The Guardian view on gen Z protests: these movements share more than an interest in anime | Editorial

"Yet Luffy has now found a new lease of life as inspiration to protesters in a wave of youthful unrest across continents. His crew's flag a skull and crossbones crowned with his jaunty straw hat has appeared from Morocco to Madagascar in recent days. Indonesians enthusiastically adopted it this summer, in a riposte to the president's urging to fly the national standard. Officials were so alarmed that they threatened to jail those using it."

"After a quarter-century of existence, the global triumph of Monkey D Luffy a fresh-faced and rubber-bodied pirate captain had seemed almost complete. The One Piece manga series, of which he is the freedom-fighting hero, had become the bestselling of all time, with more than 500m copies bought. The anime was a similar hit, with viewers immersing themselves in over a thousand episodes following his struggle against the World Government, a corrupt and tyrannical oligarchy."

"Protests have been sparked by specific grievances, including anger at regular water and electricity cuts in Madagascar, where unrest is escalating; demands for education and healthcare improvements in Morocco; and fear of rising crime in Peru. The uprising in Nepal follows successful anti-government movements elsewhere in south Asia: Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024. Yet a common thread is evident. Leaderless movements are explicitly branding themselves as gen Z and adopting the emblems of protesters elsewhere as a statement of solidarity."

Monkey D Luffy's One Piece franchise commands vast global reach, with over 500 million manga copies sold and an anime spanning more than a thousand episodes. Protesters across continents have adopted the Straw Hat crew's skull-and-crossbones flag, with sightings from Morocco and Madagascar to Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Kenya and Peru. Some governments responded with threats or alarm, and Amnesty International defended the emblem. Demonstrations arise from varied local grievances—service cuts in Madagascar, demands for education and healthcare in Morocco, crime concerns in Peru—and form leaderless, Gen Z-branded movements sharing emblems as gestures of solidarity.

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