I think that based on the latest chapter I belive it's somewhat possible that Oda has decided to (more or less) subtly parodize Fairy Tail in One Piece.
Fairy Tail has just got out of a Tournament arc which didn't deliver to some the fans as they would have hoped. Even though it can't really be called a bad arc per se, this must have been a chance for Oda to make some comedy out of it since he most likely has been planning to make a tournament arc for a long time.
The most evident sign of this is of course in One Piece chapter 703 when Luffy is signing up for the tournament he almost spews out his real name but ends up using "Lucy" instead. Lucy just happens to be one of the main characters of Fairy Tail and the series just happens to be getting out of a Tournament arc. Also, there just happens to be some "fairies" who stole Zoros sword. I'm sure some people may think that this is just a coincidence, but I tend to think about Oda when he was either designing / drawing the latest chapter that he could not not have realized the connection that he was about to make. Whatever the reason these are the kind of small things which make reading good series just a little bit more enjoyable.
So why would Oda be compelled to make such minor notion? In Fairy Tail there has been a bit more evident resemblances regarding character similarities between One Piece and Fairy Tail.
First example is the resemblance of Gildarts Clive and Red-Hair Shanks, Gildarts happens to be the strongest mage of Fairy Tail and maybe one of the strongest mages in the whole series. Shanks however is considered as one of the strongest pirates in the world of One Piece and I have to say that they do look pretty much alike.
The second example is Bartholomew Kuma and Hoteye (Richard) of Oracion Seis. Both are huge and are for some reason or another holding a giant book near their chest in the same manner. They are however using different hands to hold their books so it may be too farfetched ;P.
Of course it is always possible for either of the authors to make these things unconsciously, but the most important thing is that it's not bad to do such things in my opinion. It brings a bit more to the fans who recognize this stuff and it's good as long as it's done in good manner as opposed to copying too straightforwardly.
Odas Homage to Akira Toriyama?
As a child, Oda has been influenced by Akira Toriyamas works greatly. I think that the most of the people have seen in the past couple of chapters that Luffy wearing the fake beard, sunglasses and the shirt really looks like Master Roshi from Dragon Ball. This one, I believe is almost certainly a homage to Akira Toriyama and it's very well done I might add.
Do you have any other examples? Please share it with us in the comment section - you can do it without signing up.
No comments:
Post a Comment