On Luffy’s New Power Ups
if somebody asked me what sort of things you can talk about for hours without script and preparation. This is one of the answer.
The chapter 1044 of One Piece is out today. This chapter is special because after knowing Luffy for almost 25 years, we finally learn the true nature of his power. Not only that, i don’t really know if i have been doing something longer, closer, or more than 25 years (besides living my life) but tagging along in this journey remind me of how old i have been, how young i was back then when i first started reading this, and how closer it is to end of this story.
Experiencing something for more than 25 years will no doubt cloud your judgement on how good or bad something is. There is a connection built over the years, an emotional investment. One Piece’s tale has surely been a rocking experience and it has it’s ups and downs for sure. But for that reason i can’t objectively said that this major upgrade on Luffy’s power is natural or some plot armors that have always been the major criticism for many Shounen manga.
Looking back on how Naruto ended. Fans are generally happy with the ending but some are not. The major upgrade on Naruto and Sasuke’s power at almost at the end of the story felt out of place and rushed. The whole idea of making Naruto the hardworking ninja we adore and love crumbles by being the chosen one.
However, reflecting on the experiences of reading a lot of manga and watching a lot of anime since early childhood, this come as no surprise. The protagonist will always be the chosen one. The protagonist will always received some major upgrades. One of the reason being is the villain is always portrayed as the strongest and somehow our protagonist has to go beyond that. it is ridiculous to expect a nobody beat the crap out of Madara who is considered a Shinobi god (remember when Madara was reanimated and slaughtering the whole shinoby army, that is Naruto if he was a nobody), the solution is making Naruto and Sasuke into some kind of god on their own. So at the end i settled on the major ups and i feel quite satisfied on how Naruto ended.
The revelation of Hito-hito no mi power is not only making Luffy able to awakened as Zoan type which boost the recovery process, but also making him able to use the power of a literal God in One Piece world. It definitely is some major upgrades. However i don’t feel like it is being rushed and random. If you have been reading One Piece for some times, you will notice the pattern that Oda used when introducing new power is always the same.
There is always an introduction of the result of the power and the scale of the power. For example when somebody use the power unconsciously or we see the result of the power in a way. When the very first time the concept of devil fruit awakening is introduced we witnessed the land changing topography of Punk Hazzard because of a fight between Akainu and Kuzan. from there we understood that devil fruit can make a lasting effect on environment. Only after the fight between Luffy and Doflaminggo we know how exactly this Awakened devil fruit works.
The same thing happened before the Nika power is introduced. We have been witnessing how Luffy is no ordinary boy. we have witnessed him communicating with Zunisha. We have heard many legends related to Joy Boy way back in the Fishman Island arc. We know how extreme the recovery power of the awakened Zoan types from impel down’s guard. We have witnessed that devil fruit has mind of its own when seeing Chopper got out of control. We already know that at the end and in some way Luffy will get this Nika power or even become this Nika God Legend.
We actually are almost at the end of this story. It is already the time for the major ups and crazy revelations. There are still a lot things that has not been revealed yet. What’s up with the egg in Roger’s ship?, is Kuzan really is a traitor?, how in world Teach manage to snatched away the Gura gura no mi power?, what happened in the void century?, and (most important of all) what the hell is One Piece?
