I am a fan of both One Piece and Naruto. It has been almost 7 years since I have been watching Naruto and One Piece, and I have never come across other masterpieces, which are as good as these two series in terms of underlying philosophy and meaning of life, which is why, I think, I like both of them a lot.
Although these two animes have different storylines based on different themes and settings, they are in common in the way they try to reveal the very important aspects of life. From the first look, these animated cartoons seems to be intended for the kids' entertainment; they both, in fact, go beyond that. When we look deeper into these animes, we will see the striking and strong message about life, which the authors are trying to convey to the world.
1. The Reason of Our Existence
Yes, it is the foremost and strongest message from these two animes - the reason of our existence. We are indeed the purposeful beings. Let alone being humans, even the mere existence of a simple life form is a miracle. (Even with the extensive extraterrestrial life search, scientists still cannot find the existence of other life-forms except from our planet Earth.) Being miracles, we are not born to this world just to eat, live and die. Everyone of us has our own reason of existence, and our success in life totally depends on our reason of existence. In fact, success in life has nothing to do with money, fame or power; but it has everything to do with our reason of existence. Sadly enough, only a few people can realize their reason of existence and lead a meaningful life. Most of us are lost in the struggles of life, or the so-called rat-race, following the mirages of fame, money and power. There is nothing wrong about the struggles of life; however, the authors want to point out that we should follow our dreams, not the fame, money and power. In order to live a meaningful life, we must have:
(a) something to live on - our livelihood, but it is not enough
(b) something to live for - our quest of life, but it is not enough yet
(c) something to die for - our most precious thing to protect, even dearer to us than our lives, which will complete our reason of existence.
Until we cannot realize our reason of existence, we are not complete. We will never be truly happy or satisfied with our life. Since our childhood, we have had our dreams which more or less reflect our reason of existence. Some dreams maybe foggy or improminent, yet all dreams are important to live a purposeful and meaningful life. Still, how many of us can answer this question sincerely and honestly? Will you continue to do as you do if you are going to die tomorrow?
2. Lifelong Goal
We may never reach the stars, but they can guide us. Life itself is a journey. Like any other journey, we need a compass to guide us. Yes, it is our lifelong goal which serves as our compass of life. In fact, our lifelong goal should be the projection of our reason of existence. Naruto's dream is to become a Hokage; Luffy's goal is to find one piece. Actually, being a Hokage or getting one piece, is not really important; these are just precious things of their reason of existence; these goals are just the precious things they want to fight for. For example, if someone says I want to be a doctor, it does not just mean that his/her goal is fulfilled after he/she receives the Medical Degree. It just reflects the fact that he/she wants to cure diseases, to help people to be more healthy, and to discover new medical technologies. It is, in fact, the lifelong goal which we need to continuously pursue. With our lifelong goal, we will enjoy trying, not just achieving.
3. Teamwork and Friendship
Since we are not supernatural beings, we cannot live alone. We are interconnected with other people, most importantly family and friends, who have different reasons of existence and abilities. We only exist just because of the known and unknown sacrifices and efforts of others from the past and the present. During our life of journey, we will come across different people with different ideas and views. But more importantly, we will be able find those who share same interests and ideas, and they will become part of our life and pursue the existences of our own.
When we form friendship, the most important thing is to build trust and mutual understanding. First of all, both authors point out that people are different, yet there are common things in them. Being different is not a drawback; it is in fact a bonus. Along the way, there will be fights, arguments, and disagreements, but in face of critical time, it is more important to stick together to go through together. The bond of friendships will become stronger as we go through together.
4. Leadership
Both animes point out the importance of transformational leadership. Both Naruto and Luffy are transformational leaders - they transform people around them to become better people. They not only encourage them but also trust their comrades to be able to do their best. Actually, the best form of encouragement is by actions, not by words. Without saying much, both of them set the best examples for others to follow. They never judge their comrades; instead they believe in them.
5. Handling imperfection and Weaknesses
No man is perfect, and do not try to be. Both authors never portray Naruto and Luffy as super-cool guys. There are times they are super stupid and acting like idiots. In fact, both Naruto and Luffy know their weaknesses and just accept them as they are. They never try to proof otherwise. Actually, both authors want to suggest that hiding weaknesses and pretending not to have them is the wrong concept.
Although there will be more points for these two animes, as far as I concerned, these are the most important things of the underlying philosophy of these two animes. Personally, I think both of the animes are worth watching.
