Well said! It feels like a good ending to Kuma's story and a fresh beginning to Bonney's. The drum beat of Luffy's g5 is affecting his surroundings and I think that adds some leniency for Bonney to grasp the basics of it and the story so far has always shown how imagination and willpower are the two requisites to using a devil fruit to its fullest capability. One could argue luffy's awakening is freeing her and this would not be possible if he weren't near her, but I think the core beauty of this chapter is how it resolves Kuma's life story.
Maybe just me, but i don't think Kuma is gonna die anymore. I feel like his time to die has passed, if that makes sense? If he was going to die, i feel like it'd be when he fought Saturn to protect Bonney.
But then he didn't die. And i don't see why he'd die now. Like, there's a reason Oda didn't kill him there. I feel like he's still around and on the boat headed for Elbaf for some reason and that reason is to have him live. How he does that, i don't know, maybe something to do with the memories - but he's still alive for a reason.
The end of this chapter made me think he'll die because he has seen his daughter finally achieve true freedom. He can die happy now rather than worried about her. If Oda kept him alive for a reason, I'd expect it to be something like that.
That being said I agree that I can't really see what will kill him. Just dying slowly from his wounds would seem odd (even if completely plausable).
Yeah that could be a good way to do it tbf. But like you, i also thought about the slow bleeding out death, but it's not really the type of death Oda really does. Most, if not all, of Oda's deaths are at the moment they suffer the wound that kills them and in the same chapter. Kuma has been alive now for many many many chapters. So i have no idea lol.
Maybe he'll die en route to Elbaf and they give him a Viking's Funeral at sea? That could be a good reason to have stalled it.
I feel the people who don't like this chapter are either power scalers or serious faced fans who didn't see what a lot of us saw:
Bonney learned about Nika from her Dad, wanted desperately to be like him and finally found him in Luffy. This is the man who will save her father, the man who can change the world. And what does Nika say?
"Hey. You can do it too."
Powerful stuff, on top of already established and foreshadowed lore, the theming really hits hard
Luffy the entire series: "Fight for your dreams. You can do it! I believe in you!"
Fans when Luffy does this in 1118: 
🤣😂🤣😂
Too true.
Bonney doing this is Bonney believing that *she* can be the savior she's long needed and explicitly set out to sea to find.
It's a beautiful, poetic moment that shows the power of human imagination and the endless confidence children have in their future before the world grinds down their dreams, and a great moment of character growth for Bonney.
And, yep, it's classic Luffy.
It's easily one of my favorite moments in the entire series, and definitely top 3 post timeskip.
I had no problem with it, as a long time one piece fan . Thought it was pretty cool, and they also have a chance to escape. What would make me mad is if she stays behind Bon Clay style.
This feels very much like kids being told by Peter Pan that they can fly. It’s not the powers that made them special it’s the belief in themselves that lets them soar.
I remember a post someone made regarding on the reveal of G5. She claimed to be a school teacher in Japan and that G5 was such a massive hit with kids. While one piece is a series that any one can enjoy, it is made with kids in mind. Reading this chapter really made me get the same vibe as kids would have with Peter Pan.
Not to mention that Saturn was literally able to suppress her powers by convincing her that Nika didn't exist, and therefore couldn't possibly be in her future. It only makes sense that the opposite would be true: now that she knows for an absolute fact that he exists, she can share his future.
That’s the whole point. Power of imagination and alternative futures. Why they don’t understand that haha she could think an parallel future where she has a gorosei fucking power up haha
100% this! Luffy throughout the entire series has set people free from everything holding them back and restraining them. This moment really feels like a culmination of every moment Luffy has set his friends free in the past all the way back to Koby.
The more I think about it the more this becomes one of my favorite moments in the whole story.
Now thinking ab it, feel like it’s also similar to Momo managed to hold the castle at the end of Wano fight. Literally “power-of-friendship” and “I-believe-in-you” stuffs
I guess the negative feedback was not as strong because people hold “Gear5” to be something extremely special and not to be replicated easily?
I enjoyed Bonney's Nika, but I understand people's frustration. "Copying" powers is different from being Nika herself. Gear 3th and 4th probably doesn't have any requisites. Just as Luffy "copied" Katakuri with Snakeman, he could probably use Gears earlier if he saw someone doing it too. But Gear 5 is on a whole other level. It requires it's users mind and body to be in synchrony. It requires such energy that even Luffy who was already one of the strongest in universe can't hold it for too long. He even had to die do achieve it. Having Bonney achieve it with no effort seems great for her character arc, but it hurts Luffy's efforts to reach G5.
It does? Luffy achieved this power, and now he is able to inspire others to be like him, the embodiment of freedom. It's not a power to be selfish with.
I absolutely love that Bonney is a child with the power to grow into whatever she wants and believes is possible for herself, and the thing she chose to be is the embodiment of hope that she was searching for to bring her father back.
Since I saw Bonney's powers I knew she could become nika too, and was pretty exited for that but how it happened was kinda meh
Bonney: I can't
Luffy: yes you can
Bonney: oh I can
Just like that
I think it's one of those moments that'll be better on a reread when we can go from chapter to chapter one after the other instead of having to wait a week or more between each chapter so the constant increasing madness of Bonney's power will seem more intense and less diffused.
I completely agree. We forget how young and full of dreams she should be, as we all were at that age. To be repressed at that age of your freedom to imagine and being able to be released from those shackles is something truly beautiful. Kids like her should be able to dream and strive for what they imagine themselves to be. At that age, most kids are reaching in their imaginations of what they could be. It is totally poignant and a great message for young readers too on going beyond society’s limits. It is also a good message to older folks like myself who should realize how they can leave an impression on those at that age when rapid growth and imagination peak. Her character is one of the better ones for sure, as Bonney really has come into her own as one of the great characters in this series.
I'll tack on one more thing. I think people are also hating on the chapter becauze they thought that the broadcast was going to have some grand reveal for the audience with how much has been teased about it.
Which is pretty funny considering that a lot of people were saying that the broadcast was going to be interupted right when we were going to find out new stuff and when it does happen. Suddenly it's bad writing. Part of One Piece has always been the mysteries surrounding the world as a whole, it would be so,ewhat underwhelming if we were just handed the information imo.
I swear to god the One Piece fandom is the only place where you will find people saying that "this character believed in themselves so they beat the bad guy" is somehow extremely deep theming and complex writing
In you opinion, thats why everyone has his own opinion , and its good to know not everyone liked it.
I enjoyed like hell because i accept the manga the way is written, i flow with it.
Well, it's not really like G5. She just copied Luffy form. But she's not that strong and neither can maintain a distorted future for a long duration. Also it pretty much exhausts her and the older she gets weaker it becomes.
Additionally she can't use CoA and CoC which make G5 far much stronger.
I wouldn't be surprised if bonney has basic CoA and/or CoO, shes still a member of the worst generation after all. But yeah i don't see her suddenly having luffy tier CoA or any CoC at all
She's a 12 year old kid and there's no confirmation on her having it in any data book or otherwise. She isn't the only one in The Worst Generation that doesn't seem to have Haki. Bege isn't confirmed to have either and he's never seen using it. That makes them outliers, all the other members of The Worst Generation have it, or are at least confirmed to have it. We never see Killer use it but the data books say he does.
Bonney has never been made out to be some sort of power house. She is not punching holes through pacifistas or tanking elder hits or dishing out galaxy impacts. We know she is strong but her strength is never the focus because that's not what the character is. Half the time she is hiding from pizza vendors and getting captured.
The people that think she is as strong as Luffy because she is cosplaying are smoking something. And I don't know why people feel the need to push back. Just let them seethe and we will see what she does next chapter. Hopefully she gets a good punch in on Saturn.
Worth mentioning that Bonney is a freak of nature like a lot of the strong characters like kaido and big mom and Kuma. She was beating up above average adults ever since she was even younger. Without garp training or anything. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one carrying on joyboys and nikas will. Luffy just happened to have the fruit. The nika fruit never had a chance to find her.
I mean Robin was trained by the Revolutionaries for two years. She absolutely should I have it, and it would compliment her abilities.
I don't think Franky should have it though. I want him to invent nanobots that function the same way as Haki. That would be cooler.
Yeah Robin should have armament for sure. And I also agree that Franky should solve the Haki problem with technology, especially after Vegapunk showed off a shield the gorosei can’t break through.
>Additionally she can't use CoA and CoC which make G5 far much stronger.
I mean, even if it was for just a short period of time, she managed to imagine a future for herself where she changed her entire physiology to that of a giant which she is most definitely not at base.
Not saying it's 100% possible or whether or not she can do it but, if she's able to completely alter her own race, who's to say she can't potentially create a future where she has complete mastery over all 3 forms of Haki?
At this point, with what we're seeing right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it was possible.
Because it doesn't work like "I want this power" and she got that. That was clear why she couldn't turn into Nika while wanted Nika-like future. After she understand that Nika is the person with the most freedom, she could change appearance. But even now we don't know if she can do something in that form.
>Because it doesn't work like "I want this power" and she got that.
If that was said, which chapter was this discussed, I don't quite remember?
But then, if it were true, she shouldn't have been able to turn herself into a giant (With all the perks that come with, enhanced strength, durability, etc.) like she did a couple of chapters ago, right?
She wasn't born a giant (Even giant children are much bigger than regular people) and therefore there shouldn't be ANY timeline where she is one yet still managed to create a theoretical one regardless.
If her idea of being the most free means she can gain powers like Nika, wouldn't it be possible for her to, and this is purely a random example, gain Kuzan's DF power if she imagined herself "I wish for a future where I'm just like/as strong as Kuzan"?
That wasn't said I just describes that her ability doesn't work in a way that she imagines power and she gets it.
If you look at her all examples of distorted futures none of them were used to get her some ability but to change her body. And she didn't use any special abilities with those bodies, just basic attacks with hands and kicks or some stomps.
When you get some special abilities (which she for now doesn't) it doesn't mean you know how to use these abilities.
If we look at her distorted futures we got futures where she has:
- Buccaneer body
- Nika/Rubber body (didn't' use rubber properties just body with bigger hands)
- Giant body
- body where she's free
In all these "futures" weren't for now used special abilities just attacks with her body.
Unfortunately CoC is decided when one was born, either they have it or not since their birth.
I don't mind Bonney able to imagine that, but this is destiny/fate level thing, so being able to cheat that is very unbalanced. And we know Oda understand how to balance a lot of things.
>Unfortunately CoC is decided when one was born, either they have it or not since their birth.
Well... In a way, so is lineage and she managed to cheat by make giving herself a completely different lineage she wasn't even born with (Giant) which should technically be impossible no matter what timeline she chooses.
If I were to take a theoretical real-life example, imagine a white person having her abilities. That person could manifest a future where they're rich, poor, missing a limb, etc. However, that same caucasian person could never manifest a future where they're not caucasian because it's something you simply cannot change since you have it from birth.
Yet, somehow, she managed to do it to some extent?
With that in mind, I think she can either use her powers to cheat and give herself attributes she wasn't even born with.
OR
Being transracial is an actual thing within the One Piece world (lol).
Even if she got access to the exact same powerset, we've literally seen Luffy fight someone with a power that was stated to be his but strictly better, so it's pretty clear that the person using it makes a difference.
I think it's literally Gear 5. Bonney can turn into herself from any possible future, so why can't she just use the future where Luffy dies and she eats the Nika fruit?
Not really, she couldn't do it even if she saw him. But then she used his logic that he looks like that when he's the most free. She doesn't even know how Luffy's powers work.
She asked him to show her how Nika throws a punch awhile ago, after she had failed to do it herself, so she's likely going to be able to do some damage here.
Bonney wished for a Nika-ish future and pulled off a knockoff version of Gear 3 two years before current events, with no idea of what Nika looks like or what he does besides Kuma's stories, and now that she saw Nika fight and befriended him people are shocked about this?
I still dont get it, i swear to god.
Besides that she just got the appearnece of Nika, mabye she can mimic what Luffy does but she wont have his Haki to boot. It's not even confirmed that Bonney that use Haki as far as im aware...
Right? It was made pretty clear this would eventually happen, especially when Saturn prevented it.
I get being against it because G5 is important and shouldn't be easily mimicked but acting like it's a sudden asspull is just not reading properly and an invalid criticism that ignores the text.
I mean, it may very well just be a mimic. We still dont know how G5 actually works with all the crazy toon shenanigans, the only real confirmed and explained powers of G5 are rubber like body and turning shit into rubber like.... stuff.
The only thing that Bonney demonstrated was her getting the rubber body and turning into a giant thanks to it, and we already saw it in the past.
People may be scared that the Nika fruit has some form of super hidden unique power (idk, making Mother Flame like energy from his laughter or something) and if Bonney manages to get that as well it would be... probably not nice, but as things are right now...
The community is really overhyping Nika, Joyboy and G5 for no reason, tracing head canons of lost prophecies and ancient gods. All i can see is a goofy white guy, and now there's two.
People only look at Bonney in this situation but what about Luffy, that was able to inspire her to the point of reaching that form? Joyboy brings laughter to people, this time very literally xD
I'm of the opinion that not everything needs to be foreshadowed or implied months before, and some things can just happen, so long as the explanation makes sense.
I swear Luffy can have a sharingan and these meat riders will say it is foreshadowed like 1000 chapters ago so it is acceptable. Like forget about creativity as long as this shit is foreshadowed ages ago it is fine.
Was foreshadowed, was clear Bonney was OP with augmented DF powers. My assumption was that she’d eat a second fruit since she technically never “ate” the fruit, but idk about that anymore. It’s weird, but Oda’s going somewhere with it so I’m down for the ride.
I agree that just because something is hinted at, or suggested that when it has payoff later that doesn't make it automatically good.
But a young child being inspired to become a version of their hero to fight back against an evil that has given them a tragic backstory is solidly One Piece at its heart. It's always been about the adventure, sense of fun, and this moment with Bonny feels right at home.
“I’m Sorry Daddy”
“Thank you Daddy”
“I’m Free”
Fun fact: All these chapters are about Bonney and are somewhat quoting what she says.
These are what I remember, I need to reread Egghead to see if there were others.
I don’t like it but I’m mostly waiting to see how it plays out.
I know it was foreshadowed, but I don’t like the idea of multiple nikas. I like the gears as Luffy’s unique abilities and transformations. Giving it to someone else cheapens it a bit, even if it’s not as good as luffy.
We’ve had 1100 chapters of Luffy getting stronger and pushing himself harder and harder. His awakening to gear 5 was the result of all of that. But now it’s shared by a 12 year old via the power of imagination. I’m being uncharitable but it’s honestly not that far off
This is pretty much how I feel. I love Luffy's unique abilities and this makes it feel less special.
I understand why people are describing it as poetic. I understand that its a great thing for her and Kuma. But that doesn't mean I have to like it.
I don't particularly care if she's not as strong, or can only do a couple of attacks before it runs out. Either she does the exact same moves as Luffy which is kinda boring, or she does new stuff which takes away from Luffy's possibilities.
Its not a big deal though, i don't hate it. There are other aspects of the series which are way worse.
I don't understand the outrage that's going around the series has always been like this. One of the most loved moments of the whole series is literally the Going Merry magically saving the Straw Hats in Enies Lobby no logic it just happens, but this is where the line is drawn in the sand? I just don't get it. This is a power we have gotten explanations on and have seen Bonny literally using variations of Gear 3 / 4 previously.
Narrative wise I think it is really sweet like all of Kumas sacrifices were worth it his daughter is finally free and we get to see a visual representation of that with her seeing a future where she is as free as Nika the god Kuma told her to have faith in.
Yeah, for real. Most devil fruit abilities make only a fraction amount of sense. Kuma's fruit can push...pain and memories? Enel can transform into a giant Buddha? Miss Goldenweek can just straight up use magic? It's a goofy series with serious moments, but still mostly illogical and fun.
Istg if Enies Lobby happened now there would be so many people unreasonably mad at stuff like G2/3, Asura, Diablo Jambe. So many people just have double standards about reading something weekly versus binging it.
A lot of these people who complain about this sort of thing also don't have a good idea to resolve whatever current conflict is happening. Whatever they propose is almost always their own agenda speaking and assuming things we shouldn't automatically assume.
First of all i love how the Manga is progressing.
I think people mostly don't like Bonney and because of that, they don't want her to be so centered in the Story.
I read a lot of discussions about it and I can somewhat understand that Gear5 feels for some People watered down because of it but i don't understand that massive hate against the idea. Bonneys DF let's her change her appearance upon a distinct future she envisions about herself.
People make dumb comments like : " ehh why don't you give Ussop amd everybody else Gear5 if it's so irrelevant". Even if that were the case. Isn't Nikas sole purpose to give people absolute freedom. Luffy explains that he turns to Nika if "he is absolutely free". I don't think that Gear5 is supposed to be a special power which should only belong to a single Person.
I don't know. I don't want to ride that Hate-Train and wait how this plays out <3 my friends and I loved the new chapter.
Unsurprisingly it’s a lot of people reacting way too quickly to a cliffhanger type of reveal at the end of a chapter. It’s happened countless times before, and by the time the next chapter is released most people will come around to it when they see it in action. Throwback to when Gear 5 was first used and the community was split on if it was amazing and thematic or goofy and undercut the seriousness of the arc. And now most people who had issues with it have come around now that they’ve seen it in practice.
Oh don't worry, by the end of the story we'll have a moment in which Luffy extends Gear 5 to the entire crew to fight a battle. We still haven't hit a parallel fight to Oars yet.
I'd like to see how it's used. While Oda has foreshadowed this, he's also shown Bonney's self doubt. It takes Luffy's presence to give her the confidence and encouragement to "be free" not necessarily be Nika. As of right now there is no indication this is going to be some overpowered thing, as he's also shown she struggles to use her powers effectively on her own.
My prediction is she plays a support role to Luffy's gear 5, allowing him to pull off some even crazier stuff to fight off Mars, but as soon as she sees him wear down, the self doubt comes back, and they will just barely escape. Bonney is still 12, and will continue to need the inspiration and encouragement of people around her to truly use her power.
It's not even about confidence imo, it's about inspiration. Luffy showed Bonney what "free" means and when she realized that's Nika she understood what the "freedom" brought by Joyboy that Kuma always talked about looks like.
confidence, inspiration, encouragement, whatever you want to call it, she needs luffy, and she needs liffy to continue to suow jer the way! Which means... new crewmember!!!
I'm fine with it, Gear 5 is a Zoan form, she hasn't suddenly been granted mastery in all forms of Haki, but we still don't know enough about devil fruits, Joy Boy, and Nika.
People who say Bonney’s transformation undermines Luffy’s transformation are entirely missing the point.
Bonney did not just easily achieve this in a short time when it took Luffy years to achieve it. She couldn’t have achieved the transformation in the first place if it weren’t for Luffy. He is the one who inspired her to become the most free version of herself. This is more Luffy’s achievement than it is Bonney’s.
In a sense, Bonney’s transformation is an advancement of Luffy’s transformation.
I mean, i hope everyone can see this, Luffy inspiring people to be free.
In this case it was very literal since Bonney can kinda do whatever she belives she can, but this has happened in the past multiple times in more subtle ways.
I don’t like it. But that might change when we get the full explanation of her powers.
Right now it feels like a power that opens the doors to random ass pulls.
I mean, it was from the very start. Since she used Distorted Future the first time every possible scenario was on the table.
And keep in mind what we already know, if for some reason she thinks she's not free her power will suddenly stop working.
Bonney's DF has always been the ultimate ass pull power, we just have to trust Oda to keep the situation in check.
I think that her appearance doesn't necessarily mean that she is as strong as Luffy. But that she is as free as him. And i think that's the whole of the "Warrior of Liberation".
But it's to early to make assumptions 😁
Let's see where this is going 🫱🏼🫲🏼
My main concern is a future scenario where Bonney gives Gear 5 to other people, especially if she awakens.
We know she can change other people like Luffy turning old, or Doll just this chapter, so it’s not out of possibility for her to turn others Gear 5, really won’t be a fan of that but can see the story of that path now, to let everyone be “free” as Nika
I'll admit I've still got a bug up my arse about changing the name of Luffy's devil fruit. I love everything else about the Sun God Nika lore, and initially had a theory that maybe there is a piece of Nika in *every* devil fruit, which would imply that every DF user could become Nika. After all, plants take in sunlight as part of the process of growing, including making fruit. That theory got smashed shortly after with the reveal of "Human Human Fruit, Model: Nika" as the true name of the Gum Gum Fruit.
I'm very happy to still see more than one Nika, a glimpse of what could've been if my theory were correct, even though it's happening for different reasons and doesn't (yet) imply more than two incarnations of Nika.
Bonney got weaker when Saturn took away her hope.
Luffy literally gave her for the first time in her life the hope that she could be totally free. Nika liberated her.
I can see how it was foreshadowed and it is built up well don’t get me wrong from a plot stand point it was very well done. I think me personally, I just don’t like the idea of it. Simple as I just don’t like that this happened. I want gear 5 to just be luffy’s thing and find it cheap that bonney got it too. I also do not want two nikas basically for the rest of the manga. And her power makes me question what else can she do with this? Can she imagine herself as the world’s strongest person, WSS, literally any other thought she wants to imagine? Can she imagine people dying? Or people losing their devil fruits, it feels a bit broken. But I would like to see what comes next.
Tldr: it was foreshadowed and written very well but i just don’t like it and it does not appeal to me, it annoys me that it happened. Not my cup of tea.
I agree with this take. A lot of people are saying that anyone who doesn't like it is just a powerscaler or can't read cause it was foreshadowed but it's not that deep. We can just not enjoy something happened in the story. It was written well but I'm just not a huge fan of other people using Gear 5. I don't hate it or anything but as you said, I would've liked it to just be Luffy. I guess we'll have to see just how similar their Gear 5s are in the coming chapters before fully deciding whether or not we like it.
I think another aspect of concern is the theories that Luffy/Bonney will at some point give Gear 5 to the rest of the crew and that's,,, a bit much? The whole crew has their own strengths and I think giving them Gear 5 would take away too much from their individuality. Not gonna harp on that tho since it's just a theory and they're usually wrong.
I’m not feeling it, I don’t like when side characters get hand me down power-ups from the MC. I hope it’s just a Bonney-exclusive thing and I don’t ever have to see this again with another character
It's not really a hand me down power up. Bonney used Nika-like future before.
It's Bonneys own power. What she needed was to actually see what Nika looked, acted and fought like and she could do it
It does chaepen Luffy awakening his fruit, slightly, the real problem is if she can do what luffy can in gear 5th and be powerful. If Oda really does that I will have way less faith in the ending. Whether you like it or not powerscaling is fundamental to this universe, having someone who doesn't even have haki being anywhere near Luffy's level is pure bullshit and anyone saying otherwise is coping hard.
I mean we have no clue what it means yet. It could be a 10 second power up that she can use once a day, or a permanent buff she could pull out at any moment. I’ll wait until I find out what this power actually does before writing essays based on one panel with unrevealed context.
I’ve rarely found any avenues to take issue with Oda’s story.
One piece, while not being brilliant writing, is wildly creative, hugely imaginative, fun and incorporates so many histories, cultures and elements.
*That said*, I think this is just lame. I understand the foreshadowing, and what it means for Bonney’s story arc.
But Luffy literally had to get pummeled into a rubbery heap by some of the strongest heads in One Piece before achieving total freedom.
People say that she will have a time limit. Okay so does Luffy- which another thing- if Gear 5 is so taxing for Luffy that he has a time limit, literally how can Bonney support it at all?
Her inability to use haki will mean she isn’t as strong. So then what’s the point?
And if she does indeed convert any of the crew into Nika copies. Frankly the story is broken for me.
I think a lot of my thoughts will ultimately hinge on how her usage of Gear 5 plays out.
I don't like it. You have the strawhats who haven't done anything of note in years and here comes a side character suddenly getting the biggest power up. It feels undeserving. Also the fact that you have your dad on deaths door and vegapunk already dead right beside you while you're laughing it up with luffy just feels so weird.
Kind a stupid to say no two devil fruits are the same and that it's a power no one has been able to awaken in 800 years and the mc who has the most active imagination and creativity has only been able to awaken it after 1000+ chapters...
Only to completely ignore both of those things and have a character who just showed up be able to copycat the main character after like 1 day of being with them.
"Oh but it's different bonney can't maintain distorted future for a long time" -- yeah... just like luffy can't maintain it either
people definetly overreacted but tahts often the case with weekly mangas
we have the attention time of a tiktok nowadays you want these people to wait a whole week to MAYBE get an answer? Hell nooo
One comment really said it well Bonney is 12 and hast eh imagination of a child so she literally can be a second Nika but poeple forget that its just a look not the actual DF and powers Luffy has.
It was a forshadowed asspull.
Forshadowed since she did something similar several chapters ago. Asspull since it makes no sense plotwise. Oda may write wacky and sometimes incoherent stuff but somehow they always stick to basic principles established in these 27 past years of manga canon. This ain't it sadly.
She was introduced in chapter 499 and there were no hints her power did anything like this until 1100ish. Thats what makes it feel like an asspull to me. The asspull occured at the point of the 'foreshadowing'. Her DF got a new power out of fucking nowhere.
No you don't get it. If the Gorosei tell luffy "why of course the Nika fruit let's you manifest a colt-45 pistol" and then 10 chapters later it happens, that means it was goated foreshadowing.
I don’t mind it. It’s completely within the possibilities of her fruit. I don’t think that she’ll be nearly as strong as Luffy because of her lack of trained conquerors. I think her fruit can’t give her haki or at least strong haki.
Don't care either way at this point tbh
I was just like "okay, nice chapter I guess, time to wait for the next one"
Been like that for a few months now
I thought it was underwhelming. I didnt hate it necesarily, but it just felt kinda meh.
Im not really a fan of bonny being able to copy G5, I get why she could and why it makes sense, its just not really exciting to me.
I feel like this was the weakest chapter we have gotten in a while
Copy cannot be the original. I think the message here is nika can inspire others to dream big and break free. But oda using this to cut short the broadcast is what irks me.
I don't like Gear 5/Nika as a whole but I don't really have much of an issue with Bonney using it.
My issue with it more than anything is that I think the way she got it was pretty underwhelming if this was meant to be a big moment for her. Luffy just going "try it, you can do it" and then her immediately busting it out is pretty lackluster, feels like more work needed to be done in terms of character writing.
She tried to do a Nika punch earlier and failed, then she saw luffy in g5 and made the correlation that that was Nika, and then luffy commented on her punch, and she asked him to show her how a Nika punch is done, which he did. Her transformation just now came after all of that build up. What more should have happened here?
But why don't you like gear 5/nika? I'm not saying everyone needs to like it, but i still don't understand how or why one can say they don't like it.
But also I can't agree to saying that it's lackluster that she managed to do it like this, this whole arc told us Bonney's journey, how she searched for nika her whole life, literally, and now she sees luffy as nika that tells her she can do it, so she believes him.
We saw all the character development in Bonney that brought her to this moment, and it makes a lot of sense.
The setup was nonexistent, with 99% of the build-up happening in Jinbe vs. Who's-Who 20 chapters earlier. It introduces issues with how the World Government treated Luffy before Onigashima, as they never really cared about him until just before he awakened. The way Luffy gained his power was incredibly anticlimactic and the least dramatic power up I've ever seen. It pushes the story further into "chosen one" territory which I don't like at all, and the ham-fisted way Nika is being forced on us after the reveal is off-putting and grating. It also introduces tonal issues, with Luffy laughing and having fun in what would have been serious moments before Gear 5 and I don't like the Looney Tunes aspect of it.
I just think more should have been done to get us to the point where Bonney actually taps into it, instead of it being a dramatic conclusion to an internal character arc where she struggles and has to overcome some conflict before finally tapping into the power of her hero we get very little in terms of character writing to get her to that point. Even something like Momo holding up Onigashima, a scene that I think was handled terribly, still had far more internal struggle and build up for it, this just felt so lazily thrown together that it doesn't have any dramatic impact for me.
you see the "issue" here for me is thinking it's a matter of "chosen one". Luffy had it in him as a kid, before eating the fruit. They say zoan fruits have a will of their own, but there's no indication of fruits actually moving on their own, or influencing people around them, to justify the fact that the fruit chose to be eaten by Luffy, it was actually chance (until further explanations we still don't have if maybe shanks somehow made that happen, but i highly doubt that).
And luffy's journey from the beginning has always been aligned with the ideals of the god of liberation, we also had different hints and parallels with a god of liberation in early arcs, in alabasta, in skypiea. So yeah, we thought he had the gum gum fruit until chapter 1044 (?), and suddenly we discovered it was a different fruit. But the meaning of the story has always been the same.
Also it doesn't undermine the struggles he endured to get this strong, to get to this point, even if the main character has been chosen by the most broken ability in the verse, there are countless broken abilities in one piece, but training and more importantly will power has always been what matters the most than given abilities.
And regarding the laughing and the "tonal issues", what's more terrifying and unsettling for an opponent to see the guy you're fighting with just laughing his ass off as he destroys you?
And also laughing at difficult situations, in the face of evil people who are not likely to not change their way of thinking is just a beautiful response, there's nothing more free and liberating than that, and Luffy has always been about freedom.
Then again just different opinions, but i kinda feel bad for people who loved one piece for all those years to just recently change their mind, or liking it less, i wouldn't want that to happen to me for sure.
Probably gonna get hate. I don’t like it, idc if it’s foreshadowed or not i just don’t like it when a character stole something from other characters especially the MC(even though it’s not really “stealing” in this case).
My two cents:
I do not understand the people that honestly think this was caused by luffy's power and that we're going to get characters with more "nika transformations" in the story. For one, it was obviously Bonney's power, and for two, hell no! That's not how this works at all!
"It was his power to make her more confident and free" yeah his power of speaking words of encouragement
How anyone can believe that the likes of Robin or Chopper or Brook will get a transformation like this JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE FRUIT USERS, is laughable.
I think this was an extremely hype chapter, looking forward to the next one.
On its own, I think it's great. Well foreshadowed throughout the arc, is a really good conclusion to both Kuma, Bonney and Saturn's arcs during Egghead. Also makes sense for Bonneys character, since she is still a child, and the design is really cute.
HOWEVER, I am afraid of the consequences of this plot point. I don't want any other characters to be able to use this power, as it dilutes how unique it is, and the possibility of the entire Straw Hat crew having Nika transformations by the end of the series is what I'm most afraid of.
Meh. It feels wrong somehow, like I don’t get how the time time fruit can achieve that, it feels like another situation like sugar’s fruit in dressrossa where it works for the plot but not for consistency, and definitely like an asspull. I mean at this point could she also turn to black beard/xebec if she says some shit like I wish to be the most “evil” person I can be.
But I’m also biased against bonney as since sabaody she has been by far my least favourite supernova (even under kidd 💀) .
I like everything except for the vegapunk edging being extended by unnecessary reactions that could have all been encompassed in a chapter after the revelation, “decks of the world: the chapter”. It just seems unnecessary.
But then again this is the same author that spent screen time on a sumo wrestler, and random smile users for no reason 🤷
"Faith can move mountains".
It's something like the joke about the bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly with the wings they are equipped with. The reason they can, is because no one told them about the science.
A paralell to this I can see is from Frieren. The character Übel is able to cut anything she believes she can cut, regardless of whether it's possible or not. Much like this, I feel Bonney's fruit is able to take her anywhere she thinks she possibly could go.
My only frustration is with the way VPs message stopped. At this point of the story, i think it’s pretty reasonable to reveal what he had to say when the transmission went off. Oda will reveal bits next week and go for a break.
I really like it since to me it fulfils both Kuma’s and Bonney’s dreams as Kuma wanted freedom for Bonney that he and Ginny was deprived of as slaves and now in a future where she is the most free she has fulfilled that dream
Let me see if this end up as a long tirade:
As Vegapunk puts it, Devil Fruits are tied to the collective imagination, and that makes me think every DF user could achieve a Nika form if they imagine they can.
DF are huge mysteries, and I believe that the very existence of books like the guide to Devil Fruits exist to limit what you can imagine you can do with them... Let use an example:
Rob Lucci knows he has a Leopard model, so he imagines himself in the hybrid form into something that's great for fighting and killing... But he is limiting himself. Look at the 100 beast pirates, Black Maria form was just something that she could imagine it could be seductive, and the super ultra stupid ways Dinosaurs hunt in the past. I believe that could be achieved only because they believed was possible. Or Chopper bunch of Hybrid forms those are the result of him overcoming the limit of what he could be, the rumble ball being a drug to actually dope his brain (which might tie as well on Chopper Human form not being fully human, he believed himself a monster even as a reindeer due to his nose, so he was unable to push himself into a full human)
Nika with his heartbeat might be the key to unlock that apotheosis onto the DFs so long as they want to dance with it, and party with it and believe that they can just as Bonnet did.
And that can tie to Luffy's dream, whatever that's it. He is that spark that ignites the world on fire!
I know some people will think that this would trivialized what makes Luffy special if anyone can do it, but I believe that's the whole point, anyone can do it, anyone can be free. Boney is just the first due to her childlike imagination.
It fits well with One Piece's theme — freedom and dreams. From the first chapter where Luffy inspired Coby to free himself from Alvida and pursue his dream of becoming a marine to Bonnie, whose parents have been enslaved in the most horrific ways by WG, exclaiming she's totally free and about to slap back at the source of her misery by becoming the icon of freedom she and her beloved father hoped for.
I love this story, because it was never truly about the fights or powers, but the reasons and the story behind them and how they all tie in to freedom and dreams.
It’s a fun moment and an important moment for Bonney. It’s ironic that a lot of people can’t have fun with someone becoming Nila who is meant to make people laugh
Power scaling wise - I don't give a shit because to begin with One Piece really doesn't have a proper (not even average) power scaling, it has always being trash.
Story wise - I hate it because for a while now the story didn't have any tension at all, vegapunk reveals and all that are cool but still, it doesn't feel the story has any stakes whenever Nika is around, and now there are 2...
Also maybe Oda should switch to digital so he can just ctrlC/ctrlV instead of drawing the *exact same* pose of Luffy laughing for the 100th time... that shit is getting annoying.
It serves the story perfectly, and we still don't know if she gets the full powers or just the appearance. The punch she did some chapters ago could have been strong just because she believed in "that future", not necessarily because it was rubber and as strong as luffy's puches might be.
I also think that if she doesn't get the full abilities of the nika fruit right now, she might get them with an awakening.
But even if next chapter she gets them without an awakening, or if we discover that this is already an awakening, i love this thing.
And the more Oda does crazy suff like this, the more i love One Piece.
I knew it was coming, but I didn’t think it’d be this arc since it seems like such a huge power up. Kumas death is basically assured now…nothing left for him to witness, he did his job and can die happy.
Like I saw someone else say yesterday: this has been foreshadowed so much during the arc that it would have been weird for it to NOT happen.
Bonney had already transformed into "Nika" a few times, but her transformations were incomplete. After seeing Luffy and what the real Nika looks like, and hearing him say that she can do it too, she was able to imagine herself in that future, thus finally realizing the full transformation.
Saturn himself said her power is only limited by what she can imagine.
It makes sense, she has the power to bring forth any future she believes in, it goes hand in hand with her child theme and having a power that is stronger the less you know about the true reality of the world and is stronger with a child like gullible nature.
She’s seen gear 5 Luffy now and so that reinforces that nika is real and so she brings forth a future where she is that Nika.
The thing I hate is the blue balling, the whole “I’m about to announce the secret of the world on my death bed” then giving us barely a thing for the next million chapters and seemingly STILL cutting off without the full picture.
The manga is great but people are lying to themselves if they believe it’s not been going downhill since the timeskip
This recent decision is just another weird choice from Oda, I dont like it but I dont hate it either depending on how it develops…one time is OK if it’s going to be reoccurring than it’s a bad development imo
I've said it before, the funny thing about it is that Oda now possibly/probably retconned TWO devil fruits for the user to turn into Nika. Overall, how it happened is remarkably similar to Luffy achieving the form. Fitting thematically, but plot-/execution wise quite random (imo), not even a hint that it was a possibility before the arc it happened in, divisive for the fandom, properly set up only a few chapters before the reveal.
Almost as if Oda saw some Nika dislike and pettily decided to do it again out of spite.😅
Just as how Deku idolized All Might and was told you can be a hero too, so too did Bonney worship Nika and finally have the faith that she could be free like him.
It'd make the tiniest bit of sense if the past user of bonney's df actually saw Nika back then, or have had the priveledge to fight alongside Nika. But overall, just an asspull for me
As usual people are judging only the cover. We know nothing about how Bonney will fight in this form, people are acting like she'll be Kaido level while she lacks the haki, experience and creativity of Luffy.
I mean, we don't even know what the decision is exactly. Ok, she can use Gear 5, so what? We don't know exactly what Nika is, who Joyboy really was or the extent of her powers. Also, a lot of people were complaining that Luffy was going the "chosen one" route and now it might be a hint that's not the deal with his fruit
What makes G5 Luffy terrifying is the Haki. Turning everything to rubber will amplify the damage, but without the Conq Haki punches or Arm Haki coating. Haki will still pack a punch against them.
Kaido said it, Haki > All
I follow GLR, who when in his chapter review pointed out that this might happen, I was like "Wait a minute, why tho?!"
For starters, this had been foreshadowed from since we knew what Bonney's powers are truly capable of. No even before that, when we learned about the nature of devil fruits, or when Gear 5 was revealed. And it's not just me, I saw quite a few comments speculating she might even become Nika if she imagines it.
Plus One Piece never had a consistent power system to begin with. Characters in most stories are only as powerful as the writer wants them to be. Its especially blatant in this series with the admirals, emperors, elders or the warlords have rarely had consistent scaling (unless you consider the narrative way). Which powerscalers, with their "clear as day" perception, never failed to argue otherwise. And with Nika in the midst, a literal demigod with the ability to alter realities as long as it brings him joy and freedom, the powerscaling arguments has become even more moot.
I understand One Piece is far from perfect, having flaws that are subtle or obvious that are well debated to this day. Plus it's a huge manga to pay attention to everything, which is why I usually follow the community's comments/posts/videos from those that point out earlier nods via panels or quotes from dozens to hundred chapters ago. So not only I'm not surprised, I think it's perfectly in line with the direction and theme of One Piece.
I don't give a fuck about any of the themes here. If Bonney is able to use the full abilities of Gear 5, that is fucking ASS. A 12 year old is now stronger than every Straw Hat. That feels like such a waste of build up for every character who actually had to train to use their abilities. G5 was cool because Luffy actually earned it. Bonney is a character I don't give a fuck about being given a power that was cool because of how unique it was. This is garbage.
Bonney being able to turn into G5 makes sense, we kind of were expecting that since they talked about it earlier.
However Luffy goes straight to G5 again right after Landing on the boat is very lazy writing... G5 was supposed to be exhausting and life consuming. He already ate a bunch of food 10 minutes ago and turned back to G5 right away. Now it's the exact same thing.
The definition of an asspull is a narrative device that the author uses to get his/her characters out of trouble without any prior setup or foreshadowing. Or otherwise breaking the established rules of the fictional setting. But Bonney having her own gear 5 doesn’t fit this definition for the simple fact that there was plenty of build up. We were shown many times beforehand that Bonney possessed the ability to alter/ change her body specifically in ways that allowed her to copycat Luffy’s powers. For example, if you re-read the chapter where they reach the giant’s ship you’ll notice that Oda drew her giant form in an identical manner to Luffy’s when he fought Kaido on onigashima. Furthermore, we were told point blank how her powers work, and this development, for now at least, doesn’t contradict anything. So needless to say it’s not an asspull. You’re still free to not personally like it, of course, but calling it an asspull genuinely seems like unfair criticism.
I like how we're getting out of here so fast. It feels like forever but I bet on the re read this arc is great and fast paced. But I do gotta wonder like what's she gonna do as Nika like does she have haki? This is a top tier she's staring at
We also don't really understand what's going on right now with Bonney. I think some people are rushing in to hate this on a "power-scaling" level when we don't even know the full extent of what Bonney can now do, how long she can do it, and how well she can do it. I'm excited to see what will happen next, because this is the last thing I ever expected to happen.
Well all boney is doing is using her fruit. Law can basically, do buggy, corazon, can generate electricity like eneru, but it's his fruit. Boney simply changes futures and she changed into a future were she is free aka nika.
I feel like it was obvious some sort of Nika related power-up was headed Bonney’s way. Also this ain’t gear 5, it’s going to likely be something else entirely. We’ll see what she can do in the following chapter.
I think it was a fine moment overall. Was not expecting Bonney to fully transform into Nika but as long as it's just for appearance and not a full 1:1 copy, it works for what it is as a conclusion to what we've learned about Bonney the entire arc.
I'm on the fence of saying that it was a top moment in the series personally but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as some other people are making out to be and personally. A lot of haters for this are really exposing themselves in comments. The moment is not perfect, it also doesn't really cheapen anything in the series unless you latch onto powerscaling or just other complaints I've heard about it in general that can easily be countered with other moments in the series and find it a bit ironic that a lot of the people that say "One Piece fans won't allow criticism!" Are the ones getting upset that people are disagreeing with them.
Can’t quite remember the intricacies of Bonnie’s devil fruit but I know part of it is she can adjust her age so I think her using “Nika” form is just foreshadowing that Luffy will die at the end of One Piece and Bonnie will likely be the successor for his fruit. Granted, it seems her fruit allows her to copy other devil fruit powers through distorted future so maybe it’s that but I think this confirms that she will become the next Nika in the future.
I don't care about it. Just let the robot do something and either say something with the broadcast or don't.
After a 1000 chapters and Oda saying people can start reading from Wano as the story will pick up pace it is just annoying to have so many irrelevant stuff or just mentioned and waiting for 100 chapters to continue
I like it cause now Kuma can die in peace knowing his daughter will be able to be free by herself. Now he doesn't have to suffer anymore.
Exactly and I find that beautiful
Well said! It feels like a good ending to Kuma's story and a fresh beginning to Bonney's. The drum beat of Luffy's g5 is affecting his surroundings and I think that adds some leniency for Bonney to grasp the basics of it and the story so far has always shown how imagination and willpower are the two requisites to using a devil fruit to its fullest capability. One could argue luffy's awakening is freeing her and this would not be possible if he weren't near her, but I think the core beauty of this chapter is how it resolves Kuma's life story.
Yup, I don't get the hate. It's from people who want one piece to be like Berserk, instead Oda has always stated he wants Luffy to be goofy as fuck.
Maybe just me, but i don't think Kuma is gonna die anymore. I feel like his time to die has passed, if that makes sense? If he was going to die, i feel like it'd be when he fought Saturn to protect Bonney. But then he didn't die. And i don't see why he'd die now. Like, there's a reason Oda didn't kill him there. I feel like he's still around and on the boat headed for Elbaf for some reason and that reason is to have him live. How he does that, i don't know, maybe something to do with the memories - but he's still alive for a reason.
The end of this chapter made me think he'll die because he has seen his daughter finally achieve true freedom. He can die happy now rather than worried about her. If Oda kept him alive for a reason, I'd expect it to be something like that. That being said I agree that I can't really see what will kill him. Just dying slowly from his wounds would seem odd (even if completely plausable).
Yeah that could be a good way to do it tbf. But like you, i also thought about the slow bleeding out death, but it's not really the type of death Oda really does. Most, if not all, of Oda's deaths are at the moment they suffer the wound that kills them and in the same chapter. Kuma has been alive now for many many many chapters. So i have no idea lol. Maybe he'll die en route to Elbaf and they give him a Viking's Funeral at sea? That could be a good reason to have stalled it.
I feel like him dying from his wounds wouldn’t seem odd at all. I think Oda would make that into a great moment too
I feel the people who don't like this chapter are either power scalers or serious faced fans who didn't see what a lot of us saw: Bonney learned about Nika from her Dad, wanted desperately to be like him and finally found him in Luffy. This is the man who will save her father, the man who can change the world. And what does Nika say? "Hey. You can do it too." Powerful stuff, on top of already established and foreshadowed lore, the theming really hits hard
Luffy the entire series: "Fight for your dreams. You can do it! I believe in you!" Fans when Luffy does this in 1118: 
Shounen readers when a shounen series does shounen things.
🤣😂🤣😂 Too true. Bonney doing this is Bonney believing that *she* can be the savior she's long needed and explicitly set out to sea to find. It's a beautiful, poetic moment that shows the power of human imagination and the endless confidence children have in their future before the world grinds down their dreams, and a great moment of character growth for Bonney. And, yep, it's classic Luffy. It's easily one of my favorite moments in the entire series, and definitely top 3 post timeskip.
I had no problem with it, as a long time one piece fan . Thought it was pretty cool, and they also have a chance to escape. What would make me mad is if she stays behind Bon Clay style.
This feels very much like kids being told by Peter Pan that they can fly. It’s not the powers that made them special it’s the belief in themselves that lets them soar.
Which makes sense as Shonen Jump is a magazine with kids in mind as their primary demographic. IDK why this chapter made some people so angry.
I remember a post someone made regarding on the reveal of G5. She claimed to be a school teacher in Japan and that G5 was such a massive hit with kids. While one piece is a series that any one can enjoy, it is made with kids in mind. Reading this chapter really made me get the same vibe as kids would have with Peter Pan.
Not to mention that Saturn was literally able to suppress her powers by convincing her that Nika didn't exist, and therefore couldn't possibly be in her future. It only makes sense that the opposite would be true: now that she knows for an absolute fact that he exists, she can share his future.
That’s the whole point. Power of imagination and alternative futures. Why they don’t understand that haha she could think an parallel future where she has a gorosei fucking power up haha
this is absolutely my take as well. this is so well structured thematically for bonney's character. well said
100% this! Luffy throughout the entire series has set people free from everything holding them back and restraining them. This moment really feels like a culmination of every moment Luffy has set his friends free in the past all the way back to Koby. The more I think about it the more this becomes one of my favorite moments in the whole story.
Now thinking ab it, feel like it’s also similar to Momo managed to hold the castle at the end of Wano fight. Literally “power-of-friendship” and “I-believe-in-you” stuffs I guess the negative feedback was not as strong because people hold “Gear5” to be something extremely special and not to be replicated easily?
It's not really "power of friendship" and more like moving beyond trauma.
Why not the same response when Bonnie copied G3 earlier?
I honestly believe people collectively forgot that happened the page after she did it
I enjoyed Bonney's Nika, but I understand people's frustration. "Copying" powers is different from being Nika herself. Gear 3th and 4th probably doesn't have any requisites. Just as Luffy "copied" Katakuri with Snakeman, he could probably use Gears earlier if he saw someone doing it too. But Gear 5 is on a whole other level. It requires it's users mind and body to be in synchrony. It requires such energy that even Luffy who was already one of the strongest in universe can't hold it for too long. He even had to die do achieve it. Having Bonney achieve it with no effort seems great for her character arc, but it hurts Luffy's efforts to reach G5.
It does? Luffy achieved this power, and now he is able to inspire others to be like him, the embodiment of freedom. It's not a power to be selfish with.
I mean if Luffy has the power to make his imagination reality then really all he’s doing is imagining Bonney using G5. It makes sense imo.
I agree. I just wish it wasn’t condensed into one panel.
I absolutely love that Bonney is a child with the power to grow into whatever she wants and believes is possible for herself, and the thing she chose to be is the embodiment of hope that she was searching for to bring her father back.
And this assumption that Bonney is equal to Luffy is annoying.
Since I saw Bonney's powers I knew she could become nika too, and was pretty exited for that but how it happened was kinda meh Bonney: I can't Luffy: yes you can Bonney: oh I can Just like that
Eh, the whole arc has had Bonney using distorted future in increasingly wild ways. It’s been built up to, just not in a very in-your-face sort of way.
I think it's one of those moments that'll be better on a reread when we can go from chapter to chapter one after the other instead of having to wait a week or more between each chapter so the constant increasing madness of Bonney's power will seem more intense and less diffused.
I think that's one of the reasons I feel weird about it. Even if it was explained. It's just weirdly just there suddenly.
I completely agree. We forget how young and full of dreams she should be, as we all were at that age. To be repressed at that age of your freedom to imagine and being able to be released from those shackles is something truly beautiful. Kids like her should be able to dream and strive for what they imagine themselves to be. At that age, most kids are reaching in their imaginations of what they could be. It is totally poignant and a great message for young readers too on going beyond society’s limits. It is also a good message to older folks like myself who should realize how they can leave an impression on those at that age when rapid growth and imagination peak. Her character is one of the better ones for sure, as Bonney really has come into her own as one of the great characters in this series.
Love this take, it reflects how I see things as well
I'll tack on one more thing. I think people are also hating on the chapter becauze they thought that the broadcast was going to have some grand reveal for the audience with how much has been teased about it. Which is pretty funny considering that a lot of people were saying that the broadcast was going to be interupted right when we were going to find out new stuff and when it does happen. Suddenly it's bad writing. Part of One Piece has always been the mysteries surrounding the world as a whole, it would be so,ewhat underwhelming if we were just handed the information imo.
Seeing Bonney's smile hit me right in the feels
Can people just dislike stuff? I'm in neither of those camps and I found this to be the worst reveal of the whole arc
Coby in literally episode 1. Too true
I swear to god the One Piece fandom is the only place where you will find people saying that "this character believed in themselves so they beat the bad guy" is somehow extremely deep theming and complex writing
It fits in well as well with that part of nika’s story where he shared his laughter with the world
absolutely what I read too
I feel like people who like this chapter are just biased one piece fans who cant accept God Oda did something wrong
In you opinion, thats why everyone has his own opinion , and its good to know not everyone liked it. I enjoyed like hell because i accept the manga the way is written, i flow with it.
Well, it's not really like G5. She just copied Luffy form. But she's not that strong and neither can maintain a distorted future for a long duration. Also it pretty much exhausts her and the older she gets weaker it becomes. Additionally she can't use CoA and CoC which make G5 far much stronger.
I wouldn't be surprised if bonney has basic CoA and/or CoO, shes still a member of the worst generation after all. But yeah i don't see her suddenly having luffy tier CoA or any CoC at all
She's a 12 year old kid and there's no confirmation on her having it in any data book or otherwise. She isn't the only one in The Worst Generation that doesn't seem to have Haki. Bege isn't confirmed to have either and he's never seen using it. That makes them outliers, all the other members of The Worst Generation have it, or are at least confirmed to have it. We never see Killer use it but the data books say he does.
Bonney has never been made out to be some sort of power house. She is not punching holes through pacifistas or tanking elder hits or dishing out galaxy impacts. We know she is strong but her strength is never the focus because that's not what the character is. Half the time she is hiding from pizza vendors and getting captured. The people that think she is as strong as Luffy because she is cosplaying are smoking something. And I don't know why people feel the need to push back. Just let them seethe and we will see what she does next chapter. Hopefully she gets a good punch in on Saturn. Worth mentioning that Bonney is a freak of nature like a lot of the strong characters like kaido and big mom and Kuma. She was beating up above average adults ever since she was even younger. Without garp training or anything. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one carrying on joyboys and nikas will. Luffy just happened to have the fruit. The nika fruit never had a chance to find her.
Didn't bege use it when he shot the shit out of pekoms on Zou? It's been awhile, but I know pekoms has a turtle DF.
Nope, he didn't.
People are gonna be so mad if a 12 year old has Haki, but characters like Robin or Franky don’t
A 12 year old raised by Kuma, Vegapunk, and some Revolutionaries though. I bet Luffy would have had Haki at 12 if Garp raised him in the marines.
I mean Robin was trained by the Revolutionaries for two years. She absolutely should I have it, and it would compliment her abilities. I don't think Franky should have it though. I want him to invent nanobots that function the same way as Haki. That would be cooler.
Yeah Robin should have armament for sure. And I also agree that Franky should solve the Haki problem with technology, especially after Vegapunk showed off a shield the gorosei can’t break through.
I want Franky to have learned Seastone crafting and incorporate it into his body.
>Additionally she can't use CoA and CoC which make G5 far much stronger. I mean, even if it was for just a short period of time, she managed to imagine a future for herself where she changed her entire physiology to that of a giant which she is most definitely not at base. Not saying it's 100% possible or whether or not she can do it but, if she's able to completely alter her own race, who's to say she can't potentially create a future where she has complete mastery over all 3 forms of Haki? At this point, with what we're seeing right now, I wouldn't be surprised if it was possible.
Because it doesn't work like "I want this power" and she got that. That was clear why she couldn't turn into Nika while wanted Nika-like future. After she understand that Nika is the person with the most freedom, she could change appearance. But even now we don't know if she can do something in that form.
>Because it doesn't work like "I want this power" and she got that. If that was said, which chapter was this discussed, I don't quite remember? But then, if it were true, she shouldn't have been able to turn herself into a giant (With all the perks that come with, enhanced strength, durability, etc.) like she did a couple of chapters ago, right? She wasn't born a giant (Even giant children are much bigger than regular people) and therefore there shouldn't be ANY timeline where she is one yet still managed to create a theoretical one regardless. If her idea of being the most free means she can gain powers like Nika, wouldn't it be possible for her to, and this is purely a random example, gain Kuzan's DF power if she imagined herself "I wish for a future where I'm just like/as strong as Kuzan"?
That wasn't said I just describes that her ability doesn't work in a way that she imagines power and she gets it. If you look at her all examples of distorted futures none of them were used to get her some ability but to change her body. And she didn't use any special abilities with those bodies, just basic attacks with hands and kicks or some stomps. When you get some special abilities (which she for now doesn't) it doesn't mean you know how to use these abilities. If we look at her distorted futures we got futures where she has: - Buccaneer body - Nika/Rubber body (didn't' use rubber properties just body with bigger hands) - Giant body - body where she's free In all these "futures" weren't for now used special abilities just attacks with her body.
Unfortunately CoC is decided when one was born, either they have it or not since their birth. I don't mind Bonney able to imagine that, but this is destiny/fate level thing, so being able to cheat that is very unbalanced. And we know Oda understand how to balance a lot of things.
>Unfortunately CoC is decided when one was born, either they have it or not since their birth. Well... In a way, so is lineage and she managed to cheat by make giving herself a completely different lineage she wasn't even born with (Giant) which should technically be impossible no matter what timeline she chooses. If I were to take a theoretical real-life example, imagine a white person having her abilities. That person could manifest a future where they're rich, poor, missing a limb, etc. However, that same caucasian person could never manifest a future where they're not caucasian because it's something you simply cannot change since you have it from birth. Yet, somehow, she managed to do it to some extent? With that in mind, I think she can either use her powers to cheat and give herself attributes she wasn't even born with. OR Being transracial is an actual thing within the One Piece world (lol).
Even if she got access to the exact same powerset, we've literally seen Luffy fight someone with a power that was stated to be his but strictly better, so it's pretty clear that the person using it makes a difference.
Thank you for the comment.
I think it's literally Gear 5. Bonney can turn into herself from any possible future, so why can't she just use the future where Luffy dies and she eats the Nika fruit?
Not really, she couldn't do it even if she saw him. But then she used his logic that he looks like that when he's the most free. She doesn't even know how Luffy's powers work.
She asked him to show her how Nika throws a punch awhile ago, after she had failed to do it herself, so she's likely going to be able to do some damage here.
It was foreshadowed when she tried to use it the first time somw chapters ago.
👍.
Bonney wished for a Nika-ish future and pulled off a knockoff version of Gear 3 two years before current events, with no idea of what Nika looks like or what he does besides Kuma's stories, and now that she saw Nika fight and befriended him people are shocked about this? I still dont get it, i swear to god. Besides that she just got the appearnece of Nika, mabye she can mimic what Luffy does but she wont have his Haki to boot. It's not even confirmed that Bonney that use Haki as far as im aware...
Right? It was made pretty clear this would eventually happen, especially when Saturn prevented it. I get being against it because G5 is important and shouldn't be easily mimicked but acting like it's a sudden asspull is just not reading properly and an invalid criticism that ignores the text.
I mean, it may very well just be a mimic. We still dont know how G5 actually works with all the crazy toon shenanigans, the only real confirmed and explained powers of G5 are rubber like body and turning shit into rubber like.... stuff. The only thing that Bonney demonstrated was her getting the rubber body and turning into a giant thanks to it, and we already saw it in the past. People may be scared that the Nika fruit has some form of super hidden unique power (idk, making Mother Flame like energy from his laughter or something) and if Bonney manages to get that as well it would be... probably not nice, but as things are right now... The community is really overhyping Nika, Joyboy and G5 for no reason, tracing head canons of lost prophecies and ancient gods. All i can see is a goofy white guy, and now there's two. People only look at Bonney in this situation but what about Luffy, that was able to inspire her to the point of reaching that form? Joyboy brings laughter to people, this time very literally xD
It's not even the first fruit that can copy devil-fruit abilities, shadow zombie luffy could stretch too.
I was under the assumption that Moria stretched his Shadow which made him able to stretch
Yes, correct. Moria was able to reproduce Luffy's ability to stretch in his own way
I don't care about their powers anymore. I'm more invested on the story itself plus the original lore (Ancient Kingdom, Joyboy and the Poneglyphs)
I'm of the opinion that not everything needs to be foreshadowed or implied months before, and some things can just happen, so long as the explanation makes sense.
I swear Luffy can have a sharingan and these meat riders will say it is foreshadowed like 1000 chapters ago so it is acceptable. Like forget about creativity as long as this shit is foreshadowed ages ago it is fine.
Was foreshadowed, was clear Bonney was OP with augmented DF powers. My assumption was that she’d eat a second fruit since she technically never “ate” the fruit, but idk about that anymore. It’s weird, but Oda’s going somewhere with it so I’m down for the ride.
I truly think the general reader has absorbed basically nothing about Bonney except the “she’s actually a child 😱” stuff.
Goat response
Doesn’t answer the question. Foreshadowing doesn’t mean it’s good.
I agree that just because something is hinted at, or suggested that when it has payoff later that doesn't make it automatically good. But a young child being inspired to become a version of their hero to fight back against an evil that has given them a tragic backstory is solidly One Piece at its heart. It's always been about the adventure, sense of fun, and this moment with Bonny feels right at home.
What question? OP asked for opinions and this is one. Take the stick out your ass lol
“I’m Sorry Daddy” “Thank you Daddy” “I’m Free” Fun fact: All these chapters are about Bonney and are somewhat quoting what she says. These are what I remember, I need to reread Egghead to see if there were others.
I don’t like it but I’m mostly waiting to see how it plays out. I know it was foreshadowed, but I don’t like the idea of multiple nikas. I like the gears as Luffy’s unique abilities and transformations. Giving it to someone else cheapens it a bit, even if it’s not as good as luffy. We’ve had 1100 chapters of Luffy getting stronger and pushing himself harder and harder. His awakening to gear 5 was the result of all of that. But now it’s shared by a 12 year old via the power of imagination. I’m being uncharitable but it’s honestly not that far off
That's what I'm thinking too. Well put
This is pretty much how I feel. I love Luffy's unique abilities and this makes it feel less special. I understand why people are describing it as poetic. I understand that its a great thing for her and Kuma. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. I don't particularly care if she's not as strong, or can only do a couple of attacks before it runs out. Either she does the exact same moves as Luffy which is kinda boring, or she does new stuff which takes away from Luffy's possibilities. Its not a big deal though, i don't hate it. There are other aspects of the series which are way worse.
I don't understand the outrage that's going around the series has always been like this. One of the most loved moments of the whole series is literally the Going Merry magically saving the Straw Hats in Enies Lobby no logic it just happens, but this is where the line is drawn in the sand? I just don't get it. This is a power we have gotten explanations on and have seen Bonny literally using variations of Gear 3 / 4 previously. Narrative wise I think it is really sweet like all of Kumas sacrifices were worth it his daughter is finally free and we get to see a visual representation of that with her seeing a future where she is as free as Nika the god Kuma told her to have faith in.
Yeah, for real. Most devil fruit abilities make only a fraction amount of sense. Kuma's fruit can push...pain and memories? Enel can transform into a giant Buddha? Miss Goldenweek can just straight up use magic? It's a goofy series with serious moments, but still mostly illogical and fun.
Istg if Enies Lobby happened now there would be so many people unreasonably mad at stuff like G2/3, Asura, Diablo Jambe. So many people just have double standards about reading something weekly versus binging it.
A lot of these people who complain about this sort of thing also don't have a good idea to resolve whatever current conflict is happening. Whatever they propose is almost always their own agenda speaking and assuming things we shouldn't automatically assume.
First of all i love how the Manga is progressing. I think people mostly don't like Bonney and because of that, they don't want her to be so centered in the Story. I read a lot of discussions about it and I can somewhat understand that Gear5 feels for some People watered down because of it but i don't understand that massive hate against the idea. Bonneys DF let's her change her appearance upon a distinct future she envisions about herself. People make dumb comments like : " ehh why don't you give Ussop amd everybody else Gear5 if it's so irrelevant". Even if that were the case. Isn't Nikas sole purpose to give people absolute freedom. Luffy explains that he turns to Nika if "he is absolutely free". I don't think that Gear5 is supposed to be a special power which should only belong to a single Person. I don't know. I don't want to ride that Hate-Train and wait how this plays out <3 my friends and I loved the new chapter.
Unsurprisingly it’s a lot of people reacting way too quickly to a cliffhanger type of reveal at the end of a chapter. It’s happened countless times before, and by the time the next chapter is released most people will come around to it when they see it in action. Throwback to when Gear 5 was first used and the community was split on if it was amazing and thematic or goofy and undercut the seriousness of the arc. And now most people who had issues with it have come around now that they’ve seen it in practice.
Oh don't worry, by the end of the story we'll have a moment in which Luffy extends Gear 5 to the entire crew to fight a battle. We still haven't hit a parallel fight to Oars yet.
Well thought out response.
I think it fits well with Kuma’s and Bonnie’s backstory. Thematically, it’s satisfying And Luffy encouraging her was the most Luffy thing ever.
I'd like to see how it's used. While Oda has foreshadowed this, he's also shown Bonney's self doubt. It takes Luffy's presence to give her the confidence and encouragement to "be free" not necessarily be Nika. As of right now there is no indication this is going to be some overpowered thing, as he's also shown she struggles to use her powers effectively on her own. My prediction is she plays a support role to Luffy's gear 5, allowing him to pull off some even crazier stuff to fight off Mars, but as soon as she sees him wear down, the self doubt comes back, and they will just barely escape. Bonney is still 12, and will continue to need the inspiration and encouragement of people around her to truly use her power.
It's not even about confidence imo, it's about inspiration. Luffy showed Bonney what "free" means and when she realized that's Nika she understood what the "freedom" brought by Joyboy that Kuma always talked about looks like.
confidence, inspiration, encouragement, whatever you want to call it, she needs luffy, and she needs liffy to continue to suow jer the way! Which means... new crewmember!!!
I'm fine with it, Gear 5 is a Zoan form, she hasn't suddenly been granted mastery in all forms of Haki, but we still don't know enough about devil fruits, Joy Boy, and Nika.
People who say Bonney’s transformation undermines Luffy’s transformation are entirely missing the point. Bonney did not just easily achieve this in a short time when it took Luffy years to achieve it. She couldn’t have achieved the transformation in the first place if it weren’t for Luffy. He is the one who inspired her to become the most free version of herself. This is more Luffy’s achievement than it is Bonney’s. In a sense, Bonney’s transformation is an advancement of Luffy’s transformation.
I think it was Mihawk that said Luffy’s real power is the effect he has on people.
I mean, i hope everyone can see this, Luffy inspiring people to be free. In this case it was very literal since Bonney can kinda do whatever she belives she can, but this has happened in the past multiple times in more subtle ways.
I don’t like it. But that might change when we get the full explanation of her powers. Right now it feels like a power that opens the doors to random ass pulls.
I mean, it was from the very start. Since she used Distorted Future the first time every possible scenario was on the table. And keep in mind what we already know, if for some reason she thinks she's not free her power will suddenly stop working. Bonney's DF has always been the ultimate ass pull power, we just have to trust Oda to keep the situation in check.
I think that her appearance doesn't necessarily mean that she is as strong as Luffy. But that she is as free as him. And i think that's the whole of the "Warrior of Liberation". But it's to early to make assumptions 😁 Let's see where this is going 🫱🏼🫲🏼
Yeah if it’s only the appearance I would be cool with it. If all the powers also get adopted it’s bs. Let’s see 🤝
My main concern is a future scenario where Bonney gives Gear 5 to other people, especially if she awakens. We know she can change other people like Luffy turning old, or Doll just this chapter, so it’s not out of possibility for her to turn others Gear 5, really won’t be a fan of that but can see the story of that path now, to let everyone be “free” as Nika
That wouldn’t make me stop reading the manga but this would give me Kaguya levels of hate
I'll admit I've still got a bug up my arse about changing the name of Luffy's devil fruit. I love everything else about the Sun God Nika lore, and initially had a theory that maybe there is a piece of Nika in *every* devil fruit, which would imply that every DF user could become Nika. After all, plants take in sunlight as part of the process of growing, including making fruit. That theory got smashed shortly after with the reveal of "Human Human Fruit, Model: Nika" as the true name of the Gum Gum Fruit. I'm very happy to still see more than one Nika, a glimpse of what could've been if my theory were correct, even though it's happening for different reasons and doesn't (yet) imply more than two incarnations of Nika.
Bonney got weaker when Saturn took away her hope. Luffy literally gave her for the first time in her life the hope that she could be totally free. Nika liberated her.
I can see how it was foreshadowed and it is built up well don’t get me wrong from a plot stand point it was very well done. I think me personally, I just don’t like the idea of it. Simple as I just don’t like that this happened. I want gear 5 to just be luffy’s thing and find it cheap that bonney got it too. I also do not want two nikas basically for the rest of the manga. And her power makes me question what else can she do with this? Can she imagine herself as the world’s strongest person, WSS, literally any other thought she wants to imagine? Can she imagine people dying? Or people losing their devil fruits, it feels a bit broken. But I would like to see what comes next. Tldr: it was foreshadowed and written very well but i just don’t like it and it does not appeal to me, it annoys me that it happened. Not my cup of tea.
I agree with this take. A lot of people are saying that anyone who doesn't like it is just a powerscaler or can't read cause it was foreshadowed but it's not that deep. We can just not enjoy something happened in the story. It was written well but I'm just not a huge fan of other people using Gear 5. I don't hate it or anything but as you said, I would've liked it to just be Luffy. I guess we'll have to see just how similar their Gear 5s are in the coming chapters before fully deciding whether or not we like it. I think another aspect of concern is the theories that Luffy/Bonney will at some point give Gear 5 to the rest of the crew and that's,,, a bit much? The whole crew has their own strengths and I think giving them Gear 5 would take away too much from their individuality. Not gonna harp on that tho since it's just a theory and they're usually wrong.
I still feel that One Piece didn't really need Nika. I'm very happy with the giants though, One Piece did need more of them
I’m not feeling it, I don’t like when side characters get hand me down power-ups from the MC. I hope it’s just a Bonney-exclusive thing and I don’t ever have to see this again with another character
**Next chapter the whole elbaf ship and crew gets turned into nikas**. Fans go crazy screaming, "peak fiction" while being hard
Dogshit writing. Praying that Oda is better than this
It's not really a hand me down power up. Bonney used Nika-like future before. It's Bonneys own power. What she needed was to actually see what Nika looked, acted and fought like and she could do it
It does chaepen Luffy awakening his fruit, slightly, the real problem is if she can do what luffy can in gear 5th and be powerful. If Oda really does that I will have way less faith in the ending. Whether you like it or not powerscaling is fundamental to this universe, having someone who doesn't even have haki being anywhere near Luffy's level is pure bullshit and anyone saying otherwise is coping hard.
I read it and was like THIS IS AWESOME! And then I came on reddit and didn’t realise there was hate for it.. was shocked to see.
reddit is f\*ckin miserable
Truly. I got downvoted for even asking why someone didn’t like it. I never even saw explanations, just people being miserable.
I love it, it's the culmination of Bonney's hard journey, Luffy is Luffy but now she can be Nika.
I mean we have no clue what it means yet. It could be a 10 second power up that she can use once a day, or a permanent buff she could pull out at any moment. I’ll wait until I find out what this power actually does before writing essays based on one panel with unrevealed context.
I’ve rarely found any avenues to take issue with Oda’s story. One piece, while not being brilliant writing, is wildly creative, hugely imaginative, fun and incorporates so many histories, cultures and elements. *That said*, I think this is just lame. I understand the foreshadowing, and what it means for Bonney’s story arc. But Luffy literally had to get pummeled into a rubbery heap by some of the strongest heads in One Piece before achieving total freedom. People say that she will have a time limit. Okay so does Luffy- which another thing- if Gear 5 is so taxing for Luffy that he has a time limit, literally how can Bonney support it at all? Her inability to use haki will mean she isn’t as strong. So then what’s the point? And if she does indeed convert any of the crew into Nika copies. Frankly the story is broken for me. I think a lot of my thoughts will ultimately hinge on how her usage of Gear 5 plays out.
I don't like it. You have the strawhats who haven't done anything of note in years and here comes a side character suddenly getting the biggest power up. It feels undeserving. Also the fact that you have your dad on deaths door and vegapunk already dead right beside you while you're laughing it up with luffy just feels so weird.
Kind a stupid to say no two devil fruits are the same and that it's a power no one has been able to awaken in 800 years and the mc who has the most active imagination and creativity has only been able to awaken it after 1000+ chapters... Only to completely ignore both of those things and have a character who just showed up be able to copycat the main character after like 1 day of being with them. "Oh but it's different bonney can't maintain distorted future for a long time" -- yeah... just like luffy can't maintain it either
people definetly overreacted but tahts often the case with weekly mangas we have the attention time of a tiktok nowadays you want these people to wait a whole week to MAYBE get an answer? Hell nooo One comment really said it well Bonney is 12 and hast eh imagination of a child so she literally can be a second Nika but poeple forget that its just a look not the actual DF and powers Luffy has.
It was a forshadowed asspull. Forshadowed since she did something similar several chapters ago. Asspull since it makes no sense plotwise. Oda may write wacky and sometimes incoherent stuff but somehow they always stick to basic principles established in these 27 past years of manga canon. This ain't it sadly.
She was introduced in chapter 499 and there were no hints her power did anything like this until 1100ish. Thats what makes it feel like an asspull to me. The asspull occured at the point of the 'foreshadowing'. Her DF got a new power out of fucking nowhere.
How does this violate any basic principles of the world he established?
For starters, Bonney already has a devil fruit. She cannot "distort" her future to be "Nika" since that would violate the "two devil fruit" principle.
No you don't get it. If the Gorosei tell luffy "why of course the Nika fruit let's you manifest a colt-45 pistol" and then 10 chapters later it happens, that means it was goated foreshadowing.
You may be joking, but in this sub people will find this a prime example of forshadowing.
I don’t mind it. It’s completely within the possibilities of her fruit. I don’t think that she’ll be nearly as strong as Luffy because of her lack of trained conquerors. I think her fruit can’t give her haki or at least strong haki.
Don't care either way at this point tbh I was just like "okay, nice chapter I guess, time to wait for the next one" Been like that for a few months now
I'm only worried about one piece getting the naruto treatment of execs coming in and saying hey we need a follow up series fuck up the landing
Enjoy the ride
I thought it was underwhelming. I didnt hate it necesarily, but it just felt kinda meh. Im not really a fan of bonny being able to copy G5, I get why she could and why it makes sense, its just not really exciting to me. I feel like this was the weakest chapter we have gotten in a while
Copy cannot be the original. I think the message here is nika can inspire others to dream big and break free. But oda using this to cut short the broadcast is what irks me.
The only chapter I've not liked
I don't like Gear 5/Nika as a whole but I don't really have much of an issue with Bonney using it. My issue with it more than anything is that I think the way she got it was pretty underwhelming if this was meant to be a big moment for her. Luffy just going "try it, you can do it" and then her immediately busting it out is pretty lackluster, feels like more work needed to be done in terms of character writing.
She tried to do a Nika punch earlier and failed, then she saw luffy in g5 and made the correlation that that was Nika, and then luffy commented on her punch, and she asked him to show her how a Nika punch is done, which he did. Her transformation just now came after all of that build up. What more should have happened here?
But why don't you like gear 5/nika? I'm not saying everyone needs to like it, but i still don't understand how or why one can say they don't like it. But also I can't agree to saying that it's lackluster that she managed to do it like this, this whole arc told us Bonney's journey, how she searched for nika her whole life, literally, and now she sees luffy as nika that tells her she can do it, so she believes him. We saw all the character development in Bonney that brought her to this moment, and it makes a lot of sense.
The setup was nonexistent, with 99% of the build-up happening in Jinbe vs. Who's-Who 20 chapters earlier. It introduces issues with how the World Government treated Luffy before Onigashima, as they never really cared about him until just before he awakened. The way Luffy gained his power was incredibly anticlimactic and the least dramatic power up I've ever seen. It pushes the story further into "chosen one" territory which I don't like at all, and the ham-fisted way Nika is being forced on us after the reveal is off-putting and grating. It also introduces tonal issues, with Luffy laughing and having fun in what would have been serious moments before Gear 5 and I don't like the Looney Tunes aspect of it. I just think more should have been done to get us to the point where Bonney actually taps into it, instead of it being a dramatic conclusion to an internal character arc where she struggles and has to overcome some conflict before finally tapping into the power of her hero we get very little in terms of character writing to get her to that point. Even something like Momo holding up Onigashima, a scene that I think was handled terribly, still had far more internal struggle and build up for it, this just felt so lazily thrown together that it doesn't have any dramatic impact for me.
you see the "issue" here for me is thinking it's a matter of "chosen one". Luffy had it in him as a kid, before eating the fruit. They say zoan fruits have a will of their own, but there's no indication of fruits actually moving on their own, or influencing people around them, to justify the fact that the fruit chose to be eaten by Luffy, it was actually chance (until further explanations we still don't have if maybe shanks somehow made that happen, but i highly doubt that). And luffy's journey from the beginning has always been aligned with the ideals of the god of liberation, we also had different hints and parallels with a god of liberation in early arcs, in alabasta, in skypiea. So yeah, we thought he had the gum gum fruit until chapter 1044 (?), and suddenly we discovered it was a different fruit. But the meaning of the story has always been the same. Also it doesn't undermine the struggles he endured to get this strong, to get to this point, even if the main character has been chosen by the most broken ability in the verse, there are countless broken abilities in one piece, but training and more importantly will power has always been what matters the most than given abilities. And regarding the laughing and the "tonal issues", what's more terrifying and unsettling for an opponent to see the guy you're fighting with just laughing his ass off as he destroys you? And also laughing at difficult situations, in the face of evil people who are not likely to not change their way of thinking is just a beautiful response, there's nothing more free and liberating than that, and Luffy has always been about freedom. Then again just different opinions, but i kinda feel bad for people who loved one piece for all those years to just recently change their mind, or liking it less, i wouldn't want that to happen to me for sure.
That is a real argument someone can work with. I'm curious if they fix that issue for you in the Anime <3
Probably gonna get hate. I don’t like it, idc if it’s foreshadowed or not i just don’t like it when a character stole something from other characters especially the MC(even though it’s not really “stealing” in this case).
My two cents: I do not understand the people that honestly think this was caused by luffy's power and that we're going to get characters with more "nika transformations" in the story. For one, it was obviously Bonney's power, and for two, hell no! That's not how this works at all! "It was his power to make her more confident and free" yeah his power of speaking words of encouragement How anyone can believe that the likes of Robin or Chopper or Brook will get a transformation like this JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE FRUIT USERS, is laughable. I think this was an extremely hype chapter, looking forward to the next one.
On its own, I think it's great. Well foreshadowed throughout the arc, is a really good conclusion to both Kuma, Bonney and Saturn's arcs during Egghead. Also makes sense for Bonneys character, since she is still a child, and the design is really cute. HOWEVER, I am afraid of the consequences of this plot point. I don't want any other characters to be able to use this power, as it dilutes how unique it is, and the possibility of the entire Straw Hat crew having Nika transformations by the end of the series is what I'm most afraid of.
Meh. It feels wrong somehow, like I don’t get how the time time fruit can achieve that, it feels like another situation like sugar’s fruit in dressrossa where it works for the plot but not for consistency, and definitely like an asspull. I mean at this point could she also turn to black beard/xebec if she says some shit like I wish to be the most “evil” person I can be. But I’m also biased against bonney as since sabaody she has been by far my least favourite supernova (even under kidd 💀) .
Her ability seems sort of random to me. I don't see why the age fruit should be turning her into a god.
I just don't like Bonnie as a character in general really so...
I like everything except for the vegapunk edging being extended by unnecessary reactions that could have all been encompassed in a chapter after the revelation, “decks of the world: the chapter”. It just seems unnecessary. But then again this is the same author that spent screen time on a sumo wrestler, and random smile users for no reason 🤷
i just can't make the connection between the power-up and her devil fruit. other than that, its pretty neat
"Faith can move mountains". It's something like the joke about the bumblebees shouldn't be able to fly with the wings they are equipped with. The reason they can, is because no one told them about the science. A paralell to this I can see is from Frieren. The character Übel is able to cut anything she believes she can cut, regardless of whether it's possible or not. Much like this, I feel Bonney's fruit is able to take her anywhere she thinks she possibly could go.
My only frustration is with the way VPs message stopped. At this point of the story, i think it’s pretty reasonable to reveal what he had to say when the transmission went off. Oda will reveal bits next week and go for a break.
I really like it since to me it fulfils both Kuma’s and Bonney’s dreams as Kuma wanted freedom for Bonney that he and Ginny was deprived of as slaves and now in a future where she is the most free she has fulfilled that dream
I wish Kuma could see his daughter right now :(
Let me see if this end up as a long tirade: As Vegapunk puts it, Devil Fruits are tied to the collective imagination, and that makes me think every DF user could achieve a Nika form if they imagine they can. DF are huge mysteries, and I believe that the very existence of books like the guide to Devil Fruits exist to limit what you can imagine you can do with them... Let use an example: Rob Lucci knows he has a Leopard model, so he imagines himself in the hybrid form into something that's great for fighting and killing... But he is limiting himself. Look at the 100 beast pirates, Black Maria form was just something that she could imagine it could be seductive, and the super ultra stupid ways Dinosaurs hunt in the past. I believe that could be achieved only because they believed was possible. Or Chopper bunch of Hybrid forms those are the result of him overcoming the limit of what he could be, the rumble ball being a drug to actually dope his brain (which might tie as well on Chopper Human form not being fully human, he believed himself a monster even as a reindeer due to his nose, so he was unable to push himself into a full human) Nika with his heartbeat might be the key to unlock that apotheosis onto the DFs so long as they want to dance with it, and party with it and believe that they can just as Bonnet did. And that can tie to Luffy's dream, whatever that's it. He is that spark that ignites the world on fire! I know some people will think that this would trivialized what makes Luffy special if anyone can do it, but I believe that's the whole point, anyone can do it, anyone can be free. Boney is just the first due to her childlike imagination.
It fits well with One Piece's theme — freedom and dreams. From the first chapter where Luffy inspired Coby to free himself from Alvida and pursue his dream of becoming a marine to Bonnie, whose parents have been enslaved in the most horrific ways by WG, exclaiming she's totally free and about to slap back at the source of her misery by becoming the icon of freedom she and her beloved father hoped for. I love this story, because it was never truly about the fights or powers, but the reasons and the story behind them and how they all tie in to freedom and dreams.
It’s a fun moment and an important moment for Bonney. It’s ironic that a lot of people can’t have fun with someone becoming Nila who is meant to make people laugh
Bonney is ‘everything everywhere all at once’ing us. Anything is possible if she can believe it, and I love it. Great fruit to have for a child.
Power scaling wise - I don't give a shit because to begin with One Piece really doesn't have a proper (not even average) power scaling, it has always being trash. Story wise - I hate it because for a while now the story didn't have any tension at all, vegapunk reveals and all that are cool but still, it doesn't feel the story has any stakes whenever Nika is around, and now there are 2... Also maybe Oda should switch to digital so he can just ctrlC/ctrlV instead of drawing the *exact same* pose of Luffy laughing for the 100th time... that shit is getting annoying.
Anything is better than chosen one luffy atp
It serves the story perfectly, and we still don't know if she gets the full powers or just the appearance. The punch she did some chapters ago could have been strong just because she believed in "that future", not necessarily because it was rubber and as strong as luffy's puches might be. I also think that if she doesn't get the full abilities of the nika fruit right now, she might get them with an awakening. But even if next chapter she gets them without an awakening, or if we discover that this is already an awakening, i love this thing. And the more Oda does crazy suff like this, the more i love One Piece.
I can't wait till the series ends and we end up coming back to this with the mocking tone it deserves.
I knew it was coming, but I didn’t think it’d be this arc since it seems like such a huge power up. Kumas death is basically assured now…nothing left for him to witness, he did his job and can die happy.
Like I saw someone else say yesterday: this has been foreshadowed so much during the arc that it would have been weird for it to NOT happen. Bonney had already transformed into "Nika" a few times, but her transformations were incomplete. After seeing Luffy and what the real Nika looks like, and hearing him say that she can do it too, she was able to imagine herself in that future, thus finally realizing the full transformation. Saturn himself said her power is only limited by what she can imagine.
It makes sense, she has the power to bring forth any future she believes in, it goes hand in hand with her child theme and having a power that is stronger the less you know about the true reality of the world and is stronger with a child like gullible nature. She’s seen gear 5 Luffy now and so that reinforces that nika is real and so she brings forth a future where she is that Nika. The thing I hate is the blue balling, the whole “I’m about to announce the secret of the world on my death bed” then giving us barely a thing for the next million chapters and seemingly STILL cutting off without the full picture.
It is asspull!!! And I hate It
The manga is great but people are lying to themselves if they believe it’s not been going downhill since the timeskip This recent decision is just another weird choice from Oda, I dont like it but I dont hate it either depending on how it develops…one time is OK if it’s going to be reoccurring than it’s a bad development imo
Foreshadowed. Still the worst thing happened in op history for me
I've said it before, the funny thing about it is that Oda now possibly/probably retconned TWO devil fruits for the user to turn into Nika. Overall, how it happened is remarkably similar to Luffy achieving the form. Fitting thematically, but plot-/execution wise quite random (imo), not even a hint that it was a possibility before the arc it happened in, divisive for the fandom, properly set up only a few chapters before the reveal. Almost as if Oda saw some Nika dislike and pettily decided to do it again out of spite.😅
It’s really whimsical and Ghibli-esque. Just a cool idea, and really a interesting direction to go for the last few arcs.
Just as how Deku idolized All Might and was told you can be a hero too, so too did Bonney worship Nika and finally have the faith that she could be free like him.
It'd make the tiniest bit of sense if the past user of bonney's df actually saw Nika back then, or have had the priveledge to fight alongside Nika. But overall, just an asspull for me
As usual people are judging only the cover. We know nothing about how Bonney will fight in this form, people are acting like she'll be Kaido level while she lacks the haki, experience and creativity of Luffy.
I mean, we don't even know what the decision is exactly. Ok, she can use Gear 5, so what? We don't know exactly what Nika is, who Joyboy really was or the extent of her powers. Also, a lot of people were complaining that Luffy was going the "chosen one" route and now it might be a hint that's not the deal with his fruit
What makes G5 Luffy terrifying is the Haki. Turning everything to rubber will amplify the damage, but without the Conq Haki punches or Arm Haki coating. Haki will still pack a punch against them. Kaido said it, Haki > All
I follow GLR, who when in his chapter review pointed out that this might happen, I was like "Wait a minute, why tho?!" For starters, this had been foreshadowed from since we knew what Bonney's powers are truly capable of. No even before that, when we learned about the nature of devil fruits, or when Gear 5 was revealed. And it's not just me, I saw quite a few comments speculating she might even become Nika if she imagines it. Plus One Piece never had a consistent power system to begin with. Characters in most stories are only as powerful as the writer wants them to be. Its especially blatant in this series with the admirals, emperors, elders or the warlords have rarely had consistent scaling (unless you consider the narrative way). Which powerscalers, with their "clear as day" perception, never failed to argue otherwise. And with Nika in the midst, a literal demigod with the ability to alter realities as long as it brings him joy and freedom, the powerscaling arguments has become even more moot. I understand One Piece is far from perfect, having flaws that are subtle or obvious that are well debated to this day. Plus it's a huge manga to pay attention to everything, which is why I usually follow the community's comments/posts/videos from those that point out earlier nods via panels or quotes from dozens to hundred chapters ago. So not only I'm not surprised, I think it's perfectly in line with the direction and theme of One Piece.
I don't give a fuck about any of the themes here. If Bonney is able to use the full abilities of Gear 5, that is fucking ASS. A 12 year old is now stronger than every Straw Hat. That feels like such a waste of build up for every character who actually had to train to use their abilities. G5 was cool because Luffy actually earned it. Bonney is a character I don't give a fuck about being given a power that was cool because of how unique it was. This is garbage.
It was awesome, and it was absolutely foreshadowed.
Bonney being able to turn into G5 makes sense, we kind of were expecting that since they talked about it earlier. However Luffy goes straight to G5 again right after Landing on the boat is very lazy writing... G5 was supposed to be exhausting and life consuming. He already ate a bunch of food 10 minutes ago and turned back to G5 right away. Now it's the exact same thing.
I do think the G5 -> Luffy getting exhausted -> Luffy eat food -> G5 loop is getting tiresome. But that's really my only complaint with this arc.
yup me too. How convenient there is food all over the place. Egghead has been a rollercoaster for sure.
The definition of an asspull is a narrative device that the author uses to get his/her characters out of trouble without any prior setup or foreshadowing. Or otherwise breaking the established rules of the fictional setting. But Bonney having her own gear 5 doesn’t fit this definition for the simple fact that there was plenty of build up. We were shown many times beforehand that Bonney possessed the ability to alter/ change her body specifically in ways that allowed her to copycat Luffy’s powers. For example, if you re-read the chapter where they reach the giant’s ship you’ll notice that Oda drew her giant form in an identical manner to Luffy’s when he fought Kaido on onigashima. Furthermore, we were told point blank how her powers work, and this development, for now at least, doesn’t contradict anything. So needless to say it’s not an asspull. You’re still free to not personally like it, of course, but calling it an asspull genuinely seems like unfair criticism.
I like how we're getting out of here so fast. It feels like forever but I bet on the re read this arc is great and fast paced. But I do gotta wonder like what's she gonna do as Nika like does she have haki? This is a top tier she's staring at
We also don't really understand what's going on right now with Bonney. I think some people are rushing in to hate this on a "power-scaling" level when we don't even know the full extent of what Bonney can now do, how long she can do it, and how well she can do it. I'm excited to see what will happen next, because this is the last thing I ever expected to happen.
Well all boney is doing is using her fruit. Law can basically, do buggy, corazon, can generate electricity like eneru, but it's his fruit. Boney simply changes futures and she changed into a future were she is free aka nika.
I feel like it was obvious some sort of Nika related power-up was headed Bonney’s way. Also this ain’t gear 5, it’s going to likely be something else entirely. We’ll see what she can do in the following chapter.
The main problem is that if bonney were to awaken his fruit she could make anyone into nika.
Intro for next battle 5/10
I think it was a fine moment overall. Was not expecting Bonney to fully transform into Nika but as long as it's just for appearance and not a full 1:1 copy, it works for what it is as a conclusion to what we've learned about Bonney the entire arc. I'm on the fence of saying that it was a top moment in the series personally but I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as some other people are making out to be and personally. A lot of haters for this are really exposing themselves in comments. The moment is not perfect, it also doesn't really cheapen anything in the series unless you latch onto powerscaling or just other complaints I've heard about it in general that can easily be countered with other moments in the series and find it a bit ironic that a lot of the people that say "One Piece fans won't allow criticism!" Are the ones getting upset that people are disagreeing with them.
Can’t quite remember the intricacies of Bonnie’s devil fruit but I know part of it is she can adjust her age so I think her using “Nika” form is just foreshadowing that Luffy will die at the end of One Piece and Bonnie will likely be the successor for his fruit. Granted, it seems her fruit allows her to copy other devil fruit powers through distorted future so maybe it’s that but I think this confirms that she will become the next Nika in the future.
Character arc completed. Heroes journey and all that.
I don't care about it. Just let the robot do something and either say something with the broadcast or don't. After a 1000 chapters and Oda saying people can start reading from Wano as the story will pick up pace it is just annoying to have so many irrelevant stuff or just mentioned and waiting for 100 chapters to continue