In Defense of Nika: A One Piece Video Essay

[@mesocool1086]

There is a theory that the devil fruit awakens when the bearers will and the will of the fruit converge. Luffy once said he didn't want to be the hero because the hero had to share the meat. Defeating Kaido he said he wanted to liberate Wano so that they all had enough to eat. Thus Luffy finally accepted his role as hero and Nika being the great liberator was reborn when Luffy was willing to die on that hill.

[@bigkirbyhj666]

Well he doesn't want share "his" meat but doesn't mean he wants everyones food.

[@adius256]

@@bigkirbyhj666 He specifically says in that speech that he wants ALL the meat, unless the translation was off

[@zerlok8323]

​@@adius256 He does. He also told kaido that he wants a world where his friends can eat as much as they want. "That's my kind of world!" My take of the situation is that luffy wants to be the most free, he want to live his life to the fullest, he wants all the meat he can get. However, he's not a conqueror. If you give him food he will literally go through hell and back to make sure you're still able to get more. That's the key here: giving his friends the opportunity to live as they want, "[to] eat as much as they want", in the same way he wants to. This way, there's no need for him to share his meat with others.

[@mesocool1086]

@@zerlok8323 I see that. I see it a bit differently. Wano Luffy is a different Luffy. After he was taken care of in Wano despite them not being able to take care of themselves he decided to liberate Wano. Not because he had to, but because he was so loved by the people and it breaks his heart to see them like that as kind as they are. So he takes on Kaido. He doesn't get the road Poneglyph and dash like Whole Cake. He liberates Wano. He makes a stand. He even dies on that hill. That is when his devil fruit.. the Nika fruit.. the liberator.. awakens. He is no longer the Luffy that cares about _his_ meat. He cares about the people. He wants to take care of them. He is willing to die so they can be free. His hear grew 3 times that day. That's how I see it. Just my opinion.

[@zerlok8323]

@@mesocool1086 I do love luffy as hero type. If anything, doing what he does and not taking credit or gaining appeal for helping others can cement him more as a hero. With your opinion in mind, I curious about your take on dressrosa. In this country, luffy was following law's plan: to get doflamingo in turmoil with kaido. After exposing him and destroying the factories, they could've just left. But luffy choose to stay and take down doflamingo. "Take a look at this country. If I leave now, what will become of it?" I bring this up because your take seems to be predicated on the idea that wano was the first instance luffy truly fought fought for others. If I'm not wrong, what's the case with dressrosa?

[@AizenIsKubo]

Who said it doesn't make sense lol? This is the most Luffy Luffy has ever been.

[@kingrojin8009]

A lot of people actually

[@enjuci2754]

People just don't get it. Most of his techniques are extremely goofy. Could anyone else have thought of inflating their own bones?? What about gum gum pinwheel he used on momoo?? No one had a problem with that. Part of luffy's nature is finding new and goofy ways of using his powers to win. Add that to the entire goofy nature of nika and u get gear 5

[@invisibleBDK]

I don't know how it DOES makes sense to anyone. Sun God = rubber powers is not the most obvious connection. I know whenever I stare up at the sun on a nice day, I don't really think to myself "wow the sun looks so rubbery and stretchy and electricity proof today." Even if the themes fit, the fruit does not and was clearly a non planned ass pull. I have no problem with Luffy being Joy Boy or being silly, but until recently that was not bundled together with this Nika idea which is just a bizarre one.

[@braindavidgilbert3147]

@@invisibleBDK the gum powers were a limit though, something the world government placed on it to limit its powers. The true power of the fruit is freedom, you know, like the sun. And luffys whole journey so far has been about freedom.

[@invisibleBDK]

@@braindavidgilbert3147 The government gave it a new name, but no where does it say that they genetically re-engineered it's capabilities or even have the ability to do so. They even say that Nika had a "rubbery body" which confirms the sun god had rubber powers... for very convenient reasons. Even the fact that they suddenly care about it after 1000+ chapters indicates this wasn't planned at the start. It's really really sloppy.

[@kerresft8745]

No way it's been 10 months since this chapter dropped. Jesus, times flies by fast

[@danielrosa9502]

a year actually

[@sephikong8323]

It dropped like 14 months ago I believe

[@NowWeJustWinIt]

in 2 Months time, we'll be eating very good

[@exreal9864]

No way it's been 10 months since this comment dropped. Jesus, times flies by fast

[@kerresft8745]

@@exreal9864 holy shit

[@Mephil]

Luffy has ALWAYS had toon force, epecially in early one piece. Eating meat to heal, using water to combat a logia, drinking milk to heal lost teeth, turning off his brain to dodge attacks, digesting food in 10 seconds, etc etc People even commented how that is not how things work but Luffy believes that is how it works and therefor it does

[@Atr0]

I agree that Luffy has always been very silly, but to say all that stuff is just the power of the fruit is kinda farfetched. Brook’s bones and teeth heal when he drinks milk, Kid can metabolize food in the exact same way Luffy can, and Zoro drinks alcohol to heal, so I don’t think any of that stuff you mentioned is really relevant, just Oda being a bit of a goof.

[@Mephil]

@@Atr0 And they all do it when Luffy is around. What is to say that it isn't the power of joyboy at work?

[@aosu4976]

@@Mephil devil fruit powers can’t effect other people like that until awakening

[@Mephil]

@@aosu4976 Devil fruits, haki and one piece at large is all about will. A devil fruit is just a distilled version of that will. I don't think Luffy needs a devil fruit to influence the world around him.

[@Atr0]

@@Mephil fanfiction

[@zackfross98]

What I love about Croc is that eventhough he loses to WB, he never truly gave up. He's plan was simply retreating to find the ancient weapon and go back for a second round in the new world. Even after losing against Luffy, his spirit never truly crushed and he came back stronger. Unlike Moria who just gave up and became lazy.

[@DL-idk]

I've seen an argument saying that Luffy is bound to a destiny by this whole nika thing and is no longer free, and that is against the spirit of one piece and Luffy's core values. I don't think they're wrong. It's just that, I think, Luffy probably isn't smart enough to feel bound at all😂 He isn't the deep, philosophical type of people with the potential of having an existential crisis for thinking too much. He'll probably simply believe that he's been doing what he wants this entire time, without any outside influence, no matter what other people think or say. So personally I don't see that side of the problem, since Luffy himself probably won't care enough to be bothered.

[@marions9785]

Bro this was so well made i was surprised when i saw the amount of subs u have, if u keep on making content like this im pretty sure you’ll eventually get the credit u need

[@Sharkakaka]

The thing about usop and Merry is that at the time, usopp was the weakest Strawhat by far and only barely being able to keep up with will and ingenuity. The crew letting merry behind was also in a way letting usopp behind and he wouldn't be able to keep up from that point on, they were letting a partner go that would require too much effort/wasn't possible to take with them, same with usopp, to highlight this Merry and Usopp come from the same place, in the same arc and join at the same time. So as the crew let Merry behind and got a new ship, so did they get a new artillery guy Sogeking, which showed everything Usopp felt he lacked, courage, power, a cool backstory(even if it was fake) and a sense of "I got this". But in the end usopp is irreplaceable

[@mockingbird4346]

It's very nice to see someone point out the political meaning behind One Piece, a depressing number of people pretend it's silly apolitical pirate show.

[@PaszerDye]

20:15 since Zunisha directly refers to Luffy's awakening of Gear 5th as the return of Joyboy, the correction here is actually wrong.

[@meogatopreto]

Just comenting because i LOVED gear five and to me it is the embodiment of the heart of the series and i was really shocked that people had a problem with this form.

[@Mungdaal304]

Only newbies like It

[@multiversalkarma4868]

The fruits true nature does have some for shadowing in a couple fights (at least once in the katakure fight) luffy does some attack and the opponent has a comment something like “WTF that’s not how rubber works” (in the katakure fight it’s snake man’s weird infinite accelerating arms) And their right it’s not how rubber works because that’s not luffy’s fruits true nature.

[@thomasdavis1340]

What I think you get wrong in this video are the criticisms of Nika. You don’t address the fact that Luffy is a zoan now when his fruit hasn’t acted like a zoan at all through the entire series, even compared to other mythical zoans. You don’t address how Luffy’s fruit, in previous arcs, was commented on being weaker. Even the arc before the reveal, whole cake island, had a mirror match between luffy and katakuri where Luffy’s fruit was shown to be straight up inferior. But it was always Luffy’s will that led him to be able to overcome those deficits and make his fruit useful. Those ideas in retrospect fall flat when it turns out he has the fruit of a god all along. You don’t address the idea that him having the fruit of a god is completely antithetical to him being part of the D clan, the enemies of the god. Now when luffy takes down Imu and the other celestial dragons, I won’t see it as a dismantling of the gods but simply one god overthrowing another. I feel like the complainants about luffy having a goofy fighting style are overblown, BUT it does bring into question another possible criticism. Will luffy always be laughing and smiling as Nika? Like for the kaido fight it works somewhat because both are having fun. But what happens when he fights Akainu? Or Blackbeard? If luffy is laughing the whole time through those fights it could suck the tension right out of those conflicts. Conflicts that have been building up for years. Overall, I don’t think you addressed enough of the real criticisms about Nika and why for some people One Piece will never feel the same again.

[@zakki9491]

The god thing isn't really that literal. In fact the celestials aren't gods, they are people who banded together to become false gods to rule over humanity by force. If anything the D is a signifier of someone that will topple down the World Government that came to power in a way that it requires them to keep the truth from everybody and for anyone to be silenced who knows about even a small part of it. And I doubt Luffy is gonna rule over people. Its rather that he takes them down so the commonfolk can rule. In fact the descriptions of Nika aren't actually that of a typical god. Nika is an ancient warrior that will set the people free, he laughs before putting you out of your misery (in the literal sense). Luffy has been like this for the entirety of the manga, wherever he goes he brings down systems that set the people under it free, all while sharing his almost unbreakable spirit with everyone that is not a complete unredeemable person that brings suffering on others. Also it being a Zoan makes perfect sense if Nika was someone who had this type of rubber body to begin with. Its easy to rebrand into something else on the governments side. Luffys fruit being "weaker" is more of a misconception of the people that say it in the manga. Its clearly not as straightforwardly powerfull as other fruits that are more deadly by representing things like swords or natural elements that can cause destruction. Luffys imagination has since day 1 been the thing that makes it strong. Being a fruit of a "god" doesn't change that by default it only makes your body behave like rubber and basically nothing else, until now, where his surroundings can become rubber too at his will. Which noone else has been able to do for 800 years.

[@chrispolo25]

One Piss fanboys are coping to the max rn, so let them 😂

[@rayzu4380]

1 - Insane durability, Gear 4, and... there aren't that much special traits about Zoans. They let you transform, they make you harder to kill, and that's all. And mythical zoans are literally the most random shit between devil fruits. Some have 2 transformations, some only 1, some 1 but they let you transform specific parts of your body (Marco) and they have elements of more than one type of Devil Fruit. Not good criticism, tbh 2 - Is Sanji a bad Observation Haki user because when he was presented, he didnt even know how to use it? Also, what sense does it make to put all DF on the same power level? Some of them are OP as fuck by just eating them, and Luffy's DF is horrible at the beggining, kind of good after a lot of training, andd finally, after obtaining a transformation THAT NO OTHER USER OBTAINED IN 800 YEARS, its OP. I think it's pretty balanced. Also, again, the 10 years that Luffy needed to just USE his powers have changed because of the new information? No, he has always won because he new how to use his powers, that doesn't change at all 3 - Bro, come on, we all know that they talk about people like the celestial dragon. Gods have never been seen as "bad" in One Piece, only the ones that are with the World Goverment. 4 - I can't talk about how it is right now, but, I think it's pretty obvious that the first showcase of the fruit is going to be much more goofy than any of the following fights. I would say that even in kaido's figt itsef, G5 already got much more epic and serious in just a couple of episodes. Ugh, that statement is just so dramatic xD

[@SmilingJack65]

@@rayzu4380 To the point about durability and "acting like a zoan," Luffy has actually displayed this characteristic the most out of any of his other feats. Just in his fights with Crocodile alone, he got impaled through the gut and "got better" after eating some meat. Not to mention he got completely mummified and then rehydrated and seemed to be fine after. Then he decides to utilize his own blood as a means of punching Crocodile and somehow hasn't bled out yet. Finally, he got poisoned by that special scorpion poison that Crocodile kept in his hook and somehow was able to not only continue fighting, but finish Crocodile in spite of the poison's effects; lets not forget this is the same poison that MELTED A BOULDER ON CONTACT. I could write a whole ass novel just on pointing out all the times that Luffy seemed to have superhuman levels of durability that went beyond making any sense AND being able to recover from damage incredibly quickly. These feats point out one of the most notable traits of the Zoan fruit users which is that their vitality and recovery rates are MUCH higher than normal. This is specifically pointed out in Impel Down to explain why the Awakened Zoan guards kept getting back up again and again after being KO'd repeatedly. So yeah, finding out that Luffy has been a zoan this whole time really makes a shit ton of his story make a lot more sense as far as what he has been able to pull through and the damage he managed to recover from time and time again.

[@v0ldy54]

It makes zero fucking sense for the plot that Luffy had EVERY single characteristic that pointed him into being Joyboy but nobody really acted to get rid of him when he was weaker.

[@SobaEnthusiast]

I think it’s safe to say only the gorosei know about Nika and maybe shanks so I don’t find it to hard to believe

[@Dmytro_Podorvan]

Literally every time Marines had the possibility to take out Luffy they used it. Its just he managed to run away every time

[@RunD.Ones1s]

Sogeking isn’t usopp, that’s a crazy fan theory

[@reggiehill2471]

50 seconds in and I can tell your underrated keep it up bro

[@JustGabeRaul]

Look no matter what the criticisms are. For me personally, Luffy being the avatar of a sun god and the symbol of liberty because he is the herald of the coming dawn of the new world is just awesome to me. Either way this was a well made video. I hope you get more attention.

[@Mungdaal304]

Him being a god automatically lowered one piece down to dragon ball z naruto tier. Which is mids

[@zakki9491]

@@Mungdaal304 What is your concept of a god? He isn't some kind of etheral being all of the sudden. In fact the only "God" in question here is Nika, who is only a god because people ended up praying to him in hope for freedom. In fact Nika is probably comparable to how Eneru was a god. A normal human that seemed larger than life to other people.

[@Dmytro_Podorvan]

​​@@zakki9491literally, people think that if you have the title of god then you can bend realities or something? It doesnt work like that

[@royalfun1031]

​@@Mungdaal304🤡

[@woollypar353]

Great video! This is exactly what I love about Gear 5 and I think it's really unfortunate that a lot of people miss out on it Also I thought your name was "Left Elbow" for a solid minute

[@maxk.4212]

crocodile so badass for fighting whitebeard mans is ambitious

[@albertjames1849]

I guess yes symbolically and thematically it all makes sense. But i think what really appealed to me abt luffy was how non-special his fruit was. Like yes it would have made sense if Ace was the so called “chosen one”that you have in typical shounen shows and if it was any other show, yes Ace would be the hero and the protagonist. But having Luffy bear the rubber rubber fruit, and using it in the most ridiculous and adaptable way as rubber is, to its fullest potential and going toe-to-toe with fire breathing dragons and monsters who can control the gravity or create earthquakes, was what really sold me on one piece in general. It just felt like Luffy a person who generally had a side character devil fruit breaking all odds because his shtick was that he is absolutely free and flexible just like rubber and that means narratively he can even stretch and bend destiny and fate itself and be this force that can alter the entire world with his willpower to do so. So yes while Nika makes sense, his ordinary fruit and his kind of non-specialness was his main for me atleast.

[@donniebell7887]

But gear 5 is all of those things you just said. Let me ask you this. If luffy's awakening stayed the same but the name didn't change would you feel the same way.

[@bigkirbyhj666]

Honestly unlike a lot of other stories where the character becomes a god it reduces the story, in one piece it thickened the plot like no other.

[@invisibleBDK]

Albert, I agree with all of that except for the part about Nika making sense haha.

[@willmerguzmanrodriguez6635]

I agree, I kinda projected on luffy, I’m nowhere near special or gifted, but until now I’ve always gotten to push through hardships via hard work, and luffy really inspired me to be the best me there could be 💔.

[@CoOlKyUbI96]

For me personally it wasn’t so much about how interesting the story was that Luffy had a fruit that “wasn’t special”. But more so that the power at first glance doesn’t seem all that powerful nor all that weak. Generally people’s first impressions back then in chapter one was that a rubber based ability is mediocre. But now that has changed

[@jaaaymooojo4934]

I don’t a issue with gear 5 itself, but oda should’ve left it a mystery about exactly what gear 5 is. Having the gorosei and zunisha hype it, felt so hamfisted

[@Karlito1738]

this I somewhat agree with. It's just weird how we were left on the cliffhanger which we still don't know what the fruit fully is, I nearly would've rathered it have more mystery as you said than reveal some, and then don't explain Nika for ages afterwards

[@thelrproject257]

thing is sun god Nika makes sense with luffy from the beginning. wherever luffy has gone freedome and joy has followed. when he used to fight from the early episodes luffy used his imagination to create new attacks like gum gum pinewheel and shotgun and the whole series has been like that. luffy's fighting style has always been free and wacky and even kaido comments on it.

[@mlgmelon]

At least it didn't turn out to be the Resin Resin fruit

[@eneveasi]

Hey man! Nice video with a solid analysis. Enjoyed that

[@mna4953]

Even his ship is called thousand "sunny"

[@generalyousif3640]

This was such an amazing video If you stay consistent, I see this channel going places

[@Valfalk24]

Great video overall, I just have one little nit pick. Momonosuke's fruit isn't a smile fruit, only the fruits produced by caesar and doflamingo are smile fruits. Momonosuke's fruit is an artificial devil fruit made by vegapunk, so it doesn't have any of the smile downsides.

[@numberhunter62]

The dog wasn't made into the bazooka, the bazooka was made into the dog. Disregarding the minor misinformation, I think Gear 5 suits Luffy to a T. It grants him immense freedom, liberating him from a lot of the rules of reality.

[@nikapanda160]

Thank you for defending me with some solid arguments! I will address the situation soon and will use some of the points you made 😊 Thanks and god bless 🙏

[@pokeminer8400]

The Bazooka dog started as a bazooka and was given a dog Devil Fruit. So it was a Bazooka turned into a dog.

[@mohtasimtamjeed]

Nika Nika is like the Luffiest Luffy, like the Rickest Rick or the Mortiest Morty.

[@g_g...]

But, luffy does crush other people's dreams. Oda himself says so

[@emperorluffy6001]

I pretty much predicted Luffy's awakening would function like this. My main criticisms were more personal beefs like the fact that it's a transformation, the abrupt changing of Luffy's DF type into a Zoan, and the Joyboy lore. I think if you took away the Joyboy lore a lot of people would have less of a problem with Luffy's awakening. People prefer the idea that Luffy accidentally got stuck with this random bottom of the barrel devil fruit that no one saw value in but he was always making the most of it. So that appeal is gone knowing it's the super special God fruit and the Joyboy stuff makes him akin to the second coming jesus/chosen one rather than the dude from nowhere who going from nothing to something.

[@JoiBoi_D_Fish]

the true nature of the fruit does not discredit luffy's achievements in the slightest. it WAS a rubber fruit up unitl now. All of luffy's training and creativity with the fruit(gears) are what lead to him awakening the fruit that has not been awakened in so long, even the gorosei believed it to be nothing more than a legend. Go back and reread the ASL flashback. The fruit did suck at first because luffy was weak and just child. All the super strength didn't kick in until luffy awakened it on onigashima.

[@emperorluffy6001]

@@JoiBoi_D_Fish I agree. I was just explaining how it felt in the moment when it was first revealed. I would still like it better without all the Joyboy stuff. But I recognize now that this fruit was inherently never meant for combat. It's a comedy fruit. So the fact that Luffy was able to come this far with it is a testament to his own ability.

[@albertjames1849]

This is exactly what i’ve been saying and I don’t think you should take back what you said due to the bottom comment. Luffy having, what was essentially a side character devil fruit, much like Buggy’s fruit, but still coming out on top nearly always, without any major power ups due to him being the second coming of jesus was what made one piece different to nearly all other shounen, especially naruto and bleach. Now it seems to have just fallen into that category too and it just kind of makes it less unique i guess.

[@CoOlKyUbI96]

I do agree with you. I have no problem with all the abilities/attributes/etc that the awakening provided Luffy. My personal issue with the fruit would be more on the abrupt change from it being thought of as a paramecia fruit to then being revealed as a Zoan. Plus I do think the fruit being modeled after THE sun god Nika does cheapen a little bit the theme in One Piece about inherent will and how Luffy inherited Roger’s will

[@emperorluffy6001]

@@albertjames1849 I'm not taking it back since those points still ring true for a lot of people. I am personally over it though but that doesn't mean I still don't think Luffy's awakening would have been better without all the joyboy stuff. However I will say that these stories were NEVER about what we thought they were about. I see that now.

[@robxholicfoxyfan8552]

When he met Brooke, he wanted him on the crew initially because he was funny. Luffy was literally always operating by "Rule of Funny" for his crew. The musician part came secondly to him and was just a bonus.

[@casstom]

Very cool video. Little advice from an old radio DJ: you either click your tongue or take a deep mouth-breath at the end of each sentence. Try taking a little longer pause at the end of a sentence and breathing in through your nose gently. Don't breathe like your trying to hold your breath in a pool. Glad I found your channel and am looking forward to more vids.

[@jchud13]

Good video and I agree, but your conclusion doesn’t really track with the criticisms. Thematically yes nika fits with luffys character but the criticisms are more about there could have been a better way to evolve luffy combat wise as he realizes he is joyboy then to change his entire fruit from a rubber fruit to an incarnation of an old world god fruit.

[@paulbracamonte2334]

Solid recap of the events of one piece lol next you should do a video about gear 5

[@mariacortiz1118]

Voy a perder la cabeza cuando esto llegue al anime. Esto rompera internet, de nuevo.

[@lightness7670]

Great Essay, Subscribed.

[@Moloxer]

One detail you got wrong is that Momo's fruit isn't a SMILE, but an almost perfect artificial devil fruit made by Vegapunk that tried to copy Kaido's fruit. Doesn't really matter but I still wanna point it out.

[@invisibleBDK]

Not sure what the first 18 minutes of this video were doing, but it wasn't rebuffing any objections to Nika, that's for sure. Even if Nika works thematically with Luffy, which is what you're going for, it still breaks the rules of Oda's world as a replacement for his fruit. I have no problem with Luffy being JoyBoy, or silly, or a liberator, in fact I expect it, but the dude does not have Sun God powers. If you would tell me that Ace's fruit was secretly the Sun God fruit, I'd have said, oh good twist! You know, flames, sun, it works. But the sun has no connection with rubber that I can see other than Oda just wanted to change Luffys fruit in the final act because paramecias don't transform and Luffy needs a final form to satisfy viewer interest and sell manga and figures. This is not to mention that it's the only fruit we've ever seen in 1000+ chapters not based off of something in the real world, and the only fruit that displays its own will and philosophy separate from the user's. These are problematic in their own ways. Is Luffy only a liberator because he ate a fruit that wants to free people, and if he didn't eat it he would have different characteristics? These are questions we can ask now. It has no ties to Skypiea, as much as people want to claim it (their Sun God demanded human sacrifices you know, not exactly the most liberating thing) and had no foreshadowing. The only leg Nika has is that Oda has been using Sun imagery symbolically for a long time, but this does not justify a complete fruit reversal. Just because Chopper represents healing, does not mean replacing his human human fruit with a cure cure fruit in the final saga would make any sense, even if it satisfies some themes. Before this happened JoyBoy and Luffy's awakening were totally separate ideas, and while I knew both would apply to him, I think Nika as the vehicle of their combination was really broken. Anyways, rant. This video accomplished nothing except giving me a place to finally vent my frustrations and for that I thank you.

[@DergusLp]

Oda never hinting that Luffy had another fruit isn't entirely true. In the fight with enel out of all people Enel said "There is no way it's a simple paramecia" or something along those lines. Only caught this throw away comment after rewatching skypeia after wano.

[@GreyAgma]

Super solid video, you deserve more attention man. As for the topic itself, I believe there's some criticism you can make about how they introduced the Nika fruit, but it definitely makes sense for Luffy

[@iamgodman]

this channel is underated

[@iamgodman]

but mine is perfectly rated

[@CJYOLO66]

Nice vid 👍

[@maxamillionandgingy]

Great video, one thing I would disagree with is your interpretation of WCI not contrasting the Charlette and Vinsmoke families with Luffy himself. A large theme in one piece is found family and this arc cements that showing that the people who are your family aren't the ones you share blood with it is the people who will do anything for you. Luffy still has love for his family members but not nearly to the extent of his crewmates, his found/chosen family.

[@greenshot1584]

aside from the heavy foreshadowing in skypeia (everyone praying to their gods (one specifically mentioned as sun god previously) and him letting the sun break through the clouds as he frees the skypeians with his punch) gear 3 is one of the biggest point of (post knowing) foreshadowing for me. Inflating your limbs by blowing on your thumb? what is more cartoony than that?? so his fruit is rubber-(hose animation style toon) powers and the stuff in the brackets was just revealed later

[@carlosvsiguejugando3102]

Inflating your bones from blowing your thumb is indeed cartoony, however, I don't think when people saw that thought "Oh, he must have some special cartoonish power", instead they probably just took it as "Oh, that doesn't make sense, but I'll pretend is possible given it is a fictional world". My point is that there are things that don't make sense in fiction (although some fictional things follow some logic) for the sake of being fiction, and are just taken for granted. Perhaps I am wrong, but I never saw Luffy's powers as cartoony, I just saw them as creative and although it did not make sense, I accepted as truth.

[@murksmitty]

I would have less issues with gear 5th if it was still the gum gum fruit or if nika was actually hinted towards well before it's introduction

[@Dmytro_Podorvan]

Luffy doing the same pose as sun god? Just a coincidence?

[@murksmitty]

@@Dmytro_Podorvan no it's not a coincidence it's a retcon and a reach at that him and usopo are doing the same dance and we never know who or what sun god nika was until who's who brought it up then 10 chapters later Luffy is him. It's terrible writing stop acting like one piece isn't flawed

[@Dmytro_Podorvan]

@@murksmitty im not acting like that, its just one piece has other flaws and this is not one of them

[@bitterbrush2377]

There's still no evidence of Sogeking being Usopp!

[@peacecraftadams623]

Well done

[@colemiller9629]

Great video, probably don't show an image of gear 5 though

[@eggward7203]

just so you know, mr 4's gun was made into a dog, not the other way around

[@thederpdiego]

the audacity for him to call sogeking a joke character /j

[@Grayson_Baker]

You don't need to defend anything about One Piece! Just enjoy it and marvel the forever evolving story!

[@latomatesurprise3006]

I agree and find a little weird the different argument that are given to criticise the gear 5, I am of those that criticise this but more because I don't like the revelation that come with it that the actual power, it is Luffy at the peak of what he is, he always was a cartoonish character hell, One Piece as this fine equilibrium between the goofy funny and the serious moment, a different kind of serious of course as in the majority of the time the ennemy of Luffy think he isn't taking the fight seriously with is goofy style when he is. The thing is making the fruit that Luffy has one that is special, even if by watching one piece from the beginning, is something that always kinda was an undertone, is something that cut a little of Luffy character for me, who is to say that the will of Luffy isn't just the fruit ? It is true that the fruit choose a owner but for me the fact that Luffy is Joy Boy because he has the mentality the fruit wants of him instead of just being.. A mentality that is unique and rarely seen in people in the ages, I had seen more of a legacy that litteraly being Joy Boy. The possibility where still there even with just a rubber fruit, but it is after all just a personal opinion.

[@ZebraCamel]

Can't wait til Usopp and Sogeking meet

[@advisingassable]

SPOiLER (kinda) i do like the "rubberhose" "cartoon" angle of the fruits awakening, fits Luffy well, and i enjoy the legend of joyboy & Nika, although i was hoping the awakening would be based off rubber trees rather thain this whole "Omg his lil'frut is akchually de best froot ever" Oda went with

[@MarukaiX]

Sun god nika isn't the best fruit ever though...?

[@davizi6146]

​@@MarukaiX I mean it kinda is

[@davizi6146]

​@@MarukaiX Immunity to blunt force damage, the ability to grow or shrink as you please, minor reality manipulation, materialization of seemingly anything you want, automatic stamina regen and regular regen, immunity to electricity... It's kind of broken.

[@whenlifedoesntgorightgolef7304]

​@@davizi6146 Most of the things you're describing are what he already had. He can't just summon things out of nothing, he grabbed the lightning from the sky. He's already been immune to lightning because he's still made of rubber. His awakening basically combines all his other abilities and allows him to also make the world around him stretch like he does. He doesn't have an auto win and he still takes damage. Also minor side note Luffy has always been immune to blunt damage, and his gear 5th makes it more dramatic. Ultimately he's still taking damage especially when Haki is involved.

[@davizi6146]

@@whenlifedoesntgorightgolef7304 First off... Um.. Okay? I never said he didn't have those things before he awakened. The dude I replied to said that the Hito Hito no Mi Model: Nika isn't the best fruit ever, and I responded with reasons it's really strong. Also he can materialize things, we see him create goggles out of his hair. It might only be small objects but considering it's described as "being able to fight in any way he fancies", I doubt that. He has immunity to regular blunt force damage in the One Piece verse, and can be hurt by it when Haki is involved, but this isn't about Haki, this is about his Devil Fruit. The conversation was explicitly about Devil Fruits.

[@Pakilight93]

The whole Toon Force thing makes sense. Gear 5 makes a lot of sense in general the way it functions and in what it does. What doesn't make sense is it suddenly being a Zoan fruit, the Nika lore and all the other BULLSHIT Oda pulled out of his ass by revisiting One Pieces earlier chapters. The people who pretend it's been "foreshadowed" because of a fucking shadow since Skypea are grasping at straws lmao and have never read a fucking book/comic that isn't One Piece. I like One Piece and I like Oda. But holy fuck was that one of THE MOST dumb changes I've seen in a shounen.

[@SobaEnthusiast]

I mean if you look at gear 4 it’s basically a zoan transformation kind of similar to choppers forms

[@jazzburrell8870]

No need to be rude

[@Gravecoyote]

The form itself made sense but the timing felt very weird and off. Like he spent all that time training with Ryou and then learning to use Advanced Conquerors haki only for him to just get knocked out a second time by Kaido and then get saved at the last second by a form that hadn't been set up that much in the arc and had nothing to do with the abilities he'd been learning and training with. Like there was no real reason for him to learn Ryou if it was just gonna also fail and have him need to awaken his fruit. I think he should've awakened a new gear 4 form that revolved around Ryou and incorporated some Advanced Conquerors aswell like maybe in his final attack and then save Gear 5 for later so Oda had time to further set it up. Like revealing it in a fight with Blackbeard would've been cool, or maybe a fight against all the admirals or something. Just didn't feel like it fit in Wano and his fight with Kaido and added to the rushed feeling the ending of that arc had.

[@crazyfriend50]

How do you set up an awakening? Like with laws and kidds they kinda just summoned new powers now build up Like luffy had been using his fruit for like 13 years it makes sense why he awakened

[@Gravecoyote]

@crazy friend50 Right but like they were setting up the whole Ryou thing and then it did basically nothing so it just felt like the time in Udon was a waste, the awakening makes sense I just wish it wasn't in Wano

[@SilvrSavior]

The Ryou thing did pay off when Luffy used it in a different way, with Conqueror's Haki. Kaido in the fight also confirmed that Luffy was still using Haki the entire time while fighting him in G5.

[@Gravecoyote]

@@SilvrSavior Yeah but the haki didn't really do much, it wad very much a side thing as opposed to the main focus of the form

[@D_Owo]

@@crazyfriend50 basic foreshadowing and training would have been fine set up but we got neither of that

[@khazraamv743]

Asspull 5

[@peyejon6541]

Luffy has been liberating people since the beginning of the story starting with Zoro and Koby, we see with the sun pirates who represent freedom that the sun is a symbol of freedom. I've found 2 and 2, now it's time to out it together.

[@mrmangolele8574]

There's also their ship the Thousand sunny, Skypeans praying for a god to stop Enel's attack and Luffy breaks the dark cloud to bring back the sun again, How the campfire dance had a silhouette of Luffy dancing matched Nika (sun god of the shandians).

[@flatutlencetheunending]

anyone who says Gear 5 doesnt make sense should go back to watching boruto and fairy tail

[@khazraamv743]

They make way more sense than asspull 5

[@isaiahjackson1211]

the reason i dropped one piece.

[@namejeff9757]

cringe

[@goniperezleandrosebastian4821]

No one understands the "god" title, he is no god, joyboy is deviluser that frees people. And its users (the joyboys), hardly ever awaken this power. The myth in the Zoan is that, a myth a legend not a true god, but a devil user. Jesus read the manga again.

[@Zach415]

Then why is it a mythical zoan. Why not just keep it as a paramecia if the god part has no real meaning or importance

[@Karlito1738]

@@Zach415The god part could just be a title for someone (Nika) who was worshipped for freeing people. And I mean we don't really know why the fruit was changed, Nika still hasn't been show really at all so making full judgements on it and especially the sun god part is a bit hasty imo

[@mugenDshinigami]

No that was a bazooka that ate a dog fruit

[@Lilbrofrfr]

How does bro only have 200 subs 💀

[@MrLeothekingofkings]

I would just like to add that there always seemed to be hints in the gears that luffy was doing things that let’s be real having a body of rubber alone wouldn’t be able to do. I mean he literally has a snake of clouds encompass him and could redirect his body to attack at multiple angles. He could also literally fly with gear 4th.

[@NguniPrince]

I’m sorry it doesn’t make sense lol

[@sandroguzelj1234]

the problem is that g5 completely kills any and all tension in whatever fight its used in. think about it: lets say blackbeard kills shanks and then the confrontation between him and luffy happens. think about the emotionalweight of that fight.....and then luffy goes loony toons mode, starts laughing like a maniac. does that sound even remotely good? g5 is just crap

[@BiggieChungulus]

You pronounced measure how fred pronounces treasure

[@lucasferrary3941]

its connected since skypea lol

[@thirteen8582]

I still call bs.

[@vampysuperset4321]

Idk, one of my favorite things about luffy was that there wasn’t anything inherently special about him or his devil fruit. Regardless of that, he still made a name for himself by pushing himself and his devil fruit to extreme lengths to compete with the top tiers. In a sense, this whole reveal kinda throws that out of the window.

[@crazyfriend50]

Luffys whole goal wasnt to be the pirate king cuz his fruit was shit was it? So why is the whole point of that gone?

[@matheuspaioletti5183]

@@crazyfriend50 bro read what he wrote again and look at your response, he said nothing about luffy's dream, he just said it was cool luffy was making it with an ordinary fruit, no relation to his goal at all. the foundation of the story being of a little rubber kid fighting his way to the top is what was gone. wake up

[@kaiju9645]

I don't think so. Up until this point, there would've been no way for the Nika power within to awaken at any other moment in the story until right now. We know and are aware of how much mastery of a fruit ability awakenings require, so throughout the last 1000 chapters, we saw this kid completely and fully understand every single ASPECT of his fruit to a point of mastery from having no skill in using it AT ALL. I feel he's mastered enough to earn the right to awaken his fruit. I feel this form was earned, in retrospect, through Luffy's whole lifetime's worth of hard training.

[@raiden3013]

@@crazyfriend50 because oda stated thats what he was doing with luffy in an early sbs. and the whole story has been around doing that.

[@matheuspaioletti5183]

@@kaiju9645 ok but thats not the point, its that the entire story has been told and been expanded off a foundation that was there from the start, this completely disregarded what was already established and changed the previous 1000 chapters, it "making sense" doesn't mean it justifies over 25 years of story telling being thrown out.

[@TopBurger239]

gear 5 did not come out of nowhere, even from gear 3 it starts. You cant blow air into rubber to make it bigger and stronger, and in snakeman you can suddenly change your attacks tragectory like that. But it worked because thats how luffy THOUGHT it worked in his head. it was literally from his imagination that made his powers work. Also you can argue that because he ate a "god" fruit it granted him a sort of immortality since gods are immortal. also the first 14 minutes of this video dont need to be there you just explained what other characters are. Nika was foreshadowed really hard in skypiea.

[@aosu4976]

He doesn’t gain imagination powers until gear 5th he quite literally gains stretchable molecules “rubber body” to go along with his awakening powers hence things like him turning pink colored during gear 2nd early on and his increased heart rate taking away some of his life span I highly doubt he just “imagined” that it also wouldn’t make much sense if from that fact that sea stone or sea water nullifies/cancels devil fruit effects when he is under effect by those things before he gains resistance he still maintains stretchiness

[@chrispolo25]

One Piss mental gymnastics 😂

[@Dmytro_Podorvan]

No media literacy...

[@chrispolo25]

@@Dmytro_Podorvan No reading comprehension…

[@Dmytro_Podorvan]

@@chrispolo25 yeah, both things youre lacking

[@chrispolo25]

@@Dmytro_Podorvan yeah, you got all including being fanboy.

[@Dmytro_Podorvan]

@@chrispolo25 and? Whats wrong?

[@Kabra2012]

I think most of the disdain for Nika was based on the hopes of certain fans that Luffy was shifting solidly away from his goofiness into a more "serious" character. Doubling down on the Goofy seems like the real issue some fans have with the Awakening. I think there was also an initial shock that very nature of Luffy's well established fruit was a fake-out all along

[@imatiu]

There was always some inconsistencies with Luffy's fruit, it's just that we dismissed them because we expected weird applications from Luffy. Luffy tanking a chakram to the back of his head when his fruits should only improve his resistance to blunt objects, Gear Third being able to transfer the air from one bone to another, Gear Fourth bouncing on air when Luffy's fruit isn't awakened, Red Hawk being a thing, Luffy's insane healing factor and resilience, with Impel Down being the clearest example. Hell even chapter One in the manga might have a hint towards the Gommu Gommu no mi being the Hito Hito no mi, with the comment Luffy does the day after eating it. Oda planted a bunch of hints towards this reveal, but because we assumed that rule of funny or rule of cool were the things behind the inconsistencies instead of the inconsistencies being hints, One Piece fans essentially gaslit themselves into not seeing these hints.

[@TheKrigeron]

You'e got to edit out the breathing in and lip smacking my man.

[@andreyamane8892]

Thematically, Nika is the perfect culmination of Luffy's journey, yes. But I think liking the looney-toony combat or not is entirely subjective. I didn't, because for me it feels too different than what we've seen so far in one piece (in a way I don't personally enjoy). And there's no way to say that it objectively isn't, because he DID cross a major power threshold and he IS fighting in a way he's never fought before regarding his devil fruit. One piece has always been funny and lighthearted, but I honestly don't remember it having that much comedy in such a serious moment. It's a series with tension and release, kinda like jazz. Build up and resolution, lighthearted fun and emotional gut punches, comedy and seriousness, but never in the same moment (at least not to the same level we see in nika vs kaidou). There IS a difference, for you it's a difference in scale, for us it changed scales altogether. If you didn't feel it was that dissonant, I'm happy for you, but arguing that the people who felt just "didn't read the same manga", instead of recognizing this difference, is bad faith IMO. Great video tho, you speak well and get your points across in a very entertaining way

[@repghost9481]

it dosent need a defence lol

[@D_Owo]

yh cus it makes no sense

[@MsCloseCombat]

I'm all in for cartoon luffy, but making him 'the one' really killed it for me. It contradicts the scene with Mihawks monologue at Marineford and really just takes away from his individuality imo

[@lemonplayz4032]

Am I first? For once?

[@hushsilence8932]

Nah it don't make sense but it's Oda, he's never made sense, so at least it's consistent lol

[@Elyownel]

One piece is 🗑️🗑️🗑️🗑️

[@MilOofs]

Why are you here then

[@Elyownel]

@@MilOofs because I wanna see how odatards try to hype up this 🗑️🗑️🗑️🗑️ as series

[@BigCawk-666]

@@MilOofsjust to comment how trash piece is

[@Mungdaal304]

It's am objective asspull that was only foreshadowed 100 chapters before it happened. They made luffy a god like goku. A reincarnation like naruto. It's all around bad tbh

[@Karlito1738]

is he a reincarnation?

[@victordeluca7360]

(It doesn't)

[@AizenIsKubo]

Someone made this comment under my other comment as a reply and it is a very poignant point, "You are getting too caught up with 'Sun God Nika'". Exactly. People are getting caught up with the title Sun God and therefore nit picking to find flaws with the whole situation. Even if Luffy didn't have the "Sun God Nika" fruit he still would have an awakening that did the same amount of stuff. Luffy would still be more durable, he would still be wacky, he would still turn his opponents bodies into rubber etc. The name of the fruit hardly matters and people are too caught up about it. Also, the Sun God, Forest God, freedom and all of those themes were introduced into the story since Sky Piea. And ever since the time skip Luffy's df ability has been doing things that rubber shouldn't be able to do. Hell Gear 4 even looks like a deity figure in Eastern mythology. And awakening has been foreshadowed like 700 chapters ago and only continued to build on that. Hell we can go back even further and say Oda had something in mind since Drum Island with Choppers transformations (Also Ennies Lobby). That is called foreshadowing. I feel like people are misunderstanding what foreshadowing is. Foreshadowing just gives a vague idea about something that might be introduced to the story later. It doesn't give any other type of hint. Now if you wanna criticize something about the Nika Fruit, the only legitimate criticism is the WG's reaction or non-reaction to it. Even with explanations that is sort of iffy. But it's not such a big deal that it breaks the story. There are enough explanations for it to satisfy a reader. But the fruit itself is fine. Nothing remotely wrong with it.

[@D_Owo]

one piece fanboys are coping so hard rn. They are too blind to see that gear 5 makes no sense

[@royalfun1031]

That's why it's goated

[@p_rnhub]

Here is the thing you arent correct because every positive you say is biased in someway shape or form so ill just patiently wait for Oda.