Why One Piece isn't bad? IV

              Konnichiwa! This the fourth post in the "Why One Piece isn't bad?" series. Today I'll be discussing two other points or complaints about One Piece, explaining why I thinks they are not justified. So, let's start!

1) Lack of character development!

               I don't think this is entirely true, or what was the forced disbanding in Sabaody Archipelago and Marineford for? It's true the characters's attitude is generally the same as when they made their debut, that's why I said that the claim is not "entirely" true. However, I never thought of One Piece characters as defected. I mean we have here nine main characters and there will probably be more, and each has his/her unique identitiy. They might share things but all in all they are different. Also, though many may differ with me on that, I like the female main characters in One Piece. It's very rare that I like the main female characters in anime. They are most definitely different from others. For instance, neither Nami nor Robin is in love with any of the crew members. So that's one annoying storyline in every Shonen anime that never comes to a conclusion (since Shounen is not about romance) gone. I read many times about people hating Nami because she's a coward and she hides behind the other male characters pushing them in the face of danger, but that's one thing I like about Nami. She knows her limit. She's not like other female characters who want to save everyone when they can't even save themselves and end up causing even more trouble. That doesn't mean Nami is a selfish person, she cares for her comrades, that's why she's always developing herself, and that's why she's doing her best in her job as a navigator and that's what Luffy had her join for, not for her strength or courage. Another character that's stated to have been downgraded is Sanji, because of the nosebleeds. Well, One Piece has been doing many silly things lately, and that's one of them. However, Sanji is a very cool character to begin with. Among the strongest three of the straw hats, he's the smartest, or the only smart one. I can't exactly say Luffy and Zoro are smart. His womanizer attitude is supposed to be his funny side, but it went overboard after the time skip, just like the fan service. As for villains, One Piece is not the best anime in that certain aspect, however, I find the world government an interesting villain. What's confusing in One Piece is that the marines might be the enemies of the pirates to which our main characters belong, but they are not villains, not all of them,  so why should I hate them? Anyway, single characters that I find as interesting villains in One Piece, I don't think there is; but there are the Yonko, the Shibukai, the world governments, the Cipher Pol…

The Straw-hats after the time skip.

The Straw-hats before the time skip.

It would have been fine  if not for the explicit fan service after the time skip;

another fail beside Sanji's nosebleeding! -_-  

               Bottom line, it might be true that the main character's attitude or traits barely changed along the series, but the thing is I don't see how or why the will. Changes happen for a reason and so far there was none that require a change in one's trait. Take Ace as an example, though he's not main character. His character most definitely developed from his offensive younger self we've seen in the flashback, and his friendly and caring older self in the current timeline. He was offensive for a reason and became a better person for a reason. As for the main characters I can't imagine a reason for them to change within the current timeline. The only development they needed was becoming stronger, in order to proceed, and they do when they find out the hard way, in Saboady, that they need to, but why else should they change? If we're talking about Usopp's cowardice, than that's one thing I believe he can't change, maybe unless he gets himself a devil fruit which would ruin his identity.  And again this is mainstream Shounen manga for you, I count only a few characters from all the anime I've watched that had some significant character development.

2) Too many filler!  …. What?! Come on! You can't be serious about that. Well, let's compare it with Bleach, one of the big 3, to prove how wrong this statement is, since I haven't watched Naruto, so I won't compare with it but I heard loads of complaints about the amounts of fillers in it. Bleach started in 2004 it had 366 episode among which 164 were fillers that's about 45% of it. Now One Piece started in 1999, it's still running with 665 episodes to the moment, among which 90 episodes are fillers, that's about 14%. Do you still think One Piece has too many fillers? (I like Bleach by the way, I'm not trying to offend it, just proving a point.)

If we're talking about canon arcs that has no significance to the plot, I'd say there's no such thing. All the cannon arcs however irrelevant they might seem had their significance. Actually, one thing I like about One Piece is that everything happens for a reason; but since One Piece is a very long running manga, the reason might turn out years after.

That's all for today. See you next post! ^_^

For the previous posts from the series check the links:
Why One Piece isn't bad?
Why One Piece isn't bad? II
Why One Piece isn't bad? III