Recently, a white author (who will remain unnamed) faced backlash after her supposedly progressive anti-Islamophobia novel fell into outdated and quite embarrassing depictions of Muslims. On the other hand, if there are valid criticisms of an author’s influence on society, and the responsibility of said author to be mindful of harmful stereotypes that they exploit in their work, I think they should be graceful enough to at least acknowledge them. We avoid self-education to avoid outrage. I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong with that sentiment, and I find that our anxiety to not offend others stops us from creating stories with nuance and sensitivity.

Obviously, as I writer I understand the importance of telling the story that you want to tell, in the way that you’ve always envisioned-after all, one of the most common bits of advice most aspiring writers receive is “tell the story you want to read”. Oda’s dismissive comment about female complaints implies that he’s aware of the impact the story has on female readers, and quite simply doesn’t care. The audience that once giggled childishly to Oda’s portrayal of women has matured. However, in recent months, the SBSs have taken on a strange tone, like below: Oda clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously, which is a stark contrast from many of his western counterparts. They carry a wackiness that is rare in comparison to the stiff-upper-lip culture that I’m used to, and foreign to me is the concept of a world-renowned author having fun with his audience. I’ve always enjoyed reading the SBS segments in the volumes. I think what Eiichiro Oda’s done with his story is brilliant, and I’ll always be a fan of the series, despite my disappointment at the ambling plot of Fishman Island (saved only by Shirahoshi’s secret), and the overly-long Dressrosa, and the indulgent interruptions that ruined Luffy’s fight with Katakuri on Whole Cake Island (which I felt could have been the post-timeskip version of Luffy vs Rob Lucci, but the random cutoffs to Sanji putting icing on a cake, and Smoothie looking for something to do, when I really just wanted to see the fight in its entirety, really ruined it for me). That One Piece has entranced an audience for now over 2 decades, and has virtually been the road map of a generation’s formative years akin to how so many of us literally grew up with Harry Potter, is impressive as it is admirable. What starts out as a small, unplanned voyage by a childish rubberman becomes an epic tale of government corruption, slavery and abuse, childhood trauma, death and bravery, discrimination and racism against minorities, conspiracies, and massive mysteries that pervade the course of over 900 chapters. Through discovering the animanga community online, I got to read One Piece from the beginning, and watch the original Japanese version of the anime, and I grew obsessed.

My experience with it is no different from most Western fans’: somehow, something made us look past the massacre that was the 4Kids dub to continue following Luffy, Zoro (Zolo, just like a samurai), the unshy Nami, Sanji, Ussop doing his marksman thing, and Chopper “doctoring” in the background. That One Piece withstood 4Kids’ butchery is testament to its phenomenal source material. The art was crazy and the voices grated on my skin, but even so, the story excited me enough that I returned to it every day after school. A bewildering viewing experience became mild curiosity, and then somehow, I grew to love it. What followed were several weeks of extravagant pirates wielding apparently lethal hammer-axe contraptions, unpronounceable names, and copious lolly-pop sucking. Some strange child danced across the screen, apparently made of rubber, and a bunch of white men sang “ga-go, ga-go!” It was an experience for sure, and in my shock, I tuned in, wondering if I would ever find a reason behind the madness.

A long time ago, whilst searching for a new anime fix following the ending of Shaman King on Jetix, I stumbled across the cringiest rap ever on a newer channel, Toonami.

Ugly one piece characters