One Piece Creator Confirms Divisive “Nepo Piece” Theory Is Real

Image: Eiichiro Oda/Shonen Jump

One Piece author Eiichiro Oda revealed in the latest SBS Q&A included with volume 113 that the world uses two separate calendars: the Tenreki (the Celestial Calendar) and the Kaienreki (the Sea Circle Calendar). The Tenreki is used by the inhabitants of the Sky Islands, while the Kaienreki governs time for people who live on the seas, and both systems appear across the setting to reconcile chronological differences between those regions.

Oda’s notes place the story in Year 4131 of the Tenreki and Year 1541 of the Kaienreki, implying recorded histories that span millennia despite the many lost civilizations like Shandora. Those dual timelines help frame major epochs — the Void Century, the ascent of the World Government, and the collapse of the Ancient Kingdom — within a broader historical arc.

For years fans have speculated that Franky (Cutty Flam) may be biologically related to Queen, the former left-hand of Kaido. The official Vivre Cards databook aligned birth and abandonment dates for Franky with those given for Queen’s unnamed son, and staff have cautioned that Oda’s supervision of such databooks isn’t necessarily exhaustive. Still, the coincidences were striking.

In the volume 113 SBS, when asked point-blank whether Queen is Franky’s father, Oda responded playfully — he laid out the matching dates and evidence without issuing a blunt confirmation. The exchange ramped up the conjecture while preserving a measure of Oda’s trademark misdirection.

#SBS113 — Artur · Nov 3, 2025

Whether the hint becomes an explicit canon link or remains tantalizing background detail, the implication reinforces a recurring recent trend: many characters who once seemed ordinary are now tied to influential lineages. At this point, only three Straw Hats — Nami, Chopper, and Jinbe — remain without a revealed connection to a notable family or powerful organization. Other crew members, by contrast, have been retrofitted with storied parentage: Luffy descends from Dragon and is the grandson of a famous Marine; Usopp’s father has ties to Shanks’ crew; Sanji hails from the Germa Kingdom; Zoro’s ancestry traces to Wano’s samurai classes; Brook has been hinted to have links to a Celestial Dragon and a God’s Knight. Even Blackbeard was recently suggested to be the son of Rocks D. Xebec during the God Valley revelations, which prompted some fans to joke about “nepo baby” dynamics in the series.

These revelations have split the fanbase. Some readers feel the narrative’s new emphasis on lineage undercuts the long-established idea that ordinary people can rise by sheer effort, especially after the disclosure about Luffy’s Devil Fruit and the Nika backstory. Others accept it as a natural expansion of the world’s mythos: tying characters to the past deepens the stakes as the final saga approaches.

It’s telling that certain origins — like Zoro’s and Franky’s — have been explored subtly through peripheral materials and SBS commentary rather than through full flashback arcs the way Sanji’s Whole Cake Island storyline was. As Oda steers the story toward its conclusion, readers should expect more revelations that interweave characters with the greater history of the world. Given Oda’s skill for reframing familiar tropes, the series can still make these lineage reveals feel fresh and consequential.

Source: Polygon