It’s been a few years since Yamato’s character was first introduced during the manga’s One Piece’s Wano arc, but fans still can’t decide what Yamato’s gender is.
It seems like every year, some new piece of information involving Yamato gets released by Eiichiro Oda, which, instead of solving this Yamato’s gender issue, confuses fans even more.
Yamato is the son (daughter) of Kaido, who possesses the mythical dog-dog fruit. She met Luffy and his crew during the fight of Onigashima, and both of them partnered to fight Kaido.
Since childhood, Yamato has idealized Kozuki Oden because he was the only one who thought about freeing Wano from the rules of its dictators. But this also leads to Yamato calling himself Oden (using “him” instead of “her” because Oden’s pronoun is obviously “he/him”).
Also, Kaido called Yamato his son, instead of his daughter, for unknown reasons. Everyone else around Yamato in One Piece refers to him with “he/him” pronouns. Even Luffy’s unique nickname for him is “Yamabro.”
Despite her womanly physic, Yamato is considered transgender by a group of One Piece fans. The argument is that everyone in One Piece calls Yamato by he/him pronouns, and she has never even corrected them.
In Sept 2021, Eiichiro Oda confirmed in Vivre Card that Yamato was a biological female, and these speculations about Yamato’s gender were put to rest (for a while).
In June 2022, Eiichiro Oda published a panel in the manga which again brought this topic to the conversation. In one of the manga panels, Yamato can be seen taking a bath with Luffy and the other male characters.
Remember that the same manga chapter shows Luffy’s crew’s female party taking a bath separately, so it’s not like Yamato didn’t have a choice.
In the latest One Piece chapter, a color spread featuring One Piece girls was revealed, in which Yamato was present.
The debate of Yamato’s gender again took center stage on Twitter. One fan said that this cover should end this debate once and for all.
Another One Piece presented the solution to call Yamato gender fluid and ending this debate.
A few of the One Piece fans were tired of this debate trending again.
“Luffy respects Yamato’s identity and calls him Yamabro”, said another Tweet.
Some fans defended Yamato taking bath with Luffy and other male crew by saying that is where Oden would have been.
This debate on Yamato’s gender will probably go on for a while. As much as fans create the confusion, Eiichiro Oda is also at fault.
The depiction of Yamato partaking in a mixed-gender bath, followed by her subsequent portrayal in an all-female context, appears incongruous. What are your thoughts on this debate? Let us know your opinion in the comment section below.
