This article contains spoilers from One Piece's Elbaf Arc.
Summary
- Oda values comedy in One Piece
- Gear 5 power-up brings laughter and fun
- Oda prioritizes comedic elements in the Final Saga
One Piece's Final Saga is already upon the fans, with the gateway to it being the Egghead Arc. Needless to say, Egghead was absolutely sensational for the fans to go through, and now, the story is in the land of Giants, Elbaf.
One Piece: Oda Has Already Revealed The Pirate King Before Roger
Roger is the only known pirate to hold the title of pirate king, but Oda has already revealed his predecessor in One Piece.
Here, Oda is focusing on some very interesting characters, such as Loki and the Holy Knights. Elbaf has only just begun and it'll continue for a while, revealing the biggest of lore pieces and giving fans the biggest of battles as well. While all this is certainly exhilarating, there is one element of One Piece that Oda wants to shine the most in the Final Saga, and he revealed it to the fans long ago.
Oda Wants One Piece To Always Have Comedy
- Oda Loves Comedy
- He Doesn't Want One Piece To Get Too Dark
Oda's One Piece is absolutely incredible from a narrative standpoint and there is absolutely no denying it. Every element one needs to make a story shine brilliantly is present in it. It would also not be, strictly speaking, accurate to say that One Piece is a light-hearted story, but it is a story that inspires hope, and goes heavy on the themes of freedom.
Beat loudly, heartbeat! — Luffy
One Piece: One Piece's Next Arc Might Already Be Decided By Oda
One Piece is currently in its Elbaf arc. Oda has already decided the next arc of One Piece.
Without a good blend of comedy, all this wouldn't be possible to highlight properly in One Piece and Oda's philosophy is that laughing and smiling are extremely important for the good times to come. This applies not just to the characters in One Piece who undergo various hardships, but also to the fans who want to see the greatest moments in the story unfold. Oda will always focus on comedy, because to him, it is a core idea of what One Piece represents. Here's what Oda had to say about comedy in the Final Saga:
Oda: About the final saga, I keep in mind I should fool around more. Even if One Piece ends up becoming a manga where my audience complains, "Such ideas are not interesting", it can be said that it is an entertainment for me.
Oda Made Gear 5 To Have Fun
Gear 5 Is The Perfect Power-Up For Luffy
When it comes to big power-ups, fans are quite used to edgy transformations that shift the tone of the story to a more serious one, and it wouldn't be accurate to say that they're not fun. However, they aren't what Luffy is all about and Oda knows that better than anyone else. This is one of the biggest reasons why Oda had Luffy tap into the power of Gear 5 the way he did. It isn't some transformation that sees him rage, but it is a form of laughter and freedom, and above all, it gives Oda the platform to joke around in even the most serious of moments. Here's what Oda had to say about Gear 5:
“I drew this because I really want to have fun, and I think that it’s okay if people don't like it. I just want to play around with my battles. Since I was an assistant, I have felt that silly expressions that were so characteristic in manga have been gradually lost. Putting a light bulb in a character’s head when they come up with some idea, or making the character’s legs go in circles when they’re running, for example.” — Eiichiro Oda
Needless to say, Gear 5 will always be massively important in One Piece and fans are in for a treat when it comes to some exciting comedy surrounding this power.
One Piece Chapter 1149 will be out in a week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on May 11. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1149 is May 25, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
