One Piece’s Stupidest Joke Took 20 Years To Pay Off

“One Piece” is a legendary manga and anime, the best-selling manga of all time, and one of many best-selling books in historical past. It is a feat that’s nicely earned, as this is without doubt one of the greatest works of fiction within the final 50 years and an extended journey price embarking on.

The story begins out as a easy journey of a younger boy named Monkey D. Luffy crusing out to sea to discover a legendary treasure and turn out to be king of the pirates. It is a enjoyable story, but additionally one with great worldbuilding, which expands the scope of the story past only a enjoyable journey to an epic story involving combating a corrupt world authorities, imperialism, censorship, slavery, and way more.

Creator Eiichiro Oda (and his military of assistants and editors) has a unbelievable potential to name again and make the smallest character or element massively essential years, if not many years, down the road. Take the Skypeia arc, which went from a divisive arc amongst followers for its perceived lack of ahead momentum for the general plot, to turning into arguably crucial story arc when it got here to the lore of “One Piece.” Likewise, the Davy Again Battle launched in chapter 306 solely actually turned related many years later in chapter 1155.

Within the newest chapter of the manga, nonetheless, Oda pays off the stupidest joke in all of “One Piece,” and it solely took him 23 years to inform it.

In chapter 1165, a flashback going down practically 40 years earlier than Luffy’s story begins, Oda introduces a personality that appears suspiciously like Marco the Phoenix, the first division commander of the Whitebeard pirates. His identify? Polo. Gram Polo, who may be very clearly meant to be Marco’s father. That is proper, Oda took 23 years to inform a Marco Polo joke.

Sure, ready 23 years to complete the world’s oldest and longest Marco Polo joke is extremely foolish and in addition absurdly humorous, and simply what you’d count on from Eiichiro Oda — the person who was impressed by “Tom and Jerry” for Luffy’s final energy. That is additionally removed from the primary identify pun in “One Piece,” as Oda loves together with them, whether or not it is for assault names or character names. Usopp is famously a play on the Japanese phrase for lies, which he was recognized to be keen on at first. Likewise, there’s a character named Captain John, as in his final identify is actually Captain, or how Kosuki Oden (named after the stew) urged a bunch of oden elements when naming his son.

Presently, the “One Piece” manga is engaged in a prolonged flashback that is been fairly lore-heavy, with enormous reveals involving nearly each character energetic earlier than Luffy’s time, exhibiting readers an enormous legendary battle with somber and spectacular penalties for the world. “One Piece” is coming to an finish; that a lot is obvious because the story is constructing as much as one closing confrontation with the destiny of the world at stake. And but, Oda remains to be Oda, and he’ll drop an extremely silly joke for the sake of it, whether or not that is turning Gol D. Roger — the as soon as and future king of the pirates — into only a silly man in love, to this Marco Polo joke.

With the anime making a giant change and shifting towards a seasonal format subsequent 12 months, it is going to be some time earlier than we see Polo launched within the present. Nonetheless, it is good to know that regardless of how severe “One Piece” will get, Oda nonetheless finds time for a dumb pun.