One Piece Has a Romance Problem — & It’s All Eiichiro Oda’s Fault

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The latest arc of the series is showing that love plays a much larger role than previously thought. Important characters like Bartholomew Kuma, Silvers Rayleigh, Scopper Gaban, and Rocks D. Xebec have all been driven by their affection for the women they care about, and their attempts to protect them have had huge consequences for the world. This has given these characters compelling and significant backstories, but it also makes the series’ main heroes look less impressive in comparison.

For a long time, *One Piece* didn’t focus on romantic relationships, and now the series is feeling the consequences in its final arc. While the creator, Eiichiro Oda, intentionally avoided romance for the Straw Hat Pirates, other characters are now being developed through love stories, leaving the Straw Hats behind. This makes an existing problem even worse: many Straw Hat crew members besides Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji haven’t been given enough attention or development since the time skip.

Eiichiro Oda Has Gone Out of His Way to Keep Romance Away From the Straw Hat Pirates

While *One Piece* includes romance, the Straw Hat Pirates’ focus has always been on adventure, according to creator Eiichiro Oda. This is especially true for Monkey D. Luffy, who has never shown romantic interest in anyone, even Nami, a character who clearly loves him and attracts almost everyone else in the series. Even Sanji, known for his constant flirting, has only experienced brief romantic moments – a single arc with Pudding, whom he barely remembers kissing – after decades of pursuing women, mostly resulting in awkward situations and bad jokes.

As a huge *One Piece* fan, I’ve always been fascinated by the debate around romance within the Straw Hat crew! It’s no surprise the fandom hasn’t quite accepted Oda’s vision of them as a purely familial unit – people *really* want to see some pairings happen! Zoro and Sanji are the most popular ‘ship’ by a mile, and honestly, it’s easy to see why! Beyond that, you’ve got tons of fans who love the idea of Luffy and Nami together, or Franky and Robin, even Luffy and Vivi, and Zoro and Robin. But Oda’s always stuck to his guns! He seems to believe that romantic relationships within the crew would make things less interesting, especially for the younger male audience he’s writing for. He really wants to keep the focus on their adventures and bonds as a found family.

The Straw Hat Pirates’ Lack of Romance is Further Pushing Them to the Side in One Piece’s Final Saga

It feels like a while since the supporting characters of *One Piece* – Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brook – have had meaningful storylines. Even for Zoro fans, those who want to see more than just cool fight scenes will notice this. Since the timeskip, the series has focused more on powerful figures like Kuma, Bonney, Vegapunk, the Marines, Rayleigh, and Rocks, often giving them more attention than Luffy’s crew, even though this current storyline is more active than anything we’ve seen since the timeskip.

It’s a little disappointing to see side characters like Rayleigh and Gaban find loving relationships when popular pairings for the main characters have never materialized. It’s also frustrating that these side characters continue to get meaningful storylines and relationships while many of the Straw Hat crew, besides Luffy and Sanji, aren’t being used much at all. As *One Piece* nears its end, the focus should be on the main characters’ journeys, but most of them lack significant development. While romance isn’t essential for the main cast, it would be more impactful if we saw romantic connections blossoming now – perhaps between Usopp and Nami – rather than continually introducing relationships for minor characters.

The Straw Hat Pirates’ lack of romantic storylines isn’t a big problem if everyone had compelling individual plots. But when even fan favorites like Zoro and Nami feel underused, adding some romance could at least make things more interesting. These characters are anime and manga legends, and they deserve more focus than those whose stories rely mostly on past events.

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2025-10-20 05:46