One Piece - Why It's Not Perfect

Written by Shiggins

You know, it's a funny story but I was actually planning to write a positive article about One Piece for once, hoping to balance out how I've been towards One Piece fans since this blog began... then they pissed me off. You see, over the past few weeks in comment sections and clickbait articles and even chapter releases of Fairy Tail on manga websites, I have noticed that no fan can admit to any flaws of this series, yet will also shit on Naruto, Bleach, Fairy Tail and many others from their self-appointed throne. So because of this, the "Top 10 One Piece Villains" I had planned to release has been delayed... time for another nitpicking article instead! This one has been a long time coming and I am glad to share it today! Finally actually because I've been considering this one for months...

Why does Franky look like he's trying to eat me? And why does a pirate crew need an archaeologist like Nico Robin anyway? Is it because she's hot? I bet it's because she's hot.

Zoro is...

Well, Zoro is just... he's...

Well I mean he...

.....

He's perfect. Moving on.

A Crew of Characters

The majority of the crew of One Piece are quite fantastic. Brook the gentleman skeleton, Franky the emotional cyborg, Sanji the ladykiller cook and of course, Zoro the perfect badass. They all work well off each other and provide some good laughs and action. However, this is a double-edged sword and the series immediately wrote itself into a corner once the crew was fulled formed.

Oh and there is a fleet now too! Apparently "bigger always means better"! I'm losing count...

You see, there are 9 members in this crew. That means 9 big characters constantly need to be on stage, giving a performance and staying busy. They need to keep moving and fighting, unable to rest for even a second or they will seem lazily written out of the plot for conveniences' sake. In every arc, they are temporarily separated from each other into small groups because too much in one place would cause chaos, and it is never just these 9 characters that we focus on. Every arc introduces new characters we have to connect to and who have to help or fight the Straw Hats as well, which means 9 is the bare minimum we can get nowadays and is very unlikely to ever be what we get. That is too much. 

Bad Captain! Bad!

Naruto wants to become Hokage because he was alone during his childhood and wanted to be accepted by the village.

Natsu wants to protect the Guild because they are his family who have cared for him since the loss of Igneel.

Ichigo wants to protect his friends because he's boring and has no original ideas.

Light wants to kill all criminals because he is sick of corruption and seeks to become an almighty "God".

Luffy wants to become the Pirate King because.... it looks fun?

Yes, this is where the entire motivation behind the character starts to deteriorate, isn't it? The main protagonist's goal is to become the Pirate King, often repeated several times in one arc because, like Naruto, a goal isn't a goal unless you say it over and over and over. Luffy has been poisoned, stabbed, burned, betrayed and even attacked his own friends all because he wants to be Pirate King.

Oh and Fourth Gear is ugly. Look at that thing... that is hideous.

The best reason I have seen for Luffy's motivation is "freedom". He wants to become the Pirate King because he thinks that would give him the most freedom in the world. Actually, that's not a bad idea... but Luffy has never been oppressed. In the very first chapter, he was an average kid who got to run around with Shanks and other pirates when they visited, and has never been the victim of slavery or captivity. If he had, this motivation would make sense. In fact, it could even be brilliant! As it stands, it is weak. 

Fakeouts Galore!

Every series does this! Every single one, from Dragonball Z to Naruto to Bleach to Fairy Tail to fucking Pokemon, they all do it! And yet, people will look me in the eye and say One Piece has never ever done it before. Or at least, not to the capacity that others have. To which I say, 100% bollocks! In fact, not only has One Piece had death fakeouts, they have had fakeouts that further the plot or save the characters, and spend several chapters making people cry over them before they just suddenly pop up and be perfectly fine through an excuse. Did you know that not one major character died in the present timeline before Ace? That's right. All of the deaths in One Piece were flashbacks before then (Unless we include the boat which... debatable. It's a boat). And if you really think I am over-exaggerating, let's look at some of the things people have "survived".

Pell

Brownbeard

Igaram

Dalton

Dorry

There. Five death fakeouts that are emotional and further the plot of the arc, off the top of my head, shown before you. As said in the past, I personally don't actually mind a death fakeout and probably wouldn't have put this on the list, but since so many fans like to pretend that none of these exist and call me an idiot if I say otherwise... well, here you are. Yes, I have more. I could continue, but we have other things to mention and I am tired of having this particular argument. Moving on to an actual death!

Ace 2.0

Ace's death is one of the most perfect deaths in anime history. It was tragic, emotional and (due to all the fakeouts beforehand) unexpected. For a brief shining moment, it looked like this amazing scene would never take place but then Akainu's lava hand smashed through Ace's chest and took his life. Luffy broke down, literally unable to move, and Whitebeard's rage caused him to lose his life to Blackbeard in the progress.... Too bad they ruined it.

Yep, they ruined Ace's death, at least for me. How is that possible you ask, when I literally described my love for it just a second ago? Very simple... Sabo!

I will admit though.... Top hat, goggles, fire... BADASS DESIGN!

For those who haven't caught up, Sabo is Luffy's second adoptive brother from his childhood and one of the commanders of "Dragon's Revolutionaries", which is led by Luffy's very own father. And he literally did not exist until Ace died. Zero references, mentions or foreshadowing events occurred until Ace had died, meaning Sabo's entire existence was non... existent. He didn't exist. There was no Sabo.

Right now you will be asking yourself "So? What does that even matter? Why should I care? I'm going to the comments now, bye!", but I ask that you wait to hear what my complaint is. For that, let's take a look at this list here.

• Ace and Sabo both grew up with Luffy.
• Ace and Sabo both have their own signature hats.
• Ace and Sabo both are/were commanders for a huge pirate that defies the government.
• Ace and Sabo both ate the Flame-Flame Fruit.
• Ace and Sabo both care about Luffy dearly and are protective of him.
• Ace and Sabo both travel the seas as pirates.

Yes, it is pretty clear what is going on in my head now, isn't it? There is no need to feel sad about Ace dying, because we got a brand new Ace to replace him! A new Ace has literally appeared out of nowhere and has a backstory we had never heard about before until Ace 1 died! Talk about convenient, eh?

Post-Timeskip Horror

There are times when one must acknowledge something awesome. Brook is a skeleton with a cane-sword, an afro, a suit and a distinct laugh. Brook is something awesome, in every single way. So if you're going to change how he, something awesome, looks then you better do it carefully and make it absolutely perfect.

This is distinctively... un-awesome.

Of course, Brook is not the only one to go through these troubles. Franky went from a strange design to a grotesque one, Chopper's hat got less classy, and every single female went from busty lovelies to hourglass-shaped figurines that you would easily find in a sweaty basement. If this is meant to be erotic, I am appalled, people! Appalled!

Where does all her food go?!

Ooh a shiny!

If this series could focus for one second and stop having countless distractions, and instead focus on finding this damn One Piece then maybe I... Ooh! I gotta go! Byesies!

I want more Blackbeard. He was cool.

Any flaws I missed out? Is every flaw I said wrong? Or any other articles you'd like to see? Comment below!

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/