What's so good about One Piece?

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Originally Posted by mrShady

Spoiler for Haki:

The difference is not only in Enel enhancing his mantra to pick up electromagnetic waves (which is literally upgrading haki where as in Jozu's case he just added another layer of defense on his existing one. There's no indication that Jozu gained any such upgrades, or of any other haki user).
The problem is with that kid who knew mantra (I can't remember her name). She was born with a high level of observation haki while we were told by Rayleigh that you have to train that skill.
Now you can just say she's special like other individuals in the story but that's just a cop out since we've yet to see anyone else being born with any type of Haki (even kings haki has to be "unlocked").



Everything points to him being a major player (notice the 3 scars) who should at the minimum be able to protect himself from such a sea monster (don't forget that Luffy KO-ed that monster when he left the island). So even if it was symbolic it's freaking ridiculous and not consistent with what we know, symbolism be damned.



You make it appear like Oda is some sort of writing god.... He's not, he makes mistakes everyone does. Why can't you accept an inconsistency when it's right in your face?
He might never have wanted Haki to be visible but he changed his mind, what's wrong with that explanation? It fits a whole lot better then him deliberately planning an inconsistency not to confuse readers (it does the opposite really).

Spoiler for Haki:

So what if Enel's DF augments his observation haki? You do know that Rayleigh only explained the "basics" of Haki to Luffy, right? That being said, it's likely that there are more elements of Haki left to be explained. Haki is innate in everyone. It's just a matter of knowing how to manifest it outwardly. Only a select few are born with the King's Haki. So no, that little girl being born with a high level of observation haki is not an inconsistency nor a retcon.

Again, we don't know when Shanks became an emperor. Period. Symbolism is an important aspect in Japanese culture, and it seems that you're not grasping it very well. It's not the strength of the individual that mattered in that scenario, but the message that was sent across.

I never said nor implied Oda is a writing god.

Also, you need to understand that Oda isn't going to completely divulge everything at once. A good story teller will keep some elements hidden so as to generate mystery, intrigue, curiosity, and suspense. I guess you'll say that since we're only now seeing Doflamingo's strings that that's an inconsistency compared to pre-skip. Your logic is faulty.

Garp is another good example that's analogous to Shanks concerning strength. Remember when Dadan hit him with a blunt object on the head and he was bleeding and appeared slightly injured? Well, by your logic, he should have been invincible against such an attack considering his strength and reputation. Or better yet, he should have avoided it with his observation haki. I guess you'll also call this an inconsistency. These scenes that we're talking about are not meant to be indicative of true strength. Your use of the term inconsistency and retcon is incorrect.

[mrShady]

Spoiler for Haki:

Originally Posted by Blackbeard D. Kuma

So what if Enel's DF augments his observation haki? You do know that Rayleigh only explained the "basics" of Haki to Luffy, right? That being said, it's likely that there are more elements of Haki left to be explained. Haki is innate in everyone. It's just a matter of knowing how to manifest it outwardly. Only a select few are born with the King's Haki. So no, that little girl being born with a high level of observation haki is not an inconsistency nor a retcon.

If haki is literally expanded on it would just introduce even more inconsistencies (the marineford war alone would scream inconsistent). So no, we might get some different applications of haki (like the amazone warriors and their armament haki arrows, or Coby and his feelings observation haki). But literal haki upgrades would seriously degrade the story.

King's haki is a born trait, observers haki is not (well technically everybody is born with it they just need to train/unlock it) but she's got that ability since childbirth which just doesn't make much sense.

Originally Posted by Blackbeard D. Kuma

Again, we don't know when Shanks became an emperor. Period. Symbolism is an important aspect in Japanese culture, and it seems that you're not grasping it very well. It's not the strength of the individual that mattered in that scenario, but the message that was sent across.

You talk about symbolism but are forgetting Shanks's 3 scars?
We know that at least one of those is caused by Blackbeard. There's also strong indication that Mihawk gave him another which means he fought with at least those 2 before losing an arm. And though he might not have been an emperor at that time he was already on the big stage, yet he couldn't keep his arm from being chewed off by a simple sea monster?
And like I said before I get the symbolism it just doesn't fit with his ability.

EDIT:
I had a weird misconception on how Shanks got his 3 scars. It was in fact Blackbeard that gave him those and not a bunch of other people. Shanks did still fight Mihawk before losing an arm but didn't receive any visible scars.

Originally Posted by Blackbeard D. Kuma

I never said nor implied Oda is a writing god.

But you seem to be blind to some of his inconsistencies.

Originally Posted by Blackbeard D. Kuma

Also, you need to understand that Oda isn't going to completely divulge everything at once. A good story teller will keep some elements hidden so as to generate mystery, intrigue, curiosity, and suspense. I guess you'll say that since we're only now seeing Doflamingo's strings that that's an inconsistency compared to pre-skip. Your logic is faulty.

I'm fine with hidden elements it's why I like this story so much. However hidden elements and inconsistencies are not the same.
My personal opinion is that it was a story element not yet set in stone, thus when he did it caused some inconsistencies. And like I said I don't blame him for not knowing exactly how the story would progress I'm just pointing out what I consider to be clumsily introduced story element.

Originally Posted by Blackbeard D. Kuma

Garp is another good example that's analogous to Shanks concerning strength. Remember when Dadan hit him with a blunt object on the head and he was bleeding and appeared slightly injured? Well, by your logic, he should have been invincible against such an attack considering his strength and reputation. Or better yet, he should have avoided it with his observation haki. I guess you'll also call this an inconsistency. These scenes that we're talking about are not meant to be indicative of true strength. Your use of the term inconsistency and retcon is incorrect.

Then Nami knows haki as well since she has beaten Luffy up countless times (bruises and all). I consider it humor, Shanks losing an arm not so much. A kid knowing haki without training is an inconsistency and lastly a lack of color changing arms pre skip reeks of outside interference (as in an editor).

If with all I've said I still did not convince you I never will, so I'll stop here. Whoever is crazy enough to read all this can decide for him or herself who to agree with.

[Blackbeard D. Kuma]

Originally Posted by mrShady

Spoiler for Haki:

If haki is literally expanded on it would just introduce even more inconsistencies (the marineford war alone would scream inconsistent). So no, we might get some different applications of haki (like the amazone warriors and their armament haki arrows, or Coby and his feelings observation haki). But literal haki upgrades would seriously degrade the story.

King's haki is a born trait, observers haki is not (well technically everybody is born with it they just need to train/unlock it) but she's got that ability since childbirth which just doesn't make much sense.



You talk about symbolism but are forgetting Shank's 3 scars?
We know that at least one of those is caused by Blackbeard. There's also strong indication that Mihawk gave him another which means he fought with at least those 2 before losing an arm. And though he might not have been an emperor at that time he was already on the big stage, yet he couldn't keep his arm from being chewed off by a simple sea monster?
And like I said before I get the symbolism it just doesn't fit with his ability.



But you seem to be blind to some of his inconsistencies.



I'm fine with hidden elements it's why I like this story so much. However hidden elements and inconsistencies are not the same.
My personal opinion is that it was a story element not yet set in stone, thus when he did it caused some inconsistencies. And like I said I don't blame him for not knowing exactly how the story would progress I'm just pointing out what I consider to be clumsily introduced story element.



Then Nami knows haki as well since she has beaten Luffy up countless times (bruises and all). I consider it humor, Shanks losing an arm not so much. A kid knowing haki without training is an inconsistency and lastly a lack of color changing arms pre skip reeks of outside interference (as in an editor).

If with all I've said I still did not convince you I never will, so I'll stop here. Whoever is crazy enough to read all this can decide for him or herself who to agree with.

Spoiler for Haki:

Again, Luffy only learned the basics of Haki (as stated by both Rayleigh and Luffy himself). It does make sense for the child to have observation haki since their birth. I just told you that Haki is innate in everyone.

Dude, pay better attention to the story. Those 3 scars on Shanks' face were caused by Blackbeard. He said that himself to Whitebeard. Even then, that's not what proves you're a big shot in the seas. We've seen countless fodder pirates with scars on their faces/bodies in this series and yet they amount to nothing. Shanks' 3 scars don't have any relevance here.

I'm not blind to anything. I've acknowledged Oda's mistakes in the past. It's too bad though that your examples aren't inconsistencies.

Obviously hidden elements and inconsistencies are not the same. But I'm using your faulty logic to showcase how you're wrong. Doflamingo's strings now being visible is a perfect example, much like how we're only now seeing armament haki being blackened.

Nami beating up Luffy countless times is all gags. It's not meant to be taken seriously, and thus you can't use that to support your stance. And we know for a fact that she's not capable of using Haki yet. Who are you to say that Aisa (the little girl) didn't train her haki? There's nothing indicating that she didn't, and thus there isn't any inconsistency here. I've already addressed the blackening of armament haki, so no need to repeat myself there.

You haven't convinced me because your arguments don't have merit. And on that note, we should end this here. Good discussion though.

[ri0]

I was on vacation the last few days, but it seems BDK continued where I started. I mostly agree with his thinking, so I'm just gonna pick up some of the statements.
On another note: Like mrShady said, there were a couple of OP beginners on the last few pages and I didn't want to ruin their experience, thus the spoiler tags.

Spoiler for Haki stuff:

A possible explanation, why Shanks didn't guard his arm against the Sea Monster is, that he simply couldn't, because his Armament was imperfect back then. Much like Luffy's is right now, as he can't guard against piercing/slashing attacks. He was using CoC to scare it away, anyhow.

Shank's three scars were all inflicted by Blackbeard. In one scene (can't remember where it was, I think Ace's flashback during Marineford) you can see him stand in the background with a wolverine-like claw, which has three blades.

[manganime132]

What's so great about it is that it's a dark story set in a terrible world but it follows these lucky funny people to get away from all that.

If you think about realistically things like what probably really happened to Nami and Robin when they were kids, when you look at the likelihood of pirates besides the Straw Hats making it even into the Grand Line and not dying, how horrible the torture actually is in Impel Down with no one to challenge it, the amount of pirate raids on villages, One Piece has a dark world- it's just that Luffy's so lucky he's not subject to it so much but other non-main characters really are.

Also the fact that they never portray the Marines as the bad guys really makes me like it all the more because it's not giving a "good guy/bad guy" scenario, it's based on the individual and the circumstance.

[sasuke2007]

The world is bigger than the main characters. There are many entities in the world of OP that the crew have to overcome, that we see the accomplishments through the struggles. And for readers, not 100% knowing how the result will turn out as each story plot advances. Because of its all significant, wide ranged cast of characters, plots can build up offscreen, which will shape the future of the story.

Another thing OP did to be great, it introduced the world, and it's power system, very early in the series: Yonkou, Shichibukai, Admirals.

Whereas with something like Naruto, if it had introduced properly all the other villages and how they matched up to the Hidden Leaf, it would have been more interesting. We would have been looking forward to a showdown with Leaf and Lightning ninjas. And another thing Naruto did was make the main characters story based around the more relevant village, compared to one piece, where the most relevant area is the other half of the world, (which also was told to use very early).

Overall, OP gives us something bigger to look forward to. Fairy Tail doesn't, Bleach used to and Naruto sort of still does

[Bakaizer]

When someone said that Fate/Zero, Code Geass or Shingeki no Kyojin is better than One Piece bugged me.

Each are great its own way but I was thinking what does One Piece have that surpasses them
Well developed characters, unique storyline, everything that One Piece has also contained on those other series

its difficult to write these very complex stories as it involves a lot of thinking and ways of connecting such ideas. Oda , the author of One Piece continues to pull off a series that has garned the world's attentions, fans and critics alike

Art is considered subjective as some dislike it while others may love it

The Complexity of One Piece reminded me of Kamachi, the author of the Index series as both series gives a perspective to the readers the world they live in. Both transcend in darkness and are mysterious one way or another.

I recommend to all kinds of readers one piece., even if you are the kind of person who dwells in horror, gore, bloody-hell stories, I think everyone should appreciate this fascinating and interesting story that I have no doubt one of the best out there

[Fall_like_abomb]

I still feel one piece should improve the relationships between the Straw Hats. The action too..not saying theyre bad, its actually decent, but it could be way more intense and epic..