How Trans Character Yamato Fractured the One Piece Fandom

It seems like several times a week now, Twitter likes to show me that “Yamato” is trending, and I’ve finally learned not to click on the link, because all I’ll see are the same arguments rehashed, over and over, never to be resolved. Every so often a particular character or event in a series will become a lightning rod of controversy among fans, but I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a situation as unusually contentious as that surrounding Yamato, a fairly new character in the pirate-themed action/adventure manga One Piece.

On the surface, the reason a loud chunk of the fanbase lost their shit about Yamato is rather simple:

Here’s your reminder that Japanese is read from right to left

Yes, the majority of the vitriol directed towards Yamato is due to transphobia, but it’s not just simple hate at play here. The American fanbase can’t even agree on how to refer to Yamato, with almost any comment that refers to Yamato with any pronoun at all sparking an argument (I’ve seen some One Piece YouTubers start referring to Yamato solely in the third person in an attempt to avoid the controversy)¹. The situation surrounding Yamato’s gender, how it’s presented in the story, how it’s been complicated by a language and culture barrier, and how fans have reacted to it is complex and fascinating to me. So, of course, I would like to unpack it with you all, dear readers.

SO WHO IS YAMATO ANYWAY?

Yamato is a new character introduced early in the third act of the most recent One Piece storyline (an epic running nearly four years, commonly referred to as the “Wano Arc”). His introduction was a bit jarring and sudden, but Yamato quickly grew to be a popular character among readers (placing 11th in the Worldwide Popularity Poll held only months after his introduction), and likewise took on a surprising prominence within the story itself. One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda even seemed to be setting Yamato up to join the Straw Hat Pirates — the main characters at the heart of the series’ ongoing story — a move that put Yamato under increased scrutiny, especially from readers who felt like he had pushed the previous frontrunner for the position of “new crew member” into the margins of the story². Even aside from gender stuff, Yamato has been a divisive and controversial character from the start.

Within the world of One Piece, Yamato is the son of Kaido, the main villain of the Wano Arc. Commonly referred to as “the most powerful creature in the world,” Kaido is one of the Four Emperors, four supremely dangerous pirates who rule over much of the territory in the most remote and treacherous oceans of the world.

This chad is also 23 feet tall and can transform into a dragon

Kaido’s crew is brutally Darwinian and values strength above all else, but Kaido’s unparalleled power has left him unchallenged and apathetic, and thus he plans to bring war to the entire world in hope of a glorious death. To do this, Kaido has turned the fortified island of Wano (based off isolationist feudal Japan) into his base of operations, enslaving and starving the country’s inhabitants in the process.

Taking over Wano, though, involved killing its former Shogun, a man named Kozuki Oden. Unfortunately for Kaido, Oden’s public execution made him a martyr, sparking a resistance that has lasted until the present day. One of the spectators inspired by Oden was Yamato, who found Oden’s journal and decided to “become” Kozuki Oden himself in hopes of carrying on Oden’s will and defying his father’s tyrannical rule. In the present story, Yamato has lent his aid to the protagonists as they launch their final raid on Kaido and has devoted himself to protecting Oden’s young son and heir, Momonosuke.

ONE PIECE’S LONG, SPOTTY HISTORY OF TRANS AND/OR GENDER NON-CONFORMING CHARACTERS

Despite what some of the reactions to Yamato may have you believe, One Piece actually has a long history of incorporating trans, queer, or gender non-conforming characters into its story. Though Oda’s execution of these concepts has sometimes been questionable, the characters themselves have generally been well received and haven’t faced anywhere near the scrutiny Yamato has.

The first of these characters was introduced during the Straw Hat Pirates’ conflict with Baroque Works, an undercover group of mercenaries working to take over the desert country of Alabasta. Baroque Works’ agents worked in groups of twos — one male, one female — with the men taking on numbered codenames and the women’s holidays.

The exception is Mr. 2 Bon Kurei, who refused a partner because they’re³ “both male and female,” and who took on both male and female codenames (Bon Kurei is a reference to the Japanese O-Bon Festival, as well as the end of year Kure Festival).

Mr. 2 sings songs about being “ambiguous,” and also refers to themself as an “Okama⁴,” which is a Japanese slang term for a gay or effeminate man, even using a fighting style known as “Okama Kempo.⁵” Sticking to that theme of ambiguity, they even have the ability to shapeshift into the form of anyone they’ve ever touched.

Though Mr. 2 serves as an antagonist in their initial appearance, they quickly go on to redeem themself by serving as a decoy to allow the Straw Hats to escape Alabasta, and later reappears in a far more heroic capacity. This has made Mr. 2 Bon Kurei one of One Piece’s most popular characters among just about every segment of fans, consistently ranking in the Top 25 or so in popularity polls.

Years later, readers are introduced to Mr. 2’s idol, a character named Emperio Ivankov, the “Okama Queen.”

Obviously modeled after Tim Curry’s character of Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Ivankov leads the “Newkama,” a group who have transcended the borders of gender (“man or woman or both, be whatever you want to be!”), becoming “new humans” living in an utopian “Garden of Freedom.” Ivankov’s Devil Fruit ability to control, create, and inject hormones has practical battle uses (its used to save Luffy from poisoning and restore his stamina), but Ivankov also uses this ability to change the biological sex of both themself⁶ and others, transforming men into women and women into men. This leads to some touchy gender stuff⁷, but Ivankov and their followers are heroic and respected characters within the story, and I’ve never come across any offensive or hateful reactions to Ivankov from fans (Ivankov's also voiced in the anime by a real life Drag Queen!).

Much more recently, the same Wano storyline that introduced Yamato also introduced the character of Kiku.

The reveal that Kiku is a trans woman comes coupled with the reveal that she’s one of Oden’s samurai retainers in hiding, and outside of Luffy’s initial moment of surprise, it’s never really mentioned again until the very end of the storyline, when she’s pleased to be able to join the other women in the ladies bath. She’s just…another female character, which is a refreshing change of pace for the series. She’s also another character who ranks surprisingly high in the popularity polls (she’s actually the most popular of the retainers), and for the most part, transphobic attacks from readers have been almost non-existent.

Unfortunately, there’s one more set of “queer” characters who are so badly handled that they slip into downright transphobia. When the Straw Hat crew is separated, Sanji winds up on the Kambakka Kingdom, an island inhabited solely by Okama. However, unlike the likes of Mr. 2, Ivankov, or the Newkama — who are campy and eccentric, dressed in extravagant, gender-bending styles — these Okama are drawn as the most masculine men possible, with sharp stubble-covered jaws and massive muscles, wearing frilly, feminine dresses. They proceed to pursue Sanji across the island, trying to force him to wear a dress too.

It’s “meant” to be a joke on Sanji — who is over-the-top in his desire to be seen as manly and who is obsessed with beautiful women despite having no luck with them — but it ends up making jokes out of the Okama, playing into some truly gross transphobic stereotypes. It insinuates that trans women are just men in dresses, and that they’re predatory/trying to turn the people around them into women as well; and, again, these are both long-standing, dangerous trans stereotypes. And while I think Sanji’s disgust is meant to be at least a little over the top, his disgusted reaction to the Okama — he refers to the experience as “his time in Hell” — others the Okama as all being gross and disgusting, as never being someone Sanji could be attracted to. The whole scenario is upsetting, and easily the worst thing One Piece has ever done.

So I realize I haven’t mentioned Yamato in a while now, but I feel like this context is important to understand what’s going on with him. Seeing how other queer characters in One Piece have been treated and how fans have reacted to in comparison to Yamato creates an interesting contrast we’ll explore more as we go. And seeing how Oda has mishandled his queer characters also helps explain some fears of mine that we’ll also explore more as we go.

WHY YAMATO IS A MAN

For all the debate and argument there seems to be among some fans, I think the manga makes it pretty damn clear that Yamato is a man. Japanese may not have preferred pronouns, but the language still unequivocally refers to Yamato with terms used for men (the official American translation also uses he/him pronouns for Yamato, and while I’ve had my quibbles with their work at times, that still holds a lot of weight).

Yamato consistently refers to himself as a man, as Kaido’s son. Luffy refers to Yamato as a man, and in English at least, even often calls him “Yamo-bro”. Even Kaido himself — again, Yamato’s abusive father and the greatest villain One Piece has seen up to this point — refers to Yamato as his son. This wasn’t always the case, as flashbacks to Yamato’s youth see him consistently referred to as “The Oni Princess,” but by the present day all members of Kaido’s organization refer to him as “Kaido’s brat son” instead — and that begrudging familial acceptance is perhaps the most authentic bit of queer writing in Oda’s entire oeuvre. If the man who put explosive handcuffs on his son to prevent him from running away can respect his son’s gender, why can’t readers?

Late in the Wano Arc, after Kaido’s defeat, there’s also a sequence where the triumphant heroes are relaxing in a bathhouse (an anime staple, I regret to inform you), and Yamato joins the male characters in the mens bath. His declaration initially sparks some momentary confusion, and a couple of the more pervy characters are checking him out, but Yamato ultimately pals around with the other men having the time of his life, without any of his companions making any sort of issue out of it. Once again, not only does Yamato see himself as a man, but his friends accept it.

I think part of the issue with Yamato is that he never makes the sort of traditional coming out statements that Western readers have come to expect. Yamato never declares himself trans, never gives his pronouns, any of that sort of stuff. Yet, Yamato has done everything short of that to tell readers that he’s a man. Many just aren’t listening.

THE WEAK COUNTERARGUMENTS

Of course, there are people making plenty of arguments to the contrary, but most don’t hold water. I don’t want to give time or merit to transphobic lines of reasoning, but a few are so outrageously dumb that I’ve just got to point them out. The following come from a compilation of “arguments” against Yamato being trans that I found on Tumblr, and obviously, huge Trigger Warning for these:

These folks seem legitimately confused about what trans people are, because, if Yamato identifies as any gender other than the one he was assigned at birth, then yes, he’s trans. It’s kinda pathetic to see these guys try to find ways around it.

One thing that explains this behavior a bit is the fact that Yamato is drawn with the body of a beautiful woman. It’s not hard to find sexualized fan art of Yamato, and doesn’t take much to stumble across creepy dudes claiming Yamato as their “waifu” or their latest anime crush to obsess over. To these guys, Yamato has to be a woman, because they can’t be attracted to a man! They’re not gay, so Yamato can’t be trans! I honestly find it a little sad.

One popular counterargument is the idea that Kaido forced Yamato to live as a boy because he really wanted a son; I wouldn’t put it past Kaido, but there is zero evidence or support for this theory in the actual series, it’s all just supposition. Another common argument revolves around the “Vivre Cards,” a set of One Piece data books that give stats and background information on characters that can’t be fit into the manga; supposedly, the Vivre Cards are considered canon and approved by Oda himself. Past Vivre Card sets have always been very particular about trans characters’ genders (Mr. 2’s gender is listed as “Okama,” Ivankov’s as “Newkama,” and Kiku’s as “transgender woman”), but the most recent Wano set listed Yamato’s gender simply as female, which turned arguments surrounding Yamato uglier than ever.

All I can say is this: the Vivre Cards have been wrong before. Most notable is the case of Yasuie; while Yasuie’s Vivre Card claims he never ate a Smile Fruit and was simply pretending he did, later the manga explicitly shows him eating a Smile Fruit in a flashback scene. So maybe the Vivre Cards are useful and fairly accurate, but when there’s a discrepancy between them and the manga — the only actual canon — I’m going to side with the manga every time.

THE “ODEN” COUNTERARGUMENT

There are two counterarguments, though, that I need to address in more detail, and they both revolve around this page, the first time Yamato’s full design is revealed:

This one caption box is the only time Yamato is referred to as Kaido’s daughter, rather than his son, outside of flashbacks. From here on out, Yamato continues to refer to himself as Kaido’s son and using male-focused language, as does the other character in this scene, Luffy. So why the “daughter” caption box, then?

Well, that’s a hard one to concretely answer. The context for this page is that Luffy has just met Yamato, who was wearing a mask when he introduced himself as “Kaido’s son.” He removes his mask, and Luffy suddenly sees what appears to be a woman instead — and the caption may be meant to reflect Luffy’s confusion and reinforce why he’s suddenly so surprised. Or maybe Oda originally had a different plan for Yamato in mind reflected by this caption that changed as the story progressed. I can’t say for sure, which is why this caption box remains an ongoing point of contention — but what I can say is that this one caption box is far outnumbered by references to Yamato as a man, bro, or son. It’s really no contest.

The other counterargument this page raises, though, is the “Oden Counterargument.” Remember how I mentioned that Yamato was inspired to “become” the martyred Kozuki Oden and carry on his will? Well a popular argument is that Yamato isn’t “really” trans, he just became a man because Oden is a man. And, well…the second half of that, at least, is true. Again, Yamato says as much in the page above: “Kozuki Oden was a man, right? So I became a man too!”

The first half of that counterargument, though, rests on a strange, false assumption. I don’t want to dive too deep into some truly toxic discourse that exists far outside the One Piece fandom, but there’s a train of thought in some circles that the only “valid” way to be trans is to experience gender dysphoria, and anything else doesn’t count. Of course that’s ridiculous, and there are plenty of trans people who simply felt apathetic about the gender they were assigned at birth and euphoric about the gender they later chose for themselves. Of course Yamato is trans, even if he did start identifying as a man because of Oden. But also, does it even matter? From the viewpoint of an American, yeah, Yamato is 100% trans. But neither Oda nor Yamato himself ever refers to Yamato as trans. With the differences in culture, maybe Oda views Yamato a little differently than he views someone like Kiku. But even then, even on this trouble-stirring page above, Yamato once again proudly proclaims himself a man. Who cares why he does?

Except…maybe Yamato’s kinship with Oden does make a difference? There’s many fans who view this aspect of Yamato as a flaw that needs to be corrected or outgrown. Every time Yamato introduced himself as Oden there would be complaints in the comments that he was being silly or disrespectful to Oden and the people who actually knew him. Fans concocted elaborate scenarios wherein Luffy wouldn’t allow Yamato to join the crew unless he disavowed “being” Oden and asked to join as Yamato. And, to some of these fans, being Yamato meant being female.

The thing is, for a while I was scared that this would more or less be exactly how Yamato’s character arc would play out. I couldn’t help but think of those offensive Okama chasing Sanji, or even some of the choices Oda had made with his female characters in the past (such as Rebecca in Dressrosa). I think Oda’s a pretty brilliant writer in many ways, but while I admire his creating a character as transgressive as Yamato, I just didn’t trust him to stick the landing respectfully, and I think that distrust was valid.

Thankfully, that’s not how things actually wrapped up. The Wano storyline has officially ended, and Yamato is still referring to himself as Oden and attempting to follow in his footsteps. What so many saw as a character flaw was actually just…a quirk, a running gag. With Kaido defeated Yamato has started to introduce himself more by his own name, but even then, he still refers to himself Kaido’s son, and this is even when his time in the men’s bath took place. Maybe Yamato realized he was a man because of Oden, but at this point Yamato is a man with or without Oden.

THE REAL ISSUE

Yet, despite all those words up there, the biggest issue driving all this controversy is pretty simple and pretty obvious: people can’t accept Yamato as a man, or as trans, because he doesn’t look like a man, and because he doesn’t pass.

I already went into how this unnerves some men who are attracted to Yamato, but I’ve also seen a few people now make the argument that, if Oda wanted Yamato to be a man, he would have made Yamato look like a man, “like Kiku looks like a woman.” That’s an interesting point to bring up, because we do have to factor in the fact that Yamato was designed by a cis straight man with an infamous penchant for drawing sexy women, and part of his character design likely stems from that fact; we also have to contend with the fact that Oda likely knew Yamato’s design would stir up some controversy and went with it anyway.

That doesn’t mean I have to dignify the argument, though. When you get down to it, it’s just like the argument that Yamato can’t be trans or a man because he’s just imitating Oden; it’s bullshit. It makes the false, harmful assumption that one only counts as trans if they can pass, or can physically transition. In reality, there are plenty of trans folk out there who are not able to safely transition or even dress like their true gender most of the time, or who simply don’t want to. There are real flesh and blood trans men out there that look like Yamato. That doesn’t make them any less trans. And it doesn’t make them, or Yamato, any less of a man.

CONCLUSION

So while Oda, Yamato himself, and just about every character he interacts with acknowledges that Yamato is a man and refers to him as such, it’s not a surprise that he’s stirred up so much contention and confusion within the One Piece fanbase. Unlike flamboyant characters like Mr. 2 or Ivankov, or unlike a character who passes like Kiku, Yamato isn’t immediately recognizable as queer or as a man at a glance, and that gives a lot of room for transphobes in the community to seed doubt and hatred.

Then there’s the differences in how Japanese and American cultures view and refer to trans people, gender, and sexuality, and the different ways the two languages describe these concepts muddying the water. There’s the errant caption box, the Oden connection, and Oda’s spotty track record with queer characters adding to the doubt and confusion. I get why there’s still a question to be asked, and get why even the best intentioned readers may need to take a moment to parse out what exactly is going on with Yamato; but it’s also clear that the controversy surrounding Yamato has only gotten as big as it has because of transphobia, especially in this particularly hostile moment in American history.

Even aside from the gender stuff, I think Yamato’s just a really fun character, but I do especially appreciate that he’s a prominent queer character in the world’s most popular comic; that’s so big. Yet, I think this whole hubbub surrounding Yamato also reinforces the need, not just for diverse characters, but diverse creators behind the scenes, bringing their lived experiences to characters like Yamato in ways that someone like Oda can’t. I’d love to see an unambiguously queer shonen someday, written and drawn by a queer creator. Sadly, I don’t think that day’s coming any time soon.

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ABOUT

“Do You Know What I Love the Most?” is a newsletter from Spencer Irwin about his relationship with the stories he loves. Spencer is an enthusiast and writer from Newark, Delaware, who likes punk rock, comic books, working out, breakfast, and most of all, stories. His previous work appeared on Retcon Punch, One Week One Band, and Crisis on Infinite Chords, and he can be found on Twitter at @ThatSpenceGuy. If you like this newsletter, please subscribe and share with your friends!

1. Though Japanese has gendered words and expressions, it doesn’t really have pronouns or preferred pronouns in the way English does, which, as we’ll get to is, part of the issue here. The officially licensed American translation refers to Yamato with he/him pronouns, which I think is the right move, so that’s what I’ll be doing here as well.

2. This piece was published after Chapter 1058, the final chapter of the Wano Arc, which surprisingly finished up with neither Yamato nor Carrot, the previous frontrunner for new crew member, joining the crew, though Yamato has an open invitation to join whenever he wishes.

3. In the officially licensed American translations, Mr. 2 is referred to as a male and with he/him pronouns, but this character was also introduced into the series sometime around 2001. If created today, I think they/them pronouns would be a lot more likely to be considered, and they far better fit Mr. 2’s gender presentation, so that’s what I’m going to use, though I’m not picking any fights with anyone who sticks to he/him.

4. The term Okama is sometimes used as a slur in Japanese society, but it’s also often used by Japanese Drag Performers to refer to themselves, so there’s a level of complexity involved, similar to the debate around the word “queer” in English. There is occasionally criticism about the series using the term, but given the loving way the series treats Mr. 2, most readers don’t seem to think it’s used with any sort of malice.

5. In comparison to Japan’s rather matter-of-fact treatment of Mr. 2 and these other queer characters, America has faced a nightmare trying to censor Mr. 2. The first American dub of the anime by the company 4Kids, which was disastrously targeted towards young children rather than the series’ original teen demographic, scrubbed all references to queerness from Mr. 2, referred to them as a “ballerina,” and renamed Okama Kempo “Crazy Karate.” The official manga release, as well as later, more faithful dubs of the anime, managed to keep most (but not all) of the queer references, but didn’t touch the potential hornet’s nest of Okama Kempo, renaming it “Oh Come My Way Kempo” as some sort of weird compromise.

6. Again, while the American translation uses he/him pronouns for Ivankov, I’m using they/them pronouns, for pretty much the exact same reasons I listed for Mr. 2.

7. While Ivankov has “transcended gender,” they mostly stay in a biologically male form, only taking on a female appearance to fight a female opponent. Ivankov’s opening scene also has them forcibly transforming a man who assaulted them into a woman, and while Ivankov lectures their opponent on how this should open their mind and elevate them into a new human, the tone of the scene treats it more like a punishment; this not only feels misogynistic, but also plays into some icky transphobic stereotypes of the trans predator (I believe unintentionally, but that doesn’t mean much). Ivankov is a character who is supposed to have transcended gender, but is yet constrained by Oda’s limited understanding of gender.