Wano Transcript

Bigger in length and scale than any other arc in One Piece, Wano is a mammoth all its own. So large, in fact, that to discuss it in a typical video of mine would prove difficult. Dense with ideas, finding a way to string all of them together into one central point wouldn’t satisfy how much I have to say about the arc, and splitting it up into multiple videos doesn’t quite ring as worthwhile to me. So, I decided to divide this video into Acts. Three in fact. Drawing from Wano’s own structure, I’ll use the climactic incidents in each of these acts: Luffy’s clash with Kaidou, the execution of Yasu, and the Raid of Onigashima; to weave an exploration of the ideas Wano draws upon, finding angles to view the whole from the sum of its parts.

From SAD to Smile: In Need of Joy Boy

When Alber asked Kaidou if he could change the world, Kaidou told him, “I’m the only one who can change it.” And in complete fairness, it isn’t wholly wrong. Simply by questioning the status of the Heavenly Dragons, Kaidou was cast out of the Vodka Kingdom and lost his place in the world under their rule. Strength without loyalty was only a liability. And strength was something Kaidou had in spades. With it, he was able to carve his own place in the world, earning infamy and respect even if it was born through fear. From Onigashima he ruled over Wano. Though it was literally polluted, people living off of waste and taint, the most insidious sign of his rule was what he did not to its land but to its people. Living by his ideals, believing in his might, Kaidou shaped Wano to be more like his desired world: one of conflict, where the strong dominate the weak. As the ruler of the Animal Kingdom, or Hundred Beast, Pirates; the freedom Kaidou achieves is that of nature. While the image of a natural world is often one of serenity and peace, in reality, even the trees and plants are in decades long competition with one another for sunlight, while animals are in a constant struggle to either find food or avoid becoming it. In the Udon prison we see Kaidou’s men crushing down hearts through a ‘carrot and stick’ approach, captives forced to work and earn food to survive, while those who fight are tortured or tormented until their hearts give in. But the stick isn’t necessary, only helpful. Sometimes, just the carrot is enough.

While capable of evil, without doubt, Urashima is used as an example of Kaidou’s direct effect on the people of Wano. Isolated from the outside world, full of samurai who subscribe to a code of honor, in their isolation the people of Wano have a certain childish innocence to them. Even Kozuki Oden, Wano’s modern legend, one who’d seen more of the outside world than any before him, was putty in the hands of Orochi’s deception. In a land where honor is a universal norm, Orochi’s lack of integrity would have led to his death if he stood only by his own power, joining Kaidou to make up for what he lacked. This combination took Oden to his knees, fooling and then ending the life of Wano’s greatest before the country was plunged into Orochi’s darkness. Urashima, in his love of Okiku, displays an innocence of his own, confessing his love only to mope openly later about his failure to win her heart through his status. And, through a certain rat of Kaidou’s, we see the pirate’s ideals offered to this ignorant man of Wano. It’s suggested that he discard the civility of a human and act as a beast. By killing those she relies on and destroying her territory, he can take his desired mate by force and do as he pleases. Once that unneeded humanity was gone, he had no reservations about doing as he wanted with all the power he possessed. The moment that cements his status as a stunted child to me is when Kiku cuts his topknot, rejecting a man of Wano in the most dishonorable way possible. The legitimate pain at this betrayal is enough to say that he didn’t believe anything he did was wrong. Urashima threw away his honor, even showing in his fighting style as he uses illegal moves in his home turf while facing Luffy in the ring.

The sumo ring is actually an interesting point of focus in Wano, this battle of undefeated wrestlers offering a lens of contrast between Urashima: a man of Wano corrupted by Kaidou; and Luffy, a man of his own will. Urashima, despite shirking integrity often, does still uphold some rules, dancing over the line between an honorable man of Wano and a lapdog of Kaidou. Luffy, a man who enjoys fighting like Kaidou, is able to have fun even against a weaker opponent by restricting himself through the rules of the ring. But for Kaidou, the rules and restrictions of games go against his desire for might above all. The greatest sumo wrestler isn’t the most powerful, just the best at working within the rules created and followed. For Kaidou, battles are only deathmatches: duels for survival. And by always being serious about his fights, Kaidou pushes those who stand against him to be stronger so that they might better match him. Haki grows in crisis. Not every time, but it does. Those who challenge themselves find power in one form or another, while those who do nothing only stagnate. Katakuri and Luffy both found new ways to grow through challenging their limits, but at no point have Kaidou or Big Mom ever put the figurative weights on, allowing the youths who challenge them to steadily rise to meet them through the Haki that all have potential for, the Haki that Kaidou claims is supreme, citing how Roger conquered the seas with Haki alone. Luffy can find enjoyment crushing a weak foe like Urashima through the limits of sumo, where Kaidou is only shown reveling in battle with two foes in the last two decades. And the reason for this major difference (despite similarity between the two captains) is the same: ideals and integrity.

Holding onto ideals in the face of the staunchest opposition, even in the face of death, is a form of integrity going back through the entire series. Whether it’s something foolish like Sanji’s refusal to harm women, even one as dangerous as Big Mom, or something as risky as Riku III’s adherence to pacifism even in the middle of Dressrosa’s absolute destruction. Despite their self imposed limits, even those who don’t follow or agree with those ideals can understand or respect them. Zoro, a fighter to his core, protects Riku from Pica, Riku proclaiming his humanity for the strength of his ideals while Zoro cites respect for Riku staying on the straight and narrow unlike himself and Pica. Nami and Robin both step in to protect Sanji at times when he can’t defend himself for his choice, both of them offering positive compliments towards him as they do so. Personal codes are a form of power, not just in these characters but in the whole of the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance. That these characters have lines they do not cross means they can trust one another. Luffy will fight for his friend’s country, and vocally claims that the people of Wano will never go hungry again when he beats Kaidou. Even if he has his more troublesome tendencies, like his endless will to charge ahead, his allies can work with and around him because they know he’ll be true to himself.

One pinpoint perspective with which to view how Luffy and Kaidou’s alliances differ in this regard is the man known as God. Usopp’s cowardice has been a core facet of his character since the beginning, and in Wano it’s given a sharp point of contrast through the blades of the samurai, who are often seeking their place to die in their honor and bravery. In a way they evoke what Usopp desires in being a brave warrior of the sea. By fighting for what they believe in to the end they can die with honor. Back on Enies Lobby, under the mask of a hero, Usopp evoked that same mentality. Against the powerful trickster, he didn’t use any of his schemes or japes, instead fighting him head on, and was absolutely crushed for it. Usopp isn’t a bold hero, he’s Usopp. He can do what he can do, and against Trebol he fought when he was the only one who could. But in the chaos of the Raid on Onigashima, Kiku and Kinemon were prepared to throw their lives away, telling Usopp to leave after he fought his way there through flames and fangs. Though honorable, their death in battle would waste the efforts Usopp made to save them, so he argues that they should fight to live instead of dying a death with no meaning, Izo joining him in protecting the samurai who would go on to protect the future of Wano. Izo may have died in the fighting, but he never gave up protecting others who could carry on his will, Kiku among them. And Usopp was only able to reach this point after putting those same ideals into action. Against Page 1, he didn’t throw his all into trying to beat a strong foe, instead keeping his distance and running. Page 1 was defeated, not by Usopp, but by the lack of ideals and integrity in Kaidou’s band. “Even pirates have a code”, Big Mom impressed on Page 1 as she fused him with the floor.

And this is just one of several instances where Kaidou’s alliances fail him where the bonds and conflicts among Luffy’s alliance strengthens them. Queen’s dehumanization of the Waiters and Pleasures turns many against him when Chopper saves them in a bid against biological warfare. In the SBS, it’s mentioned that Caesar’s Smile Fruit was made with animal DNA, Kaidou’s desire for power even through slavery and Caesar’s mad science created a symbolic representation of the dehumanization of his own men, that allowed for an equally symbolic weakness exploited by Tama’s ability to take command over animals. And perhaps most importantly, the weaknesses of Kaidou’s alliance are at their most notable when they fail him utterly, pushing back against the mortal combat he desires. Kurozumi Higurashi and Guernica of CP0 both have hopes and desires beyond Kaidou’s vision of a world where strength is supreme. The Kurozumi Clan seeks the rule of Wano, while the World Government wishes to maintain their own power. So, out of their best interests, they betray a man who only ever knew betrayal, forcing him to stay his club in taking from him the glorious battles he sought. The threat of death means little to one willing to offer themselves for a belief, or a higher cause. In dehumanizing others, even refusing to see himself as human, the ogre known as Kaidou threw away ideals, a concept that separates man from animal. He may have found strength, creating what he calls the mightiest army in the world, but strength only creates fear, not loyalty. He found betrayal and pain when he truly wanted joy.

Aside from fleeting pleasures like booze and battle, the man who’s hobby is suicide likely never had actual joy in his life. Kaidou styles himself as an antithesis of joy to the weak, a population that would make up the majority of the world he would have created. The titles and names given to his organization seemed anything but antithetical to fun and happiness: Pleasures, Gifters, Headliners, the Flying Six, Lead Performers. The transformation of the chemical SAD to the fruit Smile. Kaidou twists frivolity in his Animal Kingdom, setting himself as Joy Boy’s foe, the man he hoped would come to fight him. And Luffy did more than just fight him. Opposing Kaidou with a matching will of diamond, he too shaped his own world. Fighting for the happiness of himself and those he calls friends, the places he visits are always left with happiness lingering that wasn’t there before. The parties Luffy loves serve as a display of the joy he imbibes, one shared by others. It’s Luffy’s alliance that aims to protect the Fire Festival, the one spot of joy the citizens of Wano find in a country without Orochi or Kaidou, the latter of whom spends the climax aiming to snuff out the last of Wano’s hope and joy.

Luffy and Kaidou both change the world into their image through their battles, differentiated as they choose to fight alongside either man or beast. But where Luffy didn’t need Kaidou, seeing him as an obstacle to fight past, Kaidou was searching for Luffy all along. After winning the battle he’d longed for, it was the darkest hour for not just its people, but its greatest oppressor. Would it be another 20 years before he could have a fight like that again? In his greatest despair, it was when Kaidou most needed Joy Boy that he appeared. Gear Fifth is the perfect encapsulation of Luffy’s heart and soul, his journey as a fighter advancing as it comes around to the full circle of the moon. That might seem contradictory for the Sun God Nika to embody the moon that symbolizes Oden, but with the night comes day. It’s after sadness passes that happiness comes again. The moon and the sun form a circular cycle as one, and for Luffy, enjoying battle again is his ‘day’. From the start of the series through even Alabasta and Skypiea, Luffy fights in battles against foes weaker than him with two exceptions in the form of Crocodile and Enel. And through those battles, even against those two exceptions, he’s always finding ways to have fun and experiment. Whether it’s borrowing Arlong’s teeth, screeching like a monkey against Don Kreig, trying to eat Crocodile, Water Luffy, Gum-Gum Octopus: Luffy is, for lack of a better term, a fucking goober. But it didn’t last, and day would shift to night. In a world harsher than he could have conceived, Luffy too had to get serious. Gear Second shaved off his very lifespan. Gear Third leaves him small, adorable, and helpless, but utterly ineffectual in a fight. Gear Fourth has some natural silliness in its bounciness, but the face of an angry god doesn’t really evoke the joy of the one now called ‘Joy Boy’, the one utilizing the Devil Fruit of the smiling Sun God Nika. Luffy isn’t enjoying these serious fights, he’s oftentimes desperately battling for his life, fighting to protect what matters to him. Gear Fifth is Luffy’s resurgent dawn, that childish joy he once had when first going out into the world captured yet again, his capabilities beyond logic and reason.

Sunnachi: in its literal meaning it can be read as ‘to throw away one’s name and wits’, but the English translation of ‘Surrender your name and be as a child’ is fitting as well. While Luffy isn’t throwing away his name, per se, he is adopting the form of Nika and the role of Joy Boy. In discarding wits, he fights with the most ridiculous power in the world, logic and reason crumbling as he twists the world and even his foes to his whim. In being like a child he takes a cartoony form that evokes wonder and freedom unconstrained by expectations cemented through maturity. And its through this form that Luffy returns to Kaidou, both of them getting exactly what they wanted as the fight continues on, Kaidou finding a slice of happiness not in the world he aimed to create, but the one Luffy works to fulfill, the one once sought by King and Who’s-Who as they remark on their past desires for Joy Boy and Nika. Kaidou ultimately didn’t change the world, and it remains to be seen if he’ll ever witness the one Luffy makes, but if it comes to be, maybe that young man letting himself get captured to find food would have gone down a different path. Found a different fate, even.

The Power of a Smile: Fate and Freedom in One Piece

Opening and closing through the curtains of a kabuki stage, these loud divisions of acts are rather unique to Wano in the context of One Piece. When it comes to the question of why, however, we see a trope I’ve discussed on this channel before: storytelling as an analogue to fate. Under a ‘God’ in the form of the writer or creator, characters are bound to their stories. In the ones I’ve seen that use this trope, this framework is something to fight against: to challenge and overcome. But it’s during the departure from Wano when the curtains close.

It might be a personal anecdote, but I feel that when fate comes up in any fictional context, people tend to be rubbed the wrong way. If I had to scrounge up a reason why, I would observe the foundational importance of Christianity and Greek myth in the western culture I’m familiar with. Considering the concept of God’s omnipotence and grand plan, free will and personal autonomy can be sensitive topics. In literature you have the aforementioned Greek mythology or classics like Macbeth, where fate is inescapable. In The Illiad, one of the most important works in western literature, having the ability to choose one’s fate is a privilege offered by the Gods, and not to all. With such a foundation in history and literature, if people disagree or don’t like these ideas then they might knee jerk at seeing them in any context. But while these certainly are ideas to consider on fate, at the end of the day it’s just one reading, one interpretation. When discussing a Japanese manga, it might be worthwhile to look into other points of view. And in my research I came across a paper that I felt clicked with my understanding of One Piece. “Are There Advantages to Believing in Fate? The Belief in Negotiating With Fate When Faced With Constraints'' may primarily be referring to Chinese culture, but a familiar chord is struck in the discussion. To quote: “fate imposes constraints within which individuals must work [...], but how individuals exercise agency within the boundaries of the constraints ultimately determines the individuals’ life course.” If life imposes a restriction or boundary, it’s how the individual responds that they exercise their agency as a person. This isn’t something one can only use to read into One Piece either: a lot of media puts major constraints on characters to push them into making meaningful choices. Some contentious examples might include Naruto, where the titular character is burdened with his fate as a reincarnation of Ashura. But rather than choosing to follow in their footsteps and fail the reincarnation of Indra, he walked a more difficult road in staying true to his personal ideals to become the Hokage without cutting away his heart. Aang in Avatar the Last Airbender struggled as the Avatar, and chose to defeat Fire Lord Ozai not by overpowering him as a conduit to the Spirit World, but through maintaining the balance of his humanity by using spirit bending to maintain his ideals as a human in not killing Ozai, defeating him as the last Airbender rather than snuffing out that part of himself along with Ozai. What we do within the confines of fate matters just as much as what we do with our freedom.

It might seem contradictory to discuss the bindings of fate as something inherently not meant to be broken in a story about freedom, but to be trapped by the idea of breaking all limitations is just changing the name of the chains. One Piece has much of its discussion on restrictions in the Udon Prison, but both during and before, we return to the sumo ring, this time as a microcosm of this conflict. After his loss to Kaidou Luffy uses the prison as a means to get stronger, deferring his eventual escape to his comrade Raizou. He is trapped, but his heart is free, and always has been. Ace impresses this same idea on Yamato as they fight, Kaidou’s son fighting for the father he despises because he doesn’t know what else to do in his captivity. And to the prisoners of Wano, Luffy reminds them that not choosing for themselves is as much of a choice as any. Beaten and broken, it’s them who choose to fight Luffy as they are commanded to, Luffy taking their burden in aims of freeing their hearts. And it’s for the whole of Wano that Yasu laughs and sings at his own execution. Even with no choice but to smile, his heart is as free as ever, the effects of the Smile taken onto himself in the first place so Toko wouldn’t suffer alone. It’s Toko who the emotional climax of the whole arc is placed on, as she changes what she wrote on the lantern, deciding not to long for what was lost but remember what she’d been given.

Bearing personal choice under restrictions of living, we return to the framework of Wano as a play, and through choices we see so many characters coming into their roles. These actors on the grand stage decide for themselves the role they play. Our first view of Wano is that of the Straw Hats blending in, adopting identities as folk of Wano. While these are, in part, disguises used to hide from Kaidou and Orochi, by adopting these names and living as people of Wano, these saviors place themselves alongside the folk they aim to assist; not as a great foreign power but simply people all the same. Hiyori and Denjiro take the alternate names to distinguish their acts as Orochi’s retainers from their efforts to support the people of Wano from the shadows. Kiku and Yamato decide their own gender identity regardless of their birth. But where the protagonist characters choose their identities, Kanjuro and Hawkins allow their hearts to be moved to the whims of outside forces. Hawkins uses his power to determine probability, acting accordingly. But even knowing the odds, he’s no gambler. Luffy says that as long as he’s alive, he has infinite chances, and uses those chances to act on what he desires no matter the odds. Back during the war, Hawkins noted that Luffy’s survival rate never hit 0. Even at his lowest point in the story, he never had a 100% chance of dying. Luffy will always get up to fight and make the miracle happen, while Hawkins didn’t take the gamble even to save his own life when his death was nearly, but not entirely, guaranteed. Kanjuro, having witnessed the death of his parents on the stage, came to live his whole life on it. Rather than choose for himself, he let Orochi cast him as he pleased. Even after spending years alongside the Kozuki Clan as a friend, once that role was completed he moved on. Turning against his former allies, there isn’t one moment of doubt, not one inkling of remorse or compassion, even as he beats a virtually helpless child trying to survive and takes the form of Oden, knowing what his allies most care about. Kanjuro died on that stage with his parents as a human, living on as an empty shell dancing to Orochi’s whim. Orochi chose to burn in his hatred, his course of action marginalizing the fellow in his bloodline, Tama, who suffered no more or less than him yet found power in her own choices.

Even the climax of Wano is not without choice of identity being presented to its strongest fighters. Sanji inwardly grapples with his nature as a Vinsmoke, wondering if he’d be more use to Luffy as a heartless but powerful soldier who’d strike down even an average woman, or the man who Judge raised to be painfully aware of his worthless kindness. Queen however always refers to others rather than choosing for himself. His cybernetic capabilities are a riff of Germa’s tech, copied from Judge in his aims to surpass him through beating the product of his lineage evoked in Sanji. When targeting Osome, he even mentions his actions are divine punishment for her refusal of him, putting the burden of his choice on a higher power rather than maintaining any of his own beliefs or integrity while chasing his own desires. Sanji accepts his lineage as a Vinsmoke, making use of his iron body for something no one in his family did, his Ifrit Jambe an advancement on the style he inherited from Zeff. He can’t change his blood, but he can decide what he does with it, keeping to his code and kindness no matter what.

Meanwhile, Zoro fights King, a man who hides his true self as a hunted Lunarian. Aiming to fight seriously, Zoro is prepared to give it his all to beat King, even throwing away his sword. But that dismissal of his integrity as a swordsman leaves Enma wanting. Zoro can’t throw away his pride as a swordsman to beat a man who’s given up so much in ending his search for Joy Boy, who he believed would never come. This battle also explores birth, as King inverses Kuina. Where Kuina devalued Zoro’s struggle to beat her by noting that as a man he’d surpass her anyway, King believes that a human like Zoro could never defeat a Lunarian such as himself. The flashback highlighting the importance of a sword as a killing tool, Zoro holds to his words as a child, stating that the nature of their birth didn’t matter. Fighting at death’s door, Zoro came to accept his role in death as a swordsman, moving further on the path to accepting Kuina’s death as he holds onto his identity as a swordsman and strikes down the man named by Kaidou as King. King gave up his true desire for Kaidou, where Zoro cares little for titles he was granted by others like ‘Pirate Hunter’, instead seeking the title of King himself, both of the sword, and of Hell, gaining the Conqueror's Haki King never displayed.

Of the antagonists, one particular foe also had a struggle of identity. Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin, loses her memory, becoming Olin. Though, as explored with Sanji, one’s blood is something one has to deal with on their own, through Olin we see that even though Big Mom possesses inborn physical attributes beyond what her parents could handle, the person she became wasn’t the inevitable outcome. She takes a tiny portion of food from Okobore Town with nothing but thanks and a desire to repay the crane’s favor. She might want to eat Chopper, the gag mixing her gluttony with Chopper’s initial status as emergency rations, but by arguing against her Chopper does something Mother Caramel never did, keeping the spoiled child in check. The difference is at its most clear in Udon, where Olin’s anger isn’t in her hunger pangs, but from a legitimate desire to repay those of Okobore for giving her food, where Luffy proclaims his gluttony in eating the oshiruko, flipping the script on the two big eaters. Even when her memories return, it’s not as though Olin is gone for good. Otama triggers her motherly instincts, but her words and actions are hedged by her true self. Even if her core is still the innocent child who Mother Caramel insisted never did anything wrong, the adult she became had no desire to change. She may bear the name of Olin, but in remarking on Okobore as grimy, the serving of oshiruko as tiny, and controlling Tama with the same entrapment she does with Totland, she remains Big Mom. Her usage of the name Olin has none of the thought for Wano as the names the Straw Hats adopt, her names, symbols, and actions hers to choose for her own no matter who she might chase away, not so different from Kaidou’s usage of terms to make himself a mockery of Joy Boy for which to invite his challenge.

But what about Luffy? Possessed with a Devil Fruit evoking a God, I’ve seen a few people questioning Luffy’s autonomy. After all, Devil Fruit appear to have some form of spirit or personality in themselves, which technically goes back as far as Lasso, the gun given life by a Devil Fruit. To explain what this means for Luffy, I’m going to skip ahead a bit in the manga to chapter 1069, drawing from a certain character’s words regarding the nature of Zoan Awakening. Devil Fruits do have their personality, and typically in Zoan Awakening it overwrites that of the user, something we see in the Demon Guards of Impel Down, reduced to host bodies at the behest of the failed Awakening. But this was brought up in the context of a character who’s Awakening design is evocative of Luffy’s Gear Fifth, the implication of the earlier statement being that they overpowered their Fruit’s personality with their own. The Nika Fruit may be something special, somehow able to slip from the Government’s grasp and into the hands of the boy who’d said ‘those words’ of Roger’s well before he ate that Fruit. But “I am Monkey D. Luffy,” he tells Kaidou, driving home that whether he’s called Joy Boy, Nika, Luffytaro, or Straw Hat, first and foremost he is Luffy and always will be.

In the Wake of Fallen Legends

There are two known 2nd Division Commanders in the Whitebeard Pirates. One lived his last holding the hopes of Wano’s freedom, and the other lived with the promise of saving Wano himself, Tama and Yamato both remembering his words. Despite never meeting, both sought to save Wano, and both died protecting that which would carry on their will. Together, those protected created an Alliance, the Samurai not limiting themselves to the borders of Wano like Oden, finding an unlikely ally in the man who wanted to become Pirate King.
And Luffy was more than a great choice for an ally, coming in clutch time and time again. Luffy filled the shoes of both Oden and Ace, stating his word that he wouldn’t let the people of Wano go hungry. This is even symbolized through both the moon and sun, Luffy taking these images for his fight with Kaidou. The moon is a symbol of Oden during the battle as something the samurai aim to reach through Kaidou, something Kaidou seeks but cannot reach, and something Luffy embodies. In a broader sense, the Kozuki, the historical leaders of Wano and creators of the Poneglyphs, serve as a beaming light in the darkness, a hope to stand against this faulty world. In sealing itself off, Wano maintained its freedom and the Pluton, both key in the great battle to come. But Wano could not open their own borders to bring in the dawn. That belongs to the sun. Roger died under the belief that Joy Boy would return the world to its dawn, cheekily mentioning his son who he hoped would fulfill that role. While he never forced anything onto Ace, the whole of the pirate era started to pull the world into its dawn as Roger pointed its people to the one secret the World Government wanted to remain buried. It’s even there in their birthdays. Roger was born on December 31st to signify an end as Ace was born on January 1st to signal the start of a new beginning. Ace was set to be the next Pirate King, but he gave up on his dream of surpassing his father to protect his little brother who loved him. Ace was Roger’s ‘sun’ and ‘son’, one he hoped would shine over the whole world, but that light was snuffed out in exchange for another.

Encapsulating the sun and moon, Luffy flies freer than any other. As an echo of Oden, Luffy learned one thing on his journey that Oden never did. Within the borders of Wano, Oden was a man who very much seemed ‘grown up’. Denjiro proclaimed that Oden was the only adult he felt was worth admiring. His charisma and boldness was so much that the whole country wanted to follow him, the taboos he broke with regularity holding them back, keeping them from going along with that man so contrary to the country he fought within. And as he gathered his scabbards they very much seemed like children. Oden asked for nothing, needed nothing, the man so strong that he could easily fend for himself. At Kinemon’s failure with the mountain god he took that sin on his own shoulders. When Kawamatsu and the minks suffered from discrimination Oden saw them merely as children rather than monsters. His family grew as he looked after those who drifted his way, and they very much wanted to give back to him. Yasu, knowing that no one could lead alone, pushed the Scabbards to aim higher; to be more reliable so that he might be able to rely on them. But that would never come to pass, for Oden’s greatness was so great he was never able to recognize his flaws. Even when he went out to the seas, traveling alongside Whitebeard and Roger, two of the greatest men to ever sail, his experiences (though rewarding in the sights and wonders he saw) never quite challenged him in the same way we saw with Luffy.
Stunted by the tight borders of Wano, Oden never learned to rely on others, on his faithful scabbards, dying for them where Luffy learned another way, coming to rely on his crew so they wouldn’t have to throw their bodies in the way to protect one another. Where Oden tried to save Wano himself despite having comrades in Whitebeard and Roger who would have come to his aid, falling prey to Kaidou, Luffy was the outside force Momo asked to help defeat Kaidou, and his Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance wasn’t one of servility, but equality, Luffy rejecting Momo’s bowing and otherwise putting himself below Luffy in his thanks. And it's with Momo that Luffy comes to surpass not just Oden, but Ace. Ace was unable to stop looking at Luffy like a weak little brother, protecting him with his life. But thanks to Momo, Luffy isn’t just a little brother anymore.

Luffy’s relationship with Momonosuke pushes his tie to the series’ theme of growing up to another level. Where Mocha and the little people are children relying on adults, Momonosuke was forced to grow up, and fast. Stripped of his homeland and family, by birthright, Momo is the rightful Shogun of Wano. But the shoes of Oden were large, too large for just any man to fill, and Momonosuke was but a child. Even from a young age Oden vastly outshone Momo, his exploits by the age of 8 already of note. But Oden still had hopes for him, showing him the heights he had to reach in his journey with awe and wonder. Kaidou showed him the reality, the dream of his father’s he echoed being far more distant than he’d imagined. Gripped with fear, Momonsuke was shouldered with a burden of leadership he struggled to bear. Kinemon and the samurai could fight for him and organize the revolt, but if Momonosuke only ever relied on others he would be no different from Orochi. Where Oden was well beyond him, Orochi outsourced power to Kaidou. While Oden could face Wano’s threats with ease, he had no counterforce for Kaidou, his execution the result of his weakness in being unable to rely on others. But Orochi reveled in the power he was given as he acted in bitterness of the bad hand he’d been dealt, the plots of the elders giving him so much while he offered little but deceit, betrayal, and youth. And yet, the samurai asked little of Momonosuke as well, so used to Oden being able to bear burdens unasked. His games of Shogun and Orochi’s innocent picture of being a Shogun are all too similar, as both of them were being handed a lot in life from their bloodlines. And both were too weak to simply strive for that goal alone.

But Momo had a parent figure who at once looked out for him and also pushed him to stand on his own rather than be swept around by the whims of fate where his retainers, and even the other Straw Hats, were prepared to continue to let him be a mere child and let the adults around him decide. Luffy pushed Momo to move on his own in whatever way he could. Momo may have been weak, but even in the wake of Oden he had his own strength. It just needed to be fostered. As Wano’s savior and a big brother all his own, Luffy fills Ace’s shoes and swaps his role at the War: acting as the older brother in battle against Kaidou alongside a boy who lost his childhood figuratively and literally. Guiding him to adulthood, Luffy uses the lessons he learned to push Momonosuke in just the right ways. Fighting Kaidou is dangerous, but Luffy uses that to get him to conquer his fear. Momo can’t beat Kaidou, that’s Luffy’s role, but in choosing not to fight alone even against a powerful foe Luffy is able to do for Momo what Ace couldn’t do for him. After fighting alongside Shirahoshi and coming to know the different kinds of strength that can come from the weakest people, Luffy is able to draw the strength out of Momo that Wano needed. Only Momo could have stopped the fall of Onigashima, using Kaidou’s own power at the behest of a man self styling after Oden with a Devil Fruit evocative of Wano’s guardian god. Yamato took more from Ace than he did Kaidou, exemplifying his failures as a parent. And Kaidou is only matched by Big Mom, his closest bond. She looked to him like a younger brother, but he could never trust, having been failed by the Vodka Kingdom he once called a home. He stood alone where Luffy trusted Momo to be able to move Onigashima and save both their allies and the people of Wano. Luffy saw strength in Momo no one had before, least of all himself. It was together that they defeated Kaidou and Momo became the shogun of Wano.

Momo isn’t Oden, he is Momonosuke, something he proclaims loudly to Kaidou when the pirate gives him an out, allowing him to abandon his name, his duty, and his country. He is Oden’s son but he is also himself. His desire to open the borders isn’t something he blindly takes on, as Kaidou criticizes him for before temporally sparing the life of an ignorant child. Momo independently comes to his choice to wait on opening Wano’s borders even when he finally has the power to fulfill his father’s long held dream. Carrying forward what he learned, Momo hasn’t conquered his fear of heights, his terror not vanishing overnight even as he can better deal with it, but in being pushed to become stronger he advances down that path himself, learning the sword, and how to better use his own powers. In battle against Aramaki, Momo’s strength holds the Admiral at bay while he proclaims that Wano cannot trap Luffy like Orochi bound Kaidou. Taking full leadership of Wano, Momo’s journey isn’t over, for Luffy’s younger sibling has quite the big brother to live up to.

...

Ye hath been bamboozled! While I advertised a 3 act video, in fact from the start, it was 5 all along! A fan theory I was aware of back when Act 1 ended gave me something to think about in how One Piece utilizes the kabuki act structure. To explain, the theory that suggested Wano would be 5 acts, the second through 4th acts are the ‘Ha’, meant to accelerate the story to its conclusion, shown with the three ‘Ha’ reactions closing out Act 1, both planting seeds for the use of the structure in the story. Where I had been misguided was in assuming that Wano in its entirety would be 5 acts, which made Wano’s increasing length a whole ass ordeal in itself until I discarded the theory. But that didn’t mean that the association was without merit, just that in itself it fails to recognize how Oda can transform references to fit his world, like the twist on the myth of Icarus with a squid fishman afraid of the sun that dried out Daedalus. In the case of the kabuki act structure, the ‘Jo’ isn't used at all. Nothing about Act 1 is slow and introductory: Wano opens with Zoro violently cutting down an official and becoming a ronin. Act 1 does introduce characters like Tama, Toko, and Hiyori, but the most important characters need no introduction, and Acts 2 and 3 would continue to introduce important characters like Orochi, Yasu, and Yamato. There also isn’t a Kyu arc to wrap things up because Wano’s conflict isn't resolved. The borders remain closed, and the appearances of Aramaki and Shanks or the knowledge garnered from the newspaper build to the story yet to come. Oda only references the three Ha arcs because Wano itself is a collection of three Ha’s that accelerates the whole story like none before it. Whole Cake Island, Punk Hazard, the Paramount War: One Piece has been steadily accelerating for a long time, since Luffy’s promise to Shanks and his first battle against a fellow future Emperor. Lining up every arc in the series creates a trail of ‘Ha’s. One steadily advancing and accelerating journey that leads all the way to the end of this funny story: this Laugh Tale.