LogFAQs > #964536165

I like Jinbei, but I understand the take that he doesn't feel like a "real member". It's the same issue as Brooke. The character in a vacum is good/fun, but they came in so late in the series that One Piece had already moved last the small scale moments and being able to give equal attention to the entire crew. Unless an arc is ABOUT crew member like Whole Cake, the Straw hats don't really feel like a group of individuals anymore. They "The Straw Hats", a force of nature. Brook and Jinbei didn't get the advantage of being there when it was a family first and a crew second. Most of their big emotional moments are from flashbacks long before their actual inclusion in the group.

Franky almost gets this too, but he got so much during Ennies Lobby and Water 7 that I think he flies.

The timeskip is what I usually attribute to the point where I think One Piece started to decline, but to be honest I think the moment where "My One Piece" ended is with the Going Merry. After that I just lost the attachment to the series (not BECAUSE that happened, that scene was fantastic, that's just the timing).

I'm sure that this being around the time the actual anime as an adaptation declined in quality after moving to an HD production is a factor, covering less per episode and feeling a lot slower and stiffer, ironically feeling cheaper now that it was in 16:9. But even on the manga side of things I felt it.