Chapter 1118 Spoilers

Chapter 1118 spoilers

Y'all. Y'ALL, this chapter was so good! And what stands out to me the most about it is how perfectly in fits with the overarching themes of the series.

Bonney unlocking a Nika-like form is SO GOOD, even just on the surface level. The design is wonderful, and I just know that her and Luffy's team-up fight is going to have absolutely wacky cartoon shenanigans, and I personally can't wait. But the themes behind the unlocking of this form make it even better.

Bonney's devil fruit works off of imagination and belief, if she can picture it and then believe it is something she can achieve in the future, she can do it. But, if she looses faith, that power no longer works as well. We saw that earlier in this arc before she saw Luffy (as Nika) and her faith was (in part) restored.

And so her only now being able to unlock a Nika-like form means that she did not truly believe that she could (or would) ever be free until this moment

and as heart wrenchingly sad as that is, for a child to no longer believe in their own future of freedom, it makes sense. Bonney grew up under the oppressive thumb of the world government. She witnessed at such a young age, her father - her incredibly kind, incredibly strong father - have his autonomy, his FREEDOM stripped away by being turned into a living weapon for said oppressive government. Of course she is going to struggle to picture herself as being totally free.

But then she meets back up Luffy, and he asks her to fight with him. And when she says that there is no way that she could keep up with him when he's Nika, he says "Of course you can!" And we see Bonney regain her hope in that moment. We see her regain her belief in that she can be free, that she WILL be free one day, thanks to Luffy believing in her. We see a man that she believes is god look at her and validate her strength, validate her power, and most importantly validate her freedom. Who tells her that freedom isn't something just for him, but rather that it's for everyone. That it is for HER.

And while this is shown literally thanks to Bonney's devil fruit, it also works in the metaphorical sense as well. Luffy is not the only person who can be totally free. That level of freedom is achievable by everyone, whether or not they literally become a version of Nika or not. And Bonney's Nika-like form is confirmation of that. It is the physical manifestation of the idea, and I think it's an incredible way of showcasing it.

I teared up when I got to the Nika Bonney part of this chapter. It is a culmination of everything One Piece stands for as a series, and I'm so happy that it's not shying away from it.