Oda's Art Style changes over the years, as conveyed through the Straw Hats and others
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It's understandable really.
Oda has evolved as a manga artist and storyteller over his years of working on One Piece. I would be upset if he didn't, and instead, stayed the same.
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Awesome but like the comment above said, Oda has been evolving as a manga artist and he'll keep evolving and finding new ways to deliver this awesome story to the fans
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Happens with most mangakana unless your Togashi and you stop giving a fuck, I believe we had a thread like this before, still cool to see all the pictures and notice the evolution, Chopper is one that changed the most, looks cuter and cuter as time goes by but I believe Oda adressed that in a SBS.
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Usopp was fugly back then. He had ears at mouth level.
And Robin went from unique to Hancock clone.
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lol it seems the onepiece subreddit and AP keep sharing posts
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Like every other mangaka, even Oda's style evolves during the years. Although I think in the last 5-6 years it hasn't changed that much. But it's nice to see the before/after…I think the two pics of Mihawk are the best exemple to see the change in his style
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Found this interesting image on reddit.
warning: big image
http://i.imgur.com/YUpRwVw.jpg
not sure if its the proper forum or not
Nice comparison.Except that Jinbe's face looks different in each and every panel.
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I liked Jinbe better when he had sharper fangs.
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i love everyone's transformation….except brook...he looks way better in 2007.
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Most picture's aren't really comparable and a lot of changes are due to character development rather than the evolution of Oda's drawing style but a nice composition anyway.
Like every other mangaka, even Oda's style evolves during the years. Although I think in the last 5-6 years it hasn't changed that much. But it's nice to see the before/after…I think the two pics of Mihawk are the best exemple to see the change in his style
I think, the pictures of Kuzan and Ace are also not bad examples.
But it's impressive enough that there are people who can draw so consistently over many years.
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Some of the Chopper ones are just him in different forms.
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All I see is that everyone became conventionally attractive over time.
Especially Chopper.
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For the Straw Hats Usopp, Chopper, and Robin are the ones who've changed the most drastically, I feel. Pre-timeskip Franky bulked up a fair bit after a while.
Apart from them out of the characters shown on that chart that weren't deliberately aged-up I guess Aokiji takes the award for most changes, though Ace's is pretty noticeable too. He actually looked rather sleazy when he first showed up.
The late-Skypiea-thru-Water 7 still have my favorite models for the Straw Hats in the series so far.
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Usopp was fugly back then. He had ears at mouth level.
Haha, you're right xD But so did Nami and Sanji (and even Luffy) it seems, if you look right :D
I'm buying up the volumes now, will be fun to see the progress =)
And I think I just thought about Oda's art progression while reading the last chapter, it was pretty great, from the art perspective as well!
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Apart from them out of the characters shown on that chart that weren't deliberately aged-up I guess Aokiji takes the award for most changes, though Ace's is pretty noticeable too. He actually looked rather sleazy when he first showed up.
Lol, I never noticed that about Ace until you said, but you're so right. Back then he looked like a used car salesman.
And is it just me or has the series gotten more toonish since after the timeskip? Also, fuck that was 2010? I feel really, really old now.
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I would be interested to know how long it took him to draw a character back then and now.
He sure is now way moe used to draw them, but also they are way more detailed drawn :) -
Coby gets awards for most changed I think.
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I've also come to the realization recently that Robin's defined nose being her distinguishing feature no longer applies, since nearly everyone with a regular-looking nose will have it at some point or another, even Luffy.
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Sanji's hair was sure weird at the start :P
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2005-2007 art style is the best one.
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2009 Zoro is actually Bon-chan
"I'm a bad guy! I don't save the day, I don't fly off to the sunset and I don't get the girl! I'm going home." - MegaMind
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i think the most distinctive change is Oda's control and quality of line weight and variation. The newer work is just more refined and less simplistic
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I love this sort of thing, all the side-by-side stuff. Look at Zoro's forehead in the beginning, it looks so huge!!
Chopper definitely wins "most improved," not this his original look was bad (I can't stand it now though, his newer look is just so much cuter!).
Everyone else just kinda takes a natural evolution…Early Usopp is odd compared to now, Nami is more childish-looking....everyone else is mostly the same.
And oh yeah, THOSE LOW EARS!!! Glad those went away.
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He kind of took Brook back to his roots after drawing him in a more cartoony style for some years, though the difference isn't that noticeable outside of the panels with Brook getting angry.
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I loved the old style way more. Softer lines, bigger mouths. No doubt Odas skill has improved, but I dislike how…angular people can be, how straight the lines are now. Old style felt a bit more fluid to me.
It mostly applies to the females. Namis face doesn't seem that expressive to me anymore.
Mostly I just miss the Big Panels.
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The late-Skypiea-thru-Water 7 still have my favorite models for the Straw Hats in the series so far.
I agree with that, for me this was the pinnacle of his design choices as well. The Shandians, the carpenters, the whole design behind Skypeia and W7 was both strangely realistic and fantastic.
It's a but too deformed today imho.@The:
I loved the old style way more. Softer lines, bigger mouths. No doubt Odas skill has improved, but I dislike how…angular people can be, how straight the lines are now. Old style felt a bit more fluid to me.
It mostly applies to the females. Namis face doesn't seem that expressive to me anymore.
Mostly I just miss the Big Panels.
I know what you mean. there was some talk in the Criticism thread about it as well and I think the lack of the disticnt, big panels that showed so much emotions and allowed for better character faces is due to Oda rushing through the story and decreasing the average panel size. Nowadays every doublespread features several panels, pages are cramped, etc.
And while I love a good information dump that ends up relevant I can't help but feel the emotion is lost within all this. -
Well, One Piece is getting H U G E with new characters, old characters, new developements, expected developements, unexpected ones. . .
I mean, there are 13 people on the Sunny alone right now.
It's just how One Piece has come to be right now, cramped. Full.
I like it that way; but I think we'll also get the big pannels in due time (we've been getting them in fact for a while now, but not as distinct as back then).
And yeah, while I like current Oda's drawing style, I think the unparalleled pinnacle was back at Skypiea. His drawing there (and Water 7 too) is just mesmerizing and mindblowing. Right now his lines are a bit broader and less detailed, but he still manages to give us supremely good panels like the last panel of chapter 698. (Not exactly the last, the big one of course).
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~2005 (Water Seven) is by far the best, not as charming as the original art style but still charming and quite cool. The current art style is awful sometimes. Luffy looks (and acts, sadly) more and more like a hermaphrodite, Chopper became the typical mascot, Robin and Nami look both horrible since the time skip. Zoro became the generic wannabe cool samurai guy who never speaks a word. He was way cooler as the "rocker" like guy he was before. Somehow I still like Franky, though.
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His women became worse, I agree (I really miss short-haired Nami).
I'm still unsure about Franky's design. -
I think that a little bit of a problem is that, now women are drawn in very similar way. It started that way, than Oda invented more unique faces, and now they look a like, just as at the beginning. I'd like to see more variety.
"I'm a bad guy! I don't save the day, I don't fly off to the sunset and I don't get the girl! I'm going home." - MegaMind
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Personaly I like Nami's longer hair. It's just there used to be a time when Robin and Hancock didn't look near identical and I miss that.
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I think that a little bit of a problem is that, now women are drawn in very similar way. It started that way, than Oda invented more unique faces, and now they look a like, just as at the beginning. I'd like to see more variety.
I have to agree with this, especially given the fact Robin and Hancock now look similar….
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i find it amusing that it seems franky's face has had the least change out of the strawhats (except brook obviously) considering
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Some points I really agree with:
- The character having ears in mouth height was really weird. While I generally liked One Piece's style from the start, Oda's way of drawing ears back then did put me off. I think I can draw better ears than he could.
- The characters generally looked best around Skypiea and Water 7.
- Robin should not look like Hancock that much. Just Nami and Robin both growing that long hair during the time skip… Nami somewhat makes sense, as long hair is feminine and all that, and she was indeed quite short-haired before, but Robin already had shoulder-long hair. If she really had to grow it waist-long, couldn't she wear it in another do than Hancock? And what happened to her unique nose? Except for the lines at the ridge, it's now the same as Nami's (and Luffy's and indeed Hancock's). Back to the hair, there is just something about One Piece characters and their hair. At the start, everyone (even the girls) had rather short hair, now most of the new characters have ridiculously long, wavy hair. Apparently Oda feels he has gotten better at drawing long hair and likes it more.
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I kind of forgot that the new Nami was supposed to be the old Nami until she mentioned Bellemere recently.
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I think that a little bit of a problem is that, now women are drawn in very similar way. It started that way, than Oda invented more unique faces, and now they look a like, just as at the beginning. I'd like to see more variety.
I agree. new example, nowadays nami and tachigi practically have the same face. if you look at the last picture of nami on the roster picture her with black hair.
I also don't like how chopper has turned out to be only about being "cute". he used to be much more, now he's always in brain point. there is even an example where the crew is running away from someone or something and without being exhausted by monster point he doesn't do anything but sit on franky's shoulder. As if he couldn't change to his walk point, which would help a lot more than being "cute".
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I agree with most of the points mentioned. Water 7 art style rocked.
I also noticed that obscure characters are still approx. "as much fun" as back then, but normal looking ones (e.g. Nami, Robin, Tashigi) became blander.
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In all honesty, where the hell do you see big differences in the posted picture? They basically all look the same, just in different poses
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I never noticed Jinbei's fangs became tusks
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I see what everyone means about Robin and Nami and definitely Chopper. Robin has lost any flair to me, and seems so bland. She used to be all mysterious and sensual. As for Chopper, he's just way to small and pre-packaged as a cute little critter now. Even his other forms seem like they're trying to be "cute".
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Wow I lots of people also thought that Water 7 was the best looking. I actually started reading One Piece when the anime was in Water 7. Just a good looking arc.
Agreed with people about the females. And yeah I noticed too how Chopper always seems to be in brain point. Even his Horn point dramatically changed to use his brain point as the main body. I miss Arm point (though I can understand its repetitiveness with Heavy Point) and I'm honestly sick of Kung Fu Point.
Other than that I have no problem with Oda's changing art and panel style. I mean jeez he's been doing this since 1997! Things change over time. I will continue to enjoy a free scan of One Piece every week!
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Luffy looks (and acts, sadly) more and more like a hermaphrodite
What the fuck are you even referring to with this guy with a Naruto avatar lolll
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In all honesty, where the hell do you see big differences in the posted picture? They basically all look the same, just in different poses
Holy crap are you for real?? I feel really bad for you if this is true.
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My favorite art style is late Alabasta into Jaya. Some really great renderings of the characters around then, especially Robin.
I think everyone looks fine now except her, Oda's really gotten lazy with her. -
Chopper was best in Skypiea, but he's been relegated to being a generic chibi, when he should really be the cute reindeer monster he started off as.
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Chopper was best in Skypiea, but he's been relegated to being a generic chibi, when he should really be the cute reindeer monster he started off as.
That happened so long ago I've long since just gotten used to it.
Robin's post skip design however sucked even more out of her. Bleh. -
Robin's design's been slipping ever since Enies Lobby, I feel.
I think my least favorite era of One Piece design was Post-Enies Lobby thru Thriller Bark. Though I understand why he did it for Thriller Bark I feel that Oda's used the ink a little too thickly ever since and occasionally crams far too much into a single small-to-midsized panel. A number of the designs from that era weren't that appealing, especially with the women as they became more homogenized than ever around then.
~Stargazer~, ~Distance~ original stories.
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