One Piece is undoubtedly worth giving a chance, but consuming this wild and wacky story as an adult comes with a glaring set of problems.
The global phenomenon One Piece is a Japanese fantasy epic written and illustrated primarily by Eiichiro Oda, the humble artist responsible for this franchise’s success. Starting weekly publication in 1997 and still going strong, the series has gradually evolved into one of the most complex works of fiction ever created.
That tremendous pop culture presence ensures nearly everyone interested in manga and anime might at least hear of One Piece in their lifetime. It’s undoubtedly worth giving a chance, but consuming this wild and wacky story as an adult comes with a glaring set of problems.
10/10 There’s A Lot Of Content To Get Through In Both The One Piece Manga & Anime
One of the first things people notice and talk about when it comes to One Piece is its sheer length. Whether those interested in diving in choose to read the manga or watch the anime, there are over 1,000 individual chapters/episodes currently available.
Though the daunting task has put off many would-be fans from ever starting the series, adults with limited free time who’ve still taken the plunge know firsthand how grueling it can be. Wading through 25 years of cumulative story content can naturally take a while, but jobs, relationships, and responsibilities add further complication, often making catching up a tediously slow process.
9/10 Pacing Issues Have Plagued The One Piece Anime For Years
As large a commitment as getting into One Piece might be for anyone, adults are usually more conscious of their time being valued and respected, so they also suffer the most from pacing issues. Anime watchers face the poorest potential experience since production efforts to prevent the show from catching up to the source material have resulted in tons of filler, recaps, and empty episodes that barely move the plot forward.
The manga is infinitely better-paced by comparison, but reading One Piece means missing out on a genuinely great soundtrack, plus the motion and colors of animation. The early story can be a slow burn regardless, with worldbuilding and exploration sometimes getting as much or more focus than the action.
8/10 One Piece Is Technically For Kids
Foundational to its story structure and core identity, One Piece belongs to the Japanese media category known as “shonen,” being specifically created for and continually targeted toward an adolescent audience. The series is made for teenage boys, shamelessly leaning into the kinds of humor, plot devices, and tropes that easily entertain them.
Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, and people should already be aware of it going in. Unfortunately, for adults focused on the complex story and rich worldbuilding, which to their credit have plenty of mature themes, it can be difficult to look past the often childish slapstick and visual gags or the hyper-exaggerated, unrealistic design of many characters’ body proportions.
7/10 A Younger Target Audience Has Meant Pulling Punches
Being made for kids does not automatically necessitate a shallow story or low stakes, but there are some key moments in the plot of One Piece that seem to have suffered greatly from its family-friendly limitations. The biggest of these is often cited by the community as the lack of character deaths or, from another perspective, the overuse of character death fake-outs.
Adult fans might find those fake-outs particularly frustrating, as a deeper familiarity with storytelling can lead to recognizing them as plot devices used for cheap drama and temporary emotional response. They retroactively lessen the impact of certain scenes, and the real deaths are harder to get invested into for the chance of being false flags.
6/10 Adults May Find Pervy Humor Distasteful Or Inappropriate
Western audiences likely know by now that anime and manga from Japan have a tendency to showcase certain differences in what two countries on opposite sides of the planet deem culturally appropriate for teens. Historically in the United States, television programming has been highly avoidant of sexual references up to and even including YA, and localized media of Japanese origin was often meticulously scrubbed of such content.
Censorship standards have somewhat loosened over the years, but plenty of adults might still find such topics uncomfortable or even offensive. Perverted humor is only meant as light-hearted “fun” in One Piece and is quite tame compared to some of its contemporaries, but is nonetheless potentially upsetting.
5/10 One Piece’s Weirdness Can Be Too Much For Some Adults
Another major reason adults are more likely to have a hard time enjoying One Piece is the extent to which the story incorporates absurd and surreal elements, constantly pushing what’s logically possible in-universe. Younger fans might not question how an elephant-sized man with more muscle than a similarly-sized gorilla is able to walk around on legs skinnier than a normal person’s arm, but it can bother others.
One arc touches on xenophobia, closed borders, and tyrannical rule contributing to mass starvation while seamlessly involving a human/animal hybrid with gazelle legs who runs around in a speedo and fishnets. Adults unaccustomed to the wackiness of stories like Discworld or Alice in Wonderland might find it too ridiculous or stupid.
4/10 Adults Notice More Flaws, Harming Their Enjoyment
Some viewers might wonder, if One Piece is so flawed, then what made it a global success? How has it earned millions of life-long fans, and how can it sit so comfortably between Batman and Superman in sheer sales numbers? Answers may partially be found in how the story manages to mature alongside audiences, providing different value at various ages.
What started as a carefree tale of adventure which strongly appealed to the youth is now also a planet-spanning web of interesting characters, complex factions, centuries-old schemes, intelligent social commentary, and worldbuilding approaching Tolkien’s. Although its more masterfully done aspects are enough to keep many fans hooked, some adults inevitably struggle most with the occasional plot holes and conveniences.
3/10 One Piece’s World Can Be Super Sad
Children are often smarter than people give them credit for, but more mature audiences will experience more of the pain within One Piece’s layered themes and subtext. Younger fans might understand that slavery is bad, but more adults will recognize the race of civilized fish-men with a history of marginalization and dehumanization as a direct allegory for real-world minorities or the potential implication that slavery inevitably plagues any world with intelligent life.
Kids may understand why an old man would cry at his grandson’s execution, but adults might fully sympathize with being torn between family and sworn duty. One Piece’s world is like Joaquin Phoenix’sJoker: darkness and tragedy beneath a thin layer of clown makeup.
2/10 Merch Collecting For One Piece Is A Huge Task
One often overlooked but still notable way in which One Piece can cause problems for adult fans of the series is when it comes to merchandise. Whether it’s the valiant desire to support the franchise directly or even just for those who prefer physical media, trying to build a full set of DVDs or printed volumes of this extremely long story can quickly become an expensive hobby.
Not only is such a large collection expensive on its own, but box sets and newer releases can sometimes only be obtained by importing them from Japan. Even after paying for shipping, taxes and insurance, once a fan has finally received their package, there’s still the issue of where to put it all.
1/10 New Adult Fans Have Missed Out On Years Of Theorycrafting
One Piece’s complex story, combined with weekly chapter releases, has made it uniquely suited to intense analysis and discussion by fans on the internet for decades. Since the series has steadily built upon itself for a quarter-century, those who’ve been around from the beginning are grown enthusiasts, often with mountains of lore knowledge.
Many such fans consider engaging with these communities a meaningful aspect of their long-term enjoyment of the series, and, of course, adults are better equipped than children to pick apart a story for crafting sensible theories and predictions. Unfortunately, new adult fans may realize how much they’ve missed out on in this regard and see it as yet another barrier to entry, feeling late to the party.
Src: cbr.com
