The Boys season 5 made its debut on Amazon Prime Video with its first two episodes, which started with a bang from the word go. The new season was all the creators had promised: the brutality cranked up to the maximum, and a diabolical version of the Butcher to top it all off. But behind the carnage and sinister plots, the audience found something subtly placed in the background, and it was something that anime fans, particularly of One Piece, loved.

The final season of The Boys seems to have had a One Piece reference embedded in an episode.  

There were zero expectations of an anime reference found in the dark and bleak world of The Boys. Still, the superhero satire chose to stun everyone with reference to Eiichiro Oda's cherished series, One Piece. The very first episode of season 5 features the Straw Hats' Jolly Rogers in a scene. Although it hides in the background, observant fans spotted it and started flooding the internet with posts about this surprise.  

Even though the One Piece imagery is not essential to the plot, the lighthearted touches are arousing viewers' interest.

The enthusiastic reactions online tell the story behind the impact this small detail caused just by chilling in the background. It is also a testament to the mainstream appeal of One Piece that the beloved anime has found in recent years. This surprise was a great way to start the final season of The Boys, which already had everything going for it, right from the plot to the character development and the action.

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However, when the dust around the hysteria settles down, the question about the relevance of this inclusion creeps into one’s mind.

In the One Piece anime, the Straw Hat crew fights injustice and the corrupt system that has taken over the world to liberate people. This spirit of the revolution that they started in the anime has translated into the real world in recent times and has come to be represented by their Jolly Rogers. 

This somewhere equates to the fight that Annie has been leading with her Starlighters. That is why the flag appears in the scene where Butcher is meeting Annie in one of her bases of operation. It makes sense for a group about to bring revolution to draw inspiration from the embodiment of rebellion, even though it is from a fictional world (in the show). 

For now, the One Piece reference has given viewers a reason to look for some more Easter Eggs like this, which means watching the show with eyes wide open and keeping tabs on every little detail. The Boys season 5 surely has a lot more surprises in store for the audience, and something diabolical as Butcher’s latest lethal version suggests in the show.

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What do you think about the One Piece reference in The Boys season 5? Share your thoughts in the comments.