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Warning: Contains spoilers for One Piece chapter #1136.Partway throughOne Piece’s Egghead arc, the story revealed the existence of the Holy Knights, the World Government’s most elite agents and the biggest obstacle in the Revolutionary Army’s war with them. Not much else has been seen of them, but considering how their leader, Figarland Garling, could be promoted to the position of one of the Five Elders, it’s safe to say that being one is a big deal.
The Holy Knights are some ofOne Piece’s most enigmatic characters, and one of their members has finally made her proper introduction.One Piecechapter #1136formally confirmed that the mysterious bandaged woman who came to Elbaph is a Holy Knight named Gunko, and while her appearance should be a big deal,the official debut ofOne Piece’s first Holy Knight has been overshadowed by a very controversial part of her character. Much of that controversy is overblown, but at the same time, it’s hard not to see it as a repeat of one ofOne Piece’s most divisive elements.
Why One Piece’s Newest Villain Is So Controversial
One Piece’s Latest Controversy Explained
The main reason why Gunko is already a controversial villain stems from her design. For the most part, Gunko has a solid design with her heterochromia, giant cape, and a cap and jacket that seem to be based on the classic Japanese school uniform called agakuran, but it’s her lower body that has been a problem for people.Gunko’s character design, for some reason, has her not wearing pants or a skirt so that her underwear is completely visible, and the bizarre nature of that has completely overshadowed any discussion of her character.
What makes the controversy especially frustrating is how much there’s already to like about Gunko’s character. Not only is everything else about Gunko’s character design great, but the enigmatic nature of her powers and her rough personality have made her an engaging villain from the moment she first appeared, and she’ll surely be a standout part ofthe Elbaph arc, going forward.Everything great about Gunko’s character inOne Pieceis going to be overshadowed by the controversial nature of her character design, and while that’s at least somewhat understandable, it’s nonetheless disappointing.
One Piece’s Newest Villain Continues One Of The Anime’s Biggest Criticisms
The larger issue people have had with Gunko’s character design, of course, is how it relates toone ofOne Piece’s biggest criticisms: excessive fanservice.One Piecehas always been known as a series with a lot of fanservice, especially in the anime, and the constant and often ridiculous nature of it has always been a sticking point among people. Now, the series is introducing a villain walking around in her underwear for seemingly no reason, and because of that,Gunko’s character design can be seen as enforcing the common criticism ofOne Piecehaving too much fanservice.
Why One Piece’s New Villain Being So Controversial Makes No Sense
It’s hard to argue with the controversy surrounding Gunko, but at the same time, much of it is very overblown. While the fanservicey nature of Gunko’s design is somewhat offputting, fanservice, for better or worse, is nothing new forOne Piece, and Gunko will hardly be the last character with a fanservicey design to appear inOne Piece. That’s not necessarily a good thing, but at the very least,the controversy surrounding Gunko is vastly overblown because of how it treats her design as the first timeOne Piecehas ever done something so outlandish.
Going off of that is how Gunko is presented compared to other female characters.One Piecealmost always features the classic sort of anime fanservice that gives female characters large breasts and highly revealing clothing, both of which the camera often lingers on, but with Gunko’s svelte figure and conservative outfit aside from not wearing pants or a skirt, she hardly fits the story’s usual standards for female character designs.Gunko’s design, as fanservicey as it is, is relatively tame byOne Piece’s standards, and while that doesn’t make it above criticism, it further emphasizes how overblown the controversy is.
Overall, while there are plenty of good points to be made about the fanservicey nature and overall weirdness of Gunko’s character design,the controversy surrounding Gunko’s character design inOne Pieceis disproportionate to how offensive it actually is, not to mention how said controversy detracts from far more engaging conversations that could be had surrounding her status as a Holy Knight. The controversy is unlikely to ever completely go away, but hopefully, future appearances from Gunko will do a lot to help it die down and help her be fully embraced as a character within theOne Piececommunity.
One Piece
Created by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece is a multimedia franchise that began as a manga series and follows the adventures of the Straw Hat Pirates as led by Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, an enthusiastic pirate with a thirst for adventure, is afflicted by a mysterious curse that gives him various powers he uses to protect himself and his friends. The manga eventually gave way to the anime series, with the two being some of history’s longest-running anime and manga series. Along with over fifty video games made over the years, the series entered the live-action world with Netflix’s 2023 adaptation.
