One Piece fans often ignore the red flags in one of Luffy's most popular ships

Modified Oct 28, 2024 20:30 GMT

One Piece fans often ignore the red flags in one of Luffy's most popular ships (Images via Toei Animation)

One Piece's story features one of the biggest and most diverse casts in all of shonen, introducing numerous fan-favorite characters. Despite its diverse cast, romance has been absent from the story, with Eiichiro Oda expressing his aversion to any romance between the Straw Hat crew, further emphasized by the lack of onscreen exploration of romantic themes in the story.

The Luffy and Boa Hancock ship, which has survived ever since the Amazon Lily arc, has currently become one of the most popular ships in the series. Although the ship itself is very famous, it also has a significant portion of the audience against it, specifically due to the pairing being problematic because of Luffy and Boa Hancock's ages, which is an oversimplification of the entire situation between Luffy and Hancock.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the One Piece series.

One Piece: The Luffy X Boa Hancock might just be a setup for Hancock's character development

Boa Hancock as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Luffy and Boa Hancock first met following the end of the Sabaody Archipelago arc, which concluded with the Straw Hat Crew being teleported all around the world. Although their meeting initially culminated in Luffy's detainment, it soon progressed to Luffy fighting Hancock's sisters to gain his freedom and secure a boat to return. This encounter ended with Boa Hancock "falling" for Luffy.

Although Boa Hancock's complete backstory with detailed information has not been revealed, it is known that she, along with her sisters, was captured and enslaved by the Celestial Dragons. Hancock was force-fed the Mero Mero no Mi and subjected to years of torture, which only ended after she and her sisters escaped Mary Geoise with the help of Fisher Tiger.

Hancock's overtly pompous, aggressive, and narcissistic nature is essentially a way to cope with her past as a slave, which she deems shameful. Her rejection of her past as a slave is strong enough that she hides the slave emblem at all times and would prefer death over capture, fearing being enslaved again.

Luffy as shown in the anime (Image via Toei Animation)

Luffy's indifference towards her rather shameful past, as well as her unmatched beauty, not only broke through the mental barriers that Hancock had put up but also made Luffy an object of admiration and respect, which further culminated in Hancock falling for him. Given that almost everyone eventually falls for Hancock's charms, Luffy's immunity towards her, paired with his honest nature, makes it natural for Hancock to fall for him.

Although Luffy himself has outright rejected Boa Hancock's advances as well as a literal marriage proposal, Hancock's resolve and admiration for Luffy continue to rise. Boa Hancock and Luffy met each other at the ages of 29 and 17, respectively, which has served as the primary red flag associated with this ship, often overlooked due to the sheer number of supporters for this pairing.

While the issues and criticisms are completely warranted, it is important to note that the tone of One Piece steers clear of any romantic aspects, with Eiichiro Oda expressing his aversion to romance concerning the Straw Hats. Boa Hancock and Luffy's relationship will continue to be problematic due to its origin, but it is most probable that Oda is setting up Boa Hancock's eventual escape from her past, with her admiration and love for Luffy serving as a stepping stone.

Final Thoughts

One Piece chapter 1131 will be released on November 10, 2024, and will focus on the situation within Elbaf. Boa Hancock has not appeared in the story recently, with her last interaction being with Rayleigh after he saved Amazon Lily by driving Blackbeard off the island. Given her strong affiliation and support for the Straw Hat Pirates, it is almost guaranteed that she'll play a rather integral role in the final arc of the series.