Kureha of One Piece

Dr. Kureha is a 141 year old doctor in the kingdom of Sakura, formerly Drum, and was Chopper’s teacher for five years.

Appearance

Kureha has long gray hair that reaches below her shoulders. Her age is only noticeable in her face, as she has a few wrinkles, especially on her forehead. Her clothes, on the other hand, are more reminiscent of a teenager. She mostly wears a belly top, with an open, short jacket over it. She usually wears long pants with a slight flare and heeled boots to go with them. As accessories she often has two pairs of glasses on her head, one regular and one sunglass. On her left arm she wears several bangles and a ring on her hand. In her respective residence, she often walks around with a bottle of UME brand. She has hardly changed in the six years from her retrospective to the present.

Personality

Dr. Kureha, like Hiriluk, is a recluse. Six years before the plot, she lived in a kind of tree dwelling far from any settlements, and since Wapol’s escape from Blackbeard, she has lived in his castle. Chopper is the only one who lived with her for five years.

The latter often pulled her on her sleigh to the villages where she performed treatments. They did this using one of the thick elevator ropes that reach from the castle down to the plains of the kingdom. Since you can’t see the ropes, especially at night, it looked to some villagers like she was flying through the air on her sleigh, which also contributed to people calling her a witch. Another reason is her way towards patients. Although she treats them without fault, she often demands no less than half of their entire fortune. She often threatens to let the patients die if she is not paid. This makes her seem dismissive, but also proud, as she throws Hiriluk out the door five years earlier when he asks her to continue his research after his death and take Chopper on as a student. However, she ends up being just as good-natured as Hiriluk and produces more of the pink powder, even taking Chopper as a student. She twice shows how much certain people mean to her. First when Hiriluk dies and likewise when Chopper says goodbye to her to sail around the Grand Line with the Straw Hat Pirates.

Kureha is also very vain when it comes to her age and medical arts. She still considers herself young at the age of 139, and doesn’t spare violence when people call her grandma or something similar. Likewise, she won’t let Nami leave until she’s fully cured and thinks her patients only leave the castle when they’re either recovered or dead. After defeating Wapol, however, she relents and lets the Straw Hats go.

Skills and strength

Kureha possesses an immense medical knowledge and recognizes pretty much every illness from a few symptoms. So she recognized both Tama’s and Nami’s diseases in a short time and without extensive tests. In addition, she could immediately initiate countermeasures and administer suitable medication. In addition, she has an extremely fine sense in medical matters, for example, she is able to measure the body temperature of patients with only her fingertip. Another indication of her medical skills is the fact that she is one of the few doctors who are allowed to use the dangerous drug NHC10 for medical purposes.

Despite her dignified age, she is physically still in very good shape and still very strong. Especially when someone calls Kureha a granny, this comes out. Then it can very well happen that she kicks or punches, which usually leave at least one bump.

Past

Six years ago, Hiriluk, the last free doctor on Drum besides Kureha, took in the outcast reindeer Tony Tony Chopper as his assistant. At that time, Kureha already made fun of Hiriluk because his medical skills were poor and his patients were often worse after treatment than before. Nevertheless, he became a very close friend of Chopper. A year later, Hiriluk became seriously ill, forcing him to turn to Kureha. Although his death was certain, he wanted Kureha to delay his death. Kureha, however, turned him down and told him to just die. However, Hiriluk had one last wish: he wanted to make a cure for everyone at any cost and have cherries blossom on the winter island of Drum. Therefore, Kureha decided to extend his life for three more weeks. Meanwhile, Chopper, whom Hiriluk had chased away earlier, was searching for a mushroom that he thought could cure any disease. Although it was a poisonous mushroom, Hiriluk ate it for Chopper’s sake and then set off for Drum’s castle to rescue the doctors, who were said to be ill. Before doing so, however, he asked Kureha to take Chopper in, but she refused the request. Hiriluk was tricked by Wapol and blew himself up in front of Drum’s castle. Finally, Kureha took in Chopper, who decided to cure the whole world.

During Chopper’s training, the reindeer experimented with his Rumble Balls. At one point, he took three Rumble Balls in quick succession, causing him to turn into an uncontrollable monster. When Chopper regained consciousness after this experience, Kureha admonished him to be more careful with his experiments.

Present

In Cocoa Weed

While Luffy and Sanji carried the sick Nami to Drum’s castle to ask the doctor Dr. Kureha to help Nami, Kureha was in the village of Cocoa Weed with Tony Tony Chopper. Lured by the cry of a boy, she visited an inn where she promptly found the injured Tama. Immediately noticing his illness, she treated the boy without anesthesia and he immediately began to feel better. In return, Kureha demanded rum, toilet paper and 49% of Tama’s father’s fortune, who agreed without resistance. Without wasting any more time, Kureha disappeared again together with Chopper.

At Drum’s Castle

Luffy and Sanji were able to get Nami to Drum’s castle in one piece, where Kureha immediately took care of Nami. She also treated Luffy and Sanji, who were injured from the march and the cold. After Nami’s fever broke, Kureha diagnosed it as 5-day fever, which Nami got from a Kestia bug from Little Garden. Kureha ordered strict bed rest, which Nami was forced to submit to. Recovered, Luffy immediately invited Kureha to join his crew, but she declined.

When Wapol and his gang stood in front of Drum’s castle to take it back, Kureha immediately confronted them. She was supported by Luffy, who went straight for the kill. Kureha watched the ensuing fight between the Bliking Pirates and the Straw Hat Pirates and Chopper closely. However, it wasn’t until Sanji also wanted to intervene in the fight that Kureha actively intervened as well, kicking Sanji away as he was apparently getting lumbago. In truth, she only wanted to make sure that the usually reserved Chopper would have to fight himself and thus stand his ground. After the fight against Wapol and his gang was won, Kureha took care of all the injured, including Sanji and Nami, but they wanted to move on as soon as possible. In addition, Kureha demanded the entire cargo of straw hats and money. Nami, however, was in possession of the key to the castle’s armory, which Kureha herself needed. In exchange for the key, she ended up treating her patients for free and also gave them a chance to leave early.

Farewell to Chopper

Chopper decided to join the Straw Hats and wanted to say goodbye to Kureha before leaving. However, she seemed to resent his decision. When he announced that he wanted to leave for the sea, Kureha only yelled at him angrily and even threatened to kill him. Chopper defied her, however, and was determined to fulfill his wish to go to sea. In truth, however, that was exactly Kureha’s plan, and her reaction was to make him do just that. Finally, she confessed to Dalton that she didn’t begrudge Chopper. To top it off, she granted Hiriluk’s wish by making his powder shoot up into the sky, which turned pink when combined with the snow, making it look like a giant cherry tree in bloom. Later, when she first saw Chopper’s wanted poster, she was extremely happy to see that Chopper was doing well. She thought it was the right decision for Chopper to go with Luffy.

A new era of doctors

When a newspaper goes around the world that the Straw Hats have resurfaced after the two-year separation of the Straw Hat Pirates, Kureha is shown once again. She seems to be restoring the kingdom of Sakura to what it once was: a stronghold of medicine. She seems to have united the doctors under a pirate flag, whose Jolly Roger is Hiriluk’s hat.

The Levely in Mary Geoise

While Dalton was preparing for the Levely, Dr. Kureha informed him that she would be accompanying him as ship’s doctor, which the latter noted rather angrily. However, on their way by sea to the World Conference, the two happily took note of the news of Luffy’s actions in Big Mom’s territory and finally reached the Holy Land, Mary Geoise. While Wapol insulted Princess Vivi, Kureha also took notice of Regent Black Drum, but she merely wondered what was wrong with the World Government to invite that idiot back. Replying to his astonished comment that she, the old witch, was still alive, she wondered if he was asking her about the secret of her young appearance, and subsequently greeted Princess Vivi. Afterwards, Kureha watched as the World Aristocrat Mjosgard protectively stood up for Shirahoshi, and continued her conversation with the princesses and co.

Miscellaneous

• She seems to have met Gol D. Roger in person, as indicated by her statements to Dalton.
• Like many witches in fairy tales, she has a hooked nose.
• She also makes an appearance in the special chapter for the movie Strong World. She watches Hiriluk rush to “help” people.
• Her favorite food is prunes and alcohol.