Summary
- The Going Merry is cherished by fans and had emotional connections with the crew.
- The Thousand Sunny lacks emotional storytelling and feels underutilized.
- The Thousand Sunny may have potential for a significant storyline if given more emotional depth.
Being a story about pirates, the pirate ship itself is an extremely vital part of One Piece. For the Straw Hats especially, no other crew seems to have as personal of a connection to their ship as the goofy main characters of the series. Between the tragic tale of the crew and the Going Merry in One Piece to the marvelous and inventive Thousand Sunny, the Straw Hat ships have been a highlight of the series so far.
However, despite being an important part of the series, the Thousand Sunny seems to be heavily underutilized so far. While the Going Merry almost felt like another member of One Piece’s Straw Hat Crew, the Thousand Sunny feels like a simple plot device used to get the crew from one location to another. In many ways, especially in the most recent chapters of One Piece, the Thousand Sunny feels heavily underutilized.
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One Piece Volume 111 Cover And Release Date Officially Confirmed
The newest One Piece volume will drop in March 2025.
The Going Merry Is One Of The Most Important Aspects Of One Piece
The Thousand Sunny Didn’t Fill The Void
The first pirate ship of the Straw Hat Crew, the Going Merry, is one of the fan base’s favorite characters in the series. This ship, on top of carrying the crew throughout the beginnings of their journey, was another character in the series, coming to life through the spirit of a strange creature known as a Klabautermann. Usopp’s connection to the ship, as well as the ship’s will to protect the crew, made for a very compelling storyline, as well as one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the series; the death of the Going Merry.
A strong ship as bright as the sun that can cheerfully overcome a thousand seas…
After the death of the Going Merry, the crew needed a new ship. Luckily, Franky was willing to help the crew by constructing his magnum opus; the Thousand Sunny. This ship was much larger than the simple Going Merry, sporting tons of hidden features and technology that made it arguably the most advanced ship in the series so far. From here, One Piece’s Thousand Sunny would be the main ship of the Straw Hat Crew, and most likely will continue to be so until the end of the series.
The Thousand Sunny Lacks Emotional Storytelling
The Ship Doesn’t Feel As Close To The Crew
- The Thousand Sunny Needs More Emotional Connections
- The Going Merry Felt Closer To The Crew
However, although the Thousand Sunny has many interesting features and is an extremely powerful addition to the crew, the ship seems to lack the same emotional storytelling that the Going Merry had. Right now, the ship seems more of a showcase of Franky’s skills as a shipwright and a device to carry the crew around, rather than anything more. As of now, while the Straw Hat Crew fiercely defends the Sunny, the crew doesn’t seem to be nearly as connected to the ship, outside of Franky, as a whole.
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One Piece’s Strangest Tonal Shifts
Although One Piece has a fairly consistent tone, the series has had major tonal shifts that caught fans off-guard.
Due to this, it feels like One Piece has missed some opportunities to make the Thousand Sunny feel as important to the crew as the Going Merry. Even while the crew was separated from the Sunny during One Piece’s 2-year-time skip, it seemed that the crew was hardly concerned about leaving the ship alone. With the Thousand Sunny being around for much longer than the Going Merry at this point, it seems like there could have been an emotional storyline with the ship to help humanize it more.
There’s Potential For The Sunny To Have An Emotional Storyline
Franky Could Have A Moment With The Ship Before The End Of One Piece
With Franky’s connection to the Thousand Sunny and his goal to see the ship circumnavigate One Piece’s Grand Line, it feels like there could be a moment where the Sunny is tested, much like the Going Merry before it. Putting the Sunny through a potentially major amount of damage or giving Franky an incredibly emotional moment with the ship may make fans relate to the Sunny as much as they do to the Merry. Still, with the current pace of One Piece, it’s difficult to find time for smaller moments to deal with the ship.
There’s no crime in living! – Franky
Despite this, there may be time to give the Thousand Sunny a big moment before the end of One Piece. However, until this happens, the ship seems heavily utilized compared to the Going Merry. Being such an important part of the Straw Hat Crew and Franky’s backstory, the Thousand Sunny deserves a bigger role in One Piece.
