Voting Round 4 One-Punch Man vs. One Piece

[Organizized]

Characters of One Piece

Good vs. Evil?​

I’ve had surprisingly many people tell me things like ”so One Piece is basically a story where Pirates are good and the Government is bad, huh? How original.” And I guess (if you want to be an ignorant arse and not actually fact-check anything before spouting nonsense) it can seem that way at the very start. And obviously One Piece does the traditional shonen good vs. bad, but not in an obvious way.

The man who is being built up as the main antagonist of the series shares the very same goal as Luffy: to become the Pirate King. He wants it for different and more devilish reasons, sure. But from the first moment we see him he is cemented as a sort of Anti-Luffy, sharing a lot of our beloved character’s traits while managing to be the total opposite.

Even his ideological stand-point is very similar to Luffy’s.

There are a lot of traditionally evil pirates in this series, of course. Blackbeard has grown into that role more, as well. But listen, these people are pirates after all. They're supposed to be evil, right? Even Luffy isn't really a hero-type good guy and he doesn't see himself as one. This is where Luffy diverges from being a typical shonen protagonist (I know he absolutely is in many other ways though, but hear me out).

Usually, a shonen protagonist knows what's evil and unjust, and will do everything they can to fight it. Luffy doesn't simply pound away on his enemies to make them see the wrongs and evil of their ways. I'm going to quote self.Onepiece from reddit a bit:

When faced with a problem or an enemy, the first thing most 'normal' protagonists usually do is condemn the enemy.
"You can't say that! That is mean!"
"You can't do that! That is unjust!"
"You are wrong because..." [of how they don't align with the protagonist's moral compass]
Then they proceed to battle it out.

This kind of stuff does strike a chord with many people, but I feel like it's too... Pride based? Like it's sort of masturbatory in some way. You're imposing your beliefs on the enemy, and trying to force them to submit through words or fists, and justify your own beliefs.
Like the protagonist inherently believes they are correct/ just in their actions, and must go through any means necessary to enforce their moral compass.
Now let's hop back to One Piece: The world themed around pirates. In the series, the world is dictated through strength. Nothing is ever fair, and just like real life just because person A has a strong moral compass doesn't mean they can change it.
...
Here's where Luffy comes in.
If you saw my previous description of protagonists, you're wondering if Luffy is among them or not.
I say he isn't, and here's why:
Luffy is willing to let the enemy condemn his "honor." Luffy looks lanky, he looks stupid, he smiles like a dumbass and has an optimistic heart of a child. (Whether any of these things are choices made by him or inherently the way he is can also say a lot about his character)
He's not imposing or strong in a typical physical sense.
Mind you, another character we know, Shanks, is this way as well for some time.
If you pay attention to his fights/ battles, he doesn't 'condemn' the enemy like other protagonists may.
All Luffy does is give his best to change the course of nature, and prove his might.
THAT is what being a pirate is about.
That's what I like about Luffy! He's not "full of himself" and argues the finer points of morals and obligations. He fights his battles without complaining or without being "self-masturbatory".

Indeed, Luffy doesn't see himself as a hero. He does what he wants, and that is the very reason he became a pirate even though he knew that would technically make him a criminal. He's no hero because heroes are selfless. Luffy will selfishly keep going until he reaches his goal, but if something pisses him off, like someone hurting or threatening his friends or people he generally thinks are nice guys, he'll try to (as worded in the quote) "change the course of nature" not because he thinks he's on the side of the good and just, but because of his childlike "I don't like this and I can stop it" way of thinking.

The difference between the pirates in this series is that some will do more traditionally bad/evil things to achieve their goals, whatever they be. But even the traditionally evil villains are often incredibly charismatic and with some really likable features (by villain standards), and given a detailed back story to show how they were shaped into that evil person. Charlotte LinLin aka Big Mom would be the most recent example. Doflamingo would be another. These both had the tendency toward evil from early on in life, and we get to see how those tendencies grew due to their personal circumstances. We're rarely left in the dark when it comes to why a character acts the way he/she does, and that all goes along with the incredible World Building I mentioned in my previous post.

Then there’s the other side of the coin, with the World Government and the Marines. Most of the characters on this side share the same creed: ”Justice”. But Justice in One Piece’ is a pretty loose term.
There’s followers of ”Absolute Justice”. I.e. ”all pirates/criminals/sympathizers of such need to die to make the world better”. This is our favorite (heh) current Fleet Admiral Sakazuki/Akainu. He will do anything to execute it. An example of this was during the Ohara incident, where Akainu destroyed an entire ship that carried civilians of Ohara, just because he thought there was a possibility a Scholar escaping from Ohara. He even served his Justice to Marines who were too scared to fight Whitebeard in the War of the Best.
Others see the world more for what it is. Smoker, Garp, Coby and Fujitora are examples of people who follow their own brand of justice. They’ll devote their lives to stop people of injustice, but know this does not necessarily exclusively mean who the WG deem to be criminals.

Spoiler: Coby, Smoker, Tashigi

Spoiler: Fujitora

The world is corrupted. There's no "good side" or "bad side". What makes us love One Piece's characters is they (mostly) don't blindly abide to what is good or bad, but to what they themselves think is the right course of action for their goals.
All the types of Justice displayed in the series are based on this. They want Justice in the world, but while Akainu and others think this means only who the Marines and WG consider criminals, people like Fujitora see further than that.
It's also the foundation for why pirates do what they do. Some want to rule the world or underworld, or become the most powerful. Some want freedom. They're all selfish people with selfish goals and dreams, and there really are no heroes in One Piece (except Sogeking, obviously). There are just a whole bunch of people with different 'wills', and in the end the strongest 'will' will win and decide what is right, as it were. And because of this, the traditional "good vs. evil" never feels as forced as it does in so many other stories. You understand where each character is coming from, whether you agree with them or not.

Spoiler

And I'm not saying One Punch Man doesn't have a great variety of good characters as well, but we don't get nearly as much background and 'fleshing out' (how many times have I used that phrase now?) as in One Piece, at least imo. When it comes to main characters, I'd say Luffy and Saitama are pretty much tied in my head. Genos is a completely uninteresting deuteronimist to me, but I absolutely love King and many of the other heroes. I just wish we got to see and learn more about them. And the closest you'll get to a morally grey / "not just evil for the sake of being evil" villain is Garou, and that's pretty ironic since being evil for the sake of being evil (a monster) is exactly what he strives for. But anyway, the purely "good vs. evil" thing fits OPM so that's not a point I'm going to stress further.

I guess in the end I'm saying I do like the many, many characters that both series have to offer, but One Piece goes out of its way to really let us understand each and every character's motives better than One Punch Man does.

(And I personally am of the unpopular opinion that One Piece's character design is much more characteristic and distinguished, but that's for a possible other post.)

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 18, 2017, Original Post Date: Oct 18, 2017 ---

Let's not get anime openings involved, this is Manga Wars.

(And especially not openings from the official worst dub company which ever cursed the earth, 4kids. The original Japanese One Piece has some friggin' great openings so don't even try, @Jammin.)

 

[Jammin]

]Let's not get anime openings involved, this is Manga Wars.

(And especially not openings from the official worst dub company which ever cursed the earth, 4kids. The original Japanese One Piece has some friggin' great openings so don't even try, @Jammin.)

Why am I getting blamed!!

Blame Econ! She's the one trying to make a very ill advised nostalgia play on your behalf.

Anyway, good posts. You certainly are trying very hard, and as a friend and champion of justice, I applaud that. As soon as I have time I shall see that you get a worthy rebuttal.

 

[Aizen]

So despite @Jammin bringing negative posts down on Berserk (), I have decided to give him a hand in campaigning for OPM. It is gonna be a tough battle with the strong OP fanbase here on MH.
First off I wanna say I do think what Oda has done with OP's world is a great achievement. Worldbuilding wise, he certainly takes the cake when comparing the two. However, there are several areas that jump out to me that I enjoy more in OPM.

ART
There is little that needs to be said about Murata's art, whether it be the choreography or just the landscapes, he can do it all.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

When a manga can engage you at this level with its art, the entertainment factor goes up a huge amount. Manga is a partly visual medium, and thus, art can be a huge selling factor for a series. Murata does not just draw great looking scenes though, he also has shown the ability to do so in a cinematic way.

Spoiler

OP's art is charming and toned well for what the series does, but it never reaches these heights of greatness.

Characters
Characters are a tough thing because they are so preferenced base. Some people will love characters that jump out at them when first seen, some will like the badass ones, some will like the funny ones etc... While OPM is certainly a comedy through and through, I picked out two of the characters that really help show what is special about the series in my eyes.

Spoiler: Saitama

Saitama is the main character of OPM and serves as the most immediate alarm that you reading/watching something very different from the normal action show. Put simply, he beats every monster he faces with one punch. Now this might seem miserably boring at first, but not only do his actions scenes (and others) make up for that, but it serves as a point of underlying characterization for Saitama as the series progresses past the obvious comedy it instigates.

The series asks the question that if you were so powerful that nothing could stand up to you, then what value is there in being that strong? This is one of the few areas the series breaks from the comedy/parody of Shonen/Superhero series, and actually, deconstructs the idea of what happens when you do reach that peak height that so many main characters of those series want to be at. A great way to think of it is the feeling you get when you play a video game, and max out all there is to do with your character, only to find yourself suddenly without anything to do (this is a comparison from the series).
While Saitama bounces back and forth between art styles of badass, and plain-faced, the series obviously is playing to its strength of comedy, but I do think this nuance and layer for a gag character really shows that ONE (the original webcomic author) and Murata are going the extra mile in this series.

Beyond that, Saitama serves as a source of hilarity as he grounds every scene he walks into in reality. Nobody really wants to listen to 10-15 long backstories, and beyond his job as a hero, he actually lives a normal life. He basically personifies a normal apartment living man (with a shade of quirky), except for his ability to one punch EVERYTHING.

Spoiler: Garou

Garou is the other side of the coin from Saitama. He appears several volumes into the series and serves as an ongoing villain that takes such a beating each fight, you would swear he was a protagonist.

His goal is to become a human monster and personify the role of a villain not as a mass murderer, but one of fear and absolute existence, free from bias. His ideology stems from his thought process that the world simply is unfair to villains. They work as hard as the heroes in many cases, yet the narrative always allows the heroes to win in the end. More than that, he believes that heroes are simply doing evil things to villains and getting praised for it since it is deemed "good." This might seem silly, and it very much is in many ways, but it also represents a truth in many series. The villains, for all their plans and hard work, will fail and be looked down upon in many cases in favor of the heroes triumphant victory. While villains often times have very interesting outlooks on the world, I don't think I can remember a time where I have seen a goal quite like this one. It is equally funny, while also being nuanced and clever.

Garou's panel time and presence are worth mentioning too. The willpower and drive he has for what he believes are admirable, and it almost makes you want to root for him despite his arrogant attitude. He also has a code that he lives by and does not budge from that no matter what. He is certainly menacing, but he also is very human at the same time.

His duality with Saitama is actually very interesting. They both have a moral compass and an idea of what justice is, but it is manifested in very different ways. Saitama wanted to be a hero who would defeat monsters, Garou wants to be a villain who defeats heroes. Saitama is a novice at combat technique, whereas Garou is a genius fighter. Saitama desires a worthy opponent so he can feel the rush of excitement, Garou frequently is shown losing at first in battles but uses that to improve himself further. It makes for a great contrast as the series continues, and while the webcomic has concluded it already, the manga still has a ways to go on that.

Now I won't say that OPM elaborates on every backstory or makes ever character absolutely crucial to the plot because that just is not the type of series it is. It is a comedy that makes fun of Shonen/Superhero tropes, and the characters first and foremost, are there to further that element. I will say though, that when characters do get the spotlight, they do get a surprisingly solid amount of characterization for a series such as this.

OP does have a very colorful cast of characters, that also do have a comedic tone as well. However, I think OPM's cast just stands out to me more. First of all, I feel their character designs jump out at you. Oda's are very goofy, but OPM's are equally so, and because of the art quality they are more appealing to me. The other aspect I feel OPM does a bit better is its use of characters. This clearly is a result of OP's cast ballooning over time as Oda continues what will be his 100+ volume run on the series. Oda manages this by using the structure of certain characters appearing for each arc, before moving onto new ones in the next one. While this helps, I still feel there is a lot of repetition in OP as far as characters go. A good example is the princess characters in the series. There feels like there is a new one every arc and while they are different in certain ways, it shows Oda can only be so creative when he has to introduce so many new faces every new arc he starts.

I won't claim OPM has better characters than OP overall, since that largely depends on how you look at these sorts of things. However, I bring up some of these points because OPM really only has to focus on making the characters it brings into the series funny and engaging, with anything else being gravy. OP also has a comedic tone, but it is meant to be pretty serious as well. So I feel the massive hoards of characters Oda intro's don't necessarily always pay off long-term in that same way.

Consistency/Readability
Finally, I think the other two big areas that OPM excels at over OP is with its consistency, and how fun/easy it is to pick up and read/re-read.

Consistency wise OP is quite good for a long-running weekly series. Its first half is among some of the best stretches in Shonen that I have seen. The problem has come as the series has entered its second half for me. I still enjoy the series quite a bit, and Oda still never fails to make me smile as his world is infused with a lot of passion. As the second half has developed though, I have noticed the more repetitive use of character types, plot lines, and just an overall poor use of pacing at several points. That's not to say what he has written is bad, but it tells me that even Oda is not immune to the struggles of a long-running weekly series. OPM, on the other hand, is serialized roughly every two weeks, but it varies when Murata is able to finish the chapter. I think this freedom and ability to collaborate alongside the original author One on this revised version of his popular webcomic, has really paid off in that respect. OPM does not have nearly as many pacing problems, and there is a sense of polish to each chapter you read of the series.

OP is a really long series, and it is very important that you read each part in order. This is true for most series, but with OP hopping into an 80+ volume catchup is no easy task. Many will be fine to devote the time, I certainly did, but I also know that I would never really wanna re-read OP entirely again either. As much as there are some great parts that I truly love in the series, there is also a lot of parts that can drag as well. The enjoyment I got is mostly from getting to those big moments that Oda does really well (especially in the first half). That's not to say I did not enjoy the journey itself, but I feel it tells you a lot about something when you can look back, and truly want to experience it all over again. OPM is that type of series for me because it is not only short as of now (15 vol), but it also always keeps my attention with its amazing actions sequences and great comedy.

OPM and OP both go for different things. I have enjoyed my time with both, but OPM simply hooks me and makes me want to jump right into the world ONE has created just that much more. Whether its the comedy the colorful cast brings or the crazy over the top action that is realized in such a brilliant manner, OPM is an experience worth having!

 

[Stormsfury]

Gotta go to One Piece, the world building is what gave it the edge for me, if a show has great world building then you can almost guarantee that I'd vote for it. The OPM art is orgasmic though

 

[Jammin]

Jammin's Super Moves: Serious Series: Serious Dual Review

​

The time has come to bring out the most dreaded and serious word in the English language "Analysis". Now some of you may have thought I was going to back up a truckload of salty garbage and try to bury One Piece under it (which I considered). But that's not what I'm going to do because that's not what I want to do. I actually rather like One Piece, even if I do think One Punch-man is the better manga. What I'm going to do is push as much of my bias aside as I can, put my mostly serious reviewer hat back on for a second and tell you what I think about both series, and why, in the hopes of helping put your own thoughts in perspective. Whether you agree with me that it's One Punch-man or you agree with @Organizized that it's One Piece. For the purposes of this review I intend to leave that entirely up to you. This is just what I honestly think.

Lets do this and, hopefully, do it in way that doesn't bore everybody to tears.


The Artwork


Lets just get this one out of the way. As Aizen and myself both touched on earlier. One Punch-man has better artwork. It is more detailed. It is more thought out. With visually stunning use of perspectives and panel to panel transitioning. As well as great integrated use of splash pages. It's just all around more impressive from a technical standpoint.

Spoiler: Example

But to simplify it like that without mentioning two other things would be a disservice to One Piece.

The first is that One Piece is weekly. This gives One Punch-man an inherent advantage. Time. In this sense, it's really not a fair fight to begin with. That being said, this doesn't mean it deserves some kind of special consideration. Or that it should be weighted differently. Art is art. It's stands as it is. Not as it could have been.

The second is that One Piece's artistic focus has always been playful creativity. Oda draws his characters and world like it's a kids toybox and it certainly has that feel too it. That creativity is admirably risky and highly entertaining but also something that doesn't always work out creatively. It gives One Piece a distinctive innocent quality that appeals to young and old alike. This is really a great aspect of One Piece. He draws his whole manga like it was a childish fantasy. Few artist could, or would, do that.

Unfortunately, Oda's distinctive style does have a distinctive drawback. That is the clutter. Sometimes what someone doesn't draw is just as important as what they do. This is because, in comics, one of the goals of the artwork is making the reader pay attention to what the artist wants you to. Oda tends to fill his panels in a way that can overwhelm what he actually wants you to look at. This is one of the core reasons why reading a One Piece chapter can take twice as long, or more, than something like a Bleach chapter with it's much cleaner style.

Spoiler: Example

The Story


One Piece is one of the greatest shounen adventure manga of all time. It's about going to interesting places, meeting interesting people, and having a heroic journey as you set sail toward your dreams. It's a great concept and offers the series the ability to go from story to story as it goes from island to island. Allowing Oda to do pretty much anything he can imagine in the confines of a single series. From a Christmas themed island to an island in the sky and just about everything in between. Along the way he's even connected things together with Marines vs Prates and Pirates vs Pirates conflicts adding cohesion to everything.

Some of those arcs have been nothing short of outstanding. The Ennis Lobby and Water 7 arcs are what people always point to, and rightly so because they are fantastic. There are also the Marine Ford arc, Impel down (Which, I personally, think is underrated), and Amazon Lily (of course). Unfortunately, there are also arcs that aren't so great. A lot of them, actually. Like Thriller Bark, The Davy Back Fight, Skypiea, and Fishman Island. Oda is a creative guy and when his approach hits it's awesome but it misses more than it's share. Fortunately, he has a good feel for pacing, especially about story arc length, so if you don't like it he doesn't leave you stranded forever in fan purgatory like some other shounen authors had a tendency to do (lookin' at you Kubo and Kishi)

One Punch-man is admittedly less ambitions in what it's trying to do . What it strives for is to give you the what if scenario of, "What if somebody like Luffy was at his peak strength at the beginning of his story and his world wasn't quite as.. forgiving". It is a hilarious parody of shounen protagonists, with a hero who walks around bored and kinda frustrated because he wants the adversity that he can't seem to find; because he's just too damn strong. In most other ways he's the same they are. Righteous, kind, thoughtless. He says all the same shounen style lines and tries to do good things but causes a lot of destruction because his world works just a little bit more realistically than theirs do. Making a punchline (terrible pun intended) out of all the thoughtless things shounen characters do that always just seem to work out.

A prime example is the when a meteor is hurtling toward a city. He just steps in to the situation, yells a heroic phrase, and punches it to bits. Which ends up working out exactly like it should.

Spoiler: Saitama saves the day...

Spoiler: Or does he?

​

Saitama is a shounen guy in a seinen world and that's the fun of One Punch-man. Showing us all the hilarious results of what happens when shounen and seinen worlds collide and doing it in a way that doesn't degenerate the time worn traditions of either world but by celebrating where it works and laughing at where it doesn't. It's a series that completely lacks the pointed cynicism so common in shounen vs seinen discussions and finds both humor and a solid foundation in the shounen tropes it has made it's own. As well as the flexibility provided by the seinen world which it calls home.


The Conclusion


It's important to stress that all that I have just said is not an iron clad summary of all these series are but rather an explanation of how I see them Now my conclusion, as you might expect, is that One Punch-man is the better of the two. If you disagree after considering my perspective I won't fault you for doing so but if you find yourself agreeing or just skipped to the end of this thing because you find serious reviews seriously boring...

Vote One Punch-man!​

 

[Anti Hero 3:16]

The battle of ones well someone will have to come second. I say OPM wins this. Saitama is way too much OP and sends enitre OP to oblivion with his one punch.

 

[Zirconium]

Part 2
(negative points about One Piece)

I hope, you guys don‘t cringe at me like that now...
„Boo! You traitor! Why are you stating the negative points about One Piece?!“ *throwing rotten tomatoes* Just for the record, I’m doing a pro and con list campaign for it. :3
I don‘t intend to convince the non-readers to read it or the undecisive people to vote for it. It‘s not my goal to make you understand my opinion. But generally, I think that it’s neccessary not only to talk about the advantages but also about the disadvantages, if there is something you like a lot. I‘m aware that it‘s a very risky post. Nevertheless, I do it to show you that even a crazy and irrational fangirl like me is able to face the unadorned truth about this manga. Therefore, in this post, I like to address some negative aspects of OP that made it difficult, even for me to simply turn a blind eye to them.
I guess that most One Piece fans might be cursing me for this. However, if you believe me or not; it’s always very hard for me to say anything negative about something that I‘m passionate about, specifically when it comes to OP.

Loath:

• When some characters are sacrificing themselves to save others, there are almost no consequences for many of them *cough* Law *cough* Pell. That way most of the suspense gets lost since you don‘t have to fear for the life of the characters and you expect that the character will doubtless overcome this dangerous situation somehow without losing his/her life.
  
  
• Many arc patterns are repetitive and similar. Ultimately, it often comes down to Luffy vs [insert a name of an antagonist]. That’s how the basic structure of the arcs in OP are most of the times. This typical arc structure happens in many other Shōnen mangas as well. Personally, I don’t have any problems with it. But many people might not like it since there are rarely any surprise effects or unexpected moments for them because you already know how the arc will conclude more or less.
  However, a point that I don’t like is the „running" part in some arcs, a situation where we usually see the characters running away from/running to the enemies (that seems like hours for the reader). I know that Oda has also often used this stylistic device in earlier arcs as well. But lately I think that he is exhausting this element for my taste, since I feel like that it is dragging some parts of an arc too much. It started on Punk Hazard and goes on to Dressrosa and now we have this kind of problem on WCI again. Hence I prefer it, if Oda would just keep these running parts to a minimum.
  
  
• The overall depiction of many women is what I dislike about One Piece. Especially the princess squad, most notably Rebecca and Shirahoshi, are reduced by Oda to weak and helpless damsels in distress or products of fanservice. Of course, there are a few exceptions and I don’t speak for every female character in OP but it’s an aspect that often negatively stands out for me.
  Besides, we don’t get to see a lot of fights by the female protagonists which is very sad. One can see that on Nami and Robin, whose one-on-one battles you can count on one hand, unfortunately. And at this point I want to say that I haven’t forgotten about the great scene where Nami opposed one of the four Yonkous just recently, but I think that you can’t really call it a one vs one fight. At least for Nami and Robin, I like for them to get more active into single combats instead of just having the role of navigating or deciphering poneglyphs.
  
  
• Regarding the overall character developments, it’s actually standard that Oda doesn’t go into depth with the development of most of his characters. But since the time skip I have to admit that particularly Luffy is disappointing me a little, who is still -despite of his speeches in several situations- acting reckless. Surely, all in all, he made a development, if you compare him to the Luffy in chapter 1. And of course this is the impulsive Luffy we’re talking about, a trait that I love about him. However, this is the new world and he can’t be careless anymore. I don’t want him to completely change, but I just like for him not to go mindless into some serious situations at least (e.g. in Dressrosa where he was running into an obvious trap of Doflamingo).
  Moreover, the fact that Oda neglected his main characters since the time skip is worrying me a little because they are frequently seperated. I’m aware that this also happened in the past a few times and this permanent seperation should just emphazize how dangerous the new world actually is, if you’re not prepared enough. But in this way, sadly we don’t get to see many interactions between the Strawhats anymore like we did in the past.

There are many other little things that stand out but those points I've just mentioned are something that happen very often. And I know they may sound harsh at first but they don't change my unwavering opinion about One Piece since they get outweighed by the positive points for me which I like to post tomorrow.

---------------------------------------
@Organizized I couldn't have said it any better. Thank you for showing the appeal of One Piece!!! :')

@Zirconium wow amazing (what about you being my partner for HxH campaign

)

I feel honoured and I really like to, but unfortunately I haven't started this very promising manga yet since I don't like it that it is on hiatus most of the time. I'm so sorry. :/

 

[Luca Blight]

Would have been One Piece if it wasn't for the horrendous dragging..

 

[Kappa123]

OPM was something else until it became what it is making fun of. Just another fighting manga, albeit a good one with amazing art.

 

[Erinyes]

@Organizized I couldn't have said it any better. Thank you for showing the appeal of One Piece!!! :')


I feel honoured and I really like to, but unfortunately I haven't started this very promising manga yet since I don't like it that it is on hiatus most of the time. I'm so sorry. :/

My dear you definitely need to watch it and read it, I love one piece but Hxh is just the best

so read it !!!!!

When seeing your campaign, orga's and jammins i feel so ashamed, bc im the kind of person who thinks a lot, i have a ton of ideas and stuf but im totally unable to set idown in writing

But congrats all of you for your campaigns thats awesome

 

[Lady pompom]

Wow, this page is filled with awesome reviews for both titles!

I love both series, but pending for One Piece. I'm not sure if OPM will fare well against the massive fan bases from the titles on the other batches.

 

[Organizized]

@Jammin (and @Aizen)

Honestly, if we just left it at that and let people vote based on what we've said so far, I'd be glad whichever advanced. Fantastic posts. The One Piece fan and the One Punch Man fan in me are embracing while reading Jammin's post. Apart from just a few things in there, it pretty much could have been me who wrote it (if I was a lot better at debating and expressing myself in English)... except I'd still end it with "Vote for One Piece".

And so, because I feel that One Piece is still my favorite of the two even though we share pretty much the same sentiments, and because I feel a sort of obligation to do whatever is in my ability and timeframe to make One Piece win, I want to make just a few notes to balance things a bit.

The second is that One Piece's artistic focus has always been playful creativity. Oda draws his character and world like it's a kids toybox and it certainly has that feel too it. That creativity is admirably risky and highly entertaining but also something that doesn't always work out creatively but it does give it a distinctive innocent quality that appeals to young and old alike. This is really a great aspect of One Piece. He draws his whole manga like it was a childish fantasy. Few artist could or would do that.​

Unfortunately, Oda's distinctive style does have a distinctive drawback. That is the clutter. Sometimes what someone doesn't draw is just as important as what they do. This is because, in comics, one of the goals of the artwork is making the reader pay attention to what the artist wants you to. Oda tends to fill his panels in a way that can overwhelm what he actually wants you to look at. This is one of the core reasons why reading a One Piece chapter can take twice as long, or more, than something like a Bleach chapter with it's much cleaner style.

Spoiler: Example

​

This is a great description of the art in One Piece. Oda himself has said that from outset he wanted his manga to look like no other, and I have to say he achieved that. As you say, One Piece's art is all about creativity and imagination, and that is what makes it so much fun to look at, in my opinion. I do agree with you that at times it can at first glance feel a bit cluttered. If you're reading through a week's chapter a bit quickly for "plot only-reasons" you're likely to miss something, possibly even something important. You're right, One Punch Man is many times much more focused in its art that way.

It's rare though that I think this is such a bad thing in One Piece anymore. Granted, it was indeed my biggest criticism with the Whitebeard War Arc the first time I read it, but when rereading that arc in tankobon format and taking my time to take in each page, I realized I didn't have a problem with anymore. That even though a page can seem cluttered at first sight or when you're reading it just to get through the story, if you do take your time to actually take in everything that is on the page, there's just so many little things to love.

I like to think that Oda just loves the incredible world he has created as much as us fans do, so he wants to include as much detail as he possibly can. I personally love that, because I can read a chapter over and over and still find lots of little new details to love.

Spoiler

And honestly, it's not so often that I even feel that distracted by the "clutter" even when fast-reading, either. Most of the time Oda has a good eye for bringing the right things into focus, albeit not as strongly as Murata. Even pages which at first glance might seem "cluttered" are actually really dynamic and focused (and the one you used as an example isn't that bad in this aspect imo)
​

Spoiler

And from time to time (though not quite often enough if I'm being honest) he will keep it as clean and minimalistic as it gets to add some extra effect and focus.

Spoiler

In the end what it boils down to, in my opinion, is this: do you prefer a manga where one can read a chapter over and over, look at a panel for minutes each time and still find new little details one loves, and where almost each page is a small 'love letter' to the incredibly vast world of that manga OR do you prefer the one where there's not as many details to the world and not as much to look at, but you can still read each page and panel over and over for minutes because what there is to look at is just so detailed in itself and so friggin' well drawn.

I don't fault anyone for picking the latter, but I for one will probably always be in that first category (even though it's a close call).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -​

Now, I was gonna do a bit of a bigger post on the emotional side of One Piece (which is also something which is missing in One Punch Man, although to be fair such an emotional side would kinda ruin the great balance of the series), but I have no time. I'll probably not have time to make any more long posts this round, if at all the rest of the event, but I have no regrets. I'm happy to leave it like this (especially since @Zirconium is doing a great job as well). I feel like we have covered the best (and some of the "less best") parts of both manga. May I just say that whoever wins this round, I'll be very glad that such a great manga advanced to the semi-finals.

(As a bonus I just want to include the most "OPM"-esque moment in One Piece ever. The end to a fairly recent, huge, climactic full-on battle chapter. Crazy tension, crazy build-up, but how will it end??

Thought it a fitting ending to this post as well. Peace! )

 

[Zirconium]

Part 3
(positive points about One Piece)

*cracks fingers and takes a deep breath to dramatically click on the „Reply to Thread" - button*
Alright, I take another step further by switching into my own personal Gear 2nd mode now. In other words, this might be the worst post of all parts since it is a little bit extremely overhyped. For this reason, I repeat it again for those who haven’t read my warning in the first part. Either you (especially the non-One Piece readers and fans) ignore this post or you better prepare yourself with some vomit bags before continuing because this is not for faint-hearted.
So...finally I come to the part where I can talk to my heart’s content about the major aspects of One Piece that I’m fond of. In this comment there are also one or two points that Organizized already explained extensively in one of his earlier posts. I will try not to go too much into detail with some of them. Instead I will provide you with some more examples.

Love:

• In my humble opinion, what One Piece is really good at, is to convey feelings through strong emotional scenes. Happy, funny, epic and sad moments. This manga has many of them. Of course other mangas have such moments as well. But Oda manages to put all those emotions in a nutshell that made you empathize with the characters. Specifically the impressive facial expressions of the characters are all the more contributing to such scenes.
  
  
• One of the best things in this manga are the inventive objects, such as the transponder snail, the Dials, Vivre Card or the Log Pose. That’s just a small selection of all the interestings things that the world of One Piece has to offer. However, I think that the concept of the devil fruit was the most brilliant idea that Oda could came up with. There are so many devil fruits with different sorts of abilities, most of them with the potential of giving the reader many diversified and entertaining fights. But not only that, there are also a lot of devil fruits with the possibility to improve it. The perfect example would be the Gomu Gomu no Mi of Luffy. Although it might be a ridiculous ability at first sight for the main character, Oda showed us through the different gears that it can also be effective in combats.
  Furthermore, another point that I like about this item is that the consumption of it won’t make you overpowered since it also has its weaknesses, particularly the inability to swim. Something that is neccessary as a pirate because he is on the sea most of the time. Every carelessness could mean the loss of his abilities and in the worst case his life. Besides from this crucial weakness, some devil fruits also have one or more specific weak points, like Enel’s Goro Goro no Mi that barely had any effects on Luffy.
  
  
• Organizized mentioned it already but please allow me to say it again. Oda’s. Love. For. Details. I don’t think that there are many mangaka that can compete with Oda in that category. Little things, that seem unimportant at first sight, suddenly become relevant during the story. To the many good examples of Organizized, I also like to add Haki to his list that was already used by Shanks in the first (!) chapter, whereas its meaning got explained not until around several hundreds chapters later. Additional examples are the true identity of Luffy’s father that got revealed after a certain amount of chapters, the fact that all of Usopp’s lies become true in the progress of the story etc.
  Furthermore, Oda is putting a lot of effort into hiding little easter eggs into many panels that you can’t notice instantly when you read a chapter for the first time. Whether it’s Pandaman, a repetitive running gag from Oda. Whether it’s clothes that are printed with certain writings or logos that are approriate to the current situation (e.g. chapter 763: the word „weep" on Law's shirt). Or whether it’s a foreshadowing in color/cover pages or cover stories (e.g. the cover page in chapter 668: the three cups of sake as a hint that a certain person was still alive...). And so many more things where Oda is putting a lot of details, but I better leave it for now or otherwise I won't be done with this post... :P
  
  
• On top of this, Oda’s endless inspirations and creativity are what made me adore One Piece the more. I also agree with Organizized and like to mention the world building/the islands of this manga that is definitely one of the strongest points. I would even go that far and claim that there is no other medium that has such a diverse and imaginatively world like One Piece does. Where else do you find a medium that is uniting an island in the sky, an island deep down underneath the ocean, a horror island, an island on a large elephant, an island made of sweets and many other places in one story? Nowhere. But I’m ready to let myself convince of the contrary. : )
  Plus, the fact that the islands were inspired by real life places (e.g. Water 7 inspired by Venice in Italy and Mont-Saint-Michel in France) makes Oda’s well-thought-out world close to reality and you feel like you’re somehow part of this whole adventure and journey.
  
  
• However, not just the setting but also the illustration of the individual, unique and quirky character designs (where most of them are also based on real life persons, e.g. Jango -> obviously Michael Jackson) are something that you don’t see in every manga. Alright, I have to admit that some of them look very ugly and anatomically incorrect etc. and actually, I didn’t want include the artwork of One Piece in the pro and con list since it is a matter of taste. Many people hate it, others love it. I belong to the latter. Its drawing style captivated me from the very beginning and especially the color pages amazed me over and over again in the past. I guess, it depends from person to person because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, you can't deny it that many characters have visual features that make them distinguishable and memorizable. At least for me, I've never had the problem so far that I've forgotten an important character because of his/her specific look.

If you think that I'm finally done yet, then you're wrong because the conclusion is still missing. Sorry! :P
But don't worry. It'll be much shorter.

 

[Skylent]

Alright, after a lot of reflexion I voted One Piece.

Probably because I liked the honesty and critical mind of Zirconium.

 

[Shobu_Yoruichi]

After @Jammin post denoting that i can vote for whatever series i could think after his review... i vote One Piece, thanks man, you freed me of a huge weight back there xD

 

[Organizized]

After @Jammin post denoting that i can vote for whatever series i could think after his review... i vote One Piece, thanks man, you freed me of a huge weight back there xD

Admit it, you just thought Katakuri was a badass this chapter as well.

 

[Demonspeed]

OP has Katakuri but OPM has Garou!

 

[I Am Atomic]

Voting for OP. Even though I like OPM it never came close to OP.

The artwork of OPM is great but story and tension is quite low. I love action scenes but OPM kind of throws that out of the window. So I categorise it as a comedy scene instead of pure action.
OPM also has tons of repetition, enemy-------->one punch------->enemy------->one punch.

OP is no better with repetition and some bad arcs. However, Oda is a god of foreshadowing so missing out a tiny detail results in many missing out a lot of detail.

Many above has already written reports on OP and OPM, so I am taking my leave.

 

[Organizized]

OP has Katakuri but OPM has Garou!

That latest chapter with Garou was what had me voting OPM over Neverland. Sugoi.

 

[HereNThere]

OP has Katakuri but OPM has Garou!

Exactly. I like him, but Katakuri is a flash in the pan whose 15 minutes of fame are slowly ticking away. Garou has barely began to show why he's a boss.