Eiichiro Oda ('One Piece') explains why there are no romantic relationships in the manga with historical sexism
The author assures that this is only of interest to girls and that ‘One Piece’ is a “manga for boys”.

This is nothing new. Eiichiro Oda is totally against dating and romantic relationships in ‘One Piece’. In fact, it was one of the conditions he set for Netflix to approve the live-action. The author has always defended that the Straw Hats are still teenagers and that he’s not too interested in the subject, which is totally respectable, but when he had to explain it to his readers... well, let’s just say that he wasn’t always right with his words.
This is the answer he gave in a Q&A some years ago when he was asked who Nami likes. Oda assured that nobody does, and that he assumed that the question was asked by a girl, because ‘One Piece’ is a manga for boys, and boys are apparently not interested in that topic. “Hmm, in a romantic sense? I don’t think there will be any romance among that crew. Nami probably sees all the good aspects/qualities of those guys, but ‘One Piece’ is not a romance. Maybe a lot of girl readers ask this kind of question. Boys are not interested at all. ‘One Piece’ is basically a shonen manga, manga for boys, so romance is not depicted.”
In the end, and sexism aside, it is a pity that Oda thinks this way and that he is not too generous when it comes to romance. After all, and without leaving ‘One Piece’, the author has written one of the most beautiful kisses ever in a manga, Puddin’s kiss to Sanji in Whole Cake Island, and some of the most adult and mature relationships, like the one between Kuma and Ginny, Bonney’s parents, who made us cry so much in Egghead. Hopefully their opinion of what is “for boys” has changed over the years.
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