Official Anime/Manga Thread

[Soniman]

Finally finished Skypiea and my views are a bit mixed.

 

Cons

 

- Half of this arc is such a drag and just boring to watch. I didn't really care about the internal conflict at first, and all of Eneru's mooks were pretty boring and uninteresting characters. Not to mention that the plot moved at about a snail's pace.

 

-Im a bit peeved that despite Enreu sending several thousand bolts through several people, no one died. It was the same thing with  Alabasta, a bunch of people SHOULD have died, but they all survived in the end (including that Hawk who kamazakied himself). I think that's kind of annoying and really takes away from the impact of it all, not even the minor warrior characters died!

 

Pros

 

+Luffy is fucking awesome in this, he really got his is in gear where there was an obvious sense of danger. The fight between him and Enreu was just brilliant (him punching out a giant ball of thunder was the highlight).

 

+When it picks up it gets really intense and I was on the edge of my seat by the end. To be specific though, I guess it picks up for me when Eneru kentucky fries Usopp and Sanji, and even ore later on when Zoro gets in a five-way brawl.

 

+I liked the knight guy who was riding a bird/horse

 

+Great villain, someone who calls himself god better have the power and swag to back up that title and by god he does it magnificently. The way he practically mows through all the characters until Luffy really showed how big of a threat he was. I also never met another character who could instill fear as much as he did, Nami practically pee'd herself looking at him. He was also able to completely decimate an entire city before being subdued, which really says a lot about the guy.

 

+Speaking of Nami, she gets great moments in this. She's usually the type of characters that hide or run when the going gets tough, but her standing up to Eneru after having enough of his shit was a really cool scene, despite him being a god. She also proactively helps Luffy by getting where he needed to go to fight Eneru (by riding up a falling beanstalk no less).

 

+The origin story of the lying guy and the warrior was pretty touching even though it ended sadly for both of them.

 

So overall I guess I can say Skypiea was pretty decent, still not better than Alabasta though (that shall be the yardstick by which all major arcs are measured).

 

Also I really love the OP "Bon Voyage".

Edited January 23, 2013 by Soniman

[Yoko/葉子]

Since DBZ influenced them Roshi = Jiraiya = Sanji, all hopeless in that regard.

 

Suggestions for shows with lots of character interaction, but not doomy gloomy?

[Sean]

Yeahhhh the build up to Skypiea was a lot better than Skypiea itself. Loved seeing Luffy beat Bellamy's ass, Luffy and Zoro not reacting to getting beat up in the bar like how Shanks did in Luffy's childhood, and Luffy meeting Blackbeard for the first time.

[Soniman]

Yeahhhh the build up to Skypiea was a lot better than Skypiea itself. Loved seeing Luffy beat Bellamy's ass, Luffy and Zoro not reacting to getting beat up in the bar like how Shanks did in Luffy's childhood, and Luffy meeting Blackbeard for the first time.

Oh yeah, considering that's called the "Jaya Arc" I just assumed that that was just a separate thing (despite building up to Skypiea), and I liked all of that.

 

And that guy who constantly shat on Luffy is probably the biggest asshole I've seen in One Piece (and just in general) so far.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Soniman

[King Frosty]

Oh yeah, considering that's called the "Jaya Arc" I just assumed that that was just a separate thing (despite building up to Skypiea), and I liked all of that.

 

And that guy who constantly shat on Luffy is probably the biggest asshole I've seen in One Piece (and just in general) so far.

The list of assholes will get bigger as you read onward.  

 

[SuperLink]

-Im a bit peeved that despite Enreu sending several thousand bolts through several people, no one died. It was the same thing with  Alabasta, a bunch of people SHOULD have died, but they all survived in the end (including that Hawk who kamazakied himself). I think that's kind of annoying and really takes away from the impact of it all, not even the minor warrior characters died!

One of my biggest peeves of One Piece as a whole. I don't care whether or not they're building up to ~real deaths~, some deaths such as the hawk guy in Alabasta or Conis' dad in the Skypeia arc and many other random deaths were just... ridiculous how they survived, lost any sense of "WOW I'M SO HAPPY" and became more moments where I would simply facepalm at how predictable.

 

+Great villain, someone who calls himself god better have the power and swag to back up that title and by god he does it magnificently. The way he practically mows through all the characters until Luffy really showed how big of a threat he was. I also never met another character who could instill fear as much as he did, Nami practically pee'd herself looking at him. He was also able to completely decimate an entire city before being subdued, which really says a lot about the guy.

One thing I really liked about Enel was that he took the cliché "god complex" trope and made it literal, he seriously thought he was a god to the point where he was mentally disturbed, it was his driving force in life for god knows how long, so Luffy just turned everything in his world on its head for him and even after he loses he's determined to find Fairy Vearth. Enel is awesome.

 

+The origin story of the lying guy and the warrior was pretty touching even though it ended sadly for both of them.

I'm pretty sure that's one of my favourite flashback sequences in the whole of One Piece even though it isn't about Strawhats :'l it was so sad.

[Kuzu]

Ok, I get it, no image only posts.

 

-Im a bit peeved that despite Enreu sending several thousand bolts through several people, no one died. It was the same thing with  Alabasta, a bunch of people SHOULD have died, but they all survived in the end (including that Hawk who kamazakied himself). I think that's kind of annoying and really takes away from the impact of it all, not even the minor warrior characters died!

 

 

Yeah....this...doesn't last long, that's all I'm gonna say.

[Soniman]

So I saw the fight between Luffy and Usopp (and of course everything leading up to it).

 

It was......well...it it was just.....damn.

 

Water 7 might be better than Alabasta if this keeps up.

[SuperLink]

Water7 just keeps getting better

and better

 

and then a bit slow paced because CP9 fights

and then better and better again

and then you cry because everything is amazing

[Silencer226]

Screw it, I'm gonna watch Medaka Box season 2, mainly because it actually has action in this one, I completely forgot about it last season.  And Cuticle Detective, there's like jack shit I want to look at anymore...

Edited January 26, 2013 by Noel Vermillion

[Soniman]

Finally saw all of Water 7/Enis Lobby and it was..... something else, was usually ill list the pros and cons and make a final evaluation.

 

Pros

 

-The twist over the identities of the CP9 agents was really well handled and believe or not I honestly did not see it coming.

 

-This fights were enjoyable, I especially liked the one between Nami and the Secretary lady, mostly because it showed Nami's cunning and ability to overcome more powerful enemies. Zoro vs Giraffe guy was impressive, though does it seem like for every battle Zoro just keeps making up new attacks? Chopper vs Samurai guy was meh until he morphed into beast mode, which was friggin awesome to see. Sanji vs Wolf guy wasn't to good until Sanji set his leg on fire and totally messed wolf guy up.

 

-It's cool to see Luffy coming up with new battle styles in order to fight stronger enemies. Unlike other types of animes where the hero would have to train to learn powerful moves, Luffy just goes ahead and invents the Gear Second and Third battle modes on the spot.

 

-Spandam, the main villain of this arc is a lot different than what we're used to. Unlike Past One Piece villains where they could talk big and have the power to back, Spandam was pretty much just all talk and his only power was one of authority and the CP9 agents, he had absolutely no power on his own. That's doesn't mean than Spandam wasn't a complete monster of a human being, he pretty much made Robin's life a living hell while she was in his possession, constantly beating her and breaking her down verbally. He's easily one of the most hate able villains I've seen so far and it was so satisfying to see Robin snap the bastard's spine in half by the end.

 

-The whole subplot concerning Usopp, Luffy, and the Going Merry is seriously well handled. Through the previous arcs, no matter what hardships they faced, I always felt like the Strawhats could have always pulled through because they were a team and could trust in one another. And this is the first time where the friendships and bonds between the cremates was truly tested. After Usopp find out that Luffy and the others are going to get another ship, he completely looses it and gets into a viscous argument with Luffy. One thing led to another and it ends with Luffy and Usopp going at each other's throats in a one on one duel. I think the whole ordeal was the first true test of Luffy's role as a captain, not being able to show remorse and respecting Usopp's wishes.

 

-The Going Merry's funeral was fucking tear inducing. I was a bit surprised to how much a boat burning could really get to me, but when they showed all the adventures the Strawhats with the Merry up to that point, I almost lost it. The revelation that Merry was actually a somewhat sentient being and actually said goodbye to the crew, it really got to me. At least the Merry was able to get one last hurrah by saving the Strawhats from Enies Lobby just in time.

 

-Usopp/Sogeking himself has some fantastic moments in this. Near the beginning of the Water 7 Arc Usopp goes through a rough patch in his character, believing himself to be completely useless to the group and this in turn also fuels his decision to leave the Strawhat Pirates and become stronger on his own. He then goes through a phase where he absolutely refuses to let the Going Merry go, and he tires his best to repair her, however futile it appears to be. When the group boards the train to Eneis Lobby and Usopp is captured, he dons the "Sogeking" disguise in order to help his friends. Usopp/Sogeking's awesome moments include

• Saving Robin from Spandam at the last minute, allowing Franky to catch up to her so he could handle the rest.
• Not hesitating to burn the World Government's Flag and declaring war on the what is essentially the world.
• Able to convince two giants to join his side and turning the tide of the battle/siege on Enies Lobby.
• DAT THEME - 

 

 

And in the end, when Usopp decides to return to the crew after everything that happens, he finally learns that there are consequences for his actions and he has to learn to own up to them (by learning humility and begged for the crew to take him back) instead of just ignoring the subject all together.

 

-Robin's backstory is gut-wrenching. You probably all know it so there's not really much of a point to explain what so sad about it, lets just say that this woman truly has gone through hell. Also Robin as a child is absolutely adorable.

 

-Franky is a fun character, though I can somewhat tell he won't be getting much development later on, that was spent on his character arc of learning to forgive himself for Tom's death and moving on with his life/following his dream.

 

Cons

 

-The CP9 themselves aren't terribly interesting or entreating characters. Other than that stupid Samurai guy and the Luuci, all of their personalities were generally boring and they were actually more easily definable characters when they had their secret identities.

 

-Surprise surprise, there were no casualties from the heroes' side, I guess I shouldn't be surprise as Oda now clearly appears to be one of those people who are deathly afraid of ever killing off a single good guy (even the extremely minor ones, that includes the animals and any of the Frankie Family members). Well at least we moved forward slightly by killing off the CP9 members at least......unless I'm somehow wrong about that to, I hope not.

 

-Why does anyone join the Government when they're so fucking evil? They're willing to commit genocide on a whim as well as attack their own men just for the pursuit of what they call "Justice". Further more, why does the Government constantly employ the most obviously evil individuals?

 

-This is an anime only complaint. Good god why do the episodes move at a snails pace in this arc (specifically Enis Lobby)? It's not a plot thing like Skypiea where it just took long time to get going, but just in general everything feels...slow. Characters take long stretches of time before doing anything, there is constant flashback spamming which just shows how much they wanted to pad out the episodes, and specifically the fights between the Strawhats and CP9 take forever to get going because they have to carry on pointless conversations or partake in comedic acts before actually fighting. It may very well be shorter in the manga, but it's completely drawn out here.

 

-Would it kill Sanji or Zoro to emote a bit more? They usually always have a look of indifference whenever something dire happens and it kinda irks me. I get that that's probably not their way of showing emotion or they find the act of doing so tone weak/pointless, but when I see the Going Merry giving it's goodbye speech which has everyone tearing up and i see Sanji trying to light up another cigarette, I kind of just think he's being a douche. It's easier to buy with Zoro because he's a samurai and showing emotions is just something they don't do.

 

 

Overall I can say that Water 7/Enis Lobby was a good arc, better than Skypiea for sure..buuuuuuuuut I still prefer Alabasta, I should really explain why later on so it makes more since on why I would call it the best.

[Senator NinjaShark]

-Surprise surprise, there were no casualties from the heroes' side, I guess I shouldn't be surprise as Oda now clearly appears to be one of those people who are deathly afraid of ever killing off a single good guy (even the extremely minor ones, that includes the animals and any of the Frankie Family members). Well at least we moved forward slightly by killing off the CP9 members at least......unless I'm somehow wrong about that to, I hope not.

 

The CP9 ( minus Spandam) are Alive and well infact, and have done some explots on their own, such as Kicking some Pirate and Marine ass and even Training a new Generation of Cipher Pol, and also Telling Spandam that they're coming for his Ass more or less.

 

Enies Lobby was probably one of my absolute Favourite Arcs in One Piece so far (altough admitedally, I am horribly behind) because of all the Insane shit that happened during it.

 

The Next Arc, without spoiling Much, was Good but not as Good as Enies Lobby. It felt largeley like a Breather Episode to me, but it did Introduce one of my Favourite Characters in the Show and was overall still Good.

[Supaidaman]

Screw it, I'm gonna watch Medaka Box season 2, mainly because it actually has action in this one, I completely forgot about it last season.  And Cuticle Detective, there's like jack shit I want to look at anymore...

Medaka Box Abnormal is quite cool, it's where the series starts to get really crazy. But the manga only gets better: The Minus and Not Equal Arcs are awesome and show how crazy can Nisio Oisin can be.  Kumagawa and Ajimu Najimi are some of the best villains ever made. I love how Ajimu kept breaking the 4th wall in the Not Equal Arc, specially since the anime had just been announced.

 

It's a shame that we will probably not see the later arcs animated.

[MugiMikey]

-The CP9 themselves aren't terribly interesting or entreating characters. Other than that stupid Samurai guy and the Luuci, all of their personalities were generally boring and they were actually more easily definable characters when they had their secret identities.

 

-Surprise surprise, there were no casualties from the heroes' side, I guess I shouldn't be surprise as Oda now clearly appears to be one of those people who are deathly afraid of ever killing off a single good guy (even the extremely minor ones, that includes the animals and any of the Frankie Family members). Well at least we moved forward slightly by killing off the CP9 members at least......unless I'm somehow wrong about that to, I hope not.

 

-Why does anyone join the Government when they're so fucking evil? They're willing to commit genocide on a whim as well as attack their own men just for the pursuit of what they call "Justice". Further more, why does the Government constantly employ the most obviously evil individuals?

 

-This is an anime only complaint. Good god why do the episodes move at a snails pace in this arc (specifically Enis Lobby)? It's not a plot thing like Skypiea where it just took long time to get going, but just in general everything feels...slow. Characters take long stretches of time before doing anything, there is constant flashback spamming which just shows how much they wanted to pad out the episodes, and specifically the fights between the Strawhats and CP9 take forever to get going because they have to carry on pointless conversations or partake in comedic acts before actually fighting. It may very well be shorter in the manga, but it's completely drawn out here.

 

-Would it kill Sanji or Zoro to emote a bit more? They usually always have a look of indifference whenever something dire happens and it kinda irks me. I get that that's probably not their way of showing emotion or they find the act of doing so tone weak/pointless, but when I see the Going Merry giving it's goodbye speech which has everyone tearing up and i see Sanji trying to light up another cigarette, I kind of just think he's being a douche. It's easier to buy with Zoro because he's a samurai and showing emotions is just something they don't do.

1. Yeah, I agree that the CP9 are overrated. I think people like them because they use the Six Powers which makes the fights "super cool and DBZ-like." I did take a fondness to Kaku, though, and it was before I even knew he was part of the CP9. I really liked his design and how well he did his job. Even after he revealed his true identity, I actually liked that he said he took his job as a shipwright seriously, despite being an undercover government spy. Lucci was cooler when Hattori was speaking for him, and the rest of them are just meh...

 

2. Nobody from the CP9 died. Here's some trivia, though... Back when Oda was in the middle of writing the late Skypiea material or so, he did say that one of the Straw Hats were going to die. The Going Merry's death is what it turned out to be. Nobody expected that.

 

3. That's the thing about One Piece. Both the government and pirates are flawed. Hell, the world itself is flawed. You've got a fair share of the good and the bad from both sides. The government believes in protecting the innocent and making sure their rules are obeyed. If anybody, whether it be a pirate or a marine, shows resistance, they become an immediate threat. They don't want to yield a new age of piracy or let Neo Marine rebels out there defy their power, so their philosophy is to nip the buds before they get a chance to grow. Sure, it may not be an ethical way to deal with their problems, but they try to get their job done.

 

Also remember that even though the Straw Hats are the protagonists, they're also the bad guys (by law) in the story. If you read one of Oda's one shots of One Piece ("Romance Dawn"), that incarnation of Luffy explains that there are two types of pirates in the world: Morganias, the corrupt and evil pirates, and Peace Mains, who pretty much are the good pirates like Luffy and his crew. Oda hasn't used these terms in the final version of One Piece, but both types still apply and are equally criminals in the government's eyes.

 

4. The anime's pacing just gets worse. I recommend that you switch over to the manga as soon as you can because it'll just become unbearable. The reason they do this is because so many people complain about filler so they decide to not create filler. Instead, everything (well, most of it) is canon. The catch? Content-wise, each episode is usually as long as a single manga chapter (which is about 18-19 pages). At a normal pace, 18-19 chapters would not be enough to fill the 20+ minute time for One Piece, so they choose to drag out the material. It's also why they ditched ending songs for longer openings and added in those ridiculous prologues and long recaps before each episode; they'll pretty much add in anything else to take up time. In comparison to other anime (and earlier episodes of One Piece), a typical episode is usually about 2-3 chapters worth of material.

 

Hell, some of the episodes within the past year have been less than a manga chapter long. It's really bad. You'd better get used to the really poor pacing or like I said, migrate over to the manga.

 

5. Sanji and Zoro compete to be the biggest tough guy in the crew. Sanji wasn't smoking during Merry's viking funeral to be a douche; he actually had his head down and the shot we had shown of him had his face covered by his hair. I thought it was obvious he was a bit sad from it, but remember he's not like Usopp who had a special attachment to the ship or Franky who's just an emotional bastard that'll cry at anything. Even since early Skypiea, Sanji had recommended that they ditch the Merry and get a new ship, so clearly he didn't have much of an attachment to it. Zoro, on the other hand, immediately showed concern for Merry when Kaku told him the bad news. Sanji is still a big douchebag, but I think he expressed himself well during Merry's death.

[Soniman]

Oh my god how could I forget mentioning the recaps!? Those were fucking terrible, it got so bad that it actually took up six goddamn minutes of an episode. That's just insane.

 

As for everything else you said, I either agree or issues I brought up (like the Government and Sanji's behavior) make a lot more sense now.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Soniman

[SuperLink]

The Merry saving the Strawhats from Enies Lobby fucking killed me. One of the saddest most emotional parts of the series, I had no idea how attached I could get to a boat.. and then it happened.

-Why does anyone join the Government when they're so fucking evil? They're willing to commit genocide on a whim as well as attack their own men just for the pursuit of what they call "Justice". Further more, why does the Government constantly employ the most obviously evil individuals?

There are good reasons for the Government to be evil, Robin's backstory probably gave you some idea that the Government are hiding far far more than anyone thought up to that point. However people join the Government because 1) they had run ins with horrible pirates and want to stop piracy or 2) they have a strong sense of morality like Coby and want to change things if they can help it. Aokiji is a good example of that.. also a good example of how a good guy can still be treated like a tool in order to keep his position.

Also, as of Water7/Enies Lobby, Usopp is my favourite character. Hasn't changed yet. I'd really love another One Piece arc that has such an impact on the series mythos but also huge impacts on character development.

PS. dereshishishishi

[\gunther]

Apparently, Madoka Magica is airing on Australian television... a children's channel. 

 

Aussies: Are you guys half as bad at editing anime to fit into a children's time slot as us Amerifats got a rep for in the past? It seems like an odd choice. Is it going to be shown late at night?

[Salamander]

Maybe they give kids more credit in Australia and are actually prepared to confront them with entertainment that gets a bit more subversive?  I see they also list Demons on their line-up, a show which was aired on Saturday evenings here in the U.K. and dealt with themes of death and moral ambiguity... and which was also pretty terrible.  So maybe they did just hack it to pieces.  I'd really be interested to know, though!

[SuperLink]

Considering that until very recently many violent games were outright banned in Australia, I kinda doubt that they give kids more credit.

 

It's probably more a case of the showrunners not actually watching Madoka Magica before deciding and making the decision based on appearance, o boy! Remember when 4Kids did that with One Piece?

 

Although it's worth keeping in mind that they're airing it late, at past 8pm, so maybe they're aiming it at older kids, like Toonami or even Adult Swim style.

[Nix]

The Merry saving the Strawhats from Enies Lobby fucking killed me. One of the saddest most emotional parts of the series, I had no idea how attached I could get to a boat.. and then it happened.

This.  Fucking this.  I'm archive binge...ing through the manga right now, and I had to stop for a day because I couldn't fucking do it after Merry's funeral.

 

I gotta say though, I'm really enjoying the manga right now.

I fucking love Luffy's grandpa.

[Kuzu]

I think my favorite part of that entire arc was Robin's backstory, and the conflict between Ussop and Luffy.

 

 

It's interesting to see how such a detached character has such a depressing back story, and why she kept her distance by calling each member by their title rather than name. When Luffy and the crew tell her she wants to live, it's one of the most poignant moments ever.

 

Luffy finally stepping up as a captain was also a nice change of pace from his normal blundering, and I'm glad the story acknowledged how wrong Ussop was about the whole thing.

[Soniman]

Speaking of which, does Robin ever get out of the habit of calling the crew members by their titles? Like, does she ever start calling them by their actual names?

[Kuzu]

Speaking of which, does Robin ever get out of the habit of calling the crew members by their titles? Like, does she ever start calling them by their actual names?

 

 

Yes, after the Enies Lobby arc, she starts calling everyone by name to show she's become closer to them.

[SuperLink]

Even thought the conflict and development between Usopp and Luffy was so good, I have to admit I was peeved that Luffy took so long to tell Usopp why Merry couldn't be fixed, it felt like unnecessary drama for the sake of creating tension, I noticed the whole tone of the series changed drastically around that point and it was very interesting and heartbreaking, but I feel it could have been done better so I didn't feel the need to keep saying "JUST TELL HIM WHY THE BOAT CAN'T BE FIXED GDI"

 

Speaking of which, does Robin ever get out of the habit of calling the crew members by their titles? Like, does she ever start calling them by their actual names?

Yeah esp. Luffy which is nice, she feels a lot more like part of the team from that point onward.

[Kuzu]

Even thought the conflict and development between Usopp and Luffy was so good, I have to admit I was peeved that Luffy took so long to tell Usopp why Merry couldn't be fixed, it felt like unnecessary drama for the sake of creating tension, I noticed the whole tone of the series changed drastically around that point and it was very interesting and heartbreaking, but I feel it could have been done better so I didn't feel the need to keep saying "JUST TELL HIM WHY THE BOAT CAN'T BE FIXED GDI"

 

Even if Luffy did tell him it wouldn't have changed anything, they would still need to have gotten a new ship regardless. Ussop knew the Merry couldn't be fixed and was still being unreasonable because he was attached to the ship. Luffy's the captain and any decision he makes the rest of the crew have to compromise whether they like it or not.