So I dreamed that we got the leaks for the new chapter on reddit, and it had Lucci in his(her in this case) hybrid form flirting with Nojiko, it wasn't even goner shit they were legit being a wholesome couple, and I think Nami approved? we were somehow on Elbaph but that's beside the point.

And apparently there was this whole thing about people translating Lucci's dialogue to understand the meaning of the scene and it sounded pretty much like a marriage vow but translators phrased it in a way where it can kinda be ambiguous which had me convinced this shit was legit for a sec when I woke up.

Just felt like this was the only sub where I could share this so do with that what you wish.

The Harley Mural (Ch. 1138)

So I've been feeling like we don't talk about One Piece enough in this sub, starting to feel kinda underrated y'know? So I decided it would be a nice change of pace to talk about it here.

Jokes aside, I've noticed that the discussions around One Piece's worldbuilding tend to be very Black-and-White, where you pick your flavor of "Wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle" or you think Oda is the second coming of Tolkien.

I won't say I'm a contrarian genius for arguing that it's somewhere in the middle, and not be egotestical but I do not think my opinion is so garbage it's unworthy of being shared.

0. Who is Jective and why is he a sub?

I wanted to be objective as much as I could in this post and rely on facts over personal opinions as much as possible, but this is sort of difficult without getting it out of the way that One Piece and it's worldbuilding by extension requires a baseline level of suspension of disbelief.

To some all the islands speaking the same language is a glaring flaw that prevents you from taking the story seriously or a very minor nitpick that didn't even cross your mind until I brought it up.

Same goes for One Piece's general anachronistic stew approach to things like the clothing, technology, and system of governance.

It's perfectly understandable to find issues with things like these, I personally do not, so I wanted to put all cards on the table by acknowledging that there is an inherit subjectivity to my argument even if I try to remain objective.

1. Irony so thick it has it's own ZIP code

To cut to the chase; I think the "Wide as an Ocean, Deep as a Puddle" criticism of One Piece is ironically, Deep as a puddle for how Widely it's repeated.

Because it takes the term Worldbuilding too literally and more often than not examines the islands themselves alone. Something that a lot of people who blindly praise One Piece ironically do as well.

The most common example I see of this online is when people talk about the connection between Islands and how they feel isolated.

In my mind the only interpretation of this critique where it is not blatantly false is if we're referring to neighboring islands within the context of trade routes. Which while not entirely invalid due to to how close a lot of the islands seem to be is also very dismissive of the other connections between islands via characters and plot points, which is not only a crucial aspect of world-building, but also arguably One Piece's Strong suite.

The Galleila Giants (Ch. 660)

The prime example of this is Punk Hazard, If you want to look at it's connection to neighboring islands it is the absolute bare minimum by being Doflamingo's second base of operations. And...that's it, maybe if we're being generous we could count them kidnapping kids from other islands but aside from that It's pretty isolated.

But if you look at the bigger picture it is absolutely insane how connected to the rest of the World it is.

It is where Aokiji and Akainu fought for the position of Fleet Admiral which deeply affects it's geology which played a big part in the plot of the arc itself, the Biscuit Room and the giant experiments are the reason why Big Mom was after Caesar and was a major plotline in Dressrosa and Whole Cake Island, It was also Vegapunk's original lab and the location where Kaido and King where held captive.

And most importantly of all in my opinion it's the location where the Galleila Giants are frozen as we learn in Elbaph, aside from the fact that a Chekhov Gun being fired after 15 years is absolutely insane, one of the giants also has the Galley-La logo tattooed on his arm, tying it to Water 7 as well.

This goes for a lot of Islands where they are geographically isolated they are connected to other islands thanks to the plot and characters.

2. Planet of (Straw)Hats

Let's be real, One Piece is a very self-indulgent story, no way of denying it. This isn't just about the way Oda draws the female character, the romance of going on wacky adventures with your buddies where your only limit is where you want to go is deeply baked into One Piece's story and aesthetics.

This gives some people the impression that the wackiness and variety of the islands has no point beyond Oda wanting to indulge himself and draw what he likes.

But unironically, themes as such.

Alabasta is not just a Desert Kingdom because Oda wanted to draw Nami and Vivi in sexy dancer outfits(though not for a lack of want), The setting plays a huge part in the conflict surrounding the civil war, the imagery of rain in the desert is tied to the theme of faith and hope that's explored in characters like Vivi, Crocodile's threat is all the more emphasized due to him thematically and literally being the drought plaguing Alabasta and because his counter is so rare to find.

And this goes for so much of the islands that we visit, even if it's clear that the author is indulging himself it's very much not done on a whim. The story, characters, and topics of each arc are all the better for the setting that Oda chose for them.

3. She Shichis my Bukai until I Supernova

To be completely honest this is just me yapping about some of my favorite aspects on One Piece's world, because I feel like the way Oda has used The Worst Generation and Seven Warlords is really underrated, especially considering they were not originally planned.

When we're introduced to the concept of the 7WLs via Mihawk and then Crocodile you'd be forgiven for assuming they're just going to be future villains for the Strawhats to face and a reference to real-life privateers.

But not only do the original seven end up being a wide spectrum from enemies to allies to even Strawhats. Not to mention the lore and connections each of them have to the wider world with things like Moria's feud with Kaido and his past in Wano, Kuma's connection to Booney and the RA, and Boa setting up Fisher Tiger and knowing Rayleigh.

And we're shown throughout the story the many ways this system is used both in-universe and out. Crocodile and Doflamingo use their position to cover up their schemes, Blackbeard and Law deliberately exploit it, and Kuma, Jinbei, and Boa join out of pragmatism to protect those they care about, and Oda himself used it to prop up characters like Buggy, Law, and Weevil.

And their eventual disbandment is a major shake-up that we see the steps leading to and indicates that we're in the endgame.

Same goes for the Supernovas, they start as various refrences to real pirates that are rivals to Luffy, canon filler if one was to be mean. But the various ways they've ended up is one of my favorite things about One Piece.

X-Drake being the commander of SWORD and the kid that got rescued during Law's flashback. Bege being an enforcer of Big Mom that turns to be an ally, Law and Bonney having deep conections to other important character like Doflamingo and Kuma. And the various shenanigans they got up to like Kid raiding Big Mom's crew, Hawkins being responsible for Brownbeard's injuries, Urouge fighting Snack, Rocky Port, and Bonney facing Blackbeard to me personally make the world feel a lot more alive for how small they are.

4. TL,DRs? In the writingscaling sub?

I think that the conversations around One Piece's worldbuilding could be a lot more interesting and I hope my attempt at promoting that didn't crash and burn, hope you've seen worse posts than mine, bye.