Officially colored illustrations of one of the most epic scenes in One Piece have been released, proving that Eiichiro Oda's best-selling manga is not just exciting, action-packed, and rich in lore and mysteries, it is also a beautiful work of art.
The Wano Arc, constructed by the author to resemble a traditional Kabuki play, has been full of emotional moments. One of the driving themes in the story is the twenty-year-old revenge that the Nine Red Scabbards, the former retainers of the rightful leader of Wano, Kozuki Oden, have to enact on Kaido, who killed their Shogun and took control of their land. Alone, the samurai could not hope to defeat Kaido, so some of them are sent twenty years in the future along with Oden's son, Momonosuke, by the powers of his mother, Toki, to protect the heir and find allies. The other samurai, along with the people of Wano, are forced to wait for twenty terrible years and suffer under the yoke of Kaido and his puppet ruler, Orochi. When the Nine Scabbards reunite and launch the final assault against Kaido with the help of their pirate allies, all their pent-up anger and frustration erupts.
The colored illustrations, shared on Twitter by user Artur - Library of Ohara, are from volume 98 of the manga and show the beginning of the battle between the Nine Scabbard and Kaido on the roof of the Onigashima fortress. Snow is falling but the sky is clear, with a full, shining moon that outlines Kaido's fearsome dragon form. The setting is beautiful, almost poetic, creating a stark contrast with the violence that is about to erupt. When the fight begins, it is shown side by side with panels depicting the common people of Wano celebrating the only day of festivity that their cruel masters allow, unaware that their future is being decided in a battle taking place above their heads.
The story of the Red Scabbards and their struggle for the liberation of Wano has been central in this arc, the longest and one of the most important in One Piece's history. Readers knew that sooner or later the protagonist Luffy would have to fight Kaido and put him down, but the motivations of the samurai for this battle run much deeper than the Straw Hats', so it was inevitable to root for the Scabbards and hope that they would get their revenge after twenty years. The moment when they first attack Kaido and are able to pierce his supposedly-impenetrable skin, much to the Emperor's surprise, is one of the most rewarding in the long history of this manga.
The Wano Arc has showcased the artistic heights that One Piece can achieve because Oda has been paying particular attention to the settings, the environment, and the framing of the scenes, all to transmit to his readers the feeling that they are watching a play or one of the samurai movies that were so popular in Japan in the past. These colored pages show that, despite the criticism that One Piece sometimes gets for its controversial style, it is an incredible work of art.
Source: Artur - Library of Ohara