Haki Beats EVERY Power System

Описание: One Piece has the best power system of all time. Haki and Devil Fruits. Just think of the best power system in anime, what most likely comes to mind is Nen, or Chakra, or stands, heck you might even mention ki. But what if I told you that Haki & Devil Fruits as a pair is the best written power system, yes above even the likes of Nen and stands?

As yes, whilst the likes of Nen and stands are more consistent and offer more clarity as to what’s been used and when, not to mention are just more visually interesting, I would like to argue that devil fruits and haki as a pair are actually written better in terms of thematic depth and writing, and no character best symbolises this than Luffy himself.

If I was to ask you, what are the main themes of one piece? What comes to mind? That’s right, inherited will, dreams, will power, spirit. Whilst other shows also have themes similar to those, the difference is night and day for me in terms of how those themes are ultimately payed off not only on an emotional level, but on a real tangible level that can be manifested.

In One Piece, we have Devil fruits and Haki. What if I told you couldnt be any more perfectly written as the best power system for one piece? Since dreams are such a big theme in One Piece, what happens when you dream a bit too hard? A bit too much? Well, those dreams become literal reality, both in terms of achieving that dream such as claming the One Piece treasure, or that dream turning into real tangible power that can be used in battle… devil fruits. That’s right, as Dr. Vegapunk suggested, devil fruits are dreams, dreams come true.

Shanks inherited Rogers’ will, Luffy inherited roger, shanks and joyboy’s will, etc. Inherited will is part of what carries a dream on a persons back, but what if thats not only metaphorical, but also literal? Since devil fruits are dreams, that would mean eating a fruit and gaining the powers of that fruit, of that dream, would mean you have inherited that persons dream.

How does luffy usually win his fights? Fights in One Piece are usually decided by battles of sheer will power and spirit, just look at Luffy vs Katakuri, Luffy vs Lucci, but what’s beautiful about this is that the stronger your willpower, the stronger your spirit, the more a character best represents the theme of will power and spirit, the stronger they are, in the form of CoQ and advanced CoQ, literally being able to use your own spirit and determination as a literal weapon to project onto the others and knock out your surroundings

And funninely enough, the weaker characters in the series, are those that dont dare to dream, that dont have the same willpower and heart as other characters, resulting in no CoQ, making them lack the crucial power needed in the New World, a good example would be bellamy, he mocked the themes of dreams, and so he ended up being a bum.

Does Hunter x Hunter, naruto and Jojo’s power system represent the themes of the series as masterfully as One Piece has? Just take all of One Piece’s themes of dreams and will power into account, imagine if the power system in One Piece was just regular ki, or it was something like stands, would that really fit? I am not saying that Nen is thematically inconsistent but it sure as hell dosent have the same level of writing in terms of tying together the themes of the show in a way where it directly impacts the universe its a part of.

In One Piece, dreams and will power are not only romanticsed ideas like in our everyday lives, but they can be manifested if you dream hard enough, if you have enough will power.

It just makes everything perfectly consistent. By the end of the story, Luffy will be the strongest, right? Well luffy is the character who best represents the theme of dreams, thats why he awakened his fruit and will master his fruit, and he also best represents the theme of will power, and so he will eventually unlock the strongest levels of advanced CoQ, making him pirate king.

Isn’t that masterfully written? What other series can write a power system like this? Where everything is just so well tied together. What other series has its own themes being used as a literal weapon to win fights against characters who don’t represent those same themes as well and proficiently as luffy does?

But the genius writing dosent end there, not at all. Because you can dream big and hard about your goals all you want, but if you dont have the willpower and drive to make those dreams a reality, then those dreams aren’t going to happen. Thats why willpower, in other words, Haki, is the perfect counter to negate devil fruit abilities, will power is much more important then having a dream it self since it allows you to actually take a step toward that dream, and as kaido said: Haki trumps all, will power trumps all, dreams are just that, nothing else but a mere dream if you dont have will power, thats why haki being able to negate devil fruits is thematically beautiful.