One Piece's most forgotten villain, and why he matters

Well, the YouTube algorithm heard me talking sh** I guess and decided to clown on me. This video started out doing well below average in terms of numbers, but it's rallied in little surges that I cannot explain, and is now doing above average for a video on my channel. I am very suprised, and very happy, with this - thank you all for your time and attention <3

I honestly think that his claws are also good storytelling. They are utterly goofy but they also make it impossible for hims to touch things. Kuro literally can't reach out to people without impaling them and manipulation is always awkward for him.

TB Skyen: I’m gonna make a video about a villain from One Piece who is so forgotten that Oda hasn’t mentioned him in decades, so chances are the YouTube algorithm isn’t gonna recommend this video YouTube algorithm: Fuck you we’re gonna recommend your video Oda: Fuck you here’s Kuro for the first time in decades

There's just how well Kuro works as an East Blue villain specifically; one of the cool themes fans might remember from these early chapters is how the various arc villains (Higuma, Buggy, Kuro, Don Krieg, and Arlong) represent, in one fashion or another, the absence or abandoning of ambition, to contrast with the fiery determination of the Straw Hats to achieve their dreams.

Usopp and Kuro are one of the best examples of handling a mirror concept between protagonist and antagonist with both of them being liars but in opposites spectrums.

Kuro is one of those characters where he himself isn't that interesting, but Oda manages to embody so many themes and ideas through him that are really vital for setting the stage early on

I am not ashamed to admit that as a kid I thought Kuro was so cool that I still, to this day, sometimes push my glasses up with the palm of my hand.

Kuro was always my favorite antagonist from early One Piece. Kuro served as the perfect foil of what being a pirate means to Luffy. Luffy being disturbed by how Kuro regarded his crew as pawns and fodder to further his own goals and slashed them indiscriminately during the fight is one of my favorite moments in the East Blue saga. Highly underrated.

Now that Kuro appeared in a cover story, i can say that Ghin/Don Krieg is the most forgotten villains despite Ghin helping to emphasized his compassion for cooking and even says "See you on the Grandline"......

Honestly Kuro is an interesting character, basically one who has been fed up with pirate live and instead of living an honest live like other retired pirates like Sanjis Mentor, but instead continues his villany just in another enviroment.

As a Syrup Village defender, this video impressed me. I knew that Kuro is a prototype for villains like Cocodrile and Doflamingo, but I've never seen in detail all this storytelling. I'm curious on how the Netflix live action of One Piece is going to adapt Kuro, the fight is going to take place in the mansion

I get annoyed when people hate syrup villiage. I love syrup villiage because this was the arc that actually convinced me to keep reading One Piece. I did notice the thing with the glasses right away, and I love Kurou. He is such an underrated character, and his attempted killing of Merry in the anime is gorgeous.

There's a lot I like about the Netflix series but it's a shame that a lot of what you praised in this video was missing. -Kuro doesn't get new glasses from Kaya, so we lose everything they represent along with his rejection of them. -Kuro's crew is limited to just the cat duo, so the threat to the village as well as Kaya is gone, meaning Usopp is no longer fighting for a place that rejects him. -The absense of the crew also means them being expendable to Kuro is limited to telling rather than showing.

This is going to be buried but kaya did not have a wasting disease. kuro was poisoning her. It’s never explicitly stated, but it is stated that her parents were killed by poison shortly after they found “Clawhador”, and she fell ill shortly afterwards. We also see that kuro is always the one who brings her tea and medicine. The reason he keeps her isolated is not just to foster dependence on him, but also because if she were to miss her scheduled tea breaks then she would start to recover and realize something was wrong. Finally, after kuro is defeated, we see kaya is able to walk around outside without any trouble. Whoops: missed a detail. Kuro did not kill kaya’s parents. Or at least tells Jango he didn’t.

Awesome video. I like how the parallels between Usopp and Kuro run so deep. Not just everything said in the video but even in how they approach a fight. Despite his appearance and meticulous nature, Kuro was an indiscriminate slasher. His peak was simple lashing out at his surroundings until it was done. Usopp, on the other hand, is a sniper. He finds good positions and then takes shots when the opportunity arises. He is doing the more think heavy fighting. Even the lethal/non-lethal nature of how they fight are funny opposites.

When I was in 4th grade, around 2004, I was super into One Piece when it first made its way statewide. That year, I decided I wanted to be Captain Kuro for Halloween. Everyone thought I was Harry Potter. Needless to say, I love seeing people put some respect on his name! Thanks for this incredible look at Kuro's character. The parallels between him and the World Government never even occurred to me!

Funny that Kuro got cover art right after this was posted 😮

Kuro's glasses are also the one and only rounded element of his character design that is rounded, which, when he's still playing the role of the butler can be interpreted as him having a soft side to him that he doesn't show often, but once we learn of his real personality, then the glasses become a symbol of that fake persona: he puts them on the same way that he puts on the mask of a caring person

To this day, the earlier episodes leading up to the grand line, are my favorite. They are small and simple stories, but I think that's what makes it feel real to me. A scene that really stands out to me, is when Usopp gets ready to defend the town against the Straw Hats by bluffing, and Luffy calls him out by quoting one of Shank's crew members. It's a very serious, and hard line.. and then is followed by Luffy laughing with his stupid grin, saying "hahah, that's just what my pirate friends used to say! Sounds cool, huh?" It kind of encapsulates what the early chapters are. A bunch of silly kids learning their core values before they are put to the test in a very real, and very cruel world.

It's weird how this guy makes it canon that there's a kind of tap dancing in the one piece universe that makes you invisible