When Sakazuki hears Vegapunk state that the world will sink into the sea, this is his reaction:
The cross-hash pattern over Akainu’s eyes is a common mangaka technique for showing extreme concern or disapproval.
Akainu doesn’t want to kill the population of the entire world. What Akainu wants is to “eliminate all evil”, per his own words. This is an important distinction because it shows us that Akainu views himself as good.
Even when Akainu committed his biggest atrocity, he did it in the name of protecting what he considers to be “good”
And what Akainu considers “good” is the Navy and his own Justice, but not necessarily the World Government.
Akainu believes the World Government is his ally, and that his ideals and the World Government’s ideals align, but this will very quickly change when Akainu discovers that the World Government intends to kill the population of the entire world in the “Great Cleansing”.
The difference between Akainu’s ideals:
Is that Akainu is willing to sacrifice a small innocence to save the greater good. He is willing to kill a shipload of civilians if he believes that this is what will protect the millions of innocents around the world.
Akainu is not willing to kill all of the innocent people around the world. Those people are specifically what Akainu wants to protect.
Now I already did a thread looking more deeply on what I believe to be Akainu’s philosophy on Justice so if you want more info on that, check it out. But for now let’s move on.
I believe (as do many people) that the Marines will defect from the World Government and fight against them when they discover that they plan to kill the entire world’s population. I believe that Akainu is a subverted final villain trope, like Zuko or Darth Vader. You think they are irredeemable monstrous villains at first, but by the ends of their respective series they are actually explicit allies. That is Akainu for me. And this idea is actual based on Oda’s favorite movie of which Akainu is the star.
“Battles Without Honor or Humanity”, a movie that Oda has referenced as his “Bible Movie”:
Stars Bunta Sugawara (Akainu), who starts the film as a brutal Yakuza Muscle man, the kind of guy who beats helpless people who act against the Yakuza. We actually see him do this on screen at the film’s opening.
Seems similar to One Piece Akainu, right?
By the end of the film, Akainu* becomes disillusioned with the Yakuza and leaves them. He even shoots up the funeral for the head Yakuza dude or whatever.
So in other words, Oda based Akainu’s character design on a character who’s entire arc is literally about him becoming disillusioned and ultimately abandoning a life he was once extremely in favor of.
Okay, so Akainu just might leave the Marines and fight against the WG in the end, maybe, but why does that mean Akainu must fight Warcury?
Now we must ask ourselves, what is the purpose of Oda making Warcury the “God of Justice”? When Akainu’s entire character is all about him pursuing his own Justice?
Well, if we think Oda intends to have Akainu rebel from the World Government, and to ultimately “redeem” his character in the end, then the best way for a Shonen Mangaka to give Akainu a redemption arc, is to have him fight and defeat a character who embodies the life that Akainu once aspired toward.
This is a very common tactic in manga.
For those of you who have read MHA, Endeavor is an extremely similar character to Akainu. Endeavor is a hero who is secretly an abusive monster and does terrible things to his family. By the end of the series, Horikoshi has given Endeavor the best redemption arc in Shonen history, and Endeavor’s EOS battle is against All For One himself, the central villain of the manga. Endeavor fights and defeats All For One but loses his arm and perhaps even ultimately his life in the process (I haven’t finished MHA yet).
So from a narrative perspective, why does Endeavor fight All For One? The answer is because All For One is a dark representation of everything Endeavor once was: an evil man craving more and more power no matter the cost. Endeavor fighting and defeating All For One showed his transition from someone who was once very similar to All For One, into someone who is now fighting to overcome that version of himself.
So how does Warcury represent a version of Akainu that Akainu must surpass?
Well, in three big ways:
1. The Great Cleansing
Warcury’s current aim is to kill literally everyone. I’ve already explained why Akainu will not agree with this, and how this functions as a dark representation of what Akainu almost became.
2. Warcury’s association with Justice:
Akainu is the most Justice-Devoted Marine in the series. It cannot be an accident that Oda associated Warcury with Akainu in this manner.
3. Liberating Akainu from his “Government Dog” Arc:
Akainu fighting against the organization he was previously heavily subservient to is once again an aspect of Akainu’s character arc and ultimate redemption.
Now what’s interesting is Akainu and Warcury have already had beef on panel:
Akainu: “Put an end to this!”
Warcury: “Your honor is a trifling matter!”
Akainu: “The CD puppet went right over your heads!”
Warcury: “Shut your insolent mouth, Sakazuki!”
Here Warcury specifically comments about the pride of the Navy and how he blames Akainu for tarnishing it. Subtle foreshadowing for Warcury’s future association with the concept of Justice and his future battle against Akainu?
So imagine this:
Warcury, the founder of the Navy, the “God of Justice”, who believes Akainu is responsible for the fall of the Navy and their ultimate defection, a fraudulent “disgrace to Justice”, who believes that killing the entire world is what will continue the Government’s Justice
Vs Akainu, who has devoted his entire life to what he considers to be “real justice”, and now sees through the Government lies and will fight against them killing literally everyone, surpassing the old version of himself who was willing to do something like killing innocents for the greater good.
Akainu spent his life a black-hearted monster who would kill innocent civilians and his own marines in the name of justice.
Akainu in the end will die a hero who sees the error of his ways and fights to stop the Government from committing the greatest possible evil.
Akainu will die the greatest of all heroes, valiantly defeating Warcury but losing his life in the process
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