One Piece Confirms Wano is So Much More Tragic Than Anyone Knew

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Warning! Contains spoilers for One Piece chapter 1048!

Over the course of its incredibly long run, One Piece has shown many oppressive and near dystopian societies, but in a flashback in its latest chapter, the series is proving that Wano may be the worst the series has created thus far.

Eiichiro Oda, the author of the series has previously crafted islands that seem fun on the surface, but hide twisted truths beneath the surface. But he has taken a different tack in Wano, with the citizens of the island clearly suffering from the start. Wano is An island in One Piece heavily inspired by Japanese culture and history, but in this story, those elements are used to further the suffering of Wano’s people, with the ruling shogun a cruel tyrant, and their isolation preventing any aid from the outside world. When Luffy and his crew arrive at the island, they find a land ecologically destroyed by weapons factories and a people starving and poisoned. This is already tragic to see, but in the latest chapter of One Piece, the devastating history of Wano that led to the present state of the country is shown in explicit heartbreaking detail.

Related: One Piece: Luffy's Gear 5 Forces Kaido To Reveal a Powerful New Form

As Luffy and Kaido’s final fight approaches what seems to be its final climax in chapter 1048, One Piece reminds its readers of the stakes of the fight by showing the harm that Kaido and Orochi have inflicted upon the land and its people. While some new information is revealed, such as the specific Daimyos who rebelled against Kaido when he assumed power, much of the flashback just fleshes out details that were already revealed, like how Kaido and Orochi’s weapon factories poisoned the citizens. However, these details