Highlights
- Kuma’s character design is significant, as he is part of the unique Buccaneer race with connections to the sun god Nika and carries the blood of Giants.
- The Bible that Kuma always carries has ties to Bonney, his daughter. It holds a list of the magical places in the One Piece world she wants to visit, and Kuma carries it to remember her dreams and sacrifices.
- Kuma’s future is uncertain, but fans hope for his redemption and for Luffy to save him and Bonney from their misery.
Kuma is one of the most important characters in the final saga of One Piece and he’s been central to the egghead Island arc, in particular. He’s an incredible character that fans have come to love and their respect and adoration for this character only grows with each passing chapter of One Piece. Kuma is a man of many mysteries and fans have been waiting for several of them surrounding his character to be explained.
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One big mystery that surrounded Kuma’s character was the fact that he always carried a Bible with him wherever he went. At the same time, Kuma also liked to ask people about where they would want to go on a vacation. These things, in particular, were very strange about his character and, finally, fans have an answer to that, provided by Oda himself.
Kuma’s Character Design
When Kuma was first introduced to the fans, his character design appeared to be rather bizarre. He possessed an unusually large body, which was way too broad at the shoulders and tiny towards his legs. Fans could not make much sense out of his character designs, however, at the end of the day, One Piece designs have always been whacky and that only adds a certain charm to these characters. Fans have come to love Oda’s drawing style and the fact that it is so expressive and freeform. While this could have just been a goofy design decided upon by Oda, it was later revealed that Kuma’s character design is actually very significant, given that he’s part of the Buccaneer race, which holds connections even to the sun god Nika, and this race is unusually large because of the blood of the Giants that they carry.
The second most striking thing about Kuma’s character design is the fact that he always carries a Bible around in his hand. Wherever Kuma goes, he is seen carrying this strange book with him. He also opens this book, especially when he asks people where they would like to spend their vacations. Kuma has utilized the power to send people to different parts of the world on many occasions and that only means that he has also used this book quite a lot as well. For years, fans have been wondering as to what the significance behind this Bible is and, now, Oda has finally revealed this book to have ties to none other than Bonney herself.
Kuma As Bonney’s Father
To understand Kuma and his decisions, fans need to look at his early life, especially the part that he spent with Ginny and Bonney. Over the course of the last few chapters, fans have seen Kuma and Ginny grow extremely close. These two characters survived the worst in Marijoa and escaped slavery. They started a new life for themselves and built from the ground up until they had an admirable life. Eventually, they joined the Revolutionary Army and aided Dragon in his revolution by spreading influence all over the world and growing in power themselves.
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Unfortunately, Ginny was kidnapped and forced to marry a Celestial Dragon. For 2 years, she was put through unimaginable torture and abuse and, eventually, she was forced to bear a child. This child turned out to be none other than Bonney and, as fans saw in One Piece chapter 1098, Ginny ended up dying, which gave Kuma the responsibility of raising the child. Kuma raised Bonney admirably and was a fantastic father to her. He did whatever he could to make her happy, however, Kuma knew that survival was very difficult for Bonney, given that she contracted the Sapphire Scale disease as well.
When Bonney was stricken with Sapphire Scale, she could not go out because any form of natural light would eventually kill her. This is why Bonney had a book in which she wrote down all the places in the world that she would like to visit once she is healed. Kuma promised to take her on an adventure all over the world and from places in the book, and this exact book is the one he carries.
Why Kuma Carries A Bible
The reason as to why, carries a Bible is directly tied to Bonney and her dream of visiting many places in the world. Essentially, Bonney found out about all these magical places that exist in the One Piece world through a particular book that she possessed. In this book, Bonney had a list of all the beautiful islands that she wanted to visit. Places such as Fishman Island and Sky Islands were mentioned by Bonney specifically. Bonney even mentioned that the Sky Islands are way too close to the Sun and that they could meet the Sun God Nika up there. Kuma admitted that it sounded like a grand adventure and that they should go there for her 20th birthday and that for her 19th, they should go to Fishman Island.
This is the very Bible that Kuma is carrying with him all the time. Kuma has never forgotten Bonney’s dreams and he keeps this book close to him so he always remembers the dreams of his daughter and the sacrifices that she has had to make as a mere child. This is also why Kuma asks everyone where they would like to go if they could pick any place. This is the question that he posed to Bonney when she brought this book up. Essentially, Kuma possesses the power to send people anywhere and, thus, him asking people this question and carrying the bible is directly tied to his daughter and has always been the case, which is a beautiful touch by Oda.
Kuma’s Future
Kuma will surely be focused on more and the ongoing flashback, however, after this flashback ends, fans will have to see if Kuma will survive the story or not. Currently, he appears to be in a very bad condition. He has lost all his memory and even parts of his body. His leg has been melted and half of his face is gone as well. Despite all that, he’s currently heading to Egghead Island in an attempt to save his daughter. From here onwards, fans will have to see where Kuma’s character goes. After seeing his tragic flashback, fans absolutely do not want Kuma to suffer anymore and would love for Luffy, the Sun God, to finally emerge before him and save him from his misery. At the same time, fans would also love for Bonney to be saved by Luffy and this is something that the upcoming chapters of One Piece absolutely need to throw some light on.
At this point, Kuma absolutely deserves the best and his misery needs to end. Hopefully, Oda will give him an ending that fans can look back upon happily, especially since he has endured the most in One Piece. For now, fans can sit back and enjoy the ride of the rest of the Kuma flashback and hope that when the story returns to the present, Kuma is finally given a glimpse of a happy life.
One Piece is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of One Piece, One Piece 1098, is set to be November 12, 2023.
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