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Eiichiro Oda, the legendary creator ofOne Piece, is a master at his craft in creating wonderful tales, extraordinary places and even characters that have a lot of personality and incredible depth. If there is one point of criticism that has been repeatedly raised against Oda, it is about the female characters and how they look.
Oda has proven that he is no stranger to fanservice through many volumes of One Piece, he has even been open about his drawing style, stating that he draws the female characters according to his preferences.
But his recent confession about female fan service has sparked controversy. Let us delve in and see what Oda has done this time around.
The backlash over Oda’s character designs
Oda has said that he was always bad at drawing the behinds of females. Wanting to improve, he began practicing, and once he got the hang of it, he found it fun, so much so that he startedincorporating more backside-focused angles into his work. Thus, it is reflected in the increased fanservice in the Egghead Arc.
While this explanation seems lighthearted and honest,it has reignited long-standing criticismabout Oda’s portrayal of female characters.One Piecehas been called out and criticized for its extreme female character proportions, with women having impossibly thin waists and curvature.
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His female designs have progressively leaned toward such proportions, with characters like Nami and Robin becoming increasingly exaggerated in their figures after the time skip. This move has been seen as a way to focus on fan service rather than the narrative.
Oda’s art style has long been a point of criticism
Oda’s art style is one of the most iconic in the manga industry, not just due to its fame and long-running reputation but it due to the weird proportions of characters. While his designs work well for the whimsical nature ofOne Piece, thedifference between the male and female designshas caused dissent from the fans.
In an SBS (Shitsumon o Boshū Suru?) fromOne PieceVolume 105, Oda explained that he had never really drawn panty shots before, so he wasn’t particularly skilled at drawing butts.
For the “Future Island” arc, I wanted to accentuate a stark difference from modern-day fashion standards and wound up with designs that really showed off the butt. Since I haven’t drawn any panty shots before, I realized that I wasn’t very good at drawing butts, so I’ve been studying how to draw them more sexy, and I think I’ve gotten a lot better at it. It started being fun to me, so now I’m drawing more butt angles! Drawing is fun!
Fanservice has always been part ofOne Piece, but before, the fanservice moments were often played for comedy, such as Sanji’s nosebleeds or Nami’s reactions to perverted characters.
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Over time, however, the objectification of female characters has become more and more apparent, possibly due to Oda catering to his fans’ interests.
You can streamOne Pieceon Crunchyroll.
Chandra Shekhar
Anime Writer
Articles Published :856
Chandra Shekhar is an Anime Writer at FandomWire with over 800 published articles under his belt. A law student by training but a storyteller at heart, he blends his sharp analysis with a deep love for all things anime. From the old-school Yu Yu Hakusho to the eldritch horrors of Lord of the Mysteries, his knowledge spans decades and genres. When he’s not writing, he’s likely buried in webnovels, silently hoping his favorite ones get the anime adaptation they deserve.
