Why One Piece Is Relatable
“It doesn’t matter who your parents were. Everyone is a child of the sea” — Edward Newgate (Whitebeard)
One of the appeals of One Piece which makes it a worldwide franchise is its relatability. People around the world could relate strongly to the elements that are presented in the story. We have our own culture that gets subliminally embedded in our brains since we’re a child and as we consume the series, we react to those things unconsciously. Making the series feels “close” to our heart. I think that it’s one of the major appeals of One Piece, and here’s my take on it:
1. Landscape
Oda draws his geolocation inspiration from the real world. I mean c’mon… can you not see Chinese influence in this town:
Not only that, we’ve got a desert-like island which I assume comes from the middle east.
We have Spanish influence city along with the infamous colosseum.
Wano is obviously Japan.
Because the housing and the geology are inspired by the real world, it doesn’t feel foreign at all. It’s just like our world, portrayed by the One Piece world.
2. Theme
We’re traveling in a world where it consists of thousands of islands. Each island encapsulates its own theme, culture, and issues. There’s an island that raises political issues such as racism, a real issue in the modern world.
There are also issues like slavery, propaganda, the overthrow of power, drugs, cannibalism, pollution, and even small-scale issues like betrayal, parental love, arranged marriage, and found family. You named it, One Piece has it.
The wide range of issues being raised throughout the journey not only makes us excited to read/watch it, but we can also relate to it on a personal level. Because maybe… some of the issues actually happened in our personal life. From tugging your heartstrings to leaving you in a state of depression, I gotta say… One piece does have it all.
3. Character
There are thousands of characters within the One Piece world. It’s over 1000+ characters. Not just humans, races like giants, dwarves, and even fishmans also exist. With this huge number of character variations, I think it would be almost impossible if you can’t find a character that you can really vibe with. A character that you can say: “omg, that’s me!”. For example, mine is Aokiji. A laid-back person who likes to nap and has a strong sense of personal conviction? It’s like we’re two peas in a pod.
Not only the character’s traits but there might also be a backstory of a character that you can relate with. There is a story of a proud mother, fighting a terminal illness, or maybe a happy one like owning a cute pet.
It does sometimes feel like you can see your own “representation”. It’s like you can see how will you live your life if you really exist in this world.
4. Terms
Unlike any other manga or anime, One Piece frequently uses English in the series — whether it’s an attack, a dialog spoken by a character, or names.
English is a globally spoken language in the world. The inclusion of the English language has made the series feel… “global” cause we can understand them. “It’s not too Japanese”, I would say.
We got a character named Smoker who uses smoke power (duh!), 3D2Y tattoo and places named “lobby” and “whiskey”. “Suuuuper” is a catchphrase from Franky. Attacks like “fresh fire”, “gatling”, “pheasant peck”, and many more. One Piece is surely different compare to other series which often use full Japanese for the name of the attacks.
Not only just English but there are also other languages like french (Sanji’s attack) or Spanish name like Senor Pink. As an Indonesian, I’ve also recognized one of the terms, Mantra back in Skypiea. I don’t know if it’s intentional, but Mantra in my language roughly translates to Spell.
There you go! Those are the things that make One Piece feel relatable. It’s reflected in the landscapes, themes, characters, and the terms and languages used. I feel like Oda sensei got the portrait of our world, then put pirate sprinkles on top of it. Because of the inspiration being drawn from our actual real world, the series feels very close and tangible for us.
Hope you enjoy the story!
Your captain ☠️ — ferzos
