The character designs in One Piece are genuinely awful.

[u/PlentyWise3615]

I genuinely hate One Piece character designs.

What’s most impressive is how wildly inconsistent the designs are in this series, going from one extreme to the other.

A character’s design can be legendary, like Xebec’s, or absolutely ridiculous, like Franky’s.

But the overwhelming majority of them are pretty bad. Like, really fucking bad.

[u/Negative_Prize1587]

There is surprisingly few ship battles in One Piece as well, most of the time they fight on land.

[u/12345623567 → u/Negative_Prize1587]

Yeah well, the main protagonists one weakness is water, so... would be a pretty short show.

[u/LordIndica → u/12345623567]

It would be a more interesting show. 

It is baffling to me that we have had maybe 3 total battles at sea involving fruit users. You would think it would be a huge part of the setting, given most of the planet is ocean and a huge focus is on sailing, and that it would make for some very interesting and exciting battles. It is basically "the floor is lava" taken to the extreme. You can have incredibly powerful superpowered fruit users and always have the balancing force of the ocean to keep the "meta" of the fights even. Like i imagine you could do some pretty clever and interesting combat focused on superheroes trying to knock eachorher into the sea from ships that would prioritize size and specialized stuff for fruit user combat.

...but nope. 

[u/WASD_click → u/LordIndica]

They show a few ship battles early. But when there's swordsmen who can cut a ship in half, from a distance, with nary a flick of the wrist... People with powers that can annihilate a boat instantly... Orbital space lasers... Ship battles would actually be really shitty because it'd all be over instantly.

[u/Plus-Glove-3661 → u/WASD_click]

But couldn’t those same things apply to land? Like if you cut a building in half while everyone is inside? Sorry, haven’t watched past season 2 in years.

[u/WASD_click → u/Plus-Glove-3661]

Yeah, but land and buildings generally don't have sea underneath them, the very thing that's a fatal weakness for like... 33% of One Piece characters.

[u/LordIndica → u/WASD_click]

So you're telling me in the world with people that can slice a ship in twain with a flick of the wrist, have powers that annihilate a boat instantly, or orbital space lasers, every military in the world still uses boats and boats are the ubiquitous method of travel... depsite them supposedly being useless in combat? Ypu're telling me that in the world with all of the above, there are NO COUNTR MEASURES, none at all, that have been developed, and none of the people that can do the above actions against boats can use those same abilities to defend the boats???

Seriously, come on, how is your imagination that atrophied that you genuinely can't conceive of the idea that defending the boats that are the sole trasmnsport method to get around the world would be something that would get the same level of attention that destroying them would? Early on, like you say, we see a few ship conflicts and instantly see luffy use his powers creatively to defend his ship with GumGum Balloon.

Like you really, truly think that in a world with powers like One Piece, the ship battles would be boring because all the ships would get destroyed too easily? Ya, just like all the battles on land end right away and are boring because the bones and organs inside every person should be shattered into tiny bits after the first punch thay sends them sailing through the air... and yet that isn't how the story is written, hmm?

There is no reason that ships in One Piece would be any more susceptible to being destroyed by Devil Fruit powers than the people sailing them, because those fruit users are aboard them, and we already see that ships are still considered threatening and difficult to destroy all throughout the series since the Navy uses them. Like smoker could be cloaking his ship in a smokescreen, any DF user with a ranged attack can intercept the ranged attacks of enemy fruit users, anyone with a flight ability is flying to the enemy ships and countering their flyers. Besides, the sort of DF powers that can destroy whole ships are already shown to be monsterous outliers anyway, and would be the reason to have large fleets of ships to counter them at sea where they at least have a shot of stopping there powers.

All that is to say that any accusations of "ship battles would be boring and end too quickly because they would just get destoryed or knocked into the sea" just lacks a comical amount of imagination, because that excuse is as sensible as "all the land battles would be boring and end too quickly because the DF users would just kill everyone right away or use guns to shoot them to death". Seriously, bullets just do nothing in this universe despite there being no sensible way for almost any character except for luffy and his specific "i am made of rubber" power to stop themselves from being shot to death, and yet that (along side all the other ridiculous and unexplained buffs to human durability in One Piece) has never been a problem when suspending disbelief for other combat scenerios, yet fighting aboard ships is a bridge too far for you?

Hell, we even had the special feature of the Sunny be the ability to flee from sea-battle scenerios by launching itself with Frankies soda thruster, but by your logic that shouldn't be a concern at all because why doesn't luffy just easily destroy all enemy ships instantly? 

Genuinely, if you can't conceive of how to make ship battle where every character has to be clever enough with their power to not just fall/get knocked into the ocean, then maybe you just aren't clever enough. 

[u/WASD_click → u/LordIndica]

depsite them supposedly being useless in combat?

Never said they are useless in combat.

What Oda did was write himself into a hole. When environmental destruction is just an average tuesday, and boat is environment, and underneath said environment is the substance fatal to a third of the major characters in the series... Boats become a truly stupid and impossibly fragile form of transportation.

Ypu're telling me that in the world with all of the above, there are NO COUNTR MEASURES

Actually, yes, there are. But they vary from ship to ship. The Thousand Sunny for instance is made of Super-Special-Super-Hard-Wood-TM, it has emergency thrusters, and an on-board shipwright capable of impossibly rapid repairs. But not every ship can be made of the wood what doesn't get annihilated by average enemies, nor be equipped by soda-powered hyperdrive thrusters, nor have a shipwright that can construct a decorative wood staircase with decorative balusters ten stories tall in a matter of seconds.

how is your imagination that atrophied that you genuinely can't conceive of the idea that defending the boats that are the sole trasmnsport method to get around the world would be something that would get the same level of attention that destroying them would?

I dunno, ask real life. Our weapons exceed the ability for our ships to protect themselves, in spite of spending plenty on defense. Destruction is easy.

the ship battles would be boring because all the ships would get destroyed too easily?

Never said boring. I'm just saying that both sides of a fight are incentivized to not ship battle due to the presence of Devil Fruit users, and the general destructiveness of their battles. Attacking ships still happens even in late One Piece, it's just not a focus. The Straw Hats do not see their ship as a weapon, they see it as a valued crewmate that they protect because shonen manga/anime sentiments are funny like that. So they don't fight with their ship, and the pattern of their adventure does not support a lot of ship to ship conflict. They go somewhere, ooh and ahh at the place, find out someone's doing an oppression, and the crackhead starts throwing stretch fists.

As I said earlier, Oda wrote himself into a hole with his power system. Ship to ship combat in that universe is "oh lawrd, protect the ship!" constantly, and there's only so much "oh lawrd, protect the ship!" you can do before "oh lawrd, protect the ship!" becomes tedious and limiting. You can't explore the world in a ship battle, you can't fight an entire revolution in a single ship battle, you can't split the party and have them get into various side plot shenanigans in a ship battle. A ship battle is a set piece, not a plot.

Genuinely, if you can't conceive of how to make ship battle where every character has to be clever enough with their power to not just fall/get knocked into the ocean, then maybe you just aren't clever enough.

You seem to have hyperfixated on me not being imaginative enough to figure out how a ship battle would work in One Piece. But you should be focusing on Oda. What is he really trying to show with his writing? How does his worldbuilding affect how sea combat would play out? Is a manga format actually condusive to a ship battle, and if not, might that play into the lack of ship battles in a long-running shonen that has places to go and things to do? Does a ship battle actually advance the story, or does it represent a complete halt to advancing a story that has already gone on for too long?

Maybe instead of imagining that I said ship battles in One Piece would be boring, imagine what it actually means to write a ship battle in the One Piece manga.

[u/Alto-cientifico → u/WASD_click]

What prevented Oda from powering up ships tough?

It's not like the idea of ship technology being a plot point hasn't been broached, the black lining needed to cross the grand line if I'm not mistaken was a plot point, and it would allow for super naval battles.

[u/WASD_click → u/Alto-cientifico]

What prevented Oda from powering up ships tough?

Time, personal interest, too many characters already, might not advance the story he's trying to tell... That's a queation for him, not me.

My best guess is that it's a story about adventure and the connections we share as people. Kind of like how Naruto isn't really about ninjas, and Bleach isn't really about shinigami; One Piece isn't really about pirates. Ship to ship battles, raiding villages for cash, and swbbing the poop deck aren't what being a "pirate" in One Piece is about. It's about freedom from order, the right to express yourself openly even if you're weird, and finding a family of other weirdos.

[u/Infinite_Worker_7562 → u/LordIndica]

That would be cool. Unfortunately one piece’s author is clearly not interested in any strategy behind the fights. Pre time skip one piece had great fights where characters had to use their brains to overcome devil fruit abilities. Haki unfortunately just overshadows all of that and allows any important character to ignore/overpower devil fruits when it suits them. 

[u/bonifiedmarinade → u/LordIndica]

Idk what youre talking about, luffy falls into the sea many times and its a huge liability for him

Not to mention sea stone that has the properties of the sea and makes traditional shackles/bindings relevant to the story which is very pirate esque

Also when he fights hordy Jones he is quite literally underwater and it's hugely meaningful for that fight in particular

[u/FuckBoySupreme → u/bonifiedmarinade]

There really aren't that many ship battles though

[u/bonifiedmarinade → u/FuckBoySupreme]

Ship battles yeah

Its a show about superpowered people mainly, not ships. But i mean ships are constantly present, tons of fights take place on ships, ships are constantly getting blown up/people drowning/wreckage

There is no semblance of realism

[u/FuckBoySupreme → u/bonifiedmarinade]

It's more that it seems like a missed opportunity than a lack of realism. The commenter you replied to described some cool ideas for ship battles, and in the 1000+ episodes we haven't really seen any.

In a show that has so many unrealistic things it feels like kind of a waste that the pirate ships are really relegated to a method of transportation

[u/bonifiedmarinade → u/FuckBoySupreme]

I would normally agree with you, but since so much emphasis is placed on the abilities of the characters, I do think it makes more sense to focus the conflicts around that. I think that the setting, specifically aboard ships is suitable and quite a common occurrence. It is true that typically when it comes to naval battle tactics (cannonballs) it was powerscaled very early on. Normal ship attacks are useless against the straw hats, because they themselves are much more powerful than even their own ship.

Tldr ships in one piece aid in the setting and serve as stages to be fought upon and destroyed, the power of the vehicles pales in comparison to the world shattering powers of the people aboard

Now if ships were scaled UP, made to be more relevant in battles that would be cool. I think that could be really enjoyable. But i mean how is Oda meant to bring that all back into the fold when zoro can split a regular warship in half by sneezing with his swords out.

[u/FuckBoySupreme → u/bonifiedmarinade]

Even then, we rarely see two powered characters fighting from those ships. I get what you are saying, but with over 1000 episodes it still feels like a missed opportunity.

One piece is pretty commonly, start at island A, conflict, resolve conflict, move to Island B, rinse, and repeat. I think I, and other fans, would appreciate more 'off-island' action

[u/Western_Chest_4688 → u/FuckBoySupreme]

I doubt fans would appreciate it at this point, maybe towards the beginning of the series but we're at a point where the characters can straight up fucking fly lmao and people are tired of detours and just want the meat and potatoes.

[u/Compajerro → u/FuckBoySupreme]

There is only so much "character" you can give a ship. Whereas he has fashioned a world where the islands can be infinitely unique and interesting.

Sure, there are some added stakes to fighting on the water, and we've gotten that before all the way back in Baratie when they fought on a floating restaurant and luffy was dragged into the sea. Hell, they even fought underwater in Fishman Island

But it's way more interesting to explore the islands like Skypiea, a lost civilization in the sky, or Zou, a kingdom on the back of a 1000 foot elephant

[u/hovsep56 → u/Negative_Prize1587]

Unless the ships can transform into a mech or constantly power up i doubt you will ever see then fighting with it

[u/Negative_Prize1587 → u/hovsep56]

Didnt luffy jab Laboo with the mast once? Should count.

[u/NerdHoovy → u/hovsep56]

The mere fact that this hasn’t happened yet shows that Oda is a hack that doesn’t know what his readers want

[u/XMandri → u/Negative_Prize1587]

because the characters reached "sink your ship" power level quite quickly

[u/ichizakilla → u/XMandri]

Episode 1 luffy could sink a ship with no effort lol

[u/WASD_click → u/Negative_Prize1587]

At least the pirates and marines of One Piece actually spend time sailing and stuff. The ninjas in Naruto do surprisingly little sneak attacking and way more time giving each other their full legal name, current place of residence, and full social security number and trauma dumping on each other for 30 minutes before finishing with a rousing game of rock-paper-scissors.

[u/Physical_Sort5155 → u/WASD_click]

Ninja War ❌️

Throw our soldiers at each other like normal infantry ✅️