One Piece world building
So, One Piece is one of my favourite mangas to date, it is one that has been able to keep my attention for hundreds of chapters and never really felt stale. Of course this is partly due to its sympathetic characters, funny aesthetics and constantly changing plot, nonetheless, something that really stood out in comparison with other series was its worldbuilding.
The world of One Piece is extremely vast, there are 120 named islands that we know of and each of them is overflowing with life. They are not used as a plot device but rather include interesting characters with memorable personalities, visual quirks of the island itself and even their own customs that add to the feeling that you are truly in the world, adventuring with the Strawhats. Good examples of this are Skypiea and Water 7. Around the former of the two a whole myth has been created with many not even believing the existence of the island in the sky, however, thanks to Cricket, the descendant of a man who went there, the belief is kept alive. Furthermore, it has its own history, with three tribes descending from the moon to the island and now two of them being at war for the 'Upper Yard'. There is also the existence of Enel, the god that arrived with his monks and dethroned the previous one. In the case of Water 7 it is one of the biggest islands where carpenters thrive and the streets have to be travelled by boat since they are water. There is also a phenomenon called Aqua Laguna where the water levels rise and thus impede the circulation of the trains and since it is one of the only connections to one of the World Government's strategic bases, it can cause a problem.
The level of detail that Eiichiro Oda has put even into the minor islands is truly fascinating.
In many series when villains appear, they are later forsaken as a mere plot device, this is not true of One Piece where the first main villain, Buggy the clown appears in many occasions after being defeated. This is also true of other villains like Crocodile and I feel like the most primordial aspects of their recurrence is that they are not necessarily involved with the main cast. The manga might give us little snippets into their lives and what they have been planning after their encounters with the Strawhats and when their paths do cross again, it does not seem forced at all but rather something completely coherent with their end goal.
This makes it feel like the world does not revolve around the main characters and rather that they are just one part of it which is further reinforced by the newspapers that many times appear in the manga. Not only do they report on what Luffy and his crew do but we also get updates from the three main factions of this world: The revolutionary army, the pirates and the World Government.
The aforementioned factions really help put everything together in the world as they all make their own moves independent of the main characters but their actions can heavily affect their journey since some characters have ties in those groups. Furthermore, they are pretty much the powers that move everything around, apart from the fact that their lore has also a lot of detail, it keeps the reader guessing as to what the next their next move will be.
In conclusion, I think Oda has one of the best world building in the anime/manga world and it is one of the greatest reasons for One Piece's popularity as it greatly eases a reader's immersion.
The world of One Piece is extremely vast, there are 120 named islands that we know of and each of them is overflowing with life. They are not used as a plot device but rather include interesting characters with memorable personalities, visual quirks of the island itself and even their own customs that add to the feeling that you are truly in the world, adventuring with the Strawhats. Good examples of this are Skypiea and Water 7. Around the former of the two a whole myth has been created with many not even believing the existence of the island in the sky, however, thanks to Cricket, the descendant of a man who went there, the belief is kept alive. Furthermore, it has its own history, with three tribes descending from the moon to the island and now two of them being at war for the 'Upper Yard'. There is also the existence of Enel, the god that arrived with his monks and dethroned the previous one. In the case of Water 7 it is one of the biggest islands where carpenters thrive and the streets have to be travelled by boat since they are water. There is also a phenomenon called Aqua Laguna where the water levels rise and thus impede the circulation of the trains and since it is one of the only connections to one of the World Government's strategic bases, it can cause a problem.
The level of detail that Eiichiro Oda has put even into the minor islands is truly fascinating.
Water 7
Skypiea
In many series when villains appear, they are later forsaken as a mere plot device, this is not true of One Piece where the first main villain, Buggy the clown appears in many occasions after being defeated. This is also true of other villains like Crocodile and I feel like the most primordial aspects of their recurrence is that they are not necessarily involved with the main cast. The manga might give us little snippets into their lives and what they have been planning after their encounters with the Strawhats and when their paths do cross again, it does not seem forced at all but rather something completely coherent with their end goal.
Crocodile Buggy
This makes it feel like the world does not revolve around the main characters and rather that they are just one part of it which is further reinforced by the newspapers that many times appear in the manga. Not only do they report on what Luffy and his crew do but we also get updates from the three main factions of this world: The revolutionary army, the pirates and the World Government.
Recurring side character Koby reading the newspaper
The aforementioned factions really help put everything together in the world as they all make their own moves independent of the main characters but their actions can heavily affect their journey since some characters have ties in those groups. Furthermore, they are pretty much the powers that move everything around, apart from the fact that their lore has also a lot of detail, it keeps the reader guessing as to what the next their next move will be.
In conclusion, I think Oda has one of the best world building in the anime/manga world and it is one of the greatest reasons for One Piece's popularity as it greatly eases a reader's immersion.
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