Support NeoGAF

[Shotgun Kiss]

The anime's basically become extremely padded, and not in a way where there's a lot of fillers---in a way where the plot important stuff is stretched out. So like in early One Piece, you could easily skip episodes without losing much, but now that seems like it's harder to do since filler arcs are the least of the pacing problems.

I'll probably go with the manga then; thanks. I hate padding, filler or otherwise.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I'll probably go with the manga then; thanks. I hate padding, filler or otherwise.

Join the manga thread. We have discussions about Robin's chest size every week as regular as clockwork.

But you should also consider watching the films Strong World and Z when you catch up.

 

[Daingurse]

I'll probably go with the manga then; thanks. I hate padding, filler or otherwise.

Yeah, stick with the manga. The anime's pacing just becomes unbearable IMO.

 

[Cosmozone]

Brook is bland because he has no chemistry with the others. from the old crew, probably Usopp, he has just an annoying character. Sogeking to the rescue!

 

[Laz-E-Boy]

Inspired after playing Pirate Warriors 3...spoilers, of course. I imagine most people are aware of who the current crew is though since it's been like 6 years since the last member joined.

My vote goes to Sanji, personally.

Now, when I first got into One Piece, I thought Sanji rocked---and I mean, on the outside, he definitely has an easy-to-see appeal that many other One Piece characters (especially a lot of the weirder designs) lack for those entering the series. He's got a cool design, and even his timeskip design isn't too bad compared to the others which I think most would agree got overall worse, cool and suave voice (well, except in the 4kids dub...), and he smokes which makes him a badass. Yeah, cigarettes are bad for you, I know that, I don't smoke because of health reasons, but I still think cigarettes look cool and people good-looking people smoking only makes them better looking in my opinion from a superficial standpoint.

But beyond that...Sanji sort of sucks. First off, I feel his development is really wonky. When he was introduced, despite being a relatively normal dude, he was super-strong, and while that didn't bother me at the beginning of the manga when things were relatively more "grounded", as the universe expanded and more and more crazy stuff was introduced, Sanji remaining part of the "Monster Trio" felt more and more off to me---it's just weird he's so strong, and there's really not a lot of good growth when it comes to his fighting skills like there was for Nami and Usopp. I just don't get any sense of progress from his apart from simply learning new moves as the plot demands.

I also think there's not a lot of character development for him either, his goal "find the All Blue!" sort of being one note and his role as a cook doesn't have as much plot-related elements as the other characters. He sort of feels like an artifact almost, a character added early on but doesn't really seem to serve much of a role anymore besides simply being another guy to fight the Boss's minions. The last big role I recall him playing was his undercover stuff in Alabasta and the great joke with Duval, since then he's basically just gone up against various opponents and swooned over women.

And of course, and this is a problem I know a lot of people have with him (especially due to his actions fighting Kalifa), his womanizing gimmick got progressively more annoying and bizarre as the plot went on, when looking back he was actually fairly tame at the beginning. I've heard he apparently has gotten better in Dressrosa, but I think right before, during, and after the time skip he was probably at his worse, and I hope Oda more or less removes this part of his personality and reigns him back in again---it's getting obnoxious, and as I get older, it's gotten more creepy than funny at this point.

Runner up is probably Nami, especially her in my opinion gross-looking timeskip design which I think is embarrassing, especially in the anime when she has the visible crotch lines. She's probably one of my least favorite anime tropes...the "straight girl" who the writers overcompensates for by making her act extremely rude towards everyone else without any real ramifications for her actions and you wonder if she even likes the people she's with, although thankfully that's sort of gone down recently. I'm sure you've encountered this character before---Natsumi in Keroro Gunsou, Otae in Gintama, etc. Let the women have some fun without always making them above everyone else, manga writers.

I also sort of have an issue with Brook too---his character is great and clever, but I feel that they ramped up the Impel Down and timeskip stuff so fast after introducing him I didn't feel he really got enough time with the crew beforehand, and even now after a long time in the real world, he still feels like he's the oddman out. I wish they had one more arc before the time skip with the Strawhats all together to help establish him more.

Agree with all this, especially Sanji. He used to be one of my favorite characters but Oda killed him for me when he refused to seriously fight Khalifa despite Robin's life being in danger. Everything since then has been digging Sanji's grave deeper.

Nami (and Robin) are definitely disappointing post time skip. Oda barely includes them in serious fights and seems more interested in making them walking fanservice. Hell that seems to be the case for nearly all his attractive female characters unfortunately.

Other than those characters I waver on Usopp. I don't have much of a problem with his character, but I absolutely HATED what Oda did with him in a certain instance in Dressrosa, so much so it ruined my enjoyment of his triumphant moment.

Haki feels like a necessary thing that should have been introduced sooner in some capacity. I know it was foreshadowed, but it felt kinda like in Hunter x Hunter where the power everyone uses after a certain point that is gamebreakingly OP has never been mentioned by name until the main characters start to learn about it.

Eh, Blackbeard mentioned Haki back in Jaya I believe.

But yeah, I have not been impressed in the least bit with the implementation of Haki.

 

[shintoki]

They all turned to shit because Oda is terrible.

When was the last time we had a good development saga for any of them? Water 7 and Enies Lobby. Since then, Oda has been in favor of introducing the rest of the world, who will appear once for their arc or may pop up every now and then.

We take the last arc and basically half the crew went MIA. The other half was made into side attractions in favor of new side characters. For an series that was heavily about "Family", we haven't seen any of that in years.

So instead the characters have been reduced more and more into their stereotypical roles.
I love Sanji, but the last legitimate time he was useful was back then. Same with Ussop. Same with Nami. Same with Chopper. Same with Robin. Since then, it's just been, "Let's make another joke about how Sanji likes girls" and off he goes. They haven't been given anything to do in years.

Anyways, Never thought Brooke was any good to begin with and I can't say I'm a fan of Zoro. So I'll Brooke followed by Zoro.

 

[GKSilKamina]

Sorry to go a bit off-topic, but would you guys recommend reading the manga or watching the anime?

I'd like to get back into OP; what would you guys suggest?

Please read the manga. I've been sticking with the anime but its pacing dropped from slow to glacial. It's not worth the extra time.

As far as OP's question goes, Nami by far. All you Brook haters be crazy.

 

[Fuzzery]

No.

 

[not psycho]

Sanji is the best. I really hate Nami and how important she makes herself out while being half naked. Put on some clothes when you are talking to me, woman!

I guess Brook, he hasn't had as many great moments as the rest.

 

[Raxus]

I feel Brook may be getting the short end of the stick. Poor guy. Joins the crew and then is smacked away to an unknown island only to rejoin and have the crew split in half again.

I love all the Strawhats though, I just wish Oda would give them an arc to all shine aside from Usopp, Luffy and Zoro. Usopp gets an amazing moment almost every arc now. Poor Nami and Robin have gotten regulated to crowd control post Enies.

You're so amazing Usopp, how can you be so amazing?

 

[Haly]

I dislike Chopper the most. His antics were always dull and have been just as dull for the last few years.

 

[MetatronM]

They all turned to shit because Oda is terrible.

When was the last time we had a good development saga for any of them? Water 7 and Enies Lobby. Since then, Oda has been in favor of introducing the rest of the world, who will appear once for their arc or may pop up every now and then.

We take the last arc and basically half the crew went MIA. The other half was made into side attractions in favor of new side characters. For an series that was heavily about "Family", we haven't seen any of that in years.

So instead the characters have been reduced more and more into their stereotypical roles.
I love Sanji, but the last legitimate time he was useful was back then. Same with Ussop. Same with Nami. Same with Chopper. Same with Robin. Since then, it's just been, "Let's make another joke about how Sanji likes girls" and off he goes. They haven't been given anything to do in years.

Usopp hasn't been legitimately useful since "back then?" Did you miss the last arc? He's arguably even more useful than Luffy in it. The series would literally be over now if not for Usopp.

 

[Toxi]

Usopp hasn't been legitimately useful since "back then?" Did you miss the last arc? He's arguably even more useful than Luffy in it. The series would literally be over now if not for Usopp.

Yeah, say what you want about Usopp, but he got his due in Dressrosa.

Robin, Brooke, Nami, and Sanji are the Strawhats who have felt underused post-timeskip. I didn't include Chopper because of his role in Punk Hazard.

 

[Lod7]

So far Robin.

Every character has imo an interesting combat style that was further evolved during the time skip. Robin's time skip abilities were the only ones that felt lack luster.

But the thing is Oda always seems to surprise me. So I always feel reluctant posting these opinions just because down the road they always get changed.

 

[Ninjimbo]

I can't pick any to be honest. The OP crew is like one big family to me. All of them have supplied me with some awesome moments that I'll never forget and criticizing them starts feeling a little too personal lol.

If I had to pick one though, I guess it's Brook but only because I find his design almost too strange. I love his schtick and his skull jokes though. Ah fuck it. I can't even criticize these characters without fawning over them as well.

I love OP too much.

 

[Ponn]

Luffy. It's pure luck he hasn't gotten them all killed yet.

 

[Bebpo]

Probably the women, Robin and Nami. I love One Piece, but Oda is terrible at writing women actually doing things and not just getting saved in the post-Vivi OP world. Robin and Nami had their moments in the first half, but these last few arcs they've done practically nothing while the guys do everything.
Brooke and Chopper are pretty useless too. Brooke is just a toned down Zoro, and Chopper has become irrelevant thanks to Law.

Basically it's Luffy, Sanji, Zoro and Usopp constantly saving the day every arc.


That said, I wanna stress that I love OP and I like all the cast, but Oda definitely favors giving all the good stuff to Luffy/Sanji/Zoro/Usopp and everyone else does like one useful thing during each 2-3 year arc.

 

[Ezalc]

Honestly at this point it's almost a tie between a lot of them. Half the cast got robbed this arc with Sanji, Nami, Robin, Chopper, Brook, and Franky doing almost nothing. Usopp's antics were ok but honestly I was hoping his training had at least taken away some of his cowardice since as it has been shown before, when he's pissed and he puts his mind to it, the he can be pretty devastating. Zoro's fight was just incredibly dull too. And I didn't like most of the introduced side characters either.

The biggest problem with OP is how now it seems like Oda can't find good fights for anybody else but Luffy, this is considering that Nami and Robin, and to a degree Franky and Chopper haven't ever had good fights. Franky has become all about his weird inventions when I'd much more be interested in his own fighting style, and not the dumbass showdown he had with Senor during dressrosa. Chopper, still has potential but they never bother showing him effectively using all of his forms. Nami and Robin consistently get relegated to: lol women here's some tits.

I'd say though in a lot of ways Brook is my least favorite. They had an interesting concept with him, but the two things that made me dislike him is that he's just another swordsman when Zoro is already there and his dream is pretty boring compared to the rest of them. If Brook somehow had that music fruit from Scratchman Appoo, he would have been much more interesting. I wish he had some unique weapon aside from a different sword fighting style which he barely gets to show off since he's much weaker than Zoro.

 

[Blackstarhat]

Sanji hes too much of a goofball but there's times where he has bad ass moments. If he were like that all the time i would like him as a character.

 

[ChouGoku]

Brook, he is a cool character, but he is also a Zoro and Sanji jr. All the Strawhats are good characters, he just is the worst of the best.

 

[VGChampion]

Chopper's my least fave but he was growing on me for awhile. It's a shame the time skip through most of that away though.

I miss gangster Franky. Sanji staying equal with Zoro and Luffy, Nami fighting, Chopper actually helping instead of crying or being oblivious, Brook taking things serious at times, Usopp doesn't actually snipe anymore, etc...

 

[shoreu]

Usopp above everyone.

I stopped watching the show because I hated him so much.

I don't think he needs to be in the show at all and If/when he dies I will marathon the show from the beginning just off of the knowledge that the show will get better.

Spoiler

Fuck Usopp

Usopp is a coward and loser. Who can't fight.

 

[B-Dubs]

Chopper's my least fave but he was growing on me for awhile. It's a shame the time skip through most of that away though.

I miss gangster Franky. Sanji staying equal with Zoro and Luffy, Nami fighting, Chopper actually helping instead of crying or being oblivious, Brook taking things serious at times, Usopp doesn't actually snipe anymore, etc...

Are you serious with the bold? How far behind are you? You can't be up to date otherwise you couldn't possibly be saying that.

 

[Evilisk]

For me, it's a tie between Nami, Chopper and Brooke. Brooke is probably the worst though since he still doesn't feel part of the crew (I honestly forget about him half the time). I don't get the Chopper complaints about Law doing stuff better though. Law's not going to join is he? I thought he'd be more a later ally a la Vivi or Jinbe (that's how they should have done it with him instead of making him a Strawhat IMO) and IIRC he does have his own crew already. He's just being like the guest party member for the current arc

I like Robin tbut have to admit she gets nothing to do (though at least the Poneglyph stuff means she'll get something eventually. Franky's new design is too over designed and since the Time skip it feels like he's been replacing Sanji as the third part of the Monster Trio (which makes more sense than the cook being one of the strongest) but I still love the guy. Usopp's great, 'nuff said.

Never been big on Luffy, Sanji or Zoro though I still like them more than Brooke, Naomi and Chopper

 

[jstripes]

Sanji got a raw deal.

Brooke is the worst all the way. A musician skeleton who... does what?

 

[Meffer]

Yeah the dude who almost died from a nosebleed and was off screen for an entire year who refuses to fight half the world population is super cool. He has been flanderized to hell and back.

He loves women and was on an island with no women for three years then he sees mermaids for the first time in his life. Who seriously didn't expect that to happen to him?

 

[Byakuya769]

Brooke is worthless.

Can we talk about how lame the Dressora arc has been overall? Zoro and Sanji still haven't gotten a good fight.

 

[TheRealTalker]

I'd have to go with Nami since she is just turning into the comedic straight man while pushing more and more fan service

I mean she isn't really improving compared to the rest and sometimes her navigating skills are useless

 

[B-Dubs]

Brooke is worthless.

Can we talk about how lame the Dressora arc has been overall? Zoro and Sanji still haven't gotten a good fight.

I wanna say you haven't finished yet, because shit is hype and has been for a few months now.

Also, Brook is awesome.

 

[Ninjimbo]

Brooke is worthless.

Can we talk about how lame the Dressora arc has been overall? Zoro and Sanji still haven't gotten a good fight.

It was a pretty great arc by my count. I liked it a lot and a lot of the new characters hit the mark. It kind of sucks that half the crew had to be written out, but Oda made up for it with so many great moments like God-Usopp, Cavendish and Barty, the tournament, Doflamingo being the best villain since Enel and much more. Top-tier arc and it's ending on a high note too with the armada.

 

[Walpurgis]

Brooke is awesome. I don't like Franky that much though. It's probably his voice. I hated Usopp for a while, I don't remember why. Hmm.... I think it was because of that Water 7. What a dick. Robin is alright. Chopper is awesome. Nami can be pretty cool but I prefer her earlier design. She looks ridiculous now. Luffy is amazing. Sanji is pretty cool too. I always get a kick out of Zoro getting lost - it's probably his voice actor, he's awesome.

 

[Walpurgis]

His name is Luffy
That's Monkey D. Luffy
Gonna be king of the pirates!
He's made of rubber - (female singers) how did that happen?
Yo-ho-ho he took a bite of Gum Gum

Ya-yo, ya-yo
His name's Zoro he's just like a samurai
and an l-a-d-y Nami's not shy
Usopps' doin' that marksman thing
Sanji's cookin'
Chopper's doctoring

 

[Lod7]

The only reason why it feels like luffy is stealing the show currently is because in dressrosa Oda had to establish the major allies the straw hats will be needing down the road. So many unique and interesting character designs and back stories.

I feel like the next few arcs will show case some returning faces like enel and old CP9 memebers. Old foes turned friend perhaps who knows but this way Oda will have time to flesh out the overshadowed members in dressrosa by not having the need to elaborate on new characters.

 

[Necrovex]

I'll probably go with the manga then; thanks. I hate padding, filler or otherwise.

There's a certain group called One Pace. They are working on editing the One Piece anime to a reasonably paced show. They are cutting all the nonsense and filler while only preserving the canon material in the show. If you decide on the anime, it wouldn't hurt to give them a look at.

 

[Chie Satonaka]

His name is Luffy
That's Monkey D. Luffy
Gonna be king of the pirates!
He's made of rubber - (female singers) how did that happen?
Yo-ho-ho he took a bite of Gum Gum

Ya-yo, ya-yo
His name's Zoro he's just like a samurai
and an l-a-d-y Nami's not shy
Usopps' doin' that marksman thing
Sanji's cookin'
Chopper's doctoring

This right here is probably the main reason why OP isn't more popular in the US.

I'm one of the people who thought it was a horrible series because I saw a few minutes of the 4kids monstrosity.

I'm glad I gave it another shot.

 

[H.Protagonist]

It was a pretty great arc by my count. I liked it a lot and a lot of the new characters hit the mark. It kind of sucks that half the crew had to be written out, but Oda made up for it with so many great moments like God-Usopp, Cavendish and Barty, the tournament, Doflamingo being the best villain since Enel and much more. Top-tier arc and it's ending on a high note too with the armada.

Really? I just finished it and it dragged on sooooo long. Everything felt like window dressing to Luffy's fight which in itself just felt like a Crocodile redux (though I did actually quite like Donflamingo. Very memorable/fleshed out.). At the end, Zoro's big contribution was to

Spoiler

...push a wall

. And by the time we got back to a glimpse of what was happening with Sanji and the others on the Merry, things had slogged on for so long that I could hardly recall what the hell they were even doing. :/

Some of the new characters were fun and interesting (Cavendish and

Spoiler

Sabo

wahey~), but it was overload. I do hope for a tighter, more Straw Hat-centric development arc for the next one.

 

[Walpurgis]

This right here is probably the main reason why OP isn't more popular in the US.

I'm one of the people who thought it was a horrible series because I saw a few minutes of the 4kids monstrosity.

I'm glad I gave it another shot.

I hated the 4kids dub for all the dumbass edits that I noticed even as a kid but I really liked that catchy theme.

 

[Unmasked Ferret]

Nami, but I say this really liking all of the Straw Hats. She currently doesn't really serve a point, and her post time skip design is way worse.

Spoiler

I also hated Usopp before Enies Lobby.

Spoiler

Brooke is the best.

 

[Hyperactivity]

They all turned to shit because Oda is terrible.

When was the last time we had a good development saga for any of them? Water 7 and Enies Lobby. Since then, Oda has been in favor of introducing the rest of the world, who will appear once for their arc or may pop up every now and then.

We take the last arc and basically half the crew went MIA. The other half was made into side attractions in favor of new side characters. For an series that was heavily about "Family", we haven't seen any of that in years.

So instead the characters have been reduced more and more into their stereotypical roles.
I love Sanji, but the last legitimate time he was useful was back then. Same with Ussop. Same with Nami. Same with Chopper. Same with Robin. Since then, it's just been, "Let's make another joke about how Sanji likes girls" and off he goes. They haven't been given anything to do in years.

Anyways, Never thought Brooke was any good to begin with and I can't say I'm a fan of Zoro. So I'll Brooke followed by Zoro.

I'm going to agree with a bunch of this, except for Usopp. He's the one character asides from Luffy that still gets his time to shine

 

[Byakuya769]

I wanna say you haven't finished yet, because shit is hype and has been for a few months now.

Also, Brook is awesome.

Arc is trash. Full of flashbacks concerning characters that I don't care about and probably will not be particularly important. Is Law going to join the crew? Nope. Were the executives any good? Nope, they all were fodder and all the fights were horrible. Punk Hazard was also a colossal waste of time.

Nothing good about Brooke. Lame character design and his jokes are repetitive and not funny.

 

[LaunchpadMcQ]

Nami used to be great, but they've demoted her to fanservice... service.

 

[Plywood]

Don't really think anyone is the worst, but here's my rambling:

• Chopper feels a bit pointless after Law.
• Usopp still gets scared which is lame.
• No one in the crew wants to talk about Zoro's scar over his eye.
• Sanji's gushing has become unbearable and his powerboost seems lower than the others.
• Not a fan of Franky's gimmick bot that he pulled out on Fishman island, none of that anymore pls.
• Brooke doesn't really have much going for him.
• I don't really want Jimbei to join the crew in any kind of combat position.
• Robin hasn't seen a poneglyph since Skypeia.
• Nami had the weakest design post-timeskip followed by Franky then Robin.

I'm sure there's more, but these are what immediately come to mind.

 

[LaunchpadMcQ]

Don't really think anyone is the worst, but here's my rambling:

• Chopper feels a bit pointless after Law.
• Usopp still gets scared which is lame.
• No one in the crew wants to talk about Zoro's scar over his eye.
• Sanji's gushing has become unbearable and his powerboost seems lower than the others.
• Not a fan of Franky's gimmick bot that he pulled out on Fishman island, none of that anymore pls.
• Brooke doesn't really have much going for him.
• I don't really want Jimbei to join the crew in any kind of combat position.
  [*]Robin hasn't seen a poneglyph since Skypeia.
• Nami had the weakest design post-timeskip followed by Franky then Robin.

I'm sure there's more, but these are what immediately come to mind.

She saw one on Fishman's Island

 

[Plywood]

She saw one on Fishman's Island

Ah, you're right. Still I feel like there importance has been emphasized but underutilized .

 

[IceBringer]

Either franky or ussop

 

[Linkstrikesback]

I'm going to agree with a bunch of this, except for Usopp. He's the one character asides from Luffy that still gets his time to shine

I think Zoro gets a lot of the limelight still. Perhaps too much. At this point, I have serious trouble believing that Zoro is weaker than Luffy. As far as I remember, he hasn't taken a single hit since the timeskip, other than that one attack from the admiral, which had no (serious) effect on him. While Luffy continues to get injured nigh on every fight he has against anyone of importance, and Sanji... Sanji got serious bone cracks trying to take on a vice admiral, forget doflamingo/an admiral or anyone else of significance.

 

[Secret Character]

All these people saying Usopp... it's sad. He has the best secret power of any of the Straw Hats.

I'd say either Robin, because she's so underutilized and poorly written, or Chopper because his gimmick is getting very old.

 

[Fbh]

Either Chopper or Franky

Franky:
I just never cared too much about him. His new design kinda sucks and his robot gimmick never felt that interesting

Chopper.
I just hate how his desig has changed over the year.
I liked his original design:

He looked like a humanoid Reindeer and was kinda cute.
Now he looks like a weird kid

 

[pelicansurf]

Brooke is the worst! Post-time skip Franky just looks ugly, but he is still awesome. All the other straw hats are cool.