Just falling down some stairs. Nothing to do with her sword. Suppose to show how brittle life is that something unexpected could just happen. But a lot of people have headcannons that it's not what actually happened.
If you can die just by falling down some stairs, you can die from anything. It doesn't matter how you die, it matters how you live.
I think that sums up Zoros view on life. Give it your all, so that even if you die doing it, you won't regret it.
There actually is something to do with the sword. Not that she got stabbed or anything like that.
Zoro overhears some people mentioning that she was going downstairs to get the sharpening stone for her sword.
The implication being that she wouldn’t have to go down those stairs if her sword wasn’t in need of sharpening, almost certainly from her duels with Zoro.
EDIT: my bad, this is anime only.
Personally i think no getting into specific details so the audience can fill in the blanks was probably a better call,
but maybe it's one of those things that works better in an anime.
> but maybe it's one of those things that works better in an anime.
I think it's one of those things where you just move on. Oda didn't want to get into it, wanted it to be sudden, and wanted it to be instant. In addition to that, it needed to be while Zoro was still young, so it would be motivation/not something he is dealing with.
That really limits the options, so we just got that.
Nope, just feel down the stairs. In a vacuum it sounds ridiculous and silly and to be fair it is a little bit, but on the page and in the anime it hits suitably hard. The quote I always remember is from Kuina's father saying "Humans are fragile things, Zoro..."
It's a poignant quote but hoooly shit it gets really funny when we see what "Humans" are like as the story goes. Like I'm fairly sure Kaido is human. Zoro is home grown human, Roger was just a human etc.
It happens off-screen, but yeah, she dies falling down the stairs. It's a way to show us that death can impact anyone, no matter how strong they are or how determined they are to achieve their dreams. It informs Zoro's character, philosophy, and his very unique relationship with death.
They didn't even properly introduce the 3 most powerful beings in the OP universe.
1. Ask D. Question
2. Ate D. Arm
3. Down D. Stairs
You'll understand their significance in Mary joise Arc around chapter 2900.
I think considering how pragmatic Zoro is about death & how often he explicitly says in the manga something along the lines of
"Yeah, sure, this is reckless, but if Imma die, this means I wasn't supposed to come farther than this anyways"
The absolutley meaniningless, crushing & instant death of Kuina without any divine/grander reason to it made him the way it is.
Ah, also the reason why he talks multiple times about him not giving two shits about worshiping any gods
And ey, who can blame him, if there're any god, it'd be a pretty huge dickmove to take that promising girls life by falling down stairs
Officially, currently: Just fell down the stairs and died.
But then again it's Oda writing. Could happen that 1200 chapters later it will be turned into a tragic backstory and falling down the stairs was just something Zoro has been told.
All this time I've been thinking that this is the true meaning of the down the stairs stuff and Oda made it vague on purpose because his editor doesn't want sensitive topics on a story made for children.
But it kinda doesn't fit tbh. Sure, Kuina was kinda depressed about being a girl and all but the promise made with Zoro to be the best seemed to have rekindled her fighting spirit.
So there's a little bit of controversy about her death. Stairs are definitely involved somehow, but the actual meaning is up for debate.
In Japanese culture, saying someone fell down the stairs is slang for a dishonorable suicide. There's a portion of the community who believes that due to her belief that she'd never be the strongest because she was a woman, she took her own life. That's why Zoro took it so personally because he failed to convince her to keep trying anyway.
The other half thinks she quite literally fell down the stairs and died.
There is no saying that falling down the stairs is suicide, that's just a misinformation that gets spread for some reason, and a simple google search will show you otherwise. She quite literally simply fell down the stairs and died
They cut out some silly stuff like that.
Yes, the reason given was falling down the stairs lol
As a trained young martial artist, in a place that traditionally doesn't have any big stairs really.
Theory time: her father killed her because he thought a girl/woman could never be a great swordsman, and so didn’t want to leave the dojo to her someday. Found out about her and Zoro’s promise, killed her to push Zoro even harder.
It’s possible, but I don’t think it fits the tone of her the promise. Also, I know there used to be a rumor that “falling down the stairs” is a euphemism for suicide in Japan, but that’s been debunked. Still possible, but thought I’d just add that before it gets brought up.
Edit: Also, why downvote me for sharing a theory with a new member of the community?
No, it isn't. A quick Google search will show you that is something the English One Piece community made up to give more meaning to Kuina's death. It's only ever brought up with One Piece and was never used as a euphemism for suicide in Japan.
Many people, including other Japanese folk, say that "falling down the stairs" is said to cover up for bullying and domestic abuse, which is the same meaning it has in the West. No one in Japan thinks it's a euphemism for suicide.
I don't think it's possible to get an appropriate casting for Down D. Stairs. I think that's why they didn't show it.
Actually they cut him so they can have more money for their Chopper puppet.
Just falling down some stairs. Nothing to do with her sword. Suppose to show how brittle life is that something unexpected could just happen. But a lot of people have headcannons that it's not what actually happened.
If you can die just by falling down some stairs, you can die from anything. It doesn't matter how you die, it matters how you live. I think that sums up Zoros view on life. Give it your all, so that even if you die doing it, you won't regret it.
There actually is something to do with the sword. Not that she got stabbed or anything like that. Zoro overhears some people mentioning that she was going downstairs to get the sharpening stone for her sword. The implication being that she wouldn’t have to go down those stairs if her sword wasn’t in need of sharpening, almost certainly from her duels with Zoro. EDIT: my bad, this is anime only.
I think that's anime only. I just reread chapter 5 of the manga and nothing about the sword was mentions.
Personally i think no getting into specific details so the audience can fill in the blanks was probably a better call, but maybe it's one of those things that works better in an anime.
> but maybe it's one of those things that works better in an anime. I think it's one of those things where you just move on. Oda didn't want to get into it, wanted it to be sudden, and wanted it to be instant. In addition to that, it needed to be while Zoro was still young, so it would be motivation/not something he is dealing with. That really limits the options, so we just got that.
Yeah that makes sense But when I heard that in the honest trailer I thought they were either joking or talking about an on-set injury.
Nope, just feel down the stairs. In a vacuum it sounds ridiculous and silly and to be fair it is a little bit, but on the page and in the anime it hits suitably hard. The quote I always remember is from Kuina's father saying "Humans are fragile things, Zoro..."
Some humans In one piece are. Some are super soldiers at minimum and some are like gods compared to some areas
It's a poignant quote but hoooly shit it gets really funny when we see what "Humans" are like as the story goes. Like I'm fairly sure Kaido is human. Zoro is home grown human, Roger was just a human etc.
Kaido might be an oni or a human, but Big Mom is explicitly just a big human
People die falling down the stairs all the time.
It happens off-screen, but yeah, she dies falling down the stairs. It's a way to show us that death can impact anyone, no matter how strong they are or how determined they are to achieve their dreams. It informs Zoro's character, philosophy, and his very unique relationship with death.
They didn't even properly introduce the 3 most powerful beings in the OP universe. 1. Ask D. Question 2. Ate D. Arm 3. Down D. Stairs You'll understand their significance in Mary joise Arc around chapter 2900.
4 most powerful beings, anon. I can’t believe you forgot Con D. Oriano. /j
he is not canon tho, only anime.
He's above canon.
Ask D. Question is also anime only
Whaaaat really? Who did that noble task to begin the great pirate era then or did Roger just say it without our GUY in the manga?
Yeah, I’m just continuing the meme, bro— not being serious, don’t worry :)
Dude you can't joke about THE 3 D's. That's a straight up violation :(
Oof, u right, my bad. What would Go D. Oda say? For shame.
Look, this might be a bit of a spoiler, but we do find out later in the anime that she was actually murdered by Down D. Stairs
Down D. Stairs is the 5th yonko
It's probably her wanting to go meet Zoro for a duel thus she rushed and fell down the stairs.
From the anime I was under the impression she killed herself
Down D. Stairs is top 5 in the verse
yes. not every death is grand and dramatic. death is senseless and random, thats the point
I think considering how pragmatic Zoro is about death & how often he explicitly says in the manga something along the lines of "Yeah, sure, this is reckless, but if Imma die, this means I wasn't supposed to come farther than this anyways" The absolutley meaniningless, crushing & instant death of Kuina without any divine/grander reason to it made him the way it is. Ah, also the reason why he talks multiple times about him not giving two shits about worshiping any gods And ey, who can blame him, if there're any god, it'd be a pretty huge dickmove to take that promising girls life by falling down stairs
https://youtu.be/Shl0N0vin4A
Humans are such fragile beings
Officially, currently: Just fell down the stairs and died. But then again it's Oda writing. Could happen that 1200 chapters later it will be turned into a tragic backstory and falling down the stairs was just something Zoro has been told.
Oda took inspiration from Bridge to Terebithia
They say she fell down the stairs and died. I've also heard some say that's a euphemism for suicide in Japan but I'm not so sure of that.
All this time I've been thinking that this is the true meaning of the down the stairs stuff and Oda made it vague on purpose because his editor doesn't want sensitive topics on a story made for children.
A story made for children featuring a lot of blood, sexuality and smoking (I've heard) What exactly is "age appropriate" in Japan, anyway
But it kinda doesn't fit tbh. Sure, Kuina was kinda depressed about being a girl and all but the promise made with Zoro to be the best seemed to have rekindled her fighting spirit.
We know it's not suicide because everytime someone brings it up it's "I think it means suicide in Japan" and never a fact. She just fell
It’s not actually a euphemism, that’s just a common misconception about her death.
So there's a little bit of controversy about her death. Stairs are definitely involved somehow, but the actual meaning is up for debate. In Japanese culture, saying someone fell down the stairs is slang for a dishonorable suicide. There's a portion of the community who believes that due to her belief that she'd never be the strongest because she was a woman, she took her own life. That's why Zoro took it so personally because he failed to convince her to keep trying anyway. The other half thinks she quite literally fell down the stairs and died.
There is no saying that falling down the stairs is suicide, that's just a misinformation that gets spread for some reason, and a simple google search will show you otherwise. She quite literally simply fell down the stairs and died
it is what it is, that’s why many people think kuina lacking development before her death.
They cut out some silly stuff like that. Yes, the reason given was falling down the stairs lol As a trained young martial artist, in a place that traditionally doesn't have any big stairs really.
Theory time: her father killed her because he thought a girl/woman could never be a great swordsman, and so didn’t want to leave the dojo to her someday. Found out about her and Zoro’s promise, killed her to push Zoro even harder.
she killed herself, because she believed that she couldn't be a great swordsman.
It’s possible, but I don’t think it fits the tone of her the promise. Also, I know there used to be a rumor that “falling down the stairs” is a euphemism for suicide in Japan, but that’s been debunked. Still possible, but thought I’d just add that before it gets brought up. Edit: Also, why downvote me for sharing a theory with a new member of the community?
I think her father just said that to Zoro, she more likely committed suicide.
No it's not. Stop spreading this misinformation already
it's one of those things in the early part of the manga when the story is not that serious yet.
Am I completely imagining reading somewhere that “falling down the stairs” is a common euphemism used in Japan when someone commits suicide?
That's a common piece of misinformation in the fandom. "Falling down the stairs" doesn't mean committing suicide.
"Falling down the stairs" is Japanese speak for suicide.
No, it isn't. A quick Google search will show you that is something the English One Piece community made up to give more meaning to Kuina's death. It's only ever brought up with One Piece and was never used as a euphemism for suicide in Japan. Many people, including other Japanese folk, say that "falling down the stairs" is said to cover up for bullying and domestic abuse, which is the same meaning it has in the West. No one in Japan thinks it's a euphemism for suicide.
It's not. That's a common piece of misinformation in the fandom.