Indeed a LOT of the characters we see completely wrecked throughout One Piece are the type who almost never failed before. Lucci, (mixed bag since the dude went through a lot of shit and that is why he is so strong, but he was still a lot more used to never failing than not) Kuro, Enel, and Hordy for example. And the stronger ones tend to be the ones who did fail a few times before (Crocodile at least once, Arlong at least once or twice, even Don Krieg just kept getting the fuck up and he'd been wrecked by Mihawk). Falling down teaches you how to get back up.

I was "strong" before I got sick, but wow did getting sick ever teach me how to be stronger and keep getting back up. I never truly failed before I got sick. I never gave my 100% all and failed. People really do seem to think if you fail you must not have given it your all, and as long as you give 110% you'll win. Not the case. And don't get me wrong, the sports team that loses all the time is not the strongest. The sports team that learns everything possible from all those losses and does everything they can to become the strongest? THEM I'd fear even more than the current "best."

And of course, all that means nothing without the help of your friends. I really feel like Zoro understood when Luffy tried to protect his life after Mihawk nearly killed him, just what exactly it meant to rely on someone else for a change. And Luffy obviously understands it (people will tell you my favorite saddest moment was when Luffy was so physically spent after fighting Lucci that he couldn't move and they had to come rescue him, because seriously, yeah. Been there, needed that help, was too proud to ask, still working on it B)) but I won't keep harping on that yet.

And does Tashigi learn from her falls? Actually, yes. She still had a dumbass attitude of "kill me for my pride" but I AM REALLY hoping she doesn't do that here because she just lectured Smoker on not dying for their pride. And indeed, haki'd a help me S.O.S. in his direction that Sanji picked up instead. But what about all her other falls?

She's still rash and getting in over her head, but at least no one can (reasonably) argue that's sexist because that was Ace's literal fatal flaw. (If anything it might be sexist of her and/or others who feel she has to prove herself just because she's a woman.) However, even though she first leaped into fighting against Law (despite Smoker's insistence that she shouldn't) just as she'd done against Luffy in Marineford (at least she tried, I mean come on guys, everyone gives Coby props for trying, but not Tashigi?) but when she was clearly outmatched, she backed off and only rushed in again to try to save Smoker's life and get to him before he might have died. -- Which she did with the men in Marineford, and is another part of her whole "heartbreak about the realities of justice." -- AND more importantly, when it was clear they would die or need to swallow their pride, she did. And do not tell me that was easy for her, just look at all her previous flaws because of pride. And even if those are fears at not being proud/strong, she still faced them. And most importantly (you know... to me... and plot) she was the voice of reason to get Smoker to. She helped her friend, a true strength. Okay I lied, it'll keep coming up.

Tashigi is also now more aware of her surroundings. Example: she's started to accept wearing her glasses more. She was constantly not wearing them (ditzyness? Unwillingness to seem weak/dependent on something mundane? WHATEVER DUMB REASON) and then because she couldn't see, she'd talk to strangers thinking they were Smoker. And it's a little subjective to say "See how much more she wears her glasses now?" because it's a percentage thing, so I'll continue on. She is literally more observant and aware of her surroundings. She went from not recognizing Zoro as Pirate Hunter Zoro whom she was literally talking to him about and being more focused on swords (ooh shinies! *_*) than the dangers in Marineford (even with world-class superpowers everywhere and Smoker being the only one to take an active interest in her survival); to being aware of the G5 men acting out of line, aware constantly of threats around her and her crew throughout this entire arc. From being able to jump in time to protect her idiot men from Zoro even though they attacked/threatened him, to simply actually knowing something Smoker did not.

Tashigi started to realized that Vergo might not be a good guy even before Smoker did! And again, having her faith in justice wrecked is a serious serious theme with her. More than that, she dealt with it better this time. Indeed! Each time she has progressively dealt with it better. So has Tashigi learned from her falls? YES, actually she has! And Smoker himself basically said that this was what made her strong. Rather, that she was strong, and he wished his men had 1/10th her strength; circumstances being: because she picks up and keeps going when she falls. Not because she never falls.

Moreover, on the topic of true strengths. The reason no man is an island (at least not the ones who can become pirate king) is because a good captain needs his nakama. Common theme in One Piece. Luffy can't use swords, navigate, lie, cook, doctor, go undercover/reveal/learn history, shipwright, write music, and all the rest. And they can't fight the psychos Luffy can. There is more than one way to be strong, and it's not just being able to defeat someone in hand to hand combat. Nami is strong for her brains, her clever use of everything, her navigation skills and ability to use maps! And in fact, I HONESTLY believe that's the reason she's always kidnapped. Think about it, Shiki didn't kidnap her because she's pretty, he kidnapped her because she's brilliants, ditto Robin. No one is going to kidnap Zoro because they don't fucking want a sleepy swordsman. Most crews have swordsmen, and most captains believe they are strong enough not be able to use Zoro anyway. Nami though? She can handle weather and maps. I truly believe that's a bigger strength in the New World than any other skill. Seriously. And Shiki himself said as much. And does this mean we should all be like "Yay Nami being kidnapped means she's strong!!" nooooo, I'm not saying that. I am saying, if she was a man and had the exact same personality and did try to con people with "But I'm cute see?" would everyone just call him really weak and pathetic and hate him? And if so, I think the sexism doesn't lie with Oda. Chopper got taken in Davy Back because he was cute! But look at their arrogance, they generally felt they didn't need another swordsman/Luffy would be a hassle/etc. And that's my point.

***Subpoint because I really wanted to brush on the feminism with "weak Tashigi:" I will acknowledge the Absalom kidnapping Nami to be his bride was definitely a little frustrating. It happens a lot in cartoons and reminded me of over 20 Popeye episodes (which I am still convinced influenced Oda along with others, just look at Patty! And the way Sanji walks! And Bluto And Blueno! Moving on though) buuuut I did like that while Sanji came to her rescue for epic "WHAT IS CHIVALRY" showdown, she still had to get out of it a *lot* on her own and used Lola's shadow pig through cleverness to help. Which a) was hilarious. And b) emphasized the "I get help from friends, even new ones" and c) became a plot point with why Lola would befriend Nami so strongly that she gave her a piece of her Mom's vivre card (Big Mom maybe? :O) and d) also showed how damn grateful Nami can genuinely be. She's not just greedy, which shouldn't need further showing, but fans are dumb.

And frankly, whatever, kidnappings happen. I say this as a Fujiko fan and believe me, she gets kidnapped a lot. She's still a badass though. Just because you're kidnapped doesn't make you weak. Men around the world are kidnapped and ransomed every day in real life -- and more often involved in violence. So please please please do not say being kidnapped proves you're overall weak and/or unable to defend yourself or that it only happens to women. (Let me repeat; Ace) In first world countries it does more commonly happen to women and children, but that is not the case globally. However, women and children are much more often reported in the news because people have a bigger instinctual need to protect and defend them so it sells on a storyline. See also; the racism in (more often than not) not reporting black men, women, and children who are kidnapped, at least in the States.**

Back to Tashigi. Smoker is a freaking powerhouse of strength. He too, got his ass kicked more than once by Boa, and whoever the fuck gave him that scar, and even if he didn't "lose lose" he failed to succeed. And he always moved forward and focused on ways to get stronger. He kind of doesn't shut up about that. Seriously. In any case, for raw physical fighting strength, what he needs in a backup isn't someone stronger than him. His weaknesses are his own sometimes rash head (he is actually less rash than Tashigi but she winds up leveling him out twice in this arc! THINK ABOUT THAT!) his stubbornness, his pride (and did I mention she told him to swallow it for the sake of his men? SHE DID), his arrogance (and in order protect her and his crew, he is occasionally forced through this arc to hold back instead of just assume he can handle it) and frankly; most of all his horrible horrible HORRIBLE people skills. He needs her help to lead his men (who's the one telling them not to light prisoners on fire? Who does he trust with his men every time since Alabasta when he decides to play rogue cowboy? He's a complicated man, but no one understands him but his woman, Shaft!) and extremely important plot wise, people fear him. He's a monster, he's snarky, he's scary, he's a jerk! He's not nice to ANYONE, and he's harsh with his three shown "friends." As a naval base captain who has to enforce law and protect the innocent, that is really bad. And as was shown, he needed Tashigi for it. The parents of the lost children came to her, because she's a) a woman, b) nice and unthreatening c) has a heart as big as she is and d) isn't scary in face, reputation, or attitude like Smoker. She isn't tsundere, he REALLY fucking is.

Tashigi is backup. She isn't Smoker's equal in strength. That doesn't make her weak either. He's a freaking monster. He's practically Garp 2.0 but with less punches of love, and more grumpy tsundere. That's kind of psychotic. Realistically, very few people are Smoker's strength. That's why he's a vice admiral. And for the record, vice admirals are tough. Tsuru, Onigumo, Strawberry, Garp, and even the captains can be EXTREMELY strong like Shu that rust guy that killed Zoro's sword. Saying Tashigi is only a captain (in the New World AFTER Marineford when everything got tougher) is like saying Romney only makes 21 million dollars annually. Yes, there are people who make over a billion annually, there are "lots" of people who make more than that. But that is still in the very top 1% bracket. No, it puts you in the top 1% of the 1%. How strong does she have to be to be "strong?"

"Well, Luffy called her weak when he fought her while she was trapped in Smoker's body." Keep in mind, she was in Smoker's body. Using a devil fruit she'd never used before (and as we saw from Kaku and Kalifa, the first day is usually a mess) and we know from Ace setting fires when he kept trying to weave Oars Jr.'s hat, and from Crocodile, that logia can be a little extra hard to control. Not to mention, Luffy almost exclusively recognizes Smoker by his jitte. Literally in Marineford he said he couldn't forget Smoker's jitte. Which Tashigi was not using.

"Well, Smoker calls her weak." Let me remind you again of Smoker's arrogance. He called Sanji a weakling and said he wasn't even worth his time in Loguetown. Are you going to tell me Sanji's weak? Smoker also called Tashigi very strong in Alabasta even while she was in her room crying, because of her whole picking herself up again. He does trust her strength or he wouldn't leave his men with her. More importantly, he trusts her and her justice. He straight up told her to trust her own justice and follow it because he had faith in her. Much like Sanji had faith in Usopp in Enies Lobby. Sanji told Usopp they all had to stick to their individual strengths and sent Usopp to go sniping, something no one else in the crew can do but which they desperately needed. Smoker can't be in two places at once and his best strength (he at least feels) is in hunting down criminals and/or proof of wrong doing. It's in his nickname: White Hunter. It's what he does. Tashigi is a great leader. Smoker is more bad cop and while his men do seem to respect and care for him, they're prone to banter and horsing around with him. Which is the kind of man Smoker is. He doesn't believe strongly in external discipline, he believes it comes from within, and so do I, but it's not good in a super disciplined organization like the marines, and just look at how wild his men are. For better or worse, G5's men adore Tashigi. They trust her fully, and they do respect her strength as a captain and commander. In some ways even more than Smoker! I mean they don't really respect Smoker (Smo-yan~) in a traditional sense anyway. (More like how Lupin respects Zenigata. GREAT and awesome and I love that dynamic, but yes, really bad for leadership.)

Smoker doesn't think Tashigi's weak, or he wouldn't waste his time on her. He's not that nice. He wouldn't tell her to get stronger if he didn't think she was capable of more. Is he rough around the edges, insulting, and a jerk? HELL YES. And you know what? That is a flaw of his, but something he's not gonna change. Tashigi has learned to deal with it. And through that, she is also (usually) stronger because as a female swordswoman, she will have to deal daily with people who think she can't cut it. Including her own self-doubts. Could Smoker do better and nurture her into showing her strength better? Maybe? If Smoker got over that flaw of his, but let's keep in mind, that's not how the world works. I mean look at how Garp trained Coby and Helmeppo. By beating them silly. Smoker's tough love on her is very verbal and mental, because that's where her self-doubts are.

When Tashigi doesn't have time to trip or overthink or worry too much, she's been shown to be a very competent swordfighter on more than one occasion. And look at the scar Smoker got! You don't see that on Tashigi, do you? And don't tell me "because she wasn't fighting as much" bullshit. It's the New World. Now you can argue it's because Oda doesn't want to draw his women with ugly scars, and I'll buy that. (Although... does that mean Sanji, Usopp and Chopper are too pretty to scar too? Had to be said.) But, she has definitely gotten stronger at swordfighting. She got in a few maneuvers against Law and even bought Smoker time to mount an attack (which arguably, shouldn't have happened because lulz she should have listened and not picked a fight with Law but it does show she's also gotten a lot faster too) and moreover, she was able to move fast enough to block Zoro's sword and protect her men. And Zoro has been training with Mihawk for 2 years of getting stronger.

Tashigi isn't weak, she's very very very strong.

She also has haki (Smoker said her haki wouldn't be enough against Law, but that does mean she has at least SOME) and even if it is teeny tiny piddly and only barely awakening, this is not something any marine captain we've been shown so far as having. Not Hina, not Smoker (until he got stronger), not even Drake who was a rear admiral (though maybe he learned it in the New World), in fact, even for New World pirates, it was pretty rare. The only rank we know has haki is vice admiral and up. That is a fucking long way to go in two years. Coby ALSO had haki awaken in Marineford, and yeah, Aisa had it, and all the Amazon Lily islands have it, but only Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji of the Straw Hats do right now. It might seem common because we keep seeing it and both Vergo, Law, and Caesar all have it, but it really isn't that common. And even if she only has the listening kind like Coby & Aisa, that's still more than 6/9 Straw Hats have. She has a really strong skill that takes a lot of learning or innate ability to acquire and that shouldn't be diminished just because she keeps fighting foes stronger than her.

Now, as for Tashigi's whole "Help me Smoker" -- let me again point out, she said it in her head via haki, and all the stuff I already said about it. Personally? I love it. She hasn't (yet?) pulled the stupid "kill me I'm to weak to live" bullshit, and instead, got over her pride enough to try to ask the person she trusts most for help. As did Luffy, Robin, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, Brooke, and Chopper & Franky have at least let people help them.

Personally, I also love that Smoker isn't around to hear/help. He's not there, he's TRYING to find Vergo and his hunter instincts must be failing, but that happens. He trusted her to take care of his men, miscalculated where Vergo would go, and he will pay that price. Why I love Sanji coming to her rescue. Aside from how awesome it is that he seems to have picked up her call through haki, he is the person who will most challenge Tashigi's view that strong women shouldn't have some "chivalrous" man coming to her rescue just because she's a woman. If she spends the fight on the floor, I will in fact give up and say "No, I'm wrong, Tashigi is strong in some ways, but that was weak, lame and I've lost some faith in Oda for writing it that way." If we're lucky though, Vergo will in fact prove to be too strong for Sanji to handle alone and Tashigi will help him. And they will both challenge each other's viewpoints all while fighting together.

Tashigi isn't weak for not being to defeat someone insanely stronger than her. The idea that it proves that Oda thinks women/female swordswomen are weak is extremely wrong in my opinion because she is very clearly stronger than ALL OF THOSE G5 MEN. ALL 200+!!! The vice admirals almost all use rokushiki. Honestly unless Smoker used soru and we didn't see it, I'm wondering if he's just that much of a cocky bastard (to be fair, rankuyo & shigan aren't his style and geppou and tekkai he has his devil fruit for, and kami-e he has haki for but whatever) but so far it's how Garp was teaching rokushiki to Coby & Helmeppo, and nearly all the vice admirals in Marineford were shown using it. We know Vergo knows it, and has more haki, he's like an amped up CP9 who might have even had skills to be at the top of the Vice Admiral list and just been hiding them (like CP9) for the sake of his undercover work for Doflamingo.

And just because she hasn't been shown fighting individual battles and winning doesn't mean she's not strong either. They've clearly happened, but this isn't actually the Smoker & Tashigi show. And just who would you have her defeat in order to prove she's strong? A dragon? Or would even that be enough?

Honestly, if she'd defeated Vergo on her own, or even with the help of her men, I'd have called massive Hax, and Mary-Sue on her. Because she's not even a rear admiral, she's going to take out a vice admiral? No freaking way.

Does that mean Oda shouldn't have even had Vergo come after her and her men so that she wouldn't have to face him because all it does is reinforce how she's not as strong as him, Caesar, Law, Luffy and so forth? Let me point out once again, neither is Nico Robin if she tried to fight them one on one. You know for such a weak person, she's keeping up with some insanely strong people. Even Kinemon needed to be rescued in this arc, and Zoro fell asleep from the brothers, Franky in Chopper's body got knocked out & so on. Wouldn't avoiding doing something like that to Tashigi be a bigger insult to Tashigi and her feminism? She should genuinely be able to have to face foes who are stronger than her without everyone jumping down her throat for being weak or having it somehow prove Oda is sexist. Her dream isn't even to BE the world's strongest swordswoman! IT'S TO FREE SWORDS! It's a dumb dream (imo >>;) but it's her dream damn it. That's why she got mad at Zoro talking about Kuina, she's not Kuina, she is Tashigi! Imagine being Tashigi, losing to some guy, being laaaame about your loss but then he starts insulting your face. And even when you find out what he actually meant (not: "And you're ugly!!!") having to actually point out "I AM NOT SOME OTHER PERSON." In Tashigi's defense that is rather ridiculous. I mean I loved that Zoro did that crazy shit, but it was still freaking crazy.

So let me ask you, those who think Tashigi is weak, just how strong would she have to be? And if she was a male, and Zoro was female, would this even be a discussion? "Oh boohoo, the man got defeated! SUCK UP AND DEAL. Zoro's not crying about her loss to the brothers when she fell asleep!" And let me remind you all, Tashigi's not crying either. Though she was mourning the loss of her men. And is there a bigger standard, if she was male, that if he then was all "D: HELP US SMOKER VERGO IS OVER HERE!" would everyone be all "what a weak pussy." Maybe? But that would be like the people who whine about Usopp being weak because he got help from Sanji after Bon Clay kicked his ass. A suggestion? Don't be like that. We should all protect those who need protecting. Now, I've got my personal history backstory reasons for this. I've been in fights and I've defended men/boys despite being tiny and female and looked down on. And I don't believe anyone in need of help should be refused it. Yes, I am a little like Smoker and believe that they have to learn/try to defend themselves too, but sometimes you can't. That's life. And turning a cold shoulder is like turning one on those children Nami refused not to rescue, just because they had to learn to get themselves out of it? WHAT? And I will acknowledge, I'm sure Sanji would NOT have gone back to help if SMOKER had been sending an S.O.S. for help telepathically. But you know what else? I bet Luffy would have. He pulled Smoker out of Crocodile's prison (well ordered Zoro to) and he does care about Smoker's well-being even if Smoker is a total jerk who still insists he'll arrest him.

And that's the crux. It doesn't mean Smoker was overall weaksauce for having such tunnel vision he followed the pirates into an obvious trap (even though he expects Tashigi to be more aware of dangers and surroundings.... yup think about it) and having the very clear devil fruit weakness of ocean. He's still strong, he's still a powerhouse and kind of a monster. But everyone has limitations. HAVING limitations does not make you weak. Overcoming them is what makes you strong. Tashigi has overcome a LOT. Brooke can't do ocean or extreme physical strength (not enough mass) or handle anyone jeopardizing his afro. But he can run on water, is insanely speedy, and he has friends to help him. Is it sad that Tashigi doesn't have a lot of friends? Well, she is a marine... they don't travel in packs like pirates. But her reward for her determination and sticking up for herself and doing her best every time she can, is the same as Coby's when he did. Someone has stepped up to the plate as a temporary designated hitter.

And honestly, I'd like to believe in even just a slightly more ideal world that would always be the case. I got beat up a lot as a kid, and I got stronger for it, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have wanted help all those times I was beat up. I was like Smoker, and horrendous with people and I didn't have friends to back me up. It wasn't until I realized that Moosey was getting beat up and bullied the same way I had been that I realized simply "enduring" didn't cut it for me. I wanted to protect him as the oldest sibling, and I wanted to send a message to those bullies that it doesn't matter how sick/frail/tiny someone is they still might be able to kick your ass. And I wholeheartedly support Massachusetts bullying law, because "it makes people tough" is not acceptable. I stood up for a lot of people who couldn't back in middle school and high school. And even just doing that DID sometimes have a Luffy -> Coby effect of that person realizing they were worth being stood up for and they could find that strength in themselves to stand up for themselves or back someone else up too.

Needing a rescue, needing help, falling down, asking for help, these things do not make a person weak. This has always been a theme of One Piece. Coby wasn't weak because he was always beat up by Alvida, he started off so weak because he didn't even feel like it was worth standing up to her. He could have died if he did, but was it really worth living in that kind of fear? Tashigi always stands up for herself. Arguably too much even. So the claim that she is weak absolutely needs to stop.

If you think Tashigi is weak, your idea of strength in One Piece is skewed. You can try to tell me why that's not the case, and I will seriously listen. Like I genuinely would like to have it explained to me why my points are wrong, but I'll probably debate back. Just fair warning.

And god, I just spent how many hours typing up this rant? OH WELL. Poison out of my system. Actually, I think I learned some things about Tashigi through it. Not enough to move her to my top 25, but I did learn something.

- Love CC