East Blue will always hold a special place in the hearts of fans. It’s the start of our adventure and the place where we meet the first five members of the Straw Hat crew. It’s full of returning plot lines, character defining flashbacks, and iconic page spreads. But most importantly, the East Blue saga is used by Oda to do what seems almost obvious later on: define just what a pirate is.

This seems like a silly idea, doesn’t it? We know what pirates are, and we know who they are in relation to the different parts of the One Piece universe. But is it all really that obvious? What makes piracy distinctive in this series? It can’t just be sailing on ships or even just causing crimes. There is more to it than that and who flies a black flag.

Every arc in East Blue defines another piece of what a pirate is. These are themes that continue through the entire series up to the current canon material. But East Blue brings us the basics of piracy and sets the tone for how we are supposed to react to pirates from then on.

Before our main story, we are introduced to our first pirates: the Red Hair pirates. They become our very first view on piracy and the people who dedicate their lives to it. It is only appropriate that they become Luffy’s view of how pirates are supposed to act as well. Through their actions and stories, Luffy learns the first thing that makes a pirate: sacrifice. As pirates, they have sacrificed their ability to live peacefully in an ocean controlled by the World Government. Yasopp has sacrificed his time with his son. And at the pinnacle, Shanks sacrifices his arm and then his captain’s hat to Luffy, whom he sees as the future of piracy.

The first arc that takes place in the main storyline is the Captain Morgan Arc. We’ve already been introduced to those who call themselves pirates, such as Luffy and Alvida alongside the Red Hair Pirates, so clearly we now have to bring in the antagonists: the Marines. Shells Town defines Marines and shows that they can be both corrupt, such as Morgan and Helmeppo, or genuine like Coby and the rest of the base that he joins. It’s a very basic introduction, but it’s a good starting point when defining what could normally be considered the main “enemies” in One Piece.

Next up is the Buggy Arc. We now have an official pirate crew with both Luffy and Zoro. The entrance of Nami and her fixation on money introduces a new defining concept: treasure. Orange Town is rife with different definitions of what, exactly, treasure is.

In the first conversation between Nami and Luffy, Luffy explains that his hat is his treasure. Nami, of course, can’t imagine a treasure being anything other than the gold and jewels that she has been forced to collect her entire life.

Buggy is introduced through his own treasure: his map of the Grand Line and the gold that he has collected. Even his flashback shows that, as a cabin boy, he would lie to his own crew in order to get his ultimate goal: Captain John’s treasure. He is a foil to Shanks and Luffy, who treasure the hat (that we later find out was originally Roger’s) over money. We also meet Chouchou, whose greatest treasure is his deceased owner’s pet food shop, and Mayor Boodle, who tresasures the town and townsfolk above all else. They aren’t pirates, but through their interactions with Luffy we learn that treasure in One Piece can have many different meanings.

A special mention should go to the Gaimon arc, which also reinforces the notion that pirates can have different ideas of what treasure is. At first, Gaimon’s treasure was the gold in the chests he was looking for, but as the years went by, his real treasure became the animals that he spent much of his life protecting.

The Syrup Village arc introduces our favorite sharpshooter and the ex-pirate Captain Kuro. The definition of this arc is Pride. Pirates are defined by the pride they have in carrying the title. Kuro gave up his title as pirate because he wanted to retire and live in luxury, not on the sea with freedom like a true pirate. Kuro didn’t just want to live happily on land anymore, he wanted to renounce and pretend none of his pirate days ever happened while pinning his crimes on someone else, which is against everything that Luffy believes in. He made fun of Usopp for having a pirate father (even if he was in his butler persona) and truly seemed to consider pirates to be scum even if he used to be one. He not only decided that he wanted to retire, but he decided that he was personally too good to be a pirate. He didn’t have any pride as captain of his crew, even going as far as turning on and attacking them, which leads me right into the definition for the next arc.

The fight against the Krieg pirates isn’t one of the most difficult that the Straw Hats have faced, but it defines a very important part of the crew: what makes a good captain. We have watched Luffy grow into the great captain that he is today through many trials, but at the beginning we saw him find role models of what not to do from both Kuro and then Krieg. Not only does Krieg betray those who saved his life, but he shows a profound disregard for the life of his men. In fact, he even attempts to kill Gin, who was only acting on his own conscience. Gin was willing to die because he couldn’t serve his captain unwaveringly, and was then betrayed by his captain.

A good captain would never repay someone who saved their life and their crew’s lives by betraying them, and a good captain would never kill a loyal crewmate because betraying said person would go against their conscience. Krieg is considered one of the strongest pirates in the East Blue, with an enormous crew and a fleet of ships, but when it came to being a captain, he is one of the worst.

The Arlong arc is an arc that I consider to be the pinnacle of the East Blue and one that is often brought up the most during discussions of this early part of the series. It’s only right, then, that what the Arlong Arc defines for us is something that is considered by Luffy to be the most important part of being a pirate: freedom.

Instead of sailing the seas in freedom, Arlong decided to enslave towns in the hope of taking over the entirety of East Blue. He used his power not to live his life out on the seas with his crew without any rules, but instead to rule over those whom he considered inferior. He also forced someone to be in his crew through both blackmail and physical force, which is basically as far away from freedom as you can get. The arc defines freedom by showing Arlong’s regime being destroyed and Nami truly becoming free. She then uses her freedom to commit to being a Straw Hat pirate, despite now being able to live without Arlong hanging over her. She, and we as readers, now understand how important being free is to pirates in the world of One Piece, and it only becomes more important as we realize the extent of the World Government later on.

And for the final arc of East Blue we reach Loguetown, the town of the beginning and the end. And much like the beginning of the series in Shells Town, Loguetown also defines Marines. However, this time instead of showing their failures and corruption, it shows us the Marines that can be considered “good.” We are introduced to Smoker and Tashigi, two people who have power within their organization yet don’t abuse it to bully and instead believe in their true justice. Smoker proclaims to hate pirates, but it is clear that he and Tashigi don’t consider them to be completely evil like other marines have been known to do.

Sacrifice, Marines, treasure, pride, captains, and freedom. All these themes are essential to what makes a pirate in One Piece and especially what makes a “good” pirate as exemplified by the Straw Hats themselves. We’ve moved far beyond simple black and white definitions of most concepts in the series, but these themes are always at the root of how we view pirates.