General & Others Side character fatigue

[Peepooman]

I used to empathize a lot with them, I loved Monet and Señor Pink but I developed random character fatigue around Zou and just stopped caring about their lore

The problem is that since WCI, random character lore has been on steroids. 20 chapter flashback on Oden, ten chapter flashback on Loki

Even existing characters like Bonney, Kuma give me fatigue

I miss the days when the story was focused on the straw hats

And I think ultimately I never managed to transition to this new one piece like everybody has

In order to be a new one piece fan, you need to have endless curiosity over every single side character while being completely apathetic to the main cast

 

[BattalGazi]

I used to empathize a lot with them, I loved Monet and Señor Pink but I developed random character fatigue around Zou and just stopped caring about their lore

The problem is that since WCI, random character lore has been on steroids. 20 chapter flashback on Oden, ten chapter flashback on Loki

Even existing characters like Bonney, Kuma give me fatigue

I miss the days when the story was focused on the straw hats

And I think ultimately I never managed to transition to this new one piece like everybody has

In order to be a new one piece fan, you need to have endless curiosity over every single side character while being completely apathetic to the main cast

Editors aren't doing their jobs, Oda has lost the fear of getting axed and that's a big problem.

 

[Paperchampion23]

Ehhh a lot of this does more than tell the story of those side characters though, at least since after Dressrosa.

Both Oden and Loki's FBs primarily give us lore context for a lot of other shit that doesnt directly involve them either. Kuma's also does this, but it also nails a personal story for a character that has been in the series for 2 decades too.

Id say the last time he truly did a side character story, it was Rebecca's. Doflamingo and Law's actually serviced the wider plot.

 

[Salah WG]

They are Side Characters for the entire Manga, but They are Main Characters of their Respective Arcs,
Each Arc has it's own Set of Main Characters, while it's the SHs who are recurring Side Characters,
Egghead Arc for example had Kuma, Bonney, Vegapunk & Kizaru as it's Main Characters among maybe few others,

SHs aside from Luffy are Side Characters most of the time,
But i expect Oda to dedicate Final Arc to them.

 

[MonochromeYoru]

nah its all around trash

there's too many side characters hogging pages like the retarded scabbards etc. but there's also too many damn straw hats now too

Current op is only good when it's focused on old legends or already established characters outside of the shp and whatever new side characters are introduced in an arc.

 

[Fn Lucci]

The idea of Oda "making it up to them" sucks. Like five page essay at 11:58pm energy

 

[Blackknife]

I used to empathize a lot with them, I loved Monet and Señor Pink but I developed random character fatigue around Zou and just stopped caring about their lore

The problem is that since WCI, random character lore has been on steroids. 20 chapter flashback on Oden, ten chapter flashback on Loki

Even existing characters like Bonney, Kuma give me fatigue

I miss the days when the story was focused on the straw hats

And I think ultimately I never managed to transition to this new one piece like everybody has

In order to be a new one piece fan, you need to have endless curiosity over every single side character while being completely apathetic to the main cast

So you don't care about Roger, Laugh Tale or Rocks?

You just want to see Nami hit Luffy and make funny faces or Sanji simping for the 100000th time?

 

[Roo]

One piece is good because of its side characters lol

if it was just the SHs it would get boring quickly

 

[Welkin]

I dunno I feel like Oda strikes a pretty good balance between the side characters and the Strawhats that he wants to be relevant in that arc

Mind you, every Strawhat wasn’t relevant in every arc pretimeskip either

For example, what did Usopp really do in arcs like Skypiea or Drum Island? Nothing. He was there but he didn’t contribute anything to the plot and he hardly had any screentime

Even the Strawhats that were usually more relevant were sidelined in some arcs. Zoro also took the backseat throughout the entirety of Drum Island

To me the side character issue really only became blatant in Wano and really only exist within the Wano arc. 9 scabbards, Oden, random ninja, then you throw Izo in there, etc. Dunno what Oda was thinking there with the bloat

The only problem Oda has is one that he’s always had but got worse due to crew size. Go back and look at almost every arc in the last 50-60% of pre timeskip and you’ll notice something. Only 4-5 Strawhats (always including Luffy obviously) received focus in almost any given arc

People look at arcs like Enies Lobby/Water 7 and think that was the norm. Look at Thriller Bark and tell me what Franky and Robin really accomplished

Luffy had Moria, Zoro got Ryuma, Sanji fought Absalom, Usopp beat Perona, Nami finished off Absalom

Franky ?, Robin ?

That becomes more of an issue when we go from a crew of 6-7 people with only 2 people usually being left out to 9 people and it feels like half of the crew is left out

WCI is a great arc and the Strawhats in that arc had a lot of screentime and things to do. Why was he able to accomplish that? There were only 5 Strawhats

And while I understand your complaint I also find it a bit confusing posting it at a time like this. Elbaf has roughly the same amount of relevant characters as an arc like Skypiea

Loki, Gaban, and Harald with a few other side characters taking up very little screentime. Did you also dislike characters like Wyper, Aisa, and Gan Fall while hating the Noland flashback?

 

[Jackteo]

Flashbacks should be extremely fast paced and, above all, necessary. A glimpse into another world

The side characters I liked the most are barely important and didn't get any flashback: Caribou, Pound, Daifuku, Hawkins, Ulti just to name a few. And that's completely fine.

They are Side Characters for the entire Manga, but They are Main Characters of their Respective Arcs,

I think this is the main issue. In CL²³oda 's mind they should be temporary main characters but, no matter the effort and the wasted chapters, they just appear as overrepresented sides.

Oden wasn't the main character even in his own flashback until he returned to Wano. Everything before that could have lasted half a chapter.

 

[LolonoisZolo]

Nah you are right, ''side characters'' in nowadays One Piece are cancer.

 

[Yoho]

The side characters keep the story fresh and interesting, and are by far the best part of one piece

Tbh in most arcs the strawhats are guess in other peoples stories so tho we mainly see it from their perspective since we follow them they are technically the side characters of most arcs.

 

[HerreraIsBack]

The problem is that since WCI, random character lore has been on steroids. 20 chapter flashback on Oden, ten chapter flashback on Loki

Since WCI but then you talk about Oden flashback that was at Wano and he is not a random side character he is the main plot of Wano. And similar thing about Loki.

Monet and Senor Pink are not the same level as Oden and Loki of importance for the arc they got introduced at.

Not sure about Punk Hazard, but at Dressrosa their importance is the same as the King or the gladiator.

 

[zoinks0dandelion]

There are a bunch of arcs with a big focus on at least one of the straw hats.

If you don’t like one of them and that character has a focussed arc then it’s not for you.

Wano is now also a franky focused arc with the ending chapters revealed.

He also met Oden in the flashback, and there’s not a lot of love for Franky.

 

[MonsterKaido]

Oda sacrificed SHs for bigger world building and introducing more side characters.

 

[Bisoromi Bear]

If one piece weren't shueisha's cash cow it would've ended 10 years ago. The side adventures aka Japan period drama, mecha manga etc would be seperate mangas but because CL⁹⁷⁵⁶¹oda wants the entire one piece fandom to read them he incorporated them into his magnum opus.

 

[BoaHancocksHusband]

I dunno I feel like Oda strikes a pretty good balance between the side characters and the Strawhats that he wants to be relevant in that arc

Mind you, every Strawhat wasn’t relevant in every arc pretimeskip either

For example, what did Usopp really do in arcs like Skypiea or Drum Island? Nothing. He was there but he didn’t contribute anything to the plot and he hardly had any screentime

Even the Strawhats that were usually more relevant were sidelined in some arcs. Zoro also took the backseat throughout the entirety of Drum Island

To me the side character issue really only became blatant in Wano and really only exist within the Wano arc. 9 scabbards, Oden, random ninja, then you throw Izo in there, etc. Dunno what Oda was thinking there with the bloat

The only problem Oda has is one that he’s always had but got worse due to crew size. Go back and look at almost every arc in the last 50-60% of pre timeskip and you’ll notice something. Only 4-5 Strawhats (always including Luffy obviously) received focus in almost any given arc

People look at arcs like Enies Lobby/Water 7 and think that was the norm. Look at Thriller Bark and tell me what Franky and Robin really accomplished

Luffy had Moria, Zoro got Ryuma, Sanji fought Absalom, Usopp beat Perona, Nami finished off Absalom

Franky ?, Robin ?

That becomes more of an issue when we go from a crew of 6-7 people with only 2 people usually being left out to 9 people and it feels like half of the crew is left out

WCI is a great arc and the Strawhats in that arc had a lot of screentime and things to do. Why was he able to accomplish that? There were only 5 Strawhats

And while I understand your complaint I also find it a bit confusing posting it at a time like this. Elbaf has roughly the same amount of relevant characters as an arc like Skypiea

Loki, Gaban, and Harald with a few other side characters taking up very little screentime. Did you also dislike characters like Wyper, Aisa, and Gan Fall while hating the Noland flashback?

We all still have PTSD from Wano Kuni.

 

[Senfret]

I like One Piece the way it is... I think humans should take a slower pace in their life, nowadays they can't even read something that is not straight to the point, it's like they want to live at 1,5x speed but without joy, like life speedrunners with a meta prefabricated built, no exploration, just duty. It's like being stressed about everything that has no rules or constraints, is like not dancing because they don't know how. Are those people seeking to unlock some achievement? What kind of validation drives you to do that?

 

[Peepooman]

So you don't care about Roger, Laugh Tale or Rocks?

You just want to see Nami hit Luffy and make funny faces or Sanji simping for the 100000th time?

You just got to see more of Roger and was it flattering? The less we knew about him, the cooler he was now we know hes a cuck who was mogged by his right hand man

 

[Senfret]

You just got to see more of Roger and was it flattering? The less we knew about him, the cooler he was now we know hes a cuck who was mogged by his right hand man

It's cool move from oda to demystify Roger in my opinion, one dimension characters are boring, those are the kind of characters that appear in monotheistic religions like the embodiment of an idea rather than a human being, I hope we get to see Joyboy and Nika doing something wrong in a moral sense for them to be relatable, like an old greek god