Eiichiro Oda One piece is a traditional shonen that is full of incredible adventures led by the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy, and stunning world-building that hardly any story in the world can match. These two things also constitute the biggest strengths One piece. Recently, however, Eiichiro Oda has also been trying his luck with romance. When One Piece originally started, the author of the series made it very clear that he did not want romance to be the mainstay of the story. This is specifically because One Piece is an enlightened story and young boys don't really care about romance, but it's clear that things have changed significantly in the Final Saga.
Just recently, in the arc of Elbaf, One piece laid the groundwork for one of the darkest romance stories of all time, centered around the King of the World, Nero Ima, and his deep obsession with Nefertari Lily of the Void Century. The likes of Candelle and Princess Shuri also got involved in all of this.
One Piece reveals Imu's one-sided dark romantic obsession with Nefertari Lily
The main villain of One piece is none other than Nero Ima, who is also the king of the world. Imu was a huge mystery in the overarching storyline One piece until recently, but One Piece Chapter 1179, which was officially released on April 5, 2026, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue 19, demystified the character by introducing him to Warland Elbaf for the first time ever. Nerona Imu's full character design was revealed to us and so were his abilities in the following chapters.
“Gorosei, the Holy Land will be without Mu for a while. I will leave it in your care. — Nero Ima as he heads to Elbaf, One Piece Chapter #1178
At the same time, Imu's ties to those from the past also began to become clear. For example, Eiichiro Oda gave us a flashback panel of Nerona Ima and Joy Boy that clearly showed that they were friends at one point. One piece Chapter 1181, published April 27, 2926, in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #22-23.
At the same time, we know Nero's deep obsession with Ima Nefertari Lily. Initially, Lily was one of the founding 20 kings; however, she ended up siding with none other than Joy Boy and raising the flag of revolution against a sinking world. This was officially confirmed in One Piece Chapter 1085, released on June 5, 2023. It seems that Imu's obsession with Lily started even before that. Even though he clearly blames her for spreading the Poneglyphs around the world and keeping D's spirit alive, Imu has a deep desire for her. This is exactly why Nerona Ima also wants Nefertari Vivi, who looks exactly like Lily. At this point in the story, Eiichiro Oda made it clear that Nero Imu has a one-sided obsession with Nefertari Lily, which is especially evident in the portrait of the former queen Arabasta in his flower chamber.
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“If not for Lily's mistake that fateful day, the hideous relics called Poneglyphs would not have been scattered across the world!” — Nerona explains to Ima Lily's role in the Void Century, One Piece Chapter #1085
Why the fall of Princess Shuri is directly connected to the darkest story of One Piece
While Imu's obsession with Nefertari Lily is quite clear, there is more to her than that. Imu seems to project her obsession with Lily onto other blue-haired women in the One Piece world, and Princess Shuri is one of them. This was evident from One piece Chapter 1185, which was officially released in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump Issue #29 on June 15, 2026. In this chapter, Brook told Shuri that at one point the Sky Dragon Ship went to Esperia and stayed there for several months. During these months, Lady Candelle, Shuri's mother, was particularly overworked and stressed. Immediately after, the marriage between Reuven and Candelle was announced and Shuri was born.
“Once a world government ship washed up on Esperia and the kingdom was stunned to encounter such authority as it had never experienced before. Lady Candelle was bedridden for several months due to fatigue and you wouldn't believe how gloomy the people were during those months.” — Brook explains Candelle's dark past, One Piece Chapter #1185
This, combined with the fact that Shuri holds the blood of a celestial dragon and is of the Manmayer lineage, officially confirms that King Reuven is not her real father and that she is the product of a certain celestial dragon. Shuri has the same blue hair as Vivi, which explains why Nerona Imu took her back to the Holy Land and why she personally serves him as his own maid. Shuri should be in her 70s by now, but apparently she hasn't aged much since she left for the Holy Land of Marijoa.
Imu obviously kept her with him to take care of all his needs and made her a mindless slave to keep. No matter which way you look at it, it's a dark, unrequited love story with a very twisted form of tragedy that Imu has put into many characters so far. Now he is trying to do the same with Nefertali Vivi.
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Why Lily could be in love with Joy Boy instead of Imu
Imu's obsession with Lily makes a lot of sense looking at her One piece Chapter 1183, which marked the beginning of Esperia's retrospective in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump #26 on May 25, 2026. In this flashback, it was made very clear that Shuri in her childish nature is not in love with anyone but Brook. Because of her childlike innocence, she didn't realize why her feelings for Brook were misplaced. No matter what Brook told her, Shuri was dead set on showing off her feelings for him. It's strange that at the very beginning of this flashback in One Piece Chapter 1183, Eiichiro Oda showed Brook as Niko. This was a major hint that the author connected Brook directly with the Sun God Nika and Shuri with Nefertari Lily.
Nerona Imu: There is one more thing, I wish Vivi!
Five Elders: As you wish
— Exchange showing Nerona's dark obsession with Lily
It follows that just as Shuri had feelings for Brook, Lily had feelings for no one but Nika. This was clearly shown in One piece chapter 1181 which was officially released on April 27, 2026 in WSJ Issue #22-23. Joy Boy and Nerona Imu were friends, but since Lily chose Joy Boy over Nerona Imu, her obsession with him grew to an unhealthy level, which surely played a significant role in the great war that broke out 900 years ago. This also explains his deep desire to obtain Nefertari Vivi in the Final Saga. As the Elbaf arc comes to a close, Shuri's connection to Imu, as well as more information regarding the likes of Lily and Vivi, will also be revealed by Eiichiro Oda, and that's something we're looking forward to.
All new One Piece Chapters by Eiichiro Oda are available to read through Manga Plus and Viz Media.
