Johnathon Peglow

Professor Gonzalez
ENC 1102
April 30th, 2024

“Corruption Hidden in Rhetoric”: A rhetorical analysis of corruption in One

Piece

“One Piece” is an anime and manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The

anime has over a thousand episodes, and is still being released weekly! The anime has a massive

fan base with fans all over the world and has sold over 500 million copies since the start of the

series. The story of One Piece follows the life and adventures of the pirate Monkey D. Luffy and

his crew. Monkey D. Luffy is commonly known as “Straw Hat” and his crew “the straw hats”.

They go throughout the world on an adventure to find the One Piece, a treasure from the former

“King of the Pirates”, that was hidden on an island. On his quest to become King of the Pirates,

he overthrows governments, challenges the world government, fights against slavery, and saves

countries. The main enemy that continues to stand in Luffy’s way are the Marines. They are an

organization like an army that is controlled by the World Governments. This organization is run

by the fleet admiral, but it is secretly controlled by the five elders who also control the World

Government. The world nobles or Celestial Dragons, have status and money which allow them to

get away with the most heinous crimes imaginable. They also have the power to direct the

marines and control the World Government. At the top of the hierarchy is Imu, the one true king

who controls the entirety of the World Government, he however is not significant for this paper

as he mainly acts in the shadows. Throughout the anime, many real world issues are prevalent

for example censorship, slavery, and corruption.

 In this paper I will be focusing on the corruption that is prominent throughout the series,

specifically in the World Government. Corruption is present in not only the world government

and organizations run by the world nobles or celestial dragons, but the nobles themselves, pirate

crews, and even different countries. My hope in writing this research paper is to analyze the

presentation of corruption and how rhetoric is used in the depiction of corruption in the anime

“One Piece”, and to be able to determine if their representation of corruption is an accurate one. I

will be able to do this with a thorough and in depth analysis of the rhetoric around the

presentation of corruption, while comparing it to commonly accepted definitions and views on

corruption, as well as an accumulation of data.

In order to establish a clear understanding of “corruption”, I use the in depth definition

provided by Robin Theobald, in his work “What is corruption?”. He starts off with the definition

from the non-controversial beginning of the Oxford English Dictionary, in which nine meanings

of corruption are identified. The third meaning is predominately discussed which mainly relates

to government corruption, stating that these definitions are depended on the presence of a public

domain, depicting a bureaucracy which is run by a hierarchy elected officials who meet the

qualifications in relation to the public office setting. This piece can be connected to another one

of my sources by Susan Rose-Ackerman, in her work “Corruption and Government”, which

speaks about a similar definition as well as the consequences, causes, and possible reforms.

While speaking about the causes of corruption, she states that “Inequality contributes to high

levels of corruption” (Rose-Ackerman 7). Inequality could either be in terms of individual rights,

or in relation to money delegated. In Thomas Zoth’s “The Politics of One Piece: Political

Critique in Oda’s Water Seven.”, he discusses the events and politics regarding Oda’s Waters

Seven Arc in One Piece. In this paper, the events of Ohara are discussed and critiqued. The event
consisted of the World Government ordering a “buster call” on the scholarly Island of

Archaeologists. The actions taken at this event were corrupt due to the innocence of the residents

of Ohara, and the only survivor of the incident was an eight-year-old named Nico Robin; every

other resident was killed. She was labeled an enemy of the World Government for being the last

survivor and archaeologist capable of reading the “poneglyphs”. In Akos Kopper’s “Pirates,

Justice and Global Order in the Anime “One Piece.””, he discusses the effects popular culture

has on politics today without necessarily looking at the “Japanese-ness” of the anime One Piece.

This source relates to my other source by Thomas Zoth, as it depicts Nico Robin’s character. It

also analyzes the events at Ohara similarly to Zoth in a neutral manner. When they are speaking

about Nico Robin’s character, both writers elude to the World Government being corrupt.

In Singh, Manish Prabhakar’s “Odyssey of the cultural narrative: Japan’s cultural

representation in Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece”, she discusses how One Piece is representative of

Japanese culture. Specially, focusing on how the identity is shaped and defined by memories,

folktales, and myths that are associated with Japan and its culture. This piece mentions how the

World Government of One Piece is corrupt. In one of her sources, she had cited the article by

Thomas Zoth. In Avriarno, Anugrah Yusuf’s “THE VALUE of FRIENDSHIP in ONE PIECE

MANGA VOLUME 80-85 WRITTEN by EIICHIRO ODA”, she dissects the value of friendship

in the manga One Piece. This source is essential because its interpretations of each of the

characters offers a unique view of their past which is important since Robins past is used in

understanding the corruption. Along with my other sources, the events of Ohara are also

discussed in this paper, but they are not thoroughly elaborated on; however, it is also mentioned

that those events specifically were caused by the corrupt World Government. In this source that

integral part is that they state the events of Ohara is due to the “Corrupt World Government”.
This makes it essential for a paper on the corruption in One Piece to include the events at Ohara.

The biggest gap in all of the sources is that there is little to no literature on the presentation of

corruption in One Piece. This will serve to create new literature regarding the depiction of

corruption. Each of the sources will be useful in recognizing corruption, as well as determining if

the representation of Corruption in One Piece is accurate.

Methods

The method of my data collection is an in depth analysis of episodes as well as an

accumulation of data. In order to gather data related to my research, I cherry-picked three

episodes of the anime One Piece that I believe will have evidence that showcase or support the

argument for corruption in the anime.

One of these episodes is an episode about one of the members of the Straw Hat Crew,

Nico Robin, and her hometown, the island of Ohara. Another episode I will take a look at, is an

episode from the Sabaody Archipelago Arc. Specifically, I will look at an episode where the

social class disparity and inequality are present. The last episode I will analyze will be an

episode where Law becomes a warlord. It is more of a scene than an episode that depicts this

instance; however, the sheer idea of “warlords” is inherently corrupt to begin with. The episodes

I am looking at are 277, 393, and 584 respectively. These three episodes all depict corrupt

aspects of the World Government and will serve as my source for my primary data. In the first

episode, about Robin and her hometown, is episode 277. The corrupt aspect that this episode

evidently displays is the censorship enforced by the world government. The second episode,

about the Celestial Dragons and the events at the Sabaody Archipelago, is episode 393, the
corrupt aspect that this episode depicts is not only the disparity in social classes and inequality

but the abuse of power displayed by the Celestial Dragons who are at the top of the World

Government. The third episode, about the character known as Trafalgar D. Waters Law

becoming a Warlord, is episode 584. The corrupt aspect that this episode depicts is bribery. I will

recognize and analyze the rhetoric used to enhance and depict the corruption taking place. In

order to quantify my results, I believe determining which type of rhetorical appeal is used most

in the representation of corruption will be able to show the emotions the author wants to appeal

to. The appeals consist of logos, ethos, and pathos. In order to make sense of the data I collect, I

will determine the uses of rhetoric and then interpret why and how they were used. This will give

insight into what the writer wants us to think or feel, along with whether or not it is an accurate

representation of corruption.

The first episode I will be looking at is "The Tragedy of Ohara! the Terror of the Buster

Call!”. In this episode the corruption displayed by the World Government is evident.

Specifically, the excessive punishment and consequences endured by the scholars of Ohara were

unnecessary and unjust. The episode begins in the midst of the World Government investigating

the island for “Poneglyph research”. This is research into the “void century” which is a period of

time about 900 years ago which is unknown by everyone. The scholars of Ohara, even though

studying the void century is banned, continue to pursue more knowledge and understanding of

the past as any good archeologist would do. The sheer restriction of this is a violation of the

people’s rights. It is censorship. Professor Clover, who was the lead archeologist on the island,

after being captured by the officials sent to investigate the island asked to speak to the five

elders. He was granted this request but while revealing the information he found about the void

century, and almost mentioning the name of the kingdom that ruled during this time, the officials
were ordered to kill the professor by the five elders through the “snail transponder” –akin to a

telephone.

It is important to mention, while the officials or marines were investigating, all of the

scholars and archeologist did not use violence yet pleaded to protect the books which were seen

as a treasure since it was the oldest library known in the world. In the scene while the officials

invade the Library, they are depicted throwing things around, especially books, without any

regards to the knowledge in them or the pleading scholars. They are depicted more as the tyrants

than protectors of peace in this situation. In these scenes, the writer appeals to the viewer’s

emotions using a rhetorical approach known as ethos. It depicts the archeologist as civilians just

wanting to pursue greater knowledge, this alone pulls the viewer to their side as they have done

nothing wrong and everyone loves to root for an underdog. The officials after killing professor

clover call on a buster call. This is a golden transponder snail which will call ten warships to

their location as well as Vice Admirals of the Marines. The buster call bombarded the island with

cannon fire, gun fire, and then eliminated every survivor as well as evidence left behind. As soon

as the buster call is initiated the library is hit. At this point in time the officials are leaving the

island as it is getting bombarded. The next scene is the archeologist running back to the library as

it has caught fire. Then the author decides to include their desperate attempt at saving the books

of the library. This whole episode depicts the corrupt acts of the World Government as well as

the victims of their corrupt activities. There was no reason to kill everyone on the island or

destroy the library. However, this depiction of corruption is seen as accurate, since both parts are

clearly represented, the World Government is displayed as corrupt, they also hide their motives

and lie to the public saying that the archeologist are evil demons trying to end the world. This

use of this exaggeration is a hyperbole, which creates the narrative that the World Government is
not corrupt, this is used in order to protect their image in the public’s eye. In my source by

Thomas Zoth, “The Politics of One Piece: Political Critique in Oda’s Water Seven.” He also

reaches the conclusion that the World Government “Using the pretext that the scholars of Ohara

were researching these weapons of mass destruction, the government sent the Navy to the island.

The five-thousand-year-old Ohara library was burned to destroy the information kept within”.

Due to the fact we both came to the conclusion that the World Government lied to the public in

order to eliminate the scholars as well as the information about their origins from spreading we

can come to the conclusion that this is censorship.

As noted in my analysis of episode 277, I can see that the government will go to any

lengths imaginable to protect their power, in this manor censorship as well as the annihilation of

the island of Ohara in order to prevent future scholars from studying the void century.

First we should establish a few facts to understand. Fishman and mermaids are a species

in the anime similar to humans. They look more like fish and can breathe both water and air. In

the anime they are looked down upon as inferior to humans. However, mermaids and fishmen

fetch a hefty penny at the slave market. Then there are the world nobles more commonly known

as Celestial Dragons, these are the people at the top of the food chain and they have control over

the world government as well as the marines. They are also extremely wealthy.

The next episode I will take a look at is ““The Target is Camie!! The Looming Clutches

Of A Professional Kidnapper”, One Piece, created by Eiichiro Oda, season 6, episode 393, Toei

Animation, March, 2009.” In this episode two main event occur. One is Camie being kidnapped.

Camie is a mermaid travelling with the Straw Hat crew. Camie was kidnapped in order to be sold

as a slave. This is a demonstration of the inequality in the world of One Piece. The next big event

that occurs in this episode is about a Celestial Dragon. The Celestial Dragon in the episode is
riding on a slave throughout town. One thing I found interesting was his character design, he is

overweight, unkempt, and has snot dripping out of his nose. This depiction of the “Celestial

Dragons” the people who are supposed to be better than humans is perfect since they are

typically corrupt. In the episode as he is traveling through the archipelago, all of the citizens get

on their hands and knees and bow to him. All of the citizens are seen bowing and crying in fear

of the Celestial Dragon. This is used to demonstrate the power they hold, they are allowed to do

whatever they want and get away with it. A few nurses rushing an injured man across the

Celestial Dragon’s path, the Celestial Dragon then stops the nurses and kicks the man to the

ground ultimately killing him. He then proceeds to walk towards and stare at one of the nurses,

in this scene the nurse is visibly shaking and he then stats “I’ve decided, I shall take yoo as my

wife!”

Figure 1: Celestial Dragon claiming a nurse as his wife.

After stating this, a man comes forward and says “Wait, she is my fiancé”, the Celestial

Dragon then shoots him down in cold blood in front of everyone. The celestial dragons do not let

anyone talk back to them let alone walk or move in their presence. This depiction of the “World

Noble” is akin to an ogre. This representation is important in the depiction of the world
government as corrupt. It is essential to realize that the depiction of the Celestial Dragon is

exaggerated. Certain features of his are exaggerated on similarly to caricature drawings as they

accentuate certain features to stand out. In the character design of this Celestial Dragon, the

features that stick out the most are his unkempt facial hair, obesity, his snot bubble from his

nose, and even the odd pear shape of his head is utilized to make him a symbol for corruption.

This episode depicts the cruel reality of the leaders of the World Government. In “Government

and Corruption” by Susan Rose-Ackerman, she states, “Strong leadership from the top is needed

that moves towards the goal of a more legitimate and better functioning government and

sidelines those who have in the past been using the state as a tool for private gain through threats

and intimidation”. This is in regards to reform proposals for corruption. In the case of the World

Government in One Piece, the leaders are not strong yet they are the ones who are using the state

as a tool for their own gain. The Celestial Dragons demonstrates this with his threats and

intimidation, ultimately leading to him stealing someone’s fiancé, and then killing him in front of

her. This connection further serves the purpose of understanding the representation of the

corruption is accurate.

In the next episode analysis, it is important to know the character Trafalgar D. Water

Law, he is a pirate captain. The World Government holds a lot of power, but in order to ensure

pirates are kept in check, they also use pirates which are known as the “Seven Warlords of the

Sea”. The pirates are chosen by the world government and granted special rights. The

government will not pursue them for their crimes. Often the Seven Warlords are allowed to use

some of the governments resources, allowing them to commit greater crimes and have more

influence. This practice itself is corrupt, since they are using criminals and granting them more
rights and in return the World Government can call on them in a time of need. The Seven

Warlords of the Sea often get away with their crimes as they are backed by the government.

The next episode I will be looking at is ““A Duel of Swordplay – Brook vs. the

Mysterious Samurai Torso”, One Piece, created by Eiichiro Oda, season 8, episode 584, Toei

Animation, February, 2013.” In this episode the main event that occurs is the scene at the end

when depicting the pirate known as Trafalgar D. Water Law and his actions in order to become a

Warlord. In order to do this, he gathers a 100 hearts of pirates and shows up to a marine base

with them as an offering. This gained him the title of Warlord. This scene can depict the marines,

a group that serves the World Government, accepting his gift as a bribe to become a Warlord.

This scene depiction of the Government taking the bribe is a perfect representation of Robin

Theobalds definition of corruption, specifically the third definition he mentions in “What is

Corruption?” Theobald states, “Perversion or destruction of integrity in the discharge of public

duties by bribery or favour; the use or existence of corrupt practices, esp. in a state of public

corporation'.” In the case of the One Piece world, the marines represent a national corporation

and in regards to the bribery accepted by the marines from Law, this definition would lead us to

believe two ideas. One being that the marines destroyed their integrity, and two that the marines

are corrupt. In this scene, it would be a use of “logos” as it is logic that leads us to understand

that the Government is corrupt. It is illogical to grant criminals more rights and power, this

would only lead to further criminal acts by their hands. This would in turn put the Government

responsible for the crimes they commit; however, they have never taken responsibility for it.

This use of the rhetorical approach logos makes the representation of corruption apparent and

easy to recognize. It is common sense that giving a criminal or a terrorist more power is not a
good idea. This is what makes it obvious that the government is corrupt. The use of logos makes

it easy to recognize even for young audiences.

Discussion

Throughout my analysis of these episodes of One Piece, I have found that the rhetoric

regarding the presentation of corruption is extremely important in recognizing the overarching

theme of corruption. The main use of rhetoric is through character designs, dialogue, and actions

taken by the World Government. The most important piece of rhetoric use in the representation

is the character design of the Celestial Dragons. They are drawn in order to represent ogres. The

choice to draw the Celestial Dragons this way is important in recognizing the theme of

corruption. Their features are utilized by being exaggerated in order to symbolize corruption. As

well as recognizing the World Government is corrupt. This use of symbolism can be interpreted

by a young audience accurately which is why they decided that character designs were easiest to

ensure you recognize the level of corruption in the World Government. The connection made

between the characters in One Piece and “What is Corruption?” by Robin Theobald ensure that

the World Government is corrupt and the representation of corruption is accurate. The

similarities between the third definition of corruption and the actions taken by the marines prove

that “One Piece” is an accurate representation of corruption. In Susan Rose-Ackerman’s,”

Corruption and Government” she states, “Inequality contributes to high levels of corruption.”

This was demonstrated in the One Piece world, as the Celestial Dragon repeatedly refer to the

citizens as “Lower-class” as well as the fact that slaves are available, and fishmen and mermaids

are looked down upon as inferior. According to Susan Rose-Ackerman, inequality is a cause of

corruption, in this case both corruption and inequality are present which would further prove that

the representation of corruption is accurate. Rhetorical approaches surrounding the presentation

of corruption are noted in my results section, such as ethos and logos. I can infer that they use

these in order to make the presentation of corruption easier to comprehend since they are simple

and easily understood with a little common sense for logos and a little compassion for ethos. The

reason why they would do this is to ensure that younger audiences understand and can enjoy the

show to the fullest. This would serve to improve sales as more people are able to watch and

enjoy the show.

Conclusion

The main findings in this research paper is that the use of rhetoric regarding the

presentation of corruption in the anime “One Piece” serves to not only strengthen the idea of

corruption but make it easier to comprehend for younger audiences. I was able to come to the

conclusion that the representation of corruption in the anime is an accurate one, this is due to the

connections made between the definitions of corruption provided by Robin Theobald in his work

“What is corruption?” as well as the connections made between Susan Rose-Ackerman’s piece

“Corruption and Government” and the actions as well as circumstances of the One Piece world. I

was also able to come to the conclusion that the rhetoric regarding the presentation of corruption

in the anime is used to make it easier to comprehend for younger audiences, this is made

apparent mainly through the use of the rhetorical approaches logos and ethos. Further research

can be done on this as in this paper I have only analyzed three episodes of the anime. For further

research I would suggest looking more into the manga as there is more information and details

about background characters which would give further insights to the corruption in the World

Government.
 Work Cited Page

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