But let us get to the present time.
The most recent Episode showed perfectly what is wrong with One Piece. It drags too much. It takes up to 5 minutes and sometimes longer with one character building up his technique. To fill more time, the main characters fight side characters who have no purpose in the story than just to get beaten up. But it takes up so much time as if something interesting is happening. You learn nothing new, there is no story progress, but those battles takes 10 minutes and more of the airtime. It is always used for comedic purposes and to show how strong the mc is. We know. We saw it 6000 times already. It doesn't matter if you put cool music under it, even the music starts to become unbearable. The mangaka Oda knows, he draws one or two panels with those and moves on.
The worst part are the One Piece apologists. And i don't mean those who truly enjoy the show and defend it, bless them. I mean those who see the problems, are aware of it, they don't like it either but since they protected and defended this show since the beginning against Naruto and Bleach, yes that far back the Big 3 times, it became their second nature.
If i didn't invest so much time in this show i would've dropped it. The characters are likeable though some characters now became so one-dimensional, they became boring. I don't see this as much of a problem because i trust Oda to create an arc where they will get a progress.
As already stated, the characters, even side characters are the strong point of this show. The story is interesting and is building up since years, though you still can't see where it is going. Enel going to the moon, when everybody thought he is just mad, seems to have a bigger plot role than thought. This is how One Piece catches you. You can engage in many theories and conspiracies. Who doesn't love to do that?
I've long decided to read the manga and the only reason i watch the show is because of my little cousin who likes to come over and watch it with me, since i pamper him. He still enjoys it, but he is 8.
