This article contains spoilers for One Piece.
Summary
- Zoro is One Piece's beloved character since he was the first to join Luffy on his adventure.
- Zoro's inspiration includes his mentor Nobuhiro Watsuki, leading to controversy among fans.
- Fans are upset with Oda for being closely associated with Watsuki after his criminal activities.
Oda has come under fire recently, and those who keep up with the drama surrounding One Piece lmao that it has to do with Zoro’s character. Zoro, just like Luffy, is one of the most iconic and memorable One Piece characters, but recent discussions have highlighted the controversial individual Oda has based some of Zoro’s most iconic attributes on, and fans are not happy.
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Zoro is One of One Piece’s Most Beloved Characters
The First Person To Join Luffy on His Adventure
Roronoa Zoro is the first character to join Luffy and become a Straw Hat. Zoro has been a character fans have been following since the very beginning of One Piece.
As such, it’s unsurprising to know that Zoro has always been one of the most popular characters. Zoro has never been kicked out of the top three in popularity polls, which is quite telling, and fans love him more with each passing arc due to how well he's written.
Zoro has grown a lot throughout the story, both in terms of strength and character. And now, with the Final Saga having begun, it’s only going to get more intense for his character, especially now that he is closer than ever to his goal of becoming the World’s Greatest Swordsman.
Zoro is Inspired by a Very Controversial Person
Oda Took a lot of Inspiration For Zoro From His Mentor Nobuhiro Watsuki
Roronoa Zoro is one of the most beloved and recognizable characters from the One Piece series, and there are multiple figures that Oda based him on.
His most notable inspiration for Zoro is, of course, the French Pirate François l'Olonnais, whom he took the last name from and turned it to Roronoa.
But there is someone else Zoro is based on, and it is quite controversial. A lot of Zoro’s attributes are things Oda has taken from the creator of the manga Rurouni Kenshin, Nobuhiro Watsuki. This man was actually Oda’s mentor.
Zoro’s iconic bandana is actually inspired by him. Nobuhiro Watsuki wears a similar bandana to Zoro, something he puts on when he wants to focus on his manga. Nobuhiro Watsuki is also almost the same height as Zoro, at 182cm with Zoro being 181, something many fans have pointed out. It is also stated that Watsuki has a “demonic aura” when he starts working seriously, similar to Zoro.
Naturally, this has caused a lot of controversy and the discussion was reignited with the recent tribute to Nobuhiro Watsuki’s manga Rurouni Kenshin by various Jump authors, including Eiichiro Oda.
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Nobuhiro Watsuki has committed one of the worst crimes someone can be convicted of, and that was the egregious possession of child pornography.
As such, One Piece fans are quite unhappy with Oda’s close relationship with Watsuki, even after all of his heinous activities being revealed. Just recently, Oda drew quite a detailed illustration of Watsuki’s main character, Kenshin. Oda also mentioned Watsuki in the latest SBS, saying a character is a direct reference to him.
It’s very reasonable to see why so many One Piece fans are upset that Zoro is inspired by someone like him.
Where To Read One Piece?
Available on Manga Plus
One Piece Chapter 1153 will be out this week. As usual, One Piece is going to drop on Sunday. In Japan, One Piece drops at 12AM JST on Monday. However, the vast majority of international readers will see the chapter available on June 29. The official release date of One Piece Chapter 1152 is June 29, 2025. Fans can read the chapter for free on Manga Plus.
- Release Date
- October 20, 1999
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Directors
- Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou
Cast
-
Mayumi TanakaMonkey D. Luffy (voice) -
Kazuya NakaiRoronoa Zoro (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Toei Animation
- Creator
- Eiichiro Oda
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu, Pluto TV
