It was until that I had heard that there was a another English dub, and it peaked my interest, as well as seeing screenshots comparing the 4kids version to this new Funimation version, and I saw a bloody, more mature version to the childish crap I saw when I was younger. I was intrigued & intent to view this new take on the show, and after my brother receiving about 8 DVDs of the Funimation version of One Piece, we started on what would I now call my favourite anime so far.
The story revolves around the golden age of pirates, which begins after the execution of the legendary pirate named Gold D. Roger (aka Gold Roger), who after conquering the Grand Line - and the only person to do so, is named the King of the Pirates. Moments before his execution, he exclaims that the legendary treasure he attained from his adventure - The One Piece, is out in the Grand Line for anyone to claim, and to venture out and search for it themselves. This sparks the dawn of the golden age of pirates, with thousands of men setting sail to attain the legendary treasure.
22 years later a young man named Monkey D. Luffy mysteriously appears with the goal of becoming the King of the Pirates. Having eaten a devil fruit - a mysterious fruit that causes anyone who eats it to gain a strange & powerful ability, while sacrificing their ability to swim. Luffy is a rubber man, and makes a name for himself in every town he ventures through. Living through this dream he travels town after town, gathering crew members and spurring notoriety.
This is truly the definition of an adventure, the scale of the world & the journey they go through, the heartships, the pain, the strength they attain, the character growth, the size of the journey in general, its huge, and with it planning to go on for another 10 years, Im happy to know that there is gunna be plenty of One Piece to go :) Some people see the length of the series being so far 600+ episodes long, and be absolutely daunted and hesitant to watch it. The thing they dont see is that if they watch it, and if they love it, that there is so much there for them to watch & enjoy.
This is really a case of the saying that looks can be deceiving. A wacky art style, a boy pirate made of rubber, 600+ episodes long and not ending for another 10 years! But for those who have seen as much as I have (600+ episodes) you can understand why I am so hyped about this anime, and for those who haven't, I hope this can get you to have a little idea and perhaps see it for yourselves and join Luffy & the straw hat pirates on this amazing adventure :)
Speaking of the straw hat, it was given to Luffy by a pirate called Shanks, and the thing with Shanks is, along with many of the other characters in this series is that they are so incredibly badass & awesome XD You meet these characters at the very start, and just wait in anticipation to seeing them again after the crazy stuff Luffy & his crew endure, only to see them even more incredibly badass than before, and its such an incredible feeling & experience.
The character growth in this is magnificent too, the straw hat even has a deep backstory!! :P Every time you meet another crew member, you see their past, which most of the time is an absolute tear jerker, and gets you attached to that character, and before you know it, your attached to everyone in the crew, and they grow on you. They go through unbelievably absurd obstacles & struggles, face the most powerful foes there is, face death, and manage to prevail if it means defeating the foe, or losing and building up their strength. You are essentially a part of Luffy's crew, and when they go through heartache, you break down along with them, when they prevail, its the best feeling ever.
When One Piece eventually hooks you in, and eventually convinces you to becomes one of the crew members, your in for one hell of a journey. And It isn't going to end anytime soon, so you'll have plenty of crazy places to run into, awesome characters to face, and the absolutely ridiculous Luffy causes chaos wherever he may be :P And eventually wait for the day where he will, in fact, become the King of the Pirates. And what a wonderful day that will be :D
