Current Events The growth of the Straw Hats is honestly ridiculous.

#45
Personally, I don't find the Mugis' progress ridiculous.

I just think that Oda messed up on the handling of the Mugis fights who didn't have a serious fight except Luffy.

In fact the crew didn't have to improve much and you know why?

When they came out of their training the monster trio and Jinbei already had the level of commander.

But Oda the bridles look at Punk Hazard:

When Sanji confronts Vergo his body was much weakened from the explosion that Nami suffered in his body.

Watch how Luffy "struggled" against Ceasar it's all scripted.

Why did Sanji lose to Doflamingo easily?

Because Doflamingo has an annoying power and Sanji was quite simply surprised in addition it was necessary to show a Doflamingo which seemed overpowered.

Luffy had ample capacity to beat Doflamingo and Cracker on his own but Oda simply fostered teamwork.

The Tobi Roppos are powerful but the Mugis are even more so they will not struggle against them. Then we are going to tackle something heavy like the Blackbeard crew.
 
#46
Yeah but it is shonen nekketsu. I mean the main cast growth rate is always absurd in this kind of story.

Remember that the demographic those stories are aimed for are 13 years old. When you where 13 years old did you want to follow the story of a guy who were a 50 years old veteran or the story of a kid who becomes the strongest, while making a ton of friends and having a bunch of girls falling for him, because he is very talented?
I was around 8 years old when the first time I read Songoku and Vegeta fighting Bhu. I remember they were still my top fav characters despite the existence of their sons, Songoten and Trunks.
 
#47
Do they though? What’s the source behind that? It’s more of a trope that MC’s are teenagers/young adults, not because it sails more.

Just look at Dragon Ball, it was more popular when it was Dragon Ball Z featuring adult Goku rather than just Dragon Ball with him as a kid or GT.
DBZ had a "relatable" protagonist through Gohan though. Up until Cell Saga. Then it continued with Goten/Trunks. There are still young protagonists in every arc of DragonBall

There is also rarely anything like DragonBall too. Most Shonen protagonists are under 20. That's not to say young teens don't like older protagonists. 4 members of Luffy's crew are 30+
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Is that why they have a billion different cartoons airing every year along with the MCU dominating tv and theaters?
They aren't aimed at specifically young boys
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I was around 8 years old when the first time I read Songoku and Vegeta fighting Bhu. I remember they were still my top fav characters despite the existence of their sons, Songoten and Trunks.
They also didn't look 40-50, despite their true ages. Goku and Vegeta still look like 25-30 year old men.
 
#50
DBZ had a "relatable" protagonist through Gohan though. Up until Cell Saga. Then it continued with Goten/Trunks. There are still young protagonists in every arc of DragonBall

There is also rarely anything like DragonBall too. Most Shonen protagonists are under 20. That's not to say young teens don't like older protagonists. 4 members of Luffy's crew are 30+
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They aren't aimed at specifically young boys
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They also didn't look 40-50, despite their true ages. Goku and Vegeta still look like 25-30 year old men.
Better than 20s and their wives are pretty much old, and it was stated that the saiyan dont grow old fast
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But I agree at least we got Franky, Jinbei, and Brook which is old enough to make it better.
 
#51
I was around 8 years old when the first time I read Songoku and Vegeta fighting Bhu. I remember they were still my top fav characters despite the existence of their sons, Songoten and Trunks.
This does change the fact that the target audience are teenagers boys. Which is why:

-The plan was to make Gohan the protagonist after the Cell game
-Trunks and Goten were there to appeal to this audience in the Buu saga

Now it did not work because it seems that no one could or can top Goku popularity. But they keep aiming for this target audience which is why:

-Goku became a child in GT
-Goku does not know what it is a pregnant woman nor as ever kissed his wife in Super.
 
#52
Any scenario where BASE Luffy, not even G4 Luffy, is able to go toe to toe with a Yonko and damage them should tell you where One Piece is going. It is going Fairy Tail levels.

Sanji should not even be anywhere near able to defeat Queen.
Zoro based on his feats this arc was much stronger than Luffy and could have defeated Doflaimingo by himself.

The only fight that was fair was WW vs Jinbei but even there Oda should have never hyped WW.

Oda during post timeskip has writen the story as checklists, just check off things and make things "hype". But Oda Sanji struggled vs Vergo and now you are making him fight Queen? Doesn't matter because it is "hype". But Oda Luffy got one shotted by Kaido, and now base Luffy can block Hybrid Kaido's attack? Doesn't matter because it is "hype".
 
#53
This does change the fact that the target audience are teenagers boys. Which is why:

-The plan was to make Gohan the protagonist after the Cell game
-Trunks and Goten were there to appeal to this audience in the Buu saga

Now it did not work because it seems that no one could or can top Goku popularity. But they keep aiming for this target audience which is why:

-Goku became a child in GT
-Goku does not know what it is a pregnant woman nor as ever kissed his wife in Super.
GT wasn't made by Toriyama as far as I know, not sure about Super, but I think it is the case as well.
I agree that the target audience is teenager.
I think the problem is more to the timeline as it seen how they grew massively stronger in just months. Oda still could make it as if 2-3 years later without changing much of the design tho. It would be more realistic and would still attract teenagers.
 
#55
GT wasn't made by Toriyama as far as I know, not sure about Super, but I think it is the case as well.
I agree that the target audience is teenager.
I think the problem is more to the timeline as it seen how they grew massively stronger in just months. Oda still could make it as if 2-3 years later without changing much of the design tho. It would be more realistic and would still attract teenagers.
Yall continue to talk out your ass. "the target audience is teenagers"? Name me one teenager who is going to read over 1000 chapters of One Piece when there is Demon Slayer and JJK out? No teenager is going to read 1000 chapters of a manga. One Piece fanbase is still 18-24 year olds who grew up reading it.
 
#56
The series stared with this 17 year old being already stronger than all the veteran pirates on East Blue, then having him and his ragtag group of friends take out a shichibukai and his entire criminal organization. Not too long after they were responsible for the destruction of one of the supposed most heavily guarded and important World Goverment facilities.

Let's not act like their rapid growth hasn't been a thing since forever.
 
#58
The series stared with this 17 year old being already stronger than all the veteran pirates on East Blue, then having him and his ragtag group of friends take out a shichibukai and his entire criminal organization. Not too long after they were responsible for the destruction of one of the supposed most heavily guarded and important World Goverment facilities.

Let's not act like their rapid growth hasn't been a thing since forever.
This is the funniest part. Nostalgia goggles blind most of these people.

Like they forget that Luffy and Zoro went from struggling against Kuro and the fucking Nyaban Brothers to defeating Crocodile and Mr. 1.
Every single Shonen EVER, has the protagonists grow at a stupidly high pace. Literally. Every. Single. One. It's the biggest trope on all of Shonen. But it seems to be such a problem with One Piece for some reason, when it's been like this for Shonen in general, longer than half these kids who bitch have been alive.
 
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