Every year is sanjis yearYear of Sanji overtime.
It's just a manga to me, so I could really go either way on it. I just don't get trying to read so much into, from both sides of any argument ever in here, what's meant to be a simple comic written by a guy that has a pretty obvious set of world views that haven't changed for 20 years.
Though I will say, you shouldn't break away from antagonism when you've basically admitted you enjoy antagonizing people here. Dish it out and take it, it's a good way to be.
As for how you in particular read the manga...idk, in some ways, I wish I had your attitude towards it. I have that attitude toward music. It's the only art form I don't try to analyze or look into. I just listen to it and if I like it, cool, if I don't, eh. I don't try to figure out why.
I am pathologically incapable of this terms of stories though. I just can't not look into stuff.
That's kind of incredible, considering how many people are specifically trying to get their agenda across with their music. Seems like it'd be the perfect thing for you to really scrutinize.
As far as stories, I can see it with a book, or even a manga that's attempting to be serious, but anything that leans hard into the whole "power of my loyalty to my friends lets us overcome the odds like a whole crew of John Cenas" thing is hard to take seriously, which is like 90% of all shonen ever. For me that would be on-par into looking toward something like Garfield for good social commentary, and I don't want to dig that hard when it's not *really* there.
But I'm not looking for social commentary. I'm just looking for good storytelling. Even the discussion on Social commentary last page was framed in "how does this tell a better story." Stuff like analyzing character development is very much in the wheelhouse of manga, comics, tv shows, movies....I mean, I don't think it's that out there to analyze the storytelling of a story, whether it has a social message or not.
If there's anything I would've thought we could all agree on, it's that the Straw Hats experience 100% of their character development in their introductory arc (we barely know Robin at first, I consider Water 7 to be an extended version of her introduction), and then are locked into an archetype that they stay in literally forever.
Sanji seems like he might be the first Straw Hat to buck the trend, depending on what happens in the rest of this arc. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him come out the back end fundamentally unchanged.
Let me help you out this may seem like an asshole thing to say aloud but at least it'll lower these posts as well as make you feel better in the thread(like me)
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If there's anything I would've thought we could all agree on, it's that the Straw Hats experience 100% of their character development in their introductory arc (we barely know Robin at first, I consider Water 7 to be an extended version of her introduction), and then are locked into an archetype that they stay in literally forever.
Sanji seems like he might be the first Straw Hat to buck the trend, depending on what happens in the rest of this arc. But I wouldn't be surprised to see him come out the back end fundamentally unchanged.
It's not out there, but expecting an author's content to suddenly change after decades of it not? Everyone is capable of looking at anything and coming up with a way that they would make it better if they were in charge, but at some point, you kinda either accept what something is, or you move on.
I think I mentioned it before in here, but I spent years watching wrestling and constantly bemoaning the storylines because they could be so much better and why don't they do this or that, etc. Then I realized one day, I'd been saying that it could be better for almost 20 years. And it could be better, but it isn't GOING to be, so I just quit paying attention. Some people look at that as giving up on something, but I look at it more as prioritizing and going "this thing is bullshit and I already have enough of that in my life."
Now I'm free to go pick something else apart, but really, I think I got it out of my system once I was done with wrestling. Maybe One Piece is your wrestling. :shrug:
Fun fact I wasn't in this thread for alil over a month or two it took two posters asking me like to Sanji wats up dude why you not in the thread to come back. It's just so much easier to just ignore the conversation on your own or use that beautiful ignore function neogaf has. You wanna talk about something else start a combo I'm game I'll engage yaMan feels like almost every week that this guy has a mission in this thread. Women could be a bit more independed in One Piece here and there, but it's nothing like other Manga.
Just feels like that I see these massive posts from him since over a year..why bother with the offical thread if you could get more meaningful opinions with a thread on it's own? lol
Fun fact I wasn't in this thread for alil over a month or two it took two posters asking me like to Sanji wats up dude why you not in the thread to come back. It's just so much easier to just ignore the conversation on your own or use that beautiful ignore function neogaf has. You wanna talk about something else start a combo I'm game I'll engage ya
I just like talking about stories, man. I don't see that ever going away.
And that is a bad thing? I am grateful that the Straw Hats even get good backstories at all and that One Piece takes it time for them.
People that want them to transform/change over the course of the manga (and many of them did in their core after the timeskip) are reading the wrong genre. Kids identify with the One Piece characters and I guess people sometimes forget that One Piece is a Shounen manga.
Tell that to the Pokemon companyI didn't actually say it was a good thing or bad thing. But... yeah, it's not a GREAT thing. I don't think we need to treat kids like idiots, they can handle character development. Even appreciate it. I know the "lol it's shounen" argument is thrown around here constantly, but kids aren't as stupid as ya'll like to pretend they are.
It will. Things change, people change. One day you'll be like, "wait. this was trash all along, I could've used my time eating more nachos" or something.
It's glorious over here, I promise.
I didn't actually say it was a good thing or bad thing. But... yeah, it's not a GREAT thing. I don't think we need to treat kids like idiots, they can handle character development. Even appreciate it. I know the "lol it's shounen" argument is thrown around here constantly, but kids aren't as stupid as ya'll like to pretend they are.
I....hope not.
Stories kind of give me life. Like, maybe not one piece in particular, but general stories....FMA, ASoIaF, Kingkiller Chronicles, Gentlemen Bastards, Dresden Files, Star Wars...so many more....
No way. I'm holding onto them as tightly as I can.
I mean, if you want to make THAT comparison, then the case speaks for itself. Zuko's literal world view changed. His life goal changed. How he perceives the world has changed. How he acts has changed. And this change has altered the entire direction of the storyline.
That is a good example of what I consider substantial and meaningful character development. Zuko of episode 1 is angry raving asshole, wants to capture the avatar, holds to the ideals of a violent genocidal nation. By the end, he is an awkward but friendly dude who works with the avatar tp bring down the empire and holds to peaceful ideals. He's a completely different person and the story literally couldn't not have turned out the way it did without him going through that change.
I'm not trying to reduce Nami's character development, but I just don't see that kind of change with Nami. She doesn't seem a different person before Hachi in Saobody and after at all. The only difference is that she holds Hachi in higher regard, and.....and what? What does this change? How is her personality different? Why is this important? How is Nami or the rest of the OP world different for Nami having forgiven Hachi? What did she do that she wouldn't have done if she had continued to resent Hachi?
If we're comparing it to other shonen, then Winry from FMA goes through a similar process of having to forgive someone whose hurt her in the past (Scar). Difference being is that Winry has expressed specific hatred for this person before (so there is a set up, while I don't recall Nami really hating fishmen or Hachi in particular, just Arlong) and then it had actual impact on the story because Winry was willing to participate in a plan that she wouldn't have been able to if she hadn't forgiven Scar, which had significant impact on how the story progressed
I just don't see this where the idea that this is some high, lofty, unreachable standard here. I mean, I don't even Winry's character development in that part is mindblowing or anything, but it fulfills the basic criteria of being a meaningful change by 1. showing actually changing the characters position from where it used to be and 2. having that change impact the course of the story. I don't think this is too much to ask for.
I don't really remember a time where she didn't see beyond race. She only ever hated Arlong. I've read the manga twice, and if there was ever a sign that Nami hated fishmen in general, I've missed it. I mean, even when Hachi showed up, she felt like she was more leery of him being there, but it's not like she was demanding he leave or anything.
Can you point me to a decision she made or an event that happened because she couldn't see beyond race before?
I'm asking what her laying off Hachi signified and what were the consquences were. That's not focusing the subject on Hachi.
So the argument here is that Nami wouldn't have saved Hachi if she hadn't forgiven him there? That's the change that happened?
Eh...I don't know. Nami is kind of a bleeding heart. Maybe she wouldn't have, but I also wouldn't have questioned her saving him even if her forgiving him didn't happen. Similarly 'confronting fishmen as a minority' is just a weird thing to cite as a change when she never demonstrated a racist bone in her body.
As far as I can tell, you're argument is that Nami may not have done things we don't really have reason to believe she wouldn't do anyway if not for her interaction and forgiveness with Hachi. And the only real narrative course of events is that Hachi would have died (which itself is hard to believe since OP characters are like cockroaches), and....honestly, I just am not seeing how this would have affected the story. Like, okay, lets say Hachi did die and Nami was still against Fishmen.
The only conceivable significant change I can imagine is that Jinbei would have been more reluctant to join if she hadn't forgiven him? Maybe? Because he might not want to join a crew knowing someone in it resented him? But even then, I don't know, he may have just bitten the bullet regarding it. And since it's not like Nami hated fishmen on principle, it feels like they would have patched things up between themselves.
So, in the most optimistic light possible, we can only hypothesize about things that might have gone differently, maybe. That's pretty weak in comparison to examples where we KNOW would have gone differently and had major impact on the way things played out like in the case of Winry and Zuko.
The point is that there OP's character development is paltry. And with Nami having been around since the start, 850 chapters with barely any character development is kind of a low ratio. I'm saying if this is the best shonen has to offer on character development...that's pathetic to the point I have difficulty believing. And I do think citing comparisons, even outside the medium, is a valid way of demonstrating that.
Honestly, I don't see what genre/medium has to do with it, really. Character development is kind of a universal tool that stories of all sorts engage with. I don't see it as an excuse when you immediately have substantial character development with MHA in the first two chapters where the main character goes from wimp who can't stand up to himself to someone more confident in his abilities.
And you know what, the lack of character development over the period of time it's been published is a criticism I have of the series, but it's not even about that anymore. It's just the insistence that Nami and Robin (or, I'd argue, any straw hat character) has changed in any substantial way that I find to be baffling. One Piece is a story with some of the most static main characters I've ever read about, even if we only limit that to manga. Fuck, even Naruto...which I'll happily admit is a far, FAR inferior manga to One Piece....has it's characters be more dynamic as the story develops. It's poorly written, so it doesn't help it, but "Nami and Robin have the most character development in shonen" just seems factually incorrect when that piece of shit character Sasuke exists, who changes his world views, alliances, goals, and personality like 3 times through his manga.
Well, what can I say, you have to have a breaking point somewhere. Even I don't like these discussions to go on forever. But don't get how people can become as vitriolic as they do in discussing this. Like, even if you disagree with me completely or feel I'm making bad arguments, you could still just talk to me like a normal person. I usually break away when shit gets outright antagonistic, which it seems to be on the precipice of doing now.
"Nami and Robin have the most character development in shonen"
I'm still salty about Usopp showing up post-timeskip all "aw yeah I'm a badass now" and then he's been a complete piece of shit coward in every arc since, totally unchanged from his pre-timeskip self.
I didn't actually say it was a good thing or bad thing. But... yeah, it's not a GREAT thing. I don't think we need to treat kids like idiots, they can handle character development. Even appreciate it. I know the "lol it's shounen" argument is thrown around here constantly, but kids aren't as stupid as ya'll like to pretend they are.
It feels kind of unbelievable to me has is a discussion point that has to be had when the last chapter of MHA is literally all about Bakugou developing his relationship with Midoriya and All Might further. He's still a work in progress, but he's already made changes to how he was in his introductory arc. I don't read a lot of manga to consider myself super knowledgable, but this stuff DOES happen.
What about Merium from Hunter x Hunter. That's one of the biggest and most unique examples of character development I've seen anywhere. Is HxH not shonen? did kids heads explode from uncomprehension at witnessing his character arc?
I'm still salty about Usopp showing up post-timeskip all "aw yeah I'm a badass now" and then he's been a complete piece of shit coward in every arc since, totally unchanged from his pre-timeskip self.
But I'm not looking for social commentary. I'm just looking for good storytelling. Even the discussion on Social commentary last page was framed in "how does this tell a better story." Stuff like analyzing character development is very much in the wheelhouse of manga, comics, tv shows, movies....I mean, I don't think it's that out there to analyze the storytelling of a story, whether it has a social message or not.
I'm still salty about Usopp showing up post-timeskip all "aw yeah I'm a badass now" and then he's been a complete piece of shit coward in every arc since, totally unchanged from his pre-timeskip self.
And? It's not about that kids won't get complicated stories, but rather that kids identify themselves with their heroes. And the Shounen argument is valid, because One Piece is Shounen and Shounen is for kids.
Let me preface this by saying I have no problem with you (only saying this because the word antagonize is being thrown around). If I did, I'd have put you on an ignore list long ago...we can agree on things and disagree on things which is totally fine to me. Engaging in dialogue will only help you grow as a person.
That being said, you do seem incapable of admitting that this was not the discussion I (I think it was me) originally initiated. Full stop, I made the argument that Nami and Robin and wholly better than most Shounen girls you're gonna find in terms of character development. You can disagree with me that their character development sucks, and that's fine, but that is not the point of the discussion. They HAVE character development, and it's a lot more substantial than many shounens. I don't really care what comparisons or books or other genres you bring up. That wasn't the discussion. Again, this is about shounen females. On that note, thanks for bringing up Sasuke (not a female) and Winry so I can continue.
As for your points about Nami, you make a great comparison to Winry. Whereas I would disagree and say Nami's change of thinking doesn't have to change the plot in a drastic way in comparison. Chapter 500 is where Nami is told that the once mighty fishmen she feared for so long are auctioned off like slaves. You can see the emotion in her face, culminating in her desire to save Hachi and Camie by coming up with a plan to buy Camie and gtfo. This sets up Fishman island, an arc revolving around forgiveness, where Jinbei is forgiven by Nami for what happened with Arlong. Ultimately, it character development is more about putting characters in situations that contradict or challenge their way of thinking, and the result is not always massive in terms of what actually happens in the story (which is where you seem to disagree). You can see how this sort of experience has shaped Nami's character in both Punk Hazard and Zou where she selfishly saves the Children and Minks respectively. Could Nami have claimed to be this all righteous saviour of everyone towards the end of the series without every being confronted about her hatred of fishmen? Probably not.
Robin and Nami are far from static. I can't understand how you can't see that. Comparing their introductions to where they are now is incredible.
The difference between you and other posters is that you haven't accepted those rules. Yet you force yourself to read it. You are basically doing headbutts against a wall and complaining because it hurts. But you keep hitting the wall with your head because science.
I mean, I feel this is an unreasonable standard by which to discuss the manga.
Answer me this: when has ever any one single person on the internet complaining about something caused the artist to change it? If it has happened, I can't think of any example.
If I was writing all that I was writing with the expectations of it changing, I'd atleast be printing these things out and mailing them directly to Oda. Then atleast he'd have a chance of seeing them.
I don't expect one piece to change, but I don't see that as a reason not to talk about it.
And I'm not trying to tell you to not read One Piece. It's your time, spend it however you want. I would sure have dropped the series ages ago if I were you.
And I'm not trying to tell you to not read One Piece. It's your time, spend it however you want. I would sure have dropped the series ages ago if I were you.
Character development is unnecessary to telling a good story. This is not some far-fetched attempt at standing up for One Piece. Many, many, many many stories revolve around characters who are relatively static. What a character is supposed to do is desire something and to be characterized in such a way that makes the actions they take to achieve them believable. A story is supposed to get in the way of them getting it. That's how we know who a character really is. A story must have an arc where things happen and progress.
I was going to argue something of similar effect. I've always felt characterization and memorable interactions/moments were more important than character development per se. While it's always nice to have all those things combined, there's nothing inherently compelling about character X going from A to B if the moments in between aren't well executed and the character himself isn't interesting. It's why I'm skeptical of certain character archetypes within anime (and by extention some japanese games) that seems manufactured to go through a very obvious and ultimately uncompelling character arc just so we can have development for the sake of it (which, in a lot of cases, feels more like the character became an entirely different person than a natural progression of themselves).
I also don't agree with measuring good character development by how different the character is at certain points in the story. Sasuke does change a lot within Naruto's narrative but I wouldn't call his development particularly nuanced or well executed.
Battle Shounen is, which is characterised by the Action adventure genres. One piece actually has some id the oldest group of protagonists you'll find in a Shounen manga, which plays a great deal into it's popularity with all ages. It's analogous to Superhero comics with it's more adult set of protagonists right from the start than the average Shounen manga.Shonen isn't a genre, it's a demographic.
Fair enough, I may have misread the tone of your earlier posts then.
Well, like I said, I don't read as many shonens, so I can't say anything definitive regarding it's landscape. But idk, it just seems impossible to me that no one (or few people) had more dynamic characters than OP did. That just seems statistically impossible, because I view Nami and Robin's character development as pretty meager. Other shonens have to have better character development. They just had to. It's unbelievable to me that 'most shonen female' would be written this statically.
And to clarify, I feel like the reason we are mainly talking about this in terms of Shonen females is because it sprouted from a discussion of Ochako and Nami, but this is one thing that I don't feel is a "One Piece Female" problem. None of the main cast has had significant character development. Which is why I don't see a reason not to compare it to male characters.
This is just kind of a wierd argument because you start off by saying her development doesn't have to affect the plot in a major way, while then going on to argue that she couldn't be the savior of everyone in future arcs if she had not been confronted about her regard of fishmen. Because not saving the Minks would have radically changed the outcome of the Zou arc, and as would have Nami not saving the kids. If she choose to do those things as a result of her regard of Fishment, then she affected the plot. So Nami either affects the plot or she doesn't, make your pick.
But no, I totally disagree with your reading of how Nami acts through the story. Yeah, we get close ups of her face, but since her thoughts aren't made explicit, you could read that in any number of ways, like Hachi's presence reminding her of arlong, her wondering if Hachi has some trick up his sleeve, or just straight up discomfort without actually being around a former arlong pirate, or....shit, anything. It's clear that she didn't have as immediate positive regard for him, but that's not evidence of hatred. That's the problem with not being explicit, you can infer what you want. For myself, I am not convinced at all that Nami had any hatred of fishmen in the first place, nor do I really see how her forgiving fishmen translates to her wanting to save children or minks, two entirely different things from fishmen. The fact that Nami has been exhaustively compassionate from the beginning of the series (risking her cover with arlong to try and make sure Usopp survives her stabbing him), no it's not a big leap at all that she'd want to save the kids and minks. You might have more of a case arguing that her actions on fishmen island further cemented her desire to be kind to people, but I don't believe that she'd leave the kids at all if not for that.
So, to buy that Nami had character development, you're asking me to see how she moved on from a characteristic you can't definitively prove she had, which resulted in actions I have no reason to believe she wouldn't have taken anyway. I don't see that as incredible at all.
My two cents: You come across as insufferable (no offence meant) because, while you claim that a lot of people complain on the internet, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who actually comes back to something they dislike again and again with such elaborate posts. No one expects anyone to affect the way an author writes with what they post online, which makes your mannerisms even more curious. I'm pretty sure a while back we established that you just like arguing with people, which I'm going to go with given it's not really the story that's keeping you here. Otherwise, you do enjoy the manga and just pretend not to?I mean, I feel this is an unreasonable standard by which to discuss the manga.
Answer me this: when has ever any one single person on the internet complaining about something caused the artist to change it? If it has happened, I can't think of any example.
If I was writing all that I was writing with the expectations of it changing, I'd atleast be printing these things out and mailing them directly to Oda. Then atleast he'd have a chance of seeing them.
I don't expect one piece to change, but I don't see that as a reason not to talk about it.
On paper, but it kind of is. You could make the argument that it's a sub-genre I think.Shonen isn't a genre, it's a demographic.
Nice chapter
I'm happy to have Jimbei back in action.
Would be hilarious if Sanji's sister is also tricking him and the bracelets are real, but that would be just too much for one guy lol
I hope rubber people grow back teeth
Not even God-Sopp made me forgive Oda for that.
Reiju is playing the longest game of all. She's been manipulating Sanji since he was a little kid just waiting for the perfect time to twist the knife. Believe.
Sure. Forgoing this discussion, I'd sort of agree with you. I think what the basis of our disagreement here is that you think character development needs to be a showy, impactful thing that is explicitly made to the reader. I don't think it has to be. Luffy saying "I can't be Pirate King without you" to Sanji shows me that he's grown, slightly, from being the classic charge ahead and fuck all my problems main character. The difference is that he's that, plus introspective. Do we get an explicit flashback or scene of him relating this revelation to someone or himself? No. Is it still character development? Yes.
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not you. If I am, and you think these small instances suck for even being small instances, then I believe that's just you "disliking" One Piece for reasons I've never really been able to comprehend given your activity in this thread. All in all, we seem to disagree on a difference between character and plot development.
That's not changing the plot in any major way. Nami didn't save anyone alone, but her resolve definitely helped somewhat. What I mean to say is that Nami isn't impacting the way the plot turns to a huge degree by having these views, but we get to see her character as a result. It was also not Nami's sole choice to save the Minks. We have other crewmembers that also happen to be nice people too. And so, Nami can or can not affect the plot, but it doesn't always equate to character development. Make sense?
It doesn't have to be explicit. The way Oda draws Nami's facial expressions, how she's positioned, and the blatant "..." shows she's reflecting. And we can only assume she isn't thinking about cats and bunnies but the actual topic at hand and how it relates to her experiences.
Further to this, Nami is compassionate (as you note). The difference from what happened at Arlong Park is that Nami was semi-attached to Usopp and saved him. She had no attachment to these kids, to the minks, and especially to any fishmen after what happened. That's the whole point, it's a progression. If you seriously think Nami at the beginning of this series would give a flying fuck about either of these people then I don't know what to tell you and can only surmise that you haven't been paying attention.
Read above, yo. And we haven't even gotten to Robin, who is incredibly more pronounced than Nami in my opinion.
My two cents: You come across as insufferable (no offence meant) because, while you claim that a lot of people complain on the internet, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who actually comes back to something they dislike again and again with such elaborate posts. No one expects anyone to affect the way an author writes with what they post online, which makes your mannerisms even more curious. I'm pretty sure a while back we established that you just like arguing with people, which I'm going to go with given it's not really the story that's keeping you here. Otherwise, you do enjoy the manga and just pretend not to?
Why is it that whenever I'm away from this thread the weirdest shit happens?
Why is there Fairy Tail in my One Piece thread? 😤
Finished MHA anime, I liked this start, i think i will start reading the manga tomorrow.
Does anyone know when the second season starts?
You know, I never did get my question answered about why everything was on fire in the opening of the chapter.
Edit: nevermind, just went back and looked again. Jinbe explains it. I thought it was a fire attack or something.
I'm still salty about Usopp showing up post-timeskip all "aw yeah I'm a badass now" and then he's been a complete piece of shit coward in every arc since, totally unchanged from his pre-timeskip self.
Best coloring of Pudding yet.
The queen!Agreed.
The queen!