One Of The Most Controversial One Piece Debate: Discussing Yamatoโs Genderย
So keep in mind that I wrote this like at 1 am and I'm tired. If it feels like I'm repeating myself or if something seems off, that's why. Do not go after people mentioned in the links.
While I was scrolling on Twitter/X on one random evening (last night) and I encountered this post: https://x.com/EtherionMaster/status/2068066518840058251 and the comment section was full of people referring Yamato to feminine pronouns. This user caught my attention and well letโs just say that 2 users had some disagreement over Yamatoโs gender. https://x.com/marcyline_/status/2068158986835136596 Thereโre other not so nice comments attacking her for her views of Yamatoโs gender because she uses masculine pronouns for Yamato. (please donโt be like those people) You would think that this post would probably be from a year or two ago, right? Wrong. The original post was posted on June 19th and the argument was the following day. In the argument this person referred to the vivre card as proof that Yamatoโs a girl, so I decided to do some digging, and guess what? I fell into a rabbit hole.
And thatโs why I wanna write this because even to this day the one piece community does not have a collective view on Yamatoโs gender, whether using male or female pronouns. For the sake of this, Iโm putting aside my biases and since Iโm curious about others opinions and viewpoints, I have collected evidence (from reddit and manga) about both sides to the argument, for why Yamatoโs a woman and why Yamatoโs a man. But I would like to mention that Iโll be bringing up the vivre card, then the female argument. the male one, and what conclusion i drew from this. Please put aside your biases you have for the other side and just hear each side out. If youโre unwilling to compromise your opinion because of pride, feel free to leave or comment down saying how stupid this is. Regardless Iโll see what you say, positive or negative.
Vivre Card isnโt Reliable:
To put it simply, the vivre card isnโt exactly verified by Oda himself nor his staff, rather itโs promotional material and considered merchandise, so few mistakes are bound to be made, though the accuracy is around 90% of the time, so it shouldnโt be considered as a piece of evidence. But I would like to bring it up because it is often used as evidence that Yamato is a woman. However it only refers to her biological gender and not Yamatoโs gender identity. If you want a closer look to why the vivre card shouldnโt be used to determine Yamatoโs identity, refer to this:ย
Why the vivre card is shoddy evidence for Yamato's gender
The Woman Argument: (using she/her pronouns)
The reason why Yamato is often referred by feminine pronouns within the community is because of the way Oda draws her, more specifically on the manga covers. Firstly her biological gender is a female because Oda gave her boobs and feminine features, he also drew Yamato on a color spread with female only characters. Another thing to point out that Oda has also drawn Yamato as an Oiran, the highest ranking courtesan who is always a woman. Besides manga color spreads, thereโs also Yamatoโs whole identity, she idolizes to be like Oden, therefore claiming to be him and acting like him. This doesnโt mean that she has to change her gender to be like Oden even though itโs not wrong to, itโs just that she chooses to go into the men bath because thatโs what Oden would do if this argument were true.
The Man Argument: (using he/him pronouns)
Yamato idolizes Oden so much that heโs willing to also change his gender to be like Oden, basically he claims to be Oden and is referred to the proper pronouns. It can be interpreted that his belief is that he acts like Oden and is referred to masculine pronouns like him. Itโs also really important to remember that Yamato is referred as a man and with masculine pronouns by everybody in the manga, in the dialogue, even if he does look like a woman. He is referred to Kaidoโs Son and not Kaidoโs daughter for a reason (kaido supports trans rights). This is also further backed up by Yamato joining the menโs bath because he sees himself as Oden, so he also sees himself as a man. Also guess who drew the menโs bath scene? Oda himself drew Yamato joining the menโs bath even if he drew Yamato on a female only cover spread.
My Conclusion:
I need to briefly discuss Sanji. Iโm still currently reading Wano, so Iโm not exactly sure what pronouns Sanji uses for Yamato, but he did get a nosebleed, for Yamatoโs body. This is only because of Yamatoโs biological gender and had nothing to do with Yamatoโs identity. Because thereโs people who believe that Yamato is a woman, that doesnโt mean theyโre all transphobic, itโs a matter of how they interpret the manga. But if youโre asking me and for my own opinion, Yamatoโs trans for one big strong reason. Because people actively use masculine pronouns for Yamato in the manga. People shouldnโt be attacked for having different opinions from you, welcome to the internet. It really makes sense why the debate has been ongoing, because Yamatoโs gender identity is still kind of vague and both sides have good arguments for and against one another unlike canon trans characters like Kiku. Still, if Iโm being honest, I wrote this to be more open minded and hopefully I helped? Oda handled Yamatoโs gender poorly, hence the debate. I just hope I cleared things up about both sides. Neither are wrong to me.
If I did get anything wrong or would like to discuss further, just lemme know or smth like comment down your opinions lol.








