There is no single character that represents One Piece as well as the man, the woman, the
myth, the legend: Bon Kurei.
No matter what we thought upon our first impressions in Alabasta, there isn’t a One Piece fan
out there that didn’t fall in love with Bentham / Mr. 2 Bon Kurei- a character with
seemingly as many names as faces.
At least, I can’t comprehend someone seeing Bentham’s multiple heroic sacrifices and
not weeping over the true power of friendship that he demonstrates.
You see, Bon Kurei *is* One Piece.
…
The series, not the treasure.
That would be the plot twist to end all plot twists.
No, what we should say is that Bentham embodies what One Piece is as a series.
So, today we’re going to talk about Un, Deux, Trois ways that this character demonstrates
some of the story’s most important traits and themes.
**First, Bentham is a wacky character who delivers a huge emotional impact.**
If there are two barriers to entry for new One Piece readers, they’re the series’
length and Oda’s art style.
However, while 1,000 chapters seems daunting at first, once readers are caught up, they’ll
learn the truth: One Piece is *not* too long.
It’s actually too short.
But if you’re watching this channel, you probably already know that.
What we should talk about instead is the other complaint we might hear from people hesitant
to come along for the voyage - Oda’s art style.
Compared to edgier, darker looking Shonen like Bleach or Naruto, One Piece looks positively
cartoonish.
In fact, Eiichiro Oda’s character designs look rather unique within the world of manga
as a whole - he has a style all his own that looks more Bugs Bunny than Berserk.
People are often initially put off by this art style, claiming it looks too silly or
unserious.
But what these readers don’t yet realize is that that silliness is one of One Piece’s
greatest strengths.
One Piece *is* silly - it’s goofy and ridiculous - it’s genuinely funny and will make you
laugh out loud again and again.
But one of the beautiful things about that comic tone is that it makes the deeper emotional
beats hit that much harder.
The humor disarms us - we let our guard down.
Then, because we’re initially just along for a silly pirate adventure, the audience
is reduced to tears when we learn that our crew mates have the saddest backstories known
to man.
This blue-nosed reindeer?
He will make you cry.
This speedo-wearing cyborg?
*He* will make you cry.
This skeleton with an afro?
Yes, even he will make you cry.
Bentham functions as a perfect example of this phenomenon.
When we first meet Bon-Chan, it’s as Mr. 2 Bon Kurei - an agent of Crocodile’s Baroque
Works organization.
By the way, while I was researching for this video I learned something that…wow, I feel
like I should have known all along.
Even though we often refer to Bentham as Bon-Clay as if that’s their name, it turns out that
Bon Kurei actually refers to a specific night in the Japanese Obon Festival.
So, whereas most of the Baroque Works agents feature male and female pairs with the man
being named after a number and the woman being named after a holiday, I.e., Mr. 3 and Miss
Goldenweek or Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas.
Bentham, however, being genderfluid has both code names.
Surprisingly progressive for Sir Crocodile…or not very surprising if we accept the Croco-Mom
theory.
And as a quick note before we get into the rest of the video, we’re using he/him pronouns
for Bentham since those are what are used in the manga and anime, but it is important
to note that the character has referred to himself as a man and a woman.
But back to how Bentham exemplifies a wacky character with hard hitting emotional impact.
When we first meet Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, the audience is struck by possibly the most ridiculous
character design in the series up to that point.
He’s a drowning ballerina adorned with massive “2” shaped swans and a make-up job worse
than Buggy’s.
Especially in the anime, the over-the-top drama in every one of his lines is masterfully
performed by voice actor Kazuki Yao - a performer whose energy is so unmatched he would eventually
be welcomed into the crew proper as the voice of Franky.
He’s relegated to such a position of comic relief all throughout this scene and the remainder
of Alabasta, that we can hardly predict it coming when in the end of the arc, he disguises
himself and his crew as the Straw Hats so that the real Straw Hats can evade capture
by the Marines.
All along, Mr. 2 has been espousing the power of true friendship in an exaggerated, melodramatic
manner, but suddenly when the crew’s livelihood is on the line, it’s Bentham who puts his
money where his mouth is in a moment of complete sacrifice.
Seeing such goofy characters deliver on powerful emotional moments is one of the touchstones
of One Piece, and Bon Kurei is emblematic of this feature.
**Secondly, Bon-Chan is representative of one of One Piece’s central themes: Friendship.**
There’s a good reason that so many Western fans know the word nakama - “companion”
or “friend.”
During Bentham’s first meeting with the straw hats, they become fast friends.
Mr. 2 and his entertaining copy ability mesmerizes the more “immature” crew mates - Luffy,
Usopp, and Chopper.
In fact, they slot in so well with each other that they immediately become lifelong friends.
However, once the crew realized that Bentham was in fact an agent of Baroque Works who
now possessed the ability to change into any of their crew at will, the Straw Hats devised
a countermeasure against this technique.
They drew X’s on their wrists and then covered them by tying a bandage around the X.
What at first was a clever way to defend against Mr. 2’s devil fruit power set the groundwork
for one of the most emotional moments of the Alabasta saga.
These X’s allowed for their silent goodbye to Vivi.
While they couldn’t risk revealing their close connection to the princess to the Marines,
raising these marks into the air allowed them to demonstrate their bonds to one another,
signifying their undying friendship.
Before this, when the Marines are in heavy pursuit of the Straw Hats, they’re able
to escape Black Cage Hina when Mr. 2 disguises his ship and crew as the Straw Hats, acting
as decoys.
Even though sailing to meet Vivi at the rendezvous point will put them directly in the path of
the Marines, Bon Kurei sacrifices himself and his crew in order to give them the chance
to say farewell to their friend.
Bon Clay has a power that seems inherently deceitful - he uses it to impersonate Nefertari
Cobra and kick off a war in Alabasta as part of Crocodile’s plan.
Posing as someone else has its roots in subterfuge and trickery.
We see this especially in its former user, Higurashi, who used it to fool Oden into thinking
Momonosuke was in danger, allowing Kaidou to make the finishing blow in their battle.
However, in Bentham’s sacrifice, we see the nature of the fruit subverted.
He’s still using the Mane Mane no Mi to trick someone - in this case Hina - but for
the greater good of allowing his friends to continue their adventure.
Mr. 2 Bon Kurei is one of the first of Luffy’s enemies who’s turned into a friend.
As Mihawk thought at Marineford, Luffy’s most dangerous ability is turning those around
him into allies.
In Impel Down, the second arc to heavily feature Bentham, this trait of Luffy’s is exemplified.
What began in Alabasta with Mr. 2 rallying to Luffy’s aid became an entire rag-tag
crew of Luffy’s former enemies becoming invaluable allies.
Even Bon Kurei’s former employer, Crocodile, would join Luffy’s side in the Paramount
War.
And once again, Bentham would make an ultimate sacrifice for the sake of friendship, allowing
everyone to escape the impenetrable prison of Impel Down.
You know, speaking of Crocodile: he has an 81,000,000 bounty.
Since I have around 580,000 subscribers.
- if we converted that into dollars and then converted *those* into berries, I would have
a 59,000,000 berry bounty.
Making me significantly less dangerous than this slimy man right here.
So please help me change that by subscribing to the channel and raising my bounty!
**The third and final way that Bon Kurei embodies the themes of One PIece is by representing
the absolute freedom that Luffy seeks to bring to the world.**
If there’s one theme that echoes through the series even more powerfully than that
of friendship, it is the theme of freedom.
Luffy wants to become the Pirate King - the person with the most freedom on the sea.
Nearly every island that the Straw Hats travel to, they restore freedom to the citizens.
Like Joyboy before him, Luffy’s heart beats in time with the drums of liberation.
The Okama Way is also a way of freedom.
In Bentham’s great sacrifice at Impel Down, he grants the prisoners who allied with Luffy
freedom from the prison.
However, he also represents this theme to the core of his
very being: as an Okama.
It’s no coincidence that Emporio Ivankov and the Kamabakka Kingdom are aligned with
the Revolutionary Army.
Monkey D. Dragon opposes the authoritarian rule of the World Government and the Celestial
Dragons.
With him, opposing this fascistic force, are representatives of the oppressed people of
the One Piece world.
Bartholomew Kuma, who literally had his agency stripped away to become a slave to the Celestial
Dragons; The Fishman Hack and Koala, representing the Fishmen who are relegated to live beneath
the red line, away from the sunlight of the surface; and Emporio Ivankov, ruler of the
Okama - the LGBT community of the One Piece world.
In our real world, queer communities have fought long and hard for decades against brutal
discrimination in order to be free to express themselves and be able to love who they love.
And it’s the same in One Piece for figures like Ivankov who allies himself with the Revolutionary
Army. (which, like, *come on Sanji*, you clearly have some internalized prejudices you need
to work through).
From the moment we meet Bentham, he is unabashedly who he wants to be.
He puts no limits on his self-expression.
He dresses the way he wants to.
He applies makeup the way he wants to.
He identifies fluidly with the gender that he wants to.
His Clone-Clone fruit even lets him literally become whoever he wants to.
This absolute freedom of expression and gender is an extension of the freedom that Straw
Hat Luffy fights to bring to the world - one of the central goals and themes of the entire
series.
Now, remaining in Impel Down, Bon-Chan is the new Queen of Newkama Land.
As he says during his sacrifice in Alabasta, “one may stray from the path of man.
One may stray from the path of woman.
But there is no straying from the path of humanity.”
This is the Okama Way.
Or maybe Ivankov has already come to break him out with the help of Luffy’s father.
And if you want to learn more about Monkey D. Dragon and who he truly is, you really
can’t skip this video here.