Why One Piece is a Masterpiece
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda is the highest-grossing manga of all time, selling about 460 million copies around the world and still counting. One Piece is disputedly the best manga of all time and one of the best fictional story of any media ever. But what makes One Piece so great?
Notes: Here I only talk about the manga, not the anime adaptation because it is a different work, and, well, the anime is kind of suck.
Fascinating World
The geopolitics
Since the start, One Piece world was built to be very large, complex, and carefully made. The geography itself is already interesting: there are four seas, separated by a strip of land (The Red Line), and a strip of water (The Grand Line). The Grand Line is divided from the other seas by The Calm Belt, a couple strip of sea where many sea kings (sea monsters) reside, so that strip is basically impassable. This geography becomes a strong base for any story and adventure that the characters encounter.
The people and parties that live in that world makes it even more interesting. The world consist of many kingdoms that are affiliated and are not affiliated with the World Government. The World Government is one governing body that rules the world, that supervises many organizations such as the Marines and the Intelligence (Chiper Pol). On the other hand, there are variety of pirates, bounty hunters, underground brokers, explorers, and even scholars. And, there are the media. The media proved to be the integral part of One Piece world. The media act as its own entities and can play the part in the politics of the world, just like in the real world.
The issues that appointed in One Piece world politics are also diverse. Most of them even correspond with real world issue, such as racial discrimination, inequality, corrupt government, civil war, and slavery.
In One Piece world, there are no definitive distinction of what is right or wrong, of who is the good guy and the bad guy (in the story perspective, of course the main characters is the good guy, but they could be the bad guy in that world). In common sense, the pirates are the bad guy. However, some of them have the morality and value that we concur, so we somehow symphatize with them. On the other hand, by default, the government is the good guy. Nonetheless, the government has its dark side itself: its repressiveness, discrimination, involvement in the underground transaction, and of course, the main controversy, their secrecy about the void century, and how they obliterate everyone that try to reveal that history.
Speaking of void century, One Piece world filled with many misteries. The void century, ancient weapon, and ancient kingdom itself is still a big mystery in and on itself. Then comes the mistery of devil fruit origins, the meaning of “D”, the sky island and moon people, the straw hat, and so on.
In essence, One Piece world is just a miniature of the real world we live in. The right or wrong is not as clear as black and white, there are no real good guy or bad guy. Everyone has their own motive, and the clash of those various motives is what makes the world interesting. Eventually, the one that rules can define what is right and wrong. Well, Doflamingo has a very good saying about this.
The technology and other appeal
As the icing of the cake, One Piece world is filled with many unique technologies that help enrich the story. To move from one island to another in Grand Line, one needs a log post or an eternal post. For long distance communication, one uses a special type of snail called den den mushi, with many varieties of it. And all the other fascinating things: the seastone, the vivre card, the dial, the clouds in sky island, the bubbles in Sabaody, and many more.
I can say without a doubt that One Piece has the best world building of any manga ever, and maybe one of the best world building of any fictional stories in any media.
The Characters and Their Interactions
Because of its huge world, One Piece is filled with tons of characters. However, Oda still manages to create many unique and not easily forgettable characters. Well, Oda even makes ‘laugh trademarks’ for many characters.
Multi-layered personality
Every main character (not only the Straw Hat crew, but also other characters that heavily involved in the story) is not defined by only one or two traits. Of course Zoro is serious and ambitious, while Chopper is coward and naive. But Oda doesn’t stop there. Zoro is also a heavy drinker and bad at navigating, while Chopper is also clumsy, but eager to become a braver and more dependable man. And he also somehow bad at hiding. This kind of multilayer characterization is what makes the characters lovable and unforgettable.
Luffy, on the other hand, is very well characterized so that we didn’t know we need a backstory for him, until Oda gave it to us. And that backstory only strenghten Luffy’s characters and make us understand more about where he comes from.
Organic jokes
Because of the strong characterization, the jokes in One Piece are made very organically. The jokes flew very smoothly because it fits with the trait of the characters delivering it. The jokes are rarely forced and clingy.
Tragic drama without being cheesy
Good characterization also leads to better drama. This is one of the selling point of One Piece. There are many moments that can make a grown man cry. We could talk all day about Usopp and Luffy’s fight, Merry’s farewell, Zoro’s “nothing happened” scene, and basically everyone’s flashback, especially Robin’s and that “I want to live” moment. Even the side characters have their own tragic story: Senor Pink’s backstory, Norland and Calgara’s friendship, Law and Doflamingo’s tragic childhood, you name them.
The Robin retrieval effort actually has every potential to be cheesy. We vs the world to save one of our friend? Sounds very cheesy to me. However, because we understand the meaning of friendship in Luffy’s perspective that was built from hundreds of chapters before, and because Oda could execute it very well, the whole Robin retrieval effort becomes a great story. One of the best story in this manga.
Exceptional Storytelling
The world building and characterization will only make One Piece a very great manga, but not a masterpiece. What makes One Piece exceptional is it can tell a good story from the fascinating world and character it has.
Long build-up, big pay off
One of the main critics to One Piece story is its long build-up, especially since weekly manga scan becomes a thing. Because this is a Shonen manga, readers expect it to be filled with lots of fighting and stuff. Well, fight was never become one of One Piece’s strength. But, if you expect a great story, be patience, and I guarantee you will get it.
The long build-up phase means we will be more invested in the story, more symphatize with the characters, and have more expectation for the conclusion. And Oda will make sure we get the pay off, big time. The story will conclude in a dramatic way that answers all the expectations in the build-up. All of the Chekhov’s gun will be fired (if not, it will be fired in another arc), and the conclusion will felt more earned. The Dressrosa arc felt a bit strechty at the build-up, but the conclusion really paid it off.
Every arc itself is actually a long and intricate build up for the finale of the manga. Considering how the story goes so far, I can’t wait to see how the finale will unfold.
Telling a story without actually telling it
One of the strong point in One Piece story telling is how it tells a story, without directly telling us. Many important events in One Piece are an off-screen events. Not every important event is drawn. Some events even have more dramatic value when it is off-screen and told by a story telling from one character to another.
Aokiji vs Akainu has become the greatest fight in One Piece without making any appearance on screen at all. Nonetheless, we understand the magnitude of the fight by listening to Jinbei’s explanation and by witnessing the aftermaths of the fight: Akainu’s scar, Aokiji’s lost leg, and of course, Punk Hazard, an island split in half in fire and ice where the fight took place.
There are many other example of this off-screen event: Ace vs Blackbeard (not fully shown), Blackbeard Pirates vs Ex-Whitebeard Pirates, the Mink tribe vs Jack and his army, and so on.
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Of course, One Piece also has several weaknesses. And One Piece is evolving. The early chapters and arcs may not as good as the later, or we could say otherwise for several part. But still, in its 23rd year, One Piece still mantains its quality, and acclaims itself as the greatest manga of all time.