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Eiichiro Oda's Fanservice Opinion Divides Fans


one piece fanservice nami

One Piece is often considered one of the best shonen manga of all time, but it’s not perfect. Among the criticisms of it are about how the female characters look. Recently, series creator Eiichiro Oda shared his opinion on this fanservice topic in the latest One Piece SBS.

Every new One Piece volume comes with a new Shitsumon o Boshū Suru (or SBS) column where Oda answers questions from fans.

In the latest volume, Oda was asked about fanservice, and he replied with something interesting.

Eiichiro Oda Explains Fanservice and Female Empowerment

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Specifically, someone asked Eiichiro Oda about fanservice in the series and how many characters show off their chest, but not a lot of underskirt panty shots.

While this might seem like an odd question, panty shots are a common trope in many anime and manga titles, especially some of the older ones. But now, this trope is becoming a bit rarer in new shonen titles.

In response, Oda said that these underskirt shots aren’t something that he is interested in.

He also said that many manga titles featured this kind of fanservice back when he was growing up, and it was something he didn’t like.

This is because Oda believes that these kinds of shots are against the consent or will of the female characters.

Because of this, Oda believes that female characters should show their sexuality of their own volition.

It might seem weird to make this distinction between different types of fanservice, but what Oda said does make sense.

After all, an upskirt shot is not something that’s usually done consensually.

On the flip side, a female character wearing a revealing top is something that is a more conscious decision from them.

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One Piece Fans React to Oda’s Fanservice Opinion

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When this translated question and answer was shared by @newworldartur on Twitter, fans were divided by Oda’s opinion.

Specifically, many fans brought out examples of One Piece featuring upskirt shots, with some being from recent chapters.

Fans were also reminded of Sanji's antics with the raid suit during the Wano arc.

Of course, some fans agreed with Oda and had defenses for some of the examples.

For instance, the Nami upskirt shot wasn’t an issue according to some fans given how Nami is comfortable wearing these kinds of outfits.

While the series may not always be the best example of tasteful fanservice, it’s still fair to say that One Piece does (or at least tries to be) better than many other shonen manga, especially older titles.

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Source: Artur – Library of Ohara

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