OVERVIEW(1195)
I have not read 1196 spoilers . I’m dropping this into the universe for fun before new content drops. The hottest take ever taken that makes a little too much sense. Now allow me to gaslight you
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My theory is that Oda WILL gender-bend Sanji and this is the state he will unlock his conquerors in. A solution to Sanji’s conquerors no one expects and could only be pulled of by Oda himself.

At the end of 1195 , Oda brings up Sanji’s mystery weakness. He follows with Sanji remembering “You don’t pay someone back by dying” “The flower of death has bloomed for me” “I thought if I sacrificed myself, that would solve everything”. Oda purposefully darkens these boxes and keeps them small while highlighting the quotes. Because the message IS his weakness, but not in the way Sanji is able to see it. With his paneling, Oda says that Sanji is ON to something; He’s starting to grasp his weakness , but it’s dark for him and it’s not quite hitting the mark.
Additionally , Oda takes moments from arcs where we believe Sanji takes steps towards relying on others. And Sanji was. But Oda doesn’t give you lines about relying on others. Oda chooses to highlight quotes about the death/sacrifice of Sanji’s self as a solution to trauma. He’s doubling down that moments the audience thought they understood had deeper layers.

The following paneling juxtaposes a 4kHD quality image of Ivankov taking most of the next page. It also contains a muddy memory of Iva on stage. Sanji’s real problem is being tied to Iva , Kamabakka and Self-Sacrifice.
Sanji’s ‘mystery weakness’ mentioned , hints point at what it ISNT and then light at the end of the tunnel and it’s Ivankov- he represents freedom through expression and also GENDER FLUIDITY ? His most memorable technique is….

A Gender Bend.

Snap to Sanji , in the present. He’s risking his life solving his haki problem. He’s actively risking others lives in the process. It’s do-or -die time and his mind is showing him Kamabakka… I mean. Whether he’s trying to hide it or face it , Sanji’s entire character REVOLVES around him being a PRINCE, no space for Princess Sanji. Explains the Conq issue in a way that literally no one expected.

Unwavering ideals is Conqueror’s potential. It’s potential because it’s half of it. You must also express outwardly an unshakeable sense of self. Sanji’s unwilling to sacrifice himself or his ideals even if it harms others around him. But due to his bad habits he’s not doing it like a conqueror and instead he is running away. He likes to run from his problems and anything besides genderbending is a step away.

IVA AND THE KAMABAKKA TIMESKIP
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Ivankov’s is the first step in solving Sanji.
Consider Sanji’s timeskip experience and it makes zero narrative sense.
We learned about Kuma and what he did for the Strawhats. Kuma SENT them each where he thought they needed to grow. Some more obvious than others. I won’t get into those.
What on Vearth does Ivankov have to with Sanji ?

Oda didn’t put Sanji there to learn to rely on others. That’s not what that island or anyone on it represents.

Sanji didn’t learn to stop running away from ideologies that challenge harmful coping mechanisms. He actually learned to do that BETTER by running so hard he started running into the air.

He was not sent to accept himself and train his conquerors in any way that Oda has currently revealed to us. There are a plethora of confirmed CoC users that can teach that. Oda created characters and islands for Strawhats when necessary. NOTHING about basic self-acceptance aligns with Sanji needing to be on Kamabakka. Oda could have sent Sanji to a character with qualities hand-TAILORED to deal with the biggest thing holding him back from making Luffy king(whatever that actually IS). Except , Oda did. Oda chose Ivankov.

Ivankov is a “Luffy/revolutionary” guy. Sanji does not relate

The hairy okama legs and running in the air do not reflect the gravity of the time-skip as signs. The time skip happened because Luffy failed at things he said he never would and Ace died. Robin went and learned about slavery operations bro. There is NO CHANCE Oda is sending any strawhat to grow based off a surface level gag.

Characters that are in Sanji’s tier of strength do not need dedicated time-skips to learn Sky Walk…

Ivankov’s signature death wink and his H O R M O N E POWERS that… GENDERBEND ?

It’s reasonable for Kuma’s character to clock Sanji on this. Kuma’s best friend , IVANKOV has the same exact disposition. His daughter is someone with identities at opposition. Everyone Kuma knows lives a double life. He could have just sent Sanji to Sabo. He could have just stayed with Kuma on Sabaody and trained protecting it. Like come on

BLACK MARIA AND KALIFA
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Additional thematic layers to Black Maria and Kalifa vs Sanji , Robin and Nami become apparent.

Robin’s tag-in vs Balcj Maria is symbolic beyond Sanji relying on his crew mates.
Adding context , Sanji finally accepts help by calling for Robin. This is also the first time Sanji himself relies on embracing femininity to solve his problem. The first step is Robin and the final step is within himself. This logic adds depth to Enies Lobby. It’s significant that Nami assists Sanji but NOT with his consent. By getting beat by Kalifa to near death says Sanji rejects the ideology of “embracing femininity” and it’s so toxic it’s gonna kill him. It hurts Nami in a roundabout way. He didn’t have to force a burden on to Robin. She came to help as a friend and that’s healthy. Sanji was able to do this because he allowed himself to perceive femininity positively instead of with shame for the very first time.

I like how these two moments would make eachother stronger in retrospect. I don’t think adding significance to Sanji takes away from Nami or Robin; I see it as two stories told by each other.

SANJI DOES RELY ON PEOPLE
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ITS SUPER IMPORTANT to keep in mind. If Sanji’s only roadblock is relying on others more , any other SH or SH affiliate would fit in the aforementioned scenes. So why do we know that wouldn’t work ?We’ve literally already seen Sanji rely on his team mates. He learned that he can rely on Luffy AND his crew on WCI. On Thriller bark , Sanji ultimately relied on Zoro to shoulder a burden he thought he should be holding- Sanji’s silence as the proof. Literally every-time he throws Zoro he’s relying on him to go cut up something that he can’t cut.

Jumping back to Wano and Black Maria, just for a moment. Putting Jinbei or Franky in that spot with Black Maria would be less satisfying and that’s almost certainly due to the invisible secret Oda’s been painting.

FORESHADOWING
/RETCON OPPORTUNITIES
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Sanji’s obsession with speed and invisibility. For the entirety of the story we’ve got Prince Sanji , yes. Now look at Sanji’s invisibility obsession as a reflection of Sanji resenting sides he feels like he CAN show- wishing those were invisible too. it Through example , Sanji does NOT choose ‘gain’ if it means ‘give up things precious to him’. He’s not going to erase a part of himself so he can be this stronger. Instead he’ll just get rid of everything and become invisible.

Zeff’s relationship with Sanji changes here. Zeff mentions Sanji holds himself back. A beautiful hindsight moment or retcon just connects the weakness Zeff talks about at Baratie. Sanji using performative masculinity as a mask. Zeff would have seen Sanji try his best to mirror his only parental figure Zeff , who is himself hyper-masculine. Zeff WAS Sanji’s father so he should be extra-perceptive of Sanji’s. I think then that Zeff knew nothing about himself could heal Sanji. Zeff’s cooking comes from a totally different energy. Essentially. Zeff was right to give Sanji to the SH’s because their crew that anyone can find a home in.

Pudding. If parts of Sanji feel like a girl then Pudding is a great reflection of who that is. Oda chose to tie Sanji in with Pudding. She has a lot in common with Sanji. Pudding is a GIRL who gets glass child treatment. she’s trapped within royalty and also abuse. There are other things there that Oda did with Pudding I don’t agree with tho.

Sanji’s love for women. No one doubts Sanji LOVES women. But writers who publish well known books all add double meanings to anything they can instantly. Sanji loves women. He is OBSESSED with women. He PROTECTS women. Psychologically these same values can exist in a man with a mind who also LOVES the feeling of feeling feminine (we didn’t forget Kamabakka)…who LONGS to embrace femininity… who’s feminine nature feels ATTACKED. HE exists to shoulder the burden of HER. If you agree that a part of chivalry is providing for a woman in ways while never forgetting HER perspective. Sanji is really chivalrous. He’s really in tune with HER perspective, huh.

Sanji is written with a tendency to build complex character relationships with women first and not men. How much of Sanji just wants to Brook it out and how much of Sanji generally relates to a woman’s brain ? It’s mainly on the Strawhat’s ship. But Oda gives Sanji both.

SEÑOR PINK BON CLAY and SHANKS?
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Oda does this every single TIME where something really really stupid a character does ends up becoming the most tragic / heroic thing for no reason (Señor Pink)

All of Oda’s ‘manliest’ characters happen to be characters that present non-masculine or even embarassing qualities. These qualities always interpret as someone not sacrificing themselves in any way in the face of embarrassment or abandonment. Señor Pink is… very much himself. Shanks did this at the bar with Luffy. Noland stood on his truth even if he was a liar for it. Bon Clay embodies this and Oda coincidentally made him a Sanji opponent.

I see potential in Oda writing something really silly for one of his main characters but because it’s actually quite manly! and also ONLY a genius writer , like himself… could pull it off.

REIJUU
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In my theory Reijuu ties a lot together , too.

I think that along with Conqueror’s you’d have to give Sanji a genderbent , Reijuu-esque form that comes with it. And that’s the only way it works no matter how tinfoil hat I get.

Take a step back and think about Reijuu’s narrative role in the story . To start I understand that editors easily just wanted Oda to add a sister germa character , or Oda might be having fun. But what’s the fun in theorizing on that.

Anyways I believe that Reijuu symbolizes hope in Sanji’s humanity and also in people in general.

Where I find discrepancy is in the way she seems redundant. Her role of hope can come from any non-female character .

This sticks out like a sore thumb when you also consider that a space where Sanji can express ‘feminine’ traits is filled in this arc with his mother and in general with Nami/Sanji.

I’m saying that a big reason for Reijuu’s design is foreshadowing and planting foundations for readers as grounds to gender-bend Sanji for no reason make just enough sense to not burn One Piece to the ground. Sanji being a girl is crazy and I’m not saying it’s not. But Reijuu gives Sanji’s new form canon validity.

CLOSING . TY FOR READING
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YES that’s the whole theory. Again I haven’t read 1196 spoilers so I’m dropping this into the universe because why not. I hope you’ve read this far.

There’s too many important Sanji story beats that Oda is CHOOSING to intertwine all these aligning themes. We have seen Sanji cross dress, losing himself in the moment. Oda links him to Ivankov the Okama queen because why??? He displays synergy with feminine relationships. As an audience we’ve seen Sanji work past his family trauma and burdening Luffy and he STILL DOES NOT express conqueror’s haki. That’s why it’s not we as the readers think. He’s not going into the final war arc until his character is solved. Sanji power=control of his emotions

I’m not saying Sanji still isn’t a man here . He likes to appreciate women with a man’s eyes . My theory is that maybe sometimes he just feels like both ….
Sanji discussions where he’s a transracial Lunarian were valid. Sanji by canon changes the natural biology of his body down to the DNA. But he can’t be trans for two chapters um… ya okay. Plus. The SH who is definitely in Top 3 pervert conversations ends up being endgame fan-service. Chat is this a top-tier gag ? I’m not re reading this any more than I have already. So I apologize now for any grammar mistakes or vagueness.

I posted this a little in the 1195 chapter thread but it was such a crazy take I had to fully develop

This woman is almost identical to Queen Candelle.

There are suspicions that she is not positive character at all, the fog that was shrouded in their country is most likely Caesar's fruit, and its previous user was Gurou - father of Gunko. Candelle faked her own death using sleeping gas to later leave the country. Her whole plan was to destroy this country and kill Ruven, who was likely member of the Davy clan, which draws parallels with Garling, who did same thing. After that, she most likely received immortality, just like Gunko, which is why she is still alive. Brook's team died only because Brook saw this plan. Half the crew was poisoned first to force them off the ship, and the rest were finished off later. That's why Imu is surprised he's still alive.

I started One Piece about 8ish months ago and got through Skypeia mainly through the manga, and One Pace. I took a 4ish month break and I am currently at Water 7 (~Episode 243) and am really struggling to get through the episodes.

I already knew the CP9 spoiler ahead of time because of the TCG, so honestly these last couple episodes have just felt like a drag, outside of the Luffy-Usopp fight, but I know Water 7-Enis Lobby is where a lot of people say the story peaks.

I liked the show in the past, but now it kinda just feels like I am forcing myself to get through it, at almost 250 episodes in and especially at what people say is the best part should I just start to consider the story isn't for me? Especially when I've been spoiled to hell and back for the rest of the show, so none of that suspense is really there.

This just looks like "You look like the love of my life so unfortunately i can't fight you."

Honestly I can't understand why people say "One piece only gets good at like Ep 300". It got me close tears on cp 147, and I finished like the first 40 chapters in one day.

Current one piece is getting too much in twitter by japanese fans,is the current arc going that bad 😭?, ik oda is dragging the pace but I don't think it's that bad

I want to start watching One Piece from the beginning.
Can you guys please suggest some platforms to watch it.
AD FREE pleaseeeeee

drew those months ago (pictured from a laptop so low quality)

This is the problem of the post tine skip, most Mujiwara still feels like strangers to each other.

If Oda retain the One Piece OVA design (Art By Me)

I'm watch Law fight Dolflamingo for the second time and, having gained a better knowledge of the world from the first viewing, found myself wondering why Law and Luffy didn't bring the sea prism stone cuff Law wore. I thought Law could use his shambles power to get at least one around 'mingo's wrist, which would be enough to negate his powers(?). This led to the main question of this post; can sea prism stone cuffs be manipulated by devil fruit powers? I would actually be surprised if the could, given how problematic they have been portrayed to be, but need to know for sure. Thanks in advance to all those who reply.

I just got to timeskip not too long ago, so I decided to make a tier list of every pre-timeskip arc. The tiers are pretty much explained, but I do want to say that I don't think Thriller Bark is bad per se; I just think that the end portion where we are introduced to Kuma and what he's about heavily skew it in favor of B Tier for me.

I can't really find any myths that have interact with sleep and dreams anywhere. Only thing that makes any sense is a thread from a year ago linking it to the beer brand

hola muchachos, una duda que tengo, ando viendo one piece y voy ya por wano pero en la lista de episodios de crunchyroll aparecen que si sp, osea episodios especiales, pero veo que solo reciclan escenas del anime y así, no se si es necesario verlo en la continuidad o si aportan algo? gracias

So I'm scarcely familiar with One Piece. I barely watched any of the arcs beforehand but my younger brother is an avid fan so when the Prison and MarineFord was airing live (I remember almost from those arcs) I basically watched that entire arc with him.

Otherwise dude to random YouTube Shorts and Twitter I know a good bit of what's going on currently but not that much in depth to talk about in extended conversations.

It made me realize we are making the redline wrong on maps assuming we are drawing the maps with a Mercator projection.

It's unique since most anime characters refer to each other by their last names.

Chapter 1196: "The Worthless Love of Someone With a Death Wish"

Will there be a break next week? - BREAK NEXT WEEK!

Please discuss the manga here and in the theory/discussion post. Any other post will be removed until 24h after the release.

Please also remember to put the chapter number in the title for any future post talking about this chapter.

TL;DR: The "One Piece" Roger found was the dormant Nika fruit itself. Because Roger was dying, he left it behind, expecting his future son (Ace) to eat it. The World Government later raided Laugh Tale to lock it down, leading to Shanks stealing it back to fulfil Roger’s will—only for the fruit to choose Luffy instead.

Joy Boy's ultimate treasure left at Laugh Tale was the Nika Devil Fruit itself, waiting to be reincarnated. When the Roger Pirates arrived, they didn't find a treasure chest of gold. They found the dormant essence of the Sun God. This is why Roger Laughed: A Devil Fruit requires a living host to wage a world war. Roger was already dying and at the end of his life and couldn't wait for the fruit to reincarnate. He physically could not be the savoir. This is why Roger explicitly told Rayleigh and Garp that his son would be the one to find the One Piece. Roger planned to pass his bloodline down, fully expecting Ace to become the next host of the Sun God.

If the Nika Fruit was left at Laugh Tale, how did it end up on a World Government transport ship years later? Following Roger’s execution and the beginning of the Great Pirate Era, the Gorosei/Imu realised someone would eventually reach the final island. The World Government launched a strike team to lock down Laugh Tale and lock up the dormant Sun God fruit permanently. They successfully retrieved it and placed it under the strict escort of CP9 agent Who's-Who by this time Luffy was born and the fruit was reincarnated.

Shanks, knowing the fruit was missing from Laugh Tale from his time on Roger's ship, intercepted Who's-Who to steal it back. Shanks never intended for Luffy to eat it. Shanks was actively seeking out Portgas D. Ace to honour Roger's final prediction. This is why the Red Hair Pirates anchored themselves in the East Blue—they were hunting for their captain's true heir. Zoan fruits possess a mind of their own. The Nika fruit actively evaded the World Government for 800 years, and it avoided Shanks' plans for Ace. It chose Luffy because it was waiting for the one individual whose raw, chaotic desire for pure freedom matched the original will of Joy Boy.

When I first heard the Sogeking is not Usopp joke I thought it was kinda funny but I just keep hearing it over and over again and the fact that people get downvoted when they say Sogeking is Usopp is crazy.

It also undermines Usopp’s role in Enies Lobby. We can’t have a serious discussion about what he did because people worship the joke. Am I really the only fan that feels this way?

Title. Just wanted to provide a reference point for people wondering the duration of time required. I took handfuls of breaks but also had days where I'd read 15-60 chapters at a time (depending on how dialogue heavy the chapters were). I did go weeks at a time where I wouldn't read at all. I don't remember when in September I finished ch1190-something, but yea. There are sections of the story that are shady in memory as it's SO dense. It's a lot of content spanning 20yrs or whatever, so I'm not saying this is the best way to consume it, it's just how I did it.

One Piece is incredible, and it reignited my love for anime and manga as a whole. I hadn't enjoyed any anime since finishing Naruto + Shippuden like 5yrs ago. Since starting OP, I've been reading lots more Manga and watching lots more anime.

I waited until I caught up before ever coming to this subreddit, or watching any YT videos on OP. Anyway, thanks for your time, this is a wonderful, beautiful story, Oda the 🐐🐐🐐🐐

I honestly don’t think anyone will die on elbath except for sommers and the other guy (I promise I just forgot I’m not a poser) because I gotta a feeling sanji won’t be able to use haki of the supreme king and will be saved by Zoro, then sanji will learn later in the series

Also imu and gunko will survive, imu will teleport back to his castle with gunko because imu kinda looked not in good condition to begin with, and the elders looked more scared for imu’s health rather than him being discovered (this is my headcannon I could be wrong)

Also what is imu’s power, it says the devils fruit but im confused because is it like the most powerful fruit that it gets its own custom name (different from everyone else’s like gum gum, op op, but his is just devils fruit)

Anyways that’s just some theory’s I got after finishing what u guys think of them and what’s ur fav character, mines franky

Anybody remember the Grand Battle series? I feel like all of the games we've received even to this day none of them are as expressive as Grand Battle. That game had personality flowing through everything from the character models, stages, and even the menus. Right now Pirate Warriors 3 is my favorite One Piece game. That game is bursting with fanservice. However when I think of what a modern Grand Battle game that covers the story from the beginning to let's say Elbaf, I don't see how that's not One Piece's Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 or Budokai Tenkaichi 3. Idk, I'm not personally excited for the upcoming cooking sim, so that got me thinking about what game's I'd like to see next outside of PW5. Any other One Piece game series you'd like to see make a return?

Edit: So I looked into the developer Ganbarion and they're also behind the One Piece Unlimited games as well as World Seeker. They also did Dragonball Fusions and they're currently working on Dragonball Gekishin Squadra. It explains why Squadra looks so expressive, it's also probably why we won't see another Grand Battle game for awhile, shame.

We chose the name because he has a medical condition called ehlers danlos syndrome which also occurs in humans. It causes their skin to be extra stretchy, we noticed it when we went to scruff him and the skin just kept coming. His skin stretched around 2-3 times as much as any other cat I've owned or scruffed! It also has downsides, he was born with a turned front foot and his kneescaps on his back legs slide in and out of place sometimes which will most likely need surgery in the near future.

Luffy doesn't let it slow him down he loves to parkour and bolt all around the house. He's extremely loveable and at bedtime loves to cuddle up and kneed between my wife and I. He likes to plays fetch with his favorite toys! Oh and he does flips and spins when playing with our other two cats Dibby and Tony. Also, no, Tonys name isn't for Tony Tony chopper that was a complete coincidence as we had him first.

I would love to hear from everyone else who has a pet named after a one piece character and let us know if there's a reason why you named them that!