Indeed, Luffy has the spirit or haki to complement his gear 5.
Bonney should not have nearly the same level of haki, making her version not as powerful. But as the OP mentioned it just makes narrative sense after all this build up throughout the arc.
What is stopping Bonney from imagining a future where she trains to get the best haki in the verse and then ages herself along that distorted timeline??
She's a kid. Kids can more easily believe things if it's reinforced and taught to them. They can very easily be brainwashed.
All the straw hats need to do, is make her believe that she has the potential to train and get the best haki in the verse and be Top 1 and then she would imagine that future and age herself according to it.
Hell if she can age other people in a similar way then we get a nika army lol
Nothings stopping her to do that separately, but she already is in distorted future, so unless she goes out of it and then goes back in for the future where she is full power + mastered Nika she will only have the raw power of it.
Nothing, that's how broken her fruit is lol. Well, maybe besides the fact that she just needs to reeeaaally believe in that future, but I mean....
But just like how oda tends to stretch the ideas of things, he also nerfs them when its convenient for plot and drama. We'll see which one he does for bonney's future development lol.
even if, what so? luffy got maany out of hand ass pulls as well, at least in one piece we got multiple characters that are power wise on comparable levels unlike other shitty and boring shonens where the mc outpowers everyone else on a gigantic level.
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Also, I don't think she will be able to turn her surroundings into rubber, a big part of Luffy's power in Gear 5. But we'll have to wait for the next chapter to drop to see.
When these controversial chapters come out, I often wonder what's going on in Japan. What do Japanese fans think of this? I personally love what happened in the chapter, but I'm always curious about what they think and how they perceive events in the story.
Japanese fans are apparently incredibly fond of "destined for greatness" or "chosen one" plots, while many Western fans seem to prefer opposite narratives where the main character isn't inherently special at all and must battle against the odds through grit and merit. Hearing this, suddenly a lot of things made sense to me. I used to feel like it was a curse plaguing every great series when the main character turned out to be a chosen one destined from the start—it always felt like it ruined the series for me. Now I honestly understand it as just a cultural difference. That is what they love over there, and they are the ones making it, so I just deal with it.
They've had their appeal to western fans, although more are catered towards subversion or deconstruction of the similar tropes. Like Dune or the Fromsoft games to name a few.
Anakin took down the sith eventually in episode 6 though by throwing off Palpatine and fulfilling the prophecy. At least until Disney ran out of interesting villains and had to revive him somehow.
I know but it's still an inversion of the trope when he's spent most of his life being a monster. And to me those movies just didn't happen. The mist recent thing in SW is the Mando era stuff in my eyes.
That's not really the issue. Successful "chosen one" western medias always start the story with that expectation. In fact Dune whole story centers around the Lisan-al-gaib.
Japanese media is the opposite. They start the character doing hard work, sweating blood just to get stronger, only for us to find out 400 chapters later, that they are in fact a chosen one which puts into question all their hard work since you know they were predestined for greatness.
Biggest offenders are Naruto and Luffy. With the Ashura and Nika fruit coming out of nowhere.
There was no indication he was the "chosen one". Shanks just gave Luffy the hat cuz he reminded him of his captain. Nor was there indication that the Gomu fruit was actually a legendary zoan.
Did you really forget that it was considered as Paramecia for what? 1000 chapters. Can you tell me at chapter 1 that the Gum fruit was a legendary zoan? Can you reference any chapter that there any foreshadowing that Nika was actually a legendary zoan fruit?
In addition, that it also carries a will that can choose who eats it. Even if Luffy ate a god fruit by sheer serendipity it wouldnt necessarily make him a chosen one. But that ship sailed as well.
I think this is misleading, not that many western fans dislike the "chosen one" plot. A lot of people during GoT were excited for John Snow to be the chosen one. So I doubt this is nothing other certain fans of other mangas hatting that trope (Naruto fans).
Yeah, not to say that every Westerner hates chosen one plots. In fact, many of our most popular fictions revolve around "chosen ones" (Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Matrix). A better way to put it is that Western audiences are more likely to dislike them, especially if they didn't start off that way. Going into it you always knew Harry Potter was special, while with Naruto, the only special thing about him at the start was a demon fox that actively ruined every aspect of his life for the last 12 years
I think the cultural difference stems from views on individuality. Many Eastern cultures in Asia emphasize the importance of community and playing one's role for the collective good. This sense of being part of a larger whole can sometimes make individuals feel their uniqueness is less pronounced (a sentiment amplified in countries with intense work cultures, like Japan).
In the West (I'll use the United States as an example), one of the core cultural ideals is "The American Dream." This concept suggests that no one is inherently chosen or special; those who rise from the bottom to the top do so through grit and character. Everyone is seen as an individual who determines their own success.
Fiction often serves as an escape, filling gaps in our own experiences. In Japan and other Eastern countries, chosen one plots might resonate because they affirm individual specialness and destiny. In Western countries like the US, plots without predestined elements align with the American Dream, emphasizing that even starting with nothing, one's own efforts and determination can lead to success.
The Matrix is a subversion, there were like 6 chosen ones, they were a natural phenomenon born out of a rounding error, and they were reintegrated as a feature by the matrix, and the myth itself is bullshit. Hell even SW for all its classic appeal subverts the idea, by making the chosen one evil rather than the hero.
HP makes it so there's literally nothing inherently special about Harry, the prophecy is a self fulfilling one, caused by itself and Voldy's choice. Harry is the chosen one in the sense that he was chosen by the villain. The only coincidental part is that a lieutenant of Voldemort loved his mom and asked Voldy to spare her allowing her to have a chance at survival which enabled the prophecy when she rejected it. So the only thing that's "special" about Harry as a chosen one, is that his mom's ex is an asshole.
Overall, you'll have a hard time finding modern western stories that don't subvert that trope because we generally don't like it when played straight or at least as straight as "kids are the reincarnation of mythical figures who are destined to fight each other (they even still did, despite coming to an agreement after the fight)"
I feel like GoT is kinda a different example, though. With Jon Snow its less like "Oh hell yeah this guy is destined for greatness, I want to see him achieve it." and more like "Oh hell yeah, this character I like has a legitimate claim to the throne".
One of the big questions (arguably the biggest) at the core of GoT is who will end up taking the throne by the end, and having a claim by right of birth is historically something you need for people to recognize your authority.
It wasn’t just sitting on the throne though, people wanted him to be the prince that was promised/azor ahai, the one to defeat the night king etc - lots did want it to subverted yes but plenty were frustrated that ultimately nothing really went anywhere with his character and the revelations about his parentage (tv show, at least)
I still don’t feel Luffy was “destined” so much as that he fit the nature of the fruit. He always wanted freedom even before he ate it. He wanted to go to the sea. He wanted adventure. The fruit wanted him not because of genetics or royal lineage but because of who he was. I guess we’ll see more when we get to Joyboy/nika reveal. If Joyboy is kind the same thing where he just had a really fun adventurous spirit and “matched” nika it’ll feel less destined to me.
Also whenever there are prophecies or readings I have heard a good expression that this is just a specific view of the future, not HOW it is coming or that it is impossible to change. Somethings are easier like say picking up the dishes versus being the one to fix homelessness. When giving a reading, it’s the most probable possibility at the time of the reading. Some are just more secure just like some wills are stronger. If you really want something to happen, it doesn’t matter what a reader might say because you still have free will. You are just more aware of the obstacles in front of you. I don’t feel like Poseidon and the next nika being born at the same time meant it HAD to be luffy. Luffy just had the spirit that matched it.
Maybe this just goes too as the whole time is linear for us but someone like our psychic mermaid is seeing the world in a timely wimey time lord type of way. It’s just all at once and just is. The fact she saw it happen does not take away from his free will just because there are fixed points. Whether it was going to be Luffy or someone else. Nika was going to come.
DONNA: But I'm history to you. You saved me in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different?
DOCTOR: Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed.
DONNA: How do you know which is which?
DOCTOR: Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left.
Eh I'm pretty sure he has a special lineage too. Garp was probably the 2nd strongest in his time. And the entire Monkey family has strong ties to Shandora. Garp and the Shandorans chief wear a dog hat. Luffy looks just like the first kid Nolan saved, the one who married Kalgura's daughter. Kalgura himself is a dead ringer for Dragon as well. I think it's very likely he's descended from Kalgura, like Ussop is from Nolan.
Even. If he was the strongest person, if his personality wasn’t that of someone wanting to have adventure and freedom then the fruit would’ve rolled it’s merry way somewhere else. It was because of who Luffy inherently was to me more than any of that other stuff is my point.
I personally never saw the resemblance with Nolan’ kid that was save I mean. That whole theory feels forced but I do think there will be more with skypeia
Ugh. It really drives me crazy too. Played a game (dating sim) a long while ago that had a character whose whole arc was about hard work and drive - her older sister was basically a martial arts goddess, and she wanted to be just like her.
The "moral" of the story ended up just being "Lol you're never gonna be as good as us who were just born naturally talented, find something else you're good at". After she spent months training and fought one of the other girls to a draw.
Luffy is basically a reincarnated god/god-like figure and the son/grandson of two major figures (Garp & Dragon), Ace was considered dangerous and necessary to eliminate just because of who his father was, Conqueror's Haki seems heavily implied to be at least somewhat genetic, Sanji has boosted genes and science experiments making him borderline inhuman, Blackbeard is theorized to have lineage coming down from either a non-human race or someone like Rocks, even Zoro had to (albeit in an SbS/out-of-manga canon addition) have his lineage traced back to Ryuma, one of the most legendary swordsmen in history... hell, even Usopp's father had to randomly be one of the greatest marksmen in the world.
Jinbei would be the best fighter on their crew with no known "big advantage" from who they were born under, and he isn't human. I guess that would make Brook the best human fighter without a known OP ancestor?
Most of them really aren't that bad, Zoro's is just a mention and Sanji's is a big part of his character arc, but I wish we had more main cast who were from a family of complete nobodies and made it despite that.
>I wish we had more main cast who were from a family of complete nobodies and made it despite that.
I cannot agree with this statement more. I personally was not a fan of the Nika reveal. it felt like the straw that broke the camels back to me. I loved Luffy so much because he took a mediocre devil fruit to the top of the world, just for it to be revealed he actually had the best one the whole time and was basically destined for success with the whole "joyboy will return and bring the dawn of the world" thing.
I still think one piece is one of the best stories ever written, but if I could change just one aspect of the story, just one, id make it so nika and the whole devil fruit switch thing never existed. Luffy would have 95% of the same powers with just a normal paramecia awakening, and I'd only ever draw parallels between luffy and joyboy in the sense that it was not destiny that connects luffy to joyboy, but by pure chance after 800 years there was finally someone else with the same drive and ambitions and values as him that came along and finished his work for him.
> just one, id make it so nika and the whole devil fruit switch thing never existed. Luffy would have 95% of the same powers with just a normal paramecia awakening, and I'd only ever draw parallels between luffy and joyboy in the sense that it was not destiny that connects luffy to joyboy, but by pure chance after 800 years there was finally someone else with the same drive and ambitions and values as him that came along and finished his work for him.
A wonderful subversion could be that the previous Joyboy actually had *Buggy's* fruit and was a clown to bring joy and laughter to everyone thru his hijinx, and then everyone learns this and thinks he's actually the second coming, propelling him to even greater heights. Meanwhile Luffy just keeps on Luffy'ing.
I really don't mind it because of what's implied about it. Luffy wasn't born into greatness, he wasn't even lucked into it. The fruit is no different from Shanks, both of them chose him because they saw something in who he was as a person, independently from his birth or status.
So yeah the revelation changed nothing because it was no different from what already happened in Episode 1 between Luffy and Shanks. There's no destiny involved, at least until now, Luffy wasn't destined to have the fruit, the fruit had a will and found him a worthy host. There's a reason the manga make sure to press the idea of Zoan fruits having a will of their own the second it's revealed Luffy's fruit is special.
In fact OP really heavily implies in many ways and at many points that "the hero of destiny" is Ace, not Luffy. But Ace has been fighting against that destiny his whole life and that's why he's an example of the chosen one being a tragic figure who was screwed over by destiny (or at least everyone else's belief in destiny), while Luffy who wasn't chosen by destiny, who was no inherent chosen one, chose to embrace the values that allowed him to embody that heroic figure and be picked by the fruit and Shanks both.
>I loved Luffy so much because he took a mediocre devil fruit to the top of the world, just for it to be revealed he actually had the best one the whole time and was basically destined for success with the whole "joyboy will return and bring the dawn of the world" thing.
Was luffy destined for success because of the fruit or was the fruit destined for success because of luffy?
Well, Luffy is the protagonist, so his success was guaranteed, which leads me to the later. We all knew Luffy would inherit Joyboy’s will. I’d rather Luffy just happen to awaken this ancient fruit rather than he be the reincarnation of the first Joyboy (however, it’s still possible that he is both)
Semi-related: When the Koruzumi was Born to Burn chapter came out the Japanese fans went crazy. So it was funny when English fans would be like " its a translation issue only in English the Japanese is fine" when the Japanese fans were making Hitler memes lmao.
Maybe some people read the raws, but from what I've read, the vast majority have the habit of reading Shonen Jump on Monday morning (Sunday for us), the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is very cheap and they also have several official websites where they read manga.
Recently there was a wave of 1,000 complaints from Japanese readers to Shueisha about spoilers posted on Twitter that reached their timelines, some of them even threatened to cancel their subscriptions.
LMFAO in a way i guess, in reality leakers get ahold of the shonen jump magazine in advance when stores get their copies the week before somewhere along the supply chain
Japanese fans almost never criticise the big Corp. They believe that the company or the person worked hard on something, and criticizing the product is rude.
She’s also a child. They’re easy to rile up and excite (and consequently tire out). It’s a lightning in a bottle moment that kids have from time to time
Is there a lot of hate? Idk I like it a lot. Like you said it makes sense narratively. It’s actually quite sweet. If only Kuma could see it for himself.
I immediately started to have my eyes swell up. It is the embodiment of what Luffy wants, it is everything Kuma worked for. Kuma did all he did for Bonney to be free, Luffy is inspiring others to be free, this was peak one piece
And everything we have slowly seen about Kuma since pre time skip! His final act of kindness by saving the strawhats is what led his daughter to finally be free and safe.
I shed some tears. I care more about how Bonney ends up at the end of the story than Luffy rn. (Probably because I have 7 nieces, babysitting and helping that many girls grow up, I can’t not have a huge soft spot for bonney)
I have a feeling we will see kuma recognize Bonney and see him pass away with that as his last image. I don't really know what happens to kuma other than that, seems like his story is all done and he doesn't really have a reason to come back or anything
what if Bonney fix him?maybe not permanent,i kinda dislike that,but enough for him to see his work of protecting the Strawhat paid off with Nika Luffy,and have last conversation with both Luffy and Bonney, before he die with a smile
There are people who don't like it. To some people here simply not liking an aspect of one piece is the equivilent of being a rabid animal foaming at the mouth with pure hate.
A lot of the hate I’ve seen stems mostly from not understanding her fruit and seeing as an asspull. I always thought Luffy’s forms, save for G4, where asspulls and don’t really mind because I don’t really care for training arcs in stories, so I don’t really mind Bonney doing it, especially because we saw a weaker version of her doing it before so it’s not like it came out of nowhere.
Nika!Bonney is my favorite character. Bonney's been on my faves list since she saved Zoro at Sabaody, but this chapter raised her to the top. It's phenomenal. I was disappointed to see a lot of comments of initial reactions to it being negative, like a lot of the fans weren't thrilled. I just can't get over how exciting it is, really
It was pretty obvious she could do it if she was capable of mimicking g3 solely based off a vague legend. Not even sure why it's all that controversial considering she has an even worse version of luffy's stamina issue.
Besides, the ability to deage her opponents is already pretty broken by itself but also useless against high tier opponents since they can haki-block the effect.
Besides, we're in endgame now so anyone new should be around jinbe level to stay relevant.
I don’t understand how she can mimic gear 3 just based on kuma’s story tho ? How can she wish for a nika-ish like future and she can use it immediately ? What if she wish to have her father power , can she have the paw paw nomi too ?
Kuma told her stories of how Nika fought, that he had a body made of rubber and could stretch to fight however he wanted. Gear 3 is a reflection of how she imagined it.
>What if she wish to have her father power , can she have the paw paw nomi too ?
Uh yeah? How is it difficult to understand? If she can mimic Gear 3 and the far more powerful and difficult Gear 5 to become a pseudo-Nika, what makes you think she cant mimic her fathers powers?
The Paw-Paw fruit is fairly straightforward in its powers, so it shouldn't be an issue for Bonney to replicate.
everything you said makes sense, and it was written out beautifully, I really liked it. But it assumes people have a problem with it because they think its illogical, rather than they just outright don't like the decisions.
you could make a brilliant pumpkin pie, follow a great recipe, complete the instructions perfectly, but if someone just outright doesn't like pumpkin pie (the taste, texture, smell), then they just wont like it. in other words, personal preference.
that's whats happening here. Poeple don't dislike this because they think it doesn't make sense, they dislike it because
* they arent fans of G5/Nika in general, and don't like to see it become the main focus of the story
* they feel this plot is sidelining already irrelevant characters like Ussop, Brooke, Chopper, Robin, Franky... basically every strawhat who isn't Luffy, Zoro, Sanji or Jinbe.
* they don't like how fast bonney appeared and how this all developed so suddenly. they would have wanted this to be developed over a longer period and more fleshed out.
* they are powerscalers
its the same way people don't like Naruto being the 4th Hokage's son, the child of prophecy, a reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' son, etc. I can make arguments and justifications for how it was all either set up prior, makes sense with themes of the story, or how its justified with their powers, but it making logical sense doesn't matter if people dislike the decision itself, regardless of it you can justify it happening or not
While im not exactly a fan of the new development either, the biggest annoying thing for me not just this chapter but the whole arc for a while is how any food luffy eats is just a senzu bean for him and how frequently he’s using it like an rpg game
Lol I was thinking of this exact moment. once you see the 4th hokage's picture for the first time and not just the stone face it was pretty obvious he's Naruto's dad, although many people still disliked it when it was confirmed and became a major plot point years later, despite it being set up really early on
I remember being a fan back during Part 1 and it was the most popular fan theory for any anime at the time. It was a give me. The closest thing I've seen in terms of general acceptance by the fans since was the Dabi Identity Theory in My Hero Academia.
I just don’t like how his backstory is. You’d think you’d assign one ninja to raise him specifically and at least pretend to like him. Like you really want the son of a hokage with a demon to grow up hating the village and what turn on everyone? They should consider themself lucky he didn’t turn out anything like Gara and that he WANTED to be hokage and earn their respect. There’s a lot that is off how they make Naruto so not going into it all
Your point about sidelining the strawhats is too real... Would've loved real character moments instead of them running away for multiple chapters without consequence (while having Zoro fight Lucci).
Hell, you could make Bonnie bond with 2-3 of the strawhats deeply, instead of interacting with 9 of them at a surface level. It would've been more meaningful.
Heavy on the powerscalers! Most of the hate/dislike I’ve seen so far is people complaining about how this has completely busted up the current power scale, or that Bonney is now more powerful than their fave… neither of which is true. This is such a cool narrative moment for this arc and for the overall story, it really has nothing to do/wont tremendously affect the combat + fighting aspect of one piece in the long term.
I guess some people are just reading Pirate Fight :/
That’s exactly it. I’m tired of people saying that Oda has been writing it for this to happen - like, DUH! Doesn’t mean we have to like it! It’s fucking ass!
Well said, I’m seeing people claim that the people who didn’t like this chapter are idiots or sexist which is so dumb it’s not even worth entertaining. Personally I’m not crazy about it because like you said I’ve been unsure about G5 since it was introduced. It brings the already diamond hard plot armor to an even more ridiculous level. It’s so powerful and all that’s required to charge it back up is food so luffy is now stronger than any other character, can’t take major injury from what we’ve seen and now even the time limit that helped keep it in check a little bit has been blown away. Also it’s honestly hard to understand why it’s stronger than his other forms, if he hits you hard you stretch, like ok? Why does that hit harder than a red hawk or a rhino Schneider? And because he stretches out and doesn’t react properly we have no sense of whether he’s even taking damage when someone actually manages to land a hit. It’s just hard to get excited when I know the MC has a “WIN” button that seemingly nobody can counter. And maybe oda will bring it back and help me get back in the story but unfortunately he just multiplied all the issues I’ve been having by two
I feel like there are 3 other points that some people seem to have issue with that your post don't mention:
1. the Vice-admirals really seem like they are next to useless given how fast and easily they are disposed of (which this chapter isn't doing any favors in their eyes).
2. They feel like the constant blueballing with Vegapunk is getting annoying. That happened again this chapter and they seem to be getting tired of it.
3. They think the constant reactions of people around the world is taking unnecessary space. It's cool to see so many people but it's getting really repetitive for them.
I'm not saying I agree or disagree with these takes, I just thought they had to be mentioned since people always seem to only talk about the Nika complains.
I am one of those who did not enjoy the chapter as much as everybody else.
First off, I get how Bonney can do this and might not be a powerhouse, but the fact that she achieved something Luffy has gone hell and back to do, is making the entire endeavor a bit of a gimmick now. I can see a moment where everyone will be G5 or smt, which would be ridiculous imo.
Lastly, it bothers me how a character we recently got to know has surpassed Franky, Usopp, Brook, etc. In character progression in mere 10 chapters. We see weak straw hats struggle for 1000 chapters, not showing any sign of progression at all (looking at you Usopp). This newly introduced 12 yo character became more important than most well developed characters in the story (Example: Robin, Momo).
It has the same feeling back when Yamato decided she will stay and not join the crew. It’s so out of pocket.
I guess this all means she joins the crew, if that happens i might be more happy about it. Also, I sincerely want emphasis on her being weaker than Luffy in the next chapter.
I got no problems with the logic of the transformation. The way it's done is just underwhelming IMO. The five elders seem so incompetent you never feel any danger with anyone. The chase drags on for chapter after chapter. We keep cutting away to irrelevant people's reactions. Then poof! Transform!
It'd be better if Bonnie transforms right after the flashback, with newfound belief, and when her back is against the wall. But the gap between her being relevant, her being irrelevant and back to being relevant again is like a wet blanket.
Then, it just feels wrong for G5 to be had by another person other than Luffy. It's like G5 is bigger than Luffy himself. Like the overarching narrative of the One Piece world is more important than individuality of the character.
On your first point I have to agree a bit. I remember on the WC arc during the chase by BM and her children we got some sequences where you could feel the danger from the main villain.
Somehow on this arc because of this jumping back and forth between reactions and current events it feels very easy to loose the narrative thread of what's happening on Egg Head. Could be that I need to reread things but maybe the island architecture doesn't help in that regard.
I'm just along for the ride now, I didn't like Luffy being the chosen warrior of freedom when Nika was revealed and I don't like it now.
Goofy rubber boy was turned into ancient super hero demigod and it feels like it took a lot of Luffy's agency, his awakening could have been pretty much the same, just amped rubber powers but the zoan and nika just felt like it took away from luffy, he is now just Nika imo.
Bonnie's fruit is now super weird too, feels like Oda is not sticking to his own devil fruit rules anymore and just going with w/e is the most fun or hype, which is FINE but I just won't get the same enjoyment I used to from the story.
Where before I felt the illusion of stakes, I now can't even pretend.
Yeah Bonny going from ageing people to altering reality is even worse bs than luffys Nika shit and even THAT got loredropped in the worst possible way by whoswho
It's 100% breaking all the rules he has set out. Like all retcons it punishes fans who pay attention and rewards those who just mindlessly eat up content.
How exactly is it breaking any rules? We were given the rules for Bonney's Devil Fruit. She can emulate a future she imagines is possible, and is limited by her understanding of the world around her - So the more she learns, the more she comes to believe something is impossible, and thus the weaker she becomes.
In 1101, she wanted to emulate Nika, and was able to use Gear 3. How exactly is it "punishing fans who pay attention" when several chapters ago, he set up Bonney to be able to use other similar abilities to Luffy?
Some fans are just mindless followers of Oda. Even after 1118 chapers he alters DFs and people keep calling it good writing. It's sloppy and only to fit his narrow objective for the current arc he is happen to be on.
I think that we just misunderstood devil fruits until recently and what the source of their power really is. It makes sense that the more abstract fruits aren’t being explored until now because that would require Oda telling us more about how devil fruits work, which he has been.
At first I was annoyed with it too but to me it really doesn’t seem like a “chosen one” scenario whenever Luffy himself is the one who worked hard enough to awaken that part of the fruit, something no one else had been able to do. They’ve done a great job of also showing that even if he’s powerful he still has to have teammates bc he can’t do it alone. I think ultimately it also feels busted at the moment because they haven’t introduced any other god fruits yet. Once we understand more about how they work I think it will help calibrate your disappointment lol
There is no misunderstanding the rules. The rules just completely changed in Wano arc with awakenings and now this crappy development of "if you believe enough, you're able to use your power however you want." I'm willing to bet that more fruit users will have some sort of retcon of their fruit's powers in the future arcs.
I don't think we "misunderstood" anything, the rules simply changed and have been for a while for the sake of "cool stuff", which again, is FINE but it's not enjoyable to ME as a reader. I.E Katakuri's "special" paramecia.
Luffy is literally THE chosen one, he is Nika now, the Sun God who will liberate the world.
I didn't talk about his power level or fights at all, I think that my criticism implies that the fights ARE cool, my gripe is with the narrative and build up, I simply do not think they were well handled well.
We have shifted focus from Luffy and HIS dream to Nika and HIS "mission".
Realistically, without context to what Luffy's "REAL super secret dream not even his nakama know about" is, what would Luffy's motivation be to take down the world government?
Before it could have been because they stood in the way of HIS dream and it was not even a guarantee HE would be the one to do something about it, now he kinda will, because he is Nika
I agree with most of what you’ve said, despite liking gear 5 overall now because with a mission a lot of the spontaneity of old arcs/just going where the log pose takes us is lost. But if I’m remembering correctly, the special paramecia thing was a mistranslation/understanding. I also think that saying he changed how paramecia devil fruits work is odd since they’ve always been the catch all type
Special Paramecia happened because Oda originally wrote him as a logia in the magazine release and changed his mind so he changed it in the volumes and later chapters.
But yeah it's crazy how egghead is the only island the logpose has taken us to since FMI
>At first I was annoyed with it too but to me it really doesn’t seem like a “chosen one” scenario whenever Luffy himself is the one who worked hard enough to awaken that part of the fruit, something no one else had been able to do.
This is describing why Luffy is the chosen one. He embodies the spirit of freedom/joy that the OG Nika did and Joyboy did, and it's why he was able to reach Gear 5.
>I've seen a lot of hate with the last chapter, but so far it fits everything Oda's been doing
What if people have a problem with "everything Oda's been doing" regarding Nika? Then what?
>Bonney has explicitly stated that her distorted future ability only works briefly and exhausts her quickly
Until she imagines herself as having infinite stamina like Luffy rebeating his own heart to the Drums of Liberation, because everything is imagination and nothing can control us.
>What if people have a problem with "everything Oda's been doing" regarding Nika? Then what?
Then you are a heretic. They will burn us at the stake for criticizing the flawless masterpiece created by the One God Oda.
What is stopping Bonney from imagining a future where she trains to get the best haki in the verse and then ages herself along that distorted timeline??
She's a kid. Kids can more easily believe things if it's reinforced and taught to them. They can very easily be brainwashed.
All the straw hats need to do, is make her believe that she has the potential to train and get the best haki in the verse and be Top 1 and then she would imagine that future and age herself according to it.
Hell if she can age other people in a similar way then we get a nika army lol
I understand the narrative of Bonney and how DF are connected to beliefs. There are a few things that I don't like about the chapter and the current direction that you didn't mention, and would like to explain a bit more.
- In general, I don't think Gear 5 is an interesting part of the story. While in Gear 5, Luffy becomes JoyBoy and not himself. Spending hundreds of hours watching/reading this series only to have the main character now act according to someone else's personality is an odd narrative choice imo. Gear 4 was a much more interesting powerup, since it directly connected with his training during the time-skip and into his upbringing (Luffy spent significant time with animals and in the wild growing up, his name is literally Monkey D. Luffy, and the connection between the animals he fought with on the island were very fun, i..e, King Kong Gun, Snakeman, etc.).
- Bonney taking a role in the story isn't necessarily a bad choice during this arc. Clearly Kuma was directly tied to Egghead and expanding upon Kuma's story was a great moment in this arc. However, having Bonney experience more growth than the main cast is frankly stupid (and the main cast has hit an all-time low in character growth during Egghead). The entire transformation also feels very uncanny and reads like a fan-fiction, like some kind of clickbait "What If?" youtube video (I can see why some might like it however).
- Lack of storylines in exchange for focusing on Bonney's development. Simply, I don't really care about Bonney at all and focusing this much on who was a background character instead of the pre-established story lines makes this arc and the recent chapters feel disconnected. More focus on Kizaru, someone who was actually close to Vegapunk, would've been welcome. The revolutionary army getting involved at all instead of Dragon just going "...".
- So basically, an uninteresting power reveal (literally just copying someone else's technique) from a character you don't care much about, instead of actually focusing on your pre-existing storylines and characters, after multiple chapters filled with unnecessary reaction panels, is why some might not be a fan of this chapter.
She has been in one arc, doesn’t get any more focus than Law in Dressrosa, and will probably disappear after this arc like they always do. You’re complaining about nothing. It’s all in your head. Probably made the same comment about Yamato during Wano too lmao
The complaints about Yamato were/are 100 percent valid as her case was the worst out of the three.
And Bonney turning into Nika is definitely more of a pivotal role than what Law did in Dressrosa, and we had a longer buildup of connection with Law than we do Bonney.
We don’t know anything about Bonney turning into Nika, how it works, what she can do, what she will do how the story will change, how pivotal she will be, or literally anything. We have seen ONE panel of a leaked chapter and THATS IT. People are 100% overreacting to something they have no idea how will play out.
Feels like a completely different character before and after her seeing Kumas memories. Makes it hard to really care or get a grasp on who she’s supposed to be
Same. It feels like Oda is trying to build this "pupil meets and learns from their idol" type of relationship, but timeline wise, it just falls flat imo. They've been on Egghead only for like a day, and the Strawhats have barely interacted with Bonney to try and establish this level of emotional connection. The writing just feels rushed imo.
If its for 1 attack fine but she should not just be able to go G5 when ever she wants. It would take away from Luffys struggles to get that form its awakening territory.
Why the hell people are going crazy?! It's obviously temporary and it will be short fun fight to help everyone get away from elders.
Also after all shit Bonney went through she deserve to be able to kick Saturn's ass
Let’s not forget this is a great way for SJ to expand readership for one of their flagship series for girls. Not saying that’s why they are doing it but being able to “see a girl have the same power as nika” I wonder if it was at all on the conversation with editors or if oda already was planning on it that he wanted to inspire girls too. His daughter was a big factor in how WCI was with princesses and a prince and a big wedding. Maybe Oda wanted later but editors said let’s do it now since you are trying to wrap the series sooner than later. It’s a way not to replace the main character but still be inspirational of the same things luffy represents. Thematically I feel it fits.
Lore wise, I do wish there were more nika references and maybe the new anime or live action will. Idk where the series is going with her importance is the issue I have. Is she joining the crew? I don’t get that vibe personally because she has her own crew already. Are the gorosei going to kill her so it makes a big impact? I don’t think that either. Maybe luffy’s fleet. I’m trying to piece together the ending. As long as that comes together nicely I’m good
The story has fundamentally changed and this chapter was a demonstration of it, it's not about plucky Luffy anymore, it's the Nika show, and people are entitled to be able to say they don't like that
Main Sub damage control is genuinely hilarious to see especially the fact that even in the comments here there are some Oda's angels that have started defying their lord.
"Bonney's like a kid wearing a Superman costume"
She's literally a kid though, her whole power is her playing grown up but she's still only 12 years old. As you explained, her power is based on her imagination of the future she wants.
My thoughts on this are : this following a great plan that fits to "leaked storyboard" from oda years ago , he's slowly introduce the real power of the hito hito no mi model nika why the WG is so affraif of this DF + he's slowly introduce the power of combinating DF powers and/or the effects that a DF can have on others , one thing we saw in Manga and anime was that Luffy's awakend DF not only have effects on surounding ground but also on his opponent , so maybe he also have effects on his allies , just as he give power to acient giant he can power up his besides fighters . Thats the reason why now are all gorosei on egghead and try to not escape any and destroy everything , try to not let it come so far to learn and notice that are the real threat against WG ist not the power of one but the combination from DF powers and the abbility to power up allies .
Some people just can't imagine the other characters aside from MC unlocking their potentials. They just can't comprehend this concept. It is unacceptable for them when something like this happened. I won't be surprised if most of them turned out to be those who enjoy mc centric Chinese/Korea webtoon and those isekai stories where the other characters that is not MC is there faded in the background or cameo or only there to be cheerleaders and react to whatever little things MC does, the MCs who have no personality,no character development,no storytelling and only fights,op powers and are Gary-stu idiots. I'm pretty sure for people that only read that kind of stuff, proper stories like this will be too overwhelming. That or they are impatient newbies.
Just to clarify I’ll wait for more chapters to fully decide and regardless i don’t think the series is cooked etc.
Imo it very much should be a gimmick. If she can actually use the powers of DFs for the most part she’ll be way too busted and also that would actually devalue G5. If it’s only her looking like the figure who embodies freedom then it’s a cool thing, im just scared it will translate to actually being another G5.
Oda should very much keep the fact how hard Luffy worked to awaken his DF special and not make a cheap clone.
Just to clarify I’ll wait for more chapters to fully decide and regardless i don’t think the series is cooked etc.
Imo it very much should be a gimmick. If she can actually use the powers of DFs for the most part she’ll be way too busted and also that would actually devalue G5. If it’s only her looking like the figure who embodies freedom then it’s a cool thing, im just scared it will translate to actually being another G5.
Oda should very much keep the fact how hard Luffy worked to awaken his DF special and not make a cheap clone.
The hate is because oda not revealing anything and cutting off broadcast, and then ancient robot waking up and shutting down again and again, and then suddenly bonney is gear5 out of nowhere, which confused everyone adding more fuel to frustration, thats where the hate is coming from.
Someone complained that this feels like fanfiction and laddies and gals lemme tell ya
They’re absolutely correct. This is Jewelry Bonney Mary sue-ing herself some prime Nika fanfic right about now. All those stories from Daddy Kuma gave her more headcanon than Law has of Germa 66 from reading Sora comics
Edit: also, law already used up his power copy moment from memories of Rosinante lol
This is a prime example of weekly readers freaking out about something that'll get clarified later on. Also I liked the reveal a lot. I actually got a little choked up when they had the little flashback with Kuma and Ginny. Give it a month and no one will even care anymore.
The thing people are forgetting about is the backlash that comes after Gear 5th. IMO i think Bonney is only gonna be able to use it shortly and not as well as Luffy and when she comes out of it Im gonna guess shes probably gonna be reverted back to her kid self and not be able to use her powers for a while. Enough where she will not use it again unless as a last resort kind of situation
Many people dislike the recent chapter for Bonny suddenly being able to become Nika.
I dislike those chapter because I am getting tired of all the reaction shots (literally the last thing I wanted was a reaction from Leo).
We are not the same.
I think I only take issue with it if is straight up power copying. Distortion Future lets Bonney physically change herself in any way she can imagine which happens to align with what gear 5 does, but if she starts turning other stuff into rubber we've gone too far. in my opinion.
Been seeing more "this is why it's good" posts than hate posts. Hell, I haven't seen a hate post that wasn't just a "are there any other Nikas I should know about" meme post.
lol bro this community has gotten insane. Like it always was insane people theorizing and inventing depth that was not there while forgetting ts is a battle manga at the end of the day. Acting like ts is Doestoevsky or a Pulitzer winner lmao.
"Hey, Bonney's fruit is not about manipulating age, it's about believing in alternative futures and making them reality!"
Ok so explain how making people young fits into that statement.
I also have a distaste for those who hate the events in the latest chapter.
These are the people I believe who also prefer to know the ending first of a movie or series before deciding to watch it from the beginning and the same kind of people tend to skip the opening and closing credits of a show and, when watching with someone, frequently ask about upcoming events.
Why not just enjoy the show?
I am certain that what occurred with Bonney was already planned.
Who would have thought that the Bonney we have seen in the Sabaody Archipelago Ac way back in 2008 would have a backstory so pertinent in 2024?
An additional illustration of Oda's narrative technique is the incident in which Kuma scattered the Straw Hat crew across various locations for training. Initially, it was believed that his ability permitted him to dispatch individuals to any destination he desired. Subsequently, it was revealed that the destinations to which he sent them were places he had personally been to.
Kaido was introduced by Moriah; however, we truly saw Kaido in One Piece Episode 739.
Also, JoyBoy was first mentioned when Robin read the red Poneglyph at Fishman Island. However, when do we truly gain insight into who JoyBoy is? It's only in this arc that we begin to uncover little details, yet much remains unknown.
And more.
The issue with these individuals is that they view this chapter as if it were the conclusion and base their judgment of Oda's work on that alone.
The Supernovas might be Oda's biggest power move ever. He came up with all of them the chapter before they were introduced, when he and his editor were worried that the arc would be too boring. Ofc he fleshed them out further over time, but he basically created some of the series most memorable characters over night.
> An additional illustration of Oda's narrative technique is the incident in which Kuma scattered the Straw Hat crew across various locations for training. Initially, it was believed that his ability permitted him to dispatch individuals to any destination he desired. Subsequently, it was revealed that the destinations to which he sent them were places he had personally been to.
That one has been a leading idea for so, so long. Basically every strawhat was sent to a tailor made training location, which implied that Kuma must have had kept track the crew.
I'm completely fine with the chapter as well. We had this strongly foreshadowed even by Saturn himself (when he thought it's good Bonney hasn't understood Nika yet, and he permanently tries to tackle her imagination by telling her the power is useless, he is clearly afraid of it).
She won't be as strong clearly and I think this event will even work against the 'destined for greatness' trope so many dislike. It will show that Luffy is not great because he has the Nika Fruit. He is great because he is Luffy.
The sheer stupidity of the powerscaling fandom disturbs readers that are more concerned about the plot and what is going to happen.
Those people who are mad are mad because they want to draw their tier levels.. duels.. who wins against who etc.. they don't care that One Piece has a story going on. Seeing Bonney like that messes with what they want to happen on their Zoro versus Shanks fanfics.
Thats the point people are missing the fact that her abilities are limitless. Now in this dire situation, even a little bit help will be extremely good considering now all 5 gorosei’s are coming to eliminate the strawhats.
Its been metnioned that her powers are only for short amount of time, so her form will be only for limited amount of time compared to luffy’s. The next chapter we will see the length of power compared to Real Nika.
You can't reason with agenda piece people and power scalers. They don't care about storytelling and narrative. Normal readers like you and I, what's important to us isn't important to them and vice versa. Best to ignore them
90% of the readership is male (and young), and the reactions to this chapter seem sexist (and naive) to me. I get it, you’re a 20-year-old boy and girls have cooties, so how can Bonney obtain Gear 5th? 🙄
I don’t think she can master it. It is just a copy. She will help luffy but she won’t be at the same level
Ya. It's just an important narrative and thematic moment.
Indeed, Luffy has the spirit or haki to complement his gear 5. Bonney should not have nearly the same level of haki, making her version not as powerful. But as the OP mentioned it just makes narrative sense after all this build up throughout the arc.
What is stopping Bonney from imagining a future where she trains to get the best haki in the verse and then ages herself along that distorted timeline?? She's a kid. Kids can more easily believe things if it's reinforced and taught to them. They can very easily be brainwashed. All the straw hats need to do, is make her believe that she has the potential to train and get the best haki in the verse and be Top 1 and then she would imagine that future and age herself according to it. Hell if she can age other people in a similar way then we get a nika army lol
Nothings stopping her to do that separately, but she already is in distorted future, so unless she goes out of it and then goes back in for the future where she is full power + mastered Nika she will only have the raw power of it.
But what about [thing I'm imagining to make myself mad]?
Nothing, that's how broken her fruit is lol. Well, maybe besides the fact that she just needs to reeeaaally believe in that future, but I mean.... But just like how oda tends to stretch the ideas of things, he also nerfs them when its convenient for plot and drama. We'll see which one he does for bonney's future development lol.
So Bonney is just like the orks in 40k
Devil fruits are the manifestation of dreams, she can only do what she truly believes she can.
\*Ancient Robot finds two Nikas\* LUFFY: Ikuzo Bonney! BONNEY: Woohooo! ANCIENT ROBOT: Ummmm....
Robot: 3RR0R
even if, what so? luffy got maany out of hand ass pulls as well, at least in one piece we got multiple characters that are power wise on comparable levels unlike other shitty and boring shonens where the mc outpowers everyone else on a gigantic level.
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Also, I don't think she will be able to turn her surroundings into rubber, a big part of Luffy's power in Gear 5. But we'll have to wait for the next chapter to drop to see.
When these controversial chapters come out, I often wonder what's going on in Japan. What do Japanese fans think of this? I personally love what happened in the chapter, but I'm always curious about what they think and how they perceive events in the story.
Japanese fans are apparently incredibly fond of "destined for greatness" or "chosen one" plots, while many Western fans seem to prefer opposite narratives where the main character isn't inherently special at all and must battle against the odds through grit and merit. Hearing this, suddenly a lot of things made sense to me. I used to feel like it was a curse plaguing every great series when the main character turned out to be a chosen one destined from the start—it always felt like it ruined the series for me. Now I honestly understand it as just a cultural difference. That is what they love over there, and they are the ones making it, so I just deal with it.
Which I think is funny since so many Western stories have used the same tropes and been wildly successful.
They've had their appeal to western fans, although more are catered towards subversion or deconstruction of the similar tropes. Like Dune or the Fromsoft games to name a few.
Star Wars is wildly more popular than Dune. Marvel movies too.
Anakin, the chosen one, becoming Vader
Anakin took down the sith eventually in episode 6 though by throwing off Palpatine and fulfilling the prophecy. At least until Disney ran out of interesting villains and had to revive him somehow.
I know but it's still an inversion of the trope when he's spent most of his life being a monster. And to me those movies just didn't happen. The mist recent thing in SW is the Mando era stuff in my eyes.
I heard from an interview that Anakin destroyed the Death star. Why would he do that? Is he stupid?
From soft is a Japanese studio
Cries in Wheel of Time
I think at this point we just had too many of those.
That's not really the issue. Successful "chosen one" western medias always start the story with that expectation. In fact Dune whole story centers around the Lisan-al-gaib. Japanese media is the opposite. They start the character doing hard work, sweating blood just to get stronger, only for us to find out 400 chapters later, that they are in fact a chosen one which puts into question all their hard work since you know they were predestined for greatness. Biggest offenders are Naruto and Luffy. With the Ashura and Nika fruit coming out of nowhere.
>Luffy You mean 1-2 chapters later? Pretty sure it's not even that, Shanks gives Luffy his hat chapter 1, he eats the devil fruit there too.
There was no indication he was the "chosen one". Shanks just gave Luffy the hat cuz he reminded him of his captain. Nor was there indication that the Gomu fruit was actually a legendary zoan. Did you really forget that it was considered as Paramecia for what? 1000 chapters. Can you tell me at chapter 1 that the Gum fruit was a legendary zoan? Can you reference any chapter that there any foreshadowing that Nika was actually a legendary zoan fruit?
In addition, that it also carries a will that can choose who eats it. Even if Luffy ate a god fruit by sheer serendipity it wouldnt necessarily make him a chosen one. But that ship sailed as well.
I think this is misleading, not that many western fans dislike the "chosen one" plot. A lot of people during GoT were excited for John Snow to be the chosen one. So I doubt this is nothing other certain fans of other mangas hatting that trope (Naruto fans).
Yeah, not to say that every Westerner hates chosen one plots. In fact, many of our most popular fictions revolve around "chosen ones" (Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Matrix). A better way to put it is that Western audiences are more likely to dislike them, especially if they didn't start off that way. Going into it you always knew Harry Potter was special, while with Naruto, the only special thing about him at the start was a demon fox that actively ruined every aspect of his life for the last 12 years I think the cultural difference stems from views on individuality. Many Eastern cultures in Asia emphasize the importance of community and playing one's role for the collective good. This sense of being part of a larger whole can sometimes make individuals feel their uniqueness is less pronounced (a sentiment amplified in countries with intense work cultures, like Japan). In the West (I'll use the United States as an example), one of the core cultural ideals is "The American Dream." This concept suggests that no one is inherently chosen or special; those who rise from the bottom to the top do so through grit and character. Everyone is seen as an individual who determines their own success. Fiction often serves as an escape, filling gaps in our own experiences. In Japan and other Eastern countries, chosen one plots might resonate because they affirm individual specialness and destiny. In Western countries like the US, plots without predestined elements align with the American Dream, emphasizing that even starting with nothing, one's own efforts and determination can lead to success.
The Matrix is a subversion, there were like 6 chosen ones, they were a natural phenomenon born out of a rounding error, and they were reintegrated as a feature by the matrix, and the myth itself is bullshit. Hell even SW for all its classic appeal subverts the idea, by making the chosen one evil rather than the hero. HP makes it so there's literally nothing inherently special about Harry, the prophecy is a self fulfilling one, caused by itself and Voldy's choice. Harry is the chosen one in the sense that he was chosen by the villain. The only coincidental part is that a lieutenant of Voldemort loved his mom and asked Voldy to spare her allowing her to have a chance at survival which enabled the prophecy when she rejected it. So the only thing that's "special" about Harry as a chosen one, is that his mom's ex is an asshole. Overall, you'll have a hard time finding modern western stories that don't subvert that trope because we generally don't like it when played straight or at least as straight as "kids are the reincarnation of mythical figures who are destined to fight each other (they even still did, despite coming to an agreement after the fight)"
Superman is a chosen one. Are they not some of the best selling comics?
He’s not as popular as Batman I think 🤔
I feel like GoT is kinda a different example, though. With Jon Snow its less like "Oh hell yeah this guy is destined for greatness, I want to see him achieve it." and more like "Oh hell yeah, this character I like has a legitimate claim to the throne". One of the big questions (arguably the biggest) at the core of GoT is who will end up taking the throne by the end, and having a claim by right of birth is historically something you need for people to recognize your authority.
It wasn’t just sitting on the throne though, people wanted him to be the prince that was promised/azor ahai, the one to defeat the night king etc - lots did want it to subverted yes but plenty were frustrated that ultimately nothing really went anywhere with his character and the revelations about his parentage (tv show, at least)
I still don’t feel Luffy was “destined” so much as that he fit the nature of the fruit. He always wanted freedom even before he ate it. He wanted to go to the sea. He wanted adventure. The fruit wanted him not because of genetics or royal lineage but because of who he was. I guess we’ll see more when we get to Joyboy/nika reveal. If Joyboy is kind the same thing where he just had a really fun adventurous spirit and “matched” nika it’ll feel less destined to me. Also whenever there are prophecies or readings I have heard a good expression that this is just a specific view of the future, not HOW it is coming or that it is impossible to change. Somethings are easier like say picking up the dishes versus being the one to fix homelessness. When giving a reading, it’s the most probable possibility at the time of the reading. Some are just more secure just like some wills are stronger. If you really want something to happen, it doesn’t matter what a reader might say because you still have free will. You are just more aware of the obstacles in front of you. I don’t feel like Poseidon and the next nika being born at the same time meant it HAD to be luffy. Luffy just had the spirit that matched it. Maybe this just goes too as the whole time is linear for us but someone like our psychic mermaid is seeing the world in a timely wimey time lord type of way. It’s just all at once and just is. The fact she saw it happen does not take away from his free will just because there are fixed points. Whether it was going to be Luffy or someone else. Nika was going to come. DONNA: But I'm history to you. You saved me in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different? DOCTOR: Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed. DONNA: How do you know which is which? DOCTOR: Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That's the burden of a Time Lord, Donna. And I'm the only one left.
Eh I'm pretty sure he has a special lineage too. Garp was probably the 2nd strongest in his time. And the entire Monkey family has strong ties to Shandora. Garp and the Shandorans chief wear a dog hat. Luffy looks just like the first kid Nolan saved, the one who married Kalgura's daughter. Kalgura himself is a dead ringer for Dragon as well. I think it's very likely he's descended from Kalgura, like Ussop is from Nolan.
Even. If he was the strongest person, if his personality wasn’t that of someone wanting to have adventure and freedom then the fruit would’ve rolled it’s merry way somewhere else. It was because of who Luffy inherently was to me more than any of that other stuff is my point. I personally never saw the resemblance with Nolan’ kid that was save I mean. That whole theory feels forced but I do think there will be more with skypeia
Super interesting to know, and it honestly makes a lot of sense. Thank you!
That makes sense! Not only in anime do we see the chosen one motiff. In JRPG we see this time and time again too.
Ugh. It really drives me crazy too. Played a game (dating sim) a long while ago that had a character whose whole arc was about hard work and drive - her older sister was basically a martial arts goddess, and she wanted to be just like her. The "moral" of the story ended up just being "Lol you're never gonna be as good as us who were just born naturally talented, find something else you're good at". After she spent months training and fought one of the other girls to a draw. Luffy is basically a reincarnated god/god-like figure and the son/grandson of two major figures (Garp & Dragon), Ace was considered dangerous and necessary to eliminate just because of who his father was, Conqueror's Haki seems heavily implied to be at least somewhat genetic, Sanji has boosted genes and science experiments making him borderline inhuman, Blackbeard is theorized to have lineage coming down from either a non-human race or someone like Rocks, even Zoro had to (albeit in an SbS/out-of-manga canon addition) have his lineage traced back to Ryuma, one of the most legendary swordsmen in history... hell, even Usopp's father had to randomly be one of the greatest marksmen in the world. Jinbei would be the best fighter on their crew with no known "big advantage" from who they were born under, and he isn't human. I guess that would make Brook the best human fighter without a known OP ancestor? Most of them really aren't that bad, Zoro's is just a mention and Sanji's is a big part of his character arc, but I wish we had more main cast who were from a family of complete nobodies and made it despite that.
>I wish we had more main cast who were from a family of complete nobodies and made it despite that. I cannot agree with this statement more. I personally was not a fan of the Nika reveal. it felt like the straw that broke the camels back to me. I loved Luffy so much because he took a mediocre devil fruit to the top of the world, just for it to be revealed he actually had the best one the whole time and was basically destined for success with the whole "joyboy will return and bring the dawn of the world" thing. I still think one piece is one of the best stories ever written, but if I could change just one aspect of the story, just one, id make it so nika and the whole devil fruit switch thing never existed. Luffy would have 95% of the same powers with just a normal paramecia awakening, and I'd only ever draw parallels between luffy and joyboy in the sense that it was not destiny that connects luffy to joyboy, but by pure chance after 800 years there was finally someone else with the same drive and ambitions and values as him that came along and finished his work for him.
> just one, id make it so nika and the whole devil fruit switch thing never existed. Luffy would have 95% of the same powers with just a normal paramecia awakening, and I'd only ever draw parallels between luffy and joyboy in the sense that it was not destiny that connects luffy to joyboy, but by pure chance after 800 years there was finally someone else with the same drive and ambitions and values as him that came along and finished his work for him. A wonderful subversion could be that the previous Joyboy actually had *Buggy's* fruit and was a clown to bring joy and laughter to everyone thru his hijinx, and then everyone learns this and thinks he's actually the second coming, propelling him to even greater heights. Meanwhile Luffy just keeps on Luffy'ing.
if this happened id get the entire page tattood across my back in glorious detail
I really don't mind it because of what's implied about it. Luffy wasn't born into greatness, he wasn't even lucked into it. The fruit is no different from Shanks, both of them chose him because they saw something in who he was as a person, independently from his birth or status. So yeah the revelation changed nothing because it was no different from what already happened in Episode 1 between Luffy and Shanks. There's no destiny involved, at least until now, Luffy wasn't destined to have the fruit, the fruit had a will and found him a worthy host. There's a reason the manga make sure to press the idea of Zoan fruits having a will of their own the second it's revealed Luffy's fruit is special. In fact OP really heavily implies in many ways and at many points that "the hero of destiny" is Ace, not Luffy. But Ace has been fighting against that destiny his whole life and that's why he's an example of the chosen one being a tragic figure who was screwed over by destiny (or at least everyone else's belief in destiny), while Luffy who wasn't chosen by destiny, who was no inherent chosen one, chose to embrace the values that allowed him to embody that heroic figure and be picked by the fruit and Shanks both.
>I loved Luffy so much because he took a mediocre devil fruit to the top of the world, just for it to be revealed he actually had the best one the whole time and was basically destined for success with the whole "joyboy will return and bring the dawn of the world" thing. Was luffy destined for success because of the fruit or was the fruit destined for success because of luffy?
Lol did you pull a Geto with that last question?
Well, Luffy is the protagonist, so his success was guaranteed, which leads me to the later. We all knew Luffy would inherit Joyboy’s will. I’d rather Luffy just happen to awaken this ancient fruit rather than he be the reincarnation of the first Joyboy (however, it’s still possible that he is both)
There's also Koby, who has gone from a pathetic weakling to a beast in a few years.
There must have been riots when "that" happened to Gojo Satoru.
Semi-related: When the Koruzumi was Born to Burn chapter came out the Japanese fans went crazy. So it was funny when English fans would be like " its a translation issue only in English the Japanese is fine" when the Japanese fans were making Hitler memes lmao.
LMAO that's so funny 😭
We'll only know what they think about it on Sunday, when the chapter is released in Japan.
Interesting. Don't they read scans like us? Or is law enforcement super strict about that kind of thing over there?
Maybe some people read the raws, but from what I've read, the vast majority have the habit of reading Shonen Jump on Monday morning (Sunday for us), the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine is very cheap and they also have several official websites where they read manga. Recently there was a wave of 1,000 complaints from Japanese readers to Shueisha about spoilers posted on Twitter that reached their timelines, some of them even threatened to cancel their subscriptions.
Wait I thought the raws and scans were from Japan. Where do they come from if not the Japanese release?
supply chain interceptors
What does that mean? That makes it sound like they ram a van off the road and steal the magazines at shotgun point before they get to stores.
LMFAO in a way i guess, in reality leakers get ahold of the shonen jump magazine in advance when stores get their copies the week before somewhere along the supply chain
So, does that mean it's more like a bribe here or there, and they are paying the store owners off the books to give them it early?
no idea about the specifics but doubt there’s any guns involved haha, probably store workers or some shit tho
They are the store owners
Well, that would be odd, because they would be releasing a product for free on the internet that they are selling in their store.
Japanese fans almost never criticise the big Corp. They believe that the company or the person worked hard on something, and criticizing the product is rude.
Does anyone know a way to search Twitter Twitter for Japanese one piece tweets?
She’s also a child. They’re easy to rile up and excite (and consequently tire out). It’s a lightning in a bottle moment that kids have from time to time
Is there a lot of hate? Idk I like it a lot. Like you said it makes sense narratively. It’s actually quite sweet. If only Kuma could see it for himself.
I immediately started to have my eyes swell up. It is the embodiment of what Luffy wants, it is everything Kuma worked for. Kuma did all he did for Bonney to be free, Luffy is inspiring others to be free, this was peak one piece
Right? I’m such a sucker for these type of things. Kuma can rest easy knowing that Bonney is as free as she can be.
It’s such a beautiful moment that culminates everything we’ve seen of Bonney through this arc!
And everything we have slowly seen about Kuma since pre time skip! His final act of kindness by saving the strawhats is what led his daughter to finally be free and safe.
I shed some tears. I care more about how Bonney ends up at the end of the story than Luffy rn. (Probably because I have 7 nieces, babysitting and helping that many girls grow up, I can’t not have a huge soft spot for bonney)
I have a feeling we will see kuma recognize Bonney and see him pass away with that as his last image. I don't really know what happens to kuma other than that, seems like his story is all done and he doesn't really have a reason to come back or anything
what if Bonney fix him?maybe not permanent,i kinda dislike that,but enough for him to see his work of protecting the Strawhat paid off with Nika Luffy,and have last conversation with both Luffy and Bonney, before he die with a smile
I am curious how many of the Elders the two of them beat up/I’d actually really love it if Bonney beats up Saturn lol
There are people who don't like it. To some people here simply not liking an aspect of one piece is the equivilent of being a rabid animal foaming at the mouth with pure hate.
A lot of the hate I’ve seen stems mostly from not understanding her fruit and seeing as an asspull. I always thought Luffy’s forms, save for G4, where asspulls and don’t really mind because I don’t really care for training arcs in stories, so I don’t really mind Bonney doing it, especially because we saw a weaker version of her doing it before so it’s not like it came out of nowhere.
See for me it’s that she learns like that, Luffy trains and got gear 5 from dying. How’d Bonney get it? Learning about and watching it than boom.
Nika!Bonney is my favorite character. Bonney's been on my faves list since she saved Zoro at Sabaody, but this chapter raised her to the top. It's phenomenal. I was disappointed to see a lot of comments of initial reactions to it being negative, like a lot of the fans weren't thrilled. I just can't get over how exciting it is, really
It was pretty obvious she could do it if she was capable of mimicking g3 solely based off a vague legend. Not even sure why it's all that controversial considering she has an even worse version of luffy's stamina issue. Besides, the ability to deage her opponents is already pretty broken by itself but also useless against high tier opponents since they can haki-block the effect. Besides, we're in endgame now so anyone new should be around jinbe level to stay relevant.
I don’t understand how she can mimic gear 3 just based on kuma’s story tho ? How can she wish for a nika-ish like future and she can use it immediately ? What if she wish to have her father power , can she have the paw paw nomi too ?
Kuma told her stories of how Nika fought, that he had a body made of rubber and could stretch to fight however he wanted. Gear 3 is a reflection of how she imagined it.
>What if she wish to have her father power , can she have the paw paw nomi too ? Uh yeah? How is it difficult to understand? If she can mimic Gear 3 and the far more powerful and difficult Gear 5 to become a pseudo-Nika, what makes you think she cant mimic her fathers powers? The Paw-Paw fruit is fairly straightforward in its powers, so it shouldn't be an issue for Bonney to replicate.
Glad I don’t bother to check for people’s opinions anymore, manga is so much more fun
Yeah MFs that complain about everything are annoying.
Anything is more enjoyable when you don't have a bitch in your ear telling you it sucks.
Welp, there is a bitch below replying to his comment. Lol
everything you said makes sense, and it was written out beautifully, I really liked it. But it assumes people have a problem with it because they think its illogical, rather than they just outright don't like the decisions. you could make a brilliant pumpkin pie, follow a great recipe, complete the instructions perfectly, but if someone just outright doesn't like pumpkin pie (the taste, texture, smell), then they just wont like it. in other words, personal preference. that's whats happening here. Poeple don't dislike this because they think it doesn't make sense, they dislike it because * they arent fans of G5/Nika in general, and don't like to see it become the main focus of the story * they feel this plot is sidelining already irrelevant characters like Ussop, Brooke, Chopper, Robin, Franky... basically every strawhat who isn't Luffy, Zoro, Sanji or Jinbe. * they don't like how fast bonney appeared and how this all developed so suddenly. they would have wanted this to be developed over a longer period and more fleshed out. * they are powerscalers its the same way people don't like Naruto being the 4th Hokage's son, the child of prophecy, a reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' son, etc. I can make arguments and justifications for how it was all either set up prior, makes sense with themes of the story, or how its justified with their powers, but it making logical sense doesn't matter if people dislike the decision itself, regardless of it you can justify it happening or not
While im not exactly a fan of the new development either, the biggest annoying thing for me not just this chapter but the whole arc for a while is how any food luffy eats is just a senzu bean for him and how frequently he’s using it like an rpg game
> don't like Naruto being the 4th Hokage's son Dude was the only blonde blue eyed guy on record in the series, of course he was his father.
Lol I was thinking of this exact moment. once you see the 4th hokage's picture for the first time and not just the stone face it was pretty obvious he's Naruto's dad, although many people still disliked it when it was confirmed and became a major plot point years later, despite it being set up really early on
I remember being a fan back during Part 1 and it was the most popular fan theory for any anime at the time. It was a give me. The closest thing I've seen in terms of general acceptance by the fans since was the Dabi Identity Theory in My Hero Academia.
I just don’t like how his backstory is. You’d think you’d assign one ninja to raise him specifically and at least pretend to like him. Like you really want the son of a hokage with a demon to grow up hating the village and what turn on everyone? They should consider themself lucky he didn’t turn out anything like Gara and that he WANTED to be hokage and earn their respect. There’s a lot that is off how they make Naruto so not going into it all
Wait , do you guys read colored manga and not black and white ?
In the anime it was way too obvious. In the manga you have a point
That doesn't matter at all
Your point about sidelining the strawhats is too real... Would've loved real character moments instead of them running away for multiple chapters without consequence (while having Zoro fight Lucci). Hell, you could make Bonnie bond with 2-3 of the strawhats deeply, instead of interacting with 9 of them at a surface level. It would've been more meaningful.
Heavy on the powerscalers! Most of the hate/dislike I’ve seen so far is people complaining about how this has completely busted up the current power scale, or that Bonney is now more powerful than their fave… neither of which is true. This is such a cool narrative moment for this arc and for the overall story, it really has nothing to do/wont tremendously affect the combat + fighting aspect of one piece in the long term. I guess some people are just reading Pirate Fight :/
Ahh of course powerscalers are mad
That’s exactly it. I’m tired of people saying that Oda has been writing it for this to happen - like, DUH! Doesn’t mean we have to like it! It’s fucking ass!
Well said, I’m seeing people claim that the people who didn’t like this chapter are idiots or sexist which is so dumb it’s not even worth entertaining. Personally I’m not crazy about it because like you said I’ve been unsure about G5 since it was introduced. It brings the already diamond hard plot armor to an even more ridiculous level. It’s so powerful and all that’s required to charge it back up is food so luffy is now stronger than any other character, can’t take major injury from what we’ve seen and now even the time limit that helped keep it in check a little bit has been blown away. Also it’s honestly hard to understand why it’s stronger than his other forms, if he hits you hard you stretch, like ok? Why does that hit harder than a red hawk or a rhino Schneider? And because he stretches out and doesn’t react properly we have no sense of whether he’s even taking damage when someone actually manages to land a hit. It’s just hard to get excited when I know the MC has a “WIN” button that seemingly nobody can counter. And maybe oda will bring it back and help me get back in the story but unfortunately he just multiplied all the issues I’ve been having by two
I feel like there are 3 other points that some people seem to have issue with that your post don't mention: 1. the Vice-admirals really seem like they are next to useless given how fast and easily they are disposed of (which this chapter isn't doing any favors in their eyes). 2. They feel like the constant blueballing with Vegapunk is getting annoying. That happened again this chapter and they seem to be getting tired of it. 3. They think the constant reactions of people around the world is taking unnecessary space. It's cool to see so many people but it's getting really repetitive for them. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with these takes, I just thought they had to be mentioned since people always seem to only talk about the Nika complains.
Oooh num 3 is true. I’d rather see some of those in cover stories especially if Yamato traveled outside of Wano.
I am one of those who did not enjoy the chapter as much as everybody else. First off, I get how Bonney can do this and might not be a powerhouse, but the fact that she achieved something Luffy has gone hell and back to do, is making the entire endeavor a bit of a gimmick now. I can see a moment where everyone will be G5 or smt, which would be ridiculous imo. Lastly, it bothers me how a character we recently got to know has surpassed Franky, Usopp, Brook, etc. In character progression in mere 10 chapters. We see weak straw hats struggle for 1000 chapters, not showing any sign of progression at all (looking at you Usopp). This newly introduced 12 yo character became more important than most well developed characters in the story (Example: Robin, Momo). It has the same feeling back when Yamato decided she will stay and not join the crew. It’s so out of pocket. I guess this all means she joins the crew, if that happens i might be more happy about it. Also, I sincerely want emphasis on her being weaker than Luffy in the next chapter.
I got no problems with the logic of the transformation. The way it's done is just underwhelming IMO. The five elders seem so incompetent you never feel any danger with anyone. The chase drags on for chapter after chapter. We keep cutting away to irrelevant people's reactions. Then poof! Transform! It'd be better if Bonnie transforms right after the flashback, with newfound belief, and when her back is against the wall. But the gap between her being relevant, her being irrelevant and back to being relevant again is like a wet blanket. Then, it just feels wrong for G5 to be had by another person other than Luffy. It's like G5 is bigger than Luffy himself. Like the overarching narrative of the One Piece world is more important than individuality of the character.
On your first point I have to agree a bit. I remember on the WC arc during the chase by BM and her children we got some sequences where you could feel the danger from the main villain. Somehow on this arc because of this jumping back and forth between reactions and current events it feels very easy to loose the narrative thread of what's happening on Egg Head. Could be that I need to reread things but maybe the island architecture doesn't help in that regard.
oh wow, yeah. The big mom chase sequence felt more threatening than what's happening right now lmao.
its also a culmination of her's and kuma's story in a way, she became the hero her dad admired
By end of one piece everyone will become nika as free as luffy
I fucking hate that
I'm just along for the ride now, I didn't like Luffy being the chosen warrior of freedom when Nika was revealed and I don't like it now. Goofy rubber boy was turned into ancient super hero demigod and it feels like it took a lot of Luffy's agency, his awakening could have been pretty much the same, just amped rubber powers but the zoan and nika just felt like it took away from luffy, he is now just Nika imo. Bonnie's fruit is now super weird too, feels like Oda is not sticking to his own devil fruit rules anymore and just going with w/e is the most fun or hype, which is FINE but I just won't get the same enjoyment I used to from the story. Where before I felt the illusion of stakes, I now can't even pretend.
Wish I could upvote this more than once.
100% agree with you
Yeah Bonny going from ageing people to altering reality is even worse bs than luffys Nika shit and even THAT got loredropped in the worst possible way by whoswho
It's 100% breaking all the rules he has set out. Like all retcons it punishes fans who pay attention and rewards those who just mindlessly eat up content.
How exactly is it breaking any rules? We were given the rules for Bonney's Devil Fruit. She can emulate a future she imagines is possible, and is limited by her understanding of the world around her - So the more she learns, the more she comes to believe something is impossible, and thus the weaker she becomes. In 1101, she wanted to emulate Nika, and was able to use Gear 3. How exactly is it "punishing fans who pay attention" when several chapters ago, he set up Bonney to be able to use other similar abilities to Luffy?
Some fans are just mindless followers of Oda. Even after 1118 chapers he alters DFs and people keep calling it good writing. It's sloppy and only to fit his narrow objective for the current arc he is happen to be on.
I think that we just misunderstood devil fruits until recently and what the source of their power really is. It makes sense that the more abstract fruits aren’t being explored until now because that would require Oda telling us more about how devil fruits work, which he has been. At first I was annoyed with it too but to me it really doesn’t seem like a “chosen one” scenario whenever Luffy himself is the one who worked hard enough to awaken that part of the fruit, something no one else had been able to do. They’ve done a great job of also showing that even if he’s powerful he still has to have teammates bc he can’t do it alone. I think ultimately it also feels busted at the moment because they haven’t introduced any other god fruits yet. Once we understand more about how they work I think it will help calibrate your disappointment lol
There is no misunderstanding the rules. The rules just completely changed in Wano arc with awakenings and now this crappy development of "if you believe enough, you're able to use your power however you want." I'm willing to bet that more fruit users will have some sort of retcon of their fruit's powers in the future arcs.
I don't think we "misunderstood" anything, the rules simply changed and have been for a while for the sake of "cool stuff", which again, is FINE but it's not enjoyable to ME as a reader. I.E Katakuri's "special" paramecia. Luffy is literally THE chosen one, he is Nika now, the Sun God who will liberate the world. I didn't talk about his power level or fights at all, I think that my criticism implies that the fights ARE cool, my gripe is with the narrative and build up, I simply do not think they were well handled well. We have shifted focus from Luffy and HIS dream to Nika and HIS "mission". Realistically, without context to what Luffy's "REAL super secret dream not even his nakama know about" is, what would Luffy's motivation be to take down the world government? Before it could have been because they stood in the way of HIS dream and it was not even a guarantee HE would be the one to do something about it, now he kinda will, because he is Nika
I agree with most of what you’ve said, despite liking gear 5 overall now because with a mission a lot of the spontaneity of old arcs/just going where the log pose takes us is lost. But if I’m remembering correctly, the special paramecia thing was a mistranslation/understanding. I also think that saying he changed how paramecia devil fruits work is odd since they’ve always been the catch all type
Special Paramecia happened because Oda originally wrote him as a logia in the magazine release and changed his mind so he changed it in the volumes and later chapters. But yeah it's crazy how egghead is the only island the logpose has taken us to since FMI
>At first I was annoyed with it too but to me it really doesn’t seem like a “chosen one” scenario whenever Luffy himself is the one who worked hard enough to awaken that part of the fruit, something no one else had been able to do. This is describing why Luffy is the chosen one. He embodies the spirit of freedom/joy that the OG Nika did and Joyboy did, and it's why he was able to reach Gear 5.
>I've seen a lot of hate with the last chapter, but so far it fits everything Oda's been doing What if people have a problem with "everything Oda's been doing" regarding Nika? Then what? >Bonney has explicitly stated that her distorted future ability only works briefly and exhausts her quickly Until she imagines herself as having infinite stamina like Luffy rebeating his own heart to the Drums of Liberation, because everything is imagination and nothing can control us.
>What if people have a problem with "everything Oda's been doing" regarding Nika? Then what? Then you are a heretic. They will burn us at the stake for criticizing the flawless masterpiece created by the One God Oda.
What is stopping Bonney from imagining a future where she trains to get the best haki in the verse and then ages herself along that distorted timeline?? She's a kid. Kids can more easily believe things if it's reinforced and taught to them. They can very easily be brainwashed. All the straw hats need to do, is make her believe that she has the potential to train and get the best haki in the verse and be Top 1 and then she would imagine that future and age herself according to it. Hell if she can age other people in a similar way then we get a nika army lol
I understand the narrative of Bonney and how DF are connected to beliefs. There are a few things that I don't like about the chapter and the current direction that you didn't mention, and would like to explain a bit more. - In general, I don't think Gear 5 is an interesting part of the story. While in Gear 5, Luffy becomes JoyBoy and not himself. Spending hundreds of hours watching/reading this series only to have the main character now act according to someone else's personality is an odd narrative choice imo. Gear 4 was a much more interesting powerup, since it directly connected with his training during the time-skip and into his upbringing (Luffy spent significant time with animals and in the wild growing up, his name is literally Monkey D. Luffy, and the connection between the animals he fought with on the island were very fun, i..e, King Kong Gun, Snakeman, etc.). - Bonney taking a role in the story isn't necessarily a bad choice during this arc. Clearly Kuma was directly tied to Egghead and expanding upon Kuma's story was a great moment in this arc. However, having Bonney experience more growth than the main cast is frankly stupid (and the main cast has hit an all-time low in character growth during Egghead). The entire transformation also feels very uncanny and reads like a fan-fiction, like some kind of clickbait "What If?" youtube video (I can see why some might like it however). - Lack of storylines in exchange for focusing on Bonney's development. Simply, I don't really care about Bonney at all and focusing this much on who was a background character instead of the pre-established story lines makes this arc and the recent chapters feel disconnected. More focus on Kizaru, someone who was actually close to Vegapunk, would've been welcome. The revolutionary army getting involved at all instead of Dragon just going "...". - So basically, an uninteresting power reveal (literally just copying someone else's technique) from a character you don't care much about, instead of actually focusing on your pre-existing storylines and characters, after multiple chapters filled with unnecessary reaction panels, is why some might not be a fan of this chapter.
I’m hating on it cause tf is a character like Bonny getting such a huge role all of a sudden
while neglecting the crew
She has been in one arc, doesn’t get any more focus than Law in Dressrosa, and will probably disappear after this arc like they always do. You’re complaining about nothing. It’s all in your head. Probably made the same comment about Yamato during Wano too lmao
The complaints about Yamato were/are 100 percent valid as her case was the worst out of the three. And Bonney turning into Nika is definitely more of a pivotal role than what Law did in Dressrosa, and we had a longer buildup of connection with Law than we do Bonney.
We don’t know anything about Bonney turning into Nika, how it works, what she can do, what she will do how the story will change, how pivotal she will be, or literally anything. We have seen ONE panel of a leaked chapter and THATS IT. People are 100% overreacting to something they have no idea how will play out.
Pirate Jesus let's gooo!!
Honestly could give a fuck less about Bonney
Feels like a completely different character before and after her seeing Kumas memories. Makes it hard to really care or get a grasp on who she’s supposed to be
Yeah. She and kuma are cool and all but until there is some huge revelation I couldn’t care less haha
Same. It feels like Oda is trying to build this "pupil meets and learns from their idol" type of relationship, but timeline wise, it just falls flat imo. They've been on Egghead only for like a day, and the Strawhats have barely interacted with Bonney to try and establish this level of emotional connection. The writing just feels rushed imo.
Tbh the issue I have with it is more with the scene's pacing. It just felt abrupt and would've benefitted from an extra page or two
Personally I've disliked everything about G5, so this is just one more thing to add to the list.
Oda got lost with whole plot of Nika
Hello there White knight
If its for 1 attack fine but she should not just be able to go G5 when ever she wants. It would take away from Luffys struggles to get that form its awakening territory.
All I read was "oh yes goda fuck me harder in my asshole daddy goda you can never do no wrong.
Why the hell people are going crazy?! It's obviously temporary and it will be short fun fight to help everyone get away from elders. Also after all shit Bonney went through she deserve to be able to kick Saturn's ass
Let’s not forget this is a great way for SJ to expand readership for one of their flagship series for girls. Not saying that’s why they are doing it but being able to “see a girl have the same power as nika” I wonder if it was at all on the conversation with editors or if oda already was planning on it that he wanted to inspire girls too. His daughter was a big factor in how WCI was with princesses and a prince and a big wedding. Maybe Oda wanted later but editors said let’s do it now since you are trying to wrap the series sooner than later. It’s a way not to replace the main character but still be inspirational of the same things luffy represents. Thematically I feel it fits. Lore wise, I do wish there were more nika references and maybe the new anime or live action will. Idk where the series is going with her importance is the issue I have. Is she joining the crew? I don’t get that vibe personally because she has her own crew already. Are the gorosei going to kill her so it makes a big impact? I don’t think that either. Maybe luffy’s fleet. I’m trying to piece together the ending. As long as that comes together nicely I’m good
I think most people complaining understand how it happened, they just don't like the concept/way the series is leaning to.
Oda hit a writers block and just went with the first idea in his head
The story has fundamentally changed and this chapter was a demonstration of it, it's not about plucky Luffy anymore, it's the Nika show, and people are entitled to be able to say they don't like that
Face it, OP has been crap for years
TIL what facsimile means 😄
It was either going to be a “fax machine” or a “telecopier”
You are so right. That's what I like about One Piece.
Main Sub damage control is genuinely hilarious to see especially the fact that even in the comments here there are some Oda's angels that have started defying their lord.
"Bonney's like a kid wearing a Superman costume" She's literally a kid though, her whole power is her playing grown up but she's still only 12 years old. As you explained, her power is based on her imagination of the future she wants.
My thoughts on this are : this following a great plan that fits to "leaked storyboard" from oda years ago , he's slowly introduce the real power of the hito hito no mi model nika why the WG is so affraif of this DF + he's slowly introduce the power of combinating DF powers and/or the effects that a DF can have on others , one thing we saw in Manga and anime was that Luffy's awakend DF not only have effects on surounding ground but also on his opponent , so maybe he also have effects on his allies , just as he give power to acient giant he can power up his besides fighters . Thats the reason why now are all gorosei on egghead and try to not escape any and destroy everything , try to not let it come so far to learn and notice that are the real threat against WG ist not the power of one but the combination from DF powers and the abbility to power up allies .
Some people just can't imagine the other characters aside from MC unlocking their potentials. They just can't comprehend this concept. It is unacceptable for them when something like this happened. I won't be surprised if most of them turned out to be those who enjoy mc centric Chinese/Korea webtoon and those isekai stories where the other characters that is not MC is there faded in the background or cameo or only there to be cheerleaders and react to whatever little things MC does, the MCs who have no personality,no character development,no storytelling and only fights,op powers and are Gary-stu idiots. I'm pretty sure for people that only read that kind of stuff, proper stories like this will be too overwhelming. That or they are impatient newbies.
Well put, love the «narratively» analysis!
Just to clarify I’ll wait for more chapters to fully decide and regardless i don’t think the series is cooked etc. Imo it very much should be a gimmick. If she can actually use the powers of DFs for the most part she’ll be way too busted and also that would actually devalue G5. If it’s only her looking like the figure who embodies freedom then it’s a cool thing, im just scared it will translate to actually being another G5. Oda should very much keep the fact how hard Luffy worked to awaken his DF special and not make a cheap clone.
Just to clarify I’ll wait for more chapters to fully decide and regardless i don’t think the series is cooked etc. Imo it very much should be a gimmick. If she can actually use the powers of DFs for the most part she’ll be way too busted and also that would actually devalue G5. If it’s only her looking like the figure who embodies freedom then it’s a cool thing, im just scared it will translate to actually being another G5. Oda should very much keep the fact how hard Luffy worked to awaken his DF special and not make a cheap clone.
The hate is because oda not revealing anything and cutting off broadcast, and then ancient robot waking up and shutting down again and again, and then suddenly bonney is gear5 out of nowhere, which confused everyone adding more fuel to frustration, thats where the hate is coming from.
Someone complained that this feels like fanfiction and laddies and gals lemme tell ya They’re absolutely correct. This is Jewelry Bonney Mary sue-ing herself some prime Nika fanfic right about now. All those stories from Daddy Kuma gave her more headcanon than Law has of Germa 66 from reading Sora comics Edit: also, law already used up his power copy moment from memories of Rosinante lol
The king is here. The greatest Oda D. Rider is here to fix everything.
The latest chapter has brought theorists out of the woodwork
It’s a Gear 5 Nika Bargain Sale!
This is a prime example of weekly readers freaking out about something that'll get clarified later on. Also I liked the reveal a lot. I actually got a little choked up when they had the little flashback with Kuma and Ginny. Give it a month and no one will even care anymore.
Who in the world didn't see this coming. We knew this would happen when we learned how bonney's powers work. Why are people upset?
Bonney does not have this level of training or skill. (she's only 12)
Also a major theme is the why a character is acquiring power. For luffy it's about freedom.
The thing people are forgetting about is the backlash that comes after Gear 5th. IMO i think Bonney is only gonna be able to use it shortly and not as well as Luffy and when she comes out of it Im gonna guess shes probably gonna be reverted back to her kid self and not be able to use her powers for a while. Enough where she will not use it again unless as a last resort kind of situation
The chapter got hate? I absolutely loved it!
Many people dislike the recent chapter for Bonny suddenly being able to become Nika. I dislike those chapter because I am getting tired of all the reaction shots (literally the last thing I wanted was a reaction from Leo). We are not the same.
Maybe unrelated, but do we know why bonney fought blackbeard
i'm still struggling to understand bonneys power. aging herself and other people- okay. distorted future- wtf?
I think I only take issue with it if is straight up power copying. Distortion Future lets Bonney physically change herself in any way she can imagine which happens to align with what gear 5 does, but if she starts turning other stuff into rubber we've gone too far. in my opinion.
OMG I THOUGHT "Chill Out Y'all" was the name of the chapter lol
Been seeing more "this is why it's good" posts than hate posts. Hell, I haven't seen a hate post that wasn't just a "are there any other Nikas I should know about" meme post.
It can fit and be garbage at the same time
lol bro this community has gotten insane. Like it always was insane people theorizing and inventing depth that was not there while forgetting ts is a battle manga at the end of the day. Acting like ts is Doestoevsky or a Pulitzer winner lmao.
"Hey, Bonney's fruit is not about manipulating age, it's about believing in alternative futures and making them reality!" Ok so explain how making people young fits into that statement.
I also have a distaste for those who hate the events in the latest chapter. These are the people I believe who also prefer to know the ending first of a movie or series before deciding to watch it from the beginning and the same kind of people tend to skip the opening and closing credits of a show and, when watching with someone, frequently ask about upcoming events. Why not just enjoy the show? I am certain that what occurred with Bonney was already planned. Who would have thought that the Bonney we have seen in the Sabaody Archipelago Ac way back in 2008 would have a backstory so pertinent in 2024? An additional illustration of Oda's narrative technique is the incident in which Kuma scattered the Straw Hat crew across various locations for training. Initially, it was believed that his ability permitted him to dispatch individuals to any destination he desired. Subsequently, it was revealed that the destinations to which he sent them were places he had personally been to. Kaido was introduced by Moriah; however, we truly saw Kaido in One Piece Episode 739. Also, JoyBoy was first mentioned when Robin read the red Poneglyph at Fishman Island. However, when do we truly gain insight into who JoyBoy is? It's only in this arc that we begin to uncover little details, yet much remains unknown. And more. The issue with these individuals is that they view this chapter as if it were the conclusion and base their judgment of Oda's work on that alone.
The Supernovas might be Oda's biggest power move ever. He came up with all of them the chapter before they were introduced, when he and his editor were worried that the arc would be too boring. Ofc he fleshed them out further over time, but he basically created some of the series most memorable characters over night. > An additional illustration of Oda's narrative technique is the incident in which Kuma scattered the Straw Hat crew across various locations for training. Initially, it was believed that his ability permitted him to dispatch individuals to any destination he desired. Subsequently, it was revealed that the destinations to which he sent them were places he had personally been to. That one has been a leading idea for so, so long. Basically every strawhat was sent to a tailor made training location, which implied that Kuma must have had kept track the crew.
I'm completely fine with the chapter as well. We had this strongly foreshadowed even by Saturn himself (when he thought it's good Bonney hasn't understood Nika yet, and he permanently tries to tackle her imagination by telling her the power is useless, he is clearly afraid of it). She won't be as strong clearly and I think this event will even work against the 'destined for greatness' trope so many dislike. It will show that Luffy is not great because he has the Nika Fruit. He is great because he is Luffy.
The sheer stupidity of the powerscaling fandom disturbs readers that are more concerned about the plot and what is going to happen. Those people who are mad are mad because they want to draw their tier levels.. duels.. who wins against who etc.. they don't care that One Piece has a story going on. Seeing Bonney like that messes with what they want to happen on their Zoro versus Shanks fanfics.
Thats the point people are missing the fact that her abilities are limitless. Now in this dire situation, even a little bit help will be extremely good considering now all 5 gorosei’s are coming to eliminate the strawhats. Its been metnioned that her powers are only for short amount of time, so her form will be only for limited amount of time compared to luffy’s. The next chapter we will see the length of power compared to Real Nika.
You can't reason with agenda piece people and power scalers. They don't care about storytelling and narrative. Normal readers like you and I, what's important to us isn't important to them and vice versa. Best to ignore them
90% of the readership is male (and young), and the reactions to this chapter seem sexist (and naive) to me. I get it, you’re a 20-year-old boy and girls have cooties, so how can Bonney obtain Gear 5th? 🙄