Summary
- Pacing issues in One Piece anime can degrade epic moments compared to the manga.
- Anime scenes include unnecessary padding, whereas manga has snappier pacing.
- Some scenes like Luffy vs. Doffy and Whitebeard vs. Akainu show stronger impact in manga.
Although the One Piece anime is extraordinarily popular, many fans consider the manga to be the premiere way to experience the show. With gorgeous art, and, most importantly, snappier pacing, there’s a reason why the manga remains so popular to this day. With that being said, the anime does bring some amazing moments to the table, combining slick animation with excellent music and voice acting that help bring some of the best moments of One Piece to life.
However, despite having some great moments, there are a handful of moments in the anime that are far superior in manga form. Whether these moments added extra padding in order to draw out the length of the scene, or used subpar art that doesn’t come close to the standards set by the manga, these scenes are almost pure downgrades between the two mediums. Although these fantastic One Piece moments are great in almost any medium, it may be worth it for anime-only watchers to check out these scenes in the manga.
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The One Piece Anime Has Some Scenes That Are Way Worse Than The Manga
Unneeded Tension And Horrible Pacing Are Likely Culprits
It seems that many of the issues that spawned between the manga and anime all have to do with pacing. While a scene in the One Piece manga may be well-paced, the anime version of the scene may stretch out one panel to be multiple seconds, to even a minute long. Additionally, some moments that were originally kept together are stretched out between episodes. This absolutely kills the impact of any moment, with most of the hype for a scene cooling down once the “To Be Continued…” panel appears.
There are those who call the Clan of “D” this! God’s natural enemy. – Rosinante
Luffy’s King Kong Gun Against Doffy Is Worse In The Anime
This Scene Is Drawn Out Way Too Much To Be Enjoyable
- Luffy’s King Kong Gun Was Supposed To Decimate Doffy
- Whitebeard On Marineford Was Supposed To Be Gorier
First up, Luffy’s knockout punch against Doffy was handled so much better in the manga than in the anime. One Piece’s Dressrosa anime as a whole already suffers from some major pacing issues, and this final impact of the arc is no different. In the manga, Luffy’s Gear 4 King Kong Gun is supposed to be an overwhelming attack that quickly decimates One Piece’s Donquixote Doflamingo with little to no resistance. However, in the anime, the King Kong Gun struggles against Doffy’s attack, stretching out what should have been an impactful finisher much longer than it needed to be.
Whitebeard Versus Akainu Is More Graphic In The Manga
Censorship Stopped The Scene From Reaching Its Full Potential
Next, the moment during One Piece’s Marineford Arc where Akainu lands an impactful attack on Whitebeard’s face is handled much better in the manga, since it shows the full extent of the damage he withstood. In the manga, this attack from Akainu actually takes out a solid chunk of Whitebeard’s face, which is admittedly a bit disturbing. However, it shows Whitebeard’s fortitude as he continues standing even after an extremely deadly attack. In the anime, Whitebeard’s face remains completely intact, since depicting him with half a face may have been far too gory for the audience.
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Caesar Versus Luffy Should Have Been A More Powerful Victory
The Anime Showed Luffy Struggling Too Much Against Caesar
Finally, the entirety of Luffy’s final fight with Caesar during One Piece’s Punk Hazard Arc suffers from a similar issue to the fight scene between Doffy and Luffy. While Luffy, at this point in the story, is shown to be far stronger than Caesar, finishing him off with a powerful Grizzly Magnum in the manga, in the anime, it’s more of a prolonged struggle with Caesar holding his own for a bit against the attack. For many, this completely undermined the power that Luffy is supposed to have at this point in the series and needlessly prolonged an outcome that every fan knew was going to happen.
In the end, while there are plenty of moments that the One Piece anime does worse than the manga, there are plenty of reasons to watch the anime. This sentiment is especially true in recent years of the anime, with tons of budget going into making the fight scenes far better than they ever have been before. With the current trend of the One Piece anime, it won’t be too long before there are more moments that outshine manga.
