“One Piece” is a name that should ring a bell to many. Judging off the fact that Eiichiro Oda, the author has officially been added to the list of the top 10 highest selling writers of all time, “One Piece” has made its impact on pop culture. Since its creation in 1999, “One Piece” has sold over 550 million copies world wide and has infiltrated every corner of the globe.
Being set in a fictional world, “One Piece” is about Monkey D. Luffy, a boy set on finding the world’s greatest treasure and becoming king of the pirates. In the show, he gathers a rag-tag group of characters and faces foes who oppose his dream.
On paper the story seems like a shallow action adventure targeted towards teenage boys. The story runs deeper though. “One Piece” actually entails a story of totalitarianism seen through oligarchies, allegories of real life historical events and societal matters.
To begin with the stance against totalitarianism and oligarchies, Oda writes many plot points surrounding these ideas. The first plot point is the concept of a “World Government” along with the Celestial Dragons.
In “One Piece,” the planet is governed by one entity, the illusive World Government. The World government is a militarized force led by a group of the richest people in the world. The World Government claims to be led by the Fleet admiral, but in reality is controlled by the Celestial Dragons. This shines light on the hidden oligarchy taking place behind the scenes.
I fully believe that Oda wrote the Celestial Dragons to make people think about real world political environments. Oda never hides his political beliefs as he has a framed photo of Che Guevara on his desk. He also has made comments on wanting a classless system in society.
Luffy, in contrast to this belief, stands against the government as a symbol of true freedom and self expression. The World Government also shares more similarities with totalitarianism by being against the access to knowledge in order to keep itself in power.
In “One Piece,” there was a time of knowledge and prosperity for around 1000 years. All of this knowledge was held on one Island, Ohara. After the formation of the World Government, Ohara was destroyed and the people on the island were erased in a genocide. Now the World Government has banned all knowledge of the incident.
This flows well into my next point. “One Piece” has multiple allegories to real world historical events. The genocide in Ohana can be seen as an allegory for both the burning of The Library of Alexandria and the Jewish Holocaust. Oda would not put these things in the story unless he wanted to educate his audience on the importance of knowledge.
To further illustrate how Oda uses allegories to instill a political stance in “One Piece” one could look at The Celestial Dragons and The Fishmen. The Fishmen are Oda’s stand-in for slaves and the civil rights movement in the “One Piece” world.
The Celestial Dragons enslaved the Fishmen hundreds of years ago and used them as tools to build grand monuments in the world. “One Piece” also gives a history of its world by stating that there was a war to end slavery and it did succeed, but the oppression against fishermen still stood firm. I do think that Oda wrote in the treatment towards Fishmen as an allegory for Black people during the Civil War and Civil rights movement.
A shining point of evidence to prove that this is an allegory for the Civil Rights movement can be seen in The Water Seven arc. In this arc, The Straw Hats arrive on an island that houses the largest transcontinental railway in the “One Piece” world. After further investigation, they find out that the Railway was built by the forced labor of enslaved Fishmen. They also find out that Fishmen are still seen as lesser and as scum in the eyes of the people of the island. The Straw Hats think this is abhorrent and spread their agenda of freedom and equality to the island.
“One Piece” tackles a lot more social issues than racism. The queer community has representation with characters like Bon Clay, a nonbinary friend of Luffy, the main character, and is commonly seen dressed in drag. Ivankov is a canonically trans character who is another friend of Luffy and helps him escape government confinement. They are also one of the head members of the Revolutionary Army, a rebel group set on bringing down the World Government.
The revolutionary army as a whole speaks a lot about social politics. A group of oppressed people banding together to fight an oppressive force shows how “One Piece” is inherently political.
It is clear to me that anyone who reads or watches “One Piece” is subject to a political message. Oda gives a stance on political matters by creating a story of totalitarianism held together by oligarchies, allegories of real world history and pressing societal ideas.
