Fun fact: the kanji for butterfly, 蝶, is made up of the kanji for 'bug/insect', 'World', and 'Tree'. With all the World Tree/ Yggdrasil symbolism we get in One Piece I thought that was just a neat little tidbit. This is the fun part of theories imo. The research and connections and all the little threads of thought that we create out of it. Fuck being right. Who knows how things will actually end up, lets just have some fun along the way. Great video Merphy! 💚
I think the butterfly would be a great theme for the final villain. The ressurection theme would explain imus long lifespan and hypnotic abilities would be super fun for a fight. And it would work as an explanation for his long reign. I still hope imu is a woman so that would be beautiful. Like mothra. But imu as a butterfly man would be interesting too.
The butterfly theory is truly amazing like oda puts love and romance in his story since sanji love from his mom and sister never let him give up his dream. Like the myth is so pretty and powerful I feel like you made a great comparison like all the clue are there . This might be a throw in the wind but I feel like you might have hit the nail on the coffin.
My bet is that Lili and Imu relationship is exactly as Robert and Lyanna Stark. Not one of love, but of obsession. And Joyboy is the Rhaegar in this ecuation
I think you might be onto something with this theory. What if the legendary weapons/swords are the graves, and the butterflies are their souls, with Imu’s garden and idle throne room being where their souls are kept?
All the scenes with Imu: yellow/golden and blue butterflies Merphy: Sooooo this *white* butterfly theory... Honestly, I think it has been pretty evident ever since Arlong Park that Oda uses butterflies to represent freedom when he made the visual metaphor of the butterfly getting caught in the spiders web and at the last second getting itself free as Nami decides to fight saying "sorry everyone, let's die together". Imu holding a butterfly in a locked room of greenery seems to communicate "I have the world on lockdown (to everyone's ignorance) holding people's freedom in my hand".
That butterfly scene was an addition from the anime so not sure The butterfly however make me think of Bleach And the discussion about souls and butterflys seems rather relevant as it's happening in the flower room and there's Always been theories about where the devil fruits might come from, like a tree in particular and it could be located in Mariejoie Or related to the Sun Tree Ever than goes apparently through the Red line as it gives FMI light There's also theories about how the first great flood could have caused the souls of millions to die and become in a way devil fruits So the butterflies being related to Imu seems more tangible than we could have thought
I mean the color is basically the least important detail, it's about the metaphor, plus as the other person said the butterfly scene in Arlong Park didn't come from Oda but from Toei, the animation studio. I think even if the butterfly being locked is part of the metaphor for Imu, the relationship between Butterflies and souls has a pretty fair chance to play some sort of role into the story too, especially as there has been multiple hints, and even a straight up indication in ch 1116 that Imu has some form of connection with Lily, hence why he has a painting of her, so the butterflies representing something along the lines of Lily's soul AND the fact that it is caged and locked away from the rest of the world can definitely both be part of the Imus mystery.
Kinda feels like a microcosm of the world. The butterflies are being kept in a garden so it looks peaceful and free but in actuality, when you look at the bigger picture they are locked up
Wait, I just stumbled into this video without knowing anything about the topic, I don't even know what fandom this video belongs to. Now I want to know
I hope you eventually do Bleach and I PRAY it’s in depth because people always like to claim Bleach is generic (it’s not) so many underlying themes, symbolism. I’d LOVE to hear an in-depth analysis for Ichigo as well because he is so complex his themes and story coming full circle are amazing. There’s not enough Bleach videos out there with all the research I have it’s an amazing manga
Someone the One Piece subreddit actually said something similar. Imu is an amalgamation of the souls of the 20 kings. The only one missing is Lilly, so Imu need Vivi to be complete. The Gorosei would also be some sort of homunculi, like Father and the Homunculus in Fullmetal Alchemist.
The butterfly-soul thing is neat, because I heard an interesting story when I was in Michoacan Mexico, which is where Monarch butterflies overwinter. The butterflies return around the time of Day of the Dead, and they were believed to be those returning souls. Monarch butterflies are orange, which is the color of the pre-Christian afterlife (see also the marigolds that are used to decorate the altars for Day of the Dead).
Bleach also had the "hell moths" which are rooted in the same or similar concept. Jujutsu Kaisen had some subtle butterfly lore in the first intro. I know there are others I'm not thinking about but it's a pretty common thing in Japan.
I think this take is super interesting and I really like the idea of Imu's fixation on Vivi being a direct result of their fixation on a past betrayal by Lili and subsequent loss of complete control. I've been thinking on it and I do wonder if the events of the Alabasta arc are a sort of foreshadowing for what happened between Imu and Lili in the void century. I could see parallels with Crocodile's goal of Project Utopia, which was to be accomplished through puppeteering the kingdom of Alabasta from the shadows and the use of an Ancient Weapon (Pluton in Crocodile's case and possibly Uranus in Imu's). It was only through part of Alabasta's monarchy leaving the country and gathering allies (Vivi w/ Luffy and Lili with Joyboy) behind the back of the would-be dictator that total control was thwarted. The connection to water is also interesting (Alabasta's artificial drought vs the rising of the world's sea levels).
I could definitely see imu having a fruit or power to control people which would make the betrayal that much more devastating. Imagine the one person he couldn’t control was Joyboy and the one person he chose not to control was Lily and they both “betrayed him” it would also make sense on why the Iron giant and zunesha both “apologize” and apparently failed or betrayed Joyboy, if they were being controlled by imu.
When I think of butterflies I immediately think of the butterfly effect. Which got me thinking that Imu could be from a future where certain things happen so he traveled back in time to the void century to begin to pluck at the strings so that things go the was it was “suppose” to go. But a certain anomaly arose called joyboy, plunging things into chaos so Imu is trying to set things right. Then I realised the one chapter in the series with any time travel related power said that going back in time is impossible. But yeah nice theory.
Merphy!! Before watching this, I saw a white butterfly yesterday at a park!! Or it was two days ago. I kinda blend them together. I'm looking forward to watching this.
love this video! that story of the man in the graveyard is really touching and does inspire a way of thinking about imu that i hadnt before. it's not so much like oda to do so, but i think it would be incredibly impressive if he was able to write imu's story and motivations in a way that actually made them a sympathetic character in the end. it does bring up thoughts of how vegapunk has been describing the war and his reluctance to straight up say the nobles/wg are pure evil villains. lot to think about and can't wait to have the story unfold and uncover the mysteries!
I just want to say, that I LOVE your body language SO MUCH. You are so incredibly expressive in both gestures and facial expression. Though both in a completely accidental, really endearing way. It just feels like you are radiating with passion and wear your heart on your sleeve. I swear half the time I look at your videos, I get gender envy. The other times I feel like I am little by little starting to look A LOT like you. Except I'm pale as shit 😛. I even take not on how your style your hair and how you dress. I have very similar hair, am around the same age - and apparently share a lot of erm - visual similarities. I just love the way you dress as well. You may think it's not much, but it just adds to how genuine a person you come off as (and probably are). Idk how to explain this - but people like me who transition - often times have a hard time imagining how they may look in the future. And struggle to put together a style that suits them. It just so happens that we look kinda alike.. and you honestly involuntarily help me visualize myself ^^
I’m new to the channel and I am loving these deep dives! I look forward to you recapping the latest One Piece chapters for us fans! Keep up the good work :)
Interesting because in Mexico, the butterfly is also seen as a symbol for the soul. hence the Day of the Dead occurring during the butterfly migration.
This was a great video! I know butterflies in Japanese culture are associated with death, souls, reserection, & (I think?) memory. But I hadn't heard of the myth of the white butterfly directly. Also I really need to catch up on One Piece.
I've never seen a single second of OP however as far as the butterflies go they are prevalent in Bleach as they use them to send messages to one another. In A Silent Voice a butterfly also shows up in a moment of grief. They also show up in Noragami which is an amazing manga written about ayakashi and Japanese gods.
Merphy, if you're interested, you should go check out the short stories written by the creators of the promised neverland 😍💖 (in one of them, there is a sad tale where a "supernatural butterfly" is involved 😭🖤)
To be honest this didn't feel that "unpolished." I understand what you are getting at, but still it's fun to hear about these theories and connections you have clearly done a lot of research on! So no problem at all, thanks for sharing!
Hey Merphy! I do think the portrait is of Lili because it looks similar to Cobra's portrait at his funeral and the portrait of the actress girl in Thriller Bark, all three of whom are dead. What's interesting is why Imu has it. Did Lili's funeral happen in that very room perhaps?
info on queen Nefertiti from Ancient Egypt that can support Lily=Imu. when her husband, the pharaoh Akhenaten, died Nefertiti disappeared and her body was never been found. there is a prominent theory in archaeology that she changed her name to Neferneferuaten and became the next pharaoh. there are also some accounts of her masquerading as a male while using the name Smenkhkare, whos origins are unknown, and became the pharaoh after her. (this isnt unheard of since the pharaoh Hatshepsut pretended to be a different gender) after Nefertiti reign as queen where she brought about the worship of the Aten and the Sun Disc, Neferneferuaten brought back the worship of Amun. Neferneferuaten (Neferne -> Nerona)? Amun - > Imu Amun is spelt with the hieroglyph for water, mu
There is a bunch of water lily/blue lotus symbology you can easily connect with Nefertiti. check out Nefertum . Nefer can mean zero, like mr 0 as an early write in for imu and the elders being 1-5 on their summoning circles or zero can mean nothing like void. it can also mean a god, specifically god of the afterworld
You should check out Bleach, where butterflies literally guide the souls of the dead to the Soul Society. Although there was a recent revelation about the butterflies which flips their concept entirely...
I do think there is a theme of reincarnation going on, whether literally or in some other way (like the inheritance of wills) looking at the return of Joyboy and Poseidon at the same time... Maybe Vivi is the return (or reincarnation) of Lilly at this time.
Tying on to what you said about Imu possibly being Lily - but that not making sense. What if it DOES make sense? One Piece has been giving us a lot of characters who have clones, or split personalities, or Vegapunk who combines both concepts. We know that technology before the void century was even more advanced than it is today. What if Imu and Nefeltari Lily are clones of one another, or even split aspects from the same person like Vegapunk? This could explain the ambiguous relationship of obsession/love/hate that Imu seems to have for Lily.
While watching this, I remembered that a lot of times in my backyard I'll see a single white butterfly going around. It'll leave my property, then I'll see another single white butterfly soon after, and I'm like, "Is that the same butterfly going around in circles?" I'll literally keep seeing a white butterfly by itself over and over again. Maybe it's a loved one paying a visit.
The thing that sticks out to me most about the relation between Imu and Lily/Vivi is that Imu seemingly had no interest in Vivi until he learned of Lily’s betrayal. So that could frame his targeting of Vivi as a revenge thing or maybe a precautionary measure for something she might be able to do via the bloodline or inherited will. Personally I think Lily could control Pluton, used it to distribute the poniglyphs, and then left pluton in Wano knowing it was safer than keeping it in Alabasta. Then left the poniglyph with Pluton’s location in Alabasta for a destined ancestor (Vivi) to find when the time was right. It parallels Shirahoshi too well and would set up having a princess/weapon pairing below the sea(Poseidon/Shirahoshi), one at sea level(Pluton/Vivi), and potentially one above sea (Uranus/???)
6 месяцев назад
The timeline there is not that clear, but I think the panel with him carrying vivi's picture and sitting in the empty throne occurs before cobra´s death, not after
You’re right, I shouldn’t have said he “had no interest in Vivi”, just that I think something changed after hearing Cobra’s letter from Lily. Mainly referencing 1086 where he tells the five elders “I desire Vivi” and they respond “It will be done”. I’m just trying to figure out why Imu didn’t go after Vivi way earlier, surely he was aware of her existence and her relation to Lily her whole life. I just think it reads like he didn’t see Vivi as a threat until that letter surfaced, or if he cared for Lily maybe he was hoping Vivi wasn’t a threat and that Lily’s blunder was just a mistake but Cobra’s letter confirmed the opposite
6 месяцев назад
@@ControlProtocol I think it must be that he realised Vivi was a D and took more interest in her but we will not know for a while
Yep I think that’s definitely part of it, and we know she was at least partially responsible for the poneglyphs being released, which is why I think its more than a revenge thing for Imu and that he’s threatened by Vivi like she might do something similar to what Lily did back then. I think the Pluton thing fits nicely there but I know people have theorized about it being the Paw Paw fruit that’s links Lily and Vivi and that could fit nicely too. Regardless it’s all so fun to guess about 😁
I actually drive with this butterfly-soul part of the myth and theory because there are some games (for example Persona 5) were a certain someone always in the beginning of the game in a form/shape of a butterfly. Or maybe it's a simbolic thing for the butterfly effect. Maybe somewere in the past there was something that happend witch nobody taught about that would be a bad thing and suddenly when nobody even bet an eye on the thing then came the "GOTCHA" moment AND it's downhill from now on.. :D. As how they say: "That tornado maybe was a flap from a butterfly somewhere the other side of the earth."
I have a few ideas floating around. Not necessarily a theory. I think Lili was in control on Uranus the same way Shirahoshi controls Poseidon. I think Uranus has something to do with butterflies. There is a South African butterfly whose name includes Uranus. I don't remember exactly off the top of my head. Imu somehow is in Lili's body and therefore controls Uranus. Possibly again because of Law's power. Maybe he switched bodies with her to control Uranus and then forced her to use the surgery on him?
7:15 So, Imu has the soul of Lili trapped inside the butterflies but he also made sure to make everyone forget her so he would be the only one "keeping her alive" (Dr. Hiriluk Speech) because of his deranged love for her? Add that Lily was just good friends with Joy boy and Imu is a childish loser and I'm buying whatever you're cooking.
As someone who is scared of butterflies, this is a fun piece of lore and it definitely got me interested. In western culture especially, the concept of the butterfly effect is prevalent since a flap of their wings can cause a hurricane. Essentially, a simple action can cause a cascade of outcomes. Like for Imu, the concept of the butterfly effect could’ve been as simple as “hey, talk to this person about Joyboy” which in turn caused the potential fall of Joyboy, his crew, the Ancient Kingdom, and the structure of the world which lead to the Void Century, Imu probably getting the perpetual life surgery, and being the shadowy ruler of the current world. I can’t wait for Imu’s potential butterfly reveal, lest at the expense of my fear 🥲
Hey Merphy! You should try to talk more about your book channel, like "we're reading this and that, checkout the other channel". I just checked and my YT removed, by itself, the notifications for the other channel (I re-activated it)
I think that the butterfly as a sign of transformation and rebirth is interesting because it also happens to be one of the themes associated with the moon and we all agree that the Moon has a big thematic impact in One Piece. But actually the story about the old man fits better with my theory about what the One Piece is and what Blackbeard and Rocks before him knew what the One Piece was. If you think about it, Imu is ruling over a graveyard, they don't mind reducing the planet to a small patch of land and sink everything else as long as they have control over this specific plot of land. Aside from their own Holy Land that is all they care about in the world, this is a whole contrast with Luffy who wants to go into an adventure and have an unknown free world to roam. Imu has been so much time waiting that they are no longer waiting for the butterfly, they are just hanging in the grave and they forgot why
While I don’t think the butterflies around Imu in the flower room are actually souls of people they knew I do think it’s symbolically what that is representing. The entire room and the butterfly’s are probably both a place of nostalgia and a sort of gravestone meant for reflection on either the people,person or time period that was before all this that mattered to them. As for the butterfly being representative of a soul is something I’ve seen in a lot of eastern media examples that come to mind are Bleach where they are navigators for wayward souls and Soul Reapers, another is actually a Korean show about ghost souls and the after life where it’s about a hotel for people who have died to gather relax and either process or recuperate before moving onto the afterlife, and the oldest guest of the hotel is a Butterfly that floats around a tree near the top of the hotel representing the soul of a former lover of the hotel manager who felt he’d wronged or betrayed her in life so was adamant in not passing on until she had so he remained as a butterfly for hundreds of years as a way of both atonement and to be by her side and watch her.
I was just thinking the other day how weird it is a lot of big main villains get introduced or roam around in gardens like president Snow from the hunger games or the woman from Detroit become human that ordered Connor around.
I like your take in OP with that theory, Merphy 🤔 Maybe Imu is the "slimy old man" that, unlike the story you've told in this video, keeps some mementos with grudge and resentment, since he never got exactly what he wanted, and that is power and absolute dominion all over the races, because he got betrayed by Joy boy and Lily, and so, as noticed by Stella Vegapunk, his "revenge war" never ends 😱🥶✨
Have you considered it is the reverse. Imu is immortal and can’t die. The butterflies are the souls of the people, his friends, waiting for him to lose and die and finally pass on.
Polish is for nails, bowling balls and Poland. While it could be Japanese mythology, I think it could also be an amalgamation or from other mythologies as well. The ruins in Skypiea is based on Aztec culture mixed with other things. There are structures in real life that have one to one comparisons with Aztec ruins in Mexico. One thing I found in my research is an Italian Opera called Madama Butterfly. It’s about a young Japanese girl that falls in love with an American Naval Officer. It’s a story that has the same theme of uniting people of different cultures that we kind of saw in Noland’s backstory and one we see time and time again in the series. And it ends in tragedy, which could be good motivation for Imu. We’ve also seen other works of inspiration from Salvador Dali, like Zou and the forest in Whole Cake. He also has a painting called Butterfly Woman and her head is made of flowers. Dali also has another painting in that collection called Venus Butterfly, where the woman becomes a Butterfly. In general Butterflies seem to represent Death, Soul, Rebirth, Love, Transformation, Freedom, and Hope. There isn’t a lot represented by Butterflies. It’s interesting to me that they represent freedom yet Imu never leaves the castle and the garden Imu usually resides in is literally in a room. I could see this as symbolism maybe implying Imu was a former Joyboy that is no longer free.
I understood you mean imu has taken lilys body and is immortal or maybe as he wants to eat multiple devil fruits and so that butterfly must have lilys body
Given that yokai might actually exist as their own entities in OP. How are we feeling about the actual Nika still existing somewhere? 👀 He might be at laughtale, being the reason for the laughter👀
I had skip some spoilers but I got the gist. But as a young fellow I loved Godzilla. However, I did notice that whenever Mothra was in a film it was the lead and even going to the extent that Godzilla could be the villain and Mothra defeats him. I hated that! Godzilla is cool! But then even a brief browse through the information shows that Japan holds butterflies in high regard as symbols of love and joy and transformation.
Imagine if Joyboy is Imu and this is a sick plan to make people value their freedom and throw away their authoritarian rulers or at least choose their own ruler (cause Cobra is a good ruler but Wapol is not)
My theory is that the girl in the picture and the picture Sanji found on a sunken ship are both Joy Boy. Joy Boy is not a boy, but a girl. Imu’s plan is likely to be something really stupid and selfish in an attempt to make her like him back. Lily scattered the poneglyphs, just as Joy Boy did. Additionally, we have a statue of Lucy in Dressrosa, and people still joke about Noland being a liar. I’m not sure, but it seems plausible that the God of Liberation could change gender or even species across incarnations.
probably not. playing with and being fascinated with beetles is a very Japanese child / boy thing to do. Luffy even has his birthday on children's day, May 5th.
What if Boa is the reflection of Imu... They believed that they could be forgiven of everything due to power instead of Beauty. The Butterfly and flowers are the link to beauty and Imu is Emperor of the world so its connected still right? Yeah a stretch but I think that would be subversive and cool. Vivi is the bluff because Lily was connected to both Amazon and Cobra. In all honesty I think Imu being the Monarch from Venture brothers reborn into an anime world he could succeed in is the truth... I mean that siloette screams Monarch to me. LOL But yeah Imu could very well be the source of all Haki and the reason it works on DF. That is to say that both Haki and the seas curse have the same source. Which is why people that learn certain truths die from the same sickness (Roger and Rumbar pirate captain... in truth a plant sickness that can spread to humans).
![Dead Beat | [spoiler] Dresden Review](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IYM2R6pVp4Y/mqdefault.jpg)
Bleach fans🤝 One piece fans
Butterflies
Fun fact: the kanji for butterfly, 蝶, is made up of the kanji for 'bug/insect', 'World', and 'Tree'. With all the World Tree/ Yggdrasil symbolism we get in One Piece I thought that was just a neat little tidbit.
This is the fun part of theories imo. The research and connections and all the little threads of thought that we create out of it. Fuck being right. Who knows how things will actually end up, lets just have some fun along the way. Great video Merphy!
💚
I LOVE this look into this lore. There are so many ways we can theorize the importance of the butterfly imagery.
This is not how time works, also my autocorrect just turned this into zhis and I know I'm German but come on
I think the butterfly would be a great theme for the final villain. The ressurection theme would explain imus long lifespan and hypnotic abilities would be super fun for a fight. And it would work as an explanation for his long reign. I still hope imu is a woman so that would be beautiful. Like mothra. But imu as a butterfly man would be interesting too.
The butterfly theory is truly amazing like oda puts love and romance in his story since sanji love from his mom and sister never let him give up his dream. Like the myth is so pretty and powerful I feel like you made a great comparison like all the clue are there . This might be a throw in the wind but I feel like you might have hit the nail on the coffin.
My bet is that Lili and Imu relationship is exactly as Robert and Lyanna Stark. Not one of love, but of obsession.
And Joyboy is the Rhaegar in this ecuation
I think you might be onto something with this theory.
What if the legendary weapons/swords are the graves, and the butterflies are their souls, with Imu’s garden and idle throne room being where their souls are kept?
All the scenes with Imu: yellow/golden and blue butterflies
Merphy: Sooooo this *white* butterfly theory...
Honestly, I think it has been pretty evident ever since Arlong Park that Oda uses butterflies to represent freedom when he made the visual metaphor of the butterfly getting caught in the spiders web and at the last second getting itself free as Nami decides to fight saying "sorry everyone, let's die together".
Imu holding a butterfly in a locked room of greenery seems to communicate "I have the world on lockdown (to everyone's ignorance) holding people's freedom in my hand".
That butterfly scene was an addition from the anime so not sure
The butterfly however make me think of Bleach
And the discussion about souls and butterflys seems rather relevant as it's happening in the flower room and there's Always been theories about where the devil fruits might come from, like a tree in particular and it could be located in Mariejoie
Or related to the Sun Tree Ever than goes apparently through the Red line as it gives FMI light
There's also theories about how the first great flood could have caused the souls of millions to die and become in a way devil fruits
So the butterflies being related to Imu seems more tangible than we could have thought
I mean the color is basically the least important detail, it's about the metaphor, plus as the other person said the butterfly scene in Arlong Park didn't come from Oda but from Toei, the animation studio.
I think even if the butterfly being locked is part of the metaphor for Imu, the relationship between Butterflies and souls has a pretty fair chance to play some sort of role into the story too, especially as there has been multiple hints, and even a straight up indication in ch 1116 that Imu has some form of connection with Lily, hence why he has a painting of her, so the butterflies representing something along the lines of Lily's soul AND the fact that it is caged and locked away from the rest of the world can definitely both be part of the Imus mystery.
The anime gets colors wrong all the time, the butterfly doesn't have a Canon color in the manga yet
Kinda feels like a microcosm of the world. The butterflies are being kept in a garden so it looks peaceful and free but in actuality, when you look at the bigger picture they are locked up
@@riduanaqil1452 That's what I'm thinking.
More “unpolished” videos, please!
I second this!!!
Wait, I just stumbled into this video without knowing anything about the topic, I don't even know what fandom this video belongs to. Now I want to know
One piece now get to reading
Same feeling. Still found the video and story fascinating.
This video is about discussing a character in the series “One Piece” named Imu and their origin.
@@miyayume_eclectic_dream This video is about discussing a character in the series “One Piece” named Imu and their origin.
I hope you eventually do Bleach and I PRAY it’s in depth because people always like to claim Bleach is generic (it’s not) so many underlying themes, symbolism. I’d LOVE to hear an in-depth analysis for Ichigo as well because he is so complex his themes and story coming full circle are amazing. There’s not enough Bleach videos out there with all the research I have it’s an amazing manga
oh man imu is gonna have a crazy backstory
Someone the One Piece subreddit actually said something similar. Imu is an amalgamation of the souls of the 20 kings. The only one missing is Lilly, so Imu need Vivi to be complete. The Gorosei would also be some sort of homunculi, like Father and the Homunculus in Fullmetal Alchemist.
Merphy is so beautiful!!
That's a filter. His name is Jerry and he's kind of hairy.
The butterfly-soul thing is neat, because I heard an interesting story when I was in Michoacan Mexico, which is where Monarch butterflies overwinter. The butterflies return around the time of Day of the Dead, and they were believed to be those returning souls. Monarch butterflies are orange, which is the color of the pre-Christian afterlife (see also the marigolds that are used to decorate the altars for Day of the Dead).
Bleach also had the "hell moths" which are rooted in the same or similar concept. Jujutsu Kaisen had some subtle butterfly lore in the first intro.
I know there are others I'm not thinking about but it's a pretty common thing in Japan.
So you're clearly talking about one piece here but think about how Frieren Is usually depicted with a blue butterfly nearby.
*Shin megomi tensei
@@eavyeavy2864blue butterfly is specifically persona, not SMT as a whole
I think this take is super interesting and I really like the idea of Imu's fixation on Vivi being a direct result of their fixation on a past betrayal by Lili and subsequent loss of complete control.
I've been thinking on it and I do wonder if the events of the Alabasta arc are a sort of foreshadowing for what happened between Imu and Lili in the void century. I could see parallels with Crocodile's goal of Project Utopia, which was to be accomplished through puppeteering the kingdom of Alabasta from the shadows and the use of an Ancient Weapon (Pluton in Crocodile's case and possibly Uranus in Imu's). It was only through part of Alabasta's monarchy leaving the country and gathering allies (Vivi w/ Luffy and Lili with Joyboy) behind the back of the would-be dictator that total control was thwarted. The connection to water is also interesting (Alabasta's artificial drought vs the rising of the world's sea levels).
Merphy, i love your channel. Thanks for keeping it real with us :D
I could definitely see imu having a fruit or power to control people which would make the betrayal that much more devastating.
Imagine the one person he couldn’t control was Joyboy and the one person he chose not to control was Lily and they both “betrayed him” it would also make sense on why the Iron giant and zunesha both “apologize” and apparently failed or betrayed Joyboy, if they were being controlled by imu.
When I think of butterflies I immediately think of the butterfly effect. Which got me thinking that Imu could be from a future where certain things happen so he traveled back in time to the void century to begin to pluck at the strings so that things go the was it was “suppose” to go. But a certain anomaly arose called joyboy, plunging things into chaos so Imu is trying to set things right.
Then I realised the one chapter in the series with any time travel related power said that going back in time is impossible.
But yeah nice theory.
At 6:50 I thought she was about to say “he went back to tell his mother…and she was dead” 😂
What have you been watching 😂
@@riduanaqil1452 i was halfway listening and i was used to tragic endings
Merphy!! Before watching this, I saw a white butterfly yesterday at a park!! Or it was two days ago. I kinda blend them together. I'm looking forward to watching this.
love this video! that story of the man in the graveyard is really touching and does inspire a way of thinking about imu that i hadnt before. it's not so much like oda to do so, but i think it would be incredibly impressive if he was able to write imu's story and motivations in a way that actually made them a sympathetic character in the end. it does bring up thoughts of how vegapunk has been describing the war and his reluctance to straight up say the nobles/wg are pure evil villains. lot to think about and can't wait to have the story unfold and uncover the mysteries!
I just want to say, that I LOVE your body language SO MUCH. You are so incredibly expressive in both gestures and facial expression. Though both in a completely accidental, really endearing way. It just feels like you are radiating with passion and wear your heart on your sleeve.
I swear half the time I look at your videos, I get gender envy. The other times I feel like I am little by little starting to look A LOT like you. Except I'm pale as shit 😛.
I even take not on how your style your hair and how you dress. I have very similar hair, am around the same age - and apparently share a lot of erm - visual similarities. I just love the way you dress as well. You may think it's not much, but it just adds to how genuine a person you come off as (and probably are).
Idk how to explain this - but people like me who transition - often times have a hard time imagining how they may look in the future. And struggle to put together a style that suits them. It just so happens that we look kinda alike.. and you honestly involuntarily help me visualize myself ^^
the hell butterflies in bleach has always intrigued me and every time i see butterflies in anime i say there's a hell butterfly
Be funny if Oden wife and the once Queen of Wano was the missing Nefatati/Alabasta Dynasty Princess/Queen that Imu looking for
I’m new to the channel and I am loving these deep dives! I look forward to you recapping the latest One Piece chapters for us fans! Keep up the good work :)
Interesting because in Mexico, the butterfly is also seen as a symbol for the soul. hence the Day of the Dead occurring during the butterfly migration.
This was a great video! I know butterflies in Japanese culture are associated with death, souls, reserection, & (I think?) memory. But I hadn't heard of the myth of the white butterfly directly.
Also I really need to catch up on One Piece.
need*
I've never seen a single second of OP however as far as the butterflies go they are prevalent in Bleach as they use them to send messages to one another. In A Silent Voice a butterfly also shows up in a moment of grief. They also show up in Noragami which is an amazing manga written about ayakashi and Japanese gods.
And in Magi where the entire power system (magoi or rukh) is represented by butterflies made of light
I like to think those butterflies were the souls of his friends who he used to have 800 or so years ago
Merphy, if you're interested, you should go check out the short stories written by the creators of the promised neverland 😍💖 (in one of them, there is a sad tale where a "supernatural butterfly" is involved 😭🖤)
To be honest this didn't feel that "unpolished." I understand what you are getting at, but still it's fun to hear about these theories and connections you have clearly done a lot of research on! So no problem at all, thanks for sharing!
All my stocks are in on Joy Boys name being Davy Jones or some type of wordplay on that.
Hey Merphy! I do think the portrait is of Lili because it looks similar to Cobra's portrait at his funeral and the portrait of the actress girl in Thriller Bark, all three of whom are dead. What's interesting is why Imu has it. Did Lili's funeral happen in that very room perhaps?
we’re back in front of the bookshelf! yay!!!
0:00 Merp hitting the "Absolute Cinema" pose
info on queen Nefertiti from Ancient Egypt that can support Lily=Imu.
when her husband, the pharaoh Akhenaten, died Nefertiti disappeared and her body was never been found. there is a prominent theory in archaeology that she changed her name to Neferneferuaten and became the next pharaoh.
there are also some accounts of her masquerading as a male while using the name Smenkhkare, whos origins are unknown, and became the pharaoh after her. (this isnt unheard of since the pharaoh Hatshepsut pretended to be a different gender)
after Nefertiti reign as queen where she brought about the worship of the Aten and the Sun Disc, Neferneferuaten brought back the worship of Amun.
Neferneferuaten (Neferne -> Nerona)?
Amun - > Imu
Amun is spelt with the hieroglyph for water, mu
There is a bunch of water lily/blue lotus symbology you can easily connect with Nefertiti. check out Nefertum .
Nefer can mean zero, like mr 0 as an early write in for imu and the elders being 1-5 on their summoning circles or zero can mean nothing like void. it can also mean a god, specifically god of the afterworld
Love mythology thanks merphy ❤
You should check out Bleach, where butterflies literally guide the souls of the dead to the Soul Society.
Although there was a recent revelation about the butterflies which flips their concept entirely...
I do think there is a theme of reincarnation going on, whether literally or in some other way (like the inheritance of wills) looking at the return of Joyboy and Poseidon at the same time... Maybe Vivi is the return (or reincarnation) of Lilly at this time.
Great stuff
THE BOOKSHELVES ARE BACK! Research Merph activated
Tying on to what you said about Imu possibly being Lily - but that not making sense. What if it DOES make sense? One Piece has been giving us a lot of characters who have clones, or split personalities, or Vegapunk who combines both concepts. We know that technology before the void century was even more advanced than it is today. What if Imu and Nefeltari Lily are clones of one another, or even split aspects from the same person like Vegapunk? This could explain the ambiguous relationship of obsession/love/hate that Imu seems to have for Lily.
While watching this, I remembered that a lot of times in my backyard I'll see a single white butterfly going around. It'll leave my property, then I'll see another single white butterfly soon after, and I'm like, "Is that the same butterfly going around in circles?" I'll literally keep seeing a white butterfly by itself over and over again. Maybe it's a loved one paying a visit.
Check out butterfly myths and lore from Mexico where butterflies represent people's souls.
The thing that sticks out to me most about the relation between Imu and Lily/Vivi is that Imu seemingly had no interest in Vivi until he learned of Lily’s betrayal.
So that could frame his targeting of Vivi as a revenge thing or maybe a precautionary measure for something she might be able to do via the bloodline or inherited will.
Personally I think Lily could control Pluton, used it to distribute the poniglyphs, and then left pluton in Wano knowing it was safer than keeping it in Alabasta. Then left the poniglyph with Pluton’s location in Alabasta for a destined ancestor (Vivi) to find when the time was right.
It parallels Shirahoshi too well and would set up having a princess/weapon pairing below the sea(Poseidon/Shirahoshi), one at sea level(Pluton/Vivi), and potentially one above sea (Uranus/???)
The timeline there is not that clear, but I think the panel with him carrying vivi's picture and sitting in the empty throne occurs before cobra´s death, not after
You’re right, I shouldn’t have said he “had no interest in Vivi”, just that I think something changed after hearing Cobra’s letter from Lily. Mainly referencing 1086 where he tells the five elders “I desire Vivi” and they respond “It will be done”.
I’m just trying to figure out why Imu didn’t go after Vivi way earlier, surely he was aware of her existence and her relation to Lily her whole life. I just think it reads like he didn’t see Vivi as a threat until that letter surfaced, or if he cared for Lily maybe he was hoping Vivi wasn’t a threat and that Lily’s blunder was just a mistake but Cobra’s letter confirmed the opposite
@@ControlProtocol I think it must be that he realised Vivi was a D and took more interest in her but we will not know for a while
Yep I think that’s definitely part of it, and we know she was at least partially responsible for the poneglyphs being released, which is why I think its more than a revenge thing for Imu and that he’s threatened by Vivi like she might do something similar to what Lily did back then. I think the Pluton thing fits nicely there but I know people have theorized about it being the Paw Paw fruit that’s links Lily and Vivi and that could fit nicely too.
Regardless it’s all so fun to guess about 😁
I actually drive with this butterfly-soul part of the myth and theory because there are some games (for example Persona 5) were a certain someone always in the beginning of the game in a form/shape of a butterfly. Or maybe it's a simbolic thing for the butterfly effect. Maybe somewere in the past there was something that happend witch nobody taught about that would be a bad thing and suddenly when nobody even bet an eye on the thing then came the "GOTCHA" moment AND it's downhill from now on.. :D. As how they say: "That tornado maybe was a flap from a butterfly somewhere the other side of the earth."
When I saw Imu with that sadistic grin I immediately thought of Sabos step brother the celestial dragon brat. Maybe it's just the similar smarmy grins
4:37 Imu is a comrade?!
lol I had a good laugh realizing how Kami sounds like commie.
It's been 5 years and we still don't understand that butterfly and imu scene yet
hey old bg is back!
I have a few ideas floating around. Not necessarily a theory.
I think Lili was in control on Uranus the same way Shirahoshi controls Poseidon. I think Uranus has something to do with butterflies. There is a South African butterfly whose name includes Uranus. I don't remember exactly off the top of my head.
Imu somehow is in Lili's body and therefore controls Uranus. Possibly again because of Law's power. Maybe he switched bodies with her to control Uranus and then forced her to use the surgery on him?
7:15 So, Imu has the soul of Lili trapped inside the butterflies but he also made sure to make everyone forget her so he would be the only one "keeping her alive" (Dr. Hiriluk Speech) because of his deranged love for her?
Add that Lily was just good friends with Joy boy and Imu is a childish loser and I'm buying whatever you're cooking.
As someone who is scared of butterflies, this is a fun piece of lore and it definitely got me interested. In western culture especially, the concept of the butterfly effect is prevalent since a flap of their wings can cause a hurricane. Essentially, a simple action can cause a cascade of outcomes.
Like for Imu, the concept of the butterfly effect could’ve been as simple as “hey, talk to this person about Joyboy” which in turn caused the potential fall of Joyboy, his crew, the Ancient Kingdom, and the structure of the world which lead to the Void Century, Imu probably getting the perpetual life surgery, and being the shadowy ruler of the current world.
I can’t wait for Imu’s potential butterfly reveal, lest at the expense of my fear 🥲
Hey Merphy! You should try to talk more about your book channel, like "we're reading this and that, checkout the other channel".
I just checked and my YT removed, by itself, the notifications for the other channel (I re-activated it)
I think that the butterfly as a sign of transformation and rebirth is interesting because it also happens to be one of the themes associated with the moon and we all agree that the Moon has a big thematic impact in One Piece. But actually the story about the old man fits better with my theory about what the One Piece is and what Blackbeard and Rocks before him knew what the One Piece was.
If you think about it, Imu is ruling over a graveyard, they don't mind reducing the planet to a small patch of land and sink everything else as long as they have control over this specific plot of land. Aside from their own Holy Land that is all they care about in the world, this is a whole contrast with Luffy who wants to go into an adventure and have an unknown free world to roam. Imu has been so much time waiting that they are no longer waiting for the butterfly, they are just hanging in the grave and they forgot why
Murphy I feel like you need to read Bleach next.
Not only that, don't forget that the bubble gun had no effect on Saturn either
While I don’t think the butterflies around Imu in the flower room are actually souls of people they knew I do think it’s symbolically what that is representing. The entire room and the butterfly’s are probably both a place of nostalgia and a sort of gravestone meant for reflection on either the people,person or time period that was before all this that mattered to them. As for the butterfly being representative of a soul is something I’ve seen in a lot of eastern media examples that come to mind are Bleach where they are navigators for wayward souls and Soul Reapers, another is actually a Korean show about ghost souls and the after life where it’s about a hotel for people who have died to gather relax and either process or recuperate before moving onto the afterlife, and the oldest guest of the hotel is a Butterfly that floats around a tree near the top of the hotel representing the soul of a former lover of the hotel manager who felt he’d wronged or betrayed her in life so was adamant in not passing on until she had so he remained as a butterfly for hundreds of years as a way of both atonement and to be by her side and watch her.
The story reminds me a little of Old Man Voll from Frieren
I was just thinking the other day how weird it is a lot of big main villains get introduced or roam around in gardens like president Snow from the hunger games or the woman from Detroit become human that ordered Connor around.
I like your take in OP with that theory, Merphy 🤔
Maybe Imu is the "slimy old man" that, unlike the story you've told in this video, keeps some mementos with grudge and resentment, since he never got exactly what he wanted, and that is power and absolute dominion all over the races, because he got betrayed by Joy boy and Lily, and so, as noticed by Stella Vegapunk, his "revenge war" never ends 😱🥶✨
perhaps Joyboy surrendered himself to save Lily from being punished when he could have move on and fight Imu to the last?
Will you keep making more Jojo videos? ❤
Have you considered it is the reverse. Imu is immortal and can’t die. The butterflies are the souls of the people, his friends, waiting for him to lose and die and finally pass on.
Polish is for nails, bowling balls and Poland.
While it could be Japanese mythology, I think it could also be an amalgamation or from other mythologies as well. The ruins in Skypiea is based on Aztec culture mixed with other things. There are structures in real life that have one to one comparisons with Aztec ruins in Mexico.
One thing I found in my research is an Italian Opera called Madama Butterfly. It’s about a young Japanese girl that falls in love with an American Naval Officer. It’s a story that has the same theme of uniting people of different cultures that we kind of saw in Noland’s backstory and one we see time and time again in the series. And it ends in tragedy, which could be good motivation for Imu.
We’ve also seen other works of inspiration from Salvador Dali, like Zou and the forest in Whole Cake. He also has a painting called Butterfly Woman and her head is made of flowers. Dali also has another painting in that collection called Venus Butterfly, where the woman becomes a Butterfly.
In general Butterflies seem to represent Death, Soul, Rebirth, Love, Transformation, Freedom, and Hope. There isn’t a lot represented by Butterflies. It’s interesting to me that they represent freedom yet Imu never leaves the castle and the garden Imu usually resides in is literally in a room. I could see this as symbolism maybe implying Imu was a former Joyboy that is no longer free.
Imagine if Imu is actually a Tontatta and the straw hat we see with Imu is just a normal sized straw hat and not a giant one
inb4 murphy diving into another story with a control freak overlord as in tower of god
I cant prove it but i think the Eve Tree is at the center of all of this.
I believe it's in the chamber of flowers, and may have souls residing in it
So that’s why butter free is all over bleach
Btw unpolished Merphy is GREAT
Bc ALL Merphy is GREAT 😊
Does Merphy know of the Butterfly Effect?
rewatching whole cake island and butterfly comes to sanji.. thoughts? episode 799
Casually stalks buyer.
I understood you mean imu has taken lilys body and is immortal or maybe as he wants to eat multiple devil fruits and so that butterfly must have lilys body
Given that yokai might actually exist as their own entities in OP. How are we feeling about the actual Nika still existing somewhere? 👀
He might be at laughtale, being the reason for the laughter👀
What if vivi's father is now one of the butterflies ??
Is it just me or the video quality upgraded by a lot
I had skip some spoilers but I got the gist. But as a young fellow I loved Godzilla. However, I did notice that whenever Mothra was in a film it was the lead and even going to the extent that Godzilla could be the villain and Mothra defeats him. I hated that! Godzilla is cool! But then even a brief browse through the information shows that Japan holds butterflies in high regard as symbols of love and joy and transformation.
Unpolished videos are lovely to watch
Imagine if Joyboy is Imu and this is a sick plan to make people value their freedom and throw away their authoritarian rulers or at least choose their own ruler (cause Cobra is a good ruler but Wapol is not)
Have you mentioned this before or did I hear it on the One Piece Podcast?
Honestly I think I prefer the book room
🙏👍🏻😁
Is it confirmed that imu was granted immorality through the op op fruit or is it just a theory at this point?
Speculation.
But also, something to ponder: how do they know that the op-op has that ability? If it's never been used before.
Right!?
I don’t even care what she’s saying I’m just looking at the amazing 🍼🍼
Same
Just a stupid thought that came to my mind...
What if Imu is Joy Boy???
i think you're onto something
My theory is that the girl in the picture and the picture Sanji found on a sunken ship are both Joy Boy. Joy Boy is not a boy, but a girl. Imu’s plan is likely to be something really stupid and selfish in an attempt to make her like him back. Lily scattered the poneglyphs, just as Joy Boy did. Additionally, we have a statue of Lucy in Dressrosa, and people still joke about Noland being a liar. I’m not sure, but it seems plausible that the God of Liberation could change gender or even species across incarnations.
Luffy has a thing for beetles
Imu has a thing for butterflies
Any correlations?
probably not. playing with and being fascinated with beetles is a very Japanese child / boy thing to do. Luffy even has his birthday on children's day, May 5th.
@@Ryroe yep, maybe it's not important.
Cool pfp by the way. Love DQ III.
@@danielcanovas5789 Thanks. DQIII is awesome. Can't wait for the remake coming up!
❤❤❤
I might be wrong about this, but I'm still betting that Imu is/was Joy Boy.
Was imu sacrificing giants for more life!?
Do these butterflies have feet?
This video has got me interested in One Piece.
Crap I forgot laws devil fruit had that ability this might also explain the 5 elders
welp time to rewatch bleach
What if Boa is the reflection of Imu...
They believed that they could be forgiven of everything due to power instead of Beauty.
The Butterfly and flowers are the link to beauty and Imu is Emperor of the world so its connected still right?
Yeah a stretch but I think that would be subversive and cool.
Vivi is the bluff because Lily was connected to both Amazon and Cobra.
In all honesty I think Imu being the Monarch from Venture brothers reborn into an anime world he could succeed in is the truth... I mean that siloette screams Monarch to me.
LOL
But yeah Imu could very well be the source of all Haki and the reason it works on DF. That is to say that both Haki and the seas curse have the same source. Which is why people that learn certain truths die from the same sickness (Roger and Rumbar pirate captain... in truth a plant sickness that can spread to humans).