Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is one of the greatest anime of all time and is considered to be one of the Big Three of anime. While it follows the Shonen genre, there are several instances where it appeals to the adult audience more than the teenagers. One Piece’s magic has bound the fans for 25 years and is still doing so without a pause.
But not every one of One Piece’s arcs was a hit. Few hit the right spot, while others failed by a minuscule. Fishman Island arc’s Hody Jones was one of the villains that fell into the latter category. But Eiichiro Oda defended him by saying the adults would empathize with him more than the teenagers due to a certain reason.
Eiichiro Oda Cares About All of His Characters
Eiichiro Oda tries to uphold several modern world problems through his magnum opus. One of them was the problem of racism. Racism has been going on for centuries. Even though several schemes protested against it, they failed to eradicate it. One of the characters that showcased utter racism was Hody Jones. Hody Jones was the main antagonist of the Fishman Island arc.
Oda (2012): Hody had baseless racism against humans. Maybe it is hard for little kids to understand, but I'm just happy if only they will understand it when they grow up. pic.twitter.com/WqGmosSPv1
— sandman (@sandman_AP) December 5, 2023
After two years of training, the Strawhats united, and the Fishman Island arc was their first major adventure into the New World. Even though most of the residents of Fishman Island accepted the Strawhats, few were against the humans. The leader of that group was Hody Jones. He hated the humans and was a racist.
But it did not happen in a single day. It developed through generations of ill-treatment of the Fishman race by humans. His hatred reached such a level that even his kin, who sided with the humans, got hammered by him. Hody Jones was one of the less popular main antagonists of One Piece. But Eiichiro Oda held him in high regard.
Eiichiro Oda Believes Hody Jones Is For the Adult Audience
During an interview in 2012, Eiichiro Oda mentioned that he thought Hody Jones would attract an adult audience, rather than teenagers. The Celestial Dragons were the reason for developing such hatred towards the humans. Even though Queen Otohime tried to connect the humans and the fishermen, there always remained a section of them who despised the humans.
In the beginning, Arlong had the same ideology, and Hody Jones was inspired by him. Fishmen were enslaved by the Celestial Dragons and the humans betrayed Fisher Tiger even though he helped Koala reach her home. The growth of racism was clearly shown through Hody Jones, and that is why Eiichiro Oda empathized with him.
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One Piece has always done a great job of portraying each section of the society. Oda’s interview proved how much he was inspired by the real world. Hody Jones is more than a decade old, but it took the fans several years to fully understand him and his brutality. That is why Eiichiro Oda is regarded as a genius.
