I didn't think One Piece was political, until I got to Fish-Man Island

One of One Piece's strengths is its storytelling and one trait that has evolved a lot has been a focus on politics, which becomes prominent during the New World portion of the story. Author Eiichiro Oda already showed glimpses of this during earlier arcs but he started to focus heavily on that during the Fish-Man Island arc. This would see a small yet prominent evolution in his writing.

From this point on, Luffy and the Straw Hat crew's adventures in One Piece would get more political, even if the main characters weren't really interested in such discussions. It was more about the author showing different social issues that are prominent in real life through his manga. This gives the reader some more knowledge of Oda's mindset regarding multiple topics throughout the series.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the manga/anime and reflects the opinions of the writer.

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Explaining One Piece's political evolution since the Fish-Man Island arc

Fish-Man Island is key to understand the series' evolution (Image via Toei Animation).

It is fair to say that author Eiichiro Oda always gave this series a political component. A good example of this would be the Alabasta and Enies Lobby arc, which featured the classic trope of facing political corruption and fighting tyranny. However, it is after the two-year time skip that Oda really emphasizes this trope, with Fish-Man Island and the topic of racism between humans and Fish-Men being extremely prominent in this arc.

Once he began the New World portion of the story, Oda left the Straw Hat crew in a rather consistent baseline in terms of character development. He used them as a way to showcase different political topics he wanted to address in the series. A good example of that happens in Fish-Man Island with the way the queen, Otohime, wanted to create harmony between her people and the human race.

On the other hand, it is easy to see how Donquixote Doflamingo manipulated the people of Dressrosa and his perception of evil and corruption to see how Oda wanted to push the more political elements of the story. This is also the period where the lore and background of the World Government become a lot more prominent, establishing what is going to be the Final Saga.

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Other examples of political elements in the series

Wano was arguably the story's political peak (Image via Toei Animation).

As mentioned earlier, Fish-Man Island could be considered as the moment where the Straw Hat's main conflict wasn't just defeating a bad guy but also dealing with strong political problems. That would become a prominent element of the One Piece franchise moving forward, with the case of the Wano arc perhaps being the moment in the story where this was at its most prominent repercussion.

It is easy to see why when Kaido and his men were ruling the country with an iron fist, leading to massive starvation and political corruption across the line. This was Oda perhaps at his most political in the series. However, it is worth pointing out that Imu and his actions with the World Government are always in the background of the manga, with the final arc very likely to focus on them heavily.

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Final thoughts

One Piece really took a considerable turn toward more political content with the Fish-Man Island storyline and Oda made it a trait of the franchise moving forward. It represents something that has become a staple of the story and one that is bound to reach its conclusion in the final arc.

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