Why Nami needs Haki the most in Straw Hats

The One Piece The anime is coming back in a few weeks and fans are excited to finally see the Elbaph/Elbaf Arc turned into animation. Although it will only last for a few weeks before going through a hiatus again, One Piece will likely be the biggest release of the 2026 spring anime season.

This arc is still ongoing in the manga, and theories about what will happen next are popping up like never before. A major theory is that the remaining crew members of the Straw Hats will gain Haki. There are many reasons for that, and it would make a lot of sense. But there is one character that deserves Haki more than any other: Namie. Let's explore what kind of Haki Nami could unlock and how it would make her even better as a character.

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One Piece: The Last Straw Hat's identity, explained

The Straw Hat Pirates have one last member waiting. Their identities will be revealed during One Piece Elbaf's arc.

Nami is irreplaceable and deserves better

Nami is arguably the most important member of the Straw Hat crew, as she is the navigator and cartographer for the team, although Robin has also played an important role in deciphering the poneglyphs. She is also helpful in battle.

However, several Straw Hats still don't seem to have the ability to use Haki. Many fans speculate that most or all of them will eventually unlock Haki, and Nami is definitely the character who needs it the most; in fact, she already has some abilities that hint at what her Haki might be.

Should she get Armament Haki or Observation Haki?

There are mainly two types of Haki i One Piece: Arming Haki and Observation Haki. These are not mutually exclusive; a person can use both, as Luffy does, but most characters tend to master only one of them. With Armament Haki, users can create an invisible armor around themselves and can also use it to enhance weapons. Observation Haki is related to increasing sensory abilities.

But later in the story, Conqueror's Haki, also known as Supreme King Haki, was introduced as the rarest type. Actually, Shanks used this type of Haki in the very first chapter, but the concept itself wasn't explained until later. Conqueror's Haki allows the user to intimidate their opponents.

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Unlocking Haki usually requires massive training, and some arguments against the rest of the crew being able to use it tend to lean towards the fact that they would need a lot more training. But they are already warriors who have trained, and some have unlocked Haki in battle, so there is a way for Nami to stop using it. Most fans believe that Nami will eventually gain Observation Haki, although some jokingly claim that she has already unlocked Conqueror's Haki as she can be quite terrifying at times.

Can Nami's abilities “turn into” Haki?

Whether Nami would need more training or not, it seems like she already has the potential to unlock Observation Haki given her current abilities. Nami may not need Haki, but it can enhance her role as a navigator while compensating for her physical limitations. Since Nami merged with Zeus, her power has increased tremendously, and Haki can make her even stronger against enemies.

Her weather-related abilities are already impressive, and most fans believe that her potential Haki should be related to enhancing those abilities, allowing her to enhance her role as a navigator, predicting storms and threats to a whole new level. And there's also the perfect excuse: Observation Haki is often unlocked by trauma or other special events (like Usopp's), so Nami can unlock it at a crucial moment. Also, she already has a strong will, a requirement to get Haki. Since she meets the criteria, it can only be a triggering event.

Given her intellectual nature, Nami has already proven that she knows a lot about Haki, so it wouldn't be surprising for her to eventually unlock it. Also, most fans also believe that Nico Robin will unlock Haki as well.

Why Haki Still Matters in a paragraph

Since the Wano Country Arc, Haki has become more important than ever in history. However, when Conqueror's Haki takes center stage, it may seem that Armament Haki and Observation Haki have lost their value. That is not true at all.

Kaidou stated in chapter 1047 that Haki transcends everything else, expressing it as the deciding factor for one to conquer the sea. Although he is mostly referring to Conqueror's Haki, One Piece has already hinted several times that Haki can surpass the power of Devil Fruits. There are characters, like Roger, who had not eaten fruit and were able to beat fruit users, likely using Haki.

For Nami, Observation Haki would cover up some of her weaknesses, making her even more of a threat. Considering how powerful the World Government and Imu are already implied to be, the Straw Hat crew will likely need major upgrades as the Final Saga unfolds, and Haki is the perfect solution for some of them, including Nami and Robin. Some also believe that Nami may be the reason Sanji is able to unlock the Conqueror's Haki. Either way, it's clearer than ever that Haki will play an important role in the next evolution of the series.

What's next in One Piece?

After the Wano Country Arc, Eiichiro Oda revealed it One Piece has entered its Final Saga. Although the story is expected to end, Oda has not revealed exactly how long this saga will be. Currently, the manga is in the second arc of this saga, and fans are expecting at least two more arcs. It will probably be something like this:

• Egghead Arc (Chapters 1058-1125);

• Elbaph Arc (Chapter 1126-????);

• Potential Laugh Tale Arc (TBA);

• Potential final war arc (TBA).

It is also possible that the manga after the final war will have a short post-war arc or some kind of epilogue. At least while One Piece nearing its end, it seems to take a few years for the manga to reach its conclusion.

The anime finished adapting the Egghead arc and will begin covering the Elbaph/Elbaf arc in the next season, scheduled to begin in April 2026. One Piece will likely get seasonal episodes from now on, instead of airing throughout the year with tons of filler episodes and arcs.

Where to watch One Piece

One Piece is available to stream on Crunchyroll, and paid subscribers can access all episodes released in Japan. Crunchyroll has also confirmed that it will stream the new season starting on April 5, 2026. The first part of this season is set to be 13 episodes.

In recent years, Netflix has also tried to catch up with the series by adding older episodes to its streaming service. Then, during the Egghead arc, the platform also started airing the latest episodes in many countries and territories, but with a one-week delay. For this reason, most hardcore fans still watch the series on Crunchyroll, where episodes are up only a few hours after the Japanese broadcast (and sometimes on unlicensed platforms).

Fans based in the US can also enjoy older episodes on Hulu, but for the latest ones, they either have to wait months for the episodes to come out on the platform, or watch them on Netflix or Crunchyroll. The latest episodes will initially only be added with subtitles and will probably be dubbed a few months later.

As for manga, the latest chapters are available for free on Manga PLUS, the official platform for Shonen Jump series, in English and many other languages. To read all the chapters, however, a paid membership is required.

One Piece

Release date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Toshihiro Ma Shihi Endo, Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

Author

Jin Tanaka, Akiko Inoue, Junki Takegami, Shinzo Fujita, Shouji Yonemura, Yoshiyuki Suga, Atsuhiro Tomioka, Hirohiko Uesaka, Michiru Shimada, Isao Murayama, Takuya Masumoto, Yoichi Takahashi, Momoka Toyoda

• 

  Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

• 

  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)