Damn, Oda. You are off the rails, out the park, and colliding threw buildings.
You caught me on a bad day, Chapter 904. I found a YouTube video from a well known One Piece content creator talking about women being sexualized in One Piece. Watch it yourself and form you’re own opinion. From what I gathered his main points are these:
1. One Piece is created for young boys and they’re horny so its okay to most women are drawn that way.
2. One Piece wouldn’t be popular without the women drawn that way.
3. Hey, the anime is worse. Don’t blame Oda.
If anyone has videos or links to posts with females discussing sexism in One Piece, please share it. I feel like there’s a disconnect with certain male One Piece fans and it’s perfectly understandable. Being male and not wanting to criticize a manga you like can create a huge bias. But, am I overthinking it? Is it just acceptable that shonen manga is sexist to the point of being expected? Is manga one of the last mediums where treating women as weak pin-ups okay because, hey, traditionalism. It’s been done since the beginning, why stop now? Maybe I’m expecting too much from a man who grew up in a sexist country and makes a living creating sexist material? Maybe…oh no. Maybe I want Oda to change because it’ll justify my love for the series? Is this all a way for me to unleash my guilt? I don’t know, or maybe I don’t want to know.
What I do know is women can be sexy without their boobs hanging out. I know boys can like a manga, cartoon, or movie with a powerful female character who isn’t portrayed as always needing saving. And I know One Piece would still be a hit if 99% of the women in the series didn’t share Nami’s body type. One reason I harp on Oda is that he can do so much better. He’s that damn good! So, yeah, I’ll keep ranting about sexism in One Piece because it’s better than being an Oda apologist. That doesn’t make me a better person. It just keeps me from going insane.
…Guess I should talk about the chapter now, huh?
We meet the four Revolutionary Army Captains and their lackluster designs who help a village defeat Peachbeard, a member of Blackbeard’s forces. Those revolutionary captains are okay, but I wasn’t blown away. I’m more interested in what happened to Hack. I didn’t see him. Did he get captured?
Also, the Revolutionary Army is declaring war against the Celestial Dragons, not the World Government. But, you can say they already have by just existing. If that’s true, it means they’re going in for the kill, the endgame, to be more precise. But, why now? What’s so different now? Dragon isn’t a guy know to make rash decisions. What exactly do they have planned? My guess: Egg their houses and throw salt on their transponder sails. Monkey D. Dragon, you’re indeed a menace to society!
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 