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Fight scenes seem to always be some of the most popular parts ofOne Piece. Between massive and extremely well-animated encounters, like Garp’s battle against Kuzan or Kaido’s fight against Gear 5 Luffy, fight scenes are truly worth watching the incredibly long series. This is especially true with the recent increase in the quality ofOne Piece’sanimation, ushering in a new age of incredible fight scenes to enjoy.
However, oftentimes these fight scenes heavily overshadow other elements ofOne Piece, especially the more tame moments of the series. In fact, at times, it feels like the community completely forgets thatOne Pieceis more than just these extremely well-animated, high-budget fight scenes. Outside of theseamazingOne Piecefight scenes, the series demonstrates that there are plenty of ways to still tell an engaging story, without having high-stakes fight scenes.
One Piece Arcs Don’t Need Massive Fight Scenes To Be Entertaining
Some Of The Best Arcs Have Little Fighting
One Piecearcs tend to follow a similar pattern, with a few notable exceptions. Mainly, these arcs followthe Straw Hat Crew inOne Piecediscovering a new island. Here, they explore the location and go on smaller-scale adventures, meeting the locals, and uncovering some sort of plot that they must solve. After this, the Straw Hats must then engage in a massive battle, with each member of the crew often pairing off against their own opponent for a fight scene.
There are things that matter more than power. - Luffy
However, not every arc focuses on this structure entirely, witha few important arcs ofOne Piecebeing notable exceptions. Mainly, arcs like Sabaody Archipelago, Water 7, and Zou, while featuring a few fight scenes, don’t have nearly as many high-scale fights as fans might expect compared to other arcs. Despite this, these arcs are still beloved by the community, and are often regarded as some of the best in the series, and it isn’t due to their fight scenes.
World-Building Is The Base Of One Piece’s Writing
These Elements Are What Makes The Cool Moments
What makes these arcs cool, despite having a lack of notable fight scenes is mainly due toOne Piece’sinteresting world-buildingthat these arcs feature. Oftentimes, arcs, and the final fight scenes especially, are only cool due to the context and the world-building that comes before it. In many ways, this interesting world-building is where the “cool factor” starts, and is already cool enough on its own.
Looking at an arc like Zou, very little action actually occurs during the arc, with most of the major fight scenes happening before Luffy’s arrival. However, what makes this arc interesting and cool is the world-building ofOne Piece’sMink Tribe, learning of their conflict with Jack the Drought, and the reveal of their loyalty to Raizo. While these moments have no traditional fights, the use of clever world-building, interesting plot devices, and the unique nature of the Mink Tribe, many fans regard the arc to be one of the best post-time skipOne Piecehas to offer.
Water 7 Used Intense Drama And Stakes For Its Coolest Moments
Paired With Enies Lobby These Arcs Create A Perfect Saga
However, while an arc doesn’t need fight scenes to be cool, when world-building is paired with an amazing fight scene,One Piecereaches its full potential. Although the Water 7 arc is great on its own, providing an interesting and dramatic conflict between CP9 and Robin, paired with the fight scenes ofOne Piece’sEnies Lobby Arc, the entire Water 7 Saga becomes one of the best examples of storytelling thatOne Piecehas to offer. In many ways, Luffy’s fight against Lucci wouldn’t be the same without world building and plot development of Water 7, and in turn, the plot development of Water 7 needed some sort of payoff, which came in the form of the fight against Lucci.
Robin! We still haven’t heard you say it! Say you want to live! - Luffy
Still, despite this,One Piecedoesn’t need fight scenes to be cool. The many slower,world-building scenes ofOne Pieceare cool on their own, despite not being huge flashy moments that everyone discusses on Social Media. Although some may consider these moments to be boring, the world-building scenes ofOne Pieceare the building blocks that truly make the series cool.
One Piece
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One Piece is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. The series follows protagonist Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirate crew as they explore the Grand Line to find the King of the Pirates' ultimate treasure, the One Piece, in order to become the next king. The manga’s popularity helped it spin off into a larger media franchise, including an anime with more than 1,000 episodes.
