One Piece Analysis: Pros and Cons of Individual Arcs

[hosemisnuba]

The arc structure of One Piece, though at times repetitive and dull, is core to the over arching story. With each arc, there are both flaws and strengths and with each arc, something is added to the story. So here's the scoop; in tribute to City Light's love and loathe thread regarding One Piece Character analysis, I have created a thread where the forum analyzes the positives and negatives (and neutrals) of each Arc in One Piece Story. Unlike Love and Loathe, the object (the arc in this case) being spotlighted in the thread will be done so chronologically, meaning the arcs featured with be featured in chronological order.

Now that's settled, let's begin. First we will be analyzing the first arc of One Piece, Captain Morgan's arc. This includes: Luffy's Flashback, Alvida's shenanigans, and Captain's Morgan Arc. Please list the pros and cons of the arc, in addition to the arc overall purpose in the story as a whole. Please enjoy. I'm sure the whole forum is eager to hear your opinions. Also to go along with the Love and Loathe give a rating from 1-10 for the whole arc.

[springsring]

Oda was still rough around the edges when he did Captain Morgan which is expected at the beginning of a serialization so it obviously wasn't going to be as exciting as later arcs in the series but it did serve it's purpose in the overall narrative and it did a good job of establishing what makes Luffy tick when it comes to dreams through his interactions with Coby (who for some people in this arc was annoying but I actually enjoyed) and at setting up Zoro's character despite his lack luster flashback. I enjoyed the way that Oda humanized the Marines at the base as victims of Morgan's tyranny who were really good guy's and the contrast Oda set up with Luffy, Zoro and "Justice" which would carry on to be one of the biggest themes in the manga which was one of the reason's I liked Coby's moral dilemma. Morgan was a delightful overcompensating overly evil villain and his relationship with Helmeppo showed that this is the type of person that the world government fosters with their corruption and i'm glad that he reformed. All in all I enjoyed it, certainly more than the next arc and it's one of the most nostalgic in the series.
Also the first example of Luffy saying because i'm a rubberman which is an automatic win.

[Zar]

Well then, its been so long since I read it so this'll be from memory

Pros As an introductionary arc, I think it did fine. I still LOVE that Coby of all people was the first to meet Luffy. Not Nami, not Zoro, but Coby. It adds a special kind fo sentimental touch, somehow, and secures his place in the story as somebody important. Because even if he's not all that active, he was amongst the first characters we readers met, and that is enough to make him memorable. Same goes for Alvida.

Speaking of the Iron Club, Alvida was one of the first characters that really stood out for me when I started reading. Back when I still hadn't gotten used to Oda's style, she was one of the stranger characters. Its a shame we haven't seen more of her (granted, I'm glad she reappeared at all).

Then there is of course also the matter of Luffy's introduction. I could go on about different ways to make the beginning, but starting a story is really, really hard and Oda did an excellent take on it. Especially the moment with Shanks putting the hat on Luffy, thats legendary. Zoro was also fun. By todays standards he would probably seem a little shallow back then - his flashback didn't even last a chapter, did it? But at the same time, I kinda like that not everything was revealed at once. His character wasn't done and over, it was only beginning.

Lastly, Helmeppo was like the protoype Spandam and did a fine job. Morgan was a little boring, but for such a short arc that works well.

Cons
Its hard to rat on this arc since it is the first. Back then we didn't have any expectations, we didn't know the characters… the world was vast and open and its hard to judge the series based on what little we knew. Granted, it could maybe have been a little more exciting, but I find it hard to do that without taking away from the overall story.

Favorite Moments

• The very first page with Roger's Speech
• Shanks giving Luffy his hat
• Luffy and his barrel
• Zoro eating the crushed Rice Balls
• Luffy ruining Morgan's Statue
• The revelation of Zoro's fighting style
• The marines celebrating Morgan's fall
• The salute for the straw hats

Final Thoughts

• It was nice going through the arc again, if only for how lighthearted it was
• Love how it so easily set the tone for the rest of the series and the grey line between good and evil.
• Back when three swords was the coolest thing I had ever seen…
• …and when I was still weirded out by Luffy's powers. Good times.

[Ned_Gutters]

Pros: Established that Luffy and Zoro don't care about societal attributions of good and evil
Established that not all marines are "good" and not all pirates are "evil."
Morgan's Devil Fruit explanation is interesting - if you look at the "cross" of devil fruits that shows up in that arc, the one dead center is the yami yami no mi, the one underneath it is gomu gomu no mi, and the rest are generic/identical.

Cons:
This may be unfair, but we haven't seen morgan in a while, and when we do I don't think we can expect very much of him.
Overall:
This arc is a setup for the show, of course; it establishes the moral system of the show, introduces some key elements of one piece (including the role of friendship, and the related morality of the strawhats), and showcases Luffy and Zoro's skills, and Luffy, Zoro, and Coby's wills. Good arc.

[Clessenur]

That fruit on the center is Bara Bara no mi, I don't think the animation team even knew about Yami Yami no mi at the time.

Only con with early chapter to me is the art, there is lots of pages without backgrounds.

[Ned_Gutters]

@Clessenur:

That fruit on the center is Bara Bara no mi, I don't think the animation team even knew about Yami Yami no mi at the time.

Only con with early chapter to me is the art, there is lots of pages without backgrounds.

Damn - still neat though!

[Siranime]

PROS:
+It is an excellent beginning arc that sets many of the serie's themes:The love for adventure,the grey morality(The fact that pirates are not always evil and that the Navy is not always moral).
+We already understand that it is going to be a very expansive and open-ended world.
+It is not too hard to figure out that even from this point we will get to see many different fighting styles(This means that we will always have fun looking forward to new fighting styles,weapons,Devil Fruits and that things on the battle side won't get repetitive).Speaking of Devil Fruits…
+Devil Fruits already seem to be an interesting concept and something to look forward to.+-Luffy's fighting style suits his personality perfectly and Zoro's is badass and original(3 swords!)
+The character dynamics between Luffy and Shanks and his crew.
+Coby's characterization throughout the arc.
+Already gives the feeling that there will be a good balance of comedy,drama,adventure,moral messages,exposition and fighting.
+The first chapter and everything that took place in it.Quite possibly the best first chapter of a manga ever and definitly my personal favourite.
+It can be understood that characters that will be introduced the series will have completely personal and unique characterizations.
+Zoro's backstory and characterization.
+The concept of dreams that is introduced and subtly established(Important significance given in later arcs).
+Higuma and Morgan are pretty good starter villains.
+Morgan fits with the theme of his mini arc perfectly.
+The art is personal,unique and fits perfectly to the story.
+The story is interesting and already addictive.
+The foreshadowing and especially the fact that Haki is already introduced(Already shows that it will play an important role later on).
+The early appearances of Nami in the anime version was a good thing in my opinion and one of the best decisions the anime staff has ever made.

CONS:
-Despite what I've written earlier,Coby can get pretty annoying,pretty quick for less tolerant audiences.
-Some people may not like Luffy's and/or Zoro's fighting style(Finding the former goofy and,regarding the latter, scratching their heads about the sword in the mouth,asking ''how is that possible".
-Dialogue sometimes gets repetitive in this arc(Repetitive and bland dialogue is a common problem in early One Piece).
-Helmeppo is incredibly annoying and without redeeming qualities.He should have been given more characterization.
-Same applies to Alvida,but to a far lesser extent.
-It is already obvious that many women take a secondary role and less screentime or importance than males.
-Backgrounds are lacking at this point(Not a big problem however,as we're still in the beginning of the story).
-Art style may require time to get used to.
-The fact that Luffy stabbing himself in order to convince Shanks to let him join the crew and Luffy Gomu-Gomu no Pistol-ing the Lord of the Coast,while setting out to become a pirate after 10 years are removed from the anime version.

NEUTRAL(Trivia that do not contribute to the score,but interesting to mention):
*Pales in comparison to what comes next and some people may feel it already.Thus some enjoyment may be lost.
*Some people who expected a pure pirate story,similar to the classic ones,from the pirate dialect,down to the clothing and the appearance,may be put off.
*The same applies to those who turned on it forthe battles,since it is a shounen manga.

Total score:7/10

Please remember that this is only MY PERSONAL opinion and nothing in intended to be taken as undisputed fact.Feel free to agree or disagree on my points.

[springsring]

@hosemisnuba:

What are your thoughts?

[hosemisnuba]

@springsring:

What are your thoughts?

Captain Morgan's arc, though simple in comparison to the latter arc, presents a swell intro to One Piece as whole. Pros:-Introduces the grey morality that has enrapt me, and many others, into the series, with Morgan's corruption and Luffy's good pirate role- Shank's relationship with Luffy, core to the story, is well developed, and gives good development to Luffy's motivation to be a pirate and Shank's overarching role in the series as a role model- Luffy deflecting the bullets, and saying he is rubber is a high light of the arc- Love the turn the other cheek, except if you hurt my friends lesson that Luffy learns from Shank's. It really explains Luffy's character.Cons- Higuma and Alvida are shallow villains- Coby is annoying as hell (still don't like him)- Art style is noticeably offputting to a first time reader- Zorro is meh, and remains rather meh, but Luffy desire to put him into his crew is rather enjoyable.Honestly, Siranime gave a good description of my feeling about the arc, so bravo to him. Anyways, I'm waiting till the thread reaches like 15 post to post a verdict about the forum's feelings about the arc. Edit: Can't press enter on this wfi. By the way, I give the arc about a 7.

[Siranime]

@hosemisnuba:

Captain Morgan's arc, though simple in comparison to the latter arc, presents a swell intro to One Piece as whole. Pros:-Introduces the grey morality that has enrapt me, and many others, into the series, with Morgan's corruption and Luffy's good pirate role- Shank's relationship with Luffy, core to the story, is well developed, and gives good development to Luffy's motivation to be a pirate and Shank's overarching role in the series as a role model- Luffy deflecting the bullets, and saying he is rubber is a high light of the arc- Love the turn the other cheek, except if you hurt my friends lesson that Luffy learns from Shank's. It really explains Luffy's character.Cons- Higuma and Alvida are shallow villains- Coby is annoying as hell (still don't like him)- Art style is noticeably offputting to a first time reader- Zorro is meh, and remains rather meh, but Luffy desire to put him into his crew is rather enjoyable.Honestly, Siranime gave a good description of my feeling about the arc, so bravo to him. Anyways, I'm waiting till the thread reaches like 15 post to post a verdict about the forum's feelings about the arc. Edit: Can't press enter on this wfi. By the way, I give the arc about a 7.

Thank you very much!I really love such types of analysis and I'm eagerly waiting for the next arcs!This has already become my favourite thread of this forum.