Oda has complete back stories for just about every character of relevance he presents to his editors. The only reason we got Senor Pink's backstory was because of the factor that Oda's editor said that this back story was too good to leave out.
Oda COULD BE a more efficient writer and be more direct but honestly what I love about his writing is he’s not afraid to take detours. I love the journey of One Piece. I want as much One Piece as possible before it comes to its inevitable end.
Agreed! It also makes things unpredictable. Where you never completely feel something will be the solution to a problem bc some bizarre circumstance can always happen. for a lot of series it can come off as convoluted, but since one piece is also a comedy and just a fun adventure, it’s an expected result most times.
@@Addeand I think you can cut out half the characters in Wano and it'd be a better arc. Dresrosa had a few dozen chapters that could've been combined. You do that and you would have better pacing and not really lose too much quality in story. But I feel like Oda used to do these random additions to his story in order to rest. After seeing the perfectionist mangakas tear their bodies apart, I'm guessing Oda's additions, kind of filler, were his way of sustaining through the workload. He added too much trash to Wano to make it a good arc, but so much of that arc is good AND rushed, it's so difficult to see how he could've done better beyond cutting half of the characters out. Perhaps the ability to kill his characters off would really help, even if it's too late now.
I think its important to take note of the adventure aspect of the series. Although there are alot of irrelevant events to the main plot, its all a part of the genre. Exploring, getting side tracked, resting, etc. makes the series feel like a grand journey that you can have fun with. And arguably when things do get serious, you feel the impact much more harshly because of the contrast to its more silly moments. The tragic and serious events have so much more depth because the series tries to do everything it can to be the complete opposite. Its silly aesthetic, goofy humor, and its positive themes greatly amplify its sadder and negative moments, and vice versa.
I came here to say this, even tho' gaimon's chapter didn't have any relevance to this day even (Egghead arc), early One Piece was totally about adventure and exploration, with tid bits of lore here and there. This drastically changes post time skip, since the beggining of punk hazard, OP never deviated from the main plot and endgoal of the crew, every step of the way contributed to the endgame of the series. Being a fan for so many years one does tend to miss those goofy random aventure chapters.
But we gotta be honest that if characters like Pell or the skypia dude were dead, those moments will hit harder. SPOILER!!! Like what Happened with Kinemon and Kiku in Wano, it doesn't have impach whatsoever because we know they'll survive and then we have Izo and Ashura .-.
A lot of irrelevant events is something we can agree on for sure I’m on episode 90 yea waaaaaaaaaaaay behind everyone but I fell in love with the show. But sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s part of the main story and what’s not. I compare it to eldon ring just a lot of small bosses and a few big ones 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I agree - the adventure aspect is really sold by there being things that DONT come up later. Yes, Luffy is the main character, but Oda does a good job at showing that every character he meets, and the world as a whole, does not necessarily revolve around him. There are other places in the world, other things going on, other people living their lives that have nothing to do with the strawhats, and thats totally fine. Not EVERYTHING has to come back around. Sometimes its enough that the main characters learn something from a situation, are changed personally by a person, and move on.
I think one piece gets better the longer you take to digest it. I took my time between chapters, watched chapter reviews and reaction streams from years ago. Was about an 8 month process with my full time job and what not. Literally changed me as a man for the better. Just the patience and balance it took me to get through the story while living my life and I watching other things .
Reading op weekly and listening to reviewers thoughts on it with debates as well just hits entirely different. No other series except game of thrones could compare and that was seasonal
I agree. It's a difference of perspective, like Swagkage said the Shushu part of the Buggy arc was a detour he didn't like, but it's the emotional height of that arc for me personally. It's the difference between slowly enjoying the series at your own pace and soaking it all in vs rushing to read all of it to catch up. When you're rushing to catch up, for the most part you're just looking for plot points to progress the story. There's nothing wrong with either of those though, it's all up to how each individual enjoy the story.
@@needatag thing is I don’t watch it all day. I’ve followed it weekly since 2010 and each chapter since is like a 8 min read a week. I wouldn’t consider that consuming daily. Binging the entire manga in a month and forcing yourself to read it like swagkage is going to give you a different experience compared to someone who’s enjoyed it over the years
One thing I always appreciated about One Piece as a story is that, despite being an action oriented Shonen, it wasn’t really about the fights. I mean, it is definitely about the fights, but it felt like Oda always intended for it to be a grand adventure in a grand world, rather than “Luffy fights next boring villain of the month” that some Shonen manage to fall into. It’s why he’s so painstakingly thorough on all these little details, and personally I appreciate that. I’m also a bit of a fan on slow burn style stories, so maybe that’s just me
Some? Naruto, onepiece, and demon slayer are the only shonen with an actual plot 💀. Shonens weren’t intended to be anything other than just intense fights and moving on to the next villain.
You hitted the nail in the head when you said that it seems Oda pursues every idea he has, he actually declared that when he thinks of something fun he just introduces it into the story, most famous case of this is the Shichibukai, extending One Piece at least two or three arcs long. Great video btw!
Over all this was a very balanced review Swag. Only thing I’ll mention is that I think your opinion on how some chapters/arcs seem to drag on is more of a product of your speed reeding the series. Some arcs are there solely for the world building, not necessarily to move the plot forward. Reading casually, these scenes are very enjoyable and fun, but I can see why they’d be boring if you’re trying to get through the entire series quickly like you were doing. All in all, awesome review!
I also have to disagree with your statement. There are many times where I'd drop the series for months because the chapter or current chapter I was reading continuously dragged on for no reason. I've read One Piece over the years and started/stopped numerous times because it just got so boring at points. Reading quickly has nothing to do with the pacing of the series, if anything it's supposed to keep you more engaged.
I'm just a fan, so the lulls are more of a slow ambiance of enjoyment and anticipation that most threads will have meaning later on. I do get bored re-watching TB and FI, though, through TH-cam reactors. However, LRLL is peak. Well, sort of; I skipped watching people watch that, too lol!
I watched thriller bark for the first time and i liked it a lot. This was the first time Luffy wasn't 1v1ing the strongest enemy. The crew all faught together for the first time in the series i think and it really shows how far they have grown but also adds significance to the absolute beatdown they get in the next arc.
honestly thriller bark was one of my favourite arcs when I watched it. It was my favourite arc from a humour perspective and I just liked almost everything about it. Brook is amazing and the soundtrack is just mwah. obviously I really hated the pervy stuff with sanji and the lion dude but besides that it was great
Oda’s writing has grown so much since the beginning of the series. The arcs after Water 7, particularly Marineford and Saboady, and post time skip are great.
@@AlexandreOliveira-ei5ig Fishman and Whole Cake are great imo. Dressrosa is good as well. Post time skip is where Oda began to give his villains more nuance and depth. I feel like it’s an area that he originally lacked at.
I didn't like Fishman Island at all, Dressrosa was really good to binge, but it was terrible watching it weekly, and Whole Cake was good except for like one episode of Luffy getting choked for half of it (pause).
One thing I will say is that if you read any series cover to cover in a short amount of time, you pretty much automatically give yourself a desire to not want to detour away from the main story. Not saying One Piece doesn't detour too much, just saying when you are trying to "get through" a series, you will feel this way to some degree. I've encountered this a lot with streaming old shows of any kind.
exactly... a series going on from 1997 and is not finished yet. If you force yourself to watch it very fast... ofc you will feel like it's going slow. it's like trying to watch Supernatural in 1 month... a 16 season series or something..with like 20+ episodes each, all 45 mins.... Lmao you gotta take those old-long series slower otherwise enjoying them is really hard.
The reason you may have enjoyed an arc like Whole Cake Island more than the average fan is because of how painful it was for fans to read the arc during serialization. I think the fact that those fans couldnt read the whole arc in 3 days is the reason there is so much hate for it.
this was my problem with dressrosa, I liked it after coming back to binge BUT BRO we was in dress rosa for like 2 years of serialization and that shit was so ass. The ARC takes pace IN a single day. so you can see why 1 day in anime but took 2 years in irl kinda just SUCKED ASS.
Yeah, i do feel like some arc (mostly post time-skip) are better binge reading it than reading it weekly (which is why I'm waiting for the current arc to end before getting back to reading One Piece).
@@marshallseldon4200 I understand that sentiment for sure but since Oda took that month break weekly OP has been a joy to read!!! I think he has really upped the pace considering its the final saga and we're basically getting something exciting and plot relevant every chapter. However it's probably gonna be even better on a binge.
I tell people all the time who bitch about the manga week to week is even if we go back to marineford week to week with this internet culture and discords etc we would still find people bitching the same amount . The arcs are always better on a binge
It's funny how you mentioned about Oda's handling of side characters considering how personally I think he handles them significantly better than other shounen like Naruto or Dragonball. Those shounen not only tended to sidelined their side characters, but also main ones. Krillin and Yamcha are nothing more than just gag characters or plot devices to show how strong a villain is by making them a punching bag for those villains. Rock Lee was straight up forgotten or done dirty. Meanwhile in One Piece, even obscure characters ended up coming back and were developed in an interesting way like Mr. 2. And I think those "slow" moments is for many people are what makes One Piece so special. Cause instead of constantly pushing the plot forward and rushing to end points, Oda instead take his time to spend with the characters, themes and worlds. That's why One Piece was regarded as the best world building in Shounen and not even close. I can definitely see for a plot person like you not vibing with it but for fans of world building, comedy and thematic writing, One Piece is would defo be up their alley. That's why stories like LOTR are beloved and celebrated for worldbuilding as well. They're filled with slow moments to flesh out the world or characters.
Regarding the talk about side characters I don't think Oda is that much better in that regard as there are countless side characters from OP that appear that don't matter or are supposed to but end up detracting from an arc. And speaking of underutilised main characters the strawhats are some of the biggest example of this with most of them (outside of luffy, zoro or sanji) just stagnating since their debut with ussop being the biggest offender with him going through the same character arc every fight of not being a coward and the story bending over backwards to the point of defying logic to make him seem like a more capable fighter even if it makes no sense. While DB and Naruto have their own shortcomings in this area, when they succeed their peaks far surpass One piece in this regard. Also I don't think fans of comedy should go looking for OP as the humour is mostly juvenile.
I think the best thing about OP is that even though Oda takes detours from the main story, these detours are usually very well written and enjoyable to read. It's not like it's a drag trying to read through it, it's a fun side side-quest in the moment - & in the future, it usually turns out to be important to the main story
😂 something a Naruto fan Channel can't Relate or mention... Like He cudve focused on good points, but this channel definitely Did a more negative Critique of everything that's in One piece 😂
@@babiekoala7643 tbh I almost 100% agreed with him, one piece is good but damn does it feel like a drag at certain part, overall enjoyable but yeah, it has its flaws, it is the best at creating a sense of adventure when it wants though
I think there's something appropriate about a manga centered around a grand adventure on the ocean being so thoroughly "journey over destination" in its writing style. Almost everything in One Piece could be shorter and many things definitely *should* be, but when reading at your own pace it's hard to get too mad at the way it can't help but dive deep into its characters and settings at any given opportunity. One Piece could have been told in far fewer chapters (and almost certainly have finished by now) but then it wouldn't really be One Piece.
I've always thought a lot of the pacing problems, specifically the slower parts; are periods of time when Oda be cooking up stuff in his lab for later plot points, so he drags current events. Most people who read know that reveals frequently occur that are relevant to things we learned 300-500 chapter ago. Oda's basement has to look like the Always Sunny conspiracy meme, with all the taks and strings everywhere.
I'm one of the people who didn't enjoy skypia that much when i watched it first. And now like 900 chapters later its one of my favorite arcs. To say oda is playing the long game is an understatement.
@@ShrimpRice There is youtuber that review One Piece at good pace rather than swag that 1 month LOL. he said it was good most of the time & he like what swag dislike :"V
One Piece is one of the few manga that I’ve seen that is not clearly rushed at points by the higher ups at Jump, and while the pacing is up and down because of this I think it’s awesome that the story has been allowed to be told in a way the author intends. I’m sure parts have been rushed before, but comparing it to its contemporaries it’s good to see it maintain a certain consistency. But I’m bias so to anyone who thinks of picking up the story, enjoy it if you enjoy it, hate it if you hate it.
I think there was alot more wiggle room for One Piece in the beginning. When it became the pillar for the manga today, they knew that rushing or changing their biggest series could literally kill the magazine if not careful
people attention time become shorter now, they always demand to see the climax or the conclusion as fast as possible. there wont be such a thing like naruto bleach or one piece.
@@erde9790 Indeed it has, and what those people fail to admit, is that their lack of attention span is a fault that lies with them, and not the show that they personally feel takes too long.
I feel like the notion that the story always has to build up to a climax at all times is simply a false premise to begin with. A large part of what makes one piece so amazing is the detail, the characters and world building. And doing these things without spoon feeding everything to the reader requires some detours
I actually really enjoyed marineford and though it was one of the best paced arcs in the anime! I switched to the manga after forcing myself to watch fishman island.
Fr, after watching Dressrosa, currently at Zou, I’m switching to the manga bruh. Toei’s pacing is so bad, even after taking many breaks from the anime throughout Im just gonna read it.
Honestly I started One Piece in August 2021 and caught up to the Wano arc in May 2022. Definitely worth it and imo one of the greatest stories of all time.
Highly recommend: if powering through from the beginning, take it at 1 arc/saga a week. It gives you a chance to not only pace things, but digest things as well. Some things really only hit different when you’ve had a chance to let them settle, and certain revelations only feel their best when you feel the time to the payoff. Speed-marathoning OP is like speed reading the Iliad and Odyssey back to back, you just don’t.
Water 7 was when i fell in love with Onepiece. One of my friends told me to start watching it since he loved it so much and so i did. I had quite a lot of problems with the inconsistency as you talk about in this video in the start but it had it’s moments aswell. To me the show was very slow all the way until water 7 but after around ep 200 it has been a 10/10. Defenitly worth getting into for sure.
@@affan_9865 nah, it's pretty bad before that lol. the pacing is still awful even after that 200 eps tho, sometimes it really does get boring and sometimes it gets good.
As a One Piece superfan of something like 16 years, thanks for giving the series a fair shake. That being said, I think you're a prime example of why you shouldn't rush through a series like One Piece. Many go into the series thinking they need to catch up ASAP, but they really shouldn't. It's been said countless times before, but "It's about the journey, not the destination." I think many parts you didn't like about series as well many things you missed about it is because you were in such a hurry to finish it. If I listed all those things here, this comment would be even longer and you'd never bother to read it. Also, Zou came before Whole cake, as you probably have already been told lol. Great vid man
Yeah, that just not a way to do it, I immediaely lose interest when youtuber trying to say how fast they trying to catch up and what they do to make it possible, like it's a race or something and you lost all the little moment in the process and One Piece is all about the little moment.
the weekly reading adds to the experience for sure. all big 3 have issues when you try to read them in one go. but imagine reading a 4 year arc like dressrosa in 1 day ( lol ). but i get the point of the video. no hate or anything.
Exactly. It’s about the journey. If it was about the destination, Luffy would’ve asked Rayleigh what the One Piece was, but he didn’t want to know about it because it would ruin the journey knowing.
The best way to describe is “the journey of One Piece moves along your journey through life”. Reading the whole series in one month is far less impactful then reading it for 1-2, 5, or 10 years. No one who reads One Piece in a month and read Naruto in five years will see the two series as equally valuable because their life didn’t change that much in one month. Reading One Piece in a week where you’re sad, reading it in a week you failed, reading it in a week you’re feeling amazing, reading it in a week you felt injustice or wronged, none of that happens in a month.
You were spot on about the controversial arcs for me. Whole cake island is top 4 for me. I really enjoyed Punk Hazard. I thought the beginning and ending portions of Thriller bark and Fishman island were great. I liked Skypiea waaaay more on rewatch and I love what it does thematically for the entire series.
@@Hmm-x5t people use to hate it as much as they hate wano rn. It’s because reading one piece weekly can be detrimental to your viewing experience. But now when people go back to whole cake they can read it in like a few days at there own pace and now they love it. I guarantee that’s gonna happen to wano in a few years.
Wci gets most of the gate from people what watched/read it weekly. While skypia only recently started getting love due to future events, before all of that people hated skypia
38:20 gaimon actually seems to be fairly important once u get nuanced in the lore of one piece hes also odas favorite character and he hasnt forgotten him either cause he drew him on a cover page 2 times one with buggy and another post timeskip
Yeah Gaimon is pretty much the "essence" of one piece's core themes. It's kind of a huge red flag that he just brushed it off as "unimportant nonsense". I think the quick reading and rushing to see the plot advance is just a result of that.
after finishing all of one piece the thing i learned about oda is to always LET HIM COOK! It can get slow but some things that you think might be "filler" will be important later. The more fleshed out world building is why oda takes his time with some arcs and i like how he does it most of the time.
Exactly This channel was speweing negative to next negative to next negative things about one piece 😂... Like Bro we know you are Naruto biased, but Let's atleast appreciate how Insanely Good the Themes are.... But again OP isn't for every reader... Its for those who Want Realism in Dreams
It’s a great series to re-read, at-least a few arcs, going back and examining all the nuggets of info that Oda planted hundreds of chapters ago is very satisfying.
I've definitely come to appreciate Dressrsoa and Whole Cake island a lot more in retrospect. reading it week to week I felt the parts that dragged really dragged but being able to go back read it fully published makes it flow a lot better
Yeah I loved those 2 arcs when reading them so I didnt get it when he mentioned the complaints, but I guess it's probably bc I started reading a little while after Wano started so I didnt feel the pacing problems anywhere near as bad as you did reading it as it was being released
ive dropped one piece after being week to week for like 4 years after the start of act 2 of dressrosa, but rereading it as one whole thing it just works, i think if you dont act like you have to keep up and drop and start again when things heat up it works a lot better, the points made in the video make sense, its inconsistent but the detours in the long run always pay off and you end up enjoying them the more time you invest
If it wasn’t for Covid I probably would not have picked One Piece back up. But we had nowhere to go and I had nothing but time on my hands to sit in the house so I watched it. So glad I did because I fell in love with this story. So glad that you enjoyed reading and catching up.
I’m currently reading One Piece. I’ve never watched or read it. I’m on chapter 227 and so far it’s really good. I love Alabasta and Arlong Park. Choppers back story was the first anime moment in awhile to make me tear up.
you gotta watch the anime for certain moments, like the walk to arlong park, and insane battles in the upcoming chapters. I'm assuming you are well into the manga by now?
@@infamous_richard8732that "overturn" theme hits so hard on the walk to scenes. Walk to Arlong Park, walk to Franky's house, walk to gyoncorde plaza. It's literally the only song from an anime that I have in my rotation. That being said. Don't pass me the aux unless some shit is going down.
It's always interesting how different people's perspectives are. I grew up on Naruto, same as you but one piece is on another level for me. I really appreciate that you gave it a shot and went to the end.
Definitely an interesting and well thought out perspective. You kept talking about progress and detours and I think that's valid but that's the point of one piece for me. One Piece is more character driven than plot driven imo and I can see why some wouldn't like it but that's exactly what I like
I assume you say that from the standpoint of like "they like the series, this is such a large part of it, how could they not like that aspect of it"? That's the thing though, while it may be character driven in a lot of ways, the main story, the part that's been in the background all this time, all the things we're building towards right now is super compelling to a lot of people. They wanna know about the one piece, is there gonna be more of an explanation of devil fruits, what's up with shanks, dragon, blackbeard? That's the real meat and potatoes to a lot of people, I'm certain. I'm of two minds. I want to see all of this come to fruition. I also love the characters and never want the story to end. I think I'd be okay being in the process of dying of old age, reading the most recent chapter that week and be gone the next, the story still going with no answer to any/some of the things I brought up. I'm only 35,btw. As it stands, I'd be ok with at least 40 or 50 more years of one piece lmao.
I think if someone likes action shounen and goes into one piece expecting that, I think they'll have similar POV to swag. The emphasis of OP is the adventure component, so most characteristic of the series is based on that.
I agree about the pacing issue Swag. The reason One Piece is my favorite story of all time (alongside Final Fantasy XIV, Hunter x Hunter, Berserk & Vinland Saga) is its world building, lore & emotional moments. In my opinion, OP has by far the best world building in anime/manga & emotional moments in OP hit me way harder than anything else ever has. They feel raw, human, real... I cannot explain it. FFXIV is a game, but it's the only story that comes close to it in consistency with emotion/lore. HxH too has that at the end of Chimera Ant arc. But to me, OP is the only series that can provide me consistent emotional devastation & mindblowing with its world building, lore revelations & things that were set up 100s of chapters in advance finally being paid off.
@@gameuniverse5973 I love FMAB. It's in my top 10... But how does it have the best world building?! lol Yeah, it does have great world building, but it's not close to being the best. You can visualize the whole OP world in your head & each location feels like its own, completely realized, different world. Each feels like it could be its own story. And then there's the epic scale of the overarching story & deep & dark history of its world. You can't really do that in FMAB & the sense of its world & locations doesn't feel nearly as diverse & realized.
@@pedro6720 well this is a review on why you should read one piece, not a video on if it’s good or bad. He gave some reasons on why sometimes one piece wasn’t enjoyable to read, so I think they’re less of criticisms and more like warnings for new readers.
@@pedro6720that’s the whole point of a personal opinion, I don’t agree with most of his negative comments but they are completely fair if that’s how he felt
Just finished the video and I appreciate your input especially on the narrative analysis side of things you pointed out a lot of stuff that's crucial to know as a new reader
As someone who watched the anime PROS: - amazing lore and mystery - great build ups - amazing foretelling - wide cast of interesting characters - huge depth of the world CONS: - some of the worst fights of all time. Half the time it's a battle of endurance and screaming, boring cinematography (except fights animated past 2023 which are good) - terrible pacing, the series could be condensed 30% without losing anything - no one dies - no character development in ANY of the characters - repetitive character tropes ADVICE: if you value your time, watch one piece kai or read manga to catch up, but watch current episodes
You caught up in a MONTH?! geez... well, so much for enjoying the journey... EDIT: for anyone generally interested in starting One Piece... please take it at your own pace. The point of One Piece is not to rush to catch up. I took it slow. I was watching like one episode or 1-3 chapters a day when I first started. And no, I'm not saying Swagkage read One Piece wrong by reading it so fast. I just hope people don't feel like they need to read it that fast.
Yeah, I feel you there. The point is to just enjoy the journey. He’s allowed to have his own opinions, especially about the pacing, but the point of One Piece is to enjoy the journey, even the little detours.
people just wanna be caught up so they can say they are caught up to one piece. nowadays tho it makes more and more sense to rush through it since insane spoilers for the latest chapters can drop and it might ruin the whole series for you.
I'll say it then: Swagkage read One Piece wrong by reading it so fast. Most of his criticisms boil down to impatience. Man was so focused on the destination that he didn't appreciate the journey. Not that it's really his fault - One Piece, more than any other series, is written for a weekly audience. It's why each chapter, each panel, is so jam-packed with content. You don't get the intended experience by blitzing through the volumes. Unfortunately anyone getting into One Piece now is just too late to the party.
This is my favorite “I just read One Piece and here’s what I think about it” video on the internet. Swagkage is very honest in what his taste is and pretty much gives everything a fair shake in terms of how well he liked it and how well he thinks you will like it. Things that bother me that don’t get brought up in other videos and things that I didn’t even consider would be an issue to someone are all brought up here. Again, honesty is the key word here. It feels like Swag read One Piece very actively and a lot of the things I tricked myself into being okay with the first time around were talked about critically. I revisit this video all the time and even though I think One Piece is far better than Naruto, I completely respect why Swag thinks vice versa.
swag i agree its paced badly at some points, I think part of that is oda truly wanted to make an exceptionally long story, where it feels like you're going on the adventure with the characters. Its one of the reasons I enjoy it is because it isn't entirely plot driven and it makes the world feel more alive. I also personally watched one piece in conjunction with the anime virgin podcast focused on one piece which heightened my enjoyment a lot
@@gameuniverse5973 haha i didnt have that experience as I only watched the anime to that point so I wasn't having it weekly, I've heard it was awful to read weekly though
@@arr0w769 yea reading it weekly can get very annoying mainly due to anticipation not even always due to bad pacing sometimes just impatience but there is definitely some poor paced parts especially reading weekly like act 2 of wano felt so long for me reading it weekly but realistically it wasn’t paced that bad
Excellent review Swag! One thing I love about one piece is its pace. It isn't always compelling, but that's exactly what happens if you set sail; winds aren't always strong, sometimes you have to slow down and there's nothing you can do about it. It's frustrating, of course, but it gives me the chill and excitement of sailing. And yes, the best thing about one piece is the possibility of talking about it with other people!
I started reading One Piece a little less than a year ago and am now on volume 46. While I may be taking a really long time to read it, about a volume a day when I tune in between other manga, I think it works really well! If I read a bunch in a row I may get bored, but whenever I get back to it I’m excited to see what happens next. And while I’m looking forward to actually being able to talk about it, I also enjoy having a whole more than 50 volumes ahead of me to read… Overall, I’d say One Piece is definitely worth it! Even if I stopped now, it would be worth it. Even if I stopped at volume 10, it would be worth it… because it’s fun! Side note: One Piece SBS (Question corners) are *the best.* Seeing Oda just talk as Oda and respond to his fans - mostly joking - questions is so fun. If you’re an anime watcher, I highly recommend looking up some SBS (I don’t know if they’re in the anime or not, but I don’t see how they would be.)
Regarding Long Ring Long Land, the anime put a rather long (but admittedly really good) filler arc between Skypiea and LRLL, then doubled the length of LRLL, removed the encounter with a certain character from the arc, added two small filler arcs (the second of which rehashes the antagonists from LRLL), and then put the encounter with said character at the end of the second one. This really slows down the pacing of the arc and makes it feel like meaningless padding, whereas the manga used it as a short, lighthearted break between the very long Skypiea arc and the very dark Water 7 arc, and introduced an important character in the process.
the anime is definitely padding. one peice could probably cut out a good 200-300 episodes of padding. since they use stretched aniamtion, recaps, and covering only 1-2 chapters in some episode to slwo it down for the manga to get ahead.
One Piece does world building like no other series I've read. Oda is obsessed with flushing out every place we visit and rarely are places the same. From the beautiful venice inspired Water 7 to the hellish structure of Impel Down, Oda wants his readers to experience the vast and incredible world. I always tell new fans, enjoy the journey and don't rush. Oda likes to take his time in fleshing out the islands the SH visit and is often seen as bad pacing but I argue it's what makes One Piece One Piece.
Right it’s one of the best aspects to enjoy. I feel as though that’s why the 2nd act of some of these arcs tend to be “weaker” in some people’s minds lmao. I feel as though with how the world has progressed, everyone like the TH-camr needs something important to happen in every interaction with side characters or for an exciting climax to happen more often when in reality that’s not how Oda writes at all. He fleshes everything out to lead to a greater, more complex climax. Enjoy the moments.
I honestly can't believe Fishman Island is rated so low for people. It was so fun to watch the crew back together and see their new powers. The Otohime flashback was so good, man.
na bro it was so fucking boring it was to boring for coming off of the 2 year break. Like no one was truly a challenge for luffy in that arc. and I guess yeah it shows they progressed BUT BRUH. fk na shit was so ass as a first arc back.
@@travescot7628 I think one piece is not the series for you because fishmen island is where Oda truly shined on how to write a nuanced theme. He explored the theme, all the villains were trash except for Hody.
@@travescot7628 they all trained for 2 years and got significantly more powerful. it makes no sense narratively to make the crew struggle with antagonists that aren't even in the New World. The theme writing is phenomenal and the contrast of otohime and fisher tiger's ideals was brilliant storytelling. i think you just didn't look past the surface level and tried to coast through it (which is the worst and least satisfying way to consume one piece).
I think the #1 One Piece conversation starter for any fans would be "How many times did you cry?" Since, everyone would have unique reasons. I personally cried 2 times in the Arlong Park Arc and Marineford Arc.
Got emotional over Nami in Arlong Park and over Robin's backstory, shed a tear when bandit lady beat the sh*t out of Garp after Marineford events. I wouldn't say sad emotions are the strong side of One Piece. It's a goofy fun adventure theme afterall, just with the introduction of real world problems.
Probably the most fair criticisms of One Piece I’ve heard put into an in depth video. I’m a One Piece fan through and through, I do genuinely think it’s the best manga I’ve ever read from a big picture perspective. But it has problems and it’s not as though it’s always an easy read. But when it gets going it truly gets going.
I caught with the anime 2 days ago and manga today. I feel accomplished. To the people who want to but are afraid of starting: Start it. You will not be disappointed! There is a reason people refer to this show/story as peak fiction. My only advice is don’t stress rushing it. I did that mistake while watching the anime and that’s mainly why some parts felt like torture but the thing is if you take your time to enjoy it’s not going to be torture, quite the opposite. Also keep in mind, even at times it might feel slow or hard to continue, EVERY single one piece arc has more than a few moments that genuinely make you feel emotions you have mot felt before from consuming fiction. Let me tell you shits crazy
@@michaelalberici8264 If you are just starting I recommend the anime if you wanna enjoy it to the fullest. If you want to catch up as fast as possible the mange is the way to go. But Stick to the anime, you will not be dissapointed
People who dislike Skypia are completely missing out. The lore impact it has on the show is still being talked about to this very day. First mention of the sun god, adding the lore of Roger, Enel and his antics happening still, and the stakes are pretty huge during the whole arc
Some of the drag moments you mention are there for a reason. The whole lion-cage thing in orange town was meant for nami seeing luffy different from other pirates. it was a such a good scene when nami realizes that luffy was different from the pirates she faced back home.
Exactly. It also showed her that not everyone sees gold & riches as treasure. Nami learns that the things people hold sacred are considered treasure to them, like the pet store is for Chouchou & the straw hat is for Luffy. Without that, the iconic scene of Luffy giving his straw hat to Nami in Arlong Park would have no weight.
@@RaselixExactly. Without that moment, the iconic scene of Luffy giving his straw hat to Nami after she asked for his help would hold no weight. It’s from that moment that Nami learns that the straw hat is Luffy’s treasure, & Luffy giving the thing he considers his treasure to Nami speaks volumes, basically telling her that everything is going to be alright.
@@Phanthief95 yooo i litteraly just finished this episode haha. I started one piece for the first time recently and it's pretty goofy ngl but I'm liking it so far
I think he felt that way because of the rushing through the series. like honestly i have no idea how you can sit down and read for 2-5 hours of the same manga every day after like 30 chapters it feels like everything starts blurring together.
12:29 I'm sorry but the way you articulated this part kinda "worried" me for a lack of a better word to properly describe my mix of emotions. It seems you more want to speed run the story so you could catch up then actually take the time to enjoy the story but tbf I'm also thinking it's because you came into this manga expecting great things and want to rush thru to parts where you feel it deserves the praise it gets unlike someone like me who picked it up in 07/08 not knowing a thing about it and just watching to experience the story. Tho I do understand your outlook as I did study in media production so I'm not mad just disappointed I guess for a lack of a better word *BTW the "Canon ball" that Buggy has is one of his own design so it has a bigger blast than normal balls, Yes canon balls will bounce of fluffy if fluffy is it's first point of contact but he is in a cage and he is not blast proof, he would take damage. Zoro is also weak in this point of the story and was injured by Buggy so he wouldn't of had the strength to break fluffy open so the only thing they could do was to run away until Luffy was free and had to go back. Narratively it all makes sense however it was overlooked because you was thinking of making the story quicker without really thinking things through
Swag, when you question why some people did not like some of the new arcs, but you do. Its because the majority of OP fans ready these new arcs weekly. And you read them in one or two days. Is so more easy to engage in the momentum when you do not need to wait 7 or 15 days to continue reading. These arcs are really good, is just that the fans had a mix of emotions when reading because some week they got hyped for the next week, and others weeks they got angry because the story not advanced at all.
Thank you Swagkage. As a long time fan of One Piece I can whole heartedly agree with each and every positive and negative criticism you had in this video. You touched the core fundamentals newcomers looking to get into the series should look out for (Whether it be the Manga/Anime.), without spoiling major plot points. I can empathise with practically every point you made in this video. 10/10 Review
Thriller Bark is my second favourite arc in the series, and it is also an excellent way to introduce someone to the series, since it is so aesthetic and (seemingly) self-contained.
The biggest problem with pacing for most people is a huge trend issue, everything is expected to have immediate payoffs as opposed to enjoy the journey kinda thing that used to be a common. Older one piece fans miss the pre-timeskip days because we miss the casual fun as opposed to nonstop plot, the former of which might put newer viewers off
@@stuntxrain3467 people usually have a bigger problem with the first half as opposed to post timeskip, the first half adapted more chapters per episode where as now we sometimes get less than a chapter but they bring more hype, im not saying there arent other pacing issues, im more referring to the barrier to entry
@@stuntxrain3467 thats a problem with the anime needing to stretch the content to not catch up with the manga, not an issue with the pacing of the story in the manga.
@@testingdpatience9203 yea I had a problem with the first half I kept watching it and dropping it especially skypiea arc I moved to the manga a while ago tho
@@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou Lol. Thats basically: "You have to really like the series to actually enjoy that arc". No shit. That applies to any story. All that really says is that you weren't invested enough to see all of the things that were actually great about it.
I'm personally not a huge fan of fights, what really got me into One Piece was the sillines, all the joy it brought to me, specially the characters and their friendships, though I appreciate the reason for the fights happening, most of the fights have an actual meaning, but not really my thing, so it can be really annoying to go through them, but I always get rewarded in the end, just by seeing the Straw Hat's celebrate with their friends just brings me so much joy
We are so blessed the GOAT powerscaler has entered the one piece domain! The series IS NOT about power scaling so a lot of the community entirely ignores it. I've seen much of the community even say "powerscaling in OP is useless and misses the point of the series." I half agree - Oda 100% loves tricking his readers and being super vague so I get it. But the point of the story is contingent on who has the actual power to impose their will PHYSICALLY. I'm super looking forward to your thoughts Mr Swagkage!!!
"Oda refuses to drop any of his ideas" Very true statement, I believe the 7 warlords AND the 11 worst generation members were basically made up on the spot cause Oda just thought it'd be cool despite slowing everything down quite a bit.
Well the Warlords definitely had more time and thought into them than the 1 week creation of the worst generation. The Warlords were technically introduced right after Mihawk and even mentioned Jinbei then. So Oda had some solid time to build the groundwork on that. The worst gen though was Oda going: there isn't enough characters in this arc, so lets create some to make it more exciting
Well the story was supposed to be The Strawhats taking down the Yonko but then they saw the potential in sales and were like „dude you’re gonna be writing this story for more than 5 years“. Honestly I’m glad cause the warlords are soo sick and even affect the recent chapters heavily. The supernovas were honestly impressive improvisation. The designs are unique and cool and he ended up giving most of them important roles in the story. It’s also just funny to think how much readers can effect the story by loving characters 😂 that’s the whole reason Law got his own arc lol dude just became a fan favorite.
Skypeia for me was the most interesting, I thought it was a point in the story where things took a huge shift on Danger level for the crew. The beginning of the arc when them finding the sky islands really made me excited watching it.
5:47 I think Thriller Bark is one of those arcs you should watch instead of read, as someone who's watched and read all of One Piece the anime made it one of my favorite arcs in the whole show and made the jokes ten times funnier.
Very interesting that you find issues with themes in OP, as I consider Oda one of the best writers of theme in fantasy. For me, rivaling the likes of Steven Erikson(author of Malazan Book of the Fallen), Miura and Tolkien of course. Jaya and Skypea together are a brilliant example of this. First of all, the important themes are deeply connected to the main characters, the world and the over arching narrative. Even stopping here, One Piece stands out from most stories in this, since Oda loves his themes. But as Oda sets out to explore a theme, he does so from many different angles, through different characters and usually crafts very beautiful and powerful scenes to bring it all together, not just narratively, but visually as well. Very very rarely do authors explore theme in such a nuanced way that is still very powerful and at the core of the narrative itself! Authors usualy just don't put much effort into theme, let alone do it well, because it is more difficult to satisfy a reader, due to the abstract nature of theme, but most authors also don't really focus on a lot of ideas in depth. The depth and illusion of ideas are mostly used to tell a story. However, Oda uses the story for the ideas first, whoch becomes clearer and clearer as you progress through the story. I mean, even the biggest story and plot moments and DRENCHED in thematic meaning, so much so that they feel like they were made to express something deeper, to ask a question of the reader and encourage throught! Heck, most of your issues you had stem from the man rivaling god damn Tolkien in just sheer depth and breadth of ideas! But not everyone will be interested in everything all the time, which is why you find yoursefl tired in many portions of the story, as does nearly every other reader when reading the story for the frist time. The fact that is a shounen is decieving as well and the truth is that OP can be a difficult read at times, because it is simply dense and it is not always the focus of the story to be purely entertaining. As you point out, Oda will often put plot on hold and focus on more theme, more world building that he wants to explore and just more smaller and nuanced character moments that can be underappreciated on a first read(because you just want to know what happens, and that is OK). Saying all that, even OP is not perfect and nothing is. I have my own issues with the series and the biggest ones are very well known(fakeout deaths, Sanji sexualisation and I was especially disappointed with the conclusion of Wano for several reasons which I won't go into now). They don't bother me much at all though, which is why the high points of the story and what it means to me personally elevate it to be one of the three favorite stories I have ever experienced.
Wow you’ve put that together nicely. I definitely agree with you. Honestly smth to keep in mind is that he read it in a month. Reading at that pace you’ll 100% brush over the nuances and details in each arc. It’s just bound to happen. Especially for smth as long as One Piece. Heck I forgot so much stuff when I first read Berserk (upto/ including golden age) and also JoJo Part 6 and 7 aswell. And i had a lot more than a month. I think rereads, especially for One Piece, make it much better to Analyse and understand. I basically always watch analysis videos for every series I watch/ read. One Piece, DBZ, HxH, Monster, FMA, 20th Century Boys, Angel Beats, Code Geass etc etc.
I love one piece but over a thousand chapters in a month is crazy Damn going into this I thought I would disagree with you immensely but I kinda do agree with most things you said only reason I got through it was because of quarantine
@@mustafaLY2631 nobody? when did i say such? his initial point is “in a month is crazy”, my point is a month is 31 days, and OP takes 5 days to read (additional time). - therefore it’s not as long as it’s made to be. Especially in Swags case, it’s his job. - So 105volumes/31 days = 3.3 volumes a day. which would equate to his normal work hours. Therefore, as i said. it’s not that crazy - and did you like your own comment? lol
It mostly breaks down to personal preference. I've had some moments that I've found to be a drag, but never had an entire arc that I've thought it was bad. The same goes for moments people got hooked on the series. For me was the moment Lucky Roo shot the bandit, and Shank's speech about pirates not being saints and the need of a battleship to fight them while other needed much more to get the urge to watch it till the end.
12:00 I agreed from a narrow perspective that it was really weird how convoluted Luffy's escape from the cage was. Nonetheless, it was funny as hell and we learned so much about the town, which we were lacking. ChouChou is now our connection to Orange Town. Whenever we are transported back to the One Piece world's many places, we do not remember the shape of the islands as much as the people we met there which Luffy saved. It is this slow pace, these nonessential characters, and redundant moments that make One Piece as a whole so much more similar to life. It is these that make it, as a whole, one of the greatest stories told. Because we have boring days, we have bad days but all of these days make up who we are. And when we remember even a small thing that ties us back to places, moments, and people, it is a sign that we are alive.
I always enjoyed the journey more than the destination in this story. The fact that it has taken so long is a primary attractive thing for me. Always on the move, goin somewhere with only a rough idea, with people you met along the way that you learn more about as you journey with them. It reminds me of being on an adventure or a big journey. Like a vacation that never ends. That's what I get out of it, more than anything. Sure it's fun to see Luffy achieve his goals and get stronger but I'm also perfectly happy if he doesn't accomplish anything at all, and if in the end everything did turn out pointless. But that's just me, not a fan of shonens really.
specially since luffy never set out to save the world, his objectives are entirelly selfish and he is not a hero, the actual heroes are the revolutionaries and coby
Currently watching Enies Lobby(Lucci vs. Luffy specifically). The series has won me over, and I I'm glad people are actively discussing this Story. Wonderful video
I think one important thing to highlight is that many of us started when we were kids. There is a strong emotional memory that connects a story from childhood for some people (myself included) to the present moment. Anyone who starts now will not feel that. I have a friend who started One Piece and stopped at Alabasta because he found the story unappealing, a bit childish, and dragging, and i believe that it has to do with his age. As a 30 years old person, he had his share of shonen and japanese novels years ago. That said, it's interesting to see the critical view of someone who actually went ahead and read the whole series. I really enjoyed the video, great content.
Solid review and I can see your perspective coming from a naruto fan, When I think back on naruto only like a handful of super awesome things each arc come to mind. But with one piece its really about just enjoying the adventure and story so I can see how you would have problems with the pacing. I recently rewatched one piece with my gf and found that alot of the original problems I had with pacing werent as bad as I remember and I actually liked arcs a second time. I think a large amount of it came from me knowing what all the world building was leading up to and already experiencing the big moments of the arc I was content with just enjoying the journey. ALTHOUGH YOU ARE 1000% Right about the fact some bullshit happens that stops luffy from fighting the main boss every arc like in thriller bark and arlong park but luckily it becomes less of a problem throughout the series.
Great video. You explained the main reason why a series where people complain it's too long and other complain it's too short can exist. Oda almost made it a habit of putting foreshadowing in the most boring parts. So you while some just skip those parts, others spend hours rereading them for any bit of story relevant details. Another thing you brought up is the main reason I personally love One Piece. With Naruto and DBZ, whenever someone comes to talk to me about them I just roll an eye. Because I know we'll either complain about them, fawn over them or just power scale. Nothing too interesting for either of us. Meanwhile, whenever someone comes to talk to me about One Piece. I know they will either blow my mind or I will blow theirs. Either way, one of us will come out of this discussion with a totally different perspective of the show. If I had to narrow down the appeal of One Piece. I'd say that it's a show that will always give you something to talk about. And it only gets better the more you discuss it or hear people do it.
The thing I love about Oda’s writing is he doesn’t do anything for no reason. Everything that happens in One Piece means something, even if it sounds random or meaningless at first, and that payoff once it finally clicks into place is unmatched. Most current example is “if you could go on vacation, where could you go”.
Gonna be real, I never understood the WCI hate. A lot of people like to be reductive about the ending, and while that’s a somewhat fair, I honestly really liked it. I think having almost an espionage mission this late in the game was super well done, with a lot of multi faceted parts involved in it. Not to mention big mom and germa as antagonists are really well developed, and sanji’s second backstory was easily top 3 on the strawhats, even the entire series. Maybe it’s just me, but there was so much to like about WCI. It def wasn’t the best arc in the series, but I feel like it shouldn’t be nearly as polarizing than it is.
I will say that while I didn't hate it, I was definitely tired by the end when reading week-to-week. It's one of my favorite arcs now, but at the time, it felt like it could've ended several times before it actually ended. This was especially frustrating in the context that Wano was coming up, which just about everyone reading at the time was waiting for
Every arc gets complaints of it dragging when reading from week to week (plus Oda's breaks and Jump holidays). Re-reading arcs again are way more fluid :) I enjoyed WCI a lot more doing so.
As someone who's been rewatching One Piece recently (I've read the manga too and am up to date). I gotta say, I don't get how Swag thought Alabasta was mid. A lot of the side character stuff and all the details pertaining to Alabasta itself were great, it felt like Oda really cares about every detail of the country, it's culture, how people survive there, etc. I also loved that part with the random farmer dad who became a bounty hunter and tried taking on Ace, just to teach his kids that they can be anything they want. Alabasta was seriously special and Crocodile was dope. Some of the moments definitely hit harder in the anime to be honest.
That's what speed reading does to a mf. Alabasta is relatively so early now that we're 1080 chapters in and for a speedreader, I'm sure as hell they do not care what's happening on the earlier arcs and only just bother to digest the story decently once they feel that they're close to finishing the whole ass series. That's what happened here 100%
Scorpion was entirely filler and it shows. It was easily the worst part of the anime version of Alabasta. Actually no, now that I think about it there was way worse filler. The sand pirates was dumb as fuck and that bandit filled village or whatever was also pretty dog shit. One Piece filler was overall pretty badly written.
Personally, I like that arc specific minor characters are more focused on, in their respective arcs. It makes me far more invested in the stakes of the story since it makes it clear that while the Straw Hats will be gone from the island after everything is over, these guys are the ones who will have to stay behind and pick up the pieces.
Swag talking about 2 really good arcs having an arc in the middle that people don't really seem to enjoy and a lot consider bad made me immediately think of Hunter Hunter with the Yorknew City/Phantom Troupe arc (my 2nd favorite arc) with Greed Island in the middle (some interesting moments here and there but for a lot of it kinda mid and it's unfortunate that it gets heavily outshined by what it's sandwiched in-between) and the Chimera Ant arc (my favorite arc, a masterpiece and one of the best arcs I've ever watched in all of anime period)
The one thing I always say about One Piece is that when it's good - it's easily the best. THE moments that people think about when they talk about One Piece really do stick.
People like him want pacing to just be story story story then complain that the story was good but i didnt care about the world or characters...no down moments all hype. Its forcing manga to be too fast paced like jjk or chainsawman where sure its over fast and you dont have a chance to get bored but you also feel less of a journey.
ehh i wouldn't say forgettable i still like jjk and short seasonal...but yeah, the reason naruto bleach and one piece stay in people's minds so much is that people were patient or had less to watch. They didnt drop series for not being hype episode 1. Now jjk can have an entire season of pure adrenaline sakuga fest fights and reveals and people will complain cause in 50 eps of jjk they did a ton of arcs and stuff. 50 eps of one piece and your at maybe fighting some fish in a village. But the fight in the fish villiage feels very good if your patient even if its not as hype as a sakuga fest cause you care and hung out with the crew in down time and comedic moments. New shows have to keep the attention of adhd (im exaggerating for fun) tiktok kids so i dont blame jjk and chainsawman or demon slayer etc modern shows for going faster. I remember people complained that DS season 2 was boring cause they had 4 eps of build up before the fight then people in hindsight say its the best season...cant win sometimes. Also chainsawman part 2 gets complaints for being slower and more mature story wise. One piece new fans complain its slow but old fans say its paced just right. Bleach TYBWar does like 7 chapters and episode...modern pacing feels too fast sometimes. @@raynorcocker6851
I really don't get some of your critcism in this video, the first time you decide to give an example for your critcisms at 11:56 your critcism is incredibly shallow. A story is supposed to develop and unfold with twists and turns, where different things happen, and at this part of the arc Oda really wanted to hammer in one of the main themes of the story which is protecting ones own treasure and what that can be for example, which he showed with the mini section with chouchou (the dog) and its owner and so on, and it also added a complexity to Nami showing her that not all pirates are bad either. These are incredibly important plot points that hammer in the themes of the story and is a very touching and sweet tale showing important life lessons too, many even say this is the first time they cried while reading the series And your critcism to ALL of this is that you just want luffy to beat the villan as fast as possible, and that you simply do NOT care about the story other than that. The fact that that things are happening OTHER than luffy beating the villan, automatically makes the pacing bad. Which is such a shallow take And me calling your take shallow isnt a jab btw. Since what you say directly in the video is that you got frusterated that Luffy was close to the villan, got taken away from the villan in a cage, had to break out of the cage and beat one of the villans henchman, and then get back to the villan. But you are COMPLETLY ignoring and not even talking about what actually HAPPEND in all that time. You are so concerned and focused on the destination, Luffy beating the villan, that you ignore the actual story and whats happening in the arc itself, and not even talking about if the actual story substance was good or bad
I watched the entire series under 60 days, during exam season. I loved it and saved me from depression from studying lmao. watching around 20 episodes a day was nuts
It's weird how opinions are so different D because the slow parts are what I love! They give so much character to everyone. I love the comedy of one piece. I love the extra time that it gives. I feel the biggest problem for you, was that you read all of it in 30 days xD that's a lott of content to consume, and the slow parts just makes you want to die cause you're still looking at the manga in numbers.
I fully agree, when oda transitions to characters like whitebeard and shanks out of nowhere are truly the best moments, it adds a whole new wonder to the entire world o:
3:05 this is a huge reason I love one piece. I joined this group on fb years ago and ever since I just see one piece fans from all over the world sharing their love for the series. It's so crazy to see how one piece brings so many people across the world together
For me time spend on building the world is always more important than getting to the next big setpiece. Could be because i read a lot of fantasy novels in middleschool and then switched to manga with one piece in highschool so reading like 600 pages and nothing happening was pretty normal to me, haven't found a single manga yet that is even close to as slow as normal novels are. Glad u enjoied it though was waiting for this one.
@@L4C3-L4 Depends on the format rly. In a novel sure, in shonen where u have to grab atention every week and get compared to other series constantly u wouldn't get past chapter 10 before they replace u.
@@matthiasrauert8397 one piece came out around different times I don’t think it would be as good from todays standards if it just started coming out now. Still a great story but heavily overhyped
@@Spartt204 Dunno it depends on ur definition of overhyped. Its at least for me the best story i know with lotr of course i wouldn't say that if they give me what i like. To be honest my full list of favorites only has things that are at least 20 years old my places 3 and 4 four would be Berserk and Vagabond so its rly hard to say. If there is a better story for me i hope to find it.
The perception of arcs can vary widely depending on the medium and the method of consuming. For example, most people actually watch or watched the Anime first and then switch to Manga. This is why Skypia and Long Ring are viewed more negatively. The pacing of Skypia in the Anime was really badly done and they added more games in the Davy Back fight. Reading an arc weakly is also a different experience then reading it completely in a short amount of time. For example things like the constant running in Punk Hazard are probably less annoying to someone who can read it all on the same day than to someone who has to read about it for 3-6 months. This is probably why your perception of Punk Hazard and Whole Cake Island is different from the norm.
The moments that drove me to finish One Piece are Oda's impeccable use of tonal shift. Literally any moment in One Piece that is a single panel of someone crying or aghast evoked so much emotion in me through Oda's art style and VIZ's choice of dialogue that I was hooked. There are amazing panels; such as Blackbeard proclaiming that "A man's dream never dies," or Usopp refusing to leave the Merry behind. If you've read One Piece you know that when Nami or Robin cry in their respective arcs - you cried as well. Edit: I also wish you made this video after 1079. Because wow, amazing chapter 26 years in the making.
Looking forward to the inevitable scaling/vs videos on One Piece. Very similar to Naruto I think match ups in One Piece are varied and extremely enjoyable to discuss
@@gameuniverse5973 Ive seen alot of comment from you just hating and ridin Fmab but lemme tell you sumthin your show is 8/10 if one piece is bro get over it
For anyone wanting to get into One Piece: PLEASE just read the manga until maybe Enies Lobby. The anime has pacing issues in every single arc that can feel excruciatingly painful. Also if you wish to get the best out of the series just read most of it and then watch the fights/big events.
25:36 This happened to me with Bleach. The chapter they go to the cemetery (it’s episode 8 in the anime I think, it near the beginning basically) was what got me hooked on Bleach. I liked it since the first chapter and I really liked the protagonist but the cemetery chapters nailed it for me and I fell in love with Ichigo and the story.
I think that, after finishing one piece in 3 months last summer, I never fell in love with it. And indeed, I started it not because I really wanted to read it but because my friends were always talking about it as if it was the greatest thing ever and I also had a LOT of time to kill.
And what’s funny about this is fans are complaining that swag should’ve took his time with it and finished it at around 3-5 months in instead of 1😂 thanks for proving to these fanboys that it’s not everyone’s favorite series no matter how long it takes for you to finish it
Impressed that Swag didn't mention Madara once in this video. Bravo.
LMFAO! This has to be the funniest shit I've read in a while! 😂
Old joke
Because he dint go in depth on the admirals that why
Bro was def foaming at the mouth and itching his skin tryna not talk about Madara when he got to Marineford 😂
Kaido vs
Oda has complete back stories for just about every character of relevance he presents to his editors. The only reason we got Senor Pink's backstory was because of the factor that Oda's editor said that this back story was too good to leave out.
Thats fucking phenomenal
That editor was the goat because damn did I cry
I'm gonna need the complete Lore Tome of this stuff when the series is done (though a lot of it is summarized in the SBS of course)
Kage wasnt intending to enjoy it
To him this was simply an accomplishment rather than a journey to enjoy
@@ryojs4286qbsolute clown take.
Oda COULD BE a more efficient writer and be more direct but honestly what I love about his writing is he’s not afraid to take detours. I love the journey of One Piece. I want as much One Piece as possible before it comes to its inevitable end.
Agreed! It also makes things unpredictable. Where you never completely feel something will be the solution to a problem bc some bizarre circumstance can always happen. for a lot of series it can come off as convoluted, but since one piece is also a comedy and just a fun adventure, it’s an expected result most times.
Settle tf down
My man been doing this for over 20+ years consistently he becomes any more efficient u might kill him
@@TheHakiSith he doesn't mean, drawing more panels, he's talking about how bloated the post timeskip has been
@@Addeand I think you can cut out half the characters in Wano and it'd be a better arc. Dresrosa had a few dozen chapters that could've been combined. You do that and you would have better pacing and not really lose too much quality in story.
But I feel like Oda used to do these random additions to his story in order to rest. After seeing the perfectionist mangakas tear their bodies apart, I'm guessing Oda's additions, kind of filler, were his way of sustaining through the workload.
He added too much trash to Wano to make it a good arc, but so much of that arc is good AND rushed, it's so difficult to see how he could've done better beyond cutting half of the characters out.
Perhaps the ability to kill his characters off would really help, even if it's too late now.
I think its important to take note of the adventure aspect of the series. Although there are alot of irrelevant events to the main plot, its all a part of the genre. Exploring, getting side tracked, resting, etc. makes the series feel like a grand journey that you can have fun with. And arguably when things do get serious, you feel the impact much more harshly because of the contrast to its more silly moments. The tragic and serious events have so much more depth because the series tries to do everything it can to be the complete opposite. Its silly aesthetic, goofy humor, and its positive themes greatly amplify its sadder and negative moments, and vice versa.
I came here to say this, even tho' gaimon's chapter didn't have any relevance to this day even (Egghead arc), early One Piece was totally about adventure and exploration, with tid bits of lore here and there. This drastically changes post time skip, since the beggining of punk hazard, OP never deviated from the main plot and endgoal of the crew, every step of the way contributed to the endgame of the series. Being a fan for so many years one does tend to miss those goofy random aventure chapters.
But we gotta be honest that if characters like Pell or the skypia dude were dead, those moments will hit harder.
SPOILER!!!
Like what Happened with Kinemon and Kiku in Wano, it doesn't have impach whatsoever because we know they'll survive and then we have Izo and Ashura .-.
A lot of irrelevant events is something we can agree on for sure I’m on episode 90 yea waaaaaaaaaaaay behind everyone but I fell in love with the show. But sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s part of the main story and what’s not. I compare it to eldon ring just a lot of small bosses and a few big ones 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@Naya_3193 yesh i hear that all the time. I do see WHY it needs to move towards its endgame tho.
I agree - the adventure aspect is really sold by there being things that DONT come up later. Yes, Luffy is the main character, but Oda does a good job at showing that every character he meets, and the world as a whole, does not necessarily revolve around him. There are other places in the world, other things going on, other people living their lives that have nothing to do with the strawhats, and thats totally fine. Not EVERYTHING has to come back around. Sometimes its enough that the main characters learn something from a situation, are changed personally by a person, and move on.
I think one piece gets better the longer you take to digest it. I took my time between chapters, watched chapter reviews and reaction streams from years ago. Was about an 8 month process with my full time job and what not. Literally changed me as a man for the better. Just the patience and balance it took me to get through the story while living my life and I watching other things .
Reading op weekly and listening to reviewers thoughts on it with debates as well just hits entirely different. No other series except game of thrones could compare and that was seasonal
@@gaythugsmatter7029 interesting pfp there
I agree. It's a difference of perspective, like Swagkage said the Shushu part of the Buggy arc was a detour he didn't like, but it's the emotional height of that arc for me personally. It's the difference between slowly enjoying the series at your own pace and soaking it all in vs rushing to read all of it to catch up. When you're rushing to catch up, for the most part you're just looking for plot points to progress the story. There's nothing wrong with either of those though, it's all up to how each individual enjoy the story.
@@gaythugsmatter7029 no shit thats the point of one piece anything you watch all day everyday becomes good in your head
@@needatag thing is I don’t watch it all day. I’ve followed it weekly since 2010 and each chapter since is like a 8 min read a week. I wouldn’t consider that consuming daily. Binging the entire manga in a month and forcing yourself to read it like swagkage is going to give you a different experience compared to someone who’s enjoyed it over the years
As a massive One Piece fan and a Swagkage enjoyer, I've been anticipating this for a minute. Glad you enjoyed your One Piece journey!
How does it feel knowing that series never has and never will have any good games
Same
@@0vern9Kno feeling at all since I can just play God of War or Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi LoL
Still wonder if swag read the best manga and anime ever Fullmetal alchemist the only one I will ever give a ten out of ten
@@gameuniverse5973 Fullmetal Alchemist is easily my second favorite. Hard agree on the 10/10
One thing I always appreciated about One Piece as a story is that, despite being an action oriented Shonen, it wasn’t really about the fights. I mean, it is definitely about the fights, but it felt like Oda always intended for it to be a grand adventure in a grand world, rather than “Luffy fights next boring villain of the month” that some Shonen manage to fall into. It’s why he’s so painstakingly thorough on all these little details, and personally I appreciate that. I’m also a bit of a fan on slow burn style stories, so maybe that’s just me
One Piece is an adventure series. So the focus is mainly on that. Based on swagkage perspective, he is coming from an action perspective
@@L4C3-L4, it is, but fights are the engine of the series. Everything begins, pauses, and ends with fights.
@@Shark-hn4mv For the power scalers
Some? Naruto, onepiece, and demon slayer are the only shonen with an actual plot 💀. Shonens weren’t intended to be anything other than just intense fights and moving on to the next villain.
Literally every arc is Luffy fights the villain of the island to save someone or help get the royal family their land back
You hitted the nail in the head when you said that it seems Oda pursues every idea he has, he actually declared that when he thinks of something fun he just introduces it into the story, most famous case of this is the Shichibukai, extending One Piece at least two or three arcs long. Great video btw!
Dude did you really just say "hitted"?
@@Jason_Belmont english is not my native language.
@@Naya_3193 oh, I'm sorry.
Just to let you know, hitted isn't a word. It's just hit.
@@Jason_Belmont thank you!
Over all this was a very balanced review Swag. Only thing I’ll mention is that I think your opinion on how some chapters/arcs seem to drag on is more of a product of your speed reeding the series. Some arcs are there solely for the world building, not necessarily to move the plot forward. Reading casually, these scenes are very enjoyable and fun, but I can see why they’d be boring if you’re trying to get through the entire series quickly like you were doing. All in all, awesome review!
I did not speed read but I still had that same feeling swag had. People just feel things differently I guess
I also have to disagree with your statement. There are many times where I'd drop the series for months because the chapter or current chapter I was reading continuously dragged on for no reason. I've read One Piece over the years and started/stopped numerous times because it just got so boring at points. Reading quickly has nothing to do with the pacing of the series, if anything it's supposed to keep you more engaged.
@@negainferno6121 I’ve never had that problem, I guess the series just isn’t for everyone.
@@andrewlitterer7744 What do you mean? I still read it because it's good. I haven't stopped
I'm just a fan, so the lulls are more of a slow ambiance of enjoyment and anticipation that most threads will have meaning later on.
I do get bored re-watching TB and FI, though, through TH-cam reactors. However, LRLL is peak. Well, sort of; I skipped watching people watch that, too lol!
I watched thriller bark for the first time and i liked it a lot. This was the first time Luffy wasn't 1v1ing the strongest enemy. The crew all faught together for the first time in the series i think and it really shows how far they have grown but also adds significance to the absolute beatdown they get in the next arc.
Enel fighting mostly all the straw hats except for chopper,nami,and Luffy
honestly thriller bark was one of my favourite arcs when I watched it. It was my favourite arc from a humour perspective and I just liked almost everything about it. Brook is amazing and the soundtrack is just mwah. obviously I really hated the pervy stuff with sanji and the lion dude but besides that it was great
yea it was a red herring that the closer they were getting to the new world the more they were gong to struggle.
@@TyandOnGoing u here
Moria is the best villain fr
Oda’s writing has grown so much since the beginning of the series. The arcs after Water 7, particularly Marineford and Saboady, and post time skip are great.
Except Fishman island, Dressrosa and Whole cake
@@AlexandreOliveira-ei5ig Fishman and Whole Cake are great imo. Dressrosa is good as well. Post time skip is where Oda began to give his villains more nuance and depth. I feel like it’s an area that he originally lacked at.
I didn't like Fishman Island at all, Dressrosa was really good to binge, but it was terrible watching it weekly, and Whole Cake was good except for like one episode of Luffy getting choked for half of it (pause).
@@hyperboiie2968 Dressrosa is much easier to do in the manga it’s easier to keep track of stuff when you don’t have the terrible pacing of the anime
@@AlexandreOliveira-ei5ig dressross is fyre flame wdym imbecile doflamingo goated
One thing I will say is that if you read any series cover to cover in a short amount of time, you pretty much automatically give yourself a desire to not want to detour away from the main story. Not saying One Piece doesn't detour too much, just saying when you are trying to "get through" a series, you will feel this way to some degree. I've encountered this a lot with streaming old shows of any kind.
exactly... a series going on from 1997 and is not finished yet.
If you force yourself to watch it very fast... ofc you will feel like it's going slow.
it's like trying to watch Supernatural in 1 month...
a 16 season series or something..with like 20+ episodes each, all 45 mins....
Lmao
you gotta take those old-long series slower otherwise enjoying them is really hard.
This is true, but also doesn't make it not a problem.
The reason you may have enjoyed an arc like Whole Cake Island more than the average fan is because of how painful it was for fans to read the arc during serialization. I think the fact that those fans couldnt read the whole arc in 3 days is the reason there is so much hate for it.
this was my problem with dressrosa, I liked it after coming back to binge BUT BRO we was in dress rosa for like 2 years of serialization and that shit was so ass. The ARC takes pace IN a single day. so you can see why 1 day in anime but took 2 years in irl kinda just SUCKED ASS.
Yeah, i do feel like some arc (mostly post time-skip) are better binge reading it than reading it weekly (which is why I'm waiting for the current arc to end before getting back to reading One Piece).
@@marshallseldon4200 I understand that sentiment for sure but since Oda took that month break weekly OP has been a joy to read!!! I think he has really upped the pace considering its the final saga and we're basically getting something exciting and plot relevant every chapter. However it's probably gonna be even better on a binge.
My sentiments exactly. Basically all the arcs he got an eyebrow raised for falls in that category
I tell people all the time who bitch about the manga week to week is even if we go back to marineford week to week with this internet culture and discords etc we would still find people bitching the same amount . The arcs are always better on a binge
It's funny how you mentioned about Oda's handling of side characters considering how personally I think he handles them significantly better than other shounen like Naruto or Dragonball. Those shounen not only tended to sidelined their side characters, but also main ones. Krillin and Yamcha are nothing more than just gag characters or plot devices to show how strong a villain is by making them a punching bag for those villains. Rock Lee was straight up forgotten or done dirty. Meanwhile in One Piece, even obscure characters ended up coming back and were developed in an interesting way like Mr. 2.
And I think those "slow" moments is for many people are what makes One Piece so special. Cause instead of constantly pushing the plot forward and rushing to end points, Oda instead take his time to spend with the characters, themes and worlds. That's why One Piece was regarded as the best world building in Shounen and not even close. I can definitely see for a plot person like you not vibing with it but for fans of world building, comedy and thematic writing, One Piece is would defo be up their alley. That's why stories like LOTR are beloved and celebrated for worldbuilding as well. They're filled with slow moments to flesh out the world or characters.
Regarding the talk about side characters I don't think Oda is that much better in that regard as there are countless side characters from OP that appear that don't matter or are supposed to but end up detracting from an arc. And speaking of underutilised main characters the strawhats are some of the biggest example of this with most of them (outside of luffy, zoro or sanji) just stagnating since their debut with ussop being the biggest offender with him going through the same character arc every fight of not being a coward and the story bending over backwards to the point of defying logic to make him seem like a more capable fighter even if it makes no sense. While DB and Naruto have their own shortcomings in this area, when they succeed their peaks far surpass One piece in this regard. Also I don't think fans of comedy should go looking for OP as the humour is mostly juvenile.
@@johnman8398 Ignoring every fight Ussop has in every single arc. Aight.
@@OmegaShadeslayer And you ignore Ussops regress in the Dressrosa arc. Also tell me what did Usopp do in Wano huh?
@@sobsag oda is building Ussop up for Elbaf
yooooo someone pin this guy, dudes got a take thats based af
I think the best thing about OP is that even though Oda takes detours from the main story, these detours are usually very well written and enjoyable to read. It's not like it's a drag trying to read through it, it's a fun side side-quest in the moment - & in the future, it usually turns out to be important to the main story
😂 something a Naruto fan Channel can't Relate or mention...
Like He cudve focused on good points, but this channel definitely Did a more negative Critique of everything that's in One piece 😂
@@babiekoala7643 tbh I almost 100% agreed with him, one piece is good but damn does it feel like a drag at certain part, overall enjoyable but yeah, it has its flaws, it is the best at creating a sense of adventure when it wants though
@@babiekoala7643because its the truth? 🤣
Aka you don’t mind having your time wasted
@@SILMANTV It's not time wasted if you're enjoying it.
I think there's something appropriate about a manga centered around a grand adventure on the ocean being so thoroughly "journey over destination" in its writing style. Almost everything in One Piece could be shorter and many things definitely *should* be, but when reading at your own pace it's hard to get too mad at the way it can't help but dive deep into its characters and settings at any given opportunity. One Piece could have been told in far fewer chapters (and almost certainly have finished by now) but then it wouldn't really be One Piece.
I've always thought a lot of the pacing problems, specifically the slower parts; are periods of time when Oda be cooking up stuff in his lab for later plot points, so he drags current events. Most people who read know that reveals frequently occur that are relevant to things we learned 300-500 chapter ago.
Oda's basement has to look like the Always Sunny conspiracy meme, with all the taks and strings everywhere.
I'm one of the people who didn't enjoy skypia that much when i watched it first. And now like 900 chapters later its one of my favorite arcs. To say oda is playing the long game is an understatement.
remember, Swag read it at a very different pace than most seemingly? atleast maybe that could've also done it.
@@ShrimpRice There is youtuber that review One Piece at good pace rather than swag that 1 month LOL. he said it was good most of the time & he like what swag dislike :"V
@@HapPawhereMark?
one of the best thing of catching up to OP is definitely engaging in the community about theories and foreshadowings
One Piece is one of the few manga that I’ve seen that is not clearly rushed at points by the higher ups at Jump, and while the pacing is up and down because of this I think it’s awesome that the story has been allowed to be told in a way the author intends. I’m sure parts have been rushed before, but comparing it to its contemporaries it’s good to see it maintain a certain consistency.
But I’m bias so to anyone who thinks of picking up the story, enjoy it if you enjoy it, hate it if you hate it.
I think there was alot more wiggle room for One Piece in the beginning. When it became the pillar for the manga today, they knew that rushing or changing their biggest series could literally kill the magazine if not careful
people attention time become shorter now, they always demand to see the climax or the conclusion as fast as possible. there wont be such a thing like naruto bleach or one piece.
@@erde9790 Indeed it has, and what those people fail to admit, is that their lack of attention span is a fault that lies with them, and not the show that they personally feel takes too long.
Wano was definitely rushed near the end to a degree. Tons of things that were set up never came thru except a few in a recent sbs
Wano was rushed
00:00 Introduction
03:55 Inconsistency
06:59 East Blue
09:59 Alabasta saga
16:27 Jaya
19:25 Skypeia
23:05 Long Ring Long Land
23:47 Water 7
26:01 Thriller Bark and beyond
30:24 Overall thoughts
So did he finished one piece?
@@colasevenseas5652 nobody has finished one piece you ape
@@colasevenseas5652yes
So he only talked about pre TS majority of the video? Did he actually get to catch up?
@@CorazonLaw1no he talked about both nd the last 3 arcs gon have they own vid, but u should watch the whole vid
I feel like the notion that the story always has to build up to a climax at all times is simply a false premise to begin with. A large part of what makes one piece so amazing is the detail, the characters and world building. And doing these things without spoon feeding everything to the reader requires some detours
Watching the marineford arc was what made me switch to the manga. The pacing and 2+min recaps every video were BRUTAL
I actually really enjoyed marineford and though it was one of the best paced arcs in the anime! I switched to the manga after forcing myself to watch fishman island.
@@okok4981 i thought the pacing in the marineford arc (in the anime) was so terrible. Half of the episodes were just character reactions
Fr, after watching Dressrosa, currently at Zou, I’m switching to the manga bruh. Toei’s pacing is so bad, even after taking many breaks from the anime throughout Im just gonna read it.
@@animalpenn-q5c Dressrosa in Manga and Anime is HORRID, much woesr than Marineford imo.
well, i started with the manga after catching up with the anime when it was airing somewhere around amazon lilly.
Honestly I started One Piece in August 2021 and caught up to the Wano arc in May 2022. Definitely worth it and imo one of the greatest stories of all time.
we got the exact same timeline
Ehhh
One piece is like top one hundred at best in just anime/manga
@@gameuniverse5973 I agree
@@gameuniverse5973 anime maybe , manga is third highest rated on MAL so objectively ure wrong
Highly recommend: if powering through from the beginning, take it at 1 arc/saga a week. It gives you a chance to not only pace things, but digest things as well. Some things really only hit different when you’ve had a chance to let them settle, and certain revelations only feel their best when you feel the time to the payoff. Speed-marathoning OP is like speed reading the Iliad and Odyssey back to back, you just don’t.
Water 7 was when i fell in love with Onepiece. One of my friends told me to start watching it since he loved it so much and so i did. I had quite a lot of problems with the inconsistency as you talk about in this video in the start but it had it’s moments aswell. To me the show was very slow all the way until water 7 but after around ep 200 it has been a 10/10. Defenitly worth getting into for sure.
200 episodes to get "good" 😂
@@N-Khal nahh 200 eps to get you addicted to it
gets good wayyy before that
@@affan_9865 nah, it's pretty bad before that lol. the pacing is still awful even after that 200 eps tho, sometimes it really does get boring and sometimes it gets good.
that's why you read the manga. Early arcs were phenomenal and for quick readers, you zoom by.@@lolcall5295
One piece is good from the start. It gets fucking amazing after water 7. The Impel down, marineford saga is the best arc in anime/manga period@@N-Khal
As a One Piece superfan of something like 16 years, thanks for giving the series a fair shake.
That being said, I think you're a prime example of why you shouldn't rush through a series like One Piece. Many go into the series thinking they need to catch up ASAP, but they really shouldn't. It's been said countless times before, but "It's about the journey, not the destination." I think many parts you didn't like about series as well many things you missed about it is because you were in such a hurry to finish it. If I listed all those things here, this comment would be even longer and you'd never bother to read it.
Also, Zou came before Whole cake, as you probably have already been told lol.
Great vid man
Yeah, that just not a way to do it, I immediaely lose interest when youtuber trying to say how fast they trying to catch up and what they do to make it possible, like it's a race or something and you lost all the little moment in the process and One Piece is all about the little moment.
the weekly reading adds to the experience for sure. all big 3 have issues when you try to read them in one go. but imagine reading a 4 year arc like dressrosa in 1 day ( lol ). but i get the point of the video. no hate or anything.
Exactly. It’s about the journey. If it was about the destination, Luffy would’ve asked Rayleigh what the One Piece was, but he didn’t want to know about it because it would ruin the journey knowing.
The best way to describe is “the journey of One Piece moves along your journey through life”. Reading the whole series in one month is far less impactful then reading it for 1-2, 5, or 10 years. No one who reads One Piece in a month and read Naruto in five years will see the two series as equally valuable because their life didn’t change that much in one month.
Reading One Piece in a week where you’re sad, reading it in a week you failed, reading it in a week you’re feeling amazing, reading it in a week you felt injustice or wronged, none of that happens in a month.
@@DemonFox369 fucking amen dude
You were spot on about the controversial arcs for me. Whole cake island is top 4 for me. I really enjoyed Punk Hazard. I thought the beginning and ending portions of Thriller bark and Fishman island were great. I liked Skypiea waaaay more on rewatch and I love what it does thematically for the entire series.
I don't think fanbase dislikes wci, if only my experience in anime was wasn't as good as in manga and it is top 10 arc for me
And the way fisher tiger flashback was good
@@Hmm-x5t the flashbacks were good I just saw both of them coming and they took up too many episodes. I liked the arc besides for that
@@Hmm-x5t people use to hate it as much as they hate wano rn. It’s because reading one piece weekly can be detrimental to your viewing experience. But now when people go back to whole cake they can read it in like a few days at there own pace and now they love it. I guarantee that’s gonna happen to wano in a few years.
Wci gets most of the gate from people what watched/read it weekly. While skypia only recently started getting love due to future events, before all of that people hated skypia
38:20 gaimon actually seems to be fairly important once u get nuanced in the lore of one piece hes also odas favorite character and he hasnt forgotten him either cause he drew him on a cover page 2 times one with buggy and another post timeskip
Oda’s favourite is buggy I thought
@@ANUKO97 nope he mentioned that it was gaimon in an sbs
Yeah Gaimon is pretty much the "essence" of one piece's core themes. It's kind of a huge red flag that he just brushed it off as "unimportant nonsense". I think the quick reading and rushing to see the plot advance is just a result of that.
after finishing all of one piece the thing i learned about oda is to always LET HIM COOK! It can get slow but some things that you think might be "filler" will be important later. The more fleshed out world building is why oda takes his time with some arcs and i like how he does it most of the time.
Exactly This channel was speweing negative to next negative to next negative things about one piece 😂...
Like Bro we know you are Naruto biased, but Let's atleast appreciate how Insanely Good the Themes are.... But again OP isn't for every reader...
Its for those who Want Realism in Dreams
It’s a great series to re-read, at-least a few arcs, going back and examining all the nuggets of info that Oda planted hundreds of chapters ago is very satisfying.
I've definitely come to appreciate Dressrsoa and Whole Cake island a lot more in retrospect. reading it week to week I felt the parts that dragged really dragged but being able to go back read it fully published makes it flow a lot better
Yeah I loved those 2 arcs when reading them so I didnt get it when he mentioned the complaints, but I guess it's probably bc I started reading a little while after Wano started so I didnt feel the pacing problems anywhere near as bad as you did reading it as it was being released
ive dropped one piece after being week to week for like 4 years after the start of act 2 of dressrosa, but rereading it as one whole thing it just works, i think if you dont act like you have to keep up and drop and start again when things heat up it works a lot better, the points made in the video make sense, its inconsistent but the detours in the long run always pay off and you end up enjoying them the more time you invest
If it wasn’t for Covid I probably would not have picked One Piece back up. But we had nowhere to go and I had nothing but time on my hands to sit in the house so I watched it. So glad I did because I fell in love with this story. So glad that you enjoyed reading and catching up.
I’m currently reading One Piece. I’ve never watched or read it. I’m on chapter 227 and so far it’s really good. I love Alabasta and Arlong Park. Choppers back story was the first anime moment in awhile to make me tear up.
you gotta watch the anime for certain moments, like the walk to arlong park, and insane battles in the upcoming chapters. I'm assuming you are well into the manga by now?
So what did you think?
@@infamous_richard8732that "overturn" theme hits so hard on the walk to scenes. Walk to Arlong Park, walk to Franky's house, walk to gyoncorde plaza. It's literally the only song from an anime that I have in my rotation. That being said. Don't pass me the aux unless some shit is going down.
It's always interesting how different people's perspectives are. I grew up on Naruto, same as you but one piece is on another level for me. I really appreciate that you gave it a shot and went to the end.
Completely diff level
Definitely an interesting and well thought out perspective. You kept talking about progress and detours and I think that's valid but that's the point of one piece for me. One Piece is more character driven than plot driven imo and I can see why some wouldn't like it but that's exactly what I like
I assume you say that from the standpoint of like "they like the series, this is such a large part of it, how could they not like that aspect of it"? That's the thing though, while it may be character driven in a lot of ways, the main story, the part that's been in the background all this time, all the things we're building towards right now is super compelling to a lot of people. They wanna know about the one piece, is there gonna be more of an explanation of devil fruits, what's up with shanks, dragon, blackbeard? That's the real meat and potatoes to a lot of people, I'm certain.
I'm of two minds. I want to see all of this come to fruition. I also love the characters and never want the story to end. I think I'd be okay being in the process of dying of old age, reading the most recent chapter that week and be gone the next, the story still going with no answer to any/some of the things I brought up. I'm only 35,btw. As it stands, I'd be ok with at least 40 or 50 more years of one piece lmao.
I think if someone likes action shounen and goes into one piece expecting that, I think they'll have similar POV to swag.
The emphasis of OP is the adventure component, so most characteristic of the series is based on that.
I agree about the pacing issue Swag. The reason One Piece is my favorite story of all time (alongside Final Fantasy XIV, Hunter x Hunter, Berserk & Vinland Saga) is its world building, lore & emotional moments. In my opinion, OP has by far the best world building in anime/manga & emotional moments in OP hit me way harder than anything else ever has. They feel raw, human, real... I cannot explain it. FFXIV is a game, but it's the only story that comes close to it in consistency with emotion/lore. HxH too has that at the end of Chimera Ant arc. But to me, OP is the only series that can provide me consistent emotional devastation & mindblowing with its world building, lore revelations & things that were set up 100s of chapters in advance finally being paid off.
Now I know your capping best world building is Fullmetal alchemist
@@gameuniverse5973 I love FMAB. It's in my top 10... But how does it have the best world building?! lol
Yeah, it does have great world building, but it's not close to being the best. You can visualize the whole OP world in your head & each location feels like its own, completely realized, different world. Each feels like it could be its own story. And then there's the epic scale of the overarching story & deep & dark history of its world. You can't really do that in FMAB & the sense of its world & locations doesn't feel nearly as diverse & realized.
Oda probably one of the best of his shonen peers when it comes to handling emotions.
Beautifully said
@@gameuniverse5973 bro fmab's main city isn't as explored as skypiea
This is a great review. You didn't get swallowed by hype and spoke both strengths and weaknesses of the series. We need more reviews like this.
I find that his "weakness" are just things that this person PERSONALLY doesn't like and not fair critiscism
@@pedro6720 well this is a review on why you should read one piece, not a video on if it’s good or bad. He gave some reasons on why sometimes one piece wasn’t enjoyable to read, so I think they’re less of criticisms and more like warnings for new readers.
@@pedro6720that’s the whole point of a personal opinion, I don’t agree with most of his negative comments but they are completely fair if that’s how he felt
Video seemed like a love letter just delivered in a bored voice.
@@pedro6720criticism is based on a subjectivity, bro what are you talking about
Just finished the video and I appreciate your input especially on the narrative analysis side of things you pointed out a lot of stuff that's crucial to know as a new reader
Woah member?
Nah it was unlisted for three hours and I happened to catch it early kinda pog honestly
Now swag needs to do a video on the worser Arc detrossa or Tsunade arc in part one
@@gameuniverse5973 Tsunade was decent dafuq
@@gameuniverse5973 How do u compare Peakrossa to Tsumid
As someone who watched the anime
PROS:
- amazing lore and mystery
- great build ups
- amazing foretelling
- wide cast of interesting characters
- huge depth of the world
CONS:
- some of the worst fights of all time. Half the time it's a battle of endurance and screaming, boring cinematography (except fights animated past 2023 which are good)
- terrible pacing, the series could be condensed 30% without losing anything
- no one dies
- no character development in ANY of the characters
- repetitive character tropes
ADVICE: if you value your time, watch one piece kai or read manga to catch up, but watch current episodes
"luffy has no character development
وو
they think character development is just going from happy to sad
You caught up in a MONTH?! geez... well, so much for enjoying the journey...
EDIT: for anyone generally interested in starting One Piece... please take it at your own pace. The point of One Piece is not to rush to catch up. I took it slow. I was watching like one episode or 1-3 chapters a day when I first started. And no, I'm not saying Swagkage read One Piece wrong by reading it so fast. I just hope people don't feel like they need to read it that fast.
Yeah, I feel you there. The point is to just enjoy the journey. He’s allowed to have his own opinions, especially about the pacing, but the point of One Piece is to enjoy the journey, even the little detours.
people just wanna be caught up so they can say they are caught up to one piece.
nowadays tho it makes more and more sense to rush through it since insane spoilers for the latest chapters can drop and it might ruin the whole series for you.
one episode a day? When there’s over a thousand episodes? Come on dawg maybe back in 2013 yea but damn
I'll say it then: Swagkage read One Piece wrong by reading it so fast. Most of his criticisms boil down to impatience. Man was so focused on the destination that he didn't appreciate the journey. Not that it's really his fault - One Piece, more than any other series, is written for a weekly audience. It's why each chapter, each panel, is so jam-packed with content. You don't get the intended experience by blitzing through the volumes. Unfortunately anyone getting into One Piece now is just too late to the party.
Enjoying the journey doesn’t mean purposefully slowing down to gain…??? What? What is gained by reading it that way
This is my favorite “I just read One Piece and here’s what I think about it” video on the internet. Swagkage is very honest in what his taste is and pretty much gives everything a fair shake in terms of how well he liked it and how well he thinks you will like it. Things that bother me that don’t get brought up in other videos and things that I didn’t even consider would be an issue to someone are all brought up here. Again, honesty is the key word here. It feels like Swag read One Piece very actively and a lot of the things I tricked myself into being okay with the first time around were talked about critically. I revisit this video all the time and even though I think One Piece is far better than Naruto, I completely respect why Swag thinks vice versa.
swag i agree its paced badly at some points, I think part of that is oda truly wanted to make an exceptionally long story, where it feels like you're going on the adventure with the characters. Its one of the reasons I enjoy it is because it isn't entirely plot driven and it makes the world feel more alive. I also personally watched one piece in conjunction with the anime virgin podcast focused on one piece which heightened my enjoyment a lot
Detrossa felt like I was just beating me on my head on i dint want to keep reading
@@gameuniverse5973 haha i didnt have that experience as I only watched the anime to that point so I wasn't having it weekly, I've heard it was awful to read weekly though
@@arr0w769 that's worse
@@arr0w769 yea reading it weekly can get very annoying mainly due to anticipation not even always due to bad pacing sometimes just impatience but there is definitely some poor paced parts especially reading weekly like act 2 of wano felt so long for me reading it weekly but realistically it wasn’t paced that bad
The One Piece Virgin with Mak Briggs and Nux really made me love OP so much more by engagement
Excellent review Swag! One thing I love about one piece is its pace. It isn't always compelling, but that's exactly what happens if you set sail; winds aren't always strong, sometimes you have to slow down and there's nothing you can do about it. It's frustrating, of course, but it gives me the chill and excitement of sailing.
And yes, the best thing about one piece is the possibility of talking about it with other people!
I started reading One Piece a little less than a year ago and am now on volume 46. While I may be taking a really long time to read it, about a volume a day when I tune in between other manga, I think it works really well! If I read a bunch in a row I may get bored, but whenever I get back to it I’m excited to see what happens next. And while I’m looking forward to actually being able to talk about it, I also enjoy having a whole more than 50 volumes ahead of me to read…
Overall, I’d say One Piece is definitely worth it! Even if I stopped now, it would be worth it. Even if I stopped at volume 10, it would be worth it… because it’s fun!
Side note: One Piece SBS (Question corners) are *the best.* Seeing Oda just talk as Oda and respond to his fans - mostly joking - questions is so fun. If you’re an anime watcher, I highly recommend looking up some SBS (I don’t know if they’re in the anime or not, but I don’t see how they would be.)
The question corners are known as the SBS in the community, might make it easier for people to search for them.
@@idiatico Oh, thank you! I’ll edit it.
Regarding Long Ring Long Land, the anime put a rather long (but admittedly really good) filler arc between Skypiea and LRLL, then doubled the length of LRLL, removed the encounter with a certain character from the arc, added two small filler arcs (the second of which rehashes the antagonists from LRLL), and then put the encounter with said character at the end of the second one. This really slows down the pacing of the arc and makes it feel like meaningless padding, whereas the manga used it as a short, lighthearted break between the very long Skypiea arc and the very dark Water 7 arc, and introduced an important character in the process.
the anime is definitely padding. one peice could probably cut out a good 200-300 episodes of padding. since they use stretched aniamtion, recaps, and covering only 1-2 chapters in some episode to slwo it down for the manga to get ahead.
I just watched the filler in between skypiea and LRLL and it was indeed really really good.
@@raiden3013one pace literally eliminates more than 300 episodes of the anime
One Piece does world building like no other series I've read. Oda is obsessed with flushing out every place we visit and rarely are places the same. From the beautiful venice inspired Water 7 to the hellish structure of Impel Down, Oda wants his readers to experience the vast and incredible world. I always tell new fans, enjoy the journey and don't rush. Oda likes to take his time in fleshing out the islands the SH visit and is often seen as bad pacing but I argue it's what makes One Piece One Piece.
Right it’s one of the best aspects to enjoy. I feel as though that’s why the 2nd act of some of these arcs tend to be “weaker” in some people’s minds lmao. I feel as though with how the world has progressed, everyone like the TH-camr needs something important to happen in every interaction with side characters or for an exciting climax to happen more often when in reality that’s not how Oda writes at all. He fleshes everything out to lead to a greater, more complex climax. Enjoy the moments.
swag does a great job of not doing any spoilers also great vid hope he does more one piece
I honestly can't believe Fishman Island is rated so low for people. It was so fun to watch the crew back together and see their new powers. The Otohime flashback was so good, man.
na bro it was so fucking boring it was to boring for coming off of the 2 year break. Like no one was truly a challenge for luffy in that arc. and I guess yeah it shows they progressed BUT BRUH. fk na shit was so ass as a first arc back.
@@travescot7628 I think one piece is not the series for you because fishmen island is where Oda truly shined on how to write a nuanced theme. He explored the theme, all the villains were trash except for Hody.
@@travescot7628 bro it would stupid for them to have trained 2 years and then struggle in an arc that's not even in the new world yet
@@travescot7628 they all trained for 2 years and got significantly more powerful. it makes no sense narratively to make the crew struggle with antagonists that aren't even in the New World. The theme writing is phenomenal and the contrast of otohime and fisher tiger's ideals was brilliant storytelling. i think you just didn't look past the surface level and tried to coast through it (which is the worst and least satisfying way to consume one piece).
I think fishman island was very long.
The moment Zoro one shot the main bad guy early in the arc, there was no future intensity to the final battle.
Chouchou's backstory is totally worth the detour! Best part of the arc imo
I'm with you, finding out that his treasure was the only thing he had left was tragic.
That’s what got me into One piece
I think the #1 One Piece conversation starter for any fans would be "How many times did you cry?" Since, everyone would have unique reasons. I personally cried 2 times in the Arlong Park Arc and Marineford Arc.
Got emotional over Nami in Arlong Park and over Robin's backstory, shed a tear when bandit lady beat the sh*t out of Garp after Marineford events. I wouldn't say sad emotions are the strong side of One Piece. It's a goofy fun adventure theme afterall, just with the introduction of real world problems.
@@Tichondrius- Mostly every arc has a really sad story that is very well written
Probably the most fair criticisms of One Piece I’ve heard put into an in depth video. I’m a One Piece fan through and through, I do genuinely think it’s the best manga I’ve ever read from a big picture perspective. But it has problems and it’s not as though it’s always an easy read. But when it gets going it truly gets going.
I caught with the anime 2 days ago and manga today. I feel accomplished. To the people who want to but are afraid of starting: Start it. You will not be disappointed! There is a reason people refer to this show/story as peak fiction. My only advice is don’t stress rushing it. I did that mistake while watching the anime and that’s mainly why some parts felt like torture but the thing is if you take your time to enjoy
it’s not going to be torture, quite the opposite. Also keep
in mind, even at times it might feel slow or hard to continue, EVERY single one piece arc has more than a few moments that genuinely make you feel emotions you have mot felt before from consuming fiction. Let me tell you shits crazy
Would you recommend the manga or anime for someone starting?
@@michaelalberici8264 If you are just starting I recommend the anime if you wanna enjoy it to the fullest. If you want to catch up as fast as possible the mange is the way to go. But Stick to the anime, you will not be dissapointed
@@michaelalberici8264 i would say anime up until marineford or where the pacing is unbearable to handle so around fishmen island.
On Episode 30 and just can't get into it. Should I keep going?
People who dislike Skypia are completely missing out. The lore impact it has on the show is still being talked about to this very day. First mention of the sun god, adding the lore of Roger, Enel and his antics happening still, and the stakes are pretty huge during the whole arc
Some of the drag moments you mention are there for a reason. The whole lion-cage thing in orange town was meant for nami seeing luffy different from other pirates. it was a such a good scene when nami realizes that luffy was different from the pirates she faced back home.
Exactly. It also showed her that not everyone sees gold & riches as treasure.
Nami learns that the things people hold sacred are considered treasure to them, like the pet store is for Chouchou & the straw hat is for Luffy. Without that, the iconic scene of Luffy giving his straw hat to Nami in Arlong Park would have no weight.
Yeah this part of the video was funny to me because he said it didn't move the story forward yet it absolutely did and it pays off in Arlong Park
@@RaselixExactly. Without that moment, the iconic scene of Luffy giving his straw hat to Nami after she asked for his help would hold no weight.
It’s from that moment that Nami learns that the straw hat is Luffy’s treasure, & Luffy giving the thing he considers his treasure to Nami speaks volumes, basically telling her that everything is going to be alright.
@@Phanthief95 yooo i litteraly just finished this episode haha. I started one piece for the first time recently and it's pretty goofy ngl but I'm liking it so far
I think he felt that way because of the rushing through the series. like honestly i have no idea how you can sit down and read for 2-5 hours of the same manga every day after like 30 chapters it feels like everything starts blurring together.
12:29 I'm sorry but the way you articulated this part kinda "worried" me for a lack of a better word to properly describe my mix of emotions. It seems you more want to speed run the story so you could catch up then actually take the time to enjoy the story but tbf I'm also thinking it's because you came into this manga expecting great things and want to rush thru to parts where you feel it deserves the praise it gets unlike someone like me who picked it up in 07/08 not knowing a thing about it and just watching to experience the story.
Tho I do understand your outlook as I did study in media production so I'm not mad just disappointed I guess for a lack of a better word
*BTW the "Canon ball" that Buggy has is one of his own design so it has a bigger blast than normal balls, Yes canon balls will bounce of fluffy if fluffy is it's first point of contact but he is in a cage and he is not blast proof, he would take damage.
Zoro is also weak in this point of the story and was injured by Buggy so he wouldn't of had the strength to break fluffy open so the only thing they could do was to run away until Luffy was free and had to go back.
Narratively it all makes sense however it was overlooked because you was thinking of making the story quicker without really thinking things through
Swag, when you question why some people did not like some of the new arcs, but you do. Its because the majority of OP fans ready these new arcs weekly. And you read them in one or two days. Is so more easy to engage in the momentum when you do not need to wait 7 or 15 days to continue reading. These arcs are really good, is just that the fans had a mix of emotions when reading because some week they got hyped for the next week, and others weeks they got angry because the story not advanced at all.
Thank you Swagkage. As a long time fan of One Piece I can whole heartedly agree with each and every positive and negative criticism you had in this video. You touched the core fundamentals newcomers looking to get into the series should look out for (Whether it be the Manga/Anime.), without spoiling major plot points. I can empathise with practically every point you made in this video. 10/10 Review
Thriller Bark is my second favourite arc in the series, and it is also an excellent way to introduce someone to the series, since it is so aesthetic and (seemingly) self-contained.
It also, to this day, has the best team-battle.
The biggest problem with pacing for most people is a huge trend issue, everything is expected to have immediate payoffs as opposed to enjoy the journey kinda thing that used to be a common. Older one piece fans miss the pre-timeskip days because we miss the casual fun as opposed to nonstop plot, the former of which might put newer viewers off
I AGREE
False it gets bad and ass at times a episode shouldn’t be 9 pages of 1 chapter
@@stuntxrain3467 people usually have a bigger problem with the first half as opposed to post timeskip, the first half adapted more chapters per episode where as now we sometimes get less than a chapter but they bring more hype, im not saying there arent other pacing issues, im more referring to the barrier to entry
@@stuntxrain3467 thats a problem with the anime needing to stretch the content to not catch up with the manga, not an issue with the pacing of the story in the manga.
@@testingdpatience9203 yea I had a problem with the first half I kept watching it and dropping it especially skypiea arc I moved to the manga a while ago tho
Thrillier Bark is goated
Brook crying and saying that he’s glad he’s alive is top3 best moments in mankind history
Thriller park is probably one of the most eh arcs it has way to many lows
Thriller Bark is unnecessarily underrated. It's a fantastic arc.
@@emperorluffy6001 it’s not underrated, it’s fairly rated. It’s a pretty meh arc that’s boring, only dedicated op fans like it for the most part.
@@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou Lol. Thats basically: "You have to really like the series to actually enjoy that arc". No shit. That applies to any story. All that really says is that you weren't invested enough to see all of the things that were actually great about it.
I'm personally not a huge fan of fights, what really got me into One Piece was the sillines, all the joy it brought to me, specially the characters and their friendships, though I appreciate the reason for the fights happening, most of the fights have an actual meaning, but not really my thing, so it can be really annoying to go through them, but I always get rewarded in the end, just by seeing the Straw Hat's celebrate with their friends just brings me so much joy
We are so blessed the GOAT powerscaler has entered the one piece domain! The series IS NOT about power scaling so a lot of the community entirely ignores it. I've seen much of the community even say "powerscaling in OP is useless and misses the point of the series." I half agree - Oda 100% loves tricking his readers and being super vague so I get it. But the point of the story is contingent on who has the actual power to impose their will PHYSICALLY. I'm super looking forward to your thoughts Mr Swagkage!!!
"Oda refuses to drop any of his ideas" Very true statement, I believe the 7 warlords AND the 11 worst generation members were basically made up on the spot cause Oda just thought it'd be cool despite slowing everything down quite a bit.
Well the Warlords definitely had more time and thought into them than the 1 week creation of the worst generation.
The Warlords were technically introduced right after Mihawk and even mentioned Jinbei then. So Oda had some solid time to build the groundwork on that.
The worst gen though was Oda going: there isn't enough characters in this arc, so lets create some to make it more exciting
Well the story was supposed to be The Strawhats taking down the Yonko but then they saw the potential in sales and were like „dude you’re gonna be writing this story for more than 5 years“. Honestly I’m glad cause the warlords are soo sick and even affect the recent chapters heavily. The supernovas were honestly impressive improvisation. The designs are unique and cool and he ended up giving most of them important roles in the story. It’s also just funny to think how much readers can effect the story by loving characters 😂 that’s the whole reason Law got his own arc lol dude just became a fan favorite.
@@numberhunter62 Still it is good for me XD
Skypeia for me was the most interesting, I thought it was a point in the story where things took a huge shift on Danger level for the crew. The beginning of the arc when them finding the sky islands really made me excited watching it.
5:47 I think Thriller Bark is one of those arcs you should watch instead of read, as someone who's watched and read all of One Piece the anime made it one of my favorite arcs in the whole show and made the jokes ten times funnier.
Very interesting that you find issues with themes in OP, as I consider Oda one of the best writers of theme in fantasy. For me, rivaling the likes of Steven Erikson(author of Malazan Book of the Fallen), Miura and Tolkien of course.
Jaya and Skypea together are a brilliant example of this. First of all, the important themes are deeply connected to the main characters, the world and the over arching narrative. Even stopping here, One Piece stands out from most stories in this, since Oda loves his themes. But as Oda sets out to explore a theme, he does so from many different angles, through different characters and usually crafts very beautiful and powerful scenes to bring it all together, not just narratively, but visually as well. Very very rarely do authors explore theme in such a nuanced way that is still very powerful and at the core of the narrative itself! Authors usualy just don't put much effort into theme, let alone do it well, because it is more difficult to satisfy a reader, due to the abstract nature of theme, but most authors also don't really focus on a lot of ideas in depth. The depth and illusion of ideas are mostly used to tell a story. However, Oda uses the story for the ideas first, whoch becomes clearer and clearer as you progress through the story. I mean, even the biggest story and plot moments and DRENCHED in thematic meaning, so much so that they feel like they were made to express something deeper, to ask a question of the reader and encourage throught!
Heck, most of your issues you had stem from the man rivaling god damn Tolkien in just sheer depth and breadth of ideas! But not everyone will be interested in everything all the time, which is why you find yoursefl tired in many portions of the story, as does nearly every other reader when reading the story for the frist time. The fact that is a shounen is decieving as well and the truth is that OP can be a difficult read at times, because it is simply dense and it is not always the focus of the story to be purely entertaining.
As you point out, Oda will often put plot on hold and focus on more theme, more world building that he wants to explore and just more smaller and nuanced character moments that can be underappreciated on a first read(because you just want to know what happens, and that is OK).
Saying all that, even OP is not perfect and nothing is. I have my own issues with the series and the biggest ones are very well known(fakeout deaths, Sanji sexualisation and I was especially disappointed with the conclusion of Wano for several reasons which I won't go into now). They don't bother me much at all though, which is why the high points of the story and what it means to me personally elevate it to be one of the three favorite stories I have ever experienced.
Wow you’ve put that together nicely. I definitely agree with you. Honestly smth to keep in mind is that he read it in a month. Reading at that pace you’ll 100% brush over the nuances and details in each arc. It’s just bound to happen. Especially for smth as long as One Piece. Heck I forgot so much stuff when I first read Berserk (upto/ including golden age) and also JoJo Part 6 and 7 aswell. And i had a lot more than a month. I think rereads, especially for One Piece, make it much better to Analyse and understand. I basically always watch analysis videos for every series I watch/ read. One Piece, DBZ, HxH, Monster, FMA, 20th Century Boys, Angel Beats, Code Geass etc etc.
@@Pekara121 I kinda wish he would have taken his time to read it like 3-5 months at least so he could process it.
@@travescot7628 you don't need to worry about that. In Roger's live stream,he said he will reread few arcs for analysis videos.
@@neerajcherukuri4052 oh that's great!
That’s true tho, I don’t personally like Shounen but OP sticks to me to this day because of its fantasy aspect and themes
I love one piece but over a thousand chapters in a month is crazy
Damn going into this I thought I would disagree with you immensely but I kinda do agree with most things you said only reason I got through it was because of quarantine
He got tenTailed beast charka
no its not, the average chapter takes 4-7 minutes to read
1070 x 7 = 7,490
/60 = 124.833- hours
/24 = 5.2 days lmao
@@DandyInLuv Who tf reads nonstop for 5 days
@@mustafaLY2631 nobody? when did i say such? his initial point is
“in a month is crazy”,
my point is a month is 31 days, and OP takes 5 days to read (additional time).
-
therefore it’s not as long as it’s made to be.
Especially in Swags case, it’s his job.
-
So 105volumes/31 days = 3.3 volumes a day.
which would equate to his normal work hours. Therefore, as i said. it’s not that crazy
-
and did you like your own comment? lol
@@DandyInLuv Still a lot
+ no I didn't like it
It mostly breaks down to personal preference. I've had some moments that I've found to be a drag, but never had an entire arc that I've thought it was bad. The same goes for moments people got hooked on the series. For me was the moment Lucky Roo shot the bandit, and Shank's speech about pirates not being saints and the need of a battleship to fight them while other needed much more to get the urge to watch it till the end.
12:00 I agreed from a narrow perspective that it was really weird how convoluted Luffy's escape from the cage was. Nonetheless, it was funny as hell and we learned so much about the town, which we were lacking. ChouChou is now our connection to Orange Town. Whenever we are transported back to the One Piece world's many places, we do not remember the shape of the islands as much as the people we met there which Luffy saved.
It is this slow pace, these nonessential characters, and redundant moments that make One Piece as a whole so much more similar to life. It is these that make it, as a whole, one of the greatest stories told. Because we have boring days, we have bad days but all of these days make up who we are. And when we remember even a small thing that ties us back to places, moments, and people, it is a sign that we are alive.
I always enjoyed the journey more than the destination in this story. The fact that it has taken so long is a primary attractive thing for me. Always on the move, goin somewhere with only a rough idea, with people you met along the way that you learn more about as you journey with them. It reminds me of being on an adventure or a big journey. Like a vacation that never ends. That's what I get out of it, more than anything. Sure it's fun to see Luffy achieve his goals and get stronger but I'm also perfectly happy if he doesn't accomplish anything at all, and if in the end everything did turn out pointless. But that's just me, not a fan of shonens really.
I fully agree with you, I love the parts where the crew is just "hanging out on the ship" as much as anything else. It's all about the journey!
specially since luffy never set out to save the world, his objectives are entirelly selfish and he is not a hero, the actual heroes are the revolutionaries and coby
go swag one piece the goat
Currently watching Enies Lobby(Lucci vs. Luffy specifically). The series has won me over, and I I'm glad people are actively discussing this Story. Wonderful video
I hope you're getting ready to cry
@@rucksack_kh on Fish-man Island and yes, yes I have.
@@TheKingWhoWinswhat are you on now?
@@Karlito1738 WCI (In the Middle RN)
@@TheKingWhoWins what you think of the manga now?
I think one important thing to highlight is that many of us started when we were kids. There is a strong emotional memory that connects a story from childhood for some people (myself included) to the present moment. Anyone who starts now will not feel that. I have a friend who started One Piece and stopped at Alabasta because he found the story unappealing, a bit childish, and dragging, and i believe that it has to do with his age. As a 30 years old person, he had his share of shonen and japanese novels years ago. That said, it's interesting to see the critical view of someone who actually went ahead and read the whole series. I really enjoyed the video, great content.
Solid review and I can see your perspective coming from a naruto fan, When I think back on naruto only like a handful of super awesome things each arc come to mind. But with one piece its really about just enjoying the adventure and story so I can see how you would have problems with the pacing. I recently rewatched one piece with my gf and found that alot of the original problems I had with pacing werent as bad as I remember and I actually liked arcs a second time. I think a large amount of it came from me knowing what all the world building was leading up to and already experiencing the big moments of the arc I was content with just enjoying the journey. ALTHOUGH YOU ARE 1000% Right about the fact some bullshit happens that stops luffy from fighting the main boss every arc like in thriller bark and arlong park but luckily it becomes less of a problem throughout the series.
Great video. You explained the main reason why a series where people complain it's too long and other complain it's too short can exist.
Oda almost made it a habit of putting foreshadowing in the most boring parts. So you while some just skip those parts, others spend hours rereading them for any bit of story relevant details.
Another thing you brought up is the main reason I personally love One Piece. With Naruto and DBZ, whenever someone comes to talk to me about them I just roll an eye. Because I know we'll either complain about them, fawn over them or just power scale. Nothing too interesting for either of us.
Meanwhile, whenever someone comes to talk to me about One Piece. I know they will either blow my mind or I will blow theirs. Either way, one of us will come out of this discussion with a totally different perspective of the show.
If I had to narrow down the appeal of One Piece. I'd say that it's a show that will always give you something to talk about. And it only gets better the more you discuss it or hear people do it.
I loved Thriller Bark. Its easily one of the funniest arcs. Also loved the setting & gothic/haunted castle adventure vibe.
yea thrilled bark is one of the reasons why i miss when i was watching pre-time skip, it was so much fun and had be laughing so hard
at this point the hate thriller bark gets sounds like an echo chamber
Yeah bro I love TB, I remember the moment I laughed the most was when luffy started to invite EVERYONE to his crew!!!
Yeah bro I love TB, I remember the moment I laughed the most was when luffy started to invite EVERYONE to his crew!!!
The thing I love about Oda’s writing is he doesn’t do anything for no reason. Everything that happens in One Piece means something, even if it sounds random or meaningless at first, and that payoff once it finally clicks into place is unmatched. Most current example is “if you could go on vacation, where could you go”.
Gonna be real, I never understood the WCI hate. A lot of people like to be reductive about the ending, and while that’s a somewhat fair, I honestly really liked it. I think having almost an espionage mission this late in the game was super well done, with a lot of multi faceted parts involved in it. Not to mention big mom and germa as antagonists are really well developed, and sanji’s second backstory was easily top 3 on the strawhats, even the entire series. Maybe it’s just me, but there was so much to like about WCI. It def wasn’t the best arc in the series, but I feel like it shouldn’t be nearly as polarizing than it is.
I will say that while I didn't hate it, I was definitely tired by the end when reading week-to-week. It's one of my favorite arcs now, but at the time, it felt like it could've ended several times before it actually ended. This was especially frustrating in the context that Wano was coming up, which just about everyone reading at the time was waiting for
Every arc gets complaints of it dragging when reading from week to week (plus Oda's breaks and Jump holidays). Re-reading arcs again are way more fluid :) I enjoyed WCI a lot more doing so.
As someone who's been rewatching One Piece recently (I've read the manga too and am up to date). I gotta say, I don't get how Swag thought Alabasta was mid. A lot of the side character stuff and all the details pertaining to Alabasta itself were great, it felt like Oda really cares about every detail of the country, it's culture, how people survive there, etc. I also loved that part with the random farmer dad who became a bounty hunter and tried taking on Ace, just to teach his kids that they can be anything they want. Alabasta was seriously special and Crocodile was dope. Some of the moments definitely hit harder in the anime to be honest.
That's what speed reading does to a mf. Alabasta is relatively so early now that we're 1080 chapters in and for a speedreader, I'm sure as hell they do not care what's happening on the earlier arcs and only just bother to digest the story decently once they feel that they're close to finishing the whole ass series. That's what happened here 100%
800 eps of OP are garbage lol just the way the show is
@@kool4209 Naruto dicksucker with -800 iq
Scorpion was entirely filler and it shows. It was easily the worst part of the anime version of Alabasta. Actually no, now that I think about it there was way worse filler. The sand pirates was dumb as fuck and that bandit filled village or whatever was also pretty dog shit. One Piece filler was overall pretty badly written.
@@sindri1447 the filler added personality to the arc, it wasn't even long either.
Personally, I like that arc specific minor characters are more focused on, in their respective arcs.
It makes me far more invested in the stakes of the story since it makes it clear that while the Straw Hats will be gone from the island after everything is over, these guys are the ones who will have to stay behind and pick up the pieces.
Ay yo… Gaiman’s the goat, we’ll take none of that slander here good sir!
-"My favourite character is Zoro."
-"I have problems with Sanji as a character."
bro I am not surprised. Like at all
Zoro is better
Swag talking about 2 really good arcs having an arc in the middle that people don't really seem to enjoy and a lot consider bad made me immediately think of Hunter Hunter with the Yorknew City/Phantom Troupe arc (my 2nd favorite arc) with Greed Island in the middle (some interesting moments here and there but for a lot of it kinda mid and it's unfortunate that it gets heavily outshined by what it's sandwiched in-between) and the Chimera Ant arc (my favorite arc, a masterpiece and one of the best arcs I've ever watched in all of anime period)
I would say Whole Cake Island is a really good arc. It has probably the best hidden meanings in the entire series.
The one thing I always say about One Piece is that when it's good - it's easily the best. THE moments that people think about when they talk about One Piece really do stick.
The detours are what makes One Piece different. It's the jounrey, not the destination.
People like him want pacing to just be story story story then complain that the story was good but i didnt care about the world or characters...no down moments all hype. Its forcing manga to be too fast paced like jjk or chainsawman where sure its over fast and you dont have a chance to get bored but you also feel less of a journey.
@nichescenes I agree man, JJK and the new short seasonal anime are forgettable experiences.
ehh i wouldn't say forgettable i still like jjk and short seasonal...but yeah, the reason naruto bleach and one piece stay in people's minds so much is that people were patient or had less to watch. They didnt drop series for not being hype episode 1. Now jjk can have an entire season of pure adrenaline sakuga fest fights and reveals and people will complain cause in 50 eps of jjk they did a ton of arcs and stuff. 50 eps of one piece and your at maybe fighting some fish in a village. But the fight in the fish villiage feels very good if your patient even if its not as hype as a sakuga fest cause you care and hung out with the crew in down time and comedic moments. New shows have to keep the attention of adhd (im exaggerating for fun) tiktok kids so i dont blame jjk and chainsawman or demon slayer etc modern shows for going faster. I remember people complained that DS season 2 was boring cause they had 4 eps of build up before the fight then people in hindsight say its the best season...cant win sometimes. Also chainsawman part 2 gets complaints for being slower and more mature story wise. One piece new fans complain its slow but old fans say its paced just right. Bleach TYBWar does like 7 chapters and episode...modern pacing feels too fast sometimes. @@raynorcocker6851
I really don't get some of your critcism in this video, the first time you decide to give an example for your critcisms at 11:56 your critcism is incredibly shallow.
A story is supposed to develop and unfold with twists and turns, where different things happen, and at this part of the arc Oda really wanted to hammer in one of the main themes of the story which is protecting ones own treasure and what that can be for example, which he showed with the mini section with chouchou (the dog) and its owner and so on, and it also added a complexity to Nami showing her that not all pirates are bad either. These are incredibly important plot points that hammer in the themes of the story and is a very touching and sweet tale showing important life lessons too, many even say this is the first time they cried while reading the series
And your critcism to ALL of this is that you just want luffy to beat the villan as fast as possible, and that you simply do NOT care about the story other than that. The fact that that things are happening OTHER than luffy beating the villan, automatically makes the pacing bad. Which is such a shallow take
And me calling your take shallow isnt a jab btw. Since what you say directly in the video is that you got frusterated that Luffy was close to the villan, got taken away from the villan in a cage, had to break out of the cage and beat one of the villans henchman, and then get back to the villan. But you are COMPLETLY ignoring and not even talking about what actually HAPPEND in all that time. You are so concerned and focused on the destination, Luffy beating the villan, that you ignore the actual story and whats happening in the arc itself, and not even talking about if the actual story substance was good or bad
I watched the entire series under 60 days, during exam season. I loved it and saved me from depression from studying lmao. watching around 20 episodes a day was nuts
Top 3 moments:
1: I wanna live
2: Luffy, help me
3: Nothing happened
It's weird how opinions are so different D because the slow parts are what I love! They give so much character to everyone. I love the comedy of one piece. I love the extra time that it gives.
I feel the biggest problem for you, was that you read all of it in 30 days xD that's a lott of content to consume, and the slow parts just makes you want to die cause you're still looking at the manga in numbers.
I fully agree, when oda transitions to characters like whitebeard and shanks out of nowhere are truly the best moments, it adds a whole new wonder to the entire world o:
3:05 this is a huge reason I love one piece. I joined this group on fb years ago and ever since I just see one piece fans from all over the world sharing their love for the series. It's so crazy to see how one piece brings so many people across the world together
For me time spend on building the world is always more important than getting to the next big setpiece. Could be because i read a lot of fantasy novels in middleschool and then switched to manga with one piece in highschool so reading like 600 pages and nothing happening was pretty normal to me, haven't found a single manga yet that is even close to as slow as normal novels are.
Glad u enjoied it though was waiting for this one.
That's the norm in an adventure series
@@L4C3-L4 Depends on the format rly. In a novel sure, in shonen where u have to grab atention every week and get compared to other series constantly u wouldn't get past chapter 10 before they replace u.
@@matthiasrauert8397 one piece came out around different times I don’t think it would be as good from todays standards if it just started coming out now. Still a great story but heavily overhyped
@@Spartt204 Dunno it depends on ur definition of overhyped. Its at least for me the best story i know with lotr of course i wouldn't say that if they give me what i like.
To be honest my full list of favorites only has things that are at least 20 years old my places 3 and 4 four would be Berserk and Vagabond so its rly hard to say.
If there is a better story for me i hope to find it.
@@Spartt204 It's hyped bro for me as reader & watcher week by week :'v
U would never enjoy one piece with the mindset of "I wanna catch up soon". Watch in your own pace and enjoy the journey❤❤❤
The perception of arcs can vary widely depending on the medium and the method of consuming. For example, most people actually watch or watched the Anime first and then switch to Manga. This is why Skypia and Long Ring are viewed more negatively. The pacing of Skypia in the Anime was really badly done and they added more games in the Davy Back fight. Reading an arc weakly is also a different experience then reading it completely in a short amount of time. For example things like the constant running in Punk Hazard are probably less annoying to someone who can read it all on the same day than to someone who has to read about it for 3-6 months. This is probably why your perception of Punk Hazard and Whole Cake Island is different from the norm.
My guy, punk hazard was longer than a year lmao.
@@Ashragi I was only talking about the running part of this arc
The moments that drove me to finish One Piece are Oda's impeccable use of tonal shift. Literally any moment in One Piece that is a single panel of someone crying or aghast evoked so much emotion in me through Oda's art style and VIZ's choice of dialogue that I was hooked. There are amazing panels; such as Blackbeard proclaiming that "A man's dream never dies," or Usopp refusing to leave the Merry behind. If you've read One Piece you know that when Nami or Robin cry in their respective arcs - you cried as well.
Edit: I also wish you made this video after 1079. Because wow, amazing chapter 26 years in the making.
Looking forward to the inevitable scaling/vs videos on One Piece. Very similar to Naruto I think match ups in One Piece are varied and extremely enjoyable to discuss
Not really most people use chars that don't have any feats or showings in debates
@@gameuniverse5973 Ive seen alot of comment from you just hating and ridin Fmab but lemme tell you sumthin your show is 8/10 if one piece is bro get over it
OP vs videos are gonna be even harder because there so much to consider especially when it comes to hax.
3 months later and still waiting for more One Piece from Swag 👀👀👀
same
True
For anyone wanting to get into One Piece: PLEASE just read the manga until maybe Enies Lobby. The anime has pacing issues in every single arc that can feel excruciatingly painful. Also if you wish to get the best out of the series just read most of it and then watch the fights/big events.
Watching the anime for pre-time skip is actually not bad. You must read the manga for post time skip though.
25:36 This happened to me with Bleach. The chapter they go to the cemetery (it’s episode 8 in the anime I think, it near the beginning basically) was what got me hooked on Bleach. I liked it since the first chapter and I really liked the protagonist but the cemetery chapters nailed it for me and I fell in love with Ichigo and the story.
I think that, after finishing one piece in 3 months last summer, I never fell in love with it. And indeed, I started it not because I really wanted to read it but because my friends were always talking about it as if it was the greatest thing ever and I also had a LOT of time to kill.
And what’s funny about this is fans are complaining that swag should’ve took his time with it and finished it at around 3-5 months in instead of 1😂 thanks for proving to these fanboys that it’s not everyone’s favorite series no matter how long it takes for you to finish it
"Yes." There you go, folkes. Saved you 40 mins if your time.