In a book that came out in Japan a few weeks ago,named "Botsu" which means "rejected works" in japanese,the former Toriyama's editor and former Shonen Jump director Torishima,talked about the current situation in the shonen manga landscape. He criticizied also other manga like Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen,but the criticism he made towards One Piece are these ones:
-The paneling. He says that the way Oda draws panels is too chaotic,its difficult to understand whats happening,and not adapt for kid readers
-He actually said that One Piece is not a manga for kids. And this is positive for me,as i am not a kid,but he meant it as a criticism,as the Shonen Jump target should be kids
-He also talked about the time when he was director of Shonen Jump,in the late 90s,and he was the one who approved the release of One Piece. But he said that before the approval,he rejected the series 4 times. The reasons were: the chaotic paneling,the story was not convincing,and he also found the main character Luffy not charismatic enough
-About Luffy,he says that he is not a main character charismatic like Goku. He said that,during Dragon Ball,he and Toriyama made everything about Goku because he was a character that could carry the series alone,while Luffy is more like an "aggregator" character,but the manga would not work if it was focused mostly on him. I personally disagree with this bigly! But,to support his thesis he talks about the United States,where there is the superhero culture,where Goku is charismatic and seen as a superhero,while Luffy is less popular in the USA,because he is not charismatic enough to be seen as a superhero
-He also criticizes the modern Shonen Jump,and somehow blames the One Piece's success for this,because he says that there should be more competition in the top Shonen Jump manga,because this motivates every mangaka to do their best,and also makes the bosses understand when its time to close a manga. He makes the example of Hokuto No Ken,that at some point was losing its quality as a manga,and only when Dragon Ball became a big hit,Shonen Jump's bosses understood they had to close it. And brings also the example of Dr.Slump,that at some point had the competition of another manga,and this motivated him and Toriyama to give their best. He says that right now,One Piece is the undisputed king of Shonen Jump,and that gives Oda absolute power,and no editor even try to challenge him,and this is damaging not only One Piece as a manga,but Shonen Jump in general
What do you think about these opinions by Torishima? Like i said,there are some things where i disagree bigly! But i think other things he says are actually right! Oda surely needs more challenging editors,but the fact that One Piece is not a manga for kids is actually a good thing,because Shonen Jump nowadays is read also by more older men and even by more female readers,compared to Torishima's days
-The paneling. He says that the way Oda draws panels is too chaotic,its difficult to understand whats happening,and not adapt for kid readers
-He actually said that One Piece is not a manga for kids. And this is positive for me,as i am not a kid,but he meant it as a criticism,as the Shonen Jump target should be kids
-He also talked about the time when he was director of Shonen Jump,in the late 90s,and he was the one who approved the release of One Piece. But he said that before the approval,he rejected the series 4 times. The reasons were: the chaotic paneling,the story was not convincing,and he also found the main character Luffy not charismatic enough
-About Luffy,he says that he is not a main character charismatic like Goku. He said that,during Dragon Ball,he and Toriyama made everything about Goku because he was a character that could carry the series alone,while Luffy is more like an "aggregator" character,but the manga would not work if it was focused mostly on him. I personally disagree with this bigly! But,to support his thesis he talks about the United States,where there is the superhero culture,where Goku is charismatic and seen as a superhero,while Luffy is less popular in the USA,because he is not charismatic enough to be seen as a superhero
-He also criticizes the modern Shonen Jump,and somehow blames the One Piece's success for this,because he says that there should be more competition in the top Shonen Jump manga,because this motivates every mangaka to do their best,and also makes the bosses understand when its time to close a manga. He makes the example of Hokuto No Ken,that at some point was losing its quality as a manga,and only when Dragon Ball became a big hit,Shonen Jump's bosses understood they had to close it. And brings also the example of Dr.Slump,that at some point had the competition of another manga,and this motivated him and Toriyama to give their best. He says that right now,One Piece is the undisputed king of Shonen Jump,and that gives Oda absolute power,and no editor even try to challenge him,and this is damaging not only One Piece as a manga,but Shonen Jump in general
What do you think about these opinions by Torishima? Like i said,there are some things where i disagree bigly! But i think other things he says are actually right! Oda surely needs more challenging editors,but the fact that One Piece is not a manga for kids is actually a good thing,because Shonen Jump nowadays is read also by more older men and even by more female readers,compared to Torishima's days
