I do wonder about Sora and the comic version of the Germa 66.
Because, take another look at the Germa 66. We have a group of 5 "commanders" (if we include Sanji) who are lead by a Dark Lord.
You know what that reminds me of? The Five Gorosei and Imu.
I don't know, that's a bit of a weird coincidence. We don't get a ton of groups of 5 people in this manga. So, I just have to wonder if there's a connection there.
Which could mean that Sora could actually be a parallel to Joyboy. Sora has a pet seagull. The seagull might actually represent the Ancient Weapon Uranos. We know Joyboy had access to and used at least one of the Ancient Weapons during the Void Century, in order to cause the world flooding.
And it'd even work in the present day pretty well. If one of the readings of Sora's name is "emptiness" that actually lines up pretty well with the current owner of Uranos, Imu. With "Mu" also being "void" or "emptiness". This might work on multiple levels...if you squint.
Could "Sora Warrior of the Sea" actually be the World Government trying to twist the story of Joyboy into pro-World Government propaganda? Trying rewrite history by turning a pirate who was fighting against the World Government into the greatest agent FOR the World Government?
There are a number of problems with this idea, I'll admit.
For one, it would be a little odd for Imu and the Gorosei to let themselves be presented as the "bad guys" in the story. They might do it, though, especially since they are changing things around, anyway. And Imu and the Gorosei seem oddly humble, in their own way. They don't seem to seek out fame and prestige for themselves. They mostly seem to keep to themselves in Mariejois. So, maybe they would let themselves be the bad guys in a fictional story, since they do stand to gain from it, over the long term.
There's also a timeline issue. Supposedly, the newspaper comic version of the Germa 66 are directly inspired by Judge's Germa 66 in real life. We have NO indication that Judge got the idea for the Germa 66 from the comic. It seems to be the other way around. But, if you look again, the manga only says that the Sora comic took the NAME "Germa" from the Vinsmokes (Chapter 826). It's possible that the overall structure of the organization was taken from Imu and the Gorosei. And when Judge saw what he did with his family name in the comics, he was inspired to do the same thing in real life. A circle of inspiration, as it were.
It's possible that the Vinsmokes have no home island, because their original island kingdom was destroyed by Uranos like Lulusia was. It might even be the island that used to be where Enies Lobby is now. So, the World Government picked to use their family name as the bad guys in their story, in order to further discredit them, since they somehow survived their kingdom's destruction. Killing two birds with one stone, turning the story of Joyboy into Government propaganda, and discrediting a rebellious family from a island that's been "erased".
It would be a retcon, but it would also explain why the Germa are called a "mythical" army (Chapter 815). That's odd wording for a group of characters that are only in a comic strip. People make it sound like the story of the Germa 66 should have been around for hundreds of years. The oldest of the Vinsmoke siblings is Reiju at 24 years old (3 years older than her 4 brothers since they're all 21). It's a little odd that people find the Germa 66 "mythical" when they've only been around for, at most, 20 years. I would be interested to see what a more literal translation of those scenes would actually be, because I think there might be some important wording here that only works in the original Japanese.
There's also the "Sora" of it all. It does FEEL like Sanji's mom Sora should have something to do with the newspaper comic Sora. They were introduced in the same arc. It's odd for Oda to use the same name twice in such a short amount of time. It does feel like the World Government could have just been spinning the story of a Marine falling in love with a known outlaw, with no connection to Joyboy or the Gorosei.
So, I don't know. I feel like there's something here. But, I'll admit, it's tenuous at best. I don't even know if this is something Oda's going to expand upon, even in a SBS, because it does feel like such a minor plot point. I just have a gut feeling that there's some connection between the comic Germa 66 and the Gorosei in real life.
