One Piece is a massive franchise. It’s one of the world’s longest-running manga and anime series, with over 1100 episodes, 15 movies, 13 TV specials, and 5 OVAs. The anime premiered on Fuji TV in October 1999 and is still ongoing to this day.
With the 2023 release of the One Piece live-action adaptation on Netflix, I felt it was the perfect opportunity to revisit the anime to see how it compares to the new adaptation.
One Piece has hundreds of characters and plotlines and, unless you’re a super-mega-fan, remembering them all is a monumental task. But one specific plot in particular that bothered me was (spoiler alert!) Kuina’s abrupt and seemingly random death. It felt like a missed opportunity to develop her character further and left me feeling somewhat disappointed.
So, in this article, let’s look back on Kuina One Piece’s character and discuss some theories about her death.
Who Was Shimotsuki Kuina?
In the anime and manga series One Piece, Shimotsuki Kuina was Roronoa Zoro’s childhood friend, rival, and second cousin. She lived in Shimotsuki Village and was the granddaughter of the village’s founder Shimotsuki Kozaburo.
Even as a young girl, Kuina displayed a remarkable level of self-confidence and sometimes came across as arrogant to her fellow trainees. Her father was the master of Isshin Dojo in Shimotsuki Village, a renowned swordsmanship school. Zoro was one of the dojo’s students.
Initially, Kuina and Zoro had a contentious relationship. She often ridiculed him as weak and fought him almost every chance she got.
Image source: Google
But beneath her bravado, Kuina secretly envied him. Her father, Koushirou, believed that grown women couldn’t match men in strength and she resented that she was born female. Zoro, while not as strong as she is, seemed like the perfect student—and he was a boy to boot.
However, no one can deny Kuina’s strength of Kuina. Despite her small frame, she was the dojo’s strongest pupil by a long shot. By 11, she was effortlessly defeating trainees twice her age and several adults, too. She also has an undefeated 2001-0 record against Zoro, showing the difference in their strength.
To Kuina’s dismay, her father never acknowledged her strength and stood on the belief that males would “naturally” surpass her as she grew. This made the young girl bitter and angry.
Image source: Google
While Zoro and Kuina started on hostile terms, both eventually grew to respect each other. They became friends and promised to train harder and become stronger so one of them would be the greatest swordsman in the world.
Unfortunately, the promise wouldn’t last because Kuina’s life was tragically cut short at only 11.
What Happened to Shimotsuki Kuina?
According to Kuina’s father, Kuina passed away because she accidentally fell down a flight of stairs. The scene was never depicted in the series but we did see her lifeless body, face covered by a cloth.
Image source: Google
Naturally, Zoro was devastated. As a final goodbye, he begged the master swordsman to entrust him with the blade that once belonged to Kuina, the Wado Ichimonji. Now that its owner is gone, Zoro felt it was his duty to carry on her will.
Could There Be More to Kuina’s Death? Theories and Speculations
Since Kuina’s death scene was never explicitly shown, there has been much speculation about the circumstances surrounding her passing.
Given the long-running nature of One Piece and Oda’s penchant for plot twists and foreshadowing, it seemed odd that such a pivotal character as Kuina would meet her end in a seemingly random accident.
As a result, many fans believe that Kuina’s death was not accidental and that there is a deeper mystery surrounding the circumstances. Here are some of the most popular theories concerning her death:
Kuina Was Murdered
Some fans believe that the ‘falling down the stairs’ explanation is a convenient cover-up, similar to someone claiming to have ‘hit their head on a doorknob’ after being assaulted.
This theory suggests that Kuina was actually murdered and Koushiro didn’t tell Zoro the truth because he didn’t want the boy to live his life seeking revenge.
Image source: Google
Some even speculate that the murderer was Koushiro himself, believing that Kuina was an unnecessary obstacle and decided to end her life.
An obstacle to what, I’m not sure. Was it to protect a family secret that Kuina might have uncovered? Or did Koushiro see Kuina as a threat to his position as the master of Isshin Dojo? Both are possible, but there’s no evidence to back them up.
Kuina Committed Suicide
I’m not the biggest fan of this theory because it doesn’t really coincide with Kuina’s personality. However, there’s still some merit to discussing it.
Some fans speculate that the phrase ‘falling down the stairs’ might be a euphemism for suicide in Japanese culture. The theory goes that Kuina took her own life due to feelings of inadequacy compared to Zoro’s rapid progress.
But like I said, this theory seems inconsistent with Kuina’s typically confident demeanor. She’s not one to give up for such reasons.
Kuina Isn’t Dead
Another popular claim is that Kuina isn’t actually dead but alive and well.
Fans speculate that Kuina ran away from Shimotsuki Village and Koushiro, being the traditional man that he is, didn’t want to “disgrace” the Shimotsuki name and covered her disappearance by faking her death—with a fake corpse.
Others claim that Kuina did fall down the stairs but didn’t die as a result, and would instead be taken to the hospital where she would suffer a coma. She would then wake up years later with all her memories gone, and her taking the name Tashigi.
Image source: Google
To be fair, Tashigi does indeed look like the grown-up version of Kuina.
Final Thoughts
Kuina was Zoro’s childhood friend and second cousin. In many ways, Kuina was the reason why Zoro became one of the world’s greatest swordsmen. Her death affected Zoro the most and it pushed him to become who he was today.
However, Kuina’s tragic but random death gave rise to many speculations. Did Kuina—child prodigy and legendary swordsman—actually die by falling down the stairs? Or is there something more to it? You decide.
Featured image source: Google
