General & Others Oda Isn’t a Good Writer According to Pixar

[Logiko]

Now One Piece has declined storywise, especially with WCI/Wano

Not at all.

Egghead wasn't as bad but its flaws and ending indicate that the problems remain largely the same, and we may have yet to reach the bottom.

THis fanbase sometimes...

 

[Just a member]

Yes, after making the manga that most likely is the best seller of all time in Japan and worldwide now Oda should listen to what Pixar says lol. Also even after reading those points I don't get why Oda should be so far from them. Make a product for the audience and not for yourself? If that was the case then nobody would buy this stuff and Oda would go bankrupt, but the reality is the opposite of it. Far from me to defend Oda but this is blindly criticize him for everything (just to try to say Naruto was better than One piece lmao)

 

[Rej]

Yes, after making the manga that most likely is the best seller of all time in Japan and worldwide now Oda should listen to what Pixar says lol.

exactly what I thought when I read the thread op for the first time

 

[Bisoromi Bear]

exactly what I thought when I read the thread op for the first time

This thread title has to be one of the dumbest in all of worstgen

 

[Buusatan94]

Yes, after making the manga that most likely is the best seller of all time in Japan and worldwide now Oda should listen to what Pixar says lol. Also even after reading those points I don't get why Oda should be so far from them. Make a product for the audience and not dor yourself? If that was the case then nobody would buy this stuff and Oda would go bankrupt, but the reality is the opposite of it. Far from me to defend Oda but this is blindly criticize him for everything (just to try to say Naruto was better than One piece lmao)

I mean you don't need something to be very well-written to sell well. And One Piece has never been a masterpiece of excellent writing, nor are the other manga giants such as Dragon Ball or Naruto which all have their own flaws and shortcomings storywise.

 

[Rej]

This thread title has to be one of the dumbest in all of worstgen

it's def memey, but sadly too many people here take it too seriously lol

such a shame these days

 

[Just a member]

I mean you don't need something to be very well-written to sell well. And One Piece has never been a masterpiece of excellent writing, nor are the other manga giants such as Dragon Ball or Naruto which all have their own flaws and shortcomings storywise.

I agree, still mangas to be "good" or sell good (it can be considered the same thing here in this debate) need to be tailored around the audience and so teenagers or young mans. Dragonball, One piece, Naruto etc. did splendidly in this regard and added original stuff making the work refreshing and not a copy (of Dragonball pretty much since that is the grandpa of top tier mangas). As a kid you just get hyped up by seeing Goku or Gohan turn super sayan etc. Etc. it is not a masterpiece but it pumps you up. Yet it is also not so easy imo (otherwise Dragon ball super would be good like its predecessors).

Also there are mangas which actually are small masterpieces like Pluto or Monster that are not hits because the audience didn't receive them very well.

 

[Uncle Van]

Using an animation studio specializing in 90 minute movies to judge 20+ year action comic?

Might as well judge a horror show by the standards of a pure romance one.

 

[ArturCantSpeakJapanese]

Pixar has 22 rules of writing which they believe is necessary when they write their scripts and Oda breaks almost every rule lmfao:

1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
2. Keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
3. Trying for theme is important, however you won’t see what the story is actually about until you’re at the end of that story. Now rewrite.
4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
8. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
9. When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
14. Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
17. No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.
18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Wow the people who write shitty movies for babies have stupid rules. Who knew.

 

[ElderOnitar]

Some of these are literally tips for continuing to write your story, like:

1. When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

1. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

1. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

How can you criticize him for any of these? It's not like you can analyze his mindset for writing, whether he gets stuck or not, or see the specific ideas in his head he decides to not write down. This is a good portion of this list, just tips for a writing process.

Others are subjective/vague/or just tailored for their medium. Something like "know your ending before you know your middle" or "tell the most economical version of your story" is important for a self-contained, 90-minute movie. Do you think it's as important for, say, long-running television/manga with multiple arcs/storylines to adhere as hard to that principle?

 

[OneHater]

good rules if you are writing a 2 hour movie
but what works for a selfcontained story that you watch in one sitting is not the same the same for a story planned to take many years and is stupid to not see that

Because Pixar is one of those weird companies with crazy values. They are not the world leading authority on good writers. What Pixar movies are actually, genuinely well written? If not zero, it's close to that number. Anyway...

1. Does not make you a good writer, it makes you suitable for making PG and U rated movies
2. Extremely subjective and vague
3. Meaningless
4. Which is 101 on how to write a childrens book, not a manga
5. Does not make you a good writer, it makes you suitable for making PG movies
6. First actually meaningful "rule", which Oda passes with flying colours
7. Meaningless
8. Not applicable since the story is still ongoing
9. Okay and?
10. See number 6
11. Meaningless
12. See number 6
13. See number 6
14. See number 6
15. See number 6
16. See number 6
17. See number 6, Oda is the epitome of this
18. See number 6
19. Probably the only writing "rule" Oda falls short on. This doesn't make him a bad writer though
20. Meaningless
21. See number 6
22. See number 6

Number 7 is the most relevant rule to explaining why One Piece is bad (and Naruto too and even Berserk).

Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

What is the ending of OP? Originally it was Luffy finds the OP and becomes Pirate King. Then it became Luffy defeats Blackbeard for the OP. Then Oda decided to add a Revolutionary army into the story. Now It's Luffy is the reincarnation of Joyboy and defeats IMU/WG to free the world. These are all different stories. The reason that OP is so bloated and the pacing is so bad is because Oda doesn't know ending and so he doesn't know what needs to be written to setup the final battle.

At this point, Oda has basically written a completely different from his original story. Luffy is replaced with Nika. Roger is replaced by Joyboy. One Piece is replaced by Void Century. Even Devil Fruits are somewhat replaced by Haki. So not understanding the ending has lead to poor characterization, poor character development and many retcons including haki or shanks losing his arm. This even explains why Dragon and Ivankov has been sidelined for the entire story because Oda doesn't know how to fit in the rev army overthrowing the WG with Luffy and his pirate crew overthrowing the world govt. It should be one or other other. Likewise Garp and Koby should have never been marines if the marines were evil. All these retcons and terrible plot points where because Oda was making it up as he went along.

Oda has told us three times that the OP is real. First Gol D. Roger. Second was Whitebeard. Third Vegapunk. Why would anyone think it's not even real? Oda can't even keep his plot straight. I can't tell if Oda forgets because the series has gone on for so long or if he's just writing in circles because he doesn't know to advance the plot.

Lastly, out of all the comics (コミック) that I've read. I think Berserk is the most similar to OP because Miura had the same problem of not knowing his ending and then writing countless chapters of filler.