I like one piece. I still find it amazing how Eiichiro Oda continues to build an ever richer world, chapter by chapter. In the pages of his manga is one of the works of most special world-building of our time, but not only that. In it live some characters that it is impossible not to love, who love adventures and who bet everything on their dreams.
These days I’ve been playing Return of Monkey Island; Don’t worry, I won’t do big spoilers for One Piece or this title. The point is that I was delighted to see so many similarities between both licenses. And I’m not talking about obvious details like they’re both pirate stories. or the importance of the term “monkey”but to more subtle things that warm my little heart.
One of the most mysterious, significant and meme-taking events in all of One Piece involves Laugh Tale (Raftel), what is inside the One Piece chest and the former king of the pirates. There is a scene that shows us Roger’s first reaction when he sees what it contains. And you don’t expect this it’s quite a surprise. After that, the pirate decides to leave the treasure there and start the era of piracy, causing everyone to go to sea.
The same thing happens with Monkey Island. Guybrush Threepwood and LeChuck are two pirates who go on an adventure in search of a mysterious treasure. However, we never know what is inside it. Because the importance of the journeys of Luffy and company lies in the journey itself, not in the reward. The prize is sailing, being happy and enjoying an endless journey. The saga of graphic adventures represents this, in its own way, and in a very funny way. The first title is called The Secret of Monkey Island, but it is never revealed what that secret isjust as we don’t know what’s in the One Piece either.
The secret of Monkey Island is the One Piece
In Return to Monkey Island, everything revolves around returning to Monkey Island and finally discovering it. If you have already played this title, which Alberto Pastor recommends in the Return to Monkey Island review you have to do, answer me: how does the game end?
Another element in common between both sagas, and that I love, is how much Luffy D. Monkey and Guybrush Threepwood resemble each other; not physically, of course, but in his way of being. The catchphrase of the captain of the Sunny is “I’m going to be the king of pirates“. Guybrush’s is “My name is Guybrush Threepwood, and I want to be a pirate.”. And they both repeat it over and over again. They don’t care who can laugh at them.
Both franchises answer the question “why do we go on adventures?” and “how is my hero?”
But the most important thing and what most relates them both is their dream. Luffy has a very important one, one that hints behind the arc of Wano, and Guybrush too. The two will do whatever it takes to achieve it, regardless of razing entire islands, overthrowing governments, or completely ruining the only tree capable of creating perfect mops. And both use humor to explain their actions; yes, Luffy ends up liberating islands of tyrants and Guybrush… well, Guybrush is Guybrush.
Thus, both anime and video game franchises connect in how they answer the question “why do we go on adventures?” and “how is my hero?”. They do it in a very similar way. And they also build their universe in a similar way. The grace of One Piece is that it is difficult to understand how many islands there are, how many routes there are and what the rules of its fiction are.
They are all children playing pirates
In the manga, strange islands with marzipan floors, others with zombies, some made entirely of ice… are continually reached. That predisposes us to believe that anything can happen, anything! As with his characters, this is explained through humor, and we love it. That little point of “everything is a joke, but maybe not entirely” is great.
Guybrush and LeChuck are children playing and they alter the rules and the rules of the game to their pleasure.
The same thing happens with the Monkey Island saga.. We leave the port and different islands always appear before us with their own rules. In one there are spitting fights or a costume party, in another they have the largest library in the world, or a frozen prison… why not?
and is that nonsense that gives meaning to everything. Because beyond finding a treasure, being pirates or defeating enemies, what both One Piece and Monkey Island are about is playing. The nakama, Guybrush, and LeChuck are children at play, and when children play, they alter the rules and regulations of the game as they see fit. That is the reason for the type of humor so particular to both franchises.
If a sea monster appears in the game, let it be a gigantic dairy cow with the ability to speak! If you have to get a mop, make it yourself with the branches of an ancient tree! It’s all for the game to be a child again on a fun trip where only one thing matters: having a good time.
The great thing about One Piece compared to other manga is that it has never lost this point. dragonball, for example, it was also pure childhood adventure when Goku was a kid. However, the arrival of the Z series brought with it the demands of maturity. And it’s something that is seen even more in Dragon Ball Super: he and Vegeta almost seem like they’re fighting over work. Nevertheless. after so many years in publication, One Piece maintains that same playful spirit, and takes it even further as how we saw in the outcome of his battle with Kaido.
Neither Luffy nor Guybrush wants to grow up.
With Monkey Island exactly the same thing happens. So long after his first video game, Guybrush is still the same. He just wants to go to sea, live adventures, enjoy life with those he meets; that is, being a child who never wants dinner time to come; time to turn off the lights and go to sleep.
If you love the true essence of One Piece, you have to play Monkey Island. And vice versa
But for this to make real sense, you have to collide this childish and playful fantasy how hard it is to get older. One Piece does a lot of flashbacks to take us back to painful pasts. At the end of Return of Monkey Island, Guybrush says a devastating line about what he has to return to once his mission is over. Eiichiro Oda’s adventure helps his characters overcome their ills by playing pirates, as does Ron Gilbert’s and his team.
Because do you think Luffy cares in the least about what’s inside One Piece? Does anyone really think that Guybrush is really interested in discovering the secret of Monkey Island? No way. The only thing that interests them is to smile, play and do it next to their friends. It is for all this that, if you love the true essence of One Piece, you have to play Monkey Island. And vice versa.