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[NecrosaroIII]

I've been aware of One Piece for almost 25 years. I read up through the Arlong Park story back in the day when Shonen Jump was a thing.

I didn't care for it too much. The art style wasn't the greatest, and the story didn't really excite me. Zoro seemed cool but that was about it. Luffy just seemed like Goku.

I never intended to watch One Piece. However...

I watched the Netflix series and enjoyed it alot. And I've seen the Gear 5 scene and it was super cool. I now am kinda curious about it.

But it's over 1000 episodes long and I don't have that sort of time. Bit for years I've been hearing people say it's peak fiction. How so? It didn't seem like anything special when I was reading it. The premise seems alright, but how can it extend for what will probably end up being 1500 episodes when it finishes, if it does?

PS in some places it's a crime to say it's not peak fiction.

 

[feynoob]

No. It got good settings, but fails badly due to pace of the serious. It heavily relies on emotion to get you hooked on the series.

I had to drop the series after Kaidu arc. Mainly due to stupid fights and too much exposition.

What is worst is that you only get few chapters yearly due to oda taking breaks. Its why the serious continued this long.

 

[March Climber]

But it's over 1000 episodes long and I don't have that sort of time.

Search for ‘One Pace’ or ‘One Piece Kai’ if you prefer an English dubbed version of One Pace.

Thank me later.

 

[Raonak]

It is absolutely peak fiction.

The story is incredibly well planned.
The one piece is (supposedly) at the end of the grand line, but to reach the end, you have to make it through the countless islands that sit on the grand line.
Each of these islands feel like a standalone arc that happens to feature the strawhats. each island tells it's own story, with it's own history, it's own characters and villains.
but then you realise it isn't standalone at all, as the entire world reacts and moves in the background. Everything is interconnected.
As the arc finishes, various long running mysteries are paid off, and other mysteries are introduced.
Characters come and go, events happen in the background and effect the main story in unexpected ways.

Each arc putting luffy one step closer to the one piece, but also leading the reader one step closer to unraveling the countless mysteries that are still in play.
It's consistently been great for going on 25+ years and the story being told is still unfolding and reaching ever closer to it's end.

Reading the manga from start to finish is the recommended way to absorb it.

 

[Husky]

Back when Shonen Jump still had print magazines, I would usually skip over the One Piece chapters.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Back when Shonen Jump still had print magazines, I would usually skip over the One Piece chapters.

I did that with Hikaru no Go.

 

[AmuroChan]

It's entirely subjective and you should decide for yourself. The only thing I'll say is that OP has been going for 20+ years and I'm still loving it. I don't know if there is another piece of fiction I can say that about.

 

[kunonabi]

Peak fiction? No, but up through the Enies Lobby arc it is definitely peak Shonen. I thought it dropped off a cliff after that and I ended up bailing on it. I've started rereading it so I'm going to try and catch back up and see if it gets back on track.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

It is absolutely peak fiction.

The story is incredibly well planned. So many interesting characters, powers, places, and almost every event effects the world in some way or another.
It's really fun seeing the main characters slowly become more and more powerful and face enemies and go to places that you hear about hundreds of chapters ago.
It's consistently been great for going on 25+ years and the story being told is still unfolding and reaching ever closer to it's end.

Reading the manga from start to finish is the recommended way to absorb it.

It seemed pretty grounded (Gum Gum / Devil Fruit not withstanding). Besides fruits, how does it scale?

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Slept on One Piece till Covid. I binged it 3 fucking times, man. Up to Wano, once that third time came around. I stopped around some time when Zorro got Insanely strong and is able to fucking cut reality or something. Gonna binge all of Wano, soon. Not sure if it's over, tho. I think the next Arc is supposed to be War of all Wars or some shit. Exciting times ahead. I wanna see Kizaru actually move his fucking ass!

 

[Raonak]

It seemed pretty grounded (Gum Gum / Devil Fruit not withstanding). Besides fruits, how does it scale?

There are other ways to grow in power, it's foreshadowed with shanks, but plenty of strong fighters don't use devil fruits.
The strongest fighters in the world are insanely strong, but they don't reach planet-destorying scale.

The powerscale of OP is very gradual and very well done because the author established the power ceiling very early on and didn't really stray from that.

e.g. Hawkeye is introduced as the strongest swordsman in the world. 1000 episodes, he is STILL the strongest swordsman in the world, and is one of the strongest people in the world in general.
Luffy has very recently broken into this "strongest in the world" group.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

There are other ways to grow in power, it's foreshadowed with shanks, but plenty of strong fighters don't use devil fruits.
The strongest fighters in the world are insanely strong, but they don't reach planet-destorying scale.

The powerscale of OP is very gradual and very well done because the author established the power ceiling very early on and didn't really stray from that.

e.g. Hawkeye is introduced as the strongest swordsman in the world. 1000 episodes, he is STILL the strongest swordsman in the world, and is one of the strongest people in the world in general.
Luffy has very recently broken into this "strongest in the world" group.

His new tran

Spoiler: This is supposedly very new

sformation was something I saw on some girls shirt, while I was at work. Luffy looked odd... fluffier hair. I spoiled that for myself, because I looked it up on my phone, after I had the time and privacy, lol.

 

[DrFigs]

It gets a lot right with the world building and there are some really great adventures. It's some incredible stuff, but there are some very serious pacing issues. Like one arc takes place over the course of 2 days or so, and irl took 2 years to finish. Oda clearly needs a better editor. But I think there's really not any manga that matches the highs of One Piece, at least right now.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

It's good and there's nothing like it but it's not flawless. The early adventure vibe of the series was better, current One Piece is bloated and every panel is accompanied by a massive speech bubble usually. Also the artwork has declined massively.

 

[Ballthyrm]

Peak manga maybe but not peak fiction.
People who say that need to read more books.

Sure there is a lot of plot but quantity doesn't increase quality. Where is the deep character motivation and evolution, Luffy is basically the same guy just more powerful.

Have any of you read Malazan, the First law trilogy, Realm of the Elderlings, or even Hyperion ?

 

[Nobody_Important]

It's not in my opinion. And I will not try to sell you on it. Art style is absurd, story is needlessly inflated, and the power level increases are Dragonball levels of dumb. And do not even get me started on the character designs. Its like a horny 13yr old boy designed the female characters. Its actually ridiculous.


Just my opinion though.

 

[Hudo]

Frank Herbert, William Gibson, Arkadi and Boris Strugatzki, Michael Moorcock and motherfucking J.R.R. Tolkien would like to have a word with you.

 

[ProtoByte]

Yeah, anyone who says One Piece is peak fiction really doesn't engage with anything outside of anime/manga.

Like one arc takes place over the course of 2 days or so, and irl took 2 years to finish. Oda clearly needs a better editor.

That's just popular shounen in general. Kishimoto spent how many fucking years on the last battle in Naruto?

 

[hyperbertha]

It's not close to peak manga. I've so far gotten to chapter 650 and imo was much better in the initial 300 chapters. It just seems to have gotten really bloated with characters and a lotta stuff to keep track of.

 

[Wildebeest]

It appeals to people who like mysteries, strong themes and characters with emotional depth. It is also known for it's balancing of conflict and tension with comic relief and parts where the story breathes more. If those do not sound like some big literary guns to you, then don't bother.

 

[Batiman]

I always wanted to read/watch it because I love the whole pirate setting. I finally go into it through my son a few years ago. I sorta fell in love with it. Great characters and world building. It’s one of the few anime manga series that genuinely makes me laugh. It’s good stuff

 

[AJUMP23]

I finished EP 3 of the live action show and that was a bad episode.

 

[Richard Packer]

Its like a horny 13yr old boy designed the female characters. Its actually ridiculous.

Pics

 

[Queso de Grande]

I recently read and caught up on the manga, I don’t have the patience for the anime. It is okay, too goofy for its own good at times. I think the characters are all good, except by Luffy.

 

[tkscz]

I wouldn't call it peak fiction, and really you can't sell someone on it. It's best aspect is it's worse and that's it's attention to give EVERYTHING detail. You will know the detailed background of every important aspect and while that fleshes out the world, which is why I enjoy it, it makes everything drag. There are so many chapters because some will focus on characters who you may not have even noticed or cared about at first. Now this could lead into you caring about them afterwards, but you just read 15 chapters on them/ watched 8 episodes on them.

On the other hand it makes the world feel alive in a way a lot of anime/manga like it don't. You feel the main characters are just ONE PIECE of the overall happenings in the story. You feel that events would happen with or without the Straw-hat crew because the events never involved them in the first place. The world's history and people have meaning outside of the main characters because everything gets a background. Characters who once meant nothing are thrusted into grand importance and it feels organic. Like, yeah I can see that happening type of organic. The world becomes vastly more interesting than the main characters because you want to see where it's all going. The history creates mystery and intrigue that keeps you waiting on each chapter.

So if you're ok with getting into the poster boy for "it gets good two hours in", then give it a watch and/or read. If you don't have the patients for it, then don't bother with it.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Art style is absurd

Seriously, this. Every time I glimpse an image from One Piece I want to punch something. If I went to the dentist’s every day of my life I’d probably see less teeth than in one issue of One Piece. A lot of manga “art” is just ridiculous or bad, but One Piece really irks me on a very deep level.

 

[Urban]

Seriously, this. Every time I glimpse an image from One Piece I want to punch something. If I went to the dentist’s every day of my life I’d probably see less teeth than in one issue of One Piece. A lot of manga “art” is just ridiculous or bad, but One Piece really irks me on a very deep level.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Yes it is, there is this scene in Enis Lobby:

And just to explain why she says “I want to live” I will have to tell you about the formation of a goverment, that goverment erasing a kingdom and a century off history books, genocide, racial profiling, survivor’s guilt and many other aspects of a character that is so deep I can’t even begin to explain it. The issue with One Piece is one thing, people talk about things like Slow Pacing or detours, which I understand but you have to trust Oda and you are only a passenger he is sailing the ship, if you are not here for the journey then you won’t enjoy it.

 

[InterMusketeer]

There doesn't exist a story that requires 1000+ episodes to tell. One Piece is rife with filler. People are too invested to admit this. They've been reading/watching for decades.

I'm sure it has its moments, but you're better of going for something that respects your time.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

The Netflix show IS quite entertaining!

No idea about the manga/anime.

 

[Fbh]

Nah, but it's a fun Shonen anime/manga that has been going on for a long time.
The one thing that sets it apart IMO is how it has remained fairly consistent despite having over 1000 chapters. With a lot of popular manga (and popular fiction in general) you can usually tell it's being streched out due to popularity, the quality usually drops, the storylines get blander and you can feel the author isn't really into it anymore, it happened to DBZ, Naruto, Bleach, etc.
One Piece somehow still feels like Oda is really into it and writing/drawing the stories he always wanted to tell.

That said, as someone who has been following the manga for a long time I did enjoy the first half more. There's so many characters now that the pacing feels extremely slow as every chapter has to jump around 20 different characters/perspectives. The art was also way cleaner, now it also suffers from having to shove 10 characters into each panel.

 

[slade]

It is the best fantasy/adventure series out there. I was kind of surprised I felt that way since there is no romance and very little character growth but the world building and the overall story is just too great to ignore.

 

[Kurotri]

I wouldn't say that, but it's absolutely amazing and is something you should read/watch if you are even remotely feeling interested in it, especially if you are the type of person that really cares about world building and detail. Personally, I think it was better before the time skip, but you will always find that the majority of people you ask will look very fondly on it.

 

[FunkMiller]

It’s top drawer manga (pretty much regarded as the best), but of course it isn’t anywhere near ‘peak’ fiction. It comes with all the downsides related to that very particular style of narrative.

 

[TTOOLL]

It's pretty much flawless. I would just read the mangá though, the anime is hard to swallow sometimes.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

It's pretty much flawless. I would just read the mangá though, the anime is hard to swallow sometimes.

How so? Is it because it doesn't work that well in motion?

 

[Pagusas]

Is it a complete series with an ending yet or is it still going?

Would the Netflix live action show be a better starting place?

 

[Wildebeest]

Is it a complete series with an ending yet or is it still going?

Would the Netflix live action show be a better starting place?

Ongoing but has been "rapidly closing in on the end" for about the last five years.

Netflix is a decent intro, but some things are out of sequence, and realistically it will take forever to get new episodes, so you might as well go from the start of the manga again if you want to continue.

 

[kunonabi]

How so? Is it because it doesn't work that well in motion?

The art style just doesn't translate that well. I'm usually an anime guy over manga but I couldn't do it with one piece. I mean the anime still has good voice work and music but I think things still manage to hit harder in the manga.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

Should i watch the LA on nflx? I put on the anime last night and fell asleep after 15 mins

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Should i watch the LA on nflx? I put on the anime last night and fell asleep after 15 mins

I liked it

 

[Dirk Benedict]

It's not in my opinion. And I will not try to sell you on it. Art style is absurd, story is needlessly inflated, and the power level increases are Dragonball levels of dumb. And do not even get me started on the character designs. Its like a horny 13yr old boy designed the female characters. Its actually ridiculous.


Just my opinion though.

So, you never seen more than 1-2 episodes. I get it, though. I thought it was stupid looking and such, too. That I judged it extremely harshly and struck it down as if I meant to never see that shit in all of my days walking on this planet. From the womb to the tomb, without ever as so much as scoffing at this series. COVID came around, jobless was already here. 1000+ episodes later, I think it's one of the better animes and even animated series, ever created and put out for consumption. Do I think it gets over the top sometimes, with the emotional stuff? Yes, but I also think that adds to its charm. It's purposeful and sometimes it even adds impact. Shrug. There is a lot of cool things that happen through all of these arcs.
Davy Back Fights are always going to hold a warm spot in my memory banks. Hmm.. kind of sounds like a play on words; Baby Back Ribs?
Maybe I am just hungry. Let's fix that.

 

[L*][*N*K]

There doesn't exist a story that requires 1000+ episodes to tell. One Piece is rife with filler. People are too invested to admit this. They've been reading/watching for decades.

I'm sure it has its moments, but you're better of going for something that respects your time.

Right it has "Moments", fuck right off.

 

[InterMusketeer]

Right it has "Moments", fuck right off.

 

[Stitch]

Jojo is peak fiction

 

[The Cockatrice]

I decided years ago that I wont watch any other show, animes included, if they're not finished. Im guessing even in my 80's I still wont get to see One Piece huh?

 

[Elysion]

The story has become way too bloated; it’s the manga counterpart to A Song of Ice and Fire in this regard. Too many characters I don’t give a fuck about. And Oda himself has said that he originally envisioned OP as a story that would take him 5 years to complete, and that he had the ending in mind from the very beginning, but that he started to expand the story when it became successful. Which is very similar to GRRM, who also knew from the very beginning how ASoIaF would end, and initially planned for the series to be finished in three books, but kept expanding the story more and more, until he needed 7 books (and it’s quite possible that even that won’t be enough, though it’s doubtful that he’ll ever finish the story anyway).

While some story expansion can be a good thing, and help flesh out the world more, there has to be a hard limit, otherwise the whole thing bloats up like a balloon. 5 years would’ve probably not been enough to tell the story of One Piece properly, but there’s no reason why Oda couldn’t have finished it within 10-15 years like other successful manga like Naruto or Bleach.

I actually have hopes that the live action series could turn out to be the superior version of the story, just by cutting all the unnecessary bloat and filler.

And I know it makes me sound like an unsophisticated boor, but the art style and some of the character designs of OP are just too weird for my tastes. I think some of the character designs are so absurd that it makes it hard to even take the story seriously; they come across almost like caricatures (see Big Mom lol).

 

[ahtlas7]

Peak? Wtf is that.

Fun? Yes.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

Jojo is peak fiction

 

[Rickyiez]

Manga is way better. But there are better fiction