(warning: idk what concise means)
I'm a big One Piece fan!! to answer 1, my friend in primary school was into it, so I started reading it when I was about 10-11?? I often got a couple of the omnibus manga for Christmas! So now I currently have all the manga from 1-102, and planning to get more in the omnibus form as it comes out. And a couple years ago, my partner actually offered to watch the anime with me after I mentioned wanting to watch it?? Crazy but I appreciate it sm
2. I like both, but prefer the manga. I appreciate the bias, since it was what I was first exposed to, but I also think the manga doesn't suffer from the pacing issues the anime has at times. I could understand more why people hate on Skypeia once I watched it, because before that I was like ?? because I really enjoyed the manga version. (I still big disagree with people saying skip the whole arc though, I still thought it was enjoyable, albeit painful at times + important later!!) But I love the added vibes of characters voices, and the fight scenes in the anime (especially in newer arcs). I was ecstatic when I first heard Buggy laugh. Things the anime doesn't have are I love the SBS corners and the little stories told in the chapter art! I found in the anime some of the context was missing because they didn't cover the chapter art (e.g. Wapol) But overall I think the manga is better done and my go-to as a piece of media.
3. Very difficult, I love them all
. Hmm Brook is probably my least favourite, as I just feel like he's less of a fleshed out character? And after the arc he was introduced in I feel like he hasn't really had any character building moments, especially compared to the others. My favourite might be Luffy? I do love them all though.
I might come back and answer more later, but although it definitely has it's issues, OP is overall one of my favourite series, so its weird I've barely spoken about it on here yet HAH. I do love the series and have grown up with it!! I'm sadly a bit behind on the manga atm (Stopped part-way through the most recent arc) because irl stuff, but I'm planning to restart reading after this semester ends
Yess!!! I love the manga for the same reasons as you! I think they did make some filler episodes for some of the chapter art side stories, but I think they were much better executed by Oda than by the anime (Oda only gives permission to the people make the anime from what I understand; I think he mentioned it in his SBS corner).
Skypeia is one of my least favorite arcs, but I don’t hate it at all. I thought it was really interesting and fun to watch; the anime’s pacing I think is what the problem was for me. I don’t think that arc should be skipped at all since I thought it was important considering it’d come up in some dialogue later. The one I think I’d tell people skip would be a bit of the Long Island; sure it is canon but it and Foxxy haven’t been mentioned again (at least at the points that I’ve seen and read).
I’ll start answering some of the questions and get back to the others later:
1. Initially when I saw pictures of One Piece, it didn’t appeal to me because I just never was a big fan of pirate themed shows or movies. I did go see a few of the Pirates of the Caribbean back in high school and I felt that it was over hyped (I just am not a big movie or hollywood person). I decided one day to give it a chance and started watching it on Crunchyroll. I liked it so much that I binged through it and caught up in two months (at the time Whole Cake Island was the newest arc). This is now my favorite anime & manga. I need to catch up now again though.
2. I like both! I love the anime for the Japanese voiceovers, fight scenes, and I feel like the emotional scenes have more an impact than it does while reading it since the manga’s pacing is much faster. The thing I hate about the anime are recap and filler episodes. The manga is great too because of the chapter title page art & stories & q and a’s with Oda!
3. My favorite Straw Hat is Zoro! I think he is so cool, handsome and has some of the best fight scenes!
His poor sense of direction can sometimes be frustrating to watch (I have a bad sense of direction too, though, so I can’t be too hard on him
) but I think that it adds more to his character overall since all characters have flaws.
My least favorite is Nami; I don’t like the manipulative types and while I know she genuinely cares about the crew, it irked me when she expected them to carry her if she’s a little wounded even if they’re more wounded than her, and also it irked me how she charged them extra for loans.
4. My favorite marines: Aokiji, Smoker, Garp, Coby
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Aokiji: He’s really cool and interesting! I’m not sure what to think of his new role now but I’m hoping he has good reasons for it. The bit of backstory he has with Robin is interesting too! I really like his devil fruit ability; really cool!
Smoker: I think he is really cool! I like how he does what he wants and doesn’t care what headquarters says. I like that he has a clear sense of right and wrong too. His relationship with the Straw Hats is really interesting!
Garp: I think he is hilarious. I think his relationship with Sengoku was pretty funny and his reactions every time Luffy does something too were great. Ofc, if this was IRL, I would not think him tying up Luffy to balloons and the stuff he did was okay
.
Coby has the best character development of them all. When I first saw him, I expected those episodes would be the last we hear about him, but it’s awesome how he is developing and the role he now is playing, not to mention the fact he still has a close bond with Luffy.
He is such an endearing character and honestly pretty adorable.
My least favorite: Akainu. I’m not sure what to think of Kizaru.
Warlords: Mihawk & Crocodile. Both are really cool. I know Croc has bad vibes and the stuff he did in Alabasta, but his bit of development from Impel Down to Marineford has been fun to see. I think his design is really cool and his devil fruit ability is cool too! Mihawk was an immediate favorite for me. I’d love to know more about him and him have some more screen time. He is so cool and kinda mysterious in a way; I feel like I don’t know much about him.
Least favorite: Boa. This is really silly, but I hated how she kicked a kitten and other animals in one of the episodes. She’s overall okay to me; interesting backstory but I’m just not a fan of her.
Emperors: Shanks; Whitebeard is cool too! Design wise, I love Shanks’ the most and overall. He is so cool and he seems to have a clear sense of right and wrong, at least judging from the earlier episodes and his mannerisms.
