My favourite introduction is SMOKER. The guy's pre-introduction is one of a ruthless captain holding Logue Town with an iron grip. Given the East Blue context, you expect it to be another Morgan. And then you see him piling rocks because the guy is BORED AS FUCK in this town, the pile falls when a subordinate slams the door open, and he's so annoyed, but you only see his eyes. And then, you meet the guy, you understand he's got things VERY WELL organised in there, knows where each of his troops are and knows to give clear and fast orders. Then, he goes into town, salty about Tashigi not being around, and the little girl bumps into him with her icecream. Here, when we see the way that the dad reacts, absolutely TERRIFIED, and begging for his forgiveness, you still have the memory of his pre-introduction as a very scary and unyielding guy, and you get the same parallel to Morgan: girl, food, what's he gonna do? "Oh, seems that my pants ate your icecream. Here, some money so you can buy yourself 5 scoops." This guy. In maybe 5 pages, you understand that: - he has a terrible reputation because he does what needs to be done, and because he's ruthless against the pirates flocking in his town, he's really terrifying to the population. - he is BORED. He hates it there, because it's a sort of outpost in an insignificant sea where you wouldn't be able to go beyond captain, and he is ambitious. He WANTS to have an out. - he is very competent at leading men, and he takes responsibility by giving clear orders, giving clear objectives, explicit ones under his voice. - he is KIND to the people. He wants the children in particular to feel safe, around and thanks to him. He's an amazing character, and just like you said, Oda knows how to lay all the elements you need to understand each of his characters. Smoker is an excellent example of that.
thank you about pointing out the boredom aspect .... never came to me .... :/ that icecream part always warms my heart, and is the very first thing that comes to mind when I think about Smoker.
@@AkahigeNoAmo it took me many re-reads of his introduction to realise. But he's resorting to PUTTING ROCKS IN A PILE 🤣 dude's already gone through all of his options here
Oda is great at speedrunning dislikable characters (that kinda sounds like an insult but I promise it's not). The best examples being Bellamy, the Celestial Dragons, and most recently a character in the manga that I'm not gonna say in case of spoilers.
I too think that Mihawk's introduction perfectly prepares us to see him 1000 chapters later enter poly gay relationship with Luffy's mom and an actual clown
Mihawk's introduction solves the power-escalation syndrome for good. From the moment he casually slices that mountainous galleon, the only opponent the Straw Hats face that /maybe/ stands a chance until the introduction of Haki is Enel -- so Oda is free to go as creative and crazy as he wants with the abilities because the ceiling of 'WORLD'S STRONGEST' was so definitively set from the get-go. Then, once we get to Marineford, Mihawk does it /AGAIN/ by slicing a mountain from a mile away, just as casually -- his throne as the strongest remaining mostly untarnished from his initial inception in the series.
yeah it's so smart to have that constant upper limit early so that there's not that common anime problem loop of protag defeats opponent and is the strongest but all of a sudden someone even stronger appears retroactively lowering past stakes over and over Having the constant that is Mihawk means that there's a scale to the universe that lets Zoro get increasingly stronger facing increasingly strong opponents without feeling like the writer is just adding new oh this guy's actually the strongest one to beat not that other guy oh no actually it's this guy It's immediately evident from just their fight too. Before we'd seen Zoro pretty easily beat every opponent (except Kuina) and had him hyped up by the reputation he had already. Even after their fight Zoro easily defeats a couple dozen Arlong pirates while heavily injured. But to Mihawk? Zoro was literally nothing. So his victories against Kaku, Ryuma, King etc. feel earned but you always have the implied okay if they were at his level and Mihawk is still so much better...
@@TyandOnGoing At the start of the story and during Marineford, he represents the highest echelon's of strength, ofc not the be-all-end-all, Whitebeard was there during the war.
Doctor Kureha's intro is my personal fave. Shes honestly one of my top 5 favorite side characters. In part because she defied expectations where as characters like Mihawk met them. Another testament to Oda's writing, he seems to know exactly which characters should meet expectations and which should defy them. For Mihawk it was "Hey did you hear about badass sword guy?!" And badass sword guy appeared. But Kureha? "Hey did you hear about that witch doctor with the monster that lives in the mountains?" *Enter 139 year old woman with the body of a 20 year old, dressed in bellbottoms, crop top, bellybutton piercing and leather jacket in a land thats always cold. Kicking ass and curing a kid before gouging the dad for money*
I’m surprised you didn’t bring up Blackbeard introduction because of how it set up luffy biggest enemy without anyone knowing with how luffy hates the pie while teach loved it vice verse with the drink showing there opposites then teaches speech shows us they have the same ideas but are opposites in how to go through with those ideas
It was revealed he was Blackbeard real quick. The second you knew his name you knew he was Luffy’s biggest enemy because of how famous a pirate the actual Blackbeard is
@@mrbubbles6468Agreed. When watching the Jaya Arc I already knew Blackbeard and his crew would be the Main Antagonistic Force alongside whatever “Dweller in the Dark” (aka Imu) would be the true EoS Main Antagonist Bleach and Naruto have already shown this so it only makes sense that One Piece would have a True Final Villain like they did via Imu
@@mrbubbles6468especially since Ace has mentioned blackbeard earlier. Plus, that white background panel with Blackbeard, Luffy, and Zoro sticks out so much
The reason Zoro ate the rice balls is not because he was hungry (even if he was), but because he didn't want Rika's work go to waste (yes, I do know her name off the top of my head), so he wanted her to know that he ate those rice balls and that he liked them. But he didn't want to be a liar, so he first ate them, even if they were gross. It shows that he both kind and honourable
@Pulchra902 That's the point though. She wasn't there. He could've just *said* he ate them and liked them, and it wouldn't make any difference to her in terms of the emotional weight, and a lesser person might have, but Zoro very specifically didn't.
I really also love Fujitora's introduction. Showing him him at first as an innocent victim, only for him to be shown to be a total badass. Then after that, shown to be one of the strongest men in the Marines.
oh yeah having weird blind man who turns out to be a badass who purposely blinded himself is one hell of an intro.I also love how even before we learn he's an admiral, he's clearly shown to be an understanding person, only lashing out at the gambling hall crew when he has 100% proof they were fucking him & likely other past customers over & clearly liking Luffy's character with how Luffy outed the con. Helped make him smiling at the townsfolk "chasing" Luffy to the Sunny all the more believable.
Absolutely every line Fujitora has is incredible. -telling Sengoku he's going to let providence decide Luffy's fate -arguing with Akainu telling him that if a lie is necessary to protect their honour they already don't have any -telling Zoro and the others trying to hold back the birdcage that he doesn't know who they are because he's blind -saying he wishes he didn't blind himself, and he bets Luffy has a kind face Guy is elite
About Zoro's introduction: We first hear about him from Alvida and Koby, how he is a top bounty hunter, "the Demon of the East Blue", and us western audiences had no reason to doubt this when we first get a glimpse of him; his design may seem simple but we get the feeling that he is indeed strong. But! This is not the case for the original Japanese audience, since Zoro's clothes are extremely similar to an old farmer. I can imagine young Japanese boys finally seeing Zoro and be like: "This guy is supposed to be strong? He dresses like my grandpa!" 😂 Personally, I adore everything about this! How Zoro kept defying people's expectations from the very beginning. (My little marimo is amazing ❤)
I will never forget the Introduction of Silvers Rayligh. instead of hyping him up with rumors and name dropping, we got the opposite. He DID things we didn't understandf, he was unimaginable powerfull when he took the stage, he made everyone stop, without wanting it and THEM there was the drop who he was! It worked so well in an Arc with so many characters
Borsalino(Kizary)'s introduction in Shabondy Archipelago right after Luffy punched Charlos is up there with the flashiest introductions. His struggle with the various Den-Den Mushi both establishes he is a bit slow and is someone Sentomaru considers his uncle, his riding a cannonball to the archipelago shows his lunacy, his encounters with the Supernovas showcase how he does his business, and his struggle to keep Rayleigh off him demonstrates his power. Like Kuzan(Aokiji)'s introduction, Borsalino was shown to do business his own way while being a menace to everyone not a marine in his vicinity.
even before that, when he's at navy hq, in the first frame you see him, there's a dropped tea cup at his feet, and in the very next frame, that same cup is in his hands, containing hot tea, indicating his speed to those who paid attention, and somewhat foreshadowing his power
Sanji's introduction (at least on me the first time) left additional impact that grew throughout Baratie - "Why is he dressed so well? Why does he have such advanced table manners?". Looking at other Baratie chefs I could not figure out where he picked that up. Then WCI happened...
Mihawks introduction is so good It breaks our bubble and the fact that he just randomly came here makes it scarier That's why I don't like it as much in the live action because they made it so that he came for Luffy specifically which made the world feel a lot smaller
I think there's this thing with western media in which it tends to feel like the entire world revolves around the main protagonist, and the fact that this dude just appears because he's bored completely breaks that, so I think the live action guys wanted to keep the illusion that Luffy is the most important person in the entire world, which he crearly isn't. He's a completely unimportant bug all the way until he defeats Kaido, that's when the world government starts seeing him as a threat and not just an annoying bug.
It was done that way because, since they weren’t using Krieg, they needed a solid narrative reason to have Mihawk enter the fray without him. It makes sense for the version of the story they’re telling.
The live action doesn’t have the privilege of time like the manga/anime does so writing has to be much more contained. Mihawk was sent by Garp for purely personal reasons. It had absolutely nothing to do with his threatening presence to the world government. Even when Luffy got his bounty, Nezumi was just being super petty and did it out of spite.
Yeah. Mihawk wanting to fight just because he was bored is such an integral part of his character. Plus, a warlord strong enough to go head to head with a Yonko (Shanks) wouldn't accept a hit on some scrub in East Blue. Nor would Garp ever ask for help from a pirate, especially to handle a family dispute. Don't get me wrong. I loved this Live Action. But that part just felt off.
As an anime only, Luffy's introduction has stuck with me these past 3 years ever since I started watching. I still find myself saying "IIIIIIIIIII SLEEEEEEEEPT SOOOOOOOOOOO GREEEEEAAAAAT!!!" I love that scene so much, man.
I loved Luffy's introduction out of the barrel because I was not expecting him to come out with a big smile and careless attitude. I remember it made me laugh, yet what cemented Luffy for me happened a couple scenes later where he laughed at Kolby and says something like: "You're dumb and a coward, I hate you" while he's laughing at him😂😂
x2, it's honestly (and kind of ironically) one of the best introductions of the series. It just tells so much f Luffy with just a scream and a freaking move, I love it xD
I really think Ace’s introduction was well done. At first i thought he was some mysterious dude out for Luffy’s head. But then by the end of Alabasta he had become one of my favorite characters. Oda trolled me a little there. I almost forgot but Blackbeard’s and Smoker’s introductions are great too. Before meeting Smoker most marines seemed snotty and egoistic but Smoker was the first marine to show a strong sense of justice. He might have been against Luffy but he actually showed care for the citizens. And then theres Blackbeard. Im sure most fans can agree that he has one of the best introductions. The way he and Luffy had opposite opinions is great way of showing that they’ll be rivals. One of my favorite scenes is Blackbeard telling Luffy “A person’s dream…has no end!”. It sends chills down my spine. You can immediately tell that their dreams are so similar yet so different. Thats the end of my ramble. Thanks for reading!
I think the best introduction HANDS DOWN is blackbeard, such a simple, comedic yet efficent scene that manages to introduce such a big and important character in a brilliant way that I think no other mangaka could pull off
Brook and Smoker's introductions have always stick on my head, making them my 2 favorite Characters. The Way we can see Brook's Spooky appearence from far away, to then hearing the MOST friendly salutation possible shows how he tries to give a good impression despite his looks. Smoker on the other hand shows a giant intimidating sillhouette covered in Smoke, to then Cut into a Sunny day and a Girl with and Ice Cream, (purest shit ever) and when they collide that giant man puts himself to that girls height, gives her a pat on the head, a coin and an apology because "His Pant ate her ice cream" (cutest thing ever). That is Peak
There is a reason why fellas like Smoker or Jack have fans (Me included). Sure, they were absolutely violated by the story but man, they are all the real bosses with introductions that showed us just how much of bosses they truly were in situations where they aren't severely outmatched.
@@AkahigeNoAmoi love that scene but after I found out that inanimate objects could eat devil fruits in Alabasta I considered the idea that Smoker's pants could actually eat ice cream somehow and it's ruined the impact of his introduction. Dammit
Mihawk's intro was the scene that made me love One Piece. It was the moment I understood why people liked this show so much. His line "I'm not the type of beast who goes all out when hunting a rabbit" and pulling out the tiniest knife you've ever seen to 'fight' Zoro is one of the coldest lines I've ever heard. With a character intro like that it never felt like an asspull that he was so strong, the way he completely dominated the Baratie battlefield once he showed up sets such a good precedent for his following appearances.
The introduction of Doflamingo and Kuma is also helped by the fact that we just finished a saga where Crocodile was the big bad. After all the work that Luffy and the Straw Hats went through to beat him and his organization, suddenly we are introduced to two new Warlords and our minds starts racing of how powerfully these guys must be if they are considered in the same league as Crocodile. The first time I was introduced to Doffy and Kuma as a kid, I was straight up intimidated and in awed, and I was wondering when Luffy will fight them.
I love your analyses of One Piece. They help me see and appreciate different aspects of the story and they don’t just cover mainstream topics. And did you know that Luffy’s introduction was inspired by Vicky the Viking, where the titular character popped out of a barrel in the first episode. Like Oda, I watched the show as a kid and there are some titbits in One Piece that were definitely inspired by Vicky.
Katakuri is definitely one of my favorites. I also like to count him eating donuts as his second introduction and top 10 in the series. I would also say Flampes inclusion is pretty underrated in Wci. She’s so minor but at the same time so important because she encapsulates all of the toxicity Big Mom created. It just compliments the story extremely well and makes so many moments hit different.
Luffy’s introduction in the anime is one of my favorites ever for a protagonist, it literally shows you what type of character he is, he’s a crazy kid, who is so stubborn that will go to the sea alone, even if he has to go in a barrel to get what he wants
My favorite introduction and one of my fav moments in all of One Piece is Crocus' introduction He came in like Mihawk, doing all the badass stuff and being menacing, only to massively troll everyone
While Jinbe was name dropped in chapter 69, his true introduction in Impel Down: "Ha! It's not my flesh that hurts! It's my heart, Ace... Because I'm not able to do what's right!" I fell in love with him from that first line. I love fish dad so much
Banger video Melon! Also to focus on one thing you mentions: Luffy never saw his crewmates do their professions when he invited them to their crew. he never saw Zoro swing swords He never saw Nami Navigate he never saw Ussop Snipe He never saw Sanji Cook He never saw Chopper heal He never saw Robin be an archeologist He never saw Franky Shipright He never saw Brook play music He never saw Jimbei be a helmsmen I really like those details before they were in the crew.
One thing I love about Mihawk's introduction that I don't see many talking about is how it is also an introduction to the grand line, since at that moment we as viewers didn't have enough pieces to figure out how was the grand line, we only knew a bit of geopraphy, that it was dangerous(even tough we didn't had empirical data on how much) and that Luffy wanted to go there. And in a moment of the series where everything was "saney", to town, villains and Luffy was considered the strangest character only sharing a spot with Buggy... And then this guy comes, Dripping with a coffin, totally umpractical boat that we were shown is important, with the most striking design we saw till' that moment(and much more forward, I love that design) and casually cuts an entire fleet in half ans chased them from an entire ocean because he was... Bored? And even Zeff treat Don. Krieg(A certain design analist is sighing from his mere mention) as if it was his fault for not thinking about the possibility of having the final boss in the door of the tutorial area. At this point if this is considered "Grand Line common happenings" then one is left to wonder how crazy and dangerous that place will be compared to what we are dealing with now.
One great "Oda wanted us to question his motives" intro for me is Kuma. We hear he's one of the Warlords, he shows up late in Thriller Bark with a facial expression that is just unreadable while holding a bible, he asks Perona, minion of a fellow Warlord, where she'd like to visit then she's suddenly gone after he gets an answer with us not knowing how. And then showing up again to instigate the "Nothing happened" scene. Like god what a way to say so much about a character in a way that you only fully understand with later pieces of information
As for fav introduction.. I would like to say a fav re introduction. Law in Punk Hazard is one of my favorites. At the point of the story all we knew was that Law is know for his brutality, that he is the „surgeon of death“ and for some reason he stayed on the grand line for a while and saved Luffy. Who is that guy? And what does he want? Then we see Punk Hazard. Children are kidnapped, poisoned gas, frozen prisoners and a mysterious Master. We get a glimpse of Law and then when the G5 knocks he comes out as a warlord who can cut out people’s hearts.. is he the one making experiments? Why does he fight smoker and tries to stop the strawhats? Is he really a creep or is there more to the picture.. and then he is also a warlord???? He’s not my favorite character even though I love my baby girl dearly.. but his introduction.. I rewatch it so many times
The introduction of Rayleigh on sabaody in the auction house really cemented him as one of my favorite characters in the entire series because of how powerful he was made to look and how he did stuff that the audience couldn’t even perceive let alone the actual characters in the auction house along with him. The fact that he was with the prisoners chained up in the jail behind the stage is even more impactful because it shows just how confident and care free he is about the situation
Lovely video Melon :) Okiku's is one of my favorite introductions in One Piece. We first see her as an unassuming lady working at a tea house, though very quickly learn that she greatly cares for others, as she was skipping meals so the townsfolk could eat. Then when we get to the sumo match, we find out that she was playing little miss innocent to screw with the sumo guy, and is actually a sharp-tongued badass who even Luffy gets hyped about.
I love reading these comments and seeing how many different character introductions people are listing as their favorites. It really says something about the series that there’s so many good moments that it’s impossible for the fans to decide on one unanimous ‘best’ introduction
I know that the anime changed a lot of Nami's introduction, but I still like both versions. We get to see her being all sweet before tricking and stealing from other pirates. In the manga, it was short, but in the anime, it was in the first episode without her saying a single word.
Has anyone ever noticed that the introduction of Zoro has him tied to a cross and our introduction to Mihawk has this giant cross of a sword behind him? It's like he is tied to this ambition of his, this fate to clash with Mihawk. And Luffy frees him, giving him a new greater purpose.
*Some Egghead spoilers* I've been thinking of Doflamingo's introduction lately now that we're finally getting into Kuma. Those two were introduced together, and it feels so deliberate. They are such a huge contrast to each other. Doflamingo is a flamboyant peacock of a man, and an impudent asshole who acts above it all. Next to him as he walks out with his manslut strut is Kuma: stoic, larger than life, unmovable and carrying a bible. We can tell that he is a much more reserved, principled and efficient person. He is not at all like Doflamingo, who is comfortable messing and chatting with the authorities of the world, instead he's by himself, speaks little and reads from his Bible while he's there. Also, though he is quite a bit bigger than Doflamingo, the first panel they're in together frames him as smaller and in the background, which fits with the ways these two characters hold themselves in contrast to each other. I love in retrospect how the Kuma introduction builds this poignant ambiguity about his moral character. He's introduced as part of the warlords, who up to this point have been antagonists, and framed like a group that the Strawhats will confront and defeat. He also has this powerful and confident look to him, which make him look tough and fierce. We know him as the world knows him: a monster now tamed by the world government. But underneath that, we see that he's devout, and not there to start shit like Doffy. His one line that he gives in that entire scene is agreeing that he and his fellow warlords are scum. All of the elements of his character are right there in his design and presence, the mystery of his character is set up, and we're biased to think of him as a threat, but one who at the very least isn't depraved and seems to at least try to be good from his own perspective. Fitting for a character who was innocent and kind-hearted, but painted as a demon to the world by the same government that would eventually extort and control him.
My favorite intros areSanji and Robin. Melon got it dead on why I like Sanji’s, but I love Robin’s because it genuinely fooled me. When I first saw Robin, I didn’t know what to think of her. I knew she was going to be a future straw hat, but I didn’t know how to perceive her. Then she betrays Crocodile and invited herself in the straw hats after Alabasta, which I was like “uh, ok?” Who woulda thought that would be a gateway to her reason being that she had no where to go and she really is just a great motherly character
One thing I love with Robin's intro is how apparent it is that she hides her true self from basically everyone, even seemingly herself. Like you get this feeling she's just been along Crocodile's ride for seemingly no reason other than "I had the skills he wanted" & that just makes for a beautiful setup into when the viewers learn her absolutely FUCKED backstory & Luffy, even not knowing the full story but being the absolute king he is, storming a heavily fortified base on a dedicated rescue mission being what fully breaks that shell for her. Like god just thinking about the "I want to live" scene still gets me to tear up all these years later with how masterfully Oda set that up.
I love the anime's intro monologue so much -- it is at the same time the episode/anime intro and also a (pre)intro for Gol D Roger. I love it so much to the point where I can recite it word for word. It's an amazing setup for the story of OP, literally the end and the start of a new era that is unfolding in front of our eyes in the form of anime episodes. But also because of its consistency, the fact that it is being played for so so many years, we get so much more context to this execution and every time a new piece of information is revealed to us, we feel something new and different towards this monologue.
When it comes to Strawhat intros Brook's has to be one of my favorites! Like with the others, you see so much of his core: brooding melancholy, a touch of insanity, steadfast determination and devotion, but he's also such a wonderful tease for the events of Thriller Bark. He's the perfect introduction to a pretty dramatic tone and theme change within the story.
About Mihawk: Yes, indeed, his introduction is amazing! I first watched the anime back in 2000 and to this day episode 24 is among my all time favourites. Everything about his fight with Zoro is top notch, especially the dialogue! But to be honest... I can watch him gardening and cooking and pretending not to care about anything forever! Mihawk the greatest swordsman is amazing, but casual Mihawk is my favourite ❤
"There was a man whose hobby was suicide", right before Kaido jumped off a sky island might be the coldest intro in one piece, but Sanji remains my favorite character because of how goddamn dope he is, and his intro of straight murking Fullbody is so damn nice. And yo, if you like awesome character introductions, check out Chainsaw Man, because holy flying fuck does that manga have amazing characters. You are going to love Power so much, but actually, I can't think of a single bad character.
*WANO SPOILERS* . . . . . . Interesting how Kaido was finally defeated by him falling off a "sky" island, making it full circle as to how he was introduced
Now I haven't gotten to jinbei yet however for the rest of the strawhats -robin who has a strong impression however is purposefully kept mysterious and Franky who is actively putting on a facade the entire time the rest of the strawhats do a darn good job revealing exactly who they are within minutes
My favorite character introduction might have to be blackbeard! His silly petty bar-tussle with luffy, greatly contrasting with the trio's situation with Bellamy. Blackbeard was silly and gooberfull matching up with luffy, and after the whole situation, his speech about dreams was perfect!!! He had a silly introduction but ends up being a major antagonist. That has to be my favorite!
Episode two is probably my favorite episode in the series as a whole due to how well it introduces to a person just the kind of well written series you're about to get into, so having you highlight one of the reasons why episode 2 hits so good is more than I could have asked for! Much love and keep up the good work! Can't wait for that inevitable Vivi video that will just melt my heart!
Doffy and Kuma's introduction is pretty neat given what we now know about Kuma's backstory. I won't spoil anything but I find it quite fun that Oda introduces the two warlords that are basically exact opposites LONG before we actually get to know anything about them.
Dude as a creator changing up your content is scary but the mix of this new style of writing analysis of one piece(and others), is such a welcome evolution from the character analysis videos that a bunch of people found your channel from. Fucking sick ass video as always 10/10
Oda also leaves an impact by completely subverting our expectations. We don't think about it now, but having a western-style swordsman as the world's strongest is extremely rare in mangas. Even to this day. If One Piece started today, I'd guarantee that everyone would imagine the strongest swordsman to be some badass Samurai. And we'd be shocked when Mihawk makes his first appearance. There are plenty of other examples. Like Blackbeard appearing like a side character in a random scene, or Katakuri having one of the most badass design in a crew that looks mostly goofy. We either forget or take it for granted over time, but those subversions definitely left an impact on us.
I love the reintroduction of koby on Rebecca's ship. Like yeah we've seen koby in the first arc and a little bit throughout, but in that moment we see koby in the form that he dreamd of (and ofcourse the physical transformation adds to the idea of that this is a new person).
I really like Smoker's presentation. Oda uses a previous presentation as a reverse concept. While Helmeppo is a dick to the little girl and shows that the navy is shady. When faced with almost the exact same situation Smoker says that his pants ate the little girl's ice cream and gives her money to buy another one. Showing that, just like with pirates, the navy has good and bad people.
Watching one piece as it unralveled, we knew about Doflamingo for a long time, but didnt get to know him until what? 2010-2014? Still, as kids we were obsessed about him, his name, his looks, his powers and wanted him to be the antagonist real soon.
You used some great examples but for me, gecko Moriah’s interdiction still sits with me. Just seeing all of his zombies and then finally seeing him say “make me king of the pirates” just says everything we need to know about him. It makes it even better when we see his past and interaction with Kaido and seeing how that might have effected his mindset along with seeing his loyalty and care he has for someone like absolom
Robin is definitely a standout for introductions. I honestly don't remember off the top of my head if we see her in some shadowy meeting or some discussion with crocodile beforehand, but her sudden appearance on the Merry is chilling
I think I've found my new favorite thing. One Piece is literally my favorite thing. Ive said before; been here since Thriller Bark and spent all of 14 to 16 catching up. I genuinely love hearing your thoughts on this series.
On a completely separate topic, the first Saw movie is straight up one of my favorite movies for how it sets up the character of Jigsaw/John Kramer leading to the big reveal. Every time I watch it, the buildup is just as exhilarating as the last time.
One of my favorite character introductions is Admiral Kizaru's on Sabaody Archipelago. One look at him, and I started getting a bad feeling about the arc.
oomph-factor introduction in one piece are all fun and all, but the funny ones are sooooo underappreciated like making people crack up just by revealing their face is just something thats not DONE its ENGINEERED - duval remains the #1 character introduction ever, crocus and brook also deserve their flowers
For me, the hardest introduction goes to Imu's first appearance. For the longest time, Oda has built the impression that the tippy top of the WG are the Fleet Admiral and the 5 Elders (who for the longest time we weren't even sure can actually fight). Regardless, they make the rules. They shape the world. They are undoubtedly the pinnacle of power and influence in the One Piece world. The 5 Elders are literally designed after real life world leaders. And then, in a single panel, Oda turns all our previous impression on its head. The 5 Elders , the supposed absolute top brass of the world, kneel in complete submission to a figure who sit even further above them. And the first thing they all discuss is where and when their next genocide will be. In that single panel, every One Piece fans just KNOW, this is it. Every atrocity the World Government has committed can find its way back to this figure. Imu is THE final boss.
After all these years Oda still has so many... Aces... Up his sleeve because we've seen Shanks, Mihawk, and Dragon have these strong introductions and despite all that we still know little to nothing about them. I think one of best approaches Oda has is to let the audience use their own imagination to fill in the blanks. When Whitebeard was introduced there wasn't too much backstory but enough to explain his motivation to fight for Ace. When Oda calls him the strongest man in the world I believe it in One Piece. Even beyond Roger who is the King of Pirates. Then if you want to talk about Roger himself we know damn near nothing about him. But between how the other characters in One Piece and what the story does say about Gold D. Roger he's one of very few characters that's doesn't really need an introduction in any setting of the story aside from the very beginning. Oda is a genius, simply put.
Emporio Ivankov's introduction in level 5.5 of the anime was the most impactful introduction I can think of in the series. Impel Down was a triumph of an arc to watch in the anime and seeing such a loving and passionately proudly and profoundly Queer character show up and be so admired, powerful, impactful and beloved by the main and side characters. Bon Clay's reintroduction in that arc is also a peak introduction, giving them 2 amazing intros.
I think hilarious introductions deserve a mention in this one as well, like crocus warning the strawhats not to threaten him about shooting cannons if they don't want someone to die, but it turns out it was himself he's referring to, and duval's intro which i really thought would be the main villain the arc, who also turned out just to be someone who shares a simalar face with sanji's wanted poster 😂😂
So what I'm getting from this video is that because Zoro was introduced to us tied to a pole it absolutely confirms that he was our Messiah this whole time
8:21 I would like to underline that Mihawk's nickname is "Hawkeye" and to this day no character in OP has eyes designed like those of Mihawk. Yellow/orange iris with a black circle dividing them into two, giving more of that predator-esqe vampire attire he got.
I didn't bother to check the anime version, but in the japanese manga, it sounded like Zoro was just asking to loosen the ropes because the position was killing him. Viz translation can be very hit or miss.
Another amazing video, I really enjoyed it. On the topic of introductions, I am curious to know your opinion on netflix adaptation since it contains so many introductions in rapid fire. I was not a fan of the netflix adaptation and it had a lot to do with how characters were introduced. Zoro is a great example for this because I feel like his introduction checked all the boxes for events that occurred in the manga/anime, but tweaked things (character interactions, order of events, action) in such a way that changed the impression of his character.
Before I gush on... "believe you me" is an actual phrase???? Damn... Me and my buds thought this one person advertising the university they're from was just being silly. Lesson learned, I probably should've looked it up when I heard it lol. Anyways back to the topic. I love the way you covered everything in this video. I dunno how you manage to make your videos so funny but thought provoking and engaging. Never thought I'd unironically listen to a saw bit. Mihawk, the creature, Zoro, Sanji and Luffy are probably the best characters you could've chosen for this topic. They've got some of the best introductions in all of fiction imo. Mihawk's especially stuck with me, and it's definitely a reason for why I'm such a big simp for him to this day. He's THE WORLD'S STRONGEST fucking SWORDSMAN. Above even the likes of Shanks and Rayleigh, and Oda makes sure we know that with his introduction. He's cold, uncaring, bored, all while being brutal and efficient. He strolls in relaxed on his coffin, shrouded by shadows with the size of his hat and sword making his form look much more terrifying, and then he cuts down a boat like butter. The efficiency with which he weilds a sword that irl would be used more akin to a mace even by the buffest and largest knights, the way he makes who is supposed to be the main villain of the arc and the supposed greatest villain in the east blue, look pathetic and whiny. It presents him as one of the endgame characters without ever doing anything risky that could mess with continuity when it comes to introducing a character like that this early(which tho I love the arc, I can't say the same for in marineford, he does cool shit but overall contributes fuck all). And along with that, the few lines we do get showcase who he is perfectly. A morally grey individual who above all else cares about respect and strength of character. A man with alot of pride but also a lot of wisdom. A close 2nd that I HAVE to mention tho is Blackbeard. Even though he's a great villain he's personally not one of my favourites so far, but his introduction is still iconic. It makes the Jaya arc what it is(along with the Bellamy punch ofc). It sets him up as a character perfectly. First, we see him and Luffy being silly, they both do and say very similar things to each other, but their opinion are polar opposites, and they have banter with each other and try to one up each other on their order. This is not only an amazing metaphor of his entire relationship with Luffy. Them being two sides of the same coin fighting over the title of pirate king, Next time we see him outside the bar? He's still the same, yet feels totally different. He's sitting down cross legged, and his larger frame really makes him seem like a wise old man giving his two cents about what just happened. He says some truly inspiring lines about dreams, the very fabric of the story, all the while being judged and mocked by onlookers, while he still doesn't give a shit and continues rambling. It's very Luffy like. But it feels oddly disconcerting, especially with how silent Luffy and Zoro are. The following line of Blackbeard having companions further making you question the entire scene and Blackbeard's intentions. The mysterious way Zoro and Luffy act here, the fact that we know literally nothing about teach at this point only to learn later that he was the one we'd heard so much about. His way with words, his cleverness, his boldness, the air of mystery and darkness around him, the fact that he's named after motherfucking Blackbeard. It's all formatted perfectly to truly cement him as the main antagonist to LUFFY, even if Imu is the overarching antagonist
Found you while I was looking for a video to watch while I was eating and I must say this is a great video. I expected some guy just naming a few good points and then clicking off after I was done watching but you seriously hit the nail on this, I usually don't get interested enough by review channels to watch all of their videos or subscribe but I could consume your content for hours and learning to further appreciate the series that I love, definitely subscribed. Also I'm glad you talked about Sanji, while it all comes down to opinions I absolutely love his writing and his introduction is iconic and probably the most memorable to me of any of the strawhats.
Jinbe's character intro is an amazing one. It establishes him as an ally to Luffy immediately and shows his devotion to people that he respects. The image of him being built up for almost 500 chapters as a scary fishman in league with Arlong is broken immediately when we see him bloody and chained defending Ace.
all your videos are enjoyable. I love each one of them; in each one you have managed to make me think of things I hadn't quite thought about before and I love that
Great video! Considering the length of the video and the fact that it barely scratches the surface of how good One Piece is at introductions, just shows how good Goda is at that as well!!
OK but blackbeard's introduction is so top tier the only ones close are Big Mom and maybe Kaido, honestly Oda had Yonko intros on lock they are all great.
I saw my boy Goathawk in the thumbnail so I clicked instantly😏😤. How Gin was talking about Mihawk was like a nightmare, perfectly fits Mihawk’s character.
My favourite introduction is Law's in the manga - the manga specifically, not the anime because they RUIN it! I love how his first scene is literally just him flipping Kid off. It's seemingly so small but it perfectly encapsulates his don't give a fk about you, screw all the rules, I'm gonna do things my own way attitude that makes him such an awesome character to watch. Second would be Big Mom, her song is so out of the blue but it's so cool and creepy and again it perfectly encapsulates who she is in a very effective way.
As someone who hasn’t seen much one piece (I’m on episode 330) I really liked chopper’s introduction. You first see him as a strange short figure but then learn from namis pov that he’s this weird deer thing that helped everyone out I like the way the did it
Grab Atlas VPN for just $1.70/mo + 6 months extra before the BLACK FRIDAY deal expires: get.atlasvpn.com/MelonTeee 🍈
7:56 Jesus Christ melon tree you gotta warn me when you get to show me something that disturbing 😂
Just realized this while being hungover, both milhawk and zoro cut a ship when their introduced, zoro post timeskip and milhawk at the barratie
Loving the fujoshi.
Got it
Can you please make a video abot fairt tail on december 23 since its my bday
My favourite introduction is SMOKER.
The guy's pre-introduction is one of a ruthless captain holding Logue Town with an iron grip.
Given the East Blue context, you expect it to be another Morgan.
And then you see him piling rocks because the guy is BORED AS FUCK in this town, the pile falls when a subordinate slams the door open, and he's so annoyed, but you only see his eyes.
And then, you meet the guy, you understand he's got things VERY WELL organised in there, knows where each of his troops are and knows to give clear and fast orders.
Then, he goes into town, salty about Tashigi not being around, and the little girl bumps into him with her icecream. Here, when we see the way that the dad reacts, absolutely TERRIFIED, and begging for his forgiveness, you still have the memory of his pre-introduction as a very scary and unyielding guy, and you get the same parallel to Morgan: girl, food, what's he gonna do?
"Oh, seems that my pants ate your icecream. Here, some money so you can buy yourself 5 scoops."
This guy.
In maybe 5 pages, you understand that:
- he has a terrible reputation because he does what needs to be done, and because he's ruthless against the pirates flocking in his town, he's really terrifying to the population.
- he is BORED. He hates it there, because it's a sort of outpost in an insignificant sea where you wouldn't be able to go beyond captain, and he is ambitious. He WANTS to have an out.
- he is very competent at leading men, and he takes responsibility by giving clear orders, giving clear objectives, explicit ones under his voice.
- he is KIND to the people. He wants the children in particular to feel safe, around and thanks to him.
He's an amazing character, and just like you said, Oda knows how to lay all the elements you need to understand each of his characters. Smoker is an excellent example of that.
thank you about pointing out the boredom aspect .... never came to me .... :/
that icecream part always warms my heart, and is the very first thing that comes to mind when I think about Smoker.
@@AkahigeNoAmo it took me many re-reads of his introduction to realise. But he's resorting to PUTTING ROCKS IN A PILE 🤣 dude's already gone through all of his options here
Smoker ❤️
@@dbzbourgheim its called rock balancing, its like a zen garden thing, yeah when you are balacing stuffs you know you're bored af
I LIKE SMOKER TOO
The introduction of the Celestial Dragons had to break a world record on how fast it gets you to hate them. That one sticks with me the most.
I don't think I've ever hated a character more than Charlos.
@@coolthings_1 Official punching bag of the Straw Hat fleet.
@@Staklihen I hope he has pstd from Luffy's fist
Oda is great at speedrunning dislikable characters (that kinda sounds like an insult but I promise it's not). The best examples being Bellamy, the Celestial Dragons, and most recently a character in the manga that I'm not gonna say in case of spoilers.
@@boopergooberKuma?
Melon: I hate Doflamingo
Also Melon with every Dof clip possible: Im gonna milk you
Also her avatar has doffy's glasses
I too think that Mihawk's introduction perfectly prepares us to see him 1000 chapters later enter poly gay relationship with Luffy's mom and an actual clown
I think I just got flashbanged by words.
Shabingus
LOLLLOLOL SO TRUE.
"flash bang through the soul" - Soap probably.
Uhhhh you drank bleach before typing this??
Mihawk's introduction solves the power-escalation syndrome for good. From the moment he casually slices that mountainous galleon, the only opponent the Straw Hats face that /maybe/ stands a chance until the introduction of Haki is Enel -- so Oda is free to go as creative and crazy as he wants with the abilities because the ceiling of 'WORLD'S STRONGEST' was so definitively set from the get-go.
Then, once we get to Marineford, Mihawk does it /AGAIN/ by slicing a mountain from a mile away, just as casually -- his throne as the strongest remaining mostly untarnished from his initial inception in the series.
yeah it's so smart to have that constant upper limit early so that there's not that common anime problem loop of protag defeats opponent and is the strongest but all of a sudden someone even stronger appears retroactively lowering past stakes over and over
Having the constant that is Mihawk means that there's a scale to the universe that lets Zoro get increasingly stronger facing increasingly strong opponents without feeling like the writer is just adding new oh this guy's actually the strongest one to beat not that other guy oh no actually it's this guy
It's immediately evident from just their fight too. Before we'd seen Zoro pretty easily beat every opponent (except Kuina) and had him hyped up by the reputation he had already. Even after their fight Zoro easily defeats a couple dozen Arlong pirates while heavily injured. But to Mihawk? Zoro was literally nothing.
So his victories against Kaku, Ryuma, King etc. feel earned but you always have the implied okay if they were at his level and Mihawk is still so much better...
Almost like mihawk is the limit 😅
@@sid6484 Great comment bro 😎
@@TyandOnGoing At the start of the story and during Marineford, he represents the highest echelon's of strength, ofc not the be-all-end-all, Whitebeard was there during the war.
Shanks better.
Doctor Kureha's intro is my personal fave. Shes honestly one of my top 5 favorite side characters. In part because she defied expectations where as characters like Mihawk met them. Another testament to Oda's writing, he seems to know exactly which characters should meet expectations and which should defy them.
For Mihawk it was "Hey did you hear about badass sword guy?!" And badass sword guy appeared. But Kureha?
"Hey did you hear about that witch doctor with the monster that lives in the mountains?"
*Enter 139 year old woman with the body of a 20 year old, dressed in bellbottoms, crop top, bellybutton piercing and leather jacket in a land thats always cold. Kicking ass and curing a kid before gouging the dad for money*
*young
@@rosa1212 your right, almost lost my life their, thank you.
I’m surprised you didn’t bring up Blackbeard introduction because of how it set up luffy biggest enemy without anyone knowing with how luffy hates the pie while teach loved it vice verse with the drink showing there opposites then teaches speech shows us they have the same ideas but are opposites in how to go through with those ideas
It was revealed he was Blackbeard real quick. The second you knew his name you knew he was Luffy’s biggest enemy because of how famous a pirate the actual Blackbeard is
@@mrbubbles6468Agreed. When watching the Jaya Arc I already knew Blackbeard and his crew would be the Main Antagonistic Force alongside whatever “Dweller in the Dark” (aka Imu) would be the true EoS Main Antagonist
Bleach and Naruto have already shown this so it only makes sense that One Piece would have a True Final Villain like they did via Imu
@@mrbubbles6468especially since Ace has mentioned blackbeard earlier. Plus, that white background panel with Blackbeard, Luffy, and Zoro sticks out so much
i hope bb gonna be last@@Mizikame
@@dothangbui4918 He may be, it depends on who Oda~sensei has Luffy fight last; Imu or Blackbeard
The reason Zoro ate the rice balls is not because he was hungry (even if he was), but because he didn't want Rika's work go to waste (yes, I do know her name off the top of my head), so he wanted her to know that he ate those rice balls and that he liked them. But he didn't want to be a liar, so he first ate them, even if they were gross. It shows that he both kind and honourable
If Sanji met Zoro then, they would have gotten along really well
@@nikgokuhilSanji would've straight up swooned
I mean.. Rika wasn't even there but i think you describe it good enough
@Pulchra902 That's the point though. She wasn't there. He could've just *said* he ate them and liked them, and it wouldn't make any difference to her in terms of the emotional weight, and a lesser person might have, but Zoro very specifically didn't.
@@KaregoAtAs if he doesnt already
We all know theres a fruit in the kitchen and its not the ones in the fridge !!
I really also love Fujitora's introduction. Showing him him at first as an innocent victim, only for him to be shown to be a total badass. Then after that, shown to be one of the strongest men in the Marines.
I LOVE Fujitora man..
The scene in which he explains the motive behind his blindness blew my mind
oh yeah having weird blind man who turns out to be a badass who purposely blinded himself is one hell of an intro.I also love how even before we learn he's an admiral, he's clearly shown to be an understanding person, only lashing out at the gambling hall crew when he has 100% proof they were fucking him & likely other past customers over & clearly liking Luffy's character with how Luffy outed the con. Helped make him smiling at the townsfolk "chasing" Luffy to the Sunny all the more believable.
Absolutely every line Fujitora has is incredible.
-telling Sengoku he's going to let providence decide Luffy's fate
-arguing with Akainu telling him that if a lie is necessary to protect their honour they already don't have any
-telling Zoro and the others trying to hold back the birdcage that he doesn't know who they are because he's blind
-saying he wishes he didn't blind himself, and he bets Luffy has a kind face
Guy is elite
The only admiral who immediately resonates with luffy
About Zoro's introduction:
We first hear about him from Alvida and Koby, how he is a top bounty hunter, "the Demon of the East Blue", and us western audiences had no reason to doubt this when we first get a glimpse of him; his design may seem simple but we get the feeling that he is indeed strong.
But!
This is not the case for the original Japanese audience, since Zoro's clothes are extremely similar to an old farmer.
I can imagine young Japanese boys finally seeing Zoro and be like: "This guy is supposed to be strong? He dresses like my grandpa!" 😂
Personally, I adore everything about this! How Zoro kept defying people's expectations from the very beginning.
(My little marimo is amazing ❤)
Old man zoro: confirmed
Zoro the farmer
I will never forget the Introduction of Silvers Rayligh.
instead of hyping him up with rumors and name dropping, we got the opposite. He DID things we didn't understandf, he was unimaginable powerfull when he took the stage, he made everyone stop, without wanting it and THEM there was the drop who he was!
It worked so well in an Arc with so many characters
Borsalino(Kizary)'s introduction in Shabondy Archipelago right after Luffy punched Charlos is up there with the flashiest introductions. His struggle with the various Den-Den Mushi both establishes he is a bit slow and is someone Sentomaru considers his uncle, his riding a cannonball to the archipelago shows his lunacy, his encounters with the Supernovas showcase how he does his business, and his struggle to keep Rayleigh off him demonstrates his power. Like Kuzan(Aokiji)'s introduction, Borsalino was shown to do business his own way while being a menace to everyone not a marine in his vicinity.
even before that, when he's at navy hq, in the first frame you see him, there's a dropped tea cup at his feet, and in the very next frame, that same cup is in his hands, containing hot tea, indicating his speed to those who paid attention, and somewhat foreshadowing his power
I was just about to mention Kizaru's introduction, thank you!
Sanji's introduction (at least on me the first time) left additional impact that grew throughout Baratie - "Why is he dressed so well? Why does he have such advanced table manners?". Looking at other Baratie chefs I could not figure out where he picked that up. Then WCI happened...
Did we see him being taught manners back when he was a prince? All I remember was how he was trained to fight.
Mihawks introduction is so good
It breaks our bubble and the fact that he just randomly came here makes it scarier
That's why I don't like it as much in the live action because they made it so that he came for Luffy specifically which made the world feel a lot smaller
I think there's this thing with western media in which it tends to feel like the entire world revolves around the main protagonist, and the fact that this dude just appears because he's bored completely breaks that, so I think the live action guys wanted to keep the illusion that Luffy is the most important person in the entire world, which he crearly isn't.
He's a completely unimportant bug all the way until he defeats Kaido, that's when the world government starts seeing him as a threat and not just an annoying bug.
It was done that way because, since they weren’t using Krieg, they needed a solid narrative reason to have Mihawk enter the fray without him. It makes sense for the version of the story they’re telling.
The live action doesn’t have the privilege of time like the manga/anime does so writing has to be much more contained. Mihawk was sent by Garp for purely personal reasons. It had absolutely nothing to do with his threatening presence to the world government. Even when Luffy got his bounty, Nezumi was just being super petty and did it out of spite.
Yeah. Mihawk wanting to fight just because he was bored is such an integral part of his character. Plus, a warlord strong enough to go head to head with a Yonko (Shanks) wouldn't accept a hit on some scrub in East Blue. Nor would Garp ever ask for help from a pirate, especially to handle a family dispute.
Don't get me wrong. I loved this Live Action. But that part just felt off.
Mihawk came to East Blue randomly too though? He woke up from his nap and terrorized Don Krieg's crew lol
As an anime only, Luffy's introduction has stuck with me these past 3 years ever since I started watching. I still find myself saying "IIIIIIIIIII SLEEEEEEEEPT SOOOOOOOOOOO GREEEEEAAAAAT!!!" I love that scene so much, man.
I truly don’t understand people who don’t fall in love with One Piece the moment Luffy jumps out of that barrel
@@adamm6290it's all about people's tastes, don't worry about it
I loved Luffy's introduction out of the barrel because I was not expecting him to come out with a big smile and careless attitude. I remember it made me laugh, yet what cemented Luffy for me happened a couple scenes later where he laughed at Kolby and says something like: "You're dumb and a coward, I hate you" while he's laughing at him😂😂
x2, it's honestly (and kind of ironically) one of the best introductions of the series. It just tells so much f Luffy with just a scream and a freaking move, I love it xD
I really think Ace’s introduction was well done. At first i thought he was some mysterious dude out for Luffy’s head. But then by the end of Alabasta he had become one of my favorite characters. Oda trolled me a little there.
I almost forgot but Blackbeard’s and Smoker’s introductions are great too. Before meeting Smoker most marines seemed snotty and egoistic but Smoker was the first marine to show a strong sense of justice. He might have been against Luffy but he actually showed care for the citizens.
And then theres Blackbeard. Im sure most fans can agree that he has one of the best introductions. The way he and Luffy had opposite opinions is great way of showing that they’ll be rivals. One of my favorite scenes is Blackbeard telling Luffy “A person’s dream…has no end!”. It sends chills down my spine. You can immediately tell that their dreams are so similar yet so different.
Thats the end of my ramble. Thanks for reading!
I think the best introduction HANDS DOWN is blackbeard, such a simple, comedic yet efficent scene that manages to introduce such a big and important character in a brilliant way that I think no other mangaka could pull off
Oda introduced Blackbeard as a person that is the opposite of Luffy but at the same time is the same as Luffy (sorry for my English)
Blackbeard's Dreams speech and "when does a man die?" ALWAYS gives me chills
just finished jaya arc for the first time and the part where he was talking to luffy about dreams gave me so much chills, I loved that arc
Brook and Smoker's introductions have always stick on my head, making them my 2 favorite Characters.
The Way we can see Brook's Spooky appearence from far away, to then hearing the MOST friendly salutation possible shows how he tries to give a good impression despite his looks.
Smoker on the other hand shows a giant intimidating sillhouette covered in Smoke, to then Cut into a Sunny day and a Girl with and Ice Cream, (purest shit ever) and when they collide that giant man puts himself to that girls height, gives her a pat on the head, a coin and an apology because "His Pant ate her ice cream" (cutest thing ever).
That is Peak
There is a reason why fellas like Smoker or Jack have fans (Me included).
Sure, they were absolutely violated by the story but man, they are all the real bosses with introductions that showed us just how much of bosses they truly were in situations where they aren't severely outmatched.
Smokers introduction will never get old for me - "... my pants at your icecream ..." - such a sweetheart
@@AkahigeNoAmoi love that scene but after I found out that inanimate objects could eat devil fruits in Alabasta I considered the idea that Smoker's pants could actually eat ice cream somehow and it's ruined the impact of his introduction. Dammit
Both of them got done so dirty, expected jack to put up way more of a fight against 2 minks
@@Subpar1O1I don't think that's the case with smoker, especially since she walked into him.
Mihawk's intro was the scene that made me love One Piece. It was the moment I understood why people liked this show so much. His line "I'm not the type of beast who goes all out when hunting a rabbit" and pulling out the tiniest knife you've ever seen to 'fight' Zoro is one of the coldest lines I've ever heard. With a character intro like that it never felt like an asspull that he was so strong, the way he completely dominated the Baratie battlefield once he showed up sets such a good precedent for his following appearances.
The introduction of Doflamingo and Kuma is also helped by the fact that we just finished a saga where Crocodile was the big bad. After all the work that Luffy and the Straw Hats went through to beat him and his organization, suddenly we are introduced to two new Warlords and our minds starts racing of how powerfully these guys must be if they are considered in the same league as Crocodile.
The first time I was introduced to Doffy and Kuma as a kid, I was straight up intimidated and in awed, and I was wondering when Luffy will fight them.
I love your analyses of One Piece. They help me see and appreciate different aspects of the story and they don’t just cover mainstream topics.
And did you know that Luffy’s introduction was inspired by Vicky the Viking, where the titular character popped out of a barrel in the first episode. Like Oda, I watched the show as a kid and there are some titbits in One Piece that were definitely inspired by Vicky.
Katakuri is definitely one of my favorites. I also like to count him eating donuts as his second introduction and top 10 in the series. I would also say Flampes inclusion is pretty underrated in Wci. She’s so minor but at the same time so important because she encapsulates all of the toxicity Big Mom created. It just compliments the story extremely well and makes so many moments hit different.
He's also one of my favorites to! I fell in love both times lol.
Luffy’s introduction in the anime is one of my favorites ever for a protagonist, it literally shows you what type of character he is, he’s a crazy kid, who is so stubborn that will go to the sea alone, even if he has to go in a barrel to get what he wants
He left on a boat and an inbound Whirlpool is what made him decide he needed to get in the barrel
To play on the trope of “Monkey in a Barrel”
x2, definitely VERY well-done for our little dork of a captain
@@Mizikame 😂
@@sakura5sango6 Agreed! xD Luffy be cray cray buh in alll the right ways 😹
My favorite introduction and one of my fav moments in all of One Piece is Crocus' introduction
He came in like Mihawk, doing all the badass stuff and being menacing, only to massively troll everyone
"Someone's going to die."
"Who?"
"Me!"
😂😂😂
"Haven't you heard of a running gag?" 😂
While Jinbe was name dropped in chapter 69, his true introduction in Impel Down: "Ha! It's not my flesh that hurts! It's my heart, Ace... Because I'm not able to do what's right!" I fell in love with him from that first line. I love fish dad so much
Banger video Melon!
Also to focus on one thing you mentions: Luffy never saw his crewmates do their professions when he invited them to their crew.
he never saw Zoro swing swords
He never saw Nami Navigate
he never saw Ussop Snipe
He never saw Sanji Cook
He never saw Chopper heal
He never saw Robin be an archeologist
He never saw Franky Shipright
He never saw Brook play music
He never saw Jimbei be a helmsmen
I really like those details before they were in the crew.
He saw Usopp use the slingshot, and he did see brook play music. He also saw food that sanji made, brought out by him.
And Franky built the Thousand Sunny..
Wouldn't Chopper have been assisting Dr. Kureha in healing Luffy, Sanji and Nami? I'd call that seeing him heal.
Robin also read a poneglyph in front of Luffy before joining the crew haha
One thing I love about Mihawk's introduction that I don't see many talking about is how it is also an introduction to the grand line, since at that moment we as viewers didn't have enough pieces to figure out how was the grand line, we only knew a bit of geopraphy, that it was dangerous(even tough we didn't had empirical data on how much) and that Luffy wanted to go there. And in a moment of the series where everything was "saney", to town, villains and Luffy was considered the strangest character only sharing a spot with Buggy... And then this guy comes, Dripping with a coffin, totally umpractical boat that we were shown is important, with the most striking design we saw till' that moment(and much more forward, I love that design) and casually cuts an entire fleet in half ans chased them from an entire ocean because he was... Bored? And even Zeff treat Don. Krieg(A certain design analist is sighing from his mere mention) as if it was his fault for not thinking about the possibility of having the final boss in the door of the tutorial area. At this point if this is considered "Grand Line common happenings" then one is left to wonder how crazy and dangerous that place will be compared to what we are dealing with now.
One great "Oda wanted us to question his motives" intro for me is Kuma. We hear he's one of the Warlords, he shows up late in Thriller Bark with a facial expression that is just unreadable while holding a bible, he asks Perona, minion of a fellow Warlord, where she'd like to visit then she's suddenly gone after he gets an answer with us not knowing how. And then showing up again to instigate the "Nothing happened" scene. Like god what a way to say so much about a character in a way that you only fully understand with later pieces of information
As for fav introduction.. I would like to say a fav re introduction. Law in Punk Hazard is one of my favorites.
At the point of the story all we knew was that Law is know for his brutality, that he is the „surgeon of death“ and for some reason he stayed on the grand line for a while and saved Luffy. Who is that guy? And what does he want?
Then we see Punk Hazard. Children are kidnapped, poisoned gas, frozen prisoners and a mysterious Master. We get a glimpse of Law and then when the G5 knocks he comes out as a warlord who can cut out people’s hearts.. is he the one making experiments? Why does he fight smoker and tries to stop the strawhats? Is he really a creep or is there more to the picture.. and then he is also a warlord???? He’s not my favorite character even though I love my baby girl dearly.. but his introduction.. I rewatch it so many times
"Hey, are you gonna betray us?!"
"No."
✨️😁✨️
The introduction of Rayleigh on sabaody in the auction house really cemented him as one of my favorite characters in the entire series because of how powerful he was made to look and how he did stuff that the audience couldn’t even perceive let alone the actual characters in the auction house along with him. The fact that he was with the prisoners chained up in the jail behind the stage is even more impactful because it shows just how confident and care free he is about the situation
Lovely video Melon :)
Okiku's is one of my favorite introductions in One Piece. We first see her as an unassuming lady working at a tea house, though very quickly learn that she greatly cares for others, as she was skipping meals so the townsfolk could eat. Then when we get to the sumo match, we find out that she was playing little miss innocent to screw with the sumo guy, and is actually a sharp-tongued badass who even Luffy gets hyped about.
kiku is waifu
I love reading these comments and seeing how many different character introductions people are listing as their favorites. It really says something about the series that there’s so many good moments that it’s impossible for the fans to decide on one unanimous ‘best’ introduction
I know that the anime changed a lot of Nami's introduction, but I still like both versions.
We get to see her being all sweet before tricking and stealing from other pirates.
In the manga, it was short, but in the anime, it was in the first episode without her saying a single word.
Has anyone ever noticed that the introduction of Zoro has him tied to a cross and our introduction to Mihawk has this giant cross of a sword behind him?
It's like he is tied to this ambition of his, this fate to clash with Mihawk. And Luffy frees him, giving him a new greater purpose.
kinemons was awsome, the ass stuck in a dragon farting to talk was peak comedy
*Some Egghead spoilers*
I've been thinking of Doflamingo's introduction lately now that we're finally getting into Kuma. Those two were introduced together, and it feels so deliberate. They are such a huge contrast to each other. Doflamingo is a flamboyant peacock of a man, and an impudent asshole who acts above it all. Next to him as he walks out with his manslut strut is Kuma: stoic, larger than life, unmovable and carrying a bible. We can tell that he is a much more reserved, principled and efficient person. He is not at all like Doflamingo, who is comfortable messing and chatting with the authorities of the world, instead he's by himself, speaks little and reads from his Bible while he's there. Also, though he is quite a bit bigger than Doflamingo, the first panel they're in together frames him as smaller and in the background, which fits with the ways these two characters hold themselves in contrast to each other.
I love in retrospect how the Kuma introduction builds this poignant ambiguity about his moral character. He's introduced as part of the warlords, who up to this point have been antagonists, and framed like a group that the Strawhats will confront and defeat. He also has this powerful and confident look to him, which make him look tough and fierce. We know him as the world knows him: a monster now tamed by the world government. But underneath that, we see that he's devout, and not there to start shit like Doffy. His one line that he gives in that entire scene is agreeing that he and his fellow warlords are scum. All of the elements of his character are right there in his design and presence, the mystery of his character is set up, and we're biased to think of him as a threat, but one who at the very least isn't depraved and seems to at least try to be good from his own perspective. Fitting for a character who was innocent and kind-hearted, but painted as a demon to the world by the same government that would eventually extort and control him.
My favorite intros areSanji and Robin. Melon got it dead on why I like Sanji’s, but I love Robin’s because it genuinely fooled me.
When I first saw Robin, I didn’t know what to think of her. I knew she was going to be a future straw hat, but I didn’t know how to perceive her. Then she betrays Crocodile and invited herself in the straw hats after Alabasta, which I was like “uh, ok?” Who woulda thought that would be a gateway to her reason being that she had no where to go and she really is just a great motherly character
One thing I love with Robin's intro is how apparent it is that she hides her true self from basically everyone, even seemingly herself. Like you get this feeling she's just been along Crocodile's ride for seemingly no reason other than "I had the skills he wanted" & that just makes for a beautiful setup into when the viewers learn her absolutely FUCKED backstory & Luffy, even not knowing the full story but being the absolute king he is, storming a heavily fortified base on a dedicated rescue mission being what fully breaks that shell for her. Like god just thinking about the "I want to live" scene still gets me to tear up all these years later with how masterfully Oda set that up.
Each year that passes we know more about the world of one piece and Dragon's introduction becomes more and more legendary
Underrated AF
I love the anime's intro monologue so much -- it is at the same time the episode/anime intro and also a (pre)intro for Gol D Roger. I love it so much to the point where I can recite it word for word. It's an amazing setup for the story of OP, literally the end and the start of a new era that is unfolding in front of our eyes in the form of anime episodes. But also because of its consistency, the fact that it is being played for so so many years, we get so much more context to this execution and every time a new piece of information is revealed to us, we feel something new and different towards this monologue.
*Talks about the importance of taking advantage of every single second to relay information.*
_Reiterates every point she makes thrice._
When it comes to Strawhat intros Brook's has to be one of my favorites! Like with the others, you see so much of his core: brooding melancholy, a touch of insanity, steadfast determination and devotion, but he's also such a wonderful tease for the events of Thriller Bark. He's the perfect introduction to a pretty dramatic tone and theme change within the story.
About Mihawk:
Yes, indeed, his introduction is amazing! I first watched the anime back in 2000 and to this day episode 24 is among my all time favourites. Everything about his fight with Zoro is top notch, especially the dialogue!
But to be honest... I can watch him gardening and cooking and pretending not to care about anything forever!
Mihawk the greatest swordsman is amazing, but casual Mihawk is my favourite ❤
Could you pls do a video on Big Mom? I feel like she does not get the respect she deserves as a villain.
"There was a man whose hobby was suicide", right before Kaido jumped off a sky island might be the coldest intro in one piece, but Sanji remains my favorite character because of how goddamn dope he is, and his intro of straight murking Fullbody is so damn nice. And yo, if you like awesome character introductions, check out Chainsaw Man, because holy flying fuck does that manga have amazing characters. You are going to love Power so much, but actually, I can't think of a single bad character.
*WANO SPOILERS*
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Interesting how Kaido was finally defeated by him falling off a "sky" island, making it full circle as to how he was introduced
I really really loved Robin's introduction :D It was super mysterious
Now I haven't gotten to jinbei yet however for the rest of the strawhats -robin who has a strong impression however is purposefully kept mysterious and Franky who is actively putting on a facade the entire time the rest of the strawhats do a darn good job revealing exactly who they are within minutes
My favorite character introduction might have to be blackbeard! His silly petty bar-tussle with luffy, greatly contrasting with the trio's situation with Bellamy. Blackbeard was silly and gooberfull matching up with luffy, and after the whole situation, his speech about dreams was perfect!!! He had a silly introduction but ends up being a major antagonist. That has to be my favorite!
S tier choice
Luffy bursting out of that barrel is just iconic.
The robin introduction will stick in my head forever
Episode two is probably my favorite episode in the series as a whole due to how well it introduces to a person just the kind of well written series you're about to get into, so having you highlight one of the reasons why episode 2 hits so good is more than I could have asked for! Much love and keep up the good work! Can't wait for that inevitable Vivi video that will just melt my heart!
When Mihawk was introduced, I thought The Seven Warlords were the strongest people in the One Piece Verse
Doffy and Kuma's introduction is pretty neat given what we now know about Kuma's backstory. I won't spoil anything but I find it quite fun that Oda introduces the two warlords that are basically exact opposites LONG before we actually get to know anything about them.
Dude as a creator changing up your content is scary but the mix of this new style of writing analysis of one piece(and others), is such a welcome evolution from the character analysis videos that a bunch of people found your channel from. Fucking sick ass video as always 10/10
Oda also leaves an impact by completely subverting our expectations. We don't think about it now, but having a western-style swordsman as the world's strongest is extremely rare in mangas. Even to this day. If One Piece started today, I'd guarantee that everyone would imagine the strongest swordsman to be some badass Samurai. And we'd be shocked when Mihawk makes his first appearance.
There are plenty of other examples. Like Blackbeard appearing like a side character in a random scene, or Katakuri having one of the most badass design in a crew that looks mostly goofy. We either forget or take it for granted over time, but those subversions definitely left an impact on us.
I love the reintroduction of koby on Rebecca's ship. Like yeah we've seen koby in the first arc and a little bit throughout, but in that moment we see koby in the form that he dreamd of (and ofcourse the physical transformation adds to the idea of that this is a new person).
I really like Smoker's presentation. Oda uses a previous presentation as a reverse concept. While Helmeppo is a dick to the little girl and shows that the navy is shady. When faced with almost the exact same situation Smoker says that his pants ate the little girl's ice cream and gives her money to buy another one. Showing that, just like with pirates, the navy has good and bad people.
Watching one piece as it unralveled, we knew about Doflamingo for a long time, but didnt get to know him until what? 2010-2014?
Still, as kids we were obsessed about him, his name, his looks, his powers and wanted him to be the antagonist real soon.
Oh man your editing has popped off. I’ve been listening to your videos for a while now and it’s neat to see your evolution
You used some great examples but for me, gecko Moriah’s interdiction still sits with me. Just seeing all of his zombies and then finally seeing him say “make me king of the pirates” just says everything we need to know about him. It makes it even better when we see his past and interaction with Kaido and seeing how that might have effected his mindset along with seeing his loyalty and care he has for someone like absolom
i love how you've illustrated the vid with the beautifull color spread . great video . thank you for sharing .
Robin is definitely a standout for introductions. I honestly don't remember off the top of my head if we see her in some shadowy meeting or some discussion with crocodile beforehand, but her sudden appearance on the Merry is chilling
The Kirito shade is so good. It got me laughing for 10 minutes!!!!! “ he could be the best swordsman ever, but if he looked like THIS (BOOM!!) then…”
I think I've found my new favorite thing. One Piece is literally my favorite thing. Ive said before; been here since Thriller Bark and spent all of 14 to 16 catching up. I genuinely love hearing your thoughts on this series.
On a completely separate topic, the first Saw movie is straight up one of my favorite movies for how it sets up the character of Jigsaw/John Kramer leading to the big reveal. Every time I watch it, the buildup is just as exhilarating as the last time.
One of my favorite character introductions is Admiral Kizaru's on Sabaody Archipelago. One look at him, and I started getting a bad feeling about the arc.
Your one pice video essays always reminds me just how much I love one piece
It's always a pleasure to watch a new One Piece video by MelonTeee !!!
oomph-factor introduction in one piece are all fun and all, but the funny ones are sooooo underappreciated like making people crack up just by revealing their face is just something thats not DONE its ENGINEERED - duval remains the #1 character introduction ever, crocus and brook also deserve their flowers
I love your analysis style and skill💚💚💚
For me, the hardest introduction goes to Imu's first appearance.
For the longest time, Oda has built the impression that the tippy top of the WG are the Fleet Admiral and the 5 Elders (who for the longest time we weren't even sure can actually fight). Regardless, they make the rules. They shape the world. They are undoubtedly the pinnacle of power and influence in the One Piece world. The 5 Elders are literally designed after real life world leaders.
And then, in a single panel, Oda turns all our previous impression on its head. The 5 Elders , the supposed absolute top brass of the world, kneel in complete submission to a figure who sit even further above them. And the first thing they all discuss is where and when their next genocide will be. In that single panel, every One Piece fans just KNOW, this is it. Every atrocity the World Government has committed can find its way back to this figure. Imu is THE final boss.
I found this channel this morning and I love your work
After all these years Oda still has so many... Aces... Up his sleeve because we've seen Shanks, Mihawk, and Dragon have these strong introductions and despite all that we still know little to nothing about them. I think one of best approaches Oda has is to let the audience use their own imagination to fill in the blanks.
When Whitebeard was introduced there wasn't too much backstory but enough to explain his motivation to fight for Ace. When Oda calls him the strongest man in the world I believe it in One Piece. Even beyond Roger who is the King of Pirates.
Then if you want to talk about Roger himself we know damn near nothing about him. But between how the other characters in One Piece and what the story does say about Gold D. Roger he's one of very few characters that's doesn't really need an introduction in any setting of the story aside from the very beginning.
Oda is a genius, simply put.
This is a very interesting topic, and very important in books, movies, series, manga, everywhere. And your analysis was very spot on I think.
Emporio Ivankov's introduction in level 5.5 of the anime was the most impactful introduction I can think of in the series. Impel Down was a triumph of an arc to watch in the anime and seeing such a loving and passionately proudly and profoundly Queer character show up and be so admired, powerful, impactful and beloved by the main and side characters. Bon Clay's reintroduction in that arc is also a peak introduction, giving them 2 amazing intros.
I think hilarious introductions deserve a mention in this one as well, like crocus warning the strawhats not to threaten him about shooting cannons if they don't want someone to die, but it turns out it was himself he's referring to, and duval's intro which i really thought would be the main villain the arc, who also turned out just to be someone who shares a simalar face with sanji's wanted poster 😂😂
So what I'm getting from this video is that because Zoro was introduced to us tied to a pole it absolutely confirms that he was our Messiah this whole time
Babe wakeup! A new melontree vid dropped!!
SALVE DO BRASILLL eu amo assistir seus videos de one piece, cada vez q eu assisto eu tenho noção cada vez mais de como essa obra é espetacular
8:21 I would like to underline that Mihawk's nickname is "Hawkeye" and to this day no character in OP has eyes designed like those of Mihawk. Yellow/orange iris with a black circle dividing them into two, giving more of that predator-esqe vampire attire he got.
The yellow eyes is actually anime only. Oda draws him with red eyes, and there *is* one other character with those eyes, namely Imu.
Honestly one of the best videos about introduction ever, introduction is super important!!!!!!
Common melonteee W
I didn't bother to check the anime version, but in the japanese manga, it sounded like Zoro was just asking to loosen the ropes because the position was killing him. Viz translation can be very hit or miss.
Mohawk didn't just cut a ship, he cut a ship with an unnamed attack
Another amazing video, I really enjoyed it. On the topic of introductions, I am curious to know your opinion on netflix adaptation since it contains so many introductions in rapid fire. I was not a fan of the netflix adaptation and it had a lot to do with how characters were introduced. Zoro is a great example for this because I feel like his introduction checked all the boxes for events that occurred in the manga/anime, but tweaked things (character interactions, order of events, action) in such a way that changed the impression of his character.
I am so glad the Mihawk of Live Action carries the fantastic chill of him in the anime- and goddamn its hot!
Before I gush on... "believe you me" is an actual phrase???? Damn... Me and my buds thought this one person advertising the university they're from was just being silly. Lesson learned, I probably should've looked it up when I heard it lol.
Anyways back to the topic. I love the way you covered everything in this video. I dunno how you manage to make your videos so funny but thought provoking and engaging. Never thought I'd unironically listen to a saw bit. Mihawk, the creature, Zoro, Sanji and Luffy are probably the best characters you could've chosen for this topic. They've got some of the best introductions in all of fiction imo.
Mihawk's especially stuck with me, and it's definitely a reason for why I'm such a big simp for him to this day. He's THE WORLD'S STRONGEST fucking SWORDSMAN. Above even the likes of Shanks and Rayleigh, and Oda makes sure we know that with his introduction. He's cold, uncaring, bored, all while being brutal and efficient. He strolls in relaxed on his coffin, shrouded by shadows with the size of his hat and sword making his form look much more terrifying, and then he cuts down a boat like butter. The efficiency with which he weilds a sword that irl would be used more akin to a mace even by the buffest and largest knights, the way he makes who is supposed to be the main villain of the arc and the supposed greatest villain in the east blue, look pathetic and whiny. It presents him as one of the endgame characters without ever doing anything risky that could mess with continuity when it comes to introducing a character like that this early(which tho I love the arc, I can't say the same for in marineford, he does cool shit but overall contributes fuck all). And along with that, the few lines we do get showcase who he is perfectly. A morally grey individual who above all else cares about respect and strength of character. A man with alot of pride but also a lot of wisdom.
A close 2nd that I HAVE to mention tho is Blackbeard. Even though he's a great villain he's personally not one of my favourites so far, but his introduction is still iconic. It makes the Jaya arc what it is(along with the Bellamy punch ofc). It sets him up as a character perfectly. First, we see him and Luffy being silly, they both do and say very similar things to each other, but their opinion are polar opposites, and they have banter with each other and try to one up each other on their order. This is not only an amazing metaphor of his entire relationship with Luffy. Them being two sides of the same coin fighting over the title of pirate king,
Next time we see him outside the bar? He's still the same, yet feels totally different. He's sitting down cross legged, and his larger frame really makes him seem like a wise old man giving his two cents about what just happened. He says some truly inspiring lines about dreams, the very fabric of the story, all the while being judged and mocked by onlookers, while he still doesn't give a shit and continues rambling. It's very Luffy like. But it feels oddly disconcerting, especially with how silent Luffy and Zoro are. The following line of Blackbeard having companions further making you question the entire scene and Blackbeard's intentions. The mysterious way Zoro and Luffy act here, the fact that we know literally nothing about teach at this point only to learn later that he was the one we'd heard so much about. His way with words, his cleverness, his boldness, the air of mystery and darkness around him, the fact that he's named after motherfucking Blackbeard. It's all formatted perfectly to truly cement him as the main antagonist to LUFFY, even if Imu is the overarching antagonist
Found you while I was looking for a video to watch while I was eating and I must say this is a great video. I expected some guy just naming a few good points and then clicking off after I was done watching but you seriously hit the nail on this, I usually don't get interested enough by review channels to watch all of their videos or subscribe but I could consume your content for hours and learning to further appreciate the series that I love, definitely subscribed. Also I'm glad you talked about Sanji, while it all comes down to opinions I absolutely love his writing and his introduction is iconic and probably the most memorable to me of any of the strawhats.
Jinbe's character intro is an amazing one. It establishes him as an ally to Luffy immediately and shows his devotion to people that he respects. The image of him being built up for almost 500 chapters as a scary fishman in league with Arlong is broken immediately when we see him bloody and chained defending Ace.
all your videos are enjoyable. I love each one of them; in each one you have managed to make me think of things I hadn't quite thought about before and I love that
I loooove your sense of humor and this whole video, discovering you made probably my whole week ❤❤❤❤
Can you PLEASE do a video about Garp, i love how you always see the story in ways most people don't and i want to see what you see in Garps character.
Great video! Considering the length of the video and the fact that it barely scratches the surface of how good One Piece is at introductions, just shows how good Goda is at that as well!!
OK but blackbeard's introduction is so top tier the only ones close are Big Mom and maybe Kaido, honestly Oda had Yonko intros on lock they are all great.
Thank you for blessing my weekend with a melonteee video
I saw my boy Goathawk in the thumbnail so I clicked instantly😏😤. How Gin was talking about Mihawk was like a nightmare, perfectly fits Mihawk’s character.
My favourite introduction is Law's in the manga - the manga specifically, not the anime because they RUIN it! I love how his first scene is literally just him flipping Kid off. It's seemingly so small but it perfectly encapsulates his don't give a fk about you, screw all the rules, I'm gonna do things my own way attitude that makes him such an awesome character to watch. Second would be Big Mom, her song is so out of the blue but it's so cool and creepy and again it perfectly encapsulates who she is in a very effective way.
Your videos always highlight my day, whether One Piece or not!
As someone who hasn’t seen much one piece (I’m on episode 330) I really liked chopper’s introduction. You first see him as a strange short figure but then learn from namis pov that he’s this weird deer thing that helped everyone out I like the way the did it
Wow I forgot about this but I gotta say I’ve improved I’m now on episode 484 or 485 in marineford 🥲
in the vein of introductions, i love the ones to your videos! cackling at the not-at-all subtle zoro x sanji shots.