In One Piece, the Marine Admirals are always the strongest and most fearsome members. Borasalino, commonly known by his alias Kizaru (Yellow Monkey), is one of these Marine admirals with the power of an extremely terrifying Devil Fruit. He is introduced in the Sabaody Archipelago Arc and fights against the Worst Generation and the Straw Hat Pirates after Luffy punches a Celestial Dragon. The entire world fears harming a single hair of the Celestial Dragon to avoid summoning a Marine Admiral, and Kizaru proves why that is so.
He easily overpowers strong pirates single-handedly. As an antagonist, he creates lots of trouble for Luffy, both in the Sabaody Archipelago as well as the Summit War. Kizaru is a very difficult character to read, even now, and his Devil Fruit is baffling. His powers have the light attribute, making him one of the most terrifying characters in the series. The complex multiple techniques seem to be beyond the capacities of any ordinary logia fruit. Here’s a look at his Devil Fruit abilities and how they work.
What is Kizaru’s Devil Fruit and What Powers Does It Give Him?
Kizaru has the powers of the “Pika Pika no Mi,” a logia-type Devil Fruit that allows him to create, control, and transform into light. In the English dub, the fruit is called “Glint-Glint Fruit” which he eats in his early forties. The user of the Devil Fruit becomes a “Light Human,” gaining the ability to move at the speed of light and reflection-based transportation. Minbogglingly, Kizaru refers to Luffy’s Gear 2 mode as “too slow.” Since he can travel at the speed of light and shoot energy beams from his fingers, he is able to launch devastating attacks on his opponents.
He uses this power in his attempt to stop the Heart Pirates from saving Luffy and Jinbe. Because of the versatile properties of his Devil Fruit, Doctor Vegapunk researches it and recreates Kizaru’s laser blasts in the Pacifistas, and then again in Seraphim. This technology is further used by Franky from the Straw Hat Pirates and Queen from the Beast Pirates. Franky rebuilds himself during the time skip using this technology, enabling him to project beams simply by placing both his hands together. Furthermore, Queen installs this technology inside his mouth to project laser beams while transforming into his full brachiosaurus form.
Pika Pika no Mi Techniques
Kizaru’s signature technique is one where he lifts his foot and imbues it with light — his stance while using this technique is a lot similar to Sanji’s. He then releases the light as a beam from the bottom of his foot, creating a massive explosion as soon as it hits the target. Although the series has no name for the technique, the video game, “One Piece: Burning Blood” aptly calls it “You’re Dying Now.” Kizaru can also create light in his hands and reflect it off any surface; he then transforms himself into the light to get where he desires using the technique called “Yata no Kagami.” He first uses this technique against Scratchmen Apoo, then later against Rayleigh. It is one of his most powerful techniques, considering it enables him to not only create light out of nowhere, but also attack from literally anywhere.
The technique is called “Sacred Yata Mirror,” derived from the sacred bronze mirror that is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan. Additionally, Kizaru can also use “Amaterasu,” which literally means “Heavenly Illumination.” Although the series has no name for it, it is mentioned in “One Piece: Pirate Warriors.” The technique is activated as soon as Kizaru puts his index and middle finger together and points it toward his opponents, emmiting a powerful flash of light to blind his targets or anyone in the vicinity. Additionally, his technique “Ama no Murakumo,” which literally translates to “Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven” allows him to create a sharp and durable sword of light. Lastly, his technique “Yasakani no Magatama,” meaning “Comma Jewel of Eight Shaku” is an extremely devastating attack.
Kizaru activates this technique by crossing his arms and using both hands to fire a torrent of deadly light particles. Kizaru can pinpoint this attack for use on one person or cover an entire area with it. All of his techniques are inspired by Japan’s Three Sacred Treasures or the Shinto religion deities. Apart from these techniques, the video games also introduce two non-canon techniques: “Ama no Iwato” and “Three Sacred Treasures.” Ama no Iwato translates to “Cave of Heaven Rock,” where Kizaru shoots a massive laser beam in the form of a monkey head. The other technique is a combination of three techniques when Kizaru uses Yasakani no Magatama on the ground, launching his targets in the air, then following with Yata no Kagami to attack them when they are in midair. Finally, he uses Ama no Murakumo to slam them back onto the ground.
The Strengths and Weaknesses of Pika Pika no Mi
Kizaru naturally has very quick reflexes, allowing him to dodge his opponent’s attacks by instantly transforming into light and moving some other place. He is virtually invisible to his opponents when he is moving at light speed, unless the opponent can use a significantly advanced Observation Haki. However, it takes him a few seconds to gain the momentum of light, creating an opening for strong opponents to gain an upper hand against. While it is true that normal fighters cannot counterattack Kizaru, a powerful person like Silvers Rayleigh can stop him from gaining full speed with just a simple slash of the sword.
Kizaru is able to terrify everyone in the Sabaody Archipelago (except Rayleigh, thanks to his unparalleled strength and haki). Being a logia user, he is extremely vulnerable against attacks imbued with Haki. Since he is a light human, some of his attacks — such as his laser beams — can only travel in straight lines, making it easy for fast opponents to dodge them. Apart from a few drawbacks, Kizaru also suffers from weaknesses to seawater and sea prism stone, just like any other Devil Fruit user in One Piece.