Were the characters better before?

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has opinions of how some the characters seems to have changed, especially after they arrived at Grand Line.My opinion on the different characters:

Luffy - still one of the funniest manga characters I know of.

Nami - I think the post-Arabasta version of Nami is steadily falling. She was a lot funnier before, and also had more screen time. I think she became just too much of a sexual object lately.

Usopp - It seems like Usopp changed quite a bit around the Water7 arc. He, Chopper and Luffy used to bring so much humour to the show, but now Usopp has become more serious lately, and much of the wacky stuff he did before seems to have gone.

Chopper - I love this guy so much. He always makes me laugh, always. He is still as funny and wacky as back in the Arabasta days.

**Sanji:**I like this guy a lot. My favorite characer in the show besides Luffy. Although I must say I miss the Sanji-Zoro quarrels and fights. Where did those moments go?

Zoro: This one used to be really,really funny. Then somewhere his personality started fading, and now he is serious all the time, and barely says anything (compared to the pre-Grand Line arcs.)

Nico Robin: I fell in love with her during Arabasta. Her mysterious personality, and the fact that she was attractive and always smiling during that arc made her really interesting. After that arc I think she became a bore. I know she had a bad childhood and all that stuff. But the only thing that made me liek her was her mysterious persona. Now that is gone.

raj

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Fleur

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In my opinion, I think most of the characters have gotten better.

Deicide

The problem is that the crew is already very big, and as such each character gets less "solo moments" and "shining moments". Thus they seem shallower, but that's because they each gets less screen time than before.

@Deicide:

The problem is that the crew is already very big, and as such each character gets less "solo moments" and "shining moments". Thus they seem shallower, but that's because they each gets less screen time than before.

Yeah, I agree. Maybe there are too many guys on the crew? I have always thought they should have stayed as 5 members.

Hidan

i agree on nami's point (not that it annoys me though ), but i don't see where usop got serious..except for the going merry thing, i think he's been as hilarious as always

Kuroneko

Deicide is right. Each time the crew gets bigger there is less time to the characters get a big moment. Usopp is still the same funny character, only he didn't have any funny moment since Water 7. And I guess that Zoro went more serious because his goal is becoming tougher and tougher each time he meets a new challenge, like Mr. 1's body steel or Ohm's shape-shifter sword.

The Nami and Robin part sound true, though.

mujushin

I like them all, everyone is funny, but I have easy to laugh XD Wahahaha
Luffy, Zoro, Tashigi and Robin is my fav characters, the crew is fun, and the other charactres are awesome (hmm, let´s say I jsut am fanbwoyish about TashigiXD)

boiga

I'd disagree on a couple of points.

Nico Robin: I really like her latest incarnation. Earlier in the series she seemed to be almost the nanny character for the strawhats. Her older, wiser, and more serious nature didn't fit in with the rest of the crew. Like you mentioned, in earlier arcs she was always smiling but it was a mask. Her eyes didn't smile. That mask shattered in Enies Lobby and now she's becoming as down to earth as the rest of the crew. Her "I like thrills" and reference to Cerebrus as "cute" lines really added a lot of personality when compared to her earlier stoic demeanor.

Zoro: I also like the changes made in zoro's personality from immature adventurer to the "straight man" of the series. Zoro's new serious demeanor balances out the increased wackiness of the crew now that Franky (and potentially Brooke) have joined. Zoro also still gets some great one liners while commenting on the other characters or on his own lack of a sense of direction.

Gizmo

All of the characters seem to have became less two dimensional and i cant wait to see how they are this arc. Usually character development happens in the middle of the arc so i wanna see how this plays out especially Franky

Jeff

I agree with you that some of those moments are changing but I don't think they are completely gone. With the Thriller Bark arc a lot of those old moments seem to be coming back. We are seeing a lot of craziness with Ussop, Chopper and Nami (But you are right, she is becoming more of a sex object) and some new Sanji+Zoro arguments. I think that the more serious arcs (Such as Enies Lobby) we are getting more of the serious aspects of their personalities and then in less serious times (Thriller Bark) we get more of the comedy we have come to love.

It could also be what Decide said and as we get more crew members we get less time with these characters.

Caracal

Personally I like the idea of Ussop becoming more serious. Yes, liar, coward Ussop was great but I was starting to get a bit tired of it. Truth be told, I loved how serious he was in his fight with Luffy and frankly want to see more of that. Additionally I've found some of his fights enjoyable. He comes across as a brilliant tactician and I want to see him come up with more strategies and funky weapons that constantly confuse his opponent. However, if he keeps running away and lying, we won't get to see that and that's a huge shame in my opinion.

Nami I feel is becoming more serious and stronger, to the point that's she's not the cliché "weak heroine who must be protected by all the men" but rather a strong woman who can defend herself (part of the reason I dislike Sakura is because I classifier her as a cliché weak female). I agree that the fan service jokes went a bit over the top in the recent chapters (i.e. the shower scene) but prior to that I personally don't view her as a sex object. I viewed the "Happyness Punch" and "Changing on the train" as humour instead of fan service.

And I agree with Boiga's comments on Robin and Zoro. I like where they've gone and look forward to seeing them further develop down this path. However I do wish the others will stay the same as they're perfect the way they are.

Aldrich

@ultimateclima:

All of the characters seem to have became less two dimensional

Funny cause I think the exact contrary. They have become caricatures of what they were in the beginning due to the crew getting larger. Oda has less screentime to give to each character so their personalities have to be immediately recognizable in order for them to standout. That's why you see some of them being stuck with a particular role (comic relief for Usopp, badassness for Zoro, fanservice for Nami) and very few positive changes from the first time they entered Grandline.

Gizmo

@Aldrich:

Funny cause I think the exact contrary. They have become caricatures of what they were in the beginning due to the crew getting larger. Oda has less screentime to give to each character so their personalities have to be immediately recognizable in order for them to standout. That's why you see some of them being stuck with a particular role (comic relief for Usopp, badassness for Zoro, fanservice for Nami) and very few positive changes from the first time they entered Grandline.

I think this arc in general hasnt' shown any development, but the story has been moving ahead a lot so there hasn't been any real chance for character time in the arc so far. With all these enemies popping out its hard to show all that and something more in depth about characters.

` Its true that the characters are becoming less and less focused and most characters have had the same personalities since they one. There are slight differences though in characters however.

I'll work on my thoughts of detailed analysis of other characters later.

Luffy:
Pros:Recently he's shown more seriousness for his role as captain in the crew. In the beginning he's shown to have all fun and games. He was slightly arrogant and started thinking he could just defeat anybody. After Aokiji though, he's starting to realize he's not the strongest and needs to become a better captain for the crew.

Cons:He's still the same goofy simple minded person as he is today. He's still rash and fearless as ever, but he's beoming more of a hero kind of guy instead of a pirate.

@Aldrich:

Funny cause I think the exact contrary. They have become caricatures of what they were in the beginning due to the crew getting larger. Oda has less screentime to give to each character so their personalities have to be immediately recognizable in order for them to standout. That's why you see some of them being stuck with a particular role (comic relief for Usopp, badassness for Zoro, fanservice for Nami) and very few positive changes from the first time they entered Grandline.

I agree with you. I personally think that Oda should have stuck with 5 pirate members in order to give everyone enough screen time. Even adding Vivi and Carue would have been ok.

But with 8 members, 8 different personalities, and 7 or 8 villains to fight in the main arcs, and a limited amount of screen time those main characters turn into simple caricatures of their former selves.

Impel Down

I don't think they've really changed at all, no. They have new moves and are stronger and stuff, but they're still the exact same. Although, Robin's been a lot more goth lately in this arc.

onemoment

I frankly don't see any significant difference. The characters are being put into different situations, but their characters are still similar. Maybe they were better because they were all fresh, new, and a little mysterious. Now we're familar with them.

Nami being put into fanservice situations doesn't really effect her character, btw. That like saying a female character grows with every breast bounce.

Impel Down

Well, she does kinda "reset" her bosom every now and then.

Gizmo

I don't think there will be development this ark. What horror movie have you seen that has characters that are well developed?

Also there are slight changes in these characters that are good notice to take:

Zoro:He hasn't been sleeping as much lately. He's been connecting more with his crew too.

Usopp:He hasn't mention him being "captain" lately. That's always good.

Chopper:He is not as surprised with the world around him as he used to be. He's also more willing to fight for the crew too.

Robin:She's becoming back to what she was in Skypiea. She's hanging out more with the crew and enjoying adventure along with having the sense of realism that the crew needs.

I haven't found anything good with Nami, except that at least she's trying to become more useful on the battlefield. Sanji hasn't changed at all, and Franky is still new.

Impel Down

Well, Zoro hasn't had time to sleep during this arc yet, Usopp's too freaked out, Chopper is crying and stuff so it's like he doesn't know what's going on, and yeah Robin is with the crew more, I'll give you that.

Gizmo

I was wondering when Zoro last had time to nap though. He's been really busy lately. What chapter was his last "nap"?

Impel Down

Um, I think he was on the Sea Train. He could have gotten a nap during the post Enies arc too.

Kuroneko

@ultimateclima:

I don't think there will be development this ark. What horror movie have you seen that has characters that are well developed?

Sorry for this off-topic post, but movies like Rosemary's Baby, The Shining and Dawn of the Dead (the original mostly) can prove wrong.

Angel emfrbl

Wel the humour stuff is getting richer but at the same time less often with the crew itself. The background characters are becoming the more general silly humour instead.

Good example is the zombies, what are they doing right now - dancing outside the mansion under a disco ball.

Incidently, since the start of this current arc I've felt relieved to see One Piece heading back down to what it used to be. The zombies are bringing back some of Oda's earlier style of humour aspects. While it has its serious tone, yet the characters we're being introduced to now are a lot more "alive" (can you really use that word when referencing zombies? XD) then they have been for a while.

Rai

You're forgetting something, now.

We're at the start of an arc. One FULL of new characters. C'mon, just this chapter another one and 4 previews.

Of course Usopp won't be as funny as he was RIGHT AWAY, not to mention highlight on said characters. Don't you worry, there's more time than you think. It's annoying to see people wanting everything to be the best every single panel, there is something called plot flow.
Really, you should know how different and special the WG saga was. It was so dramatic, man, have some patience.

About Zoro, we all know what he was, how shallow he was. ENOUGH WITH THAT. Didn't you see the Yellow cover? Didn't you read the latest chapters? He's definitely better than he was before, and he might get better than that.

Stay calm, there's time. Let us recover from the lastest saga feeling.