Even if you’re still watching it unfold in the anime, it’s obvious that the Raid Of Onigashima is a watershed point in Monkey D. Luffy’s journey to become King of the Pirates. Especially given that Onigashima / Wano is the final arc before One Piece‘s final saga, the stage is being set for the all-but-assured wave of series climaxes to come. Which also means that this battle shows off the growth of each of the Straw Hats.
Spoilers for the Wano and Onigashima arcs of One Piece below!
One of the most thrilling aspects of the post-Onigashima landscape is how, after 25 years, Luffy’s famous cry of “I’m going to be King of the Pirates!” feels more grounded than ever. Because he’s now one of the Four Emperors. Well over a decade ago, Usopp set the flag of the World Government on fire and put the Straw Hat Pirates on the World Government’s watch list. Now, in the aftermath of Wano, they are seen as one of the dominant forces in the Grand Line, and therefore an immediate grave threat to the current world order. I’m so damn proud of them.
No where is the World Government’s petty nervousness better reflected than the Straw Hats’ post-Wano bounties. They shot up a lot. Turns out, aiding in the takedown of two Emperors of the Sea and then becoming an Emperor yourself is kind of a big deal.
Every member of the Straw Hat Pirates is now considered a “Senior Officer of the Straw Hat Fleet.” The larger Fleet is made up of the crews of the leaders who helped Luffy and Law topple Don Quixote Doflamingo back in Dressrosa. Thanks mostly to Orlumbus, it has 5,600 people. Luffy did not co-sign on this, but the World Government doesn’t care.
I’ve ranked these bounties lowest to highest.
Tony Tony Chopper “The Cotton Candy Lover”: 1,000 Berries
My poor beautiful son. Chopper’s had a rough go with his bounties. Except for Luffy and Zoro, most of the Straw Hats got their first bounties after Enies Lobby. And my dear Chopper got pegged as merely the crew’s pet, with a bounty of only 50 berries. (In U.S. dollar terms, that’s about fifty cents.) It doubled to an equally sad 100 berries after Dressrosa. So, really, if you consider percentages alone, Chopper got the biggest bounty increase of any Straw Hat: his bounty went up 1000%!
He deserves a higher bounty, of course: he saved thousands of people from Queen’s plague, and then stalled Queen—one of Kaido’s Lead Performers—himself for ten whole minutes. Even in his Baby Geezer form, my gorgeous lad did well.
“Cat Burglar” Nami: 366,000,000 Berries
I think my best girl got robbed here, as much as she’s capable of robbing the wallets of an entire crowd of people. During the battle, Nami fortified her relationship with an incredibly powerful ally: Zeus, the sentient storm cloud animated by Big Mom’s soul (One Piece is fun). Together, they beat Ulti, one of the Tobiroppo. Strength-wise, the Tobiroppo are second to only the three Headliners in Kaido’s organization. Brook and Usopp didn’t beat a member of the Tobiroppo, but their bounties are still higher?! Sure, Big Mom helped weaken Ulti. Significantly. Still. Sexism never sleeps. Especially in the Navy’s offices, I’m sure.
Not that Nami minds. She was terrified enough to find out that her bounty is now nine digits.
“Soul King” Brook: 383,000,000 Berries
Like Nami, Franky, and Usopp, Brook’s bounty simply went up 300 million berries. Which is interesting—for these four, the bounty increase is simply a reflection of the heightened standing of the Straw Hat Pirates. It doesn’t seem to take into account their actions on Onigashima (which, given Nami’s situation, checks out).
Brook played a support role on Onigashima. Early on, he helped save Nami from a wayward Zeus and stemmed the spread of Queen’s plague on Chopper. But most importantly, he distracted Black Maria’s cronies so that Robin could have one of the best fights in One Piece history. Thank you, Brook! Brook is a model ally. Until he asks to see your panties.
“Cyborg” Franky: 394,000,000 Berries
Franky, too, received a 300 million berry boost. But the best part here is the updated picture. Franky’s wanted poster went from displaying a picture of General Franky—the giant robot Franky ended up spending most of the Onigashima battle inside—to a picture of the Sunny’s masthead. We had such a delightful Wanted Poster mixup since that incredible drawing of Sanji after Enies Lobby.
Franky kicked ass during the Raid On Onigashima. He ran over Big Mom’s face with a motorcycle and proceeded to take a baton pass from Yamato to beat Sasaki, one of the Tobiroppo.
“God” Usopp: 500,000,000 Berries
Usopp is the final recipient of the 300 million berry boost. Usopp’s bounty skyrocketed after the Dressrosa arc, when he took down Sugar, the Donquixote Family officer who turned people into toys, and earned the title “God Usopp.”
Despite his high bounty, Usopp came out of Onigashima with the least bragging rights. Alongside Nami, Usopp helped to protect Tama and ensured she was able to make her very important speech. This meant staving off Ulti and Page One. But Usopp is the only Straw Hat, other than Chopper, who didn’t have a big KO. But Chopper had the whole “saved everyone from a plague” achievement. So. I deeply hope Usopp gets a gold star next time.
“Demon Child” Nico Robin: 930,000,000 Berries
Throughout One Piece‘s history, I have been continually surprised that Nico Robin’s bounty isn’t higher. There’s an argument to make that, as the only known person in the world able to read Ponegliffs, she’s a bigger threat to the World Government and their finely tailored version of history than any Emperor. Now that Robin can literally transform herself into a Demon Child, she finally gets closer to the gargantuan bounty I’ve been expecting this whole time.
Robin fought a Tobiroppo, Black Maria, and won. And it was one of the coolest, best fights in all of One Piece, if you ask me. In deference to Robin’s awesomeness (surely), she received a huge bounty boost, up from the 130,000,000 berries she had after Dressrosa.
Related: The 10 Best One Piece Characters on Attack of the Fanboy
“Black Leg” Sanji: 1,032,000,000 Berries
Sure, Sanji’s bounty is now more than triple the 330,000,000 berries he was worth after Whole Cake Island. Which was probably just a month ago in the series’ timeline. And he earned that by beating Queen, one of Kaido’s Lead Performers. After leaving Black Maria to Robin, Sanji even took on two Lead Performers at once.
But Sanji’s bounty is the biggest upset of the bunch. Ever since the freakin’ 90s, One Piece fans have called Sanji, Zoro, and Luffy “the Monster Trio.” The three of them always fought the biggest baddies. Now, the Straw Hats have a new crewmate who’s a former Warlord, and Sanji’s been kicked to fourth place (which, of course, Zoro revels in). I suppose this is what fandoms get for codifying things that the author never codified.
“First Son Of The Sea” Jinbe: 1,100,000,000 Berries
Jinbe essentially agreed to join the crew all the way back in the Fishman Island Arc. He then joined-but-didn’t-actually-join during Whole Cake Island. The Raid on Onigashima saw Jinbe finally become the newest member of the Straw Hat Pirates. As a Warlord Of The Sea who quit his position ahead of the Summit War, and most recently an officer to Big Mom (begrudgingly), Jinbe’s assuredly cultivated high bounties for himself. (After Marineford, it was 438,000,000 berries, and we don’t know if being associated with Big Mom raised it further.)
Jinbe’s big accomplishment at Onigashima was beating Who’s Who, a particularly important member of the Tobiroppo. Who’s Who turned out to be a former agent of CP9 who(‘s who) was imprisoned for failing to transport the Gomu-Gomu Fruit when Shanks stole it all those years ago. Jinbe and Robin also teamed up to kick Big Mom off the performance floor, which was very good.
“Pirate Hunter” Rononoa Zoro: 1,111,000,000 Berries
As the de facto number two of the Straw Hat Pirates, Zoro is listed among captains as one of the members of the Worst Generation. As such, he was out there on the rooftop fighting Kaido and Big Mom with Luffy, Law, Kid, and (his equivalent in Kid’s crew) Killer. Zoro more than proved his mettle—and gravely injured himself—by single-handedly blocking a joint attack from two Emperors of the Sea. You are free to wonder if anyone else on that rooftop could’ve pulled that off.
Chopper and the medicine of Zou healed Zoro temporarily, so he could fight again. This time, he defeated King, one of the Lead Performers. So Zoro is an excellent candidate for MVP of Onigashima. I hate to admit it as a Sanji stan, but Zoro deserved his nearly 800,000,000 bounty increase. And he even started out lower than Sanji’s previous bounty, at 320,000,000.
“Straw Hat” Monkey D. Luffy: 3,000,000,00 Berries
Friends, he’s done it. Our wonderful stretchy boy is now an Emperor of the Sea. And thus, his bounty doubled from 1,500,000,000 berries. Look at all those zeroes! Also, his Devil Fruit isn’t the Rubber-Rubber Fruit at all. It’s a goddamn mythical Zoan type. A human model, at that! Who knew?
Luffy earned his new title and new bounty for beating Kaido, who was previously dubbed “the strongest creature in the world” and thought to be undefeatable. Furthermore, he awakened his Devil Fruit, unleashing the “white warrior” mentioned in legends to be liberator of the people. Meaning, liberating them from the Government. So the World Government isn’t happy about all of this. And yet, Luffy’s awakened Nika form is now on his Wanted Poster. Classic government incompetence.
Image credit: Toei Animation
Published: Feb 5, 2023 06:09 pm