Settle in UsoKa fans… a fan-favorite ship locks lips in Netflix’s new One Piece live-action adaptation.
Created by Matt Owens and Steven Maeda, the series follows young dreamer Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) on his quest to become King of the Pirates. But first, he must assemble a pirate crew.
Enter Jacob Romero Gibson as Usopp, a friendly ship cleaner who tells Luffy, Zoro (Mackenyu), and Nami (Emily Rudd) that he can nab them their dream ship to sail the ocean in search of treasure.
After a specific ship catches their eye, Usopp brings them to his close friend Kaya (Celeste Loots), who owns the entire shipyard and lives in a mansion in the Gecko Islands. Kaya is sweet and welcoming to the pirate crew. She is also revealed to be very ill.
From here, fans of Eiichiro Oda’s hit manga know the story all too well. Kaya is betrayed by her caretaker Klahadore (Alexander Maniatis), later revealed to be Captain Kuro from a rival pirate crew.
After Luffy and his crew fight the evil pirates who plot to kill Kaya and steal her riches, the young woman awards them with the Going Merry ship, which is their signature large vessel that carries them throughout their journey.
In the Netflix series, the battle begins in Episode 3 “Tell No Tales” and continues into Episode 4 “The Pirates Are Coming,” at the end of which, Kaya leaves Luffy’s crew with their parting gift and… smooches Usopp. Wait, what?
That’s right — Kaya sees the group off at her shipyard and encourages Usopp to join Luffy’s crew. Usopp offers to stay back to care for Kaya, but she says it’s time for her to take care of herself. When he suggests that he’ll continue to help with the shipyard, Kaya reveals that she’s ready to do “something else” and wants to study to become a doctor.
“So, I guess this is goodbye,” Usopp tells Kaya softly. She responds saying she’ll see him again some day and looks forward to hearing about the “adventures of Captain Usopp.” At this point in their tearful goodbye, Kaya leans in to kiss Usopp. Offering some comedic relief, Luffy watches from afar in confusion. He asks Zoro and Nami, “They do know I’m the captain, right?”
While in the live-action adaptation, the relationship between Usopp and Kaya feels like a natural progression, it’s not quite identical to what’s been depicted in Oda’s manga and long-running anime series. In fact, the couple have been dancing around a “will-they-won’t-they?” relationship for decades and have only been established as close friends.
In 2021, Comic Book Resources listed the couple as a ship that many fans support, writing, “Usopp and Kaya, on the other hand, might as well just be a confirmed pairing by mangaka Eiichiro Oda himself. They both like each other. They have also made it known; it’s simply a matter of Kaya surviving until Usopp makes it through the Grand Line, and their pairing is sure to happen.” And according to the Shipping Wiki, Usopp and Kaya “are never shown with any outright indication of romance” but their relationship does imply a budding romance, which many fans consider to be a done-deal.
Well, it seems that Netflix hit the accelerator with this pairing and gave fans exactly what they’ve been craving. And the show has made it clear that it isn’t done with the two lovebirds. After the Straw Hats depart for their journey, Kaya appears in small sequences that depict her reading updates about the pirate crew’s journey to find the ultimate treasure. Hopefully, there’s much more to come with this sweet couple.
UsoKa for life!
One Piece is currently streaming on Netflix.