There's a lot to love about One Piece, the world-renowned Shonen series by Eiichiro Oda. Whether it's the uniquely loveable larger-than-life characters, the complex and gigantic world covered by ocean, or the supernatural powers at play with the Devil Fruits.
Yet, since the Time-Skip, fans have suddenly found a lot to complain about regarding One Piece and most of it is undeserved. That said, there are still a few ways the characters have changed in this two-year gap, stylistically that may not be for the best, so let's look at both sides of the issue
10 Better: More Exaggerated
It really seems like Oda just cranked the "style" knob on One Piece a few more notches during the timeskip. Whatever traits characters had before were exaggerated upon even further. Over time Tony Tony Chopper was becoming less of a reindeer-mutant and more of an adorable mascot for the Straw Hats. Franky, as another example, had tons of hidden toys and tricks hidden within his seemingly normal-looking body. Now, Franky is proud of his cyborg body and has gone out of control with the modifications to his shape and form.
9 Worse: Women All Look The Same
Before the Battle of Marineford and One Piece's big timeskip, the female designs were all pretty varied. Fans had characters like all over the map such as Alvida, Robin, Kokoro, Vivi, Miss Doublefinger, Miss Valentine, And Miss Monday. Women of all types with different nationalities, facial structures, and tons of other variables at play. Now, after the timeskip, a lot of the female cast ends up looking like they used the same barbie-doll base to build on top of. Fans adore Nico Robin, for good reason, but they completely changed her design post timeskip and got rid of a lot that made her look unique, and that's just one out of many characters this happened to.
8 Better: Scars And Signs Of Change
Fans seem to forget, but in the early chapters of One Piece, characters get shot at or cut up a lot. Luffy gets cut and stabbed numerous times before they even enter the Grand Line, and Zoro probably should've died five-times over by that point. Yet, most of these injuries felt shallow and unimportant simply because there weren't any visual indicators of them, no scars or anything like that (other than Zoro who was always healing from some injury). Now, after the Timeskip, it's become clear that Oda wants to keep track of very prominent injuries such as Luffy's chest scar or the scars on Zoro's ankles.
7 Worse: Everyone Is Either Gigantic Or Buff
One Piece is a wacky cartoony series, there's no denying that. Characters are sometimes designed with the intention to make them as ugly as possible, such as Kokoro (sadly), or Oda can create gigantic characters who are all bark but no bite, such as Shirahoshi. But, this "gigantic" design methodology really started to pick-up after the timeskip and it hasn't really stopped.
If someone is "strong" in the New World, it's more than likely that they're bigger than a normal human by at least a couple of feet. Charlotte Katakuri, Smoothie, Doflamingo, Kaido, Big Mom, Oden, and the list goes on. It seems like Oda really liked this size = power mentality that series like Dark Souls implemented before, and started implementing it himself, but it doesn't quite make sense within the internal logic of One Piece.
6 Better: Themeing Everything Around Devil Fruit Powers
It's not like One Piece has never themed islands or events around the power of a Devil Fruit User (not everyone has a Devil Fruit anyway), the Thriller Bark arc is the perfect example of how well done it can be. But, after the timeskip, the series has doubled down on this premise even more so, adding multiple new layers of complexity to each world entirely centered around one (usually overpowered) Devil Fruit ability. Big Mom can steal souls and has an eating problem, so everything on her islands is food-based and has been given life by her Devil Fruit. Kaido is a towering man all about strength who can turn into an Eastern-style Dragon, so his country is based on Japan, and only the strong are given the right to eat and live prosperously. Lastly, Doflamingo is dark to his core but hides it with a smiley outer shell while he controls things from behind the scenes with his String Devil Fruit, which is very similar to Dressrosa as a country under his rule.
5 Worse: Simplified And Rounded Shapes
Eiichiro Oda is a masterwork artist and story writer, no one can dispute this claim. But, while his style has mostly changed for the best over the years, there are a few ways this change has negatively affected One Piece for some readers. Back in the olden days of OP, characters were allowed to look different and even the style itself was a bit intentionally offputting. Characters had giant feet, Chopper was this weird semi-human mutant, and Usopp was just a scrawny kid with a gigantic nose. Now, after the timeskip, everything is just a bit more rounded-out, simplistic, and "acceptable". Chopper inexplicably became more adorable and round, Usopp got buff and his nose shrank in length, and Nami/Robin became even more stereotypically beautiful while losing a lot of what made them unique visually.
4 Better: No More Simple Backgrounds
One Piece has always had some amazing artwork and world design. The intricate structure of Alabasta and its deserts, the marvels of Thriller Bark and its inhabitants, the wonders of Skypeia and how that society functions. Oda really loves to create these cartoony worlds that somehow feel both realistic and completely fantastical, and that's only gotten better as time has gone on. After the timeskip, the designs of these islands have somehow become more complex, so much so that the backgrounds are almost too complex at times in the manga, it's actually one of the more confusing parts of Wano. That said, it's still awe-inspiring to see in color, or in the anime.
3 Worse: The Anime Team Put A Bit More Work Into The Show Back Then
To be fair, it's not like Toei Animation has ever been known for their stellar work with the One Piece anime adaptation. They've always been consistent, and they've been doing it since the beginning, but the anime itself has never been a paragon of pacing or animation quality.
That said, earlier arcs absolutely have had a higher amount of quality on average compared to more recent ones. Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and Thriller Bark in particular are pretty stellar. But, nowadays, the quality sort of muddles along until an important scene happens, and then it jumps up rapidly until said scene is over, such as the fight between Zoro and Killer (who has shockingly changed) in Wano.
2 Better: A Lot More Complexity
In a general sense, everything about One Piece has become more complex as time has gone on, especially after the timeskip. Goals have changed, conflicts have become more nuanced, and it seems like the story is actually on the path towards an ending now. But, in regards to character designs, they've become a lot more complex in terms of their designs and range of abilities. Not to say that the characters' pre-timeskip weren't complex. But, just look at Big Mom's design & transformations and then compare them to someone like Buggy the Clown or Enel.
1 Worse: A Lot Less Diversity
And finally, while characters do look more complex since One Piece's jump in time, they have become a bit less diverse in general. Everyone in the New World seems to be either gigantic or insanely buff and there aren't as many characters that deviate from that norm. Remember regular human marines? And, outside of that, there isn't as much representation for characters of different nationalities anymore. Most of the POC who were introduced in One Piece (such as Usopp, Nico Robin, Gendatsu, Daz Bones, and even Admiral Aokiji) were introduced before the timeskip, and there haven't been many that were introduced after.
