The incredible story and delightful characters are a major reason One Piece has become such a widespread and beloved franchise today. However, there are still elements of the anime that are simply poorly done and have problematic aspects of them. These elements aren’t enough to detract from the overall quality of the series for most fans, but newer adaptations avoid these pitfalls when they come about.

Older fans of the series are much more used to these issues, so it’s easier for them to be dismissed. Plus, quite a few of these problematic elements simply aren’t uncommon with One Piece’s contemporaries, either. To many, the way One Piece handles many issues and characters may be a deal-breaker, but this series is constantly improving in terms of both storytelling and being better at extending compassion to wider groups than ever before.

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10

One Piece Treated Alvida Poorly & Like a Joke

Alvida Deserved So Much Better

Iron Mace Alvida is just another small fry pirate who thinks she’s more powerful and important than she actually is. She keeps her crew afraid of her and makes sure they declare their loyalty to her and her beauty several times a day. The fact that she’s ugly is a large part of the gag with her character. Her being an overweight woman is the butt of the joke with her character.

It’s only when Alvida’s return makes her more prominent in the series by working with Buggy the Clown that she’s suddenly made into a beautiful woman. Although the message may not be intentional, the idea that women can only be important in the story if they follow societal beauty stands is heavily implied. The one good thing that comes with Alvida’s transformation is that she genuinely doesn’t see herself as any different from before and is content with herself either way.

9

One Piece’s Post-Time Skip Designs Make Its Women Look Nearly Identical

One Piece’s Men Get Unique Designs, But Its Women Stay the Same

As is common in shonen anime, the way women in One Piece are drawn appeals to a young male audience. Being attractive is often a core of their character designs. However, after the time skip, most of the women in One Piece suddenly had the same exaggerated, unrealistic proportions. Where Nami and Nico Robin once looked different from each other and therefore distinct, now they have very similar silhouettes.

Women in this anime don’t get nearly as much of a variety of body types. Plus, those that don’t fit into the basic mold are often antagonists. There’s nothing wrong with attractive female characters, but that’s a bad precedent. As such, the clear thought and intention that once made each character stand out from each other is lost for the sake of having more eye candy. The personality that could be expressed in each character’s design doesn’t seem to matter as much for female characters.

8

Shirahoshi Was Only 6 When Vander Decken Set His Sights on Her

Shirahoshi Has Every Right to Be Angry

Shirahoshi has spent a significant portion of her life locked away in a tower because Vander Decken decided she owed him her love. He has done nothing but torment her as she’s grown up. She has been terrified of him for as long as he’s threatened her. This has been happening since Shirahoshi was 6 years old.

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The fact that Shirahoshi rejected him because he’s not her type feels underwhelming. While a perfectly valid reason to reject someone, that doesn’t compare to what he deserved for everything he’s done to her. She may still fear him after all these years, but the anime fails to properly address how disturbing Vander Decken’s actions are.

7

Shiryu Getting Absalom’s Devil Fruit Is Actually an Upgrade

Absalom Was the Worst Possible Choice for His Own Devil Fruit

Every character in One Piece who wants the Clear Clear Fruit wants it for nefarious reasons, but Absalom is one of the worst people to use it. Absalom uses it to violate women’s privacy, specifically Nami’s. He even has the audacity to change her and try to force her to marry him. He even drugs Nami when his initial plan doesn’t work.

Shiryu is a villain and a terrible person in his own right, but he shows no signs of wanting to use the Clear Clear Fruit for the same reasons as Absalom. Him having the fruit is going to be a problem for the Straw Hats, but they’ve beat it before. All that combined means that Shiryu isn’t the worst person to have the fruit.

6

One Piece’s Kamabaka Kingdom Relies Heavily on Stereotypes

One Piece Balances Both Strong and Problematic Representation

One Piece has good examples of various gender identities that have only been taken more seriously as the anime progresses. However, there are still times when it falls back on stereotypes for the sake of comedy. The citizens of Kamabaka Kingdom are a victim of this mentality.

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Where Bon Clay and Ivankov get to be dynamic members of the cast, the citizens of Kamabaka reinforce the idea that people who are gender-nonconforming are predatory. Ivankov is a fascinating character with an interesting past. His involvement with the Revolutionary Army is a delightful addition to his use of the horm horm fruit, too. It’s a shame his followers don’t get any of the same respectful treatment as he does.

5

One Piece’s Main Cast Lacks Racial Diversity

One Piece Characters Keep Getting Noticeably Whiter

Usopp and Robin are the easiest examples of characters getting paler skin tones as the story goes on. The argument has been made that they never had dark skin in the official manga colors, and the anime is just reflecting the manga more over time. However, that doesn’t change the fact that neither of these characters look like they originally did.

Usopp is drawn with traits that anime especially associates with black characters, but his exaggerated features fall in line with racist stereotypes. The fact that Usopp is from “Africa” when all the other Straw Hats would be from specific countries doesn’t make the handling of Usopp’s race any better. That he specifically has gotten so much paler as the anime goes on has nasty implications.

4

Sanji Doesn’t Treat Women as Well as He Thinks He Does in One Piece

There’s a Fine Line Between Chivalry and Sexism, and Sanji Crosses It Often

Despite being a pervert, Sanji was a gentleman as well when he was first introduced. However, that latter quality has been eclipsed by the former more over the years. His uncomfortable treatment of women only gets worse in the time skip where he nearly dies because of a nosebleed.

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The idea of never fighting a women is quite antiquated and sexist. While it stems from various beliefs throughout his childhood, it isn’t an admirable quality. This is typically treated as a character flaw in the story, though. However, Sanji’s simultaneous subservience and creepiness towards women are only considered quirks when they’re really damaging behaviors.

3

One Piece Has a Problem With Sexualizing Child Characters

Jewelry Bonney Deserves Better Writing in One Piece

Jewelry Bonney has been sexualized since her introduction. However, back then her backstory likely wasn’t developed. This problem is only made worse when her greatest moments of sexualization come during the same arc where he true age is revealed.

Bonney may spend her time disguised as an adult, but she’s only 12 years old. Therefore, she should never have been shown in a sexual light. Scenes that are fan service become very unpleasant with her actual age in mind.

2

Momonosuke Is Way Too Young for the Jokes One Piece Gives Him

Momonosuke Is Surrounded by Terrible Role Models

On the other side of the spectrum, Kozuki Momonosuke is a child with perverted tendencies that has clearly been encouraged. Even though he isn’t the sexualized character, the fact that an 8-year-old is featured in fan service moments is a poor choice to say the least.

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Momonosuke and Foxfire Kinemon have a very touching relationship, but that doesn’t change the fact that Kinemon’s habits aren’t something Momo should look up to. Momo is very smug about being able to touch Nami because he can compare himself to the likes of Sanji and Kinemon, which only encourages him.

1

One Piece Boa Hancock Stops Being Intimidating the Moment She Falls in Love

The Issue Isn’t That Boa Hancock Falls in Love, It’s How It’s Handled

Boa Hancock stood as a unique figure as the only female Warlord. She’s a dangerous and well-respected pirate who uses the fact that she’s the most beautiful woman in the world as a weapon against her foes. She also leads and protects the all-women Kuja Pirates, even if she isn’t a kind leader.

However, many of these qualities are reduced to secondary traits once she falls in love with Luffy. Her falling in love with him in an interesting turning point to her character that clearly relates to both her trauma and role as Amazon Lily’s queen. However, the qualities that make her such a great pirate get cast by the wayside when she only focuses on marrying Luffy.

One Piece

Release Date

October 20, 1999

Network

Fuji TV

Directors

Hiroaki Miyamoto, Konosuke Uda, Junji Shimizu, Satoshi Itō, Munehisa Sakai, Katsumi Tokoro, Yutaka Nakajima, Yoshihiro Ueda, Kenichi Takeshita, Yoko Ikeda, Ryota Nakamura, Hiroyuki Kakudou, Takahiro Imamura, Toshihiro Maeya, Yûji Endô, Nozomu Shishido, Hidehiko Kadota, Sumio Watanabe, Harume Kosaka, Yasuhiro Tanabe, Yukihiko Nakao, Keisuke Onishi, Junichi Fujise, Hiroyuki Satou

• Mayumi Tanaka

  Monkey D. Luffy (voice)

• 

  Kazuya Nakai

  Roronoa Zoro (voice)