The mangaka of One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, assigned certain countries of the world to the Straw Hat crew 16 years ago. For many years, he regretted his decision, but now he is glad to have chosen these nationalities.
From which countries would Luffy and the others come? In every issue of the manga of One Piece, questions from fans are printed, which Oda personally answers. This has led to many new details being revealed, such as names of former members of the Seven Samurai.
In volume 56, Oda was asked from which countries the Straw Hat pirates would come if One Piece took place in the real world. Oda assigned the following origins to the Straw Hats:
- Luffy: Brazil
- Zoro: Japan
- Nami: Sweden
- Usopp: Africa
- Sanji: France
- Chopper: Canada
- Nico Robin: Russia
- Franky: USA
- Brook: Austria
This means that 3 of the Straw Hats would even come from Europe! Unfortunately, Oda revealed in another interview with Netflix that he regretted this decision for a long time, but his opinion eventually changed.
Oda regretted the nationalities of the Straw Hat crew
Why did he regret it? In an interview with Netflix, Oda was asked how the decision for the nationalities came about. Many fans wonder why they were chosen for the live-action series on Netflix.
Oda then replied that he regretted choosing these countries so lightly:
When I originally commented on SBS [the Q&A format, note by the editor] about the nationalities of the characters, it was meant rather jokingly. I didn’t think that it would influence the production team so much.
Has that changed? However, when he was shown the candidates for the roles of the Straw Hats, which were based on his previous categorizations, Oda actually found them suitable.
He realized that his careless answers had some truth to them. After 16 years, Oda could therefore be sure that he had indeed made the right choice.
In the end, the producers only roughly adhered to the guideline: For example, the actor for Luffy comes from Mexico, which could be summarized with Brazil as Latin America. Emily Rudd does not even come from Europe, but from the USA.
Speaking of Emily Rudd: She has taken on some character traits of Nami and sees herself as the boss of the ship. Why that is so can be read on MeinMMO: Actress in the new Netflix series of One Piece explains who the true boss of the Straw Hat crew is
