One Piece...oh boy. This is a difficult one to review. So let me just say this outright. There are two ways to review something. One, you compare it with its peers and see how it stands. And the other you test it on it's own merits. And you are probably going to say, "Oh test it on it's own merits that is good!" Well, I tend to do the former because that is the more Capitalistic of the two. Comparing it with it's peers to see whether or not you should take your time and money elsewhere. And in the end, the former fits more with the dictionary definition of a consumer review.
And here's the "but". But One Piece's peers are all Battle Shounens, and One Piece is an Action Adventure (Shounen is implied here because Action Adventure is usually aimed at a younger audience). Now, One Piece is an Action Adventure who is competing with other Battle Shounens...so you see my predicament. How can I compare something to other things outside of its genre? It just doesn't work. And that is just not plain fair.
But I must compare it to it's peers because it is competing with Naruto, and Bleach, and even smaller ones like Medaka Box, and the aforementioned Hitman Reborn. I must also do this because I have not seen any Action Adventure animes, and I can't compare it to stuff I haven't seen! So, I must grade it as if it were a Battle Shounen.
Story:
Usually Battle Shounens have bad stories, but this one takes the cake. This is the vaguest plot I have ever seen. And that is because there is no plot. There is no structure. You can look at Naruto and say that there is an overall plot and story line that adds up when you add in all of the arcs. But One Piece doesn't have that. The only plot that is in the show is when the characters are arrive at a new Island. Story: 1/10
Characters:
Now before you stop reading this review and hit the "Not Helpful" button out of rage. Or God-forbid begin hate commenting on my profile or even sending me death threats because your favorite animu doesn't have a plot; let me get onto the characters.
The characters in One Piece are surprisingly well written...To an extent. They all have their own goals and their own struggles which make them all grow together as a team. As a character story this anime does fairly well. Most of the arcs are there for the sole purpose of characterizing one of the characters more.
And that is fine, but my question is as follows: Why have none of the characters have had lives outside of seven years old?
Let me explain, whenever a character has a flashback to their past they are always seven years old, or a similar age. What, have they been stuck in the hyperbolic time chamber for their entire lives? I mean seriously all of these characters are in their early to late twenties....
What? They are in their teens? No way, those ages are arbitrary, there is no way Sanji is nineteen. And Luffy is seventeen. No way, Sanji is obviously in his late twenties. Maybe 28 or 29. But not Nineteen. And Luffy looks like he is 21. Who are they trying to fool? Seriously. And after the timeskip, Sanji looks like he is in his early thirties. I mean, he even has his Italian porno stache going on.
But I am digressing.
I am sure that these characters have had some other life changing conflicts outside of a very young age. I mean, the characters get more substance as they go on, it's just I feel that they could have done their initial characterization differently. Characters: 7/10
Sound:
I have had no problems with the sound, there are no tracks that particularly stood out to me or ones that I just hated. Sound 7/10
Art:
The art is definitely at the beginning of the series a 4/10. But over the years One Piece has gotten with the times and upgraded it's art to a 8/10. So I met it halfway and it is a 6/10.
Length:
This is a special criteria that will be added into the overall score because I feel that this needs to be mentioned. This show is 600+ episodes long. I love my long running series, Dragonball Z and Yu Yu Hakusho come to mind. But those were all 200-300 episodes long. And there is definitely a point where a show gets too long. Yes, Naruto is reaching it's 600th episode as well, if it has not already gotten there (I read the manga). But with Naruto you have the break between the original and Shippuden to break up the monotony.
So, I think that One Piece being as long as it is is detrimental to the series. It makes it intimidating for the newcomers to the series, like me, to get into the show. It's like, "Well, where do I start?" And beginning at the beginning is a long and hard road to get through, man. And you can't begin somewhere after the beginning because the characters are consistent in their characterization. It's not like Bleach where events happen and they are never mentioned again. One Piece is consistent to the point where the characters are constantly referring to past events. And after their characters get going, this becomes more frequent later on down the road. The time skip is an example.
So I am going to rate length like this. 10 being the perfect length for the show, like Madoka Magica. And 1 being so long, or so short, that there is no time to tell the story or characterize the characters, think Angel Beats.
So the Length gets a, 4/10.
Fights:
After giving length it's own special criteria in this review. I hesitate to add another special criteria. But since a lot of peopl- fanboys talk about the fights and compare it to Bleach; I feel they would not be justified if I don't put this in here.
For the fights I have not seen with getting as far as I did; I have looked up on YouTube and watched.
So, the fights are short. Like, really short. Most of the fights are below 15 minutes with all of the bull edited out. Bull being talking and scene transitioning to see what all of the other characters are doing for a couple of episodes. And this just does not compare when the same thing is done to other shows like Dragonball Z where if all of the bull is edited, the fights go on for 2:40:37 straight. Don't believe me?
Citation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB45FE6y_wg
So these are the shortest fights, but length shouldn't really matter, shouldn't it? And it wouldn't matter if the fights were sweet. And they are for the most part. I just wish that some fights were longer, like the fight between Luffy and the "Door Door" guy with the bull horns. I forget his name. But unfortunately the fight was wasted because the entire point of it was to show off Luffy's new ability.
And that is not to mention that some of the fights completely break my willing suspension of disbelief. Like the fight between Zoro and Kaku. I can't explain this with words. Just here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6WtrRogy_w
And the joke is that this is supposed to be taken seriously.
I saw a similar post in the comments. And that person was bombarded with One Piece sales figures to try and justify this. But I noticed that in doing so the One Piece fanboys dodged the question: How can anyone take this seriously? I'm sorry, but I can't. Fights: 3/10
Edit: Oops It appears I forgot the enjoyment criteria, forgive me. Please.
Enjoyment:
Personally I don't like Action Adventure shows. 2/10
Overall:
I guess I should end this with a miraculous conclusion that summs up everything and wraps it all up with a nice bow to boot. But I don't have the energy. Overall 6/10. Edited with Enjoyment this makes the Overall score 5.8/10 rounded up is a 6/10...wow.
