One Piece is the undisputed king of shōnen anime and manga. But with its widespread popularity, fans of both its top-selling mediums are locked in a never-ending war.
Reading the manga or watching the anime has been a constant debate within the community, with each side vehemently justifying their choice is better.
With a behemoth of content to cover in each medium and the conflicting arguments or plain hate that’s hurled across the fandom, it’s increasingly challenging to decide the best way to approach the series.
One or none is the popular notion, but I believe that we should have the best of both worlds as the manga and anime are an experience of their own with their respective pros and cons.
3 Reasons Why You Should Read the Manga.
1. Stellar Pacing
The manga takes home a win for its exceptionally smooth pacing and efficient storytelling.
It is perfectly drawn to convey entire story arcs beautifully and in a reasonable amount of time. Moreover, it prioritizes its impactful scenes and accordingly distributes appropriate paneling to expand on its depth and characters.
In sharp contrast, the anime is egregiously turtle-paced with multiple reactions shots, recaps, padding, and unnecessary pauses that only milk every bit of the manga for a precious few seconds of runtime.
To it into perspective, an anime usually adapts 2-3 chapters per episode, which is a far cry from ½ – 1 chapter that is stretched for 20 minutes in the One Piece anime.
It’s blatantly obvious the studio sacrificed quality for a successful business model that rakes in the revenue, keeps the show running daily, and most importantly, never overtakes the manga.
And it’s honestly a shame since seasonal releases would have actually worked well by building the hype and effectively telling a story devoid of clutter.
On that note, one of the most striking benefits of reading the manga isexperiencing Oda’s authentic version of the story.
It feels natural as it flows seamlessly without any exaggerations or unnecessary emphasis on minimally essential sections.
Another positive is that you can catch up to the story relatively quickly compared to the anime. Plus, it’s a huge bonus if you’re a fast reader or a newbie who wants to dive right into the meat of the plot.
2. Consistent Art Style
Only in the manga can you witness Oda’s perfectionism, immense love, and care poured into his masterpiece, as it is reflected in the incredible artwork that’s maintained its consistency over the years.
Even though his famous wacky style is bold and throws realism out the window, the characters are better proportioned and devoid of distracting features.
In fact, whatever over-the-top designs Oda comes up with actually help make the character memorable. Unlike in the anime, where fan service is played up to the degree that the character’s impact is lost.
Another loss for the anime is the messy background character designs that are reduced to a smudged mass or unidentifiable shapes that lack proper detail.
On the other hand, the manga’s black and white color scheme boasts superb expressions and enhances a character’s presence or even the scene.
There are also several instances of the 2D art rivaling the fluidity of the animation.
While the anime initially adhered to Oda’s designs or was atleast reminiscent of them, it sharply dipped in quality after the Enies Lobby arc and continued to go off-model until the Wano Country arc rolled around.
With a whopping 600 plus episodes of poor artwork, the manga is leagues ahead of the anime when it comes to this category.
3. Zero Censorship
All props go to the manga for never shying away from the story’s most eye-popping and bone-chilling violent, bloody and gory aspects.
Although One Piece carries fun-loving adventure and light-hearted lessons of friendship at its core, it has so much more to offer. And the manga did a phenomenal job of encapsulating that.
From weighing in the dark impact of a scene to expanding a character’s personality or emotional range, here are prime examples of how the manga wins by a mile over the anime –
- Whitebeard getting half his head burned off by Akainu’s magma fireball hits harder when you realize the Yonko’s demise is inevitable.
- Zeff gnawing on his leg after bashing it with a rock gives us a whole new perspective from his POV as he makes the tough decision of losing his most treasured weapon and letting Sanji survive.
- The prevalent use of the finger to convey childish irritation and, most notably, Law flipping people off as his signature character trait added to his overall personality.
But since such brutality and profanity aren’t kid-friendly, the anime has watered it down to amp up the story’s cheerful outlook and appeal to its minor audience.
However, in doing so, it lost much of the profound impact these scenes could have given off.
3 Reasons Why the Anime is Worth Watching.
1. Animation
One Piece’s animation is a double-edged sword with its highs and lows.
On the plus side, it’s refreshing to watch your favorite characters come to life most colorfully and energetically. As the highlight of every anime, the show’s fight scenes vary from surreal, ingenious, and downright comical.
Credit’s also due for spectacular moments like Luffy’s stand-off against the Admirals, his battle against Magellan, and the awesomeness of his Gear transformations.
But on the flip side, only a small fraction of the show matches the animation of final boss confrontations, as most of the series has subpar to shoddy movements that undermine the gravity of several scenes.
However, amendments have finally been made with the recent Wano Country arc, with the animation and even the art style skyrocketing to incredible heights that are worthy of praise.
2. Voice Acting and Music
The anime prides itself on excellent voice work and toe-tapping songs.
The voice actors have done a phenomenal job in imbibing life into each character by bringing out their distinct personalities and quirks.
Every intonation and expression is a perfect fit and practically becomes the character’s bonafide voice whenever you read the manga.
The voice actors carry the emotional impact of the entire show, especially heartfelt moments and hard-hitting scenes. They also fill each character with an extra layer of depth and passion.
While the sub is fondly remembered and cherished by the fandom, the dub is associated with mixed feelings, courtesy of 4Kid’s fiasco. However, Funimation’s adaptation did wonders to remedy that.
The anime also boasts some of the industry’s best and most nostalgic tracks. Popular numbers like “We Are” and “Fight Together” got the viewers pumped and hooked, while the overall melody of the show enhanced its atmosphere.
3. Fun Fillers
While the anime lags behind in the pacing department, it makes up for it with its creative and goofy fillers. Although plenty of these arcs is shunned as recycled tropy material, few stand out.
The Straw Hats’ adventure post-Loguetown, the Warship Island arc, and the ever-popular G-8 arc have soared above the stereotype, with fans even deeming them canon.
Moreover, several anime specials and movies have expanded the One Piece universe with fresh characters, exciting new tales, and recreations of the current narrative.
All in all, One Piece’s fillers are an enjoyable and relaxing getaway from the main story.
Conclusion
In the end, One Piece consumption boils down to preference and prior expectations. Staunch manga readers and anime-onlies will always have an inherent bias toward either of the mediums based on what they’ve read or seen so far.
However, it’s always good to sample both, as each offers a uniquely immersive experience.
Although the anime has glaringly significant flaws, the echo chamber surrounding the manga leaves much of the colorful and vivid world behind, despite offering an efficient story.
So as long as the internal feud continues, both sides miss out on wildly distinct yet exciting takes of the series. But for newcomers, it’s best to complete the manga and then watch the anime.
About One Piece
One Piece is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since July 22, 1997.
The man who had acquired everything in this world, the Pirate King, is Gol D. Roger. The final words he said at the execution tower were “My treasures? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it; I left all of it at that place.” These words sent many to the seas, chasing their dreams, headed toward the Grand Line, in search of One Piece. Thus began a new age!
Seeking to be the greatest pirate in the world, young Monkey D. Luffy also heads toward the Grand Line in search of One Piece. His diverse crew is joining him along the way, consisting of a swordsman, marksman, navigator, cook, doctor, archaeologist, and cyborg-shipwright, this will be one memorable adventure.
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