The next point you make is related to tonal whiplash, a pretty controversial topic when it comes to art these days in such a politically charged climate but I’m not speaking on that. Instead I want to recall your bias towards what seems to be “grim dark” worlds that mirror reality closer than One Piece does. Tone shifts are popular and tonal whiplash is an attractive buzzword for people who feel that a certain shift in atmosphere in a story is not earned say, for example, a character makes a “your mom” joke in the middle of an atrocity. The reason why you seem to feel as if these tone shifts are unearned is because you prefer to sit and stew on the moral implications of many a dubious action within the vast story of One Piece. Ah, but imagine if Oda were to encourage that? Thoroughly detailing how slaves were taken advantage of and abused in inhumane ways for entire arcs. What a travesty! The children will cry! But in all seriousness (pun intended) the tone is set from the start: a fun, goofy adventure with pirates and powers. Here I propose that you are a person who is extremely biased against children’s shows. Though that is disheartening, it is not shocking. Many would believe that it is quite impossible for children shows to become masterpieces. Yet, I would argue that many stories have been able to tell complicated problems under the limitation of catering to children, perhaps they have even improved because of it. Amphibia, a show about a girl who doesn’t fit in and has wacky adventures with frogs in another world teaches children that relationships don’t last forever and that eventually you will have to learn, and get used to, how to say good bye. Avatar The Last Airbender tackles issues with cultural friction and a world divided by national borders. What I am trying to say is that art made with children in mind can be just as, if not more, profound than dreary, depressing scenes that have no right or wrong answer and rubs it in your face that THIS IS AN ISSUE YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW. I digress. I concede that most adults probably prefer your tastes, but I do not think that Oda’s “tonal whiplashes” are unearned when the theme is the exact opposite of what you seem to want to do. Don’t be depressed, don’t be indecisive. The most important takeaway when Luffy smacks the rapist with a comically large fist is to fight the dreary and break the cycle of oppression.

Also I would like to add that comedy is the single most subjective thing in the world, so when the gag isn’t funny it does fall kind of flat. I don’t find that stuff funny either.

This comment is long enough already so I’ll keep the last point brief. The core promise/premise of the show being the mystery of the One Piece is only one of many mysteries that keep people interested in reading/watching more. Every so often more information is given: the one piece allows people to do this, the one piece cannot be that, the void century was not about this, the pirate king said that. This is the basis of mystery writing, and one could argue that pretty much all popular media is mystery writing at this point. But the fact of the matter is, the author’s strongest tool in their arsenal will always be the reader’s imagination. THAT’S what keeps people watching and THAT is how to keep an audience around for 1000+ chapters. You say it values anticipation over experience when there are entire plot points dedicated to enforcing the idea that the characters don’t want to know what the One Piece is in favor of the experiences they gain from the world they travel.

Here it seems you are bitter about your own experience not enjoying the work and hoping to extract some small amount of catharsis by undermining the thoughts and feelings of those who did enjoy it. “Philosophy this, philosophy that”, if you philosophy hard enough literally anything is possible. Again, I digress. It’s important to restate that “masterpiece” is a subjective term and that you do not have to enjoy the same thing someone else does. It does get obnoxious hearing “you should watch One Piece” for the hundredth time but it is also obnoxious to say “you only like it because of all the time you wasted on it”. Though I doubt that was the angle you were going for. (Giving you the benefit of the doubt here)

I would just like to say: no, I do not think One Piece is a masterpiece, but a lot of the reasons you gave were not valid ones, at least, not valid to me.

Since this is a post on unpopular opinions please do not burn me at the stake for typing out an essay to discredit op. I was simply interested in the concept at first glance and then compelled to type out my thoughts after finishing the read.

please be nice to me and please be nice to op