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The story
Eiichiro Oda has caused a stir online by saying he suddenly drew Tom and Jerry-style gag expressions in his manga because he hated how serious battle manga were becoming. This is believed to refer to the exaggerated, cartoon-style movements of “Nika” that Luffy has displayed since the Wano arc. On 5ch, two reactions stood out: comparisons noting that “Tom and Jerry actually has better pacing and more variety in its gags,” and pointed remarks about the contradiction in his statement, since “it was Oda himself who made the Celestial Dragons storyline so serious in the first place.”
What people said
Like Gintama or Misfull
You can't even tell who's the enemy from this
If he keeps running his mouth like this in interviews and roundtables, he's going to back himself into a corner
The editor's number one job should be making sure he doesn't talk like this behind the scenes and just has him draw
Isn't there too much goofing around though
Steering into comedy and then bombing over and over isn't okay
There was no need to have a Sea King bite someone's arm off
This got nothing but criticism online at the time
Even though TV kept pushing it as hilarious
I did chuckle at it getting ribbed in Himouto! Umaru-chan though
One Piece basically rips off Disney movies for most of it anyway
But contrary to his intent, the vast majority of readers just want to see a cool Luffy, so it inevitably clashes
The author's probably drawing it thinking kids will find it funny, but the hell of it is that kids don't actually want that at all
It got kicked out of late night too
So basically if it's not funny, it's no good
That's rough, One Piece
This is a more brutal dignity-crusher than any flame-war bait on any anonymous forum
Demon Slayer reruns taking over the Fuji TV Sunday-morning kids' slot while One Piece gets shoved into late night
Love that anime-original episode where Sanji infiltrates the Navy as a cook ♥
Well, no kids are watching it anyway — it's only middle-aged guys watching, so a late-night slot is well-deserved
Even that late-night slot got taken over by Dragon Ball reruns 😭
Oda's completely let the means become the end here
Exactly this
If he wants to do that, he should draw a gag manga or save it for actual gag moments
The ones in real trouble are Dragon Ball and Hunter x Hunter
We're talking about 2026 here
Bringing 2025 data doesn't help
Bring 2026 data
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
“Nika” is the Devil Fruit power Luffy awakens during the Wano arc, characterized by rubbery, exaggerated expressions reminiscent of early Western cartoon animation. Oda has a history of using this art style as a release valve whenever his battle manga gets too heavy, and his latest remarks are an extension of that. The thread split mainly over two points. The first was a technical disagreement: Tom and Jerry itself draws on a wide range of expressions and gag devices, whereas Nika’s depiction is seen as repeating a limited set of patterns, like eyes popping out of the head. The second was criticism pointing out the contradiction in his statement, since it was Oda himself who chose to make the Celestial Dragons storyline so serious in the first place. There were also comments about the anime’s broadcast time slot, but those reflect individual posters’ opinions and are not treated as fact in this article.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda: “I Suddenly Drew Tom and Jerry Because I Hated How Serious Battle Manga Were Becoming”“.
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