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I think Bon Clay being so conventionally visually off putting is a good thing. Sometimes it feels like to be accepted queer characters have to be attractive. Bony Clay's character design makes people go 'yikes' when they first see him, yet he wins everyone over with his great personality that shines through, to the point where you just learn to accept his outward appearance.

As an ace person, once I realized that the main character of the biggest manga in the world was ace (or at least coded, but until recently we really couldn't expect anything better) helped me a lot in accepting my identity. Also, the fact that One Piece puts so much weight in platonic relationships and not romantic ones made it a HUGE HUGE comfort. Because One Piece makes it very clear that these characters absolutely love each other without them being related or having any romantic expectations. And that is so beautiful and comforting.

I once saw someone saying Oda's presentation of queer people as "He seems to think queer people are freaks, but he also appears to think that being a freak is awesome" and I can't help but agree with that.

Something that always struck me as interesting and important is Luffy using honorifics when addressing and talking about 'Iva-chan' and 'Bon-chan'. Luffy remembering people's names is already pretty much the ultimate sign that he respects them, but he rarely ever uses honorifics. The fact that he clocked Iva and Bon Clay and immediately started using the more diminutive, typically more feminine 'chan' for them says to me that even beyond just thinking people should be able to live how they feel most free, he instinctively starts to support and validate that freedom.

I really like quote by Bon Clay, “one may stray from the path of a man. One may stray from the path of a woman, but there is no straying from the path of a human!” You can choose your own life, you may identify as masc or fem or neither, but it will never make you less of a person. One Piece pushes the belief that existence isn’t a crime and rightfully so. You are always worth it, even if the people around you don’t see it

A subtle detail that I love about Kiku as a trans woman is how she and Izo being siblings shields her from some transphobic talking points. Both of them are biologically male and were raised to perform while dressed as women, as seen when they met Oden, but while Kiku eventually came out as a trans woman, Izo continued to regard himself as a male, all while showing that he is not ashamed of his upbringing, seeing as he still wore lipstick every time we saw him. This shows that Kiku's trans identity doesn't come from how she was raised, and is simply who she is.

Bonus shoutout to the completely overlooked man in dressrosa who also faints when seeing cavendish in the colosseum

honestly I'm just greatful Oda even tries. I love these characters and even though there might be some flaws in something or another it's still a million times better than what western media is able to put in their popular shows most of the time.

Oda literally wrote about a lgbt paradise in prison where people are fully free to express themselves, transition, and party. How do people miss the importance of lgbt characters and how they reinforce the theme of freedom in the story?

So basically, Oda is the " doesn't entirely get it but his heart is generally in the right place" guy when it comes to queer representation. Yeah, it checks out. It is clear that he has respect for the community. "Queers never die" is a mighty slogan, and I for one feel empowered by it. Fantastic video, Melon!

I'm a straight cis guy and I love Kiku. She gets her arm cut off, has the wound cauterized by a flaming sword, and then says "Tis but a scratch". She's such a badass. If Zoro did that shit, we'd never hear the end of it. And yet despite her being such a next level gigachad badass, she's still portrayed in a very traditionally feminine manner.

I'm not going to lie. There was a moment during Impel Down when Mr. 2 mentions Ivankov for the first time. Luffy responds like "The queers have a queen?". I paused it and laughed for maybe more than a day. The joke was just right there for decades, but it took One Piece to make it happen.

Without any exageration, i have never EVER met or even read a post of someone saying they dislike Bon Clay in the slightest, i can only imagine how good that character did for queers, he's so loved both in the story and by the fandom that it probably helped open a lot of minds up, he's such a fantastic character.

It’s freedom. The story has been always been about freedom. Everyone against that, has never understood the story. And sadly, there’s people who truly have never gotten there

Iva being a revolutionary means they basically went "Enough about gay pride, let's get some gay wrath!"

I'm a trans person myself, Talking about the scene where ivankov turns a guy into a woman against his will. The guy who came to kill ivankov, was upset because he felt he humiliated his father for turning him into a woman when he returned home to them. His son did not wanna accapt that. However, it is explained that his dad wanted to be a woman himself and came to ivankov. I felt ivankov made the guy a woman to teach him a lesson, on what it's like to be stuck in a body you're not comfortable with, in order to better understand his father, because he did not respect his decision and only saw it as humiliation. I might be heavily overthinking it, but that's how I like to see it at least.

The thing on Bon Clay's coat actually says "Okama Way". Its their creed that they live by, much like how the Admirals of the series have their creeds like "Lazy Justice" and "Absolute Justice" plastered on their back. Also, something that I love is how all the numbered baroque works members are a male, female duo but Bon Clay is the only who doesn't since they are both.

Bon clay will be a legend forever

Honestly never understood the copious amounts of -phobic people in the OP fandom when Luffy is objectively the most welcoming, respectful but also unbothered character ever, while every OP manga/anime chapter/episode comment section is a cesspool of hate, negativity and everything that Luffy stands against 😭 like these are the same people who preach about Luffy being the best character ever, but act like the exact same people Luffy would beat up

If you ask me, Luffy seems Aromantic too, because he never seemed to be falling in love with boa or even notice anything she did that was to praise him and to show him affection, he always shook it off as her being very grateful or friendly towards Luffy, he's never been seen in love with anybody even in the slightest from what I could gather, but I might be wrong on this in some form or way.

As a bi guy I appreciate oda for creating so many hot characters

I think we need to consider with Bon clay & Ivankov, that if their visuals are stereotyped designs but there character doesn't lay on negative stereotypes. Then the purpose of the design is more to make sure the character can't be erased by audience members who find themselves uncomfortable with queer characters. You can't look at Bon clay and say someone is "projecting their queerness onto the character" because the characters visuals force the audience to accept the queerness at the gate. So when the audience are exposed to the positive aspects of the Bon clay's character, the queerness can't be erased for close minded comforts. If you are going to be a fan of these character you will be a fan knowing they are queer.

I was watching the live action series with my Nana and when it showed Luffy glance away when Kaya and Usopp kissed, she turned to me and said, "Aw, did Luffy like Usopp like Kaya did?" and I started to laugh and I said, "No, Nana, Luffy's asexual like I am". She said she had never heard this term and asked me about it. We had a nice discussion about asexuality and aromanticism and she was very accepting, Moreso than my own mother. It was a nice moment that I'll never forget.

I personally like Yamato as an enby person. He's me fr. The fact that he gets referred to as a man while having giant bedonkers honestly makes me want to cry because that's what I want. He gets completely accepted while not looking traditionally masculine. He gets called a man no matter what he looks like and I wish I had that. Even his parent kind of respects that he's a man. The only problem is that Odin is on Kaido's DNI and he kind of goes 'you kin some one on my DNI? Jail for a thousand years'

As a gay man, I never minded Bon Clay's appearance because it is "stereotypical" although it was not presented in a mocking way. Bon clay is respected and loved for what he is and some gay people like to wear more over the top looks. Not every gay man needs to be masculine. They just need to be respected by what they are and by the author

I always liked the idea of Luffy being asexual and it also is a pun. He took after his brother and became ace.

Luffy is such an aro/ace icon lmao

Not sure if it’s been mentioned here in the comments yet. I’ve seen a lot of one piece fans say that Yamato being in the all female color spread isn’t good evidence since we’ve seen Chopper and other canonically male characters shows up in all female color spreads before. Another thing to point out is that Yamato is the only not wearing a swimsuit in that color spread, it’s clear that he’s dressed more masculine than the other woman in the spread

As an aroace person, Luffy's character is one that brings me a lot of comfort. I feel so validated when Luffy has reactions similar to those I would have in sexual/romantic situations, and all of his crew being so accepting of the fact that he simply does not care about any of that is just amazing.

One of the funnier reasons why I think Yamato is a transgender man is with the General Franky test. In every single piece of one piece media, from the anime, manga, movies, and specials, anytime that Franky busts out his mech, the boys go absolute ape shit because "boys like robots" (something like that was said before iirc), whilst the girls just go deadpan silent. Trust me, go watch the intro to General Franky when he first busts it out in Fishman Island, at the end of the Punk Hazard arc with the giant children, Film Gold, Heart of Gold, there's probably others but I can't remember rn, each time without fail, when the guys go crazy for it, the girls just go ://. HOWEVER, in Wano, when Yamato encounters General Franky, he looks on in absolute wonder with stars in his eyes. This is the undeniable truth to the dilemma.

With Bon Clay it feels so comforting that they embrace the softness and "cuteness" of their clothes and makeup as just that, while still being an extremely strong and fierce person, like theyre just saying "yeah i like cutesy clothes, soft colors and nice makeup, but i WILL kick your ass if you get funny with me"

It's very interesting to see how Oda presents queerness, becouse for how he draws women is very clear he is a very heterosexual men. He is also very, very left winged, and one piece shows it everywere. So him being suportive of the queer comunity even if he himself is heterosexual is incredible positive and to be expected, but also a recepy for ocational mistakes. That said, his positive depiction of queer characters in THE most popular manga in the world is always a welcomed surprise and as an heterosexual man myself I really hope I can live up to the lessons One piece has thought us about respecting the dignity and freedom of every human being, no matter sexual orientation, race, nationality, ideology or religion.

I love that even villains like Croco-boy and Kaido still respect people's gender identity. Like Bon-chan declairs themself, neither man nor woman so Croc says "sure you can have both codenames then" and even Kaido still calls Yamato his son, only really being upset at the Oden cosplay

I don't know exactly why, but Oda saying like "i don't know, that's just how Luffy goes" and calling it a day kinda makes the ace codding even MORE strong. Many people on the ace spectrum feel like they are broken until finding the lable, but many just shrug and go "thats how i go" and live as they see fit, only finding about the sexually years after and going "well, that actually explains a lot". And i don't even talk about the ABSOLUTE ace family goal that the strawhats are :v

I may be a lame straight dude observing from the side on these topics but anything that adds variety is a big win in my book. Wano not only gave us better diversity in Queer characters but in having Kiku and O-Tsuru give us different body/face shapes for women. One Piece is a lot like Mass Effect in how it's core themes are bolstered and improved with each new perspective or identity added to the world.

I think its not a coinsidence that Sanji was put in Kamabakka Island during timeskip. It's to confront his perversion on women for it to happen on him. The island might be weird and a bad representation of the queer community, but in hindsight, the context works to convey development for Sanji's character.

Hi I am a japanese bisexual woman viewer and I want to make a few notes about the original translation. Okama is a slur for trans people in japanese, that is also used against queer people generally. Directly translated, most one piece english translations have taken away the negative connotation, but in japanese media, the word has ABSOLUTELY been a slur. So for bon-clay, its not labeling them as gay or whatever, its literally calling them a (I'm typing this out with asterisks so its very clear what slur this would translate to) T****y. However, I don't think there are any words at all to describe trans people in japanese without using the word "okama", so I personally dont pin this as Oda's transphobia, rather transphobia coded within the japanese language itself. in short, lots of transphobic and homophobic jokes, slights, and stereotypes are made in japanese that are coded out in english translation and captions to make the characters more accepted, IMO. TBH i am a huge history buff and major in sociology and social justice, and also love anime, so I feel so seen to have this discussion, and love to give my two sense on the topic as a japanese american viewer. I wish I could talk to you as I was watching the video lmao, looking forward to your next vid!

I once had someone genuinely try to tell me that neither Kiku nor Ivonkov are queer characters. I have never before wondered so strongly if the person I was talking to had even read the same series as I did. I think a reason why queerness in one piece isn't discussed is possibly because of people like this, who just simply refuse to acknowledge it.

to clarify, oda HAS explicitly said luffy is asexual. in an interview, he was asked about the lack of romance in the series and if any of the strawhat crew would ever find love, and he shut that down and said he just plain didn't want to write romance at all and as far as he's concerned, he can't even imagine luffy feeling sexual or romantic attraction to anyone. the interviewer probed on "so is Luffy asexual?" and oda basically said "yeah, why not? the whole strawhat crew is asexual. problem solved." as an ace person who has been dying for good representation my entire life, this is the only thing that brings me joy anymore. okay, yamato also. yamato gender envied so hard he transed his own gender on the spot and he is the realest ever for that. i am also agender but like my body fine the way it is. you don't have to transition medically to have your identity be respected, and in this respect, oda is leagues ahead of american twitter transmed freaks who try to police everyone's identity unless they've gone under a knife and undertaken expensive hormone therapy.

One Piece being a rival to the shitty wizard franchise makes me love it even more.

I'd like to bring up the topic of Inazuma, which is Iva's left hand person, whom is extremely genderfluid. Every other page or panel, he's asked Iva to flip his gender... Or rather her sex? Not sure, but each time they appear, unless it's the same scene, he has gone she or vice versa, and nobody comments on that, which I love.

I'm so so so happy that Kiku is in One Piece, she's lovely. With how it's implied Kiku used to put her feelings aside and bathe with Oden and the others in the past, I like how her being the one to ask Nami to join her in the bath shows she has grown more confident in her identity.

Little ramble about pronouns: While Japanese does have gendered third person pronouns in _kare_ and _kanojo,_ they aren't really used that much all things considered (and in casual speech are more used as words for boy/girlfriend). A lot of sentences use either the character's name, some other non-pronoun identifier, or some non-gendered alternative _(ano hito, koitsu, yatsu, aitsu)._ Many characters can go the entire series without having either applied to them. And with that, a lot of the he/she we see in the English release have to be decided on by the translator/localizer. On the other hand, something we can look at in Japanese that does not really show in English are _first_ person pronouns. These are still far from definitive for a character's identity, but nonetheless something fun to consider. For an example of "maybe don't read into that", Big Mom uses the most masculine-coded one in the very rough _ore,_ but I'd think it's pretty safe to say that's just due to her being one of the epitomes of a rough-and-tumble pirate we have, which that fits for. Atlas, as the only one of Vegapunk's satellites also uses that, again most likely for the fitting rougher impression it gives. The feminine-coded _atashi_ is used by Morley of the Revolutionary Army (who is pretty solidly queer-coded). Now for some characters actually discussed in the video: Yamato uses _boku,_ which while not explicitly male, is primarily used by younger boys, or men wanting to appear more... gentle? refined? polite? without going all the way to the default/neutral _watashi_ - examples in OP being Koby, Cavendish and Leo. It's sometimes seen used by female characters in other series, but interestingly, Yamato is the _only_ AFAB character in One Piece to use it. Kiku uses the traditionally male-coded _sessha,_ but this isn't in conflict with her gender identity. _Sessha_ is male-coded and used by Kiku for the same reason - it's the "samurai pronoun," so Kiku uses it due to her position as one of Oden's samurai being important to her. Mr.2 uses _achishi,_ which I don't think has any traditional implication to it, and might be a unique one to them. It kinda resembles the feminine-coded _atashi,_ but really more than anything it just sounds deliberately _cutesy._ And then there's Iva. Iva goes by ヴァターシ. I'm putting the katakana here, because not only did Oda give Iva a neopronoun, he sorta made a neographeme for it. That first character is the "U" katakana with _dakuon_ added to it (followed by a small "A" kana, which does not make a sound of its own but affects the pronunciation of the preceding one). ...Thing is, single-vowel kana _aren't supposed to_ have any _dakuon_ (or those small kana, usually) applied to them, so there isn't an established way to read that one! The general interpretation has been to treat it as _"vataashi"_ (there's no dedicated set of kana for expressing the "V" sound so it's not overlapping with something else, while still sounding close to the default _watashi,_ plus Iva's name has a va (though written with the wa katakana), so it works). Iva _does_ also do the same with second person pronouns, referring to people by iirc ヴァナータ _("vanaata"_ instead of _anata),_ so can't be entirely sure whether Oda _intended_ that as a neopronoun thing explicitly or just a verbal quirk Iva has like the -buru suffix they pop in here and there, but it ended up as one either way. Which is fun! :D EDIT: No actually it turns out that ヴ is standardized (though decidedly rare to use) to be "vu", and therefore ヴァis "va". So just a neopronoun, no neographeme on top of it.

I wanted to add this “yamato uses 僕/boku for his personal pronoun, which is basically humble/boyish masculine ‘i.’ it’s not used often in one piece since most guys just use ore- the only other characters i can remember using it are coby and cavendish. he also uses the familiar キミ/kimi for ‘you,’ at least when talking to luffy- he basically talks like a young nobleman”

The part about sanji not kicking the kamabaka kingdom civilians, that shows how strong his morals are when it comes to not hurting women. I feel like his main issue is not being attracted to them (to put it lightly). But if they say they are a woman or are presenting themselves as such, whole heartedly, I don't think he'll kick one of them. People confuse sanjis "not kicking women" trait with it being because😮 they're beautiful. We are blinded by his pervyness 😅. He doesn't hit women because they're beautiful. It's simply because they, to him, are women. Regardless of how he feels about it on the surface level.

Luffy being an ace king is the best thing Oda has ever come up with

As someone born female who is genderfluid, I honestly love Yamato. He continues to identify with He/Him pronouns, even though visually he looks like a woman, and that has been a big part of my experience. A lot of my gender identity comes from within myself so I don’t really care about presenting it to the world. Not to mention that I also still love to dress up girly and have fun that way even though I feel more neutral in gender. Someone does not need to look exactly how the world expects them to when they identify as a gender, what matters is their freedom to choose what it means to present that way.

I would describe Oda's writing when it comes to queer themes as: he's a little confused but he's got the spirit. He's a japanese man who grew up in a time very different from our own,I mean the guy is almost 50 and started this manga in the 90s,and again he's japanese things there are a little weird in general when it comes to this topic I like to believe Oda's heart is in the right place,even with his lowest not so great examples of queer people. But I like to believe he's trying,which I can appreciate. So yeah,a little confused,but he's got the spirit.

as a transmasc person, yamato means so much to me. i’ve got a big chest and i can’t pass, and i feel really seen by yamato in a way i haven’t felt seen by any other characters in media. the fact that luffy and most of the other straw hats - the people we’re rooting for - have no problem with his identity and exclusively refer to him as a man and with he/him pronouns?? even though he’s got his tits out on the reg?? that means so much to me. i love being non-passing. i love my appearance. i love having my tits out on the reg. that doesn’t make me any less of a man. so i’m super grateful for yamato’s existence

I think Bon Clay's clothing may be stereotypical and potentially offensive to some, but I can't overlook this one fact: he is accepted. He is dressed queer, presents queer, and everything else queer... and is still accepted. If he didn't fit these stereotypes, then him being accepted for what he is wouldn't be as powerful to the reader. There would probably be a bunch of readers who deny his queerness out of homophobia. Instead, they have no choice but to view him as how he wants to be viewed, and if they don't like it, they can stop reading.

Luffy's ultimate dream is freedom for everyone. Every. One. Luffy is accepting of everyone, so long as they aren't doing villain things of course. Even then, he is able to forgive villains if they seem to be making amends. Oda's message is about freedom. Freedom to live, freedom to eat, freedom to be you. That's why Enies Lobby was such a good arc. Robin lived her life thinking being alive was a "sin". Yeah, Robin is not an LGBT character as far as we know, but Luffy was pissed to know that people made Robin feel that way. And that feeling doesn't stop at Robin. Luffy hates when anyone makes anyone else feel that way. Oda's way of presenting things may not have been perfect, but his ultimate message is a powerful one.

A little while back there was a Tumblr poll on One Piece with the format of "which of these things does NOT happen in One Piece" and basically 90% (or so it felt like) of the notes on that post where something along the lines of "I don't know One Piece but I know it HAS to be the one about a secret society of trans people living in the walls of a prison, this is a shounen manga there's no way that's real"

In defense of the KamaBakka arc, Ivankov could inject them at anytime and make them look however they wanted. They actively choose to look how they look, They think they are beautiful and that's all that matters to them, they are living their best lives. As for how Sanji acted, how as is he supposed to act? His whole worldview is chivalry and chasing women, now he's on an island that goes against what he knows, challenges what he thinks a woman is, what he thinks a man is. Things he thought he knew, things that were integral to his personality were completely shattered so he ran. He's confused and doesn't know what to think or do. As for how everyone on the island acted they aren't being predatory think about it, they only act this way with Sanji. Did you ever stop to think why that is? Its because they get a wild reaction out of him whenever they do anything. They are just messing with him because they think he's closed minded. I've always loved how One Piece has treated it's queer characters because they are just another character. Not put on a pedestal for no reason, not torn down for no reason, not flawless, not completely flawed, people love and agree with them, people hate and disagree with them. It never felt like pandering or attacking to me they are just people in the story. Also I could be waaay off here but I think the point of the KamaBakka arc is supposed to be to show Sanji how fragile his ideology and worldview was. (a lesson that he doesn't fully learn)

Bon Clay is a ride or die and the fact they were introduced so early in the series is amazing.

Did not expect someone to touch of Luffy's sexuality, but I'm here for it! I always felt like he was accidentally ace-coded and I love that about him :-D also, good on Oda for recognising that! It shows how much he honours the character

I'm not trans, but I am queer and for the longest time didn't really know how to describe myself. It isn't that there aren't labels that I feel apply to me, but that there are multiple labels that feel right but seemingly contradict each other at first. I consider myself both Ace/Aro and Bi, and am pretty comfy with that now, but when I was younger I didn't have the words for those things and that inbetween. Because of that, I've always actually been drawn to ambiguous queer rep or rep that's explicitly queer but ambiguous in it's labels, even though I know that most of the time it's not done with intention and is often the outcome of misunderstanding/confusion at best. It's always interested me when a character felt a way about themselves we just don't have the words for, because that's how I felt most of my life. For Yamato, he does read as a trans man to my non-experienced eyes, but the thing that bothers me with how people debate his gender is that even if he was WAS a woman who just used he/him pronouns, that should still be respected??? There are plenty of gay men who dress in drag and use she/her while still considering themselves cis, or enby, or fluid, or transition later, and they all deserve to have their preferred pronouns respected despite how they identify in the moment. Yamato should be no different.

One thing I loved about One piece is that I did this a LONG time ago before it was popular to represent the LGBT community in media. One piece is truly a anime where seriously EVERYONE comes together no matter your background and just enjoy it. Ps. Plus i love how everyone in the one piece community no matter what we believe or what we think collectively just Loves Bon clay. Like how can you hate him???

the sad truth is that the One Piece fandom does not know how to handle the fact that Yamato has boobs.

I think Yamato is the same gender and sexuality wise as Luffy - meaning they never put a thought into it and can be considered as asexual or aromantic. Luffy is a man because he wants himself to be a man and doesn't think twice about anything else. Yamato is a man because he wants to be just like Oden: Free, Strong and just so happens to be a man. He doesn't care about his appearance or what others think of him. They're both aloof to the topic of sexuality and I think that's great, because sexuality, gender identity and appearance are things that we as a society put too much importance on instead of accepting everyone the way they feel comfortable with. In my opinion, everyone deserve to be respected enough to have them be referred to as what they want to be referred to.

Thank you for this video, especially your section on Yamato. I'm a new fan who recently caught up with the story and adored Yamato and his trans representation, but was so disheartened when I went online only to see so many people using she/her pronouns to refer to him. I speak Japanese, and coming out of Wano it felt unquestionably clear that Yamato not only identified as a man but also lived as such in the story, so seeing the prevalence of misgendering him online made me question even engaging with the fandom in the first place. Hearing your staunch stand against the misgendering crowd was refreshing. Thanks again for the analysis and the thought put into things here

I think aroace is what I would personally use for Luffy. After Marineford, Luffy explicitly said that he won't get married, so I assume he doesn't find anyone sexually or romantically attractive. Heck, he's more interested in food than anything else, which is kind of similar to the a-spec community joking about garlic bread. Whether or not people see Luffy as aroace coded, it feels amazing to have a protagonist who is more interested in adventure than romance as well as being a optimistic person. Ace/aro representation is rarely done in manga/anime let alone in media, and when it is portrayed in media, there is often the stereotypes of characters being emotionless or introverted. Luffy is the complete opposite of that. He cares about his friends, is outgoing, and deeply cares about his brothers. And like the series as a whole, it shows how important friendship and the bonds of a family is.

As a trans woman, holy shit Kiku being invited to join the girls on the bath made me cry. It makes me so happy so see her enjoy herself and be accepted and I still think she is by far my favorite character in the series

I really cannot understand how a manga that is full of leftist ideals has a large right wing fanbase, one piece not only has lgbtq themes in text but also doesn't shy away from issues like racism, social injustice, poverty, misogyny, xenophobia, slavery, ableism, government and police, it isa very politically charged manga in itself, i really don't understand

To be fair, the describing text almost always tells the truth when regarding information. It introducing Yamato as Kaido's daughter makes sense, since it's stating a biological fact, not an opinion. Whereas Yamato has introduced himself as Kaido's son, because he decided that he is a man.

Growing up, I was raised with the belief that being on the LGBTQ+ spectrum was a sin. I remember around my middle school years, when I was really trying to decide whether or not this was right, I had started watching One Piece due to a friends recommendation. I remember seeing Bon Clay and having a somewhat negative reaction to him, but overtime as I got to impel down, I found myself absolutely appreciating him as a character. It wasn’t the sole reason for my acceptance and appreciation for LGBTQ+ people, as I mostly attribute that to the friends I’ve made and who have helped me grow as a person, but Bon Clay and Ivankov remind me of how much I have grown past that since then. I absolutely love them as characters and I appreciate and fully support the LGBTQ+ community now!

I think we have to look at this through Luffy’s eyes. Whatever the gender these characters identify with, Luffy accepts it and doesn’t question or debate it. Everyone need to be like Luffy.

Yamato's gender is definitely up for debate, however pronouns do not always correlate with a persons gender and in every official translation Yamato uses he/him pronouns. And, as you stated in the video, Yamato uses masculine self-referential pronouns in the original Japanese as well. So regardless of if Yamato uses he/him pronouns because he wants to be Oden or because he genuinely identifies as a man, as the saying goes; If Kaido can respect Yamato's pronouns, so can you.

I know this isn't the type of content you normally make so I just wanted to say, it means a lot to me, as a queer one piece fan, to see a video like this. I definitely don't think any homophobia/transphobia was intentional on Oda's part, and Kiku is honest to God one of the most respectful and well rounded portrayals of a trans woman I've seen in fiction (love that Sanji genders her correctly, what with his hyper-heterosexuality, lol)

i love the fact that kaido punish yamato for call himself "oden" and not for being he/him and actually call him "his son"

Oda is definitely not perfect, but I feel like even though he's a bit clueless at times he's always been fairly open-minded and willing to show the good in the different. And with more modern additions like O-Kiku, I feel he's really made an effort to be good about queer topics, which I appreciate massively from one of the most influental manga authors ever. Happy Pride Month, everybody!

I like that even at the grossest and most mid-00s representation of trans people, Oda still realized that the appropriate response of queer people to the military is antagonism and revolution.

If I remember correctly Oda watched a drag show and was so entertained it inspired the Rocky Horror element in Impel Down and based Ivankov on the performer at the show.

While I can't comment on the trans, nonbinary, or gay/lesbian rep, I will say that I feel very seen by Luffy as an ace woman. He's still very much a romantic, loves his friends dearly, and finds genuine joy in the world, which is a stereotype that most ace people struggle wih - that we can't truly love someone on a deeper level or we are missing something/something is wrong with us from a natural point of view, if you don't want to have sex. Also, considering most other shounen at the time, it's very endearing that Luffy hasn't a single "pervy" bone in his body compared to someone like Naruto or Soul, without other characters making fun of him for being a prude or something like in Bleach with Ichigo. It's like OP is subtly holding your hand going, "hey. It's okay if you never feel a sexual attraction towards someone. You are still a fun-loving, adventurous, and lovable person, in fact, the mc is one of the most well-loved characters in the whole narrative, that's literally the running joke," and I personally find that wonderful.

As a trans man I really appreciated Kaido never misgendering Yamato and that scene in which he was in the hot springs with all the males fully accepted while Kiku was with the women

I think that one of the reasons why LGBT characters in 'One Piece' aren't discussed is because LGBT characters in anime/manga in general tend to get ignored. This comes from both the left and the right. Homophobes ignore LGBT characters because they want to erase them. But inclusive people tend to ignore gay coding in anime and manga because so much of it is openly homophobic. It's the same phenomenon that causes people to gloss over the many, MANY creepy/sexual-assaulty characters. It's really awkward to discuss them so people tend to pretend they're not there.

I'm a trans man and I absolutely adore Yamato, I hate how the fandom treats him

Absolutely love this video. Especially touching on the fact that oda is, well, a cishet Japanese man. He's a little confused, but i think he genuinely has a deep respect for the queer identity; being silly and free is literally the entire point of the story. I was hoping you'd talk about Luffy, too. The idea that oda especially doesn't understand what he's done there is hilariou; i love it

in regards to yamato: in one piece, he is his own person. trying to label yamato as anything is kind of difficult. he identifies himself as oden, a male. Just because he does something that is either feminine or masculine doesn’t verify or disprove anything. women can wear masculine clothes without it being trans. men can wear feminine clothes without being trans. on the flipside, trans women can wear masculine clothes, and nobody is going to say “well your not really trans” because that would be stupid, the same goes for trans men. yamato is yamato. he doesn’t need to fit into a specific gender role or do things just because “it’s what men normally do”, just like how real trans men don’t have to lift 350 pounds everyday to “be a man”

Yamato has been such an inspiration for me as a trans man myself. He is non- passing but even, so he is still referred to as male. To be honest he was my introduction to one-piece. I was watching something about good trans representation, and he came up, so I decided to watch one-piece bc/ I'm starved for good trans mask rep. That was one of the best dictions I have ever made. Overall, he has helped me feel comfortable when I am not binding.

I cant believe ive never seen anyone mention this before your video, but luffy's always appeared to be aroace to me. He was actually part of the reason i realized that i'm aro because watching him in amazon lily literally felt like watching myself from the third person, and i ended up looking more into it as a result cuz i was like "yo... wait a minute..."

14:52-14:57 To exapand on Bon Kurei's name a bit: In Baroque Works, the codenames of top male agents were numbers(Mr. 0, Mr. 1, Mr. 3 and so on), while codenames of top female agents were holidays/weekdays(Miss Goldenweek, Miss Merry Christmas, Miss Valentine, Miss Wednesday and so on). With Bon Kurei, their full codename is Mr.2 Bon Kurei, showing how they presents both male and female. Bon Kurei comes from two Japanese holidays: O-Bon Festival and Kure(end-of-the-year festivity). Also, while in the manga the back of Bon Kurei's coat reads おかま道, Okama Way, in the anime it was changed to 盆暮れ, Bon Kure. In any case, Bon Kurei is the best!!! BON-CHAAAAAAAN!!!!!

Not LGBT myself, but as an autistic person i heavily relate to that bit at the end with the idea that Luffy copies the reactions of those around him when he's otherwise not sure what to do. Honestly luffy in general i find relatable in that regard. Both luffy and chopper both honestly give me that vibe, even if it's probably handwaved a bit for chopper with him not being human.

Just gonna say this. Kiku being voiced in the english dub by a trans woman was easily one of the best casting choices they could have done

I think the point of Ivankov forcibly turning that man into a women is to illustrate the point that everyone should be entitled to being what they want to be, and by forcing that gender change is to illustrate the constraints of societal expectations of gender that preceded the modern ability to change and to exist however you want. No malice

As a genderfluid soon to be trans woman I've never seen the Kamabakkas as offensive in the slightest, because I always saw how proud they were of them selves and how obviously they cared about Sanji and the whole chasing him stuff to me was never more than a gag playing on how Sanji acts like a dick towards anyone he doesn't want to smash while making it obvious that he cares about them. And with them using terms on semselves which are usually bad words like in german Tunte(Tranny) and wear those usually insulting terms like an honorbadge was a real powermove and showcase of pride in themselves like how weebs simply startet to call themselves weebs proudly. The stereotypical designs of them has also always been something I see as a positive because it shows that they are proudly and unapologetically themself. I always loved all the Queer characters unconditionally and especially the hilarious looking ones were a huge cornerstone in me realizing that I was genderfluid, most of the time feeling to be a woman, and bisexual. My mother doesn't support me in my wish to have my transition from a male to a female body and even wants to forbid me because when I was a kid she never showed enough interest in me to see that I did show signs of queernes that others sometimes did see and I don't know if I had the determination to plan my transition anyway if it wasn't for the huge isnpiration to be myself that I learned from my beloved kamabakkas.

Bon Clay sacrificing themself for everyone TWICE were 2 of the few times I ever cried watching one piece. I thought they died the first time, but the slay queen came back to us… only to be one of the best characters and save everyone again. I’d say they’re like my 3rd favorite character overall 😭 just like the thumbnail, queers never die

as a pre-T trans man with a large chest, I love Yamato so much. It reminds me that I can confidently say my pronouns despite how I look, and I can be strong and honorable, even if I don't feel that way sometimes because my body is uncomfortable. He's a good character, his struggle with Kaido reminds me of my struggle with my parents, and I cherish him so much.

Man, Woman, I don't really care but someone has to tell Yamato that identity theft is a serious crime.

as a transfemme, One Piece in general means so much to me, and is my favourite piece of media ever. When I saw Kamabakka island I was indiferent about thinking of it as a joke, then when I realized that i am woman I felt weird about it. Mainly, I felt it was a bit of misrepresentation fo transfwomen since it can be seen as that. I am still feeling iffy about it, but I think it is mainly since I am very self aware about passing or not (this being a main topic of conditions of my mom basically saying if I want to transition I must to pass, adding pressure about it) and I see my insecurities being shown as being unapologetically themselves. I feel is empowering but still I am not confortable with the whole gag. I think Oda excuted Kiku perfectly, it feels like the best kind of representation. I was so happy when I read the bath scene with Kiku being in the women's bath and Yamato in the men's. It feels right to have them there. I feel seen by Kiku, since she is so tall and slender and makes me feel a little more confortable with my body. I guess there's kind of irony there with ny user name

Okiku is such a W for representation. Honestly she's probably my fave example of a trans character from any piece of media. It's especially cool that she has that historical basis too

Cishet male One Piece readers' hesitance to accept Yamato's manhood clashes noticeably with those same readers' willingness to accept Kikunojo's womanhood. I believe that this contradiction reveals the crux of the matter: attraction. Their fragile thinking goes something like this: "Of course Kikunojo is a woman, I find them attractive! But there's no way Yamato is a man, since I ALSO find them attractive! Can't we all just agree to call Yamato a tomboy?" It's ego-soothing. Many, MANY men become extremely defensive when their understanding of their own sexuality and/or attraction is challenged. They'll believe just about anything to keep themselves from asking a tough question like "how can it be that I find myself attracted to the presentation of a man when I've considered myself straight for my whole life?" A lot of men will choose denial, rather than accept that some people of the same gender as themselves will present in a manner that they find attractive. Thus, Kiku gets to be a woman but Yamato MUSTN'T be acknowledged as a man. It is ridiculous queerphobia that MUST be contested. Speaking as a cishet man myself, I welcome the kind of questions that a character like Yamato presents us: what's wrong with a man having a knock-out bod? Not a DAMN thing, that's what!!

nothing hit me harder in one piece than ennies lobby, the way robin is treated for both her knowledge and devil fruit powers is scarily close to how trans people are treated in the world and sauls words about finding people who will accept her and care for her no matter what really hit me like a truck. it was all wrapped up by the one flashback line telling her "Your whole existence is nothing but a crime" its one of the most powerful scenes in the show imo even if the idea of representation wasnt meant its felt through my whole soul

I think "unintentionally offensive but means well" perfectly describes Oda's humour. Most of the time, he always means well but ended up be a bit offensive. Which ironically embodies Luffy as well to since he always means well but ended up say or do things in the most offensive or hurtful way. Like saying how he dislikes Coby for being a coward. Oda himself always drive home the message of acceptance towards the different, eccentric, weird or outcasts. But in order to showcased them, he ended up made them overly weird which can come across as offensive. For example Abdullah, Jeet and Suleiman can be considered as a muslim and arab stereotype. They're violent, joke-ish and borderline crazy but ended up became a great ally to the SH. As muslim and half-Arab, I love their characters and the fact that there is a muslim/arabic representation that aren't overtly racist or portrayed as the bad guys/ weak victims that can't fend for themselves.

I'd say you were pretty spot on. All in all, it's about the freedom of choice and to be whoever you want to be, and no show represents that freedom better than One Piece

the “forced transition” was a merciful punishment for a guy that literally just tried to assassinate Iva with a bazooka… yet still a great way to show how truly intimidating and powerful Iva is. I think that scene belonged 100% as part of our introduction to that character!

The thing is, IMO, that Oda knows that gender and sexuallity is not something black and white. The "confusion" people have around these characters wheter they are male or female, or if the island of gay man who dresses as women, is just futile. There are people who identify as male, but another time female, and back again. There are gay man who are really predatory and there are those who aren't, 'couse there are respectful and disrespectful people in all parts of society, but they can still be lovable. The thing is, it is not one, two or whatever dimensional, its a kaleidoscope that doesn't really need a label, if not for people who don't live this reallity to understand. So, I think Oda empowers the queer spectrum by not labeling into this or that all characters, they just exist.

Another point regarding Yamato's pronouns is that they're consistent across multiple languages. Every official translation of the manga and the anime uses he/him pronouns, so there's definitely a guideline in place regarding that

I don’t usually comment but I just wanna say this was a very good analysis of the queer themes and I love the fact that queer people can find so much joy and reflection in my favourite story. Here’s to hoping Oda keep growing in this regard and so does your channel, Mel!

i feel its mostly Oda learning how to be a good ally as opposed to him playing up gags, he never understood the damage of them Okama island and putting Sanji there.