One Piece Addresses Yamato's Gender Identity in New Scrapped Scene

One Piece is on a break this month, but in the meantime, fans are being treated to plenty of goodies to keep them busy. Creator Eiichiro Oda is taking a much-deserved rest, after all, and so are his heroes. The Straw Hats have a lot on the horizon all thanks to their final act as well as Yamato's addition to the team. And now, a never-before-seen storyboard is giving fans insight into Kaido's kid and their gender identity.

For those who aren't aware, One Piece introduced Kaido's only child some months ago, and Yamato became a favorite with fans. When the character debuted, they were referred to as a male and Yamato made it clear they viewed themselves as Kozuki Oden's second coming. However, peripheral One Piece media has gone on to refer to Yamato as a woman on more than one occasion. Of course, this has spurred some lively discussions within the fandom, and One Piece: Road to Laugh Tale is now getting in on the chat.

There is also a scrapped idea of Yamato not wanting to be seen by others to be female, using a hat to hide. The booket also mentions how compared to the manly Yamato of the present, Yamato's earlier sketches appear more feminine pic.twitter.com/bmXpYbwD7G

— Artur – Library of Ohara (@newworldartur) July 10, 2022

After all, the series posted an update this week that included plenty of unseen storyboards and drafts about Yamato. It was there a scrapped scene was shown that followed Yamato as she spoke with Momonosuke about their gender identity. In this rough draft, Yamato states she's a girl directly, but this moment was ultimately cut by Oda. As you can see, this scrapped scene also shows Yamato with a more feminine design than what One Piece fans are used to, so it is clear the character went through a lot of development.

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As you can see, Yamato's character is one of the more complex introduced during the Wano Country saga, and we will surely learn more about the pirate as One Piece goes on. Oda is expected to return to work towards the summer's end, and the manga will pick up with its final act. Yamato is dead set on traveling with Luffy during the remainder of his travels. And if the character never clears up things about their gender, honestly? That is their prerogative.

What do you think about this latest  One Piece explainer? Do you think Yamato should join the Straw Hats for good? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.