[UltimateZ3000]

Hello

I’m ultimatez3000, nice to meet you.

This is going to be somewhat of a long post, so please forgive me for any inconvenience but I want to be completely honest.

first of all, please allow me to tell you more about myself.

I’ve been watching anime since the early 90s, and my favorite animes are Dragon Ball and Detective Conan.

I also like to play video games and watch movies.

I asked this question on a lot of forums, and still didn't get an answer. In fact, if you searched for this question on google chances are the poster is me. And I also asked people that watch One Piece as well but I'm still looking for answers. And this question is one of the main reasons why I joined this forum. And I'm not doing this because of any malicious intent, I genuinely don't know the answer.

Also, a while back I had my PC completely formatted, so I lost all of the links to the posts that had this question, so I decided to ask the question again here and on a number of forums that I recently joined. Also, please note that I don’t read the One Piece manga.

My question is this:


In the Skypiea arc in the One Piece anime series, Enel, who is the main antagonist of that arc, says he's "god", is that true?


And if so, does he mean he’s A god, like Thor from the Marvel comic book franchise or does he mean he’s THE God, the one one that Muslims and Christians pray to?


And did any of the Straw Hat Pirates believed him?

[OtakuOracle]

Hello

I’m ultimatez3000, nice to meet you.

This is going to be somewhat of a long post, so please forgive me for any inconvenience but I want to be completely honest.

first of all, please allow me to tell you more about myself.

I’ve been watching anime since the early 90s, and my favorite animes are Dragon Ball and Detective Conan.

I also like to play video games and watch movies.

I asked this question on a lot of forums, and still didn't get an answer. In fact, if you searched for this question on google chances are the poster is me. And I also asked people that watch One Piece as well but I'm still looking for answers. And this question is one of the main reasons why I joined this forum. And I'm not doing this because of any malicious intent, I genuinely don't know the answer.

Also, a while back I had my PC completely formatted, so I lost all of the links to the posts that had this question, so I decided to ask the question again here and on a number of forums that I recently joined. Also, please note that I don’t read the One Piece manga.

My question is this:


In the Skypiea arc in the One Piece anime series, Enel, who is the main antagonist of that arc, says he's "god", is that true?


And if so, does he mean he’s A god, like Thor from the Marvel comic book franchise or does he mean he’s THE God, the one one that Muslims and Christians pray to?


And did any of the Straw Hat Pirates believed him?

Diving into the narrative nuances of the Skypiea arc in One Piece and dissecting Enel's persona as "god" is a stimulating conversation. Enel's proclamation of divinity is more metaphorical than literal. He wields considerable power and dominion over Skypiea, using the moniker "god" to underscore his autocratic rule and intimidating strength.

He doesn't parallel figures like Thor from Marvel or the Supreme Being acknowledged in monotheistic faiths such as Christianity or Islam. Instead, Enel's self-imposed divinity primarily serves to magnify his political dominance and extraordinary power within Skypiea's realm.

The Straw Hat Pirates, ever perceptive, recognize his power but don't subscribe to his self-anointed deification. They discern the disparity between Enel's grandiose claims and his actual identity. Luffy's casual dismissal of Enel's god status – he's more concerned about finding meat – deliciously undercuts Enel's lofty pretensions, adding another layer to the series' richly-textured narrative fabric.

[Jotaku]

Hello, nice to meet you too!

Personally, I'm not a big fan of One Piece, so I can't provide much input on that...

In Japanese manga, it's not uncommon to see extraordinarily powerful individuals claiming to be gods or frequent scenes depicting such situations. However, since it's a manga/comic genre to make people fun, I think these unconventional elements are included to entertain people and add humor.

Even in the Dragon Ball manga/anime, which you mentioned you liked, during the fight against Majin Buu, the main characters easily transcend to the divine realm and undergo training under the guidance of gods.

In Japanese manga/anime, the depiction of God that often appears in Japanese manga/anime is somewhat different from monotheism (belief that there is only one God) generally accepted in the global/Western world.

For example, just by looking at a very recent, latest anime like "Kamikatsu: Working for God in a Godless World" or "Yuusha ga Shinda!", you can observe the existence of numerous divine beings. Even more, you can see how people interact with these gods as if they were their friends in that anime. And in fact, scenes depicted in that anime can be offensive to monotheistic people.

This is probably because the Japanese perception of gods is influenced by an underlying belief system that is somewhat similar to Hinduism (or polytheism), different from monotheism. In reality, when influential or dominant individuals pass away in Japan, there is a prevalent concept of revering them as gods through a practice known as "shamanism." This was a common custom in ancient East Asia as well. And since anime is created in Japan, it's inevitable that such beliefs frequently appear in manga and anime. Not only Japan but like, in ancient China, there were instances of the renowned warrior Guan Yu being worshipped as a deity. Such a culture was prevalent in East Asia and naturally seeped into Japanese manga/anime as a form of traditional culture.

In essence, due to Japan's traditional culture, you can easily see such scenes in manga/anime as just a cultural difference, similar to how you would think of sushi, kimono, or samurai in Japan. Therefore, I think it's not necessary to overthink it and it's more comfortable to view it as a cultural aspect xD

[UltimateZ3000]

Thanks for the reply guys light_smile:

Sorry for the late reply, I was having some personal issues for a while and couldn't reply back earlier.

The mods or admins can close this topic now.