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EP. REVIEW: One Piece

Count me among those confused at people thinking this reveal somehow turns Luffy into a Chosen One. Yes, the Gum-Gum fruit has greater historical significance than we first believed, but it's important to remember that Luffy ate the fruit entirely by accident. He wasn't born with nor destined for nor chosen by another character to inherit it - he quite literally pilfered it out of Shanks' boat without knowing what it was.

If there's any predestination here, it's the sense that the Fruit will always find its way to a suitably anti-authoritarian wielder, but everything Luffy has achieved in the series has been through his own development, training, etc - as much as any Devil Fruit user's.

If Luffy is a Chosen One figure, who exactly chose him?

Granted, but neither the Sea Kings nor Zunesha recognised him as their long awaited sovereign when he could hear them.

That said, it was obvious Luffy was Joyboy all the way back at Fishman Island.

It didn't come out of nowhere. There's more than enough information to conclude that Oda had some version of this idea back in Skypiea (no, not the silhouette; that's backshadowing). Even if Sun God Nika was only mentioned very recently, there has been foreshadowing for this. The catch is that all the foreshadowing is passive and indirect: meaning no one (including Oda within the manga) went out of their way to specifically point out the key points that justify it. The Sun is the single most important motif in the entire series. Ancient Jaya/Skypiea explicitly worshipped a Sun god and the Sun is revered (for different reasons) in Fishman Island and Elbaf. All of the theming in the series about dawn, the Sun and freedom have been building up to this.

The fruit didn't change though. The thematic meaning behind the fruit has been updated but the actual fruit is the exact same as the beginning of the series

Luffy still had to work hard and train for 10 years to use his initially crappy ability and take on increasingly tougher challenges throughout the entire series before awakening.

everything Luffy has achieved in the series has been through his own development, training, etc - as much as any Devil Fruit user's.

People try to give Oda too much credit. It's been clear as early on as Vivi that he makes things up as he goes along. That's not a criticism as he's very good at it.

But come on there was no hint that this was coming, it came so completely out of no where that Oda had to have the 5 government guys explain what was happening to an invisible audience because he hadn't laid enough ground work for the exposition to happen more naturally.

everydaygamer wrote:

People try to give Oda too much credit. It's been clear as early on as Vivi that he makes things up as he goes along. That's not a criticism as he's very good at it. But come on there was no hint that this was coming, it came so completely out of no where that Oda had to have the 5 government guys explain what was happening to an invisible audience because he hadn't laid enough ground work for the exposition to happen more naturally.

When the manga chapter was coming out, the thing that really made me do a double take was the implication that they'd been looking for the Gum-Gum Fruit for centuries. That's like a big "HUH?" moment

Funnily enough, it's not uncommon for this to not be made clear in Chosen One storylines. Sometimes things are left vague and the reader is simply left to believe that some unknown higher power or the universe itself was the one who chose the main character to save the world or do whatever it is that he's destined to do.

In One Piece's case, you could either argue the same thing, or you could argue that Nika/Joyboy was the the one who chose Luffy. The latter one seems to be more plausible. To quote the Five Elders: "Zoan Fruits contain a mind of their own. And this particular fruit has the name of a god."

Sure, but his fruit and Nika powers had not awakened yet at that point.

I hope you're right though. I'd love for Luffy not to be the prophesied sovereign. Or for Luffy to be the prophesied sovereign only for him to reject that role they want to impose of him. I'm fine with anything that subverses the destiny stuff.

See, there is this ongoing discussion of when exactly Oda conceived the idea of Joyboy/Nika or where in the manga did he first leave a sign pointing to it. And I kid you not, I have seen people claiming that it was planned as early as chapter 1.

Most people argue that it was as early as Skypiea, but that to me sounds far-fetched as well.

<big_snip>

But in the end, this is ultimately speculation on our part. Only Oda knows when he came up with the concept of Nika. Also, there's nothing wrong with retroactive foreshadowing per se. It can be great literary device and One Piece has benefitted from it on many ocassions. I just don't think that is the case here.

*Don't y'all get me started on Ace's tattoo cause Lord knows I will fight you

That's the thing though. It's the change in thematic meaning that undermines Luffy's accomplishments and who Luffy is as a character (unless the story subverses the destiny stuff later on, which I'm hopeful it will).

Then why not just leave it at that instead of adding the god layer it? Because this:

"Luffy represents hard-work."

Will always be inherently better than this:

"Luffy represents hard-work. He was also chosen by god and is now god/reincarnation of god"

If there's any predestination here, it's the sense that the Fruit will always find its way to a suitably anti-authoritarian wielder, but everything Luffy has achieved in the series has been through his own development, training, etc - as much as any Devil Fruit user's.

Seems like a bit of a copout explanation tbh.

We can surmise that Joyboy was most likely the previous user of the Awakened Nika fruit in the Void Century. What I'm not convinced of at this stage is if the Sun God is a real entity in the One Piece world or just the dream of those wished for a savior. But this is starting to get into spoiler territory regarding the explanation of Devil Fruits. If he isn't real, then no one chose Luffy unless the original Joyboy was the literal Sun God before the fruit even existed. If its just the fruit that chose him, that's a weak implementation of the Chosen One trope.

I've heard this sentiment before as well. But is it really that big of a deal that some intangible concept of destiny has preordained that someone like Luffy would eventually come?

Why does the Skypiea Arc even exist?

Imagine that Luffy had the same power-up and abilities but the fruit name was still the same (minus the visual change), you wouldn't be saying that it undermines Luffy's accomplishments or character.

Just because Luffy did hard-work, doesn't mean that he represents hard-work; Luffy has never represented hard-work.

theotheranimeman wrote:

When I read comments like this (and there's a lot of them), I can't help but wonder if we've been watching the same anime/reading the same manga. One Piece was visually always just a few steps away from Looney Tunes and that's the main reason some people are reluctant to get into it.

OP's fights have generally followed very clear principles and not been particularly difficult to follow the mechanics of. I don't mind that many of those principles are downright goofy; what I was more bothered by was that this part of the Kaido fight bordered on incoherent -- it was very difficult to follow the action (in part because of what Gem-Bug said about the extensive use of high-speed blur), both artistically and mechanically. That feeling may dissipate as I become more familiar with how this form works, but that's the specific thing I didn't enjoy overly much about its introduction.

Also, I agree with ECoconut about the thematic issues; or, at least, share their apprehension. Not fond of the apparent shift from Luffy achieving what he has through hard work to his framing as a child of destiny.

Couldnt stand the Looney Tunes sound effects and pre-WW2 Steamboat Willy style landscape swaying in time with the characters, really takes you out of the show. Suddenly peoples eyeballs are left behind when they are punched Wile-E-Coyote style? The visual design of Gear 5 I like, for example the way his eyebrows form Son Gokus traditional circlet and referencing him as the monkey king is back to the early days of the show.

That's fair, the anime version of the fight so far was visually very difficult to follow at parts, that I can agree with. As for the mechanics, well... even in the manga we don't really know the limitations of Gear 5 yet. It seems to operate on cartoon logic, but I'm sure it's going to grounded somehow in the next big Luffy fight.

OH&S wrote:

Seems like a bit of a copout explanation tbh.

Don't look at me. Tell that to the Digimon Adventure reboot and many other stories like it

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We can surmise that Joyboy was most likely the previous user of the Awakened Nika fruit in the Void Century. What I'm not convinced of at this stage is if the Sun God is a real entity in the One Piece world or just the dream of those wished for a savior. But this is starting to get into spoiler territory regarding the explanation of Devil Fruits. If he isn't real, then no one chose Luffy unless the original Joyboy was the literal Sun God before the fruit even existed. If its just the fruit that chose him, that's a weak implementation of the Chosen One trope.

Yeah, this stuff is hard to discuss because there's so much information we still lack. We'll just have to wait and see. The fact that it's a mythical fruit might suggest that Nika is just that, a myth, fiction. But then there's the revelation that the fruit has a mind and will of its own. Whose mind/will? It could easily go either way.

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I've heard this sentiment before as well. But is it really that big of a deal that some intangible concept of destiny has preordained that someone like Luffy would eventually come?

In any other story, I would let it slide. But in a story that is specifically about freedom and free will, why even bother introducing such concepts? Also, there is a difference between the world hoping that someone might someday achieve something, and the world waiting specifically for Luffy to achieve something at a specific time in history. The former is fine, the latter is just prophecy, plain and simple.

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Why does the Skypiea Arc even exist?

Easy. Because it's a big adventure. Because that's what pirates search for when they sail into the seas. Because that's a big part of what One Piece is about. Skypiea didn't even need the Poneglyph at the end to justify its existence. All it needed to do was give you a thematically satisfying story and fill you with with a sense of wonder, and it delivered.

So next time you see someone saying that Skypiea can be skipped, tell them that Skypiea is crucial for the story because when Luffy was fighting Eneru to the death, he still remembered to ring the golden bell so that Cricket could hear it down in Jaya. And Cricket heard it. And he cried. And then I cried.

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Imagine that Luffy had the same power-up and abilities but the fruit name was still the same (minus the visual change), you wouldn't be saying that it undermines Luffy's accomplishments or character.

A Gear 5 with no prophecies attached to it? No fruits having a mind of their own? Luffy not being a god-coded character? Where do I sign?

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Just because Luffy did hard-work, doesn't mean that he represents hard-work; Luffy has never represented hard-work.

Aight, but let me rephrase it then. This:

"Luffy became a great pirate through hard work."

Will always be better than this:

"Luffy became a great pirate through hard work. Although there's also this one prophecy about a great sovereign and everything points to it being Luffy? But there's no confirmation yet so we don't have enough evidence to decisively conclude...."

In all seriousness, I maintain that the reason Oda has been bringing up all this destiny stuff in Wano is because he intends to subvert it later on in order to further drive home the message that One Piece is about free will.

spoiler[I'll go a step further and give you a better one. I'm going full-on ridiculous: The One Piece will be heavily tied to prophecy and Luffy fulfilling his destiny as Joyboy. Seeing this, Luffy will reject his destiny, he will refuse to claim the One Piece, he will let Buggy take all the glory and become the King of the Pirates, and Luffy will simply go in search of his next adventure. I FEEL IT IN MY BONES and I'm ready to permanently glue a clown wig to my head if it turns out to be wrong.]

WatcherZer wrote:

Couldnt stand the Looney Tunes sound effects and pre-WW2 Steamboat Willy style landscape swaying in time with the characters, really takes you out of the show. Suddenly peoples eyeballs are left behind when they are punched Wile-E-Coyote style? The visual design of Gear 5 I like, for example the way his eyebrows form Son Gokus traditional circlet and referencing him as the monkey king is back to the early days of the show.

Yeah, I can see that. It's different compared to the manga where the anime went above and beyond on that aspect. Although it is kind of in-line with what Oda envisioned. I remember reading an interview how he said he wanted more 'Looney Tunes' style action and antics in the series and felt more series needed to be like that.

I do think I prefer the manga version more and the anime maybe went a bit overboard in that regard...