What is One Piece?
Anyone who watches anime and reads manga has at least heard of One Piece and just the sheer number of chapters the series has. At the time of writing this in early November 2021 One Piece has currently 1,031 chapters which is absolutely insane even given many other long running manga. The author Eiichiro Oda has been writing One Piece since July 1997. The man has not slowed down with new chapters releasing frequently continuing the story each week with a fresh new chapter. The series continues to go onto new arcs that just make each year better and better. One Piece is supposed to be on its ending arcs but why do so many people as well as myself treasure this wonderful work of art?
Don’t be afraid of the length
Many people’s first complaint about One Piece is the length of the story. To me this never made any sense to me as if something is so good you always want more of it. One Piece is just that good there will be a sad day when I wake up to read a chapter and there isn’t one coming out. The length just makes the story so much more alive. There is so much lore and side things going on in One Piece that the world feels like even without the Strawhats things will still happen. Bigger players will still make their moves and those who want the throne of pirate king are still there fighting for it as well as other unique factions Oda has created in the One Piece world. The length of One Piece should only be seen as a positive not negative. Whenever I am looking at forums of ended manga and other shows many complaints of big fans of any fandom usually have a comment about how they’d like to have something fleshed out more. One Piece delivers on that giving lots of crew interactions where the attitudes, personalities, ambitions, and world building are so out there that the characters really feel alive not just people coming alive only when its their screen time. To sum up why the length of One Piece is a positive ask any Game of Thrones fan if they’d complain if they had gotten anymore seasons after season 8 granted that season went differently than it did
Feel like you’re one with the crew
As stupid as this sounds it really is true for me and maybe other (I hope I am not the only one in thinking this) but when reading and watching One Piece. The character interactions and gags with the crew is what sets One Piece apart from many other series. I don’t know why but there are some scenes in One Piece that make like you’re just hanging out with the best crew you ever had. The emotions felt in this series feel real and developed. The Strawhats are the friends you wish you had, the friends who always have you in their hearts and mind no matter the situation.
The World is Unique and Alive
If someone was to ask me how to describe the whole plot in One Piece the way I would describe it is think of One Piece as the biggest gang war manga ever. I have yet to hear many ever talk about One Piece in this way but to me it makes a lot of sense. The whole point of plot of One Piece is to achieve the title of Pirate King and for Luffy and crew to accomplish that they have to beat the best pirate crews on the ocean. Crews that have territories, divisions, absolute monsters of characters who should be impossible to beat. Each crew kind of has their own themes on what they focus on but still trying to fight for the top spot of the King of The Pirates. One Piece is honestly the biggest gang war ever told only its on the open sea and not in a city. Then there is also the other moving parts of the world with a corrupt world government who is always having a role in the story even with or without the Strawhats being present. The world of One Piece is completely alive, while the focus of the story is still on the Strawhats most of the time. The little bits of pieces of how the world works without the focus of our favorite protagonists breathes so much excitement into the story.