One Piece Fan Letter is a 20 minute short that gives you a different perspective on the main characters of One Piece. If you’re a One Piece fan, you HAVE to watch this.
Throughout the main series, we’re shown the incredible things that the Straw Hat Crew do: adventure to sky islands, topple evil governments, save innocent people, fight for their friends, and so much more.
However, in this short, the main character is an unnamed girl who admires Nami. She doesn’t have Devil Fruit powers, overwhelming physical strength, or a famous name. And neither does Nami, yet is able to keep up with the rest of the crew using her wits, her charm, and her incredible navigation skills. Despite being a pirate, Nami is idolized as an aspiration of who the MC can become — strong and independent without requiring the normal criteria society has defined.
Sometimes the best influences and inspirations are the ones who care the least to be recognized, like Nami and the rest of the Straw Hat crew. They don’t do what they do for fame or money or because they’re heroes. Luffy even says he doesn’t want to be a hero because ‘heroes have to share food’ and he doesn’t want that. What a selfish prick!! Yet then goes to war because a town doesn’t have food to eat. They’re just doing themselves to be free on the seas.
Other characters in this short all turn out to be hidden fans of a specific crew member, no matter whether they’re just your average townsfolk, a kid, or even a marine captain. In one instance, we see the impact that Luffy had on a marine soldier’s broken relationship with his brother, at the moment when Luffy had unwavering courage against the world to save Ace.
And that’s exactly like in real life too. Sometimes the people you should be looking up to aren’t the ones who are trying to influence or preach to you on social media or tv, but the ones who just model the aspiration of who you aim to be in their daily lives.
Me included! This whole post is just my perspective on being a role model and influencer in today’s world, and by reading this, you are in the process of being swayed. So always take things with a grain of salt! Even better, read up on opposite perspectives so you can make the ultimate decision for yourself.
The Life Lesson
Everyone’s now an influencer – whether you’re a celebrity, a content creator, an athlete, a cat, an alien, a movie, or a fictional character. (Yes, fictional characters are influencers. How many girls have changed their type to be “Gojo-like”?)
You probably are a role model for someone whether you know it or not. And like everything in life, there’s GREAT influencers out there, and also horrible ones. There’s ones who don’t realize their impact, and ones that know exactly what they’re doing.
One Piece Fan Letter teaches us a few things:
- the importance of being a good role model
- that you don’t have to be some philanthropic savior of the world to influence others positively
In the words of the wise Wreck It Ralph – “just because you’re a bad guy doesn’t mean you’re a bad guy”
In the age of social media, we’ve gotten too accustomed to seeing this kind of stuff online with little to no repercussions:
- wasting food
- destroying things
- pranks (that are harmful physically or emotionally)
- disrespectful shit (like the suicide forest thing)
- being an asshole
- recording people without asking them first
- spreading misinformation (exacerbated with AI now)
- cyberbullying
- real life bullying
- misogyny, racism, etc.
And you might think, “obviously those things are bad, no one’s stupid enough to do those things”.
Or that because there’s cancel culture and people are forced to make ✨g e n u i n e✨ apologies, things are okay.
There are still millions of kids and easily influenced adults that don’t know any better and follow the words of anyone that makes them laugh, or looks cool, or is trendy.
But like everything else, there’s multiple sides to this too. There’s a lot to learn or be inspired from social media. For example:
- wholesome motivational stuff
- fitness & health tips
- life tips
- learning things
- philanthropic causes
I myself get a ton out of watching certain videos, reels, & content creators. I’ve watched TedTalks that have helped me out more than therapy, been empowered with financial matters, changed my lifestyle habits to be healthier, or even learned new skills for my career. I just make sure to fact check stuff before I do anything drastic (sometimes just by watching other videos of it).
So keep in mind, whether you’re seen by 1 or 1 million people, that we can all make the world a better place by exemplifying kind & genuine qualities that inspire others on a daily basis.
We may never receive a fan letter in our lives… but we can still try to become the kind of person worth writing one to.
