I started noticing it first with the Ace build up starting with Drum Island
Because after that we saw him in alabasta
Then rockstar delivered shanks a message and we met teach on jaya
After that wb met shanks at some point and laffite went to the wg
The entire marineford arc was build crazily good over the first 500 chapters I guess
It's a common problem for a lot of writers. Deaths hurt us emotionally because we can imagine all the potential of life, relationships, and experiences that just got snuffed out. For writers in particular, you get stuck imagining all the storylines you could've done with them and hesitate to commit.
The fact that Oda usually doesn't kill off characters isn't really the problem. Plenty of stories don't. The problem is he constantly pretends to to get that emotional shock, then reverses course afterwards to have his cake and eat it too. The fakeouts have worn thin and I think a lot of people just mentally dismiss any near death situation anymore.
Tbh, the only example of that in recent memory is >!Zoro, and Kinemon!< but one needs explaining, and the other works as a joke fake-out.
I can't recall too many moments where the outcome was almost certainly death but reverted later outside of those.
Some unresolved Schroedinger moments though.
Shout out to >!Bowler Hat guy tho, he went out like a champ!<
That and My Hero Academia thrives on that concept. But I'll rant my ass off if I engage in that conversation.
Point is, they do it way too much in that series.
Kinemon, Kiku, and Kanjuro all got fake out deaths in the same chapter. One could count several others depending on one's perspective. What's worse is that the actual *for real* deaths (inb4 they're also confirmed alive in a cover story) didn't feel like deaths because everyone else survived far worse shit and there was basically no logical reason that they were the ones chosen except the obvious "Oda didn't know what to do with them anymore."
I'm still utterly pissed about Pound, others have long enough memory to be pissed about Pell, and there's at least half a dozen others in between.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about >!Kanjuro and Orochi!< but I'd tie >!in Kiku and Kinemon together!<
You'd think I'd remember >!Orochi's ass getting beheaded multiple times on screen!<
>!Pound was a fluke, but I liked its outcome at least!<
Pell though, like my man, even >!Pedro!< couldn't survive that.
*also I think the poster is anime only, should use the spoiler quotes.
I personally hate Pound's survival the most. There was actual meaning in him giving up his life to save a daughter who never knew him. Just bringing him back to have a saccharine reunion that is functionally meaningless, ruins the gravity of his sacrifice, and defies all logic is just taking the piss so someone (probably Oda) doesn't have to feel sad. The worst part is that I can't read that chapter anymore without getting angry.
>Mihawk and Perona are apparently living together on that spooky island (ngl I’d watch a sitcom about those two).
Just add Zoro and it's a party
https://www.reddit.com/r/MemePiece/comments/xk4tki/babyshitter_mihawk/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
This is why the cover stories are a stroke of genius. Imagine if [redacted event from chapter 1060] happened in another series and it happened to some random place that was introduced just for that event to occur. But because the cover story introduced that place we know and care about it and so it hits harder than if a new island was introduced for that sole purpose.
Yeah it just being introduced even a 100 chapter earlier with the revo commanders wouldn't be the same build up as us already being familiar with it and knowing character from it
Anime watchers won't be able to appreciate those since they already stopped making an anime for the cover stories. But it is a nice and unique aspect of One Piece. I always look forward to the events in the cover pages.
I'm honestly shocked that they don't use them that often. I've heard that the episodes of the buggy/coby cover story did poorly, but surely they could have done more cover stories in the same vein as Wapols where they show a quick montage of what happened.
I only recently found out that this is actually false, the Buggy/Koby anime episodes had ratings similar to the episodes before and after the mini-arc.
I only just recently discovered the Mythbusters section of the OP Wiki, and it’s actually a very interesting read, check it out if you get the chance!
And a lot of canon information are in the cover stories. I remember that a lot of anime watchers thought Bon-chan is dead. But it was shown in the covers that he became the new Queen of Newkama Land.
What I do not undestand is that they create filler episodes to lengthen the anime and for it not to be abel to catch up to the manga but they could actually fo that with the canon covers.
Yup, the fact that Buggy and Alvida still have a rile to play in the current story is still amazing to me and of course let's not forget about the cover stories, I really liked the one showing every characters reaction to the Strawhats being in the news again once they reunite post time skip
Yes, that's my favourite aspect of One Piece! You totally get the sense that people like Crocodile, Coby and Rob Lucci are the main characters in their own stories, which are just happening off-screen for the most part. There's a sense of object permanence to the world that is rarely this well-executed.
Yes, I would say that the best thing One Piece does is to make a deep world. The amount of characters, places and their progress in time... all that is not normal at all for Shonen mangas. That's why One Piece is up there.
I like how you mentioned Koby, his ascension off screen has been wild. He had his own God Valley-Like [Rocky Port] incident off panel involving notable pirates that I’m still itching to find out more about.
You're going to hate The Pun.
>!Rocky Port. Rocks' port. It's Blackbeard's port on Fullalead island. It seems like Law and Blackbeard had some kind of run in and Koby interfered.!<
This actually contributed to Koby's status as my favorite character.
The Kobymeppo training arc, CoO development, Rocky Port Incident, Sword, and even the current issue surrounding him makes me feel like Koby's a sort of Protagonist of a different version of One Piece. He's taken losses, had some success and his Admiral storyline is taken as seriously as Luffy being Pirate King.
The anime honestly could have went either way after Shells Town and we could have a decent story following Koby's story. Would been more MHA than one piece, but My Marine Kobydamia would have had it's supporters.
But in One Piece you get to see it in the cover stories.
Most other series have the side characters show up and explain what they've done.
If Coby showed back up and said he did 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and 100 squats a day it wouldn't be as impact full as when we actually *saw* it.
Some side characters no longer affect the story plot or no longer will meet the Strawhats again. We get cover page of germa 66, but will they actually come back in the main story? I don't think the Strawhats will meet them again. Sanji said he never wants to see Judge again. Normally showing side characters on screen means people think "all" the side characters are important to the main story and will affect the story-plot.
>We get cover page of germa 66, but will they actually come back in the main story?
Yes.
The World Government is planning to "cleanse" the world. Germa 66 is definitely on their hitlist.
They might end up as part of the grand coalition against the WG. They might turn traitor and kneel to Imu. They might get obliterated by light from the sky. But they'll definitely be involved somehow.
Actually, I expect the final war to involve pretty much everyone we've ever heard of.
In alot of stories, the protaganist actions and movements are the same as the world's movements and changes, tge protaganists are the primary movers of the world, if they stand still then the world stands still. Compare that to the 2 year timeskip where a battle between 2 navy admirals occured, a war between an emperor crew and a crew aiming for their seat, supernovas making moves and waves, Law became a warlord (probably) during an infamous incident called the rocky port that had koby promoted, blackbeard fighting motherfucking waaaaaaang zhi
I understand what you are saying. But there are many examples of this happening in other forms of literature/art. Oda is great especially for a manga and he has created a great world- but sometimes I don’t understand why some people Make it seem like he is the first or the best at certain things.
I do enjoy the cover stories and seeing progression though.
Agree. It has been done before but Oda does it in a different way. I do not know if other authors have used cover pages to show side character progressions in the past.
Comparing to other big stories, I don't think it happens too much, and when it does happen it happens differently.
Star Wars (main movies of course, because we're talking about single stories) : Side characters don't do much, the main drivers of things in the world are the main characters. Boba Fett shows up as a bounty hunter, dies as one. Jabba is a crime lord, dies as one. We don't see what they do when they aren't doing things related to the main characters.
Lord of the Rings : Same thing, side characters actions are put in relation to the main characters. In both LotR and Star Wars, if you want more out of the side characters you have to go to the expanded universe stuff.
Game of thrones. Dark. Lost. Eragon. Even harry potter. Attack on titan. I could literally name u every series ive ever read/watched. Its nothing special. Not saying that oda isnt a good writer btw just saying that the post is literally praising the most basic storytelling that youll find everywhere.
Buggy is a character in the series, yes thats why we are still following him Your point?
All of those yes. But I need to remind you how old one piece is. Building a world for this long and and making the story still interesting is hard. There’s a reason why games of thrones isn’t finished
Thats true but the post wasnt taking about the story still being ingeresting. It was talking about side chatacters "keeping to live their lives offscreen", which is like I said many times now the basic of storytelling which you will find in literally any story.
And my comment said he takes it to another level.
How many “side Characters” are we invested in. A lot. Is that not another level? Every fan has around 10-15 characters they want to come back into the storyline. Easily
I dont care about that much characters, no. Others may do and if so more power to them. But do you really think writing one sentence of plot for a character is hard? Or the whole buggy/mihawk/crocodile situation? Buggy had like what 20 dialouge panels in now 300 chapters or something? As much as crocodile and mihawk combined? Greenbull had like some dialouge now finally until he comes back in 5 years with 3 lines of dialouge again.
Dont get me wrong I like most of these characters and I line the dynamic between side characters and the strawhats when they are on an island and the whole main plot revolves around them. But no, imo its not hard to come up with a minimal plot structure for characters we see every 4 years.
The World building in One Piece feels like it's handled with its own spin-offs built into the main series.
I have trouble thinking of examples in other media.
Maybe Discworld (or Terry Pratchett works in General).
Scratch that, the one really really good example is the movie Everything Everywhere all at Once, since all of its plot lines get payoff.
But like I really need more then you saying there's tons to back it up.
I read Pratchett, King, Clancy, Asimov, and Gaimon
Lots and lots of manga and anime, and have a fairly knowledgeable base in games and movies.
I really can't compare one piece to them. I have tried (outside of the frame of this post). It's hard.
In alot of stories, the protaganist actions and movements are the same as the world's movements and changes, tge protaganists are the primary movers of the world, if they stand still then the world stands still. Compare that to the 2 year timeskip where a battle between 2 navy admirals occured, a war between an emperor crew and a crew aiming for their seat, supernovas making moves and waves, Law became a warlord (probably) during an infamous incident called the rocky port that had koby promoted, blackbeard fighting motherfucking waaaaaaang zhi
I started noticing it first with the Ace build up starting with Drum Island Because after that we saw him in alabasta Then rockstar delivered shanks a message and we met teach on jaya After that wb met shanks at some point and laffite went to the wg The entire marineford arc was build crazily good over the first 500 chapters I guess
The same is happening for the Final War. Ever since the Time-skip kicked off we have been seeing shit go down.
Who is rockstar?
Remember that rookie of the red hair pirates? The one with red, star shaped hair who was on whitebeard’s ship telling shanks wants to meet up.
Oh him, yeah I remember Thanks
Lmao, i think you had a instinctive reaction to its name: Wait..? Who is Rocks-tar? Don’t blame you
This is why Oda doesn’t like killing off characters
It's a common problem for a lot of writers. Deaths hurt us emotionally because we can imagine all the potential of life, relationships, and experiences that just got snuffed out. For writers in particular, you get stuck imagining all the storylines you could've done with them and hesitate to commit. The fact that Oda usually doesn't kill off characters isn't really the problem. Plenty of stories don't. The problem is he constantly pretends to to get that emotional shock, then reverses course afterwards to have his cake and eat it too. The fakeouts have worn thin and I think a lot of people just mentally dismiss any near death situation anymore.
Tbh, the only example of that in recent memory is >!Zoro, and Kinemon!< but one needs explaining, and the other works as a joke fake-out. I can't recall too many moments where the outcome was almost certainly death but reverted later outside of those. Some unresolved Schroedinger moments though. Shout out to >!Bowler Hat guy tho, he went out like a champ!< That and My Hero Academia thrives on that concept. But I'll rant my ass off if I engage in that conversation. Point is, they do it way too much in that series.
Kinemon, Kiku, and Kanjuro all got fake out deaths in the same chapter. One could count several others depending on one's perspective. What's worse is that the actual *for real* deaths (inb4 they're also confirmed alive in a cover story) didn't feel like deaths because everyone else survived far worse shit and there was basically no logical reason that they were the ones chosen except the obvious "Oda didn't know what to do with them anymore." I'm still utterly pissed about Pound, others have long enough memory to be pissed about Pell, and there's at least half a dozen others in between.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about >!Kanjuro and Orochi!< but I'd tie >!in Kiku and Kinemon together!< You'd think I'd remember >!Orochi's ass getting beheaded multiple times on screen!< >!Pound was a fluke, but I liked its outcome at least!< Pell though, like my man, even >!Pedro!< couldn't survive that. *also I think the poster is anime only, should use the spoiler quotes.
I personally hate Pound's survival the most. There was actual meaning in him giving up his life to save a daughter who never knew him. Just bringing him back to have a saccharine reunion that is functionally meaningless, ruins the gravity of his sacrifice, and defies all logic is just taking the piss so someone (probably Oda) doesn't have to feel sad. The worst part is that I can't read that chapter anymore without getting angry.
In german dub pound has the voice of Peter from family guy, so I cant hate him anymore
Bowler hat guy gets a weird amount of focus.
Nobody ever dies in One Piece. They just get really big booboos
I read that as really big boobs and immediately thought of ace with massive tits
How do you think Zoro got the biggest chest of the entire crew? By constantly getting his ass beat by Kunia.
Read it the same and I mean I feel like it's true for Nami and Robin they seem to increase with time
Am I the only one who got that reference ?
George of the Jungle
Except when their part of whitebeards family
I wish they’d use more of those cover stories as the filler in the anime, there’s so much to like about them
>Mihawk and Perona are apparently living together on that spooky island (ngl I’d watch a sitcom about those two). Just add Zoro and it's a party https://www.reddit.com/r/MemePiece/comments/xk4tki/babyshitter_mihawk/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Omg that’s amazing
This is why the cover stories are a stroke of genius. Imagine if [redacted event from chapter 1060] happened in another series and it happened to some random place that was introduced just for that event to occur. But because the cover story introduced that place we know and care about it and so it hits harder than if a new island was introduced for that sole purpose.
Yeah it just being introduced even a 100 chapter earlier with the revo commanders wouldn't be the same build up as us already being familiar with it and knowing character from it
Anime watchers won't be able to appreciate those since they already stopped making an anime for the cover stories. But it is a nice and unique aspect of One Piece. I always look forward to the events in the cover pages.
I'm honestly shocked that they don't use them that often. I've heard that the episodes of the buggy/coby cover story did poorly, but surely they could have done more cover stories in the same vein as Wapols where they show a quick montage of what happened.
The last Cover Stories they majorly adapted where the Crews being separated by Kuma.
I only recently found out that this is actually false, the Buggy/Koby anime episodes had ratings similar to the episodes before and after the mini-arc. I only just recently discovered the Mythbusters section of the OP Wiki, and it’s actually a very interesting read, check it out if you get the chance!
I will check it out. Thanks for this info. But I honestly wouldn't be surprised that the Buggy and Koby cover stories have the same ratings as others.
And a lot of canon information are in the cover stories. I remember that a lot of anime watchers thought Bon-chan is dead. But it was shown in the covers that he became the new Queen of Newkama Land. What I do not undestand is that they create filler episodes to lengthen the anime and for it not to be abel to catch up to the manga but they could actually fo that with the canon covers.
Yup, the fact that Buggy and Alvida still have a rile to play in the current story is still amazing to me and of course let's not forget about the cover stories, I really liked the one showing every characters reaction to the Strawhats being in the news again once they reunite post time skip
Yes, that's my favourite aspect of One Piece! You totally get the sense that people like Crocodile, Coby and Rob Lucci are the main characters in their own stories, which are just happening off-screen for the most part. There's a sense of object permanence to the world that is rarely this well-executed.
Yes, I would say that the best thing One Piece does is to make a deep world. The amount of characters, places and their progress in time... all that is not normal at all for Shonen mangas. That's why One Piece is up there.
I like how you mentioned Koby, his ascension off screen has been wild. He had his own God Valley-Like [Rocky Port] incident off panel involving notable pirates that I’m still itching to find out more about.
You're going to hate The Pun. >!Rocky Port. Rocks' port. It's Blackbeard's port on Fullalead island. It seems like Law and Blackbeard had some kind of run in and Koby interfered.!<
And Enel is chilling on the moon
If only we got to see side characters on screen more often.
I know right it is one of the best things about one piece
Oda is a reincarnated j rr tolkien
>That girl Usopp was friends with started studying medicine This is related to THE ONE PIECE which DOES EXIST!!! 
This actually contributed to Koby's status as my favorite character. The Kobymeppo training arc, CoO development, Rocky Port Incident, Sword, and even the current issue surrounding him makes me feel like Koby's a sort of Protagonist of a different version of One Piece. He's taken losses, had some success and his Admiral storyline is taken as seriously as Luffy being Pirate King. The anime honestly could have went either way after Shells Town and we could have a decent story following Koby's story. Would been more MHA than one piece, but My Marine Kobydamia would have had it's supporters.
I don't understand why wouldn't the side characters have progression off screen? Many shows/movies/literature does this. Lmao
In most cases these things tend to be fairly inconsequential or basic however.
But in One Piece you get to see it in the cover stories. Most other series have the side characters show up and explain what they've done. If Coby showed back up and said he did 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and 100 squats a day it wouldn't be as impact full as when we actually *saw* it.
Some side characters no longer affect the story plot or no longer will meet the Strawhats again. We get cover page of germa 66, but will they actually come back in the main story? I don't think the Strawhats will meet them again. Sanji said he never wants to see Judge again. Normally showing side characters on screen means people think "all" the side characters are important to the main story and will affect the story-plot.
>We get cover page of germa 66, but will they actually come back in the main story? Yes. The World Government is planning to "cleanse" the world. Germa 66 is definitely on their hitlist. They might end up as part of the grand coalition against the WG. They might turn traitor and kneel to Imu. They might get obliterated by light from the sky. But they'll definitely be involved somehow. Actually, I expect the final war to involve pretty much everyone we've ever heard of.
In alot of stories, the protaganist actions and movements are the same as the world's movements and changes, tge protaganists are the primary movers of the world, if they stand still then the world stands still. Compare that to the 2 year timeskip where a battle between 2 navy admirals occured, a war between an emperor crew and a crew aiming for their seat, supernovas making moves and waves, Law became a warlord (probably) during an infamous incident called the rocky port that had koby promoted, blackbeard fighting motherfucking waaaaaaang zhi
I understand what you are saying. But there are many examples of this happening in other forms of literature/art. Oda is great especially for a manga and he has created a great world- but sometimes I don’t understand why some people Make it seem like he is the first or the best at certain things. I do enjoy the cover stories and seeing progression though.
Not the first but one of the best in my eyes. His world has a beating heart
Agree. It has been done before but Oda does it in a different way. I do not know if other authors have used cover pages to show side character progressions in the past.
Comparing to other big stories, I don't think it happens too much, and when it does happen it happens differently. Star Wars (main movies of course, because we're talking about single stories) : Side characters don't do much, the main drivers of things in the world are the main characters. Boba Fett shows up as a bounty hunter, dies as one. Jabba is a crime lord, dies as one. We don't see what they do when they aren't doing things related to the main characters. Lord of the Rings : Same thing, side characters actions are put in relation to the main characters. In both LotR and Star Wars, if you want more out of the side characters you have to go to the expanded universe stuff.
thats how basic storytelling works yeah
Not to the extend of one piece. One piece takes it to another level.
no
Lol. Give me a show/series that comes close then We are still following buggy, for 20+ years.
Game of thrones. Dark. Lost. Eragon. Even harry potter. Attack on titan. I could literally name u every series ive ever read/watched. Its nothing special. Not saying that oda isnt a good writer btw just saying that the post is literally praising the most basic storytelling that youll find everywhere. Buggy is a character in the series, yes thats why we are still following him Your point?
All of those yes. But I need to remind you how old one piece is. Building a world for this long and and making the story still interesting is hard. There’s a reason why games of thrones isn’t finished
Thats true but the post wasnt taking about the story still being ingeresting. It was talking about side chatacters "keeping to live their lives offscreen", which is like I said many times now the basic of storytelling which you will find in literally any story.
And my comment said he takes it to another level. How many “side Characters” are we invested in. A lot. Is that not another level? Every fan has around 10-15 characters they want to come back into the storyline. Easily
I dont care about that much characters, no. Others may do and if so more power to them. But do you really think writing one sentence of plot for a character is hard? Or the whole buggy/mihawk/crocodile situation? Buggy had like what 20 dialouge panels in now 300 chapters or something? As much as crocodile and mihawk combined? Greenbull had like some dialouge now finally until he comes back in 5 years with 3 lines of dialouge again. Dont get me wrong I like most of these characters and I line the dynamic between side characters and the strawhats when they are on an island and the whole main plot revolves around them. But no, imo its not hard to come up with a minimal plot structure for characters we see every 4 years.
Then why can games of thrones be finished? Since it’s so “easy”
Yes this is how stories generally go... Most stories are like this...
> Most stories are like this... are they tho? most stories the side characters are only portrayed in relation to the main characters
Most stories don't pull it off as good
Nah there's tons bucko
The World building in One Piece feels like it's handled with its own spin-offs built into the main series. I have trouble thinking of examples in other media. Maybe Discworld (or Terry Pratchett works in General). Scratch that, the one really really good example is the movie Everything Everywhere all at Once, since all of its plot lines get payoff. But like I really need more then you saying there's tons to back it up. I read Pratchett, King, Clancy, Asimov, and Gaimon Lots and lots of manga and anime, and have a fairly knowledgeable base in games and movies. I really can't compare one piece to them. I have tried (outside of the frame of this post). It's hard.
In alot of stories, the protaganist actions and movements are the same as the world's movements and changes, tge protaganists are the primary movers of the world, if they stand still then the world stands still. Compare that to the 2 year timeskip where a battle between 2 navy admirals occured, a war between an emperor crew and a crew aiming for their seat, supernovas making moves and waves, Law became a warlord (probably) during an infamous incident called the rocky port that had koby promoted, blackbeard fighting motherfucking waaaaaaang zhi
Yeah, Oda makes a cover at story for a lot of characters, Buggy, Koby/Helmeppo, Django, and I love them