Despite the huge hype surrounding his long-awaited debut, Navy Admiral Ryokugyu ended up being one of One Piece’s most disappointing villains.
Warning: contains spoilers for A play chapter #1055
The new villain A play who stands in the way of the Straw Hat Pirates is already a huge disappointment. Navy Admiral Aramaki, also known as Ryokugyu (Green Bull), debuted right after the climactic battle between Luffy and Kaido ended, trying to knock out the Straw Hats and take the lead. their captain while they were still recovering. However, this highly anticipated new character failed to impress.
Admirals are the most powerful navies, considered one of the three “great powers” in the world due to the military potential each possesses. Ryokugyu was the last “new generation” admiral to debut. Until recently, readers only got a glimpse of his figure and knew that he was involved in a big battle against Luffy’s brother, Sabo and the other Revolutionary Army commanders, but his appearance and his powers remained a mystery. When Ryokugyu suddenly appeared on Wano, it was a shock as the Straw Hats were still recovering from the toughest battle of their lives, and facing such a powerful opponent at that time could be disastrous. The Admiral’s powers also proved dangerous, as he ate the Mori Mori no mi Logia-type Devil Fruit, which allows him to create, control, and transform his body into plant life.
Despite all the hype behind his debut, however, Ryokugyu ended up being the least impressive of the Admirals. Whereas the Navy represents law and order in the world of A play, the top Marines all have a strong, and often unique, ideal of “justice”. Ryokugyu’s idea of ”justice” seems really petty though. In chapter #1054 of A play, he expresses his belief that humanity has survived through the ages by creating and defining who is “inferior” because discrimination creates solace and justice. Because Wano is not affiliated with the World Government, its citizens can be killed without remorse. Despite all this big talk, when Shanks threatens Ryokugyu with his Conqueror Haki in chapter #1055, the Marine tucks his tail in and leaves Wano without even a fight.
Even an extremist like Fleet Admiral Sakazuki, who killed Luffy’s brother Ace, has always impressed readers with his unwavering belief in “absolute justice”, the uncompromising eradication of evil and crime at all times. price, including the sacrifice of innocent lives. Compared to this, Ryokugyu’s idea of discrimination as a key principle of human society seems quite superficial. Also, while his powers seem impressive, Ryokugyu didn’t impart that aura of absolute strength that the other Admirals had in their early days, and his hasty retirement from Shanks surely didn’t help that. It could just be that at this late stage in the story, Luffy and his friends are so powerful that even the mighty Navy Admirals have lost some of their mystique.
It’s easy to predict that at some point in the future, Luffy and the Straw Hats will have to face Ryokugyu again, possibly during the final showdown between the pirates and the navy. Regardless of how it turns out, Ryokugyu’s debut remains a big disappointment, especially since he came right after Kaido, who was arguably the most impressive villain in A play the story.
Look for One Piece new chapter when released on the Viz Media website.
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