Get back to where you once belong
I think it's time for me to thoroughly express my feelings of frustration and disappointment regarding a certain Shounen JUMP series. I've had these thoughts for a YEAR now and I need to get them off my chest. So, here lies a post wherein I explain why I have fallen out of love with the current One Piece manga saga. Expect spoilers.
It's been over a year (real world time, here) in which the Straw Hat pirates were separated by the Shichibukai Kuma. Let me reiterate: It's been over a year since Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brook have appeared in a chapter. More than one year.
Now, for me, what makes One Piece, well, One Piece, is the crew. THE ENTIRE CREW. The dynamic and relationships between all the crew members is the magic that first enamored this series to me. It's also one of the main themes of the story - nakama. Now, when you take that away, the magic of this series is, well, gone. I'm sorry Eichiro Oda, but for me, Luffy by himself cannot carry this series.
If you look back to the beginning of the adventure, you'll see how quickly Zoro was introduced and joined Luffy's side. This was never really only about Luffy. And he's never been the only main character active in the story for as long as he has been for the past year. In other words, One Piece is NOT Luffy's journey, alone. It is the journey of him AND his crew.
Now, I do realize that the current saga is an important series-changing one which will affect the story's second half. I get it. But, that does not allow me to excuse Oda's writing and pretend I'm perfectly fine with where he's taken things, because, to be quite honest, I am not. As far as I am concerned, this entire saga is one big necessary evil I wish for to be over soon. And I've felt this way for an entire year.
But, wait, you say! This saga will allow the rest of the crew to acquire the necessary shounen power-up!
I might have not minded so much if Oda had FULL CHAPTERS (not fucking cover pages) which were devoted to each of the other characters and their whereabouts, but no, Oda has not done this. So, we've been stuck with Luffy by himself for the last year. And I'm not happy at all.
The novelty of seeing Luffy running around with past enemies turned temporary allies wore off long ago for me. Now I want this shit to be done with so the story can get back on track and move forward (WITH ALL THE MAIN CHARACTERS).
To be perfectly honest, I don't really care too much one way or another about Ace and whether he'll be rescued. Why? Because Ace was never a major character like the Straw Hats. Because we never got to know him like the Straw Hats, I never felt close to his character. He was a cool supporting character with fire powers and nothing more. So, an entire saga devoted to his rescue doesn't have the impact, as say, the rescue of Robin - a main character - does.
Hold on, you say, Ace and his rescue is the catalyst for major game changing stuff - namely, the power struggle between the Marines and the pirates. And also the passing of the torch from the old generation of pirates (i.e. Whitebeard) to the new (i.e. Luffy, the Super Novas, etc.).
Yes, I realize this is important to the story, but for me, the greatest and most important factor in any work of fiction is not the plot, but the characters. And all of the characters involved in this saga (with the exception of Luffy) have been of the supporting variety. And we've not grown with these characters like with the main cast. These are characters who merely have been on the sidelines this entire time. It's hard to care a lot for a character when they've not been the focus of the series for 500+ chapters.
Now, since the characters obviously are not carrying the weight for me, you'd think the plot might make up for this discrepancy... But, no, it has not. I've found a lot of this saga predictable, honestly. Did you really think Ace was going to die? Anyone? I didn't think so. So, with his rescue certain, who, if anyone, would Oda sacrifice? Well, if you remember that this saga is about the passing of the torch...that leaves Whitebeard. (If you're up-to-date with the manga, you know why I've crossed this out; but, my point still stands that a majority of this saga has been fairly predictable.) Whitebeard is going to die. Everyone who's been keeping up with this story has known this for many months now. We're just waiting for Oda to finally put it on paper.
Other examples of this saga's predictability include Luffy's instant heal! in the Impel Down arc when he was given those magical healing hormones. Of course Luffy was going to heal in a ridiculously short span of time! He's the protagonist! Then there's his haki, which, of course, is going to be at a level that rivals only the elite super powered characters. Again, he's the protagonist!
Speaking of haki, it is probably the most ridiculous power-up I've seen in a shounen in a while. Yes, it was introduced from very early on (see Shanks), but to have it become the next "level" of power is jumping-the-shark territory for me. It's pretty obvious every uber-strong foe from this point on is going to have this hax power. I liked it when I thought Shanks was able to scare off that Sea King because he was just that formidable of a man, whose courage and bravery were limitless, not because he had some hax power that allowed him to bend the rules of the universe this story takes place in.
I don't want to feel this way about One Piece. I wish I was in love with this saga like everyone else and their grandma is, but I cannot lie and pretend I'm happy with the going-ons for the last year. I've been unhappy with what Oda has done since Sabaondy. This current saga just cannot match the gravitas and emotion that the series' best did so successfully a few years back.
Water 7/Enies Lobby is still, to this day, the high point of this series for me. This current saga is essentially following the same basic idea, but without the dynamic of the entire main cast, and with no sense of novelty and unpredictability, it just doesn't cut it. This could all have been handled differently and with different results. If Thriller Bark, a thoroughly underwhelming minor arc, hadn't gotten in the way... If the entire cast hadn't been separated... If more significant focus had been put on Ace prior... If, if, if...
But, there's nothing I can do. I am not Eichiro Oda. So, in the meantime, I'll continue reading only to see when this damn saga is going to end and when all of my favourite characters are finally reunited. I'll probably love this series again as I did prior to all of this mess. Until then, I'll be grumbling with impatience. I realize I'm selfish, but I want to see the characters I actually love and care about again. I only hope it's not another year away.
It's been over a year (real world time, here) in which the Straw Hat pirates were separated by the Shichibukai Kuma. Let me reiterate: It's been over a year since Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brook have appeared in a chapter. More than one year.
Now, for me, what makes One Piece, well, One Piece, is the crew. THE ENTIRE CREW. The dynamic and relationships between all the crew members is the magic that first enamored this series to me. It's also one of the main themes of the story - nakama. Now, when you take that away, the magic of this series is, well, gone. I'm sorry Eichiro Oda, but for me, Luffy by himself cannot carry this series.
If you look back to the beginning of the adventure, you'll see how quickly Zoro was introduced and joined Luffy's side. This was never really only about Luffy. And he's never been the only main character active in the story for as long as he has been for the past year. In other words, One Piece is NOT Luffy's journey, alone. It is the journey of him AND his crew.
Now, I do realize that the current saga is an important series-changing one which will affect the story's second half. I get it. But, that does not allow me to excuse Oda's writing and pretend I'm perfectly fine with where he's taken things, because, to be quite honest, I am not. As far as I am concerned, this entire saga is one big necessary evil I wish for to be over soon. And I've felt this way for an entire year.
But, wait, you say! This saga will allow the rest of the crew to acquire the necessary shounen power-up!
I might have not minded so much if Oda had FULL CHAPTERS (not fucking cover pages) which were devoted to each of the other characters and their whereabouts, but no, Oda has not done this. So, we've been stuck with Luffy by himself for the last year. And I'm not happy at all.
The novelty of seeing Luffy running around with past enemies turned temporary allies wore off long ago for me. Now I want this shit to be done with so the story can get back on track and move forward (WITH ALL THE MAIN CHARACTERS).
To be perfectly honest, I don't really care too much one way or another about Ace and whether he'll be rescued. Why? Because Ace was never a major character like the Straw Hats. Because we never got to know him like the Straw Hats, I never felt close to his character. He was a cool supporting character with fire powers and nothing more. So, an entire saga devoted to his rescue doesn't have the impact, as say, the rescue of Robin - a main character - does.
Hold on, you say, Ace and his rescue is the catalyst for major game changing stuff - namely, the power struggle between the Marines and the pirates. And also the passing of the torch from the old generation of pirates (i.e. Whitebeard) to the new (i.e. Luffy, the Super Novas, etc.).
Yes, I realize this is important to the story, but for me, the greatest and most important factor in any work of fiction is not the plot, but the characters. And all of the characters involved in this saga (with the exception of Luffy) have been of the supporting variety. And we've not grown with these characters like with the main cast. These are characters who merely have been on the sidelines this entire time. It's hard to care a lot for a character when they've not been the focus of the series for 500+ chapters.
Now, since the characters obviously are not carrying the weight for me, you'd think the plot might make up for this discrepancy... But, no, it has not. I've found a lot of this saga predictable, honestly. Did you really think Ace was going to die? Anyone? I didn't think so. So, with his rescue certain, who, if anyone, would Oda sacrifice? Well, if you remember that this saga is about the passing of the torch...that leaves Whitebeard. (If you're up-to-date with the manga, you know why I've crossed this out; but, my point still stands that a majority of this saga has been fairly predictable.) Whitebeard is going to die. Everyone who's been keeping up with this story has known this for many months now. We're just waiting for Oda to finally put it on paper.
Other examples of this saga's predictability include Luffy's instant heal! in the Impel Down arc when he was given those magical healing hormones. Of course Luffy was going to heal in a ridiculously short span of time! He's the protagonist! Then there's his haki, which, of course, is going to be at a level that rivals only the elite super powered characters. Again, he's the protagonist!
Speaking of haki, it is probably the most ridiculous power-up I've seen in a shounen in a while. Yes, it was introduced from very early on (see Shanks), but to have it become the next "level" of power is jumping-the-shark territory for me. It's pretty obvious every uber-strong foe from this point on is going to have this hax power. I liked it when I thought Shanks was able to scare off that Sea King because he was just that formidable of a man, whose courage and bravery were limitless, not because he had some hax power that allowed him to bend the rules of the universe this story takes place in.
I don't want to feel this way about One Piece. I wish I was in love with this saga like everyone else and their grandma is, but I cannot lie and pretend I'm happy with the going-ons for the last year. I've been unhappy with what Oda has done since Sabaondy. This current saga just cannot match the gravitas and emotion that the series' best did so successfully a few years back.
Water 7/Enies Lobby is still, to this day, the high point of this series for me. This current saga is essentially following the same basic idea, but without the dynamic of the entire main cast, and with no sense of novelty and unpredictability, it just doesn't cut it. This could all have been handled differently and with different results. If Thriller Bark, a thoroughly underwhelming minor arc, hadn't gotten in the way... If the entire cast hadn't been separated... If more significant focus had been put on Ace prior... If, if, if...
But, there's nothing I can do. I am not Eichiro Oda. So, in the meantime, I'll continue reading only to see when this damn saga is going to end and when all of my favourite characters are finally reunited. I'll probably love this series again as I did prior to all of this mess. Until then, I'll be grumbling with impatience. I realize I'm selfish, but I want to see the characters I actually love and care about again. I only hope it's not another year away.