Nojiko

Nojiko

Nojiko is the owner of a tangerine farm in Cocoyasi Village and is the adoptive older sister of Nami. They were raised together by their adoptive mother, Bell-mère.

She is an ally of the Straw Hat Pirates during the Arlong Park Arc.

Appearance

Nojiko is an average-sized young woman with light blue hair and eyes, and tanned skin.

Her right arm and chest are heavily tattooed – a gesture of sympathy and condolence towards Nami, who was ashamed of her tattoo of Arlong’s Jolly Roger. In the manga, she also used to wear a bracelet which she gave to Nami. She is usually seen wearing a beige sleeveless shirt (sometimes a green button-up shirt with yellow stripes), blue trousers and purple sandals. Furthermore, she appears to wear pink lip gloss.

After the timeskip, her hair has grown longer, she wears lipstick, and she seems to have become slimmer. Much like her sister, her hourglass features have become more pronounced.

Live-action series

Nojiko in the live-action series.

Nojiko as a child in the live-action series.

Nojiko when she was found by Bell-mère in the live action series.

Personality

Nojiko is Nami’s levelheaded older sister. She is highly supportive of Nami and generous to Genzo, who she and Nami had seen as a father figure. Unlike her sister, she seemed to keep herself out of trouble, although she apparently had a habit of upsetting boys. As she grew older, she also became partly responsible for the well-being of others on the island. During the years of Arlong’s rule, she would try to prevent others from rising up against Arlong while Nami worked hard towards honoring her deal with him.

She does not like people who would throw away their lives recklessly. She also has a belief that if you no longer have the will to live and wish to die, so long as you try hard enough, whether adult or child, it will not matter.

Relationships

Family

Nojiko always had a fairly content relationship with Bell-mère and never saw a problem with being adopted. Unlike Nami, she was aware of the situation she was found in by her and she laughed alongside Bell-mère about how Nami had been unaware of the bloodshed that happened around them.

Growing up, she often supported Nami’s bad habits of stealing, much to Bell-mère’s annoyance. She was deeply angry at Nami’s original recruitment into Arlong’s crew, but at the same time knew her sister enough to realize that she would not join the crew without a reason. Nami’s forever hatred of her tattoo led Nojiko to get her own and at the time she told her adoptive sister she got her tattoo because she wanted some body art like Nami’s, something Nami never forgot about when it came around to finally remove Arlong’s tattoo.

History

Past

Nojiko was born in the Oykot Kingdom. When she was two years old, almost everyone around her was killed in a vicious battle between pirates and the Marines. After the fighting had stopped, Nojiko found an orphaned baby girl who was still alive and began to wander around until she came across Bell-mère. Using what little strength she had, Bell-mère pulled herself over to the two children and to the relief of both Nojiko and Bell-mère, the baby laughed, seemingly unaware of the bloodshed that had happened.

Soon afterwards, Bell-mère set sail for her hometown of Cocoyasi Village with the two children and arrived back home during a storm. Bell-mère handed over the two girls to the village doctor, Nako, insisting the two children be treated before her own injuries. Much to the villagers’ surprise, Bell-mère announced after all three were better that she would adopt the two girls. The three would become as close as any real family.

Their life together was a struggle as Bell-mère was poor. Being the elder of the two sisters, Nojiko had everything bought for her first and Nami would end up with her hand-me-downs. After scolding Nami for denouncing them as a family causing Nami to run off, Nojiko was sent after her.

That same day, Arlong invaded the island and found her home, Bell-mère tried to fend the fish-man off but was quickly subdued. When asked for the fee needed to stay alive, it turned out all the money Bell-mère had would either save herself or her two daughters. Things would have been okay, as Arlong was unaware of the two girls’ existence, but Bell-mère gave it to her two girls as she would rather have died than not call herself a mother. To that end, Arlong shot her right in front of the eyes of her two adopted daughters, but not before Bell-mère apologized to Nami for not being richer, and not being able to buy the girls whatever they wanted. With that, she said her final words to the girls: “I love you.”

East Blue Saga

Arlong Park Arc

Nojiko stops Chabo from attacking Usopp, who the boy mistakenly believed was a fish-man. When the real fish-man arrived, Nojiko knocked Usopp unconscious in order to prevent him from fighting. Upon awakening, she explained Nami’s past and her allegiance with the Arlong Pirates. Usopp could hardly believe the woman he had trusted had betrayed them. When Usopp prepared to take off, a group of fish-men arrived and announced that Genzo would be punished for possession of weapon. Nojiko explained to Usopp that they had periodic payments to make to Arlong as a form of tribute. In return, he would not destroy their villages. As Genzo was about to be slaughtered, Usopp was inspired into action and distracted the fish-men as they chased him down. At the same time, Nami suddenly reappeared at the village. Everyone ignored her and treated her with a cold shoulder while Nojiko brought her back to her home.

Later, the Straw Hat Pirates became distraught as they realized Nami was not the person they thought she was. Nojiko arrived and revealed Nami’s past to the Straw Hats in return for them leaving the island. After trying to stop Nami from attacking captain Nezumi, a Marine officer who wanted to take the money Nami raised for her deal with Arlong, Nojiko was shot by him in the back. However, she survived.

She, along with the rest of the villagers of Cocoyasi Village, decided to revolt against Arlong. When they arrived at the gate, they found it was blocked by Johnny and Yosaku. They urged the villagers to wait for the Straw Hat Pirates to fight their battle for them. When the Straw Hats arrived, they began attacking Arlong and his crew.

However, Luffy found himself in a vulnerable situation and was thrown into the water, unable to move due to his Devil Fruit powers. Nojiko and Genzo agreed to dive into the pool to save the Straw Hat, as it was the only thing they could think of to help the warriors. They used Luffy’s Devil Fruit powers and stretched his head out of the water before taking turns attempting to free him from the pinning rock. After Nojiko performed CPR, Luffy regained consciousness and spouted water into the air, providing a symbol of hope for the Straw Hats who found themselves outclassed by Arlong. Sanji and Zoro agreed they needed to free Luffy in order to defeat Arlong.

Sanji dove into the pool to free the rock with Nojiko. However, Hatchan appeared and attempted to attack Sanji. Nojiko dove in the way and took the brunt of Hatchan’s punches. As a result of the strain, Hatchan’s wounds from Zoro opened and halted his attack. Sanji finally destroyed the rock and Luffy was freed. She joined the villagers in watching Luffy defeat Arlong, and destroy his building.

Their celebration was almost cut short as Nezumi arrived to spoil the fun. He ordered the riches of Arlong Park now belonged to the Marines. However, Zoro stepped in and Nami helped push Nezumi out of town so that the villagers could keep the money. The town gathered at the docks to bid adieu to the Straw Hats. However, Nami was nowhere to be found at first as she had secretly left the money in Nojiko’s house. She announced for the ship to take off and ran off without taking time to say goodbye to Nojiko directly. The pirates headed off to the Grand Line as Nojiko and the village waved goodbye.

Water 7 Saga

Post-Enies Lobby Arc

Nojiko was delivering mikans to Genzo when other villagers commented about Nami’s first bounty. Genzo tried to refuse the gift, but Nojiko insisted since she and Nami thought of him as family. She was then confused by Genzo’s contradictory behavior: filing a complaint about the photo used for Nami’s poster but hanging up an enlarged version of the photo. Nojiko pointed out that it was proof that the Straw Hats were fulfilling their promise.

Fish-Man Island Saga

From the Decks of the World

After the Straw Hats reunited, Nojiko, Genzo, Chabo, and Nako gathered by Bell-mère’s grave. Nojiko and Chabo were both wearing aprons displaying Nami’s tattoo and mikans, suggesting they started their own business.

Whole Cake Island Saga

From the Decks of the World: The 500,000,000 Man Arc

After the events at Dressrosa, Nojiko and Genzo received Nami’s new wanted poster. Nojiko seemed amused watching Genzo complaining about the new photo.

Live-Action and Manga Differences

Unlike the Manga and Anime, Nojiko did not know Nami was planning to buy the villas back from Arlong, until years later when Nami finally gathered enough money.

Merchandise

Video Games

Playable Appearances

  • One Piece Treasure Cruise

Support Appearances

  • One Piece: Burning Blood

Non-Playable Appearances

  • One Piece: Become the Pirate King!
  • One Piece: Dragon Dream!
  • Grand Battle! 2
  • One Piece
  • One Piece: Gigant Battle
  • One Piece: Gigant Battle! 2 New World

Trivia

  • Nojiko’s favorite food is mikans.
    • She shares her like of mikan with her adoptive mother, Bell-mère and adoptive sister, Nami.
  • Nojiko’s birthday, July 25, comes from her name since 7-2-5 can be derived from No-ji-ko.
  • In a response to a fan about whether Kuina and Tashigi’s names come from birds, Oda also mentioned that Nojiko’s name too comes from a bird, a Japanese yellow bunting.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8 Chapter 70 and Episode 31, Nojiko makes her debut.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Vivre Card – One Piece Visual Dictionary (Card #0097), Information about Nojiko is revealed.
  3. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 77 (p. 11) and Episode 35, In a flashback, Nojiko states Nami is 2 years younger than her.
  4. 4.0 4.1 SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 86 (p. 152), Nojiko’s birthday is revealed.
  5. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8 Chapter 70 and Episode 32, Nami’s sister is introduced.
  6. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 77 and Episode 35, Bell-mère adopts and raises Nojiko and Nami.
  7. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 11 Chapter 95 and Episode 44, Nami gets another tattoo because of Nojiko.
  8. SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 27 (p. 126).
  9. 9.0 9.1 One Piece Manga — Vol. 64 Chapter 629, cover story: From the Decks of the World Vol. 14, Nojiko after the timeskip.
  10. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8 Chapter 70 and Episode 32, Nojiko tells Chabo if he really wants to die to go ahead and do so.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 77 and Episode 35.
  12. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 78 and Episode 36.
  13. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8 Chapter 70 and Episode 32, Nojiko and Usopp.
  14. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 8 Chapter 71 and Episode 32.
  15. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 72 and Episode 32.
  16. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 76 and Episode 34.
  17. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 80 and Episode 37.
  18. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 10 Chapter 84 and Episode 39.
  19. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 10 Chapter 85 and Episode 39.
  20. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 10 Chapter 88 and Episode 41.
  21. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 10 Chapter 89 and Episode 41.
  22. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 11 Chapter 93 and Episode 43.
  23. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 11 Chapter 94 and Episode 43.
  24. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 11 Chapter 95 and Episode 44.
  25. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 45 Chapter 440 and Episode 324.
  26. One Piece Manga — Vol. 81 Chapter 812, cover story: From the Decks of the World: The 500,000,000 Man Arc Vol. 6.
  27. One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 9 Chapter 79 and Episode 36.
  28. One Piece Live-Action — The Girl with the Sawfish Tattoo.
  29. SBS One Piece Manga — Vol. 16 (p. 28), Oda confirms that Nojiko’s name comes from a bird.

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