What Is The Ideological Subtext of Monkey D. Luffy

Hello everyone,
Hopefully, this is the start of a new series where I examine the ideologies of One Piece characters, to be clear I'm not saying that my analysis is definite. Many interpretations can be found within the series; here is one that I have been thinking about for a while. I hope you enjoy it!
Have a nice day,
Stay Safe,
Big&Blue
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• Mihawk Recognizes Luff... - Mihawk Recognizes Luffy's True Power English Dubbed - Kurt Kurtsen
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• Reaction after Luffy p... - Reaction after Luffy punches the Celestial Dragon | One piece - Kathir Elango
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[@saintsinner4074]

I started watching after hearing the word “Joyboy” because my Great-Grandmother would tell me Joyboy stories as I would skip to her house playing the djembe drums she gave me. She spoke Twi mostly really but she taught me about Ghana and Louisiana through stories of her childhood. When I heard “Joyboy” was in it, I hopped right in

[@ScoundrelG]

luffy being an artist and fighting being his art form is an amazing thought, loved the video man

[@ReiseLukas]

Yes, I have been trying to tell people One Piece embraces Romanticism. The crazy thing is that Romanticism is by it's definition opposed to rationalism. So when I see many people try to rationalize One Piece I facepalm. You can't rationalize a Romance, no matter how hard you try a Romance cannot be completely understood by a rationalist

[@magmaspacer1967]

What about One Piece has to do with Romanticism? Also to forego rationality acts to ignore criticism which doesn’t make sense. Do explain

[@ReiseLukas]

@@magmaspacer1967 I'm surprised you're asking that when the very first arc is called Romance Dawn and Montblanc Cricket always talked about Romance. Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. For most of the Western world, it was at its peak from approximately 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of the past and nature, preferring the medieval over the classical. One Piece embraces the key elements of Romanticism. Oda glorifies nature through its extensive worldbuilding, teaches individualism through people's Will and Dreams, and glorifies its past through a mysterious history that was erased by the powers that be.

[@magmaspacer1967]

@@ReiseLukas I guess this is another interpretation thing, because having a vast world doesn't necessarily mean glorifying nature. The world is more than just nature, there is a lot of focus on the societies itself and not the environments. At least for where I got to. None of the locations themselves as far as Little Garden had anything to do with the scenery. I can’t think of a single moment where there is anyone who actually pays mind to nature itself. And just because a place is called Romance Dawn doesn’t mean something has to embody the ideas of Romanticism. A romance novel isn’t about Romanticism as an artistic concept. The Village Hidden in the Leaves of Naruto doesn’t mean anything related to nature either for its concepts specifically. The Quindecim in Death Parade doesn’t necessarily have anything special associated with its name either. I guess I can see the idea of individualism from talking about hopes and dreams, but a lot of characters in fiction in general have their own goals that they aspire to reach, but that doesn’t mean every character teaches this idea of individualism. Is it the emphasis on doing what you want that makes One Piece different? As for the past, wouldn't you say any mystery is glorifying the past? Something like Horizon Zero Dawn has a mysterious other world in the past that you have to explore, wouldn’t that be just as much Romanticism as One Piece? In fact there’s much more of a focus on the current world and nature that you explore as well in that game. But none of these things absolve the stories of rationalizing things so I don’t understand your point of view. I’m missing something.

[@BEANCO-td1hr]

@@magmaspacer1967 I'm assuming you haven't read much of one piece as romance dawn isn't a place (it's the title of the first chapter). But I believe @ReiseLukas is not saying that one piece isn't rational, but that it's themes are about romanticism. Luffy wants to be pirate king not for power, but for freedom instead. That idea of freedom is why individualism in one piece is so important. One piece's past is Important and nature does play a part in many story arcs past little garden. I highly recommend you read the manga, so you can see what we're talking about.

[@slothguy5946]

Oda himself said that One Piece ain't political Source: Oda's Intervew of One Piece's 21 st Anniversary (2018) "What would you like to tell all the children to help them achieve their dreams?" "My rule is to never put any messages in my manga. That said, if watching Luffy and his crew makes you feel a certain way, then you should react accordingly. Among 100 different people, there should be 100 different reactions."

[@uroy8371]

Politics and romance are one of the many topics or themes One Piece offers. But Yep is a big one for Monkey D. Luffy

[@ody0094]

hey bro nice video

[@animation6457]

great thumbnail

[@InfiniteOk]

anyone who thinks one piece isnt political has never watched it lmfao

[@stevenlandseadel2494]

Of course it is. But that's selling it so short. It is also about friendship, freedom, found family, abuse,dreams, hope, comedy, overcoming adversity, coming of age,... ect. One Piece is everything great in storytelling. Oda references every tale, legend, and story across the globe. How could politics not be a big part? But I'm still in the "it's not political " camp. Or at least the " it's so much more than a reflection of modern politics"group.. OP is too great

[@emperorluffy6001]

Thats not what people mean when they say political.

[@misterjkplays3920]

I mean yeah any work of fiction can have political themes in it one piece is no exception but politics is not the overarching theme that would be freedom.

[@aritrasaha441]

One piece is political. But that is not the central crux of the story and it doesnt pushes forward propaganda.

[@worztbeats8189]

Actually everyone knows one piece is indeed political, the problem is that 90% of people who are saying that all the time are just trying to apply one piece politics into real life, wich is dumb and unrealistic as conflicts in one piece get solved in way too easy ways, one piece's solution to a corrupt government is just putting "good people" in power, and it doesn't work like that. My problem with people who repeat "one piece is political" is that they are most of the time rad lefts trying to make luffy look like a communist terrorist.

[@galaxyfiregamer4185]

Cactus

[@Speculector]

* insert every politically charged story arc in One Piece here * People who don't think One Piece is political: This is *battle manga*

[@pwulfe7442]

It's a good try, but I recommend you study more philosophy than surface level politics if you're trying to assess literature. Even manga.

[@pwulfe7442]

It's entirely a modern existential philosophy piece. Don't believe me, google it. So much less political and much more philosophical in nature, and one of the common threads in existentialism is the abandonment of political idealization, Luffy is the opposite of political, he doesn't care about politics, he cares about freedom.

[@kingkylotcxxx1992]

I listen to trash taste, in that conversation they were talking about just how political one piece is by going through a few examples

[@BigandBlue]

I might be wrong but I remember the guest saying one was political and the other just laugh it off. I probably should have been more clear 😅 I hoped you enjoyed the video anyway!

[@emperorluffy6001]

The entire comment section completely missing the point when it comes to the political topic. When people say that "One Piece isn't political" they don't mean it doesn't contain politics. Literally every story contains some degree of politics. Thats NOT what they're talking about. They're talking about activism. A story being used as a political tool to push an active political agenda. Thats not what One Piece is. It's not a tool for social engineering like the western stories people refer to when they say "political". One Piece contains politics as a product of worldbuilding and exists purely for entertainment. Like Game of Thrones. Both Game of Thrones and something like CW Batwoman are technically "political" but you wouldn't say they're the same. The former is only political as a product of the world it's created. The latter has politics forced into it to socially engineer it's society in order to accept an agenda. They are not the same.

[@worztbeats8189]

exactly this, even if someone tried to argue that one piece has activism, it could be considered to have activism towards both sides with doesn't make sense. The reality is that 90% of the people who try to make one piece political all the time are commies with too much free time.

[@gehrdunn9063]

are you a hasanabi head

[@BigandBlue]

No not really, I don’t really watch his content that much. I just agree with his general takes on One piece during the podcast. Thanks for watching, it means a lot!

[@gehrdunn9063]

@@BigandBlue it was a nice watch! i enjoyed it a lot

[@MasterBeast46]

@@BigandBlue What do you think about Hasan claiming that a Houthi militant is just like Luffy?

[@popejaimie]

​@@MasterBeast46 is he wrong lol

[@MasterBeast46]

@@popejaimie Yes. Yes he is. The only thing similar between the Houthi's and Luffy is that they're both considered "pirates". But obviously, the Houthi's are fundamental Islamic extremists who'll kill whoever for the end goal of bringing "Death to America, Death to Israel and a curse upon Jews". That's literally the slogan plastered on their banner flag. I'm pretty sure the Strawhats wouldn't advocate for the literal extermination of an entire ethnic group or individual sovereign nation-states. That by itself is antithetical to everything Luffy stands for. The Houthi's have more in common with the likes of Blackbeard, Kaido and Big Mom than they do the Strawhats. Y'know, the evil pirates that Luffy fights?

[@ImportantlyNothing]

People who have Atomic Bomb in their closet | v