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Eiichiro Oda, the author and illustrator of the One Piece manga series, has revealed his first illustrations of Nami's costume for the “Egghead” arc. While some fans like her current look from the anime, many others have expressed disappointment in the costume Oda used for Nami compared to other options.
Pew (@/pewpiece), a One Piece fan account on X (formerly Twitter), shared Oda's concept art for Nami's latest outfit in the One Piece series. While Oda's artwork is rough and loose (as expected of a concept art), it still conveys the various ideas the Shonen Jump author originally had in mind for Nami. A common theme among these designs is that Nami is wearing more clothing in general—a stark contrast to the finished outfit, which leaves Nami's arms and legs completely exposed.
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“We were robbed,” many fans have claimed of Oda’s concept designs, some of whom believe the One Piece creator picked the “worst” outfit for Nami. “He actually thought of all those outfits and ended up picking the worst possible one?” one fan said. “We were robbed and got her worst outfit,” another said. “But he [Oda]…decided to go with the most obscene and lewd outfit,” another commenter wrote. Among the alternate costume designs for Nami, many fans seemed to prefer the bunny-eared hooded outfit.
One Piece has received heavy criticism for its depiction of female characters.
While fans were pleased with how the “Egghead” storyline played out in the anime and manga, a common criticism was the lack of female members in the Straw Hat Pirates. Despite fans (and even the regular cast) wishing for more female members, the Straw Hat Pirates were still dominated by men. The anime version of “Egghead” was also criticized for the controversial sexualization of Jewelry Bonney, who was actually a child but used her Devil Fruit powers to become an adult. There was also criticism from Japanese audiences regarding the suggestive depiction of S-Snake, a child clone of Boa Hancock, in One Piece Episode 1110.
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Of course, there are plenty of fans who like Nami’s finished “Egghead” costume, as well as Oda’s other fashion choices for women in One Piece. The upcoming new storyline taking place in Elbaf could bring new designs to the Straw Hat Pirates, and possibly a new member if fan speculation is correct.
The One Piece anime series is available on multiple streaming services such as Crunchyroll and Netflix. The original manga is licensed in English by Viz Media.
A piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, the One Piece series follows the adventures of pirate Luffy D. Monkey and his Straw Hat crew. Since the first manga debuted in 1997, One Piece has been adapted into an ongoing anime and has spawned several films. Most recently, it was adapted into a live-action series by Netflix.
Created by Eiichiro Oda
First TV show One Piece (1999)
Latest TV show Netflix's One Piece
First episode air date October 20, 1999
Cast Mayumi Tanaka, Kazuya Nakai, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Christopher Sabat, Kerry Williams, Kappei Yamaguchi, Sonny Strait, Hiroaki Hirata, Eric Valette, Ikue Ootani
Source: X (formerly Twitter)