Just by reading most of this topic...I already know I'll get some random ass opposition from this...so I'll just say it:
Saying OP is hated because it's the CoD of manga is just plain up mental. I seriously doubt why OP isn't doing so well in America is because "Oh, Japan loves it, so us Americans have to hate it." either, there are legit reasons for why OP has came and gone.
1. 4Kids Dub. Everyone already explained it, horrible dubbing, censorship up the ass, and narmy moments basically killed the interest real fast.
2. Art Style. Now, while I believe OP is overrated to a big extent, I can see it's appeal atleast. But the issue is the art style as well, which is funny because I love Rave Master(or Groove Adventure Rave for Sub asses), but my reasoning is simple. Rave Master, while having it's goofy art style, it doesn't decide to keep it during serious moments, it's literally baffling that I RESENT people crying in OP because they cry like little babies with cartoony faces and snot coming out of their noses, kids make sense, teens and adults doesn't. Atleast during serious moments, Rave Master keeps most of the faces around human level so you can empathize with the situation,
, it's just...how the hell Oda would think people could guess people could take that seriously?
3. The Pacing. People can say Naruto and Bleach has terrible pacing...and I would say they are right...but One Piece is SO not exempt from this and I can easily say it's the worst at pacing. I looked at a few boards here in GF and the general consensus of best OP arcs is C9, Shanbody, Water 7 and randomly between Impel Down and Marineford. And I got to say they are right because those arcs usually don't suffer from OP's terrible pacing issues. Even Alabasta suffers from it because it just feels like a huge drag just getting there, let alone actually starting the whole thing. Even the
arc was TERRIBLE at this, it literally took forever to get somewhere and was just awful, meaning it was just plain up bad and got worse due to waiting a week for the next chapter.
I do believe OP is still a good manga(not great, I find it surprising he Japanese sales didn't falter at all during the latest arc...), but there are definitely huge reasons why it failed in America and is thus has lots of hatred, and it's mainly cultural difference, and no, it's not macho BS. One Piece is literally too goofy most of the time to really take seriously, and even if you can, you still have to deal with pacing and the art style which has the potential to ruin good scenes, so yeah, patience is a virtue, but there's not much point if some just can't see the spark at all.
