This guy at a con in Atlanta tried to tell me 'One Piece' is just for kids now

I was at Anime Weekend Atlanta last fall, just chilling by the food trucks, wearing my old Ace shirt. This dude, maybe in his 40s, sees it and goes, 'Still into that? It's a kid's cartoon, man. The new stuff is all filler and toys.' He said it with this real smug look, like he'd figured out some big secret. I just stared at him. I've been a firefighter for eight years, and let me tell you, the themes in Wano about sacrifice and carrying a country's weight hit harder than any 'adult' show I've seen. He reduced a 1000+ episode story with deep lore to a toy commercial because of its art style. It stuck with me because it showed a total lack of respect for what the story actually is. Has anyone else had a con talk go that sideways over an anime's 'target audience'?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_eva19h ago

Tell that guy to try reading the Enies Lobby arc and then come back to talk about kids shows. Some people see bright colors and just shut their brain off completely. Bet he thinks a story needs grit and blood to be serious, missing the whole point. That attitude is why we get so many boring, grey "adult" cartoons that say nothing at all.

barbara27811h ago

Spot on, @the_eva. People confuse dark colors for deep thoughts.