Feb
In the world of One Piece, There are frequent times when characters go through situations that change them or force them to discover who they are or what kind of world they live in. Many themes are explored: freedom, justice, human nature, discrimination power, corruption, war,… One theme, “love” is explored in various forms from what many expect. In the storyline of One Piece, we are shown how love can inspire characters to fight, pursue their dreams, protect loved ones, and sacrifice for others, often with powerful emotional consequences.
Here are some various forms of love presented in One Piece:
Sacrifice and Selflessness:
One of the most poignant expressions of love in One Piece is through sacrifice. Love in this sense is tied to the willingness to give everything for someone else or for great purpose, even if it means personal loss or suffering. Characters often put their lives on the line for others or for a specific greater goal: Luffy, sacrificing himself for his crew, Pedro sacrificing for the Mugiwaras, Garp’s sacrifice for Koby and the Young Marine who represents the future of the Marine Corp,…
Friendship and Loyalty:
Although not a powerful and recurrent main theme we see in Fairy Tail, friendship and loyalty are extremely present and valued in the One Piece stories. We’ve seen several time the length through which characters would go in the name of friendship:
- Shanks standing up for his friend Luffy and losing his arm;
- The Straw Hats fight and later silent departure from Alabasta for Vivi’s sake;
- Zoro’s loyalty towards Luffy (special mention for his act on Thriller Bark);
- Robin’s sacrifice for the Mugiwaras and vice versa;
- The Whitebeard Pirates fight for Ace in Marineford;
- Bon Clay’s fights for his friendship and loyalty to Luffy.
Loyalty isn’t just shown between humans but sometimes between humans and animals:
- Chouchou’s loyalty towards his dead master;
- Brooks loyalty towards Laboon after over five decades;
- …
We’ve also seen one of the greatest Love in the name loyalty and friendship that laid to the saddest death in the storyline, Going Merry sacrifice to save her crew. Showing us a poignant example that the love and car we give to something comes back in ways we can’t expect.
Familial Love
Familial love is one of the most compelling forms of love we witness in One Piece. We have three main types of familial love: parental love, brotherly love and the general love between family members.
Parental love:
The love of a parent for his or her child is one of the most natural and powerful ones in the world. Many times we’ve seen the care given and sacrifice made by a parent or parental figure for the love they have toward their child. Here are some examples:
- Belle-mère’s love for Nami et Nojiko;
- Rouge’s love for Ace;
- Kyros’ love Rebecca;
- Corazon’s love for Law;
- Kuma’s love for Bonney.
Brotherly love:
The bond we see between the three brothers Luffy, Ace and Sabo is the most noticeable in the series. Throwing away their titles or standing and even their lives to go help or save their brother wherever they may be.
General love between family members:
Sometimes we find the family we seek for not in our blood relatives but with the people who choose us and accept us despite who we are. A great example is Nico Robin’s, Chopper’s and Sanji’ backstory, where they long for a family to love them, only to find it in the Straw Hats, who accept them completely. In general, the Straw Hats are like a family bound by trust, sacrifice, and unbreakable loyalty to one another. Their actions are driven by love for their crew, as they are willing to face extreme danger and go to war for the sake of their family members.
Unrequited Love:
Unrequited love is not something you wish to live through but not Boa Hancock. Her love for Luffy seems to be one of the main forces driving her even though Luffy has already mentioned it having no intention of marrying her. This unrequited love must be one of the most graceful ones we’ve seen in One Piece.
We also have the notable first possible unrequited love of Kaya towards Usopp but we can say for sure that it is an unrequited love. And if it is, Kaya’s desire to become a doctor for Usopp’s sake is also a great example of unrequited love with a positive effect on the person feeling it.
We can also, in passing, mention the unrequited love Sanji has for any beautiful woman he sees but that is not relevant here.
Unrequited love often leads to humor but also shows us how characters find meaning and motivation in their feelings, even when they aren’t reciprocated in the traditional sense.
Romantic Love:
This form of love isn’t the most explored in One Piece but it is. Although we shouldn’t expect any romantic love amongst the crew of the Straw hat pirates, as Oda has stated many times, he have witness it between other characters: Bege and Chiffon, Rayleigh and Shakky, Scarlett and Kyros, , Oden and Toki,…, Often in One Piece, romantic love is rendered secondary in the present of the others four kind of love mentioned earlier.
Although love often takes a backseat to the larger themes of adventure and dreams, One Piece does explore the theme of love in different, meaningful and powerful ways. The love we see sometimes is multifaceted and it transcends simple romantic relationships. In One Piece, love is about bonds of trust, loyalty, friendship, family, and selflessness, and it’s often what drives characters, motivating them to face adversity and grow as individuals.
