Wealth. Fame. Power.
The man who had acquired everything in this world was the Pirate King, Gold Roger.
The final words that were said at his execution sent people to the seas…
“My wealth and treasure? If you want it, I’ll let you have it. Look for it! I left it all in that place!”
Men now, chasing their dreams, head towards the Grand Line. The world now enters a Great Age of Pirates!
With these words, the grand adventure of One Piece begins. As a boy, Monkey D. Luffy made a promise with Shanks, a pirate who saved his life, to become a great pirate. As a sign of this promise, Shanks gave Luffy his favorite straw hat, and told him to find him and return it to him when he became a great pirate. 10 years later, with grand dreams and his rubber body, Luffy sets off for the Grand Line to find the legendary treasure One Piece, and become the Pirate King. Along the way, he and his nakama (companions, close friends, partners) Roronoa Zoro, former bounty hunter and master swordsman, Nami, a treasure loving master thief, and navigator, Usopp, liar extrodinaire and marksman, and Sanji, the kicking romantic cook, will find grand adventure, dangers of the sea, and friends to last a lifetime.
The flagship title of Weekly Shonen Jump, One Piece is one of the top selling manga and one of the most watched anime in
One Piece is at the same time, like and unlike every shonen title I’ve ever seen since Dragonball set the standard. In most shonen titles you see, you always expect certain overused elements like “the rival,” “the level up to match the next opponent,” and so many character archetypes that are overused it makes my head hurt. One Piece has none of these. But the true spirit and heart of every shonen title out there is there in One Piece. If anything, it’s magnified to the point that you practically feel it. While the theme is a simple “Follow your dreams,” the show has so much character, and so much HEART, that you can’t help but be endeared by it.
So if One Piece’s first strength is spirit, its second strength lies in the development of its characters. No character in One Piece is ever wasted or left on the sidelines. For every main character that comes aboard, you’ll see their backstory, the rigors of their past, the origin of their dreams, and come to know and understand why and how they have become the people they are. In a show that involves so much traveling from place to place, this is an impressive feat indeed. But this development isn’t restricted to just the main characters. For each arc, every character involved has a story to tell, and the adventure becomes just as much theirs as it is for Luffy and co. for their involvement.
Another great part of One Piece is its comedy. While a lot of shonen titles tend to resort to a lot of predictable gags and overused farcical situations, One Piece’s humor tends to be very oddball and over the top, often playing off of exaggerated reactions, but not quite on the level of ridiculousness. Really, it has to be seen to understood, things just tend to happen right in the middle of nowhere and suddenly you’re laughing.
One Piece does have an overarching storyline, but it’s not always what’s on your mind while watching it. Because of the show being set up with a crew of pirates, the adventures can be anywhere and everywhere, and the next adventures is only as far as the next island. Eiichiro Oda has done a magnificent job crafting a world to perfectly present his story. While the whole journey is an important part of it all, getting there just as important. Each island has its own story and relates to the overarching story in its own way. Some of these maybe short, lasting only a few episodes, and some can be so epic that they encompass over 40 episodes.
The artwork is unique, but not poor quality at all. There are often complaints of the art in this series, but this is not a criticism of the craftsmanship of the artwork, this is simply a case of the art “not looking anime enough” for some people. Eiichiro Oda has a very unique drawing style that works well to express emotion, and this reflects in the anime adaptation.
The show is animated by Toei, the same studio that brought us famous shonen adaptations such as Dragonball and Slam Dunk!, so the work here is well carried out. Music is very well done, with a mostly symphonic set ranging from incredibly uplifting to extremely touching. As for OP/ED music, it’s all extremely well done, each and every one is extremely enjoyable, but as of this writing there are 5 OP songs and 13 ED songs, so I won’t got into too much detail here.
If I have to make one concession about the show, it’s the presence of occasional filler, or stories not based on Eiichiro Oda’s manga. These show up about every 50 episodes, and tend to be very poor because of a lack of character development, and writers that aren’t as competent as Eiichiro Oda. Fortunately, the filler never has bearing on the main story, and can be easily skipped since it’s often grouped in 8 to 13 episode groups inbetween arcs. (Another advantage to the sailing setup)
The manga has been running since 1997, and the anime since 1999 now at a whopping 240+ episodes and no sign of slowing down. One Piece is truly the frontrunner to inherit Dragonball’s legacy. While I felt the adaptation of Dragonball to anime had some pacing issues, those are not present at all in One Piece. Truly anyone, not just anime fans, should be able to watch One Piece and love it, except for the most hardened cynics, and those that have devoted themselves to disliking it on sheer principle. And that is what really helps make it one of, if not the, finest shonen titles ever made.
One last note. This review does not and I repeat, does not refer to or even acknowledge the 4Kids (dubbed) version of One Piece, which is nothing but a raped shell of what One Piece is supposed to be.
(This review was made by Musashi9X)