One Piece is a humorous, action-packed, and adventure-filled cartoon. As the story of Monkey D. Luffy, a young pirate, progresses, we witness him gather a crew of dependable friends, each of whom has their own reasons for setting sail. At first sight, One Piece appears to be an upbeat adventure novel, but as more of the story is revealed, the reader realizes how dark the world really is.
The magical yet realistic world that Oda envisioned has endured. For example, many of the series’ settings are based on real-world locations or historical landmarks. Names like Edward Newgate, Marshall D. Teach, and many others reference real-life pirates and locations. Despite the beautiful exterior, Oda Eiichiro tackles serious issues such as racism, slavery, pandemics, and tyranny. These issues are discussed to some extent, but they are primarily used as background for the show’s main story.
Corruption and tyranny throughout the global government.
Corruption and autocracy wreak havoc on any society or system they infect. Both in the real world and in One Piece, we hear innumerable stories of bribery and legalized oppression. The Arlong Park Arc marked the first time corruption played a significant role in the show. Arlong corruptly influences a government official to take Nani’s funds, for which she risks her life repeatedly. The history of Nico Robin is gradually revealed to readers. The World Government’s decision to wipe away the island’s inhabitants and all of the data they had amassed is one of the most heinous acts ever committed by any government. The World Government forbade the study of the Void Century and the pone glyphs in an effort to conceal its sinister mysteries, but the people of Ohara persisted in their investigations.
They knew a lot about the pone glyphs because they were expert archaeologists. The ancient weapon Laughtale and its ultimate fate are encoded in these pone glyphs. Unfortunately, the World Government issued a buster call that entirely leveled the island before they could come any closer to the truth.
Only Nico Robin and Jaguar D. Saul made it through that terrible event. The World Government, however, made it clear to the rest of the planet that everyone in Ohara was a devil who must be wiped out for their terrible sins. The Celestial Dragons are the first link in the chain of corruption on One Piece’s planet. To everyone else, they are gods, and the entire World Government exists to serve them. The government mindlessly implements the will of the Celestial Dragons, which breeds discrimination, bribery, extortion, and many other ills.
Flevance is another victim of the oppression of the World Government. When the truth about the World Government’s scheme became known, the once-beautiful White Town was converted into a crimson lake of carnage. The World Government reaped huge revenues from exporting white lead from Flevance because of its high price.
Yet white lead proved fatal to human beings, killing off successive generations. It was too late by the time the team members learned the truth. White rust infected everyone. The global government exterminated every last resident of Flevance, including the young. They said it was okay to spread the sickness because they said it was contagious. Only Trafalgar D. Water Law managed to survive the carnage by hiding under a pile of bodies.