Few story endings in the 21st century are as eagerly anticipated as One Piece‘s. Since 1997, the question of how Eiichiro Oda will conclude Monkey D. Luffy’s journey has grown from a mild curiosity among manga readers to a multi-generational cultural conversation. What started as simply “Will Luffy become Pirate King?” and “What is the One Piece?” now involves secret dictators, environmental oblivion, and literal gods.
As the building blocks of Eiichiro Oda’s grand finale emerge one piece at a time, readers are increasingly drawing parallels to the controversial ending of fellow Shōnen “big three” franchise Naruto. The ninja’s closing act started promisingly enough with the Fourth Great Shinobi War and the reveal that Obito had been manipulated by apparent final villain Madara Uchiha, but then threw some last-minute curveballs that were not widely appreciated.
Two twists in particular stoked ire. The first was the switcheroo where Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, an alien, replaced Madara as the story’s overarching antagonist. First mentioned a little over 50 chapters before the end, Kaguya lacked the emotive connection Madara and Obito held.
The second, and perhaps more significant, point of contention was the sudden revelation that Naruto and Sasuke were literal reincarnations of Kaguya’s grandchildren, Asura and Indra. Now, One Piece appears to be heading in broadly the same direction. Just as Naruto and Sasuke were light and dark sides of the same coin, Luffy and Blackbeard are being treated with the same duality. Drawing even closer to Naruto, all signs suggest Luffy is the successor to Nika and Joyboy, while Blackbeard is the successor to Davy Jones. And, in another inter-manga parallel, these two ancient figures of legend have history with One Piece‘s main villain, Imu.
Given the lukewarm reaction to Naruto‘s ending, One Piece‘s common traits certainly create cause for concern. Fortunately, Eiichiro Oda gives his readers every reason to believe Monkey D. Luffy will show Naruto how it’s done when One Piece‘s ending (eventually) happens.
One Piece Has Been Building To This Ending Far Longer Than Naruto Did
One of the most frustrating aspects of Naruto‘s climax is that Kaguya Ōtsutsuki could have been a brilliant final villain if only she hadn’t been parachuted into the manga so close to the end. With more build-up and proper foreshadowing, the Kaguya twist had the potential for greatness.
Luckily, “Build-up and Proper Foreshadowing” is Eiichiro Oda’s middle name. Assuming One Piece‘s final villain is, as predicted, either Imu or Blackbeard, both characters have already been present in the story far longer than Kaguya was in Naruto. Reading the chapters back, hidden Imu hints jump out, whether that be the obviously-not-empty empty throne, or the gods mentioned in One Piece‘s Skypiea arc.
Luffy was drawing comparisons to Gol D. Roger before he even set sail on the Grand Line, and the parallels to Joyboy started not long after. Blackbeard’s connection to Davy Jones was confirmed more recently, but again, the signs were always there. A longstanding theory (that could still be true) suggested Blackbeard was a physical vessel for Rocks D. Xebec. The reality ended up being a little more complicated, but Oda has been signaling Blackbeard’s links to the past for a very long time.
If One Piece does go down the road of making Luffy the “new Nika” and Blackbeard the “new Davy Jones,” and both must come together to overthrow Imu, Oda would have at least avoided Naruto‘s mistake of blindsiding readers in the final stretch.
One Piece’s Reincarnations Aren’t Likely To Be Actual Reincarnations
In Naruto, the link connecting Asura and Indra to Naruto and Sasuke wasn’t a metaphor. The chakra of the two Ōtsutsukis flowed from generation to generation, appearing in Hashirama and Madara before later finding its way to Naruto and Sasuke. That raised questions over how much control Naruto and Sasuke really had over their lives. Was this all just an Ōtsutsuki family feud played out with Naruto and Sasuke as avatars?
One Piece may pull a similar stunt with its mirror between Luffy/Blackbeard and Joyboy/Davy Jones, but without chakra, there’s nothing to physically tie those characters together. Instead, One Piece uses various permutations of the phrase “inherit the will,” which feels more like a baton passed between generations than the physical manifestation of a legendary name from history.
Whenever Luffy has adopted traits of Joyboy or Nika, he has always rejected (and not remotely cared about) the icons he’s being held against. Luffy doesn’t pay heed to what Nika or Joyboy might’ve wanted, or what being tied to them might mean. That carefree attitude negates any possibility of Luffy being driven by anything other than his own quest for freedom and endless adventure. If he winds up fulfilling the Will of D on the way, it’ll be by happenstance rather than intention.
If there ever does come a point where Luffy acknowledges the Will of D and openly declares his intention to follow it, that might become a problem. If Luffy stays as he currently is, readers can be assured his path isn’t being dictated by some predestined prophecy.
Naruto’s Reincarnation Twist Was A Betrayal Of The Character, But Luffy’s Won’t Be
A core tenet of Naruto’s character was his status as an underdog who had to rely on hard work and kindness rather than natural talent, and became an elite shinobi regardless. Admittedly, one could argue that possessing the Nine Tails and bearing a suspicious resemblance to the fourth stone face towering over Konoha Village meant Naruto was never truly an underdog. Nevertheless, the excitable hero tamed the Nine Tails through those very traits of hard work and kindness, not natural ninja talent, while his status as Minato’s son only piled on more pressure to become a hokage.
When Naruto‘s ending revealed its main character was the reincarnation of an Ōtsutsuki, the story’s very foundations were shaken. Whereas having a famous dad and a live-in demon could be viewed as obstacles that made Naruto’s rise to greatness even harder, possessing Asura’s chakra couldn’t be seen as anything other than a sign of innate greatness. Did Naruto ever need to struggle as he did, or would Asura’s spirit have led him to the same destination regardless?
Since chapter 1, One Piece has never positioned Luffy as an underdog. He comes from a line of famous Monkeys, he ate a legendary Devil Fruit, he’s friends with an Emperor, and he carries “D” in his name. Nothing about Luffy is normal, and many onlookers to his ascension have pointed that out. The only real underdog element to Luffy’s quest comes from his youth, and facing legendary pirates who have been around far longer.
As such, it wouldn’t hurt Luffy’s character if he gained extra power by being connected to Nika and/or Joyboy. Not like being Asura’s reincarnation hurt Naruto, at least. The core tenet of Luffy is his freedom, and as long as he retains that until the very end of One Piece, the source of his strength will be mostly irrelevant.
- Release Date
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October 20, 1999
- Network
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Fuji TV
- Directors
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Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
- Writers
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Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda
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Mayumi Tanaka
Monkey D. Luffy (voice)
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Kazuya Nakai
Roronoa Zoro (voice)