General & Others One piece is a mediocre series

Wano has already surpassed Dressrosa. Wano doesn't have time spent on useless colliseum chapters and Bir D. Cage artifically creating tension and giving the other fighters like Zoro and co. something to do. It was a mess of an arc.
Meanwhile, Wano is the culmination of multiple plot threads since Punk Hazard, two years of planning by Law, 25 years of rage by the Scabbards and actual plot movement towards the Endgame of One Piece. Wano has already outclassed Dressrosa and it's not even close :endthis:
Yes...because the time spent on Udon prisoners or even Scabbards is much better? The fact that Wano is dragging as it is only makes the disappointment with all the build up more acute. It is still little but a waystop and most of the plot movement is the stuff happening outside of it. The little info we get from the flashback only serves to make the rest of it worse due to its excessive length with little substance.

For every issue that could be stated for Dressrosa, Wano has similar if not worse and for much longer on top of it. It also makes it worse since Wano comes afterward yet still repeats the same things, like Sanji getting caught by Viola compared to Sanji & Black Maria...or the Bird Cage compared to Onigashima dropping. You can go point for point if you wish but you will likely find that Wano will give you a more extensive list of problems.

:kata:
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what is objectively bad in Wano? It contains elements from all other arcs mixed with traditional japanese culture.

I think the main point is that the western fanbase in forums isn't patient enough to read through all the arc and always complains about the actual arc they are reading.

I have seen since Orojackson people complaining about Fishmen Island, Dressrosa, Punk Hazard, Zou, WCI.

And then, after the arc is finished everyone is happy with the manga but complains that the previous arcs were better.
There's nothing "objectively" good or bad when it is up to a person's enjoyment, but people can pinpoint elements of storytelling that are aggravating or disappointing.

Certain issues pop up in Oda's writing from time to time and due to the sheer length of Wano there are a lot of them that pop up. Transit time of taking characters from point A to B, like Big Mom going to Udon or Luffy going to the roof to coincide with a chapter number. Fake out deaths, extending the time unnecessarily for characters to fulfil their role like Sanji, incompetencies of antagonists that kills tension and other tension killers in general, etc. Besides all that, the sheer volume of things also fuels the fatigue with such issues.

I'm not one to exaggerate like a lot of people here have done or try to berate the series for attention. With all the issues I mentioned I still have Wano at a 7/10, but that's a mark of mediocrity when it comes to One Piece. So from my perspective the current arc is simply mediocre while One Piece as a whole is still the best shounen around.

I didn't have my expectations for the current stuff as high as some, but my impression of it still leans towards the disappointing side. Oda can mitigate some of the issues that tend to surface in his writing but some of them seem to be exacerbated in Wano.
 
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"wano is bigger than Maineford" what have we learned in Wano thus far that justifies it being bigger than Marineford? What has happened in Wano thus far other than power ups? Also I like how you completely ignored four of the other arcs. I said COMBINED. We learned so much more in those arcs than in Wano. We learned about Rayleigh, celestial dragons, Admirals, Luffy backstory, the hatred of fishmen, Blackbeard, so much more. So what have we learend in Wano?
Because the balance of power is being destroyed this very arc, as simple as that.
 
Well you’re not wrong.

It’s The Simpsons of manga. The creator and writers stopping giving a shit the longer it ran. Less heart and more wacky nonsense for the hell of it.

Well the last part is exaggerated. But it’s unfortunately getting too close to Zombie Simpsons levels of bad.
 
Idk what the heck that means or how it relates to anything I wrote.
He is saying it's bigger than marineford bc heavy hitters are actually getting put down. Not like marineford where the strong remained strong and the weak got lolled
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Yamato's face looks entirely different
If anyone actually bothered to look, they are all slightly different. The eyes and nose are the main differences, rebecca has a flick in the outer corner of her eyes and a slightly less pointy nose compared to vivi. Vivi has a slight variation in eyelid lines. They are not the same, they differ.
 
He is saying it's bigger than marineford bc heavy hitters are actually getting put down. Not like marineford where the strong remained strong and the weak got lolled
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It is bigger than Marineford? how? Just because it is longer doesn't make it bigger. In terms of strength and the importance of characters, Marine Ford has Wano beat and it's not even close. Also, heavy hitters are getting put down? Did that not happen in Marine Ford? Like I said what the heck are you talking about it.
 
It is bigger than Marineford? how? Just because it is longer doesn't make it bigger. In terms of strength and the importance of characters, Marine Ford has Wano beat and it's not even close. Also, heavy hitters are getting put down? Did that not happen in Marine Ford? Like I said what the heck are you talking about it.
ITS DIFFERENT BECAUSE THE ROOKIES ARE FUCKING ON THE LEGENDS NOT JUST LEGENDS PLAYING WITH LEGENDS. Lol I didn't day it was bigger because it was longer, don't put shit in my mouth you brainless, blind little cunt. Just don't bother quoting again if all you have is "what the heck are you talking about" you fucking shit cunt
 
ITS DIFFERENT BECAUSE THE ROOKIES ARE FUCKING ON THE LEGENDS NOT JUST LEGENDS PLAYING WITH LEGENDS. Lol I didn't day it was bigger because it was longer, don't put shit in my mouth you brainless, blind little cunt. Just don't bother quoting again if all you have is "what the heck are you talking about" you fucking shit cunt
Wow, look at you being emotional now cursing and yelling because I am proving you wrong. The rookies are the legends? How does that have anything to do with it "being bigger"?
 
Honest question but has anyone ever stopped to think that One Piece has always been formulaic and that most of us are looking at the pre time skip arcs with a sense of nostalgia? I definitely liked how the SHs were the main focus during the pre time skip but I like the world building during the post time skip.

I was never the target audience for One Piece. The target audience is Japanese boys ages 10-14. Yes, the content may grow as the audience matures but the target audience will always be Japanese boys ages 10-14. I don't know what the average age of worstgen forum users are, but I suspect that a lot of you have out grown OP's original target audience.

Seeing the flaws and critiquing a work of media shows that a person is growing as a reader. One Piece is a form of escapism for me. There are things that I don't care for, however,, I still enjoy the manga as a whole.
 
Honest question but has anyone ever stopped to think that One Piece has always been formulaic and that most of us are looking at the pre time skip arcs with a sense of nostalgia? I definitely liked how the SHs were the main focus during the pre time skip but I like the world building during the post time skip.

I was never the target audience for One Piece. The target audience is Japanese boys ages 10-14. Yes, the content may grow as the audience matures but the target audience will always be Japanese boys ages 10-14. I don't know what the average age of worstgen forum users are, but I suspect that a lot of you have out grown OP's original target audience.

Seeing the flaws and critiquing a work of media shows that a person is growing as a reader. One Piece is a form of escapism for me. There are things that I don't care for, however,, I still enjoy the manga as a whole.
Has nothing to do with age. I am in my 20's and I still enjoy pretime skip One Piece because it was well written. Well written stories has nothing to do with age. The reason for the increased amount of critiques of post time skip is because the story has been subpar, and at most times really bad. These critiques are objective flaws of the story that wasn't as prevalent pretime skip like: pacing, PIS, plot armor, plot conveniences, regression of characters, filler and much much more.
 
Honest question but has anyone ever stopped to think that One Piece has always been formulaic and that most of us are looking at the pre time skip arcs with a sense of nostalgia? I definitely liked how the SHs were the main focus during the pre time skip but I like the world building during the post time skip.

I was never the target audience for One Piece. The target audience is Japanese boys ages 10-14. Yes, the content may grow as the audience matures but the target audience will always be Japanese boys ages 10-14. I don't know what the average age of worstgen forum users are, but I suspect that a lot of you have out grown OP's original target audience.

Seeing the flaws and critiquing a work of media shows that a person is growing as a reader. One Piece is a form of escapism for me. There are things that I don't care for, however,, I still enjoy the manga as a whole.
The main criticism for me its the pacing. I follow One Piece weekly since 2009,and until Dressrosa,arcs used to last around a year. Marineford was from early Summer 2009 to Spring 2010,Fishman Island was from Fall 2010 to Fall 2011,Punk Hazard was from Early 2012 to Early 2013. And it was good because 1 year is the right duration to enjoy an arc without getting too tired of it. Since Dressrosa,arcs became longer and now lasts years and years,and this gives too much stalling in a series that should feel of 'adventure' and should always shows us new places and new situations. But when an arc is too long,you lose this sense of always be on the adventure.
 
I think One Piece still has its moments when it matters- but personally for me it definitely has lost some of its shine and magic post time skip. The biggest thing that i really missed is the adventure, ever since the Straw Hats met fucking Trafalgar Law on Punk Hazard- post-time skip has been an never ending goose chase for Kaido- the post time skip arcs all revolve around taking down Kaido. And i think what is worse is that it has taken so fucking damn long just to meet and confront kaido, not to mention all the breaks. I won't lie, kaido is a fucking cool character- but since we barely know much about his past (Oda hasn't properly revealed his backstory yet, EVEN NOW), its hard for me to feel anything for Kaido- sympathy, hate, respect or otherwise. No doubt that Oda will leave it for fucking last like he always does-which by then i would already be almost done with the arc itself and won't care anymore.

Oda spent so much time on Oden- who even at the end of his death i was just like: 'meh, whatever' Oda cockteases him for so fucking long ever since Zou, yet after his backstory i was still- meh, whatever. Its the story about a man who never listened to anybody who ended up meeting a fitting end for his recklessness. The whole thing with the Scarrabs avenging Oden isn't much different to the classical retainer avenge master you see in old samurai movies- its a as typical samurai story as it can get- just mixed in with pirates, dragons and fantasy. We still haven't learned much about Wano's history, its reasons for isolationism or even the Poneglyhs- where it was said that Wano was the place where it was made. There is little to none mystery and adventure in this arc- the thing that I loved and missed most about One Piece pre time skip.

I miss the adventure. As someone who considers Skypiea to be one of their favourite arcs, this is deeply saddening to me. Skypiea for me was when One Piece was at its best at adventure. Little Garden, Skypiea, Thriller Bark- it was full of mysteries, adventure and endless wonder. But ever since the Paramount War kicked off- i feel like One Piece kinda left that adventure in the wild to the backseat. I thought Zou was gonna finally have that but no- Jack and the Sanji rescue had to fuck it up.

So now every we week we as readers aren't anticipating what's gonna happen next, what new mysteries to find or which island they will go next. Instead, readers are constantly predicting what will happen, how the story will end, who will fight who in the match ups, and between Sanji and Zoro- whose dick measured the longest after each arc so their respective fanbases can have the bigger wank.

Its like an adventure video game with combat in it, suddenly changed genres in its sequel (the timeskip) to become a level climbing and dungeon clearing JRPG. So much shit is added but you're still walking in a straight line to beat the final boss, with distractions and NPCs you have to save and rescue along the way like side quests. Meanwhile, every now and then Oda throws us a bone with a cool cutscene (a character moment) to remind us that One Piece still has a main cast (The Straw Hats). individual character idle animations are included in this RPG in the form of Straw Hat gags that are overused to hell. (pervert Sanji, Zoro getting lost, Ussop being a wimp etc. -you get the idea). The story has become more linear, less flexible and more predictable.

Oda tries to mask and hide all this by adding new bombshell plot points along the way that are only mentioned and then left to the back seat again to create the illusion that his One Piece world is still as breathing and alive as it once used to be pre time skip. Blackbeard vs the Revolutionaries, The Reverie, what happened to Vivi's father, who is Im Sama, what happened to the Vinsmokes after WCI. Oda gives us a little cocktease and then never mentions it again. Then at some point he reveals the aftermath. I hate this the most! The one and only time this worked was Ace vs Blackbeard- because that lead to the conflict causing the Paramount War- and its consequences were followed up by the timeskip, it all felt natural. But Post time skip it feels like Oda is biting more than he can chew- he has all these different things happening at once- that never get resolved and just leave readers hanging-then he just shows the aftermath and never reveals it naturally and have it play out in real time story telling. It just feels so unfulfilling and unsatisfying to me.

So to sum up: Predictable and linear RPG like main story (FI, DR, WCI, WANO etc.)+ interesting but cock-teased and unfulfilled world building branching path side quests (Reverie, BB vs RA etc.) = a predictable, overused, ridged, mediocre experience and story.

Maybe its because I've gotten older over the years, that I realize that there are better stories out there than just hero adventure stories and goodies vs baddies (that's an exaggeration on my part- I know One Piece is more deeper and better than that, but it also doesn't do much out of its way(especially Post Time Skip), out of Oda's comfort zone to keep me heavily invested as it once did when I was much younger reading one piece- where the only thing I cared about was the straw hat beating the baddies so I can see their bounties get increased. Of course, I still want to see this tradition continue today, but i would be lying to myself to say if I didn't want something more, something different, some more adventure and mysteries.

Oh and I also miss the real character interactions and conversations between the straw hats abroad the Sunny that aren't gags or Zoro and Sanji arguing with each other all the time. Its been so long that I almost forgot to mention it. The post time skip pacing is also trash!

Rant over. Thank you for reading my essay.

:cheers:
 
The main criticism for me its the pacing. I follow One Piece weekly since 2009,and until Dressrosa,arcs used to last around a year. Marineford was from early Summer 2009 to Spring 2010,Fishman Island was from Fall 2010 to Fall 2011,Punk Hazard was from Early 2012 to Early 2013. And it was good because 1 year is the right duration to enjoy an arc without getting too tired of it. Since Dressrosa,arcs became longer and now lasts years and years,and this gives too much stalling in a series that should feel of 'adventure' and should always shows us new places and new situations. But when an arc is too long,you lose this sense of always be on the adventure.
That is a good point. I started reading weekly during the Dressrosa arc. When I factor in breaks the momentum does start to drag. For example, I definitely enjoyed WCI more when I was able to binge it.
 
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