![One Piece Book Club - [Part 11, Finale]](https://img5.xaiju.com/storage/12/nw/ry/d38796-019e879d-2b36-72ed-8ca4-d873524adf82.jpg)
One Piece Book Club - [Part 11, Finale]
Added 2023-11-17 04:51:36 +0000 UTCEDIT: Hey all! Bo is sick so we're moving this back another week to SUNDAY NOVERMBER 26TH, 2pm PST.
This covers the back half of Wano up through the current chapter, but we're likely going to spend a good chunk of time talking about One Piece as a whole, looking back on it, and thinking about what worked and what didn't.
Some discussion questions for you to bring to the club meeting!
1. Which arc was your favorite?
2. Which was your least favorite?
3. Who are five characters you really enjoyed and why?
4. Five characters you really hated and why?
5. If you could change one thing about One Piece, what would it be?
See you at the club, and remember next time around is Dungeon Meshi!
Comments
but what was the haki system? like in writing?
Noah Finch
2025-03-10 01:37:11 +0000 UTCIn my defense Sabo's existence is still unbelievably stupid and Sabo should've just been named "Ace" and been doing revolutionary stuff from minute 1
JelloApocalypse
2023-12-19 05:17:21 +0000 UTCI think my favorite thing from the book club was seeing Jello go from “Sabo is pointless and dumb” to “wow, Sabos actually kinda good, I wish he got to do more”.
Chandler B
2023-11-30 05:21:47 +0000 UTCI hate how good of an idea this all is and it makes me think actual One Piece is SO boring
JelloApocalypse
2023-11-30 04:13:14 +0000 UTCOkay on one hand I'm sorry to keep making these essay lengths comments but on the other I am contributing to the bookclub by thinking about One Piece as hard as I am and even now that we're technically done I've just been thinking about The Emperors and how crowded the New World feels in regards to them Because it's like Big Mom has an entire 30 something island empire right, but Kaido is squatting in Wano and Blackbeard is squatting in Pirate Island which is apparently right next to Wano, and Shanks is squatting on Elbaf which is apparently ALSO right next to Wano. And it's like where are their empires? We know Joker (Doflamingo) was an underling/associate of Kaido so we can say that Punk Hazard and Dressrosa are under his influence, but One Piece gives us no reason to believe Kaido's influence is bigger than those three islands. And while Shanks is said to have several islands under his protectorate. Big Mom really is the only Emperor who has an empire. On a Grand Line that is both big enough to accommodate her three dozen islands all circling out from her home base and small enough that the other three emperors are sitting within one islands distance from one another with the Grand Line barely able to contain that little space. It's just left me thinking about how the Emperors being stuck in the New World together is such a missed opportunity especially given how Aloha talked about how Kaido could work better by having him take at least part of the Red Line for himself (which also neatly loops back in with King being a Lunarian whose race was banished from the Red Line when the World Nobles moved in). And then moving this to the other emperors it could have been so much cooler to see one in the first half of the Grand Line at a time when the only thing the Strawhats could have done was comply or run like hell. So I've been thinking about what emperors could serve what roles better. And I've really come to like the idea where Big Mom mostly stays the same, she's still in the New World her empire is maybe a little bigger but all around she's THE New World Emperor who combined her real desire to create her own country with her personal power and the fact that the World Government simply does not have a strong hold on the New World. Then Whitebeard could have been like the Roaming Emperor who just goes around the world, and is unstoppable and just mostly travels with his ever expanding crew of sons and daughters that he picks up more of every time he lowers the anchor. Because Whitebeard legit just does not give a shit about the One Piece, he's just the only pirate who cares about other things. So he has no reason to stay in the Grand Line, choosing instead to travel the world. Kaido then can be the Red Line Emperor who has control over Reverse Mountain requiring every Pirate crew who wants into the Grand Line to pay him tribute and thus also requiring the Strawhats to sneak past his forces to get to have their adventure (also through that essentially marking the Strawhats as the Beast Pirates target for much of the series). In this version the Marines would also literally just have a very weak hold on the Grand Line because they only way they can get in is through Mary Geoise or with Seastone lined ships through the Calm Belt (which of course would be a very new invention) and make the Grand Line not just dangerous due to the way its currents work but dangerous because the Strawhats are moving through as the Marines are attempting to re-establish their power in the region after Kaido cut them off by taking Reverse Mountain. In this version Kaido would just also be actively fighting the Marines and World Government like he is implied to want to but never actually does in One Piece actual. In this version Kaido is just convinced he's Joyboy and taking the Red Line back for King is his "drum of liberation" It would also give Kaido any character at all lmao. Shanks then would have just gone to Laugh-tale with Roger's crew instead of staying behind to take care of Buggy because in this version sorry Usopp. Buggy just also doesn't catch "you'll die if you go to that island disease" and Buggy will just also know what the One Piece is because I think a Buggy who if pressed on it would just know and maybe even use that to fight Luffy who does not want to hear it would be very funny. But yeah Shanks actually went to Laughtale and knows how to get there again full stop. And he because he gave the strawhat to Luffy (thematically handing the reigns to the new generation) Shanks just makes Lodestar Island his, and sits there with the message that he'll tell whoever he finds worthy of becoming Pirate King how to get to Laughtale. In that way Shanks would be the one who could have become Pirate King but chose to sit on the steps instead of Whitebeard. This would also make Shanks fit better in his role and give him an actual reason to never do anything more than Haki Stare at people. Then of course after Whitebeard dies and Blackbeard becomes a new Emperor, you could literally have Blackbeard be working with the World Government to get to Laughtale. Okay so this is going to need some convincing but in this world The Marines use the Warlord system as a way of gaining ANY amount of control over the Grand Line impeded as they are by Kaido, and Blackbeard does everything he did as normal except he doesnt stop being a warlord when he becomes an Emperor he just renews the deal using his newfound power essentially to get the World Government to let him become Pirate King and in return he'll help them get rid of the other Emperors. Shanks would then also either be killed outright by Blackbeard and the World Government together or at the very least be made to cough up how to get to Laughtale. Essentially he promises to help end the age of piracy by taking out the other three emperors and that he won't threaten their rule because it's profitable for him to engage in the slave trade and even more profitable to have no more pirate competition to stop him, and being Pirate King for him would be about having total control over the oceans thematically clashing with Luffy who does all this specifically for the freedom that being Pirate King would grant him. In this version where Kaido has taken a significant part of the Red Line, Big Mom would have most of the New World in her hands, And Whitebeard just literally roamed around the entire world scot-free for decades. This is a world where the Marines are significantly more on the backfoot than they are in actual One Piece because this great age of piracy that started with the death of Gol D Roger is like genuinely hurting them and the World Government's control, incidentally this is also where the Revolutionary Army could start playing a bigger role. This way also Blackbeard can be the final boss both for Luffy in getting the One Piece but also as a stand-in for the world Government as a whole because it's with their help that he got this close and also because he's emblematic of the system the World Government has set up. An outsider who neatly adds on to the horrifying machine for his own gain by make it run even smoother Vs an outsider who fucking demolishes the damn thing. Because it impedes on his freedom (and incidentally everyone else's) to live a good life.
BreadBunny
2023-11-28 16:33:05 +0000 UTC1. Which arc was your favorite? Alabasta, for a lot of the reasons Jello said, plus it's the part that stuck with me from watching the anime as a kid. 2. Which was your least favorite? Wano, it's when I caught up and fuuuuuuuuuuuuck the raid. 3. Who are five characters you really enjoyed and why? Usopp times 5. No explanation needed But yeah nah, also some of the villains: Croc for being an actually intimidating bad guy you could replace other stories' antagonists with and directly improve them. Like I reckon he could have saved a season of Korra. Big Mom for her flashback being kinda a level of horror I never expected from one piece. Kureha for vibes. Wait shit, Enel. What a beautiful fucker. 4. Five characters you really hated and why? Sanji, especially since he's got my favourite flashback of the strawhats. Zoro, because I loved that beautiful idiot and now there's a misogynist ghost puppeting his corpse. Doflamingo, wasted potential as his own kind of villain, and devalued Crocadile on top of it all. Momonosuke, for being annoying and such, but also because it's like Oda went 'how do I make the sexism of one piece the most immediately harmful as possible?'. Like his entire thing amounts to 'Hey kids! Sexually assaulting people is fun, and you have a free pass! Better use it quick, as soon as you don't look like a kid anymore then you have to be a sneaky creep like good ol' Sanji'. And as an exemplar of another thing OP does; Hibari. Like she's pulling Tashigi levels of usefulness in SWORD for a start, but also it's like every time a character in one piece gets to a certain level of cool/famous in Oda's eyes, he needs to spontaneously generate a girl with no other personality traits to fawn over them. It makes me worry that's how he sees his wife. And unlike Hancock, Hibari doesn't serve another purpose, to the plot or even in the world. If you wanted a member of SWORD with a crush on Coby to do romcom stuff with, Helmeppo is literally right there. Also, cop. 5. If you could change one thing about One Piece, what would it be? If only one thing then I think a chapter maximum on any and every fight. 1 chap only might weaken some fights maybe, but it would be funny. But a more fun change for me would be how I'd try to fix marineford and the new world: Replace Ace with Shanks. Hell, you can have him as Roger's son and it'd make infinitely more thematic sense than Ace, and you could cut out the 20 month pregnancy. Either way, it's immediately obvious why killing him would be a big deal for the marines and the world, unlike Ace, and him dying before his and Luffy's whole thing can resolve (which will near certainly be an anticlimax anyway) would be fuckin brutal for the audience. And since we actually know at least some members of Shanks' crew, we can actually care about some of the chump fights, and they'd have a reason to help Luffy with 0 questions asked. So Luffy and Shanks' crew can be fighting overwhelming odds, with the win condition being freeing Shanks from some bullshit blocking his Haki, and then have Whitebeard show up in the darkest hour. Then kill both the fuckers. Ace too, fuck him. Blackbeard gets everything he wants, the marines get to kill two emperors, and we go into the new world arcs with a complete and utter clusterfuck of a power imbalance. While we're at it, kill the 20 year jump for Wano, and have Kaido kill Oden once the two emperors who would punish him for it are dead. Shit can be going down in Dressrosa because Doflamingo is trying to become an emperor, or defending against one of the others, or whatever really. If nothing else, use it as the threat to the island instead of the random birdcage out of nowhere. And even better, have the strawhats and Doflamingo want to prevent it to turn the whole thing into a three-way brawl. Literally anything can and would improve Fishman Island. I cannot imagine there is any potential that Shanks can live up to that would be greater than the effect he'd have by getting his head chopped off back in Marineford.
SinfulSloth
2023-11-27 12:17:52 +0000 UTCWhat a ride this has all been! So many quality streams and a chance to revisit one of my favorite Manga (and properly critique it and listen to well-informed feedback) has made my truly terrible year a little brighter! So let's do these prompts then, shall we? 1. Which arc was your favorite? Water 7 is an easy answer I do not think I can add much more to the conversation that has not already been said. Whole Cake Island, which I would rank just as high, is something that might raise an eyebrow of interest. As a lot of the Post-Timeship arc streams have highlighted, a lot of the arcs are more defined on what Oda got wrong instead of what he did right. Whole Cake has that a bit too, but unlike Dressrosa, Wano, or Fishman, where they have a cardnial sin or more that truly bringings it down, this arc is more a handful of easy fixes that are easy enough to look past for the most fun Post-timeskip arc. I have sung Whole Cakes praises a bit already in the previous stream comments, but it as a setting, while kinda dumb, is well-laid out, explored, and well-informed by its owner and main antagonist Big Mom. The Arc has a slew of very strong characters, like Capone and his family, Big Mom, Jinbe, Brook (who is allowed to be a person now), and Katakuri who, while not a favorite of mine, is interesting enough I think he works as Luffy's mandatory big fight. The arc relies on a lot more proactive on the Straw Hat's part which I like, where they are the ones initiating a conflict instead of being invited to do it by a guest party member, actively build up a plan, thinking strategically (for them), and establish goals and objectives that are not just "Punch bad guy till he not move no more" which is a win in a series like this. The threat level is also a big part of why I like it. Totland feels so oppressive and dangerous to the Straw Hats and Co. in how omnipresent Big Mom's influence and grip is it feels like a place where many Pirates across the years have either joined up or died, unlike Wano and Kaido. Lastly, Sanji, a guy who has more potential to be a good character than really is one, is given a strong showcase for what actually works for him in a setting where those traits are best on display. This is not the best arc of them all, but it is my favorite and I am sticking to it. 2. Which was your least favorite? At the moment, Wano, probably due to recency bias, but, despite Dressrosa, Fishman Island, and Long Ring Long being easy contenders, I think Wano suffers the most from its lost and mishandled potential. Like Jello, Aloha, and Bo mentioned in some of the streams, Wano feels like a completely different story in the first half, and the back half is a One Piece story, but a bad one. That is a great summation and frankly makes it worse for since those two clashing story structures makes the whole of the Arc all the worse. The Arc is full of undercooked notions: A batshit crazy geography in a Bad way for a series with so many good examples, a central antagonist who Oda either never conceived of as anything more than a Brick Wall for Luffy to break, or is reliant on so much background context he is saving for later it is UNFORGIVABLE that Oda did not think to instead change his story to make him, the central antagonist for a 10 year built up arc, a better character. Outside of Kaido, who also feels poorly chosen for the clearly central setting, has a collection of guest party members that are either easily cut, incredibly bad, or so good it is a shame they were not properly developed, and a setting that suffers the most from Oda wiping the board and having the good guys immediately become beloved and accepted, due to a problem I would identify as Oda making the good guys objective not being liberating Wano from tyranny, but avenging Oden, a subtle but important difference. There are so many more problems with this Arc I have literally begun writing several essays on and thinking of either starting a blog or youtube to vent, but overall it is an Arc brought down by its own potential, Oda's worst attributes as a writer, and a central Antagonist that was never allowed to be even slightly good even when there were some easy fixes to make it happen. 3. Who are five characters you really enjoyed and why? - Jinbe - I love cool uncle vibe characters. He is a very level-headed and experienced personality that fits for the stage of the story he joins, his contributions in Impel Down to Post Marineford more than earn him a spot, and his fighting style is a personal favorite as I enjoy a slightly more traditional martial artist guy. - Capone Bege - He has cool powers, he is a ruthless bastard who loves his family and later his crew, he has some good bits and is not like Kidd, who is elevated way past his character potential to further a false rivarly to Luffy, but a mafiaso who has set objectives and motivations who well for how he is used and, ideally, can work well again if he gets brought back in a meaningful manner! - Big Mom - One of my top One Piece Antagonists. Her motivations and perspectives are so uniquely warped and well-infromed by her backstory and setting she feels almost too good conceptually to be in One Piece. Her design is great, power set, like Jello and Bo mentioned, is cartoonish in the same vein as Luffy that works very well and just invites creativity (her turning lightning bolts into homies to chase enemies, making a giant homie to generate a tidal wave, having thousands of these things as a spy network), and, despite how badly she was treated in Wano, elevated it next to Kaido, who never once surpassed in her in enjoyment factor. - Brook - Honestly, Jello convinced me. I like Brook. He has a rough start, but he fits a particular niche as a character, as a support focused guy with a lot of niche powers that just scream One Piece, his contributions always feel meaningful and a lot of his gags stick out in my head more than many of the others in the Straw Hat lineup. - Blackbeard - I have a weakness for multi-powered antagonists, and Blackbeard is just such a unabashed, charismatic scumbag I cannot help but love him. His intro alone is iconic and works too well for one of the top five guys billed as the last antagonist of the series. We get to see him progress throughout the series and grow as a world power, have basically everything he does shake the status quo, and overall function as imminent threat that never stops growing and is given just enough focus to stay relevant, unlike say Shanks or Dragon who have been given so little so late in the same Oda will have to do a lot to sell them as endgame players after the hill has been set so high. 4. Five characters you really hated and why? - Trebol - A gross guy who actively ruins every scene he is in. The only thing he has going for him is actively facilitating Doffy's rise to power, but that was also a really dumb moment that only breaks even on a point scale he is well into the negatives of. - Hody Jones - A guy who is just a worse Arlong in every way. He is a dumbass whose plan would have gone up in the smoke the moment he made it to the service, Jinbe and many other better characters are made worse to facilitate his plot, and has such a bad set of henchmen Enel feels a little better about his own terrible sidemen. The only thing he has going for him is an okay design and the twist for his motivations that is almost interesting and makes me which it was attached to a better character. - Absalom - Oda took the "Invisible Man" horror villain homework for his Halloween arc and made a rapist character so bad he even had him killed for it for wasting a devil fruit on him worth more than he is. Nami should have kicked his ass alone and Sanji, a guy with so much (justified) bad press already, made worse by their half-baked conflict. Fuck this guy. - Orochi - He is a guy who I think I would like more in either the case where Kaido actually murdered this guy on stage and that was it, or Hiyori, a character who I think is useless, got the kill on him. He is so unlikable, dumb, and required so many hoops and tricks to survive to the present day past Oden or his retainers it is crazy Oda thought this guy was worth the ink he used to draw him. The one thing I will give to him is the downright evil act of him feeding starving people defective smiles, a horrible thing that makes for great writing, an illustrating how useless devil fruits can be, no matter how good, in the hands of someone who is just shit in general. - Rebecca - I could not even begin to do justice of describing her as a bad character that Bo, Jello, and Aloha have not done several circles above him on already. She is too young, too useless, too sexist as a concept, and is a living reminder of an average One Piece fan's reading comprehension where I once got into a pointless youtube comment fight because a dozen or so people came to her defense when I said she deserved to be cut and was objectively worse than Viola in every way, 5. If you could change one thing about One Piece, what would it be? - I pitched rewriting the Haki system from the ground up in the chat when this was live, but Jello made the much better critique I cannot help but think is too important to put above mine: CONSEQUENCES. Oda as a storyteller can be, bluntly, a coward. He loves his characters too much and bends over backwards to prevent actual conseuqnces and compelling world drama that would, in a proper storytellers mind, be the natural conclusion to many of the story beats he sets up. The laundry list of fake-out deaths for characters who would be better off dead, all islands becoming better for the bad guy being gone despite their machinations and propaganda levied against the populace reasonably meaning they would not be on board with the good guys right away, and Oda bringing down characters he has in his mind as being in the good despite their allegiances, Aloha's reviled Garp and Kuzan being the worst offenders, despite actively facilitating or endorsing (be it actively or by inaction) horrid things in the world or story-lines that Oda expects us to forgive due to a lack of consequences in the narrative to ever bring them to heel. The Sexism, half-baked Haki system, cuttable characters and timer storytelling all need to be addressed too, but the lack of Consequences is a core issue to the very identity of the series that Oda will never address and NEEDS to change to make it a better story from its very concept.
Zach Rainey
2023-11-27 03:32:03 +0000 UTC1: Water 7. I dont need to explain this. 2: Long Ring: Davey Backs are cool, Foxy is funny, but unless Davy Backs come back it was a humongous waste of time, the Strawhats won't play ball with the nature of Davy Backs, and as Jello mentioned, it could've EASILY been fixed to better suit the W7 Saga. 3: No Strawhats (Robin and Chopper are tops) 3.1: Law- Law's design is so fucking good, his powers are rad as fuck, I like his attitude clashing with the Strawhats and drawing out his silly. His backstory is actually sad. Too bad he's probably been relegated to worthless. 3.2: Bege - Love his tank stuff, love his family stuff, one of the most compelling worst gens without being overcomplicated AND dodged the raid. What a guy! 3.3: Croc - Best individual villain. Menacing, cool power, good arc. Not much to say about someone so prolific and obvious. Impel Down. 3.4: Buggy - I like Buggy alot. I dont think he's as funny as Jello finds him, but I like him for all the same reasons. 3.5: Perona- Funny, good design, good 'tude, fun power. 4: Yes Strawhats 4.1: Abaslom 4.2: Every single one of Enel's friends - I seriously hate all of them. Truly. All a waste of time. All unfunny. Enel is menacing enough on his own. Or at least make funnier fellows. 4.3: Sanji - After a promising series of arcs up to Thriller Bark and a promising return in Whole Cake, Sanji's whole shtick is annoying. Doesn't cook like ever, sexist, annoying about his sexual tension with Zoro, all around unfun. Too much screen time and potential wasted. 4.4: Franky - I like him in Water 7. Every other appearance is at best nothing. 4.5: Hawkins - The most pretentious guy. Does nothing, pretends to know everything, knows NOTHING. 5: Strawhat dynamic. Literally everything else in the series would be tolerable at MINIMUM if the Strawhats were more fun to watch together. And they're still fun. I like them for the most part. But they don't hang out anymore, they just work together.
Daniel
2023-11-27 00:23:37 +0000 UTCHell yeah, another trans Sanji truther. While I'd just go all out and make Sanji a transfem lesbian casanova. I'd love to hear in what ways you'd want to have Sanji's gender transed. Also Absalom should get out of here solidarity, lmao
BreadBunny
2023-11-25 20:00:14 +0000 UTCThis has been so fun! Thanks for providing a good justification for me to read all of One Piece, haha. It's been a good time being part of the streams (I plan to stick around for Dungeon Meshi) and throwing in my ideas to make OP better. I swear Oda is so often "almost there." Anyway I'll do the questions. 1. FAVORITE ARC: Water 7: Oda clearly (at least at the start of the series) is much much better at worldbuilding and creating an interesting setting for the Straw Hats to explore. Water 7 is one of the cooler ones, and I think emphasizing the sea, ships, and storms aspects plays to the whole series' strengths. It's also notable as one of the unfortunately few arcs where the main characters are important and undergo development. Usopp gets to shine, Robin gets to finally have her big climax, Sanji's never been cooler, Chopper gets a great moment with healing Usopp, etc. The Aqua Laguna rising creates so much tension as everything starts to go to shit. It also benefits from not having to resolve with 1v1 fights, since they're all saved for Enies Lobby (side note: I think I've finally come around to the random straw hat powerups in that arc). I also think Kizaru and Fujitora are the only members of the World Government who have matched the sheer intimidation CP9 initially provides. 2. LEAST FAVORITE ARC: Fishman Island: What a fucking shame. I tend to let Skypeia off the hook somewhat for some aesthetics I like, it being connected to Jaya, and a good villain. Whatever interesting aesthetics Fishman Island offers are completely overpowered by the arc being a combination of all of Oda's worst writing sensibilities. Is it bloated? Yes. Do 1v1s with probably the most forgettable group of henchmen take up a large portion of the arc? Of course. Is it the nadir of One Piece's pervertedness? Of course it is. You can't save the Sanji nosebleed arc, man. Does it reveal that the Fishman racism part of the worldbuilding wasn't very thought out? Yep. And it being the big return of the series after the timeskip? Horrible omen for the New World. I tend to like stories with villain alliance duos, but Hody and Vander Decken are probably the worst villains together and on their own. It's One Piece on autopilot if the autopilot was slowly drifting the car off the road. I think it could be fixed, but you'd have to scrap most of the arc and just try again. Nami gets to be the focus and the antagonistic force has to include a human taking advantage of the Fishmen. How did Oda not do that???? I think Punk Hazard is fun so I personally wouldn't fully combine it with FMI, but I think you could do something to set up the big New World arc other than the Big Mom stuff being in the background. 3. FIVE CHARACTERS I LIKE: Someone else in the comments did non-Straw Hats only for this, which I kind of like, so I'm gonna do that. (My thoughts on the Straw Hats are generally positive for all of them, confused on why Franky does literally nothing in the second half of the series, and for Sanji--well, more on that later) -Buggy: he's always good. He makes Impel Down, and I'm really hoping his shenanigans with Mihawk and Crocodile will be good. -Law: a little overused and definitely becomes less interesting by the time we get to Wano but he's still just the coolest guy ever. -Kaku: one of the few "second strongest guys" that Zoro fights who's actually memorable, a lot of fun, and has a real nice moment when he regrets being fired. Hope he does more in Egghead. -Caesar Clown: he was funny after Punk Hazard -Doflamingo: I really like his design and powers, and he works as a long-term overarching villain much better than Kaido Honorable mention: Charlotte Pudding if she wasn't 16 would be a really good foil to Sanji! When I read WCI I didn't know she was a minor. Real bummer, Oda. 4. FIVE CHARACTERS I HATE: Yikes. -Absalom: get him out of here -Trebol: completely useless and ugly, apparently groomed an 8 year old but none of this is ever developed and he literally just stands around for all of Dressrosa. -Sasaki: incredibly cuttable character, exists to give the most useless Straw Hat a useless fight. Helicopter is funny though. -Boa Hancock: She sucks. A really uninspired design and a character made fully terrible by her one gag. I liked her better when she kicked dogs. -Sengoku: shouldn't exist. -Eichiiro Oda: 5. CHANGE Okay, I'd change a lot about One Piece but here's my biggest one (it's a bit of a cheat). The timeskip sucks for how it affects the Straw Hats. Most of them don't really change or gain anything except Brook, which is a bummer. It should have been an opportunity to go experimental and also Robin and Franky look way worse. What I'd do: -Really I'd remove or change Haki, but if we're keeping it the same way, there's no reason why Robin shouldn't have learned it with the Revolutionaries. She uses ARMS guys, no amount of "ohhh she's more refined she's not a fighter" will convince me that her still not knowing Armament Haki makes sense. Also by the end of Wano, Nami should know Observation and Chopper should know armament. Usopp should have Conqueror's Haki. -Idk how I'd change Franky but change him. Lean into him being the dad of the crew even though he's like 30. Give him a real reason to stick around. -Sanji. Between Thriller Bark and Whole Cake Sanji is the worst character in the series. I can tell he's Oda's favorite to write and it's AWFUL. Watching the Live Action makes it even more unbearable how cool and normal he is there. And Sanji going to Trans island and coming back as a worse pervert because he's "been denied Real Women" is just so so bad--honestly it's almost jarring because of how much I can tell Oda loves writing Bon Clay and Ivankov. I think Sanji should have come back from the timeskip trans, or at least with some sort of trans element. Every other Straw Hat comes back with something new from the island they got sent to--Sanji is the same except he can do the sky walk because he was running away from the Kambakka queens. It really sucks, because I genuinely think Sanji has a lot going for him as a character, way moreso than Zoro, for example, but Oda's unwillingness to move away from the pervertedness just makes him unbearable. Instead of spending hundreds of chapters getting nosebleeds in the New World how about we could have set up his identity crisis and fears about his place on the crew so that Whole Cake would have actually hit? Because WCI more or less works if taken standalone, but with the context of who Sanji has been for so long, it just doesn't really land all of the emotions it could have. I think the biggest marker of how One Piece just isn't as powerful as it used to be is that it could make me cry the whole way up until the timeskip, even with Ace, and I don't think I've really felt anything or teared up at all in the 600 chapters since. Maybe Corazon? Anyway, I have a lot to say about Onigashima but I'll save it for tomorrow.
Foxowl
2023-11-25 17:24:42 +0000 UTC"im happy this finally got me into one piece" yo same here
Vanilla Snow Golem
2023-11-25 07:28:26 +0000 UTCI'm sooooooo glad I can catch the last book club, i wasnt able to get the last one because it landed on the best/bussiest week of the year. im happy this finally got me into one piece
beau
2023-11-24 22:30:24 +0000 UTChope Bo gets well soon! have a good noveRmber! anyway the best character is Nami and the worst is absalom is it cheating to just make the one thing i would change "make someone other than Oda write it"?
PurpleIsDebeste
2023-11-19 00:56:06 +0000 UTCMy best wishes to Bo
Cherry
2023-11-18 20:26:11 +0000 UTCI think the best way to enjoy Onigashima is through youtube AMVs
Cherry
2023-11-18 20:26:01 +0000 UTCCounter argument. Skypiea is the arc where we get luffy singing. :D so... that is one point.
Wincent, The Hollow Knight
2023-11-18 05:54:53 +0000 UTC100% agree on the Perona idea. XD Perona being in the crossguild and hanging around with Crocodile and Mihawk watching Buggy get beat up would be hilarious.
Wincent, The Hollow Knight
2023-11-18 05:53:06 +0000 UTCI have...no input on your discussion topics. I have a theory though, about how Oda ended up with too many main characters and no idea what to do with them. Aries: Zoro - ruled by Mars (he "doesn't understand women") Taurus: Sanji - ruled by Venus (easily distracted by women) Gemini: Usopp - ruled by Mercury (mercurial personality. He's also like a mirror of Luffy, except that he gets to be afraid and have doubts and such) Cancer: Nami - ruled by the moon (I am predicting that it will be revealed she is a moon people) Leo: Luffy - ruled by the sun (....) Virgo: Chopper - ruled by Mercury (Mutable earth sign. Chopper has a mutable form. Virgos are associated with healing) Libra: BON CLAY - ruled by Venus (My pitch for this one is that Sanji ended up at the Okama island because all Okamas...are ruled by...Venus...) (but Libra is an air sign so it could also easily be Vivi with her peacock motif) Scorpio: Robin - ruled by Pluto (ain't Pluton the weapon Crocodile was after? Anyways Scorpio's a water sign, which means it's a Women sign. And the character trait of Scorpio is "mysterious" which gives Robin an excuse for not having a personality. And scorpions have many arm so Robin get many arm) Sagittarius: Franky - ruled by Jupiter (mutable fire sign. Often associated with intellectual pursuits like "how can I merge man with animal?" except Franky be like "how can I merge man with MACHINE??" Also he did that reverse centaur gag way back) Capricorn: Brook - ruled by Saturn (it is the sign about the bones of the body and clinging to the past) Aquarius/Pisces: Jimbe - ruled by Uranus/Neptune (idk, maybe Oda was finally convinced to drop the gimmick because too many character. Because Fishmen are LITERALLY ruled by King Neptune and Shirahosi is literally Poseidon. These are air and water signs, respectively) The cherry on top of the astrology sundae is that the boat goes from being a sheep (Aries) in the early part of the adventure to a lion (Leo) for the later part.
MiiRshroom
2023-11-18 05:37:27 +0000 UTCDamn, the original day worked great for me, but the delay puts it right when I'm traveling and meeting with people. The delay is entirely understandable though, I'm hoping Bo feels better soon.
Shortstop
2023-11-18 05:07:36 +0000 UTCFeel better soon Bo! also we all know G8 is the best arc ;)
PrettiestBeardedLady
2023-11-17 22:43:36 +0000 UTCHope bo feels better soon
Drednot
2023-11-17 21:42:39 +0000 UTC1. FAVORITE ARC Honestly Impel Down, it's a bit of a shame that it's the arc that has no other Strawhats in it but Impel Down just has a ton of energy and never really loses it's Luffy sprinting down a marathon and it works really well. I wish Oda could take that kind of expediency and move it into arcs that had the other strawhats in them as well. Also Luffy, Buggy,and Mr 3 are a very good comedic trio. 2. LEAST FAVORITE Wano, like Marineford isn't good but Wano drags soooooo long. The battle on Onigashima is no good, and the way Oda keeps cutting between the fight I want to see Luffy and Kaido and everyone else is infuriating as someone who is reading this after it was done. So I can't imagine how shitty it must have been to wait a week between every chapter when a chapter was just "here's a page of Zoro's fight, here's a page of Sanji's fight, here's TWO pages of Luffy's fight, here's TEN pages of goons fighting. It's just bad. Like genuinely I think Wano is incredibly weak, and incredibly long, and Oda spent several previous arcs setting it up and it made those arcs stained with Wano. Whoops! 3. FIVE CHARACTERS I LIKED I'm making things difficult for myself by only naming women for this one. -Perona, I love her. Genuinely she's super funny and her fight with Usopp is incredible. I will say I'm kind of dissapointed that Oda made her leave Mihawk's side to go back to Gecko Moria, because I would have loved seeing Crossguild Perona where she could have essentially stumbled into being Mihawk's second in command. just absolutely failing her way to the top lmao. -Nico Robin, even though she never gets to do anything, the moments where she gets to even just crack jokes she's hilarious. Wish Oda wrote women, instead of doing nothing with them -Kureha, cuntiest 140 year old in the universe -Big Mom, like honestly Big Mom is a really cool character, she's easily the best Yonkou. she's got her theming down pat, the entirety of Whole Cake looks super cool and it's just so entirely built around Big Mom as a character. -Miss Golden Week, very funny 16 year old. Only 16 year old who is actually 16. The fact that she can just do that, her powers also just made for a really cool fight. 4. CHARACTERS THAT SUCK -IT'S SANJI, for all the reasons you can think of. He's easily the worst strawhat and his competition, Franky literally shouldn't be here so you know he's bad. -Aokiji (Kuzan) Legit in my opinion the worst written character in the entire series. This guy's deal is that he's burdened by his conscience but then he never acts on it fucking once, and after leaving the marines over his disagreement with Akainu on what justice should mean he joins Blackbeard's crew who explicitly deal in slaves! He is nothing, just a ball of "I should do something about this" and then he doesn't!!! I hate this guy. -Garp, my opinion of him was low to start with and it's only lowered, he loves talking about how much he hates the world nobles and world government for doing all the shit they do, but ever do anything about it, nah. You'd think this guy was Kizaru given how lazy Garp ends up being. -Kin'emon, like sory to say but this guy sucks lmao. I don't like that he's just yet another pervert for 400 of 600 chapters that he's in. Thumbs down. -Absalom, this guy creates one of the worst Nami moments, is just here to make Sanji an even bigger pervert, and is overall just literally a sex pest. Mr Electric KILL HIM! 5. ONE CHANGE While I'd love to talk about Sanji here, I'm going to talk about Zoro or rather Kuina, she should not have died and I genuinely think that Zoro's arc could work infinitely better if he's in an active rivalry against Kuina rather than going "ooooh I need to become the bestest swordsman because KUINA CAN'T BECAUSE SHE'S DEAD" and then that stops mattering entirely. And I've written my essay already but like Kuina having the skill but not the determination (because of societal pressures) and Zoro having the determination but not the skill would just make for such a good arc for the both of them. Especially with how I would make Kuina also just literally the better the swordsman, and have their arc conclude by having her become the world best swordsman and Zoro taking second place. Also Kuina would be a bounty hunter working closely with Smoker and Tashigi would simply not exist. EDIT FORGET ABOUT KUINA ACTUALLY. I'd have One Piece be made by someone who isn't Oda, I can't believe I overlooked such a simple solution lmao.
RadioCommunicationsMaid
2023-11-17 18:57:00 +0000 UTC1: My Favorite arc: Honestly, for style, I would say Thriller Bark, (Also best Franky) we ever get. For story, plot and characters, Whole Cake Island. Love myself some Katakuri 2: Least Favorite arc: Fishman island. Mostly because it kinda felt pointless? None of the villains was at any point a threat. Heck, Even if Hody had won (somehow) would he have been slaughtered instantly when coming to the surface. It was embarassing. 3: Five characters you really enjoyed and why. (Intentionally skipping the strawhats) - Katakuri. Oddly likable protector, playing fair and just being a genuinely threatening presence. Wish he was in the story more. - Kuma. You damn know why. - Crocodile. Massive chad, cool powers, amazing design. - Bon Clay. Biggest bro possible. Genuinely a great character and deserves more. - Perona. Cute, fun powers, fun personality. 4: Five characters you really hated and why. (Hated due to poor writing. Not due to them being bad people) - Hody jones. Never a threat, just a waste of time. - Ace. Kinda a waste of time as well? Don't really care about him as it is. - Trebol. Mostly due to the anime where he had the most ANNOYING voice in the show. "BUEHEHEHEH! DOOFY! NEEE NEE!". Also a nothing character really. - Ashura Doji. He just annoyed me with the NON-STOP COMPLAINING! Wish he could just be quiet and not exist. Glad he is dead. - Foxy. Once again just a waste of time. ANnoying fruit and way too "strong" for what he is. 5: If you could change one thing about one piece, what would it be? I would probably reduce Sanji's romantic shtick down to what he was at the beginning. He should be into women, love them and so on. but not go full "NAMI SWAAAAAN!" And want to peak at them in the bath. Think Gilder or something in that vein.
Wincent, The Hollow Knight
2023-11-17 16:50:49 +0000 UTCWano for me is the best arc. But skypiea is one of the slowest and boring arcs i have read. I do like the sky islands but everyone on these islands have the personality of space trach.
William M
2023-11-17 07:56:06 +0000 UTCThe book club was very fun, I feel very validated that I finally have someone that agrees with me that Marineford sucks. Excited for Dungeon Meshi
Cherry
2023-11-17 05:19:31 +0000 UTC
