People Like One Piece

[Zach Logan]

This title might strike you as a little odd, but I promise you there's a reason for it. Over the last few news segments on the podcast I've noticed that One Piece has recently garnered an immense amount of critical acclaim. What makes this discussion worthy is that it's both unanimous and completely contradictory to the rest of the long-running Shonen series's trends who have all seen unanimously negative or near-negative reviews (Naruto, Bleach, Dragonball). Just look at the reviews for One Piece over the last few month on some of the mainstream anime reviewing websites:

One Piece
Fall Simulcast Round-Up
Shelf Worthy for Season 2, Part 6
Shelf Worthy for Season 3, Part 1
Shelf Worthy for Season 3, Part 2
ANN on Season 3, Part 1
ANN on Season 3, Part 2
Mania on Season 2, Part 6
Mania on Season 3, Part 1
Mania on Episode 472 Mania on Episode 471
Mania on Episode 470
Otaku USA on Season 2, Part 6
Japanator: How Filler Can Not Suck
Otaku USA Discusses One Piece Move 6
Looking through the releases in the United States they're all some of the best reviewed series on their respective websites. Not only that, but these reviews are striking for another reason: no one notices them. I've rarely seen others regurgitate these respected opinions, instead I hear far more criticism about the series from those who are fans and for those who have never given it a chance.

"One Piece is horribly long and intimidating, but you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't watch it" - Erin Finnegan, ANN

When it comes to making One Piece popular, it's really a propaganda war.

Not all these reviews are extraordinary, but when it comes to what they're reviewing – these aren't the best episodes. Skypiea and the current Marineford Arc episodes aren't the epitome of what we think of in the One Piece anime. However, newer fans, like those reviewing above, all find these episodes fantastic.

"Best. Simulcast. Period…Infused with emotion, action and plenty of depth, it's consistently the show that I look forward to eagerly every week. And I never, ever, thought that I would say that." - Chris Beveridge, Bryan Morton, G.B. Smith at Mania

We know that One Piece does well in Japan. Recently it has done well enough in Germany to earn Eichiiro Oda an award, and it has also received television deals in France and Italy. So for all those in the U.S., and for all those in the remaining countries I posed the following to you in the spirit of collective thinking: how can One Piece use this sort of continued acclaim to gain notoriety? The one thing we've all got from One Piece is that once we jumped in it, we all loved it. How do you overcome the hurdle of "this series is 470-something episodes" and get people to watch?

[GumGumBattleAxe]

tell people the truth: One Piece is story, story, story, and a phenomenal one that rewards the reader/viewer who sticks with it.

[allyluvsu13]

I think they should really push the movies, the story telling and characters are amazing, I discovered One Piece in March and the length never phased me because i was so immersed in the storytelling. Once a person gets started 470+ isn't enough

[GumGumBattleAxe]

I also think that people are more quick to take their friends' word instead of reading these internet reviews on what anime is good and bad. If peoples' friends simply don't know one piece or like it, its just over. The word does need to be spread that one piece rocks, however.

[firecrouch]

The thing I don't get is people complain it's too long and yet these same people watch "Naruto" and "Bleach", also very long-running series. The only difference is that these people usually didn't start with a huge amount of episodes to catch up to. My question is why does it matter? You don't have to watch all 470+ episodes of "One Piece" all at once. I mean I guess I understand that you like to watch several things and you don't have time to watch one huge series when you could go through a couple of shorter ones that are also good. But if it's really about intimidation, just say to someone, "No one's holding a gun to your head saying that this is work. Just watch the show at your own pace."

[MasterKingJC]

I agree completely.
It saddens me whenever a potential fan decides not to follow the series because it's too "lengthy".
They do not know what they're missing.

[JERK DISEASE]

What the hell is this bullshit about Dragonball being looked down on.

[allyluvsu13]

@JERK:

What the hell is this bullshit about Dragonball being looked down on.

Actually I was wondering that too, I always see fans thinking fondly of DBZ I dont usually run into many haters on that series… except for maybe the pacing.

[ARC-1300]

i cringe everytime i talk about my friends, some are pretty open minded about watching new anime's. some are not. heck even some who cant get away from DBZ, and i try to understand why naruto became more popular, yeah sure its about ninja's, big deal. (sorry if it seems like derailing) i suppose this is One Piece's destiny, it was given a crappy dub by 4kids and shown publicly on television, then people avoid it like the plague, and go by word of mouth.

and its too long? and the argument about art style seems like a huge cop out IMO

[firecrouch]

@JERK:

What the hell is this bullshit about Dragonball being looked down on.

I think it's always been that way despite its popularity, you know there will always be haters for that show and I understand why. More recently I think people just notice more flaws in it now than before.

@ARC-1300:

i cringe everytime i talk about my friends, some are pretty open minded about watching new anime's. some are not. heck even some who cant get away from DBZ, and i try to understand why naruto became more popular, yeah sure its about ninja's, big deal. (sorry if it seems like derailing) i suppose this is One Piece's destiny, it was given a crappy dub by 4kids and shown publicly on television, then people avoid it like the plague, and go by word of mouth.

and its too long? and the argument about art style seems like a huge cop out IMO

I don't see why it's hard to get why "Naruto" became more popular. At first glance it seems more action-oriented, it had a better dub from the start, and when digisubs caught on "Naruto" was the new big hit and "One Piece" had been running for years before by then.

The argument about art-style makes sense, it does look particularly wacky for an action-adventure series.

[ARC-1300]

@firecrouch:

I think it's always been that way despite its popularity, you know there will always be haters for that show and I understand why. More recently I think people just notice more flaws in it now than before.

I don't see why it's hard to get why "Naruto" became more popular. At first glance it seems more action-oriented, it had a better dub from the start, and when digisubs caught on "Naruto" was the new big hit and "One Piece" had been running for years before by then.

The argument about art-style makes sense, it does look particularly wacky for an action-adventure series.

i still say art doesnt account for a good story, but everyone has an opinion and i will respect that.

on the talk of the dub for naruto: first 10 or so episodes were pretty weak but that's understandable. but yeah your right it did have a better fub from the start, and id also like to think that part of the success had to with more exposure, i mean come on, after toonami was gone it still aired for a bit. One piece got how many episodes on the network? (not counting 4kids dub)

[RoboBlue]

I think a large part of this recent flood of positive attention is disinterest in other anime. From what I've seen of Naruto Shippuden, it hasn't handled the pacing very well (despite an increasingly interesting manga story), and Bleach has outright interrupted the main plot with filler arcs. Despite being slow, One Piece is still detailed enough to hold your attention through almost every episode, which says a lot for an anime this long.

[Silverblade]

Was that a positive Apis filler review I saw there.

[marksoccer]

yea i was surprised too when i read that. I guess it might not be THAT bad compared with other anime filler.

[BatDan]

@marksoccer:

yea i was surprised too when i read that. I guess it might not be THAT bad compared with other anime filler.

That's a good point. By One Piece standards it's shit, but by anime standards…
looks at Rurouni Kenshin, Naruto, Bleach, and that one shitty show with the schoolgirl and dog-demon that wouldn't shut up

[JERK DISEASE]

@RoboBlue:

I think a large part of this recent flood of positive attention is disinterest in other anime. From what I've seen of Naruto Shippuden, it hasn't handled the pacing very well (despite an increasingly interesting manga story)

ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Demon Rin]

@RoboBlue:

I think a large part of this recent flood of positive attention is disinterest in other anime. From what I've seen of Naruto Shippuden, it hasn't handled the pacing very well (despite an increasingly interesting manga story), and Bleach has outright interrupted the main plot with filler arcs. Despite being slow, One Piece is still detailed enough to hold your attention through almost every episode, which says a lot for an anime this long.

You're right, Naruto really does get better and better after the tim-

Ok… Ok... I almost got through that lie-ridden sentence without laughing. It was hard to get that far though...

[Bill]

@JERK:

What the hell is this bullshit about Dragonball being looked down on.

This is for anime Zeph. Not manga.
The anime is not the real version of the stories.
Dragonball is much better READ then a watch.

People who complain about the series dragging should read the comic.
I really don't care for the reviews of the One Piece anime its not the real meat.

[Zach Logan]

Kind of bringing things back on topic: even though people like One Piece more, it's still the least popular of the big three, big four if you include Dragonball as a viable entity. How do we solve that problem?

And the big thing about this all is, as Bill said, the anime is not the real meat, the manga is, yet the One Piece anime is extremely well reviewed and talked about in high regards outside of this little forum.

[RoboBlue]

@Zach:

Kind of bringing things back on topic: even though people like One Piece more, it's still the least popular of the big three, big four if you include Dragonball as a viable entity. How do we solve that problem?

And the big thing about this all is, as Bill said, the anime is not the real meat, the manga is, yet the One Piece anime is extremely well reviewed and talked about in high regards outside of this little forum.

A lot more people in the western world watch television than read books or comics, and as an extension of that, casual anime fans are much more likely to watch anime than read manga. Also, manga isn't cheap when it's legally obtained; there's no cheap or free legal source online yet.

[andre]

Add more filler.

[DyranLK]

@allyluvsu13:

I think they should really push the movies, the story telling and characters are amazing, I discovered One Piece in March and the length never phased me because i was so immersed in the storytelling. Once a person gets started 470+ isn't enough

^ Aaha, this was practically exactly me as well when I first started watching it; before I started getting engrossed into the series, I was an intense Naruto fan, and was pretty much disgusted with everything related to One Piece in any way; however, after actually giving it a second chance to merely pass the time (since its first impression on me was terribly negative and I was, at the moment, immensely, unbelievably bored), I almost surprised myself at how much I actually liked it by about 15 or so episodes, enjoying it even more than how much I initially enjoyed Naruto when I first watched/read it. In less than a month, I finally caught up to the most recent One Piece chapter and became an instant avid OP watcher/reader. Man, that was a bittersweet moment; sometimes, I wish I could just erase my memory and watch through the entire series over and over again, experiencing those same initial feelings that I've now lost forever.

But anyways, indeed, for most, OP will definitely satisfy if you give it the chance. O_o

[eerie]

For me, the length tends not to be the major kill point for most people I try to get into it. It's getting them atleast to watch to the Arlong Arc (and trying to not to hype it to much to them since that always kills anything for someone) and the art style. The hair isn't consistently wacky enough or the characters don't have typical anime eyes. But I agree with the ally - movies are a great pace to get them started and hooked - or using AMVs which tended to be the way I found most of my anime before I started reading manga more consistently. They're short, action packed acticals, and tend to give examples of the great character interactions and humor that we all know and love (even AMVs).

So that's usually the route I take. Just be supportive, persistent, but don't hype it too much because that ruins anything good, no matter how good it is.

[King Calamari]

Funny, I remember when Shelf Life was crapping all over the series during the First Season sets. I noticed a few manga reviewers who either ignored the series or disliked it have started warming up to it if not falling in love with it ever since Viz started the speed up.

[Bill]

This post is deleted!

[vick86]

I think it's important that we change our tactics. The tactic has always been read or watch up until the arlong arc that's when it gets good but as recently noted in the podcast I think it's better if we don't tell people to sit through 30 "mediocre" episodes before it gets good. Most poeple don't want to watch that much before it gets good, some will try and give up before they reach the good parts other just won't bother. We should just tell them to watch a selfcontained arc. The Drum Island arc being the preferable choice. Sure the show becomes great at the Arlong arc but by the time they get to Drum the show has well and truly come together and conquered it's growing pains, most importantly it's one of the better arcs in the series and truly selfcontained. It's a great jumping on point.

[No Maam]

@Zach:

Japanator: How Filler Can Not Suck

!

Well we all know that Japanator . Most people apreciate it , I just found the guy funny …..even if he was written prety poorly . But Junpei Takiguchi , whatcha gonna do ?

That stuck out the most sorry

@firecrouch:

I think it's always been that way despite its popularity, you know there will always be haters for that show and I understand why. More recently I think people just notice more flaws in it now than before.

I tend to put this down to the fact that most of the later arcs (the last three) are just about fighting and have little to no story to speak of . Plus Toriyama got realy effing lazy with his locations .

@firecrouch:

The thing I don't get is people complain it's too long and yet these same people watch "Naruto" and "Bleach", also very long-running series. The only difference is that these people usually didn't start with a huge amount of episodes to catch up to. My question is why does it matter? You don't have to watch all 470+ episodes of "One Piece" all at once. I mean I guess I understand that you like to watch several things and you don't have time to watch one huge series when you could go through a couple of shorter ones that are also good. But if it's really about intimidation, just say to someone, "No one's holding a gun to your head saying that this is work. Just watch the show at your own pace."

That is kind of a reason why I never realy even tried getting into Naruto , not speaking of all the things I've actualy heard about it . I have alot of series I want to actualy read and I don't know how I'd catch up .

Hell I have the first 68 chapters of Bleach to read and I'm reluctant to do so for the same reasons .

Also Zach , it's been running in Germany for years . The fatc that the W7 and EL arcs were done with dialogue and plot changes alá 4kids (Olvia's dea colleagues being just "tired" is the best example) , I heard it's changed station now and seems to be less edited acording to animedigital.de .

[firecrouch]

@No:

! [qimg]http://www.japanator.com/elephant//ul/10720-how-filler-can-not-suck-as-shown-by-one-piece/ishot-2 copy-620x.jpg[/qimg]

That is kind of a reason why I never realy even tried getting into Naruto , not speaking of all the things I've actualy heard about it . I have alot of series I want to actualy read and I don't know how I'd catch up .

Hell I have the first 68 chapters of Bleach to read and I'm reluctant to do so for the same reasons .

Okay but here's my question: why do you need to catch-up? Unless you don't have much free time or you've got other things you'd rather devote your time to this seems like a cop-out.

[No Maam]

Well if I start something I want to get through with it .

[firecrouch]

@No:

Well if I start something I want to get through with it .

And you can get through it. Just because something is long doesn't mean you can't get through it. I mean there are people that have been reading "One Piece" for over a decade, and they continue to read it because they love it. Same with "Naruto". Shouldn't that be enough reason to stick with something?

[No Maam]

It takes me ages to read when I am constantly yelled and hit when I'm at the computer too long . Even when it's me whose paying the electricity bill .

[firecrouch]

All I'm saying is I feel like the length argument is a cop-out,. I mean, why should it matter how long it takes to read or watch something? If you really enjoy something you'll get to the ending eventually. If you lose interest or just don't like it you'll move onto something else. I just don't get it.

[No Maam]

I personaly don't have that much time and well , I'm not that good at juggling too many series . I forgot to look up Enigma for a month after it debuted .

[dan2026]

@Bill:

Dragonball is much better READ then a watch.

I'll disagree with this.
I much prefer Dragon Ball animated.

Going with Kai for the later half of course.

Now back to your regularly scheduled One Piece programming.

[SGRaaize]

With its character introductions, motivational flashbacks, and Skypiea-expanding informational interludes, this is one of those stretches of episodes that is best appreciated not for what it is, but for what it is setting up. What it is, is exposition—alleviated by pummeled priests, bazooka-wielding natives, and eye-popping dives off of mile-high waterfalls, to be sure, but still exposition. What it is setting up, as the chaos it builds to in its final episodes attests, is an all-you-can-eat feast of unfettered pirate mayhem. Excuse me while I wipe away the anticipatory drool

DOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH

[Kitsune Inferno]

Of course, One Piece does seem to be picking up its slack.

I recently introduced a friend to the manga (who was a fan of FMA) and I loaned them all of my volumes leading up to Alabasta. (which is all that I have)

I think the best way to get One Piece interest moving is to just hand somebody the manga. It's faster to read and easier to read (compared to online scanlations)

[Electrivire]

Being the former Narutard I am, I must admit that the first half of the series before the timeskip was decent, but now everything's turned to crap.

Another reason I left Naruto for the most part, was all the doom and gloom. Honestly, I was borderline-depressed a few years back, and watching a series with music like this:

5wCD-S0XKm8

Was NOT helping.

But yeah, it was the Anime that got me into One piece, and it was literally because of it's uplifting atmosphere and music (Mostly We Are). Also the fact that Luffy had a big honkin' smile on his face all the time put one on mine. My friend who's still currently a Narutard also seems to be depressed, as she's picked on at school and stuff like I was when I went there. (For different reasons, she's picked on for being a Otaku, I was picked on for being an introvert.) I wanna get her into the series, but she won't budge.

[MikeyDPirate]

The thing with One Piece is that people have to give it a chance. Several people that I know always said that One Piece is too long or that it isn't their kind of show. I can understand the second reason but really the 'too long' thing is kind of a cop-out. If anything I think that as long as people give One Piece a chance then they will like it. These reviews are just proof of it.

Lately I been telling people to just jump into One Piece with the Marineford arc. Just head over to OnePieceOfficial.com and watch starting with the recap episodes so they know what they need to know for Marineford then keep going from there. It is much easier to watch 20 so episodes then the 400+ there is already. If they don't want to watch the recap then jump into the beginning of Marineford. The whole arc so far been good and we know it is only going to get better. Then if the person has time after catching up then dig though the site for the past episodes.

Another thing I been trying to do is just letting people borrow my DVDs. This weekend I am going loan out my first two DVD sets to a friend and let him watch them. If he feels like he doesn't want to watch the series after those first two sets then I am going to try to convince him to at least watch the third set since that is when One Piece hits it's peak as many fans say. I would have told him that One Piece gets good around episode 37 but really that feels kind of bad to say. I am hoping the fact that I am letting him watch the series for free without buying the DVDs will help out a lot. Then maybe he will start buying the DVDs since the pace that Funi is releasing them also sets a good watching pace then telling a person to watch 400+ episodes on their own when that person has many things to do.

[JERK DISEASE]

@dan2026:

I'll disagree with this.
I much prefer Dragon Ball animated.

Of course you do guy who was literally crying when people bad mouthed OP filled.

[Smore]

The people I know that dislike One Piece don't dislike it because of it's 'length'. They dislike it because of how it LOOKS. That is usually the same reply I get from most of my friends.

They usually say the designs are 'gay' or 'lame' or whatnot. They usually don't like the main character (Luffy) and prefer Zoro instead. When they see a 'wacky' character (Iva, Moria, etc.) They usually say they look stupid… or to quote one of 'em... a 'dud'.

Maybe length is intimidating when you're trying to deal with an 'anime fan' who doesn't like One Piece. But to a regular outta-the-mill person who was only really into DBZ back in the day... What usually turns them off is the designs. And with that... it really is pretty hard to convert 'em.

[Electrivire]

@Smore:

The people I know that dislike One Piece don't dislike it because of it's 'length'. They dislike it because of how it LOOKS.

16 characters of THIS right here. My friends are the same way.

[ARC-1300]

@Ferno:

16 characters of THIS right here. My friends are the same way.

oy, i wish this wasn't true but yes it is. been said by one of my friends at lease, that he just doesn't like the art style that is employed in it. which is a shame too.

i used to hate crayon shin chan, which had freakish heads and usually gave me nightmares, because the art style was so different (intentional most likely) but when actually watching it. i got to see all the humor and what not, that goes into the plot.

lenght like many have already pointed out is a cop out, and if it really is too long, just watch it at your pace. no need to watch the whole 400+ episodes within the month..(like i know some have :ninja:)

[dirt monkey AL]

Length is a big fat lie.

If your friends or family read novel series (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, what the fuck have you) and/or watch semi-long to long TV/movie series (House, Lost, Pirates of the Carribean, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or what else the fuck have you), they CAN'T say that, period. Hell, even guys that watch every single NFL or NBA or baseball game to the playoffs and beyond. They are ALWAYS investing a shitload of time to the things they read/watch.

If that's not something they do, however then either they're dead or 2 years old and younger.

On that note, seriously, hook 'em when they're young. I did it with Justice when she was 3, and it's been "Monkey D. Luffy~!!!" coming out of her mouth every five minutes since.

[No Maam]

@dirt:

On that note, seriously, hook 'em when they're young. I did it with Justice when she was 3, and it's been "Monkey D. Luffy~!!!" coming out of her mouth every five minutes since.

Pray tell , who is that ? :ninja:

And what I forgot to mention , I get realy depressed when I do like 20 chapters in a row and see I stil have like 340 to go .

Especialy with long running series I like , this can become quite depressing when I actualy do reach the end .

…...............

I wish Shiina continued GS Mikami :sad:

[ARC-1300]

@No:

Pray tell , who is that ? :ninja:

And what I forgot to mention , I get realy depressed when I do like 20 chapters in a row and see I stil have like 340 to go .

Especialy with long running series I like , this can become quite depressing when I actualy do reach the end .

…...............

I wish Shiina continued GS Mikami :sad:

again, you don't have to read it all at once, don't make a chore out of it. then you wont appreciate the series for what it is.

people just need to absorb it at a steady pace rather than sponge all the info together

[SGRaaize]

I watched it like a chore on the first time, cause I was very curious on what was going on, I still enjoyed it a lot
Then I rewatched it, along with the Manga, at a slower pace, no pressure or rush, as I was already on the really interesting stuff, over at Thriller Bark
It was even more awesome

My suggestion to the new members is not to rush it, but I know that everyone will rush it anyways, considering they are probably aware that a lot of good shit is going on in the recent chapters/episodes

[Kitsune Inferno]

@dirt:

On that note, seriously, hook 'em when they're young. I did it with Justice when she was 3, and it's been "Monkey D. Luffy~!!!" coming out of her mouth every five minutes since.

Haha, this! My cousin's always intent to watch "Luffy" and can name every one of the Straw Hats, and he's three.

His little sister is getting there. o_O

However, I think he's more into Soul Eater, the little bastard. :getlost:

His favorite scene is Luffy vs. Bellamy though. I've seen him imitate a couple of times o_O Much to his mother's disdain.

[dirt monkey AL]

@No:

Pray tell , who is that ? :ninja:

my five year old niece - pretty sure I mentioned her before on the forums, and I know I have on the podcast

@Kitsune:

Haha, this! My cousin's always intent to watch "Luffy" and can name every one of the Straw Hats, and he's three.

His little sister is getting there. o_O

However, I think he's more into Soul Eater, the little bastard. :getlost:

His favorite scene is Luffy vs. Bellamy though. I've seen him imitate a couple of times o_O Much to his mother's disdain.

lol

First time Justice watched it, she was three, and sitting on my lap. In the very first episode, when Luffy stretched out his lips and said he was a rubberman, she turned around, and redid those 3-5 seconds for me immediately after he did it.

It was her new favorite thing to do for months afterward.

[TLC]

I got my little sister into it when she was 10. Her favorite character is Ace:D

Oh it's gonna be something when "THAT" happens.

[ARC-1300]

@Thousand:

I got my little sister into it when she was 10. Her favorite character is Ace:D

Oh it's gonna be something when "THAT" happens.

don't you just love character attachment, and then the author stabs you in the back with a thousand knives.