Issho of One Piece

Issho is an admiral of the Naval Headquarters two years after the Battle of Marine Ford, alongside Kizaru and Aramaki. His admiral name is Fujitora (藤虎, “Lilac Tiger”). He was given his post by a worldwide conscription of the Navy, which had two admiral positions to fill after the battle between Akainu and Aokiji.

Appearance

Issho is a tall, middle-aged man who is also blind. Under his navy coat he wears a light purple kimono and a long purple scarf. The kimono is held in place by a dark purple belly band. On his arms he also has white bandages and white hand guards. He has short black hair and two large scars on his face that go from his eyes to his forehead where they cross. He also wears a short neat beard as well as long sideburns that reach his lower jaw. Simple Geta (footwear) serve as footwear and a shikomizue forms his blind man’s stick and sword at the same time.

Personality

Issho has a great fondness for games of chance. When explaining a fact, he often refers to gambling with appropriate allegories and comparisons. For example, he left the decision of whether to capture Luffy and Law after the events on Dress Rosa to a dice. However, he also seems to be somewhat gullible, and thus believed Doflamingo’s men at roulette when they lied to him at the casino. But when Luffy told him the truth, Issho showed no mercy for liars and punished the cheaters with his devilish powers.

The common good of the civilian population is a high priority for Issho. So on Dress Rosa, he ordered a medical team to be brought in in case innocent people were hurt. Also, he felt that you should know the number of people to protect rather than the number of people to fight. Even while Doflamingo had the island locked in his birdcage, he still cared about the civilian population. Thus, he is not a dogged follower of Absolute Justice like Sakazuki.

Still, he follows the rules of the Navy. So he attacked Law because he had formed an alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates, but at the same time spared Caesar Clown because he was working under a Samurai of the Seas. Nonetheless, he felt bad about having to attack the Straw Hat Pirates. However, as you learn later, he is critical of the Seven Samurai system. Thus, he thinks that he only accepted the post of an admiral so that he could change some things. One of his main goals in doing so is to disband the samurai. For this goal, he takes a big risk on Dress Rosa, because instead of taking out Doflamingo himself when he uses his birdcage, he puts all his trust in Luffy. After Doflamingo’s defeat, he then apologizes to King Riku on behalf of the Navy for the actions of the Samurai of the Seas; despite the fact that this admission of guilt by an admiral causes the Navy to lose considerable trust among the populace.

Moreover, he seems to be a person who is difficult to upset. Thus, he ate a bowl of noodles without a care, even when his ship was attacked. However, when he stands up for his beliefs, Fujitora can also get very loud. When he spoke to Sakazuki after his put down to Riku, they both yelled at each other. However, he is also a very proud fighter and wants to be taken seriously as a full-fledged admiral despite his blindness, which is why he disliked Luffy showing consideration for him. Although Issho generally seems very serious, he had to start laughing after Luffy’s response to his behavior. So the fact that he is blind is not a problem for Issho. In fact, he once took his own sight because he didn’t want to see the evil in the world anymore. Despite this, he wished he could catch a glimpse of Luffy on Dress Rosa when he fled the island with his companions.

Skills and strength

That he managed to rise to the rank of Admiral proves that Issho must have quite a bit of combat experience. The fact that Sakazuki even personally sent him to Dress Rosa to take care of Luffy and Law is a testament to the fact that the Grand Admiral thinks highly of his accomplishments. Even Doflamingo describes him as a true beast. Together with Sengoku and Crane, he was able to defeat the pirate Jack, a pirate with a bounty of a billion berries and also one of Kaidou’s best crew members.

Issho has eaten from the Stomp Fruit, which allows him to control gravity. In this way, he can press one or more enemies to the ground without having to touch them. When it came to the clash between him, Doflamingo and Law, he used his abilities to make a meteorite from space hit the battlefield. Also, he can not only increase gravity, but apparently cancel it for certain areas. Thus, he was able to lift a naval warship and a rock, to use as a platform, into the air.

As a weapon he uses his walking stick, which has been prepared with a blade, similar to Brook’s Shikomizue. He is excellent with it, as seen in the fight against Law or Zoro. Interestingly, every time he uses his devil powers, he unsheathes his sword. Like any marine of the rank of Vice Admiral and above, Issho is proficient in the use of haki. He can focus his armor haki on his sword until it turns black, gaining tremendous penetrating power and protecting it from damage, a technique also used by many skilled swordsmen. In this way, his blade serves as an effective weapon against opponents with a Logia power, but can also be used to deflect attacks based on a Devil power.

Moreover, he seems to possess excellent senses. Thus, despite his blindness, he can perceive his surroundings perfectly, to the point that he can even hear the movement of clouds and deflect a flying sword blow from Zoro. He can also hear emotions from a voice. During the pirates’ escape, the civilians interfered and prevented Fujitora from attacking the pirates with the debris floating in the air. They did shout curses at Luffy, but Fujitora could tell that there was no anger in their voices and that they were trying to help him.

Present

Detour to Dress Pink

In a bar on Dress Rosa, the blind admiral was playing roulette with some of Doflamingo’s henchmen. However, they did not play fair and told him that he had lost, although this was not the case. He got annoyed and bet all his money and again the same thing happened. Luffy, who was also in the bar, told him the truth. Issho rose, whereupon he pushed the men to the floor with his devil powers, the floor opened up and swallowed them all. The admiral left the bar again, telling Luffy not to know who he was for both their sakes.

Later he was seen in the Coliseum, where he instructed his companion to summon three naval ships. Furthermore, the marine was to find out what the population of the country was and also to find out the number of enemies. With that, the admiral said, they would know how many civilians they had to protect. Before that, however, he wanted to leave for Green Bit.

On Green Bit

A little later, the Admiral also arrived on the island. When Caesar Clown was to be delivered to Don Flamingo by Trafalgar Law on the southeast beach of Green Bit, at 3:00 p.m. sharp, Fujitora was seen sending out all the local units to the beach. A little later, the Admiral telephoned his superior officer about the false newspaper article; Fujitora inquired if the Navy was really being led by the nose by a false report, whereupon the Grand Admiral told Issho that he intended to speak to the Five Elders in Mary Geoise regarding the matter.

Now, when Donquixote Doflamingo also met Trafalgar Law, Fujitora went with his soldiers to the two pirates, where he listened in silence to their conversation. He then said he would let Caesar go, since the latter belonged to Flamingo. Turning to Law, he wanted to know if the latter now had an alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates or if they were subordinate to him, for then he would keep his title as Samurai. Law, however, said it was an alliance. Issho then summoned a meteorite from space, which Flamingo and Law knew how to defend against, but were horrified by its powers. Issho’s response was that he just wanted to test his powers a little.

After a short fight, which Law lost due to the superiority of Fujitora and Donquixote Doflamingo, he sat next to the latter and kept him immobile by means of his powers. In this way he also learned about Doflamingo’s past. Later he said that he heard thunder and that although there was no cloud in the sky. Law concluded that the Straw Hat Pirates must be on their way to Green Bit and stated to Fujitora and Flamingo that he never claimed that the heart they captured also belonged to Caesar Clown. When Doflamingo then squeezed the heart and a marine collapsed in pain, Law took advantage of the general confusion to escape using his devil powers. Fujitora maintained his usual calm in the process, while Donquixote chased Doflamingo after the former samurai. Nevertheless, he eventually pursued Law and the Straw Hat Pirates with a warship that he levitated due to his devil powers. To their horror, he rained down more meteors from the sky, but Law was able to direct one of the meteors at the naval ship itself. Despite his crew’s panic, Issho calmly ate a portion of noodles and commented that he must have been a bit clumsy. He also gave orders to prepare everything for the return trip to Dress Rosa.

Back to Dress Pink

As events on Dress Rosa spilled over and Law and Doflamingo’s battle moved to the vicinity of the Corrida Colosseum, he gave orders to his men to hurry up and get ready for action. He himself arrived just in time to repel an attack by Zoro on Doflamingo. After a brief exchange of blows, during which Fujitora told the Straw Hats his identity as an admiral, the latter and Donquixote Doflamingo managed to make off with the unconscious Law. Both wanted to go to the royal palace to talk.

While Franky was busy attacking the toy house, Fujitora overheard this via Doflamingo’s Den-den Mushi. The samurai then asked the admiral if the navy would do anything about the Straw Hats. When the navy set out to arrest Franky, Flamingo showed his gratitude and said he had made the right decision. However, Issho only commented that he shouldn’t think of him as an ally and that if Luffy wanted to fight him, it would be his job to reduce the damage and protect the population.

Flamingo would be taken care of when the time came. Furthermore, he mentioned to the samurai that he had only taken the title of admiral so that he could make a difference. His goal was to end the Samurai of the Seas system. Therefore, he was going to bring this up at the next Levely. Furthermore, he declared that a country where pirates overthrew the king and put themselves in power would become as corrupt as Dress Rosa. Donquixote Doflamingo then attempted to attack Fujitora with a kick, which the admiral easily repelled. Issho said that the fabric of the tri-power was breaking and that if Doflamingo committed any more crimes, his bounty would continue to skyrocket. To Flamingo’s concerns about what would happen to the balance of the world then, Issho only said that a judgement could only be made afterwards. The samurai concluded that the admiral would kill him now. The latter, however, refrained from doing so. They were friends for as long as it took, and he would protect Dress Rosa regardless of his crimes.

The birdcage

He was later seen with Vice Admiral Bastille as they both watched the transformed toys change back into their original forms. He also watched as Doflamingo locked all of Dress Rosa’s inhabitants in his birdcage and made them fight each other.

While Donquixote explained the rules of his “game” to Doflamingo, the admiral used his devilish powers to immobilize several marines who were under the influence of the Samurai of the Seas to prevent them from attacking the civilian population. In addition, he ordered Bastille not to bother with Doflamingo, but to order all troops to stop the population from slaughtering each other. Their main targets were also the Straw Hat Pirates and Trafalgar Law. When Vice Admiral Maynard managed to escape from the Corrida Colosseum, he enlightened Issho about Donquixote Doflamingo’s connections to the underworld. Furthermore, the Vice Admiral felt that now was the best time to put a stop to the Samurai of the Seas. However, Issho felt that the World Government should not play God and interfere with the people’s anger. Later, he engaged in another brief exchange with Zoro, but they were interrupted when Pica, in the form of a giant stone titan, began to destroy the city.

Issho and the navy tried to stop the Straw Hat Pirates and Law again some time later, but were prevented from doing so by Sabo. When Fujitora asked if it was the revolutionaries’ job to protect pirates, Sabo replied that it was more a brother’s job to do so, to which Fujitora wanted to know who his brother was. After his fight against Sabo, he confessed to Sabo that the navy was not able to become a hero on Dress Rosa.

Next, Fujitora and his marines were on the old royal plateau, where Usopp, King Riku, Violet, Tank Lepanto, Kinemon, and Kanjuro were. When King Riku spoke to the crowds and told them that he trusted Luffy, Fujitora added that he was betting on the same person as King Riku. Later, he left the plateau again and ordered his soldiers to gather the people of Dress Rosa to be able to protect them. As the birdcage began to shrink, he supported Zoro and the samurai, as well as the residents of Dress Rosa, trying to stop it.

The Throw Down

After Donquixote Doflamingo’s defeat, the navy arrested him and his crew. Following this, Fujitora and his soldiers confronted King Riku. They knelt before him and apologized to Riku for the torment Doflamingo had inflicted on the populace as Samurai of the Seas. The World Government, in his view, bore a supporting share of the blame for the country’s tragedy. Fujitora had earlier ordered his men not to contact the naval headquarters yet, and instead to establish a video link with Dress Rosa’s neighbors to report on the events.

The downing became known throughout the world shortly thereafter. Grand Admiral Sakazuki immediately contacted Fujitora, furious that the admiral had acted on his own authority instead of contacting headquarters. The Navy had lost considerable confidence as a result of the admiral’s genuflection. Fujitora, however, was concerned that the incidents on Dress Rosa had been covered up. Sakazuki ordered him to arrest Luffy and Trafalgar Law immediately.

Fujitora, however, let this order decide fate. He rolled a die each day to decide whether to capture the pirates. On the third day, when Vice Admiral Kranich and Chief Inspector Sengoku landed on the island, Fujitora had Kranich roll the dice. However, she did not roll a one, which had saved Luffy and Law from the Navy for the last two days. Fujitora then mobilized his troops and set out to arrest the island’s saviors.

Debris

The navy was on its way to the eastern port that the pirates and gladiators were heading for. Fujitora lifted all the debris created by the fighting and the birdcage into the air. He planned to rain the debris down on the pirates to take them out. However, he ran into Luffy, who attacked the admiral head on. Luffy didn’t want to avoid a fight, because sooner or later he would have to defeat everyone to become Pirate King.

After the first attack, Luffy pounded Fujitora relentlessly, but announced each attack beforehand because the admiral was blind. Fujitora, however, was deeply offended by this approach. The fight was abruptly interrupted when he flung Luffy away and he was caught by Hajrudin. The giant took the pirate captain to the shore so they could all flee the island. Before Fujitora could rain down the still-floating debris on the pirates, the people of Dress Rosa appeared.

These wanted to allow Luffy to escape due to his actions and stopped Fujitora from attacking the pirates. When Fujitora realized this, he wished he could see Luffy with his own eyes after all, even though he once took his own sight. It was only when formerly allied Doflamingos, who deeply despised Luffy, showed up and tried to stop the Straw Hats and their new allies from escaping that Fujitora dropped the debris, allowing the newly formed Straw Hat Grand Fleet to escape. This was his parting gift to the rescuers of Dress Rosa, when suddenly Sengoku appeared behind him and thought he heard this, angering the admiral.

Transport from Doflamingo

After the pirates’ successful escape, Fujitora, Sengoku, and Crane escorted the captured Donquixote Doflamingo to the underwater prison Impel Down with a total of four warships. During the crossing, Crane guarded the cell where Doflamingo lay. The former Samurai of the Seas regretted Fujitora’s decision not to work with him. However, Crane was of the opinion that there were no ifs. He had lost and only that would be reality. Doflamingo then prophesied the beginning of the greatest power struggle yet in pirate history. At the same time, Jack’s ship appeared behind the naval convoy, intent on freeing Doflamingo. However, the attack on the naval ships failed.

The Levely in Mary Geoise

While the regents invited to the World Conference of Kings slowly reached Mary Geoise, Fujitora was also spotted there. However, this did not suit the Grand Admiral of the Navy at all, as he still did not bring him the heads of the allies Law and Luffy. At the same time, another admiral, namely Aramaki was in Mary Geoise and was personally ordered by Sakazuki to get Fujitora to leave the Holy Land again. However, they merely had a friendly conversation, during which Fujitora once again revealed that he wanted to destroy the system of the Three Powers, specifically the existence of The Seven Warlords of the Seas. Furthermore, he mentioned that he was on a trip where he did not see Dr. Vegapunk in person, but learned about some of his inventions that would make The Seven Warlords of the Seas obsolete.

Even before the Levely started, he had Nefertari Kobra and King Riku Doldo III each receive a letter to meet with them. A meeting with two kings of lands formerly oppressed by a Samurai of the Seas. It was later learned through Blackbeard that on the fourth day of the Levely, a battle broke out between Admirals Fujitora as well as Aramaki and the revolutionary army around Sabo…. Fujitora survived with some wounds, although nothing is known about the exact outcome. In a later conversation with the Grand Admiral, it was revealed that his previous meeting with Kobra and Riku had borne fruit and they were able to convince the Regents to agree to the abolition of the Samurai of the Seas. Sakazuki’s objection that this would put the balance in jeopardy, Fujitora countered that they should rely on the Special Science Group. On the other hand, he was shocked at the report that Kaidou and Big Mom were teaming up, and feared a return of the Rocks Pirates.

Miscellaneous

• Fujitora’s and Aramaki’s admiral names – like Sentomaru and the three admirals before them – seem to be based on the legend of Momotarō. Thus, the Earthly Branches Ushitora (丑寅, “Ox-Tiger”) corresponds to the ill-omened northeast, which was also formerly known as Kimon (鬼門, “Devil’s Gate”). Also in the Momotarō story, Onigashima Island is located to the northeast. Likewise, the Oni are traditionally depicted with bull horns, tiger skins and claws.
• His admiral name is composed of Fuji (藤), the Japanese color of Wisteria, which most closely resembles a light shade of lavender, and Tora (虎), the word for tiger. This follows the same pattern as the three admirals before him.
• Just like all the admirals in the current storyline, Fujitora is based on a well-known Japanese actor. In Issho’s case, this is Shintaro Katsu in his role as Zatoichi. Both characters thus share a number of similarities, aside from the purely external resemblance:
• The name Isshō (いっしょう) means “a general” (一将) in written language, among other things, which may be a reference to his service as an admiral in the Navy.
• Issho came in 36th in the fifth popularity vote.
• In the SBS to volume 87, you can see Issho if he were female. 
• His favorite dishes are Ramen and Soba.