Contains spoilers for One Piece Chapter 1057!
The manga One Piece is well known for both its epic foreshadowing and emotional moments and a revelation in the series’ latest chapter has managed to combine the two. This is nothing new for series author Eiichiro Oda, as he is both a meticulous plotter and a master of manipulating his readers’ emotions. But rarely do both elements of his writing combine so well in one instant.
One Piece fans have gotten the chance to know the manga’s main characters extremely well over its many chapters. And where other series often have their characters display massive amounts of growth over the course of the story, One Piece’s characters stay remarkably the same. This isn’t to say they don’t grow at all, but the cores of these characters largely stay the same. As such, Luffy’s actions from the beginning of the series and the One Piece’s latest chapters feel extremely consistent and can even directly parallel each other, despite the fact that Luffy has now come so far from where he started. As a Yonko, Luffy is currently establishing his territory, but of course, he is going about it just like he would when he was a pirate just entering the Grand Line.
In chapter 1057, Luffy and his crew are finally leaving Wano, which is causing Momo a great deal of emotional distress. In order to make sure Momo always has a reminder of his time with the Strawhats, Luffy gives Momo a copy of their Jolly Roger flag to always remember them by. He tells Momo to fly it in the capital so that if people try to mess with Wano again, they’ll know it’s under the protection of the Strawhat crew. Luffy may not realize it, but this is essentially making Wano part of a Strawhat Yonko empire. Luffy doesn’t really care about that sort of political consideration though, he just views this as a way to ease Momo’s pain over their departure. Viewing this gesture in this way actually connects this moment back to when the Strawhats had to leave the giant whale Laboon at the entrance of the Grand Line.
Laboon was a whale that had been left at the start of the Grand Line by Brooks’ original crew, who had promised to eventually return. However Brooks’ crew died, leaving the whale thinking that they had abandoned it. Luffy and his crew befriended the whale, and then painted a crude drawing of their Jolly Roger on its head, so it would always be able to remember them. This is essentially exactly what Luffy did with Momo in chapter 1057. The fact that Luffy is still reassuring his friends and honorary Strawhats in the same manner, just in a different context shows that despite how far he has come he is still the same character that fans know and love.
Oda’s extreme foreshadowing and callbacks greatly enhance One Piece’s already great plot points. The farewells to both Laboon and Momo are both extremely emotional on their own. But by tying them together in this way, One Piece also enhances Luffy’s character and makes both moments become a more important part of the broader narrative of the series.
One Piece Chapter 1057 is now available to read on Viz Media.