Reading One Piece is like picking up a ball and throwing it up high to see how high it can go. Just when you thought it couldn't go any higher, this thing just breaks the escape velocity and shoots off to the goddamn outer space.

Recently though, I've come to understand the ball has reached its peak and is somehow making its way back to planet Earth. My only hope is it doesn't come crashing down. That would shatter me.

Story- 9/10

An expansive world with so many things going on that you can never quite figure out where things are heading to. Very engaging and always fun to reread as you can truly understand how much care and detail is put into telling its story.

Handles comedy and tragedy masterfully, constantly taking you over a rollercoster ride of excitement, sadness and joy.

Art- 8/10

Though a bit unconventional, One Piece has a very expressive and exaggerated artstyle that can capture the sense of wonder and adventure it goes for. Oda has some wonderful framing and artwork for the various devil fruit powers to show. Crocodile's sand, Ace's fire and Whitebead's quakes being some of the most memorable ones. My favorite aspect of the art is in the islands Oda takes us to. Filled to the brim with cultural identity, real life references, creative architectures, and more.

Characters- 6/10

While there certainly are well written characters, it isn't enough considering the sheer number of characters this story shoves in your face.

As the arcs progress, you are introduced to larger number of shallow characters that would be used as a plot point for the arc itself or an event later on.

The main crew, some side characters and villains are incredibly well-developed and will always engage you. However, for all the development the main crew has gotten over the years, their participation in these later arcs have been less than stellar.

Action- 7/10

The context surrounding most action scenes in One Piece is incredibly gripping. Fantastic build up, stakes that arent just life or death, great emotional investment from the various participants, everything necessary for a good fight is always present. However, One Piece is not always good at the action itself.

Oda's creativity, comedy and character work really carry most of it but some fights either lean too much into the comedy or just cannot deliver a cleverly choreographed fight. A lot of recent fights really boil down to who punches or kicks harder. It's no Naruto in balancing smarts and style, its no Hunter x Hunter in complicating action and its no Dragonball in how the action is conveyed. It is its own thing and it comes with some fun and hype moments.

Final thoughts:

One Piece is a must read. It will leave you laughing, crying and running across your room. Sometimes, it might leave you frustrated or disappointed but the story always leaves you with something to look forward to.