One Piece Just Silenced Its Biggest Critics With A New Female Character
Ahmed Riaz
Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece chapter #1183.Even after almost 30 years of serialization, the most common criticism One Piece faces is how the series portrays its female characters. Nearly every female character, even the ones who are teenagers, is depicted with ridiculously large breasts and absurd hourglass figures wrapped in incredibly revealing outfits, and with just how often it happens, it paints an incredibly misogynistic view of how One Piece treats its female characters, especially with how much the anime exaggerates those points to distracting levels.
The way One Piece portrays its female characters has always been an issue, and even the most ardent defenders of the series will at least acknowledge why people have a problem with it. That being said, the issue is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be, and chapter #1183 proved that with the introduction of a new character who, in a single appearance, proves that One Piece’s critics couldn’t be more wrong.
One Piece Just Gave Us The Best-Looking Female Character In Ages
One-Piece-Queen-Candelle-Introduction
After months of the manga teasing at a secret past for Brook that needed to be explored, One Piece chapter #1183 marked the start of Brook’s second flashback arc, a story exploring his life as a knight in the kingdom of Esperia, which was briefly alluded to when he debuted almost 20 years ago. Chapter #1183 also reaffirmed that Brook was friendly with the royal family, specifically Gunko, when she was just Princess Shuri, King Reuven, and the love of Brook’s life, Queen Candelle.
Queen Candelle is another One Piece woman who’s supposed to be seen as incredibly beautiful to the point that people would invade Esperia just to kidnap her, but so far, the series has avoided the common problems it usually has with characters like her. Unlike other female characters in One Piece, Candelle neither has a ridiculously large chest nor a ridiculously small waist, and her outfit is surprisingly conservative, as it doesn’t expose her body in a fanservicey way in the slightest, all of which are issues that have only intensified over the last decade or so.
Grand Line · Pirate Adventure Edition The One Piece Anime Quiz
⚓CrewNakama
⚡PowersDevil Fruit
🌊ArcsAdventure
☠VillainsEnemies
🌎WorldBlue Sea
01
Monkey D. Luffy is the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and dreams of becoming King of the Pirates. He gained his signature stretching abilities by eating a Devil Fruit as a child. What was this fruit originally believed to be called?
✓ Correct! The Gomu Gomu no Mi (Gum-Gum Fruit) was what Luffy’s Devil Fruit was believed to be — a Paramecia-type fruit that turned his body into rubber. Luffy accidentally ate it from the treasure chest of the Red Hair Pirates when he was a child in Foosha Village.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is the Gomu Gomu no Mi. The Mera Mera no Mi is the Flame-Flame Fruit eaten by Ace, the Bara Bara no Mi is Buggy’s Chop-Chop Fruit, and the Hana Hana no Mi is Robin’s Flower-Flower Fruit.
02
The One Piece world is divided by a massive geological formation that runs around the entire globe, separating the oceans. What is this continent-like structure called?
✓ Correct! The Red Line is a massive continent that circles the globe vertically, dividing the world’s oceans into four seas: North Blue, South Blue, East Blue, and West Blue. It intersects with the Grand Line at two points, including the holy land of Mary Geoise.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is the Red Line. The Grand Line is the ocean route where pirates compete, the Calm Belt is a windless sea surrounding it full of Sea Kings, and Reverse Mountain is the entry point to the Grand Line. The Red Line is the massive continent dividing the world.
03
In the One Piece world, there is a spiritual power that allows users to sense others’ presence, predict attacks, and even exert their willpower over others. What is this power called?
✓ Correct! Haki is a mysterious power that exists in every living being in the One Piece world. It comes in three types: Observation Haki (sensing), Armament Haki (invisible armor), and the rare Conqueror’s Haki (dominating willpower), which only one in a million people possess.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is Haki. Chakra is the energy system from Naruto, Nen is from Hunter x Hunter, and Ki is from Dragon Ball. Haki is One Piece’s unique power system with three distinct forms: Observation, Armament, and Conqueror’s.
04
The Seven Warlords of the Sea (Shichibukai) were powerful pirates who worked for the World Government in exchange for pardons. Which of these characters was NOT one of the original Seven Warlords?
✓ Correct! Kaido was never a Warlord — he was one of the Four Emperors (Yonko), the most powerful pirates ruling the New World. Known as “the Strongest Creature in the World,” Kaido ruled over Wano Country with the Beast Pirates. Mihawk, Crocodile, and Doflamingo were all Warlords.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is Kaido. Mihawk (the world’s greatest swordsman), Crocodile (the desert king of Alabasta), and Doflamingo (the Heavenly Demon) were all Warlords. Kaido was a Yonko — an Emperor of the Sea — a rank above the Warlords entirely.
05
The Marineford War arc is considered one of the most emotional and pivotal arcs in One Piece. Luffy desperately fought to save someone important to him from execution. Who was Luffy trying to save?
✓ Correct! Portgas D. Ace, Luffy’s sworn older brother, was captured by the Marines and sentenced to public execution at Marineford. Luffy broke into Impel Down prison and then stormed Marineford itself in a desperate attempt to save Ace, leading to one of the most heartbreaking moments in anime history.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is Portgas D. Ace. Nico Robin was rescued during the Enies Lobby arc, Zoro is rarely in that kind of danger, and Sabo was believed dead at the time. Ace’s execution at Marineford triggered an all-out war between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines.
06
Roronoa Zoro is the first member to join Luffy’s crew and serves as the Straw Hats’ swordsman. He has a unique fighting style. How many swords does Zoro wield in his signature technique?
✓ Correct! Zoro is famous for his Santoryu (Three Sword Style), wielding one sword in each hand and a third in his mouth. This unique fighting style makes him one of the most distinctive swordsmen in all of anime. His dream is to become the world’s greatest swordsman by defeating Dracule Mihawk.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is three. Zoro’s signature Santoryu (Three Sword Style) involves wielding one sword in each hand and gripping the third in his mouth. While he can fight with one or two swords, his three-sword technique is his most iconic and powerful combat form.
07
The World Government in One Piece is controlled by a mysterious group of individuals who sit at the very top of its power structure, above even the Admirals and the Fleet Admiral. What are they called?
✓ Correct! The Five Elders (Gorosei) are the highest-ranking leaders of the World Government, residing in the holy land of Mary Geoise. They command all military and political power, including the authority to order a Buster Call. Their true nature and abilities have only recently been revealed in the series.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is the Five Elders (Gorosei). The Celestial Dragons are descendants of the founding kings but don’t rule directly, the Revolutionary Army opposes the government, and the Yonko are pirate emperors outside government control. The Gorosei sit at the absolute top.
08
It was revealed that Luffy’s Devil Fruit is not actually the Gomu Gomu no Mi, but a mythical Zoan-type fruit with a much more significant true name. What is the fruit’s real identity?
✓ Correct! The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Sun God Nika is a Mythical Zoan-type fruit that the World Government had been hunting for 800 years. When Luffy awakened it during the Wano arc, he unlocked Gear 5 — gaining the power of “the most ridiculous ability in the world” with limitless imagination-based combat.
✗ That answer missed like a Gum-Gum Pistol in a storm! The answer is the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Sun God Nika. The Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix belongs to Marco, the Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu was Kaido’s dragon fruit, and the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Okuchi no Makami was Yamato’s fruit. Luffy’s true fruit is the legendary Sun God Nika.
Voyage Complete Your Pirate Bounty
/ 8
Are you King of the Pirates — or still swabbing the deck?
While people often complain about how One Piece depicts its female characters, characters like Okiku, Lilith, and Ida have had fairly tame designs, at least in the manga, so this isn’t as foreign a concept for the series as some people would believe. That isn’t usually the case with characters who are specifically known for their beauty, though, as seen with Hancock, Shakky, Alvida, and even Nami to some extent, so seeing Candelle with such a balanced design goes a long way to show that One Piece is more than capable of making its female characters beautiful without objectifying them.
29 Years Later, One Piece’s Female Characters Still Get Far Too Much Hate
One-Piece-Episode-1158-Nami
As great as Candelle’s design is, the fact that there’s even a discussion highlights how ridiculous the constant discourse surrounding One Piece’s female characters is. People often say that the way One Piece’s female characters are drawn is an extension of them being bad characters overall, but whether it’s main characters like Nami and Robin, or some of the villains or supporting cast, One Piece’s female characters are almost always given incredible depth to the point of being some of the best characters in the series, and it’s to the point that not even excessive fanservice can ruin them.
Don’t Be Fooled, One Piece’s Female Characters Are Some of the Best In All of Anime
While some of the character designs may turn people off of One Piece, the women of this shonen series are much more than meets the eye.
Female characters in shōnen anime are always at the center of often unjust discourse, and One Piece is probably the best example of that, with how much people will ignore genuinely great writing because of the manga’s penchant for fanservice. One Piece arguably has some of the best female characters in anime, and hopefully, the way Candelle is handled will make that idea more apparent than ever.
