One Piece has introduced its fair share of ladies over the years, and Sanji must know them all by name. The lady-loving pirate is never afraid to shower a girl with praise, but there was no way Sanji saw the series’ latest heroine coming. However, Naruto fans were ready for the reveal, and they think the lady may be referencing a famous kunoichi.
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So, if One Piece needs the Slug Princess to help the Straw Hats, it may be able to swing the assist.
For those out of the loop, One Piece got fans buzzing when it brought back up its ninja profession. Monkey D. Luffy is fine with being a pirate, but it seem Nami and Tony Tony Chopper will act as ninjas on Wano. So, they will need a sensei to guide them and their aging teacher made Naruto fans do a double take.
Out of nowhere, an older kunoichi by the name Shinobu appeared before the group. Sanji was scared out of his wits, and he didn’t care for the lady’s older looks. However, as it turns out, Shinobu is a prodigal shinobi who trained under Kinemon and has mastered the so-called Art of Bewitchment.
While Shinobu doesn’t look much like Tsunade on the surface, Naruto fans were quick to pick apart her appearance. The fact that both kunoichi are older and respected masters in their craft signaled fans first off. Then, audiences took notice of Shinobu’s blonde pigtails and ample bust. The heroine’s features as a whole do not evoke Tsunade at first, but Naruto fans are pretty convinced Shinobu is meant to be a caricature of the Fifth Hokage.
This would not be the first time One Piece has done such a Naruto lampoon. Way back when, a ninja from Wano named Raizo met the Straw Hat gang, and his exaggerated features made fans think of Might Guy and Rock Lee. To make things all the better, Raizo was even played by the Japanese voice actor for Might Guy, so One Piece wouldn’t shock fans with yet another parodic homage.
So, do you see the caricature here or…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Eiichiro Oda‘s One Piece first began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997. It has since been collected into over 80 volumes, and has been a critical and commercial success worldwide with many of the volumes breaking printing records in Japan. The manga has even set a Guinness World Record for the most copies published for the same comic book by a single author, and is the best selling manga series worldwide with over 430 million copies sold.
