 Nojiko, Nami, don't ever lose to anyone. You have to be strong. Don't worry about what anybody says and never lose your ability to laugh. And if you can survive, then happy times, lots of them will come your way. Hello and welcome to One Piece 101, the series that breaks down everyone and everything in the One Piece world. And today, we're going to be taking a step into the past in order to examine the incredible figure that is Belmere. Belmere is a confident and mostly cheerful woman who sports an incredibly unique haircut, which I've just learned whilst writing this video is called a Chelsea Hawk. And she is best known in the series being the adoptive mother of straw hat navigator, extraordinaire Nami, and her sister Nojiko. Generally known as an exceptionally kind person, Belmere is also highly mischievous but also prone to impulsive behavior based on emotion. Or in other words, I suppose you could describe her as profoundly human. Something that would very much come to learn not work in her favor down the line, but let's begin things on a high, shall we? Belmere is native to the sea of East Blue, assumedly more specifically Kokuyashi village, which is part of the Konomi Islands in the region. Sadly, little is known about her early days, except for the irrefutable fact that Belmere was quite the troublemaker and was referred to by most of the people around her as a thug due to her tendencies to dip into the realm of thievery. Although despite this classification, Belmere had a strong support circle and those around her did care quite deeply for her. Now, as for who those around her were, well, it's difficult to say. As at the time of this recording, there has been no mention of her parents. And from what we know of her life in Kokuyashi village, she had no blood relatives. However, as stated before, Kokuyashi village held her in warm regard and she would come to make at least one strong lifelong friend in the form of Genzo, who would grow up to become the eventual sheriff of the village. And now to counter everything we've heard thus far, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, a young Belmere made the decision to join the Marines, an act that allegedly shocked everyone around her. I mean, the idea of this young, lawless existence voluntarily leaping into the world of law and order is a very sudden shift and feeling that she wasn't exactly a great fit for the job, many, if not everyone around her tried to convince her not to pursue this idea. However, Belmere was intent on fighting the evil of the world, specifically bad pirates, and she enlisted immediately. Not only that, but Belmere absolutely excelled as a Marine and would even rise to the upper echelons, earning an officer rank, although it is unknown exactly what that rank was. The lowest rank she possibly could have had would have been Enzin. However, the fact that Belmere wore the trademark Marine jacket would imply that she was likely at least a captain. As to my knowledge, nobody of a lower rank has ever been seen wearing this piece of uniform in the series. And if this hypothesis is true, then it certainly gives us a whole new level of respect for Belmere. When we consider other captain level type Marines, such as Smoker when he was first introduced into the series, as well as Toshiki's rank post timeskip. So Belmere wasn't someone to be taken lightly, and she knew it as well, as her confidence grew exponentially during her time with the Marines. In fact, when the news spread that Golden Lion Shiki and old rival of the pirate king had become the first escapee of Impel down, Belmere claimed that she would be the one to stop him should he attack East Blue. Now, just to be clear, obviously nothing should be gauged from this in terms of power, because from what we know of both of these figures, Belmere certainly would not have been able to take him on. However, this is more of a display of Belmere's can-do attitude, and her fellow Marines even noted that she was extremely reliable, making her an incredible asset to East Blue. However, despite East Blue being recognized as the weakest sea in the world, a tragic day would dawn upon Belmere when she and her fellow Marines were dispatched to the Oikot Kingdom in order to deal with pirates who were reportedly causing trouble. This dispute quickly turned into a bloody and incredibly destructive battle, leaving an entire village obliterated, as well as Belmere wounded and on the verge of death. And Belmere was even ready to accept the end of her life. However, in this key moment, a young Nojiko appeared in front of her carrying an infant Nami. Although what prompted Belmere to cling to life more than anything was the fact that Nami was laughing. This little girl had no idea of the horror that was occurring around her, which also garnered a smile from Belmere, who summoned the strength to save the girls by sailing with them to Kokuyashi Village, at which point all three of them were treated. From here, Belmere retired from the Marines, although it should be stated that it's unknown if this was an official decision or if she simply decided never to return. And she was presumed dead as a result of the skirmish. Regardless, Belmere decided to adopt both Nami and Nojiko, a decision that was met with similar shock from the Kokuyashi residents, still remembering Belmere as a brash troublemaker. However, the villagers eventually acquiesced, recognizing that Belmere had matured, and they even gave in to her request to not officially register the adoption with the world government. Adding further evidence to the idea that Belmere abandoned the Marines in order to answer the sudden call of motherhood. For the next few years, Belmere, Nojiko, and Nami lived peacefully on a tangerine grove, as Belmere rekindled her relationships with the residents of the island. And once again, a particular note is Genzo, with whom Belmere enjoyed a somewhat flirtatious relationship with, often to some sort of manipulative end. For example, at one stage, Nami stole a book, and Belmere cheekily offered to pay Genzo back with her body, greatly flustering the village sheriff. But in spite of the comedic intent behind this interaction, it does bring up the rather relevant point that Belmere and her family lived a poor lifestyle. And while Belmere always did the absolute best she could to provide for both Nami and Nojiko, on occasion this would lead to conflict. Generally, it would be Nami who would state her displeasure at always being given secondhand items from Nojiko, rather than being able to have anything new for herself. And in one such instance, Nami became so angry that she blatantly stated that she and Nojiko were not related by blood. A statement that was met with a harsh slap in the face from Belmere, and an argument that resulted in Nami fleeing the house. Despite acting in this manner, Belmere was mature enough to realize that she had made a great mistake and decided to apologize to Nami by cooking her favorite meal, even though it would eviscerate her budget and then sent Nojiko to go and fetch her sister. Now, this also just so happened to be the day that a brutal fisherman named Arlong decided to make the Konomi Islands his new base of operations. And due to the superhuman strength of his fisherman crew, he very quickly asserted his position as a dictator over the islands, with Kokoyashi Village being no exception. Now, whilst Arlong was a fisherman's supremacist, he was also a businessman at heart and decided to extort the village for all it was worth, demanding 100,000 berries for the life of each adult and 50,000 for the life of each child. And there it is again, money, a substance that we've already well and truly established that Belmere did not possess. And so when Arlong approached her abode, Belmere was quick to use her marine experience to attempt to subdue him. However, he was far too powerful and he overwhelmed her with ease, at which point Belmere did reveal that she had almost exactly 100,000 berries in her secret savings, just enough to buy the life of one adult or two children. And you know, in theory, this was quite a fortuitous situation as neither Nami nor Nojiko were spotted. However, were Belmere to lie about not having children and simply paid the fee for herself, it would have meant sending Nami and Nojiko out to sea alone in order to save their lives. Of course, of action that Nojiko was more than willing to take and Nami even eventually came to terms with the idea as well. However, their bravery would not be required on this day as Belmere paid the 100,000 berries and added that it was not for her, but for her two daughters. Although her reasoning for doing so was even more basic than sending her children out to sea. Primary reason why Belmere admitted this fact was because even if it cost her her life, she could not deny the fact that she had children and proudly stated that even though she didn't give birth to Nami or Nojiko, they were still well and truly her family. And from here, Belmere willingly accepted her fate with her last words to Nami and Nojiko being a very simple, I love you. Belmere was then shot in the head by Arlong killing her instantly. Much to the horror of Kokuyashi village and much to the despair of Nami and Nojiko. However, Belmere's legacy would continue to have a profound effect on the One Piece world with her parentage coming to sculpt both Nami and Nojiko into the women they would eventually become. And eight years after Belmere's death, the happy times would indeed come once again when Arlong met his defeat at the hands of Monkey D. Luffy. Some more fun facts about Belmere. Belmere literally means beautiful mother in French. It is used to refer to both a mother-in-law and a stepmother. Although apparently over time, it has come to develop the meaning cruel mother due to the stereotype in media that stepmothers can be mean to their stepchildren. Despite her retired nature, Belmere was the first marine officer introduced into the series. And in fact, she was the first female marine introduced into the series full stop. Belmere's death is subject to change depending on which incarnation of the story you are familiar with. To begin with, in the manga, which I referred to in this video, Belmere was shot in the head. However, in the original anime adaptation, she was shot in the chest. But then again, for the episode of East Blue Special, this was changed back to having Arlong shoot her in the head. And then of course, there's the four kids version which Belmere isn't shot at all, but rather very violently pointed at by Arlong as he threatens to imprison her in a comfortable jail cell for the rest of her life. Another change of the code was Belmere's mischievous statement about paying Genzo with her body. In the Vis Manga translation, this has made less sexually suggestive by having Belmere state that she would indeed pay Genzo with kisses. Furthermore, in a rare example of a beautiful anime only scene, on the night of her departure from Kokayashi Village to become a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, Nami said her goodbyes to an imagined image of Belmere, and Nami then went on to receive a less than imaginary encouraging push as she left the house, indicating the spirit of Belmere cheering her on to pursue her dreams. And finally, a truly useless but somewhat heartwarming fact, due to her love of tangerines, Belmere's grave always has a fresh tangerine adorning it. But that pretty much does it for Belmere. If you enjoyed this video and the content this channel produces in general, then please do consider donating to the Grand Line with you Patreon because the support of all of your amazing people is what continues to make this channel possible. And if you'd like to see more videos like this but applied to other anime and manga series, then please do check out my second channel, New World Review, for all of your wider needs. And if you'd like to join the fun at any time, then please do head over to my Discord server where a wide array of shenanigans takes place on a daily basis. And finally, please do comment with who, what, or where you'd like to see featured in the next One Piece 101. Mob Psycho versus One Punch Man. What anime do you think is better? As a whole, I absolutely think that Mob Psycho 100 is better. It is two seasons of absolute glory with some very fantastic characters and ideas. As for One Punch Man, I did still really enjoy it, but I find it to be much more limiting than Mob Psycho, which had the license to go a bit crazier and it never had the problem of figuring out what to do with its main character. Whereas oftentimes I feel like Saitama can be a bit of a hindrance to One Punch Man. And for much of its run, I was interested in characters who were not him. What One Piece cover story would you like to see being adapted into the anime series? Oh, this is an easy one. Enel's great space operations, no question. I still think it's ridiculous that over a decade after it was shown on the manga covers, the anime still has not addressed the fact that Enel literally went to the moon and discovered alien life. It's the kind of thing that would make for a couple of episodes of really good canon filler-like material. Are you cool? Um, am I cool? Well, I mean, I own and operate two YouTube channels dedicated to talking about anime and manga, so, uh, no. No, I am not.