While romance typically takes a huge backseat in One Piece, it rarely ever stops fans from shipping their favorite characters together. One such ship that snuck up and took fans completely by surprise during the Wano Arc was Ace and Yamato, whose beautiful friendship, though short-lived due to Ace’s death, was quick to sneak into fans’ hearts. Though largely fanmade, the Ace x Yamato ship has since become quite popular and a new piece of fan art imagines them as the ultimate power couple.
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A recent piece of fan art posted on X by @rihirihi613 beautifully reimagines Ace and Yamato together in the cutest way possible, giving fans a glimpse of what the two might’ve looked like together had One Piece‘s story gone differently. The illustration notably features Ace smirking while pinching Yamato’s cheeks from behind as well as Yamato embracing Ace from behind, with the artist’s distinct style painting the two in an especially handsome light with radiant blushing smiles. The illustration also features adorable versions of Yamato and Ace passed out atop each other, likely after a long night of drinking, much like they did during their first meeting.
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One Piece Fans Were Robbed of Ace and Yamato’s Friendship
Going into the Wano Arc, fans definitely did not expect to have their hearts broken over Ace all over again, yet Yamato’s flashback of his meeting with Ace managed to do just that. Though brief, the flashback quickly opened up the old wound, revealing Ace and Yamato’s unique bond was forged over a single night of drinking and telling stories over a bonfire and reiterating how Ace’s death impacted many who weren’t even present at Marineford. The anime made the flashback even more tragic than the manga with a heartbreaking original scene of Yamato clutching the burning embers of Ace’s Vivre Card against the setting sun as his life burned away at Marineford.
Fans very much felt robbed of the friendship that could have been between Yamato and Ace, especially since the latter inspired Yamato to continue dreaming and not allow himself to be shackled by Kaido’s influence. Fan art such as the above by rihirihi613 remains a heartbreaking reminder of what could have been and regardless of whether fans ship Yamato and Ace together romantically or platonically, most will surely agree that it’s nice to see the two happy and together.
One Piece is available to read via Manga Plus and Viz Media.
Original artwork courtesy of rihirihi613 on X.
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