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One Piece Thread (redux)

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
28spox0.gif
Warning: New Opening Incoming (low quality) (high quality)
28spox0.gif


The Funimation sub in 20 minutes should have a much better quality version of it, thankfully
 
It's not that bad, but definitely not as epic. It might be better if you watch a higher quality one. Also, this one sounds like it'd be better for an ending theme. It feels so weird to watch a show that doesn't have an ending theme...
 

Azure J

Member
Himuro said:
It truly is. It's probably even worse than the We Are Remix op.

But I liked that one... D:

Also, this one was absolutely bad... Until out of fucking nowhere, 1:30 in and everything was redeemed. Even the song started becoming bearable because of how they pulled last minute off.
 

LaneDS

Member
Yikes at that new opening song. Pretty awful.

Animation is indeed very cool towards the end, but otherwise, blech.
 

Entropia

No One Remembers
The 2nd half of the opening was good because it showed actual content.

(WTF Ivanka has blue hair??)


But uh, the song just doesn't have that adventurous feeling previous OP songs have had. :|
 

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
New Opening (high quality)

The song itself wasn't bad, however it felt rather inappropriate for One Piece, and particularly, the 2nd half of the opening. But the animation itself is pretty good. Its far from the best opening we've had but its certainly not the worst either. Sadly, I don't think the crappy song situation we've had recently is going to change anytime soon as the songs are likely choosen by Toei executives who are thinking more about cross promotion and advertising than the songs' appropriateness to the product.


The episode itself was pretty good. Good pacing, interesting story, funny interactions, and best yet, the filler girl isn't 100% annoying for once! (though I fear she's going to start showing Nami clone syndrome....). The only real problem is that the episode's purpose is to hype up a movie that most of us won't get to see for 6+ months :lol
 
neoanarch said:
The last few OPs have been pretty bad. Its probably because they have to be 3-4 minutes instead of the usual 1:30.

This I can't agree with.

Share the World is awesome no matter how many times I hear it. I also liked Jungle P as well, even though a lot of people don't.

Like I said, I think this song works better as an ending theme instead. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. It's not THAT bad, but it definitely doesn't compare to most of One Piece's OPs.
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
AzureJericho said:
Wow, I completely agree. Also, the original "We Are!" goes in the best pile as well. It has this weird 80s - 90s opening vibe that just gets me every time the intro plays before the song.
We Are for me was one of those that grew over me over time. I also like the remix of it, though I see not everyone is a fan of the remix. :lol
 

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
Junpei Heat said:
Can't believe they changed the intro again so soon, I don't think we'll ever get another "Believe".
I don't think opening is going to last all that long either. It'll probably only last until all the manga scenes it hints at are shown. So June-ish I guess?

Entropia said:
Ugh, is next weeks episode for the movie too?
Yep, and the next one after that, and the one after that.
Flying_Phoenix said:
Are there any other One Piece movies that are "cannon"?
Nope. The rest of the movies range from pointless filler, crap, alternative retellings and one that's not even possible chronologically. That's okay though as there is only 1, maybe 2, movies that "deserve" to be even considered as canon (in fact, Movie 6 is probably "too good" to be considered a One Piece film).
 

Entropia

No One Remembers
Seriously? More of this stuff? Ugh...

Edit: on the topic of openings, don't you wish they brought back ending themes? :\
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
Entropia said:
Seriously? More of this stuff? Ugh...

Edit: on the topic of openings, don't you wish they brought back ending themes? :\
Seriously bummed about more filler. :/

As for openings, well it's expected when you have such long opening themes. Then pre-intro(Grand Age of Pirates, etc), then starting intro(adventure time), then recap of the current situation(did you forget last week?). x_X
 

Entropia

No One Remembers
Yeah, I know. I didn't like the Gold Roger bit and then the Straw Hat Pirates bit. Should be:
Opening Theme -> 20-45 sec recap -> Episode -> Next Episode Preview -> Ending Theme


I *hated* the cold openings they did around Water 7
 

Plywood

NeoGAF's smiling token!
I like the Gold Roger bit, it sets up the feel for the Grand Age, but it could probably be shortened down, but then again everything should be. Especially recaps and "what adventure awaits us next?" should just be cut.
grandjedi6 said:
I think the most disappointing thing about the new opening is that, even from the snippet we've heard, the upcoming movie has the far stronger theme music (0:41-1:30). It makes me wish the anime would have just used that for the new opening instead.
I agree completely.
 

Azure J

Member
grandjedi6 said:
I think the most disappointing thing about the new opening is that, even from the snippet we've heard, the upcoming movie has the far stronger theme music (0:41-1:30). It makes me wish the anime would have just used that for the new opening instead.

Hell, even fan openings got it down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDySMWzUwm8

The ending of that fan opening is pretty kick ass. I've always loved the bounties in One Piece and using it in that way was pretty interesting. As for your other point, I agree as well. The problem with the opening really just seems as though the first minute and a half should have been an ending and the stuff we saw more towards the middle and end should have been used with a stronger song to set the tone. After all, we're dealing with impending war, a prison break and the possible death of many prominent characters in the OPverse. Picnics and shit just don't cut it, no matter how much one wants to stress the lighthearted aspects of One Piece.
 

LaneDS

Member
I really do hope the production quality bounces back up. Something just looks totally off about all of the recent episodes. Looks really soulless to me... even the very first episodes (which look very goofy these days) had a lot more charm to them than what we're getting now.

Since the look of the series has steadily changed over time, I have hope that someone capable is in charge of the anime and will get things back on track.

That said, does anyone have ratings info for the series? I'm curious how it's done over it's lifespan, and if ratings and budget have something to do with my current gripes about the show's look.
 

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
LaneDS said:
I really do hope the production quality bounces back up. Something just looks totally off about all of the recent episodes. Looks really soulless to me... even the very first episodes (which look very goofy these days) had a lot more charm to them than what we're getting now.

Since the look of the series has steadily changed over time, I have hope that someone capable is in charge of the anime and will get things back on track.

That said, does anyone have ratings info for the series? I'm curious how it's done over it's lifespan, and if ratings and budget have something to do with my current gripes about the show's look.
One Piece has a rotating cycle of animators, some are better than others, each has their own style. If you were to list which episodes specifically that you feel look off and soulless, I probably could figure out which animator is responsible for it.

As for the ratings....
http://www.kaizoku-fansubs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-11-10/japan-animation-tv-ranking-october-26-november-1

So yeah, One Piece does fantastic in the ratings. In fact, the series has only left the Top 10 anime twice in its entire 10+ years run.

RagnarokX said:
I so wish you weren't wrong. :(
What was wrong with the episode?
 
For the new opening, I'm not a fan of the song but I always like the scenes that just show the crew doing whatever. I liked the current opening as well because of that but this one is definitely not one of their high moments.

grandjedi6 said:
One Piece has a rotating cycle of animators, some are better than others, each has their own style. If you were to list which episodes specifically that you feel look off and soulless, I probably could figure out which animator is responsible for it.

I don't know if it's the same for the other poster but for me it seems to have changed all together after Enies Lobby. It's like they aren't afraid to get disproportionate body parts now. I'll get a few comparison pics in a second.

Edit: For example, these are from older episodes...

fyj2mb.jpg

5zm6xg.jpg

2hq3u3b.jpg

2hxvltj.jpg


and recently...

nz5bgo.jpg

1581ncl.jpg

3009ug3.jpg

14kxqpe.jpg

2zjfjt2.jpg
 

Anth0ny

Member
Greg over at Arlong Park said it best:

Guys, guys, guys.

Take a step back.

Take a deep breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth.

Okay.

Now enough with the, "This song is meh.", or, "The song isn't that great."

Let's all just admit it.

IT'S SHIT

I'm not kidding, I was constipated for four days and I just shat out an enormous pile of fecal matter that was more inviting than that song.

There is a fucking war and they bring Whitebeard out to....

"Setting out on an adventure! So I can meet some new people!"

WHAT THE FUCK?!

I don't care that it sounds like some PuriKyua~ shit, just the fact that it doesn't come nearly close to matching an arc about HELL followed by an arc about WAR.

Holy shit on a toothpick!

It's November right???? Nowhere near April right???

The song is fucking horrible. Not only is it by far the worst One Piece OP, but probably one of the worst anime OPs I've ever heard. COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY UNFITTING OF THE EVENTS THAT ARE TO COME. How stupid did it sound when we saw the clips of Marineford in the animation?

They better change it soon.

As for best One Piece OPs, I've gotta go with "We Are!". "Hikari E" and "Kokoro no Chizu" are awesome as well.
 

ZoddGutts

Member
Yikes at the new OP feels so out of place, something you would hear in some romance comedy anime series but not for a series like One Piece.
 

BobLoblaw

Banned
Yeah. Definitely my least favorite OP opening ever. The only thing that saves it from being the worse opening to anything ever is the second half of it.
 
BobLoblaw said:
Yeah. Definitely my least favorite OP opening ever. The only thing that saves it from being the worse opening to anything ever is the second half of it.

Same here. I know some people compare it to Crazy Rainbow Star, except I actually LIKED that OP. This is just MEH. I didn't care much for Jungle P, but I have to admit it had its catchy moments.

In a way, it really reminds me of one of the ENDING THEMES from older episodes. I don't think people would complain NEARLY as much if this were an ending theme, Animation and all.

As for the episode itself. Interesting, but it sucks we're getting another "Filler Child" Is it the same girl you see in the latest Movie 10 trailer? Kinda looks like it...
 

Dartastic

Member
It's not even just that the song is bad. It just feels weird... "there you are my love, waiting in front of me." ...and it pans from a shot of Ace to Luffy. :lol
 

Entropia

No One Remembers
Dartastic said:
It's not even just that the song is bad. It just feels weird... "there you are my love, waiting in front of me." ...and it pans from a shot of Ace to Luffy. :lol

After listening to it a few times, without knowing what the translated lyrics are it's not that bad. :lol

Some of the ending themes were really weird, like the last two I think. Talk about depressing.

Good Ending Themes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Q7Ru7-29w (A to Z, ending 11)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42bQnQVkKz4 (Watashi no iru yo, ending 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hccHZ2-KiY (Faith, ending 10)
 

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
VGChampion said:
I don't know if it's the same for the other poster but for me it seems to have changed all together after Enies Lobby. It's like they aren't afraid to get disproportionate body parts now. I'll get a few comparison pics in a second.

Edit: For example, these are from older episodes...

http://i34.tinypic.com/fyj2mb.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/5zm6xg.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/2hq3u3b.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/2hxvltj.jpg[IMG]

and recently...

[IMG]http://i36.tinypic.com/nz5bgo.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/1581ncl.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/3009ug3.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i34.tinypic.com/14kxqpe.jpg[IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/2zjfjt2.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Well ignoring the couple of obvious crappy Amazon lily group shot, what you posted are merely stylistic differences. There are alot of people working on One Piece and it can lead to [URL="http://i33.tinypic.com/10xqy41.jpg"]some very different looks depending on the animator[/URL]. In particular, with the expection of the forementioned crappy Amazon lily shot and the Nami shot (which I'm not sure what's wrong with it), all of your recent pics are by Naoki Tate, who's regarded as one of the best animators for One Piece. Even he ties in coming the closest to the manga's original art:

[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/2z8d8ix.jpg
1o4mjp.jpg


Now Tate is regarded for his animation skills, everything he does is very fluid. However do to his style if you were to say, screencap, his animation it would look very odd as you've shown. But when you view his work in motion...

2lj29va.gif
33ku7fa.gif
2uggc51.gif
xmo9s2.gif


And no, this is nothing new. The guy has been doing One Piece episodes since Alabasta. You just haven't been paying attention until now :p
 
Wasn't it pretty much Hosoda coming on board for Movie 6 that sorta jump-started this change in style? I remember coming across an interview with him, it was in Japanese, and from what I could make out he worked with the animators for the G8 arc and after Movie 6, the animators would sprinkle in Movie 6-like scenes ever since.
 
grandjedi6 said:
And no, this is nothing new. The guy has been doing One Piece episodes since Alabasta. You just haven't been paying attention until now :p

Yeah, possibly. :lol

I realized taking screen caps does make them look worse than it actually is in motion but I think for me it's mainly the whole Amazon Lily arc with the side characters stories that rubbed me the wrong way. Especially since Sabaody Archipelago looked awesome and Impel Down is looking good so far.
 

atomsk

Party Pooper
didn't get a chance to watch this until this morning, but i was reading the thread thinking "typical gaf over exaggerating"

but holy shit this is awful. if i listened to it not knowing where it was from i'd think it was the theme for another generic harem show.

I AM DISAPPOINT
 

smurfx

get some go again
Entropia said:
After listening to it a few times, without knowing what the translated lyrics are it's not that bad. :lol

Some of the ending themes were really weird, like the last two I think. Talk about depressing.

Good Ending Themes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67Q7Ru7-29w (A to Z, ending 11)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42bQnQVkKz4 (Watashi no iru yo, ending 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hccHZ2-KiY (Faith, ending 10)
you forgot the best one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAXprTRHSus
 

LaneDS

Member
Hah, VGChampion, that one shot of Luffy from Amazon Lily where his hat looked ridiculous was the first thing that came to mind when I was thinking of examples for the show looking off.

And grandjedi6, thanks for the replies about the ratings and what not. I had considered the look of the show more closely resembling the manga, which your post seems to suggest that's what they're going for.

But really, so long as the ratings stay high, my confidence remains they'll keep talented folk on staff and keep me from worrying about the show's quality in the long run.
 
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