This One Piece Plot Hole Suggests Buggy Should Be Dead In The Netflix Series

Outside of a glaring weapon goof in Episode 1, Netflix's "One Piece" has remained as bulletproof as its rubbery captain, with little-to-no glaring errors breaking the immersion of experiencing Eiichiro Oda's legendary world. However, fans have seemingly found a plot hole centering on everyone's favorite clown-themed pirate.

Pointed out on Reddit by u/–Gravedigger–, Episode 6, "The Chef and the Chore Boy," shows Arlong (McKinley Belcher III) and his crew swimming to Baratie, carrying Buggy's (Jeff Ward) detached head with them in a bag. The user questions how the captain of the Buggy Pirates, a known Devil Fruit user, could survive the underwater journey. "Since his head is in a bag underwater, how is he able to breathe?" the user asked, pointing out Buggy's comment on how wet the inside of the bag is (meaning it's not waterproof). Even without considering the Devil Fruit's one weakness, the user questions how Buggy could've held his breath for the entire journey.

Without any context for how far the fish-man pirates swam (which "One Piece" doesn't outright state), Arlong seemingly carries Buggy underwater for quite some time. The Netflix series quickly establishes that seawater renders Devil Fruit users helpless, so without frequent breaks for air or Buggy detaching his nose to breathe, the plot hole may pose a significant question mark on "One Piece."

While "One Piece" fans are willing to suspend disbelief to enjoy the live-action anime, the user brings up solid points regarding the Buggy plot hole. How long is his head underwater? Shouldn't the exposure to seawater quickly lead to his death? The post stirred up quite the debate on Reddit, with fans searching for ways to debunk the plot hole. Replying in the thread, u/zyppoboy pointed out that, despite Buggy claiming the bag was wet, his head looked dry, suggesting that the bag could be waterproof. U/Deanbledblue called upon their "One Piece" knowledge, advocating that Arlong could've used a bubble bag, with the anime depicting similar technology originating from Fish-Man Island.

U/dongeckoj theorized, "Buggy couldn't breathe underwater, but since his head was detached from his body, the water didn't go to his lungs." It's an interesting suggestion, using Buggy's Devil Fruit powers to rationalize the plot hole with other users, like u/HippieMoosen, u/Mach12Gamer, and u/_The_Space_Monkey_ offering similar explanations. However, the theory seemed to raise even more questions regarding Buggy's Devil Fruit powers, which could warrant their own debate.

U/lildrizzleyah wrote, "I like to think Arlong is the type who knows how long he can keep the head underwater," pointing out the captain's love for making people suffer. However, u/Healthy-Band-6405 may have ended the debate, writing, "Nami leaves with them later on. I doubt they had her hold on to Arlong as he swam all the way to Coco Village. It's possible they had a boat near Baratie rather than them swimming all the way there," suggesting Buggy was underwater for no longer than a minute.