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...
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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".
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| Pell |
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| Brownbeard |
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| Igaram |
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| Dalton |
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| 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!
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| I will admit though.... Top hat, goggles, fire... BADASS DESIGN! |
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.
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| This is distinctively... un-awesome. |
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| Where does all her food go?! |
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!
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| 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/
A lot of this sounds more personal than anything else. While far from perfect there's a lot more effort into this one as opposed to Naruto and the sales, ratings, and numbers show it's not s simple as what you put on here
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with this "review". I won't lie, I skipped a few parts because of spoilers, but overall I agree. It has been bugging me for a whole tbh. I get that OP is great and all... But people talking as if it's perfect gets super annoying. I mean, I do think the writing is the most balanced out of the Big 4. Also the characters are pretty good, despite a lot of the 9 crew members not getting enough time to shine. Also, contrary to you, I don't dislike Luffy as a character.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that OP does as many fakeouts as other series. And while I personally don't have a big problem with that, that is still worth noting. Especially when people complain about fakeouts in OP, but nitpick at other anime.
The Post-Timeskip designs.... it's debatable. I actually like most character's designs more now. The only ones who I feel got worse are Chopper and Brook.
And about Ace... I'll be honest I skipped it due to the Sabo spoiler that I don't know yet.
(P.S I'm at Fishman Island arc right now)
"Review" is a loose term for it haha. But its good to know I am not the only one seeing how people react from both those who enjoy it and those who don't. The sad irony is that I enjoy the majority of the crew, so not giving them the time they deserve hurts it for me. It is very problematic. (And yeah, I am fully aware my dislike for Luffy is a me-problem)
DeleteNot even Franky's? I found Franky's design horrible!
(Fishman Island isn't half-bad. The next arcs are good, although very busy)
Do attack on titan next. You know it's bad when you of all people use Natsu as a goodish example lmao. I agree with most of the flaws but Ice always felt one piece has that charm to it which allows you to move past it's flaws like Sanji lighting his leg on fire and not dying. Anyways I'm glad you got that off your chest it made for an entertaining read.
ReplyDeleteWorking on it now, bro! Haha... tough one.
DeleteThe flaws on these WINP articles are never saying "you should quit the series". They are just fun flaws to look at and help you appreciate the pros of each series far more. Every WINP I've done has been of a series I have enjoyed in the past. So of course you should look past the flaws.
Okay let me unpack this.
ReplyDelete1. Zoro being perfect. Explain. How do expect me people who aren't familiar with the series to understand without context? How can you expect people to debate this with giving reasoning?
2. NUmber of main characters. You don't have to give every single crew member a major polar in the arc for every arc. Hell, that's why only a few members are in Totland now. Presumably will see the rest in Wano. Hell, Fairy Tail didn't give every character something major to do every arc.
3. Luffy's goal is to be Pirate King. The focus is on his journey and how he approaches things. Not everything has to have a major motivation. And another thing Ichigo's protection complex isn't goal and stems from blaming himself for his mother's death. Granted he bexam boring when he stopped appearing in his own goddamn manga. Also, what you put for Natsu is not his goal. It isn't even a goal. Finding Igneel was,and since that was solved...
4. Death fake outs are dumb. However, when ait happens continuously, with certain characters, coughMakarovcough, I can understand why people zero in on Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail also gets shut for the because they had a war arc with no negative consequences for the good guys(besides Chelia's magic).
5.Ace 2.0. I completely agree.
6.Post Time skip Designs. Oda has a problem with making attractive women look the same. I'll give you that, but the others just seem to be personal preference. What do you thinks about the designs for other characters aside from the straw hats?
1. That was just me having a laugh, bud. I was just saying I love Zoro so as to appease OP fans because... well, lots of them don't like hearing flaws. And Zoro is just pure badass. Every scene he's in elevates the series completely just by his natural aura.
Delete2. Oh of course not, but you have to keep them doing something or they will feel like a spare part. Which means the series constantly needs to find a reason to keep crew members away, like how only a few are in Totland right now while the others have been sent off.
3. True although since his journey has been so long and challenging, the motivation being so weak really makes it more questionable. At least to me. And to me, Natsu always had two goals. Finding Igneel and protecting the Guild, both of which were understandable to me.
4. I can understand, but I just find it unfair. Everyone does it. Eeeveeryoneee!
5. Oh cool. I've honestly never heard someone agree with me on that subject before.
6. It's not just that they look the same. They all become disfigured and actually end up unattractive as a result. As for other characters, some are okay. Perona's is boring when compared to the former one, Coby's is fitting, Trafalger Law looks good, although I find it strange that he even got a timeskip change. He and the other "Worst Generation" only appeared for one big battle so we barely saw them before they got the timeskip changes. Feels pointless. I would need examples of any in particular since there are so many to choose from.
Thanks for reading!