General & Others The myth of One Piece being a "masterpiece"/"peak fiction"

#1
So in short: Where does this nonsense even come from?

On Twitter, reddit & Co. it seems like you are a heretic, if you even dare suggest that OP is not the epitome of manga history.

One Piece is a very fun read and certainly has its strengths (mainly worldbuilding), but it is nowhere near a "masterpiece" or "peak fiction" in terms of storywriting. Not even compared to other shonen.

I could come up with countless story inconsistencies and very iffy plot-points (especially those in Wano that are still fresh), but lets just take a look at the general buildup of the story today.

We have 1053 chapters now, consisting of many arcs. From a "masterpiece" you would expect most arcs to have a differing structure, creative twists and generally a lot of variety in storytelling itself.

If you look at One Piece however, outside of that Amazon Lily - Marineford stretch, each arc is basically a copy-paste version of the other arcs. Only thing that differs is that Oda slaps a different overlaying theme on it (loyalty, racism, leadership etc.). Otherwise it goes like this every single time:

1) Reaching a new island
2) Splitting up and having a short adventure
3) Meeting the locals (most of the time a young female emerges as lead side-character for the arc)
4) Learn about the problems on that island and the enemies
5) Have a first encounter with the enemies that doesn't go well
6) Flashback of this arcs lead side-character (emphasizing the tragedy on that island)
7) SHs regroup
8) Final round against the antagonists
9) Island-wide threat is introduced (nuke in Alabasta, Advent of Thunder in Skypiea, Buster Call in EL, Birdcage in DR, Fire/Bombs in Onigashima etc.)
10) SHs win and banish the island-wide threat
11) Banquet and leaving for the next island
12) Rinse and repeat

Now like I said: One Piece is still a fun read (I wouldn't be here otherwise), but that insanely repetitive structure for over 1053 chapters (!) is more than enough to disqualify One Piece from the "masterpiece" label when it comes to storywriting.

It's really just your basic, generic shonen.

That's why I really can't comprehend how fans seemingly really believe it is such a genius work. Yes, it is good for a shonen (well, especially pre-skip) and enjoyable, but man oh man, have those "peak fiction" yellers even read one story outside of One Piece or ever learned the basics about literature to come to such wild conclusions?
 
#3
So in short: Where does this nonsense even come from?

On Twitter, reddit & Co. it seems like you are a heretic, if you even dare suggest that OP is not the epitome of manga history.

One Piece is a very fun read and certainly has its strengths (mainly worldbuilding), but it is nowhere near a "masterpiece" or "peak fiction" in terms of storywriting. Not even compared to other shonen.

I could come up with countless story inconsistencies and very iffy plot-points (especially those in Wano that are still fresh), but lets just take a look at the general buildup of the story today.

We have 1053 chapters now, consisting of many arcs. From a "masterpiece" you would expect most arcs to have a differing structure, creative twists and generally a lot of variety in storytelling itself.

If you look at One Piece however, outside of that Amazon Lily - Marineford stretch, each arc is basically a copy-paste version of the other arcs. Only thing that differs is that Oda slaps a different overlaying theme on it (loyalty, racism, leadership etc.). Otherwise it goes like this every single time:

1) Reaching a new island
2) Splitting up and having a short adventure
3) Meeting the locals (most of the time a young female emerges as lead side-character for the arc)
4) Learn about the problems on that island and the enemies
5) Have a first encounter with the enemies that doesn't go well
6) Flashback of this arcs lead side-character (emphasizing the tragedy on that island)
7) SHs regroup
8) Final round against the antagonists
9) Island-wide threat is introduced (nuke in Alabasta, Advent of Thunder in Skypiea, Buster Call in EL, Birdcage in DR, Fire/Bombs in Onigashima etc.)
10) SHs win and banish the island-wide threat
11) Banquet and leaving for the next island
12) Rinse and repeat

Now like I said: One Piece is still a fun read (I wouldn't be here otherwise), but that insanely repetitive structure for over 1053 chapters (!) is more than enough to disqualify One Piece from the "masterpiece" label when it comes to storywriting.

It's really just your basic, generic shonen.

That's why I really can't comprehend how fans seemingly really believe it is such a genius work. Yes, it is good for a shonen (well, especially pre-skip) and enjoyable, but man oh man, have those "peak fiction" yellers even read one story outside of One Piece or ever learned the basics about literature to come to such wild conclusions?
Yeah also wanted to ask the question, if there was an origin to the claim or if it evolved organically. One theory could be that with Naruto and Bleach getting a lot of flack and One Piece being less popular(meaning less people were criticizing it) it coul get a good reputation. Then people would start becomming fanboys of it and use the goodwil it has to claim it's actually the best of the best.
But if I would have to make a baseless conspiracy, I wouldn't be surprised that a cabal of youtubers decided that with positivity selling better than negativity and with One Piece seemingly being an endless content mine (do to length and all the mystery boxes) it would be profitible to glorify it too an insane degree. Fuel to the fire could be how many non One Piece youtubers suddenly decided to do "Blind Reactions" to it at a simmilar time and have nothing negative to say about it. Ofcourse they just could be clouth chasers but who knows?
 
#6
Are you offended by them?
There is no Masterpiece or Peak Fiction, it's just what some people choose to call certain works

That's all what Humans do, debate about things with No Definitive Answers
Which Book is better, which Food is best, my Country is best, that Singer have best Voice, that Actress is no.1, Ronaldo is GOAT ... etc
Which are all waste of time

You judge something based on it's reason of existence
Fiction is just for Entertainment, so either it entertains you or it doesn't, either you love to follow it or hate being exposed to it
There is no Definitive Ranking or Rating

One Piece is just a Kids Shonen Manga, nothing more, nothing less
Stop giving things more Value then they deserve
 
#8
Are you offended by them?
There is no Masterpiece or Peak Fiction, it's just what some people choose to call certain works

That's all what Humans do, debate about things with No Definitive Answers
Which Book is better, which Food is best, my Country is best, that Singer have best Voice, that Actress is no.1, Ronaldo is GOAT ... etc
Which are all waste of time

You judge something based on it's reason of existence
Fiction is just for Entertainment, so either it entertains you or it doesn't, either you love to follow it or hate being exposed to it
There is no Definitive Ranking or Rating

One Piece is just a Kids Shonen Manga, nothing more, nothing less
Stop giving things more Value then they deserve
Idk that's a very nihilistic answer and especially if the only way to defend a piece of media is by aaying "well nothing matters so who cares!" kind of reveals an insecurity in it's quality.
Like nobody would say "Idk I love Dantes Inferno but if you say it's shit you are valid too"
 
#10
Are you offended by them?
There is no Masterpiece or Peak Fiction, it's just what some people choose to call certain works

That's all what Humans do, debate about things with No Definitive Answers
Which Book is better, which Food is best, my Country is best, that Singer have best Voice, that Actress is no.1, Ronaldo is GOAT ... etc
Which are all waste of time

You judge something based on it's reason of existence
Fiction is just for Entertainment, so either it entertains you or it doesn't, either you love to follow it or hate being exposed to it
There is no Definitive Ranking or Rating

One Piece is just a Kids Shonen Manga, nothing more, nothing less
Stop giving things more Value then they deserve
What exactly is the point you try to make here?

I literally called out the fans that try to make One Piece into more than it is.

I have zero problem with people loving OP and personally liking it more than any other manga.

When it comes to actually talking about the storywriting, it becomes bullshit when some fans try to claim it is "peak fiction" though.

And before that bullshit argument of "criticizing the writing is all subjective" comes up again: No, it isn't.

Many things of it are subjective, but there are quite a few parameters that can be judged objectively. Otherwise one could claim that any stuff a fourth-grader comes up with is always as "good" as Shakespeare's best works.
 
#11
One Piece is simply the best long running shonen,
and that doesn't say a lot, when your competition is Dragon Ball, Bleach, Naruto + Shippuden, etc.

There are Hunter Hunter and Fullmetal Alchemist.

Also if you're talking about manga in general...
Peak Manga? One Piece doesn't get close, besides being peak in LENGTH and WORLD BUILDING.

Battle Angel Alita
20th Century Boys
Battle Royal
Berserk (depends on how it'll end, it actually has some of one piece's problems towards the end)
Oyasumi Punpun
Kaiji, Akagi, Ten
Jojo (part 7)

And there are probably way more better manga I have never read, I'm not really into manga
 
#12
Idk that's a very nihilistic answer and especially if the only way to defend a piece of media is by aaying "well nothing matters so who cares!" kind of reveals an insecurity in it's quality.
Like nobody would say "Idk I love Dantes Inferno but if you say it's shit you are valid too"
Why defend in first place?
Personally i read what i like & ignore what i don't
And if i want to recommend what i'm reading to someone, i tell them what i liked about that Book/Manga & what i disliked
After that they are free to judge & decide whether to read it or not themselves

I didn't say "Nothing matters so who cares", i said people should only care about whether they enjoy something & wanna consume it or not,
However debating about which work is better & how to rate a work that is pointless cuz it leads absolutely nowhere

There is no Valid answer, just personal taste
Even Food, despite it being necessary in our life & benefits us & improves our Health, we Humans cannot rank them based on Taste
So how can we evaluate fiction? Which criteria to follow? And why even follow your Criteria or that person's?

As i said, One Piece is just a Kids Shonen Manga, it will never be anything more than that
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What exactly is the point you try to make here?

I literally called out the fans that try to make One Piece into more than it is.

I have zero problem with people loving OP and personally liking it more than any other manga.

When it comes to actually talking about the storywriting, it becomes bullshit when some fans try to claim it is "peak fiction" though.

And before that bullshit argument of "criticizing the writing is all subjective" comes up again: No, it isn't.

Many things of it are subjective, but there are quite a few parameters that can be judged objectively. Otherwise one could claim that any stuff a fourth-grader comes up with is always as "good" as Shakespeare's best works.
My point is that i agree with most of what u said, except the fact that you're calling out these fans
They cannot give a single argument why One Piece is a Masterpiece or Peak Fiction, nor can you insert an idea inside their Heads that One Piece shouldn't be their favorite Work
 
#14
Are you offended by them?
There is no Masterpiece or Peak Fiction, it's just what some people choose to call certain works

That's all what Humans do, debate about things with No Definitive Answers
Which Book is better, which Food is best, my Country is best, that Singer have best Voice, that Actress is no.1, Ronaldo is GOAT ... etc
Which are all waste of time

You judge something based on it's reason of existence
Fiction is just for Entertainment, so either it entertains you or it doesn't, either you love to follow it or hate being exposed to it
There is no Definitive Ranking or Rating

One Piece is just a Kids Shonen Manga, nothing more, nothing less
Stop giving things more Value then they deserve
You know there’s a difference.
For example, D.Gray Man is my fav manga of all time but I would accept someone’s opinion if he would criticise some points. There is no perfect story, it’s all subjective.
One Piece Fans are on the other hand salty and arrogant if you criticise OP.
They think that OP is the pinnacle of story telling and make fun of other mangas even tough OP shares the same flaws.
That’s just annoying as hell
I’m glad that I can separate OP from it’s annoying fanbase on Reddit and twitter.

This forum is the only sane place
 
#16
You know there’s a difference.
For example, D.Gray Man is my fav manga of all time but I would accept someone’s opinion if he would criticise some points. There is no perfect story, it’s all subjective.
One Piece Fans are on the other hand salty and arrogant iyou criticise OP.
They think that OP is the pinnacle of story telling and make fun of other mangas even tough OP shares the same flaws.
That’s just annoying as hell
I’m glad that I can separate OP from it’s annoying fanbase on Reddit and twitter.

This forum is the only sane place
Exactly, it's all subjective
And yeah, that's why i avoid Reddit & Twitter & such places the most possible
The only time i can check the content of those Fans is if they made some Interesting Theory or noticed a Detail that i missed

Personally i just hate comparison overall, it turned people very toxic & separated them like cults or something
Like if i defend Mihawk then people will instantly think i hate Shanks
If i defend Yonko, they will think i hate Admirals
If i defend One Piece, they will think i hate Naruto or AoT or HxH ... etc

We see this everywhere, whether it's Manga or Football or Movies or Games
Like people reached to the point of not playing a lot of Games just because they belong to the Company that rivals the one which made their Favorite Game (Such as Sony vs Xbox shit)

I'm tired of this & i wish people can simply enjoy everything they like & ignore everything they don't, no need for comparison
I enjoy both One Piece & tons of other Manga, i enjoy both Messi & Ronaldo, i enjoy both Mihawk & Shanks, lot of Games ... etc
You get my point
 
#18
Exactly, it's all subjective
And yeah, that's why i avoid Reddit & Twitter & such places the most possible
The only time i can check the content of those Fans is if they made some Interesting Theory or noticed a Detail that i missed

Personally i just hate comparison overall, it turned people very toxic & separated them like cults or something
Like if i defend Mihawk then people will instantly think i hate Shanks
If i defend Yonko, they will think i hate Admirals
If i defend One Piece, they will think i hate Naruto or AoT or HxH ... etc

We see this everywhere, whether it's Manga or Football or Movies or Games
Like people reached to the point of not playing a lot of Games just because they belong to the Company that rivals the one which made their Favorite Game (Such as Sony vs Xbox shit)

I'm tired of this & i wish people can simply enjoy everything they like & ignore everything they don't, no need for comparison
I enjoy both One Piece & tons of other Manga, i enjoy both Messi & Ronaldo, i enjoy both Mihawk & Shanks, lot of Games ... etc
You get my point
Big W
I understand you 100%
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:suresure::catpole:
 
#20
Marketing investment
I doubt it. Barely saw that marketing investment here in Europe some years ago (10).

Only it was known to those ppl who already were in touch with Japan's manga culture, and those years ago they were otakus, in the true sense of negative connotation of this word. And a small % who watched it on TV.
Nowadays is totally different. And I'm pretty sure that "peak fiction/masterpiece" showed up in those times, not the current ones. The Jump didnt care about western market unlike today.

So it's not because of its marketing, for sure.
 
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