Just rewatched this video
It has some excellent analysis of the Syrup Village arc and if you haven't seen it please do watch it. The points about Kuro and his relationship to Kaya and Usopp and the wider themes of One Piece are so good, and the point about his glasses is especially clever
The analysis was as good as I remembered, but what I'd forgotten about this video was how ruthlessly critical it is about the Syrup Village arc and early One Piece in general. I think I just didn't mind that sort of thing back when I watched this video originally, but nowadays it's genuinely starting to get to me, because I'm just so tired of people complaining about how bad early One Piece supposedly was. And it's so unnecessary too, he really didn't need to keep harping on all the supposed problems with the arc at every turn. It has literally nothing to do with the actual point of the video and it comes off to me as really insecure like "oh don't think that I have such a bad taste as to think that early One Piece was well written and well drawn! I have much more refined taste and I'm also above poop jokes!"
To be fair his ultimate conclusion is still very positive and clearly he still appreciates the arc a lot, but man it was grating to listen to. Maybe I'm just overly sensitive but some of the things he complains about are just absolutely not problems at all? Like idk what's wrong with the way Usopp's backstory is delivered, I mean other than wishing that Banchina had more of a character beyond Dying Mother, I think it's genuinely great. It's a retroactive reframing of Usopp's pranks and it's explained to Kaya just as she has said goodbye to Usopp and has learned to lie a bit herself.
And I just don't understand why he seems to feel the need to keep saying that the poop decorations on Kuro's outfit are unsubtle. Why is that a bad thing abdjkfkrkf
One Piece isn't trying to be subtle about everything, the primary goal of this series is in fact to be fun. And a fancy overly serious butler with golden poop on his coat is fun. It's the kind of dumbass goofy bullshit that was part of why I fell in love with the series in the first place. I like that Oda doesn't take himself or his series too seriously, that even to this day he refuses to do so
Also I like the art in this era, I like the simplicity and charm
Like sure the arc isn't perfect but I don't understand the disdain that like 95% of the fandom seems to have for it, and which this seems to be another example of. It's overall a very solid short story with a lot of nuance relatively to its length, and I know TBSkyen knows that because he literally talks about some of that nuance here!
He's on Tumblr so he might actually see this (hopefully not but I'm aware that it's a remote possibility) in which case: hi, love your analysis, sorry about the venting (that's all this really is)
I think this is getting to me because I'm just so tired of hearing about how bad early One Piece is and about how it "gets good" in Arlong Park / Alabasta / Water Seven / whatever. Which isn't what TBSkyen is saying, obviously, but it still kinda feels like a part of the same chorus
When I got back into One Piece in 2022, I kinda turned into a pusher, as I think most people do (altho weirdly I don't think I was when I was originally reading One Piece for the first time) but now I feel like I've become the opposite
I've gotten to a point where I actively tell people to drop the series if they aren't enjoying it from the start
If someone is complaining about the first few arcs, I'm just like okay stop reading/watching then
My reasoning is that if someone is actually genuinely interested they'll keep reading or watching anyway, and more importantly, I'm at a point where I kinda wanna gatekeep this series because I don't want any more "fans" who talk about One Piece like they actually hate almost everything about it
I'm tired of the "wishing every arc was W7/EL" crowd, I'm tired of the "Oda needs to kill more characters" crowd, I'm tired of the "Gear Death" crowd, I'm tired of the "marines are actually the good guys" crowd, I'm tired of the "I love One Piece but I hate Oda" crowd
Not to even mention all the complaining about there not being enough fights anymore, or too many flashbacks or whatever
I'm just so goddamn tired
It's always like this with fandoms, I know. They're a double-edged sword
And to be fair the people who are all like "current One Piece sucks, pre-ts is the only good part" are also incredibly annoying
But yeah, I'm just not in the mood for all the negativity from ANY direction right now tbh. Call me overly sensitive if you like, because I guess that's exactly what I am. But it's not that I'm unwilling to recognise that the series has flaws, or that Oda himself has flaws, obviously it does and obviously he does. It's just exhausting how the fandom seems to be flooded with negativity towards the series itself when I still love it and still want to enjoy it. It makes me wonder why all these people are even here.
And I'm not looking for this stuff! I'm in fact doing my best to avoid it! But at this point I feel like nowhere is safe to just enjoy the series in peace, except with my irl friend who is a baby fan and still catching up
Maybe I should take a break from the fandom myself tbh. It's probably just not worth it anymore
I mean I think some of the overly negative people are the ones who should take a break from the series as a whole because they're clearly burnt out or something (which is fine, it's a long ass series) but it's not like I can make them
(Sorry for all the ranting lately, I've been in a mood clearly)