I still just can't see the appeal in One Piece. If you're Japanese and twelve years old, sure, but otherwise, what the hell? It's about a rubber pirate. Does that sound even remotely exciting to you? Nor I, so what gives? At least Naruto and Bleach can have some pretty dark themes at times, and the action isn't
completely stupid. This seems to appeal solely to pubescent children. At several points during my time reading the manga, I came across some of the dumbest ideas for characters I've ever seen:
- Some dude who was stuck in a box so long that his body became infused with the box.
- A pirate chef with a peg leg who kicks people, and that's all he can do.
- A guy who uses three swords. Yes, you read that correctly, and no, there's nothing dirty about it. He wields a third sword in a mouth. Not only is this wildly inefficient, I remember the story behind his retarded decision to do so being completely irrational.
- Another pirate chef who's pretty much useless, but aspires to find the ultimate ingredient for his something-something, I forget.
- Did I mention the rubber pirate... who can't swim?
Come to think of it, I've never seen an adult on any anime website who actually likes One Piece. At
Anime-Planet, 14% of the 20,669 people who've checked out one piece decided it was crap and dropped it, while 7% simply refused to ever watch it. Another 14% are currently deciding whether they want to continue watching it or not. Probably not. This means it's split about 60/40, with the major 60% probably being under the age of sixteen.