Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece is one of the most popular shonen series in anime history. One Piece’s incredible popularity positioned it as a part of the previous “Big Three.” The story follows Monkey D. Luffy on his journey to fulfill his dream of becoming the Pirate King.
As the current holder of the Gomu Gomu no Mi Devil Fruit, Luffy develops his skills as a rubber man and conquers the pirate seas as the Straw Hat Pirate captain. One Piece earned its popularity through its detailed storyline, exciting characters, and creative settings. Premiering in 1999, its animation and characters have grown over the past 2 decades. One Piece continues to inspire audiences worldwide and has no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
10 Specific Rules Are Used Throughout The Series
Despite the complexities of multiple storylines, One Piece manages to keep track of the numerous rules it’s set in place. The vivre card was introduced when Ace gave Luffy a small piece of paper and told him to hold onto without explaining its importance.
It was later explained that the vivre cards hold a person’s life force. A vivre card moves in the direction of its owner and someone can locate them when using it. In a comedic and entertaining display of the vivre cards power, Nami used Big Mom’s vivre card to scare her “homies” into helping her.
9 The Characters Have Unique Personalities And Exciting Character Development
Fans are deeply attached to several One Piece characters. With the amount of intriguing identities Oda has created, there are many fan favorites. Typically viewers fall in love with the protagonist and claim them as their favorite character – One piece makes that difficult. Audiences admire Zoro’s loyalty, Sanji’s charm, Chopper’s compassion, Robin’s tenderness, Nami’s practicality, Franky’s quirks, and Jinbe’s humility, just as much as they admire Luffy’s kindness and determination.
Each Straw Hat has an important role to play and they make their crew stronger. Aside from the main crew, characters like Vivi, Ivonkov, Rayleigh, Boa Hancock, and Shanks have captured fans’ hearts as well. Everyone has grown exponentially since the start of the series and it’s exciting to see where they go.
8 One Piece Has Less Filler Than Other Anime
Filler episodes are used to slow down the main storyline in order to give manga artists more time. Though manga illustrations take a significant amount of time, fans would rather wait than be forced to quench their anime thirst with unnecessary plots. One Piece should be applauded for its ability to limit the amount of filler its produced.
As an older anime, it’s impressive that One Piece didn’t follow suit and bombard its fanbase with filler to get more time. Though One Piece isn’t completely devoid of filler, the filler that is animated coincide with the cover arcs produced in the manga, which focuses on several side characters.
7 There’s Plenty Of Foreshadowing
One Piece has an incredible way of giving fans information about important pieces of the story without them knowing. By giving techniques a different name or mentioning it in passing during fast paced sequences, fans aren’t aware of pertinent information they’ve received that will play a bigger role later.
During Luffy’s fight with Crocodile in Alabasta, Luffy needed to combat Crocodile’s Sand-Sand Fruit with liquid. He used his blood which Crocodile mistook for Haki. Fans weren’t introduced to Haki yet, but it was always present. When Rayleigh taught Luffy about Haki, he thought about where he saw it used before, Amazon Lily and Skypeia.
6 One Piece Has Several Creative Techniques And Abilities
One Piece has introduced several characters throughout its 23 year run. Most of these characters have unique powers or are in possession of a Devil Fruit. With the amount of characters Oda has created, granting most of them unique abilities is nothing short of impressive. After fans became familiar with Haki, they learned there were different types: Observation, Armorment, and Conquers.
Observation allows the user to feel other’s presence, Amorment gives the user invisible armor, and Conquers Haki allows the user to impress their will onto others. If this incredible gift wasn’t enough, there’s also Devil Fruits. Devil Fruits are fruits that give a person special abilities once they ingest it. There are innumerable Devil Fruit users in One Piece. While some are more powerful than others, it’s always interesting to see a new user.
5 One Piece Continues To Stand The Test Of Time
As aforementioned, One Piece premiered in 1999. Since then it has become a phenomenon with fans located all around the world. After airing for over two decades, One Piece is even more exciting now, than when it began.
As one of the longest running anime to date, One Piece has kept its fans engaged in an incredible journey with characters they believe in. Over the years, One Piece has only become more entertaining. Fans are now permanently invested. With each plot twist, new Straw Hat member, and long awaited battle, viewers grow more attached.
4 One Piece’s World Building Is Exceptional
The One Piece world is vast and endless. It’s made up of innumerable islands and villages. Each Straw Hat is from a different island and once they enter the Grand Line, their world becomes even bigger.
Whole Cake island, Zoa, Punk hazard, and Wano illustrate the creativity Oda uses to expand One Piece’s world view. Additionally, the fanbase has discussed how each Straw Hat’s nationality represents corresponding countries in real life. Luffy is said to be from Brazil, while Ussop is from Africa.
3 One Piece Implements Important And Relatable Issues In Its Storyline
Though anime is an entertainment medium, it’s inspiring to see writers use their platforms to bring attention to relevant, real-life issues. One Piece discusses poverty, political corruption, and racism through the Marines, Celestial Dragons, Royal Families, and Fishmen. Prejudice is conveyed through the relationship between Fishmen and humans. Fishmen didn’t trust humans.
As a result, they created laws to help limit their interactions. When Luffy was injured on Fishman Island he needed a blood transfusion. However, sharing blood with a human was forbidden. Jinbe ignored this law and volunteered to give Luffy his blood. The scene shows Jinbe’s blood leave his body and flow towards Luffy in an emotional illustration of dismantling prejudice. As Luffy smiles, a voice announces, “If you hurt someone, or someone hurts you, the same red blood will shed.”
2 One Piece’s Storyline Is Brilliantly Detailed
One Piece recently celebrated airing it’s thousandth episode. With two decades of animation under its belt, One Piece has impressed fans with its extraordinary attention to detail. Fans are often surprised at the information they received before understanding its importance. Oden‘s character exemplifies the intricacies of Oda’s writing.
After seeing the events that led up to the Akazaya Nine’s long-awaited battle against Kaido, fans were astonished and impressed to see that many of the new characters they’ve become acquainted with have always been there. Izou left Wano to stop Oden from joining Whitebeard’s pirate crew. In an ironic turn of events, he ended up staying with Oden and becoming a beloved member aboard the Moby Dick. If fans were to go back and watch the Marine Ford War, they would see that Izou was also there pleading with Ace to return to the ship. This is one of several examples of how Oda never adds pointless details and ties his storylines together.
1 There Are Statues Dedicated To The Straw Hat Pirates In Japan
One Piece is not just a beloved anime, but it’s also a cultural phenomenon. Fans of the series that visit or live in Japan would find statues dedicated to the characters in the series. There are 10 different statues in Kumamoto, Japan, Oda’s hometown. It’s rare for anime fans to be able to visit a space dedicated to their favorite characters.
There are statues of Luffy, Sanji, Ussop, Chopper, Brook, Franky, Robin, Nami, and Zoro which was most recently unveiled in January 2022. As the newest member of the Straw Hats, Jinbe’s statue is scheduled to be unveiled April 2022. Not only are these statues a vacation destination for fans, but visitors add to the local economy.
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