One Piece maintained its quality despite its long run, but now the anime has started to become boring.
One Piece has arguably been the most popular anime and manga series for years. Everything from its story to its characters and power system has played its part in amassing a huge fanbase. However, lately, something seems off.
While the anime was going strong, with more than 900 episodes, many of its long time viewers have dropped the series and shifted to reading the manga.
The simple reason behind this is that One Piece is no longer as interesting or appealing as it was before.
Despite the nostalgia attached to the series that makes us want to defend it, there’s no way around this fact.
Every arc seems to go on endlessly, and fans have to wait seven days just to see an episode with barely 5 minutes of content that is stretched out to fill its quota.
While you’ll see a fair amount of fans raving about the show and lots of new ones bracing themselves and diving into the lengthy series, you will also see an even greater amount complaining, dropping it, and even going as far as to hating One Piece.
Just search up “why is One Piece so boring nowadays,” and a plethora of blog posts and articles (like this one) will pop up. However, the main question is, why? What exactly changed that made even die-hard fans abandon the show?
1. Should Luffy Just Stop Running?
Let’s be honest; most of the Whole Cake Arc and now even Wano, all we have done is see Luffy run away.
Sure, we did see a few epic fights like the one against Katakuri, but no matter how we try to justify it, 50-60 (sometimes even more) episodes of Luffy escaping does get pretty annoying.
Furthermore, due to the anime almost catching up with the manga, barely half a chapter of the latter is adapted per episode.
This just increases the build-up, and even the fights start to get boring. The same punching sequence and show of “will power” plays on for 10+ episodes in a row, with one or two flashbacks stuffed in.
Even binging the episodes at once doesn’t help, as we have to skip past almost 80% of it to get to the actual new content.
However, the main issue is the anime’s pacing. If done well, all of the aforementioned problems won’t really stop the audience from enjoying One Piece. But for the time being, Luffy, please stop running!!!
2. I Want More of Zoro!
The audience feverishly consumes every single appearance of Zoro, and there is always a need for more.
As the fan-favorite, we have seen Zoro shockingly less in the last few hundred episodes. In fact, he was never seen during the 1-2 years before Wano started.
There is so much yet to be explained about Zoro, like his mysterious back story, training, and the scar across his eye.
Fans need to know whether he got it in a fight, or by actually getting lost in the Narutoverse and ending up with a Sharingan.
While we have seen him quite a bit in the Wano arc, it is still not enough. Thankfully, it has just started, and it is assumed to be where Zoro shines the best.
Let’s just hope we finally see more of him, though I doubt anything is enough to satisfy the fans.
As a scholar, rightfully said, “there can never be too many Zoros.”
Well, Zoro’s appearances, but you get my point.
3. What Happened to The Humor?
One Piece’s humor was brilliant during the pre-time skip; in fact, it was one of the best aspects of the show.
Luffy’s imitations, Zoro’s antics such as the Tarzan moment in Skypiea, or the character’s banter, in general, had us laughing for a good 10 minutes.
Every now and then, I still search for them on youtube to brighten up my day.
However, after the time skip, the gags have gotten pretty old and cringy such as Sanji’s nosebleeds, Brook’s obsession with underpants, or Usopp and Chopper’s over-the-top reactions.
The goofy interactions and seemingly natural connection between the Strawhats seem to be gone.
While some may argue that due to the seriousness of the current arcs, the humor isn’t the main focus anymore, the actual reason lies somewhere else.
The anime has stopped feeling humorous because Toei is stretching scenes out, which makes the jokes overbearing and childish.
On the other hand, the manga is still pretty fun and always manages to accommodate humor between serious fights.
Most of the gags take place in a few panels at most; the joke is quick and adds substance to the plot.
4. Can You Skip Anything?
While One Piece doesn’t have a lot of fillers, it has its fair share.
There are a few episodes that help the audience transition from one arc to another, or even a few dozen showing some meaningless backstories that can be skipped. That’s all.
However, when scouring through the net, I found many asking whether they could skip any arcs, “Punk Hazard” and “Whole Cake Island” in particular. The short answer is, no.
You should not skip the “Punk Hazard” arc in One Piece because it basically sets up the next two main arcs. Furthermore, it contains many details without which nothing will make sense anymore.
Now onto the “Whole Cake Island” arc, while it is one of the longest arcs in One Piece, it is also the most refreshing one and sets up the mood for the entire series.
For the first time, we see Luffy actually struggling against an opponent, and every Straw Hat going their own way and becoming stronger.
The “Whole Cake Island” should not be skipped at all, because while the repetition of Big Mom’s dialogues gets pretty annoying, in the end, Luffy and Katakuri’s fight makes up for everything.
Due to the pacing, the anime can get repetitive and boring at times, prompting many to skip entire arcs; however, that often leads to confusion, and ultimately dropping the series.
Instead, you can always pick up the manga or access the sites dedicated to shortening the content to its bare minimum.
To conclude, sure, you can skip a lot, but should you? Absolutely not.
5. Fillers or Bad Pacing? Let’s Just Read the Manga Instead.
After going through hundreds of reviews and messages, and watching the show myself, I’ve gathered that the main blame for the anime turning boring lies with its pacing.
With the anime almost catching up to the manga, the studio has started stretching out 5-10 minutes of content to fill 24-minute episodes.
This has resulted in the quality dropping drastically, and fans dropping the series, only to never pick it up again.
The alternative to bad pacing is for the studio to include more fillers and put some distance between the manga and the anime’s current events.
What would you choose – badly paced episodes, or Naruto part 2?
Let me give you a better alternative that does not require you to sit through the torture of consuming the same content every week. Read the Manga. It’s that simple.
Unlike the anime, with each chapter, the manga’s quality is increasing, and the plot is becoming more interesting. The humor has not dropped one bit, and there’s no shortage of new content!
Just pinpoint the chapter in the manga where the last episode in the anime concluded, and dive right in.
6. 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, and has been collected into 95 tankōbon volumes.
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.
With his diverse crew joining him along the way, consisting of a swordsman, marksman, navigator, cook, doctor, archaeologist, and cyborg-shipwright, this will be one memorable adventure.
1 Comment on Why Is One Piece’ Anime So Boring These Days?