Why Oda Is Underrated (How to Write)

all right I'm gonna start with the disclaimer  that no I'm not saying I know how to write a   story as well as the best-selling manga of all  time however in the past a lot of my viewers   have told me that my one piece analysis has at  least helped them think about how to write their   own stories better so for this video we're gonna  have a slightly different topic I'm still going   to be analyzing the series but moreso trying to  break down a lot of the little things that go into   Oda's writing the countless small connections  he's having to think about that the reader may   not consciously recognize and hopefully by the  end I can paint a better picture of the insane   level of complexity that goes into crafting  and epic like one piece now interestingly I   think the best way to do this is actually not by  focusing on the big picture after all I think most   people already intuitively understand that the  overarching story of one piece has a tremendous   number of moving parts and there's clearly a  lot of thought that goes into planning out the   large-scale art progression but really the best  way to show that the big picture is much more   meticulously constructed than you might already  think is by going as micro as possible getting   down to the smallest level of the narrative and  showing the level of thought that has to go into   just figuring out how even the smallest cogs must  fit together and so for this video I'm going to   be doing a case study of three minor characters  not major characters because any major character   written by any great writer should of course be  a significant well written piece in the story but   Oda is writing a story with a million different  pieces and I hope to show that what separates him   is how much thought he puts into each and every  little piece and how each and every little piece   fits into the story so first very briefly let's  talk about alabasta maybe one day I'll do a video   for this art but if I had to condense things down  to the most important point here the main theme of   alabasta was friendship I know you could say that  there are other one piece arcs where a friendship   is a very important theme but alabasta was the  arc that really really focused in on this it   was the friendship storyline from start to finish  it was about how Vivi is no longer fighting alone   how the crew is able to reach Heights they never  could have otherwise if not for the fact that they   were fighting for each other basically the value  of having friends the importance of fighting for   the sake of your friends the strength you gain  from doing so etc etc and the climax literally   features Vivi jumping higher and higher on the  backs of her friends to the chief her goal and of   course in contrast the organization they're facing  is one that is very specifically against all   forms of camaraderie completely revolving around  secrecy and not actually knowing the identities of   other members all headed by a character who really  really really ridicules the idea of having friends   fighting for the sake of others or even trusting  anyone in general crocodile was the villain who   was most deliberately written to contrast with  Luffy's drive to fight for people he cares about   so keeping in mind that if you had to put a label  on the alabaster Ark it would be friendship it's   fitting that the final moment of the arc and a  fan favorite scene was the straw it's holding up   their cross symbols as they say goodbye to Vivi  it's a simple yet powerful closing gesture that   proves that even if their travels together were  brief the friendship they formed was permanent   so now for a moment let's pretend you're writing  one piece and you feel like you need to end an   arc about friendship with a powerful moment that  symbolizes eternal friendship so what you land   on is a scene where the straw hat silently say  goodbye by raising their arms to show a marking   that symbolizes their friendship great sounds like  a good scene but now you need a reason for them to   have this marking in the first place so working  backwards maybe they need to be able to recognize   a common marking because there is an enemy who  can mimic their appearances and that need brings   us to the first character I want to focus on mr.  to obviously there was always going to be an agent   named mr. to in the story but his specific ability  to mimic appearances was very possibly initially   chosen so that there would be a reason for the  straw hats to have these markings that would   eventually make for this powerful farewell simple  enough oK you've created this minor character   with this ability but a good writer wouldn't  just create a character with this ability for   the sole reason of having the straw hats create a  distinguishing bonding mark how can that original   intent be hidden and how can you actually leave  him organically into the larger plot while Oda   also gives mr. to a much more overt purpose in  the plot fitting him in nicely is arguably the   centerpiece of crocodile's entire scheme to take  down alabasta kingdom by inciting rebellion thanks   to his ability to copy the Kings appearance so  Otis thought of how to use this minor character   to great effect on two very different levels in  the overarching plot he is a pivotal figure whose   abilities provide the trigger for the entire  final conflict of the arc to erupt at the same   time on a character and thematic level he is a  pivotal figure whose abilities are the trigger   for the moment that ties the central character  relationships and the primary theme of the story   together at the end and hey bonuses he makes for  a good fight for one of the main characters as   well but beyond his use for the overall story Oda  then thinks about how to actually get a story out   of him and so Oda takes a minor character who was  likely originally conceived as it means to an end   and then goes on to flesh out the character  himself by crafting a small but sweet little   character art for him amidst everything else going  on in alabaster initially he is introduced as an   exceptionally bizarre figure who seems really  weird and annoying at first and even claims   that he has become lifelong friends with Estrada  after knowing them for about five minutes and this   is of course all played for Laughs mr2 is clearly  written as an over-the-top comical character who   is hard to take seriously and then of course  he's revealed to be an enemy after which for   the rest of the arc he is essentially the straw  hats fake friend he repeatedly tries to trick   them by transforming into them and has repeatedly  foiled and ultimately his ridiculous notions of   friendship are thrown back in his face but  over the course of all this ridiculousness   maybe the reader starts to find this guy kind  of entertaining maybe even likable at the very   least we start to see he's not quite as straight  up evil as those other baroque works agents and   then finally at the end of the arc after playing  the part of the deceitful fake friend of the straw   hats this entire arc after making this overblown  proclamation about friendship when he barely knew   the crew he surprises everyone by actually going  out sacrificing himself for their sake acting as   a true friend would and at that point we realized  that as bizarre as this guy is as comical as his   concept of friendship is really enough he does  genuinely mean everything he has said he sincerely   believes their friends that that one must do  anything to help a friend and so ironically   even though the straw hats markings were created  in the first place so that they could distinguish   their true friends from mister - mister - story  arc ends with him actually sacrificing himself   as a true friend to save them so basically Oda is  thinking about how to set up multiple important   developments in the broader story through this  minor character but is also going the extra   mile to write a surprising and somewhat touching  storyline for the character himself this is how   most good writers should be thinking of how to  get the most out of their minor characters but   here's what makes Oda a great writer backtracking  to the very beginning of the ark when Oda first   introduced mr2 he gets along well with the crew  and then gives an overly dramatic farewell ending   their five minutes together by telling the straw  hats that friendship has nothing to do with length   of time spent together at the time it seemed like  a ridiculous statement considering the source it   was coming from and the fact that they had barely  spent any time together at all but by the end of   the arc Oda goes and takes mr. two's character  any surprisingly noble direction that makes us   realize he's not just a gag character he really  believes their friends because he really meant   what he said when he first met them meaning that  even if the context of this quote was silly even   if the source seemed like a joke at the time at  the heart of it this message about friendship   is genuine and so if this quote was originally  played for laughs but then this scene gives us   a new perspective on the truth of this quote then  what scene immediately follows this the farewell   with Vivi the final scene that Oda was building  to where Vivi asks the straw hats if there will   be friends when they meet again and the strods  raise their arms to show that yes they will always   be friends of course they will because this is  the encapsulation of the message that mr2 told   us all the way at the start of the arc in the very  same chapter that the seeds for this ending moment   were planted the message was planted and though  at the time it did not seem meant to be taken   seriously at the penultimate scene we are made  to realize the truth it had to it all along that   true friendship is not about the length of time  spent with one another and a reader at that point   in the story may not realize how important this  idea is with regards to VV since as of chapter   216 when they parted ways Vivi had been with the  crew for over half the story anyway we don't hit   grass but in the long run this will in fact be  a blip in the grander scheme of things that by   the end of the story she'll probably only have  been with the Scots for less than 10% of their   vast journey which is why it's so important that  Oda is establishing here that none of that matters   she is a straw hat for life she has been bonded  with them forever because friendship has nothing   to do with amount of time spent together so I just  love what I did here the first time we here bond   clay say this we don't think much of it not yet  realizing this message isn't really about bond   clay at all ultimately it's going to be about Vivi  but rather than simply repeating this message at   the end of the arc Oda actually shows us the truth  of the message crafting a storyline for Berkeley   that makes us see him in a new light thereby  closing his character arc while simultaneously   giving validity to his initial message so that  for an attempted reader the memory of his quote   gains new meaning as it carries over to this  closing scene with Vivi essentially giving an   already well crafted moment even more weight  and even more impressive looking back now with   our present-day knowledge we can even speculate  on why it was so important for Oda to establish   these ideas in alabasta that Vivi will always be  one of the straw hats that length of time friends   spend together is irrelevant well consider how  important Vivi seems to be in the present day   consider all the possibilities that could come  out of the fact that there is a straw hat who is   currently at the center of the world's conflict  a straw hat who may be a queen of her own nation   soon a straw hat who seems to be in great danger  from the world government itself I have no idea   what's going to come from Vivi sudden elevated  importance in the series but I would bet that all   the way back in alabasta Oda was already planning  how to set things up such that a straw hat would   be involved in the reverie and it's clear that  he was already thinking about the reverie when   he first introduced Vivi so taking all that into  account tying a bit of the macro-level thinking   that has to go into one piece with the micro-level  thinking one could argue that really Oda's thought   process started all the way over here that he  knew there would come a time when a straw hat   separate from the crew would have to be at the  center of the world's political conflict which   means by the close of the alabaster arc the idea  has to be established that friendship has nothing   to do with length of time spent together and that  Vivi will always be a true straw hat despite only   being able to travel with the group briefly so  knowing the arc has to close with this idea being   demonstrated Oda has to come up with an emotional  moment signifying that the bond Vivi and the crew   have made is permanent even if she can no longer  be with them he then needs a reason for them to   create a distinguishing symbol of their friendship  and so the minor character mr2 is conceived to be   that reason now think of the complex train of  thought that comes just from Oda thinking about   mr2 in the context of the alabaster first get  big-time double usage out of his abilities by   turning him into the centerpiece of the villains  plot with the most important role in triggering   the final conflict of the arc at the same time  focus on the character himself and flesh out who   he acts Lia's devoting time to weaving any small  but touching storyline for someone who initially   was simply invented as a means to an end write  that story line so that it's not simply developing   the character and making us feel something for  him in the end but so that it also communicates   an important message pertaining to the main theme  of the arc and finally make this message come back   around to add new meaning to the emotional moment  that this all stemmed from in the first place   basically this is the really micro level of story  planning obviously in the broader scheme of things   Oda has to be thinking far ahead what's impressive  is if we backtrack and go smaller and smaller and   get down to the role of just one minor character  in one art we can see how even within that one   train of thought Oda is thinking about how to get  maximum mileage out of this character on multiple   levels of the story and sure you might be thinking  that well this is all based on the assumption that   Oda first thought of this scene and mr2 was  originally invented to serve this scene but   the order doesn't matter I only explained it like  this because it felt like the easiest way to break   down the interconnectedness of ideas regarding  mr2 but really we could start this loop where   ever maybe Oda was thinking of the baroque work  schemed first and foremost it was trying to think   of a way that the rebels would lose all faith in  the king and so that led to the creation of this   character who could imitate the king and then  maybe oda decided to flesh out this character   to make him more than just a straightforward  bad guy riding him so that he would shift from   a villain to a hero by the end of the arc but then  maybe this transition from villain the hero can   actually carry some meaning that's relevant to  the larger theme of the story maybe there's an   important message the reader can take away from  this and then maybe the final scene between the   strategy VV should reflect this message so what  if in the final scene they all displayed the   symbols of their permanent friendship but then why  would they have these symbols well wouldn't it be   cool if the reason they even had to create these  symbols in the first place was because of this guy   no matter how you spin it the way all these ideas  related to this one small cog in the story loop   back together to make the story work on multiple  levels is amazing and if you're thinking so what   plenty of stories of characters where you could  map out a similar flow of ideas well of course   you can but the point is again this is what Oda  is doing with a minor character in a series that   is 960 chapters long I've only been talking about  160 chapter stretch and in that 60 chapter stretch   there are at least a dozen other characters more  in Gordan than mr2 and now you might say but more   mr2 isn't just a minor character in alabasta he  also reappears in a later story arc in Piltdown   and I'm glad you brought that up because it  gets even more impressive now I don't want to   get too much into the themes of impel down or  marine forward or Rayleigh this whole war saga   because that's too much for this video but I'll  just say that one very important characteristic   of this entire storyline is that this is the only  storyline where Luffy is by himself without his   friends and this is the only storyline that  ends in complete and utter failure for Luffy   so without getting any further into it this  storyline is meant to highlight the importance   of one's friends even though it does so through  their absence so naturally Oda sees this as the   perfect time to reintroduce mr2 into the story in  an arc where Luffy is without friends what better   way to remind us of the importance of friendship  than a character that is all about this theme and   of course Oda makes it so that his reintroduction  is perfectly organic perfectly planned of course   mr. two would be in pull-down because all the  worst members of Baroque works would naturally   be in him fell down there's nothing forced about  bringing the flagbearer of friendship back into   the storyline that highlights luffy's missing  friends since its disguised by the logical return   of baroque works in general so now ode has got  mr2 back in this arc as a walking symbol of the   importance of friendship but at the same time he  can actually be used to fill the crucial role of   giving Luffy a guide and companion through his  journey through hell as no other past enemies   could be expected to properly pick up that sort  of a task and not only that as a no comma mr2 can   now be used to give us the perfect segue into the  introduction of the okama queen even cough which   in itself opens up a whole new world now we have a  miracle worker who can cure Luffy after he suffers   a fatal defeat who can make escape from imple down  illegitimate possibility and a broader sense even   cause introduction pulls back the curtain on the  Revolutionary Army and gives us insight into their   ongoing storyline and then lastly again mr2 can  be used to bring more emotional weight to the arc   through his own personal character journey and  this time oda thinks of a way to take it to an   even greater level than in alabaster here mister  two's character arc is even more prominent and   dramatic first he bravely accompanies Luffy  through hell as a true friend would but when   faced with certain death in the situation far more  terrifying than back in alabaster he goes against   his code and runs away after which the rest of the  art becomes his Redemption storyline as step by   step he makes up for his moment of cowardice going  deeper into hell to save Luffy single-handedly   fighting against wolves in the freezing cold for  his friend and ultimately redeeming himself by   doing what he was afraid to do before voluntarily  sacrificing himself to Magellan so his friends may   escape and as I said the entire marineford side  are focused on goofy without his friends which is   why it was so important that in Civ OD impelled  down and marine Ford Luffy suffered three major   defeats but interestingly Oda is also able to  show that the one small victory Luffy had in   the middle where he actually escaped simple down  despite his initial defeat was only thanks to the   one friend he did have on clay so again how well  has Oda thought out this character's role in the   story after being utilized so well in alabasta 300  chapters later he's reincorporated into the story   at the perfectly logical point plot wise where  baroque works characters will be making the return   and the perfectly logical point somatically were  a shining beacon of friendship would be needed   without the reader ever thinking twice about how  seamlessly this fits simply accepting him as a   nice companion for Luffy to have in this journey  but then who also just so happens to make free a   perfect segue into the introduction of even coffee  and the Revolutionary Army and finally we get this   dramatic character arc and emotional send-off  to top off his role in the story so if you don't   get why this is so cool just really think for a  moment from a writer's perspective of how things   related to mr. two just happened to fit together  so well in a way that you can't tell when it was   all planned for instance did Oh to always have a  long-term plan for crocodile in which case did he   decide that the most natural point for crocodile  and his top agents to return will be when Luffy   makes his way to impel town and which pointed be  realized that based on the thematic context of   the impel down arc mr2 in particular could be used  to great effect in this storyline or if it's the   other way around and he always planned on bringing  back mr2 in the saga with Luffy's without his   friends did you realize that having them reunite  in a pill town would be a great opportunity to   have the rest of the baroque works cast returned  as well so that he could then continue to develop   crocodile mr1 and even mr. three and similarly did  oda decide that he wanted to introduce luffy to a   revolutionary commander in in pill town and then  knowing that mr2 would be heavily involved in the   arc today decide to make that character the queen  of the okama so that you would have a connection   there or was even cough always going to be a no  comic mean who is a revolutionary commander and   creating even cough reminded Oh tough mister to  which made him realize this would be thematically   fitting arcturion corporate mister to and going  off that did Oda always planned this irony of   Sanjay once fighting against his natural enemy do  comma and then that seemed no come on introducing   us to the Queen okama who then trained Sanji or  did he retroactively the think of this twist after   fully fleshing out the idea of Mister to leading  movie to the Oh comically basically what I'm   saying is that just looking at mister to in both  the alabaster dark and the in pulldown arc we get   a lot of sort of chicken and the egg idea trains  where it's hard to tell whether Oda was thinking   of the plot the themes or the character arcs first  because they connect so organically and again this   is all just looking at one minor character one  very small cog in a gigantic story everything   I'm saying here is just supposed to be taken as an  example of Otis writing in a bottle if you start   thinking about all characters like this and really  start thinking about what ideas are connected to   what what plot developments are connected to  what what character arcs are connected to what   it becomes a crazy web of chicken and eggs idea  trains where ideas fit together so neatly that   you can't tell what order oda thought things out  in even just based on the baroque works cover   story oda seem to already have a clear vision  of which characters will be relevant to the in   Belltown arc from at least hundreds of chapters  back and if you're thinking well you say so much   about mister to but what about these other guys  crocodile mister one and mister three can you do   an equivalent rundown of how incorporating them  back into the story and it fell down works on   multiple levels of the narrative yes but that's  being cut for time since this video isn't about   baroque works i will be going through that in  this week's patrons podcast for those who are   interested but enough about mister to in the next  arc after alabasta we have jaya where we meet the   next minor character i want to talk about Bellamy  so we all understand that Bellamy initially just   made for a straightforward contrast with Luffy  when it came to the idea of creams the age of   Dreams is over there's no point in believing  in things whose existence can't be proven etc   etc what he doesn't realize is that the very fact  that Luffy has the drive to pursue his dreams and   to chase the impossible is what makes him capable  of going further than Bellamy ever could and so   Bellamy gets easily beaten fodder villain gets  one shot at the reader gets the point we move on   again for most writers that's it minor character  was introduced got a quick storyline out of him   used him to communicate an idea give the reader  a satisfying moment chops done but no Oda has a   lot more plan for even a guy like this so after  Skype eons we cut back to Bellamy and we learn   another significant characteristic about her he's  actually fiercely loyal as arrogant as this man   is he actually looks up to and follows somebody  else after the scene we don't see him for several   hundred chapters but basically in Jai we learned  he didn't believe in dreams and he was a loyal   follower now fast-forward to the Cristero Sark in  Ueno flamingo's story line starts Bellamy returns   as well and what's really cool is that when oda  wrote him the first time around he made it very   deliberately simple belamis way of thinking is  wrong luffy's is right but since Bellamy learned   a lesson Oda can now bring him back and flip  that simplicity for something more complex and   actually use Bellamy to show it really tragic  depiction of certain ideals that are normally   held on a pedestal in one piece one of the main  things Bellamy mocked Luffy for agile was for   stubbornly choosing to follow a path that had no  logic to it and of course what we were shown is   that choosing to stick to your dreams even when  everyone around he was telling you how stupid   you are is admirable in a way that it reflects a  certain strength of character and now when we get   to Chris Rosa we see that Bellamy has actually  learned from what Luffy won't start up the fact   that Bellamy ultimately went up to the same sky  Pia he once believed never existed the fact that   Bellamy will no longer laugh at anyone's dreams  shows that he has adopted Luffy's mentality it   seems that he has changed for the better yet  sadly Bellamy's dream is to follow doflamingo   despite the fact that doflamingo thinks nothing  that bailed me that doflamingo would happily kill   him humiliate him cast him aside Bellamy's dream  has always been to gain the respect of this man   and now in a tragic twist at the end of the arc  we see the same scene as jaya play out again with   the same outcome but with the mentalities reversed  just as Bellamy once Mach luffy's illogical dream   here we can all see how misguided Bellamy's dream  is even Luffy is telling him how stupid he's been   clinging on to this dream but Bellamy continues  on knowing his dream is foolish but now having the   strength to hold on to it regardless for better  or worse and so here we have a rare instance of   Oda casting this ideal of never giving up on  your dream despite what anyone tells you in a   negative light showing that of course you can in  fact follow a misguided dream and whether or not   Bellamy's resolve is deserving of respect in the  end is up to you to decide and along those lines   the other overarching idea that oda casts in a  negative light for arguably the first time in the   series is loyalty this is easily one of the most  important themes of one piece but through bellami   oda finally explores the idea of extreme loyalty  to the wrong person what if you choose the wrong   man to follow this same arc we get Bartolomeo an  obsessive fanboy who worships luffy and everything   he does and of course this is played for laughs  but it also makes for an important contrast with   Bellamy and doflamingo Bellamy is basically  Bartolomeu if he found himself worshiping the   wrong guy so at the end of the day sticking by  your dreams no matter what remaining loyal no   matter what these are still important traits but  for the first time Oda explores the consequences   for making the wrong choices in who and what who  initially chose to follow and if that's how Oda   uses Bellamy to communicate a necessary message  on some of the broader themes of the series what   about within the context of the arc itself well  doflamingo the puppet master was all about control   and much like the world government he controls  people in such a way that they don't even realize   how little freedom they have he is the ultimate  puppet master he's everyone on a string etc etc   for more discussion you can check out my dress  Rosso Ark analysis and in that vein Bellamy was   basically the ultimate example of doflamingo  control we always knew that doflamingo had   a strong hold over Bellamy but in Russia we see  just how pathetically Bellamy is treated just how   badly do Flamingo hasn't wrapped around his finger  dangling the spot in the crew in front of Bellamy   like a carrot on a stick forcing Bellamy to fight  against his friend all the while maintaining   complete psychological control over him and while  doflamingo manipulates and controls the entirety   of Criss Rosa what's important is that this is  the one example that Luffy can relate to Luffy   was always ready to fight for Rebecca because she  gave him food but what made Luffy truly understand   that doflamingo is a manipulative puppet master  that doflamingo embodies everything he hates was   Bellamy Luffy doesn't have the best grasp of big  picture concepts he can only understand what is   being done to his friends and so even if he didn't  know the details of everything that had happened   in dressrosa on a simple personal level he  understood that doflamingo is keeping Bellamy from   being truly free which in turn made him understand  that beating doflamingo was important for everyone   else's freedom and of course that's why Luffy  beating doflamingo with gear fourth a one that   clearly emulates belamis abilities was so fitting  after all Luffy represents the will of those who   are not strong enough to overthrow evil on their  own so as Luffy is pointing out that doflamingo   has manipulated and hurt all these people and  that he's going to take it upon himself to take   doflamingo down for that the form that Luffy  turns into to defeat him is fittingly symbolic   of one of the primary victims of dough flamingos  control so keeping all that in mind just looking   at this minor character Bellamy what does that  tell us about how far I had oh that thing's to   make all his ideas tie together it seems like he  had Luffy vs doflamingo planned all the way back   when he introduced felony so the question is did  Oda already have gear ford planned at that point   and if so was gear fourth always planned to be  springy and basically if he started with the   concept that gear fourth would defeat doflamingo  and gear fourth would be springy did he then work   backwards and set up a villain that foreshadowed  the future gear fourth springiness back in jaya   the important point being that this villain was  clearly under doflamingo thumb from the start so   that in the future in the arc where Luffy finally  fights this puppet master Luffy could symbolically   fight for freedom and crush the puppet master by  using the same ability as one of dil flamingo's   puppets or did oda seamlessly connect these ideas  retroactively me meaning that dressrosa came   around and he thought of a really cool concept for  gear fourth that it could be based on springiness   just like Bellomy which in turn could make for a  fading return and purpose for bellamy in the story   as a way to show a tragic character art depicting  the pitfalls of extreme steadfastness in one's   dreams and loyalties while simultaneously acting  as a trigger for luffy to see doflamingo for the   puppet master years ultimately making the final  clash about freedom versus control again it's   more chicken in the egg idea trains over a massive  stretch of time but the point is that either way   all these ideas fit together seamlessly what's  important to understand here for riders is that   just like mr. to when oda is bringing back these  minor characters it's not just random he's not   just bringing them back into the story for the  sake of bringing them back in there's usually   intent and purpose to the minor characters return  there's more to be done with the character the   character fits in perfectly with the concepts  of the story and what needs to happen in the   plot and a lot of ideas that we see come out of  this characters reintroduction reflect either a   ridiculous level of planning from the original arc  they were featured in or just an extraordinarily   well conceived way tying new ideas back into old  ideas but again back to the bottom line how much   is Oda able to get out of a minor character like  Bellamy we got a complete character art from one   of the most hated villains in the series to  a fully humble reborn man we got a uniquely   tragic depiction of the normally positively  portrayed overarching themes of the story we got   a more personalized representation of what makes  doflamingo and manipulative puppet master we got   an emotional trigger for our main character and  even Bellamy's abilities gave some added symbolism   to the final battle of the arc not bad for a dude  who is once this simple and lastly I want to talk   about one more minor character also from dressrosa  probably the most minor of the three characters   in this video so far send your pink now I bet  most people right now are thinking okay we could   probably see this one coming pretty much everyone  acknowledges that Senator pink story was very well   done and is a great example of how well Oh des  can write minor characters but there's another   level to send your Pink's writing but I think  most people don't pick up on so again talking   quickly about overall themes Fross Fross always  a story about love and heart and this played   out in many ways focusing on the importance of  compassion and how having the heart is what makes   us human compared to a supposedly divine figure  like doflamingo who is heartless and fittingly   there are a lot of romantic relationships in this  art compared to the average one piece art as well   as a heavy emphasis on the bonds between parent  and child a scene of course through Heroes and   Rebecca but also through the story of law and  Corazon where Corazon took in the lost child   law similar to how San Goku once took in Corazon  himself and the art fittingly concludes with the   straw hat crew as a whole becoming a parent crew  to countless followers after the exchanging of   father and sons cups so all these ideas of heart  romance parental love etc are portrayed through   the various players and storylines of the arc  but Oda being Oda he wants to squeeze out as   much as he possibly can from all the pieces he has  available and so even with a minor henchmen like   Senor pink he was able to explore these themes in  a unique way we all got that senior pink has a far   more moving backstory than one would expect for a  character like him but what was the actual point   of it this is something that I feel most readers  miss but is crucial for any aspiring writer to   understand Oda never just throws in a sad story  for the sake of a sad story there's always   significant subtext that add something new to the  message of his overall story and so if we think of   one piece as a whole one major recurring trade Oda  really likes to bring out through his characters   is quote-unquote manliness in an interview  with Toriyama he even say that that manliness   has always been an important basis for the series  and we can see this play out a million different   ways throughout one piece but now in an argument  Graciosa that centers around softer themes like   love the heart and so on how does the idea of  manliness fit in this context well Oda gives us   signore pink whose whole character is a statement  on manliness at first glance it seems like the one   word that defines sender pink is hard-boiled  we were supposed to understand from the start   that this guy is the epitome of manliness and  his entire fight with Frankie is based on the   idea that these are two real manly men but it's  ridiculous isn't it that Senor pink is considered   so manly despite dressing like a baby that's the  gag right well no that's the point of his bastard   we learned that Senor pink was once actually a  suave distinguished mob man however after his   child dies and his wife is left in a vegetative  state he feels as though he has lost everything   one day as a joke he puts on their sons bonnet  and realizes that this one act is actually able   to make his wife smile again and so after this  send your pink begins a transformation gradually   casting aside any sort of dignity or refinement he  once had to dress more and more like an overgrown   baby and even though sunnier pink is highly  respected in the present day despite his outfit   back when he first began dressing like this he was  universally mocked and ridiculed of course in your   pink didn't care what anyone else thought he had  no regard for his prior to reputation he was happy   to live the rest of his life as a walking joke  so long as he could simply make his wife smile at   the memory of their child and so the point being  that's what a true man is throughout the arc oda   kept hammering in the idea that see this guy send  your pink is a man's man he's the most hard-boiled   guy around look at all this over-the-top tough-guy  stuff that he does and then finally oda turns that   all on its head by suddenly giving us a very real  heartfelt look at the essence of who sent your   pink really is what we are shown is that what  really defines him is his love for his wife and   child the most impressive thing about him isn't  that he brushes his teeth with a shoe brush but   he refuses to dodge anyone's attacks it's the  extraordinary lens he has gone to in order to   simply bring out his wife's smile dressing  up as a baby is just about the least manly   thing you can do on paper but that's the point  otice getting at at the end of the day the most   manly thing you can do is be a loving father  and a loving husband and in a series that so   heavily features these over-the-top displays of  manliness that we all love I think it was really   important that Oda took advantage of the themes of  dressrosa to also give a more nuanced softer take   on the concept that's what makes this character  a simple second-tier subordinate who may never   again be relevant to the story so brilliantly  written so again how do you make the most out   of a minor character on the surface level we're  getting some comedy through his continued gag of   extremely exaggerated manliness and similarly  we're getting a pretty funny fight for one of   the main characters where the two can pit their  exaggerated manliness against one another but   then Oda goes deeper and uses this character  to tell a surprisingly tragic story that makes   for one of the strongest emotional points in the  entire dressrosa arc despite coming from such an   unlikely source these top two levels are what I  feel most readers already love send your Pink's   so much for but what makes Oda so extraordinary  is really he's going three layers deep with such   a small character despite initially using him  as a caricature of the concept of manliness   he throws us for a loop but then giving him a  tragic backstory that in turn gives us a very   real message on what manliness really is a message  that perfectly ties together the broader concept   of manliness in one piece with the dressrosa  specific themes of love and compassion so all   that is to say that writing a story like one  piece takes a lot more thought than you might   assume of course Oda has to think far ahead about  how each arc will build on top of the next one and   then the next one and then the next one until he  eventually gets where he's trying to go but even   within each arc there are a tremendous amount of  pieces at play and rather than focus on just a few   central ones and treat the others as accessories  Oda aims to utilize as many small pieces as   possible to their fullest telling compelling  individual stories with minor characters while   still developing the plot through them and making  sure their individual stories are adding greater   meaning to the overall story ultimately building  a richer narrative if you enjoyed this video then   please like share and subscribe and you can  help support me making more videos like this   one in the future by becoming a patron benefits  include access to chapter reviews and voting on   future video topics and I want to give special  thanks to my patrons Simon finds Sebastian see   crimson crystal Nicholas Tatum Lorenzo Linares  spike SP Jared Abdullah Chandra 3000 Paul George   fan fuzzball Pete azim strauss-kahn Moe Musa  Excel jabya knock Lucci Savi LUN dark eternal   patron Aidan Ryan moist juices Vince T hair bond  re Ryan gerado Michelle Grier Melanie G Schwab a   Rob Williams Siddharth Siddharth vogner ker zodak  Patrick Holland Laura vowels we hace Hakeem Torres   Bartos Sawada Roja night and on cane the radiant  Duke Luisa Guire Cliver Mort i'ma like to 609

Channel: Mr Morj

Views: 316,395

Keywords: goda one piece, how does oda, how does oda draw one piece, how does oda plan, how does oda plan so far ahead, how to write like oda, oda foreshadowing, oda is a genius, oda is god, oda is on fire, oda is the, one piece foreshadowing, one piece goda, what makes oda, what makes oda a genius, what makes oda great, why oda is, why oda is a genius, why oda is the, why oda is the best, why oda is the greatest, eiichiro oda

Id: kCC8o89sA0M

Length: 34min 20sec (2060 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 31 2019