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One Piece Manga |OT2| Four Emperors, One King, All Blue

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Kave_Man

come in my shame circle
1. Skypiea - up in the sky yo and bouncing on those clouds.

2. Water Seven - Absolutely beautiful design, would love to walk around the city.

3. Little Garden - I wanna meet a dinosaur.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
I'd like in Skypiea for sure. Or Water 7.

I'd visit Drum.
 

Xux

Member
Drum Island'd be cool since I've never been around snow before.

Water 7's got some neat architecture and waterways.
 
I wouldn't mind seeing some of the simpler places in the East Blue to be honest. Outside of those, Fishman Island and Skypiea are locations I definitely would want to visit.
 

Lunar15

Member
Definitely Water 7. Relatively safe, a lot to see, quite a bit of a culture that's sprung up around their way of life.

Fishman Island would probably be second.
 

Rebel Leader

THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
Amazon Lily for Snu Snu potential

uIxhapb.gif
 

Big One

Banned
You know someone at work was asking me today what makes One Piece different from other shonen series like Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Dragonball, and etc. while I had a hard time describing it exactly, one word that came to mind was structure and pacing.

For one, the majority of the arcs in One Piece aren't really structured the same way as pretty much any of the arcs in the above series. While each arc has it's own central plot, the action sequences take front and center above all else in all of those arcs. Characters constantly pop in and out, and fights happen for largely no reason other than, "I'm good, and you're bad." In One Piece, like in Dressrosa, the only real fight that's structured that way is Luffy's ultimately confrontation with Doflamingo. Zoro didn't rival himself with Pica, Rebecca didn't specifically target Diamante. They fought those characters because when they were trying to fight Doflamingo, his subordinates stopped them in their tracks. Largely they're fighting out of necessity, rather than the sole reason that they have a desire to fight or test their skill outside of maybe Zoro even though Zoro never specifically targets anyone other than Mihawk and similar goal swordsman.

In something like Dragonball and Naruto, pretty much every arc is like Marineford. Marineford was great not because it featured intense action sequences and "epic moments" and the like, but rather because the entire series up to that point, built up to Marineford. It was a culmination of everything thus far, and in Naruto we see this happen multiple times like Sasuke leaving to train with Orochimaru, Pain's battle with Naruto, Sasuke's fight with Danzo, Obito, Madara, Kaguya. The series could've ended at literally any of those points and nothing would've been lost to the structure of that series, while One Piece has so much stuff being built and layered upon it's initial foundation of it's setting, that it's hard to imagine it outright ending anytime soon.

One Piece builds up to those "Dragonball" like moments, rather than just having them for the sake of coolness. To some, it could be "boring" but ultimately I feel like it makes it a more enduring watch from a storytelling standpoint.
 
You know someone at work was asking me today what makes One Piece different from other shonen series like Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail, Dragonball, and etc. while I had a hard time describing it exactly, one word that came to mind was structure and pacing.

For one, the majority of the arcs in One Piece aren't really structured the same way as pretty much any of the arcs in the above series. While each arc has it's own central plot, the action sequences take front and center above all else in all of those arcs. Characters constantly pop in and out, and fights happen for largely no reason other than, "I'm good, and you're bad." In One Piece, like in Dressrosa, the only real fight that's structured that way is Luffy's ultimately confrontation with Dressrosa. Zoro didn't rival himself with Pica, Rebecca didn't specifically target Diamante. They fought those characters because when they were trying to fight Doflamingo, his subordinates stopped them in their tracks. Largely they're fighting out of necessity, rather than the sole reason that they have a desire to fight or test their skill outside of maybe Zoro even though Zoro never specifically targets anyone other than Mihawk and similar goal swordsman.

In something like Dragonball and Naruto, pretty much every arc is like Marineford. Marineford was great not because it featured intense action sequences and "epic moments" and the like, but rather because the entire series up to that point, built up to Marineford. It was a culmination of everything thus far, and in Naruto we see this happen multiple times like Sasuke leaving to train with Orochimaru, Pain's battle with Naruto, Sasuke's fight with Danzo, Obito, Madara, Kaguya. The series could've ended at literally any of those points and nothing would've been lost to the structure of that series, while One Piece has so much stuff being built and layered upon it's initial foundation of it's setting, that it's hard to imagine it outright ending anytime soon.

One Piece builds up to those "Dragonball" like moments, rather than just having them for the sake of coolness. To some, it could be "boring" but ultimately I feel like it makes it a more enduring watch from a storytelling standpoint.

Another thing is that One Piece is about the journey. It's a series full of mysteries. We don't even know what One Piece even *is* yet. In other shounen series, it's less about the mystery and adventure and more about...the fights and who's the strongest. Granted, there's occasional mysteries like "Who are Naruto's parents?" and "Where did Goku get his tail?" but not like One Piece. One Piece has layers upon layers that meant to build on each other and it's all about experiencing the story in a natural and organic way to have the story lay each foundation until each question is answered. This is most telling because at the start of every arc there's usually not much fighting. Lots of talking and exposition and build up and the crew being themselves. The fights wouldn't connect on an emotional level without the background Oda uses to give his world ethos and texture. Fights in One Piece are used as dramatic centerpieces that compliment dramatic and engaging storylines. We aren't invested in seeing Spandam get his ass kicked without knowing Robin's back story. We're not invested in Arlong getting absolutely wrecked without seeing first hand what he and his crew did Nami's people. Contrast with other shounen stories like Dragon Ball or Naruto which mostly use fights to show exposition and character development. It's night and day. In One Piece, fighting is the reward to getting the full story. In the rest of the genre, fighting is a reward unto itself. It just exists to exist and has no reason for being besides being the main draw. It's why my favorite part of One Piece is every time they step on a new island. Whether it's an island with both fire and ice with dragons on it, or an island with giants beating the crap out of each other and dinosaurs, or a sky island, we have no idea what's going to happen or draw us in this time. Each new place has its own hook and draw. One Piece's main motif and modus operandi is the glory of adventure and the unknown but also the drama that comes from it.
 
One Piece's island-to-island structure also allows for a soft 'reboot' of sorts, so even lackluster arcs like Fishman Island don't derail the entire manga because they don't have to try and 'one-up' the arc before it.
 
One Piece's island-to-island structure also allows for a soft 'reboot' of sorts, so even lackluster arcs like Fishman Island don't derail the entire manga because they don't have to try and 'one-up' the arc before it.

It also presents a large variety in storylines and types of locale. Drum Island is nothing like Water 7. Something like Dragon Ball, the stories are not only generally the same, the locations rarely matter. Random canyon where Goku and Vegeta fight; random place for the Cell Games. One Piece has a sense of place for every location to help tie in that locations culture and storyline.
 

Lunar15

Member
While I personally think One Piece has become a teensy bit stale, I think what kept it fresh for so long is that, while Oda definitely meanders in the middle of things, he absolutely NAILS the beginning and ending of things. It always feels like he has a very good picture of the exact image of the climax before starting everything, so therefore all of the good bits at the beginning feel like they're definitely going to pan out into something effective. He definitely indulges in setting up cool ideas at the beginning of an arc, but eventually he has to start turning into the build up of whatever his original idea is, and that's where it starts to drag. But I feel like the pay-off is always there and it's always effective. I'd even say that some of my least favorite arcs still had extremely effective and satisfying endings.

Oda is a master at living up to expectations, even in something as formulaic as a shounen. We know the arc by now: Luffy's going to be put in a position where he can't save the day, someone's gonna cry, then Luffy swoops in and kicks the bad guy's ass. But Oda is way more concerned with how that climax LOOKS and FEELS more than he is actual plot, for better or worse. It always feels to me that, once Oda knows both the visual scene and emotional scene he wants the arc to build up to, he never loses it. For him, an arc is just building the different elements of that one particular "page" so that when we get to it, everything really hits home.

And that's why people stick with it. For all the things that frustrate me about One Piece, Oda's usually good for it in one way or another. He usually pulls it out in the end, and you can reasonably trust him to find a satisfying conclusion.
 
The fact that I can barely even imagine how epic, emotional, and mindblowing the finale of this series will be (if Oda doesn't fuck it up) says it all.
 

cntr

Banned
Yeah, I think that's an accurate description of not just One Piece, but all great shounens and why they're great. The sell is not the fighting, the sell is the experience.
 
Yeah, I think that's an accurate description of not just One Piece, but all great shounens and why they're great. The sell is not the fighting, the sell is the experience.

Depends. I'd say for something like JoJo the fighting is a huge part of the appeal. The same is true for Kenshin and Dragon Ball. The fighting marks a large part of these stories' character development. I think One Piece is unique for this. In other series, people become friends not through circumstance but through fighting for survival. Vegeta and Goku; Naruto and Sasuke. They become friends, or as close to friends as you can say, through realizing that this is bigger than both of their egos and they need to work together. This is told almost entirely through combat scenarios. In the case of Naruto, the Water clan arc. In the case of DBZ, Vegeta and Goku fusing.

In One Piece, this doesn't happen despite fighting being the main means of survival. When Zoro joins Luffy, what wins him over isn't his raw strength or the fact he can bounce back bullets with his rubber body. It's the fact he's told that Luffy defends him and punches the shit out of Helmeppo when he hears that he was going to execute and starve Zoro anyways and didn't stick up to his word. Zoro's in for the long haul after that. I love One Piece for that. The other shounen manga tend to be battle comics. One Piece is an adventure comic that happens to have battles in it, I think.
 

cntr

Banned
Ehh. It's subtler than that. It's about how battles happen, too.

In Bleach or Dragonball Z, you win battles by becoming stronger. You unlock power levels, train, and so on.

For manga like One Piece or Jojo, the battles aren't based on pure power. When you fight a Devil Fruit or a Stand, you win by figuring out their powers and working around them. Even pure power-ups like Gear 2 end up being interesting, since Luffy's not unlocking a secret ability, he's applying his power cleverly.

Same goes for things things like Quirks, Alchemy, or Demon Kids. If you want to win by strategy, you have to develop the characters and world. Sanji using his legs, Usopp sniping Sugar with a scary picture, even Zoro just forcing his way through all his injuries, that's tied into their character. The experience isn't just fighting, it's the mystery of the power, and the anticipation for seeing how characters overcome it.

Series based on pure power don't have that incentive to develop their characters and world. There are exceptions like Fist of the North Star, but it's much rarer.
 

dabig2

Member
The other shounen manga tend to be battle comics. One Piece is an adventure comic that happens to have battles in it, I think.

Agreed, and that's precisely why I love the series so much. Also why you'll usually find me defending arcs like Skypiea. I love the battles, powerups, and battledomes as much as the next internet nerd, but I'm an adventure and character guy most of all. The humor, large world, big assortment of characters, and just seeing the Strawhats screwing around on their ship is what really drew me to the series initially. Shiiiiiiit, my favorite episodes/chapters are just mainly talk with little action - like the world reaction ones. I always get excited when an arc ends just to get to them.
 
Agreed, and that's precisely why I love the series so much. Also why you'll usually find me defending arcs like Skypiea. I love the battles, powerups, and battledomes as much as the next internet nerd, but I'm an adventure and character guy most of all. The humor, large world, big assortment of characters, and just seeing the Strawhats screwing around on their ship is what really drew me to the series initially. Shiiiiiiit, my favorite episodes/chapters are just mainly talk with little action - like the world reaction ones. I always get excited when an arc ends just to get to them.

Yeah reactions are always my fave.
 
As much as I agree with everyone here, I think OP has gotten a bit stale and nothing has really been as amazing or well paced as 'Rescue Robin' Arc. The backstory, the climax, the aftermath leading right into Marineford battle and Ace. It was incredible, and so far it's felt like fishmen arc was filler tier and Dressrosa while more interesting, was still pretty much a side arc. Thriller bark as well is mostly forgettable besides the amazing zoro moment.

Having said that, with the reveals being plentiful already and this arc basically being about a main character again, I'm hopeful another classic arc returns, but I'm a little burnt out tbh. The payoff of fishmen island and dressrosa just wasn't that great. I still dislike Gear 4 and just felt it was a huge letdown. Oda is unique in his art style, but it was just meh for me. Luffy seemed to basically beat himself while running out of stamina, he was hardly challenged at all. It seems impossible to have a serious climatic fight with him in such a comedic form, and it just didn't click, I sincerely hope it's just one of many forms of Gear 4.

Still one of my favorite manga, but early Naruto is more enjoyable at times because of its focus on the characters. Shippuden did ruin a lot of it, but still has beautiful moments like Naruto meets his mom. Overall it could have been cut in half and raised the quality substantially.
I just want Oda to get back to the straw hats, that's who I care about, he's done so much world building I don't even care about the adventure as much anymore. What is up with Zoro's eye? Who's Luffy parents? Where is Boa and why hasn't that amazing chemistry been brought back? Not so much the secrets of OP like the final island or where DF comes from etc...just get back to the friggin characters already. It's like every arc another universe is created and it's just starting to feel overwhelming. And not in a good sense, overwhelming to the point of not caring.
 
I think the War of the Best arc, which I put Amazon Lily, Impel Down, Marineford all in one giant arc, is the best arc of the series.

My question is where the fuck is Coby? He's supposed to be Luffy's Garp and he's AWOL.
 
Yeah that's Smoker story-wise.

Unless Coby gets some more plot development soon then he's just going to be a really powerful marine in the end, probably one of the leaders in the post-WG marine force.
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Unless Coby gets some more plot development soon then he's just going to be a really powerful marine in the end, probably one of the leaders in the post-WG marine force.

Coby's never gonna be worth a damn vs Luffy and his crew, considering how thoroughly he was curbstomped at Water 7. However much he may grow, Luffy will just keep growing alongside him. He's definitely gonna need to be paired up against some other adversary to prove his worth somehow.
 
Coby's never gonna be worth a damn vs Luffy and his crew, considering how thoroughly he was curbstomped at Water 7. However much he may grow, Luffy will just keep growing alongside him. He's definitely gonna need to be paired up against some other adversary to prove his worth somehow.

Yeah exactly. He's only been in the story like, two times? I really don't see the point of him doing much until the very end of until after the final battle.

Oda is carefully setting up Coby, Smoker, and Fujitora as anti-WG but out of these it's Smoker who has the greatest parallel to Luffy.
 

Metal B

Member
Yeah that's Smoker story-wise.

Unless Coby gets some more plot development soon then he's just going to be a really powerful marine in the end, probably one of the leaders in the post-WG marine force.
Cody will be "King of the Marines" similar, how Luffy will be the Pirate King. Would be wired, if the first character he befriends on his adventure doesn't share the same destiny with him, especially after the similar development both have (Conquer Haki, trained by a veteran and on a similar level to Roger, left a big impression at the Marineford war, etc.).
I think, he will be leading a military push of the Marines against the World Government . He clearly doesn't like their politics and wants them to have a nobler goal. The Marines are not meant to be a clear antagonistic organization, but just can't life up to their ideals. Cody will try to change that.

The question is, what event will trigger Cody to take actions.
 
Coby will never be on Luffy's level, but he'll clearly be important.

He'll probably lead a more tangible change in the world of One Piece than Luffy.
 
Idk..it's not like luffy is sitting on his ass tho. Would you guys be ok with coby ever being on luffys level

It's not like Coby sits on his ass either. Dude works hard and has a good heart.

I'd be fine Coby being just about on par with Luffy but still not to the point where he can best him. A rival who is of Luffy's equal who almost wins buts never does.
I'm surprised at the reactions here to Coby when Luffy flat out says they'll be rivals someday and he wasn't talking about Marineford.

Also two friends who become enemies through their affiliations and different dreams is infinitely more interesting than Smoker's story and I happen to actually like Smoker. Coby is more interesting and the story has set him up as Luffy's end game rival.
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Coby can be a fine counterpart to Luffy just as a guy trying his best to live his dream. He'll never be in the same universe as Luffy when it comes to fighting ability, but his worth will likely be in a realm distinct from outright combat, given his haki awakening and how he contributed to the paramount war.
 
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