Sean Chilima has to cope with the death of his father. He died in a tragic accident. However, a special quote from One Piece gives him the strength to deal with his grief.
How did the accident happen? The deceased is no stranger, at least in Malawi. In mid-June, some newspaper articles might have caught your attention about the Vice President of Malawi, Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash (via BBC).
The plane reportedly flew in bad weather and disappeared from the airport radar. The wreckage was completely destroyed upon discovery and all passengers were dead. He left behind his wife Mary and his children Sean and Elizabeth.
A large-scale funeral for the Vice President took place a few days ago to find comfort in this tragic situation. His son Sean gave a eulogy and explained to the audience how he encourages himself.
In his eulogy, he included a quote that you might recognize from the arc where Chopper joins the Straw Hat crew:
Son of the Vice President Moves Fans with Quote from One Piece
What quote is it? Sean concluded his speech by stating that he is a big fan of One Piece. There is a quote in the anime that he recited during the funeral:
The quote was originally directed by Doc Bader to his protégé Chopper. He recited it to Chopper after the little reindeer had prepared him a mushroom soup. What Chopper didn’t know at the time was that the mushrooms were poisonous and his mentor was doomed.
Since Doc Bader was already suffering from heart disease, he ate the soup so as not to offend Chopper. Thus, only the cause of death changed; death itself was inevitable.
The quote translates to:
When does a man die? When he is hit by a bullet? No. When he suffers from a disease? No. When he eats a soup made from poisonous mushrooms? No. A man dies when he is forgotten.
In the video, it can be seen that Sean briefly struggles with the words after the quote. The quote has a deeper meaning, which is why some in the community are visibly moved.
What do fans say? In the comments under the Reddit thread, there are some users who have also lost their fathers. They can relate well to Sean’s situation. There are even some users who used the same quote at the funerals of relatives.
Some users are even close to tears. They appreciate the quote, and by the time of the poisonous mushroom soup, they would be crying. Generally, there are many more quotes that the fan community remembers from the anime.
Luckily, after Doc Bader’s death, Chopper was taken in by Dr. Kuleha. Originally, the cute reindeer was supposed to look like an adult beast, as early sketches show: Official sketches of One Piece show that 2 members of the Straw Hats were supposed to look completely different
