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There are many reasons as to whyOne Piecestands out from other anime. From its interesting world, unique characters, and amazing story,One Pieceis at the top of the anime world for a reason. However, these details aren’t the first thing many aspiring fans notice about the series. Instead, what most people see for the first time, rather than the amazing story that lurks beneath, is the surface-level weirdness that setsOne Pieceapart in the eyes of most anime watchers.
This includes strange environments and weird powers, but most importantly, the first thing many fans notice inOne Pieceis the unique character designs. With often extremely exaggerated bodies that look far from human, to massive characters that are five times larger than they should be,One Pieceplays with character designin a unique way that no other anime has done before
One Piece Character Designs Are Strange
Characters Are Exaggerated With Strange Body Shapes
Looking at the designs ofOne Piececharacters, it’s easy to see what makes them stand out. Oftentimes, the features of characters will be stretched and exaggerated to cartoonish proportions. This helps take certain characteristics of these character designs, allowing Oda to draw attention to certain features, over any other. For a smaller example,the Emperor, Buggy the Clown’s, cartoonishly large red nose is an important part of his character and is often one of the first things that fans notice about him, due to its abnormally large size and red color.
Does my nose look funny to you? - Buggy
However, otherOne Piececharacters take this a step even further, with their whole body being completely and unrealistically exaggerated. A character like Wapol, for example, has very tiny limbs compared to his massive body. Additionally, his mouth takes up most of the real estate of his character design. Other characters, likethe powerful former Emperors, Whitebeard and Big Mom, are hugely tall and massively large, despite being normal humans.
Exaggerated Body Shapes Make Characters Distinct
With A Strong Silhouette One Piece Characters Stand Out
These types of characters are all a part of the author ofOne Piece, Oda’s, amazingly unique art style. One of the important principles in designing a recognizable character is to give them a distinctive shape, allowing the character to be identified simply from a silhouette. Although this applies to the bizarre shapes of characters like Wapol and Big Mom, it also applies to smaller exaggerations, like Zoro’s three swords, orLuffy’s iconic Straw Hat. All these tiny details of character design, though they may make a character seem more ugly at first, help the characters stand out.
However, having a strong silhouette is only the first step, and not a wholly necessary one, in character design. Many ofthe bestOne Piece charactersalso use their unique character design and exaggerations to help give fans an idea about their personality. For example, the former Drum Island king, Wapol’s, large mouth can imply that the character is greedy and hungry, while a ridiculously tall character like Whitebeard emphasizes his power. While for someOne Piececharacters, the audience shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, many times the designs of the characters are the first important step in analyzing who they are.
Strange Designs Make Sense In The One Piece World
Devil Fruits And Other Weird Abilities Make For Strange-Looking People
Finally,the character designs ofOne Pieceare designed to be so weird because the world ofOne Pieceis so weird itself. The universe ofOne Pieceis extremely strange and goofy, so it follows that most of the people living there would be strange and goofy as well. This is especially true for those living on the Grand Line, where extreme levels of power and weird Devil Fruits have completely changed people from how they formally looked.
You runts aren’t bad. - Big Mom to Law and Kid
While to a potential fan,One Piececharacters may seem ugly, most of theOne Piecefan base loves how the series' characters are designed. These weird character designs are just one of the many things that makeOne Piecesuch a unique franchise. In fact, many fans have come to treasureOne Piece’sstrange characters as one of the most interesting parts of the show.
