Straw Hat Pirates — May 4, 2018
Was Whole Cake Island a victory… or just survival dressed up as triumph?
The Big Mom arc ended with headlines screaming “victory.”
But when Japanese fans looked closer, the word didn’t sit right.
Did Luffy’s crew truly win — or did they just escape at a cost that still feels wrong?
- Was the plan itself already a loss?
- From Big Mom’s side, was this actually devastating?
- Is this objectively a Straw Hat victory?
- Doubts about Morgans’ prophecy and Luffy as Pirate King
- “The Fifth Emperor” hype
- Looking ahead to Kaido — too much, too fast?
- Tangents: Devil Fruits and power mechanics
- Bounty-based pirate power tiers
- World Government & Marines side chatter
- 👉 Why Japanese fans hesitate to call this a “win”
- 👉 Victory on paper, unease in practice
Was the plan itself already a loss?
48: Anonymous Pirate
Destroying the photo of Big Mom’s benefactor and poisoning her while she’s in shock.
Just agreeing to that plan is the lamest part.
Has there ever been a Jump protagonist this vile?
51: Anonymous Pirate
>>48
If it were the Bastard!! protagonist, I’d expect him to do vile stuff without hesitation.
From Big Mom’s side, was this actually devastating?
66: Anonymous Pirate
From Big Mom’s side, they lost Caesar the genius scientist and Germa’s tech.
They also lost their main castle, even if it was self-inflicted.
The damage has to be massive.
Is this objectively a Straw Hat victory?
68: Anonymous Pirate
Just looking at rescuing Sanji and destroying the castle, it’s a win.
Once the Road Poneglyph copy was stolen, Big Mom already lost the Pirate King race hard.
Morgans doesn’t even know about that though.
69: Anonymous Pirate
If you think about what the original goal was,
this might be a huge win beyond what the newspaper says.
Morgans probably doesn’t know about the crew rescue or the Poneglyph either.
84: Anonymous Pirate
>>69
If the Poneglyph thing gets out, their bounties will skyrocket.
Doubts about Morgans’ prophecy and Luffy as Pirate King
71: Anonymous Pirate
That thing Morgans said about a Pirate King coming from the Worst Generation soon —
I don’t think it’s Luffy.
This whole Morgans article being full of misinformation feels off.
Sure, Luffy will be Pirate King in the end, but probably in a totally different way than Roger.
I know I’m rambling, but everyone already knows Luffy becomes Pirate King,
so forcing that declaration now feels unnatural.
Anyone else feel that?
206: Anonymous Pirate
>>71
Nah, it’s Luffy.
You don’t get Pirate Kings popping up that easily.
“The Fifth Emperor” hype
130: Anonymous Pirate
Blackbeard.
Red-Haired Shanks.
Kaido.
Big Mom.
And now the Straw Hat as the fifth Emperor is insane lol.
Looking ahead to Kaido — too much, too fast?
135: Anonymous Pirate
The Kaido fight will probably be an all-out war centered on 1.5 billion Luffy.
Luffy
Zoro
Sanji
Law
Nami + Zeus
Immortal bones
Rest of the crew
Law’s crew
Jinbe when he returns
Marco and the remnants of Whitebeard’s crew
Nekomamushi
Inuarashi
If the Seven Warlords get abolished at the Reverie, Hancock
Sabo
Straw Hat Grand Fleet
Bartolomeo
Cavendish
Sai
That’s stacked.
136: Anonymous Pirate
>>135
Then Kaido’s side has to bring out a ton of monsters too.
Oda’s gonna die before finishing One Piece.
141: Anonymous Pirate
>>140
Feels like it could become a legendary battle.
Still wanted to see Big Mom vs Kaido though.
142: Anonymous Pirate
>>141
Might happen in the end.
No matter how strong Luffy gets, Kaido is still too much right now.
Story-wise, at least two Yonko seats need to open up for this to wrap up properly.
249: Anonymous Pirate
>>135
You forgot big bro Katakuri.
Tangents: Devil Fruits and power mechanics
259: Anonymous Pirate
What’s the difference between Seastone and the Yami Yami?
262: Anonymous Pirate
>>259
Seastone just weakens Devil Fruit users so they can’t use their power properly.
Yami Yami forcibly nullifies abilities no matter what.
It comes down to whether you can move when touched.
At least Yami Yami doesn’t weaken you beyond ability nullification.
If you try hard enough, like Whitebeard did, you can still rip your arm free.
Bounty-based pirate power tiers
297: Anonymous Pirate
Pirate levels by bounty:
~5 million: small fry pirates
5–20 million: weakest sea captain tier
20–30 million: weakest “strongest of the sea” captain tier
30–50 million: minimum to enter Grand Line Paradise
50 million–100 million: can swagger in Paradise
100–300 million: big shot in Paradise, minimum New World entry
300–500 million: government-recognized pirate tier
500–800 million: top-tier Yonko commander
800 million–1.3 billion: Yonko No.2 tier
1.3–1.5 billion: Pirate Emperor candidate
1.5–2 billion: Pirate Emperor / one step from Pirate King
World Government & Marines side chatter
328: Anonymous Pirate
Dragon has the Weather-Weather Fruit and can freely control the climate,
a world-destroying power that mirrors the Gura Gura.
Blackbeard wants that ability,
which is why he rushed Baltigo.
385: Anonymous Pirate
Speaking of it, SBS said Marine branch ranks are two levels lower than HQ, right?
That means Helmeppo finally matches Morgan’s rank.
386: Anonymous Pirate
>>385
Three levels.
388: Anonymous Pirate
At this point Helmeppo could probably one-shot Morgan.
Morgan was always trash who just got promoted off a fake Kuro capture anyway.
396: Anonymous Pirate
It’s been a while since Marine captains and majors actually felt strong.
👉 Why Japanese fans hesitate to call this a “win”
What stands out isn’t just strategy or results — it’s discomfort.
The assassination plan crossed a moral line that Jump protagonists usually avoid,
and that lingers more than the escape itself.
👉 Victory on paper, unease in practice
By objectives, the Straw Hats succeeded.
But between misinformation, inflated headlines, and unresolved power gaps,
many readers felt this arc was less about triumph — and more about barely surviving the Yonko era.
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