6 Friendship Lessons We Learned from Netflix’s “One Piece”

Since being released two years ago, Netflix’s live adaptation of the anime One Piece has become a beloved fan favorite. One Piece tells the colorful story of the Straw Hat Pirates as they search for the mythical treasure, the “One Piece”. Many fans say they love the show because of the interesting fantasy world that it takes place in and the riveting storyline. But, most have also latched onto another key part of the show: the unlikely, persistent friendship between the characters. 

While watching the show, we noticed six friendship lessons exemplified by the Straw Hats. These lessons can be valuable conversation starters for discussions about friendship with children and teens who are going on adventures of their own and discovering how to make friends with others.

We’re excited to share these lessons with you in advance of the Lego One Piece line — so that your children can recreate the pivotal scenes in their own home.

Spoiler alert: While we’ve tried not to give too much away, we reference events in the show that might better be left as surprises!  

1. Friendship can exist across differences. 

The characters that make up Luffy’s crew in One Piece are all different from one another, but that doesn’t stop them from becoming friends. The Straw Hat Pirates include Zoro, a reserved swordsman from the historic Shimotsuki Village; Nami, a whip smart thief and skilled cartographer from the rural Cocoyasi Village; Usopp, a naive, earnest storyteller and sharpshooter from the provincial Syrup Village; and Sanji, a smooth-talking culinary artist born into nobility in the North Blue but making his own way as a chef at the floating restaurant Baratie.  

Luffy D. Monkee, who becomes their leader, is energetic and insistent in a way that at first turns off some of the people that he meets – but he quickly wins them over when they recognize his passion and kindness.  

Despite being from such different places and having vastly different talents and interests, the members of the Straw Hats grow to love and appreciate each other through their many adventures together.  

In fact, each member of Luffy’s crew benefits from being paired with teammates who are so varied. For instance, while Luffy’s style is bombastic and straightforward, Nami often uses her skills of stealth and disguise to achieve goals in more subtle ways. While Zoro tends to fight his way out of problems, Sanji helps the group make alliances with new characters such as Nami’s sister Nojiko by using his skills of charisma, hospitality and cooking.

Many of the Straw Hats’ adventures require more than one type of approach to win – and having a team with such diverse members only makes them stronger in the end. 

2. Friends encourage each other’s goals. 

In addition to having different interests and backgrounds, each member of the Straw Hats has a unique personal goal that they are trying to achieve. Zoro wants to become the world’s greatest swordsman. Nami dreams of drawing a map of the entire world. Usopp wants to become a great warrior of the sea, like his father was. And Sanji wants to find the All Blue, a legendary part of the ocean that has fish and cooking ingredients that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.  

The main character Luffy wants to become King of the Pirates, a hugely ambitious goal – but that doesn’t stop him from recognizing the importance of everyone else’s personal goal and encouraging each of them to do what they need to do to achieve their dream.  

For instance, Luffy witnesses Sanji’s passion for hospitality and cooking, and notices that Sanji’s current position as a waiter at Baratie does not utilize these gifts. So, he offers Sanji a position on his crew as cook where Sanji can fulfill his calling.

Luffy also tells Usopp, who has a reputation for being a teller of tall tales, “I believe you,” when Usopp tries to warn a village about oncoming pirates – giving Usopp the vote of confidence he needs to overcome his cowardice and commit to fighting the pirates himself. Luffy even supports the dream of his friend Kobe, who wants to become a Marine, despite this meaning that Kobe can’t be part of the Straw Hat Pirates.  

The best example of friends encouraging each other’s goal in Netflix’s adaptation of One Piece is when Zoro competes with his classmate Kuina, the only student at their dojo who can best him at swords. When Kuina confides that she thinks Zoro will eventually become a greater fighter than her because he will get bigger and stronger, he tells her that just because she thinks it might happen doesn’t mean it definitely will. Zoro encourages Kuina to continue training, even though her success will threaten his own goal of becoming the greatest swordsman in the world. Now that’s friendship! 

3. Friends tell each other the truth. 

This lesson is proved in the show often by characters failing to adhere to it. Most of the characters have lapses in truth-telling that affect the outcomes for the whole group in a situation – and are inevitably chastised by their friends that if they had told the truth earlier, the struggle might have been avoided. 

We first see this lesson in play when Luffy does not reveal to the group who his grandfather is, despite his relation sending a whole fleet of Marines after them. Nami calls Luffy out, saying that he could have given them a “heads up” so that they’d be better prepared to defend themselves. Luffy’s failure to be honest with his team leads them to almost being taken down. 

Second, we see Usopp, a long-time storyteller, struggle to get Kaya to listen to him when he finally tries warning her of real danger. She is so used to his fantastical tales that she almost dismisses him when his story isn’t as entertaining as it usually is. Luckily, Usopp holds fast to the value of honesty and doesn’t let Kaya brush him off. He knows that her safety relies on him convincing her to take him seriously, so he discards his history of fibbing and persists in telling her the truth until she finally listens to him.

(Later, she returns the favor when she gifts the Straw Hats their very own ship — the Going Merry!)

The final and biggest example we see of friends not telling each other the truth to disastrous results is when Nami does not tell her new crew the truth about her history with pirates. Instead of being honest with them and asking for help, she tries to fix her problems on her own – and almost fails. Which leads us to our next lessons… 

4. Friends help each other… 

Episode after episode, the members of the Straw Hat Pirates find themselves waylaid from their main goals because of unexpected twists and turns in their journey. Yet they find their way back on course, often with help from their friends.  

For instance, when we first meet Zoro, he is unfairly arrested by the Marines and held in a yard with no hope of escape. It seems his goal of becoming the world’s greatest swordsman may have hit an unsurpassable obstacle.

But when Luffy finds him and learns of his dream, the wannabe pirate unhesitatingly unties the swordsman, even though Zoro flat out says he won’t join Luffy’s crew. In Luffy’s view, helping Zoro is more important than gaining a new crewmate. Later in that same episode, we see Zoro repay the favor by sticking around to help Luffy and Nami escape the Marine compound even though he could have gotten away much easier on his own. 

We continue to see the Straw Hats help not just each other but other friends that they meet along the way, such as keeping Kaya safe against the threat of pirates in her own home and helping protect the restaurant Baratie when it’s raided by yet another pirate crew. 

5. … and friends also ask for help! 

One characteristic common to the individual members of the Straw Hats is that each has up to this point been alone. They have had to pursue their dreams independently and often against derision from those around them, and they’ve not met others whom they could trust. This has led many of them to become resistant to asking for help or admitting that they are struggling. 

We see this most prominently in Nami, whose history with pirates has left her suspicious of other people. She is revealed to be a character who thinks that she needs to take care of herself and those she loves without help from others.

Predictably, this approach backfires on her. She finds herself confronted with a problem too big for her to solve on her own when her home village is threatened. Towards the end of the show, she finally breaks down and asks Luffy to help her. Of course, he readily tells her that he will. 

Luffy’s refusal to give up on Nami and his determination to show her that she has friends is one of the most touching parts of the show, and a critical lesson for anyone looking to be a good friend to those around them. 

6. Friends say they’re sorry. 

The drama of Netflix’s One Piece adaptation would not be complete without this final lesson, which is that friends apologize for messing up. The members of the Straw Hat pirates are not perfect. They each have flaws which from time to time interfere with their ability to be the best friends that they can be.  

But, inevitably, when their shortcomings are pointed out to them, the crewmates say they’re sorry to each other and resolve to do better in the future. Usopp repents of his tall tales and takes off to be a real adventurer, giving truth to his stories. Nami, after receiving help from Luffy and the other Straw Hats, becomes more open and accepting of others’ friendship. Luffy chastises Zoro for being too quick to give up on others, and Helmeppo, Kobe’s fellow Marine, realizes through his time with Kobe that he should be more humble and less quick to judge others. 

The end notes of reconciliation bring the Straw Hats’ adventures to the perfect close, because their friendship isn’t dependent on being perfect – it’s built on the ability to love and support each other through hardships and challenges.  

We can’t wait to see how the Straw Hats continue to grow as they adventure into Season 2 – and what other friendship lessons we’ll learn from watching them!