Hey everyone I know it's been a little bit but monthly analysis vids are back, kicking off with this one! Def share if you enjoy, if this one takes off you can guarantee another huge analysis vid in 2 weeks :)
Hey Morj! I've heard someone mention recently that different villains in one piece show "how they got their personality and motivations" through character design. One example was how Axe Morgan's Son hints that Morgan cuts his hair and wears a plate over his chin to hide away his "insecurities" (Stupid Curly hair and Butt looking Chin) . And his tough guy act and position could be a personality he acquired due to such features. (Kinda reminds me of katakuri) I would love your take on different one piece villains and such character designs.
@@ibntv181 That's an interesting idea, do you know more examples off the top of your head? To me something Like Morgan on its own seems like a bit of a stretch, would be kind of like saying Lucci wears a hat because he's embarrassed about his hair style. But if there's a consistent pattern someone has identified of how character designs logically reflect character insecurities based on other things we know about the character then I'd be interested. Katakuri isn't really the same since his reasons for hiding his appearance were explicit, same with Pudding.
I hope for one piece merchandise after the end to be honest: - one piece world map -devil fruit guide book - novel stories / adventure for important character -collective sbs questions in a book version with character background. -arcs magazine -oda inspiration in making one piece in each arc and character . -movie for old era, roger pirates and rocks pirates.
The fact that there are popular clothing brands from the different seas boggles my mind, it's such an unnecessary addition, I love it. Oda doesn't have to add these touches, he just does it.
@@jaredhall5169 There's Doskoi Panda, which even has a rip off version called Dosko1 Panda and another called Cyberpanda. There's also Criminal brand on Fishman Island
the boy Except that’s wrong.. The islands don’t have to interact with each other to be intertwined.. They all have elements that carry over to the bigger story..
@the boy okay Wano and Elbaf are a non government affiliated and isolated countries. Alabasta and Dressrosa were under the rule of Pirates. So them having to interact to other places isn't necessary as Doflamingo and Crocodile can just interact with the Marines. Skypia well only a few people know that exists and Enies Lobby, Impel Down and Marineford aren't really countries so most of the places that the Strawhats have went have there own issues that blocks them from engaging with other countries except for Water 7 because they use the sea train. Dressrosa was ruled by a pirated but the real king had relations to another king of a different country. Fishmen Island racism was their biggest issue. Punk Hazard well that's a wasteland. Whole Cake Island is governed by a pirate. If a place is governed by a pirate then it's safe to assume moat of their trades and engagements comes from the underworld or the black market of One Piece.
juldor93 That’s how every show “should” be. But fact is that most shows only show things happening when it’s important to the plot. They don’t have an accumulation of connections between multiple different plot threads, they just have things happen in a linear pattern. It’s unfortunate, but it makes things a whole lot easier for the author
@@uncleiroh4650 Well said. The fact of the matter is most shonen series have their own self contained stories and respective arcs but the author fails to deliver on writing and making everything relevant, characters are written out of the story to early, things are contradicted later in the plot and even elements are deconstructed because the author does not think consistently how all these things will tie together. There just writing their story and coming up with idea's as it goes along. That sort of cohesiveness is just not their. Not to mention many character are relegated to smaller roles and only serve a purpose to close up that specific story. ODA thinks BIG, he has a bigger picture in mind and a map and outline to follow. he knows all the key points of the larger narrative, he knows even the entire world and probably every location already factored into his timeline. Then its just matter of connecting and fleshing out the stories and using the element of foreshadowing, making everything tie together seamlessly
@@truthbetold5155 He might be buying legal drugs from an illegal vendor cause its cheaper, or cause the government doesn't want to sell to pirates and WB doesn't seem like a guy to send one of his crew undercover
I *love* the little things in the One Piece world that make it feel so real The folklore-ish things like All Blue, Bink's Sake, Klabautermann, story of Noland, the Germa 66 comics... The existance of clothing lines, the invention of Wapometal, Kuuigosu, the Den Den Mushi. The fact that there are celebrities like Brook and Cindry. There are fucking aliens. etc. etc. Stuff like this from our world isn't often mentioned in a lot of fictional stories, but One Piece just does and the world feels so rich an ugh I love this series so much, I can't even put it into words.
Basically Oda is creating a pirate world. Have watched Pirates of the Caribbean? They're all the time talking about legends, lost islands, etc. Is just part of the pirate world. Is not a bad thing to avoid mentioning those things in your stories tho.
I think its unique to One Piece because of its setting being about Pirates, in the real world, the Royal Navy would fight pirates occasionally, but Naval Battles are generally apart of War stories, so it makes sense it would be in One Piece.
@@miguelgonzalez6495 Definitely the one that matches it for me (although in completely different ways) is Hunter X Hunter. I would love to discuss both series if you have time. I'd also say JoJo but much more so just for a fun time and for the hype moments. It's world building and all that is much much weaker than OP and HXH but it's still a great series in its own right.
As much as I love Hiatus x Hiatus, Togashi probably won’t be able to build his world more due to his illness. He’s an incredible writer for sure, but there is not enough to put it up there.
Sanji’s backstory was built up back in Jaya, when he mentioned he was from the North Blue. I’ve always felt iffy on how he managed to go over the Red Line even back then.
Actually, i dare to say Oda had his backstory planned from the moment he introduces the character, because even before that there were hints at the fact that he was more than what it seemed to be, the chapter where they are climbing the Reverse Mountain chapter 101, Zoro says: "i think i've never heard of anyone sailing over a mounten before." And Sanji replies to that saying: " I think i have." Without even counting the fact that in Baratie Oda starts the flashback when Sanji is like 8 or 10 on a ship with no mention of his parents, and while that could've just been a coincidence considering everything i think Oda had in mind Sanji's backstory from the very beginning. I'm not one of those people that assumes that Oda thought of everything from the start, but Sanji's past was one of those for sure.
I don't think Oda had the Germa 66 planned in the beginning. Simply he just had an idea that in the future he could expand on Sanji's past if he wanted to, so he planted some seeds, and tied everything together neatly in Whole Cake Island. Also, we don't know most of the strawhats parents. Haven't seen Nami's, haven't seen Zoro's, Haven't seen Brooks, we know Franky's were pirates? we only know Robins mother, and Luffy's father. So potentially the backstory could expand for all those characters too, there's room for growth. But if he never expands on that it's fine too. The true mastery is how Oda doesn't forget the detials of his story, so he can go back and tie things together nicely.
I didn't, I had just assumed that, considering that the Red line is basically a giant continent, that somewhere along it there had to be a shorefront, rather than just sheer cliffs, and that's where Sanji had crossed. But no, just sheer cliffs the whole way around. Honestly that's probably the one bit of One Piece worldbuilding that disappointed me.
@@PaperPatriot That is true that's why i said it might have been a coincidence, but i think somewhere after they got to the Grand Line he got a very good idea, because there is literally hints of his story throughout the first part of the Grand Line, but who knows for sure.
Skypiea was peak adventure manga moment for me. I really like the twist Oda did behind Jaya and the Upper Yard, it gave me goosebumps when it was revealed. That and the culmination of events (from learning about Norland to Ringing the Golden Bell) just sealed me as a forever One Piece fan. Wonderfully executed.
I remember seeing Skypeia for the first time as a kid. Blown me away, the spirit of adventure is just there. Same with the Water 7, the view is just amazing.
And I can't understand why people call it overrated and when you actually watch and see the manga/anime you realized that one piece deserves all of the praises it recieves during its long run. Its not overrated its just simply a masterpiece.
@@furorteutonicus9045 Apologies, sir. Keyboard Warrior - would you like assistance with that ego of yours? Surely, the lack of self-awareness makes it hard to stand from your chair.
For anybody curious, the technology that is used in One Piece, is typically Called "Ocean Punk" Which is basically taking Sci-fi and maybe just little Steampunk and setting it in the Sea, specifically during the time of The Age of Sail: The 1500s - late 1700s
@@ladyhero8528 A hater is a hater because he does not care about the objectively strong points of something. He will always try to badmouth everything because he would never admit there is anything good about the thing he hates.
@@mistersureshot1749 thats not what hes talking about though. If someone comes along with a legitinate critique of One Piece, there's no problem. There's no such thing as a perfect series, and One Piece isnt perfect. But if people come along going blah blah One Piece is shit blah blah and nothing else... well its pretty laughable. Kinda like how calling all One Piece fans close-minded is laughable :L
@@MrMorj It's definitely worth it to me ! Your images choices show perfect examples of what you're talking about and even more ! For example i had to rewatch the end of the video because i stopped listening thinking of what mihawks backstory could be (like his place in his generation, if he had a crew, what happened to them etc)
One day it will blowp up.. don't know when might be after one piece or 20/30 years.. when it will be people will understand morj importance.. there ain't no body like him ... That's why.. he makes other UA-camrs shit looking with his content
@monkey D del If this was overly dramatic to you then you should check out craftsdwarf cuz that is what overly dramatic narration is. His analysis is pretty good but I can't stand watching his videos because of the narration. Now don't get me wrong I get what you mean here with Morj, but he picks the type of narration and presentation he does for his videos. For example, this analysis required this kind of narration because it discusses a "concept". When Morj discusses something outside of that he would use a video format of talking directly on the video. That's what I've observed at the least. Also, I find this less irritating that then over the top "blood vessels showing on my neck" reactions and discussions over at Rogersbase.
monkey D del Nah nigga. If you want to see overly dramatic watch Vinland D Ragnar, lol. I went to the comments and was shocked no one was talking about dude’s voice. Shit felt so weird I couldn’t even finish the first couple minutes of the video. Worst part is his thumbnails are always hella clean, so I end up clicking on him and then instantly regretting it, lol. It’s an endless cycle😭😭😭
the places oda designes are always soooo amazing looking! i wish we had an open world game where we can travel around those places (like water 7) instead we got freaking world seeker....
World seeker isn't bad, it doesn't fully deliver what the games concept and the manga's concept can deliver. An open world one piece game is perfect, but in my opinion, the problems with world seeker isn't the world building or the open world, it's just mainly the gameplay. The world building is OK in world seeker, it gives a country, gives us the politics and factions of said country, it gives us connections to the rest of the one piece world so it isn't just a random island without any significance other than just being a setting for a game, gives us history, natural resources and the like. The only thing I think is a problem in the world is the fact they put in too many characters and side characters for fan service, such as all the admirals, marco, and buggy, but at least those characters give us some context on the background lore happening in the game.
@Wednesday the analogy isn't meant to be "fancy", I'm calling out your bullshit thinking. What you missed with the chess analogy is that you don't become a chess grandmaster by copying others, because studying other's people moves is the barebone basic of getting started on the game. In the same way, you don't become a god among mangakas by copying drawings from Google. Saying that is ridiculous, it only shows how poorly you thinked about it. What you completely butcher as "copying from Google" are decades of inhumanly hard work and research and writing, resulting in a work of art that gets celebrated universally for its worldbuilding. He doesn't take pictures from Google to draw and put them in an artbook, he takes complex concepts and integrates them perfectly in a breathing and living world the likes of which most authors DREAM to write about. It's an achievement that is only made possible by how incredible he is as an author. The world building on One Piece is mind boggling on multiple levels: - For its complex yet masterfully interconnected and solid structure; - Its sensible and coherent revisiting of old places and characters; - Its great foreshadowing; - Its general beauty and how it BUILDS and adds artestry to real life When you call it "basic and copied" you're only showing how shallow your reading was. People that shit talk about other's people work like you usually don't know what hard work is in the first place. The more you try to look smart by shitting on others, the more you're making yourself look like a fool who never did something on his own
difference oda and other writers is he make everything count and meaningful , from the first arc to the current always connects and have meaning to it. everything oda does is like it foreshadowing to something greater and it always have a payoff
@@jish6258 i forgot the others things, but one of the things mentioned there by Robin was the Pirate Island (Beehive) where Davy back fight was supposedly invented. also some tease about sanji being a prince.. Zoro: prince of dumbass kingdom haha
Imagine that when you holding the last volume in your hands, when you finally understand it all like Oden did, when ur lips have a big smile and your eyes have so much tears drop... Mark my words guys, THIS MASTERPIECE WILL BE IN OUR CHILDEN'S HISTORY BOOK!! Im so happy that i was born in this era when OP was so hot and i am waiting for it every weeks for the past 12 years when i was 13yo kid.
I'm calling it, one piece will just be a mirror and when luffy looks at it he will see his nakama in the reflection...it was all about the journey and the friends he made along the way.
The first 9 minutes of this video covered everything *I* would have thought of personally. The rest was great new ideas that never occurred to me. Great job as usual! I think my favorite point is how it expands as you go, from the simple world of the early arcs to the complexity of the story as a whole. I wonder if that was even intentional, to make it easier to get into the start, or if he just had more and more ideas and freedom to use them later on. Thank you for explaining how the worldbuilding lets basically every Post-Timeskip arc connect. I think that goes so underappreciated. The Post-Timeskip story is truly greater than the sum of its parts; one big arc filled with setup and natural consequences. Not sure I ever appreciated how many spies each group has among each other before you pointed it out. Also, mega-interesting point about how the rookies of each generation ended up landing.
Thanks man, always appreciate hearing feedback from you. There was a lot more I wanted to say about what the Post-Timeskip aspect of the story "really" is, but I kind of left that for another video that would be much bigger than this one on story structure.
@@potentialPizza8 Well that one is actually going to be a ways away, I have other topics I think are important to get through first to get some foundational ideas out if that makes sense. Kind of like how I felt I had to talk about the "Dawn" theme before talking about the "Philosophy" of One Piece
The One Piece world is literally something every work of fantasy should take notes from. Not only manga, but also novels. Like, sure, LOTR has really good world building, but the quantity and originality and complexity of the OP world is simply unsurpassable. Thank you for this video, i was waiting for it.
MisterSureShot No, because everything fits and makes sense, everyone knows something about the world, and it’s something that isn’t always put into the readers brain by force, but by letting details that can seem insignificant, have a greater meaning as the story progresses
@@mistersureshot1749 No, because One Piece's world is incredibly coherent. Not many fantasy writers can pull that off and add lovable and flawed characters who you want to see succeed.
Has anyone else noticed the similarities between One Piece's worldbuilding and Narnia's? The Red Line and Aslan's Country, mermaids before reaching the both this places, journey from island to island each with its own plot, the "Dawn Treader" and the "Going Sunny"... There are many other similarities beyond the worldbuilding too. Luffy and Lucy are very similar names, and I can't help but wonder if this is an intentional reference on Oda's part.
@@anarcho-catastrophist That is actually a nice theory, it might actually be true, and if it is, im glad to see that oda has read many more other works of fiction before creating his story
Also having Devil Fruits in the story is a simple yet genius concept . thx to the DFs , you can have ghosts , zombies , dragons , mythical creatures , dinosaurs , living toys and even living objects and it will still make sense . This gives Oda so much room space for his creativity . Pick any random fantasy element , and you will most likely find its unique twist in the one piece setting . Like how about a centaur, for example . In Punk Hazard arc we meet these centaur-like creatures thanks to Laws Ope-ope DF . In Wano we see centaur-ish deformed humans who ate artificial Dfs . Oh and in water7 we meet a cyborg who can kinda turn into a centaur . As insignificant as it may seem , still having a world setting that allows the creator to have this much creative freedom , is a feat in my eyes and it makes me appreciate the world even more .
There is an aspect I believe you missed or forgot to mention. The world of One Piece is huge, full of detailed and interconnected details, and yet, the Straw Hats are simple and humble in design. I mean, it feels like Luffy and the others are not capable to change anything in the world except for small details. That Luffy will need thousands and thousands of people at his side to make a difference if he decides to... I love that. This is not a "the protagonist is so important they will change everything by themselves" kinda story. As the world of One Piece is interconnected, the characters are forced to be interconnected as well. Just like in real life.
The straw hats definitely make major changes even without help. Even early on, luffy defeating crocodile changed the world by an insane amount. The story isnt really about how the world changes the straw hats, its about how the straw hats change the world.
@@mistersureshot1749 king of lighting chose the worst series to compare power levels, considering the big inconsistency between DF powers, cause we go from someone who can spin his arms quickly, to someone made of freaking light lol. Still i love DF, only their power levels are inconsistent AF
I also love how the world building feeds back in to the personal journey of the Straw Hat crew. In many other series, characters like Big Mom and Kaido would simply be the next big fights coming up. However, since Oda built up his world and demonstrated the power these two wield within that world, the coming conflict seems so much grander. The task ahead of the Strawhats seems so much more daunting because we know that these two pirate crews have so much... weight in the world. Just them meeting sends shivers down the spine of the World Government as, if they set their sights on Marijoa, they could potentially defeat the entire World Government and plummet the whole world (full of characters we love) into even more conflict. It also builds huge anticipation for when Luffy and his crew finally manage to do the impossible yet again and defeat the Yonko alliance and truly move the world in a way that hasn't happened before. I'm getting shivers just thinking about it. Building a world so well adds weight to the characters' actions. There is so much more meaning behind every foe the Straw Hats defeat because Oda put in the work and tied each of his characters to a living world that reacts to every domino falling down.
It's because he started from the micro to the macro. Things like the Yonko and the coming conflict against the World Government wouldn't be possible without the first arcs. Things that have been set in motion way back in East Blue that are just now coming to a head after nearly 1000 chapters. Oda's world has been forged and painstakingly built over the course of decades to become something greater than the sum of its parts
Oda is one man who has lore capabilities on the level of Star Wars Only Tolkien himself ever had this sense of worldbuilding and compared to him Oda is even higher!
I’m not sure how Star Wars was written, but what makes this aspect even more impressive is that Oda has to do this on the weekly. He doesn’t have the luxury of being given ample time to create a volume over months of work in order to fine tune all the details, he has to perform constantly, always remembering the past events, fleshing out the present, and setting up the future. It’s a daunting task, which is why most manga don’t even attempt anything close to the scale that he has done
Tolkien created a whole new Language and people were speaking it. But One Piece story is more like Tolkien and the Odyssey, Where it requires them to go on an adventure, since its about Pirates and all.
Dxrk Zoom That doesn’t necessarily make for a good world. Yeah sure it helps and it’s impressive, but there are many other more important factors in world building
@@lucasrienstra4163 There are other ways to do world building within that universe. One Piece is an adventure story since its about Pirates, and you're going to go to these exotic islands with their own culture, thats because the One Piece world built that way.
@@mistersureshot1749 yeah you're right, i didn't really mean to say that world building is good if it's done like One Piece, considering that there are many other ways of making good world building, but more like to say that make a complex lenguage and take your time to do it, doesn't make for a good fictional world, at least in my opinion
Video gave me chills and blew my mind. It is actually amazing that Morj is able to make me love One Piece even more than I already do with each new analysis video he releases.
There are a lot of great fantastical world building outside One Piece and manga. ATLA for instance had one of the most logical world (trade, economics, and politics). GoT on the other hand had the most historically accurate world building from names, religion, population, and slavery ratio. There's also LoTR with its complex and detailed world, it has its owns moon calendar and language. One Piece isn't as accurate, logical, or detailed. But what One Piece differs from other fiction is the ability to make its own setting a living, breathing, world. What happens in Grand Line from small skirmishes pirates had done, it impacts the other side of the sea in smallest but noticeable way. Unlike in ATLA, GoT, and LoTR where the world will stop and every side characters' lives hanged on to the protagonists' decision, in One Piece it doesn't. Trump vs Biden election doesn't affect someone from countries in Oceania. But the impact of the presidential winner affects in smallest ways like trade laws and military exercises around the pacific. The same with Afghan situation. Americans would still go on with their lives despite the decision made by Biden changed the lives of people across the continent. But Americans would hear it on the news, debates would arise. There's a subtle domino effect in One Piece world that although other series have that like GoT, it wasn't as prominent like in OP.
Absolutely amazing video about the best aspect of One Piece, another topic i would like for you to talk about is what imo is the most underrated aspect of One Piece, that is the character writing. Too often i see this aspect written off as either the weakest part of One Piece along with the fights or simply not as good as other shonen or mangas in general, while i'm not saying One Piece writes the best characters in the manga industry, but imo a lot of them are very well written and somewhat more complex than they seem. I'll use Hody from Fishman Island as an example, often times he's being shitted on by the comunity because he did not pose a threat to the Straw Hats and also people say he's a flat villain, and i just don't agree because to me he was a brilliant character who rapresented perfectly maybe even better than Arlong the mindset of somebody who's racist because often times people don't know or care why they hate on someone of a certain etnicity they just keep doing it because people told them that the people of that etnicity are evil, and they keep cycle of hatred going. Like this concept to me was very well done and it drove the point home for me. Plus the fact that he wasn't a threat was also the point because it was to show the progress of the Straw Hats after the training. And there are other characters to me in One Piece that are very complex but they get underrated because on the surface they seem simple. Anyways again amazing video, you make the One Piece experience that much richer.
Thanks, I agree with a lot of what you said, and a video on how One Piece writes characters is 100% in the works down the line. One Piece definitely has some amazing character writing in certain ways, and is maybe not as focused on it in other ways. But the positives in its character writing are underrated or overlooked at times for sure, which is a shame because what it does well, it does really well.
The best thing that contributes to it’s world building is the fact that the story takes its time. It doesn’t feel rushed. Luffy’s drive moves the story forward, but his character enables side stories to exist and be present in the world.
When this series is over, hell i hope it starts relatively soon but i can see this story being one of the pinnacle examples of writing and storytelling taught in classes. I feel that writing courses have got to look at One Piece and see how much it's doing for the world of writing. All lessons of storytelling on full display demonstrated masterfully and unparalleled in portrayal. Little details, setups and payoffs big small, and all in between. All of this in one man's head. One could say Oda is modern Tolkien in terms of world building. I hope writing courses can learn a thing or two and use One Piece as that example of most storytelling lessons in classes.
let’s not forget captain axe hand morgan we meet in the beginning, who became a marine captain after “killing” pirate captain kuro from being hypnotized by jango
Man this video made me think about the importance of the Baratie Arc. That arc is so important because that's the arc where Oda truly flexes his world building. That moment when Mihawk shows up like a force of nature. One dude vs a whole pirate armada and the dude has not a single scratch. It's such an amazing preview of the grand line much better than buggy or zeff talking about it. Oda definitely showed early what he had in store. To me Baratie is where I got hooked, the perfect arc in many ways and it's so early on too!
what i love about the story of the One Piece world is how our main characters (the Straw Hats) are basically spectators, they never (for a ling time at least) seem to be major players in this conflict and Sabaody arc proved that
This video sums up why One piece is my favourite series. Lots of things are so well fleshed out and it makes the bigger picture a lot more interesting. It is of course not perfect but to think that most of it all(story, concept, art) comes out of a single man, in a weekly basis is mind blowing.
In every other manga the world is just a background for the action but in One Piece the world is part of the story and adventure. I always compare it to reading a book like Lord of the Rings. One Piece is more than just simply a manga. It has the depth of a book packed in the form of a manga. One Piece is a masterwork in manga history. I doubt I will see a manga again that has so much love in it.
Yes yes yes yes yes 30 min Mr. MORJ VIDEO THIS IS WHAT I LOVE TO SEE IM LIKING NOW CAUSE IM CERTAIN I WILL ENJOY IT. Will revise after watching. Another great video as always. I always talk about Odas worldbuilding but this really clarified what exactly makes it so great outside of being a big diverse world.
I love how no power can take action on another without getting destroyed. Even if the world government decided to take out a Yanko and won, they would suffer so much from the battle that they would get wiped out by another yanko that realizes they are weak. It’s such a delicate balance of power stuck in a Mexican standoff. No one can take the first shot. Then you hav Luffy who says screw it and does whatever he wants bc he wants to be the most free in the world
what I also loved: you might get the impression that saving three different princesses on different islands is not really creative story telling any more, but then those 3 princesses meet at the world summit and they go "yoooo you know Ruffy, too?" and form a fan club xD And you suddenly realize this was intentional and Ruffy has some very powerful supporters on his side now :D still one of my favorite moments, because it showed us there was a purpose in rescuing all the princesses xD
This must have taken a huge amount of time and effort to make and I really appreciate your hard work. As a One Piece fan it's still easy to forget at times just HOW amazing Oda's world building is. We never loose the sense that the world itself is amazingly detailed and well thought out and put together but it's only when you really analyze One Piece in depth that you really just how much of a magician Oda is.
I think my favorite bits of one piece are actually the little things rather then the big fights. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like If the series wasn’t a shounen
@@guillermorodriguez3509 Sanderson has more worldbuilding because of the medium. In pure literature you can worlbuild more than in manga. If you want to see even deeper worldbuilding check out Malazan by Steven Erickson. It's super advanced.
Fun fact: the initial idea of one piece was supposed to be Luffy against the Shichibukai only. You can notice that although it changed in the end, the beginning of the story remained almost the same because, just like you said, the only world building in the first arks is that there are 7 Dangerous pirates in the world.
No it's exactly the other way around. The story was always going to be about defeating the four emperors, it's when Oda came up with the warlords that the story grew much longer.
Fantastic video analysis! Loved it from start to finish and so happy that you brought up the balance of power, empire, and survival tournament aspects of the expansive One Piece world which I feel some fans ignore too much. Amazing video!
But One Piece does deliver World Building in a special way; There is actually a term for it called "Ocean Punk", which is like a Science fiction story except set in the 1500s when sailing was more prevalent, basically around the time of the golden age of Piracy. The are more organic oceanic tech like the Den Den Mushi and the Dials, but later on as we continue the story, we get more crazy with the tech. At the same time, Being a series of Pirates, Having War-like tendencies makes sense, Because Royal Navy and Pirates will fight occasionally, Naval Battles are common war stories, so it makes sense One Piece be about that.
when one piece end, I wish someone make an open-world game out of it like you can choose to whether you're a: marine - pirate - minks - long arm - long leg - giant - fishman - skypeian - and so on jobs or class like: shipwright - swordman - sniper - cook - cartographer - doctor - archeologist etc. you can be hybrid. you can solo as a pirate hunter like Zoro in the beginning or forming a party/crew then later on having a guild/emperor. in marine or WG you can be like CP9 - CP0 - sword - shield maybe even admiral depending on your accomplishments. celestial dragons are like admins have authorities and gives quests to the marines. every island has their own mobs and hazards like: thriller bark zombies - water 7 aqua laguna - heat and cold punk hazard - minks in zou island - etc. devil fruits are rare items that you can't have 2 users of the same fruit you can steal devil fruits by killing the opponent they'll retain the level but loses the devil fruit ability. impossible to make a game like this but if someone somehow manage to make this it will be a lifetime game.
You just expanded my whole view of one piece. I really love one piece and it's world and I always wreak my brain about how awesome it is, but this just add much needed fuel to my fire and passion. Thank you for this wonderful insight.
This just popped up into my recommendations, honestly it was so good it brought a tear to my eye, I actually got emotional. One piece Is such a good manga/anime and I already thought the world building was the best but this just added so much more to what I knew. Just like how you said this world is flushed out perfectly. This video is flushed out perfectly, your getting a like a subscription from me and I'm happy I got another one piece youtuber to watch. Well done man. ;)
Great analysis Morj The topic of One Piece World and it's intricacy is far more interesting for me than discussing the power levels because the later sometimes is subject to change when the story demands it and any expectations based on a power level could be shattered in an instant.
man i just spent the last two nights binging all of your videos. i love hearing your thoughts and analyses about one piece, you truly understand this incredible series and you've taken the time to point out and further highlight how great we already knew this series was. I've come away from your videos with a lot of new understanding and more importantly, even more respect for the series, something I didn't realize i could gain more of! i seriously appreciate all the time and effort that goes into writing these video essays and compiling all the data. counting on your channel blowing up big time very soon 👊
I haven't commented on a youtube video since about 2008. I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to write about and share your love of One Piece. It is my favorite series of all time and watching this video helped make dealing with everything going on in the world a bit easier.
I just subscribed just due to how amazing you explained the one piece world. I love how you took time to explain this crazy awesome world. You don't know how much you've helped me, thank you.
I discovered your channel some days ago and I am impressed. I always wanted to create a channel to analyse how great One Piece is (in Spanish) and you inspire me :)
This video made me really reminisce on some moments and thing I love about one piece. I think a video in why people should start one piece or what appeals it has without spoilers would be great!
Morj, I freaking love this. I know your video is already long enough but i wished you talked more about how active the players in the world are. For me, once we entered Alabasta, the strawhats became real players in this game. After every arc we see one of the big players make their move. The WG summoning the Warlords, Shanks and WB meeting up, A new player making moves (BB fighting Ace), Alvida allying with Buggy in the cover Story, and all the chapters in between Wano Arcs. I love watching the strawhats have their journey, but I also love seeing what moves the other player make in the background
Morj-san - I was blown away by how simply yet meticulously you broke down the masterpiece that is OP’s world building. Have been a huge fan of your content since discovering this channel a month or so ago, and genuinely look forward to each new video you upload. You’re doing the entire OP community a huge favour, as videos such as these elevate the experience of the reader by exposing us to so much we may have overlooked in the past few decades following the series! That said, can’t wait for the next analysis piece and really appreciate your top quality work!
Watched the rest of it now, amazing stuff! Couldn't have put it better myself. One Piece is by far my favorite piece of fiction mainly because of the immersive world discussed here. Close second is Victor Hugo's Les Misérables which also has over the top yet meaningful world building.
This was mind boggling, amazing video Mr Morj. While the theories videos are kinda fun, these ones that dive into the already existing lore (some that i didnt even connect) are my favourite ones.
I had to watch it twice it was so good! lol you hit it on the head about craving the post arc info! Watching the ripples through the world that we are so familiar with is so satisfying! My top 5 moments in most Shonen are big fights. Top 5 moments in One Piece? When new wanted posters come out and we get to see all our favorite characters from before laughing and talking about their times with the SH crew
Not to be cliché, but I never clicked a UA-cam notification so fast. I haven't watched it yet, but I can guarantee it will be fire. This is my favourite kind of videos, and you are my favourite OP youtuber, the perfect cocktail.
I think another great thing is how much Oda takes from the real world, Water Seven is like Venice, Wano is like Japan, Flevance is like Casale Monferrato, Elbaf takes from Nordic Mythology, Impel Down takes from the Divine Comedy and there's hundreds of examples of this. It helps keep the story familiar, relatable and global, since a lot of elements are taken from the real world, but Oda's take on things keeps things exciting and fantastical. Some people might be excited how Oda will represent their culture or hobby.
I mean its an Anime about Pirates. If were we to take Real-Life Pirates, than I'm sure Oda would put Real-life places in there because Pirates come from all around the world. But Even with that, I would say thats only one aspect of world building, there are several other ways to do it.
@@elijahmcfarland3487 Sure, but I think it helps to make the world more plausible. A city that's sinking is plausible because that's what's happening in Venice, not as fast as Water Seven. Same with a Prison with multiple levels of distinctive punishments, since that's the Divine comedy.
Hey everyone I know it's been a little bit but monthly analysis vids are back, kicking off with this one! Def share if you enjoy, if this one takes off you can guarantee another huge analysis vid in 2 weeks :)
Great to hear man! Keep up the amazing content ✊🏽
@@Samwheezy this is huge man. Really well done. I'm sure you have been working on this for a while.
Hey Morj! I've heard someone mention recently that different villains in one piece show "how they got their personality and motivations" through character design. One example was how Axe Morgan's Son hints that Morgan cuts his hair and wears a plate over his chin to hide away his "insecurities" (Stupid Curly hair and Butt looking Chin) . And his tough guy act and position could be a personality he acquired due to such features. (Kinda reminds me of katakuri) I would love your take on different one piece villains and such character designs.
@@ibntv181 That's an interesting idea, do you know more examples off the top of your head? To me something Like Morgan on its own seems like a bit of a stretch, would be kind of like saying Lucci wears a hat because he's embarrassed about his hair style. But if there's a consistent pattern someone has identified of how character designs logically reflect character insecurities based on other things we know about the character then I'd be interested. Katakuri isn't really the same since his reasons for hiding his appearance were explicit, same with Pudding.
@@mickiemallorie Thanks, and yes it did haha
Can’t wait for the final volume to come with an official world map by Nami
I hope for one piece merchandise after the end to be honest:
- one piece world map
-devil fruit guide book
- novel stories / adventure for important character
-collective sbs questions in a book version with character background.
-arcs magazine
-oda inspiration in making one piece in each arc and character .
-movie for old era, roger pirates and rocks pirates.
@@AHeranam. This 100%
we NEED a One Piece globe after it ends
@@AHeranam Stop stop! Any more and my wallet will just fly directly to Oda!
@@AHeranam OOOH MAN, I NEED THAT SWEET DF GUIDE BOOK!!!!
The fact that there are popular clothing brands from the different seas boggles my mind, it's such an unnecessary addition, I love it. Oda doesn't have to add these touches, he just does it.
Yoo that's so cool! Could anyone throw in some examples of this?
@@jaredhall5169 There's Doskoi Panda, which even has a rip off version called Dosko1 Panda and another called Cyberpanda. There's also Criminal brand on Fishman Island
Bob wow bro details are amazing
Criminal is owned by Pappag right?
@@worksyapnijem yes
"Because these islands don't just exist on their own little bubbles."
*shows Fishman Island*
That's my type of comedy.
the boy
Except that’s wrong.. The islands don’t have to interact with each other to be intertwined..
They all have elements that carry over to the bigger story..
@the boy Seems like you misunderstood some things. Watch the video again.
@the boy okay Wano and Elbaf are a non government affiliated and isolated countries. Alabasta and Dressrosa were under the rule of Pirates. So them having to interact to other places isn't necessary as Doflamingo and Crocodile can just interact with the Marines. Skypia well only a few people know that exists and Enies Lobby, Impel Down and Marineford aren't really countries so most of the places that the Strawhats have went have there own issues that blocks them from engaging with other countries except for Water 7 because they use the sea train. Dressrosa was ruled by a pirated but the real king had relations to another king of a different country. Fishmen Island racism was their biggest issue. Punk Hazard well that's a wasteland. Whole Cake Island is governed by a pirate. If a place is governed by a pirate then it's safe to assume moat of their trades and engagements comes from the underworld or the black market of One Piece.
@the boy Reverie Arc actually showed impactful engagements with the world leaders and leaders of different nations.
the boy can’t believe you saw this video and the comments and you still don’t get it.
For me the most importend part is that the world exist even when Luffy isn't there, things happen even if he isn't there.
thats every show ever
@@juldor93 nah imagine dbz without goku lmao, that story would be over in 3 days
juldor93 That’s how every show “should” be. But fact is that most shows only show things happening when it’s important to the plot. They don’t have an accumulation of connections between multiple different plot threads, they just have things happen in a linear pattern. It’s unfortunate, but it makes things a whole lot easier for the author
@@uncleiroh4650 Well said. The fact of the matter is most shonen series have their own self contained stories and respective arcs but the author fails to deliver on writing and making everything relevant, characters are written out of the story to early, things are contradicted later in the plot and even elements are deconstructed because the author does not think consistently how all these things will tie together. There just writing their story and coming up with idea's as it goes along. That sort of cohesiveness is just not their. Not to mention many character are relegated to smaller roles and only serve a purpose to close up that specific story. ODA thinks BIG, he has a bigger picture in mind and a map and outline to follow. he knows all the key points of the larger narrative, he knows even the entire world and probably every location already factored into his timeline. Then its just matter of connecting and fleshing out the stories and using the element of foreshadowing, making everything tie together seamlessly
@@MrDiggaa True. I mean look at Super alone, pretty much every major arc except the u6 arc happened because of Goku one way or another
Jesus I can’t even imagine how much work and time Morj put into compiling all these panels. Hats off to you.
Truly morj. Youve outdone yourself NICE VID!!
@@mahoraga1528 can't imagine how much time oda to think a story and draw that panel
The complete lack of work ethic is amazing lol
@@mray1072 he started it as a kid
Why does your pfp leave ghosting on my phone screen lol
I didn't know that Whitebeard took medicine from doflamingo
thanks for the fact!
Does that mean white beard takes illegal drugs?
Lmao i never knew this either. Makes sense for a pirate to buy illegal drugs from black marketp
@@truthbetold5155 He might be buying legal drugs from an illegal vendor cause its cheaper, or cause the government doesn't want to sell to pirates and WB doesn't seem like a guy to send one of his crew undercover
Whitebeard might ask Doflamingo to supply the medicine for free or else.. you know.. he's Whitebeard.
@@Dirkoin I get it legal product but illegal source.
I *love* the little things in the One Piece world that make it feel so real The folklore-ish things like All Blue, Bink's Sake, Klabautermann, story of Noland, the Germa 66 comics...
The existance of clothing lines, the invention of Wapometal, Kuuigosu, the Den Den Mushi.
The fact that there are celebrities like Brook and Cindry. There are fucking aliens. etc. etc.
Stuff like this from our world isn't often mentioned in a lot of fictional stories, but One Piece just does and the world feels so rich an ugh I love this series so much, I can't even put it into words.
Same
Exactlyyyy
ppl that never sleep
there are aliens in onepiece??
Basically Oda is creating a pirate world. Have watched Pirates of the Caribbean? They're all the time talking about legends, lost islands, etc. Is just part of the pirate world.
Is not a bad thing to avoid mentioning those things in your stories tho.
I don’t think we’ll see anything like One Piece maybe ever. Most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.
I think its unique to One Piece because of its setting being about Pirates, in the real world, the Royal Navy would fight pirates occasionally, but Naval Battles are generally apart of War stories, so it makes sense it would be in One Piece.
Hold my beer
Give me one that is on, or close to the level of One Piece. It has to be Shonen though, Seinen is its own class.
@@miguelgonzalez6495 Definitely the one that matches it for me (although in completely different ways) is Hunter X Hunter. I would love to discuss both series if you have time. I'd also say JoJo but much more so just for a fun time and for the hype moments. It's world building and all that is much much weaker than OP and HXH but it's still a great series in its own right.
As much as I love Hiatus x Hiatus, Togashi probably won’t be able to build his world more due to his illness. He’s an incredible writer for sure, but there is not enough to put it up there.
I know I'm not the only one who just discovered that whitebeard's medicine came from doflamingo.
I know right I just discovered that too mind blowing I tell you this manga is like no other nobody can tell me other wise
@@hamadalkaabi2160 big fax
Same
When was this said
@@instantramen4588 the medicine is branded with doflamingo's mark
Sanji’s backstory was built up back in Jaya, when he mentioned he was from the North Blue. I’ve always felt iffy on how he managed to go over the Red Line even back then.
Actually, i dare to say Oda had his backstory planned from the moment he introduces the character, because even before that there were hints at the fact that he was more than what it seemed to be, the chapter where they are climbing the Reverse Mountain chapter 101, Zoro says: "i think i've never heard of anyone sailing over a mounten before." And Sanji replies to that saying: " I think i have." Without even counting the fact that in Baratie Oda starts the flashback when Sanji is like 8 or 10 on a ship with no mention of his parents, and while that could've just been a coincidence considering everything i think Oda had in mind Sanji's backstory from the very beginning. I'm not one of those people that assumes that Oda thought of everything from the start, but Sanji's past was one of those for sure.
@@allhailtheking6039 You might be right lol. But maybe Oda didn't think he'd take this long to tell Sanji's backstory. 😂
I don't think Oda had the Germa 66 planned in the beginning. Simply he just had an idea that in the future he could expand on Sanji's past if he wanted to, so he planted some seeds, and tied everything together neatly in Whole Cake Island. Also, we don't know most of the strawhats parents. Haven't seen Nami's, haven't seen Zoro's, Haven't seen Brooks, we know Franky's were pirates? we only know Robins mother, and Luffy's father. So potentially the backstory could expand for all those characters too, there's room for growth. But if he never expands on that it's fine too. The true mastery is how Oda doesn't forget the detials of his story, so he can go back and tie things together nicely.
I didn't, I had just assumed that, considering that the Red line is basically a giant continent, that somewhere along it there had to be a shorefront, rather than just sheer cliffs, and that's where Sanji had crossed.
But no, just sheer cliffs the whole way around. Honestly that's probably the one bit of One Piece worldbuilding that disappointed me.
@@PaperPatriot That is true that's why i said it might have been a coincidence, but i think somewhere after they got to the Grand Line he got a very good idea, because there is literally hints of his story throughout the first part of the Grand Line, but who knows for sure.
Skypiea was peak adventure manga moment for me. I really like the twist Oda did behind Jaya and the Upper Yard, it gave me goosebumps when it was revealed. That and the culmination of events (from learning about Norland to Ringing the Golden Bell) just sealed me as a forever One Piece fan. Wonderfully executed.
jaya-skypiea favorite saga. the execution was brilliant.
That arc is so underrated
My favourite as well. Also the arcs leading to Alabasta(little garden, whiskey peak) and the alabasta arc is my second favourite.
I remember seeing Skypeia for the first time as a kid. Blown me away, the spirit of adventure is just there. Same with the Water 7, the view is just amazing.
Not to mention the flashback. Noland and Calgara has one of the best flashbacks in the series.
And I can't understand why people call it overrated and when you actually watch and see the manga/anime you realized that one piece deserves all of the praises it recieves during its long run. Its not overrated its just simply a masterpiece.
People who call it overrated are just blind haters and in most cases fans of other much inferior shounen series'.
@@furorteutonicus9045 Comments like this is what fuels such notions.
@@bruhtonbruhkkinson6848 I only speak the truth. I have seen countless people like this.
@@furorteutonicus9045 Apologies, sir. Keyboard Warrior - would you like assistance with that ego of yours? Surely, the lack of self-awareness makes it hard to stand from your chair.
@@bruhtonbruhkkinson6848 Uh oh, seems like someone got triggered. Must have hit a nerve there.
For anybody curious, the technology that is used in One Piece, is typically Called "Ocean Punk"
Which is basically taking Sci-fi and maybe just little Steampunk and setting it in the Sea, specifically during the time of The Age of Sail: The 1500s - late 1700s
Cool term, haven't heard that before! I'll be using that from now on, thanks!
It has a baroque aesthetic as well
Cross Hairs are interesting aren't they. I remember they had me in a twist for 2 years.
Kenbunshoku Haki to be exact. and Accuracy.
Oh, cool. I never knew that.
I remeber they are in the 1500s-1700s because in episodes 145-150 they said 400 years ago and it was the year 1112 so it was 1512 that year
It is always funny when One Piece haters try to talk shit about this aspect of One Piece. Because they can do nothing but make fools of themselves.
What do you mean.....Everyone knows One Piece has great World Building, whats the problem?
@@ladyhero8528 A hater is a hater because he does not care about the objectively strong points of something. He will always try to badmouth everything because he would never admit there is anything good about the thing he hates.
@@furorteutonicus9045 But nobody is doing that...
except the obvious people who like to get One Piece fans trigger pretty easily...
@@elijahmcfarland3487 "But nobody is doing that..."
You do not get around much on youtube do you...?
@@mistersureshot1749 thats not what hes talking about though. If someone comes along with a legitinate critique of One Piece, there's no problem. There's no such thing as a perfect series, and One Piece isnt perfect. But if people come along going blah blah One Piece is shit blah blah and nothing else... well its pretty laughable. Kinda like how calling all One Piece fans close-minded is laughable :L
ive already been on a huge one piece mood in the last few weeks, so the timing of this video is 1000% perfect
I get those with naruto all the time, and then I fill up my homepage with naruto clips
There were some extremely clever choices for the images you chose that fully explained or extended your points, amazing video Morj
Always happy when people notice the images, sometimes I wonder if it's even worth bothering to be picky about them :)
@@MrMorj It's definitely worth it to me ! Your images choices show perfect examples of what you're talking about and even more !
For example i had to rewatch the end of the video because i stopped listening thinking of what mihawks backstory could be (like his place in his generation, if he had a crew, what happened to them etc)
Mr Morj No dude, it really shows how much research you do for your videos. Continue as you are doing your videos, they’re awesome
@@MrMorj The images heightened the impact of the video so much more. I could clearly see what you're talking about far more than if it was just audio.
@@MrMorj IT'S WORTH, keep up the good work eve if we don't say it we really appreciate your efforts
I swear this channel deserves much more credit than it's currently getting.
One day it will blowp up.. don't know when might be after one piece or 20/30 years.. when it will be people will understand morj importance.. there ain't no body like him ... That's why.. he makes other UA-camrs shit looking with his content
@monkey D del If this was overly dramatic to you then you should check out craftsdwarf cuz that is what overly dramatic narration is. His analysis is pretty good but I can't stand watching his videos because of the narration. Now don't get me wrong I get what you mean here with Morj, but he picks the type of narration and presentation he does for his videos. For example, this analysis required this kind of narration because it discusses a "concept". When Morj discusses something outside of that he would use a video format of talking directly on the video. That's what I've observed at the least. Also, I find this less irritating that then over the top "blood vessels showing on my neck" reactions and discussions over at Rogersbase.
monkey D del Nah nigga. If you want to see overly dramatic watch Vinland D Ragnar, lol. I went to the comments and was shocked no one was talking about dude’s voice. Shit felt so weird I couldn’t even finish the first couple minutes of the video. Worst part is his thumbnails are always hella clean, so I end up clicking on him and then instantly regretting it, lol. It’s an endless cycle😭😭😭
This man makes me want to read the series from the start. You never disappoint mr morj!
the places oda designes are always soooo amazing looking!
i wish we had an open world game where we can travel around those places (like water 7)
instead we got freaking world seeker....
World seeker isn't bad, it doesn't fully deliver what the games concept and the manga's concept can deliver. An open world one piece game is perfect, but in my opinion, the problems with world seeker isn't the world building or the open world, it's just mainly the gameplay. The world building is OK in world seeker, it gives a country, gives us the politics and factions of said country, it gives us connections to the rest of the one piece world so it isn't just a random island without any significance other than just being a setting for a game, gives us history, natural resources and the like. The only thing I think is a problem in the world is the fact they put in too many characters and side characters for fan service, such as all the admirals, marco, and buggy, but at least those characters give us some context on the background lore happening in the game.
Wind Waker style
ohhh yeah i been binging for an open world one piece mmo for years on end. I wouldn't even care about battle mechanics tbh
@Wednesday yeah anyone can read opening theory from google and then become a chess grandmaster, right
@Wednesday the analogy isn't meant to be "fancy", I'm calling out your bullshit thinking.
What you missed with the chess analogy is that you don't become a chess grandmaster by copying others, because studying other's people moves is the barebone basic of getting started on the game.
In the same way, you don't become a god among mangakas by copying drawings from Google. Saying that is ridiculous, it only shows how poorly you thinked about it.
What you completely butcher as "copying from Google" are decades of inhumanly hard work and research and writing, resulting in a work of art that gets celebrated universally for its worldbuilding.
He doesn't take pictures from Google to draw and put them in an artbook, he takes complex concepts and integrates them perfectly in a breathing and living world the likes of which most authors DREAM to write about.
It's an achievement that is only made possible by how incredible he is as an author.
The world building on One Piece is mind boggling on multiple levels:
- For its complex yet masterfully interconnected and solid structure;
- Its sensible and coherent revisiting of old places and characters;
- Its great foreshadowing;
- Its general beauty and how it BUILDS and adds artestry to real life
When you call it "basic and copied" you're only showing how shallow your reading was. People that shit talk about other's people work like you usually don't know what hard work is in the first place.
The more you try to look smart by shitting on others, the more you're making yourself look like a fool who never did something on his own
difference oda and other writers is he make everything count and meaningful , from the first arc to the current always connects and have meaning to it. everything oda does is like it foreshadowing to something greater and it always have a payoff
Except for Long Ring Long Land, but I give it a pass for being exceptionally fun to read lol
@@jish6258 Long Ring Long Land was hilarious af
I'd like to see earlier antagonists again now. Don krieg, kuro, alvida and morgan. Also other side characters from east blue to early grandline
harouin what do you mean we see alivida she’s with buggy
@@jish6258 i forgot the others things, but one of the things mentioned there by Robin was the Pirate Island (Beehive) where Davy back fight was supposedly invented. also some tease about sanji being a prince.. Zoro: prince of dumbass kingdom haha
Imagine that when you holding the last volume in your hands, when you finally understand it all like Oden did, when ur lips have a big smile and your eyes have so much tears drop...
Mark my words guys, THIS MASTERPIECE WILL BE IN OUR CHILDEN'S HISTORY BOOK!!
Im so happy that i was born in this era when OP was so hot and i am waiting for it every weeks for the past 12 years when i was 13yo kid.
I'm calling it, one piece will just be a mirror and when luffy looks at it he will see his nakama in the reflection...it was all about the journey and the friends he made along the way.
@@vienna0810 Didn't Oda say he wouldn't make the ending like that?
@@ahafa2885 yes, he said the one piece will be an actual reward/treasure
The first 9 minutes of this video covered everything *I* would have thought of personally. The rest was great new ideas that never occurred to me. Great job as usual! I think my favorite point is how it expands as you go, from the simple world of the early arcs to the complexity of the story as a whole. I wonder if that was even intentional, to make it easier to get into the start, or if he just had more and more ideas and freedom to use them later on.
Thank you for explaining how the worldbuilding lets basically every Post-Timeskip arc connect. I think that goes so underappreciated. The Post-Timeskip story is truly greater than the sum of its parts; one big arc filled with setup and natural consequences. Not sure I ever appreciated how many spies each group has among each other before you pointed it out. Also, mega-interesting point about how the rookies of each generation ended up landing.
Thanks man, always appreciate hearing feedback from you. There was a lot more I wanted to say about what the Post-Timeskip aspect of the story "really" is, but I kind of left that for another video that would be much bigger than this one on story structure.
@@MrMorj Oh man, now I'm curious about what that one is going to say. Hope you get a chance to work on that soon.
@@potentialPizza8 Well that one is actually going to be a ways away, I have other topics I think are important to get through first to get some foundational ideas out if that makes sense. Kind of like how I felt I had to talk about the "Dawn" theme before talking about the "Philosophy" of One Piece
@@MrMorj can I personally say that I think you are the greatest op UA-camr of all time?
The One Piece world is literally something every work of fantasy should take notes from. Not only manga, but also novels. Like, sure, LOTR has really good world building, but the quantity and originality and complexity of the OP world is simply unsurpassable. Thank you for this video, i was waiting for it.
Just because you can see pictures?
MisterSureShot No, because everything fits and makes sense, everyone knows something about the world, and it’s something that isn’t always put into the readers brain by force, but by letting details that can seem insignificant, have a greater meaning as the story progresses
@@mistersureshot1749 No, because One Piece's world is incredibly coherent. Not many fantasy writers can pull that off and add lovable and flawed characters who you want to see succeed.
Has anyone else noticed the similarities between One Piece's worldbuilding and Narnia's? The Red Line and Aslan's Country, mermaids before reaching the both this places, journey from island to island each with its own plot, the "Dawn Treader" and the "Going Sunny"... There are many other similarities beyond the worldbuilding too. Luffy and Lucy are very similar names, and I can't help but wonder if this is an intentional reference on Oda's part.
@@anarcho-catastrophist That is actually a nice theory, it might actually be true, and if it is, im glad to see that oda has read many more other works of fiction before creating his story
Thank you so much for these
You also watch anime
Yooo, Vail! You Watch One Piece TOO?
Also having Devil Fruits in the story is a simple yet genius concept .
thx to the DFs , you can have ghosts , zombies , dragons , mythical creatures , dinosaurs , living toys and even living objects and it will still make sense .
This gives Oda so much room space for his creativity .
Pick any random fantasy element , and you will most likely find its unique twist in the one piece setting .
Like how about a centaur, for example . In Punk Hazard arc we meet these centaur-like creatures thanks to Laws Ope-ope DF . In Wano we see centaur-ish deformed humans who ate artificial Dfs . Oh and in water7 we meet a cyborg who can kinda turn into a centaur .
As insignificant as it may seem , still having a world setting that allows the creator to have this much creative freedom , is a feat in my eyes and it makes me appreciate the world even more .
There is an aspect I believe you missed or forgot to mention.
The world of One Piece is huge, full of detailed and interconnected details, and yet, the Straw Hats are simple and humble in design.
I mean, it feels like Luffy and the others are not capable to change anything in the world except for small details. That Luffy will need thousands and thousands of people at his side to make a difference if he decides to... I love that. This is not a "the protagonist is so important they will change everything by themselves" kinda story. As the world of One Piece is interconnected, the characters are forced to be interconnected as well. Just like in real life.
The straw hats definitely make major changes even without help. Even early on, luffy defeating crocodile changed the world by an insane amount. The story isnt really about how the world changes the straw hats, its about how the straw hats change the world.
@@krlllx yea but Luffy need his friends to change the world
I agree man.
This is the best channel for One Piece content
@ace bruh Yes, lol, i mean other channels like tekking and rogersbase aren't bad, but this one goes way more in depth than those two and many others
@@lucasrienstra4163 Meanwhile, King of Lightning is just Power-Scaling
@@mistersureshot1749 king of lighting chose the worst series to compare power levels, considering the big inconsistency between DF powers, cause we go from someone who can spin his arms quickly, to someone made of freaking light lol. Still i love DF, only their power levels are inconsistent AF
@@mistersureshot1749 i don't think KoL reads half the shit he covers
Tekking too✌
not only is oda a genius, mr morj is a genius for making me able to appreciate oda's genius more
Another masterclass with a remake of The Ladder video.
The living world too
I also love how the world building feeds back in to the personal journey of the Straw Hat crew. In many other series, characters like Big Mom and Kaido would simply be the next big fights coming up. However, since Oda built up his world and demonstrated the power these two wield within that world, the coming conflict seems so much grander. The task ahead of the Strawhats seems so much more daunting because we know that these two pirate crews have so much... weight in the world. Just them meeting sends shivers down the spine of the World Government as, if they set their sights on Marijoa, they could potentially defeat the entire World Government and plummet the whole world (full of characters we love) into even more conflict. It also builds huge anticipation for when Luffy and his crew finally manage to do the impossible yet again and defeat the Yonko alliance and truly move the world in a way that hasn't happened before. I'm getting shivers just thinking about it.
Building a world so well adds weight to the characters' actions. There is so much more meaning behind every foe the Straw Hats defeat because Oda put in the work and tied each of his characters to a living world that reacts to every domino falling down.
It's because he started from the micro to the macro. Things like the Yonko and the coming conflict against the World Government wouldn't be possible without the first arcs. Things that have been set in motion way back in East Blue that are just now coming to a head after nearly 1000 chapters. Oda's world has been forged and painstakingly built over the course of decades to become something greater than the sum of its parts
Oda is one man who has lore capabilities on the level of Star Wars
Only Tolkien himself ever had this sense of worldbuilding and compared to him Oda is even higher!
I’m not sure how Star Wars was written, but what makes this aspect even more impressive is that Oda has to do this on the weekly. He doesn’t have the luxury of being given ample time to create a volume over months of work in order to fine tune all the details, he has to perform constantly, always remembering the past events, fleshing out the present, and setting up the future. It’s a daunting task, which is why most manga don’t even attempt anything close to the scale that he has done
Tolkien created a whole new Language and people were speaking it.
But One Piece story is more like Tolkien and the Odyssey, Where it requires them to go on an adventure, since its about Pirates and all.
Dxrk Zoom That doesn’t necessarily make for a good world. Yeah sure it helps and it’s impressive, but there are many other more important factors in world building
@@lucasrienstra4163 There are other ways to do world building within that universe. One Piece is an adventure story since its about Pirates, and you're going to go to these exotic islands with their own culture, thats because the One Piece world built that way.
@@mistersureshot1749 yeah you're right, i didn't really mean to say that world building is good if it's done like One Piece, considering that there are many other ways of making good world building, but more like to say that make a complex lenguage and take your time to do it, doesn't make for a good fictional world, at least in my opinion
Video gave me chills and blew my mind. It is actually amazing that Morj is able to make me love One Piece even more than I already do with each new analysis video he releases.
There are a lot of great fantastical world building outside One Piece and manga. ATLA for instance had one of the most logical world (trade, economics, and politics). GoT on the other hand had the most historically accurate world building from names, religion, population, and slavery ratio. There's also LoTR with its complex and detailed world, it has its owns moon calendar and language.
One Piece isn't as accurate, logical, or detailed. But what One Piece differs from other fiction is the ability to make its own setting a living, breathing, world. What happens in Grand Line from small skirmishes pirates had done, it impacts the other side of the sea in smallest but noticeable way.
Unlike in ATLA, GoT, and LoTR where the world will stop and every side characters' lives hanged on to the protagonists' decision, in One Piece it doesn't. Trump vs Biden election doesn't affect someone from countries in Oceania. But the impact of the presidential winner affects in smallest ways like trade laws and military exercises around the pacific. The same with Afghan situation. Americans would still go on with their lives despite the decision made by Biden changed the lives of people across the continent. But Americans would hear it on the news, debates would arise. There's a subtle domino effect in One Piece world that although other series have that like GoT, it wasn't as prominent like in OP.
Absolutely amazing video about the best aspect of One Piece, another topic i would like for you to talk about is what imo is the most underrated aspect of One Piece, that is the character writing. Too often i see this aspect written off as either the weakest part of One Piece along with the fights or simply not as good as other shonen or mangas in general, while i'm not saying One Piece writes the best characters in the manga industry, but imo a lot of them are very well written and somewhat more complex than they seem. I'll use Hody from Fishman Island as an example, often times he's being shitted on by the comunity because he did not pose a threat to the Straw Hats and also people say he's a flat villain, and i just don't agree because to me he was a brilliant character who rapresented perfectly maybe even better than Arlong the mindset of somebody who's racist because often times people don't know or care why they hate on someone of a certain etnicity they just keep doing it because people told them that the people of that etnicity are evil, and they keep cycle of hatred going. Like this concept to me was very well done and it drove the point home for me. Plus the fact that he wasn't a threat was also the point because it was to show the progress of the Straw Hats after the training. And there are other characters to me in One Piece that are very complex but they get underrated because on the surface they seem simple. Anyways again amazing video, you make the One Piece experience that much richer.
Thanks, I agree with a lot of what you said, and a video on how One Piece writes characters is 100% in the works down the line. One Piece definitely has some amazing character writing in certain ways, and is maybe not as focused on it in other ways. But the positives in its character writing are underrated or overlooked at times for sure, which is a shame because what it does well, it does really well.
@@MrMorj Can't wait man, you're too good at this shit swear to God.
@@allhailtheking6039 Wise words
The main thing is internal logic and details in how things work.
The best thing that contributes to it’s world building is the fact that the story takes its time. It doesn’t feel rushed. Luffy’s drive moves the story forward, but his character enables side stories to exist and be present in the world.
I don't mind you taking big breaks Mr. Morj. Because you always produce quality videos
00:00:00 ⟾ Strengths of One Piece - Worldbuilding
00:01:00 ⟾ INDIVIDUAL PIECES - unique settings/cultures/histories/technologies, Skypiea,
00:02:41 ⟾ Depth, Fantastical Creativity - Water 7, nuances
00:04:23 ⟾ Individual Pieces - Unique Creativity
00:04:46 ⟾ AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD - Macro Connections
00:06:14 ⟾ An Interconnected World - Grand Framework: lore, history
00:06:36 ⟾ An Interconnected World - Physical Structure: Grand Line, Red Line, Calm Belt
00:07:50 ⟾ An Interconnected World - Micro Connections
00:09:04 ⟾ HOW THE WORLD OPENS UP - simpler early arcs, expanding to grand adventure
00:11:00 ⟾ World Expanding Ahead of Plot: Fish-man Island, Wano, Elbaf, Reverie, Minks, Sea Train
00:13:30 ⟾ IMMERSION - cohesive, expansive world, speculation, New World, Wano
00:15:30 ⟾ Immersion: Surprises, Twists, Reveals, SWORD, logical setup, CP-0
00:16:32 ⟾ Execution of Worldbuilding
00:16:46 ⟾ THE REAL WORLD - 5 Massive Empires, Balance of Powers
00:19:34 ⟾ Upcoming World War: weapons, alliances, devil fruits, metals, technology, underworld, supply chain, deals, double-agents
00:22:37 ⟾ Super-human Abilities: Kuzan, individual soldiers
00:23:33 ⟾ Military Structures: hierarchies, intelligence system, ranks, affiliates
00:24:46 ⟾ World Ladder: grand tournament, multiple generations
00:26:14 ⟾ Unique Fusion of Concepts: Open World + World War + Survival Tournament
00:26:53 ⟾ Summary - cohesive, complex, fleshed-out, fantastical, unique worldbuilding
00:27:51 ⟾ [Promo] [Credits]
Thx mate
thank you
When this series is over, hell i hope it starts relatively soon but i can see this story being one of the pinnacle examples of writing and storytelling taught in classes. I feel that writing courses have got to look at One Piece and see how much it's doing for the world of writing.
All lessons of storytelling on full display demonstrated masterfully and unparalleled in portrayal. Little details, setups and payoffs big small, and all in between. All of this in one man's head. One could say Oda is modern Tolkien in terms of world building.
I hope writing courses can learn a thing or two and use One Piece as that example of most storytelling lessons in classes.
@linlinö önilnil unfortunately
let’s not forget captain axe hand morgan we meet in the beginning, who became a marine captain after “killing” pirate captain kuro from being hypnotized by jango
yeah that's such a great detail
One piece really is an adventure. Every time I think about how the story began, to where it is now my mind is blown lol
Man this video made me think about the importance of the Baratie Arc. That arc is so important because that's the arc where Oda truly flexes his world building. That moment when Mihawk shows up like a force of nature. One dude vs a whole pirate armada and the dude has not a single scratch. It's such an amazing preview of the grand line much better than buggy or zeff talking about it. Oda definitely showed early what he had in store. To me Baratie is where I got hooked, the perfect arc in many ways and it's so early on too!
what i love about the story of the One Piece world is how our main characters (the Straw Hats) are basically spectators, they never (for a ling time at least) seem to be major players in this conflict and Sabaody arc proved that
This video sums up why One piece is my favourite series. Lots of things are so well fleshed out and it makes the bigger picture a lot more interesting. It is of course not perfect but to think that most of it all(story, concept, art) comes out of a single man, in a weekly basis is mind blowing.
In every other manga the world is just a background for the action but in One Piece the world is part of the story and adventure. I always compare it to reading a book like Lord of the Rings. One Piece is more than just simply a manga. It has the depth of a book packed in the form of a manga. One Piece is a masterwork in manga history. I doubt I will see a manga again that has so much love in it.
Read Berserk
I haven't watched it yet but i know this is gonna be good.
SAME
can confirm, its good
Not gonna lie, I just started the vid and saw your comment 😂
Facts
Facts
Yes yes yes yes yes 30 min Mr. MORJ VIDEO THIS IS WHAT I LOVE TO SEE IM LIKING NOW CAUSE IM CERTAIN I WILL ENJOY IT. Will revise after watching.
Another great video as always. I always talk about Odas worldbuilding but this really clarified what exactly makes it so great outside of being a big diverse world.
I love how no power can take action on another without getting destroyed. Even if the world government decided to take out a Yanko and won, they would suffer so much from the battle that they would get wiped out by another yanko that realizes they are weak. It’s such a delicate balance of power stuck in a Mexican standoff. No one can take the first shot. Then you hav Luffy who says screw it and does whatever he wants bc he wants to be the most free in the world
Dude personally your videos are criminally underrated unlike theory videos of UA-camrs such as Tekking 101.
After finishing Enies Lobby I was convinced One Piece is on another level when it comes to story telling.
Woulda been. Cool if Yoshihiro followed some of these ideas when foreshadowing the Dark Continent.
🤷🏾♂️
Hunter X Hunter world building is surface level. Not that impressive.
@@furorteutonicus9045 sad but true. But where Hunter x Hunter excels is the combat system
Cpt Captain Yeah, it’s really good in plot and battles, in my opinion, one of the best shonen, but in my opinion OP is always gonna be number 1
@@furorteutonicus9045 I know One Piece is the highest selling shonen, but don't bring down the thunder like that....
@@elijahmcfarland3487 Uhh isn't it the highest selling manga of all time?
The terry pratchett/discworld shoutout as the craziest world made me smile. Great video!
what I also loved: you might get the impression that saving three different princesses on different islands is not really creative story telling any more, but then those 3 princesses meet at the world summit and they go "yoooo you know Ruffy, too?" and form a fan club xD And you suddenly realize this was intentional and Ruffy has some very powerful supporters on his side now :D still one of my favorite moments, because it showed us there was a purpose in rescuing all the princesses xD
"Intentional"
This must have taken a huge amount of time and effort to make and I really appreciate your hard work. As a One Piece fan it's still easy to forget at times just HOW amazing Oda's world building is. We never loose the sense that the world itself is amazingly detailed and well thought out and put together but it's only when you really analyze One Piece in depth that you really just how much of a magician Oda is.
I think my favorite bits of one piece are actually the little things rather then the big fights. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like If the series wasn’t a shounen
There should be a "what makes Mr Morj great" video, an we all know that video will be at least a hour long 💯😆
WHAT. WHITE BEARD BOUGHT STUFF DOFLAMINGO ??! I swear I learn something new ab this world everyday. Keep it up. I love you videos man 👍👍
I think Oda along with Brandon Sanderson are simply the best worldbuilders alive
I think Brandon is waaaay ahead of Oda, but manga wise Oda is the best one.
Not the first time I've heard that
@@guillermorodriguez3509 Sanderson has more worldbuilding because of the medium. In pure literature you can worlbuild more than in manga. If you want to see even deeper worldbuilding check out Malazan by Steven Erickson. It's super advanced.
@@miguelangelthomas5154 who is Brandon Sanderson?
no subscriber boi A really good novel writer, he has a UA-cam channel if you want to check out some tips from him
one piece world building is more complex than neon genesis evangelion true story
Fun fact: the initial idea of one piece was supposed to be Luffy against the Shichibukai only. You can notice that although it changed in the end, the beginning of the story remained almost the same because, just like you said, the only world building in the first arks is that there are 7 Dangerous pirates in the world.
No it's exactly the other way around. The story was always going to be about defeating the four emperors, it's when Oda came up with the warlords that the story grew much longer.
That's right, you got me there hahahahaha
I made a mistake
Fantastic video analysis! Loved it from start to finish and so happy that you brought up the balance of power, empire, and survival tournament aspects of the expansive One Piece world which I feel some fans ignore too much. Amazing video!
Amazing video. I've always searched for a one piece video I can share with friends to finally get them into the series, and i think this is it.
Keep coming back to this video because of how amazing of an analysis it is
But One Piece does deliver World Building in a special way; There is actually a term for it called "Ocean Punk", which is like a Science fiction story except set in the 1500s when sailing was more prevalent, basically around the time of the golden age of Piracy. The are more organic oceanic tech like the Den Den Mushi and the Dials, but later on as we continue the story, we get more crazy with the tech.
At the same time, Being a series of Pirates, Having War-like tendencies makes sense, Because Royal Navy and Pirates will fight occasionally, Naval Battles are common war stories, so it makes sense One Piece be about that.
Finally the video you kept mentioning in your livestreams is here ! We have been waiting ! Thanks a lot
My absolute favorite channel on UA-cam. Take all the time you need to make these, it's always worth the wait.
You are a bleshing to the community
Well, Everyone knows One Piece has pretty stellar world building
@@mistersureshot1749 But there is nobody out there who can put it into words and a great video like this one like MrMorj.
Is that a pun or a typo ?
Goddamit morj is on another level
I hope your channel pops up
when one piece end, I wish someone make an open-world game out of it
like you can choose to whether you're a:
marine - pirate - minks - long arm - long leg - giant - fishman - skypeian - and so on
jobs or class like:
shipwright - swordman - sniper - cook - cartographer - doctor - archeologist etc. you can be hybrid.
you can solo as a pirate hunter like Zoro in the beginning
or forming a party/crew then later on having a guild/emperor.
in marine or WG you can be like CP9 - CP0 - sword - shield maybe even admiral depending on your accomplishments.
celestial dragons are like admins have authorities and gives quests to the marines.
every island has their own mobs and hazards like:
thriller bark zombies - water 7 aqua laguna - heat and cold punk hazard - minks in zou island - etc.
devil fruits are rare items that you can't have 2 users of the same fruit
you can steal devil fruits by killing the opponent they'll retain the level but loses the devil fruit ability.
impossible to make a game like this but if someone somehow manage to make this it will be a lifetime game.
Feels like Christmas every time I see you posted a new video, man great in depth analysis 29.5 min never felt so short before
You just expanded my whole view of one piece. I really love one piece and it's world and I always wreak my brain about how awesome it is, but this just add much needed fuel to my fire and passion. Thank you for this wonderful insight.
This just popped up into my recommendations, honestly it was so good it brought a tear to my eye, I actually got emotional. One piece Is such a good manga/anime and I already thought the world building was the best but this just added so much more to what I knew. Just like how you said this world is flushed out perfectly. This video is flushed out perfectly, your getting a like a subscription from me and I'm happy I got another one piece youtuber to watch. Well done man. ;)
always a pleasure to listen to you with your well synced images
Great analysis Morj
The topic of One Piece World and it's intricacy is far more interesting for me than discussing the power levels because the later sometimes is subject to change when the story demands it and any expectations based on a power level could be shattered in an instant.
Epic video. That point about it being 3 massive story structures in one, was mindblowing.
I'm Belgian and I appreciate that my country has been mentionned.
man i just spent the last two nights binging all of your videos. i love hearing your thoughts and analyses about one piece, you truly understand this incredible series and you've taken the time to point out and further highlight how great we already knew this series was. I've come away from your videos with a lot of new understanding and more importantly, even more respect for the series, something I didn't realize i could gain more of! i seriously appreciate all the time and effort that goes into writing these video essays and compiling all the data. counting on your channel blowing up big time very soon 👊
Videos like this not only clarify why I love this series so much but also gives me checkpoints for creating my own story. Thank you.
Yesss!! I was waiting for mr morj!!
Imagine a massive open-world RPG set in the One Piece world
I haven't commented on a youtube video since about 2008. I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to write about and share your love of One Piece. It is my favorite series of all time and watching this video helped make dealing with everything going on in the world a bit easier.
I just subscribed just due to how amazing you explained the one piece world. I love how you took time to explain this crazy awesome world. You don't know how much you've helped me, thank you.
I discovered your channel some days ago and I am impressed. I always wanted to create a channel to analyse how great One Piece is (in Spanish) and you inspire me :)
Well, i would love to see what you have to offer! Just try it, im sure you can do many great things!
@@lucasrienstra4163 thank you! I think I definetely will. But not right now, I'm too busy...
@@juanmajg9981 Nice dude. :)
This video made me really reminisce on some moments and thing I love about one piece. I think a video in why people should start one piece or what appeals it has without spoilers would be great!
Morj, I freaking love this. I know your video is already long enough but i wished you talked more about how active the players in the world are. For me, once we entered Alabasta, the strawhats became real players in this game. After every arc we see one of the big players make their move. The WG summoning the Warlords, Shanks and WB meeting up, A new player making moves (BB fighting Ace), Alvida allying with Buggy in the cover Story, and all the chapters in between Wano Arcs. I love watching the strawhats have their journey, but I also love seeing what moves the other player make in the background
Bro. Your best video yet. Ive never seen a in depth video as good as this one. Keep doing your thing man
Morj-san - I was blown away by how simply yet meticulously you broke down the masterpiece that is OP’s world building. Have been a huge fan of your content since discovering this channel a month or so ago, and genuinely look forward to each new video you upload. You’re doing the entire OP community a huge favour, as videos such as these elevate the experience of the reader by exposing us to so much we may have overlooked in the past few decades following the series! That said, can’t wait for the next analysis piece and really appreciate your top quality work!
Six minutes in and I've already subscribed. This is some good stuff my man!
Watched the rest of it now, amazing stuff! Couldn't have put it better myself. One Piece is by far my favorite piece of fiction mainly because of the immersive world discussed here. Close second is Victor Hugo's Les Misérables which also has over the top yet meaningful world building.
Im so excited to watch this lmao. I mean just look at the length! Plus its been so looong since i saw a new morj video
This was mind boggling, amazing video Mr Morj. While the theories videos are kinda fun, these ones that dive into the already existing lore (some that i didnt even connect) are my favourite ones.
You are one of the few reasons I came to love post-timeskip one piece
Wow, amazing analysis. Mr Morj always gives mindblowing insight to one piece and definitely delivered!
Great Video Bro! You can tell alot of research and care went into this...
I had to watch it twice it was so good! lol you hit it on the head about craving the post arc info! Watching the ripples through the world that we are so familiar with is so satisfying! My top 5 moments in most Shonen are big fights. Top 5 moments in One Piece? When new wanted posters come out and we get to see all our favorite characters from before laughing and talking about their times with the SH crew
Not to be cliché, but I never clicked a UA-cam notification so fast. I haven't watched it yet, but I can guarantee it will be fire. This is my favourite kind of videos, and you are my favourite OP youtuber, the perfect cocktail.
I think another great thing is how much Oda takes from the real world, Water Seven is like Venice, Wano is like Japan, Flevance is like Casale Monferrato, Elbaf takes from Nordic Mythology, Impel Down takes from the Divine Comedy and there's hundreds of examples of this.
It helps keep the story familiar, relatable and global, since a lot of elements are taken from the real world, but Oda's take on things keeps things exciting and fantastical. Some people might be excited how Oda will represent their culture or hobby.
I mean its an Anime about Pirates. If were we to take Real-Life Pirates, than I'm sure Oda would put Real-life places in there because Pirates come from all around the world.
But Even with that, I would say thats only one aspect of world building, there are several other ways to do it.
Since Pirates come from all around the globe, at least in Real-life, it would make sense to bring in real-life country settings.
@@elijahmcfarland3487 Sure, but I think it helps to make the world more plausible. A city that's sinking is plausible because that's what's happening in Venice, not as fast as Water Seven. Same with a Prison with multiple levels of distinctive punishments, since that's the Divine comedy.
Videos like this one are the ones I love to see from you. Excellent work!
Damn, your analyses usually already have a high standard, but this one takes it to another level. Amazing job!
Imagine One Piece video game... imagine...