I hate to bring this since this is not even my thread and its a bit late and everybody already noticed but:
What one thing do you consistently love about Paulie?
What one thing do you consistently loathe about Paulie?
He putted in black and all and I think we should follow the rules.
That doesn't mean we just have to emphasise on one thing, we have been following the rules.
I hate to bring this since this is not even my thread and its a bit late and everybody already noticed but:
He putted in black and all and I think we should follow the rules.
Everyone only putting their one 'best' thing for each would result in a lot of repetition, and a some lesser points and discussion being missed out on … which would be a shame.
I appreciate the thought but that is probably the rule I am happiest that people break (the only one really). That rule is simply part of the template that I stole to make this thread. I've thought about adjusting it but everyone breaks it anyway.
Love:His gag about women and their shameful attire. And him always to run away because of his debts.
Loathe:
3/5
Figured I should try my hand at this at least once. For Paulie…
Love: First of all, the rope stuff. Paulie has possibly the one of the most, if not the most unique non-DF fighting styles in the series, and just fits him so well as a shipwright.
Mainly though, the thing about Paulie that always stood out for me is the scene in Water 7 where he and Luffy are pinned down by CP9 and left behind. They're both alone together, clearly outmatched by stronger opponents and essentially forgotten, and yet all they can think to do is shout wildly in reckless determination. Rather than mope about how horrible his situation is, he never stopped struggling for what he loves. Giving up was just not a consideration. That's some powerful stuff, and provided a great parallel for what Luffy was going through at the same time. Deep down, I always thought of Paulie as a pretty simple guy, with no grand dreams or aspirations, but still fights as hard as he can do to get by doing the right thing. You gotta like a character like that.
Loathe: After Water 7, he was never challenged in any major way. He had cool abilities, and a clear conflict set out for him, but it never really went anywhere, and his role at the end was basically to be a deus ex machina for a bunch of other guys. It may just be me, but I never really felt as though he had truly earned the role of Iceburg's successor. I know the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs were pretty full already, but nevertheless it just seems like Oda forgot him.
Final score: 3
Paulie's Arlong Park Evaluation 
What you loved:
Favorite comment goes to Zar:
"Love
A surprisingly normal-looking character, considering this is Oda. I loved his fighting style, his personality, even his views towards women were cute. At first I thought he'd turn into another pervert but in the end he's just shy (and the women don't hesitate to talk back at him either, which help even things out). He could easily fit in with the crew, though I do prefer Franky. He was also a key-player during the betrayal scenes; the one I felt for the most was Paulie who truly thought they were comrades. In a setting where the Strawhats have no clue what is going on and where Iceburg and Franky were a bit too tight-lipped at the time for the reader to feel for them, Paulie was the emotional anchor for the Galley-La Company. Its a small but neccesary role.
Like Iceburg, he's one of those characters I'd love to hang around and talk with."
–-------------
What you loathed:
Favorite comment goes to Kylor:
"Loathe: After Water 7, he was never challenged in any major way. He had cool abilities, and a clear conflict set out for him, but it never really went anywhere, and his role at the end was basically to be a deus ex machina for a bunch of other guys. It may just be me, but I never really felt as though he had truly earned the role of Iceburg's successor. I know the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs were pretty full already, but nevertheless it just seems like Oda forgot him." Finally,the poll! With 17 votes, Paulie's average score is…4.00! Cool, first time that has happened.
Thanks to all that responded! I will post my next pick later on today. Here's the HINT: If I could I would forget our next character…and I'm not alone.
Until then.
16 chars of Kokoro? 
It has not escaped me that this is our fourth Water 7 character in a row. It is coincidental but yea, deal.
Love & Loathe #32 Let's get our old-mermaid on! It's time to evaluate: Kokoro 
eww...Here's the deal: We are looking to hyper-critique a character to try and pinpoint what makes them great and what makes them terrible. After enough people respond, I will organize what are the best and worst traits of the character, and compile an evaluation post later. Also,don't worry if you have the same answers as others,the point is to figure out a common denominator for the character.
So the two questions for you are:
What one thing do you consistently love about Kokoro?
What one thing do you consistently loathe about Kokoro?
And give Kokoro a rating of between 1 and 5, with 5 being the highest(.5's are acceptable - ex. 1.5 or 4.5). I will tally these.
**This will be a 24 hour evaluation.
Enjoy.
Love: Well her cheerful drunkard personality is rather funny. And despite this she can get serious and responsible when the time calls for it, much like Iceburg. It's also nice to have non-fighting "normal" civilian tagging along just for contrast.
Loathe: :sick:
Overall: 3.5/5
Kokoro lolololol
Love: She looks hilarious. When I first saw her I just laughed and laughed without anything substantial. I was really shocked that she was a mermaid. A lot of SH owes her their lives despite her funny looks. I think it was also a really nice touch by Oda in making her grandchild really good at swimming.
Loathe: Nothing really. She does sometimes look hideous but heh.
4/5
Man…the recent activity on this thread is constantly reminding me how much I love Water 7 characters.Water 7 + Ennies Lobby is truly the best arc of the series.
Love
Kokoro is one of those characters where you just stop, stare and wonder what the hell Oda was drinking when he designed her. She's so damn outlandish and ugly, but despite an appearance that would earn her the comical side role in any other series she is actually a very capable woman, the strawhats owe their lives to her. Its a wonderful contrast you don't see often, and one of the reasons I love this series. Even the weirdest of the weirdest can end up being likable characters. And unlike Iceburg and Paulie, she stayed important during most of the arc, popping up when needed.
Having a civilian join the battle was interesting and something I want to see more often, and her being tied to Franky's past was a nice touch, and also puts a reason behind her being drunk. Its a bit tragic, really.
Also, she is a mermaid. Water 7 contains many of my favorite moments, and very, VERY few beats the fact that Kokoro is a mermaid. A pink one at that.
Loathe
She had a role and she did it well, so there isn't much to loathe.
I'll give her 4/5. Not my favorite character, but I didn't dislike her either.
Love - Appearance and design are so ridiculous they're brilliant. Also the mermaid thing is amazing.
Loathe - Not exactly a good role model for Chimney with all the drunkness.
Hmm, 3.5/5 - would be higher but the character just didn't do enough - if it wasn't for that moment where she swims (you know the one) in Enies Lobby then it'd probably be a 3 to be honest.
Love: Kokoro surprised me on rereads by being one of my favourite secondary characters in the W7/EL arcs. She's really a historian to the major characters. And she has the great mermaid reveal and the even better moment when she cracks it with Sanji over his comments about her.
Loathe: Nothing. She does exactly what she's supposed to do for the plot and does it engagingly.
3.5/5
Love: She was/is quite the motherly caring figure, to Franky and Iceburg, to Chimney and Gonbe, and to even the Straw Hats. Maybe not the thing you'd figure from her appearance and her drunkness, but Kokoro has heart. ….yes, I'm aware of the pun.
Loathe: shrug Nothing really, she did her part well.
4/5
Love: "Anyone with common sense would have surely stayed away from this island. Look closely, Chimney. Whether they live or die in the end nothing like this has ever happened in this island's several-hundred-year history. This incident will have an impact on the entire world! When the battle is over, that Strawhat boy's name will ring across the world!"
That speech was great, along with her being the first mermaid in the entire series, which hit Sanji really hard.
Loathe: Can't think of anything.
4.5/5
Love: Luffy's reaction to finding out she's a mermaid.
I actually have nothing to loathe about Kokoro. She does exactly what she suppose to do, and is.
3/5
Kokoro…Kokoro...can't say that I know her.
Everything's Eventual…
Love: Kokoro was a very fun, wily old gal. One of the most original secondary female characters.
Love that she wound up being a mermaid, which really fucked with Sanji's perception of them.
Love her big weird FACE.
And her little friends.
And her past, drinking with Tom.
Loathe: Nothing.
I'm starting to think: maybe I'm the one thats broken. I can't find anything wrong with anybody!
4.5/5 (once again, not a 5, because: come on, its just Kokoro)
Love: She is a Sea Train Conductor and don't gives shit about giant waves.
Loathe:^I wish she just remained like that.
3/5
Love: She being a mermaid spawned so many funny moments.
Loathe: Shame she let herself go like that, she was such a beauty in her youth.
4/5
Love: she looks ridiculous, she turned out to be a (ridiculous looking) mermaid and … most neatly, she turned out to be closely linked to the story of Tom and Franky and Iceburg, of the birth of the Sea Train. I think that's the bit I most like about her character. She turned out, over time, to be much more relevant than we originally thought.
Loathe: I think with a minor character, it's just harder to find something to dislike I can't think of anything ...
4/5
Kokoro:
Love: When she first showed up in Water 7, I didn't really expect her to play a huge role. I thought she was just a gag character who we might see once more during the arc. I was pleasantly surprised to see what a huge role she played in Water 7/Enies Lobby and Franky's back story. Kokoro was awesome. She helped the Straw Hats get to Enies Lobby by driving the sea train and later she saved them from drowning. The mermaid gag was also hilarious. Kokoro is a very brave woman. As a small thing, I thought it was funny when she and Chimney acted like hostages when the sea train first landed in Enies Lobby. At first, her drinking was funny, but then as we learned about Tom through Franky's back story, it became a very sad aspect of her character. It was also nice to have see an older woman get to be a badass. (I consider driving the Straw Hats into Enies Lobby and sticking with them to be badass.)
Loathe: Who is Chimney? Is she her biological grand daughter? If so, does that mean Kokoro has kids out there somewhere?
4/5
Kokoro
Love It's one of the reasons why One Piece never gets old to me: silly yet charismatic secondary characters. She is surrounded by gag moments, yet, her story is very tragic and it took it's price on her. She's a mermaid that went to the surface world, ended up with a structure that looked like a Family and saw it going apart as the people she loved fought each other and ended up condemned criminals. So, off course she drinks. She drinks a lot. But what stuck in our minds about her is the easy-going personality, the lack of pride and the dugong jokes. Why wouldn't you love her, ya bastard? She is part of the Wonderful Hags, along with Lola, Miss Merry Christmas, Terracotta, Dadan and Jora and you love them all.
Loath That's the thing about Secondary Characters, they never fail you. When they bother to appear on screen, they make the best use of it and make a memorable scene. So, unless I'm forgetting something, there's nothing really against her. Maybe she showed to little love toward Franky and Iceburg in the present days? Don't know, just trying to imagine something people could pick up and complain about…well, my score won't be a full 5 cause there are others Secondary Characters that did a better job than her, and I made them my example of how a SC should act, so...
score: 3,5 out of 5
Kokoro's Arlong Park Evaluation 
What you loved:
Favorite comment goes to Nitram:
"Love: "Anyone with common sense would have surely stayed away from this island. Look closely, Chimney. Whether they live or die in the end nothing like this has ever happened in this island's several-hundred-year history. This incident will have an impact on the entire world! When the battle is over, that Strawhat boy's name will ring across the world!"
That speech was great, along with her being the first mermaid in the entire series, which hit Sanji really hard."
–-------------
What you loathed:
Favorite comment goes to Light Bro:
"Loathe: :sick:"
Finally,the poll! With 14 votes, Kokoro's average score is…3.86! Kokoro is our new highest rated female character!
Thanks to all that responded! I will post my next pick later on today. Here's the HINT: Chestnut.
Until then.
Can't decide between Noland or Cricket. Or perhaps Usoland? :ninja:
Love & Loathe #32 Let's get our epic-descendant on! It's time to evaluate: Montblanc Cricket 
Chestnut...Here's the deal: We are looking to hyper-critique a character to try and pinpoint what makes them great and what makes them terrible. After enough people respond, I will organize what are the best and worst traits of the character, and compile an evaluation post later. Also,don't worry if you have the same answers as others,the point is to figure out a common denominator for the character.
So the two questions for you are:
What one thing do you consistently love about Cricket?
What one thing do you consistently loathe about Cricket?
And give Cricket a rating of between 1 and 5, with 5 being the highest(.5's are acceptable - ex. 1.5 or 4.5). I will tally these.
**This will be a 24 hour evaluation.
Enjoy.
read.
Love: A true man's man. Montblanc Cricket had the aura of a man just being true to himself and his dream. He believed he'd found the truth of Noland's journal and he was determined to follow it as far as he could. It didn't matter the evidence was thin, that he was laughed at or attacked. He knew in his heart and he would follow it.
What made him even more of a man was when he realised Luffy had found that bell there was no jealousy. He said a thank you to the man who proved his dream and asked his crew (whatever they were before, they were nakama now) what their next adventure should be. Honest, stoic and humble are his best qualities.
And there's even a good chance that without his succumbing to the bends he might have beaten Sanji.
Loathe: That it had to be explained to me that Noland's chestnut do represented a dessert in Japanese culture. So he was wearing hair mousse. That's a terrible pun to play.
3.5/5
Love: He didn't want to find the golden city to clear his family name, he just wanted to find out if Norland was really lying or not. Also, he personifies One Piece's "romance" perfectly, and helped the Strawhats get to Sky Island.
Oh, and the Saruyama Alliance were hilarious.
Loathe: Nothing. A solid 5/5
Love
Cricket filled a very strange role in the manga. He turns up early on, does his things, is left out almost the entire next arc, yet he stays relevant through it until the end. I guess you could call him an introduction character: his role was to provide the setting and intro for the Skypiea arc. Generally when a character is left out for a long time its a bad thing, but with Cricket it works. The moment Luffy rings the bell and he hears it still remains one of my absolute favorite moments, probably in the top ten should I ever make a list. Its also a great example of what I tend to call an outer story, an element I love when done right (the search for the One Piece is also what I call an outer story - it is rarely mentioned, but its still central to the entire series)
I like Cricket. He isn't searching for gold, but rather trying to make up with a man who has been dead for centuries and his lineage as a whole. At first I thought he was an ass, but over time you got to respect him more and more. I especially like his relationship with the monkey brothers.
Loathe Can't come up with anything specific. Maybe if I re-read the arc.
4/5 - can't say I love him, but there is nothing bad about him either.
Love: He was badass and his dedication to find the truth about his ancestor was really awesome.
Loathe: But aside from that there wasn't much to him. It was Norland who starred the great emotional flashback. Honestly I liked Mashira more than Cricket. At least he had couple of funny scenes. :ermm:
Overall: 3/5
**Montblanc Cricket
Love:** His determination to find the island that Norland couldn't. I felt bad for the guy. The end of Skypea was a nice touch when he heard the bell ring. He was also friends with monkeys, or people that looked like monkeys.
Loathe: He was forgettable. I had trouble coming up with a love because I hardly remembered anything about the guy.
3.5/5
Love: The idea of him as a descendant of Norland and such was great; he had his own personality, he had a lot of integrity, pretty much all positives. The scene where luffy rings the Ox bell and Cricket looks up is one of my favourites of all time.
Loathe: If he had a few more scenes to develop and actually "do something" - not that he wasn't great, just that he didn't do anything major overall.
Overall: 4/5
Love: I found his story arc touching. The guy gave up his own dreams to pursue his ancestor's – a tremendous sacrifice for a freedom-loving pirate.
Loathe: He wasn't particularly interesting, I'm afraid, or even that original. Similar expressions of the same archetype exist in other manga, and while Cricket DOES have characteristic One Piece design, I can't say that he ever stood out to me otherwise. He was primarily there as Mr. Exposition, and while that fact was well-concealed, a reader was bound to recognize it sooner or later. Once that happened, every one of his speech bubbles might as well have come with a footnote reading: *Hey guys! Pay attention to this, because you're going to need it an arc or two from now! – Oda.
3.5/5
Love: them feels
Loathe: he should have moved on with his life instead of ruining it to clear the name of his ancestor. while it added drama, it was just a poor life choice, he could have dedicated his time to becoming so great that his name would overshadow the shame of the past.
"The living should never be used to serve the purposes of the dead. But the dead should, if possible, serve the purposes of the living."
2.5/5
Love: His level of determination, in any capacity. Also his sense of humor - he MUST have one if he built that cardboard cutout of a palace.
Loathe: Honestly, he felt like he was just a plot device, either providing exposition or giving Luffy a reason to do something. There was just never any real emotional connection to Montblanc Cricket's personality, such that, while I can remember what he said to the crew, I can't remember how he actually said it. In addition his "personal" goals consisted of him spending countless years attempting to validate the existence of someone else. His entire life just feels somewhat shallow in the sense that he's just a shadow of his ancestor, and that's what he strives to be. In the words of Griffith, "It is my perception that a true friend never relies on another's dream. A person with the potential to be my true friend must be able to find his reason for life without my help". It's not the same situation but I believe it still applies.
Overall: 1.5/5
Side note: I'm not saying Noland's arc or the theme of this part of the story was bad in the slightest, just that this man's role in it, while serving a purpose (without him we wouldn't have seen Bellamy get beat up, the Straw Hats never would have made it to Skypiea, and we never would have gotten the unforgettable "It's been in the sky!" scene), just made him out to be a bad character.
Love: We need more pirates like him
Loathe: He can't show how much the Montblanc name is worth.
2/5
love: the way MAN screams out of him, also helping the SH on thier journey to the sky, also the fact that he was the one who brought up the "man's romance" and ofc the AMAZING ancestor who's story touched my heart.
loathe: he was shown to be quit strong when fighting sanji but lost easily to bellamy when he was still a noob.
3.5/5
Love: He is a true romantic. Willing to dedicate his whole life in trying to achieve his dreams.
Loathe: Not very bright. Not very interesting. Not very strong. Although that did lead to a great scene where Luffy one shots Bellamy.
2.5/5
Cricket's Arlong Park Evaluation 
What you loved:
Favorite comment goes to KageKageKing:
"Love: We need more pirates like him"
–-------------
What you loathed:
Favorite comment goes to Tangaroa (because this was a cool bit of trivia that I didn't know):
"Loathe: That it had to be explained to me that Noland's chestnut do represented a dessert in Japanese culture. So he was wearing hair mousse. That's a terrible pun to play."
Finally,the poll! With 12 votes, Cricket's average score is…3.21!
Thanks to all that responded! I will post my next pick later on today. Here's the HINT: Our next character left a frighteningly giant impression.
Until then.
read.
I'm gonna go with… Saul.
16 chars of God Enel.
I'm putting my money on Oars
EDIT: Or could it be… Giant Jack? :ninja:
Love & Loathe #34 Let's get our first-giant on! It's time to evaluate: Oars (The Continent Puller) 
MEAT!...Here's the deal: We are looking to hyper-critique a character to try and pinpoint what makes them great and what makes them terrible. After enough people respond, I will organize what are the best and worst traits of the character, and compile an evaluation post later. Also,don't worry if you have the same answers as others,the point is to figure out a common denominator for the character.
So the two questions for you are:
What one thing do you consistently love about Oars?
What one thing do you consistently loathe about Oars?
And give Oars a rating of between 1 and 5, with 5 being the highest(.5's are acceptable - ex. 1.5 or 4.5). I will tally these.
**This will be a 24 hour evaluation.
Enjoy.
Who called it? This guy! 
Alright, Oars.
Love: He had Luffys shadow, which gave him common traits of Luffy. This was honestly hilarious. He always wanted meat, he kept calling Sogeking "stylish hero" and couldn't tell the difference between Sanji and his wanted poster. And he wanted to be the pirate king. On top of all that, he made for a great team fight, which we haven't really gotten throughout the series. Made for a lot of nice combo moves.
Loathe: Can't really say I necessarily disliked anything about him as a character.
4.5/5
City_lights31: I don't know if that's really trivia or an intended translation, but it was still an awful pun 
Love: His orgish appearance and Luffy's personality and voice were a hilarious contrast! 
And it was nice for Straw Hats to have strategic team battle for once.
Loathe: Nothing in particular.
Overall: 4/5
Love
Seeing Luffy's personality stuck inside a gigantic powerhouse of destruction was downright hilarious and frightening, and made for one of the most interesting villains in the series. Gigantic bosses aren't very common, but when we DID get one it didn't disappoint. I loved the fight, and how every member of the strawhats had to cooperate and help each other. It was truly a fight between Monster vs Crew.
But taking away the whole shadow debacle, and we're left with one of the most mysterious characters in the series. His cause of death got a laugh from me, but we still don't know about just WHAT he is. An unusually big giant with a few different features? A different species of giant, clearly separated from the others we've seen? What did he do during his lifetime, are there more giants like him, what about his family, how did the world look back then… There are many questions that we never got the answer to, and I'm not sure we'll ever get them, but I like that. Thinking back at Thriller Bark, it really felt like an arc that asked more question than we got answers.
Loathe
Well, technically we're mostly evaluating Luffy's shadow, not Oars. So its hard to come up with a consistent loathe.
I''ll give him 4.5/5 because he was a very memorable arc boss.
Love: GIANT, first time Oda realy took the fight into a group effort.
The fact that he had Luffy's shadow made him an interesting and funny opponent even more with the birth of tactic 15 "docking" :wub: the combination of Moria for the brain made this a fight that i still love to go back to and watch over many times.
truly the title "devil" fits him.
loathe: Not something that i can put my finger on, just that we dont know anything about his past. But i have the impression that with Oars jr. we will learn about that species more in the future.
(Also side note not the mangaka's fault but there have been so many diffrent variations of his name in all the diffrent translations that its hard to know his real name. Back in the times that thriller bark came out i remember calling him Oz, its the way japanese works i guess. {My little sister still call Zoro "Lolonoa Zolo} lol)
a 4/5 for a great team fight.
Love: He is by far the best Giant of the entire series to the point to have entirely overshadowed(Literally) the main arc antagonist, Moriah. It was also become better since he got Luffy's traits specially the fetish for robots.
Loathe: We may never see him again.
4/5
