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A review by vimcenzo
One Piece (Omnibus Edition), Vol. 1: Includes Vols. 1, 2 & 3 by Eiichiro Oda
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
(Note: My opinion might be influenced watching the animé. Relative to the manga, I got to just before Water Seven began.)
This has been pretty mediocre as a beginning. Can I say that? It’s not that the characters are bad. Luffy’s unerring optimism is very pleasant. Zoro’s stoicism and ambition (and overall coolness) would definitely appeal to young boys who want to challenge themselves. Nami, as yet, doesn’t do much. Knowing information from the show has me tolerate a lot of these same beats, but I mean “tolerate” with a lot of weight.
Much like in the show, I got more invested once I met Usopp, who is my favorite character. It’s hard to know if that admiration is acting retroactively because of the eventual developments, but as it stands it was pleasant to see him starting out.
A lot of animé bs like reaction shots are very charming because they have a more eyepopping Western cartoon style instead of something generic. The art overall is pretty decent.
Now the bad shit: it’s pretty obvious this is written for kids, but with plenty of adult fans I think it’s only fair not to pull punches. It gets egregious as all hell with the introduction ofDjango , who laboriously, stupidly, and out loud explains a three year plan to the villain who orchestrated it, really for the purpose and convenience of having the main character know it. The series so far has a bunch of little contrivances like that to keep the plot moving forward, but that was the most egregious it felt, either because I was finally getting into it or because it was closest to the end of the book so it’s the freshest on my mind.
Either way, I’ll keep reading.
Comparing to Dragonball, which I read earlier in the year: the childishness and simplicity was a charming little bookend to the end of a workday, while this is more of a tiring endurance match to get through it and move on. There’s really not much savoring to be done if you don’t like a storyline, and if you do like a current storyline, you blaze through to see what happens next. Lose-lose, almost! 😭 Either way, I guess it moves fast enough and the characters don’t suck. Things could be a lot worse.
This has been pretty mediocre as a beginning. Can I say that? It’s not that the characters are bad. Luffy’s unerring optimism is very pleasant. Zoro’s stoicism and ambition (and overall coolness) would definitely appeal to young boys who want to challenge themselves. Nami, as yet, doesn’t do much. Knowing information from the show has me tolerate a lot of these same beats, but I mean “tolerate” with a lot of weight.
Much like in the show, I got more invested once I met Usopp, who is my favorite character. It’s hard to know if that admiration is acting retroactively because of the eventual developments, but as it stands it was pleasant to see him starting out.
A lot of animé bs like reaction shots are very charming because they have a more eyepopping Western cartoon style instead of something generic. The art overall is pretty decent.
Now the bad shit: it’s pretty obvious this is written for kids, but with plenty of adult fans I think it’s only fair not to pull punches. It gets egregious as all hell with the introduction of
Either way, I’ll keep reading.
Comparing to Dragonball, which I read earlier in the year: the childishness and simplicity was a charming little bookend to the end of a workday, while this is more of a tiring endurance match to get through it and move on. There’s really not much savoring to be done if you don’t like a storyline, and if you do like a current storyline, you blaze through to see what happens next. Lose-lose, almost! 😭 Either way, I guess it moves fast enough and the characters don’t suck. Things could be a lot worse.