User blog comment:Monkey.D.Me/OP LACKS ROMANCE/@comment-1595565-20120622191404

I think One Piece is doing just fine without any mushy stuff. While I know that a lot of other manga have romances woven into the plot, One Piece makes that difficult. Think of it comparitively to Naruto, which has a lot of character attractions, both subtle and overt. The reason why Masashi Kishimoto can do this and Oda can't has to do with two things. The first is the setting. Naruto for the most part takes place in a large village where all the main characters live. When they leave the village for regular missions, it is at most for maybe a week tops. Now think about One Piece, where the main characters spend most of their time on a ship and are constantly traveling, living an essentially nomadic lifestyle. There is no stability for the characters if they meet someone. If one of the main characters legitimately falls in love, they would more or less have to be written out of the story if they wanted to pursue that relationship. And that would suck. You remember how sad everyone was when Ace died? Or when Going Merry was burned? Imagine how you would feel if your favorite main character left for good. Sucks, doesn't it? The most emotional stability people can have in One Piece without interrupting the story is friendship, which is why such a heavy emphasis has been placed on it.

The second factor has to do with the number of main characters at any given point. Naruto has the Konoha 11, Sasuke, Gaara, Temari, Kurenai, and tons more to work with. Oda right now has 9 characters he can work with romantically, and only two of them are women. Of the remaining 7, only one of them has shown any emotion toward the women at all, and only as comedy. Oda couldn't suggest a non-heterosexual relationship without causing a media firestorm, so that's out, sorry ladies. Also, if he did try to get two of them involved in a romantic relationship, their friendship would be strained if they broke up because they'd have to see each other every day. It's a don't poop where you eat scenario. While the idea of characters getting romantically involved can be appealing, it can be difficult to pull off. That's why I just try to enjoy it when I see characters already together as couples, like the Rayleigh x Shakky thing Oda suggested from the fanart, or Mr. 9 and Miss Monday having a kid together. They're by no means main characters, but the romance is still there.