One Piece fan claims Ace's sacrifice had greater significance than Itachi's in Naruto

One of the most timeless and incessant debates in the general anime fandom is the topic of One Piece versus Naruto and which one is the better series overall. Fans who prefer one series over the other are constantly arguing with each other about which series has the upper hand.

However, since objectively pointing to one and calling it better is a truly impossible task, fans instead typically compare various aspects of One Piece and Naruto. While the two have very different settings and plots, there are some sections of each story that can easily be compared to one another.

One such easy comparison comes in the form of brotherly sacrifice, with both One Piece and Naruto each having a recognizable moment of this caliber in their own right. However, there are some key differences between the two in both the contexts and ultimate effects of each brotherly sacrifice.

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One Piece fans restart quality war with Naruto, this time with focus on brotherly sacrifice

Comparing and contrasting the brotherly sacrifices

Twitter user and seemingly a One Piece fan, @NaffyTaro (Naffy) recently shared a post asserting that the aforementioned series' brotherly sacrifice was "more meaningful" than the one in Naruto. Naffy even provides photos of the exact moments of the series featuring the sacrifices, showing Ace's moment of sacrifice versus Itachi's in Naruto.

To provide some context, Ace's sacrifice for Luffy saw him saving his life from Admiral Akainu after Luffy fought tirelessly for days to save Ace from execution. Itachi's sacrifice, meanwhile, was more of a slow-burning one which saw Itachi choose to kill the rest of the Uchiha clan to save his younger brother.

In his actual moment of death, Itachi doesn't sacrifice much for Sasuke. Most of his efforts to create a better world for Sasuke are revealed later on in Naruto, and while he does defeat Orochimaru before dying, Sasuke likely could've done the same. Thus, in terms of immediate narrative impact and significance, Ace's sacrifice appears to be more meaningful.

However, One Piece also doesn't really do much with Ace's death beyond the moment itself. While Yamato's backstory does incorporate Ace and his death heavily, essentially all other posthumous appearances of and references to Ace are fairly insignificant. Itachi's death, meanwhile, plays a key role in the series for several arcs beyond his initial death.

Thus, in terms of long-term narrative impact and significance, Naruto's brotherly sacrifice likely wins and is more meaningful. This is especially true when considering how integral the Uchiha clan massacre is to author and illustrator Masashi Kishimoto's story. Ace's death, meanwhile, is less impactful to the narrative of author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda's series.

While each death clearly shines in a specific context, fans are likely wondering which one wins overall. Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut right answer. With each serving different purposes in their own stories, it's almost impossible to say whether One Piece or Naruto's brotherly sacrifice is the more objectively meaningful one.

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