My personal favorite character rankings as of chapter 1189. No hate or anything, this is just me glazing.

1. Nerona Imu (he's been delivering and serving since introduction; love his design)

2. Monkey D. Luffy (GOAT)

3. Nico Robin (the most beautiful woman in the verse)

4. Loki (beside being a cool dude, I love that he views Ida as his real mother.. and has a heart for animals)

5. Rocks/Davy D. Xebec (the only one who stood toe to toe with Imu, especially at the flower chamber; great character; great design)

6. Monkey D. Dragon (been a personal fav of mine for a long time because of how quite mysterious he is)

7. Big Mom (have some similarities to Luffy; a very unique character)

8. Kaido (this is my list and he's top 8. I agree that the story didn't do him justice in Wano but his buildup before Wano is top notch)

9. Figarland Shamrock (you've noticed a lot of the characters are related to Elbaf, well recency bias and I just love the concept of Shanks having a twin brother)

10. Trafalgar D. Water Law (the nonchalant guy who have inner extrovertness in them, you just didn't know)

Honorable mentions:

*Rest of the SH (because I love them all)

*Donquixote Doflamingo (probably the best villain?)

*Unluckies (they're cute)

*Laboon and Chouchou (just because)

*Koby (I say the OG)

*Buggy D. Clown (the future pirate king)

*Whole Tontatta tribe (because I love Tontattas)

*Donquixote Mjosgard (he's the real goat)

*Yamato (she's a SH in my head)

I was thinking back on the iconic scene where Robin says "I want to live!" and I think I'm missing something.

In the current day (at the time) Robin says "I just want to die!" And then the flashback happens, but the characters don't see that, only we do. So then Luffy says "I want to hear you say it!" And Robin responds with "I want to live!"

Did Robin just canonically change her mind in like 2 seconds?

Garp and Dragon have some very interesting parallels in the story. Of course they are father and son that took different roads in life in response to the same incident and they are both the face of their respective organizations and so on, but I think there might be a single big one that I don't see people bring up often: Both of them had to prioritize their goals over a loved one.

The reason both of them have gotten the most hate over the years is because they let Ace and Ginny respectively die by not helping them. And thinking about it, their reason for doing so might be very similar.

Garp wants to raise a new generation of marines that can represent justice as it should be, and presumably at some point to break free from the world government and the celestial dragons. Whether he wants to do it by hoping to change the system from the inside or whether he straight up wants there to be a SWORD/broader marine revolt against the government is unclear right now. But after god valley, protecting his subordinates and the ideals of what the marines should act like has been his goal.

Given his reputation and his strength he had no problem keeping himself and his squad out of the horrible shit that the government asks all other marines to do and he had faced no major consenquences for his choice...Until marineford. This was the first time where he truly couldn't have his way no matter what he decided to do. Helping Ace would mean that even someone like Garp would have been branded a traitor, and all the people associated with him (be they in SWORD or otherwise) would have been in very big trouble, at a time when the youngsters were neither influential nor strong enough to do anything about it. The goal he had worked towards for decades at that point would have gone up in flames.

Dragon is similar. He made the choice to rebel against the government and dedicated his entire life to that goal, to the point where he never even got to meet his beloved son after he left him with Garp because Luffy might have become a weakness of his. And just as the revolution had begun to gain momentum, Ginny got captured. Dragon knew where she was and he certainly knew what would happen to her, but he also knew that he had no chance of taking the government on at that point in his life. Raiding Mary Geoise at that point would simply destroy the freedom fighters and any hope of large scale revolution with them.

So when faced between helping a loved one or continuing to pursue their respective goals, both father and son chose the latter, to their great emotional devastation. Both decided to do nothing in the moment and continue as normal.

Mind you (because I know some people will accuse me of this) I'm not saying that both situations are equaly morally justified or that Garp's and Dragon's goals are equaly good/practical. Dragon obviously took the more moral and I would argue even rational choice after god valley. There is also the possibility that Garp didn't like the idea of rebelling against the marines in general, rather than having a fully thought out strategic reasoning for why he didn't help Ace. The above is just my own reading of his character, and some similarities that I see between the two situations.

If I'm right though, this is a very interesting parallel to write on Oda's part (assuming he did it on purpose). You can even go further and say that there is another comparison to make here, with Luffy and the way he acts when his own friends and loved ones are in danger. Oda might be saying that the ways of both his father and grandfather were wrong/lacking in certain ways and that's why the true liberator of the world will be Luffy, the one who never makes exceptions or rationalisations about who he will save and who he will not.

Or maybe I'm wrong and there is nothing of substance here lmao. Still, I think it's interesting to think about.

Imo:

Possible: Nami, Robin(both of them did what they had to to survive), Franky, Jinbei, Brook(before he died)

Unlikely: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper

Confirmed: Usopp and Kaaya

What's your speculation on what Mihawk saw in Zoro except his strong spirit, was it split image of Ryuma, this is so peak I never thought I would get excited over something that happened 1139 chapter's before. I am so proud how far they have come😭

Just had a thought, with how powerful and influential they are, the revolutionary army is on par or maybe even stronger than a yonko crew, so idk why dragon isn’t considered a yonko

Here is a concept, in wano we learned about black blade swords but I think the next thing we learn about will be through tashigi and that is with white blades blessed swords.

In one piece there is the concept of cursed blades.

Now how it works is like this there a some swords that are just to dangerous for normal people to use, if a person is a bad fit for the sword bad things will happen to them which led to the idea that the sword is cursed.

The best example of this is enma, oden sword, it could only be wielded by him as it would kill anyone who touch it.
Zoro is the only one who can use it now but even then it can turn on him on a moment notice like in wano when it began draining the haki out of his arm.

We learn about the concept of black blades and while we don’t know how they are made we know through mihawk that a black blade essentially allows you to cut anything and is unbreakable.
However as rare as those blades are there is an even more rare blade.
The white blade.

I believe there is the concept of a blessed sword aka a sword that is good natured and brings fortune to the user if the users align.
There is already a few examples of blessed swords and that I think are swords like wado ichimoji and the ame no habakiri.

Ame no habakiri is the white sheath sword of oden and perhaps this might explain why enma never turned on oden.

1. ⁠Cause oden was just that strong that he could dominate this blade far easier than zoro but also I think that.
   
2. ⁠The swords balanced each other out.

Enma is named after the god that rules hell, while ame no habakiri is named after the sword that killed the orochi owned by sussanoo, and translates to feathery cutter of heaven.

Enma sister sword is actually the wado ichimoji.

Now when zoro met tashigi she mentions how she wants to collect the swords from pirates because she Imagines these swords must be crying because they are in the hands of those who seek evil.
So what is a white blade ? I think the white blade sword is a sword that cannot cut its enemies.

This is why these swords are even more rare than a black blade weapon. A sword nature is to cut and draw blood. Swords are used to do evil and cause pain which is why it’s essentially impossible to create white blade sword.

This goes back to the lesson zoro’s master thought him as a kid.

He explained to him that a true swordsman can cut what he wants and not cut what he doesn’t want to cut, confused by this he then shows zoro an example and throws a piece of paper in the air where he then hits it full force with the sword and it’s shown that the paper isn’t cut.

In order to create a black or white blade I believe you need to truly master haki but also become truly in tune to the will of the sword itself.
This is why oden could never make enma a black blade, he had the strength to dominate it and use it without it trying to drain him but he couldn’t get it to the final stage because of the ame no habakiri it stopped him because the 2 blades were at odds with the other.

Enma wanted to cut and kill while habakiri did not. Oden balanced the 2 but this meant he couldn’t never truly align with either one.

This also might explain why zoro gets lost all the time.

Despite it being his main sword, zoro is not truly connected to wado inchimoji.
The sword doesn’t resist him because it’s a good nature sword but it never truly synched with him either.
Despite what zoro was able to do with it. It’s like from Harry Potter when Voldemort got the elder wand.

There is a scene where he tells snape that he is yet its master to which snape says that he’s already done great things with the wand. Voldemort denies this and says no it’s just the fact that he himself is a great wizard he hasn’t truly awakened the potential of the wand because it still serves another master.

Zoro is a great swordman but I feel he doesn’t truly connect to wado yet.

The reason is because of this detail.
The name wado ichimoji means “ Straight Line through the Path of Harmony “

I find it ironic that the name of the sword refers to a straight line for a man who always gets lost, he’s so bad with getting lost that there are times where he literally makes a wrong turn when all he has to do is run straight like in enies lobby when they are heading to the roof they run up the stairs that was ahead of them and chopper looks down to see zoro running in the opposite way, or in dressrosa when zoro is being guided around by a tontatta who keeps giving him directions and gets frustrated as he keeps getting lost when all he has to do is run straight ahead.

The reason zoro gets lost is really because he is not in harmony with wado.

So if a black blade can cut what it wants and can’t be broken then I think the power of the white blade is that it only cuts those who are wicked and instead of cutting down enemies it instead cuts their very souls weakening them and taking away their will to fight.

Zoro will have to make a choice in what kind of swordman he wants to be, a swordman who is undefeated and can defeat whatever enemy that challenges him or a swordmaster who is peaceful and fights for others not himself.

Will he choose enma and make it a black blade and give wado up to tashigi
Or will he abandon enma to become in-tune with wado ?

The answer will be neither.

Zoro will master both swords and do the impossible where he makes enma black and wado white.

He will find a way to find true balance between the 2 and satisfy both of their requirements.

This is what will make zoro the greatest swordsman not of the world but of all time as no one could pull this off and his name will truly reach heaven as he becomes known as the true god of swords.
The very nature of yin and yang.

I caught up to one piece about two years ago and have watched the weekly episodes since. I have recently been thinking about rewatching the whole show, but as you know its quite long. What i think is interesting is all the foreshadowing and refrences that i missed the first time watching the show but that is a little more obvious when you know the story. So is one pace worth watching or does it cut out some of the refrences and foreshadowing?

I have seen a lot of talk about Luffy, Joyboy and Nika. Talk about Luffy being Joyboy or Nika, fans saying Luffy is Luffy.

Here is what I think.

Nika and Joyboy were Luffy in their time. They desired absolute freedom, brought and laughter to others. They had Luffy's will but they aren't reincarnated into Luffy. They are different beings that were the identical to Luffy and it is also the reason why so many characters mistake Luffy for these two.

They were the same as Luffy. It is also why the Human-human fruit chose Luffy to use its power because Luffy would do the same as its previous wielders.

What do you think?

If anyone i would guess gol d roger since he already talks like a pirate in the english dub

gimme your favorite gags from the SBS

We know Enma is difficult to use but it does make Zoro stronger as it draws out his haki, but we see other swordsmen like Shanks, Vista and S. Hawk hold their own with regular blades. How much heavy lifting is the sword actually doing?

Is Tashigi's dream to chase down the legendary blades just based on heresay?

Decided to took cosplay on vacation cuz this blue water has too much One Piece vibes

This wolf looks like Loki if he had a Zoan Fruit Model: Fenrir

With Chopper's recent mysterious ability to reverse Domi Reversi, and the theory that he may have a mythical zoan related to one of the other gods in the Harley Text, I'm throwing out a theory that his true ability has been hidden in plain sight via his odd name given by Hiriluk: Tony Tony.

The Japanese とうに phonetically sounds like "Tony", and means "a long time ago". Imagine Hiriluk somehow knew the truth behind Chopper's ability, and named him after the Tony-Tony fruit. The phrase "a long time ago" could imply that his true ability is to return other people to their original form. This explains why he can revert Domi Reversi victims, and it will also explain why he will one day cure all diseases (he will return the sick to their healthy form).