I have finally caught up with One Piece to where it’s currently airing on TV. In the past three or so months I spent an average of 6.6 episodes per day watching One Piece, from episode 11 to episode 767, not counting filler.
I will lay out this review first by themes, then by other aspects.
JUSTICE. There are two main forces of power in this world created by Eiichiro Oda, the Marines and the pirates. The Marines purport to uphold justice, even wearing the word on the back of their cloaks. They view the pirates as criminals just for being pirates, as if being a pirate as of itself is wrong. Much of the conflict in One Piece (OP) is generated by the Marines’ going after pirates. Thus the renowned pirates are given bounties, the higher meaning the more wanted (and thus the more powerful). Behind the Marines is the World Government (WG). As you watch more and more story arcs, you begin to realize that much of the corruption present on each island is allowed by the WG; thus, each time the Straw Hats encounter an island’s dark history and events behind the curtain, it’s a microcosm for the corruption of the world as a whole, overseen by the WG. This is not justice, whatever ideal the Marines aggrandize -- a better form of “justice” is in fact what the Straw Hats enact. Each time the Straw Hats land, they can’t help but assist the island’s inhabitants, and make gratified friends along the way; the Straw Hats are the true enforcers of justice in OP. They completely flip the stereotypical idea of the pirate, the pillager and looter and killer; to be a pirate is simply to enjoy adventure to the fullest.
NAKAMA. The Japanese word for friend, comrade, compatriot, etc. No other anime uses this word as much as OP, no other character as much as Luffy. In OP, it’s used to mean friend, yes, but for those dear to Luffy like his crew, it means something closer than family. We humans are social animals and thrive on interpersonal interaction and attachment, whether familial or of friendship or romantic; thus we can empathize with the strong ties of loyalty in the Straw Hat crew as they fight various enemies together. Luffy cares deeply for his fellow Straw Hats; he cannot bear the notion of someone leaving the crew. The moments when he cries, like really cries with water flooding out of his eyes, are rare in OP; such moments only occur when Luffy loses someone close to him or otherwise experiences deep emotion related to friendship. Another, lesser, word for friend is tomodachi, which is also used often but just for friend as we know the word; not in the strong, pure sense that we know as nakama. This theme, as you may know, is also prevalent in Fairy Tail, whose guilds are like pirate crews in OP. Although Fairy Tail’s strong bonds of loyalty and friendship are true, they cannot surpass those in OP. I cried so much watching OP. Watching OP, I look at my circle of friends and realize that there are few, if any, I can call nakama. Sad, isn’t it.
A SAD STORY. Whenever a new Straw Hat joins the crew, his/her backstory is revealed; and man, they’re all sad and heart-rending. These characters! Some may say that the Straw Hats don’t undergo major character development throughout the story; but imagine the Straw Hats without their special quirks and you’d miss it. It’s inherent to OP and ultimately necessary. Even though they may do the same peculiar things over and over again, it’s never boring to see again.
THE ONE PIECE. The plot of OP in short is Luffy’s journey to find the One Piece, a treasure left behind by the former king of the pirates, Gol D. Roger, who announced such a thing at his execution. Luffy’s typical introduction at the start of the series goes something like “I’m Monkey D. Luffy and I want to become the king of the pirates.” Those who hear just laugh, for such an idea is absurd, because there are SO MANY incredibly powerful pirates out there and the seas are so expansive and you’d basically have to become the top pirate to achieve something like that. Luffy has this dream, and he’s willing to die fighting for it because at least he tried. Watching OP is so inspiring to me, with my own unrealistic dreams, to follow such dreams and fight for them. Not completely literally of course, but to work at it. A dream is only impossible if you give up.
THE ADVENTURE. The plot sounds simple, doesn’t it? Monkey D. Luffy, a pirate sailing the seas to become the king of the pirates. Oh no. For the creators of worlds, there are few I call true masterminds, geniuses, who are in complete control of their worldbuilding and have done so much planning and creating to the point where you’re confused and intrigued all at once -- for fantasy I name George R. R. Martin and Steven Erikson; for anime I name Eiichiro Oda. In this immensely long series, 768 episodes to date, he brings back characters introduced hundreds, I mean literally hundreds, of episodes earlier; whenever the Straw Hats do something big and the news spreads around the world, you see friends and people from their respective pasts reading about them; over and over again he introduces new characters, with unique powers and strengths and quirks; he describes island after island after island. Pirates sail from the North, South, East and West Blue to the Grand Line, and from the Grand Line to the New World. Honestly, I don’t know how big the Earth in OP is.
SHOUNEN. The levels of power are insane; as a shounen anime, OP is expected to have lots of fighting and lots of strong characters. I mean, looking back to how Luffy fought in East Blue and comparing it to how he can fight now, like, it’s freakin’ amazing, the power differential. That sense of awe and wonder when powerful characters are briefly shown on the screen, you know what I mean, or when they’re mentioned in conversation -- like when Laxus and Mystogan are first mentioned in Fairy Tail, or when you see the 13 court guard squad captains arrayed at table in Bleach, or the introduction of all the S-class heroes in One Punch Man, or… you get the idea. OP has this feeling hyped, jacked, on steroids, whatever, thrust to the skies and beyond. There are so many, and I repeat, so many, powerful pirates and Marines in OP. It’s crazy. This world that Oda has imagined and put to manga, I would go insane trying to remember everything. Which leads me to my next topic.
DEVIL FRUITS. Now this is what makes OP especially awesome. There are these so-called “Devil Fruits” that are cursed because after you eat one, you can’t swim; when you go into water, your body is weakened and you eventually sink. The upside? Each Devil Fruit, and no two are the same, gives you one of three types of powers, I won’t describe them here because that’s not revealed all at the beginning of the anime, but the main Devil Fruit user is Luffy himself, who ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi (rubber-rubber fruit) and can stretch like rubber because he’s in essence a rubber man. And there are a lot more users in OP. Each fight between two Devil Fruit users is unique, because, as materials or elements or even concepts, some Devil Fruits are naturally stronger than others. No Devil Fruit is almighty, in other words. It’s like Avatar: The Last Airbender but exponentially exploded. Much more than merely fire, water, earth and air is in OP. Get ready for some creative fights. Now, the fight scenes in OP obviously aren’t as good as those in, say, Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works; watching them is awesome not necessarily for the fighting quality, but more for what significance the fight’s outcome holds, for how the characters have gotten stronger, for how these guys can fight in the first place. There are, like, an infinite number of ways to fight in OP. Now. Practically all shounen anime has this thing for announcing fight moves with special names, like “Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu” in Naruto or “Fire Dragon’s Roar” in Fairy Tail or “Tensa Zangetsu” in Bleach, just to name a few. Some would point this out as a flaw in shounen; but I say no, imagine watching the anime fight scenes without the moves announced, and it’s vastly different. It’s necessary. Each technique is named, and thus exists. For something to exist, it has to be recognized; in short, given a name. Besides, when these characters fight, they worked on their various moves and abilities and thus have pride in proclaiming each technique when using it.
INHERITED WILL. Nothing else to be said here; this is a crucial part of OP, but I can’t say too much about it here.
GRADUAL REVELATION. Did I mention Oda was a genius? Another thing he does brilliantly is slowly, bit by bit, reveal more about Devil Fruits, the Grand Line, the history of the world, what the hell is even going on in his world. Even now, after 767 episodes, I honestly don’t know shit. I know some things, but not enough. All the more to look forward to in upcoming episodes! What’s more, the more you watch, the more of an overarching plot is shown; and the implications are huge.
That being said, OP also has an amazing soundtrack. Of course tracks repeat for certain types of situations but the composer can only come up with so many different pieces for such a long anime. Very cinematic, reminiscent of film scores; OP has the most soundtrack music good enough to download onto my phone out of any anime I've seen.
The animation may throw you off. It threw me off and was the biggest reason, that and the length of the show, for my not watching OP. I started episode 1 and it didn’t throw me off one bit. Compared to anime like Angel Beats! or Clannad or Code Geass, the character designs in OP are actually pretty realistic; goofy, but realistic. The original style of animation in OP has this gentle, touching quality to it. And it only gets better. Okay, it does get less three-dimensional and more clear-cut, but the clarity, the visual caliber, is another thing to look forward to when watching OP. Several times while on my OP journey I was eager to watch OP just for the improved animation. Comparing episode 1 to episode 767, I mean, damn. It’s changed so much. One thing I particularly like about OP is its many close shots of faces. So awesome.
The story? It’s the best-planned, best-written, best-imagined story I’ve ever seen in anime. Once it finishes, and let’s hope Oda stays in good health, it will be deemed one of the best classics of any medium, I have no doubt about it. Each story arc is so complex and elaborate and detailed, they’re long but it’s realistic because there are so many factors in conflict so it takes time to resolve.
Enjoyment? My first semester of my freshman year of college can be summed up by two words: ONE PIECE.
My last words, my call to all anime viewers out there; no, to anybody in search of a reason to cry, to laugh, to be pumped up, to dream:
Live, and fight for your dream; live, and be with your nakama. This world we live in may not be as romantic as that of One Piece, but it is beautiful just the same. Go into that romance dawn and sail your own adventure.
What is your One Piece?
