Oda, you absolute mad lad! You just created a real-life treasure hunt!
At this point, One Piece is more than just an anime and manga series; it’s one of the most popular stories in recorded history. With hundreds of millions of fans worldwide, a long-running anime and film series, and a live-action Netflix series airing its second season, One Piece is more popular than ever. It’s gotten to the point where people are waving the jolly roger of its main protagonists, the Straw Hat Pirates, at protests around the world. And all of this has made Eichiro Oda, the creator, one of the most beloved authors in the world. And Oda just did something crazy to celebrate the manga selling 600 million copies. Something that is making his fans go absolutely crazy: he wrote down what the One Piece is and hid it.
Let me explain: The One Piece is the namesake of the entire series. It’s a legendary treasure hidden for centuries at the end of the world that was found by Gol D. Roger, the King of the Pirates. He told everyone about its existence right as he was being executed, bringing about the Great Age of Pirates. Finding it is the ultimate goal of most pirates in the series, especially for Monkey D. Luffy.
Here’s the crazy part, though: we have no idea what the One Piece is.
The series has been ongoing since 1997, and in all that time, fans still have no clue what the One Piece even is. The story’s given us hints about it. We know that it’s centuries old, was hidden away from those who seek to destroy it, and that whatever it is could potentially turn the world upside down. In other words, it’s something that those in charge want to make sure is never found. But we still don’t know what it is, and we likely won’t until the day Luffy and the Straw Hats make it to the final island, Laugh Tale.
At least, that’s how it was supposed to go. But Oda might have shot himself in the foot on that.
In a special video celebrating the manga selling 600 million copies, Oda did something he’s never done before: he wrote down what the One Piece is, something he’s kept to himself for almost thirty years, onto a slip of paper. He then locked it into a chest that was then sealed inside a pressure-resistant glass sphere. That chest was then taken out to sea and dropped into the ocean, coming to rest at a depth of 651 meters. The video proclaims that it will rest there until the day the series comes to an end, safe from the rest of the world.
That…might no longer be an option, though.
A big thing about One Piece fans is that when they want to know something, they will pull out all the stops. The series has a very healthy community of scanlators and leakers constantly posting the latest chapters online before they’re officially released. Now it’s claimed that Oda wrote the answer to one of the greatest secrets in the history of literature and left it someplace impossible to find? Most people would leave it at that. For the most die-hard One Piece fans, though, they’ve taken it as a challenge to a real-life treasure hunt. And they’ve managed to make major headway. In less than two days, people online have managed to narrow down the location of the chest using clues from the video.
๐ดโโ ๏ธ UPDATE: The search area just collapsed.
Using the rectangle proposed by @OPHunterTV, I ran a new bathymetric analysis with the SRTM15+ global seafloor dataset in Python.
The result is striking.
At the depth mentioned in the video (651 m), the possible location is no longerโฆ pic.twitter.com/vYso3yuSse
The only real issue would be the location itself. 651 meters is about 2,000 feet. Only submersibles and the most advanced diving suits can survive that far down, and they cost millions to use. But Oda might have underestimated his fan’s determination. For example, IShowSpeed, an extremely popular streamer and huge One Piece fan, announced he wants to do a live-stream hunting for the chest. And with his influence and resources, he might be able to pull it off. Fans will no doubt attempt to crowdfund their own attempts to find the chest, and barring the Japanese authorities getting involved, I think they’re likely to find it. But what should they do with it if they do?
My suggestion: leave it there or destroy it. Whatever we do, don’t open the box and look at the paper.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to know what the One Piece is just like everyone else does. And I normally don’t mind spoilers. But when it comes to the ending of One Piece, I will absolutely refuse to hear a word. Why? Well, Luffy can say it better.
This scene encapsulates how I hope the vast majority of One Piece should feel about the chance to learn the truth prematurely. It would be awesome for the brief second that we learn it, but then, we would realize that there would be no point in continuing to read this incredible story. No point in getting to enjoy further adventures with Luffy and the Straw Hats. No point to the entire story! And I don’t think that I could live in a world where the ending to one of the greatest stories of all time is spoiled to me! If a fan does find it, they should destroy it without looking at it. That’s what Luffy would do.
Of course, I have a sneaking suspicion that Oda didn’t write the ending on that paper. I think he knows his fans well enough to to know we would try to find it, so he might have thought ahead and wrote a fake message on it. Or maybe he really did write the secret on there, and is trusting the fans to not spoil it. Either way, it’s up to us to decide what to do with this. We have the chance to learn the answer to one of the biggest questions in literary history before its time. Do we really want that, though?
Also, it should be noted that if someone decides to open it and spoil the ending for all of us, they will become a global pariah.
This March, One Piece fans are going to break Netflix.
In the summer of 2023, Netflix released its live-action adaptation of the legendary anime, One Piece. And despite the streaming platform’s track record with adapting anime, One Piece proved that itโs built different by having a live-action adaptation that was actually good! From managing to make its characters and world loyal to Odaโs vision to faithfully retelling the early days of the story, Netflixโs One Piece has been a cut above the rest. Itโs almost as if having the series creator serve as the end-all authority on what works and what doesnโt was a good idea. You hear that, Shyamalan?
Itโs been almost three years since the first season dropped on Netflix, and while the anime and manga have continued apace, weโve had to wait for the live-action version to return. On March 10th, though, the wait shall be over, and judging by the final trailer weโve gotten for the series, it will be worth every second spent!
Picking up where the first season left off, season two will see Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates finally enter the Grand Line, and discover just how insane it truly is. Judging by everything that we know, this season will cover the tail-end of the East Blue Saga that started it all to the first half of the Alabasta Saga. This is when One Piece really started to find its stride, as Oda began to drop any remaining pretense of realism in favor of telling a story thatโs absolutely crazy, and it shows in the trailer. Everything that we see in the trailer is something that weโve seen in the series, no matter how crazy it may seem. That includes fighting otters, giants, a whale big enough to rival the one from Pinocchio, giants, dinosaurs and more! And thatโs not even getting into the Devil Fruit powers we see. Newcomers should prepare themselves, as from the moment we enter the Grand Line, Devil Fruit users are going to be found in almost every antagonistic group weโll meet, with powers just as crazy as Luffyโs.
However, what I think fans, especially longtime ones, are most excited about are the introductions of two important characters: Miss All Sunday and Chopper.
Chopper Still Cute as Ever!
I wonโt spoil anything about Miss All Sunday in case youโre a newcomer to the series, but when it comes to Chopper, I donโt think I need to hold back. With his chibi form and childish innocence, Chopper is pretty much the mascot of One Piece. Itโs to the point that the One Piece YouTube channel has a little comic strip about him. The series knows heโs adorable and has spent years selling merch of him, and itโs not hard to understand why. But despite how cute he looks, Chopper has one of the saddest backstories out of any member of the Straw Hat Pirates. Granted, a lot of characters in One Piece had a hard past, but Chopperโs is one of the saddest. I sincerely hope that Netflix gives his backstory the justice it deserves.
We have less than a month before the series drops its second season, and Iโm even more excited for it now than I was for the first one. The reasons being that now that I know that Netflix can pull this off, I want to see how far they can go. Secondly, the Alabasta Saga was when I started getting into One Piece back when it was being dubbed by 4Kids. Their dub might have been terrible, but it still turned me into a lifelong fan. So I hope that Netflix does this justice!
All the Anime RJ Writing Ink is Looking forward to in 2026 (So Far)
Looking back on 2025, it was pretty much a golden year for anime. There were so many amazing series, both new and returning, that graced our TVs, smartphones, and computers. But with the new year upon us, that means new anime to appreciate. So much so that my poor brain is struggling to remember everything we have to look forward to. However, that will not stop me from going over all the confirmed series that I think most people will want to see.
Sentenced to Be a Hero, January 3rd
You would think that getting to be a hero would be a sweet gig, but then you remember all the peril that would involve putting yourself in. Then you have what’s going on in this anime, where being a hero is considered a punishment for criminals wjo are forced to fight against demons. Not even death can save them from this fate, as they just get revived and forced to go through it all again. What makes this anime stand out isn’t the story, though. It’s the animation. The directors behind this anime adaptation are the ones responsible for the best scenes from Mushoku Tensei. The first season of that isekai has some of the best animation you’ll find in an anime, so this could end up being one of the most beautiful anime of the year. I’m very tempted to review it myself!
Speaking of whichโฆ
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3
One of the pinnacles of the isekai genre will be returning for its third season sometime in 2026, and I’m absolutely stoked for it. A lot has changed in the life of Rudeus Greyrat. He’s back home with his mother and the rest of his family, he’s now married to both Sylphie and Roxy, and to top it off, he’s now a father. All seems right with the world for Rudy, but as we see in the trailer, things are only going to get crazier for him. The return of his ex-girlfriend Eris is just the tip of the iceberg, as things will be revealed that will reframe the entire story thus far. And as someone who read ahead, I’ve been keeping my mouth shut about everything long enough!
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, January 5th
My Hero Academia may be over, but we still got the prequel spin-off series to look forward to as it returns for its sophomore. After the events at Narufest at the end of the first season, Koichi and Pop are surprised when Knuckleduster up and disappears, leaving them on their own. Nonetheless, they strive to continue their roles as Naruhataโs friendly neighborhood heroes without their mentor. Anyone who misses MHA will be able to rest easy knowing that we won’t be leaving the world of MHA behind anytime soon.
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, January 9th
Ladies and gentlemen, peak shonen is about to return. I already talked at length about what we have to look forward to with the third season of JJK in my review of the movie preview, but I just want to remind us that things are going to get crazy. Yuji is a fugitive from a corrupt Jujutsu society, Kenjaku has turned Tokyo into a warzone, and one of the craziest arcs in the story is about to begin. And that’s not even going into the sub-plot about the Zenโin clan!
Frieren Beyond Journey’s End Season 2, January 16th
I have yet to watch the show for myself, but even I’ve heard about the fantasy greatness that is Frieren. And now that greatness is coming back for more. I think that’s all that needs to be said.
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Season 4, April
We here at the D&A Anime Blog are big fans of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and for good reason. It’s another example of what I call the Seven Summits of Isekai, and 2026 is looking to be a good year for Slime fans. Not only are we get a new film about Rimuru and the others going on vacation in February, but it’s reported that season four of the anime will be premiering sometime in April. In short, we’re going to be eating well this year.
Dr Stone: Science Future Cour 3, April
Another long-running Shonen series is returning for its final act in the form of Dr. Stone. Despite knowing how things would turn out, I more or less abstained from the second part of the final season because it was way too depressing for my tastes. However, considering how the ultimate goal of the Kingdom of Science remains getting to the moon, I cannot help but want to watch what comes next.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, March 19th
The legend returns, and that means it’s time for everyone to brush up on their JoJo poses and memes. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure will be returning for Part Seven, Steel Ball Run, this March exclusively on Netflix. Set in an alternate timeline from the one we’ve known, Steel Ball Run is Araki’s take on the spaghetti western as we see an alternate version of the original JoJo, Johnny Joestar, participate in a race across the United States that hides some deadly secrets. Steel Ball Run is the biggest shake-up to the long-running Shonen series since Stardust Crusaders, but JoJo is still JoJo. So, expect gorgeous artwork, epic posing, and plenty of memes to be made starting in the spring.
One Piece, Elbaph Arc, April 5th
It’s crazy to believe that One Piece will now be a seasonal anime, but it’s for the best. It means that Oda will not have to worry about keeping the manga ahead of the anime, and that the anime can focus more on quality over quanity. And given how the next arc is also the biggest yet, that is saying something. As the Straw Hat Pirates finally make it to the homeland of the Giants, fans will be in for an experience unlike anything we’ve seen up to this point. Having been reviewing the manga on my personal blog, I can say that Elbaph will be worth the wait.
And this is only the anime that I’m aware of and want to watch. There is going to be plenty more to look forward to in 2026. Happy new year, everyone!
RJ Writing Ink’s Picks for Best Anime Moments of 2025
What a great year of anime that we’ve had! 2025 was filled with so many hits that there was no way I could possibly watch them all. From Jin-Woo continuing to slay as an aura farmer to Rentaro’s legendary yap about his girlfriends, there were a lot of anime moments that will live rent-free in my head for a long time. To celebrate the end of the year, I’m continuing my tradition of naming my favorite anime moments of 2025. Full disclosure: I will be limiting this to the anime that I managed to watch. This year got pretty busy for me, so I was unable to follow through on everything I wanted to see.
Super Saiyan 4 Returns, Dragon Ball Daima
Dragon BallDaima was a bittersweet event for Dragon Ball fans, as it would be Akira Toriyama’s final contribution to his creation before his passing. However, he made sure to cook us up a feast before he died, culminating in the return of one of Goku’s most legendary forms, Super Saiyan 4. While Dragon Ball GT remains a controversial entry to the franchise, everyone agrees that SSJ4 was the best thing to come out of it. Needless to say, getting to see it re-enter the canon at the climax of Goku’s journey through the Demon Realm was like a blessing from the heavens themselves. Thank you, Toriyama.
Kuma Gets Revenge on Saturn, One Piece
If you remember my post praising the story of Bartholomew Kuma, then you also remember how offended I am by the mere existence of his mortal enemy, Jaygarcia Saturn. The monstrous member of the Five Elders of the World Government went out of his way to make Kuma’s life miserable, kidnapping and injecting the love of his life with a fatal illness, giving said illness to her daughter, and then forcing Kuma to give up his humanity to save her life. Needless to say, every fiber of my being wanted Saturn dead before the Straw Hats left Egghead. While that would end up happening, I found it way more satisfying when Kuma came to rescue his adoptive daughter from death at the hands of Saturn, and then repay him for a lifetime’s worth of pain in one cathartic punch. Guess good things come to those who wait.
Rentaro’s 2-Minute Monologue about his Girlfriends, The 100 Girlfriends
100 Girlfriends went above and beyond for this. Apparently on the Blu-ray release it will be slowed down and in normal audio pic.twitter.com/iNBqwIBt9Z
I know I like to talk about 100 Girlfriends a lot on this blog, but normally, I wouldn’t include something from it as one of the greatest moments in anime for the years. However, I think this should count as an exception. In the final minutes of season two, Rentaro proceeds to go on an entire monologue about everything he loves about his girlfriends. Besides demonstrating just how much of a CHAD he is, that monologue actually made the record books, earning the record for the longest speech in Japanese Animation at over 7,453 characters. The dub is just as impressive, coming in at more than 3k words! And all of it had to be sped up to fit it into that one scene. Earning a world record is more than enough to make it onto this list!
The moment when Wataru Kato, the voice actor for Rentaro from The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, was certified a World Record holder! ๐
Jin-woo vs the Ant King, Solo Leveling: Arise from the Shadows
I’ve called Sung Jin-woo the Black Air Force Hunter for a reason, and the second season of his show continued to demonstrate why he’s worthy of that title. There were plenty of epic moments throughout the season, but its magnum opus is, without a doubt, when Jin-woo faces off against the Ant King on Jeju Island. When the best Hunters of two countries are left at the brink of death, Jin-woo shows up to save the day. The entire country then gets to see firsthand why Jin-woo is the strongest as we get this visually spectacular battle between Hunter and Monster. And the music they used was just the icing on the cake!
Natsuko Rewrites the Ending, Zenshu
After getting isekaied into a world based on her favorite movie, A Tale of Perishing, Natsuko did everything in her power to change the story’s ending, only for it to seem to be for naught. As the world begins to be destroyed by the embodiment of despair, the Ultimate Void, Natsuko uses all her drawing skills to make one last attempt to rewrite the story, creating a version of Luke strong enough to destroy it. In doing so, not only does she confess her love for the actual Luke, but manages to recreate the entire world and bring back everyone who died in the process. Not only is this whole thing absolutely gorgeous to look at, but it ties back into the show’s overall message of hope over despair. And it’s a much better ending than the film’s creator could ever have made. Score one for fan writing!
Speaking of which…
Midoriya and the Heroes Defeat All for One, My Hero Academia Final Season
Speaking as a fellow Star Wars fan, I can’t but think that Kohei Horikoshi looked at the climax of The Rise of Skywalker and thought, “hey, maybe I can do better.” I don’t know if that’s true or not, but seeing all of the Heroes help Deku defeat the evil All for One definitely gave off those vibes. As Midoriya puts everything he has left into one final attack, we get a montage of all the Heroes still capable of fighting doing everything they can to help him, culminating in a final, gorgeous moment as Deku lands the blow that will ultimately seal the villain’s fate. To make it even better, the entire thing was played to the series most iconic song, the ever-memeable “You Say Run.” That song really does go with everything!
You know what’s better than giant robots fighting equally giant monsters. Absolutely nothing! There were a lot of standout moments in the second season of DanDaDan, but I think the gang turning the Ayase house into a mecha to fight a space kaiju takes the cake. But even more importantly was getting to see newcomer Kinta not only solidify his role as an ally of Okarun and Momo, but he got to live out his dream of piloting a giant robot. Every Gundam fan in the world has got to be jealous of that guy at that moment! He may have his flaws, but when push came to shove, Kinta proved he had that dawg in him!!
Chainsaw Man vs Storm Devil, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc
After waiting years for the story ofChainsaw Man to continue in anime form, the Reze Arc movie didn’t fail to disappoint. Denjiโs fight against the likes of Reze was already crazy enough as it was. However, we all know that Chainsaw Man is one of those series that thrives on being as chaotic as possible. Ergo, instead of fighting just Reze, we get to see Denji fight her and the Typhoon Devil. All while riding atop the Shark Fiend. What is is crazier than riding a shark into battle?
The Whole Thing, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba-The Movie: Infinity Castle
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle was the kind of film that needed to be seen on the big screen. Anything less would be a great disservice, as would my attempting to pick one moment from it to single out. This entire movie was pretty much one big greatest anime moment of the year. The Demon Slayer Corps charging into their final battle against the Demons. Shinobuโs ultimate fate fighting Douma. Zenitsu killing his former sibling disciple turned Demon. Tanjiro fighting and beating the Demon that killed Rengoku! There’s too much to choose from, so I’m choosing it all! I’m so glad I got to see it on the big screen!
So, what were your favorite anime moments from 2025? Let us know!
One Piece to become a seasonal Anime Starting Spring 2026
This coming January is going to mark the end of an era, not only for One Piece, but for anime as a whole. And Iโm not sure how to feel about it.
For almost thirty years, the One Piece anime has been a near constant in the world of anime. Almost every week would see new episodes of the anime air on Fuji TV before eventually making their way online and to the West. That was the norm for a lot of Shonen anime at the time, with its contemporaries like Naruto and Bleach following the same formula. The bad news is that this often meant the anime would have to create filler arcs to make sure it wouldnโt overtake the manga, and most people hate filler. But things have changed since then. Most anime is now released seasonally, a method meant to ensure quality over quantity. One Piece was one of the last holdouts, and even that is about to come to an end!
๐ข Breaking News from ONE PIECE NEWS
ONE PIECE will go on a three-month break starting this January, returning in April 2026 with the start of the Elbaph Arc!
Beginning in 2026, the anime series will also kick-off its new production schedule, dividing into two parts for aโฆ pic.twitter.com/EQQI6mv4tB
At the time of this writing, One Piece is airing the climax of the Egghead Island Arc. But over on social media, it was announced that once that is done in January 2026, the anime will be going on another hiatus. And when it returns in April, it will no longer be releasing year-round. From now on, One Piece will be a seasonal anime, releasing episodes in two batches of 13 for a total of 26 per year. In other words, One Piece is finally going seasonal.
End of Longform Anime
This is the end of an era for anime. No longer can fans tune in once every week and expect a new episode of their favorite anime. Now everyone will have to wait until a new season drops. It allows for the people working on the anime to have more time to work on it, ensuring that itโs the highest possible quality. It can potentially mean a less stressful work environment for the people in the industry, because heaven knows they need it. More importantly, though, it means that filler arcs are going to be largely relegated to the history books. Still, having grown up on the weekly anime format, I canโt help but feel sad to see it go. Yet I understand that itโs for the best, as One Piece deserves to be as peak as possible. Especially when you consider what itโs going into once it comes back: the Elbaph Arc.
Elbaph is Worth the Wait
For those who donโt know, the Elbaph Arc is the ongoing arc in the manga, and next to Wano Country and Luffy finding the One Piece, it is the most hyped up thing in the history of the franchise. First mentioned back in 1999, Elbaph is the homeland of most of the Giants, the strongest warriors in the world. Itโs a place that Luffy has been dying to visit for years, and fans have waited decades for the moment Oda would introduce it to us outside of flashbacks. Once he did in 2024, he did not disappoint, with it being everything we imagined, and then some. Iโm currently covering it on my own blog, and I can promise you that the hiatus will be more than worth the wait, with some of the biggest battles and most insane lore drops that we will ever see. I might even end up reviewing the episodes here if thatโs possible!
The One Piece Netflix Series is Returning.
The good news is that we wonโt be entirely bereft of One Piece until April. The Netflix series is finally returning.
Two years ago, Netflix and Eichiro Oda worked together to give us a live-action adaptation of One Piece. And it didnโt stink! While it had to do away with the more cartoonish aspects, it still managed to capture the heart and soul of the series. The Japanese dub even got the seriesโs seiyu to reprise their roles! Since then, fans have been waiting for the second season to come out, and it looks like we donโt have to wait much longer. The second season will drop on Netflix on March 10th, 2026, and it looks to be bigger and better than the first. With the story taking us into the Grand Line, longtime fans know that this is when One Piece starts to pick up as the Straw Hats come into conflict with the evil Baroque Works. More importantly, though, we get our first appearance of fan favorites like Robin and Chopper. If I had to guess, Iโd say that the season will cover the Loguetown arc to the end of Drum Island, with the next season bringing us to Alabasta. And there will be a third season; Netflix has confirmed it.
Bottom line: now is a great time to be a fan of One Piece. And if youโre not, then youโre welcome to come aboard. Even if you donโt have the patience to watch the entire anime, there are plenty of people on YouTube that cover the series and the important parts.
Why the World Government of One Piece is just the worst
Anyone who has read or watched One Piece long enough can agree on one thing: the World Government is the worst. Over the course of the series, they went from simply being the people chasing after Luffy because heโs a pirate to being worse than any outlaw could ever hope to be. If I were to rank dictatorial regimes in fiction, I would put the World Government right next to the Galactic Empire in terms of how vile they are. Thereโs a reason why people have been using the Straw Hats flag at protests around the world, and thatโs because the fans know that it is a symbol of defiance against injustice. They know this because theyโve come to know the ones who rule the world of One Piece are more evil than any outlaw could ever hope to be.
Iโm RJ Writing Ink, and I wanted to talk about what is it that makes the World Government such an effective villainous organization in One Piece. Because if there is one thing that Eichiro Oda is excellent at doing, itโs making some of the most vile and disgusting villains you may ever find in a world of manga.
The World Government: EVIL
In the world of One Piece, the shadow of the World Government has been present long before it is formally introduced into the story. They are the ones in charge of the Marines, the forces tasked with maintaining law and order across the world by protecting it from criminals and outlaws. Like any large organization, they have a series of uniform rules and ideals that members are expected to follow. And just like any other large organization, there are going to be people who donโt always conform and subscribe to different beliefs as well as those who only care about their own personal gain. That much is made clear early on in the series thanks to Luffyโs encounters with Marines like Axe-Hand Morgan and Nezumi. The former was a man who effectively bullied those under his command and charge, while the latter was openly taking bribes from pirates like Arlong. However, theyโre both counterbalanced by the introduction of Smoker and Tashigi, two Marines who actually do the job theyโre supposed to be doing. However, that does not mean that they cannot think for themselves.
When the Straw Hats run into Smoker and Tashigi again during the Alabasta Arc, they wind up dragging them into their fight against Crocodile and his criminal organization. In doing so, they expose this supposed ally of the Marines for his crimes, leading to his arrest. Seeing as how they helped save an entire country, they ultimately decide to let the Straw Hats go when they had the chance to arrest them, with Smoker giving them credit for stopping Crocodile in his report. However, he is disgusted when the higher-ups choose to give him all the credit and cover-up the Straw Hats involvement. On the surface, it’s understandable. They’re trying to save face because they don’t want to admit that a pirate did their job. As we come to learn later, though, this was our first hint that something was wrong with the people running the world.
The Enies Lobby Arc was a Turning Point
I’ve seen several video essays already covering the subject, but the way that Oda reveals just how dystopic the world of One Piece can be is brilliant. In most instances of a dystopian setting, the story makes it clear from the get go just how unfair and cruel something really is. The Empire from Star Wars doesn’t even hide how evil it is. In contrast, though, Oda chose not to let people know straight away just how corrupt the World Government is. Instead, he did it gradually, dropping hint after hint as Luffy and his crew journeyed across the Grand Line that they the World Government was not what it seemed. Until, finally, he proceeds to blow the whole lid on everything several arcs later during the events at Water 7 and Enies Lobby.
For those who haven’t read the manga or seen the anime, here’s a basic summary of the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs. While the Straw Hats are dealing with tension between themselves, one of their members, Nico Robin, opts to turn herself into Cipher Pol 9, the World Government’s black ops team. In truth, Robin is actually the sole survivor of Ohara, a nation of scholars that sought to uncover the mysteries of the Void Century, a hundred-year gap in historical records during which the World Government rose to power, and something that they made a crime to research. In response, they burned the entire nation to the ground, killing everyone but Robin, and then lied to the world by claiming Ohara wanted to uncover ancient superweapons.
This moment was a major turning point for the story of One Piece. It made it clear as day to the Straw Hats and to readers that the World Government was, in fact, a tyrannical dictatorship that would stop at nothing to maintain its power, even if it meant killing the people it was supposed to protect. And in response to this, and rightfully so, the Straw Hats declare war on the World Government to get Robin back, utterly embarrassing them in the process. But this was only the beginning of readers learning about the crimes the World Government has committed.
The Celestial Jerkwads
From Enies Lobby onwards, Oda continues to escalate the level of atrocities committed by the World Government. At Sabaody, we are introduced to the Celestial Dragons, descendants of the founders of the organization who live atop the Red Line and see themselves as gods. They can kill, enslave, and torment who or whatever they want, and they can do it because they’re considered gods by everyone. In reality, though, they’re just delusional jerks who represent everything wrong with humanity wrapped into grotesque caricatures. The only reason no one defies them is because the Marines will step in to protect them, even if they’re doing things that are supposed to be illegal.
The Celestial Dragons are really the ultimate symbol of how the World Government is built on lies. They tell everyone that they’re an alliance of equals that works to maintain peace and justice, but to them, it means doing what they want without consequence. That is how they’ve likely always been, and that is why they are so determined to keep the truth of their origins a secret for 800 years, no matter how many people they have to slaughter in the process. To be fair, eight centuries seems unbelievable for a group so corrupt to be in power, but it shows just how effective their methods of maintaining power have been. If anyone tries to step out of line or learn the truth, they will brand them an outlaw and hunt them to the ends of the earth, something that most people cannot afford to be put through.
Now, to be fair, not everyone in the Marines and the World Government are as corrupt as the people in charge. In fact, people like Smoker and Tashigi are some of the most morally upstanding people in the entire series, and there are plenty of others like them. Yet despite these people having a greater sense of justice and could, in theory, change things for the better, they are ultimately forced to stop short of doing so. This is the ultimate trap of the World Government. They make it so that the most moral and just people, AKA the people most likely to effect change, are forced to become cogs in their massive machine. While they can do plenty of good in the Marines, they are ultimately unable to change the status quo without risking being branded outlaws themselves. It’s how the Celestial Dragons have been able to stay in power, and it’s one of the reasons why few have discovered the ultimate lie at the heart of the World Government: Imu.
Imu is the Heart of Darkness
The World Government claims that it is an alliance of equal nations where none are meant to stand above the other. As we know, that is a lie, as the Celestial Dragons and their leaders, the Five Elders, do just that. Yet only a handful of people realize that even this is a lie. In truth, the Five Elders serve their own master, a figure that, for the majority of the series, no one even knew existed: the true ruler of the world, Imu.
To date, we know almost next to nothing about who, or what, Imu even is, as not even the higher-ups in the World Government are aware of their existence. It’s not even clear if Imu is even human, with some believing that they are some sort of demonic entity or dark god. What is known is that they are the embodiment of order and oppression itself, ruling the world from the shadows with an iron fist, and they are determined to keep it that way. Any outsiders who learn of their existence will be hunted down and killed to keep this knowledge from becoming public. Yet that has not stopped some people from finding out anyway and living to tell about it. Were that to happen, then all of their plans would come undone.
For the longest time, fans have thought that the ultimate goal of the World Government was to maintain its power no matter what. And I do mean no matter what. Murder, torture, genocide, racism, brainwashing, whatever heinous act you can think of, the World Government is willing to do it. But I don’t think that even the most die-hard fans could imagine what their endgame might be. If you’re an anime-only watcher or not caught up yet, then turn back now, because there’s going to be a major revelation from this moment on:
The world of One Piece is slowly sinking into the ocean. And the World Government is likely counting on it to happen.
Armageddon is on the World’s Doorstep
During the Egghead Island Arc, itโs revealed that a thousand years ago, the world was once covered by massive continents and a civilization more advanced than anything in the present day. Yet the events of the Void Century would not only see to that civilizationโs destruction at the hands of the future World Government, but most of the world being swallowed by the sea. All of the islands that weโve seen throughout the series were just the tallest points on these continents that survived the flooding. Even that might not be enough anymore as the sea levels continue to rise.
While the person who shared all this information said that itโs unclear whoโs responsible for the current state of the world, most fans have guessed that the predecessors to the World Government were responsible. Or, at the very least, took advantage of things to seize control. Theyโve kept people isolated on their islands and unable to travel the dangerous seas without them, all while using the Marines to control the seas. They did all of this to keep people in the dark about how their homes would eventually be lost to the sea, leaving the Celestial Dragons atop the Red Line in control of the only remaining dry land. In other words, theyโve spent the last eight hundred years herding the world like cattle to the slaughter.
Ultimately, the world of One Piece may seem like a fun and colorful world of adventure; and for the most part, it is. But underneath that fun and whimsy, Oda has created a world ruled by darkness. And it is this darkness that Luffy is supposed to be fighting against. Why? It’s not just because he wants to be King of the Pirates. It’s because he might actually be the savior of the world. It’s messiah. Pirate Jesus!
Eichiro Oda is one of the most influential authors in the entire world, and itโs all thanks to his absolute epic, One Piece. Since it began publishing in Shonen Jump back in 1997, One Piece has become the best-selling manga of all time. Thereโs a list of the best-selling fictional authors in history on Wikipedia, and heโs at number eight. One Piece has changed the world to the point where a generation of young people are waving the Straw Hat Pirates flag at protests, showing how they believe in the series themes of freedom and liberation from oppression. Needless to say, Oda is a big deal in the world of anime.
Which only makes it harder for fans to watch as their hero threatens to work himself into an early grave.
Oda started serializing One Piece when he was twenty-two and in the prime of his life. He could afford to work himself to the bone and run on a fraction of the sleep he needed. But over the last few years, it seems as though his commitment to his creation has begun taking its toll. He’s started taking scheduled breaks every few chapters or so, but at the same time, unscheduled breaks are becoming more and more frequent. And itโs making fans ask the same thing: Is Oda alright?
No one is going to question whether or not Oda is losing his work ethic. However, people are more aware of how grueling working in the anime and manga industries is now than they were when he started. The long hours or ceaseless work can be incredibly stressful, and that stress can start to add up as we get older. The worst-case scenario, they could end up working themselves to death. Thatโs something that Dragon Ball fans know all too well.
Last spring, the anime world was shocked by the sudden news of the death of Akira Toriyama, the legendary creator of Dragon Ball. His death at the relatively young age of 68 sent shockwaves throughout the industry. Many people started to question if the hard lifestyle of a mangaka led Toriyama to an early grave. Oda, for his part, seemed to take the hint, as he went on a vacation so he could process his heroโs passing. However, that hasnโt stopped people from worrying about him. Heโs fifty years old, been working on One Piece most of his life, and it could be another 5-10 years before the story is finished. He needs to look after himself.
Oda has become beloved in the world of anime and manga for creating One Piece, and heโs managed to change the world for the better. Millions of people have been inspired by his characters and how to live their lives by their example. There are people out there waving the Straw Hat Pirates flag as a symbol of rebellion against oppression right now. His legacy has already been secured. But none of that will matter if One Piece leads him to an early grave. If that happened, I donโt think the fans would be able to live with themselves.
Fortunately, it seems the One Piece Fandom is among the most understanding in anime and manga. Every time Oda has to go on break, fans have been understanding and wishing him well. None of us wants to see him work himself to death, including myself. And when the day comes for him to end One Piece, he should be able to enjoy retirement for decades to come with his wife, kids, and hopefully grandkids. Itโs the least that Oda deserves.
All over the world, people are raising the Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat Pirates, and those in power are afraid.
In its nearly three decades of publication by Shonen Jump, One Piece has become an international phenomenon. Eichiro Odaโs legendary manga has become the most successful of all time, making the man himself one of the most successful authors in history. Heโs up there with the likes of Shakespeare, and itโs not hard to see why. People from all walks of life love One Piece for its action, sense of adventure, and the beloved characters that make up the heart and soul of the story. And at the heart of the story are the Straw Hat Pirates, known in-universe and without for their Jolly Roger featuring their captainโs iconic straw hat. For Luffy and the crew, itโs a symbol of the fun to be had in their adventures. For their many, many friends, itโs a symbol of joy and hope. But for those who abuse their power, itโs pretty much their worst nightmare.
That last bit is especially important, as lately, that is what the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates has come to represent to those who stand to lose their power.
How this All Started
It started this past summer in Indonesia. People were fed up with the numerous issues facing their country, especially regarding corruption among those in power. People stopped flying the country’s flag. Instead, they started flying the Straw Hat Piratesโ Jolly Roger in protest. Some government officials saw this as acts of treason and sedition and tried to have it banned. But the flag stayed.
cnn talking about people in protests using the straw hats' flag. i'm glad people can associate it with resistance pic.twitter.com/yeZNV9EVTs
Then came the events in Nepal, one of the poorest and demographically youngest nations in the world. In September 2025, the Nepalese tried to ban two dozen social media platforms. They claimed it was due to them failing to meet new rules, but many believed it was because social media was being used to show just how unfair life was for those not born into privilege. In response, people took to the streets, and among them were those waving the Straw Hat Pirates flag. Once again, it became a rallying symbol for those fed up with how things were going for their nations. Look on the protests Wikipedia page at the time of this writing, and youโll see an image of the Straw Hat Jolly Roger on there.
Since then, the flag has continued to spread. At protests around the world, people are waving the Straw Hats Flag, uniting people under its banner. Itโs becoming more than just a symbol of the popular manga and anime. Itโs becoming a real life symbol of rebellion, defiance, and freedom.
The Straw Hats have Always been about Freedom
The crazy thing is, all of this is in line with what One Piece is about: freedom.
There are several major themes behind the story of One Piece, but one of the biggest is that of freedom. All Luffy and the Straw Hats want to do is live their lives however they see fit, no matter what the rules may say. Fortunately for the world, the Straw Hat Pirates are naturally friendly and donโt seek to use their freedom to take it away from others. In fact, everywhere the Straw Hats go, they end up changing peopleโs lives for the better, bringing joy and saving them from oppression. At first, it was assumed that they were doing this simply because they were just that nice. But as One Piece has continued, their actions have take on a more significant light.
As the series has progressed, itโs become increasingly clear that the world they live in is one shrouded in darkness and misery. From other pirates to the government that rules the world under a false guise of benevolence, there are too many people who oppress and hurt others for their own gain. The World Government, in particular, is one of the most corrupt organizations in all of fiction. Theyโre willing to let most of the world be swallowed by the sea to keep themselves in power, deluding themselves by thinking theyโre gods. And their corruption inspires others to follow suit, creating a chain of misery that keeps most of the world enslaved without realizing it. But the Straw Hats keep getting in the way.
Itโs eventually revealed late in the manga that thereโs a reason why Luffy has his powers and seems to change things for the better wherever he goes. As it turns out, his powers mark him as the incarnation of an ancient sun god, Nika, the Warrior of Liberation. Nika is said to go around playing the fool, using his rubbery body to defy the laws of the world and bring smiles to all those who are oppressed. In other words, Luffy is the second coming of Pirate Jesus. Thus, his flag becomes more than just a pirate flag: itโs the embodiment of freedom itself.
And people in the real world are taking a page from Luffyโs book.
Maybe the World Needs the Straw Hats right Now
Thereโs no getting around it: the world kind of stinks right now. Itโs becoming increasingly difficult for people to stay afloat, while those in power continue to accumulate wealth and gain more influence. Many people likely wish for the chance to change things for the better, but either donโt know how or are scared to try. That is why Luffy and the Straw Hats have become so popular amongst younger generations. Luffy may not care about changing the world for the better, his willingness to call everyone he meets a friend means that he and his crew will inevitably get involved in fighting whatever tyrant is making people miserable. People see Luffy as an inspiration, and the growing popularity of One Piece proves how much of an impression the series is leaving on the younger generation. Thus, itโs inevitable that when fans take to streets to fight oppression in real life, they use the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates as a rallying cry. More than any one nation or ideology, One Piece is uniting the world. And the world is starting to notice.
Different nations, same flag. ๐ดโโ ๏ธ Freedom everywhere โ from Indonesia & Nepal to Gaza, Italy & France. Whoโll raise it next?#ONEPIECEpic.twitter.com/RriLOtfwx9
Thereโs no telling where things will go from here, but the more people use the Straw Hats Flag, the more it gets attention. Itโs doubtful that Oda intended for the protagonists he created to become political symbols, but the fact that their flag is unifying people across the world is a testament to how much heโs changed it for the better. Who knows? Perhaps by the time One Piece concludes, it will have brought about world peace. At this point, not even that sounds impossible!
Ladies, gentlemen, and those who identify as neither, this Sunday is Father’s Day. The day when we tell our dads and father figures how much we love and appreciate them. There have been many noteworthy fathers in anime. Some are great, others aren’t, and there’s the one dad who’s so vile that we consider him one of the most despicable villains in fiction. Fullmetal Alchemist fans know who I’m talking about. However, there is one dad in all of anime who stands head and shoulders above the restโsomeone who’s gone above and beyond for their child. Someone so selfless should be canonized as an actual Saint. That man’s name is Bartholomew Kuma.
Kuma from One Piece is the walking definition of a gentle giant. Despite how terrifying he can be towards those who commit evil, he is just the sweetest to everyone he meets. And despite the horrific nature of his life, he never stops trying to be a good father to his little girl, Bonney. Not even death itself will stop this man from protecting his daughter. And with the One Piece anime having returned and now into the story of Kuma’s life, it is the perfect time to honor Saint Kuma. This man has one of the saddest backstories in all of One Piece, yet he manages to be one of the best dads I’ve ever seen in an anime.
Get some tissues ready. This story is going to make you cry.
Born to Hardship
It all starts forty-five years before Luffy sets out to sea when Kuma is born in South Blue. His mom was a normal human, but his pastor father was secretly the last survivor of the Buccaneers, a race of powerful hybrids that had spent centuries being hunted by the World Government. They claimed it was for a “crime” they “committed,” but it was likely for simply breathing the same air as them. And when Kuma was four, the Government found them.
They dragged the whole family up to their capital of Mariejois and made them the slaves of the Celestial Dragons, AKA the vile, disgusting, and hedonistic rulers of the world. They would beat, torture, and abuse the family until Kuma’s mom finally dropped dead. But his dad didn’t want Kuma to lose hope, so he told him stories about Nika, the ancient sun god their people worshipped. He would go around spreading laughter and joy and freeing the miserable and oppressed while doing a fun dance. But then, just as Kuma was starting to cheer up, the Celestial Dragons shot his dad dead right in front of him. All because they didn’t like him making noise.
Yes, you read that right. They killed a man right in front of his child for simply annoying them with his song and dance. That is how petty these people are! About 99% of them have no empathy for anyone and those who do end up dead. And this isn’t even the worst. Every three years, they annex an entire country, seize its resources, and then hunt down the entire population for the fun of it. And Kuma was being used as one of their prey.
Thankfully, not all their slaves were willing to accept this date, and at the next hunting event, they met Kuma and made their move.
Freedom
Meet Ginny and Emporio Ivankov, two slave children who decided to take matters into their own hands, and they wanted Kuma in on their plan. Weeks ahead of time, Ginny had managed to leak the location of the World Noble’s (AKA the Celestial Dragons) hunt to the outside world. That led to some of the toughest pirates in the world descending on the place, turning it into a warzone. And while that happened, Kuma and Ivankov would sneak over to where the grand prizes, rare and powerful Devil Fruits, were being kept. They planned to steal and eat them so they could use their powers to escape. Unfortunately, they were only able to get the one Fruit that Kuma ate, the Paw-Paw Fruit. It not only gave him paw pads, but it let him push away anything he wanted for as far as he wanted, even pain itself. Using that, Kuma was able to help himself, his friends, and five hundred other slaves escape. And that was only his first miracle.
After they escaped, the trio went their separate ways. Ivankov took to the seas while Kuma and Ginny moved into the old church his parents had called home. They would make a living selling wood in town, and once he came of age, Kuma became a priest like his father before him. He even used his powers to help the elderly by taking their pain away and into himself. But he took it like a champ.
During this time, Kuma and Ginny would fall in love with each other. But when Ginny asked him to marry her, he refused. He couldn’t bear to put her in the same danger his mom went through. But then, something happened; something bad.
Their island home’s new king, Bekori, was a greedy and horrible tyrant who wanted to suck up to the Celestial Dragons. So, he decided the best way to do that was by saving money by getting rid of the parts of the population that he thought were dead weight. So he declared the southern half of the kingdom was being thrown out, leaving all the elderly people who made up its population to rot.
No one was happy about this decision, and when Kuma tried to protest, the king had him arrested. And then arrested Ginny and their friends when they protested that. But then, help came in the form of their old friend, Ivankov. During his time out at sea, he had met a man named Dragon who hated the World Government as much as he did. Together, they formed a small team of like-minded freedom fighters to fight tyranny wherever they found it. And they came running as soon as they heard Kuma and Ginny were in trouble. With their help, they swiftly deposed the king and sent him running for the hills. Afterward, Dragon and Ivankov offered the two a place in their group. And despite Kuma abhorring violence, the two gladly agreed to join.
Thus, the Revolutionary Army was born. This group of rebels had one goal: to overthrow the World Government and free the world from the tyranny of the Celestial Dragons! With their skills, Kuma and Ginny earned a place in Dragon’s inner circle alongside Ivankov. Together, the group fought tyranny and injustice, took names, and helped those in need. Life was good for Kuma.
But then, another great tragedy befell Kuma. Around twelve years before Luffy set out to sea, Ginny was kidnapped.
Fatherhood
Since becoming an adult, Ginny had become known as quite the beauty and had many admirers, even though her heart belonged to Kuma. Somehow, though, a Celestial Dragon learned about her and, being who they are, had her kidnapped and brought back to Mariejois to be their “bride.” There was nothing her friends could do.
For the next two years, Kuma would become a different person. He threw himself into his duties, charging recklessly onto battlefields as his mood began to darken. Then, one fateful day, he and the others received a call from Ginny. She had been released and made it back to the surface! But whatever joy Kuma felt turned to even deeper sorrow. The reason she’d been cast out was because she was dying from a terminal illness; she had called to say goodbye. Kuma never heard it, though. He teleported back to their church home, knowing she would be there. But by then, it was already too late.
To reiterate: the love of Kuma’s life had been kidnapped, forced to spend two years of her life as a s** slave, was r**** repeatedly, and then left to die after catching a deadly illness. And it was all the fault of the Celestial Dragons. For the second time in Kuma’s life, they had taken everything from him. And this almost destroyed Kuma. But amidst all this darkness, there was still a light to be found: a baby.
Ginny had gotten pregnant during her time in captivity and given birth to a baby girl. Being the monsters they were, the Celestial Dragons abandoned the child as well as her mother. Ginny sacrificed what time she had left to get her daughter, Bonney, to safety. And Kuma wouldn’t let her death be in vain. He would take in her daughter and raise her as his own. She would be the daughter that he and Ginny should’ve had. She became his new reason to keep living.
Being a single dad is hard in the best of times, and since Kuma was still part of the Revolutionary Army, he had to balance being a dad with his job. Fortunately, his Paw-Paw powers meant commuting wasn’t an issue, and the townsfolk were happy to help him raise Bonney, for they had long adored her parents. It was a busy life, but a happy one…until Bonney suddenly got a blue stone on her face.
By a cruel twist of fate, Bonney had been afflicted by Sapphire Scales, the same disease that killed her mother. It was such a rare illness that there was no cure for it. Any contact with natural light would make it spread, covering the host with blue stones before finally turning their skin blue before they died. The doctors who came to see her all said she wouldn’t make it to her tenth birthday. And to make matters worse, Bonney overheard this and misunderstood, thinking she would be better by then. Kuma had no choice but to maintain the lie to his little girl.
Kingship
After learning about this, Kuma left the Army to become a stay-at-home dad, keeping his daughter’s spirits up by telling her stories of Nika while looking for a cure. But then, the former King Bekori returned and regained his old throne. The difference was that this time, he opted to simply burn the southern half of his kingdom to the ground! Kuma couldn’t let this happen, and in a repeat of what happened before, he single-handedly stormed the palace and sent the tyrant back into exile once more. Afterward, the people were so grateful they declared Kuma their new king!
Kuma, naturally, didn’t care about such a title. He left rule in the hands of the tyrant king’s nicer predecessor so he could focus on Bonney. Who he just found out had somehow gained Devil Fruit powers of her own, letting her temporarily alter her age to look as young or as old as she wanted. It could even let her transform into alternate future versions of herself that she could imagine, even Nika!
But guess what? Bekori returned for a third time. He had spread lies overseas, claiming that Kuma was a tyrant who unjustly overthrew him, and the international community fell for it. The WG gave him a fleet of Marines to retake the island and everything!
Now, Kuma was a gentle man by heart who never wanted to hurt anybody. But after everything the king had done, Kuma decided that Bekori’s free trial of life had expired. He didn’t even wait for him to make landfall. He just pulled up on him at sea and sent the foolish former king and his fleet to the bottom of the sea.
After that, Kuma was now a wanted man. He couldn’t stay with Bonney any longer, and he knew it. So he set out to sea, fighting off bounty hunters while continuing to look for a cure for Bonney. Then, one day, he ran into his old friend, Dragon, who had managed to come through. Dragon recommended that Kuma go and see a friend of his, Dr. Vegapunk, a brilliant scientist and the smartest person alive. If anyone could cure Bonney, it would be him.
Just as Dragon hoped, Vegapunk could cure Bonney. Thanks to the miracles of stem cell research, the good doctor could save the girl’s life! The procedure would take a while, and it wouldn’t be cheap, but Bonney was going to live. However, Vegapunk wasn’t interested in money as payment. What he wanted was samples of Kuma’s blood.
Vegapunk had this idea about creating a line of cybernetic protectors that could keep the people of the world safe. With the Buccaneers renowned for their strength and durability, Vegapunk thought Kuma was the ideal template. Kuma happily agreed, thinking that being the template for an army of friendly peacekeepers was a great idea. It felt like things were going his way at last!
But then, the biggest opp in Kuma’s life and one of the greatest haters in all of One Piece came in and decided to take everything from him.
JayGarcia Saturn, a Celestial Dragon, one of the Five Elders who ran the World Government, and an absolute hater. Years ago, he had seen firsthand how Kuma had defied his masters and vowed to become a savior like Nika. And that act of defiance had been enough to make Saturn dedicate his life to making Kuma’s life miserable. And when he learned about Vegapunk’s deal with Kuma, he decided his time had come. Instead of arresting Kuma or forcing Vegapunk to back out, he did something worse. He would let them follow through on the deal. But in exchange, he would force Kuma to give up everything: his freedom, his daughter, and even his very humanity.
The World Government would oversee Bonney’s treatment, effectively holding her hostage while keeping Kuma from seeing her. As for Kuma, he had to agree to work for the World Government as one of the Seven Warlords and slowly be turned into a cyborg, with the ultimate end goal being to erase his free will, essentially killing him. And to add insult to injury, they would take Vegapunk’s clone army and turn them into weapons for the Navy to use!
So, despite knowing that this would lead to his eventual death, Kuma took the deal. He gave up his freedom and his very humanity all to give his daughter the future he deserved. That is how great a dad he was!
The process of becoming a cyborg was a slow one that spanned several years, and during that time, Kuma rarely got to see his daughter. And while he constantly wrote letters to her, the government op in charge of watching kept shredding them up! She had no reason to do so; she was just doing it to be mean! And the longer Bonney went without hearing from her dad, the more convinced his friends were that something was up. Sure enough, they were right.
Bonney’s Freedom
Some of Kuma and Ginny’s friends had overheard the Government agents talking in town, and that’s when they learned the truth: Bonney had already been cured. They kept lying about it to keep her captive as leverage. And it was at this point that those family friends took matters into their own hands. Having kept Bonney’s Devil Fruit powers a secret and having converted a ship in the local harbor to suit their needs, they managed to get the girl out right under her captor’s nose, set out to sea, and went to look for Kuma.
And, for extra karma, when the fake nurse tried to stop them, Bonney used her Devil Fruit to turn into a version of Nika and punch her face!
At just ten years old, Bonney had escaped to sea and become a pirate, and she would make a huge impression. Using her powers to mess with the marines wherever she went, she became part of the same new generation of pirates as Luffy and the Straw Hats. Yet try as they might, they could never find Kuma. And that was because he didn’t want to be found.
Even though they no longer had anything to use as blackmail, Kuma continued to serve the World Government. He knew that if he backed out now, Saturn would ensure that Bonney would not survive. The most he could do was watch her from afar as he awaited his end. However, all was not lost. Kuma had discovered something that gave him a new sense of hope for the future: the stories of Nika might be true.
Luffy is Pirate Jesus
For those who dont know, Dragon is the father of the series protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. And despite keeping it a secret from his friends, Kuma was able to piece this together. More importantly, he saw firsthand how Luffy could stretch his body like rubber and seemed to bring joy to everyone he met. And it just so happened that those exact two things were what Nika did in the stories his father told him.
Kuma kept an eye on Luffy as he set out on his journey to becoming King of the Pirates, and the more he did, the more he grew convinced. He didn’t know if it was fate or coincidence, but everything that Luffy did matched the legends about Nika. After Luffy proceeded to punch a Celestial Dragon without any fear of retaliation, Kuma became convinced: Luffy was the second coming of Nika.
Unfortunately, that stunt he pulled meant that Luffy and the Straw Hats were now being hunted by the best fighters the Navy had to offer. With the Straw Hat Pirates woefully underprepared for the second half of the Grand Line, Kuma knew they would get themselves killed. So, he decided it was time for some tough love. As Luffy and his crew were being assailed by Admiral Kizaru of the Navy, Kuma stepped in. And before they could do anything, he teleported each of the Straw Hats to islands across the world for mandatory training arcs. It was cruel, and it caused them all grief, but it was the right decision. If Luffy was the new incarnation of Nika, then he would need friends powerful enough to help him. And this was something they all came to understand.
But it was not something that Kuma would live to see. For his time had come.
The End…or is it?
Vegapunk had begged Saturn to show Kuma mercy, but, being the hater he was, the monster refused. Yet despite this, Kuma showed no regret for his decision. He was giving up his life to ensure that his daughter could live a full one, like any good parent. Using his powers once more to extract his memories for the doctor to study, Kuma said his final goodbyes. Then, with the final pull of a lever, Bartholomew Kuma, the man, was no more…and the world was a little less bright.
But the story doesn’t end there.
So, two years after Kuma effectively died, the Celestial Dragons brought him full circle, turning them into their slave once more and using him as their personal mule boy. Until, that is, the day that his friends in the Revolutionary Army decided the time had come to pick a fight with the World Nobles. And in the process, they sprang Kuma loose! However, there was nothing that they could do to restore his mind.
Meanwhile, Bonney had made her way to Vegapunk’s lab at Egghead Island, and ran into the Straw Hats while doing so. Having not gotten the full story about her dad, she blamed Vegapunk for everything, and if he couldn’t make him fix Kuma, she was out for his blood. Until she stumbled upon her father’s memories and proceeded to see everything.
Return of the Opps
And I think I can speak with all sincerity when I saw that what we saw in Kuma’s memories has to be one of the saddest backstories in all of One Piece. Maybe one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen in my life! But it did make Bonney realize that the real opp was Saturn. Who, as it so happened, was currently leading an army of Marines to kill Vegapunk for secretly turning on them. And when Saturn arrived on the island as this demonic spider, Bonney decided that it was on-site. But as she quickly learned, Saturn was almost unkillable.
So, Saturn pretty much had Bonney, Vegapunk, and half the Straw Hats dead to rights, paralyzed by Conqueror’s Haki. And now that Kuma was of no use to him and Vegapunk had turned on him, he decided it was time to end Bonney’s life. But before he did, he decided to twist the knife even further.
Warning: spoilers from the manga lie ahead.
Saturn proceeds to tell Bonney the horrible truth: “You know how your mama died from that rare disease? And how you somehow got Devil Fruit powers at random? Who do you think was the one who did all that to you two?”
It was all Saturn! He used Ginny as a guinea pig and infected her and her daughter with sapphire scales on purpose. And then he injected baby Bonney with the essence of a Devil Fruit to see if it would give her its powers. He is the reason that Bonney died and Kuma had to sacrifice his freedom and life!!! HE DESTROYED THIS FAMILY’S LIVES! ALL BECAUSE KUMA DECIDED TO STAND UP FOR HIMSELF!
In all my years of life, I have seen some truly despicable villains. I have seen tyrants, psychopaths, predators, and haters of the highest degree. But this? This is hating on the same level as Reverse-Flash, DIO, and Frieza. This reveal was enough to make me scream for Saturn’s blood at the top of my lungs! He became public enemy number one in the fandom!
Thankfully, fans didn’t have to wait long for karma to come back to bite Saturn in the butt.
Justice at last
So, one of the last things that Saturn ordered Vegapunk to do to Kuma before erasing his free will was to implant a bomb in him. That way, he could blow him up if he ever went rogue. But Vegapunk secretly altered it to a simple shutdown switch that would render him inactive, because he had morals and ethics. By the time the Revolutionary Army found him, Saturn had already hit the button, meaning that he was pretty much catatonic.
Which only makes what happened next even more important.
As everything was happening at Egghead, Kuma’s friends were trying to restore his humanity. Suddenly, Kuma got up and started running as fast as he could. Before they could stop him, he had already teleported away!
None of them knew it, but Kuma’s dad’s sense had been tingling.
Despite losing his memories, free will, and humanity, and despite not knowing what was happening, Kuma somehow sensed that Bonney was in trouble. And in defiance of all logic and common sense, through sheer force of will, Kuma forced himself to run, fly, and teleport to where his daughter was. He climbed the 10,000-meter tall Red Line, fought his way through Mariejois, and slipped past Fleet Admiral Akainu to get to Egghead. And he got there just in time to save his daughter from being skewered by Saturn!
i added some sound effects to midael's kuma vs saturn animation, for the punch i used the sound of luffy punching the celestial dragon from one piece ep396 because i thought it kind of matches the intensity
Finally, after all these years, Bonney was reunited with her beloved dad. And while she sat there, being hugged by her father and crying her eyes out, Saturn was unable to process what was happening. It didn’t make any sense to him! He thought that Kuma was dead! Even Vegapunk had no idea how this was possible. It didn’t matter, though, because this was the beginning of the end for Saturn.
Saturn had made it his personal mission in life to make Kuma’s life a living hell. He had taken the woman he loved, endangered his daughter’s life, and robbed him of his humanity and freedom. And now, Kuma was ready to give him a lifetime of karma. He went full Asura’s Wrath mode on Saturn and, for the crime of making his daughter cry, sentenced the demon to a cathartic face-punch that should’ve killed him then and there. But that would be too good for Saturn. His humiliation was just getting started. Because now, it was time for the Sun God to punish him.
Saturn Gets Royally Clapped
After being left exhausted earlier from an earlier fight, Luffy finally recovered enough to re-enter Gear Fifth and rejoined the battle. And the moment that Bonney saw him in that form, Vegapunk told her that all the stories about Nika were true, and she was looking at them. Everything her dad had told her had been right all along; NIKA WAS REAL, AND LUFFY WAS HIS NEWEST INCARNATION. And he proceeded to
Utterly embarrass Saturn in the most cartoonish way possible. But that wasn’t even the best part.
Luffy is HIM fighting the Gorosei and a Admiral making both Kizaru and Saturn into a pizza then making Saturn call for the rest of the Gorosei to fight along is a huge feat https://t.co/zuVRA1IB3Ypic.twitter.com/TCaUdtOCqH
Remember those robot clones of Kuma that Vegapunk built, the Pacifistas? The newest models had been stationed as security on Egghead, and while everything was happening, Saturn had tried to use them to kill Vegapunk and the Straw Hats. He thought that they were programmed to follow the Five Elders orders above all else. However, Vegapunk had outsmarted them. He secretly programmed the Pacifistas to follow an even higher authority: Bonney. The good doctor made it so that they would never harm her and would always be there to help her. The love between father and daughter basically made one of the World Government’s greatest weapons completely useless.
Eventually, the Straw Hats, Kuma, Bonney, and all their allies managed to escape, but not before Saturn made one last attempt to kill them all. But Luffy and Bonney had had enough of this monster. And using her Fruit’s powers to mimic Luffy’s Gear Fifth, Bonney joined her hero in repaying Saturn for a lifetime of pain and suffering by giving him the mother of all beatdowns.
Luffy is HIM fighting the Gorosei and a Admiral making both Kizaru and Saturn into a pizza then making Saturn call for the rest of the Gorosei to fight along is a huge feat https://t.co/zuVRA1IB3Ypic.twitter.com/TCaUdtOCqH
Sadly, Saturn did not dieโฆyet. However, his failure to kill Luffy and cost the World Government control of the Pacifistas drew the wrath of the true ruler of the world, Imu. And while Saturn tried to explain himself to his master, Imu was about as forgiving as Darth Vader. And Saturn had failed him for the last time, an act that would see the dark entity strip him of his immortality and, thus, his life.
– He killed Ginny & made Kuma become a cyborg – He made Bonney suffer – He made Kizaru & Sentomaru conflicted – He contributed to Vegapunk's death – He summoned all Gorosei in Egghead – He made Robin suffer
So ended the life of one of the greatest haters in One Piece lore. May they rot forever.
Kuma is Best Anime Dad Ever
And that is the story of Saint Kuma thus far. And I say thus far because, despite technically being dead, one of Vegapunk’s satellites, Lilith, said that she was going to work on a way to restore his mind. In other words, Bonney might be able to have her happy ending with her father after all! But for now, she’s just happy being able to be with her dad. And may no one ever separate them again.
Kuma is, without a doubt, one of the best dads I’ve ever seen in anime. He has lived a life of selfless charity, saving hundreds of lives and literally taking on their pain for himself. He’s so selfless that he is willing to make a deal with the devil to save his daughter’s life despite knowing it would kill him. He even willed himself to protect his child after becoming a mindless machine because he loved her that much. That is the kind of example every dad should follow! If he were a real person, he would be canonized as a saint!
Everyone, we have found our Chopper, and he is adorable.
In 2023, the live-action adaptation of One Piece premiered on Netflix, and despite what many fans feared, it didnโt stink! In fact, it was one of the most faithful and enjoyable live-action adaptations of an anime that many had ever seen. Thus, it was inevitable that Netflix would end up green-lighting a second season as the Straw Hat Pirates finally leave the East Blue behind for the Grand Line. That means the show would be heading into the vaunted Alabasta Saga, which would introduce us to fan-favorite characters like Crocodile, Vivi, Nico Robin, and many more. However, there is one character that fans have been concerned about more than anyone else: Tony Tony Chopper.
A blue-nosed reindeer that ate a Devil Fruit, granting him sentience, Chopper serves as the Straw Hatโs doctor and one of its most popular members. Beloved by fans for his adorable appearance and sweet nature, heโs one of the most marketable members of the cast, and the subject of tons of merchandise. Given how picky fans can be with using CGI (Ugly Sonic), people were naturally worried about what Netflix would do to Chopper. And when Netflix put out an ad saying there would be a big announcement at their annual Tudum festival about One Piece, everyone knew what was coming.
And we were right. We got our first-ever look at the live-action/CGI version of Chopper.
So far, reactions to the Netflix Chopper has beenโฆmixed. Some people are saying itโs as bad as Ugly Sonic. Others are saying that they could make him cuter. Others are going to be upset no matter what Netflix does, though. And while he could be made to look cuter, Netflix got one thing right about Chopper: his personality.
In the span of the short teaser, we see Chopper act just like how he does in the anime and manga. His shy and childish nature (because he is still a kid), his love of compliments, and his expressive face are all present. While itโs a little sad that they donโt get his English VA, Brina Palencia, to voice him, Mikaela Hoover captures the spirit of the character. Plus, itโs likely the Japanese subs will use her seiyuu, so there is that.
In addition to the reveal of Chopper, Tudum also confirmed that the show will be returning in 2026. For those who canโt wait, not to worry! LEGO is making sets based on the Netflix show set to come out later this summer. Either way, thereโs plenty to look forward to in the coming months.
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