One Piece

I think he always planned for him to be a prince, considering he's all about chivalry (much like Zoro was probably always planned to be connected to Wano)and called himself Mr. Prince.

Now, his family being nazi power rangers and him having color coded siblings might have added later. But at least the base of him being rejected for being too weak feels to me like it was going to be there since the beginning.

Edited by WashTheLaundryHero on Feb 19th 2020 at 10:27:04 AM

... who says Zoro is connected to Wano? I haven't seen any evidence of that yet.

Outside of his swords coming from there that is. Or is there something I'm forgetting?

There's a theory that his master is from Wano.

Oh right. I've had that thought myself actually. It does make sense.

I wonder when we'll get around to exploring Brook's extended backstory. He was a soldier for a certain country before joining the Rumbar Pirates, just have the crew go to that country.

Isn't the theory that Denjiro of the Nine Red Scabbards is actually Koushirou - Zoro's master and Kuina's dad? I think the timelines match up well enough for it to be a possibility, and it would explain how he had the Wado Ichimonji to give to Zoro.

Brook's country is in the West Blue, so the crew going there is basically impossible. I imagine it'll come up in some way, though.

Okay, Oda really needs to find some better shorthand for "whispering". Puffy cloud speech bubbles connected by multiple smaller clouds is the universal shorthand for "thinking", not "whispering". Same goes for speech bubbles made of lines. Just have the puffy cloud speech bubbles connect via an arrow if you want it to represent whispering, don't use the universal symbol of thinking for something completely different, it's just confusing. Every time I read that, I need to remind myself that the characters are whispering, not telepathic.

Edited by PushoverMediaCritic on Feb 19th 2020 at 1:22:24 PM

And I finally found a Japanese person who agrees with me on Oda's Paneling being too crowded and confusing!

I too was confused the first time I read One Piece, but I think it's something common from any manga (One Piece simply happened to be the first manga I read, it can explain why is my favorite as well)

Well, by the rules of big numbers it was bound to happen, good for ya

@Aegis P: The pages of One Piece look great in the Shonen Jump format, but feel crowded and confusing in volume format. Other manga look great in volume, but feel empty in the magazine. The first time I had a Jump magazine in my hands was pretty interesting, my opinion of the art of One Piece went up quite a bit (while my opinion of Bleach went further down).

Honestly, I do found them great in volume format (checked one of the latest ones I have). The panel composition is outstanding, and the group shots never feel static or bland. The only flaws is that sometimes there is an overabundance of baloons, mostly in the explanation bits, and that the art can be a bit inconsistent with the splash pages being always great, but the minor panels often having sketchy characters (can't blame Oda too much, after more than 22 years...) some of which are corrected in the volume

Also, a (bit sad) thought that got me. In the meanwhile of this flashback's events, Brook is going crazy in the Florian Triangle

Its darkly funny how every flashback you can interject.

"And during all this, Brook is slowly going crazy on the Florian Triangle."

Edited by slimcoder on Feb 20th 2020 at 1:52:31 AM

This is why I've found reading One Piece to be a better experience on a PC monitor compared to physical volumes.

You know, I knew that Katakuri can see the future with his Observation Haki, but I didn't know he can also pull a Joseph Joestar, "your next line is" type thing.

Which is even funnier since they have the same Japanese VA.

Holy shit.......

You're already at Katakuri?

I'm wondering, how was reading the chapters of Luffy in the woods? I remember that most critics despised that part (I think partially because it's filler to give Luffy and Nami something to do while Sanji deals with the family, Oda himself said it), even one who reread the arc in its entirety for a video, said that he found the arc enjoyable to read except for these chapters. I personally enjoyed it (not the best, but nothing bad)

EDIT: Italian critics, not sure of the others

Edited by fishysaur on Feb 20th 2020 at 11:02:37 AM

I liked it, Cracker is a good opponent to establish the threat level we're dealing with, and I really enjoyed Chopper and Carrot vs Brulee.

I LOVED THAT PART. And many others did too! What was lacking, however, was the ANIME. The anime version of that fight and section of the arc was shittier than Dragon Ball Super episode 5. This was before Toei actually LISTENED to their critics and improved their shit. By the Katakuri fight it was fucking epic.

Edit:I'm more than tempted to make a One Piece anime thread. I know no one HERE discusses it but its a vocal minority. I'm sure there are people who would LOVE discussing the various animators like Tu Yong Ce and Koudai Watanabe and so on.

Edited by AegisP on Feb 20th 2020 at 11:53:21 AM

Another thing I liked about the forest was that it reminded me of all of goofy zombie stuff on Thriller Bark, which was great.

Man it’s amazing that the Katakuri fight is over 2 hours long in the anime.

Edited by slimcoder on Feb 20th 2020 at 12:30:25 PM

Random thought: you know who one of my favorite minor characters in OP is? Gonbe, the rabbit who inexplicably thinks he's a cat. It's a premise that's at once so simple yet so ridiculous that it hits just the right combination of both to be gut-bustingly hilarious.

Duval was the best joke character in One Piece. I also really like the ramen guy from CP<insert number here>.