I’m seeing a lot of people anticipating a Zoro and Tashigi meeting in this new arc because they want to see Zoro “freak out”. They even hope Bonney will turn Tashigi into a kid to remind him of Kuina.
But the thing is, after the timeskip, Zoro has moved past the “freaking out because of Tashigi” stage. He now sees Tashigi as her own person, and this was confirmed by Oda in one of his notes to Ei Andoh, the author of One Piece Party. In one of Andoh’s drafts Zoro said “Hey, Copycat!” to Tashigi but Oda pointed out that “Zoro doesn’t call Tashigi ‘copycat’ anymore” and made Andoh change it to “Hey, Captain Four-Eyes”:
Zoro has only called Tashigi “copycat” once after the timeskip, when they first met on Punk Hazard and he was teasing her: But after that, he only ever called her “Captain Four-Eyes” or “Sword Nerd”.
So rather than the copycat shenanigans we saw in Loguetown and Alabasta, I hope to see a more mature discussion between the two this time, if they get to meet. I hope Zoro can talk to Tashigi about Kuina and they can solve their misunderstandings, or we can learn some sword lore through their conversations, or maybe even Shimotsuki clan history…
Punk Hazard was a first step in them collaborating and working as allies, and I hope this arc will solidify that.
*by akazaya9
