Anime/Manga One Piece

strangerhypno · Jun 7, 2018

Any fans of it? I feel post-skip is a decline from pre-timeskip with a some good moments here and there. Looking forward to the reverie arc though.

Enpatsu Shakugan · Jun 7, 2018

I tried to read it once and awhile and gave up around the Baroque arc. No one ever seemed to die (I believe my final F It moment came when Mr. 3 didn't die after he should've 3 other times by then) and it's just an endless story with no real stakes and flat characters.. Not my thing. I got tired of it pretty quick.

I suppose where I quit was very early to where it is now, like 1/1000th of the total story.

strangerhypno · Jun 8, 2018

It seems endless because Oda tends to stretch things out and has major world building so there's a lot of story to tell. I think the Straw Hats are likable and later on some of them have moments that really define their character. Peak One Piece is around Water 7 which is a few arcs from Baroque. I do agree One Piece does seem stale and drags on too long with a lot of filler esque moments but those grand moments in the story is worth it I think. If you did continue but dropped after the time skip I understand because post-timeskip is pretty sloppy.

Enpatsu Shakugan · Jun 8, 2018

I disagree about your reason about it being endless.

Personally, it's not Oda, it's the genre. Shonen, especially when it's popular, is literally designed TO BE endless. It only ends due to author fatigue or other issues, not the story itself.

Even my favorite shonen YYH, at least the manga, ended because Togashi had a massive fight with his editor and aborted a totally new arc he was on.
Otherwise it too would've kept going for way way too long, which I view as a blessing in disguise.

strangerhypno · Jun 8, 2018

I agree actually somewhat. One Piece is ridiculously popular now so this is probably another reason. japan wants to milk OP for all its worth, look at all the Chopper toys and crap

Lipstick Vogue · Jun 9, 2018

One Piece is absolutely being milked but the quality hasn't dropped off and it's still a fun and creative world. Oda was originally planning for it to run for a few years, obviously nobody could see the popularity that was around the corner. If you gave him the choice of his original plan or what he's got now I think we all know which one he'd choose. You just have to look at his hiatus charts, he rarely takes holiday and that isn't the publishers or magazine forcing it.

Back in 2016 Oda said that One Piece was about 65% completed, of course he's talking about story ideas being ticked off and not amount of chapters. He's joked about finding a balance between his ideas and his lifespan before and has said that he obviously won't be doing another long series after One Piece.

Also @Enpatsu Shakugan, I've never heard anything about a 'massive fight' between Togashi and his editor. The magazine certainly worked him to the point where he got ill and couldn't continue, from his author notes it's clearly some sort of burnout/anxiety thing. It's the reason he's got the god contract nowadays, I believe he's the top paid SJ mangaka despite the fact he only releases about 4 chapters a year.

I wasn't super keen on the direction he was taking Yusuke in the end so I'd agree that it's good it ended where it did. The whole he had demon blood and could transform thing pretty much sucked. It's great that they pretty much let him do what he wants with Hunter, well everything but move to a bi-monthly seinen magazine. It's obviously producing a far better product.

Enpatsu Shakugan · Jun 9, 2018

Lipstick Vogue said:
One Piece is absolutely being milked but the quality hasn't dropped off and it's still a fun and creative world. Oda was originally planning for it to run for a few years, obviously nobody could see the popularity that was around the corner. If you gave him the choice of his original plan or what he's got now I think we all know which one he'd choose. You just have to look at his hiatus charts, he rarely takes holiday and that isn't the publishers or magazine forcing it.

Back in 2016 Oda said that One Piece was about 65% completed, of course he's talking about story ideas being ticked off and not amount of chapters. He's joked about finding a balance between his ideas and his lifespan before and has said that he obviously won't be doing another long series after One Piece.

Also @Enpatsu Shakugan, I've never heard anything about a 'massive fight' between Togashi and his editor. The magazine certainly worked him to the point where he got ill and couldn't continue, from his author notes it's clearly some sort of burnout/anxiety thing. It's the reason he's got the god contract nowadays, I believe he's the top paid SJ mangaka despite the fact he only releases about 4 chapters a year.

I wasn't super keen on the direction he was taking Yusuke in the end so I'd agree that it's good it ended where it did. The whole he had demon blood and could transform thing pretty much sucked. It's great that they pretty much let him do what he wants with Hunter, well everything but move to a bi-monthly seinen magazine. It's obviously producing a far better product.

I might be mistaken, but that was what I heard. It does explain the abrupt ending.

The way the anime handled Yusuke's final arc was a lot better though, and that's why it's the superior product

But I gotta disagree about HxH being better. That show completely fell apart for me past the Hunter Exam. Nen, while an interesting concept, was executed so unbelievably poorly.
And don't get me started on how poor the storyline got with that video game arc and the end of the Spider arc. (whater its official name is).

Yeah. It just didn't do it for me at all. I will admit all the Hunter stuff was great though.

Lipstick Vogue · Jun 10, 2018

To be honest I even enjoyed Greed Island and at least the fights in the Heaven's Arena. Chimera Ant, Yorknew and the Chairman selection were my favourites. Despite liking pretty much all of it I can see why it wouldn't be for everyone though.

My only real problem with Nen is that it naturally had to focus on the 2 main characters, and Gon and Killua's powers are some of the most boring in the entire series. Essentially just the 2 key Shounen Jump things, hitting harder and being cooler. That's why I enjoyed Gon more when he was just getting mad at cats and clowns.

gimmepie · Jun 11, 2018

One Piece is a tricky one for me. I really like the characters, I like the worldbuilding and the action is great. I don't even mind that it's drawn on so long in a sense because the story itself is good and complex. That being said I haven't watched any since I worked up to Dressrosa and although I keep meaning to go back to it, there's other things I end up watching instead. I can finish whole series I really want to see in the same time it'd take me to get through one or two arcs in one piece.

I also have issues with character focus/development, as much as I like the characters themselves. The characters don't develop or change at all through the entire show bar some very minor development for Nami and Robin's prolonged arc (which is ironic given that she's the most uninteresting character). No matter what trials or tribulations or major personal struggles these characters go through, baring Robin in Water 7, they never change personality-wise. Ever. This is just further facilitated by the story pretty much revolving around Luffy, Zoro and Sanji and the rest of the crew just getting shafted after their personal arcs are resolved.

I'd agree the quality drops off a bit after the time skip. Not enormously, not enough to matter, but it does. Water 7 and the Ace rescue mission are by far the pinnacles of the series.

Enpatsu Shakugan · Jun 11, 2018

Lipstick Vogue said:
To be honest I even enjoyed Greed Island and at least the fights in the Heaven's Arena. Chimera Ant, Yorknew and the Chairman selection were my favourites. Despite liking pretty much all of it I can see why it wouldn't be for everyone though.

My only real problem with Nen is that it naturally had to focus on the 2 main characters, and Gon and Killua's powers are some of the most boring in the entire series. Essentially just the 2 key Shounen Jump things, hitting harder and being cooler. That's why I enjoyed Gon more when he was just getting mad at cats and clowns.

Killua's power was so unmemorable, I literally don't think I ever figured out what it was at all. I'm literally drawing a blank right now completely, which is insane given the amount of exposition about Nen given in the show, from Hisoka and Kurapika in general.
Killua was also definitely the least interesting by far. And yet the story inexplicably morphed into "The best friend boys!" and seemingly shafted everyone but Gon and Killua.

Lipstick Vogue · Jun 11, 2018

Killua had transmutation nen which meant he could change the properties of his aura, same as Hisoka and his rubber. Logically what he did with it made a lot of sense, basically just improving on his already vast arsenal of assassin skills. Within the realms of battle shounen it is perfectly reasonable to think that being cloaked in lightning will make you both faster and sharper.

As a character I liked him well enough, just wish his adventure with Gon had a little less training and a little more adventure. I mean even though the pair of them had fairly standard power sets they were still interestingly written fights most of the time.

strangerhypno · Jun 24, 2018

Dressrosa and WCI was dragged out way too long. Oda is good at shorter arcs like Jaya, Zou and currently the Reverie.

Off topic: Killua and Gon are good characters even if their power sets are uninteresting or standard which is impressive of Togashi to make his characters stand out from their powers. Though logically their powers make sense as Lipstick Vogue said, Gon's rock is fitting for someone simplistic and Killua's lightning is generic but fits the cool edgy assassin type that he is and it appeals to some people.

yeloamarillo · Jun 26, 2018

I almost gave up on Whole Cake Island. All that running/escaping is tiring to read except for Luffy vs. Katakuri which I think is one of his best fight. I'm waiting for the Wano Arc and I'm okay with it starting by 2019 since I find the current Reverie Arc interesting.

yeloamarillo · Jun 28, 2018

I'm taking back what I said. Oda-sensei started Wano Arc this week.

strangerhypno · Jun 29, 2018

I'm glad for Wano but I hope Oda doesn't skip out on the reverie meeting and dragon and Im plots.