Eiichiro Oda Must be So Embarrassed of One Piece Fans: Nigerian-South African One Piece Actress Blasts Racists for “Disturbing” Comments
- Chioma Umeala's appearance in the One Piece live-action series took people by surprise since they were not expecting to see her as Nojiko, Nami’s sister.
- Umeala thanked the person who made the post but at the same time expressed her shock at the horrible racist comments.
- In the spirit of creating a more inclusive and accepting world, Umeala spoke about representation and the need to encourage people to fulfill their dreams despite the color of their skin.
Social media can often be a land of massive disrespect and negativity. From hating on actors to unnecessarily creating a scene for characters cast differently than the source material, it’s become a battleground pitching fans against actors. The same happened with One Piece actress Chioma Umeala who is cast as Nojiko.
The massively popular show has been around for a long time with a vast storyline. The anime has over 1100 episodes that chart the story of the Straw Hat Pirates as they navigate the perilous waters in search of the hidden treasure.
Chioma Umeala reacts to racist comments
Actress Chioma Umeala is relatively new to the industry with just two projects in her filmography to date. Her appearance in the One Piece live-action series took people by surprise since they were not expecting to see her as Nojiko, Nami’s sister.
The character is originally Japanese in the manga, like most other characters. So when a Nigerian woman showed up on screen, fans took a minute to process it. What followed was a spree of racist and insensitive comments that were enough to impact any actor, no matter how established they were in the industry.
Moreover, it’s sad to see the so-called fans malign the show’s brilliance and legacy for such things when it was Eiichiro Oda himself who greenlit the cast and actors. If the man who created the fictional universe is on board with the cast, then how can fans react so negatively?
Umeala thanked the person who made the post but at the same time expressed her shock at the horrible racist comments.
The actress hopes to focus on her work and disregard such negativity that does nothing but stray her from her work.
One Piece actress talks about adequate representation
In the spirit of creating a more inclusive and accepting world, Umeala spoke about representation and the need to encourage people to fulfill their dreams despite the color of their skin. She attended the Comic Con this year where she shared,
One of the main purposes of art is to be appreciated. If art is good, it’ll draw fans. Saying Black girls cannot be legitimate fans of anime because they’re Black, saying that a Black person cannot play an anime character, is ironic and ridiculous. It’s important, and so much more affirming, to see people who look like you doing the things that you want to do. We have a long way to go, but we’ve also come a long way.
Umeala states that the industry is indeed progressing but at a slower pace than what is required. She hopes to see the tides change soon enough and have more people of color be represented well on screen.
One Piece is streaming on Netflix.
