| Does One Piece really have character development? Personally, I think they've come a long way and have changed in many ways but in someone's review, I read that it has no character development whatsoever and said pretty convincing examples. For example, we're 900 chapters in and Usopp's still a coward or Luffy is still a bad captain and acts like an idiot the second he does something good. Isn't that who they really are? Do they really behave the same way they did back in chapter 1? I'm really confused. |
| While I agree that characters ain't really the series's forte, I don't 100% agree with the whole "no character development" thing. I feel like Luffy kind of does grow as a captain. Yeah, he acts like a simpleton most of the time, but he knows how to get serious when necessary. Like for instance in the Enies Lobby arc, Luffy didn't want to give up his ship after being super attached to it but since it almost reached his limit so he had to grow up and let it go away. But it's especially after the time skip that I think he's really showing how he can act like a real captain, how he can really stop playing around more in serious times. Kind of make sense after what happened in Marine Ford. As for the rest honestly, I don't really see why or where would people want some of the straw to get some character development. I mean yeah Usopp's still act like a coward but I feel like he won a bit more confidence with his new skills and all after the time skip. Other than that, I don't really know where exactly should the strawhat get development. They're all flawed, but that's really just what makes them who they are. And besides most of the arcs (especially the newer ones) don't particularly concerns any of the strawhats so there isn't really any occasion for them to get development whatsoever. Also, as shameful a it may sound, I don't really care about if they do or don't get anymore character development. One Piece, to me, is just the epic hero's journey of the strawhat changing the world in their own ways. Sometimes each character get to be their own protagonist which is an aspect I quite like in the series cause you each character interacting with their enemies in their own way and for their own ideas likes it's their own battle, and that's interesting to me. But than again, I ain't going to blame people for not being a fan of the series lacking of changes in their characters, since again... characters are not really the series's forte. Still love the series to death though Also if this thread is ever turning into a fucking shounen war battlefront, I'm gonna kms (okay not literally but still) Edit : I just corrected some grammatical errors, I didn't change my points |
LudwigoatApr 9, 2019 7:12 PM
| First of all, I should say that characters don't need to have done 180s in their personality for them to have developed, nor is development necessary if the story doesn't call for it. It's true that outside of their individual character arcs, the main cast of One Piece has developed very little, even if you can easily pinpoint subtle changes in their personalities when looking back. That aside, I still believe there's a ton of character development throughout, but it's from the side characters within each arc rather than the Straw Hat crew. Basically: One Piece is a story led by a relatively static cast that heavily influence and change the world around them as opposed to the main characters being influenced themselves. It's not that complicated. Oda developed each member during their individual introduction's and then set them off. |
| Next to nothing.. And so are most shounen mangas ... |
"The Slave is the have-not, the oppressed one with nothing to spare. But because the Slave is in that despairing situation, having nothing, it can kill the Emperor !" |
Fang said: First of all, I should say that characters don't need to have done 180s in their personality for them to have developed, nor is development necessary if the story doesn't call for it. It's true that outside of their individual character arcs, the main cast of One Piece has developed very little, even if you can easily pinpoint subtle changes in their personalities when looking back. That aside, I still believe there's a ton of character development throughout, but it's from the side characters within each arc rather than the Straw Hat crew. Basically: One Piece is a story led by a relatively static cast that heavily influence and change the world around them as opposed to the main characters being influenced themselves. It's not that complicated. Oda developed each member during their individual introduction's and then set them off. I really couldn't say that as better as you did. |
| Thanks a lot :) 2019 and we still can't upvote on mal feelsbadman |
Fang said: This explains it better than I could.First of all, I should say that characters don't need to have done 180s in their personality for them to have developed, nor is development necessary if the story doesn't call for it. It's true that outside of their individual character arcs, the main cast of One Piece has developed very little, even if you can easily pinpoint subtle changes in their personalities when looking back. That aside, I still believe there's a ton of character development throughout, but it's from the side characters within each arc rather than the Straw Hat crew. Basically: One Piece is a story led by a relatively static cast that heavily influence and change the world around them as opposed to the main characters being influenced themselves. It's not that complicated. Oda developed each member during their individual introduction's and then set them off. Each Main Character/Member of the Strawhats gets most of its development in their introductory arc and right after the timeskip but they keep developing little by little. The ones who develop the most are the side characters that get inspired by the Strawhats and their actions. Be it by traveling for some time with them (Ex: Vivi and Trafalgar Law) or by being help by them to save their homeland (Ex: most characters in the Dressrossa, Alabasta and, possibly, Wano Sagas). The Mugiwaras are not totally stationary though because we get really good character development for them but with a lot of space between them (Ex: Ussop in Dressrossa, Sanji in Tottland/Whole Cake, and Robin in Enies Lobby). The main crew might not change as much in their travels but they make the world around them change which is one of the best things in Oda's wiritng style. |
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| the characters in one piece do develop but they still maintain some of their traits that make them still identifiable luffy - dumb zoro - bad with directions lanji - perverted loser nami - #1 bitch usopp - coward robin - tbh she did a 180 for me with personality but she still maintains a motherly vibe chopper - unsure of himself sometimes but gains confidence |
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Ludwigoat said: I don't really see why or where would people want some of the straw getting character development. I mean yeah Usopp's still a coward but I feel like he won a bit more confidence with his new skills st, I don't really know where should the strawhat should get development. I mean most of the arcs (especially the newer ones) don't particularly concerns any of the strawhats. I just don't think they really need to get some changes after heir arc and... as shameful a it may sound, I don't really care about if they do or don't get anymore character development.[/s] This is exactly what i think so too. I don't think they need much development since the story doesn't call for it. As for Usopp, sure he got his observation haki and that's a huge progress. As I said, they sure have changed a lot since the beginning but even after his haki, he still acted cowardly. I don't really dislike this trait of his nor do I mind it but still some people think he's underdeveloped. |
JikenTamago said: Does One Piece really have character development? Personally, I think they've come a long way and have changed in many ways but in someone's review, I read that it has no character development whatsoever and said pretty convincing examples. For example, we're 900 chapters in and Usopp's still a coward or Luffy is still a bad captain and acts like an idiot the second he does something good. Isn't that who they really are? Do they really behave the same way they did back in chapter 1? I'm really confused. They don't change much. Luffy remains as ingratiating as he was before. It got way out of hand for me hearing him in the anime alone. Atleast I didn't have to hear him in the manga. To be fair, as an adventure shounen One Piece's strength, as said above, doesn't lie in fleshed out character developments but actually lies in that nice sense of exploration and worldbuilding that Oda manages to accomplish. Even if the arcs might arguably seem copy-paste, they are reasonably executed well. It's a good read if you like things other than character development. The story hasn't required strong character developments yet. Otherwise, save yourself the trouble. :) |
 Truly a Divine Comedy  |
Really_Doe said: watch this "So they are always growing and changing, it's just not in the forefront of the story because it doesn't need to be." this pretty much explains it and it cleared out a lot for me. Thanks man |
| Not every story needs to follow a boring standard writing style of having character development every chapter or arc. Some story arcs focus on a characters story, some focus exclusively on building the world, some on exposition, some on a war, etc. Mushishi has no noticeable character development, it's still a good anime. One Punch Man sells itself on comedy and great art. One Piece is a plot driven narrative about a crew having adventures and finding a mysterious treasure, it's not a coming of age story about growing up or an underdog like Naruto or Boku no Hero Academia. |
SuperRed said: Not every story needs to follow a boring standard writing style of having character development every chapter or arc[...] Exactly. Actually, the character development is very poor, but it is better than most similar shows. My only issue with the series remains the plot armor that seems to protect almost all the important characters, often times unnecessarily (why expose the cast in life-threatening situations that often in which surviving seems absurd in the first place?) However, the adventure still appeals to me. Jim_Heart said: Next to nothing.. And so are most shounen mangas ... I know one should not obsess about semantics, but do you refer to battle manga or certain magazines like Jump! with Shonen? Otherwise, I tend to disagree. But I also love Joe's development ;) |
My Rereads | My Favorite Mangaka | Soylent Green Buy stuff, or buy at least your favorites if you can afford it - Don't be lame. D W-W&N 🤍 MAL is a far cry from being my main literature site, that's why I won't be doing mere single chapter updates anymore. Manga- aka Baka-Updates + 2 French ones are miles better and more thorough/complete + less restricting. The latter are perfectly suited for Manga/Light Novel/Books collectors such as myself. Less stressful/tiring this way. -g- |
SuperRed said: What nonsense are you talking about? One Piece is about a boy from a small village trying to find the ultimate treasure and fighting the strongest opponents on the way to become pirate king...how is that not an underdog story?One Piece is a plot driven narrative about a crew having adventures and finding a mysterious treasure, it's not a coming of age story about growing up or an underdog like Naruto or Boku no Hero Academia. |
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harshtruth said: SuperRed said: What nonsense are you talking about? One Piece is about a boy from a small village trying to find the ultimate treasure and fighting the strongest opponents on the way to become pirate king...how is that not an underdog story?One Piece is a plot driven narrative about a crew having adventures and finding a mysterious treasure, it's not a coming of age story about growing up or an underdog like Naruto or Boku no Hero Academia. Just comparing Luffy to characters like Naruto or Deku, Luffy is both the captain and the strongest fighter in the crew, Naruto didn't start as the leader of Team 7, Sasuke and Kakashi were stronger than him; Deku is just a student among many and is weaker than someone like Todoroki (not caught up with MHA). Luffy doesn't have a Kyuubi or a power that was gifted so he could fight. It took almost 200 chapters for Luffy to get a good beatdown by Crocodile, before then he had no extreme difficulties in dealing with opponents. In comparison Naruto couldn't beat Zabuza, that was Kakashi's job. Yes, he had humble origins (so did Whitebeard, he was an orphan boy from a poor country), but he was never portrayed as talentless or bullied loser. Reminder that being weaker than Shichibukai, Admirals or Yonko doesn't make him an underdog, it's just that they're that strong. Usopp is the clear choice Oda made for the underdog type, Luffy is the Goku type who's talented but has room for improvement. That's my take on this on why he's not an underdog. |
JCTheKing said: The character relationships haven't developed at all. Even if there is character development then it would just reset anyway. No relationship development? Hell no. Do you think Zolo would've sacrificed himself for Luffy in earlier chapters like he did in Thriller Bark? No. As their journey Began, he started seeing the qualities of Luffy, his treatment toward his Nakama which made his respect grow even more for his captain. This is just one example of many so i don't think it doesn't have any relationship development. It simply lacks 'character' development. |
crescensXG said: My only issue with the series remains the plot armor that seems to protect almost all the important characters, often times unnecessarily (why expose the cast in life-threatening situations that often in which surviving seems absurd in the first place?) Ofc not knowing what's going on in Oda's head but all the deaths in the story, be it something that happened in the past or part of the main story, have had significant influence in the characters' lives leading to their character growth before the main story began or during it. It might also be comforting for some to know the cast will survive even if it seems hopeless. Some of the lucky escapes have been quite entertaining imho. |
Eight-Man said: Remember, be an artist, not an autist. "If anything simply cannot go wrong it will anyway." ~ Murphy's 5th law |
SuperRed said: If that's your take, fair enough. However I don't see Naruto as an underdog. Yes he was often at the losing side of a scuffle but that's more of him being against vastly superior opponents. Zabuza was not Naruto's opponent and fought against Kakashi as a rival sometimes. That would be like fresh off the island Luffy trying to get between Shanks and WB when they had their haki clash. Naruto also has a very strong lineage similar to Luffy and Naruto's bloodline was very strong considering they descended straight from shonobi gods so him being an underdog simply because villages stated he would amount to nothing is wrong. I do however agree that Deku is a an underdog because his parents were nothing special, he didn't have any ability and was bullied and he has to catch up to others a lot.harshtruth said: What nonsense are you talking about? One Piece is about a boy from a small village trying to find the ultimate treasure and fighting the strongest opponents on the way to become pirate king...how is that not an underdog story? Just comparing Luffy to characters like Naruto or Deku, Luffy is both the captain and the strongest fighter in the crew, Naruto didn't start as the leader of Team 7, Sasuke and Kakashi were stronger than him; Deku is just a student among many and is weaker than someone like Todoroki (not caught up with MHA). Luffy doesn't have a Kyuubi or a power that was gifted so he could fight. It took almost 200 chapters for Luffy to get a good beatdown by Crocodile, before then he had no extreme difficulties in dealing with opponents. In comparison Naruto couldn't beat Zabuza, that was Kakashi's job. Yes, he had humble origins (so did Whitebeard, he was an orphan boy from a poor country), but he was never portrayed as talentless or bullied loser. Reminder that being weaker than Shichibukai, Admirals or Yonko doesn't make him an underdog, it's just that they're that strong. Usopp is the clear choice Oda made for the underdog type, Luffy is the Goku type who's talented but has room for improvement. That's my take on this on why he's not an underdog. |
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harshtruth said: Dude, Pretimeskip Naruto is a textbook example on how to write an underdog story. Even thought of him having the Kyubii since the start and having lots of potential he was still bullied to hell and back by his classmates becasue of his lack of talent. An underdog story is based on redemption, making yourself be known. Most underdog main characters wanna be recognized but have a long way to go before they get to that. Naruto up to the timeskip (And arguably up to the pain arc in Shippudden) was an underdog story. Plot points revealed later might make it seem like it ws an "Overdog disguised as an Underdog" story but let's not forget the start, when it was clearly an Underdog story.SuperRed said: If that's your take, fair enough. However I don't see Naruto as an underdog. Yes he was often at the losing side of a scuffle but that's more of him being against vastly superior opponents. Zabuza was not Naruto's opponent and fought against Kakashi as a rival sometimes. That would be like fresh off the island Luffy trying to get between Shanks and WB when they had their haki clash. Naruto also has a very strong lineage similar to Luffy and Naruto's bloodline was very strong considering they descended straight from shonobi gods so him being an underdog simply because villages stated he would amount to nothing is wrong. I do however agree that Deku is a an underdog because his parents were nothing special, he didn't have any ability and was bullied and he has to catch up to others a lot.Just comparing Luffy to characters like Naruto or Deku, Luffy is both the captain and the strongest fighter in the crew, Naruto didn't start as the leader of Team 7, Sasuke and Kakashi were stronger than him; Deku is just a student among many and is weaker than someone like Todoroki (not caught up with MHA). Luffy doesn't have a Kyuubi or a power that was gifted so he could fight. It took almost 200 chapters for Luffy to get a good beatdown by Crocodile, before then he had no extreme difficulties in dealing with opponents. In comparison Naruto couldn't beat Zabuza, that was Kakashi's job. Yes, he had humble origins (so did Whitebeard, he was an orphan boy from a poor country), but he was never portrayed as talentless or bullied loser. Reminder that being weaker than Shichibukai, Admirals or Yonko doesn't make him an underdog, it's just that they're that strong. Usopp is the clear choice Oda made for the underdog type, Luffy is the Goku type who's talented but has room for improvement. That's my take on this on why he's not an underdog. |
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Afloo said: Naruto stopped being an underdog when he beat Nejiharshtruth said: Dude, Pretimeskip Naruto is a textbook example on how to write an underdog story. Even thought of him having the Kyubii since the start and having lots of potential he was still bullied to hell and back by his classmates becasue of his lack of talent. An underdog story is based on redemption, making yourself be known. Most underdog main characters wanna be recognized but have a long way to go before they get to that. Naruto up to the timeskip (And arguably up to the pain arc in Shippudden) was an underdog story. Plot points revealed later might make it seem like it ws an "Overdog disguised as an Underdog" story but let's not forget the start, when it was clearly an Underdog story.If that's your take, fair enough. However I don't see Naruto as an underdog. Yes he was often at the losing side of a scuffle but that's more of him being against vastly superior opponents. Zabuza was not Naruto's opponent and fought against Kakashi as a rival sometimes. That would be like fresh off the island Luffy trying to get between Shanks and WB when they had their haki clash. Naruto also has a very strong lineage similar to Luffy and Naruto's bloodline was very strong considering they descended straight from shonobi gods so him being an underdog simply because villages stated he would amount to nothing is wrong. I do however agree that Deku is a an underdog because his parents were nothing special, he didn't have any ability and was bullied and he has to catch up to others a lot. |
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| One Piece and character development are words that should never be used together. The sHs are poorly written, static, gag ridden trash that have barely any character development over 900+ chapters, which is appalling for a series this long. I’ll briefly go over all of them: Luffy: Generic shounen MC. Luffy barely has any character development. He’s still reckless and impulsive, making the same dumb decisions he did pre TS. Luffy really should have matured more after . Zoro: He lost his personality after the timeskip and got flanderised into being a bland, one dimensional badass with generic one liners. The struggle within his fights played a big part characterising his character and without it he’s nothing. Zoro’s a poor man’s Guts. Nami: She had a good backstory and some development in Arlong Park, but that’s where it ends. She’s rather static for the rest of the series. We do learn a bit more about her in PH e.g. her love for children, but most of the time she’s just an annoying, bossy, over emotional bitch that’s used as a “damsel in distress” like every other female character. Usopp: Poorly written, inconsistent character. Usopp has some of the most moments of development and shows signs of bravery nearly every arc, only for it to be reset be the next arc. His character was ruined the most because of Op’s long term storytelling. I can already imagine Oda continuing this form of development until the final arc where he conveniently stops acting like a pussy. Sanji: The perverted sexist love cook. WCI focused a lot on Sanji, but it felt like Oda was trying to recapture Robin's character arc but handled it poorly. Sanji didn’t learn or grow in any real way, his personality and morals are exactly the same because they were never properly challenged. . Chopper: Objectively worst strawhat. Chopper used to be the cute, useful doctor of the crew but then Oda flanderized him after the timeskip. Now he’s just the awful mascot of the crew used to sell merch. His design is lame. His forms are garbage. His development is paper thin at best, just a offhand line of him not minding being a monster if it’s to help Luffy become PK. Franky: The only change he’s had is cyborg enhancements and becoming more soppy I guess. Robin: Robin aka. Miss bland who’s only good for reading poneglyphs and giggling in the background had the best development out of all the crew- opening her self, becoming more expressive, trusting her crewmates and valuing her life. However, she barely gets screentime and hasn’t got any developing after the timeskip. Brook: He ain’t even a character, just a walking gag. 90% of his dialogue is skull/ panty jokes or “YOHOHOHO”. Brook has no development. Pointless character |
FlexstyleMar 29, 2019 6:21 PM
| I agree with people who said a good story doesn't need character development, but One Piece does, their characters are young people who start to explore an exotic world full of dangerous people and constant death battles, and they know a lot of people with very different cultures... it just doesn't make sense that the characters don't change, they should, this is something that Hunter X Hunter seems to me to do a lot better, but generally, shonen of fights tend to leave this aspect very neglected. |
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| @JikenTamago @iggykimi @OG_Gattsu There's actually a term for what you you guys are describing, It's called "a flat character arc" in story writing Its prevalent in DBZ also, which was OPs main inspiration, and also in One Punch Man, Shaman King, Mob Psycho, Gintama, Death Note, Hunger Games, etc. Honestly I enjoy them, and above all, as long as there are interesting movements, I don't really have huge complaints on abstract terms like "character development" |
jesteriDec 4, 2019 6:48 PM
jesteri said: @JikenTamago @iggykimi @OG_Gattsu There's actually a term for what you you guys are describing, It's called "a flat character arc" in story writing Its prevalent in DBZ also, which was OPs main inspiration, and also in One Punch Man, Shaman King, Mob Psycho, Gintama, Death Note, Hunger Games, etc. Honestly I enjoy them, and above all, as long as there are interesting movements, I don't really have huge complaints on abstract terms like "character development" Except they don’t have a flat character arc. The characters ideals aren’t challenged in any way, they don’t doubt themselves, they don’t change or grow as people. The sHs are developed characters who are confident in their values, know who they are and that’s it. They’re ‘flat characters’ without an arc, which is why they’re one dimensional and become increasing more boring as they remain stagnant throughout the story. An example of a solid flat character arc is Saitama from OPM. He wanted to be a hero and trained to he accomplished his goal of becoming the strongest. As a result he’s gotten bored and longs for a worthy opponent. Throughout the manga the story explores what his life is like. Eventually King calls him out and Saitama starts to doubt whether the path to being a hero lies in the ideals they uphold: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kv6A5mrHfJQ&feature=youtu.be Whereas in One Piece, the villains becoming progressively stronger and the amount of influence Luffy has on the world keeps increasing with each victory, Luffy as a character stays the same and only resorts to punching people or “kicking their ass” for fixing everything. Even right now when he was one-shoted by Kaido and locked in prison where he’s supposed to agree to work for Kaido, the only thing everyone expects him to do is escape, get a power up, and move on to the next island without changing at all. They don’t expect him to have a better comprehension of the status quo he’s trying to overthrow, and thus find a smart way to change it by working through the system. For example, Luffy is going up against the yonko. He fought Kaido, got oneshotted by him and locked in prison. What does this encounter tell Luffy? That he’s weak and needs to get stronger. Herein lies the problem: Luffy never gains a better comprehension of the situation that he’s trying to overthrow. He never tries tackling the situation differently, just more powerups. Luffy as a Captain never develops. He constantly makes reckless decisions that put his crew in danger, but are their any consequences to it? Does he learn from this? No. He continues to do the same thing and is validated by the plot because his crew know that’s how he is and never get pissed off about it. Luffy’s ideal/mentality of what the Pirate King is never challenged. He never truly grasps what that title holds as he travels around with his idealistic dream. His experiences from these islands he’s been saving and people he’s met aren’t impacting him at all and leading Luffy to want to change/find a different way to change the system. This is why I say One Piece is criticised for having character development. It’s very minimal post the characters introductory arc, the sHs, in particular has remained exactly the same since day 1 or it’s poorly written e.g. Usopp, who goes through the same character arc every other arc of being brave and then regressing back into a coward. |
FlexstyleDec 8, 2019 5:55 AM
| @OG_Gattsu https://www.reddit.com/r/OnePiece/comments/am1ol7/a_look_into_the_flat_archetype_protagonist_luffy/ your argument is exactly the same argument as this reddit post(i assume its you?) The crew can quit if they ever feel unsafe from Luffys recklessness. They already acknowledged its a treacherous journey and that they might die. OG_Gattsu said: They’re ‘flat characters’ without an arc, which is why they‘re one dimensional and become increasing more boring as they remain stagnant throughout the story. OG_Gattsu said: This is why I say One Piece is criticised for having character development. It’s very minimal post the characters introductory arc, the sHs, in particular has remained exactly the same since day 1 or it’s poorly written e.g. Usopp, who goes through the same character arc every other arc of being brave and then regressing back into a coward. At this point, you're essentially criticizing One Piece for being One Piece lol... Do you blame a romance manga for not being a horror? If Oda wanted character development, he would have wrote it in. It was never that type of story. Would you like to write a spinoff of OP with character development since its that much of a problem? Because my creativity sucks and this is how it is playing out in my head: Ussop pulls a 180 and is no longer a coward, imagine how you would draw that out. -> He pulls out his sling shot, does a move, DONE. Luffy develops into someone who rationally considers every action he takes. -> ok guys, we're not heading to that island until we have a concrete battle plan in mind. Point is, OP is inspired by DBZ which is in turn inspired by Jackie Chan movies, of which emphasizes action and COMEDY. COMEDY IS what sets it apart from every shonen out there. Oda wants the ability to right in the middle of a battle, to throw comedy in, which is really hard to do if the characters rigidly develop hard. If you don't like the comedy, that's a you problem. Look at the MAL tags of your favorite shonen and check how many of them have "action-comedy" as its primary genre. Action and comedy in most series out there are completely split into their respective segments, there's a safe zone. OP tries to have as little safezones as possible because it doesn't give a shit, because 'action-comedy" are the movements Oda wants to draw. |
jesteriDec 7, 2019 9:37 PM
OG_Gattsu said: Except they don’t have a flat character arc. The characters ideals aren’t challenged in any way, they don’t doubt themselves, they don’t change or grow as people. The sHs are developed characters who are confident in their values, know who they are and that’s it. They’re ‘flat characters’ without an arc, which is why they‘re one dimensional and become increasing more boring as they remain stagnant throughout the story. Whereas in One Piece, the villains becoming progressively stronger and the amount of influence Luffy has on the world keeps increasing with each victory, Luffy as a character stays the same and only resorts to punching people or “kicking their ass” for fixing everything. Even right now when he was one-shoted by Kaido and locked in prison where he’s supposed to agree to work for Kaido, the only thing everyone expects him to do is escape, get a power up, and move on to the next island without changing at all. They don’t expect him to have a better comprehension of the status quo he’s trying to overthrow, and thus find a smart way to change it by working through the system. What do you even think is a better solution then? Diplomacy? Against a drunken tyrant like Kaido? Maybe you forgot, but Luffy promised to Momonosuke that he would help the Kozuki allies defeat Kaido, getting stronger and recruiting allies is doing exactly what he's best at. This theme of Luffy's character was set in stone explicitly since Arlong Park. And you forgot that for big 2 arcs in a row Luffy actually listened to others and tried a non brute force approach against the Yonko, he followed Bege's plan to assassinate Big Mom cause he knew they needed to save the Germa and fooling around with brute force wasn't an option. And in Wano Luffy was perfectly fine with laying low for 2 weeks and just slowly recruiting allies. Quite thoughtful for a supposed dumbass that only thinks about getting powerups. What exactly does the status quo even matter here? There's an evil overlord directly opressing the islands people, it's quite obvious that taking such a villain down directly is the most efficient option. Again, this whole thing was carefully planned between multiple factions under the single goal of eliminating a Yonko and opening Wano's borders. If you're gonna criticize Luffy then you also have to criticize Law, Kinemon, the Mink Tribe because their end goal is exactly the same, Luffy is just an ally to them with power and good charisma. The most recent time Luffy put his crew in danger because of his own foolishness was when they were entering Wano's waterfall, and that was just a gag situation and not that serious. And I know you're gonna bring up the Kaido fight again so I'm just gonna say that doesn't count because he attacked Kaido AFTER he destroyed the castle that his crew were staying in. He panicked because for all he knew they were all dead, he wanted to get rid of Kaido immediately because of his emotions at the moment, not because he was being a cocky overconfident dumbass. Luffy’s ideal/mentality of what the Pirate King is never challenged. He never truly grasps what that the title holds as he travels around with his idealistic dream. His experiences from these islands he’s been saving and people he’s met aren’t impacting him and leading Luffy to want to change/find a smart way to work through the system. There's no "smart way" to work through the system because the WG is an totalitarian government where bad people always ruled over others for hundreds of years no question simply because of noble lineage. Luffy's approach and methodology to helping people is no different than Dragon's except in terms of scale and personal motivation. And here in Wano Kuni Luffy actually shows he DOES cares about solving societal problems, see his promise to Tama to help with Wano's food scarcity. This is why I say One Piece is criticised for having character development. It’s very minimal post the characters introductory arc, the sHs, in particular has remained exactly the same since day 1 or it’s poorly written e.g. Usopp, who goes through the same character arc every other arc of being brave and then regressing back into a coward. Luffy learned that failure is always a possibility, that sometimes the people you love will die even if you try your hardest, that as long as people you care about still live it's worth to keep going (Marineford). Nami learned that not all pirates are bad and that solving everything by yourself is not the solution (Arlong Park). Robin learned that life is truly worth living and abandoned her suicidal mentality and lack of trust in her friends. (Enies Lobby). Zoro threw aside his pride as a swordsman and was even willing to forsake his goal along with his life if it was needed to save his crew, whereas back in Shells Town he said to Luffy that he would rather kill him than abandon his dream (Thriller Bark and post Marineford). Usopp had a character arc that revolved about his value as a crewmember despite not being a powerhouse or the smartest or most useful person around, along with his sentimental attachment to Merry. It had little to do with his cowardice. (Water 7 and Enies Lobby). |
| @SnowRed thank you lol, was too lazy to break it down myself. On that note: Katakuri and Lucci LITERALLY addresses to the audience that Oda is self aware of the flaws, and just does not give a shit. They both call Luffy out on that he's an idiot and is putting his crew in danger, trying to shake and break him into having second thoughts like "am I really cut out to be a captain?" Luffy flailing here would mean that his spirit is broken. These criticisms of OP might as well be ripped straight from what the villain characters say. One Piece has an amazing gritty, harsh, cruel, and cynical world, and if you say that the comedy undermines and ruins the severity of it for you, then anyone would understand that criticism. Personally It just so happens that I can enjoy both a series that can fuck around and take a joke, and ones that take their world more seriously(AoT, Death Note, etc) |
| The only character that I noticed any development for in One Piece was Usopp. The rest of the characters remain constant throughout the whole anime. |
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JikenTamago said: I wouldn't trust any review on here if I were you. I read a lot of reviews that are just plain out lies.Does One Piece really have character development? Personally, I think they've come a long way and have changed in many ways but in someone's review, I read that it has no character development whatsoever and said pretty convincing examples. For example, we're 900 chapters in and Usopp's still a coward or Luffy is still a bad captain and acts like an idiot the second he does something good. Isn't that who they really are? Do they really behave the same way they did back in chapter 1? I'm really confused. |
The word elitist is stupid since it's just used by people who can't defend their favorite shows and use it on people who criticize their favorite shows.  |
GreenClock said: JikenTamago said: I wouldn't trust any review on here if I were you. I read a lot of reviews that are just plain out lies.Does One Piece really have character development? Personally, I think they've come a long way and have changed in many ways but in someone's review, I read that it has no character development whatsoever and said pretty convincing examples. For example, we're 900 chapters in and Usopp's still a coward or Luffy is still a bad captain and acts like an idiot the second he does something good. Isn't that who they really are? Do they really behave the same way they did back in chapter 1? I'm really confused. I wouldn't say there is no development, but lots of times the characters stay to their gimmicks,and have the same running gags.I find them funny, but I can see how someone else can find them tired and overplayed. |
SummerynDec 13, 2019 11:48 AM
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