One Piece's Most Disturbing Scene Makes This Character Irredeemable
"One Piece" offers some of the best characters in all of anime, but given the series' longstanding tenure within the industry, others haven't aged so well, to say the least. One character that should immediately come to fans' minds is Absalom of the Graveyard, the leader of the zombies of Thriller Bark.
Upon the Straw Hats' arrival on the spooky pirate ship, Absalom uses the invisibility powers of his Suke Suke no Mi Devil Fruit to terrorize the group. However, his irredeemable moment comes during the infamous bathroom scene, where he uses his invisibility to attack Nami, who's naked while taking a bath. Absalom traps the navigator in the bathroom, pinning her against the wall and praying on her weakness. Uncharacteristically of "One Piece," this moment is incredibly disturbing and problematic for countless reasons. Absalom's abilities allow him to take advantage of the helpless woman, only stopping his advances when Usopp and Tony Tony Chopper interfere.
As if that wasn't more than enough, Absalom's obsession with Nami continues throughout the rest of the "Thriller Bark" arc. He claims she's his bride-to-be, kidnapping her and using his zombie henchmen to stage a wedding, where, once again, he takes advantage of Nami, attempting to marry and kiss her while she's unconscious.
Netflix's One Piece will have difficulties adapting Absalom
With Netflix's "One Piece" officially getting a second season, the streamer seems to have cemented the Straw Hat Pirates' future on the platform, meaning characters like Ace, Chopper, and others could change everything. However, should the series get to Thriller Bark, they'll need to take some creative liberties to ensure Absalom translates to live-action.
As it stands, Absalom's story can't be a 1:1 adaptation if the Netflix series wants to include him in a future season centering on Thriller Bark. Needless to say, the disturbing acts he commits against Nami wouldn't sit well with a 2023 audience, let alone those in the future, as it would be years before "One Piece" reaches Thriller Bark. Instead, the production would have to tone down Absalom's perverted nature, much like they did for Sanji. The easiest route could be removing the wedding plotline altogether, having Absalom focus more on haunting the Straw Hats with his invisibility powers instead of obsessing over Nami, or having the navigator stand her ground against him, which she does in the anime when she's not unconscious. Either way, it's best if the infamous bathroom scene never sees the light of day in the live-action adaptation.
We're not too worried about Netflix's adaptation of Absalom, assuming the series reaches Thriller Bark, as it's already shown a willingness to alter the story, usually for the better. Either the production drastically changes Absalom's character or just leaves him out of live-action altogether because, let's face it, he's not very integral to the plot.