One Piece Reminds Fans Why Celestial Dragons are the Worst

One of the strongest through lines in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is how authority isn’t always right. Though piracy in all respects is against the law, the series has often presented a world that operates in a morally grey area as pirates like Luffy and the Straw Hats are often fighting on behalf of honor or for the safety of others. This crookedness in the world comes right from the top, and fans have been reminded that those at the top are the very worst in the latest episode.

In Episode 886, Shirahoshi is nearly forced into slavery by one of the Celestial Dragons while the other royals gathering for the Reverie are forced to not interfere and it’s a pretty good example of just how low these “Gods” of the world are willing to sink.

The Celestial Dragons have been shown to have a terrible opinion of the people of the world. Being crowned as the descendants of “Gods” they are literally untouchable and do pretty much whatever they want. Treating people like playthings, fans have seen Celestial Dragons at the root of many of the major problems throughout the series. It’s the same here as fans finally get a good look at their home of Mariejois.

After spotting Shirahoshi in a previous episode, Saint Charlos gleefully tries to take Shirahoshi for himself. Putting her in chains and having his slave throw her to the ground, he was happy that he finally “found” a giant mermaid. Without regards for what she wanted, or for her poor father fuming at the fact that he couldn’t retaliate against this, Charlos was about to take Shirahoshi completely.

Luckily another Celestial Dragon soon comes to their aid as a repayment for the good deeds Shirahoshi’s mother once did for him. But this is still a gross demonstration of Charlos’ power as a Celestial Dragon and just another reminder that Luffy and the Straw Hats are on the right path with their pirate journey.

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. The series still ranked number one in manga sales in 2018, which surprised fans of major new entries.