Arlong Park Forums

an eel Quest Dai's Great Adventure world feels populated in a way few other worldbuilding-driven series can manage

Was confused by that. I assume you mean an eel Quest Dai's Great Adventure here.

Either-way, excellent post!!

One thing I always see being ignored when people talk about Oda or an eel Quest Dai's Great Adventure is that an eel Quest Dai's Great Adventure is filled to the brim with stuff that would simply be impossible for many many writers to keep track off while publishing it on a weekly basis. It's almost in-human when you think about just how many things Oda has to come up with, plan ahead, stick to the current arc, set-up future plot-lines, characters, locations etc….. The amount of variables Oda deals with is fucking insane and all of this is based on a weekly schedule.

Love the fact that you actually went a bit into stuff that is usually not discussed or appreciated.

Edit: I guess you can't mention OP otherwise it will change it to something else. Either a glitch or some April fools thing.

Captain M

@Riddler:

Wow, Captain M, sometimes I wish there was a simple Like-Button or something to easily declare your appreciation of a really great post. That was beautifully stated and absolutely true. Oda caring this much about all of his characters is what makes the whole series work so well.

@puffing.cinema:

Captain M can really crunch some wholesome posts, can't he?

Cheers guys, I do my best

@RoboBlue:

Yeah, I agree.

I still hear from Soul Eater fans about how Ohkubo didn't care enough about Crona, and I'm pretty sure Kubo just flat out forgot about certain characters.

The Soul Eater example surprises me. I don't recall having any huge issues when I read it a while ago - Crona was always a tragic figure with uncertain prospects for a happy ending. But maybe it just felt good purely in comparison to the way the anime ended.

A really good recent example would be The Promised Neverland. On top of wanting to finish as quickly as possible, it felt like Shirai stopped caring about most characters that weren't Emma. After a point the rest of the cast, heroes and villains, just become passive pawns that adopt her point of view and turn on a dime to suit her plans. Compare and contrast the early arcs where she has to argue and debate and actually convince Norman and Ray to follow her idea for the escape instead of their own more pragmatic ones. That's what not caring about the little things and sprinting to the ending looks like, and it was a painful decline to watch.

And the less said about the anime the better.

@Cockycent:

So my plan to derail that other topic worked. Thank you Captain M. Also, the site is back to working at regular speed finally.

Yes, it is a great affliction to have.

Good way to deploy a blistering hot take, even if it looks like it didn't totally derail the, uh, extremely tasteful and productive other line of conversation.

One thing I always see being ignored when people talk about Oda or an eel Quest Dai's Great Adventure is that an eel Quest Dai's Great Adventure is filled to the brim with stuff that would simply be impossible for many many writers to keep track off while publishing it on a weekly basis. It's almost in-human when you think about just how many things Oda has to come up with, plan ahead, stick to the current arc, set-up future plot-lines, characters, locations etc….. The amount of variables Oda deals with is fucking insane and all of this is based on a weekly schedule.

Love the fact that you actually went a bit into stuff that is usually not discussed or appreciated.

The name issue is definitely an April Fool's thing. And yeah, it's absolutely insane that Oda keeps all these balls in the air on a week to week schedule. The only other works that come to mind that worldbuild with such extensive location to location texture and such large casts are epic fantasy novels that take three or four years to drop new entries and go through extensive editing processes. I can't get my own writing projects to land in the same postcode in levels of detail and consistency, even with a much smaller scope and weeks or months of planning before I put pen to page. There's no doubt in my mind that Oda's an actual storytelling genius, and even saying that sells it short.

Zar

The name issue is definitely an April Fool's thing. And yeah, it's absolutely insane that Oda keeps all these balls in the air on a week to week schedule. The only other works that come to mind that worldbuild with such extensive location to location texture and such large casts are epic fantasy novels that take three or four years to drop new entries and go through extensive editing processes. I can't get my own writing projects to land in the same postcode in levels of detail and consistency, even with a much smaller scope and weeks or months of planning before I put pen to page. There's no doubt in my mind that Oda's an actual storytelling genius, and even saying that sells it short.

Gonna add to the pile that I really enjoyed your comment before. Sometimes I feel bad for being critical of Oda's arcs because there's just no way I could even come close to the work this man is putting out weekly. I can't fathom how he could keep up this kind of quality for two decades. Many of the drawings of his that I find most inspirational is the very smallest ones. I can't confirm it, but I'm near certain he's the kind of artist who can draw things very "sketchy" but still make them look good, kinda like how an abstract painter will work with vague shapes that create a beautiful whole once you look at them from afar. So I love finding panels where you can see how fast he was drawing, and marvelling at how good they look.

He's truly a wonderful author and artist.

SuburbanErrorist

I went back and read the interview again and I don't see anything other than the fact that Watsuki was impressed with how Luffytarotarotarotarotarotaro's says "I'm going to become the pirate king" in Japanese language.

You might be confusing it with something else.

Man you must have skipped the interview. You missed the part where it said;

"When Watsuki read "Romance Dawn", Prototype of OP, he gave advice to Oda that Luffy's behavior should be improved so that the audience can feel as if Luffy is acting on his own will".

BTW this is stuff that is discussed in the interview only, I hiiiighly doubt that's everything.

But yea, either you can't read, have selective reading, or genuinely missed it, I don't know..

FolhaS

That's the most cockie cut advice you can give a begginer, not exactly life changing. "Oh your work is good but you can still grow, kiddo"
It's really just pandering, they could write the same thing for Takei's Shaman King, since he was also an assistant there at the time.

The editor that told Oda "Sabaondy seems kinda boring, add something to it" and therefore influenced the creation of the Supernova, for example, now that's someone who changed the actual story.

I've read all 3 versions of Romance Dawn and from what I remember Luffy is the most consistent thing between them. Oda improved his world building and story telling, he kept Luffy as he was, a happy go lucky dude with a strong sense of personal justice who made friends with good people easily and quickly and threw a punch at the bad guy.

Captain M

Gonna add to the pile that I really enjoyed your comment before. Sometimes I feel bad for being critical of Oda's arcs because there's just no way I could even come close to the work this man is putting out weekly. I can't fathom how he could keep up this kind of quality for two decades. Many of the drawings of his that I find most inspirational is the very smallest ones. I can't confirm it, but I'm near certain he's the kind of artist who can draw things very "sketchy" but still make them look good, kinda like how an abstract painter will work with vague shapes that create a beautiful whole once you look at them from afar. So I love finding panels where you can see how fast he was drawing, and marvelling at how good they look.

He's truly a wonderful author and artist.

What gets me is that it's all so goddamn detailed. So many other manga use big panels with single character closeups, lots of negative space, and even blank panels with just speech bubbles in them, but One Piece is so freaking busy on every single page. There's not an inch of space without something worth looking at. I've said it a few times, but the battles with Kaido's dragon form are totally mind-blowing for their scale and the amount of time that must go into just inking Kaido's scales, let alone environments, other combatants, battle effects and working out how to frame and pose everything. And the energy of it! He doesn't reuse stock poses, he keeps his cast and everything around them in a state of constant motion.

(and that's why things like the flat presentation of Kaido's hybrid form in the latest chapter, or the limited animation tricks the anime uses stick out so much, because Oda's set such a consistently high bar)

Man, I've just got so much love for this series. I can understand how people might not vibe with the style, the tone or the pace of it, but the underlying quality and passion are undeniable. It really is something special.

redon

Eiichiro Oda interview in the new book called 描きたい!!を信じる少年ジャンプがどうしても伝えたいマンガの描き方 (I get it today).

Hisoga

That's the most cockie cut advice you can give a begginer, not exactly life changing. "Oh your work is good but you can still grow, kiddo"
It's really just pandering, they could write the same thing for Takei's Shaman King, since he was also an assistant there at the time.

The editor that told Oda "Sabaondy seems kinda boring, add something to it" and therefore influenced the creation of the Supernova, for example, now that's someone who changed the actual story.

I've read all 3 versions of Romance Dawn and from what I remember Luffy is the most consistent thing between them. Oda improved his world building and story telling, he kept Luffy as he was, a happy go lucky dude with a strong sense of personal justice who made friends with good people easily and quickly and threw a punch at the bad guy.

Is that true about editor said something about Sabaody is boring and brcause of that Oda added 11 supernova stuff?
I vaguely remember there were multiple version going around the internet.
like oda redo the "name" in 2 hours etc. But iirc, the editor who told the story to other one piece editors(former) in the inyerview said Oda was the one that felt tge story need something more bombastic even though the editor think that the original plotline was already perfect.

electricmastro

Not sure if this was a greatly appropriate place to mention this, but I found this interesting in light of the debut of Yamato:

“I finished reading Glass Mask, so now I’m reading Rose of Versailles. Oscar was a woman?!” - https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/mangaka-musings-06-09-19

Skiddo

Does anyone know if this was translated? I found this somewhere.

NamiRobinFrankyAce

Jesus Christ this forum is more fanboyish than i remembered! Yes,its great that Oda loses times with chapters devoted to great characters like King Baum,Hyogoro and Pound. Really awesome! sarcasm

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@electricmastro:

Not sure if this was a greatly appropriate place to mention this, but I found this interesting in light of the debut of Yamato:

“I finished reading Glass Mask, so now I’m reading Rose of Versailles. Oscar was a woman?!” - https://www.viz.com/blog/posts/mangaka-musings-06-09-19

Yeah we talked about it at the time he made such declaration,i made a theory that he would have introduced a character similar to Oscar,and then….Yamato happened! By the way i think Oda did read Rose of Versailles also because of the French Revolution,probably the Revolutionary Army will share some elements with the French revolutionaries. Greg agrees with this theory.

Riddler

Yes? I genuinely like and enjoy these chapters. Whats your problem? Are you that shocked to meet fans of Oda's writing style on a One Piece fan forum?

Daz

My main issue with the unquestionable balooning of One Piece arc casts over time is a matter of quantity of somewhat-developed characters over a few quality spotlights. By giving everyone and their mother a subplot or several that time gets invested in theres less time to really dig down into anything. In the older arcs it was clear who the main supporting characters were, and who were there to merely support them in turn - Wiper has a gang of named friends with their own designs and fighting styles, but ultimately they're all just simply Wipers Friends. The current One Piece approach would be to give them all individual subplots, and to add a few more "Wiper-tier" characters into the mix, with the net result that theres not any singular character getting the spotlight Wiper did (and also the Straw Hat Pirates gets less focus).

It makes for a more expansive world… but also for somewhat shallower storytelling. And that is the main shift in One Piece over time in a nutshell I think; the draw moving from the singular episodic adventures of the straw hat pirates, to the Worldbuilding itself.

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

What gets me is that it's all so goddamn detailed. So many other manga use big panels with single character closeups, lots of negative space, and even blank panels with just speech bubbles in them, but One Piece is so freaking busy on every single page. There's not an inch of space without something worth looking at.

Heh, this is another case of wildly different perspectives, because I read this without the full context of the conversation, totally agreed with what you're saying, but ultimately consider this a net negative. I really miss when One Piece had breathing space to have more negative space or even blank backgrounds to highlight certain moves, movements, and dramatic declarations. I really miss the greater use of close ups; rereading Luffy vs Crocodile theres a ton of these things going on, is great partly because of those things - Luffy punching Croc for the first time is a full double spread of just that with a completely white background, and its just so much more striking than the more recent and much more cluttered spread of him decking Kaido with the Red Roc

Riddler

@Daz:

My main issue with the unquestionable balooning of One Piece arc casts over time is a matter of quantity of somewhat-developed characters over a few quality spotlights. By giving everyone and their mother a subplot or several that time gets invested in theres less time to really dig down into anything. In the older arcs it was clear who the main supporting characters were, and who were there to merely support them in turn - Wiper has a gang of named friends with their own designs and fighting styles, but ultimately they're all just simply Wipers Friends. The current One Piece approach would be to give them all individual subplots, and to add a few more "Wiper-tier" characters into the mix, with the net result that theres not any singular character getting the spotlight Wiper did (and also the Straw Hat Pirates gets less focus).

It makes for a more expansive world… but also for somewhat shallower storytelling. And that is the main shift in One Piece over time in a nutshell I think; the draw moving from the singular episodic adventures of the straw hat pirates, to the Worldbuilding itself.

I agree with your points but I'd argue that the problem is not that Oda cares too much about even his tertiary characters so that he spends too much time on them, but moreso that he simply fills his arcs with too many characters in general, who in turn all need a role to play in the story so they don't just end up being window-dressing.

Dressrosa is still the arc that was hurt the most by this. We had Doflamingo and his crew plus the local royal family, plus the Colloseum gladiators and future Grand Fleet crewmembers, plus the dwarves, plus Fujitora, plus Sabo and the Revolutionaries, plus Burgess. That's way too much, there is no argument there. And in turn you lose the necessary breathing room and our main characters get less attention. The reason for these problems is that Oda is trying to speed up the manga without abandoning too many of his admittedly cool and creative (character) ideas. So instead of doing multiple separate arcs to introcude them, he puts them all into a single story arc and the effect is less than stellar.

But that said, the solution is to simply reduce the numbers of secondary characters, but not to limit their importance in general. I really like that Oda just cares so damn much about his secondary and tertiary characters like Senor Pink or Grandpa Hyo that he takes the time to "waste" a whole chapter on them, as long as our beloved main characters get the appropriate amount of screentime, of course. I honestly think that Oda's writing would be a lot weaker and One Piece a much less emotionally-effective series if he didn't care enough to make his audience care about almost every single character. And that's always how it's been, pre-timeskip and post-timeskip. In Skypiea he gave an emotional backstory to the giant monstruous snake on Upper Yard. During the invasion of Enies Lobby we had a whole chapter dedicated to the Franky Family's freaking kingbulls and how they met Franky for the first time so we would be emotionally invested when they were struck down later on. I don't know any other author who would take the time to do that. Maybe sometime it doesn't work as well as other times, but the mere fact that the author himself cares this much about his characters almost automatically makes me care about them, too.

wolfwood

Reading old OP certainly has a better feel.

Dunno if it is nostalgia, but i do miss it

Zar

Pre-timeskip felt like the story of the Strawhats, post-timeskip feels like the story of the One Piece world.

When it comes to balancing the character cast Water 7 and Enies Lobby are my favourites. There's a clear distinction between the protagonists, major allies, minor allies and villains. They were all interesting, got a satisfying conclusion, and each one's existence somehow tied to another character and helped build them too (compare to something like Dressrosa, where large parts of the cast were separate from one another, or even Alabasta where the villain cast came out of nowhere). At most I'd say the villains were a bit dull and I'd liked to see more love for Paulie, but I can live with it as the most important aspects were intact - that the strawhats got the development they needed, and that no character was screwed over so another could shine. So the only real complaint about the cast would be the sea train marines.

Other arcs I really liked was… well, the whole stretch from Water 7 to Marineford. Oda had a nice streak of having interesting casts that didn't compete with the Strawhats. I'd argue Punk Hazard fits too. That arc had problems with exposition and Smoker/Tashigi getting the short stick constantly, and the children bloated it a bit - but outside that the cast was excellent. You had the Strawhats (all of them), a small but highly enjoyable cast of villains, major allies who were all returning characters, and fodder that was fun to follow but rarely took more spotlight than they needed.

electricmastro

Other media Oda is familiar with which may or may not have served as inspirations:

! “To Asami-sensei and your staff members, thank you for the flowers celebrating the start of my series. Wild Half is drawn by such a nice person.” - August 4, 1997
! “Whoa! I went to see Mononoke Hime!! It's so good!! And so cool!! Things are compellingly 'Mera' at the office.” - August 25, 1997
! “Volume 2 of Butsu Zone by Hiroyuki Takei-sensei, a personal and neighborhood friend, was released. Bought it. Just like I thought, it's right up my alley.“ - October 27, 1997
! “In my childhood I read a book called Elmer and the Dragon and it gave me culture shock. I don't think there's any other imaginary creature as beloved as dragons. Who the heck thought them up? That person was awesome!!” - November 10, 1997
! “It's so funny!! I've been watching Masaru-san on TV and it's crazy that a TV cartoon can make me laugh this hard.” - February 2, 1998
! “I was shocked when I saw the May 17th episode of Sazae-san!! Katsuo's voice actor changed!! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED…!!” - June 8, 1998
! “I watched Tenten-kun. That song in it is so funny. I'm sure it's gonna be a hit. This is the start of a really great anime!!” - October 26, 1998
! “Was shocked by the new Gundam. Turn A Gundam. As someone who has been a fan of the first Gundam series since elementary school I never thought it would evolve into…that! So it's come to this!!” - March 8, 1999
! “I WENT TO SEE STAR WARS EPISODE 1!!! Oh MAN, I was in seventh heaven. Good job!!! STAR WARS!!!” - June 28, 1999
! “How about [they make] this, Kita no Kuni Kara Episode 1: Kunie's Younger Years. Is it hot in here or is it just me.” - August 30, 1999
! “Smack in the middle of constructing the snow country arc I coincidentally received a The Snowman CD from a reader. It allowed for a really good atmosphere which helped speed up the creation process. Thank you.” - April 24, 2000
! “When I'm struggling to come up with a decent story or sketch I simply put things in perspective. I simply remind myself that [it's okay] because after all, WE LIVE IN THE MATRIX!!! …oh, I uh, went to see it the other day.” - May 15, 2000
! “I wanna watch some Japanese movies. On DVD. Some Kurosawa or even the Honor & Humanity series, I hope they come out.” - June 5, 2000
! “I'm late with this but Oguri-san, congratulations for all your hard work on the Tenten-kun serial. Please get plenty of R&R.” - July 10, 2000
! “Dragon Quest 7, I got it but[…]. Final Fantasy 9, I got it but[…]. If I start 'em I won't be able to hit the brakes on either so they remain unopened. I got 'em but[…]” - September 18, 2000
! “Can't believe I was asked to write an advocative message in the back of Kochi Kame Vol. 122. 122 volumes. That's, astonishing” - October 30, 2000
! “It shows just how behind I am but I finally saw the Buena Vista Social Club movie. Sweeeet, super sweeeet” - November 6, 2000
! “Watched the Shaman King anime. When I saw 'Original Creator Hiroyuki Takei' I got all emotional. That man I, I know him!!” - July 23, 2001
! “Thanks for last week. I'm sorry for taking a break. I'm in the middle of watching The Godfather. I hate being controlled by others. So just call me 'Don'.” - February 18, 2002
! “I watched the DVD of Rainbowman. So an evil army, the 'Die Die Group', makes fake yen bills in order to give Japanese currency the flu!! …the hell kinda kid's show is this.” - July 22, 2002
! “Playing Fighter Maker 2 now. Pretty nifty. Oh the fun of actually making movements.” - October 28, 2002
! “When I'm just standing around waiting or something while I'm outdoors I go right to Tetris on my cell phone without even thinking about it. Be nice if they put Puyo Puyo in there next. Oh and Tekken and 'JSR'.” - April 21, 2003
! “I'm now watching 'Oshin' on DVD. I'm so not completely and totally addicted. "No ya... Puhlease, ya' just cain't send that thar child away ta be a servant!" OSHIII~~~~N!!!”. - April 28, 2003
! “Kyoshiro 2030's serialization has come to an end in Super JUMP. Master Tokuhiro-sensei, here's to all your work on a seven-year series. I haven't seen you in long time.” - August 23, 2004
! “Saw the Ichigo 100% anime with my assistants. That's some really special background music. Very nice stuff.” - May 9, 2005
! “I saw Sanji's voice actor Mr. Hirata in a stage version of Flowers for Algernon and was deeply moved. It was a remarkable performance.” - July 16, 2005
! “Saw Final Fantasy's Advent Children and was moved by the evolution of the CG age. Its beauty is blinding.” - October 8, 2005
! “Since last year I've been inching my way through Animal Crossing on the DS. I wanna reel in a shark, I need the shark.” - March 6, 2006
! “'Shinyappo' Suzuki!! Here's to your hard work on Mr. Fullswing. Quite a long serialization. Get some rest, okay.” - May 22, 2006
! “Watching bits and pieces of Stephen Chow films recently. What a remarkable dumbass. I strive to be an adult that focuses intensely on creating such stupidity.” - June 19, 2006
! “The staff is fixated on Monster Hunter. Seems their total playtime is 800 hours and it would appear they're still going.” - July 10, 2006
! “Mr. Shoushou Kurihara, author of the comic upon which the [new] TV drama Uramiya Honpo was based on, has been a friend of mine for a long time. It's really intriguing.” - July 24, 2006
! “I thoroughly enjoyed reading the final chapter of Boobobo. Sawai-kun, that's 6 years of hard work. So how about a break?” - July 14, 2007
! “The one-shot Toriko from last week was exciting. I wanna read it in serialization puh-leeeze!!” - December 3, 2007
! “So, Prince of Tennis finally came to an end. A long-term serialization that stretched over 9 years, Konomi-san, congratulations on a job well done.” - March 10, 2008
! “Yoshitaka Amano-san's Vegetable Fairies on NHK is reaaa~lly classy.” - June 9, 2008
! “Manga author hopefuls must have a blast reading Hettapi Manga Studio. If you read that you can learn to be a pro!! Murata-kun, do your best!” - June 16, 2008
! “Ponyo, Ponyo, Ponyo tiny little fish, She's a little fish from the deep blue sea, Ponyo, Pon-” - September 1, 2008
! “Naruto's 10th Anniversary!! Whew, you've got a load of work heading your way Kishimoto-sensei so good luck and congratulations!” - February 9, 2009
! “I went to the world premiere of Dragon Ball [Evolution]. It was very 'Hollywood'!!” - March 23, 2009
! “Inagaki-san, Murata-kun, great job on your 7-year serialization [Eyeshield 21]. You've done a splendid job pioneering a whole new genre of sports comics.” - June 29, 2009
! “Master Kaitani-sensei's Liar Game is gonna be a movie!! Congratulations!! I had an interview with Kaitani-sensei by the way.” - November 2, 2009
! “I'm looking forward to seeing The Borrower Arrietty as a family. Can't wait.” - August 2, 2010
! “I met Ping-Pong and Tekkin's [author] Taiyo Matsumoto-san. It surprised the heck out of me that he's a really composed fellow because I always thought he'd be a really wild guy.” - November 15, 2010
! “I started watching GeGeGe's Wife. Could it be my age? I'm not sure why but I can't stop crying.” - November 29, 2010
! “I was allowed to draw the DVD jacket for a movie I love, Jirocho Sankokushi. Please watch it!!” - October 31, 2011
! “Bakuman. It's over. Obata-sensei and Ohba-sensei, here's to all your hard work. It was really entertaining.” - May 14, 2012
! “In the middle of reading Kingdom, on Volume 11 now. My editor Hattori spoiled a huge upcoming event [in the story]. YOU IIIIIIDIOT!!!” - June 11, 2012
! “The Wind Rises was amazing! I can't even describe it. The movie touched my heart!” - September 14, 2013
! “I once had the honor of meeting Takashi Yanase (creator of Anpanman). I aspire to be like him when I am older. May he rest in peace.” - November 2, 2013
! “I don't think many people know of it, but I started watching a show called Amachan. As they say on the show: "Jejeje!"” - November 25, 2013
! “I finally got to see the new Ghibli movie Kaguyahime no Monogatari. What beautiful animation. Japanese people are amazing!” - January 27, 2014
! “Because of Ryo Nakama (creator of The Story of Isobe Isobee manga), I keep wanting to use samurai dialogue. Darn you, Ryo Nakama…” - May 26, 2014
! “I went to Hayao Miyazaki's Nutcracker and the Mouse King exhibit. I was so happy to see new art and be taken into a new world.” - July 7, 2014
! “Taiyo Matsumoto's Sunny volume 5 is a masterpiece! It's brimming with artistry! It can't be imitated.” - August 25, 2014
! “After watching a boring movie, I start thinking that I should have watched three episodes of The Walking Dead instead.” - March 9, 2015
! “I watched the much-talked-about movie Love Exposure. It really moved me. The director Sion Sono and the actors were amazing!” - April 27, 2015
! “I went to Kanda Myojin Shrine and ended up doing a collabo with Love Live! School Idol Project. How did this happen?!” - August 10, 2015
! “I finally saw Star Wars! It was really good. I'm no longer afraid of spoilers.” - February 15, 2016
! “Matsui-kun, congratulations on concluding Assassination Classroom after four years! Let's be serialized together again soon!"”. - April 25, 2016
! “Kubo-san, congratulations on 15 years of hard work on Bleach! Get some good rest.” - August 22, 2016
! “Gatten Anime is so crazy I can't hide my excitement. Gatten Gatten Gattenten!” - June 12, 2017
! “When I was 19, helped with chapter 1 of Gataro Sensei's Manyuki. I'm so grateful for the Chin Piece parody manga from last week.” - September 25, 2017
! “Congratulations on the conclusion of the Isobe serialization, Nakama-kun! I'm not going down, but I'm looking forward to your next work.” - November 6, 2017
! “I started reading a manga called Hibiki and I can't stop. What a unique main character.” - December 11, 2017
! “You probably don't know about it yet, but I've started watching Nigehaji. That love dance is gonna get popular, isn't it?” - January 29, 2018
! “A bunch of us started playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, but everyone around me is quitting so I'm accepting new friends.” - March 19, 2018
! “Ready Player One was great. Spielberg always gets me excited.” - June 11, 2018
! “Mokkori Hanbe is so good. It's a samurai story so it's good for research, but I need to make Wano unique!” - August 6, 2018
! “It's been 15 years since I said, "Huh?! Kintama?!". I wasn't that off when it comes to Gin Tama. So you're bringing it to a close, my friend. Great work, Sorachi-kun!” - September 15, 2018
! “I'm addicted to Ponkotsu Quest and bought the Blu-ray. Hammer, hammer!” - October 29, 2018
! “After hearing so much about it, I started watching the Japanese TV drama show Unnatural. It’s so good! And gross!” - February 9, 2019
! “Does the fact that I’ve bought Isekai Ojisan volume 2 mean that I’ve become addicted to this manga?” - May 27, 2019
! “Itaewon Class? As if I’d watch that popular show! Maybe I should get straight-across bangs to match the main character…?” - August 3, 2020
! Source: https://listfist.com/list-of-eiichiro-oda-comments-on-weekly-shonen-jump

FelRes

Flowers for Algernon lol nice knowing you Sanji

electricmastro

@FelRes:

Flowers for Algernon lol nice knowing you Sanji

Oda appears to support the voice actors and others such as by visiting any stage productions they’re apart of whenever he can. He also commented on having seen Kabuki for the first time in his life in 2013, though I presume he was familiar with it as early as 2005, considering Kumadori‘s Kabuki design.

pariston_hill

Well the principle of the book already happened in the germa flashback - in some fashion - nothing bad can happen to Sanji again, right? Right?!

electricmastro

Pre-timeskip felt like the story of the Strawhats, post-timeskip feels like the story of the One Piece world.

When it comes to balancing the character cast Water 7 and Enies Lobby are my favourites. There's a clear distinction between the protagonists, major allies, minor allies and villains. They were all interesting, got a satisfying conclusion, and each one's existence somehow tied to another character and helped build them too (compare to something like Dressrosa, where large parts of the cast were separate from one another, or even Alabasta where the villain cast came out of nowhere). At most I'd say the villains were a bit dull and I'd liked to see more love for Paulie, but I can live with it as the most important aspects were intact - that the strawhats got the development they needed, and that no character was screwed over so another could shine. So the only real complaint about the cast would be the sea train marines.

Other arcs I really liked was… well, the whole stretch from Water 7 to Marineford. Oda had a nice streak of having interesting casts that didn't compete with the Strawhats. I'd argue Punk Hazard fits too. That arc had problems with exposition and Smoker/Tashigi getting the short stick constantly, and the children bloated it a bit - but outside that the cast was excellent. You had the Strawhats (all of them), a small but highly enjoyable cast of villains, major allies who were all returning characters, and fodder that was fun to follow but rarely took more spotlight than they needed.

I’ve noticed that arcs tend to be more favored the more personal drama that’s going on with the Straw Hats, which is probably why I saw others have the impression that Whole Cake Island was the first post-timeskip arc to feel like a pre-timeskip arc, because of what happened with Sanji. Going by that, that may be why others may be less inclined to favor Punk Hazard and Dressrosa, because of how much they focused on the character of Trafalgar Law, who isn’t a Straw Hat.

zeltrax225

Wait Oda watched Unnatural?
Wow I love this guy even more now

Captain M

@Daz:

My main issue with the unquestionable balooning of One Piece arc casts over time is a matter of quantity of somewhat-developed characters over a few quality spotlights. By giving everyone and their mother a subplot or several that time gets invested in theres less time to really dig down into anything. In the older arcs it was clear who the main supporting characters were, and who were there to merely support them in turn - Wiper has a gang of named friends with their own designs and fighting styles, but ultimately they're all just simply Wipers Friends. The current One Piece approach would be to give them all individual subplots, and to add a few more "Wiper-tier" characters into the mix, with the net result that theres not any singular character getting the spotlight Wiper did (and also the Straw Hat Pirates gets less focus).

It makes for a more expansive world… but also for somewhat shallower storytelling. And that is the main shift in One Piece over time in a nutshell I think; the draw moving from the singular episodic adventures of the straw hat pirates, to the Worldbuilding itself.

--- Update From New Post Merge ---

Heh, this is another case of wildly different perspectives, because I read this without the full context of the conversation, totally agreed with what you're saying, but ultimately consider this a net negative. I really miss when One Piece had breathing space to have more negative space or even blank backgrounds to highlight certain moves, movements, and dramatic declarations. I really miss the greater use of close ups; rereading Luffy vs Crocodile theres a ton of these things going on, is great partly because of those things - Luffy punching Croc for the first time is a full double spread of just that with a completely white background, and its just so much more striking than the more recent and much more cluttered spread of him decking Kaido with the Red Roc

Different perspectives and different expectations really are everything. You've made a fair number of critical posts about how the series currently is, but there's not much you bring up that I'd say is wrong, or would try to refute. Like yeah, I agree that the cast is bloated and the worldbuilding reaches the point of self-indulgence, but as much as I can understand not enjoying them, those things are what I'm here for. By the time I caught up with current chapters, somewhere vaguely post-Marineford, busy pages and big arcs were the norm, and seeing glimpses of what fans at the time were experiencing drew me in in the first place. I'm gonna guess from your join date here that you've been on this train a whole lot longer and probably got on board for fairly different reasons.

For me, it's easy to see the early years One Piece, particularly East Blue, as the Dragon Ball to the past decade of the series' Dragon Ball Z. I don't dislike it by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a jarring starting point if you go in expecting the modern stuff. It can feel like a series that was never bad, but took a couple years to start really nailing the things that have made it famous.

And there's an inherent balancing act in it all. I'd be exhausted and burned if everything I read was trying to have One Piece's length, story scale and cast size, but I'm also so glad to have this one thing that is trying to aim that high. I read other things that cover an interest in more intimate development for a limited cast, or building extreme depth into a single location instead of a whole world that's wide as an ocean but shallow as a puddle. I read and reread comics that can afford to slow down and indulge in negative space. I don't feel the lack of that kind of art in my life. One piece is aiming to be a specific thing, all epic and busy and chaotic and clustered, and there are flaws inherent to trying to make that kind of scale and atmosphere together, and things I like seeing in art and story that are incompatible with those goals. But I love the idea of having something like that and enjoy the things its gets right in pursuit of being that enough to consider the whole thing more than the sum of its parts. So I'll sing its praises even when there's something that actually does rub me the wrong way, like the haki stuff this week.

electricmastro

For me, it's easy to see the early years One Piece, particularly East Blue, as the Dragon Ball to the past decade of the series' Dragon Ball Z. I don't dislike it by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a jarring starting point if you go in expecting the modern stuff. It can feel like a series that was never bad, but took a couple years to start really nailing the things that have made it famous.

See, I think it can be acceptable for a series like One Piece to start off as slowly as it did if only to build up the main cast in a way that feels more impactful when a personal problem comes from almost out of nowhere as a threat which endangers them to be pulled apart, because I don’t think Arlong Park would have come off nearly as special if Oda had decided to introduce Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji all in Romance Dawn and have Arlong Park take place right after.

That being said, I can also see Oda feeling a little lost in gradually trying to figure out how to tie everything all together within the first three arcs, with Zoro and Usopp’s past being told, and the themes of suicide, animal abuse, and assassination conspiracies being added in the arcs themselves, but not quite in a connecting, satisfying way, which made the despair of Nami’s emotional breakdown in the midst of human/fishman relation problems all the more impactful.

wolfwood

You had me in the first part there. I was like yes early one piece is just like early dragon ball clearly more fun…Oh you meant the opposite.

electricmastro

@wolfwood:

You had me in the first part there. I was like yes early one piece is just like early dragon ball clearly more fun…Oh you meant the opposite.

Early One Piece had more darkness in it than some people might remember.

Captain M

@electricmastro:

See, I think it can be acceptable for a series like One Piece to start off as slowly as it did if only to build up the main cast in a way that feels more impactful when a personal problem comes from almost out of nowhere as a threat which endangers them to be pulled apart, because I don’t think Arlong Park would have come off nearly as special if Oda had decided to introduce Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji all in Romance Dawn and have Arlong Park take place right after.

That being said, I can also see Oda feeling a little lost in gradually trying to figure out how to tie everything all together within the first three arcs, with Zoro and Usopp’s past being told, and the themes of suicide, animal abuse, and assassination conspiracies being added in the arcs themselves, but not quite in a connecting, satisfying way, which made the despair of Nami’s emotional breakdown in the midst of human/fishman relation problems all the more impactful.

Oh yeah, I agree that even the most complex story needs to start small, but it's also undeniable that that the scope of the series has expanded far beyond what was originally envisioned and with that has come changes in how it's told.

electricmastro

Oh yeah, I agree that even the most complex story needs to start small, but it's also undeniable that that the scope of the series has expanded far beyond what was originally envisioned and with that has come changes in how it's told.

Indeed, Oda even admitted to that as well seeing as how the warlords were basically the biggest reason why the series ended up extending beyond the five year idea, which was originally just about the emperors. I suppose it can also be said that the supernovas were also a big reason as to why the post-time skip era has turned out the way it has as well.

Captain M

@wolfwood:

You had me in the first part there. I was like yes early one piece is just like early dragon ball clearly more fun…Oh you meant the opposite.

Again, I think it just depends what you come in expecting. No value judgement for either style, but it was a fairly common experience for my generation of anime/manga fans to have been introduced to Dragon Ball Z as a before-school cartoon and to later chase up either the original Dragon Ball series or the manga only to be slapped in the face by how completely different it was, whether or not you eventually appreciated early Dragon Ball for what it was or not (and personally, I do like early Dragon Ball a lot, even if it doesn't have the same nostalgia as the later stuff).

The difference for One Piece isn't nearly as stark, but obviously it's still enough for people to have strong opinions and preferences around it.

HeartOfDarkness

At most I'd say the villains were a bit dull and I'd liked to see more love for Paulie, but I can live with it as the most important aspects were intact - that the strawhats got the development they needed, and that no character was screwed over so another could shine. So the only real complaint about the cast would be the sea train marines.

A bit dull? Cp9 cast are by far the worst villain characters and characters in general Oda has ever created.

EL arc in general is only saved by the brilliant Water 7 arc and it having lots of emotional and impactful moments that came before or after the boring and long-dragged out battles. It's literally the only time Oda had to rely on the more traditional shonen battle tropes to appeal to the mainstream and it's the reason why the arc is the most famous/beloved arc amongst the more casual crowd as oppose to say Skypeia.

Dressrosa, for all its issues, managed to create some of the best side-cast in the entire series with distinct characters and personalities. Not to mention a villain that, at the time, was approached in a different manner than any other villain with him being given a backstory and being portrayed as a complex character rather than one-note baddies that Lucci, for example, was.

I don't know why people ignore how mediocre EL arc was and how it was saved by the actual drama and things surrounding it rather than the actual fights, which is what the arc largely consists of.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

Oh yeah, I agree that even the most complex story needs to start small, but it's also undeniable that that the scope of the series has expanded far beyond what was originally envisioned and with that has come changes in how it's told.

It also doesn't really take Oda's growing age into the account as well.

The notion that something like One Piece, with its scope and all, should be consistently the same thing, over the course of 20+ years of weekly publication, just feels very limiting and super ignorant.

Oda is one dude. And isn't as young anymore. If people are hung-over some mistakes or every chapter or plot-thread isn't perfected and combed over million times over the course of a year then they need to step back and understand that Oda neither has the time or the means to do such a thing. If he deems an idea to be worthy of being in the manga at first but then might not know where to take it afterwards then he simply can't go back and change it. Criticism is one-thing but "let me analyze the series past the point of relevance to present my hot-take and pretend that One Piece is being taught in a Uni-class" logic just gets ridiculous.

Changes in terms of how the story is told is bound to happen. I don't know why the more "critical" people seem to basically operate on the strict linear and narrow thinking of "I saw this writer do this before and it was good and now he is doing it the other way so therefore bad". Like people are free to dislike the method for actual reasons but when they are just little more than "nostalgia" then it's just harder to take it seriously.

Oda has not lost his passion for the series. When he does then the whole "One Piece has gone downhill" will have actual merits. Right now, it comes across as nothing more than a generic statement by people that seem to oddly ignore how Skypeia was first received and only a few years after its release was appreciated. Post-timeskip arcs are very similar except they are just judged by people that are less willing to actually be open and more wanting to be super critical and nitpicky over every little detail.

MiyamotoMusashi

“I watched the much-talked-about movie Love Exposure. It really moved me. The director Sion Sono and the actors were amazing!” - April 27, 2015

I wonder how he was moved….

Johnny B. Decent

I can see where some people are coming from in how OP has become a bit "bloated" in terms of side characters, but it does kind of show how big taking down Kaido is. From Caesar to Doflamingo towards Kaido himself, and how they needed allies and friends to have a shot at dethroning such a powerhouse.

So, I feel after this one, big saga that has been going on since 2013, the next Arc probably will be much more smaller and self-contained, focusing on the Straw Hats, first and foremost. Until the next big Saga starts up, of course. As there's still a ways to go until Laugh Tale.

Zik

The next arc is probably gonna just be setting up the next saga. I expect it to be like Punk Hazard.

electricmastro

@Johnny:

I can see where some people are coming from in how OP has become a bit "bloated" in terms of side characters, but it does kind of show how big taking down Kaido is. From Caesar to Doflamingo towards Kaido himself, and how they needed allies and friends to have a shot at dethroning such a powerhouse.

So, I feel after this one, big saga that has been going on since 2013, the next Arc probably will be much more smaller and self-contained, focusing on the Straw Hats, first and foremost. Until the next big Saga starts up, of course. As there's still a ways to go until Laugh Tale.

I think it’s more earned at Wano since it was becoming apparent beforehand how involved Luffy is getting in conflicts, if not, wars, and the armies following some of the most destructive figures in existence.

That being said, it definitely helps that he introduces more characters in groups, like the flying six, oniwabanshu, etc. instead of one by one. I think Dressrosa ultimately ended up introducing each of the characters too independently from one another, and that it really just works more to introduce characters in groups, and maybe even have them argue for a bit to get a sense of each of their personalities to star off with.

FolhaS

When Oda introduced groups before he wasn't so focused on each member.

Like CP9, they had big scene together, half of them had had some smaller scenes before, and they were distinct despite us not know much about them. Same can be said for the Baroque Works, Arlong's Gang, Enel's priest and Wiper's warriors, etc. And then we had the leader and a couple of other more proeminent characters, like Crocodile, Lucci and Kaku, to guide our focus.

But in the New World he really started liking squeazing the juice of alot of characters.
Every single member of the Red Scabbards, and look, I love them, they're awesome, but it's basically a second story going on side by side with the main plot. It could have been more focused just on Kinnemon and Momo. Or every member of the Grand Fleet in Dressrosa instead of just having Bart as the figure head. He still ends up being the "main member" of the Fleet but we also got tons of small focus on the other members.

Or take the case of the Whibeard Captains and allies in Marineford.
Besides Whitebeard we got Marco leading the charge, and a small spotlight here and there for the rest of the captains (a bigger spotlight for Jozu, of course). And we also got to new allies whose stories took only a couple of chapters to resolve, Oars Jr and Squard.
Now Oda shows of the characters but hangs on to them more. We saw Orochi's ninjas and samurai squad at the beggining of Wano, they screw around in the middle of the arc, and were quickly dispached now, save for their boss. I don't remember what they do, their techniques or personalities, because they were introduced so long ago and spent so much time didling around that they became decoration. They could have been dealt with back then, and they would still show up bandaged now at the festival, but they wouldn't be taking up "space", their role would be mostly done and they would fit well in the background and random shout outs.

But this is also the type of behavior that gave us the Señor Pink backstory, so you win some, you lose some.

RoboBlue

When Oda introduced groups before he wasn't so focused on each member.

Like CP9, they had big scene together, half of them had had some smaller scenes before, and they were distinct despite us not know much about them. Same can be said for the Baroque Works, Arlong's Gang, Enel's priest and Wiper's warriors, etc. And then we had the leader and a couple of other more proeminent characters, like Crocodile, Lucci and Kaku, to guide our focus.

But in the New World he really started liking squeazing the juice of alot of characters.
Every single member of the Red Scabbards, and look, I love them, they're awesome, but it's basically a second story going on side by side with the main plot. It could have been more focused just on Kinnemon and Momo. Or every member of the Grand Fleet in Dressrosa instead of just having Bart as the figure head. He still ends up being the "main member" of the Fleet but we also got tons of small focus on the other members.

Or take the case of the Whibeard Captains and allies in Marineford.
Besides Whitebeard we got Marco leading the charge, and a small spotlight here and there for the rest of the captains (a bigger spotlight for Jozu, of course). And we also got to new allies whose stories took only a couple of chapters to resolve, Oars Jr and Squard.
Now Oda shows of the characters but hangs on to them more. We saw Orochi's ninjas and samurai squad at the beggining of Wano, they screw around in the middle of the arc, and were quickly dispached now, save for their boss. I don't remember what they do, their techniques or personalities, because they were introduced so long ago and spent so much time didling around that they became decoration. They could have been dealt with back then, and they would still show up bandaged now at the festival, but they wouldn't be taking up "space", their role would be mostly done and they would fit well in the background and random shout outs.

But this is also the type of behavior that gave us the Señor Pink backstory, so you win some, you lose some.

I think it's part of Oda's ongoing attempt to fix his biggest flaw: arc pacing.
He has a tendency to drift toward long battles, switching between characters every chapter so that everyone gets a shot at visibility.
When that tendency is unrestrained we get Enies Lobby, which was way too long. However, he also tends to overcompensate and cut down battles so much that they feel a little toothless.
Fishman Island had that problem.
So, now he's trying to compensate in a different direction by fleshing out all the characters so we care when they get involved in fairly long Enies Lobby-style melees, to mixed results.

It's not a bad idea but there are just too many characters and thus too many people getting dedicated fight moments, and it means the overall storytelling takes a backseat to character fanservice.

Onigashima feels like One Piece Smash Bros with all the unnecessary-but-cool extra fighters like Big Mom and Marco and Perospero and the Fighting Polygon Team.

Captain M

It also doesn't really take Oda's growing age into the account as well.

The notion that something like One Piece, with its scope and all, should be consistently the same thing, over the course of 20+ years of weekly publication, just feels very limiting and super ignorant.

Oda is one dude. And isn't as young anymore. If people are hung-over some mistakes or every chapter or plot-thread isn't perfected and combed over million times over the course of a year then they need to step back and understand that Oda neither has the time or the means to do such a thing. If he deems an idea to be worthy of being in the manga at first but then might not know where to take it afterwards then he simply can't go back and change it. Criticism is one-thing but "let me analyze the series past the point of relevance to present my hot-take and pretend that One Piece is being taught in a Uni-class" logic just gets ridiculous.

Changes in terms of how the story is told is bound to happen. I don't know why the more "critical" people seem to basically operate on the strict linear and narrow thinking of "I saw this writer do this before and it was good and now he is doing it the other way so therefore bad". Like people are free to dislike the method for actual reasons but when they are just little more than "nostalgia" then it's just harder to take it seriously.

Oda has not lost his passion for the series. When he does then the whole "One Piece has gone downhill" will have actual merits. Right now, it comes across as nothing more than a generic statement by people that seem to oddly ignore how Skypeia was first received and only a few years after its release was appreciated. Post-timeskip arcs are very similar except they are just judged by people that are less willing to actually be open and more wanting to be super critical and nitpicky over every little detail.

I definitely agree with most of this - the need for a long-running series to adapt and change, the author doing the same, and Oda's obvious ongoing passion for the series - but it does feel a little harsh on the old guard fans who miss the things they might have initially started following the series for. Like being disappointed when a favourite band puts out an album in a new style that doesn't gel with your tastes anymore. Part of adapting as you go is the inevitability of leaving some people behind, because no story and no direction to take a story can possibly please everyone.

One Piece is unique in having run for over 20 years with a single continuous story. A lot of other big, old franchises have clearly defined generations and jumping-on points. If, say, you haven't enjoyed Pokemon since generation 1, it's not a big deal because generation 1 is its own thing that doesn't really leave you hanging if you never want more. If you only enjoy generation 3, getting in isn't contingent on being a fan of anything before or after it. But One Piece doesn't allow you to only be an East Blue generation fan the same way. You're obligated to read the whole thing and keep reading it if you want closure, you can't just stick with the arc that was current and hype and felt perfect when you were at the right age to get into it. Every generation of fans (I don't even know how many you'd say there are) is thrown in one big melting pot here. If nothing else, it makes for some interesting fanbase dynamics and discussions you wouldn't get anywhere else.

Even when I disagree with a criticism, or hell when I agree but aren't as bothered by a flaw or a missed opportunity because I see it as a necessary trade-off for something I like better, or something that serves the series better in the long run, it can still be interesting to take the perspective and expectation differences on board and look at how they change things. That's why I emphasised when I replied to Daz that I'd only really come on board after the series was moving strongly toward being what it is now.

FolhaS

@RoboBlue:

I think it's part of Oda's ongoing attempt to fix his biggest flaw: arc pacing.
He has a tendency to drift toward long battles, switching between characters every chapter so that everyone gets a shot at visibility.
When that tendency is unrestrained we get Enies Lobby, which was way too long. However, he also tends to overcompensate and cut down battles so much that they feel a little toothless.
Fishman Island had that problem.
So, now he's trying to compensate in a different direction by fleshing out all the characters so we care when they get involved in fairly long Enies Lobby-style melees, to mixed results.

It's not a bad idea but there are just too many characters and thus too many people getting dedicated fight moments, and it means the overall storytelling takes a backseat to character fanservice.

Onigashima feels like One Piece Smash Bros with all the unnecessary-but-cool extra fighters like Big Mom and Marco and Perospero and the Fighting Polygon Team.

Yeah, pacing is difficult to mantain on a weekly series, since the authors need to keep a lot of things on their mind and they get no extra time or chance to resolve some issues. And honestly Oda is great at it, even the worst OP chapter is still pretty good, but he's not always the best or without flaws.

Hindsight 20/20 but I think a big issue post time-skip is that one big island, with tons of things going on, doesn't actually save more time than a handfull of smaller islands.
Baroque Works is a great saga, imo, because it has half a douzen islands before the main one, each with smaller stakes that get resolved on the spot while creating anticipation and hype for when they finaly get to the big island. Skypea is a long arc but I think it feels longer because you have a nice smaller opening with Jaya and then it's Skypea all the way.
CP9 is a long saga but Oda did manage to break it into two clear halfs, the Water 7 option where we get the story unravelling, the crew relations, the introduction of the enemies and stakes, etc, then a small train ride to cleanse the palate, and when we get to Ennies Lobby they just need to beat up the bad guys, we still get a flashback and story moments, but the plot is basically resolved.
In Wano, we go "straight" to the island, and they visit different parts of the island but since the crew is separated most of the time it don't feel the same way. And now when we get to Onigashima we still have a lot of story going on, it's not as straight forward as EL.

Zar

I really wish Oda could bring back the pacing from the Baroque Works. He's become a lot better at creating interesting characters, so combining that with those smaller arcs is a recipe for something wonderful. So long as he can keep the casts small and focus on the Strawhats - Zou could've been a new Little Garden or Drum Island, but it was a tad too bloated. It's something that makes me sad when Oda mentioned that Green Bit and Dressrosa was originally separate; getting a Vivi-esque adventure with the Strawhats together with Kin'emon, Momonosuke and Law (and Caesar, I guess) would've been so much fun.

King Cannon

Yeah, pacing is difficult to mantain on a weekly series, since the authors need to keep a lot of things on their mind and they get no extra time or chance to resolve some issues. And honestly Oda is great at it, even the worst OP chapter is still pretty good, but he's not always the best or without flaws.

Hindsight 20/20 but I think a big issue post time-skip is that one big island, with tons of things going on, doesn't actually save more time than a handfull of smaller islands.
Baroque Works is a great saga, imo, because it has half a douzen islands before the main one, each with smaller stakes that get resolved on the spot while creating anticipation and hype for when they finaly get to the big island. Skypea is a long arc but I think it feels longer because you have a nice smaller opening with Jaya and then it's Skypea all the way.
CP9 is a long saga but Oda did manage to break it into two clear halfs, the Water 7 option where we get the story unravelling, the crew relations, the introduction of the enemies and stakes, etc, then a small train ride to cleanse the palate, and when we get to Ennies Lobby they just need to beat up the bad guys, we still get a flashback and story moments, but the plot is basically resolved.
In Wano, we go "straight" to the island, and they visit different parts of the island but since the crew is separated most of the time it don't feel the same way. And now when we get to Onigashima we still have a lot of story going on, it's not as straight forward as EL.

The crew being separated is something that has been happening in pretty much every arc since Baratie though.

Daz

It also doesn't really take Oda's growing age into the account as well.

The notion that something like One Piece, with its scope and all, should be consistently the same thing, over the course of 20+ years of weekly publication, just feels very limiting and super ignorant.

I don’t think anyone is arguing OP is not free to change over time. Most things do. That doesn’t necessarily mean the new approach works better, and certainly means whether or not it works better cannot be interrogated. And for that purpose, the earlier incarnation of the IP itself is an obvious reference point, see also Simpsons, Star Wars, and so many other things. You say that
@HeartOfDarkness:

Like people are free to dislike the method for actual reasons

But what would those reasons then supposedly be? Because you go on to say

Oda has not lost his passion for the series. When he does then the whole "One Piece has gone downhill" will have actual merits. Right now, it comes across as nothing more than a generic statement by people that seem to oddly ignore how Skypeia was first received and only a few years after its release was appreciated. Post-timeskip arcs are very similar except they are just judged by people that are less willing to actually be open and more wanting to be super critical and nitpicky over every little detail.

Which seems to be some sort of objective declaration that One Piece couldn’t POSSIBLY have declined in any way, and any attempt to argue contrary must be in bad faith? And in any case, whatever criticisms can be levied at current One Piece can be dismissed with History Will Windicate Me, Just See? While using Skypea- an arc that got dismissed due to being a “filler-y” Straw Hat adventure arc detached from the “Big Picture/Main plot” of One piece (plus a bloated second act, lets be fair) – to dismiss criticism of current OP which is constantly in full throttle Big Picture/Main plot mode with reduced Straw Hat focus? Like, the things Skypea is appreciated for now are almost the opposite of what current OP is doing? Or is the argument just that given time, all One Piece arcs be viewed favorably –or at least the ones which got negative pushback?
I can respect Captain M saying that he simply values different aspects of the series because he came in later where the series had moved to focus on such things, but you’re essentially arguing that it is an objective truth that One Pieces overall quality has been maintained and that criticism is unfair bad faith nitpicking with a side order of “People are taking this WAY too seriously” with the whole Uni-class comment, which besides dismissing most attempts at negative criticism wholesale by virtue of being in depth also generally ignores that people can value different things, and that older One Piece could have merits not found in newer One Piece, instead of purely the other way around.
Its fair that you like Post skip One Piece, but can you not symphatize with pre-skip having unique strengths that appeal to different people?

Like, you refer to the fights in Enies Lobby as if they’re objectively negative, but what If someone values seeing extended creative action choreography against unique enemies that showcase the skills of the straw hat pirates alongside character moments and humor? Not that theres nothing to criticize because theres plenty, with the characterization of CP9, the arc length and more, but is it somehow objectively wrong to, say, consider that Zoro vs Kaku contains plenty of strong shonen craftmanship in terms of creative action and comedy? Or that Chopper vs Kumadori contains strong craftsmanship in terms of ratcheting up the intensity until the point where Chopper goes monster?

electricmastro

I really wish Oda could bring back the pacing from the Baroque Works. He's become a lot better at creating interesting characters, so combining that with those smaller arcs is a recipe for something wonderful. So long as he can keep the casts small and focus on the Strawhats - Zou could've been a new Little Garden or Drum Island, but it was a tad too bloated. It's something that makes me sad when Oda mentioned that Green Bit and Dressrosa was originally separate; getting a Vivi-esque adventure with the Strawhats together with Kin'emon, Momonosuke and Law (and Caesar, I guess) would've been so much fun.

It felt underwhelming the way Green Bit was handled considering how much the regular town in Dressrosa got, which basically amounted to the same aesthetics over the course of the same day, so it definitely helps that Wano has a bunch of settings that can feel like mini arcs in of themselves combined with how we get glimpses of the outside world every now and then. I do agree that the focus on the Straw Hats had become lacking though, even with the understanding the bigger focus on the entire world like with Levely. It wasn’t until recently that I felt that Chopper and Robin in particular got their first post-time skip chapters to really focus on how great they are in regards to simultaneously displaying personality and capability, so I’m glad we just don’t have to rely on “they were great in the past, so they’re great now.” Because I’ve felt that a character should be called great now because of how they’re like now instead of just relying on the past.

FolhaS

@King:

The crew being separated is something that has been happening in pretty much every arc since Baratie though.

For sure, but I get the impression (as in, I did not went and check numbers, it's just what It feels like) there are some small but important differences.

The crew would always eventually split up and reconverge right before the big action, and since the arcs are now longer it affects that break-away-and-come-back rhythm.
During Baroque Works we had a few islands, and they mostly followed the pattern, the crew arrives, splits up, individual shennenigans, they reunite before the end, all is good. And that gives you room to breath and play around. What did Zoro do during Drum? Nothing really, but it's okay because he just had some good moments in Little Garden and Arabasta is next. While Sanji played second fiddle in Little Garden, just setting up details for the future, and got to go with Luffy traverssing Drum. And it worked well because the cycle was quick.
Even in Arabasta itself, the crew arrived, travelled together for a bit and then split up for the fights. Or EL, Luffys goes on first, the crew splits, they reunite on the rooftop, split again for the fights, and reunite again at the end, it's a quick cycle.

But in Wano the crew had few reunion moments.
They were already split when they arrived, they run around for a while, before reuniting together to prepare the invasion. But even then, since Oda wanted to do the cool scene when Jimbei arrived, he had to "skip" those kinds of moments until Onigashima. That's why I loved that Straw Hat crew double page, when they reunite in the showfloor, we hadn't had one of those moments in sooooo long. And since Wano is only 1 island you don't get the same feeling of "peace", it's a big island and a big arc, so you keep expecting the big scenes.
You don't get the same feeling of "It's okay this character didn't do much this arc because there's a new arc coming on rigth away", I think you get more of a "Wait, is this it? Is this the big moment for them this arc? Was it satisfying enough? Cause I don't know when the next arc is gonna come by".

electricmastro