Summary
Since 1999, the animated adaptation ofOne Piece, by Toei Animation, has become one of thebiggest and most successful animein the entire world. Bringing it to television has allowed more and more people to experienceEiichiro Oda’smasterful pirate adventure.
Nevertheless, as faithful as this adaptation has been, there have been some glaring differences that fans of the manga have noticed. Some of them are so big that they have completely changed the way iconic characters are depicted. Whether it’s because of censorship, pacing issues, or supplementary material that has never been animated, here are someOne Piececharacters that manga readers enjoyed more.
Updated on April 16th, 2024, by Julián Fernández Loyarte:Since the original publication of this list, the One Piece anime has released even more episodes. It has been several months since the conclusion of the Wano arc, and the beginning of the Egghead arc. Many characters reappeared in the anime, and some of them were ruined to the point that their addition to this list was justified. So, new entries about Momonosuke and Rob Lucci were added to help reflect current attitudes about the show’s characters, and particularly their adaptations from the One Piece manga.
12Edward Newgate AKA Whitebeard
He Takes More Damage
Whitebeardis regarded as one of the strongest pirates in the series. Fans remember him because of the impressive final battle during the Marineford Arc of the anime, where he tanked 267 sword wounds, 152 gunshot wounds, 46 cannonballs hits, and much more.
However, his final performance was much more impressive in the manga. Not only does he take much more damage in a much more graphic fashion, but one of the most powerful blows was censored in the anime. WhenAdmiral Akainuattacks Whitebeard in the manga, half off his face is blown off by the lava; meanwhile, he just gets his mustache burned off in the anime.
11Trafalgar D. Water Law
Censorship Softens His Attitude
Trafalgar Law’s character development has been among the deepest inOne Piece. While he’s now one of Luffy’s closest allies, he started off as a more rebellious character back when he was first introduced as one of the Supernovas during Seabody.
This introduction is much better in the manga, where Law points his middle finger atEustass Kid. He later repeats this to mockDoflamingoduring their battle. Both instances of the gesture were censored in the anime, removing a big part of Law’s bad-mannered personality.
10Zeff
Missing An Important Backstory Detail
Oda excels at writing backstories for his characters, andSanji’sis often considered one of the most heart-wrenching. Watching the young cook and his mentor,Zeff, slowly starve on that small island for days made audiences understand why they both appreciate food so much.
But this backstory was much better in the original work. While Zeff cuts his leg off to save Sanji from drowning in the anime, he actually eats his own leg after giving Sanji all their rations in the manga. This makes Zeff a much more impactful character, and it ties to his culinary aspect. Luckily, this part of his story was kept uncensored in thelive action series.
9Viola
Better Design & Expanded Backstory
One of the most common criticisms ofOne Pieceis the strange designs of itsfemale characters. And while Oda is guilty of this, Toei sometimes exaggerates the proportions of the women even more in the anime adaptation.Violais one of their most infamous cases, as can be seen in the comparison above.
On top of that, Oda also alluded to a huge part of Viola’s backstory in one of his SBS columns, which was sadly never adapted into the anime. He explained that she used to have an intimate relationship with Doflamingo, which makes both characters much deeper and more interesting.
8Enel
Has More Scenes In The Manga
Enelis often regarded as one of Luffy’s most intimidating and powerful enemies, thanks to his godlike status and his use of theRumble-Rumble Fruit. But anime viewers may wonder why he’s one of the few antagonists that were never heard from again.
Manga readers, however, are aware of his cover story. In this brief tale, readers see what happened to Enel after the events ofSkypea, in which he finally reaches the moon and even helped an army of small robots to fight a crew of space pirates. This made fans wonder: Will we ever see Enel again in the main story?
7Camie & Pappag
They’re Introduced Earlier
Cover storiesare a clever element of the manga that have barely been adapted into the anime. While they gave some characters more screen time, other characters’ entire introductions were made during these stories. The mermaidCamieand her starfish friendPappagare a perfect example.
In the anime, these characters and their close friendship withHatchanmay seem to come out of nowhere. Manga readers, though, were aware of their existence for years before their reintroduction during the Seabody arc. These readers much more willing to accept Hatchan’s redemption, and the story made Camie and Pappag’s rescue more engaging.
6Kuzan AKA Aokiji
Introduced In A Canon Arc
Kuzan, formerly known asAokiji, was introduced in a somewhat strange way in the anime, where he’s first seen rescuing a bunch of random people during a filler arc. And, as much of an impact as this had, his introduction was much more meaningful in the manga.
Kuzan first appears at the end of the infamous Long Ring Long Land arc, and he completely changes the tone of an otherwise silly arc. He also helps outTonjit, a character that readers grew attached to over the course of many chapters, instead of a bunch of strangers. Overall, this introduction does a better job of showing off his gray sense of justice.
5Kaido
Seems Much Stronger And Was Portrayed With A Lackluster 3D Model
The first battle between Luffy andKaidoin the land of Wano is one of themost memorable fights in the anime. It shows the audience how much Luffy has grown, while also establishing how much of a powerhouse the captain of the Beasts Pirates is.
But readers consider this clash to be much more impactful in the manga. The anime drags the fight out with its slow pacing, and makes it seem like Luffy and Kaido are on a similar level. In the manga, Kaido gets up just once and finishes Luffy off with one quick attack. This demonstrates how strong he truly is and how Luffy was way out of his league, foreshadowing how much more training Luffy needed before he could defeat this opponent.
On a different topic, Kaido’s blue dragon form looks simply amazing and was mostly portrayed as such in the anime. However, several episodes used a sketchy 3D model of dragon Kaido to fill in some of his scenes, which not only looked awful, but also ruined this character’s menacing aura.
4Franky
Was Cast Wtih An Aging Voice Actor
Frankyis often considered one ofOne Piece’s most memorable characters. This is in part thanks to his unique voice, portrayed by the legendaryKazuki Yao. He’s such a talented voice actor that Oda specifically designed the Shipwright for him, after his previous performances asBon ClayandJango.
Sadly, the man is now 64 years old, and he is slowly losing his characteristic raspy voice. During the Wano Arc, Franky stands up against Big Mom, claiming he’s not afraid of an Emperor. In the manga, this is one of his most impressive moments. But in the anime, Franky sounds like he’s struggling to speak loudly. Viewers hope that Kazuki Yao takes proper care of his voice before the anime enters the final Saga.
3Kozuki Momonosuke
His Dragon Version Was Butchered By Sketchy 3D Animation
As the user ofan artificial version of Kaido’s devil fruit,Kozuki Momonosukebecame a majestic pink dragon himself after he grew into an adult. The anime initially did a decent job at replicating Oda’s impeccable art with Momo’s incredibly detailed dragon form. This didn’t last long, however, as most of the subsequent episodes portrayed Momo as a creature made entirely in CGI.
While it’s understandable that big eastern dragons are not easy to animate in 2D, the anime used this ugly 3D of Momo’s dragon form way too much, and it was an eyesore. To make things even worse, the multiple scenes of Momonosuke trying to generate flame clouds were repeated way too often in the anime – even more so than in the manga – which made this important character feel pretty annoying by the end of the Wano arc.
