The Wonderful Worldbuilding of One Piece (Paradise Edition) 

There's also the fact that Oda managed to get us to cry for a f***ing boat.

One Piece virgin: One Piece is too long One Piece chad: One Piece isn't long enough!

I feel like it says a lot about One Piece that when a dude showed up with a talking polar bear in tow, I didn't even blink, just wrote him off as one of those goofy side characters Oda likes to throw in. And then like 300 episodes later it turned out that the polar bear came from an *entire island* of furries which was suuuuuuuuper plot relevant. Because of course it was.

I am convinced Oda thinks up random things and jus goes “yeah I can make this a plot point in 6 years” and then he does it the absolute mad lad

"We as One Piece fans..." Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.

Pre-time skip is fun adventures, post time skip is massive geopolitical clashes that threaten to reshape the world around the participants. Shit got real post time skip.

Ah, the sweet innocence of not knowing that the One Piece world's newspaper is actually controlled by Big Bird.

One Piece is so good it can impact you even in a moment when "nothing happened".

“Doflamingo runs a slave trade” HOO BOY REMEMBER WHEN SLAVERY WAS THE WORSE THING WE THOUGHT HE COULD DO?

The One Piece is just a hat and mug that say “#1 pirate” that’s why Roger just gave up and turned himself in

HOW DID I MISS THAT CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TIDES OF LONG RING LONG LAND AND THE AQUA LAGUNA THAT HITS WATER 7???

The fact that wano was somewhat mentioned as early as chopper’s backstory amaze me

The most terrifying thing about the Navy is their ability to throw genuinely good dudes like Smoker against the protagonists, thus depriving them of the "rage against injustice" power-up that shounen heroes tend to rely on for important fights.

Recently found out theres a meme among non-One Piece fans that "One Piece fans be like 'It gets better after chapter 44235'" and I just snorted. What a gross misinterpretation of the reality that, One Piece starts great... and ONLY gets better.

"Thriller Bark contributes the least to the worldbuilding." Lola's relationship with her mother, Ryuma's sword and native land, Oars origin and race, Kuma's actions, the Brook and Rumbar pirates backstory, would like to disagree.

Luffy's reaction to a Zombie coming out of the ground is still my favorite reaction ever.

“Thriller Bark probably contributes the least to the series world building,” Oh boy are you gonna think differently in the near future!

World building is the number one thing about the series. Without a doubt.

24:46 Honestly, Magellan seems more like one of the "good guys" that genuinely believes in his job's function - all he wants is to keep the criminals in Impel Down, which might I remind you, used to house Crocodile, Shiryu (who was down in Level 6 due to his constant, cruel abuse on prisoners), Pizarro, Devon and others, people so powerful Blackbeard's whole plan was to get down there and add them to his crew to be powerful enough to kill Whitebeard and take all of his power and territories. He doesn't do it for wealth, power or any other reason beyond keeping the world safe from dangerous criminals.

The fact that you can say something like "Eneru settling on the moon with an army of robots makes the world feel real" is probably the best summary of how one piece works😂

One Piece is the anti-Fairytail. It looks like a Saturday morning cartoon but the tone is very serious, whereas Fairytail looks like a super serious action show but is written like a Saturday morning cartoon

One Piece is basically the epitome of “life’s a journey, not a destination”. Or “the journey is the reward”.

One Piece got me through a really bad depression after a spine surgery that almost left me with no movements on my legs, disc hernia, at 18 yo, i am 25 now, One piece takes you to an amazing and vast world, character are amazing, the manga never gets old and boring.

As someone who also has dismissed One Piece until just recently, and only watched to the end of Drum Island, allow me to say.............Oh my dear sweet baby is my body is ready for more.

Geoff: "...when you control the only global newspaper..." Big News Morgans: "Oh really?"

It’s actually Loguetown, with Logue being part of “prologue”, which is saying that all of east blue is just the prologue of the story. It was also the prologue and epilogue of Roger’s story, since he was born there and died there.

I've seen people wonder why One Piece is so much more popular in Japan and has endured for so much longer than Dragon Ball anything ever was even at its height, and honestly I feel like this is the biggest reason. The world of One Piece is so crazy, so rich with near infinite possibilities for set pieces and shenanigans, and even the established lore of it plays a major role in the story. The big fight scenes and showing off power levels aren't what One Piece is ultimately about, even if that element is in there; it's the world and the crazy adventures that it's many, super varied (and not all human-looking) residents get caught up in. Not saying that DB is bad or doesn't have its own thing going for it, but ultimately there's reasons why OP has been the king of Shonen Jump for over 20 years and counting and I think this is one of the biggest ones that explains its longevity. It also adds story value and gravity to characters like Nico, who might not be the big combat heavy hitters like the big three, Jinbe etc, but they feel like they're valid to the story in other ways related more to the world. Nico with her quest for knowledge and unlocking the mysteries of the world, Chopper who's got one foot in the fighting and another as a doctor who's more concerned with the plight of the suffering, Brook who's a renaissance (bone)man, Franky's interest being more in expanding his knowledge of technology and new ideas than fighting, and Usopp always balancing on his tip toes into a bit of everything etc etc. A story and setting just feels so much bigger and grander when its not just about big fight scenes (Although there's an endless number of awesome and super creative examples of those, but that's a whole other topic.) but rather gives value to talents and interests other than fighting, which again is only possible with great world building. It's kinda like playing D&D, and how making a character with quirks, interests, and even strengths that are more lore orientated than stuff that *just* relates to pure combat often times results in more interesting and fun characters than stat cruncher meta breaker combat machines with no personality and nothing put into social or world skills.

“The main character goes up to heaven to kick god’s ass” is the best description of Skypeia that I’ve ever heard.

Its still crazy how we STILL havent even SEEN what elbaf looks like yet

"GEOGRAPHY IS EVERYTHING!!" - Tekking101

This video inspired me to start causally reading through the series (since a few days after this video was released, actually). I just finished Alabasta. It's amazing how much those little illustrations at the beginning of the chapters do to fill in the story away from the Straw Hat crew. For example Hachi and Camie meeting, and Django and Fullbody's unlikely friendship.

What I love about the sky island arc is the introduction to Blackbeard, at the beginning you think this is another wacky character that we meet , but later we learn that he and his crew are the same group that attacked Drum island forcing the tyrannical king to flee. It’s show also how Blackbeard is a dark reflection of luffy and will become so important to the story and the world building. It shows that even other pirates can evolve and can be considered candidates to become the pirate king

I think you summarized it right, Oda's greatest skill isn't foreshadowing, but it's ability to come back to themes and ideas of previous arcs while avoiding plotholes. Even if Haki wasn't planned in episode 4/chapter 1, Oda left space for interpretation and later reintroduced it in a very cohesive way, same for Mantra. Oda simply never forgets, and he's smart enough to keep his story open enough that he can change it on the go, it's unusually rare for a shounen mangá to not throw around titles like "the strongest man in the world", because Oda knows that will only put a ceiling on the world you're building, so when it's time to actually see the closest man to being the pirate king, it really pays off

Correction, Enel’s group isn’t called Kami, HE is called Kami, which means god. His group are called the priests.

Guys One Piece has one of my favorite and honestly most terrifying animated movies ever. One Piece Baron Omatsuri and the secret Island scares me more as a adult than it could ever as a child.

Magellan's wiped Luffy and Blackbeard solo. He doesn't deserve to be called Hannyabal.

naruto and bleach: get a rushed ending One Piece: I WANT TO LIVE!...

Mothers Basement: Thriller bark doesn’t contribute much to world building Onepiece fans who are caught up: 🤫🤫🤫

“Warning: do not come in here. It is inescapable.” Me: too late

In part 2 you HAVE to talk about the SBS. Oda answers small questions there that sometimes enhances the world building even further, and some of those answers comes from fans where they ask something, they give their opinion, and oda says "I like it, it now canon"

5:15 Oh geoff, you haven't even gotten to the real battle furries

@9:15 "Known to sailors around the world as the doldrums, the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, (ITCZ, pronounced and sometimes referred to as the “itch”), is a belt around the Earth extending approximately five degrees north and south of the equator. Here, the prevailing trade winds of the northern hemisphere blow to the southwest and collide with the southern hemisphere’s driving northeast trade winds." Yes, there is a literal deadzone around the equator. Just our ships today are powered and not reliant on the winds to move around the world. The doldrums were literal skeleton hulks of floating wrecks that had the misfortunate souls that got stuck and died from dehydration or starvation. If you had the misfortune of being stuck in the doldrums, you died. That is the calm zone in the story, but starving to death is not a fun story to tell, whereas mythical creatures that ruin anything in their domain is.

"I can make a video essay about any one of these topics." *Looks over at Tekking101, Mr. Morj, Joyboy and the rest of them.* Ya, you could.

"Karoo is my boy and I would both kill AND die for him. Don't fucking test me." Ah yes, a man of culture I see

I'm so surprised to see such a resurgence in One Piece interest especially in this year.... Did Quarantine finally give people the time to try it out?

I find it neat how Impel down is based off the seven levels of hell

I've been watching it in quarantine and I've just made it past the timeskip at episode 575. Time flies it honestly doesn't feel like I've spent hours upon hours watching it. The size was intimidating at first but honestly it's worth it. Every character and even side characters are memorable and you honestly care for them. Oda made me cry for a boat. Even the filler arcs are good except for like the davy back fight. That was painful. I've felt all the spectrum of emotions watching One Piece. I've cried, laughed, gotten angry, etc... Honestly I don't know what I'll do with myself when I catch up.

Oda is literally one of the best writers in the manga industry rn imo.

You'll regret saying that Thriller Bark contributes the least on general world building than of any other arc, youtubers all over the globe lose their mind on the regular about all the thing it foreshadows/sets up

Skypia is such a jawdropping arc. I forgot to breathe for like half a minute when it was layed out that half of Gaia was shot into the sky centuries ago, or when Luffy rang the bell while giving Enel his final fisting. Or when Wiper used a reject dial on Enel and literally KILLED him with it, but Enel gave himself an electric heart massage and revived himself.

14:20 I think this is one of the most underrated aspects of One Piece. Oda has such an amazing amount of ideas ANY of which could be the basis of an entire manga by themselves. I mean, if there was an entire manga on the concept of devil fruits, the powers they give, trying to find the strongest ones, where they come from, how they work.... you could already fill a 400 chapter story on that concept alone. But in One Piece that's just a small part of the world.

I just gotta say this as a physiology TA, at 36:04 "punch strength being proportional to wind-up length" is probably the most physiologically accurate thing about Luffy lol. Elastic force is proportional to displacement, and elastic force is actually stronger in muscles than active force (the force from muscle cells contracting), so the most force exerted by a muscle is when it's elongating (eccentric contraction vs concentric).

Mark my words, Kaido is going to be beaten when Nico Robin concedes to the ultimate power that is Pirate Docking.

I'm honestly so happy I sat down and thought "ok... Koby is gone... Buggy is annoying but im basically at the end of this arc... let's see where this goes..." and 8 months later im 4 chapters away from being completely caught up. I can't think of an anime that had got me so invested.

Geoff: "Elemental Logias being the most powerful..." Mythical Zoans: "You little b*tch..."

When he says “ we one piece fans are all trapped in a different world” I felt that. I’ve been watching one piece for 2 years now and I’m in fishman Island, defiant my favorite anime/manga of all time. I’m literally in the world of one piece!

"We One Piece fans." One of us. One of us. Seriously, it's good to see you're enjoying it. The only defense you need for thriller bark is that it introduced Brook.

"Battle Furries" You are not supposed to say it out loud.

There's something in common between One Piece, Dragonball, and Jojo: The authors all setup their worlds so they could basically do whatever they want with the story. I guess that's one of the ingredients to making a massive hit.

I love Thriller Bark, it's an arc that didn't resonate as much as others for most fans apparently (except the end) but it's so full of Oda's love for adventure... In fact that love is the reason Skypiea is my favorite arc of One Piece. It's the arc that embodies the best the spirit of freedom and adventure that's at the core of OP.

Geoff defended Long Ring Long Land better than anyone I've ever heard. Props to Geoff, I love it even more now. Spooky Zombie Island sets up Samurai Island Arc so well. Just wait and see.

Paramecias are not "generally the least powerful" that would be zoans. There are many, many extremely powerful Paramecia fruits even relatively weak villains like Foxy, Wapol, Perona, Buggy, Blueno, Robin and so forth still have really busted paramecia abilities and a lot of the strongest characters we see also have strong paramecia abilities like Magellan, Kuma, Moriah, Whitebeard or Hancock.

I’m starting my kid sister off on the manga which two chapters in and she’s already hooked , keep in mind she’s also seven and hates reading which just makes it that much more impressive

Magellan didn't abuse his authority. He actually in imprisoned one of his guards that did

should be noted that one reason why the straw hats are so infamous is that they are a strong pirate crew where a majority of the crew is from the east blue, the WEAKEST of all the seas. The only other pirate with a similar background would be the Roger pirates with Gold Roger

Don’t forget that Oda basically added the Supernovas last minutes because he thought the Sabaody arc was “boring”. Like he thought an arc focused on how unfair the world is and how the government basically turns a blind eye into human trafficking and slavery just because the ruling class can’t leave without servants. And he thought “that’s kinda boring. Let me add 9 other pirates vying for the same goal as Luffy all with different designs, abilities, and crews”

I've recently fallen prey to it's charms, myself. I honestly think it's the perfect show for me. all the characters are quirky and interesting, the art style allows such a crazy array of everything and it's still all just lighthearted and fun enough that I'm never left without a smile.

I'll argue with you on Magellan being evil. We KNOW that the Straw Hats and Shank's are more the exception than the rule. And we also know what plenty of the people inside Impel are like. To borrow the idea from the truly excellent This Bites, is he a demon for keeping the devil in his cage?

Hooray! He no longer says “Luhffy”! This is truly a victory!

No shounen manga should ever go this hard but One Piece does. Going this hard for 2 dam decades....

MB: “Buddha looking Devil Fruit user” Eminem: Am I a joke to you?

I have reread/rewatched One Piece more times than I'd like to admit...

As somene who just finished the Water 7 arc, I can safely say One Piece is one of my favorite anime of all time, and I'm not even halfway done with the series! And don't get me started on the OST!

Fun fact: This video used to be titled "The TERRIFYINGLY MASSIVE World of One Piece (Part 1)"

hello i Just wanted to say that the reason why one piece is the most famous manga (IN JAPAN) is because of the words building. i saw interview in Japanese where they ask Japanese fan and occasional manga readers why they continue to buy the manga and they said that the world is so big and every story of every character is told so they like it and the fact that some character introduced in a volume can be represented and his story will be told in a much later volume

Comparing anything to One Piece is criminal; any world building manga or media should be compared to One Piece. That's how good it is.

If you aren’t reading the manga then you’re missing out on the greatest page turning epic of all time

Like other one piece fans I was shocked to learn that the sea base arc that comes after skypeia was not in the manga. Unlike all the other one piece fillers, that one screamed Oda from top to bottom

The good thing about one piece is its always getting better and better like "wow this arc is good better than the last one".

“It’s only legendary until Oda makes it real.” I see what you did there.

IN defense of Thriller Bark: Oars Ryuma and Shusui Kuma Kaido Lola-Big Mom Absalom's fruit and Sanji's dream I know youv'e yet to see most of those pay off, but they're there

It does genuinely confuse my friends "So you're saying I shouldn't watch one piece?" "Oh god no its awesome, I know you'll love it...but I love you too much to let you go down this route...please for your own well being do not start watching" Finally had one friend do it and he got to skypeia and was like "I can't....I just can't go on" and had to take a break lol

I am so glad TotallyNotMark and you started one piece

Everyone is sleeping on Foxy, but I'd like to remind everyone Foxy was the person who gave Luffy the biggest run for his money before Lucci. Foxy also proved and proposed a bigger threat for Luffy that he started to really stew over: One day he might lose a crew member. Foxy, this loser of a pirate, is the face of what Luffy fears the most. That fear concluded in Marine Ford.

We got him bois... we got him.

"Carue is my boy & I would kill and die for him," truer words have never been spoken.

I'm watching this video for about the fifth time more than a year later, and I cannot believe it's sitting at just over 500k views. This deserves 10 times that amount.

"It did some huge spoilers to his immediate family" Lmao well said

“Thriller Bark probably contributes the least of any One Piece saga to the series’ actual world building” -Geoff Lmao

I'd like to remind you, the boat talked. That's why we cried. It talked.

I started One Piece two months ago and just hit the time skip....this shit is beautiful

This video has plagued me to do the unthinkable, the unfathomable: venture into the wide unknown vistas that is the One Piece manga. Through many years of fear of the unknown, the lingering rumors like low-hanging fog on the hours before sunrise, the many nights staring up at the megalithic wall that was this series, my heart yearned for the day I would finally overcome these doubts, these uncertainties, and set my sails on this bizarre, wild and treacherous journey through hell and back and hell again with each passing chapter. It has been many a chapter now, and when I turn back to find the shores I once called home, I only see endless vistas. Endless vistas as far as the eye can see from all around me. Yet this looming sensation that has overcome me is not that of concern for the path that can take me safely home, but rather the many paths ahead of me to explore. So with bated breath, and nearly 1,000 chapters of adventure ahead of me, I feel a song itching in my throat, and I am compelled to sing it: YA-YO-YAAAAA-YOOOOOOOO!!!! HERE'S HOW THE STORY GOES WE FIND OUT 'BOUT A TREASURE IN THE GRAND LINE THERE'S NO DOUBT-

"Elbaph, which will come up later." So far later, in fact, that they *still* haven't gotten there. I'm thinking it's gonna be the island after Wano, though.

There's one chapter that's literally just Sengoku sprouting exposition, and we all went bonkers over it cause it was just so great to get more info on this incredible world

If only you knew how crucial the art style was for what comes at the end. Man it is wild to be a One Piece fan at the 1040's

May I highly recommend "Totally Not Mark"s recent One Piece videos where he's blindly diving into the series and reviewing it, absolutely fantastic content, check him out!

Mother’s basement: I’m finally caught up to One Piece and I hope the fun adventure never ends! now what next? One piece fans: we are entering the end game now....

Sometimes, I wish I started on some worse anime so I could learn to appreciate good anime. Unfortunately, (and fortunately) I happened to start with this piece of art.

One piece is like Jojos in the sense of "When you get in, you never leave."

"Bara-tea" Okay, weird pronunciation, but fine "Rogue Town" Okay now you've crossed a line. All seriousness, though, Rogue Town is a poor translation. Its Logue Town. Oda named it that was because its the end of the prologue, and also the place where the story starts with both Roger's birth and his execution. Logue, short for Prologue.