Summary
The Fishman Island arc of One Piece deals with the complex subject of murderous racism, a rare subject in Shōnen series. One Piece author Eiichiro Oda believes that readers will not understand Hody’s hatred until they grow up. The mature themes explored in the Fishman Island arc reflect the author’s willingness to add seriousness to the series.
Fishman Island isn’t much A piece is a fan favorite, but creator Eiichiro Oda revealed a surprising fact about its villain, proving just how deep the series can be. Fresh from One Piece’s dramatic time travel, Luffy and his crew set out to the bottom of the ocean to explore the underwater civilization of Fish-Man Island. However, the story, often filled with goofy adventures, began to deal with increasingly darker themes such as slavery and racism. Oda isn’t sure his readers are prepared.
One Piece villains have committed despicable acts of cruelty and manipulation throughout the series, with the most hated being arguably Hody Jones of Fish-Man Island. The first big time skip villain isn’t a scary threat to some fans. However, the villain represents a complex subject rarely addressed in Shōnen series: murderous racism.
User IN an interview with Oda, published in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper in 2012 and hosted on the LogPiece Blog, the author expanded his thought process to explore the heavy themes in the Fishman Island arc and its villain, Hody Jones.
“The story of ‘inheriting someone’s grudge’ may be more like a comic book for teenagers, but when they grow up and look at reality, they realize, “Oh, this is what it is.” – Eiichiro Oda
Arlong’s anger towards humans paved the way for Hody’s hatred
While Shonen Jump’s primary target audience is teenage boys, its most popular series, such as Naruto and One Piece, are no strangers to tackling complex messages and adult themes. mature. During the interview, Oda explained that the theme of the discrimination Fish-people experience against humans and the hatred that arises from it may not make sense to the average Shōnen Jump reader. However, as the author points out, Readers will begin to recognize the heavy thematic material throughout his series as they grow older and experience the good and bad that the real world has to offer.
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Fishman Island isn’t the first installment to explore extremely mature themes in One Piece. The vile Celestial Dragons have committed the worst crimes imaginable against innocent people and Mermen throughout the story’s history. That treatment helped fuel Hody Jones’s racism toward humans. Oda’s comments reflect that Fish-Man Island is perhaps too mature for his series about goofy super-powered pirates. However, it also proves that he is not afraid to “…add some seriousness to the subject.”
Hody’s baseless hypocritical hatred reflects one of humanity’s worst abilities
Some Mermen, such as the kingdom’s Queen Otohime, have worked hard to promote positive relationships between humans and Mermen. However, Hody’s rage towards humanity increased after the humans betrayed their teacher, and he was able to convince an army of Mermen to join his cause. One Piece’s story gets even darker in the last few arcs, making the Heavenly Dragons even more vile than they were introduced in the Sabaody Archipelago arc. Eiichiro Oda is just better at creating characters that are easy to hate A piece villains and explore emotional themes in the series with millions of more mature fans.
Source: sandman_AP/X, LogPiece
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A piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat pirates led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him many powers that he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, both of which are the longest running anime and manga series in history. With more than 50 video games in the works over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
