Alright guys, first thing is hello :P
Secondly, as the title suggests I'm new to both the forum and One Piece in general. Currently I'm around 100 episodes in. The Alabasta arc. Anyway, when I first picked up on One Piece (and by picked up I mean my girlfriend forced me to watch it :happy:) I wasn't overly impressed. It seemed too silly for my liking. That and I was not a huge fan of the art-style. Some of it was great, other drawings just weren't my type. However, after hating Naruto the first time I saw it and now being a fan, I did realise that first impressions can be misleading so I decided to watch it further and am happy to say that it has grown on me somewhat. I like the general storylines and themes. I do like some of the soundtracks. The art still occasionally gets on my nerves, but since storylines are more important to me that isn't as worrying anymore.
What has bothered me a bit is the character personalities. My particular issue is that Luffy seems not just amusingly silly and stupid, but he appears to be waaaay TOO silly and TOO dumb. Especially to fill his role as a pirate captain, and the crew's respect for him for me doesn't seem to be too justified. Don't get me wrong, silliness is okay and for his attention span to be wondering is okay. But at the moment he literally seems like the dumbest character I have ever read about in a manga or seen in an anime. I mean sure, he occasionally does something surprising and provides an insight or something. But that is usually based on pure luck or instinct and such moments are few and far between.
Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying this anime in general, my particular favourite character group is Shanks and his crew (what little I've seen of them so far). But luffy gets on my nerves just a bit. That and his rubber power just doesn't seem at all 'cool' or 'powerful' especially when compared to those like Crocodile and their powers.
Anyway, I don't want to seem like I just joined to complain, as Im posting this with good intention and with a point in mind. And that point is to ask a question.
Does Luffy's character every make any considerable developments in the power/coolness/intelligence factor? I always saw Shanks as a bit of a rolemodel for Luffy actually, since Shanks seems to be just as casual with his crew as Luffy is with his. It would be amazing if luffy became anything like Shanks is.
Thanks in advance for any answers and just to say it, I don't mind small spoilers if you wanna answer my question :P.