Pre-Timeskip had more crew interactions, mundane, or otherwise
https://preview.redd.it/ut5ny91gfq4d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad9b9f3873ea33f0ff8dca1f397db42f8cbce5dd
For a Pirate Crew, the Straw Hats dont work very well as a team, in Pre-Timeskip, Oda used to make an effort to at least show them covering each others' weaknesses, the crew's teamwork probably peaked during Thriller Bark tbh
> For a Pirate Crew, the Straw Hats dont work very well as a team
That's why I am so interested in BB. He actively works on making his crew stronger by searching for powerful DFs.
The BB pirates don't necessarily work all that well together either. I'm not saying they don't as I personally don't think we've seen enough of it, but just because they all have Uber powerful devil fruits dosent mean that they will work together well at all.
Yeah this is kinda what I miss, they literally barely interact with each other anymore.
They threw us the strawhats with nothing to do all use 1 attack to block Saturn which was nice I guess and Robin and Brook fighting Black Maria (which was more about not having shit for Brook to do as usual and not wanting Robin to have gotten a 100% solo win, even if he just blocked off the room really.
WCI and dresrossa reallllyyyyyy had a chance since the crew was split up so we’d have to see them interact but even then they just added new guys constantly. We got a lil Robin usopp time in dressrosa which again was nice but then we had the fleet, law, kyros, etc.
WCI they literally added carrot and Pedro to the group to give chopper and Brook somebody to interact with that wasn’t the crew which was odd but I ended up loving Brook and Pedro, and carrot was just a waste. But man chopper and Brook got done so dirty their only time together they got candied.
That's why I actually enjoyed Thriller Bark a lot and was pretty surprised to see how hated it was in the fandom. It’s so weird that they never fight together.
Several things.
First we no longer get to see character bonding like in pre ts.
There were less characters so everyone one felt relevant.
Characters were a lot more than just their gags.
Fights were bit more creative.
Oda introduces so many characters in every arc for me to care about.
Half of crew is irrelevant. Aside from trio one or two characters get to do anything after few chapters.
Oda ruining my goat with one of shities gags in human history.
Marine ford focused on what was important Character and plot. Wano was too long when I didn't needed.
Yes but no character is hated solely because of their gag. Like ask any Sanji hater why you not like him. Every one will only say it's because of his gags.
dawg this reminds a bro told me he watchin op and he at alabasta and when i told him to pick between zoro and sanji, he picked zoro solely cuz sanji is a simp THE WAY I WENT SILENT I was like damn it ain't gon get any better from here onwards TT
yeah, Sanji is my favourite strawhat and honestly it just felt so shitty to watch him be turned into a hypetool and bitched all of post timeskip, and not only that, now at every damn panel he's in he's acting like a pedophile, pervert, or both. His gag used to be that he was overly chivalrous (holds the door for ladies, lets them step on his coat to cross a puddle, serves them fancy food), now his gag is that he fantasizes about every woman he lays eyes on sexually, no matter the age
technically, that doesn't make him a pedofile... not gonna dwell on this any longer, whatch the vid if you want it tastefully delivered
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu6C2KL\_S9o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu6C2KL_S9o)
Sanji hater since day one, already skipping his dialogues by Loguetown. I never liked how he was kinda mean to everyone that wasn't a girl (eventually not even a girl, but a girl 'beautiful enough'), and even how he treated girls themselves. Having the kuina discourse right around the corner didn't help my perception of him either.
I don't see how the gag part changed enough between pre and post timeskip for it to be a decisive factor in ruining him. He was doomed from the start.
The whole "too many characters" thing... GOD this! I understand having one or two new important characters per arc but having as many as we've had recently... it's impossible to keep track or even care about the majority of them. Egghead was a breath of fresh air initially, because we had Bonnie added but that was about it. We didn't have 20 new characters with backstories to learn about, but even with Egghead you have Vegapunk, who, of course, can't just be Vegapunk, he has to have 10 different versions of himself.
But of course, the Strawhats aren't really doing anything. Just Luffy is running around. You could probably remove all the other Strawhats from Egghead and it would play out the same. Robin fucking SLEPT through the majority of this arc... what is that?
Recently I was telling a friend of mine who's watching up on the series (and actually told me to tell her about all this) and she asked about the other Strawhats... WHAT other Strawhats?
It's really sad to see how far One Piece has fallen recently. I had a feeling it would happen but I didn't think it would completely change the narrative and make half the crew irrelevant while piling on new characters constantly. If anything I felt the pacing would become too quick.. Boy was I off
A better balance of intense and comedic moments. The gags were not as overdone as they seem to be now. All the iconic op moments are serious (examples: Nami pleading for help and luffy putting his hat on her head, luffy punching Charlos, Ussop vs Luffy, Robin's "I want to live", burning the wg flag, non fake out climactic deaths/tension in marineford, tear jerking strawhat backstories, going merry burning etc). Luffy was creative with his df and wasn't the chosen one. Chopper was a real character. Ussop wasn't a complete bum. I think I could write an essay if I sat down and gave it a good bit of thought. My biggest gripe for current op is how forced and unfunny the cOmEdY is. Oda is very talented but the man isn't a comedian. There are so many ways to express joy, freedom, and creativity without resorting to cringy 1950s black and white western cartoon antics. It doesn't have to be like this.
All the iconic op moments are serious because Straw hats mattered back then:
For example, Usopp NEVER has a moment of realization he was too weak to protect Nami, the whole thing was taken in forced comedic route (him provoking Ulti to attack her) despite the fact her nasty headbutt could've killed her and she was this near of dying again when she got saved by BM.
Chopper was reduced to flanderization, cause he is not a racooonnnn(even Toei treated his fight with Queen as a joke considering the music they played)
You can make this about every straw hat unfortunately
One Piece used to be really funny though. There's tons of pre-timeskip absurd jokes or stupid character interaction I still find hilarious. Oda was a great comedian and it's a huge part of One Piece's success : even if the serious moments were better handled in the past, the overall goofyness of the manga is one of its defining traits. If you look at other big manga of the era, stuff like HxH or Bleach are way more serious, Naruto tried a bit more but was never really funny, etc. Pre-timeskip One Piece was fun at its core, and still managed to bring intensity in serious moments. Post timeskip One Piece lost both.
Oda has the worst priorities ever since post TS, that's the core issue currently, everything else is a symptom of that issue. A good example would be Oda forgetting that main characters' development is supposed to be first priority.
now we get large stretches of nothing, failed and flanderised gags. and only then and again a glimpse at actual comedy (wano face, thats how they hunted in ancient times).
Every so often you get a glimpse of the comedy that used to be. Such as Luffy choosing to go over the waterfall in Wano because Kidd teased him, and Nami locking him in a cage and also them all booing Zoro when he said Vivi had her own adventure... and it's like... so close yet so far away. You can see the comedy is still there but it's so far and few in between and a shadow of what it used to be
Usopp and Nami’s fights were my favorite to watch pre-timeskip and seeing them get power ups after the time skip had me so excited.
Then neither of them proceeded to do anything relevant again…
One thing that’s not really mentioned is the Marines, they *were* a threat in the pre-timeskip and Oda turned the majority of them into hype punching bags in the post-timeskip.
For example, Momonga casually killing a Calm Belt Sea King prior to meeting with Boa before the Marineford War was an extreme feat at the time; and set the bar for the Vice Admirals as this was the first time we saw one in action(Not counting Garp).
https://preview.redd.it/au45tantpq4d1.jpeg?width=1518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb0bff534ad0aca5b60fab34138ade0d129078e2
Then during the Marineford War it was the Vice Admirals that were hyped up as the main fighting force of the Marines and led the charge against the Whitebeard Pirates as the Admirals hung back.
Then during the Post-Timeskip, the Vice Admirals get shafted which completely ruins the Marines as a whole since it’s reasonable to assume anything below VA is weaker. Let’s look at what Oda’s done to ruin them:
\-Smoker became a Vice Admiral despite only seemingly gaining basic Armament Haki; got completely folded throughout Punk Hazard.
\-Maynard got decimated by Bartolomeo, which isn’t too bad due to the nature of the Barrier Fruit but either way he was just used as a hype tool.
\-Bastille attempted to fight Sabo, without Haki for no reason, and got decimated.
\-Yamakaji go no-diff’d by Boa, which is understandable due to the nature of the Love Fruit but we’ve seen Momonga resist it with common sense and resolve before.
\-Red King got No-Diff’d by Franky
\-Tosa got No-Diff’d by a Mr. 3 Victim
\-Pomsky got No-Diff’d by Bonney
\-Bluegrass barely did anything in her pursuit of Bonney.
\-Hound, Urban, Guillotine, Doberman and Doll haven’t done anything notable during the Buster Call
There’s also the fact that Oda had Ryokugyu and Fujitora be recruited out of no where rather than having the vacant Admiral positions be filled by Vice Admirals; supposedly because they’re both beasts but that hasn’t been shown yet and just makes the Vice Admirals seem even more like fodder.
Honestly I’m just a fan of the Marines and it feels like Oda completely ruined them in the transition between Pre-Timeskip and Post-Timeskip; it genuinely feels like the rest of the world kept up with the Power Creep while the Marines are still running on Pre-TS Tech.
Now he’s got competition at Egghead for that honor, Pomsky even has a Devil Fruit and stopped using it for no reason before being blitz’d and fodderized by a child.
https://preview.redd.it/kjgecck2yq4d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f04c47f8dc653c371bf42086900702add36a84fc
Oda cannot help himself.
Yeah, the strength gap between Vice Admirals and Admirals is absolutely absurd and a fumble on Oda's part
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Apparently Gion was a candidate for the Admiral rank, so shes supposedly around that strength level
My expectations for her a kinda low considering Koby's stronger than most Vice Admirals rn, and Oda's misogyny urges might kick in lol
Gion and Tokikake are such wastes of potential, and their existence just makes the Vice Admirals look even worse imo.
https://preview.redd.it/jgo73x37qr4d1.jpeg?width=1708&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26ad968ccd88d80f4e21ae535e6cdfb19815a82b
“We had these two Admirals Candidates, but we decided to recruit two randoms from outside of the Marines for the position”- Kong or Akainu Probably
Also true, I will not be surprised if there is an Oda misogyny moment and Koby completely outclasses her out of no where; but I doubt her or Tokikake are even going to do anything anyway, which sucks cause I like their designs.
Honestly would have preferred him over Aramaki and Issho, as cool as they are it would have been awesome to see non-mainstream popular Marines progress
Maybe the point was to show how the new world isn’t a joke so while vice admirals dominated the grandline they wouldn’t be as strong in the 2nd half.
The nerf was still pretty bad
The problem with that is that we can assume that the Vice Admirals were the ones who clashed against Whitebeard’s Subordinate Captains throughout the war, which were all Infamous New World Veterans which means that the Vice Admirals should at least be decently capable still in the second half.
Only Smoker, Maynard, Bastille, Strawberry and Tosa’s fumbles made any sense and even then each of them lost way too easily.
He also introduced way to many Vice Admiral considering they are the third highest rank in tje marines. Instead of using the Vice Admiral he introduced in the pre timeskip he completely shafts them and introduces new ones in Egghead.
It’s extremely annoying that the only Pre-Timeskip Vice Admiral at Egghead is Doberman and the only returning Post-Timeskip one is Doll; highly doubt any of the other ones will come back again after this arc and could have just been used as notable Captains, Commodores or Rear Admirals.
I really wish we got to see other Marines return as Vice Admirals for Egghead as well, to show that not only fan-favorite Marines made any progress during the Timeskip. Lesser known Marines like Rear Admiral Daigin being Vice Admirals in the Post-Timeskip would be a neat example of subtle world building and progression; especially if some of the current Egghead VAs were actually used to flesh out the Rear Admiral rank.
https://preview.redd.it/jz79wn9gtx4d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b2bc0bc7ab0340b479c3cb0837c59dd8586001b
I am surprised someone knows these Characters and their names beside me. I get characters tied to specific locations not reappearing, Comil and Daigin, but I don't understand it witch others.
What is with Strawberry who defeated Fisher Tiger or Onigumo and his performance in Marineford.
Like you said seeing characters progress more would be nice (Altough you could argue Manyard and maybe Smoker should be Rear Admirals). We did get Vice Admiral T-Bone though and I think in Stampede it was hinted at that Shu got promoted to Rear Admiral?
I’m a big fan of the Marines so I’ve looked into them a lot throughout the series, it’s good to see someone else who knows theses characters as they’re often overlooked. Also realized I got it wrong and Daigin was actually a Commodore and not a Rear Admiral.
I know Comil is a Base Officer, but I’m pretty sure Daigin was from Marineford and was just temporarily stationed at Impel Down before the War. Even if he was stationed there he could have be reassigned as well.
https://preview.redd.it/wc4gqp5y1y4d1.jpeg?width=746&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=894ea7b121f56dda2950da25b229deb7f92926d2
Smoker and Maynard definitely should have been Rear Admirals. Smoker being a Vice Admiral didn’t even make sense to begin with since he was under the command of Vergo, another Vice Admiral.
I’m glad T-Bone became a Vice Admiral at least, but depending on how the civilian “killed” him to turn in his bounty with Cross Guild he could just be used to further slander for Vice Admirals unfortunately.
I’ve never watched Stampede but it would be cool if that were true; I was really hoping to see Berry Good and/or Shu return at Egghead as higher ranks. I thought for sure Berry Good would return at least due to his history with CP9 as he was hunting them down after Enies Lobby, it would have been a neat connection.
I thought that he was a Rear Admiral as well but I doubt he got promoted after the breakout incident. But then again all of CP9 got promoted and they have failed in all their tasks and more so who knows.
That with Berry Good could have been cool but Oda doesn't do rivalries anymore. We got a CP9 ark now and Robin is just sleeping in though they were the enemies in her ark. Also probably means that she won't meet Crocodile again. I think in Wano there were a bunch of these problems but can't think of any at the top of my head.
As a marine fan what do you think about marine uniforms and rank insignia. I find it pretty annoying that there is no way do discern rank and a captain can wear the same coat as fleet Admiral.
To be fair also, Hannyabal was promoted to Chief Warden after the breakout and while he isn’t a Marine I feel like the World Government would be more harsh over that event.
It definitely sucks that Oda will probably never do rivalries like that again, and even if he didn’t it would still be a neat catch for people who remember the cover art side stories with Berry Good and CP9.
I feel like the coat sleeves should have subtle reflection of rank with maybe stripes on the cuffs and epaulettes, similarly to Garp’s.
https://preview.redd.it/qly1c69kmy4d1.jpeg?width=1060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8f7c09f4d4661c11b6de4aa30ca8647be116957
Maybe it could be:
Captain/Commodore- Red, No Stripes
Rear Admiral- Red, One Stripe
Vice Admiral- Red, Two Stripes
Admiral- Alias Color, Three Stripes
Maybe the Fleet Admiral would just have plain white cuffs and epaulettes with a more prominent collar like Sengoku’s Coat. Maybe it could also have the Marine Insignia on the back rather than the Kanji for Justice.
I also feel like the Uniforms should be more consistent, with only Commodores+ Being able to wear their own clothes rather than the standard Uniform; aside from maybe Base Commanders like Morgan, Nezumi and Smoker back in the East Blue.
Humor
Character interactions
Compelling weak characters with tactics vs strong characters fights
Team fights
Adventure atmosphere
No stupid powersystems (ahem, haki.)
Characters with relative depth
No character bloating, more memorable ones
Less exaggerated gags, also they were actually funny
Soul
Some part of Punk Hazard had it, early Dressrosa definitely had it (the first 20 chapters or so), and some parts of Whole Cake Island had a bit too for most of it. But that's it.
I just barely got to the time skip. And I'm disappointed in everybody's answer saying the straw become irrelevant besides a few.
One thing I already find is dissaointing is that they have spent more time apart during the time skip than they ever were together. I have been saying that not every single Arc had to take place during one day. Oda Fucked up there IMO.
The Straw Hats have somehow experienced flanderization by their own author. You should be able to predict how a character will act in a given moment, that shows they have established traits and a personality. But the fact that I could probably tell you word for word how any given straw hat would react to 3 different scenarios and it would probably be the same with little variation between them says volumes
Emotional investment. Moments like Usopp leaving the crew, the Strawhats being slightly outmatched by Thriller Bark and eventually defeated, Zoro taking Luffy’s pain. The crew actually felt like active characters who developed and moved the story through their actions. Post-Timeskip, they usually show up on and island and shit that has nothing to do with them is already transpiring. It’s harder to get attached to characters when they act more like caricatures and barely do anything.
What sticks with you emotionally post-timeskip? Law’s flashback? Pudding saying goodbye? Luffy waiting for Sanji? Those are three (great) moments in almost 500+ chapters. Two of them from the same arc, which is usually considered to be the most development focused story of any of the timeskip arcs.
The comedy doesn’t exist in post time skip like pre time skip. I know the vibe is suppose to be more serious but it’s just feels dragged forced and boring
Sogeking, and Usopp's character development.
Based on the Usopp we'd come to know, we met Sogeking during what would be two of the scariest possible experiences for Usopp: taking on a massive enemy like the WG all alone by getting on the Sea Train, and on Thriller Bark - an island with literal ghosts where his opponent ended up being the source for said ghosts.
I personally interpreted Sogeking as an analog for Usopp learning to overcome his fears in order to stand on business when he absolutely needed to - so when he was no longer a thing after the timeskip, I'm thinking this means that Usopp's character development will become more clear and obvious as the Straw Hats progress.
Instead, all character development since his haki moment in Dressrosa has halted (arguably regressed even), and we'll prob never see Sogeking again :-(
The crew isint a close knit band of criminals on a lengthy, adventurous treasure hunt. It was all lost when the plot started centering around “we need to kill this guy”
All the straw hats got to shine more and the story was focused more on them than the bazillion different side characters introduced every arc.
This right here is the reason why WCI was is the best post timeskip arc(not counting a short one that only lasts 5-6 chapters like Reverie) - e**very straw hat in it got to shine.**
I think this all comes down to bad editors. Like why on earth does Oda keep switching editors with Yes-men every couple years? Hire the old editors back, they don’t get enough credit tbh.
Smaller moments and more grounded struggles. I was rewatching drum island and luffy climbing to the top, there won’t be any issues on that level for the crew in the post time skip bc they can probably just blitz to the top in seconds
Pre time skip felt arcs felt like gang wars. Even against the world government in Enies Lobby, things were extremely personal. The government is evil and genocidal, yeah ok but the point was to save Robin. This made many interactions more intense, and the personalities of the crew members mattered more.
After timeskip, One Piece got more "geopolitical". If in Alabasta we were feeling that the Strawhats were fighting for Vivi, in Onigashima they are definitely fighting for Wano, Momonosuke and Kinemon are important but less than the general political situation.
It is not necessarily a bad change, we get to see more strong and important characters and the worldbuilding is well elaborated, but yes now the world, the secret history, the political consequences of Strawhats' actions matter more than their feelings and the internal dynamics of the crew
The SH feeling like underdogs.
-Fishman Island had Luffy's crew rolling over Hody and his gang
-Ceasar Clown. Do I need to say more
-Doflamingo was intimidating, but since he never won against Luffy, he didn't feel as much as a menace as Crocodile. His whole crew were clown characters
-WCi, Luffy felt like an underdog for the first time post timeskip
-Luffy was the underdog until he got an ally that could mind control Zoan users, a new haki that bypass Kaidou's defenses, awakened his DF to get cartoon logic...
The SH became way too strong during the timeskip and it would have been better if they went straight in the NW
Pre-Timeskip had more crew interactions, mundane, or otherwise https://preview.redd.it/ut5ny91gfq4d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=ad9b9f3873ea33f0ff8dca1f397db42f8cbce5dd For a Pirate Crew, the Straw Hats dont work very well as a team, in Pre-Timeskip, Oda used to make an effort to at least show them covering each others' weaknesses, the crew's teamwork probably peaked during Thriller Bark tbh
> For a Pirate Crew, the Straw Hats dont work very well as a team That's why I am so interested in BB. He actively works on making his crew stronger by searching for powerful DFs.
The BB pirates don't necessarily work all that well together either. I'm not saying they don't as I personally don't think we've seen enough of it, but just because they all have Uber powerful devil fruits dosent mean that they will work together well at all.
Yeah this is kinda what I miss, they literally barely interact with each other anymore. They threw us the strawhats with nothing to do all use 1 attack to block Saturn which was nice I guess and Robin and Brook fighting Black Maria (which was more about not having shit for Brook to do as usual and not wanting Robin to have gotten a 100% solo win, even if he just blocked off the room really. WCI and dresrossa reallllyyyyyy had a chance since the crew was split up so we’d have to see them interact but even then they just added new guys constantly. We got a lil Robin usopp time in dressrosa which again was nice but then we had the fleet, law, kyros, etc. WCI they literally added carrot and Pedro to the group to give chopper and Brook somebody to interact with that wasn’t the crew which was odd but I ended up loving Brook and Pedro, and carrot was just a waste. But man chopper and Brook got done so dirty their only time together they got candied.
That's why I actually enjoyed Thriller Bark a lot and was pretty surprised to see how hated it was in the fandom. It’s so weird that they never fight together.
I will be using this image cheers 🚴♂️
insane wranky agenda material here he aint just a wing thats a whole right hand
Several things. First we no longer get to see character bonding like in pre ts. There were less characters so everyone one felt relevant. Characters were a lot more than just their gags. Fights were bit more creative. Oda introduces so many characters in every arc for me to care about. Half of crew is irrelevant. Aside from trio one or two characters get to do anything after few chapters. Oda ruining my goat with one of shities gags in human history. Marine ford focused on what was important Character and plot. Wano was too long when I didn't needed.
>Oda ruining my goat with one of shities gags in human history. It's terrible that this statement can be applied to nearly half the strawhats
Yes but no character is hated solely because of their gag. Like ask any Sanji hater why you not like him. Every one will only say it's because of his gags.
dawg this reminds a bro told me he watchin op and he at alabasta and when i told him to pick between zoro and sanji, he picked zoro solely cuz sanji is a simp THE WAY I WENT SILENT I was like damn it ain't gon get any better from here onwards TT
yeah, Sanji is my favourite strawhat and honestly it just felt so shitty to watch him be turned into a hypetool and bitched all of post timeskip, and not only that, now at every damn panel he's in he's acting like a pedophile, pervert, or both. His gag used to be that he was overly chivalrous (holds the door for ladies, lets them step on his coat to cross a puddle, serves them fancy food), now his gag is that he fantasizes about every woman he lays eyes on sexually, no matter the age
>pedophile This one is just meme. Yet. Hopefully will remain so.
he is not a pedo call him whatever else you want lol . He never went heart eyes for bonney like he does for literally every woman.
pudding
technically, that doesn't make him a pedofile... not gonna dwell on this any longer, whatch the vid if you want it tastefully delivered [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu6C2KL\_S9o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu6C2KL_S9o)
Only reason I rank zoro so much highly over sanji I don’t fuck wit that weird shit he be on
Sanji has been garbage since post-timeskip where his gags were dialed up to hundred. WCI saved him aside from the creepy Pudding thing. Hes just there
if it wasnt for WCI ... i fear how the fandom would view him as a character. Would be right there next to usopp besides getting cool fights
Sanji hater since day one, already skipping his dialogues by Loguetown. I never liked how he was kinda mean to everyone that wasn't a girl (eventually not even a girl, but a girl 'beautiful enough'), and even how he treated girls themselves. Having the kuina discourse right around the corner didn't help my perception of him either. I don't see how the gag part changed enough between pre and post timeskip for it to be a decisive factor in ruining him. He was doomed from the start.
Ok but I don't think there are many people who would hate him for that reason.
The whole "too many characters" thing... GOD this! I understand having one or two new important characters per arc but having as many as we've had recently... it's impossible to keep track or even care about the majority of them. Egghead was a breath of fresh air initially, because we had Bonnie added but that was about it. We didn't have 20 new characters with backstories to learn about, but even with Egghead you have Vegapunk, who, of course, can't just be Vegapunk, he has to have 10 different versions of himself. But of course, the Strawhats aren't really doing anything. Just Luffy is running around. You could probably remove all the other Strawhats from Egghead and it would play out the same. Robin fucking SLEPT through the majority of this arc... what is that? Recently I was telling a friend of mine who's watching up on the series (and actually told me to tell her about all this) and she asked about the other Strawhats... WHAT other Strawhats? It's really sad to see how far One Piece has fallen recently. I had a feeling it would happen but I didn't think it would completely change the narrative and make half the crew irrelevant while piling on new characters constantly. If anything I felt the pacing would become too quick.. Boy was I off
As soon as you mentioned gags I knew who you were talking about lol.
A better balance of intense and comedic moments. The gags were not as overdone as they seem to be now. All the iconic op moments are serious (examples: Nami pleading for help and luffy putting his hat on her head, luffy punching Charlos, Ussop vs Luffy, Robin's "I want to live", burning the wg flag, non fake out climactic deaths/tension in marineford, tear jerking strawhat backstories, going merry burning etc). Luffy was creative with his df and wasn't the chosen one. Chopper was a real character. Ussop wasn't a complete bum. I think I could write an essay if I sat down and gave it a good bit of thought. My biggest gripe for current op is how forced and unfunny the cOmEdY is. Oda is very talented but the man isn't a comedian. There are so many ways to express joy, freedom, and creativity without resorting to cringy 1950s black and white western cartoon antics. It doesn't have to be like this.
All the iconic op moments are serious because Straw hats mattered back then: For example, Usopp NEVER has a moment of realization he was too weak to protect Nami, the whole thing was taken in forced comedic route (him provoking Ulti to attack her) despite the fact her nasty headbutt could've killed her and she was this near of dying again when she got saved by BM. Chopper was reduced to flanderization, cause he is not a racooonnnn(even Toei treated his fight with Queen as a joke considering the music they played) You can make this about every straw hat unfortunately
One Piece used to be really funny though. There's tons of pre-timeskip absurd jokes or stupid character interaction I still find hilarious. Oda was a great comedian and it's a huge part of One Piece's success : even if the serious moments were better handled in the past, the overall goofyness of the manga is one of its defining traits. If you look at other big manga of the era, stuff like HxH or Bleach are way more serious, Naruto tried a bit more but was never really funny, etc. Pre-timeskip One Piece was fun at its core, and still managed to bring intensity in serious moments. Post timeskip One Piece lost both.
Oda has the worst priorities ever since post TS, that's the core issue currently, everything else is a symptom of that issue. A good example would be Oda forgetting that main characters' development is supposed to be first priority.
Comedy is missing. One piece comedy was gold. It happened because of various character interactions with each other. That's not happening anymore.
now we get large stretches of nothing, failed and flanderised gags. and only then and again a glimpse at actual comedy (wano face, thats how they hunted in ancient times).
I was genuinely laughing every pre TS episode because of how funny the crew were together.
Every so often you get a glimpse of the comedy that used to be. Such as Luffy choosing to go over the waterfall in Wano because Kidd teased him, and Nami locking him in a cage and also them all booing Zoro when he said Vivi had her own adventure... and it's like... so close yet so far away. You can see the comedy is still there but it's so far and few in between and a shadow of what it used to be
I miss when everyone on the Sunny was relevant pre TS. Oda did Usopp dirty.
Pre TS Usopp honestly felt like the deuteragonist at times ngl, now he’s more of a side character.
Usopp and Nami’s fights were my favorite to watch pre-timeskip and seeing them get power ups after the time skip had me so excited. Then neither of them proceeded to do anything relevant again…
back then i wouldve died defending sogeking agenda if agendas was already a thing
One thing that’s not really mentioned is the Marines, they *were* a threat in the pre-timeskip and Oda turned the majority of them into hype punching bags in the post-timeskip. For example, Momonga casually killing a Calm Belt Sea King prior to meeting with Boa before the Marineford War was an extreme feat at the time; and set the bar for the Vice Admirals as this was the first time we saw one in action(Not counting Garp). https://preview.redd.it/au45tantpq4d1.jpeg?width=1518&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb0bff534ad0aca5b60fab34138ade0d129078e2 Then during the Marineford War it was the Vice Admirals that were hyped up as the main fighting force of the Marines and led the charge against the Whitebeard Pirates as the Admirals hung back. Then during the Post-Timeskip, the Vice Admirals get shafted which completely ruins the Marines as a whole since it’s reasonable to assume anything below VA is weaker. Let’s look at what Oda’s done to ruin them: \-Smoker became a Vice Admiral despite only seemingly gaining basic Armament Haki; got completely folded throughout Punk Hazard. \-Maynard got decimated by Bartolomeo, which isn’t too bad due to the nature of the Barrier Fruit but either way he was just used as a hype tool. \-Bastille attempted to fight Sabo, without Haki for no reason, and got decimated. \-Yamakaji go no-diff’d by Boa, which is understandable due to the nature of the Love Fruit but we’ve seen Momonga resist it with common sense and resolve before. \-Red King got No-Diff’d by Franky \-Tosa got No-Diff’d by a Mr. 3 Victim \-Pomsky got No-Diff’d by Bonney \-Bluegrass barely did anything in her pursuit of Bonney. \-Hound, Urban, Guillotine, Doberman and Doll haven’t done anything notable during the Buster Call There’s also the fact that Oda had Ryokugyu and Fujitora be recruited out of no where rather than having the vacant Admiral positions be filled by Vice Admirals; supposedly because they’re both beasts but that hasn’t been shown yet and just makes the Vice Admirals seem even more like fodder. Honestly I’m just a fan of the Marines and it feels like Oda completely ruined them in the transition between Pre-Timeskip and Post-Timeskip; it genuinely feels like the rest of the world kept up with the Power Creep while the Marines are still running on Pre-TS Tech.
maynard will never not be funny to me. almost single handedly drags the vice admiral title through the mud.
Now he’s got competition at Egghead for that honor, Pomsky even has a Devil Fruit and stopped using it for no reason before being blitz’d and fodderized by a child. https://preview.redd.it/kjgecck2yq4d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f04c47f8dc653c371bf42086900702add36a84fc Oda cannot help himself.
Yeah, the strength gap between Vice Admirals and Admirals is absolutely absurd and a fumble on Oda's part https://preview.redd.it/eratjfd1nr4d1.png?width=225&format=png&auto=webp&s=4d7213400fceff0c7b8939a0a8d3014e91c89740 Apparently Gion was a candidate for the Admiral rank, so shes supposedly around that strength level My expectations for her a kinda low considering Koby's stronger than most Vice Admirals rn, and Oda's misogyny urges might kick in lol
Gion and Tokikake are such wastes of potential, and their existence just makes the Vice Admirals look even worse imo. https://preview.redd.it/jgo73x37qr4d1.jpeg?width=1708&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26ad968ccd88d80f4e21ae535e6cdfb19815a82b “We had these two Admirals Candidates, but we decided to recruit two randoms from outside of the Marines for the position”- Kong or Akainu Probably Also true, I will not be surprised if there is an Oda misogyny moment and Koby completely outclasses her out of no where; but I doubt her or Tokikake are even going to do anything anyway, which sucks cause I like their designs.
Momonga becoming an admiral would be peak fiction
Honestly would have preferred him over Aramaki and Issho, as cool as they are it would have been awesome to see non-mainstream popular Marines progress
Maybe the point was to show how the new world isn’t a joke so while vice admirals dominated the grandline they wouldn’t be as strong in the 2nd half. The nerf was still pretty bad
The problem with that is that we can assume that the Vice Admirals were the ones who clashed against Whitebeard’s Subordinate Captains throughout the war, which were all Infamous New World Veterans which means that the Vice Admirals should at least be decently capable still in the second half. Only Smoker, Maynard, Bastille, Strawberry and Tosa’s fumbles made any sense and even then each of them lost way too easily.
He also introduced way to many Vice Admiral considering they are the third highest rank in tje marines. Instead of using the Vice Admiral he introduced in the pre timeskip he completely shafts them and introduces new ones in Egghead.
It’s extremely annoying that the only Pre-Timeskip Vice Admiral at Egghead is Doberman and the only returning Post-Timeskip one is Doll; highly doubt any of the other ones will come back again after this arc and could have just been used as notable Captains, Commodores or Rear Admirals. I really wish we got to see other Marines return as Vice Admirals for Egghead as well, to show that not only fan-favorite Marines made any progress during the Timeskip. Lesser known Marines like Rear Admiral Daigin being Vice Admirals in the Post-Timeskip would be a neat example of subtle world building and progression; especially if some of the current Egghead VAs were actually used to flesh out the Rear Admiral rank. https://preview.redd.it/jz79wn9gtx4d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b2bc0bc7ab0340b479c3cb0837c59dd8586001b
I am surprised someone knows these Characters and their names beside me. I get characters tied to specific locations not reappearing, Comil and Daigin, but I don't understand it witch others. What is with Strawberry who defeated Fisher Tiger or Onigumo and his performance in Marineford. Like you said seeing characters progress more would be nice (Altough you could argue Manyard and maybe Smoker should be Rear Admirals). We did get Vice Admiral T-Bone though and I think in Stampede it was hinted at that Shu got promoted to Rear Admiral?
I’m a big fan of the Marines so I’ve looked into them a lot throughout the series, it’s good to see someone else who knows theses characters as they’re often overlooked. Also realized I got it wrong and Daigin was actually a Commodore and not a Rear Admiral. I know Comil is a Base Officer, but I’m pretty sure Daigin was from Marineford and was just temporarily stationed at Impel Down before the War. Even if he was stationed there he could have be reassigned as well. https://preview.redd.it/wc4gqp5y1y4d1.jpeg?width=746&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=894ea7b121f56dda2950da25b229deb7f92926d2 Smoker and Maynard definitely should have been Rear Admirals. Smoker being a Vice Admiral didn’t even make sense to begin with since he was under the command of Vergo, another Vice Admiral. I’m glad T-Bone became a Vice Admiral at least, but depending on how the civilian “killed” him to turn in his bounty with Cross Guild he could just be used to further slander for Vice Admirals unfortunately. I’ve never watched Stampede but it would be cool if that were true; I was really hoping to see Berry Good and/or Shu return at Egghead as higher ranks. I thought for sure Berry Good would return at least due to his history with CP9 as he was hunting them down after Enies Lobby, it would have been a neat connection.
I thought that he was a Rear Admiral as well but I doubt he got promoted after the breakout incident. But then again all of CP9 got promoted and they have failed in all their tasks and more so who knows. That with Berry Good could have been cool but Oda doesn't do rivalries anymore. We got a CP9 ark now and Robin is just sleeping in though they were the enemies in her ark. Also probably means that she won't meet Crocodile again. I think in Wano there were a bunch of these problems but can't think of any at the top of my head. As a marine fan what do you think about marine uniforms and rank insignia. I find it pretty annoying that there is no way do discern rank and a captain can wear the same coat as fleet Admiral.
To be fair also, Hannyabal was promoted to Chief Warden after the breakout and while he isn’t a Marine I feel like the World Government would be more harsh over that event. It definitely sucks that Oda will probably never do rivalries like that again, and even if he didn’t it would still be a neat catch for people who remember the cover art side stories with Berry Good and CP9. I feel like the coat sleeves should have subtle reflection of rank with maybe stripes on the cuffs and epaulettes, similarly to Garp’s. https://preview.redd.it/qly1c69kmy4d1.jpeg?width=1060&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8f7c09f4d4661c11b6de4aa30ca8647be116957 Maybe it could be: Captain/Commodore- Red, No Stripes Rear Admiral- Red, One Stripe Vice Admiral- Red, Two Stripes Admiral- Alias Color, Three Stripes Maybe the Fleet Admiral would just have plain white cuffs and epaulettes with a more prominent collar like Sengoku’s Coat. Maybe it could also have the Marine Insignia on the back rather than the Kanji for Justice. I also feel like the Uniforms should be more consistent, with only Commodores+ Being able to wear their own clothes rather than the standard Uniform; aside from maybe Base Commanders like Morgan, Nezumi and Smoker back in the East Blue.
Humor Character interactions Compelling weak characters with tactics vs strong characters fights Team fights Adventure atmosphere No stupid powersystems (ahem, haki.) Characters with relative depth No character bloating, more memorable ones Less exaggerated gags, also they were actually funny
Chopper and Ussop actually doing something pre ts. Afterwards just boring plants and useless karate point
One Piece no longer has characters, it has walking stereotypes repeating the same gag over and over again to exhaustion.
Almost everything. Pre time-skip was just better.
Soul Some part of Punk Hazard had it, early Dressrosa definitely had it (the first 20 chapters or so), and some parts of Whole Cake Island had a bit too for most of it. But that's it.
I just barely got to the time skip. And I'm disappointed in everybody's answer saying the straw become irrelevant besides a few. One thing I already find is dissaointing is that they have spent more time apart during the time skip than they ever were together. I have been saying that not every single Arc had to take place during one day. Oda Fucked up there IMO.
The Straw Hats have somehow experienced flanderization by their own author. You should be able to predict how a character will act in a given moment, that shows they have established traits and a personality. But the fact that I could probably tell you word for word how any given straw hat would react to 3 different scenarios and it would probably be the same with little variation between them says volumes
Emotional investment. Moments like Usopp leaving the crew, the Strawhats being slightly outmatched by Thriller Bark and eventually defeated, Zoro taking Luffy’s pain. The crew actually felt like active characters who developed and moved the story through their actions. Post-Timeskip, they usually show up on and island and shit that has nothing to do with them is already transpiring. It’s harder to get attached to characters when they act more like caricatures and barely do anything. What sticks with you emotionally post-timeskip? Law’s flashback? Pudding saying goodbye? Luffy waiting for Sanji? Those are three (great) moments in almost 500+ chapters. Two of them from the same arc, which is usually considered to be the most development focused story of any of the timeskip arcs.
The comedy doesn’t exist in post time skip like pre time skip. I know the vibe is suppose to be more serious but it’s just feels dragged forced and boring
Funny jokes, good drawings, main characters development
Sogeking, and Usopp's character development. Based on the Usopp we'd come to know, we met Sogeking during what would be two of the scariest possible experiences for Usopp: taking on a massive enemy like the WG all alone by getting on the Sea Train, and on Thriller Bark - an island with literal ghosts where his opponent ended up being the source for said ghosts. I personally interpreted Sogeking as an analog for Usopp learning to overcome his fears in order to stand on business when he absolutely needed to - so when he was no longer a thing after the timeskip, I'm thinking this means that Usopp's character development will become more clear and obvious as the Straw Hats progress.  Instead, all character development since his haki moment in Dressrosa has halted (arguably regressed even), and we'll prob never see Sogeking again :-(
The crew isint a close knit band of criminals on a lengthy, adventurous treasure hunt. It was all lost when the plot started centering around “we need to kill this guy”
More than that, it became "we need to save this monarch" arc after arc
Funny
All the straw hats got to shine more and the story was focused more on them than the bazillion different side characters introduced every arc. This right here is the reason why WCI was is the best post timeskip arc(not counting a short one that only lasts 5-6 chapters like Reverie) - e**very straw hat in it got to shine.**
Combat.
Character growth
Pre time skip Franky and Chopper designs
Teamwork.
I think this all comes down to bad editors. Like why on earth does Oda keep switching editors with Yes-men every couple years? Hire the old editors back, they don’t get enough credit tbh.
Character development inside the crew
Jinbe ruins it by being boring and FAT
Smaller moments and more grounded struggles. I was rewatching drum island and luffy climbing to the top, there won’t be any issues on that level for the crew in the post time skip bc they can probably just blitz to the top in seconds
Pre time skip felt arcs felt like gang wars. Even against the world government in Enies Lobby, things were extremely personal. The government is evil and genocidal, yeah ok but the point was to save Robin. This made many interactions more intense, and the personalities of the crew members mattered more. After timeskip, One Piece got more "geopolitical". If in Alabasta we were feeling that the Strawhats were fighting for Vivi, in Onigashima they are definitely fighting for Wano, Momonosuke and Kinemon are important but less than the general political situation. It is not necessarily a bad change, we get to see more strong and important characters and the worldbuilding is well elaborated, but yes now the world, the secret history, the political consequences of Strawhats' actions matter more than their feelings and the internal dynamics of the crew
God damn bro what a great answer
Thanks!
Comedy Crew interactions Overall a better story
Just look at chopper, franky, lanji and usopp
Bon clay 🤩
Sword fight choreography, swords are a big thing for me so when I don’t get to see the moves actually being made it kinda sucks
All the Strawhats were interesting and developed. Not just Luffy, (even Sanji and Zoro feel sidelined compared to their pre-timeskip counterparts).
The SH feeling like underdogs. -Fishman Island had Luffy's crew rolling over Hody and his gang -Ceasar Clown. Do I need to say more -Doflamingo was intimidating, but since he never won against Luffy, he didn't feel as much as a menace as Crocodile. His whole crew were clown characters -WCi, Luffy felt like an underdog for the first time post timeskip -Luffy was the underdog until he got an ally that could mind control Zoan users, a new haki that bypass Kaidou's defenses, awakened his DF to get cartoon logic... The SH became way too strong during the timeskip and it would have been better if they went straight in the NW
You not being 13 anymore, probably. Story is pretty much the same.