>a trailblazer in the field of animation >fought studios to stand up for his coworkers and their families >surprisingly progressive (he approved of Bug Bunny being used as a trans icon)Chuck Jones my beloved
If you like One Piece, I would highly recommend Dungeon Meshi. It has great worldbuilding like OP, just on a much shorter scale (less than 100 chapters, but some of the best chapters you'll read)
It's always weirded me out when people say protagonists have to be boring blank slates. If I was following a character for an entire story, I'd at least make an attempt to make them interesting