Monkey D. Luffy — April 2018
Did 1.5 billion really make sense, or did the story quietly change the rules?
When Chapter 903 dropped, the numbers shocked everyone.
But Japanese fans didn’t just react to Luffy’s bounty.
They started questioning what bounties even mean anymore.
- Coby’s Growth and “Rival” Status
- Sanji vs Zoro — Intentional Rivalry by Oda
- Is 1.5 Billion Too Much, or Inevitable?
- What Bounties Measure Now
- Morgans, Media, and Manufactured Legends
- Side Questions Fans Couldn’t Let Go
- 👉 Why Japan Thinks This Way
- 👉 Status, Not Numbers — What Chapter 903 Was Really Announcing
- Coby’s Growth and Position
- Sanji, Zoro, and Bounty Competition
- The Shock of 1.5 Billion
- Bege and Inconsistent Evaluations
- What Bounties Represent
- Coby, Garp, and Missing Figures
- Weather Weapons and Homies
- Voice Actor Meta Talk
- Akainu and Underwater Combat
- Crew Bounties and Power Balance
- Blackbeard and Destiny
- Raid Suit Debate
- Strength, Scale, and Endgame
- 👉 Why Japan Thinks This Way
- 👉 Status, Not Numbers — What Chapter 903 Was Really Announcing
Coby’s Growth and Position
37: Anonymous Pirate
Coby is amazing. He’s basically in the Luffy rival slot now. His growth speed is probably number one among all characters.
119: Anonymous Pirate
Coby has great physical ability. I never thought he’d end up paired with Helmeppo at first.
129: Anonymous Pirate
So Coby’s Observation Haki is that good too? Could it be future sight…
Sanji, Zoro, and Bounty Competition
43: Anonymous Pirate
Sanji’s bounty went up, so Zoro’s probably next.
He might even say “sometimes there are crewmates stronger than the captain” and then beat Kaido or something.
45: Anonymous Pirate
I’m glad 1.5 billion turned out to be a proper bounty.
47: Anonymous Pirate
But why did Sanji even pass 300 million?
If he’s a subordinate of a 1.5B guy, around 800M would make sense.
If he’s not seen that way, he didn’t really do anything either, so I don’t get why it went up.
55: Anonymous Pirate
>>47
Just escaping from Big Mom already makes him a 300M-level threat.
He didn’t defeat anyone though.
188: Anonymous Pirate
The fact Sanji is intentionally placed slightly above Zoro says a lot.
Oda clearly wants to keep Zoro and Sanji competing.
The Shock of 1.5 Billion
222: Anonymous Pirate
1.5 billion is way too crazy.
No one at Luffy’s age has ever reached that. It’s unprecedented.
225: Anonymous Pirate
>>222
That’s just Morgans exaggerating everything.
Bege and Inconsistent Evaluations
223: Anonymous Pirate
Why didn’t Bege’s bounty go up when he escaped the same assassination group unharmed? That’s really strange.
260: Anonymous Pirate
>>223
So what did Bege even do in the end, within what Morgans and Stussy could know?
263: Anonymous Pirate
>>260
Uhh… he betrayed Big Mom and teamed up with Luffy, I guess? lol
444: Anonymous Pirate
>>260
From what we actually saw, Big Father carried hard.
What Bounties Represent
317: Anonymous Pirate
Bounties used to be a rough indicator of strength and danger, but now they’re more about how flashy the incident was.
369: Anonymous Pirate
>>317
It was never just one factor.
There are barely any people stronger than Luffy or with higher bounties anyway, so it still works as a strength indicator.
Coby, Garp, and Missing Figures
348: Anonymous Pirate
Does Coby still not have a nickname?
Is “Hero of Rocky Port” his title? It’s long, so probably not.
Also where did Garp go? He still hasn’t appeared.
351: Anonymous Pirate
>>348
Didn’t Garp retire?
370: Anonymous Pirate
>>351
His title should still be intact though.
Even if he quit the Marines, he’s not even in cover stories, so it feels like something happened.
Weather Weapons and Homies
443: Anonymous Pirate
Looking back, Nami’s Clima-Tact becoming stretchable combined with Zeus is basically Son Goku.
446: Anonymous Pirate
She should’ve enslaved Prometheus too.
Voice Actor Meta Talk
492: Anonymous Pirate
Zeus’s voice actor is probably going to be told,
“You’re basically a Straw Hat regular now, so keep your schedule open,”
and get surprised.
Meanwhile Jinbe’s VA Hōkigame-san is already drinking with the Straw Hats and totally feels like a member…
496: Anonymous Pirate
>>492
I want to see Moria and Jinbe appear together in Wano so we can get another one-man voice acting show lol
Morgans’ Species Mystery
791: Anonymous Pirate
So Morgans apparently can’t fly.
Is he a Devil Fruit user, an actual bird, a hobby costume guy, or a rare race?
794: Anonymous Pirate
>>791
Probably a rare race.
Different from Minks — maybe like mermaids talking to fish, he can talk to birds and run the News Coo.
Akainu and Underwater Combat
970: Anonymous Pirate
Akainu is always angry, huh.
972: Anonymous Pirate
Coby being able to fight underwater makes him really useful.
Giving Devil Fruit users the weakness of being helpless underwater feels like a mistake in hindsight.
The Straw Hats barely have anyone who can fight underwater.
In a pirate manga, it feels like a wasted opportunity.
980: Anonymous Pirate
>>972
Sanji can fight underwater. He has Blue Walk.
983: Anonymous Pirate
>>972
If Jinbe rejoins, that’s covered.
Even without that, Sanji can handle both air and sea.
Crew Bounties and Power Balance
8: Anonymous Pirate
Did Nami, Brook, and Chopper’s bounties go up too?
Are they trying to make everyone except Franky hit 100 million?
10: Anonymous Pirate
To make Luffy the Fifth Emperor at this point, they needed to establish that he has 5,000 subordinates.
If that’s the case, I’ll forgive Dressrosa being such a mess.
Blackbeard and Destiny
11: Anonymous Pirate
I like how Blackbeard tells Luffy “it’s still too early” without denying that he’s emperor material.
12: Anonymous Pirate
>>11
Teach probably knows the meaning of D.
Raid Suit Debate
16: Anonymous Pirate
If Sanji starts fighting while wearing that lame raid suit and making smug faces, I’m quitting as a fan and becoming an anti.
23: Anonymous Pirate
Did Niji give the raid suit to Luffy instead of Sanji?
If so, that’s already captain authority.
24: Anonymous Pirate
He’s Nami’s servant anyway. If she tells him to wear it, he will.
25: Anonymous Pirate
Sanji won’t compromise his principles, not even for Nami.
(Davy Back Fight, Usopp leaving.)
35: Anonymous Pirate
If he wears it, there needs to be proper buildup.
As things are now, there’s no way.
36: Anonymous Pirate
They said “Vinsmoke Sanji is dead,” emphasized Sanji and Zeff as family,
then erased “Black Leg” and introduced the raid suit. That’s brutal writing.
When are we getting previews if the release is irregular?
Strength, Scale, and Endgame
18: Anonymous Pirate
With Luffy’s charisma, surpassing the Navy someday wouldn’t be strange.
If he can counter the three Admirals, Conqueror’s Haki handles the rest.
101: Anonymous Pirate
If bounties have nothing to do with strength, Luffy wanting to beat a “billion-berry man” makes no sense.
So bounties and strength are obviously connected.
102: Anonymous Pirate
So Luffy finally hit 1.5B.
I’m curious how high the other Worst Generation members are, especially Kid.
142: Anonymous Pirate
>>102
Kid’s captured by Kaido though lol
114: Anonymous Pirate
If commanders are worth 1B, captains should be around 2B.
If the gap is bigger, commanders lose their standing.
120: Anonymous Pirate
Final estimates:
Luffy 2.5B
Zoro 1.5B
Sanji 1.4B
Usopp 1B
936: Anonymous Pirate
It feels like people from all over the world are about to gather.
62: Anonymous Pirate
I’m tired of hearing how high the bounty money is, Oda…
What I want is the title of Pirate King.
👉 Why Japan Thinks This Way
Japanese readers didn’t deny the shock.
They redefined the lens.
Instead of treating bounties as pure power levels, they read them as signals:
media framing, political fear, and narrative positioning.
That’s why Morgans matters as much as combat feats.
👉 Status, Not Numbers — What Chapter 903 Was Really Announcing
Chapter 903 isn’t about numbers.
It’s about status.
Coby stepping into relevance.
Sanji and Zoro locked into intentional rivalry.
Luffy crossing the line from rising pirate to global threat.
The bounty wasn’t the reward — it was the announcement.
Monkey D. Luffy figure
Coby figure
Zoro figure
Sanji figure
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