Joy Boy! Have you read chapter 1043? If not...Click of this video right now, run as far as you
can as fast as you can and never click on this video ever again, if you care about your
life at all. But if you have...Welcooome.
Here's a quick refresher in case you got so hyped up reading this that your brain short-circuited
and you're wondering why you have your keyboard imprinted on your forehead: The One Piece
manga just dropped maybe the most important panel of the entire series so far where we
see Luffy apparently starting to melt away together with his straw hat with a big fat,
the villain is about to get his ass kicked hard-type of grin on his face, with the text
reading 'Nika'. A Japanese sound for scheming laughter and of course the name of the legendary
sun god, who most likely is the same exact being as JoyBoy. And while this clearly was
a real person during the void century, being Joy Boy in my eyes is much more of a title
or status someone can acquire, rather than that same person being reincarnated. It has
more to do with inherited will, the D heritage and potentially holding the right devil fruit.
So what has happened here? Has Luffy awakened his rubber fruit? Has he awakened his true
devil fruit power, that he never knew about? Has he simply been overtaken by Joy Boy?
And I know, I know, I usually don't talk about the new chapters directly and I'm also not
in favour of reading the scans. So I'm sorry if I disappoint you with this video. But I
got spoiled on it and NO WAY I'm NOT Gonna talk about this now. Also you're still here,
so let's go.
Now, I know you have a lot of thoughts and emotions about this, because so do I, but
before we hype this into the sky for the most epic transformation in One Piece or stomp
it into the ground for Luffy getting the same treatment as Naruto, let's dissect this one
by one. Rationally. Calmly. I'm just gonna say, that in my opinion: *It's definitely
the most epic transformation ever in all One Piece!*
Okayyy, so with neutral grounds for this discussion being established: What do we actually know
for a fact from this chapter and what can we speculate has happened?
Actually the only two things we know, is that Luffy is not, as Kaido has declared, dead.
And something is happening to his body, that clearly involves heat. And even though it
is not explicitly stated, that Luffy IS in fact Joy Boy, it would be a bit weird if Zunesha
had said, 'Luffy is Joy boy‘, it is pretty much confirmed that that's the case. Joy Boy
has returned. That's what we know for a fact. Oh also fun fact, Zunesha in Japanese says:
sokoniruzo. Joy Boy is right there. It's the same phrase that Roger used for the One PIece.
And Oda actually put dots behind the phrase, emphasising its importance.
Now, I'd like to start by pointing out for the people who will undoubtedly believe that
Luffy has now been possessed by Joy Boy... you might actually be right. I think there
is a quite reasonable chance that Luffy legitimately died last chapter. Think about it. First of
all, at least in Japanese, there is a sound effect, where Luffy's heart starts beating
again. Before that Kaido actually declares Luffy dead, someone who clearly should be
able to tell the difference between death and being knocked out. Momo, Law and Kid feel
that Luffy's presence has vanished and try to rally a last resistance. The god damn narrator
declares that Kaido has won against Luffy and Luffy himself has a grin on his face,
just like Roger during his execution or himself at Logue Town. So there is a quite legitimate
chance that luffy actually had to die in order to awaken his true powers or joy boy or both.
I also think that Joy boy might only be awakened in Wano. Remember how Kaido was insistent
that the country was special? How close it's connected to the ancient kingdom? And how
it was closed off, waiting for joy boy to return? Quite possibly there is something
about Wano, that helps unlock these true powers. Which is why Kaido, who wanted to become joy
boy himself, picked it has his base of operations. One theory I've had for a while, is that the
giant skull and sword on Onigashima might have belonged to the original joy boy, together
with the giant straw hat in Marijois. I'm gonna make a video on that and the ancient
giants soon, so make sure to subscribe if you want to see that and get the details.
For now, I just want to point out that it might be relevant that Luffy is fighting and
dying on top of the first joy boy himself. With the fire festival being all about the
spirits off the dead coming back and all.
Now, we'll need more of Kaido's backstory for this, but I think that just like Big Mom,
it has been suggested recently, that at heart, Kaido also is waiting for Joy boy to change
the world. It sounded like he was genuinely disappointed that Luffy couldn't be Joy Boy,
the first time he knocked him out. He even said 'good , because the more you laugh...'
During his fight with luffy. So, who knows, Kaido might have been the good guy here after
all in a way, trying to awaken Joy Boy in Luffy. This would fit nicely with Oden telling
him to get stronger for the one who will come and open Wano.
Uff, okay what's next, I have so many notes on this. Ah yes, the old debate: Is it bad
writing if Luffy is Joy Boy? NOo.
Here are a few quotes about Luffy throughout the story: Chapter 99, Smoker: "Is all this
purely a coincidence? It's as if the heavens themselves wants to keep this boy alive."
"Inherited will, The destiny of the age, and The dreams of the people. As long as people
continue to pursue the meaning of Freedom, these things will never cease to be." Gol
D. Roger Chapter 100. Perhaps they're the pirates we've been waiting for... The captain
has got quite a mysterious aura about him. What do you think, Roger? - Crocus Chapter
105. Marineford: "The man roger was waiting for, it's not you teach." "You may eradicate
their bloodline ,but their flame never dies..." "For many ages , it has been passed down through
the generations..." "And someday, bearing the weight of all these generations, a man
will appear to challenge this world..." Luffy being special and carrying the will of Joy
Boy has been foreshadowed throughout the story. It doesn't diminish who luffy is and what
he has done at all. Just the opposite, he's the first one in a long line of potential
Joy Boys, including Roger and probably Noland, that actually managed to fulfil the criteria
and awaken. It's a testament to Luffy's approach to life. His sense of freedom and his drive
to get stronger for the sake of others, that qualifies him for this title. He has literally
been joyboy/Nika the entire story so far. Saving people from cruel fates, slavery, and
oppression and spreading joy throughout the world.
Not for nothing, as Oda-sensei stated in an interview once, is this panel on skypea, where
Luffy looks exactly like Nika, his favorite in the entire story. Foreshadowing Joy Boy
and showing what Oda-sensei himself values most about Luffy: His ability to bring people
together and bring them joy.
I'd like to remind you that both the sun and laughter have been part of luffy's journey
since the start. The thousand sunny, Luffy's cloths in Wano and dressrosa, his fire ability.
And on top of that the sun has been closely linked to the void century anyways. We have
the sun pirates, who, inspired by the sun god Nika use the sun to hide the slave mark
of the celestial dragons. You have the sun in the flags of Alabasta, Wano and Shandora.
And everyone is waiting for the person who can bring the dawn.
Now in general I'm always impressed with all the little details, people tend to notice
on twitter and reddit, that would otherwise pass me by completely. And a special shout-out
goes to one comment on reddit, that made the following observation. I sadly cant find the
original one anymore and it has been reposted several times since then, but in case you
are watching this, you're the G. In the chapter, Zuneshia is talking about hearing the drums
of liberation when talking about the return of joy boy. And will you look at that, there
is actually a line in Bink's sake, that I have already mentioned in multiple videos
as the most important source of information for the void century, that goes like this:
"- Waves are dancing having fun, **"it's time to sound the drums"**! If we let blow
winds of fear then the end of us is near! Even so, tomor-row "**the sun will rise again"**!"
We all already knew this song was special, talking about the Great War, the Kozuki clan
and the one piece and laugh tale itself, but now we have a clear mention of joy boy or
Nika in the song as well. Oda was really not joking, when he tried to tell us how important
Wano would become.
As someone else has pointed out, there is actually a book called 'THe sacred drums of
liberation' that talks about the struggles and resistance of people from Africa, who
were pushed into slavery in the 20th century. And given that slavery and racism is one of
the biggest themes in the story and sun god Nika is the deity who is supposed to give
them joy and liberation, I find it very very unlikely that Oda-sensei was NOT inspired
by this.
There is also the by now famous connection to the legendary Javanese king Joyoboyo who
lived 900 years ago in today's Indonesia. Joyoboyo was known for prophesizing the downfall
of his kingdom by the hands of foreigners and predicting a time period where it would
become glorious again. His kingdom also left behind scriptures talking about a great war,
very similar to the poneglyphs in One PIece, that by the way, were made by the Kozuki clan,
bringing us once again right back to Wano.
Now the 1B Berry question is of course: What exactly is happening to Luffy, now that he
seems to have awakened Joy Boy? As I have discussed in the past and will discuss in
detail in a video next wednesday, Wano has been heavily foreshadowing something happening
with Luffy's devil fruit. And Luffy STILL needs to defeat Kaido. So the two options
I see here are that one Luffy will awaken his rubber fruit or that two he awakens his
actual fruit, a legendary fruit, who's real nature we haven't seen yet. That would of
course be a banger. It would literally be the biggest troll in the history of storytelling
if Luffy had been using his fruit completely wrong the entire time and still managed to
make it very powerful in the process. I would not only love that because it would show us
an awesome new power, but also because it would prove luffy's genius by managing to
maximise his power despite only using a very small part of his true abilities, taking the
hardest possible way to the top. But who knows, that might be the reason he could awaken it
in the first place. And I think that might also play a role in how similar it looks to
the yami yami no mi, underlining that it's the natural counter to Blackbeards ultimate
devil fruit.
I also think that Luffy being JoyBoy pretty much implies that Momo is an ancient weapon
like Shirahoshi. One of the sovereigns the sea kings are waiting for.
Now if you want to survive the break next week and take this all to the next level,
this isn’t enough on its own. You have to know what options there are for Luffy's awakening.
Whatever this ability might be, I would be very sad if it weren't a mythical zoan fruit
though. But there are actually also a ton of fantastic options for a rubber fruit awakening,
that will absolutely change the game for Luffy.
And that’s why you really shouldnt ignore this video, because it talks about all the
possibilities that Luffy might have for an awakening.