Oda's style

Black'cap Nase

I was thinking about how Oda's drawing stying has evolved as one piece has progressed. I'm sure everyone has noticed how his characters have gone from looking very child like, with a very roundish style to them to hardlined adults. My question is, does anyone feel that there is something more to this than a simple style change? Has Oda ever said way is SBS? Does anyone think it is significant to the plot of the story, or do you feel it is irrelevant?

Personally I feel that the change could represent the seriousness of the characters. In the very beginning as they all start their journey they are still kids and have somewhat less serious attitudes. But now in Water 7 and Enis lobby the stakes are higher, they've become more mature and strong looking as declare war on the World Government. Perhaps it means nothing, but I just thought it was interesting, and I am curious if others have opinions on the subject.

Tsuchirinhon

That, and the art simply progressed over time. Many manga series show a very noticeable evolution of art quality and style.

Rai

Cyringohn says something true, althou I've been thinking about it myself to reach another reason:

Right at the start we see pirates, freely, no special meaning. The stereotypical pirates. The style just fits it amazingly well, or is it just me?

Then around Alabasta, it starts changing. After we started to get used to the word "pirate" as it is in OP, the drawing changes to fit that. They're more serious, have some great storyline change too, the characters get new traits and the new characters come with complete awesome personalities.

The style isn't the only thing that changed.

Buuhan1

True, the story has very much changed and matured. But the art style changing probably has nothing to do with that. Oda has been drawing this series for 10 years, it was obvious his art would improve.

hyper_megaman

it definitely has improved a lot since the start.

anyhow, frankly, i feel oda isn't really a talented artist, not in the league of the most talented of them anyway. so don't compare his drawing style continuity as part of their character physical development.
just enjoy the manga, dawg. don't see too much into the art style, and appreciate the story. i sure do!

Mr. Half

I think his style just matured. It seemed to me that as the series progressed he was drawing from life a lot more, so the Japanese style started being mixed in with realism. When he started, his style was pretty much just Toriyama meets Tom and Jerry with a little Disney thrown in. Now, in addition to years of practice, he has life drawing and his own understanding of anatomy to draw from.

I think the move towards more mature looking designs is more because he's been moving away from Japanese style trends, which tend to make everything look very "kiddy".

@hyper_megaman:

it definitely has improved a lot since the start.

anyhow, frankly, i feel oda isn't really a talented artist, not in the league of the most talented of them anyway…

Compared to whom? Right now, One Piece is one of the best-looking comics coming out of Japan.

Rixter

Not really sure how much this has to do with anything, but something cool I noticed about Oda's art is that depending on how "serious" a certain segment of an arc is, his style changes to match it. A lot of the scenes with the crew just hanging out on the ship, for example, have the cast drawn rounder, and with more cartoonish proportions. During big fight scenes, like in Enies Lobby, the art gets more detailed and the proportions get slightly more realistic.

COWMAKAZE

@hyper_megaman:

it definitely has improved a lot since the start.

anyhow, frankly, i feel oda isn't really a talented artist, not in the league of the most talented of them anyway. so don't compare his drawing style continuity as part of their character physical development.
just enjoy the manga, dawg. don't see too much into the art style, and appreciate the story. i sure do!

Look on the inside flap of a volume some time. You might just change your mind.

What I like about Oda's art is that it's obvious he can really draw well. His positioning in each panel really catches the eye, his works that are supposed to look realistic work realistic, he knows what he's doing in each drawing. Despite this skill, however, he chooses to draw in a very simple, cartoony style. I just appreciate that he has a style all of his own, which, although simplistic, is still just as good as anyone else's.

fixius

as said many manga improve their quality,look at bleach or naruto in the begining,when i first saw naruto smilling i was thinking:"god,this kid is ugly" but now naruto has become good looking

and remember ichigo in the beginning of bleach his head was like a table,it was way too huge

basically bleach now needs improvement also,the character's eyes are too big,you can't understand now if rukia is a guy or a girl

but on topic now,i think the style of one piece has matured a lot,for example zoro had no angles in his face and a very short haircut that was strange for a shonen

i kinda first noticed the change in the manga in ace,he was a complete different ace than ace in alabasta,he is cool now (though i am an AIDS believer!!)

Gorlom

darn graphics junkies! =P who cares about the art? as long as its good enough to tell the story its good enough for me!

story > art

(im a firm beliver that too much focus on the art/graphics/visual destroys the other aspects in all forms of visual media… be it movies, games(damn 3d... gamers were better off when it was all 2d and pixles) or comics. )

Mr. All Sunday

I love Oda's art, it's simple, but has a cartoony awesomeness to it, and his designs are so creative and well done that his art doesn't have to be at Oh Great! or Hagiwara's level of detail.

Also, I think both Naruto and Bleach's art (particularly the former) were better in the beginning.

MARIMO KUN

Both, the art and the storylines had evolved and become awesome, just compare how looks Nami at the start of the manga and how looks now

Polygon

@MARIMO:

Both, the art and the storylines had evolved and become awesome, just compare how looks Nami at the start of the manga and how looks now

Yes those titties have indeed inflated.

Mr. Half

@COWMAKAZE:

What I like about Oda's art is that it's obvious he can really draw well. His positioning in each panel really catches the eye, his works that are supposed to look realistic work realistic, he knows what he's doing in each drawing. Despite this skill, however, he chooses to draw in a very simple, cartoony style. I just appreciate that he has a style all of his own, which, although simplistic, is still just as good as anyone else's.

Yes, exactly! Oda's a genius with composition. Also, I think the most important aspect of his style is how alive everything is. You don't get a sense for it if you just watch the anime, but when you read the comic, each panel looks like it's really moving even though it's a still drawing. There's pure energy in every panel.

You can really get a sense for how talented Oda is by reading Fairy Tale, which is an attempt at copying Oda's style without any of Oda's talent.

Voodzik · http://www.engrish.com/detail.php?im…ate=2005-12-25

@Gorlom:

damn 3d… gamers were better off when it was all 2d and pixles

And back then, people had a sense of responsibility. Why I once walked no less than fif-teen miles barefoot in the snow to purchase a single copy of PLOK. These young whippershnappers with their wbernets or whatever….

Angel emfrbl

Nami started out looking like a decent girl… Now she is one step away in looks from a brothel tart. ^-^'

goty

@Mr.:

Also, I think both Naruto and Bleach's art (particularly the former) were better in the beginning.

Yeah, Naruto's art is awfully bland these days compared to the beginning.
Bleach..i think Kubo's art evolved, not so noticeable as Oda's, but still an improvement.

hyper_megaman

@COWMAKAZE:

Look on the inside flap of a volume some time. You might just change your mind.

What I like about Oda's art is that it's obvious he can really draw well. His positioning in each panel really catches the eye, his works that are supposed to look realistic work realistic, he knows what he's doing in each drawing. Despite this skill, however, he chooses to draw in a very simple, cartoony style. I just appreciate that he has a style all of his own, which, although simplistic, is still just as good as anyone else's.

he is? i gotta get me an eyeful. any links?

anyway, point is his style used in one piece is unique. it may not be as smooth(actually 3D-able) or consistent as, say, stuff like dragonball, and the way he draws things like muscle/skeletal builds which could be better, but i gotta give it one credit: he sure is one hell of a drama-camera-angle-er. his still art may not be as good as a few top leaguers, but the way he positions the 'view angles' and brings the drawings to life, that i really am impressed with.

p.s. lemme elaborate about the dragonball thing (the art from maybe high 30s of the tankobon)
Akira's art, at that point, if u asked him to draw still images of a character from various angles, and u linked it up image by image, was so consistent and 'picture accurate' that they could actually seem like a 3D model were being revolved around. this is why they asked him to do character designs for 3D games like chrono trigger

so to sum it all up, i'm not insulting oda's art/perspective in one piece, i'm just saying it's definitely not a top leaguer. and i say again, he may not win in perspective, but he's definitely a winner in bringing out the life of the drawings.

cheers

Hawkeye

Personally i find that the best looking manga is Berserk but that lazy bum takes sometimes months upon months for one chapter. oda does it routinely one chapter a week without fail(mostly) and is still an amazing drawer

fixius

when you guys say bleach was better in the beginning what do you mean? do you mean in soul society or before??

when bleach first began ichigo's head was too big,against renji he was better drawn and against byakura the whole bleach art was superb

but i can't accept bleach before ichigo vs zaraki is worse than the curent bleach though i think bleach's art know sucks,when ichigo was looking at ulqiorra his eyes were huge and when i re-read the whole arrancer part again all the charater's eyes except yamamoto have gotten huge

but i like naruto's current art,hidan and kakuzu were very well drawn,and if you people mean naruto or kakashi,they have their moments,and orochimaru was superb with he akatsuki clothes

Mr. All Sunday

Bleach's old (like first 30 or so chapters) was a lot more original and had more charm to it than the art after that. That's not to say that the art is of worse quality.

And Naruto's current art…is just plain old sub par.

Mr. Half

I noticed at about the point that Sasuke's brother appeared, the art had gone really downhill. Every panel suddenly seemed really stiff and boring. There's a kind of energy in the first one or two arcs that just seemed to fizzle out the longer the series went on… I got the impression that towards the end of the tournament, the artist just stopped caring.

Sea king

@Gorlom:

darn graphics junkies! =P who cares about the art? as long as its good enough to tell the story its good enough for me!

story > art

So, if One Piece character design consisted of Stick Figures****, would you still read it?

Gorlom

as long as its good enough to tell the story

Heres a nice story that manages with stickfigures:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html

If the characters in OP were stick figures the story would loose quite alot imo. but it wouldnt gain anything from beeing drawn like say berserk or ghost in the shell.

Sea king

@Gorlom:

Heres a nice story that manages with stickfigures:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html

If the characters in OP were stick figures the story would loose quite alot imo. but it wouldnt gain anything from beeing drawn like say berserk or ghost in the shell.

That wasn't my point, Art is still part of the quality of a manga. I didn't ask you if you like stories with Stick Figures, I said if One Piece design was comprised of solely Stick Figures**** would you still like it the same?

And, besides One Piece has very high quality art, even when compared to those manga's you named. The art style is simply different.

Gorlom

im sorry i cant discuss things with you seriously… your way of posting with the bold, underlined and red text on random words are too annoying to me.

its not that i dont want to argue with you but my eyes cant handle it sorry im going to have to put you on ignore...

btw: you missunderstood my point.

PsychoticShapeshifter

One Piece's art is oda's style of drawing. It rocks in the sense the characters are immensely diverse in design.

which is probably what sold me on One piece. The Characters could be so out there.

Yes the art of one piece has improved for the better in my mind.

Sea king

@Gorlom:

btw: you missed my point.

And, you Missed mine, but let's just leave it at that.

Marquez

@Sea:

That wasn't my point, Art is still part of the quality of a manga. I didn't ask you if you like stories with Stick Figures, I said if One Piece design was comprised of solely Stick Figures**** would you still like it the same?

And, besides One Piece has very high quality art, even when compared to those manga's you named. The art style is simply different.

Yes, i agree totally with you. I also like the style of Oda very much. The perspective, the angels, the dynamic in the drawings. Of course it is partly not so detailed like berserk or Ghost in the Shell but you have to take into consideration that Oda has only one week to draw one chapter, named as "shonen" problem. The Mangaka of Berserk for example has a lot of time to draw very detailed. But the Art of Oda is really great, very creative and he has the skills to draw differences in the expressiones in the faces with some single lines what is really good. One Piece has very high quality art and if you look at some drawings in the Color Books you will see (in my opinion) that he is a very gifted mangaka and he has not to hide himself in front of Berserk or Ghost in the Shell. He simply has very less time. But i saw a highly-detailed drawing of Robin some time ago and all i can say is : Oh my God, just fantastic. Never saw a more beautiful woman. He worked a lot with shadows in this picture it reminds me of a certain picture of e1n. (HeHe) No Berserk can keep up with this. But like someone said before my reply, One Piece would propably gain nothing from a change in style. I simply love Odas art.
I also think that his art improved more than some other manga but i am not here to bash other kinds of art.

Mr. Half

@Gorlom:

Heres a nice story that manages with stickfigures:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html

If the characters in OP were stick figures the story would loose quite alot imo. but it wouldnt gain anything from beeing drawn like say berserk or ghost in the shell.

Actually, One Piece would lose a lot if it were drawn like Berserk… and frankly, I'm not at all impressed by the Ghost in the Shell guy. Especially the porn he's doing now, it's totally fugly.

Gorlom

i have to admit i havent acctually read the berserk manga. iv just seen some anime episodes of it and havent really gotten interested in the story…

it was just taht most people seemed to think that berserk was really well drawn.

and yes OP probably would loose on beeing drawn that way. which is why i think that as long as the art is good enough to tell the story the way the atrist wants it everyone should be happy.

too much focus on it beeing "stunning" takes away from other aspects.. people has mentioned berserk with its more complex art takes longer to come out. so i dont want stuff that is breathtakeing if it takes too long or the story suffers from it.
Wdit: or it might have been vagabond... im too lazy to look it up.

Mr. Half

Time isn't an issue because both One Piece and Berserk are done by teams of people. If you pay attention to the backgrounds and props, you'll see there's a lot more detail-work in One Piece than in Berserk.

Gorlom

details details…..

people tend to focus on the wrong things in my posts. am i to write that down to cultural differences or am i really that hard to understand?

or are people part of a big conspirasy to troll me? =P

Marquez

@Gorlom:

details details…..

people tend to focus on the wrong things in my posts. am i to write that down to cultural differences or am i really that hard to understand?

or are people part of a big conspirasy to troll me? =P

No, no conspiracy. I think that i understand what you want to express. I also think that our opinions are quite similar.
As i mentioned it before i love the way Oda designs his art. And i compared it only to berserk not because its art is so fantastic but simply different. In my opinion One Piece is really realistic drawn. ( The main characters with the excerption of ussop maybe ) My post was reffering to some people who say that op should be more detailed and so i mentioned that Oda can draw like Kentoro Muira if he had the time. Thats all i wanted to say. Of course the art should NOT change and tend into an different theme like GitS or something like that. ( BTW: The drawings are in my opinion not so good that you should place it on a throne)
@ Mr.Half
I totally agree with your conclusion that "If you pay attention to the backgrounds and props, you'll see there's a lot more detail-work in One Piece than in Berserk." My opinion either. But i have to make a small remark on your first statement in your post. You say that a lot of people work for op so it makes no difference. In my opinion it is a difference if a group of people has one week to draw one chapter or one month. It is not relevant how many people you have if the time is still the same. I hope you understand what i mean.

Marquez

This post is deleted!

I like Oda's drawing style.
It is a different art style than other manga writers and it fits with One Piece well.
Also, if Oda's drawing style was different, One Piece would not be the same.

Brisa

I might be wrong, but I think the manga used to have better drawings. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's ugly - no way, Oda has a great style, the fighting scenes are awesome - but I mean, if you compare, let's see… the current arc with Skypiea. When it comes to art, Skypiea, at least for me, was amazing. The outfits and characters were really a master piece. But now it's like Oda's drawing quickly...

However, I must admit he improved. 1st arc and the current one... I can't even start to compare. Oda's drawings and style were always great, I just think that, as it went to the "middle" of the series, it got a little better than it was on the first arc and than what it is now.

Just a thought...

Mr. Half

@Brisa:

I might be wrong, but I think the manga used to have better drawings. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's ugly - no way, Oda has a great style, the fighting scenes are awesome - but I mean, if you compare, let's see… the current arc with Skypiea. When it comes to art, Skypiea, at least for me, was amazing. The outfits and characters were really a master piece. But now it's like Oda's drawing quickly...

However, I must admit he improved. 1st arc and the current one... I can't even start to compare. Oda's drawings and style were always great, I just think that, as it went to the "middle" of the series, it got a little better than it was on the first arc and than what it is now.

Just a thought...

Um… I don't see where that's coming from at all. I can't think of anyone from Skypeia that comes close to Wanze's level of design. Or the designs of Foxy, or Blueno, or Franky... Absalom, Moria, Lola, the unimportant zombies, pretty much all of Perona's wonder garden, Tilestone, most of CP9, the old man with a big wound... man, I could go on all day.

Ivotas

@Mr.:

Um… I don't see where that's coming from at all. I can't think of anyone from Skypeia that comes close to Wanze's level of design. Or the designs of Foxy, or Blueno, or Franky... Absalom, Moria, Lola, the unimportant zombies, pretty much all of Perona's wonder garden, Tilestone, most of CP9, the old man with a big wound... man, I could go on all day.

I agree. In Skypiea the designs for a huge lot of characters were somehow lacking something. Not that they sucked but the final touch was somehow missing. Before with Arabasta and afterwards with Longring Longland, Water7/Enies Lobby and now the Florian Triangle the designs are better on that field.

Mr. Half

@Ivotas:

I agree. In Skypiea the designs for a huge lot of characters were somehow lacking something. Not that they sucked but the final touch was somehow missing. Before with Arabasta and afterwards with Longring Longland, Water7/Enies Lobby and now the Florian Triangle the designs are better on that field.

I think what it was missing was that cartoon flourish. The designs from that arc are pretty conservative for Oda… compare that to now, where it feels like he doesn't hold back, and pushes each design to the extreme. I love Moria! XD

Marquez

Hmm, i thought that this thread is about drawing style and not overall character design. (No offension against former replies) As i maybe mentioned before all i can say to Odas style is that i simply love it. I like the ideas the unique design, the creativity and the dynamic of the drawings. I also think that the art has improved a lot in the meantime in comparison to the beginning. Oda has not to hide himself behind berserk of vagabond in both, story and drawing style. It is a shonen manga and is published weekly so he has of course less time than the mangaka of vagabond. The style should not change and you see in the color walks that Oda is really gifted. He is also a master of perspective and angles. And again only two words: Nico Robin. :wub:
I cannot say much to skypia. I don´t like the arc as much as the others. my order would be: W7/Ennies lobby, Thriller Burke, Alabasta, East Blue saga and last skypia.

Sea king

Oda's Style reminds me of a Tex Avery cartoon.

Marquez

Amazing. Of all possible associations this is the last, that would come into my mind.

Sea king

It's the total opposite for me.

Mr. Half

@Marquez:

Amazing. Of all possible associations this is the last, that would come into my mind.

Oda's outright said that American "Golden Age" cartoons are a big inspiration for him. I think it really shows.

It's just been merged with Toriyama and some other Japanese influences.

Marquez

@Mr.:

Oda's outright said that American "Golden Age" cartoons are a big inspiration for him. I think it really shows.

It's just been merged with Toriyama and some other Japanese influences.

Ok, i accept your arguments. But i think that you heard of something like taste. I have seen Tex Avery and i have seen One Piece and i DON´T find that they are similar. You also have to make diferences between manga and anime. And that he stated the golden age cartoons were an inspiration for him, accepted too. But he has so many various inspirations that i can´t count them anymore. I don´t say one piece reminds me of les miserables only because nico robins way and personality have some parts from that novel.

Sea king

@Marquez:

Ok, i accept your arguments. But i think that you heard of something like taste. I have seen Tex Avery and i have seen One Piece and i DON´T find that they are similar. You also have to make diferences between manga and anime. And that he stated the golden age cartoons were an inspiration for him, accepted too. But he has so many various inspirations that i can´t count them anymore. I don´t say one piece reminds me of les miserables only because nico robins way and personality have some parts from that novel.

I was specifically talking about the presentation, besides anime/manga in general is borrowed heavily from Golden Age Western Cartoons that it's pointless to even mention it.

Captain Shmeckie

I love Oda's style, myself. For character designs, he thinks so far outside the box I don't think he remembers where the box is, anymore, and he churns out such fantastic character concepts and designs. As for his art style, I absolutely love his use of dynamic "camera" angles. His use of positioning and distance are fantastic. He doesn't just draw one guy punching another, with one guy to the left, and another to the right (although he will, occasionally), he'll draw the puncher in front of the viewer, the punchee away from the viewer, and Oda conveys not only the motion and impact, but the distance and depth of the view, as well. Fantastic stuff.

Yes, I must say I really love Oda's art style. Colors colors colors.

Dookia

@Marquez:

I don´t say one piece reminds me of les miserables only because nico robins way and personality have some parts from that novel.

Where?

surprised and excited…..dolphins rushing through my bloodstream....yoyoi....

agmaster

I like the cleanless and the height of now, but seriously, they look TOO old. Considering how much time has passed in story. THey look like years have passed. Yes that is because in real time years have pased, but that don't make it less disconcerting.